God and requite no more from the people but what God himself requireth then the people give to Caesar and to God that justice and obedience which is due to them by one and the same act because Caesar desires all and only that which GodS Wills 15. When the vulgar speak of the uniting of the two Religions in France they speak of a thing impossible because they consist of Propositions which are named Contradictories of which the first are necessarily false if the Opposites are true in this condition they can never be united as may be seen by these Examples one maintaining that the body of Christ in his very Flesh Blood and Bones is really present in the Sacrament the other saying that there is no reality of flesh though there be a real presence and spiritual grace Can these two Notions unite and be conjoyned one saith the souls separated from the bodies being in a state of grace burn in a fire under-ground to satisfie for their sins the other holds that souls justified by grace have no obstacle which can hinder them from possessing or injoying glory One affirmeth that the Pope is Monarch of all Kings and Bishops with the same power which Christ had when he was upon the Earth the other is perswaded that this Bishop hath not this power and that he can neither maintain it without error nor exercise it without Tyranny these propositions can never agree and if one would speak rightly of the design of his Majesty we must interpret it a unity of good Society which may be effected but not a unity of Conformity which can never be 16. I believe that according to the Kings will those of both Religions may agree in the same thoughts and make but one Religion both good and pious In the fourth Age all Christendom was divided upon the Propositions of the Divinity of Christ these two Propositions viz. Christ is God in substance and Christ is not God in substance but by resemblance are discourses and notions never to be reconciled In a word after many unjust Fends of the one and other Party all did agree after the Truth was justly known and sincerely sought after We might experiment the same unity if minds would cease to be prae-possess'd by Interest or Custome Let us search with sincerity the will of God and the reality of his thoughts and then we shall easily be of one mind piously following that which God bids us 17. This Union of Minds in the same apprehensions of things cannot be done with fatisfaction if as some pragmatically say the King should use his absolute Authority without suffering any disputes about it One I Will is not enough to perswade the profound Reason of the Soul One I Will not cannot root out the first Impressions all the effects that these commands can produce is terrour or dissembling one may study to hide one self for fear of anger for the respect one ought to have for his Majesty but every one will keep those thoughts which he thinks necessary for his Salvation What pleasure can the King have to see his Realm full of Dissemblers who fear his Anger or of miserable ones if he should use Violence 18. They rank that which you told me of the Embassage to Rome to obtain a permission for a Conference about Religion Amongst the ill news we hear His Majesty hath too much knowledg of the practices of the Romish Court to expect that the Pope should give him liberty to argue against him and his Universal Power Dare the Signiorle of Venice ask the King of Spain the power to debate whither the Dutchie of Milan and the Kingdome of Naples belong to him by a Ligitimate Right Can one believe that Romane Polity hath ever been so civil to praise Catholick Majesty to ordain a conference upon the posession of Sicily and that it hath ever asked the liberty to publish the Bull in canâ Domini in the Lords Supper by which that King is Excommunicated The King is not under Age let him govern his Subjects in the fear of God even from the bottom of our Souls we all desire it and those who would not have it so are neither Rational nor French-men Can we be in a better hand than that of a King who speaks our own Language whom Nature engageth to cherish his Country whose Inclinations are agreeable to our Climate which is his and whose Interests are necessarily tyed to ours Let the King freely take his own let no body dispute it in his Kingdome let no Stranger rule over us It is one of the most horrible punishments which God hath brought upon his people of which the Hebrews complain most bitterly and which may be compared to the crime of which the Lord himself complains in Jerem. 2.25 But thou sayest there is no hope no for I have loved Strangers and after them will I go and in Jerem. 5. You shall serve Strangers in Lament 2. Our Heritage hath been overturned by Strangers Is not the King a Christian and The most Christian King is he not a Sacred person is he not the Lords Anoynted ought he to ask the Pope leave to search the true Law of God and to offer it naked to his people Let the King speak as the generous Henry le Grand for his Marquisdome of Salus he answered to all the cunning devices of Pope Clement the 8th and the addresses of Cardinal Aldobrandin and the Artifices of the Duke of Savoy with these words I will have my Own It is the Kings right to propose the Law of God as t is his duty to search and meditate it hath not he as well as the Prince of Rome both Moses and the Prophets the Holy History the Doctrine of the Apostles and the Confession of Faith of the Council of Nice hath he not as much Ingenuity and as Penetrating a Wit as the Pope to discern Good from Evil Truth from Falshood and Sincerity from Interest hath he not more Zeal or more Natural Inclination for the good of his Subjects than a Stranger who appears to all reasonable men to make no Conscience of any thing if he can but raise never so little his glory and advantage by it Will he take measure from the Pope to oblige the French to give their Souls to God rendring their Respects to their King can any one believe that France hath no body in it who is enlivened with a Zeal by a sincere and unspotted Soul and by an inlightened Piety Can his Majesty expect Know ledge and Conscience from Italy to make us Famous and Conduct us 13. Believe Sr. that if the King hath designed that of which we discourse he hath too much Grandeur and Light in his Mind to commit it to the Pope or acquaint him with it 19. If the Pope should admit of this Conference he would never suffer that any thing should be concluded on to his disadvantage no one hates his own Flesh The Council of Trent was
his admirable providences the hatred of our own wickednesses the aversion from or abhorrence of our faults the grief for our past errours the fears of approaching judgment are divers reasons all which brings or leads us to God directly But the adoration of Jdols or of creatures under pretence that they represent or that they contain the grandeur of Divinity the Sacrifice of things stolen or of humane blood the affected ceremonies which pass as a law although little beloved by the people customary words or praises of God not joyned with a holy love the practices which are established and protected by the interest of some Authority the gorgeous Ornaments to draw aside and divert the thoughts of the people and all the inventions which busie the mind about sensual and material things are irregularities which make us stray from true Pietie though some people have been governed quietly by them 3. One cannot easily Imagine a humane Power capable to recal Men from the straying Paths which they have taken or will take the design of reducing them into a way that is good is certainly the task of one that must be both wise and absolute and for the execution of it 'T is necessary methinks that the understanding of that man should be without any Clouds and Darkness and his Authority without Limits Private men have words to explain themselves Reason to enlighten others Arguments to convince and Demonstrations sufficient to perswade Soveraignes have Authority to command and Power to force people but yet with all their Engines 't is very difficult or rather impossible to lead or drive men to Heaven by one and the Same Way the difference of Natures the disposition of the Genius Customes Interests and Concerns outward Shews Fears the engagements of Honour and Friends cause such strange differences and diversities in humane Souls that all cannot be perswaded into the same thoughts nor touched with the same Reason I know that the grand diversity which we see in Nature which we know only by its Accidents may be also found in Morality and much more in Piety because but few know the true Essence of it We cannot deny but all people apprehend and seek after the same God but who can hinder that one and the same Figure should represent several objects according to its diverse positions and the several places in which the beholders are or who shall hinder the Sun from framing that diversity of representation according to the diverse Climates upon which it shineth Many have shewed me their holy extravagancies speaking confidently of the condition of the World before sin had made it miserable they told me that the several motions of the Sun would have produced neither Winter Darkness nor Death that untill'd ground would have produced neither Brambles nor Thorns nor any noisome Plants they had imaginations so finely ordered that I could not deny giveing their Idea the Image of a world made of Miracles I must believe that but for the weakness fantasticalness and wickedness of Man we had known no defect in any Religion But if we would re-establish this happy Unity which is the consequence of perfect innocency there must follow two Miracles an expulsion of Darkness and Malice from the mindes of all Men. The true Worship which is in Spirit and Truth we commonly find to be laid aside by ignorant Teachers or malicious Builders if we see Truth in the most considerable place of the Building and if Truth does unite the two Walls at the point of the Angle which is the most regular then we may sing with the Prophet God alone Almighty and only Wise hath done this thing before our Eyes his hand alone hath done this work by this strong and glorious Armes The Princes who do or shall see this happiness in their Lands ought to say this is the day which the Lord hath made 4. If it be true that our King and Monarch desires that there be but one Religion in his Kingdom he desires a very good thing and no doubt the excellency of his disposition will make him propound and follow that way of Piety which is most agreeable to Reason and most Spiritual and which the most generous and Christian Soul would chuse to unite it self with God mean fortunes are aimed at only by mean people but the most Illustrious reach after Perfection 5. All the Kings subjects who have rational Ingenuities and Souls truly Pious ought to approve follow and cherish this Design of his Majesties all ought to contribute to this heavenly Peace a house must needs be full of trouble if its inhabitants treat one another with censuring and fury and look upon one another with the Eyes of Enmity I find nothing so troublesome in life as the necessity of liveing with those men who Reproach one another with equal Fierceness as if their different thoughts in matters of Religion were abominable Crimes and who look upon one another as Reprobates enemies of God servants of Satan and destined to Damnation These sad Emotions produce such hellish Hatreds and such pressing Sadnesses in the weaker Party they bring forth such bloody Violences and cruel Inhumanities in the most powerful Party that these infernal Reproaches make a kind of Hell which torments the inhabitants of the same Countrey the subjects of the same Prince the children of the same Father the nearest relations in the same Family the friendships of the most sacred Alliances every one sets himself to curse his Brother and would willingly take the satisfaction of ruining him I cannot think of this barbarous Zeal without sighing and without some Horror for these inhumane Men who cease to be Rational when they would be esteemed Pious must our cruelty pass for a mystery of Religion our infamous Vices for the height of Vertue must we our selves believe and perswade others that to become good Angels we must act like Brutes Sure if men would follow right Reason they would resolve to bear these different Opinions which gives Piety so many and so various Shapes without Fury Hatred and Violence certainly they would suffer with a prudent Patience the errors of the Night still expecting that the Morning-star or the Sun it self should in due time discover all things with a true light But who can hinder the furious madness of these bitter Spirits who run down and consume all that opposeth their Opinions who can fix Notions in the weak Vulgar who having nothing but a spirit of chaffe or vapour are hurried by the little winde that puffeth them Minds so ill managed make in the same Family of which the King is the Master and Father an army of Midianites who destroy each other animating themselves one against another whil'st the darkness hinders them from knowing themselves and in a tumult too which will not permit them to be able to know one another There is no need Dear Eutimius to prove to you that which you already know nor to represent to you what you
gives them and of which a wife man hath said Chi non ha Paura non sente il malo he who hath no fear can feel no harm No Party should take an advantage of another and I believe that if we served God well and honoured the King we should all agree with so much sweetness that one might see faith truly universal justly Apostolical and truly Christian shine out clearely 30. If to produce unity wee must have the same thoughts let us all respect follow without wrangling the good will of our Soveraign let us not be obstinate in our private faith but let us be fixed in that which hath appeared at all times Catholique and which we have equally respect for and confiance in All of us have the Confession of Faith which is called the Apostolical Symbol we have almost in the same words as they recite them in the Mass the Confession of Faith of the Council of Nice such a collection of Faith signed by 318 Bishops was a conclusion of that worthy Assembly to whom Rome sent two Deputies the Articles of faith were received by the Church which was not Arian and since none of bur Churches are so let us be satisfied with that Confession truly Catholique and let us hold to it Let us Reason together with freindship The Confession of the Symbol of Nice touched without doubt all the Articles of the Christian Faith which the truly faithfull believe or ought to believe to satisfy their consciences so worthy an Assembly was the first that Christianity saw in its quiet after the dreadfull Persecutions It was under the Authority of Constantine the great who was converted from Idolatry to the Faith it was as the Resurrection of the Gospel which untill then was preached in hidden places in Caves and dark holes of the earth By the happy Miracle of a new Life Jesus Christ increased by his Divine Power the light of Faith and the sweetness of tranquillity it was necessary in so considerable a meeting to inform Christians very well what they were obliged to believe always in all parts of the World and in all Nations where Religion could be found It was absolutely necessary also to inform by a publique Act the Soul of the newly Converted Emperour of all the Mysteries which make Christian Religion Divine and True and the Emperor ought to Regulate his Faith by that general approved Confession signed by all the good Bishops In short this Confession of Faith so Authentique and so wisely Established was received by all Christianity as an abridgment of the Gospel with this assurance that those who believe these Propositions would have that true and entire Faith which Christ requires in his Faithfulones All these Circumstances witness that the Articles proposed since that time were not believed then since they could not forget to Record them and that this Council principally Assembled against the impious subtleties of Arius treated of all the Mysteries of Religion and by a common Agreement made a general Declaration of them that they put into it all that is necessary to Salvation not only to correct present Errors but to hinder new ones and if the blind obedience which Worshipped the Decrees of the Church and the Patriarch of Rome had been a difference necessary to Salvation the Roman Deputies would not have sail'd to present it The Emperour nor the Fathers of the Council would not have neglected to put in that Article which goeth at present for the most Fundamental Ground of Faith and instead of these Words One Holy and Apostolical Church we should read these the Roman Church only I wonder that if the Greeks complain of that which the Latines have added to the Articles of the Procession of the holy Spirit Filioque we should not complain of them that they have added And the Roman Church After having confirmed this Truth that the Confession of Faith published by the Council of Nice being received by all Christians establisheth them in a most Holy and Pious Unity let us agree according to the will of the King in the French Church in that manner which the first and principal Council of Christians regulated our common Faith since in the third Age it regulated the Faith of Constantine the great and all Christianity we may joine to these those who condemned the Heresy of Nestorius and Eutichus in short we are united if true Antiquity Governs us 20. Let us consider the difference of the first Council held at Nice which cements us all with the last held at Trent which divides us I am not willing to utter the least unbeseeming Word but I must say keeping the Truth which I love that there is a great difference between him whom the Spirit of the holy Scriptures Governs and him that takes his from the Valises or Clok-bag of Rome In the Council of Nice we have nothing which is not proposed in Holy Writ by the Ministry of Christ and his Apostles In that of Trent we see all is Proposed Resolved and Ordained according to the prescribed Order of the Romane Legates and according to the Popes interest The first which bindes us with the Truth of God unties us with Pleasure the other which makes all submit to the Vanities of the Pope divides us even to Fury But to make the Purity of that Faith appear the better which can give us that Admirable Peace I will employ this Page to set down Word for Word the Confession of Faith Writ at the Council of Nice so as it is sang in the Romane Mass from whence I took it with exact Faithfulness The Creed I Believe in One God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things Visible and Invisible and in One Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God begotten of his Father before all Worlds God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made being of one Substance with the Father by whom all things were made Who for us Men and for our Salvation came down from Heaven and was Incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made Man and was Crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate He suffered and was Buried and the third Day he Rose again according to the Scriptures and Ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the Right Hand of the Father And he shall come again with Glory to Judg both the Quick and the Dead whose Kingdom shall have no End And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of Life who procedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is Worshipped and Glorified who spake by the Prophets And I Believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church I acknowledg one Baptisme for the Remission of Sins and I look for the Resurrection of the Dead and the Life of the World to come Amen We are Piously and Christianly United by this Creed and if any thing be omitted in it it is so clear
in the Holy Scriptures that one has no need of a Council to perswade or declare it But to follow the Decrees of the Council of Trent I must add to the Confession of Faith which I have Written these new Articles 1. I Beleive the Patriarch of Rome to be Soveraign Monarch and independent of all Christian People above all Lawes incapable to be judged either by a Council or any other Power 2. I Beleive the true Body of Christ made so by the Priest is Eaten Broken and sensibly bruised by the Teeth of the Faithful 3. I Believe a Purgatory under the Earth to Torment the Souls destined to Glory 4. I Beleive the Indulgences of the Bishop of Rome to draw Souls out of that Fire 5. I Believe the Efficacious Absolution of the Preists when one has confest all the Sins to them which they have Committed 6. I Believe the Canonizing of Saints ordered by the Pope 7. I Believe Images Reliques Processions the Agnus Dei the Medals the Service in an unknown Tongue the Rosaries the Girdle of St. Francis the Medals of the Fourth Sts. or Borromie the holy Water and Exorcisms with Salt 8. I Believe Dispensation for a certain Price the cruel Inquisition the giving of Kingdoms to the first Usurper the Massacre of all those who withstand the Court of Rome the Eternal Damnation of those who stray from his Commands and an infernal Curse upon all those who without any Reserve do not obey all his Orders 9. I Believe that if one shoud know that if the Pope did neglect his own Salvation and that of his Brethren if he should lead multitudes with him without Number to Damnation to be slaves of Hell no Mortal could without presumption reprehend his Faults because he who judges all others cannot be Judged by any one See the Decretals in 4. Distinct Canon 5. 10. I Believe generally that the Romane Church only and those who obey her in all things without Contradiction and reserve are Catholiques and Apostoliques 11. I Believe also the new Morality of the Jesuits favoured by the Pope and the Doctrine of Vernant and that of the Guimeneus whose Condemnation made by Sorbon hath been burnt as an Heretique by an express Bull from the Pope 12. I believe that there is as well Piety as justice in the crimes approved tolerated and allowed on by the Pope 13. I Believe generally that Christ and the Pope have but one and the same Power and Tribunal and that all Power is given to him in Heaven and Earth 14. In a Word I Believe that one ought to follow in spight of what ever can be said the sine conceits of the Cardinal of Perroon in respect of Pope Clement the Eighth of whom he held his Cardinalship I Have always Reverenc'd your Blessedness as a God upon Earth This Creed is very long and much more than that of which the first Christians made Profession If this Creed divides all Christianity if it hinders the Peace of our hearts in France Let us all beseech our Gracious King to Stand and make us Stand also to the Creed of that Generous Constantine and of so many Excellent Bishops the most part of whom bore the marks of Martyrdom which they received during the Persecution O how happy should we be if we had nothing else to do but to obey God and the King how contented would our lives be and how quiet our Consciences if the King would give us Power and Liberty not to change the Incorruptible Glory of God into the Image of Corruptible Man how Contented and Glorious would his Majesty be if he would Unite all of us by the Truth of God since that we are not divided but by the Vanity of Man 32. Although the Roman-Catholiques are tyed by Custom to their Ceremonies which makes Religion to be a shew although they glory much in their Profession seeing themselves upheld and the Protestants low in the present state of affairs although Custom makes them imagine the Religion of the Protestants in France at too far a distance from that which pleaseth the phancy sence of the People Yet it is certain if they had tasted the good Word and found without fear and prejudice the Essence of true Piety they would relish it with Pleasure and Comfort they would approve of that holy Truth which the Prophet spoke Tast see how sweet the Lord is they would rebuke with scorn an infinite company of Follies which they dare neither leave nor censure in their present condition I have seen more than a hundred persons of great Quality whose Souls were above the Vulgar laugh at or bemoan these Superstitious Actions and low Opinions which the Vulgar made their dear Devotions and which many Hypocritical Cheats would make go for considerable matters Mouns Abbot Marreau of Ville-Loing shews in all his writings that he had a great Soul when he speaks most generously of so many Heads attributed to St. John Baptist and of the Blood of Christ kept in glasses and of many other low things which stuff the Devotion and daub it with Mud or Ink so I call the Impostures of the Bablers of Fables and the Writers of Prodigies I have heard many of the best sort of Ecclesiastiques say that they suffered much violence to comply with and follow such gross abuses to their Sense and Knowledg but because Contradiction or neglect passed for a Crime in regard of the received use they believed that they acted like wise men when they trifled and play'd the Fools like the Ignorant I can assure you Eutimius that the distance which I perceive for the particular Creed of the Pope which is explained here doth not come from a prejudiced mind but from a sincere heart which doth not suffer me to commit my Salvation and my Faith to Ideas where I remarque weakness incertitude I speak in respect of those who believe them for those who do not have spirit and understanding to manage their Interest laughing at these ridiculous Weaknesses Many generous Souls brought up in the Romish Communion have the same thoughts that I have although they have not the same which animate me they have too many knots to break or untye they are content only to slack them they see to cut them asunder is an offence against the publique Opinion Certain of my Friends speaking to me of this matter tell me that a Wise man seldom takes up that Resolution which his Master blames and his Companions hate In spite of the Custom of some and the Policy of others if his Majesty would determine to make the Star of Freedom shine he would quickly see the day of Unity all hearts and minds would willingly render themselves to the Truth of God Countenanced by the King and all eyes love light although they are not Prisoners so all that are Generous and Rational in France would joyn without noise and without trouble to true Reason and noble Piety no one can resist the