Admirall with a Pistole at the cruell Battlemewtide in Paris And when that wounde proved not to be mortall did not he in person come to his lodging at midnight send vp cut-throates to murther him VVas it not the Popish crewe wherein by greate probability King Philip himselfe and the Duke of Parma also had a finger who first procured x Dinoth de bel civil Belgie li. 5. lauregny to shoote the Prince of Orenge with a Dagge and some yeares afterward Balthazar with the like weapon to kill him If ought could be saide for these things yet what can be answered for the death of K. y Meterran Hist lib. 5. Henry the 3. of France one of your own religion who was stabbed by the Frier And this fact was not only liked of by infinite numbers of Papists in France yea and as it should seeme z See the Franc. discourse defended also by publike preaching and writing but it was allowed of by the Pope and his Cardinals bone-fires and processions vvere made for it at Rome yea Sixtus Quintus made a solemne publike Oration in gratulatioÌ„ of the good event a De interdicto Regn Franciae edit Francosurti Anno. 1591 pronouÌ„cing that Clement the Iacobine who perpetrated that vilany was worthy not only to be reputed a Martyr but to be reckoned a Saint All the Papists in the world name the example of such a deede atteÌ„pted or atchieved by the ProtestaÌ„ts yea or that which may come nere it by 1000. degrees And was there not in like sort an intendmeÌ„t of b Iesuit Catech li. 3. 6. Barriere for the slaughtering of the present K. Henry the 4. which was a second time put in practise by c Cap. 8. Chastel a scholer of the Iesuits who assaulted somewhat hurt the same King For this cause by an Arrest of the Parliament of Paris there was made a decree against the Iesuits banishing theÌ„ out of Fraunce as also before the pallace in that Imperial City a d Cap. 20. Pyramis was erected which containeth a narratioÌ„ of the same This Edict was ratified by the highest court of France which yet notwithstanding consisteth most of Papists the force of the Edict standeth yet vpright albeit besides infinite other meanes e La Saincte Messe declar In praefat ad Regem Richeome the Iesuit hath made such a flattering clawing petitioÌ„ to the king in behalfe of his Society hath to win her favor also f Tableaux Sacrez des figures mystiques preseÌ„ted dedicated a braue baby book of the Masse to the Q. Mary de Medices now Regnant that her Highnes withal honorable favour would secoÌ„d their request CaÌ„ English meÌ„ forget that which in the name of his holines was by the g Differ between christiaÌ„ subiect D. Bilson part 3 Cardinal of Como signified to D. Parry by letter that to kil our late Soveraign a womaÌ„ a Princes was not only lawful but had his merit in heaveÌ„ caÌ„ it be out of memory that h Meterran lib. 13. BabingtoÌ„ the rest of the resolute GeÌ„tlemeÌ„ should violeÌ„tly haue slain her but that god did divert it her Honorab CouÌ„sel did discover it who was the chief leader here but i Answer to the Manifestat cap. 3. Ballard a Priest RecusaÌ„ts must be the Actors You know we could tell you of more English thus Italionated and so growne according to the Proverbe Divels incarnated who haue atteÌ„pted other such lewdenesses All this while then you have great reason to talke of Beza his Pistoles a matter wherein is no ground of truth when as some of your k La verite defend vide 〈◊〉 disc bookes do directly tende that way and many of the vndoubted actions of diverse of your side doe testifie that you and not we are the onely Prince-murtherers and traiterous King-assaulters that bee or ever were in the world which I would have vnderstood of the Jesuited factioÌ„ The Lord deliver our present Soveraigne from you as frequently in miraculous manner hee preserved his late gracious hand-maiden Elizabeth T. HILL NEither doe they take any other course in their proceedings but to destroy States kingdomes to displace lawfull Monarchies and Magistrates as the lowe-Countries Germany and Scotland can sufficiently witnes and ever then beginning is of pride and envy as Luthers was or by abusing themselves in their former estate as Sir Iohn Calvine did or by yeelding themselves slaues to ambition as they did in Scotland or by following Lust and Lechery or of some such like brutish occasion and never indeede vpon any ground vsing their religion onely as a serveturne wheÌ„ other meanes faile to atcheeve their vnlawfull desires G. ABBOT 17 IN this Chapter you continue so like your selfe that a maÌ„ should bee behoulding to you if you would speake but one true word The Reader perhaps will wonder that I take such paines with you to lay you so plainely open but if I could tell howe I would purge you of that l Ps. 140 3. poison of Adders which is vnder your lippes At least I would let both your frieÌ„ds strangers see what a maÌ„ of your word you are But it is fit that Papistes should be such as write they care not what Good Sir I pray you what State or kingdome hath bin overthrowen by vs you may see if you please that Fraunce hath bin kepte vp by the aide of England the Germane Princes and Switzers that when King m MeterraÌ„ Histor l 14 Henry the 3. was like to be beateÌ„ out of his king â—…ome by the Guizes Barricadoes at Paris by the vile coÌ„bination of the vnholy League the King theÌ„ of Navarre the ProtestaÌ„ts were the only men to whoÌ„ safely he might fly for succour And if the King that now is would declare his own mind he must acknowledge that the safety of his Realme Person doth not least of all depend on the fidelity circumspection vigilancy of hâ—…s Hugvenots The kingdome of Denmarke was never so potent nor so orderly governed as it is at this day since religion there flourished Since the Gospell hath had free course heere England may truly be said for felicity all humane happines to be the peerelesse paragone of the whole world At the moderation of superiours at the obedience of inferiours that the people every way are fouÌ„d so n Iud. 5. 〈◊〉 9. willing stand amazed al you fugitiues ill-willers to your countrie And especially that when you though that at the death of your late Prince you should have had your long ex pected lubilee all this â—…and should haue beene as the field 〈◊〉 bloud stand agast to heare how with vniformity of hart 〈◊〉 all the good subiects of this land did conioyne to exprâ—… 〈◊〉 ioy that they might have such a Lord Governoâ—…r as now by cods mercy they enioy They were not glad that they weâ—… quâ—…t
Priest of his order and he who was his Confessour that he very often had asked of God that he would do no miracles by him And that was because he wold not haue the people think too well of him And in as much as mention is heere made of Caesar Baronius I vvill adde one thing more which the said l Lib. 1. An. 1550 Cardinall delivered vpon his othe concerning the same Philip his founder for the said Baronius was one of his company and society In the yeere 1550 now more then fiftie yeeres agone Philip who in the darke of the night vvhen all men are even buried in sleepe so that the lefte hande coulde not knovve vvhat the the right hande did did vse to visite needy persons vvent in the nighte time to cary breade to a poore gentle-man Heere by the Devils meanes vvhile hee sought to avoide a carte comming hastily vppon him hee fell into a verie deepe ditch but Gods helpe beeing at hande in his falling he vvas presently caught of an Angell by the heare of the heade miraculouslye and beeing nothing hurte hee vvas returned out safe by the Angell This did Baronius who vvas not there and coulde haue it but by the reporte of Nerius svveare absolutely to bee true vvhereby vvee may easilie gesse that the same Cardinall in his vvritinges maketh no greate conscience to saye thinges true or false vvhen hee maketh no bones to svveare matters so vnlikely Hee who list to see more of the venerable miracles in Popery let him reade Henrie Stephanus in his French m Cap 39 Apologie of Herodotus and there hee shall finde diverse particulars sette dovvne Are not our Country-men and Country-women blessed when after so long light of the Gospell they chuse to feede themselues fat with legions of such wonders and holde it a high part of their profession to beleeve such things as these are We reade of some whom God doth so giue over to the spirit of delusion that they doe n 2 Thes 〈◊〉 11. beleeuelyes 17 If any heere do aske mee howe came it ever about that such foolishe and ridiculous multitudes of miracles came to bee reported and inserted into their bookes I must first ascribe it to the permission of God who had fore-tolde that so it shoulde bee Secondlye to the pollicy of Sathan vvhose kingdome by this us by a speciall meanes was inlarged Thirdly to the cunning of the Cleargy in those daies vvho made themselues great by the keeping vp of such reportes concerning the sanctitie of any of their confederacy or of such whose reliques they pretended to haue and gained infinitely by the offeringes done in places of these wonders And fourthly to the credulity of the people who would beleeve any thing once set abroach by some suborned for the purpose or by idle companions Gulielmus Neubringensis was a writer very learned and iudicious for that time wherein hee lived And in his storie hee did more then once relate the abuse of that age for spreading abroade the fames of miracles o Neubringens l 3 7. Henry the eldest sonne of King Henry the second of England vvho was in his fathers life time crowned King but dyed before his father was every where by the people reported to have wrought great miracles after his death vvhereas in truth he was an vnadvised and rebellious younge Prince This shevveth hovve apte the people were to intertaine a conceite of any mans doing miracles yea so farre that if they might haue their willes they shoulde soone have beene shrined for Saints Aftervvard p Lib 4 9 there vvas a greate robber vvho beeing slaine it vvas given out of many olde vvomen that hee frequentlye did miracles as if hee had beene some holye person and this rumour grewe so stronge and was so generally spredde that the Bishop was enforced to come to Hampton there display the falshood of the whole narration so that then the superstition was ended Hee q Lib 5 19 mentioneth also a third matter of this kinde that a traiterous fellow of London called VVilliam with the longe bearde vvas also reputed a Saint and a maine doâ—… of of miracles Can vvee have any plainer certificate then this that by the superstition and credulousnesse of the vulgar sort many vvonders were saide to bee done vvhen in truth there vvas no such matter And if for their commodities sake any of the Cleargie would ioyne and giue countenance to the matter the party so grovvne to be a Saint and the fame of his vvonders shoulde never bee extinguished The reader may by these fewe take a tast of the rest of their Saintes and miracles for thousandes vvere done no othervvise then in this sorte and everie man had not the vvitte to see the fraude nor that couragâ—… to reporte it as Neubringensis had And vvhat levvdenesse may wee imagine vvas practised amonge simple people in those darke dayes of Popery vvhen in so glorious a sunne-shine of the Gospell any Seminarians shoulde dare in England to attempte such a practise as Father VVeston the lesuite and Declâ—…ration of Popish impostures practâ—…sed by Edm. no lesse then a vvhole douzen of Priestes conspiring vvith him did of late for some yeeres togither put themselues into They persvvaded some men and three maydens that they vvere possessed vvith the Devill and that they by their Priest-exorcizing faculties could fetch him in out vp and downe at their pleasure They had a holy chaire to set their abused Disciples in and a holy potion to administer to them both matters pretended to be formidable to the foule spirits but indeed trickes to cast their patients into straunge fits that so they might seeme as wel to themselues as others standing by to be possessed in most hideous manner And this was so artificially carried by the Iesuit and his fellowe Iuglers that diverse hundreds of vnstable and vnadvised people being cousened and cunny-catched by their impostures were contented to bee reconciled to the Church of Rome being wonne there vnto by their stupendious miracles A booke also or two was penned to be spread abroade beyond the seas of the admirable dominering of these Priests over the possessing spirits and of the wonders which they had done vppon them Notwithstanding now by the confessions of three of the females one man al which then were the pretended possessed persons of another theÌ„ a Priest a personal actour in this exploit all these five being sworne speaking vpon oth it is manifestly and vndoubtedly discovered to be most egregious insignious illustrious both varletry vilainy that among meÌ„ professing religion devotioÌ„ was ever heard A man may wel suppose that the casting out of Devils and doing of other wonders in India farre countries by the Iesuites and Priestes is a true honest holy matter when such vnspeakeable vndescribable hypocrites do dare before such multitudes of theselues conscious of their own fraud before such troupes of staÌ„ders by
of one that so they might live in an Anarchy or tumultuous cōfused State but it was their vnspeakeable comfort that since the blessed God had takē vnto him her who was their most gracious Lady he had another in store whō they might serve in peace follow in warre frō the bottome of their harts pray for in both So hath the word of God seasoned the harts of old yong amōg v◅ with true subiectiō Christian obsequiousnes to the higher power Now for Germany when was it in the Electours other Princes more flourishing thē of late Whē were the governmēts of the Pals-grave Duke of Saxony Laurgrave of Hasse others of the religiō more in riches or setled trāquillity thē now And if the Empire it selfe be weakened the strength therof be pulled on the knees that is not the fault of the Gospell there professed for that errour was longe since runne into by o Ha◅lan Histo◅ l. 15. Charles King of Bohemia and Emperour who to get the Empire to his sonne released to the Electours and Princes the tributes other revenewes Imperiall And when they had once tasted the sweetnes therof they would never part with it againe Scotland was never more prosperous in deeper peace surer trafficke thē it is at this day And if heretofore there have bin any tumultuous it was the fault of some humorous persons and not of Religion as may appeare by the cōparing of that time with this when neverthelesse now the same doctrine is there professed The Cantons of Suitzerland the Protestants about thē do all well maintaine their States governments And the Vnited Provinces doe make a prety shift to keepe that which they had it wholy seemeth to be in such a cōplete order that the King of Spaine knoweth not wel what to make of it Then certainly al States and kingdomes be not quite destroyed by vs but those countries which harbour the Gospell live in as good reputatiō as other their poore neighbours do by them 18 But somewhat els there is in it The low Coūtries have shoken of the yoke of the Spanyards service Some of them indeede have but so many of their p Apolog. Prin◅p Aur◅ Vid◅◅ter lib 1 Dino◅h lib. 1. Apologies and other Defences published to the Christian world shew that it was not hastely vnadvisedly done They have let it be vnderstood that the Duke of Burgūdies government over them was not so absolute as the power of other cōfining Princes is over their Subiects That there is a very great reciprocal duty of his parte toward them even by the Positive Orders of their coūtry That their first submission of themselues to their Dukes then being French and afterward to the house of Austria was ever on that cōdition sworne vnto that the◅ Privileges should be kept Among them those which are the liberties of Brabant are the cheefe Now as these Hollanders say for thēselves whē King Philip the 2. tooke that harsh coūsaile to govern thē by Strāgers to over-rūne thē by his Spaniards to brīg in the Inquisitiō to behead their Nobles burn vp their people to erect new Bishopricks for a bloudy purpose in a word without ◅bling or cōsul◅g the Stats to alter by the sword the whol face of those Provinces they sēt oft to the Court in Spaine they vsed ◅nfinite supplications which would not be heard intercessions of neighbour Princes many pawses and sta◅es hopes at last being driven by extreme necessitie they proceeded farther even proclaiming that he had lost the Interest which formerly he had over them Nothing made them so averse as their vnderstanding by a q Meterr lib 2 letter intercepted that there was a proiect in the King to vse diverse of their Nobles well at first and afterward to destroy thē This letter was writen from Fran◅cus Alava Embassadour for the K. in Fraunce to the Lady Governes the Duchesse of Parma But when all this is said your Papists were every way Actours in this as farre as any other they did ioyne with the rest and were most forward for the maintenance of their Privileges And this so farre appeared that they iointly would have submitted all to r Meter l 12 Henry the 3. of Fraūce a Prince of the Romish religiō which in very deede formerly they had done to s Lib 10 Mounsieur the Duke of Alansō choosing him to be their Duke of Brabāt when he gave no other signification but in his faith to be Popish Yea the case of these Low-coūtry-mē seemed to mē of al sortes so iust reasonable that first s Lib 8 Mathias and afterward t Libr 17 Ernestus Archdukes both of Austria both kins-mē of bloud to King Philip both of the Romane faith did come personally into those parts and were Governours of the forces of those vnited Provinces which in the eies of every indifferēt mā doth leaue a strōg impressiō that the dealing of the Spanyard was more discōmēdable toward thē thē theirs was toward hī And I do verily beleeve that if matters were now fresh to begin the King Catholike who now is his very wise sage councel would be wel advised before that they would vndertake any courses so apparātly offensiue to the whol body of that people Notwithstādīg I do leave this whol questiō of the Low-coūtries to the vnderstāding cōsideration of the wise to that which time shal farther discover The rising of the u Sleidan Comment Lib 4 5 Cōmōs in Germany was not caused by Religiō for those of greatest fame who professed the religiō as Luther namely did disswade them from it and wrote against them but it was such a mutiny as sometimes Subiectes make in other Nations and the like whereof of late the olde u Peda de historias King of Spaine had in Arragon and so had England in the daies of Kinge Richard the second by Iacke Stravve VVat Tiler and other such noble companions and another such in the raigne of King Edward the sixt Of such insurrections vvhat opinion vvee have may partely bee seene by that treatise of Sir Iohn Cheeke The true subiect to the Rebell partly by our preachings writings since We dislike it we detest it we condemne it we pronounce it to be Rebelliō In the stirres which were in Scotland there is no doubt but there were many errour◅ on both sides If the ambition of some whither in Parliamēt or otherwise or the disorderly tumult of some multitudes did sway to farre let thē be are their owne blame But this did not overthrow the kingdom no we know that it stādeth to this day in great glory albeit perhaps that be not wholy to be ascribed vnto thē who in their chāges did as much looke to seeming ciuil pollicy as to the veritable approovable rules of religiō We doe not hold it to be the power or pleasure of