THE RELIGION OF THE DUTCH Represented in Several LETTERS FROM A Protestant Officer IN The FRENCH ARMY to A Pastor and Prâ—â—â—â—â—â— of Divinity at BERNE in Swisâ—erland Out of the French LONDON Printed for Samuel Heyrick at Grayes-Inn Gate in Holbourn 1680. The Contents of the LETTERS THE First Letter discovers by what means and upon what motives the Reformed Religion according to the Calvinistical way was establish'd in the United Provinces The Second and Third give an account of all the different Religions that are in those Provinces and their principal Opinions The Fourth and Fifth prove That the United Provinces cannot be said to be an Estate of the Reformed Religion The Sixth makes it appear That though the Dutch were the most Reformed Christians in the World yet were it an act of temerarious Imprudence in those of the Reformed Religion to Confederate together for their Relief in the War between Them and the most Christian King And that of the Protestant-Cantons of Swisserland those were highly to be blam'd which refus'd to raise Forces for his most Christian Majesty as was also that of Berne which having granted his most Christian Majesty a Regiment kept so much stir to hinder its Serving against the Dutch THE RELIGION OF THE DUTCH The First LETTER Reverend Sir THough I have alwaies known and look'd upon you as a most zealous man in the Calvinistical persuasion yet I should never have imagin'd that your zeal would have transported you so far as to induce you to pronounce an Anathema against all those of the Reformed Religion who now serve the most Christian King in the War wherein he is engag'd against the Dutch Mean time you know that you have run into this strange Extremity in the Letter you were pleas'd to write from Borne of the 15 th of the last Moneth which yet came not to my hands till within these two daies You at the first dash tell me it is a matter you cannot be sufficiently astonished at That any Officer who makes Profession of our Religion whether he be Swisse or French or of what other Countrey soever should presume to fight against our dear Brethren in Christ the Dutch and make it their Business to destroy that Sanctifi'd Republick which has alwaies been the Refuge and Sanctuary of those of the Reformed Religion and to which all Protestants are in the highest manner oblig'd You afterwards make it your most earnest entreaty to us That out of the tenderness we ought to have of our Salvation we should quit our Employments and enter our Selves into the Service of the Dutch so to expiate the Sin we have committed in serving against them You solemnly declare to us in Fine That if we do not upon sight follow this advice of yours we are a sort of damn'd Wretches never to be retriev'd out of the deplorablâ— Condition we are in and that we ought not to expect any Forgivâ—ness for our Crime either in this World or that to come no more or less than if we had sinn'd against the Holy Ghost As for your Protestant-Cantons you highly celebrate the Prudence of those among'st them who havâ— deny'd his Majesty of France any Forces in his unjust War as you are pleas'd to call that wherein he is now involv'd against the Dutch Besides you highly condemn those who having supply'd him with such Forces have not been importunate in the recalling of them and have not been dissatisfi'd to see them employ'd in attacking and maintaining the Cities which have been taken from the States-General I should not have been much startled if I had receiv'd such a Letter from the Minister of some Country Village or from some person whose abilities rais'd him not above the ordinary Rate of men But I must acknowledge my self surpriz'd as much as man can be so to see that you Reverend Sir who are a Professor of Divinity and have the reputation of being one of the most experiensed men of Swisserland especially upon the score of Politicks should write me a Letter fraught with things very strange and extravagant and Maximâ—s absolutely inconsistent with sound Sence and Reason and contrary even to the end you have propos'd to your self which is doubtless the preservation and propagation of our Reform'd Religion and of the Churches which profess it I undertake to make a clear justification of the truth of the things which I advance and to let you see the Mistake you lye under and with what injustice you have so slightly pronounc'd the Sentence of Condemnation against all those of the Reform'd Religion who serve the most Christian King in the War which he is now concern'd in against the Dutch To that end it is my design to shew you somewhat at large of what nature the Religion of the Dutch is and what sanctity is to be attributed to their Republick and thence it will appear how highly the Protestants are concern'd to wish the preservation of it And when that is done I shall afterwards prove That though the Hollanders were the most reform'd of all People in their Religion as well as in their morality yet you would not have any reason to condemn either those private Persons of their Persuasion who serve against them or yet those of your Cantons who have supply'd the most Christian King with Forces upon this occasion I must acknowledge That if we consider the Dutch Confession of Faith and the Cathechism they use it cannot be denyed but that they profess the same Religion with that which is received at Geneva and in your Protestant-Cantons But in the mean time this is to be noted That though they make an external Profession of the same Religion with yours yet their Conduct and Deportment do evidently demonstrate that they make not any account of it or that they believe it not at all To that end it is requisite that I make a higher enquiry into things and go to the very source and give you a discovery by what Degrees and by what Means this Religion was established in the State and the different Conduct which the States-General have observ'd in reference thereto I am of opinion in the first place That there is not any necessity of my telling you that Religion was neither the cause nor the pretence of the disturbances revolutions and seditions of the Low-Countries and that it was not upon that score that the People of several Provinces after they had carried on the War against their Prince for many years resolv'd at last to degrade him and to shake off the yoke of his Dominion over them The great Lords of the Country as the Prince of Orange the Count of Egmont and Count Horne were extreamly exasperated to see that Cardinal de Granvelle a Forreigner and a person of very obscure Parentage had the management of all things and was the supreme Arbitrator of all Affairs and to think that they themselves had not any authority in the Government They maintained in the mean
which it declares a Resolution to profess it and not to permit in its Territories the Exercise of any other Religion when instead of a sincere Accomplishment of what had been resolved by its Decree it is so far from performing of any thing of it that it acts dâ—rectly to contrary thereto I do not imagine you will pretend That State to be of our Religion by Virtue of a Decree which it makes and never did put in Execution You will tell me That the States-General are of our Religion because they affirm it and make a publick Profession thereof And I on the other side maintain that That is not sufficient for their assuming a name which they do not deserve since they destroy the external Profession they make of it by a Practice quite opposite and very odious to all those of the Religion If they permitted in their Country but one or two Religions whose Sentiments were not much different from ours and that in some of the less principal and lesser important Points there would be no great Cause for men to wonder at it It might be urged That Prudence and Charity oblig'd them to have some Complyance for Christians who as to the principal Part retain the ground-work of Faith though they have not received such Illuminations from God as might create a Belief of all our Mysteries But is there any thing in the World so surprizing as our finding That the States give an unlimited liberty to all Sorts of Religions insomuch That in the very Province of Holland there are more discover'd and acknowledg'd Sects than there are in all the other Parts of Europe and that there is not any Master-Heretick who has a mind to frame a nâ—w Sect but is there kindly received to teach and propagate his Religion and to make a publick Profession thereof Some Years since John Labadie the Apostate having been depos'd and excommunicated by the Walloon-Churches of this Country addressed himself to the Heer Van Beuninghen desiring to be taken into his Protection Van Beuninghen makes him this Answer That as long as he was willing to continue in the Communion of the Walloon-Churches he was oblig'd to submit to their Ordinances and Discipline but that if he would frame a new Sect he should participate of the Protection which the States granted to all sorts of Religions I do not question but you know the said person and are doubtless able to judge That it was not out of any Scruple of Conscience that he thought it not convenient to establish his Sect in this Countrey He had amongst his Devotes the Illustrious Gentlewoman Mrs. Mary de Schurmans and other young Ladies of more than ordinary quality but being in some Fear That their Relations might get them out of his Society which began to be cry'd down and to appear very scandalous he thought it his better way to settle himself elsewhere with his sanctified Company of both Sexes whom he took along with him Had he thought it convenient to make his Abode in this Country he would have augmented the Number of Sects which have their Establishment here and made some Additions to the Religions which have a publick Liberty in these parts But though this Liberty of Conscience is of so great a Latitude as I have told you yet I am in some suspense whether you know it to be so comprehensive as to extend to the countenancing and protecting of those Hereticks whom you would sentence to death if they were amongst you This I am satified you know That above a hundred years ago your Canton and the Republick of Geneva condemned Michael Servetus and Scipio Gentilis to be buâ—nt alive for the erroneous Opinions they held concerning the Trinity The principal Errours upon which they were Indicted are much the same or at least are not more dangerous than those which the Socinians maintain upon the same Mystery of Christian Religion Do you not then wonder at the extraordinary difference there is between the Conduct observ'd by your Canton and the Republick of Geneva towards those two ancient Hereticks and that which the States observe in reference to the Socinians who propagate the same Heresies or others that are equally pernicious Geneva and your Canton could not endure the one Servetus and the other Gentilis and pass'd their judgment that they both deserv'd death The States-General do without any Scruple suffer a great number of Socinians most of whom are born and brought up amongst them and never had the least thought of doing them any harm upon the score of their Religion Your Canton and the City of Geneva would have thought themselves guilty of a great Crime against God if they had not by death taken off these two Hereticks who hâ—ld such strange Errours against the Divinity of Jesus Christ But the States-General would think they had committed a great Sin against God if they should put any of the Socinians to death whatever their Errours may be Your Cantons and the City of Geneva thought themselves obâ—ig'd in Conscience out of their zeal for the Glory of God and Christian Religion to take all the Courses imaginable for the smothering of those Heresies which are so destructive to our Principal Mysteries The States-General have on the contrary done all that lay in their Power to countenance and to improve them Not many years ago the Books of the Socinians were very scarce Amongst those which had come forth into the World as they had been printed in very remote places and but very few Copies had been taken off so were there not any to be had but at very dear Rates nay most of them were not to be had at all The States-General have out of their special Favour and Indulgence and out of an unparallel'd tenderness of Conscience found out a Remedy for that inconvenience To satisfy the Socinians and those who were desirous to become their Proselytes they have permitted the works of Four of their principal Doctors to be printed at Amsterdam to wit those of Socinus Crellius Slichtingius and Wolfogenius At this very time there is publickly sold at Amsterdam that Library of the Socinians in Eight Volumes in folio which costs but a hundred Guilders Not many years since two hundred Pistols would not have purchased one part of those Works which at present may be had altogether for less than ten True it is That not long since there was burnt at Amsterdam a certain book of the Socinians but it was done no doubt upon the very Intreaty of William Bleau for whom it had been printed Not many dayes after that publick Execution he publickly expos'd the very same Book to sale and the more to recommend the sale of it and to enhaunce the Price of it he had got an Advertisement put into the Title-Page that it was the very same Book which had been by Order of the States condemn'd to be publickly burnt by the hand of the common Executioner I question not but you
you will alwayes persist in this Sentiment but though you do I shall not forbear remaining Reverend Sir Your most c. Vtrecht May 13 th 1673 The Fifth LETTER Reverend Sir IF I am not mistaken I have by irrefragable reasons proved That the States-General cannot be said to be of the Reformed Religion But you will say If they are not of our Religion what Religion may they be said to be of I must confess they are of the Reformed Religion if to be so there needs no more than an external profession of it no more than to have ordain'd by a publick Decree That our Religion should be the Religion of State and that all those wâ—o would have any concern in the Government should make publick profession thereof and that there should be publick Schools for the Teaching of it If these things make a sufficient Title to the Reformed Religion this State is doubtless of that Religâ—on But if as I think I have made it sufficiently appear This State follows a practice quite contrary to all Governments of that Religion and does by its Conduct and its own Confession of Faith and the publict Decree whereby it establish'd our Religion to be the Reliâ—ion of State destroy that very Religion let what will be said I maintain That this State is not of our Religion but only as to the denomination and not in effect If you are pleas'd to remember Reverend Sir what I have hitherto told you all-along you will find it manifest That as Liberty of Conscience was established by the first Ordinances which they made in this Country so it may be said with reason That this State consonantly to its own Principles is and ought to be of all Religions And if it be of all Religions it may well be said That it has not any particular Religion nor indeed that it has not any at all True it is That there is one of them which is very common to most of the Inhabitants of the Country to wit that of Aâ—arice which the Scripture calls Idolatry Mammon has a vast nuâ—ber of Votaries in these parts and there is no question to be made of his being better serv'd here than the true God is by most Christians If we consider the whole course of Life amongst the Dutch as also the earnestness and application wherewith they are addicted to Commerce we cannot forbear acknowledging That the only design they seem to have is to grow rich and heap up Money There comes into my mind upon this occasion what I read in an Italian Relation of a certain Voyage of the Dutch That being come into the Cities of Japan out of which there had been an expulsion of all the Christians and the Inhabitants of the Country having ask'd them whether they were Christians they confidently answer'd Siamo Holandesi non Siamo Christiani We are Hollanders we are not Christians And indeed their deportment since as well in the Indies as in some other remoto places makes it evidently appear that they are extreamly concern'd for the advancement of their Commerce and not any thing at all for that of Religion All other sorts of Christians as well Roman-Catholicks as Protestants the Dutch only excepted if they may be admitted among the latter make the Colonies they have in those remote parts of the World promotive to the advancement of Christian Religion by causing it to be Preached to the Infidels This we see practic'd by the Catholicks with so great Zeal by the great number of Missionaries whom they send into the East and West-Indies and into the Turkish Empire to Preach the Gospel and to Convert those People to the Faith of Jesus Christ Nay this is also done by the English who send Ministers of the Gospel into all parts where they have Colonies and order all the Directors of their Companies not to spare any thing for the advancement of Christian Religion and the conversion of Infidels And so indeed as well the Catholicks as the Protestants make Use of Commerce as of a means to advâ—nce the Religion of Jesus Christ and to bring those Idolatrous People to his Faith But the Dutch on the contrary out of a detestable impiety are absolutely neglectful of all the Interests of Religion in the Indies in the Levant and other Places where they have great Colonies that they may do nothing prejudicial to the Interests of their Commerce They give express and peremptory Orders to the Directors of their Companies and the Commanders of great Places to hinder the Unbelieving Inhabitants of those parts from coming to the knowledg of the Mysteries of Christian Religion and being Converted to the Faith of Jesus Christ It is their persuasion That if some amongst those People were once become Christians they might by the Conversation they should have with other Christians come to the knowledg of that grand Mystery of Commerce and deprive them of some part of their Trade They would rather see all those People Perish eternally in their Ignoâ—â—â—ce than to see their Eyes open'd by the illuminations of Heaven and that they should share with them in the advantages of their Commerce Is it not a horrid thing that the consideration of a Temporal Interest and Concern should stifle all Sentiments of Piety Charity and the Zeal they ought to have for the advancement of Christian Religion in a sort of people who would pass for Christians nay pretend to be of that division of Christians who assume the Title of Reformed We need only take an Observation of their Conduct in those Countries to make a discovery that they take not the least care in the World for the settlement of Religion there and that the only Concern they have to mind there is to see their Commerce in a stourishing condition You will be fully satisfi'd of the truth of what I tell you when you shall have understood some of the remarkable Actions which the Dutch have done in the Cities of Japan and in some other Cities of the East-Indies There were in the Territories of the Emperor of Japan many Portugueze-Merchants and a very great number of persons born in the Country who were Christians and had been converted by the Jesuits and other Catholick-Emissaries The Dutch who do all they can to be alone in those remote places and to get all other European Natives out of them that all the Trade may be at their sole disposal found a means to make all the Roman-Catholicks odious to the Emperor that so he might have an occasion to Banish them out of his Dominions To that end they inform'd him that those Catholicks had the Pope for their Head to whom they render'd an implicite obedience so far as that he did dispense with and discharge them of that subjection which they ought to their lawful Sovereigns Consequently to this they represented to that Prince that it was dangerous for him to have in his Country so great a number of Subjects who acknowledging elsewhere a Sovereign
to God There comes into my mind upon this occasion what I have Read in the History of the Indies That they could not by any means dispose a great number of persons of that Country to be converted to the Christian Religion because the Spaniards made a profession of it For as those poor people had seen them commit such Cruelties as they had never seen any example of before so they had a horror for their Religion upon a supposition that it inspir'd them with such barbarous Sentiments They could not be mov'd with the hope of Celestial Felicity after they had been told that the Spaniards together with all good Christians would have their abode in that happy place They saw no charms in the Glories of Paradice since they were to be partakers of â—hem with a Nation so barbarous and they could not believe that the Felicity which they put them in hopes of could secure them from the persecution of so inhumane a people In a word they could not be induc'd to embrace a Religion which was to conduct them after their death to live eternally in the company of a people which according to their Sentiment was the most wicked of any upon Earth The Duke of Alva having exercis'd in the Low-Countries as strange Cruelties as those of his Country had done in the Indies the Inhabitants of Flanders and no less an aversion for the Spaniards then the Indians And as all the rigorous punishments which had been inflicted upon the people of the Low-Countries were imputed to the Roman-Catholick Religion so the Prince of Orange did cunningly make use of that prejudgment to induce them to embrace a Religion contrary to that of the Spaniards which had made them endure so many Calamities It was in the Year 1572. that that Religion which was receiv'd in your Protestant-Cantons at Geneva in the Palatinate of Germany and in the Churches of France was established in the Confederated Provinces for the only publick Religion And yet they put a difference in it which you will think very considerable if you consult the Sentiments of your first Reformers those of the Doctors who were their Successors and the constant practice of your Protestant-Cantons and of all the Estates of the Reform'd Religion For you know that in all the Countries where those of our Religion are the Masters they do not suffer the exercise of any other Religion nor allow in all their Territories a place of habitation to those who profess a different one whereas the Vnited Provinces did not only permit the exercise of all sorts of Religions but did also reject as Tyrannical all the Laws whereby there was any prescription made for Uniformity of Sentiments upon that occasion attributing to them the name of Inquisition so odious amongst them And this Liberty of Conscience was as I have already observ'd Establish'd not only by the Writings of the Prince of Orange by the Peace of Gaunt by the publick and particular agreement which was made for Religion under the Regency of the Arch-Duke Matthias by the Union of Vtretcht and by several Treaties which have been made with the Cities of the Country If I mistake not methinks it may be affirmed that the Confederated Provinces were of our Reformed Religion in particular while the Liberty of Conscience was Establish'd for all sorts of Persons and the exercise of all Religions was publickly permitted and it was so till the Year 1583. All the Regulations which the States-General have made afterwards for Religion and the Conduct they have been guided by in reference to that are so far from proving them to be of our Religion that they make it evidently appear that they never were nor are not at all of it And this Sir is what I design to justifie to you in the first Letter which I shall write to you upon this Subject This is long enough and if I am weary of Writing you possibly may be more weary of Reading what I have Written Let us then repose a while It will not be long e're you hear from me again mean time be assur'd that I am Reverend Sir Your most humble c. Vtretcht May 4 th 1673. The Second LETTER Reverend Sir IF you have seriously reflected on what I have written in my first Letter I conceive you will readily make this acknowledgment That the Vnited Provinces were not of the Reformed Religion as long as there was not any such Establish'd by any publick Decree and that all the Sectaries had as much liberty there as those of the Reformed Persuasion I know well enough that that Liberty of Conscience which had been Establish'd by so many Treaties and by so many publick Acts was absolutely forbidden by the Regulation which the States-General made in the Year 1583. Take here in express terms what it contains Since there has been a permission granted by the Vnion of Utrecht to amplifie to abridge and change some Articles when ever the welfare and security of the Provinces should seem to require it the States attentively considering the XIII Article have unanimously ordain'd and appointed That the exercise of any Religion shall not be henceforward receiv'd other then that which is publickly taught in the United Provinces which is the Reformed Religion With this proviso however That if any Provinces Members or Cities of the Popish Religion shall be willing to enter into this Alliance they shall be continu'd in the freedome of their Religion conditionally that they sign and subscribe the other Articles of this Alliance To render this Ordinance of no effect I might tell you what was alledg'd as soon as ever it was past by the Catholicks and all those who were not of our Reformed Religion Their complaint was That it had been made contrary to all manner of Justice and Reason contrary to the Stipulated Faith of all the Treaties which the Inhabitants of the same Provinces had made and of those which the Provinces had made mutually one with an other They maintain'd That having united themselves together for the preservation of the Laws and Privileges of the Country it was a great injustice to make an Establishment of one single Religion to be the publick Religion and to deprive the others of the exercise of theirs and not to allow them any part in the Government of the State But above all others the Catholicks thought it very strange that they having taken up Arms against the Spaniards only for the defence of their Liberty should not be allow'd the free exercise of their ancient Religion as if they had spent all their labour only to deprive themselves thereof and to acquire Liberty of Conscience for others and to make the Reformed Religion the most predominant and to raise that only into the Throne Nor did the followers of the other Religions think they had less cause then the Catholicks to be dissatisfy'd and disgusted at that Ordinance which took away the exercise and absolute freedom of their Religion They
of the Satisfaction of Jesus Christ Episcopius in the mean time affirms That Jesus Christ has by his Passion and Death so far satisfy'd God as to render him Propitious to all Mankind and ready henceforwards to receive all men into his Communion provided they by Faith embrace that Propitiation of Jesus Christ So that God being no longer displeas'd there is no Enmity remaining but what proceeds from Men refusing to entertain the grace of Jesus Christ They very earnestly press the Toleration of all the Opinions of those who profess Christian Religion maintaining That all Christians agree in the most Important and such as they call the most Essential and Fundamental Points of Religion That it has not been hitherto decided by an Infallible Judgment who they are amongst the Christians who have embrac'd the Truest and Purest Religion and such as is most conformable to the Word of God That to the effect all may be mutually united to make up one and the same Body or Church and that they ought to love one another as Brethren and not to have any enmity or animosity one against another upon the score of their dissenting in some Points of Religion especially such as are not of the most considerable That men ought not to force any one to condemn and renounce his own Sentiments or to approve and follow those of another They say That heretofore amongst the Jews the Pharisees the Sadduces and the Esseni of whom the Sects were very different and had most dangerous Opinions were however tolerated by the Jews and all receiv'd into the Temple to present theiâ— Sacrifices and Prayers to God and to perform all the other Functions of Religion If Arminius were to come into the World again certainly he would not own most of those who bear his Name to be his Disciples And yet there are some amongst them who have not added any thing to his Sentiments But they all agree in this point That all Christians ought to be Tolerated either that all-together they might make up but one and the same Church or that every one may be allow'd the liberty of his Religion The Brownists have many great Assemblies in the Low-Countries They are a sort of people separated from the English Church and from all the other Reformed Churches which they think to be corrupted not as to the Doctrinal Points of Faith concurring in that respect with those of the Reformed Religion of Holland Germany and other places but as to the Form of Government They equally condemn Episcopal Government and that of the Presbyterians by Consistories Classes and Synods They will not joyn with our Churches for this reason as they say that they are not assur'd of the Conversion and Probity of the Members whereof they consist because they therein suffer Sinners with whom men ought not to communicate and that in the participation of the Sacraments the good contract impurity in the Communion of the wicked They condemn the benediction of the Marriages which are celebrated in Churches by the Ministers maintaining That being a Political Contract the confirmation of it depends on the Civil Magistrate They would not have their Children to be baptiz'd who are not Members of the Church or are not as careful as they ought to be of the Children that have been baptiz'd They reject all Forms of Prayers nay they affirm That the Prayer which our Lord has taught us ought not to be recited as a Prayer but that it was given us to be the Rule and Model by which we ought to frame all those which we present to God They reject the Use of Bells and Churches especially such as they say had been Consecrated to Idolatry The Independents are a brood of the Brownists John Robinson an English man is the Father of all those who are in this Country They believe That every Church or as they call it every particular Congregation has in it self radically and essentially whatever is for its conduct and government and all Ecclesiastical Power and Jurisdiction That such a Church or Congregation is not subject either to one or more Churches or to their Deputies or Assemblies or Synods or to any Bishop Or that any one Church or Assembly has any power over any other Church whatsoever That every particular Church ought to manage its own affairs without any dependence on any other and hence it comes that such as follow these Sâ—ntiments have the denomination of Independents And though they do not think there is any necessity of assembling Synods yet they affirm That if any be assembled there ought to be a consideration of their resolutions as of the counsels of wise and prudent men whereto a certain submission is due and not as definitions and establishments requiring conformity and obedience They are willing to acknowledge that one or more Churches may be assistant to another Church as to advice and admonition nay that they may reprove it if there be any offence yet not upon the account of any superiour authority which has any power of Excommunication but as a Sister-Church declaring That she cannot have any communion with such a Church as hath offended and does not demean her self according to the Rules and Commandements of Jesus Christ And these are the Particular Sentiments of the Independents in reference to the Government of the Church Their very Name had render'd them very odious even to the Protestants but the Confession of Faith which their Brethren of England publish'd when they assembled at London in the Year 1651. has made it appear That they have not otherwise any particular sentiment as to matter of Doctrine but that in reference to that they concurre in all things with those of the Reformed Religion I have hitherto given you an account of but Three or Four different Religions or rather Persuasions but this Letter being come to a considerable Length I will adjourn what I have to say of the other Sects of this Countrey to the next opportunity I shall have to write to you remaining in the mean time Reverend Sâ—r Your most humble c. The Third LETTER Reverend Sir I Am now according to my promise to give you an account of all the different Sects or Religions which are in this Country They who in other places are called Anabaptists are known in these Provinces by the denomination of Mennonites and have deriv'd that Name from Menno a Man born at a Village of Friezland in the Year 1496. Not that the said Menno was the first Father of the Anabaptists in this Country but that he having rejected the Enthusiasmes and Revelations of the Primitive Anabaptists and their Opinions concerning the new Reign of Jesus Christ which they pretended to establish upon Earth by force of Arms has broach'd certain new doctrines which his Followers have embrac'd and persisted in to this day Their Tenets are these That the New Testament only and not the Old ought to be the Rule of our Faith That in speaking of
denomination of Seekers It is the acknowledgment of these people That there is one true Religion which Jesus Christ has brought us from Heaven and which he has reveal'd to us in his Word but they maintain withal That that true Religion of Jesus Christ which we ought to profess in order to the attainment of Salvation is not any one of those Religions which are Establish'd amongst Christians They have some particular exception to make against every one of those Religions and they condemn them all in general In a word They have not pitch'd upon any one determinate Religion as being still concern'd upon the Seeking account They read and meditate the Holy Scriptures with great attention They pray to God with a fervent Zeal That he would illuminate them in the knowledg of that Religion which they ought to embrace in order to the serving of him according to his Will and for the acquest of that everlasting Felicity which he has promis'd his Children I should not think that I have given you an account of all the Religions and Persuasions of this Country if I should omit the saying of a word or two of an Illustrious and Learned man who as I have beâ—n assur'd has a great number of Followers and those such as keep closely to his Sentiments He is a man by birth a Jew whose name is Spinosa one that has not abjur'd the Religion of the Jews nor embrac'd the Christian Religion So that he continues still a most wicked Jew and has not the least tincture of Christianity Some Years since he put forth a Book entituled Tractatus Theologo-Politicus wherein his principal design is to destroy all Religions and particularly the Jewish and the Christian and to introduce Atheisme Libertinisme and the free Toleration of all Religions He maintains That they were all invented for the advantage and conveniences which the Publick receives thereby to the end that all persons subject to Government may live honestly and obey their Magistrates and that they may addict themselves to Virtue not out of the hope or expectation of any reward after death but for the intrinsick excellency of Virtue in it self and for the advantages which accrue to those who follow it in this life He doâ—s not in that Book make an open discovery of the opinion which he has of the Divinity but he does however so far insinuate it as that we may guess at his meaning whereas in his Discourses he boldly affirms That God is not a Being endow'd with Intelligence Infinitely-Perfect and Blissful as we imagine him to be but that he is not any thing else but that Virtue of Nature which is diffus'd into all the Creatures This Spinosa is now living in this Country His Residence was for some time at the Hague where he was visited by the Virtuosi and all others who pretended to more then ordinary Curiosity nay by some young Ladies of Quality who pride themselves in being more ingenious then is requisite for their Sex His followers are somewhat cautious in discovering themselves because his Book before-mention'd does absolutely subvert the very Foundations of all Religions and has been condemn'd by a publick Edict of the States-General and a prohibition put upon the Sale of it and yet it is publickly Sold. Amongst all the Divines of whom there is a great number in this Country there has not stood up any one that has presum'd to write against the opinions which this Author advances in the afore-said Treatise And I am the more surpriz'd thereat for this reason that the Author making a discovery of his great knowledg of the Hebrew Tongue as also of all the Ceremonies of the Jewish Religion of all the Customs of the Jews and of the Heathenish Philosophy the Divines of the Reformation cannot say but that the Book does well deserve that they should take the pains to refute it For if they still continue silent men cannot forbear affirming that either they are defective in point of Charity in suffering so pernicious a Book to be scatter'd up and down without any Answer thereto or that they approve the Sentiments of that Author or that they have not the courage and abilities to oppose them And thus Reverend Sir have I given you an acccount of the different Sects of Christians which are in this Country and which have all in a manner the freedom of Exercising the Religions which they profess I leave you to make thereupon what reflections you shall think fit It will be no hard matter for me to deduce from this diversity of Sects such convincing Reasons as shall prove what I have before advanced to wit That the States-General are not of our Reformed Religion In the first place it cannot be affirmed that this State is of the Reformed Religion upon the score of the number of those who make profession of it For though it cannot be precisely known what number there are of persons professing the Calvinistical way of Reformation which is commonly called the Reformed Religion in these Provinces yet this is still out of all question That the number of those who are not of it is incomparably greater than that of those who do profess it Having thereupon consulted some of the Inhabitants they have assur'd me That there may be a Tripartite Division made of the people of these Provinces and that the three parts may be something towards an equality The one is of the Reformed Religion another of the Roman-Catholicks and the third of the Sectaries I should never have thought that the number of the Roman-Catholicks had been so great It is certain that a considerable part of the Inhabitants of Great Cities and the greatest part of those of the Campaigne and of the Boors of that Country are Roman-Catholicks and there are assuredly at least as many of those of the Reformed Religion And if we put together all the Sectaries they also doubtless make up a third part of the Inhabitants of these Provinces If therefore the Domination and the Denomination ought to be deduc'd from the greatest part those of the Reformed Religion being at most but a third part of the people of this Country cannot give the whole State the Denomination of being of the Reformed Religion It cannot therefore be such upon any other account than this that our Reformed Religion has been Establish'd and the others forbidden by the publick Edict before-mentioned It might indeed be granted that it deserv'd that name if that Ordinance had been put in execution but that having not been executed the name cannot be justly given it But that being a matter requiring much discussion I shall wave it at this time and make it the subject of my next to you and so I shall make no addition to this save only that of assuring you of my being Reverend Sir Your most humble c. Vtrecht May 7 th 1673. The Fourth LETTER Reverend Sir YOu have observ'd in my first Letter That the States-Generall have always
you Reverend Sir What Sâ—ntâ—ment you have of those Magistrates who are of Opinion That no Man ought to be troubled or molested upon the score of Religion and That all Christians ought to be tolerated whatever disagreeing Sentiments they may have upon that Account If â—here were some of them amongst you I do not beliâ—ve you would receive them into your Communion at least thus far I am assur'd Thâ—t according to your own Principles you ought not to receive them Hâ—w then can you be of a Persuasion That the Magistrates of the Vnited Netherlands are of the Reformed Religion properly so called when as if they were at Geneva or in Cantons you cannot admit them to communicate with you You know that Monsieur d' Huisseaâ— Pastor of the Church of Saumar was some years since depos'd and excommunicated by the Synod of the Province for the Book which he had publâ—sh'd for the Toleration and Re-Union of Christians Though I have read it yet cannot I call to mind all the Maxims whâ—ch he advances and maintains Mean time this I â—m assured of That he does not advise a greater Toleration of Christians than what the States-General do effectually grant Which is as much as to say That the Magistrates of these Countries have time out of mind practis'd that which that Minister has taught by the Book which he writ some years since If it be so I cannot imagine the Minister should be more in Fault than they are since he has offended only by his Writings and the Magistrates are effectual Offenders They have been the Doers of the Mischief and he has been but the Teacher of it and possibly induc'd thereto by their Example If you are of Opinion That the said Minister was justly and legally excommunicated you must certainly be guilty of a strange Partiality if you allow the Name of your good Brethren in Jesus Christ to the Magistrates of the Low-Countries who â—or those hundred years past have committed the Evil fâ—r which that Minister hath been excommunicated though he had not done it and but only approv'd the Doing of it If therefore you cannot own them for Brethren nor admit them to the participation of the Communion with you according to the Maxiâ—s of your own Religion and Discipâ—ines can it enter into your Belâ—â—f That the external Profession which they make of your Religion is sufficient to give him the denomination of being of it as well as you But if the Magistrates did acquit themselves of the Devoir whereto the Reformed Religion does particularly oblige Magistrates I should make no difficulty to grant them the Privilege of Attributing to the State which they govern the Name of the Religion which they profess I believe you will grant me That the Reformed Magistrates are after the Example of your Cantons oblig'd to obstruct the Establishment and publick Exercise of false Religions and the Magistrates themselves of the Low-Countries cannot be ignorant of what their own Confession of Faith review'd and approv'd by the Synod of Dort prescribes to them upon this occasion The xxxvi Article in which mention is made of Magistrates saies expressly That it is their Duty to remove Idolatry and the false service of God to endeavour the destruction of Antichrist and to advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ I cannot imagine therefore that you should endeavour to maintain That the States-General do conscientiously acquit themselves of what they are olig'd to by their charge of Magistracy after what I have said to you of the Liberty and Indulgence they grant to so many different Sects which by their erroneous opinions subvert the principal Mystery of our own Religion If you consult your own Sentiments and those of your Collegues and of all your Ministers and if you follow the Practice of all your own Churches you are oblig'd to exclude out of your Communion all those Magistrates who give that Liberty to all sorts of Sects and Persuasions How then can you think that those Magistrates whom the Ordinances of your own Churches permit not to communicate with you can give the Name of your Religion to the State which they govern Nay there are some Magistrates at Amsterdam and Rotterdam two of the principal and most wealthy Cities of Holland who make a publick and open Profession of their being Arminians The Sieur Adrian Patius who is one of the Magistracy of Rotterdam is also an Arminian and his Religion hinders not his exercising the Charge of Ambassadour from the States-General at the Spanish Court where he at present is I know not whether he be of those of the Sect who do absolutely follow the Sentiments of the Socinians But if that person be a Socinian and in his Return from Spain should be in Humour to take his way through your Cantons I know not whether the worst that might happen to him would be a Denyal of Reception into your Communion Upon the Summing up therefore of all I have said to you I am apt to think that you cannot still have the same Opinion of the States-General and continue your calling them a Holy and sanctify'd Republick Could you represent to your self that strange party-colour'd Chequer-work of Religion which is to be seen in those Countries I should hardly believe that you could persist any longer in the good Sentiments you have for this State I am ready to acknowledg That the Protestants are oblig'd to it for the liberty they have to live there without any fear in the exercise of Religion But are not all sorts of Hereticks equally oblig'd to it for the liberty they have to live there quietly in the exercise of their Religions If this State has been a Sanctuary to those of the Reformation all Hereticks have also found refuge there as well as the others In the General Diet held in Poland in the Year 1658. it was Order'd by a Publick Decree That all the Socinians who were very numerous in that Country and had their Principal Seat there should be sent away thence and that after some time allow'd them for the disposal of their Estates they were to be for ever banish'd thence The States-General did charitably receive all those amongst them who took refuge in this Country and it is particularly since that time that they have notoriously increas'd and multiply'd If this State be the School of the Reformed Party it is in like manner the School the Damme and the Nursery of all Hereticks Nay I am in some suspense whether it may not be justly maintain'd That Christian Religion has receiv'd more detriment than advantage by the establishment of this State And possibly for the same interest of Christian Religion there will be a greater obligation to wish its ruine then its wellfare It will be a very hard matter to persuade you to this since you are of Opinion That the Republick of the Vnited Provinces is a most-Christian State and one of the most Reform'd even amongst Christians I know not whether
Power superior to his might upon the reception of such a Command from it rebell against him That Prince having by this malicious information conceived a very great Distrust of all the Christians in general resolv'd upon an absolute extermination of them and that not any one should ever be suffer'd to live in his Territories All the Cruelties which the ancient Tyrants ever inflicted upon Christians are no great mattter in compâ—rison of whâ—t that Prince exercisâ—â— upon the Catholicks who were found in his Dominions He put all to death with grievous yet long-lasting Torments nay there were many cut off who were not Christians upon a suspicion of their lying conceal'd amongst them that so not one might escape his fury After so Bloody and Cruâ—l an Execution he put fâ—â—â—h most severe Edâ—cts by which he Order'd That there should never any Christian bâ— permitted to enter into his Territories The Dutch having crept in there as I told you before by a flat denial of their being Christians acknowledg'd afterwards that they were indeed some of those people to whom that name was given but that for their parts they minded only their Trade and never troubled themselves with any thoughts of their Religion They voluntarily made this Profer that they would never speak to the Inhabitants of the Country either of God or of Jesus Christ or his Religion nor perform any Exâ—rcise of it themselves and that they would so live as that it should not be known that they ever were Christians The Emperor of Japan finding the Dutch so well inclin'd was of Opinion That he had no cause to be afraid of them though they were Chris\tians since they promis'd to live at such a Rate as if in effect they were not such He thereupon permitted them to live iâ— his Territories upon the conditions which they had propos'd themsâ—lves The Dutch who never executed any Treaty when it was more for their advantage to violate it did very Sincerely and Religiously observe this with the Emperor of Japan because it is destructive to the Interests of Religion and highly beneficial to them upon the scâ—re of Trade They have ever since Liv'd and still do Live in the Dominions of that Prince without the performance of any Function of God's Service without having the Bible or any other Godly Book or Treatise of Piety for the doing of their Devotions in private But I am withal to â—â—ll you Reverend Sir That what you read of these Transactions of the Dutch in those remote parts of the World you are not so to look upon as if that so detestable an Agreement made with the Emperour was the private determination of a certain number of Dutch Merchants resident in those Parts but you are to consider what they did as done by the express Order of the Directors of the Company establish'd in that Country who have ratify'd it and promoted the execution of it All the Dutch who are return'd into this Country since that Treaty was made having publish'd it all that have any concern for Vertue and Christianity in these Provinces have express'd themselves much astonish'd thereat The Ministry made some stirr about it and there have been several Acts made in their Synods in order to the making of Remonstrances and Complaints thereof to the States-General I cannot precisely tell what Resolution tha States-General have yet taken thereupon but I know that they have not taken any for the breaking off of so Impious and so Scandalous a Treaty Their deportment in this very case may justly create a belief That they are of the Sentiment of that Renegado Jew Spinosa of whom I have already given you an account though he has not any thing of Christianity It is that Author's design in his Treatise called Tractatus Theologo-Politicus pag. 62. of the Latine Edition to prove That Baptisme the Sacrament of the Eucharist Prayers and all the external Functions of Gods Service which are and ever have been common to all Christians in case they were appointed by Jesus Christ or his Apostles of which he saies that he is not assur'd were appointed as he maintains but only as external signs of the Universal Church and not as things any way conducive to Beatitude or having any sanctity in themselves and that they who live in Solitude are not oblig'd to the performance of them And that they who have their Habitations in remote Countries where the Exercise of the Christian Religion is prohibited are oblig'd to abstain from those Ceremonies and may yet do well enough in order to a happy life To prove the Proposition which he advances he alledges the example of what the Dutâ—h do in Japan In which Country the Christian Religion being prohibited he affirms That the Dutch are oblig'd by the command of the Directors of the East-India Company to forbear performing the exercise thereof From whence it may be deduc'd That that Action of the Dutch in Japan done and maintain'd by a publick Authority must needs be impious and detestable since this Author who makes an open profession of Atheisme makes Use of it as an irrefragable Reason to prove That all the external Services of the Christian Religion are not at all contributory to or advancive of satisfaction and that men may be never the less happy though they never mind them But if without any regard to the Sentiment of that Atheist you consider that Action in it self what could you imagine in the World of greater horror than that some Christians who wâ—uld pass for such as are of the Calvinistical way of Reformation could ever be induc'd to make an express prohibition and â—n absolute retrenchment of all exercise of Religion to their people in a â—ountry that they may there have a quiet exercise of their Trade And therefore I hope Reverend Sir that however you may have an over passionate kindness for the Dutch yet you will not have the confidence to deny their being guilty of the highest impiety in Sacrificing the interests of Christian Religion to their Commerce and Trade and making no Conscience or being any way concerâ—'d to see so many Persons live and Die without the exercise of any Religion as if they were without God and without hope only to make an unhappy profit by the loss of their Souls If you have had any account of the dreadful Execution which was committed by the same Dutch in the Island of Amboyna in the Year 1622 it is impossible but you must acknowledg that there is not any consideration of Religion able to divert them from the exercising of all sorts of Cruelties when the Dispute is about their interest and profit There were not Twenty English-men in that place and the Dutch had there a very grâ—aâ— Colony and a well fortifi'd Castle with a good Garrison in it They accus'd the English of having a design to take that Câ—stle though they had neither Arms nor Forces They are taken into custody upon that pretended Conspiracy