expresse words by the mouth of S. Peter yea and of Iesus Christ him selfe doth forbid the vsurping of dominion ouer the Lordes inheritaunce and the making of marchaundise of men or mens soules as the Reuelation calleth it and therefore he is an hereticke and in performance of the kinges vowe ought to be driuen out of Fraunce I say driuen out of France that is to say his dominion driuen out of France It is alledged that no hereticke ought to succeede to the crowne To this article may the king of Nauarre well subscribe for in him is not to be founde any one spot of heresie but it is a sclaunder of the Pope who lendeth him this charitie to the ende to weaken the partie of the Reformation and so to strengthen the League so strongly that it may ouerrule both king and commons and shut vp the king in some Couent of Charterhouse Monkes for to make one of the League a creature of the Popes and one of the king of Spaines PeÌ„sioners king and through him to trouble the whole state of Fraunce and abolish the priuiledges of the French Church For long hath the Pope longed to set in foot and many a day hath he begun to molest the French kinges now he shieldeth him selfe vnder pretence of Reformation but where was Reformation at the warres of Millan when the Popes did nothing but lay snares for the kinges of France in the behalfe of the Emperour and king of Spaine who so will peruse the remembraunces of Bellay shall therein finde examples enough yea now albeit the cause of the ReformatioÌ„ were not yet would he finde occasions to trouble the kinges of France and therefore it is an easie matter for him to finde that pretence thereby the more cunningly to compasse his driftes And had he euen set his foote vpon the kinges throate yet were it no newes for he hath done as much to the Emperour or had he thrust our king into some Monasterie yet should he not be the first either Emperour or King of Fraunce that the Popes haue couled Many times did I marueile why the Popes should accuse the Reformed Princes of heresie yea and all Reformation but hauing read the 12. Chapter of the Reuelation where it is said that the Dragon and old Serpent which is the deuill doe accuse our brethreÌ„ before God both day and night I was resolued for it is not vnnaturall for the child to imitate his fathers actions The king hath bene counsailed to permit but one ReligioÌ„ in France the counsell is good if it may be compassed by reason There be two wayes to atchieue it or at the least to try it for man purposeth but God disposeth The first is the same which the Turke vseth in mainteining of Mahometes law and that is the sword but this meanes is bloudy cruell and doubtfull for the blowes are to be deuided and he is assured of winning nothing but stripes yea and it is tyrannous whereof we conclude that the king will neuer take that course vnlesse he be forced by the League worke tyrannie against him selfe For this we know that by nature he is no tyraÌ„t so that if it come to that passe all Frenchmen in reason are to take armes to free the king from the tyrannie of the League Also to take away a schisme is to put out a fire with fire or with oyle But fire is neuer quenched with fire but with water that is the fire of schisme must be quenched with the water of reason which is stronger and standeth with more equitie then warre it selfe The other meanes is sure may be performed without bloudshed yea it is a Christian meane grounded vpon reason truth and godlynesse It consisteth in reiecting the yoke of the Spanish Inquisition and Councell of Trent propounded by the League restoring the Catholicke Religion to the libertie of the Nicene Councell free from the Pope and burthen of his superstitioÌ„s This course if the king would vndertake we should neuer neede to feare the League for albeit the League and Clergie would cut of all the faction of Reformation yet should not Reformation quayle for God vpholdeth it and for proofe hereof the experience of 30. yeares might suffise But if the king and Clergy would fauour the cause of Reformation the League would make no greater hast then to hide it selfe The Clergie may imagine that this can not be done without their hurt and losse in respect of diuers donations made vpon some abuse or superstitions and vnlawfull vse hereto I aunswere that it is not necessarie that that which hath bene giuen to an vnlawfull entent should therefore be taken away but rather conuerted to a better vse as were the 250. golden censers offered for a conspiracie by Cores confederates which were conuerted to a good vse vidâ—l to be turned into golden plates to be layd vpon the Lordes altar Euen so that hath bene giuen to pray for predecessours soules departed may be conuerted to instructions for successours suruiuers or to pray to God for them so should the Clergie encurre no losse But if the Clergie will not be content with so manifest reason but obstinately bending against the truth seeke our subuertion we will leaue them to trye in vayne how to root out Reformation and wast their reuenues for we know that in the end they shall be forced to come to it God can well enough reclaime them either of their owne accordes or by great punishments and therfore let vs suffer them to runne their race for when they haue runne well they must stay and yeeld thereto When a man hath a sute it helpeth much to doe his whole endeuour and to offer his aduersarie all iust and reasonable offers for by that meanes he may bring his aduersarie to reason and agreement he also cutteth of all sutes or els conuinceth his enemy of frowardnesse and so iustifying his cause enclineth the Iudge to fauour him Euen so we knowing that we are to deale with the great Iudge which is God also that we owe a duetic to our king doe seeke to finde out all meanes how to satisfie him with reason and to turne away his wrath which the Leaguers doe wrongfully kindle against vs and therefore we offer to the Catholikes so much as in right reason and equitie we may so as it is not our fault and we doe wash our handes of it before God and thus they are to see that in contemning the iust motions that we make and propound they disdaine not vs but the truth which is of God For if they haue any harme it is their owne fault and God will not punish them but vpon euident iust reason for their contumacie in that they would not obey his truth If a man inuiteth his friend to his table at dinner offereth him an apple to eate and it chaunceth a worme to be therein as sometimes it happeneth he will not vrge his friend to eate the worme with
then a Franciscane at Rome howbeit if we must needs obey a Franciscan are there not enough in Fraunce that do better deserue it then he who was neuer created Pope but vpon fauour rather then the worthinesse in him But in case a Romish Franciscan were fitter to gouerne the French Clergie yet were it requisite he were brought into France so to spare both labour and cost and to be nearer his flocke for it is neuer the propertie of a good shepheard to lye farre from his fold but now a dayes we make such shepheardes as doe neuer visite their flockes yea that neuer see the flockes that they entitle them selues shepheardes of To the end to ship the Clergy in the League they were perswaded that within six moneths the Reformatiō should be vtterly extinguished now there haue passed aboue foure times 12. and they yet neuer the nearer sauing in multiplying of expenses they haue but set forward their owne destruction and yet are they to take new deliberations I wonder they know not that it is in vayne to striue against God There is no coūsell against God that can preuaile well may they make many meetinges either of Synodes or Estates but if they enter any counsell against God he will scatter them yea albeit they hide them selues yet are they not hidden from him Let the Clergie accōpt all the charges they haue bene at and the purchases by the League returned to the profite of the Clergie then let them come to substraction so I am assured they shall finde that the Clergie hath scattered rather then multiplied so as the remainders being put to interest will neuer bring them any profite neither yet augment their reuenues let them recken what goodes they haue sold and what rentes they haue consumed and they shall finde that they doe amount to more then that that hath bene sold from the Reformed yet shall the Reformed in the end recouer theirs againe but so shall not the Clergie As for the Cardinall of Bourbon it were better for him to shoot at the soueraigne Bishopricke in Frāce thē at the crown to practise the succession of the Crowne for his nephew the king of Nauarre yet not by a League or conspiracie against the king So might he erect two good pillers to beare vp his house this might he doe without stirring vp such Tragedies as are now seene in Fraunce as also the estate of a soueraigne Bishoprick might more easily be giuē him in respect that already he is one of the chief Princes of the bloud and both Primate and Peere of France besides that he should aspire to that which stādeth with the vocation of his Priesthood which also he might enioy during the kings life for it may be the king shall outliue him neither will it become him to renounce his Priesthood wherein he hath kept him selfe vnto his old age as also he may thinke that such as promise him the crowne vsing his pretence to the ouerthrow of his familie do well know that charitie beginneth of it selfe also that there is no man hauing meanes to dispose of the crowne but will set it vpon his owne head rather then on a Priestes Besides in as much as there are some whose promises giftes and succours may be suspected he can not but speede well in following the Apostles counsaile which is that euery man walke in his vocation whereto he is called he is called to the Priesthood let him then so continue and let him that can not be Moses be content to be Aaron I haue before noted for a fault in the Reformed that they haue not made sufficiēt offer to the Clergie of the enioying of their rightes vnder the Reformation which is true but it hath bene a greater fault in the Clergie to imagine that Reformation would take from them all that it offereth not It is most certaine that this foreiudgement hath more hindered the cause of Reformation thē the armes of the Leaguers For the League began to worke her effectes but in these last troubles where this foreiudgemēt hath bene an auncient stombling blocke of old in the way of Reformation neither had the Clergie euer bent them selues so sore against it as they haue done had not that bene howbeit it is not foreiudgement giuen but taken yea and by the Clergie taken out of season without sufficient cause giuē by the Reformatiō on whose side there was no other fault but a trespasse cōmitted for want of aduisement by vncircumspectiō mistaking neither was there any offence at all but by taking the matter ouer sharpely indirectly considering that the Reformation neuer attempted any thing against the Clergie but the Clergie against the Reformation in all the warres namely in the last wherein contrarywise the king of Nauarre hath euidently shewed that he had no quarell to the Clergie in that he hath hitherto forborne the Clergie albeit they entered into the League against him In deede I say that they of the Reformation might haue offered the Clergie those things that I set downe yea and haue procured and craued them when they laboured to haue the chambers deuided for the decision of processe But this is no sufficient cause to kindle such a schisme as the Pope hath raised For I accōpt him the cause of this mischief foreiudgement because he alwayes mingled the Clergies cause with his owne perswading the Clergie men that it generally concerned all their estates and herein haue the Clergie bene to blame that they neuer sought out the ground of this controuersie for had they sought neuer so litle they had found that their estate was not in question but the superstitiōs which had they taken away they had ended all schisme Whereupon we perceauing the Popes subteltie who seeketh to make the Reformation odious to the Clergie by perswading them that Reformation will ouerthrow their estate doe raise vp a shield against that shaft that is by deuiding the Clergies cause from the Popes and prouing that Reformation doth not contrarie the estate of the Clergie besides taking the same shaft we returne it into the flanckes of the beast by prouing that the Reformatiō shooteth at the Papacie as being enemy to the Popes estate because he is the beast mentioned in the Reuelatiō which hath made warre against the Saincts and being wounded to the death shall also be healed againe as he hath bene already wounded to the death by the doctrine of the Martirs and healed againe for a time but being now broken out againe he can neuer be cured and it can not be but deadly and past cure For I say of the Pope that his estate is pernitious as well to the conscience as to the state It was brought in by guile it is encreased by bribery and it is vpholden by tyrannie and turmoiles as tyrannising the consciences and troubling the whole state of Europe He hath mainteined the superstitions of Reliques Images Inuocation of Sainctes Purgatorie vowed
England next that by her also the state of the Clergie hath bene preserued In Frāce God hath purposed to maintaine the priuileges of the Clergie which are the honor of Fraunce wherein France is bound to Queene Elizabeth for shewing the way how to come to Reformation without endomaging the Clergie albeit the priuileges of the Clergy might be better kept in France then they haue bene in England To blemish the vertue of this Queene some may alleage the Realmes that haue kept their people in peace with the yoke of the Spanish Inquisition wherto I aunswer that the same is a tyrannous yoke of the Pope which can not be but ruinous to those that maintaine it When a man boweth a tree to the earth contrary to nature if it chance to scape it shooteth as farre to the contrarie side and shaketh a long time from side to side before it can finde any rest beside that if in rising it light vpon him that bent it contrary to nature it giueth him such a blow that it casteth him downe and euen so will it happen to those that preserue their peace with the tyrannous yoke of the Inquisition For if a man shal in their countreys proclaime libertie according to Gods lawes against the tyrannous yoke of the Inquisition all the world will come running And this Inquisitiō will breed the ouerthrow of their estate that haue mainteined it for no tyrannie is durable And God especially will reuerse such tyrannie ouer the consciences But the peace which this Princesse hath mainteined is grounded vpon the firme rocke of Gods lawes whereby it is vpholden and I would to God the Queene mother had in her time so sought the peace of Fraunce I would to God our king who loueth the peace of his people could so haue mainteined it in his Realme as the League had neuer come to shuffling of the cardes yea I would to God his Maiestie who loueth quietnesse would harken to such right meanes as should be giuen him to mainteine quietnesse in his land He hath bene made to beleue that by warre he should attaine rest Behold a goodly meanes to come to quietnesse It is an easie matter to marke the time when warre beginneth but it is not so easie to know when it will end Euen this warre hath already continued too long and it is likely to accompany him to the graue to shorten his dayes or to impose vpon him some Monkish life wherein there is more superstition then libertie As for the king of Nauarre sith the Sea League hath encurred shipwracke he is the sooner but not the more to feare for God hath giuen him both courage and valour to defend and mainteine him selfe neither is he the weakest of the Reformed Princes as also his enemies know that at his handes there is nothing to be gotten but stripes the gayne is small and doubtfull but the hazard great and euident It is no great wisedome to begin to flay an Eele at the tayle yet must the League either in duety or in honor proceede sith it hath begun and either by force or furie valour or trecherie prowesse or rage try what it can do against him be it but to shew the tricke of a maister as it lately did in England or to iumpe faire to the ground so to breake the necke therof But God who hath set him on worke and in whom he hath reposed his confidēce shall support him as he is able enough to doe Howbeit in this action my greatest pleasure is that the king of Nauarre hath no enemies but Gods enemies that hate him because he doth mainteine the cause of Gods children yet haue they offered him great offers to giue ouer the cause of Reformation neither can it be but they must needes fall because God whose purposes are cleane contrary to theirs will ouerthrow their purposes and vphold the king of Nauarre who meaneth no other but to doe well There are vnder the Reformation some Magistrates that haue still enioyed not onely their goods but also their offices and the kings pay which so fell out by reason of some Courtiers liuing vnder the Reformation being carefull for their estate and looking for a peace to be concluded were mindefull of them selues and as reason would prouided for their owne affaires euen so had it bene thought vpon might there haue bene such prouision as the Clergie euen vnder the Reformation should haue enioyed their benefites whereby if it had bene so done we should haue had a great part of the Clergie which now doe strengthen the League to haue taken our partes For certainly there were many which detested superstition and would haue banished it had not their state or liuings withholdē them It is a matter hereafter to be looked vnto for had it bene well seene to the Churches would haue encreased where now for these 28. yeares space they haue still diminished howbeit with Gods helpe it is neuer to late and therefore it suffiseth vs we prouide better hereafter The king of Nauarre hath shewed him selfe wiser more discret warie and circumspect then his aduersaries in that he neuer would during the kinges life bring into question the right of succession to the Crowne but still bare and conteined him selfe within the bandes of iust obedience due respect to the king neither euer employed his weapōs to offend but iustly vpon iust cause cōstraint had recourse to thedefensiue armes granted by the law of nature And besides returned as friends such as came against him as enemies sought to ouercome him with strong hand refusing to take any raunsome of them albeit they were able to pay largely wherein he sheweth that he maketh but a pastime of his enemies endeuors like as mē do vse to laugh at the vaine endeuours of litle children who hauing giuen a blow as they thinke very great with their hand yet wet with the nurses milk to a man that doth but smile at their vayne choler doe imagine they haue done some great acte so as if a man start frō them and seeme to weepe it bredeth infinite contentmēt as weening to haue obteined a great victorie Thus may we play with the mighty when they loyter in exercise of childrens pastime Neither ought any man to couet to cōmand but to know how to commaund and to know well how to commaund it is requisite he know how to obey As well in the one as in the other is wisedome and dexteritie necessarie S. Paule teacheth that a Bishop that gouerneth not his familie well can neuer well gouerne the Church By an argument taken of an opposite reason I say that he that can well and discretly gouerne a small gouernement can also well discharge a greater office I sec many that affect great offices but neuer labour to be worthy the same Neuerthelesse the King of Nauarre maketh him selfe so much more worthier the Crowne as he doth lesse affect it by leauing the successe thereof in Gods hand Concerning
being a double harted person neither hipocrite nor dissembler as be they that suffer the Inquisition to bridle them Wherefore it is a fit meanes to leade the League to a downfall and to conuert the Papacie into a Popedome abolished The Popes purpose in deuising the League was no other but to make a metamorphose of our king euē a more reall metamorphose then the transubstantiation in cōuerting him frō a Hieronimite King into a Charterhouse Mōke sometime king I know the king is a great Catholicke yet thinke I not that he so loueth the Pope his superstitions that therefore he would change his Crowne for a Charterhouse Monkes coule As for the Clergy it is no marueile though they would mainteine their estate for it is a thing naturall neither would the Nobilitie vpon necessitie doe lesse for theirs I will not be a sharper censurer of their estate thē Christ was of the Pharisies But alas how lamentable is the wretchednesse of those that vphold superstition and persecute such as will not obey the same Let them thinke vpon their businesse it is no small matter to become Gods enemie for who soeuer oppresseth the consciences submitting them to a yoke repugnant to Gods word maketh him selfe an enemie to God And truly they might mainteine their estate albeit they abandoned superstition yea and obteine the priuiledge of mariage which at this day is no small matter in France in respect of the numbers of men slaine in the warres and the quantitie of rich enheritrixes left as well widowes as maydens I marueile also what reason they haue to withstand Reformation which conteineth nothing repugnant to their estate neither any thing that is not commodious for them and chose rather to cleaue to the Popes the auncient secret enemies to the kinges of Fraunce and the French Clergie who vpon hatred to the French Clergie haue made a Decree at Rome that there shall neuer be created Pope of the French Nation and that hatred haue they alwayes shewed against the French kinges so oft as oportunitie would serue not in wordes onely but also in deeds But most of all I maruell why the Clergy haue entred the League to make warre at their owne charge against Reformatiō herein hath the Pope played the Clergie as braue a tricke of a Pharisie as euer man did for he hath loaden them with agreat burthen whereto him selfe would not set his finger so farre is he from entering into any charges thereof that he hath euen washed his handes of all In like maner hath he also brought the king of Spaine into great charges about the building vp of this sea monster his nauall armie promising him a million of gold so soone as his power should set foote in England and this million of gold could he well enough wrest from the poore by his Bulles and Pardons but when the king of Spaines Ambassadour came to demaunde this summe his aunswere was that he would not deliuer it before the army had set foot on land so that notwithstanding what soeuer the Ambassadors earnestnes he could obteine nothing for he told him that this money which had bene giuē for the poore ought not so lightly to be parted withal albeit since he could employ part of the same namely 150000. crownes vpon the purchase of a Marquisate for his nephew This is a cunning player at the Bohemiās game yet looketh he not whether he be within or without al is one to him so that he may get but in getting he forgetteth nothing Now in your opinion if he thus mocketh the king of Spaine his eldest sonne and the chief piller of his house what will he doe to these whom he hateth of old will he spare them or hurt him selfe to doe them good And the League is it any better for the Clergie then for him sith the Clergie must rather beare the charges then he No it is more for the Pope for it worketh for the state of the Pope not for the state of the Clergy considering that Reformation cōtrarieth the Popes estate not the Clergies but the Pope is not content with making the Clergie spend their reuenues but withall he forceth them to sell their demaines a matter neuer accustomed before The auncient kings of Iuda in time past did rather sell the vessell of the Lordes house then medle with the Clergie but the Pope had rather make them not onely to consume their reuenues but also to sell temporalties then to employ the Images and superstitious Reliques erected contrary to the word of God so deare vnto him is that that God hateth and so much doth he cōtemne that which God hath ordeined Besides the Clergie may see how being once burthened with these charges the king hauing begun to leauie the tenthes hath since continued the exacting of them In the beginning they thought they should be leuied but for one yeare and so to cease but since they haue bene brought into a custome and thereof it is come that the Clergie conceaued an imagination that this exaction would neuer cease without the rooting out of all seekers of Reformation and thereupon they consented to the League so to get out at once and in the meane time haue sold their demaines and yet must neuerthelesse pay their tenthes all which notwithstanding Reformation is neuer the more rooted out besides that albeit it were rooted out this subsidie would neuerthesse be leuied vnder colour of preseruing the Church from like inconueniences Neither is there any remedy whereby to eschue this consequence but by taking part against the League which doth exact these reuenues that is by declaring them selues seruauntes to the king and enemies to the League and taking to the support of their estate such persons as regard not the Pope who hath layd this burthen vpon them Moreouer I doubt not but the Clergie are faithfull to the King but neuerthelesse the League is a cōspiracie of the Pope against the crowne of Fraunce but all that are of the League are not of the cōspiracie neither do they vnderstand the purpose thereof and the Pope made it not to Reforme the time of Philip the Faire when he caused the kinges owne children to conspire against their father but it is an old practise of the Popes to shuffle the French kinges cardes and to seeke reuenge of the Pragmaticall Sanction as well against the king as against the Clergie but he is glad to take the cause of Reformation for a cloake to the end vnder pretence thereof to doe that which otherwise would be very hard for him to doe But I pray yon what cause haue they to obey a forrein Franciscan Frier rather then some one of the French Clergie For the Pope hath bene a poore Mōkish deuill that hath cast his coate to catch the Papacie and would now gladly vncrowne the king to make him a Monke There be amōg the French Clergy many Princes Lordes and men of accompt whom we might better obey
can therfore no longer trust him for he will with one eye laugh vpon him and with the other betray him God preserue vs from Iudas Iscariotes kisse The Serpent that lurketh in the grasse is daungerous for we feele her before we see her neither doe we perceaue her but by the wound that she hath made in vs. Thus may the Pope be dismembred Spaine lyeth too farre from the rest of the dependances of the Papacie to be able to ioyne or succour them besides that it is weake of bloud The king of Spaine shall find enough of the Defensiue albeit he enter not into the offensiue The Prince of Parma can not doe much for the League he acquits him selfe well if he keepe his owne which he hath gotten by force and roughnesse and by money neither is he beloued of the inhabitantes of the countrey who will easely reuolt as reaping but small contentment at his handes and being but badly affected toward him Many Italian Princes and Lordships also do hold of the Pope in Fee that had rather be their owne men then an other mans and therefore will not faile to take occasion if it be offered and would soone condiscend to a Counterleague so as if any man would but renew the path which Charles of Bourbon first traced out these would soone enlarge it and vpon a necessitie finde mē enough to share in the bootie by reason of the great wealth that Rome hath long gathered together so did Darius riches draw his enemies to his destruction Of the King we may with the old Poete say Vnus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem For he hath suffered them to speake that accompt his wisedome timorousnesse suffring those to speake hath done better then to haue spoken He hath bene wise enough to bring his purposes to their point period with great dexteritie hath wisely holpē him selfe with the Prouerbe He that can not dissemble can not raigne To be brief he hath bene able enough to ouercome the League for the death of the Duke of Guise is the victory ouer the League to which victory we may also adde an other that is that he hath ouercome many a mans hope It is nothing for Hanniball to know how to ouercome if he know not how to vse his victory But I hope the king will crowne this his good beginning with a better prosecution for in these purposes it is requisite to vse great circumspection discretion and moderation and that the king haue honest and faithfull men about him For more are the Popes secrete driftes to be feared then the open forces of the League And sith the king is shipt in this action he can not but saile on while the winde bloweth These three thinges were necessarie to abandone the Papacie to strengthen him selfe with the Clergie and by re-union of his subiectes to reunite his forces There is nothing more weake then the Papacie yet is it strong if it be strengthned with the Clergie but if the Clergie be separated from the Pope he is vtterly ouerthrowen if we abandon him he can not resist He can do no hurt to those that forsake him but to those that take part with him Also albeit the Clergie were of the League yet doth it not follow that the king should impute vnto them the conspiracie of the League for the principall heades thereof did still perswade the rest that the king had intelligence with them neither did it fully appeare to the contrary but by the Duke of Guises death Also it is not good for a maister to see all that his seruaunts doe but he must see some part and passe ouer the rest And clemency is very requisite in a king I would wish the king not only to mainteine the state of the Clergy but also to relieue them frō the exactions of the League I wold wish the Clergie to prouide for the schisme by abolishing all superstition and surely the sooner the better for ending of the calamities of this warre for they may see that a great part of the burden lighteth vpon their backes which to remedie the first point were to quench the schisme to the end the king might reunite his forces to withstand the League and that were the surest way for their estate which still tottereth vntill there be such a Reformation as may no whit preiudice the state neither shall they euer finde fitter occasion then now while the king standeth in neede of their amitie that the Clergie may be his shield against the Pope and the League Besides that our king is a wise and discret Prince who will make no innouation in his state besides that in all euents if once there were a Reformation of superstitions made they might more easily maintaine their estate only then both their estate and the superstitions together considering that their estate is frō God and instituted by Gods lawes whereas the superstitions are of deuils as Sainct Paule teacheth to whom God is an enemy and it can not be but God will destroy them and that can no worldly man preuent yet may we prouide for the estate Let vs looke that we resist not God lest he continue his chastisements by warres but let vs appease his wrath by framing our selues after our duetie so will God conuert our calamities into felicitie and doubtfull warre into an assured peace I pray you are not an infinite number of liuing Images of Gods making who by these warres are oppressed of more importance then a few dead Idols hewen out by caruers of Images which by the Catholicke Romish Religion are mainteined in temples and Churches Let vs take care for Gods Images The last yeare at the Easter faire at Francfort I caused to be printed a Latine Treatise of the day of iudgement or of the seauē general iudgements wherin I proued seauen general iudgements of God whereof fiue are already past and the sixt or last sauing one is the iudgement of Babylon whose principall period was in the yeare 1588. which many haue noted as a yeare of maruels and the last is to come in the end of the world I sayd that in that iudgement the Papacie should come to ruine neither was it any apparance that caused me so to say euery thing seemed to premize the contrarie The League swelled vp in Fraunce but especially in Spaine euery man looked after great effects there was no speech but of great preparations and prouisions for warres made both in Spaine and in the Low countreys There was no discourse but of the wonderfull effects of the Spanish Nauie ioyned with the Prince of Parmaes power There was great preparation in Flanders of sadles bridles for the English geldings I said also when the whore of Rome shal say I sit a Queene am no widow neither shal I see any sorow then shall there fall vpon her widowhood weeping and nakednesse For we know that the Beast must be
wounded to death and then recouered againe which I saw accomplished as also the same that is spoken of the ten hornes of the beast that toke counsell together is fulfilled in the counsell of the League Besides that seing Satan worke his last endeuor to ouerthrow the partie of the Lambe I doubted not but Iesus Christ wold likewise work his for our deliuery I wist not that the League shold be ouercome by sea or that the King should withstand it as he hath done yet now do I see the effects succeede according to my discourse and saying in my Treatise In the Apologeticall Treatise going before I also sayd that the League would vndoubtedly breake yet knewe I not that the Duke of Guise should be slaine howbeit thereby I see my saying come to passe before it be brought to light And now do I not feare to say that the Papacie shall fall yea euen with a maruellous and sudden fall The death thereof will be knowen in a maner as soone as the sicknesse I was not daunted at the great preparations of the League neither ceased I in my Treatise to publish the same to be the reuolution of the Papall fall For I discoursed thus Cirus wrought great matters with smal power but that came to passe because the same was the reuolution of the Babylonian Empire and the accomplishment of the 70. yeares of the captiuitie of Iuda Alexander the Great vanquished the power of Darius which was farre greater then his but it was in the time of the period of the Persian Empire Iulius Caesar wrought wonderful exploits but in the same season wherein God was preparing the world that the Messias might be borne vnder the Romane Monarchie Sith therefore the Pope and king of Spaine made all these warlicke prouisions to the end to establish the Papacie in the same season wherein it should be rooted vp I concluded that their endeuors should be in vaine and that now the time of superstitions which haue detained the woman in the wildernesse being at an end Babylon can no longer continue And God who hath the hearts of kings in his hand will stir vp some one that shal destroy it yea that albeit no king would take that in hand yet that it is in Gods power to make some vnder brāch to spring vp in one night at the roote of the tree that may be able to prescribe law to the tree from out of whose roote it may be sprong Howbeit if it be lawfull to speake by coniecture I will say that the name of Henrie seemeth fatall to the Papacie for Henry the 8. in England gaue the Pope a maruelous checke and now in Fraunce we see an other Henry giue him an other checke after this let him beware the Mate The order of the League at Paris is a good order where porters and day labourers are in greater credit then the Presidents It seemeth that Spaine meaneth by her proctors to attempt somewhat against Fraunce but she were not best Spaine hath more neede to feare then to hope and to keepe her selfe then to enterprise against others She is but weake of walles and blood and hath no strength but in pense and Miluedies and those are also well shronke and wasted through the continuall warres in Flanders Hannibal supposed that for the pinching of Rome he needed not go to seeke her out of Italie I thinke if the Spaniard were well tickled in his owne countrey it would trouble him shrewdly and that were the surest succour that might be ministred to the Low countreys But especially it were requisite to carie thither some store of New Testaments and Bibles in Spanish with other small Treatises against superstition For Gods word is a good seede which can not but fructifie when once it is planted and hath taken roote in a place neither will it easily be plucked vp againe But in matters of estate I would wish circumspection and with moderation and modestie to win mens hearts rather then to stir them vp with vanitie idle speech rashnesse insolencie for such things do rather destroy then edifie The League hath sharpned it selfe to cut of the Huguenots but the edge is wel broken by the Duke of Guises death These be two bad prognosticatiōs for the good successe of the League that is the scattering of the Nauie and the death of Guise as also they be good exāples to teach subiects to attempt nothing against the state of their King for the Maiestie of a king is a sacred matter it is dangerous attempting any thing there against When a man hath cōmitted a fault the best way is to reclame himself by making amends rather then obstinatly to cast away him selfe therin And therfore the Duke of Neuers the Lord of Antragues dealt wel wisely in taking the kings part as also the King did well and wisely in taking all that they had done vnder the League which return to him as not done at all If a man will be wicked he must execute his businesse cunningly or not meddle at all otherwise he doth iniurie to his occupation Euen so if they would needes enterprise the League they should haue begun by seazing vpon the Kings person seeing they could not compasse that they should haue attempted nothing But what euery one hath his time and he that must make a bad ende must labour to doe euill for euil neuer commeth of well doing for it is an excellent thing to do well to haue well to liue well to die well and to begin well to end well sith vertue only is to be rewarded with honor It is not impossible for a conspiracie against a King to take effect but linger it neuer so little it is hard to bring it to passe And the League hath lingered too long in France to be able to attaine any good successe It is said that the Portingall mares do conceiue of the wind euen so was the League conceiued but that which is bred of wind shall returne into wind and smoke Euery thing shal return to his first originall so the beast that came out of the bottomlesse pit shall returne to perdition yet will she make some defense set a good face on a bad game and with her only countenance seeke to terrifie the King his subiectes but what such a dogge barketh that maketh her soule to quake in her belly She wil wast of her self she wil breed brauls quarels discontentmēts Where there is no lawfull head euery man will be Maister when by reason of cōpetitors they may not they grow to discontentment also not seeing any sufficient recompence presently or any future hope will knowe that without any net they haue snared themselues in too great a Labyrinth therfore will retire before they be deeper in and the wiser sort will be the first that will do so If I would hazard my selfe for the purchase of a hope truly it shoulde be both an honorable and a certaine