quite geven over my Minister for though he had no regard of himself me thinks he might have had more respect for our King then to parallel his Grand-mother with Wallis You must know Reader that Edward the First by his valour conquered Scotland and made all the Nobles swear Fealty to him About Ann. 1300. when all things were thus at quiet up starts Wallis a poore private Gentlemen who though he had distressed the English a while yet never so much as once pretended to the Crown either by Sword or Birth Afterwards he was taken by our King and executed for his Insurrections Is this man then a fit parallel with Mary Stuart owned not only as Queen of Scots abroad but by Queen Elizabeth her self also who often sent and received Embassadors from her with the same state as was used to the King of France or any other Potentate What King Iames and King Charles thought of the action I know not but I wish it had never been done Concerning the other part of his Answer First I did never charge the Kings Murther on any body but those that were the Authors of it he knows best whether he was one of them or no this I am sure of he can falsifie and to use Harrisons words blacken as well as the best of them as you may see all a long and especially in the next Section Secondly I do verily believe that King Charles died a sincere Protestant And lastly I am so far from laying any crime upon the Cavalier Protestants that I think them as brave and as worthy Gentlemen as any Nation bears But this I must say that the English Church though of an honest intention is built upon such Principles that as long as it lasts it will hatch a dissenting brood and these graceless Children upon every advantage will be ready to Rebel This is then the benefit entailed by Hen. 8. Reformation which has as Baker confesses so shaken the Church that it has stood indistraction ever since SECT XIII APOLOGY My Lords and Gentlemen We know who were the Authors of this last abomination and how generously you strove against the raging torrent nor have we any other ends to remember you of it but to show that all Religions may have a corrupted spawn and that God hath been pleased to permit such a Rebellion which our Progenitors never saw to convince you perchance whom for ever may he prosper that Popery is not the only source of Treason ANSWER XIII Here he says since we do know who were the Authors of the Abomination he desires us to be plain for he thinks I have spoke more truth then every man is aware Cardinal Richelieu he says began the Rebellion in Scotland then it broke out in Ireland blest with his Holiness Letters and Nuntio Lastly England we unsettled by giving occasion of jealousies which the Phanaticks made use of for their purposes Besides all this he says the Murther of the King also was agreed on in the Councels of our Clergy and therefore in vain could the Royallists resist the raging Torrent REPLY XIII Lord what blasphemies are here and what a heap of unsorted falsities are put together without any probability or proof Because Richelieu a great Minister of State who intrigued in every Nation is supposed to have dealt with the Presbyterians of Scotland the Papists of England were the cause of the Rebellion This is rare Logick especially every body knowing that fire and water agreed better then those Saints and we I wonder the Papists were not guilty of the dangerous commotion anno 1666 in that Kingdom But this is so ridiculous that I should be more abominable then he if I made more words of it Nor does that great Anti-Papist H. L. in his Reigne of Ch. 1. scruple to write that the Liturgy or Common Prayer was the Originall of the Scotch troubles In the next place if the flame break out in Ireland which Heath a Protestant historian sayes can be noe where more imputable then to the Parliament's unwarantable proceedure against my Lord Strafford we in England are again the cause of it so that if forraign Catholicks or forraign Protestants Rebel still we must be the Authors that never had any correspondence with either of these Nations nor have to this day as all the World sees Well then may this man falsely charge the Pope who is remote when he dares say thus of us who can so easily contradict his calumnies Lastly for England he urges we were the occasion of jealousies and they made the War O ridiculous impudence If the majority of both Houses conspire against the King suggest in open Debates fears of their own hatching and at the same time with all violence persecute Papists yet we are to be blamed and causers of the Commotions Certainly this is like him that cursed the Lord Chancellour because his horse stumbled I am sure many grave men of your Coat Mr. Parson ingenuously confest that it was the Translation of the Bible or the too frequent reading of it by the ignorant which is a consequent of the Translation that caused our disorders Consider now Reader this strange man for if his malice had not exceeded all bounds he would have told you That the Non-conformists took root assoon as the Reformation That Queen Elizabeths prudence kept them a little down That in King James his Reign they grew much stronger and that great Statesmen have often blamed that wise Prince because to keep things quiet in his Reign he occasioned the Tide to rush in with such irresistable force in our late unhappy times Thus was this storm by knowing Pilots foreseen long ago But would not a man now think this Minister had abused us sufficiently No he must yet go farther even The Kings death was agreed to in the Councels of our Clergy Doubtelss he cannot mean our Priests by the word for what did their agreeing signifie more then if the Mayor of Quinborough and his Brethren agreed that the Janizaries should strangle the Grand Seignior Had our Priests any power in England Were they not forced to skulk always in holes and hanged as often as taken I am sure Iesuites Seculars and Friers were executed no Order escaping al being fish that came to net But now I remember my self Mr. Parson pretends to be skilled in Rhetorick and perchance he uses a Trope of his own making that is That because two Negatives make an affirmative or a thing contrary to themselves therefore his four falsities in this one Section shall dubb an irrefragable truth opposite to each single assertion The Ministers meaning then it seems is this That in stead of our being false to the State We have been most intirely faithful to our King and Country Good Reader I must ask you pardon for saying any thing against these vain and groundless cavils seeing the whole World knows that never were men more earnestly Loyal then we Beware therefore of
this man for it was he or some of the like Principles that out of malice against the late King wickedly divulged That his Majesty had underhand caused the Irish Rebellion that he had a mind to bring in Popery and to enslave the Nation had sent for an Outlandish Guard Thus cried the English Rebels against their glorious Prince and thus now invents this Minister Stories to mischief if he can his innocent fellow-Subjects and Country-men And who can be guiltless if assertions without any shadow of proof shall be received against him SECT XIV APOLOGY Little did we think when your Prayers and ours were offered up to beg a blessing on the Kings Affairs ever to see that day in which Carlos Gifford Whitgrave and the Pendrels should be punished by your desires for that Religion which obliged them to save their forlorn Prince and a stigmatized man for his offences against King and Church chief promoter of it Nay less did we imagine that by your Votes Hudlestone might be hanged who again secured our Soveraign and others free in their fat possessions that sat as Juddes and sealed the Execution of that Great Prince of happy Memory ANSWER XIV He says That many of my Church were not of my Party and that if some of them did the King eminent service in the Critical day of danger so did the Protestants too therefore it is not to be ascribed to our Religion Nor is it reasonable to requite particular men by having those Laws abandoned which secure us against as great a danger 'T is barbarity for any Christian but those of our Sect to question his life that exposed it for his Prince or to do this in any age except Queen Maries for then Sir Nich. Throgmorton was so dealt with But the Minister detests such times and such examples and he knows the King will reward deserving persons without trespassing on his Laws Lastly he desires me to be favourable to the stigmatized man whom I do not hate he knows for his offences because the King whom he formerly displeased bears with him for he contributed much against the Phanaticks to his Majesties restauration and would not willingly live to see the Pope turn him out again REPLY XIV What is the meaning of this distinction That many of my Church were not of my Party Have we not been all of the same Party or can there he named a Papist that was not for the King even in te worst of times But Good Mr. Parson have you all this while cut our throats and do you now come with your insignificant flatteries that there were some eminent among us for Loyalty I fear not the worst you can say and for the best I scorn it Did I ever say otherwise then that the Protestants were to be honoured for their wonderful service to the King Was not the Apology directed to them and have I not always declared that his Majesty ows as much to them as ever Prince can owe to Subjects Certainly 't is no lessning of their worth because we did our endeavours and have been fellow-sufferers with them in that Glorious Quarrel I never prest in the Apology to have any particular body exempted We only say there Little did we once think that the necessity of affairs would occasion the Royal Party to advise the punishment of us all and in the crowd those worthy Preservers of the King at Worcester Yet Sir with your permission it were not so unreasonable neither as you would have it for the service of some few to suspend the Laws against a Party You have read I know the Scripture and therefore may remember Mordecay's case who by saving the Kings life not only preserved himself and his Nation from Ruine but obtained also honour and freedom for them all But what do you drive at by Throgmortons usage Will you never leave perverting History or at best betraying your own ignorance First you must know Reader that Throgmorton by none of our Historians is mētioned to have done any service for Queen Mary Yet Hollins head has his trial at large which John Lilburn afterwards copied out to the life where no evasion is omitted and certainly it had been then a fit time to urge merits had he had any But suppose he was as eminent and faithful as Bedin field Jerningham c. Must that excuse a man from being fairly tried for Treason This Sir Nicholas Throgmorton you must know with others was accused as a Conspirator with Wyat for which he had a Tryal and was acquitted by his Jury Why distempered Sir 't is so far from our business that we do earnestly desire in the Apology upon the least offence against the State the Transgressour may die without mercy and this I 'le be bound Col. Carlos and the rest of those brave men shall willingly subscribe But will you worthy Country-man that know his Majesties thoughts so well engage that none of the factious shall murmure at him for rewarding those that have done well Now for the stigmatized I find Mr. Parson you pretend to be very well acquainted with their actions If they have done any thing which God knows is little and not to the hundreth part of their transgression let them thank God for the grace he has given them to do the King at length service but I am sure if they really meant well they would never promote the harassing of a faithful Party till they found them machinating against their Prince I have no particular spleen to any man yet cannot look on those men as either of wit or honesty who needlesly disoblige and who strive with violence to have Christians persecuted for Religion when as they themselves are the first that rail against all mankind if their own Consciences be toucht though it be by the establisht Laws of the Nation SECT XV. APOLOGY We confess we are unfortunate and you just Judges whom with our lives we will ever maintain to be so nor are we ignorant the necessity of affairs made the King and you do things which formerly you could not so much as fancy yet give us leave to say we are still Loyal nay to desire you to believe so and to remember how synonymous under the late Rebellion was the word Papist and Cavalier for there was no Papist that was not deemed a Cavalier nor no Cavalier that was not counted a Papist or at least thought to Popishly affected ANSWER XV. He will pass over our fawning on the Parliament and commending our selves and believes us as we did the Sectaries that called the Cavaliers Papists He wonders why these Royallists should be termed Popishly affected but if the Papists were judged Cavaliers they afterwards were ashamed of it In Ireland whole Armies were up against the King In England some came in voluntarily to serve him but more were hunted into Garrisons it being well known we should bring his Majesty more hatred then service The greatest part of us that
draw them as we see by a hundred years experience into perpetual confusion and discord SECT XXXXI APOLOGY Yet this is a mis fortune we now plainly feel that the longer the late transgressors live the more forgotten are their crimes whilst distance in time calls the faults of our Fathers to remembrance and buries our own allegeance in eternal Oblivion and forgetfulness ANSWER XXXXI We can now allow you to complain and commend your selves without measure having proved already that you do it without cause SECT XXXXII. APOLOGY My Lords and Gentlemen Consider we beseech you the sad condition of the Irish Souldiers now in England the worst of which Nation could be but intentionallie so wicked as the acted villanie of many English whom your admired Clemencie pardoned Remember how they left the Spanish service when they heard their King was in France and kow they forsook the emploiment of that unnatural Prince after he had committed that never to be forgotten act of banishing his distressed Kinsman out of his Dominions These poor men left all again to bring their Monarch to his home and shall they then be forgotten by You Or shall my Lord Douglas and his brave Scots be left to their shifts who scorn'd to receive Wages of those that have declared War against England ANSWER XXXXII. He says That to swell our Bill of Merits I take in the Irish and Scotish Souldiers as if they were a part of English Catholicks and as if I were the first that thought of them God forbid he says they should not be considered and he is neither good Christian no nor good Subject that would not contribute his proportion to it But he says I have a drift in mentioning the Irish for I mingle them with the worst of that Nation namely with those infamous Butchers that cut the throats of at least an hundred thousand Protestants It was so black an action that I knew not how to mention it in its proper place viz. after the French massacre because I had not wherewith to colour it but being still conscious it was a blot on our cause I thought fit to place it here that these brave men might mend the hue of the action He says further I deal as ill with the English Royallists by affirming they pardoned many English whose acted villanies were so wicked that the worst of the Irish could be but intentionally so wicked REPLY to ANSW XXXXII. Pray Reader consider the wicked folly of this man for here he denies us a part in the good actions of the Irish and yet all along he has laid their ill actions at our door nay in this very Paragraph he twits us with it when he says I was conscious it was a blot on our cause but I will pass by this as usual and go on Truly Reader the case of the Irish in Arms toucht me as neer as my own concerns and pray see the strange Hypocrisie also of this Minister that says God forbid these poor Souldiers should not be considered and that he is neither good Christian nor Subject that would not contribute to it and yet in the same exhortation endeavours all he can to have the Laws executed which must needs force these forlorn men either to beg or steal By this we may find what his contribution is and therefore God deliver all honest men from such a merciless creature and was ever man so abominable knowing many of the Kings Judges were pardoned to reproach my assertion that the worst of this Nation be but intentionally so wicked as the acted villany of many English whom the clemencie of the Parliament pardoned Is not this in plain terms to say that the business of Ireland was greater then the Rebellion of England and horrid Murther of our Gratious King which has drawn an eternal disgrace upon the whole Nation in general If this man who uses the word US at every turn ranking himself thereby among the Royallists be a Royallist then I 'll hereafter say that Bradshaw was one also SECT XXXXIII APOLOGY How commonly is it said That the Oath of renouncing their Religion is intended for these which will needs bring this loss to the King and you that either you will force all of our Faith to lay down their Arms though by experience of great integrity and worth or else if some few you retain they are such whom Necessity has made to swear against Conscience and therefore will certainly betray you when a greater advantage shall be offered By this test then you can have none but whom with caution you ought to shun and thus must you drive away those that truly would serve you for had they the least thought of being false they would gladly take the advantage of gain and pay to deceive you ANSWER XLIII He asks me who are said to intend this Oath if it be those that have no Authority 't is frivolous if such as have Authority 't is false and he farther says that he verily believes 't was never said thought nor wisht by any one that loved either the King or Peace of the Nation REP. to ANS XLIII The Minister is here just as he uses to be for many were upon this account disbanded before he put out his Answer and since all the rest of the Catholiques have been cashiered as 't was expected by every body when he writ SECT XLIV APOLOGY We know your wisdom and generosity and therefore cannot imagine such a thing Nor do we doubt when you shew favour to these but you will use mercy to us who are both fellow-Subjects and your own flesh and blood also If you forsake us we must say the world decays and its final transmutation must needs quickly follow ANSWER XLIV Here you imagine for the Souldiers and imagine for your self and as if you really thought your self in danger you begg for mercy of the Royallists in such words as your Predecessor the first Moderator used to the Rebels Only for the last strain we do not know that any one hit upon it before nor do believe that any one will ever use it again SECT XLV APOLOGY Little do you think the insolencies we shall suffer by Committee-men c. whom chance and lot has put into petty power Nor will it chuse but grieve you to see them abused whom formerly you loved even by the Common Enemy of us both ANSWER XLV It seems Committee-men are intrusted with his Majesties Authority or none must use it against Papists for fear of being accounted Committee-men It is time to have done when we are come to the dregs of your Rhetorick SECT XLVI APOLOGY When they punish how will they triumph and say Take this poor Romanists for your love to Kingship and again this For your long doating on the Royal Party all which you shall receive from us Commissioned by your dearest friends and under this Cloak we will glady vent our private spleen and malice ANSWER XXXXVI Sir though you set your self to
A REPLY TO THE ANSVVER OF THE CATHOLIQVE APOLOGY Or a cleere vindication of the Catholiques of England from all matter of fact charg'd against them by their Enemyes M. DC LXVIII PREFACE TO ALL THE ROYALLISTS that suffered for HIS MAJESTY AND To all the rest of the Good People of ENGLAND My Lords and Gentlemen IF formerly the English Catholiques by their Apology did in treat your Intercession to our Gratious Monarch in suspending the execution of those severities then proclaimed I a member of that faithful Body must now beseech your Iustice against the malice of a Parson who not only strives to oppress the Loyal but also by the inferences of his Discourse would stifle hereafter zeal and mitigate if he could the fire that resides in the breasts of all generous Subjects Can any thing touch men of Honour more then after the loss of so many Lives and Estates insultingly to have it said It was but your Duty Nay to go yet farther even in a barbarous falsity that Necessity only forc'd us to what we did and that at all times you would rather far have had our room then Company What Preacher preacht this in the days of old Or who told us when Cromwel lived Be gone you are no friends to Caesar It was our Duty I confess and a Duty which no good man can refuse his Soveraign neither shall we ever be shockt in the fervour of it by the Doctrine of such a Rabby The reason why I now take up the Gantlet of this Goliah is to shew the candour of our Actions being yet purer then his words are black which though many could do far better then I yet here I appear challenged into the List as Author of the late Apology Author I can call my self if plain words may create that Title but the Duty and Submission is the sence of the whole Catholique Party and for the matter of Fact Books are the preservers of it which will for ever record our Innocence in despite of such detraction and calumny A Jesuit the Minister is pleas'd to call me though I had not the happiness to be bred in their learned Schools but the trick of this poor man plainly appears that thus he hopes to make Truth it self suspected because by the Preaching of such Pastors the ignorant as children consider Sarazens have most fond Ideas of the Society and of all Priests in general My Lords and Gentlemen Before I go any farther I think it most necessary to tell you what moved me to write that Pamphlet which wken you have well weighed you will find in the intention perchance that Piety which is usually lodged in an English Heart and that you may assure your selves of the sincerity of my thoughts Know that if my Arm was too weak to weild a Sword in the late just War I had then a passion to wish my years greater But though I thus lost the Honour of laying my life at the feet of the injured Father I had yet the satisfaction to hazard it for the Son even before and since his happy Restauration For my neer Relations they all suffered in the Common Cause which as it brought death to some so to others the sale of their cōsiderable Estates and the best Fortune that any could expect was to be crowded into the dreadful List for Cōposition I am sure my zeal to the Royal Family has been as forward to my power as the best more then which no body certainly can do nor have I ever been farther Satyrical against those that stand at Helm then by innocently saying We Catholiques are always most unfortunate This is the Profession I have lived in and in the same loyal Faith will I end my days Doubtless then I could have no sinister design in publishing the Apology the good end I had let the World consider My first Motive was the Law of Nature which gives the Needy leave to call for Mercy nor was there at any time a Nation so cruel that ever yet denied this favour Could there be a more frightful sight then to see the whole English World on a sudden point and cry Fie on them Fie on them What scoffing Blasphemies did the Seditious utter How did Tenants begin to confront their Landlords Nay omitting several insolencies of the Rabble I knew some Justices by reason of private spleen to their Neighbours seize on a Servant threatning his commitment unless he made Oath what his Master daily did Thus then in a trice we became an Eye-sore to our Friends and a by-word among the Common Ennemies But now my Minister will nimbly demand Is not this accusing the King and blaming the whole Parliament for their Advice and Counsel To which I answer first with the great Embassador of Heaven God forbid Nor is it possible for a man who would hazard whatever is dear to him on Earth for the glory of his Country to harbour such thoughts against lawful and just Authority Pray Master Parson let me ask you Whether Laws in all places are executed by inferiour Officers according to the intent of the Legislator Remember Sir the infinitely wise Bill of purging Corporations and you will find how private revenge converted it into quite another thing This is a Flayl against which perchance no wisdom can make defence but nevertheless 't is Vineger and may force a shriek from the opprest without offence to Government My Lords and Gentlemen I do with all submission acknowledge that Counsellors especially the Supream may advise their Soveraign to put Laws in force without giving a reason to the Publick and moreover I do farther say that it was mercy that they were till then suspended yet it is no crime even when they are revived humbly to beg for favour And to illustrate this consider I beseech you an Example Imagine that his Majesty being returned an honest Cavalier was restored to his House which with two parts of his Lands lay round about a City the prime Jewel in the Royal-Diadem Here the good man sitting now under his own vine daily blesses God for the happiness of the Nation and here each moment he conceives fresh joys by considering how superlative his late sufferings were If now on a sudden both Houses upon mature deliberation should beseech his Majesty to make use of old Laws to new fortifie this his most considerable place which consequently would destroy this Subjects Estate no body I think could wonder to see him amazed and troubled Suppose then to diuert this ruine the poor mā should beseech his friends to intercede should shew his sufferings should urge reasons that his house would be a strength to the Town and that the Kings Enemies have certainly some bad design by his calamity For all this the Prince is no way necessitated to grant his request Because reasons which seem strong to a Party concerned may yet in themselves be frivolous when they are weighed by judgments who know far better the state of things
Rebellion though many of the Reformed Divines are as I shal shew you of another sentiment Yet even those that do agree with me will nevertheless confess that by reason of carnal passions Grace must be predominant to resist so strong a torrent Was it not strange in the beginning to behold Abbies destroyed Bishopricks gelded Chanteries Hospitals and Colledges turned to profane uses Nay after a change of Liturgies and Rites to see people renounce their pious Vows and out of Godliness grow more licentious and loose These and the like unexpected alterations it being a pitiful thing as Stow says to hear the lamentations in the Country for Religious houses spurred men forward to resist for people saw the Conflagration and none knew in what it would determine or end But now Noble Country-men the Scene is quite altered for now we know the full scope of your designe now we are inured to the gentle Yoak of Protestant Kings and now we are so incorporated by our long acquaintance and joynt sufferings that all humane proneness to contend which our Enemies called Principles of Faith is wholly eradicated and taken away Having thus shew'd you that our Principles are not dangerous to Kings that our actions have been zealous for Kings and moreover that it is impossible we should again fall into those misdemeanours into which natural frailtie and misusage drove the foregoing age I will now with your permission examine the Answer of our Minister to each particular Paragraph and by it shall still farther let you see as well his pernicious ill nature as his detestable Positions and Designes But my Lords and Gentlemen I shall beseech you first throughly to peruse the Apologie it self it being the ground of the whole Dispute and because it hath been mangled by him into many imperfect Sections I have thought fit to print it here entire to the end you might run it over with the more ease and that by the whole connexion and dependance which mutilation spoils you may the better consider the real integritie I had in putting out that true and submissive Vindication TO ALL THE ROYALLISTS that suffered for HIS MAJESTY AND To all the rest of the Good People of ENGLAND The Humble APOLOGIE of the ENGLISH CATHOLICKS My Lords and Gentlemen THe Arms which Christians can use against Lawful Powers in their Severity are only Prayers Tears Now since nothing can equal the infinity of those we have shed but the Cause viz. to see our dearest Friends forsake us we hope it will not offend you if after we have a little wip'd our eyes we sigh out our Complaints to you We had spoken much sooner had we not been silent through consternation to see you so enflam'd whom with reverence we honour and also to shew our submissive patience which used no slights or tricks to divert the debates of Parliament For no body can imagine where so many of the great Nobility and Gentry are concern'd but something might have been done whenas in all ages we see things of Publick advantage by the managers dexterity nipt in the bud even in the very Houses themselves Far be it from Catholicks to perplex Parliaments who have been the Founders of their Priviledges and all Ancient Lawes Nay Mâgna Charta it self had its rise from us which we do the less boast of since it was not at first obtained in so submiss and humble manner We sung our Nunc dimittis when we saw our Master in his Throne and you in your deserved Authority and Rule nor could any thing have ever grieved us more then to have our Loyalty called into Question by you even at the instigation of our greatest Adversaries If we must suffer let it be by you alone for that 's a double death to men of Honour to have their Enemies not onely Accusers but their insulting Judges also These are they that by beginning with us murthered their Prince and wounded you And shall the same Method continue by your approbation We are sure you mean well though their designe be wicked But let it never be recorded in Story that you forgot your often Vows to us in joyning with them that have been the cause of so great calamity to the Nation Of all Calumnies against Catholicks we have admired at none so much as that their Principles are said to be inconsistent with Government and they themselves thought ever prone to Rebellion My Lords and Gentlemen Had this been a new Sect not known before something perchance might have been doubted but to lay this at their doors that have governed the Civilized World is the Miracle of Miracles to us Did Richard the First or Edward Longshanks suspect his Catholicks that served in Palestine and made our Countries Fame big in the Chronicle of all Ages Or did they mistrust in their dangerous absence their Subjects at home because they were of this Profession Could Edward the Third imagine those to be Trayterous in their Doctrine that had that care and duty for their Prince as to make them by Statute guilty of death in the highest degree that had the least thought of ill against the King Be pleased that Henry the Fifth be remembred also who did those Wonders of which the whole World does still resound and certainly all History will agree in this that 't was Old Castle he feared and not those that believed the Bishop of Rome to be Head of the Church We will no longer trouble you with putting you in minde of any more of our mighty Kings who have been feared abroad and as safe at home as any since the Reformation of Religion We shall onely adde this that if Popery be the enslaving of Princes France still believes it self as absolute as Denmark or Sweden nor will ever the House of Austria abjure the Pope to secure themselves of the fidelity of their Subiects We shall always acknowledge to the whole World that there have been as many brave English in this last Century as in any other place whatsoever Yet since the exclusion of the Catholick Faith there has been that committed by those who would be fain called Protestants that the wickedest Papist never dreamt of 'T was never heard of before that an absolute Queen was condemned by Subjects and those stiled her Peers or that a King was publickly tried and executed by his own people and servants My Lords and Gentlemen We know who were the Authors of this last Abomination and how generously you strove against the raging Torrent nor have we any other ends to remember you of it but to shew that all Religions may have a corrupted spawn and that God hath been pleased to permit such a Rebellion which our progenitors never saw to convince you perchance whom for ever may he prosper that Popery is not the only Source of Treason Little did we think when your Prayers and ours were offered up to beg a Blessing on the Kings Affairs ever to see that
all was done in the dark nor would they ever own otherwise then that they dyed without violence For t was given out that the death of the first of these Princes came by extreame Griefe That the other Starved himselfe and that the last died of a Naturall sicknesse But the execution of the Queen of Scots was bare-fac'd in the sight of the World and which was more under the cloak of Law My Lord of Leicester was sensible of the dishonour that would accrew to the Nation and therefore sent Walsinhham a godly Divine to satisfie his conscience that it was lawful to poyson her but the Minister could no more convince his penitent then the Saints could Harrison about the clandestine Murther of the Grandchild And doubtless the whole intrigue against Q. Mary gave precedent and boldness to our execrable Parricides openly to do their detestable villany in a formal method and manner This procedure against the Queen contrary as 't was imagined to the Law of Nations she being both a Guest and an absolute Princess drew an universal odium upon the Kingdom for the Reproach was entailed on the whole nation by the apparition of a mimicall and Counterfeit justice as Osborne call's it nor did any Englishman either Papist or Protestant ever misse to be upbraided with it abroad till the greatness of the abomination against King Charles made them leave off a little speaking of the first to remember us more piquantly of the last Is it to excuse the two unheard of 〈◊〉 that he tell me of four or five Kings since the Conquest made away by Papists It may be it is that I should again retort that since Hen. 8. Reign there were but b four Protestestant Monarchs and three of them were said to come to violent deaths But what is Ravillac's murther of Hen. 4. to us in England more then to Saxony the poysoning of Edw. 6. by the Lord Robert Dudly for so Sir Richard Baker conceives he hid I know Clement the Frier destroyed Hen 3. so did Judas his Master and yet neither the Disciples nor Christian Religion were ever thought the worse for it For the Murther of the Protestants in IrelaÌ„d I shew'd you in the beginning how we detested it CoÌ„cerning the Blood spilt in FraÌ„ce I shall speak at large in the Paragraph about that Massacre But I wonder the PiemoÌ„thusiness should be unged by Royallist for I remeÌ„ber when CroÌ„wel made a CollectioÌ„ for theÌ„ in pretence but for himself in reality the Cavaliers ever stiled them Rebels and said the Duke of Savoy was necessitated for his quiet to subdue them thus by Arms. Yet for all their hard usage I wish we had as much freedome as they Now for Queen Maries Reign which this man so often calls the Bloody days I will here speak a little eternally to stop his mouth hereafter First Reformed Historians agree that the Queen her self was a marveillous good woman therefore it was not she but her Bishops that were cruel Again every Englishman knows that no man can be put to death amongst us without Law therefore they were not the Bishops but the Laws that were cruel which Laws still continue and have been made use of since the Reformation by Q. Elez. K. â—ames to burne Hereticks Yet for all these Laws there died of Protestants in the whole but 277. as Baker and other Protestant Writers record Besides were these 277. now alive 200. at least in stead of pity would be thrown into prison and there rot for Non-conformists but all things were called Saints in the dawning of the light even so much as Collins and his dog for Fox in his Act 's and Monuments say's that Collins beeing mad and seeing a Priest hold up the Host to the people tooke a dog and held it up as the Priest did the Host for wch he and the dog were burnt Yet though this Collins be own'd by Fox to be mad never the less he places him as a Martyr on the 10. of Octob. as may be seen in his Calendar In the next place let me know whether a man may be executed for this Tenets in Religion or no If it be lawful why might not Papists put to death men who they thought deserved it as well as Protestants If no man ought to suffer for his Conscience why did Edward 6. and Q. Eliz. condemn so many Hereticks in their time all which were executed but some few that recanted and so saved their lives Or why did K. James put to death Legat and Wightman but because he religiously thought it was unfit they should longer live to blaspheme Over and above these that died for a Religion of their own making I saw a Roll at Doway wherein to the year 1632. there suffered out of that one House 105. Priests since which there died many out of the same Colledge Add to these many out of the Portugal Spanish and Roman Seminaries many of other Orders and many Laymen also who have been executed for owning the Pope in Spirituals or for having a Priest say Mass in their Houses according to the obligation of their Consciences If these were then all numbred I am sure there suffered many more Catholicks omitting the innumerable Confiscations by the Protestant Government then ever there did Protestants by the Catholick Nay if together with Catholicks I should reckon all sorts of people that died for their Conscience though enemyes to Popery which may be found in Fox Stow and others in the Reignes of Hen. 8. Ed. 6. and Queen Elizabeth it is evident there has been more Blood spilt on a Religious account under our Princes that disowned the Pope then by the Papists from St. Augustins Conversion to Luthers time Iudge then if Catholicks be so bloody as they are reported and thought SECT XII APOLOGY 'T was never heard of before that an absolute Queen was condemned by Subjects and those stiled her Peers or that a King was publiquely tried and executed by his own people and servants ANSWER XII Here he says That the Q. of Scots was beheaded under Elizabeth by the same colour of right that Wallis suffered under Edw. 1. whom I call he says a brave Prince namely that of Soveraignty which our Princes challenged over Scotland but that King James and King Charles never imputed this to Q. Elizabeths Religion Concerning King Charles's Murther he says that I would take it ill a Turk should charge the Ministers faults and his Parties upon me but I do worse then a Turk in charging these mens faults upon the Protestants for the Murtherers were neither then nor since of the Ministers Communion He sayes King Charles declared he died for the Protestant Religion and Laws of the Land that also in his Letter to the Prince he says none of the Rebels were Professors or Practicers of the Church of England which gives no such Rules REPLY XII Nay now I have
next for the Church of England is no Manna to relish in every palate and some wise men also think that a man may do very well though he has little Disputes with this his holy Mother Why does this Gentleman say we never knew the Laws executed I am sure there have died by these Laws at least 300 Priests besides Laymen and how often we have been rackt in prison and how infinitely our Estates have suffered for our Consciences no body I think is ignorant But I hope the brave people of England will intercede for us to his Majesty that since he the Messiah only expectation of the Nation is come we may not feel in his days what we suffered under Cromwel even by virtue of those Acts which have been formerly made Nor could Osborn a Protestant in his Memoires chuse but confess That against the poor Catholiques nothing in relation to the generality remains upon due proof sufficient to justifie the severity of the Laws daily enacted put in execution against them SECT XXI APOLOGY It has been often urged that our misdemeanours in Queen Elizabeths and King James's time were the cause of our punishment ANSWER XXI Your misdemeanors we cry you mercy if they were no more but that comes next to be argued whether they were misdemeanors or Treasons REPLY XXI Reader This is the subtlest Sophister that I ever met with for before this distinction I never knew but that Treasons were misdemeanors and therefore I think the word misdemeanour is not improper SECT XXII APOLOGY We earnestly wish that the Party had had more patience under that Princess But pray consider though we excuse not their faults whether it was not a harder Question then that of Yorck and Lancaster the cause of a War of such length and death of so many Princes who had most right Queen Elizabeth or Mary Stuart For since the whole Kingdom had crowned and sworn Allegeance to Queen Mary they owned her as the legitimate daughter to Henry the Eighth and therefore it was thought necessarily to follow by many that if Mary was the true Child Elizabeth was the Natural which must needs give way to the thrice-noble Queen of Scots ANSWER XXII He says that I wish the Catholicks had had more patience under Q. Elizabeth but he thinks they needed none for in the first ten years of her Reign though what the Papists had done in Queen Maries time was fresh in memory none of them fuffered death till the Northern Rebellion raised against her meerly upon the account of her Religion 't was she then that was persecuted and had occasion for patience and therefore I should have wisht them more Loyalty But it appears I account Rebellion no fault in saying 't was a hard Question whether the right lay in Queen Elizabeth or the Queen of Scots because many thought Queen Elizabeth illegitimate Here he asks Who thought so Or when the Question arose For says he First Archbishop Heath a Papist said in his Speech no body could doubt the justness of her Title Secondly the Kings of France Spain and the Emperour offered Marriage to her and thereby hoped to get the Crown Thirdly the Queen of Scots and King James acknowledged her and claimed nothing but to be her Heirs and Successours Then he tells that Paul the Fourth was the First that questioned her Title because the Kingdom being a Fee of the Papacy she had audaciously assumed it without his leave and secondly because she was illegitimate But his Successour Pius the Fourth would have owned her if she would have owned him which because she would not the next Pope Pius V. issued out his Bulls and deposed her not for Bastardy but for being a Protestant upon which the Northern-men and others of her Subjects rebelled and were every foot plotting against her 'T is true he says the Queen of Scots Title was pretended but he demands what would we have done if that Queen had not been Catholick or Queen Elizabeth not thought illegitimate He proceeds That Gregory the Thirteenth had occasion to consider this having a Bastard of his own and another of the Emperours to provide for to the first of which he gave Ireland and sent Stukely to win it for him and to the other England with leave to win it for himself But what was this to the Q. of Scots who he says might perhaps have been preferred to marry one of them upon condition her son Iames might have nothing to do with the Succession For when she was dead and her right in King Iames Sixtus V. not only took no notice of him but curst Queen Elizabeth again and gave her Kingdom to Philip the Second of Spain Pope Clement the Eighth seeing he could do no good upon Queen Elizabeth to take care another Heretick should not succeed her sent his Breves both to Clergy and Layity forbidding them to admit any but a Catholique to the Succession though never so neer in blood which was in plain words to exclude King James so that the Popes never stuck at the hard question And now he asks What our Country men did or suffered for it And answers himself that they acted for the Papal interest making use of the House of Scotland only for a cloak while the Title was in Queen Mary but when it was in King James none of them stirred or suffered for it yet they were not idle but as busie as Bees in contriving to hasten Queen Elizabeths death and to put him by the Succession To prove this he urges the Spanish Invasion presently after his Mothers death negotiated and defended by Papists That the Jesuites procured Huntly to rebel in Scotland That they persuaded the Earl of Darby to set up a Title to the Crown of England which he revealing was poysoned soon after as Hesket had threatned him That when their single shot failed F. Parsons gave a broad-side to the Royal House of Scotland in a Book published under the name of Doleman setting up divers Competitors and to provide a sure Enemy he found a Title for the Earl of Essex to whom he dedicated the Book being the most ambitious and popular man in the Nation But the the Book he says prefers the Title of the Infanta before all others Then he concludes from this his Discourse in which he says nothing material can be denied that it appears That this hard Question was not between the Parties themselves in one of whom we confess the right was For the Pope easily resolved it who denied both sides of the Question assuming the right to himself and as concerning the English Catholiques he says they sided with the Pope against Queen Elizabeth and Queen of Scots also and lastly that their misdemeanours were inexcusable Treasons if any Treasons befriended by such an Apologist can be inexcusable REPLY 22. 'T is strange to me that I must be denied the liberty which all people else have No man is forbid to declare their pretensions
followed the method of his Predecessors and would have continued it had not the barbarous usage of the Queen of Scots provok'd him to an Excommunication and all hostile endeavours His Bull I know speaks not of Bastardy in plain terms yet with our Ministers good leave the Pope in that very Bull calls our late Queen Mary Legitimate which saying was as much against Q. Elizabeth as if he had spoken in a bolder phrase For as I urged before my Lord Bacon says That the Legitimations of Q. Mary and Queen Elizabeth were incompatible In this manner the Popes acknowledged her and for the Marriages which were offered her to very much purpose forsooth urged by the Minister from forreign Monarchs it proves no more right then that Mrs. Cleypole had been truly our Queen if France Spain or the Emperor had made love to her and I believe no body doubts but Suiters would have flockt had she been unmarried and sole Heir to her Father Though Gregory XIII sent to invade Ireland and Sixtus V. gave England to the Spaniards yet I do not see that this can touch us Catholicks in the least though the Minister thinks it a mighty Argument For if the French King may invade St. Christophers or any part of our Dominions without drawing the Name of Villain on him or his people Why may not the Pope being a Temporal Prince send forces to subdue what Country he pleases The Bishop of Munster for his smart endeavours against the Hollanders was never blamed but on the contrary commended by us and certainly the Pope is as absolute and as good a man as he Kings you see may fall upon their Neigbours themselves and without breach of Morality incite others to do the like and while Popes are free Princes they cannot be reproach'd for using that liberty without great partiality and malice This Minister foolishly handles all things and you may see his intent is only to make a noise for 't is no advantage in our present Dispute to him to shew what Kingdoms Popes over-run or give away That which he ought to prove was That it is Article of Faith amongst us to assist the Pope in every such invasion or Gift That this is not so you may plainly see for one fifth of the Turks Army are of his Christian Subjects and yet none of them are ever blamed as heritiques for defending the grād Seigniors Territories In the next place whē was it heard that any English Catholick was fain to do pennance like an accurst persō for assisting the Queen against the Spanish Invasion for there was no◠Papist then in England for the Spaniard Or who in Ireland in her Reign thought himself given to the Divel for fighting against San Joseph who came for the Kingdom upon his Holiness account For the Bishop of Armath confesses The English Papists in Ireland were faithfull in all the invasions by Spaine or Pope Now whether Pope or Spaniard intended after Conquest to restore the Kingdom to the Queen of Scots or her Heirs I know not but this I am sure of that 't was as probable as that the Hollanders who were assisted by the Arms of some Caualiers and the good wishes of us all would have given King Charles the Second possession of England had they got it from the Rump If Clement the Eighth earnestly strove that Queen Elizabeths Successours should be Catholiques I suppose no body can blame him for it but I would fain have it shewed me that King James's admission to the Crown a Protestant from his Childhood was opposed by the Catholiks of this Kingdom If they stickled not after his Mothers death for him as they did for her this answer is sufficient That he was not used like her nor did he for fear of prejudicing his future admittance ever desire any body to stir in his behalf I suppose Reader you wonder why I should challenge any man to shew me how the English Catholicks opposed King James his Succession when as this Minister tells us out of Cambden That the Papists negotiated the Spanish Invasion That afterwards they perswaded the Earl of Darby to pretend to the Crown That Doleman alias Parsons writ in the behalf of the Infanta's Title and to conclude his Accusation de declares That the Catholicks of Scotland Huntly and others raised a powerful Rebellion against this Prince First Concerning the Invasion the Minister says more then the Author himself whom he quotes for Cambden only says that some English Fugitives did promote it and who knows not that Fugitives in all ages and in all Religions machinate against those whom they call their Oppressors and on the other side who is ignorant that many Papists more considerable far then a few fugitive Priests for most of the chiefest were so assisted the Kingdom in that War and in all its other contests abroad Secondly If some of these Fugitives did perswade my Lord of Darby it was I say again done like Fugitives nor had they ever the consent of the Catholiques for it It was certainly a very rediculous Plot in them to make a Protestant Nobleman that had so poor a Title their Soveraign and if it were really designed It must I am sure have been performed by the Protestants themselves for the Papists had no power not being able so much as to set up the Qu. of Scots who had so plausible a right though they wanted not the assistance of the Pope Spaniard and all the Guisard Faction And by the way this Earle was not poison'd as the Minister would have it for Stow has a Diary and the Particulars of his sicknesse and say's The causes of all his deseases were thought by Phisitians partly a surfet and partly distempering himselfe with vehement excercise 4. days togeather in Easter weeke Thirdly For Dolemans Book who writ it God knows Parsons denied it at his death and I believe he was not the Authour because in some of his works he speaks so much to the advantage of K. James Moreover he was a man of far more wit then to write so foolish a thing for was not that man strangely simple that would dedicate his Book to my L. of Essex as the Minister would have it to prick forward an ambitious man and yet the whole matter of the Treatise is to prefer the Infanta's Title before all persons whatsoever But Reader if this kind of arguing be lawful that the errours of some unknown men must be laid to a whole Party how miserable would the Protestants themselves be when we come to try them by the same Touchstone I will not stoop to so mean and insignificant a Topick but tell you what Protestants still alive can testifie viz That in the latter end of the Queens Reing My Lord of Hertfords Title was often cried up to Tumult in the streets Nor had that a slight impression he being esteemed next to the Stuarts in blood on many a wellmeaning man
been struck at but that the Bishops and Church of EnglaÌ„d felt also the blow and how much Episcopacy is advaÌ„tageous to Monarchy none can be now ignorant Who therefore My Lords and Gentlemen will be so little pitied as you if you should be twice deceived after the same method and maÌ„ner But to conclude no Kingdom I dare say looses-so much as ours by their cry against Catholicks for 't is very certainly true were not this a Bar and he who doubts it will soon be convinc'd let him step but beyond Sea that the Spanish Provinces in the NetherlaÌ„ds and for a small matter with their Kings consent as his case lately stood would joyfully put themselves under the gentle yoak of our easie Government nor are they in Normandy shie to say that had not Papists been so harrassed with us they would not have slipt so many late oportunities of returning to their Lawful Duke and Soveraign FINIS REader I hope this ImpressioÌ„ will be better theÌ„ the last which was very falsely printed For the Printer not only Italicated where he should not and omitted it where he should but also left out some words and changed others as if there had been a private correspondency betweene my Adversary and him for soe I le assure yow I am informed The only alteration I make is putting the Citations out of the Margent into the body of the treatise for I found that it distracted or at least much interupted the Reader in often running from one place to another especially if what I quoted were long I have also added to the list more Catholiques of quality that lost their lives for the King The names I receiv'd from some Ladyes of their Relations who are now become Religious at Paris I have plac't them by themselves after all to put the Readers in mind that they forgett not to insert also those whom hereafter they shall have notice of and had I time to send to friends I doubt not but the increase would be considerable A CATOLOGUE OF THOSE CATHOLICKS THAT DIED AND SVFFERED FOR THEIRE LOYALTY THe Earl of Carnarvan slain at Newbury first Battle Lord Viscount Dunbar at Scarborough and two of his sons much wounded Knights Sir John Smith Banneret who rescued the Kings Standard from the Rebels at Edgâ—il slain at Alresford in Hampshire Sir John Cansfield wounded at Neubury of which he died a lingring death Sir Hen. Gage Governour of Oxford slain at Collumbridge 11. Jan. 1644. Sir J. Digby wounded at Taunton and died at Bridgewater Sir P. Brown wounded at Naseby died at Nortbampton Sir Nich. Fortescue Knight of Malta slain in Lancashire Sir Troylus Turbervil Captain-Lieut of the Kings Life-Guard slain upon his Majesties marching from Newark to Oxford Sir J. Preston wounded at Furnace of which he died a lingring death Sir Arthur Aston Gouvernour of Redâ—ling slain at Tredaugh in cold blood Sir Thomas Tildesly slain at Wiggan Sir HeÌ„ry Slingsby beheaded on Towerhill Colonels Col. Th. Howard son of the Lord William Howard slain at Peirsbridge Col. Tho. Howard son of Sir Francis at Atherton-Moor The gaining which Battle was principally ascrib'd to his Valour Col. Tho. Morgan of Weston in Warwicksh slain at Newb. first battle he raised a Regiment of Horse for the King at his own charge and his Estate was given to Mr. Pyms son Col. Cuthbert Conniers at Malpass Col. Tho. Dalton of Thurnham mortally wounded at Newbury second battle and died at Marlborough Col. Francis Hungate slain at Chester Col. Poor Governour of Berkley-Castle neer Lidney Col. Will. Ewre son to the late Lord Ewre at Marston-Moor Col. Ra. Pudsey at Marston-Moor Col. Cuthert Clifton slain at Manchester Col. Cassey Bental at Stow in the Wolds Col. Trollop slain at Wiggan Col. William Bains at Malpass Col. William Walton at Tredagh Col. Rich. Manning at Alresford Lieut. Colonels Lieut. Col. Thomas Markham of Allerton slain neer Gainsborough L. Col. Lancelot Holtby at Branceford L. Col. Haggerston at Preston L. Col. Pavier at Linc. L. Col. Jordan Metham at Pontefract L. Col John Godfrey at Tewksbury L. Col. George Preston at Bradford L. Col. Will. Houghton at Newbury Lieut. Col. Phil. Howard slain at Chester L. Col. Middleton at Hopton-Heath L. Col. Michael Constable there also L. Col. Sayr at Nasby L. Col. Scot at Alresford L. Col. Thomas Salvin at Alresford L. Col. Richard Brown at Alresford L. Col. Goodridge wounded at Alresford and died at Oxford L. Col. Congrave slain at Dean in Gloucest Serjeant-Majors Major Cusand slain at the taking of Basing in cold blood Major Rich. Harborn wounded at Malpass dy'd at Kendal Major T. Vavasor slain at Marston-Moor Maior Panton wounded at Cover dy'd at Highmeadow Major Hudleston slain at York Maj. Thomas Ewre at Newbury 1. Major Lawrence Clifton at Shelfordhouse Maior Thomas Heskith at Malpass Maj. William Leak at Newbury 1. Maj. Rively wounded at Naseby dy'd prisoner at London Maj. Richard Sherburn at London Maj. Holmby at Henly Major Rich. Norwood slain before Taunton Captains Captain Marmaduke Constable Standardbâ—â—rer to L. Gen. Lindsey slain at Edgehill Capt. Wil. Laborn and Cap. Mat. Anderton at Sheriff-hutton in Yorkshire Capt. Joseph Constable at Newbury Captain Wiburn slain at Basing in oold blood Capt. Burgh slain at Cover Capt. Thurston Anderton wounded at Newbury died at Oxford Cap. Haggarston eldest son of Sir Thomas in Lancashire Cap. Anthony Rigby at Bazing-house Capt. Richard Bradford at Bazing-house Capt. Kenelm Digby eldest son of Sir Kenelm Digby raised a Troop of Horse at his own charge and was slain at St. Neotes Capt. Ratcliff Houghton at Preston Capt. Rob. Molineux of the Wood in Lancashire slain at Newbury 1. Capt. Charl. Thimelby at Worcester Capt. Robert Townsend at Edge-hill Captain Matthew Ratcliff neer Henly Capt. Richard Wolsole at Newbury Capt. Anthony Awd Capt. Thomas Cole at Newark Capt. Partison at Wiggan Capt. Maximil Nelson at Marston-moor Capt. Fran. Godfrey slain at Sherburn Capt. Tho. Meynel at Pontefract Capt. John Clifton at Shelford-house Capt Abraham Lance. Capt. Robert Lance at Rowton in Chesh. Capt. Anth. Hamerton neer Manchester Capt. Will. Symcots Capt. Lieut. to the Lord Piercy slain at Newberry 1. Capt. Tho Singleton at Newberry 1. Captain Francis Errington of Denton in Northumberland at Rotheran Captain George Singleton at Rotheran Capt. Mich. Fitzakerly at Liverpool Capt. Daniel Thorold at Nasby Capt. Franc. Clifton at Newberry 1. Capt. John Lance at Islip Capt. George Cassey at Hereford Capt. Langdale at Greekhovel in Wales Capt. Carver in Monmouthshire Capt. John Lingen Ledbury Capt. Samways at Newberry 2. Captain John Plumton slain at York Capt. Pet. Forcer at York Capt. Thomas WhittinghaÌ„ at Newberry Capt. Winkley at Leverpool Capt. Thomas Anderton at Leverpool Capt. Rich. Walmsly at Ormschurch Capt. John Swinglehurst and Capt. John Butler at Marston-moor Capt. George Holden at Usk. Capt. Richard Latham at Litchfield Capt. Tho. Charnock at Litchfield Capt. Rob. Dent at Newcastle Capt. Thomas Heskith and Capt. John Knipe at