for as much as to choose good instruments is the noblest testimony of goodnesse and the influence of Princes upon servants is greater then that of servants upon Princes I have heard that the then Earle of Pembrooke being sollicited by other Court Grandees to erter into a confederacie with them about some alteration in Church and State he told them plainly he durst not venture his manner of Wilton in the businesse unlesse Cecyll and Bacon were first hanged at the Court gate and to hang them would be a matter not to be compassed till they with their Rhetoricke in Cheapside should avert the Citizens hearts from them and that he left as a fond conceit Neverthelesse in censure of Queen Elizabeth some have said that she swept the roome cleane but yet left all the dust heaped up behind the doore and did not carry it forth as she ought to have done Their meaning I conceive is that though she much awed and restrained both Prelates and Papists so as they durst not attempt any thing against the constitution of this State during her raigne yet she left them not in so desperate a condition but that they did recover strength and reunite againe after her death This censure seemes to me too harsh for Prelates without the copulation of Papists to gender a filthy spawne upon them are not of any considerable danger and Papists by her long and prosperous raigne were as much quelled and disabled as possible they could be If any dust was left behind the doore 't was because her life-time was not extensive enough for the carrying it forth forthe reduction of Ireland was very late shee scarce survived it and yet to make the Irish Protestants was of farre more difficultie and would consume longer time then to make them subjects The propogation of the true Faith therefore in Ireland was a taske which Queen Elizabeth was of necessity to leave to her successors and 't is very probable had they begun where shee desisted and not deviated from her resolution that Kingdome had long ere this afforded as many Protestants as subjects whereas now it denyes both for doubtlesse Q. Elizabeth at her decease left Ireland in better disposition to conforme to England then she found England in at her sisters decease to revolt from Rome and therefore with the same industry her successors might have done the same in Ireland as she had done in England But alas no such course was takē there we have reason to think rather that Popery was cherished and preserv'd in Ireland to make way for these tragicall divisions then that there was any designe or undertaking to plant Protestantisme in it for the establishing further union between the nations The example of Q. Elizabeth to whom the protection of God was as constant in saving her from the bloody Emissaries of Rome did not work so strongly to animate King Iames as the Apostacie of Henry the French King whom God deserted for his desertion did serve to intimidate him The revolt of Henry the fourth who gained the Title of Great by his warlike atchievements and the horrible conjuration of the Powder Traytors here in England made so strong impression upon the soft and mild temper of King Iames that to temporise a little with Rome for better security of his Person appeared at that time very seasonable wherefore to dally with Antichrist a little letters were written to Cardinall Perrone and answers received about a reconciliation of Religions and in order thereunto the rigour of penall lawes was rebated nay countenance was shewed to Papists the grandour of Prelates and pompe of Ceremonies in the Church began to be affected The neerer also that King Iames his end approached the more it resembled Salomons and grew tainted with the foule symptomes of a declination in so much that scarce any but Papists were admitted to governe his Councels and then the whole Kingdome began to be exposed as a prey to Spanish French Italian pensioners It was well observed by the Duke of Roan that no Prince in Europe so much opposed his owne interests both in civill and religious affaires as King Iames for doubtlesse the Pope by his agents in all Church matters was more potent then the King himselfe and so was Gundamore in matters of State had not the French and Duch and some other Nations interfered with the Pope and Spantard and given gold for some part in us rather to save us then that we should be lost to their enemies doubtlesse we had been disposed of quickly our happinesse was that France was liberall enough to buy us from Spain and Spain liberall enough to buy us from France c. though our misery was that both sides pulled away more from us then they parted withall from themselves And now when three Kingdomes are under the subjection of one Prince who is under the subjection of one lustfull rash young Favourite and that Favourite solely at the devotion of his vitious opprobrious mischievous mother and that mother a meere Votaresse to Rome utterly forfeited resigned and sold to the commands of Jesuites When our miserable Nations are in this ridiculous preposterous posture of government who can wonder that a Spanish or French Match for our Prince should be designed As great a masse of treasure might have been received with a German Lady and that with lesse expence for the portion of Spaine or France can scarse equall the charge of fetching it all that can be said is Pistols and Patachoons are more valuable than Dollars in our judgement Alliance also amongst Princes if it be of any it is of dangerous consequence it is certaine to produce reall enmitie and emulation but it is uncertaine to produce so much as a shadow of amitie and union especially amongst Princes of the Romish Religion If we negotiate concerning a marriage with the Spanish Infanta 't is necessarie that wee keep faire intelligence with France and capitulate strongly with the German Princes and if wee break off with Spaine and treat with the French Lady 't is necessarie that wee enter into a new confederacie with Spaine and prepare a Fleet for the Isle of Rhees So much weaker than cobwebs are the bonds of matrimony amongst ambitious Monarchs Something also may be said against the incestuous extractions of the House of Austria and the Florentine mixtures of the House of Burbon whereas the nobilitie chastitie and beautie of the German Dames hath ever been not only beyond all exception but also beyond all comparison Nothing then but Poperie unlesse wee will add also the manifold mifchiefes of Poperie could be aimed at in a Popish Alliance by those devillish Engineers which were the insolent Lords of our Lords or rather of our Lords Lords Lords And if we desire further satisfaction therein let us consider the substance of the Popes letter written the 20 of April 1623. to our Prince in Spaine and our Princes Answer thereunto as they are faithfully translated and registred by
Du Chesne the French Geographer in his Book fol. 1162. The Popes Rhetorick in briefe flowes thus MOst noble Prince the former Kings of Britain have been very famous for their devotion to the Popes Chaire and now though the state of the English Church be altered yet the Court is adorned with such morall vertues as may support our charitie and the more the glorie of your most clement Father and the resentment of your royall nature or inclination delights us the more ardour there is in us to open the gates of Heaven to you We commend your designe which hath directed you to take a journey into Spaine to allye your selfe to the House of Austria it elevates us to the hope of extraordinarie advantage our open testimony is in this present affaire that you are he which has the principall care and regard of our Prelacie for since you desire to take in marriage a daughter of Spaine we easily conjecture that your Progenitours Zeale may againe revive in your soule and it s not credible that hee that loves such alliance should hate the Catholike Religion or take delight in oppressing the holy Seat Therefore publike intercession is made continually by our command that you may be put into possession of that most noble heritage which your Ancestours have purchased for you to defend the authoritie of the Soveraigne Bishop and to combat against the monsters of heresie The most sacred Kings of England came formerly from England to Rome accompanied with Angels to honour and doe homage to the Prince of the Apostles in his Chaire Apostolicall let their actions be as so many voyces of God to exhort you to the same and to bring you back againe into the lap of the Romane Church Their sighs and groanes are ancessant for your salvation and you cannot give greater consolation to Christendome than to put the Prince of the Apostles into possession of your most noble Isle holding his authoritie as the defence of your Kengdomes and as a Divine Oracle Our great charitie makes us desire that you and your royall Father may be enobled with the names of Deliverers and Restauratours of the ancient paternall Religion of Britaine and the care of our charitie in this is no other than to procure your happinesse The Answer in short is thus couched Most holy Father I received your Sanctities dispatch with grand contentment and with a respect beseeming the pietie and benevolence thereof I have read the Elogies of my Royall Progenitours who have exposed their estates and lives for the exaltation of the holy Chaire set before mine eyes by your Holinesse for imitation with pleasure unexpressible and as justly deserved by them Neither was their courage against the enemies of the Crosse lesse than the thought and care which I have to unite all Christian Princes nor doe I esteeme it a greater honour to be descended of so great Princes than to represent them in the Zeale of their pietie The knowledge which I have of my most honour'd Fathers mind and the concurrence of his Catholike Majestie to whom the present divisions of Christian Princes is so grievous and the fore-sight of your Holinesse who judged this marriage with the Infanta of Spaine necessarie for procuring of publike union and therefore designed it are great encouragements to me Wherefore 't is most certaine I shall never be so extremely affectionate to any thing in the world as to seek alliance with a Prince that hath the same sense of true Religion with my selfe I have been alwayes verie far from encouraging novelties or being a partie in any faction against the Catholike Apostolike Roman Religion but have sought all occasions to remove such suspitions from resting on me And for the future since wee all beleeve in one Iesus Christ I will straine all my power to have but one religion and one faith and I am resolved to spare nothing in the world but to suffer all manner of discommodities even to the hazard of life and estate for the effecting hereof It rests only that I thank your Holinesse for your permission and accord herein and I pray God to blesse you for the great travaile which your Holinesse hath sustained in his Church If this was Court-dissimulation Gods name was too far used in it and the dissimulation has extended further than to language the maine affaires of our Court and Church for many yeares together have been conformable to the same expressions And if here was plaine meaning without dissimulation no words of man can more fully and clearly justifie Poperie and protest against the novelties and heresies of the Reformed Churches than these do And the Pope it seemes suspected no dissimulation herein nor his Councellours and principall Ministers and yet they are not usually gulled or blinded or out-done in that kind of Craft and for proofe hereof I will instance in Father Iohn de Monte-Major of the Societie of Iesus and I will be verie briefe herein and confine my selfe only to him This Jesuite was a subtile States-man â—s we may perceive by his arguments now in print and in the Iunto at Madrid when the marriage of the Infanta with our Prince was upon debate for answer to such difficulties and objections as some other of the Iunto had offered to oppose the marriage he divers times insisted upon such points as these Since the Prince is a man settled in his manners and makes great account of our holy Law it may with sufficient probabilitie be heped that by the good example of the most illustrious Infanta and all her Attendants both men and women and by the holinesse and doctrine of her Confessour he will be easily brought to our holy faith fol. 6. a. And therefore as we have seene that the Prince and his father have kept their agreement made at the Treatie of peace for the well using of Catholikes and we are informed out of England that this yeare in the holy week within London there have been at the Communion 4000 Catholikes in the Embassadours house and that they have made 40 monuments no body speaking one word to controll them fol. 7. a. Both the Prince and his father doe extremely desire the friendship of his Holinesse and of Spaine which Henry the eighth little did care for and that 's the reason which moveth the Prince and his father to procure this marriage is to establish the said friedship with the Apostolike See and the Crowne of Spaine fol. 7. b. Another principall thing to be observed is that the Prince at all other English and French Hereticks doe beleeve that we are saved keeping the religion of the Church of Rome fol. 8. b. There are sufficient signes shewing that the King of England is well affected to our Religion since it appeares hee with such care and paines endevours to match his son with a spouse so much Catholike daughter to so Catholike Parents and hee being the only Heire of his Kingdome against the advice of all the Hereticks
Kings temporall power with some mild interpretations or alterations might be tollerated for his Majesties security Thirdly that the Communion might be administred sub utraque specie Fourthly that the Lyturgie might be officiated in the English tongue These two last articles were for the satisfaction of the people 'T was the great zeale of Canterbury to capitulate for these things to make the entrance of Popery the more smooth at first and this was about the latter end of August or the begining of September 1636. during the residence of Seignior Con and though our Venetian help us not herein yet this is knowne sufficiently and can be averred otherwise neverthelesse we may probably conjecture that what did concerne the King herein should have been really performed so far forth as other Catholike Princes usually injoy and expect as their due and so far as the Bishops were to be independent both from King and Pope which was the maine scope and purpose of the agreement though not mentioned at all in the articles there was no feare of breach on the Popes part but so far as the inferiour Clergie and the people were concerned the after performance it is to be suspected was to be left to the Popes discretion the conditions being onely of temporall advantage rather fit to induce than to confirme Popery This seemes the more likely to be true because of the great facility which was in our Divines to comply with the Papists of their owne accord without any allurements or follicitation at all the Papists were not so backward in walking towards Calvin as the Protestants were hasty in running towards the Pope for even before any Treaty at all or before any Nuntio sent from Rome we had condescended to many popish innovations and alterations both in doctrine and discipline and 't was at our intreaty that any Nuntio was dispatched at all It is not worth while to reckon up here what novelties had been patronized and by whom how far Sparrow had paved the way for auricular confession Watts for penance Heylin for altar-worship Mountague for Saint-worship Laud for the Masse and many others it is not worth while to recite how far the sanctity of the Sabbath was depraved and all strictnesse of life under the scandall of Puritanisme disparaged or how far Arminianisme Socinianisme Atheisme it selfe was countenanced the easier to debosh the Clergie and people and to prepare them for alterations of any kind it having beene observed that to some men irreligion it selfe seemed lesse offensive than the Popish Religion our Venetians owne words are The Vniversities Bishops and Divines of this Realme doe daily imbrace Catholike opinions though they professe it not with open mouth for feare of the Puritanes for example they hold that the Church of Rome is a true Church that the Pope is superiour to all Bishops that to him it appertaines to call generall Councels that it is lawfull to pray for the soules departeds that Altars ought to be erected in summe they believe all that is taught by the Church but not by the Court of Rome In another place he reports the King to be much a favourer of Confession and sayes that by his countenance Catholikes did increase daily At the Councell of Trent all matters concerning the Court of Rome which are of themselves but disputable were determined and enjoyned as points of faith to be believed upon strict paine of damnation but matters of faith indeed concerning the Church of Rome were left disputable and no Anathema annexed to them Now the Court of England having contrary interests in this respect was not so far Popish and therefore Canterbury himselfe would ever professe against these Tridentine Papists whom onely he hated as Papists properly so called Neverthelesse we must not conceive that the English Laytie had been in a condition any whit better or gentler because the King and the Clergie here were so stiffe against the Court of Rome for what the King our great Primate did deny to the Pope it was intended to be reserved in the same rigor to themselves The Papist properly so called in Canterburies sense so much to be abominated was he which maintained a supremacy of the Pope here in England altogether incompatible with the oath of Allegeance and not agreeing with the Archbishops Metropoliticall power Without any Treaty without any difficulty at all all Popery which was not Popery properly so called that is all Popety so far as the people and inferiour Clergie were interessed in it so it did not savour of the Court of Rome nay let it savour of the Court of Rome so it did not derogate any thing from the King in temporalibus or the Archbishops independecy in spiritualibus so far it was acceptable to the Prelates and they would be assisting to recommend or inforce it on all others This was the summe of our reconciliation with Rome 2 Secondly I come now to the two parties which were to be reconciled and they were the Protestants and Papists divided hitherto by the Puritanes our Venetian resolves not onely who are but also what are Protestants and Puritanes both and as for the Papists the third great faction they need no description at all if we desire to know who are Protestants our Venetian tels us They consist of the King the Nobles Titular that is the Court Lords and Gentlemen or such of the Peerage and Gentry as are enobled and raised to more than ordinary favours and honors besides almost all the Prelates and both the Vniversities If we desire to know what it is that denominates them Protestants t is intimated in this that they hate Puritanes more than they hate Papists that they easily combine with Papists to extirpate Puritanes that they are such as have not so ingaged themselves to the Reformed Religion but that they have since set themselves to reduce themselves againe to the old practise of their forefathers that they are only very opinative in excluding the Popes supremacy and by this meanes have occasioned the Catholicks which frequented Protestant Churches for 12 yeares after the Reformation to sequester themselves If we desire to know who are Puritanes He tels us they consist of some Bishops all the Gentry and Communalty and therefore are the most potent of all the three parties If we desire to know what Puritanes are and what is intended in that denomination he tels us They are such as received the discipline of the French and Netherlanders hold not the English Reformation to bee so perfect as that which Calvin instituted at Geneva That they hate Catholick more than they hate Protestants that they would be casily quitted were it not for some great Patrons of theirs at Court who for private ends take them into Protection If this be a true account given as it seemes to me beyond all doubt the greatest part of the Gentry and Communalty of England under the odious terme of Puritanes is to be oppressed and destroyed meerely