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england_n	wonder_n	world_n	write_v	17	3	4.9447	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09102	The iudgment of a Catholicke English-man, living in banishment for his religion VVritten to his priuate friend in England. Concerninge a late booke set forth, and entituled; Triplici nodo, triplex cuneus, or, An apologie for the oath of allegiance. Against two breves of Pope Paulus V. to the Catholickes of England; & a letter of Cardinall Bellarmine to M. George Blackwell, Arch-priest. VVherein, the said oath is shewed to be vnlawfull vnto a Catholicke conscience; for so much, as it conteyneth sundry clauses repugnant to his religion.; Judgment of a Catholicke English-man, living in banishment for his religion	Parsons, Robert, 1546-1610.	1608 (1608)	STC 19408; ESTC S104538	91,131	136

strong effectes both in iudgments and affections Admiration for that no such thing was euer expected vnder his Maiesties gouernment for many causes strong effectes for that they worke great alterations both in the one and the other In iudgment for that wise men fynd not any reason eyther of Religion or State why such extremityes should be pursued with such rigour at the instigation of partyes interessed to the euident danger of so great and honorable Kingdomes who if in wills they were vinted as they are in one Prince and Gouernour their forces were both admirable and dreadfull In affections for that the compassion which naturally doth accompany our brethrens afflictions especially for a cause that we most esteeme and loue to wit our Religion must needes worke the contrary effect of inward auersion both in Princes people abroad notwithstāding they hold externall amity and friendship for the tyme. LXXXVIII I let passe the generall obloquies and murmurations that are to be heard euery where almost in Christendome vpon this manner of proceeding and much more the publicke and priuate complaints outcryes and praiers that are made and offered daylie to heauen throughout all Catholicke Kingdomes lightly in all particuler Congregations Oratoryes Chappels meetings of zealous men that pray instantly to Almighty God for some remedy of these oppressions and persecutions of English Catholicks sufficiently as they thinke declared vnto thē to the whole world by the very printed Catalogues of English Statutes extant in Print against them for profession of their Religion for that by the view of those Statutes they do easily conceaue what enormous effectes do and must follow in the execution therof albeit they did not both heare see daily so many lamētable presidēts spectacles therin LXXXIX As for example there haue not passed many moneths since there were seene some threescore Priests more or lesse to omit others cast into banishmēt about one tyme wandring vp and downe throughout Christēdome according as euery man had occasion or necessity for their mayntenance gaue a lamentable spectacle to all nations to see mē of so good partes amiable aspects sweet behauiour naturall borne subiects of the Lād the most of them of very worshipfull parētage all of learned education cleere and deuoyd of any suspition of crymes that could be obiected vnto them for otherwise they should not haue bene dismissed in the flower of their age to be cast out of their natiue soyle for professing that Religion only wherby their said Countrey was first made Christian so continued vnder all their noble Princes Kings Queenes and Soueraignes Nobility and Communatly from the beginning of their Conuersion vnto this our age XC This spectacle I say presented to the eyes of most Nations of Europe moued men not a litle especially hearing them protest their duetifull affections to his Ma. tie and Realme in all Cyuill Temporall respects without seeking of any preferments dignityes riches or other emoluments by staying at home but only the rest vse of their owne Consciences in matters of Religion which Protestāts in many other Catholicke Countryes are suffered to inioy though with farre lesser reason in regard of the ancient right possession which ech part pretendeth for the vse of their said Religion XCI And since this tyme agayne there hath beene seene very lately another spectacle not much vnlike to the former though much more markable to wit a like number of Noble and Gentlemen with their followers and trayne passing in very good sort through sundry Countryes being lately retyred out of his Ma. ties Kingdome of Irelād for the selfe same cause of their Consciēce and Religion which when men do behold and heare them otherwise to speake honourably of his Ma. tie the State ascribing rather their afflictiōs to some vnder Magistrates in Ireland and Ministers that set them on it moueth more compassion and maketh men thinke and muse what may be the end of all this and whereunto fynally it may grow Whether the like may not be expected in tyme or doubted out of other partes also of his Ma. ties dominions vpon like angariatiō of Consciēces which points seeme to be of no small consideration and consequence to wise men though those that be the immediate causes therof will and must make light of all but the naturall yssue of such euentes are not vnknowne And if the occasioners therof were guylty of no greater fault but only to cast his Ma. tie the State into perpetuall cares about the same his Royall nature being inclined otherwise to sweetnes peace and tranquillity it were a great synne in them and scarce sufferable XCII Nor is the remedy heere attēpted by our Minister-Apologer of denying all and saying that there is no persecution nor hard dealing with any for matters of Religion no not in the late Queenes dayes when so many were so rackt and rented for the same any remedy at all but rather a doubling of the iniury to the afflicted with encrease of exasperation auersion of myndes as also a leesing of all credit with others that heare it eyther at home or abroad for that facts contrary to wordes do preponderate with all sober men and preuaile against the same XCIII And truely I cannot but wonder why this late Apology hath beene so greedily published by the Apologer both in English and Latyn to the world for that the Popes Breues being but written priuatly to the Catholicks of England for informing their Consciences in a matter of necessary doctrine about the lawfulnes or vnlawfulnes of taking the Oath and the Letter of Cardinall Bellarmyne being directed only to a priuate friend both of them might haue remayned also priuate if this attempt had not byn made of publishing the same But now being drawne by the Apologer into the Vniuersall Theatre of the world besydes that diuers will hold themselues obliged or at leastwyse prouoked to answere the same it will follow also that the vnlawfulnes of the said Oath to Catholicke Consciences will more be seene disputed condemned by all Vniuersityes Schooles Bookes Treatises of particuler learned men throughout all Countryes of Christendome that professe Catholicke Religiō Whervpon also the vniust violence inforcing men to sweare the same Oath vnder so rigorous paynes as are the losse both of goods libertie and therwithall to sweare in like manner that they do it willingly freely and without coaction will be censured no doubt for one of the greatest contradictions in it selfe and the most iniurious manner of proceeding with Christian men that euer perhaps was heard of in the Christian world XCIII And this now occurred to me deare Syr to write to you cōcerning my iudgmēt vpō this matter What more may be said to this Apologie when it shall come into the handes of learned men you will easily ghesse by these few notes that I haue heere laid togeather which conteyne but little in respect of that which may be written of

or vnder pressures still as hath bene said But for others of the same Religion that cannot frame their Consciences to take the said Oath and yet would gladly giue his Royall Maiesty contentment satisfaction so farre as they might without offending God I can assure yow that it is the greatest affliction of mynd among other pressures that euer fell vnto them For that no violence is like to that which is laied vpon mens Consciences for so much as it lyeth in a mās owne will resolutiō to beare all other oppressions whatsoeuer whether it be losse of goods honours dignityes yea● of life it self but the oppression of the Conscience no man may beare patiently though he would neuer so faine For if he yield therein he offendeth God and leeseth his soule neyther doth Metus cadens in constantem virum feare that may terrify euen a constant man excuse in this behalfe as appeareth by the example of the auncient Martyrs who were forced vnder paine of damnation to stand out to death against all humaine power vexations torments and highest violence rather then to doe say or sweare any thing against their Conscience To all these men then which are thowsands in our Countrey that neuer thought otherwise then to be good Subiects to his Maiesty the deuising of this new Oath was no blessing but an vnspeakeable affliction and angariation of mynd XXXIV To the exhibitours also I see not what blessing it could be or can be so extremely to vex other men without any profit or emolument to themselues or to his Maiestyes seruice which herin they would pretend to aduaunce For if there be any cause of doubt of loyall good will in them that are forced to sweare against their consciences much more cause and reason may there be of like doubt after they haue so sworne then before For that the griefe of their new wound of conscience remayning full within them and stirring them to more auersion of hart for the iniury receaued must needes worke contrary effects to that which is pretended And whosoeuer will not sticke to sweare against his conscience for feare fauour or some other like passion may be presumed that he will as easily breake his Oath after he hath sworne vpon like motiues if occasions doe mooue him And among all other passions none is more strong then that of reuenge for oppressions receaued So as we read of the whole Monarchy of Spaine ouerthrowne and giuen to the Mores for one passion of Count Iulian wherby he desired to be reuenged of his King ●oderiquez Nothing then is gotten in this behalfe of loyall good will by such extreame pressures but much rather lost XXXV But besides all this is the grieuous sinne which they commit who force presse other men to sweare against their consciences then which almost nothing can be imagined more heinous for it is to thrust men headlong especially such as are fearfull into the very precipitation and downfall of hell it selfe For it is the highest degree of scandall actiue so much condemned and detested in Scriptures and so dredfully threatned by our Sauiour to be seuerely punished in the life to come for that scandalizing properly is nothing else but laying a stumbling-block for other men to fall and breake their necks And such a one is this formall Oath which conteyneth diuers things lawfull for a Catholicke to sweare and other things vnlawfull and he is forced by terrour to passe ouer and swallow downe the one with the other without distinction with mani●est repugnance of his Conscience which repugnance to him is alwaies a synne damnable in such a publicke and weighty action though the matter were lawfull in it self and consequently also vnto them that force him to the same eyther knowing or suspecting his said repugnance of Conscience For he that should force a Iew or Turke to sweare that there were a blessed Trinity eyther knowing or suspecting that they would doe it against their Conscience should synne grieuously by forcing them to committ that synne This is Catholicke doctrine which I also thinke the learned Protestants themselues will not deny XXXVI Here if any man obiect that among vs also men are vrged to take Oathes and to abiure their opinions in the tribunalls of Inquisitions and the like and consequently in this Oath they may be forced vnder punishment to abiure the Popes Temporall Authority in dealing with Kings I answere first that if any Hereticke or other should be forced to abiure his opinions with repugnance of conscience it should be a synne to the inforcers if they knew it or suspected it Neyther is it practised or permitted ●n any Catholicke Court that euer I knew But yow will reply that if he doe it not he shall be punished by death or otherwise as the crime requireth and Canons appoint and consequently the like may be vsed towards Catholickes that will not renounce their old opinions of the Popes Authoritye but heere is a great difference for that the Catholicke Church hath Ius acquisitum auncient right ouer Hereticks as her due Subiects for that by their Baptisme they were made her Subiects and left her afterward and went out of her and she vseth but her auncient manner of proceeding against them as against all other of their kynd and quality from the beginning But the Protestant Church of England hath Nullum Ius acquisitum vpon Catholicks that were in possession before them for many hundred yeares as is euident Neyther was there euer any such Oath exacted at their hands by any of their Kings in former Catholicke tymes Neyther is there by any Catholicke forreyne Monarch now liuing vpon earth and consequently by no reason or right at all can English Catholicke men be eyther forced or pressed to this Oath against their Conscience or be punished beaten or destroyed if for their Conscience they refuse to take the same humbly offering notwithstanding to their Soueraigne to giue him all other dutifull satisfaction for their Temporall Obedience and Allegiance which of loyall Catholicke Subiectes may be exacted And this shall suffice for this first point concerning the contents and nature of the Oath Now shall We passe to say somewhat of the Breues and answere made thereunto CONCERNING THE POPES TVVO BREVES AGAINST The receauing of the Oath Paragr II. THE summe of the Popes two Breues the first of the 21. of September Anno 1606. the second of the 21. of August the next yeare following is this That wheras he had heard that the Catholicks of England were very sorely pressed with a new deuised Oath against their Consciēces concerning certayne poyntes appertayning to the Authority of the Sea Apostolicke in some cases he wrote the first Breue to admonish comfort and direct them signifying his harty sorie for their long continued afflictions and exhorting them to patience and constancy in defence of the integrity of Catholike faith and the purity of their owne consciences

his M. ties Tytle which he did so hartily and effectually as when he after the Queenes death vnderstood that he was called for into England he wrote presently the second Breue exhorting all Catholicks to receaue and obey him willingly hoping that at leastwise they should be permitted to liue peaceably vnder him And this is the very truth of those two Breues nor was there in the former any one word against his Maiesty then of Scotland and much lesse that he was therin called the Scottish Hereticke as Syr Edward Cooke hath deuised since and falsely vttered in print without shame or conscience Nor was there any such wordes as heere are alleadged against any that would but tolerate the Professours of Protestants Religion nor was there any such double dealing or dissimulation in Pope Clement his speaches or doings concerning his Ma. ty as heere are set downe But the truth is that he loued his person most hartily and alwaies spake honourably of him treated kindely all those of his nation that said they came from him or any wayes belonged vnto him and often tymes vsed more liberality that way vpon diuers occasions then is conuenient perhaps for me to vtter heere caused speciall prayer to be made for his Maiesty wherof I suppose his Highnes cannot altogeather be ignorant and much lesse can so noble a nature be ingrate for the same which assureth me that those things vtterd by this Apologer so farre from the truth could not be conferred with his Maiesty but vttered by the Authour therof vpon his owne splene against the Pope and such as are of his Religion LXIII The second and last point affirmed by the Apologer in this Paragraph is that the first of these two Breues of Paulus Quintus was iudged to be farre against Deuinity Policy and naturall sense by sundry Catholicks not of the simpler sort but of the best account both for learning and experience among them wherof the Archpriest was one and consequently that it was held but for a counterfaite libell deuised in hatred of the Pope c. All this I say hath much calumniation in it and litle truth For albeit some might doubt perhaps whether it came immediatly from the Pope Ex motu proprio or only from the Congregation of the Inquisition vpon defectuous information of the State of the question in England of which doubt notwithstanding if any were there could be little ground yet no Catholicke of iudgement or piety would euer passe so farre as to iudge it contrary to Deuinity Policy or naturall sense and much lesse to be a libell deuised in hatred of the Pope These are but deuises of the Minister-Apologer and he offereth much iniury to so Reuerend a man as the Archpriest is to name him in so odious a matter but that his end therin is well knowne And if there were any such doubt or might be before of the lawfulnes of the first Breue now is the matter cleered by the second and so all men see thereby what is the sentence of the Sea Apostolicke therein which is sufficient for Catholicke men that haue learned to obey and to submitt their iudgements to those whome God hath appointed for the declaration and decision of such doubts And thus much about those two Breues Now let vs see what is said to Cardinall Bellarmyne for writing to M. Blackwell in this affaire ABOVT CARDINALL BELLARMINES LETTER TO M. r BLACKVVELL And answere giuen thereunto by the Apologer Paragr III. THE last Part of this Apology concerneth a letter written by Cardinall Bellarmine in Rome vnto George Blackwell Arch-priest in England which letter as appeareth by the argument therof was written out of this occasion That wheras vpon the comming forth of the forenamed new Oath intituled Of Allegiance there were found diuers poynts combined togeather some appertayning manifestly to Ciuill Allegiance wherat no man made scruple some other seeming to include other matters contrary to some part of the Catholicke faith at least in the common sense as they ly there arose a doubt whether the said Oath might be taken simply and wholy by a Catholicke man as it is there proposed without any further distinction or explication thereof Wherupon some learned men at home being different in opinions the case was consulted abroad where all agreed as before hath byn shewed that it could not be taken wholy with safety of conscience and so also the Pope declared the case by two seuerall Breues II. In the meane space it happened that M. Blackwell being taken was committed to prison and soone after as he had byn of opinion before that the said Oath might be taken as it lay in a certayne sense so it being offred vnto him he tooke it himselfe Which thing being noysed abroad and the fact generally misliked by all sortes of Catholicke people in other Realmes as offensiue and scandalous in regard of his place and person so much respected by them Cardinall Bellarmine as hauing had some old acquaintance with him in former yeares as it may seeme resolued out of his particuler loue zeale to the Common cause of Religion and speciall affection to his person to write a letter vnto him therby to let him know what reportes and iudgment there was made of his fact throughout those partes of Christendome where he remayned togeather with his owne opinion also which consisted in two poynts the one that the Oath as it stood compounded of different clauses some lawfull some vnlawfull could not be taken with safety of Conscience the other that he being in the dignity he was of Prelacy and Pastorall Charge ought to stand firme and constant for example of others rather to suffer any kynd of danger or domage then to yield to any vnlawfull thing such as the Cardinall held this Oath to be III. This Letter was written vpon the 28. day of September 1607. and it was subscribed thus in Latyn Admodum R. dae Dom. is Vae Frater seruus in Christo. Robertus Card. Bellarminus Which our Apologer translateth Your very Reuerēd Brother wheras the word very Reuerend in the letter is gyuen to the Arch-priest and not to Card. Bellarmine which the interpreter knew well inough but that wanting other matter would take occasion of cauilling by a wilfull mistaking of his owne as often he doth throughout this Answere to Bellarmine as in part will appeare by the few notes which heere I am to set downe leauing the morefull Answere to the Cardinall himselfe or some other by his appoyntment which I doubt not but will yield very ample satisfaction in that behalfe For that in truth I fynd that great aduantage is gyuen vnto him for the defence of his said Epistle and that the exceptions taken there against it be very weake and light and as easy to be dissolued by him and his penne as a thin mist by the beames of the sunne IIII. As for example the first exception is which