Antichrist the Pope of Rome, Part 3 · Chapter 2
CHAP. 2. Deluſions by Purgatory.
1. ANtichriſt like Morpheus transformes himſelfe into many ſhapes, ſometimes into the ſhape of a Lambe with Servus ſeruorum Dei: ſometimes into a Lyon by his Excommunications and thundering threats: ſometimes into a Wolfe by deuouring not onelyonly mens goods, but their bodies and ſoules by falſe doctrines: ſometimes into a Tyger, by cruell maſſacres and bloudy perſecuting the Saints: and ſometimes into a Fox, by ſubtle trickes and crafty deluſions. And as the Fox hath many ſhifts, and windings, & turnings to deceiue withall; ſo hath he many deuices to delude the world. One I hauehave diſcouered, which is by falſe miracles. And now I propound a ſecond, which ſhall be from the falſe opinon they hauehave of the Saints: not that I purpoſe to derogate any thing from the true Saints of God, who are bleſſed in heauen, and to be honoured on earth; but to ſhew how they are abuſed by the Papall Antichriſtian Church, and how thereby they hauehave deluded the world, and gained great riches to themſelues; for this is the cheefe aime of all their deſignes in this kinde, and therefore whatſoeuer brings water to this Mill, be it neuer ſo fooliſh, and againſt reaſon, they maintaine with might and maine, and what ſo is or can be ſpoken in oppoſition thereunto, is ſo much labor loſt, becauſe it is ſpoken againſt the belly which hath no eares. The old prouerbe is verified by them. The ſmell of gaine is good out of any thing. And when they are vpbraided with their couetouſneſſe, they laugh in their ſleeue with that auaricious Athenian,
— Populus me ſibilat, at mihi plaudo
Ipſe domi ſimul ac nummos contemplor in arca.
Whereupon I remember the anſwere of a Monke of Blois, to one that mocked him and his Order;Henry Stephen quo ſupra. It ſhall be long (ſaith he) ere you of the Laytie, ſhall ſo mocke vsus of the Cleargy, as we hauehave many yeeres mocked you: which hee ſpake hauing regard to the deluſions wherewith they had entertained the world a long time, and led them by the noſe as a Beare to the ſtake. I confeſſe he ſpake not ſo blaſphemouſly, as Pope Leo the tenth, who anſwered Cardinall Bembo, alleadging vntounto him a text of Scripture, What riches hath this fable of Ieſus Chriſt brought vntounto v…? Though as concerning riches this wretch lyed not, and had ſpoken truely if he had ſaid thus; What riches hauehave wee gotten in abuſing the name of Ieſus Chriſt? For it is incredible how great the Treaſures of the Church and Churchmen hauehave beene.Baptiſta Ful. goſ. de hom. lux…. atque delicijs l. 6. cap. 1. Baptiſta Fulgoſius a great fauourer of the Romane Church, reporteth of one Peter Riary a Friar Minor that was made Gardinall by Pope Sixtus the fourth, who contented not himſelfe onelyonly to weare in his priuat houſe garments of cloth of Gold, and to vſe Couerlets for his bed of the ſame ſtuffe, but euen the tickes for his beds were cloth of Gold for the moſt part, and the reſt ſilke. He relateth alſo how at Rome he made a Feaſt to Ellenor of Arragon, who went to marrie with Hercules d'Eſte Duke of Ferrara, wherein he furniſhed her ſeruice with …uch variety of diſhes, a…d abundance of exquiſite cates, that th banquet laſted ſeuen houres: during which time (leaſt they ſhould be weary of eating) he intermixed diuers ſports and enterludes: and to oſtent his high Magnificence, at eueryevery ſeruice his ſeruants changed their habits, and came in new attyre. And yet all this is nothing, in compariſon of that which he expended vponupon his Harlot …r…ſia: for he entertained her in that ſumptuoſitie and pompe, that her very ſhooes were couered with precious ſtones. This Fulgoſius reporteth out of his owne knowledge and view. But to returne to Pop… L… that wondered at the great rich…s which this Fable (as he called it) had procured vntounto them: … did he augment the ſame by one onelyonly Cro…ſad…? … F…iar of Millan called S…mſon, out of the money … had gained by this meanes offered an hundre… … tho…ſand Ducates fo… the Papall ſeate: and … much, what may we thinke that hee had gai… … … bou…? For it is not likely, but that he would … ſ…lfe a good ſumme againſt all euents. Now … …eruants was ſo great, what may wee iudge of … their Maſters? And to ſhew euidently that they … the ol… prouerbe before named the booty and … which they receiue from common Harlots doth manife… … ſame. For is it not abominable, that the ſucceſſors of Saint Peter (as they bragge themſelues to bee) ſhould receiue a good part of their reuenue from thoſe that got their liuing by the miſerable ſweate of their bodies, and that ſo filthy againe ſhould bee conſecrated to their holineſſe? True it is, that in the time of Pope Paul the third, the number of ſuch deteſtable Creatures was much diminiſhed, for he had in his regiſter recorded but fiue and forty thouſand, a thing greatly lamented by them, that the deuils kingdome was no greater, though for all that it be a good and …ound number. And it is certaine that the name Courtizane (which is the honeſteſt title of a Whore) aroſe from the Court of Rome, as being ſuch as were night and day entertained by the great Cardinalis, Prelates, and Courtiers. In a word Barelet one of their great preachers, giueth vsus a true prouerbe that ran currant in his time: That Prieſts, M…rkes, and the S …, are three vnſati…b e things. experience ſhewing the ſame to bee true, when as they did not only ſucke profit from the quick and the dead, but alſo pilled and polled their children from g…neration to g neration.
2. One meanes amongſt the reſt, whereby they hauehave thus abuſe… the world and ſcraped together ſo great wealth, is a fal e perſwaſion wrought into mens hearts of the dead, whether ſuch as are canonized and reſt in heauen as they ſay; or ſuch as remaine without canonization, are either ſimply in Paradiſe, or tormented in Purgatory: Theſe be the …o ſorts of dead, which they raiſe their profit from. And to … in with the laſt firſt: who knoweth not, that the chiefe … a …ce of ſimple Prieſts and Monks, was, and is drawn … …eir Req…e…? as heir common manner of ſpeech wit… … …t vsus go d …k… vponupon the firſt skinne that commeth to … …et: witneſſe alſo that Prieſt that thus complained to … …iſhioners: What wo…ld you hauehave me to do my p…riſhio… … …ou giuegive me no offerings, and if you dye not, See Henry Stephens Praeface to his Apolo…y where theſe things are at large ſet downe.wherewith … I liue? Now all this trafficke is grounded vponupon the ter…or of Purgatory, from which men hoped to bee deliuered by their large gifts to Prieſts, who ſhould ſing Maſſe for them. But if after they had ſung their Requiem, their reward was not ſuch, as that they might chaunt Gau eamu…; then was the deuill there preſently, then the ſoules of them for whom ſo leane a Requiem was ſung, returned to be reuenged of their Children, or Parents, or Friends, that had not ſo well rewarded the Prieſts, that they might by their powerfull Dirges be, if not wholly releaſed from Purgatory, yet at leaſt eaſed of ſome part of their torments. This is ſo common a tricke in the Papacy, to bring water to their Mill, and to drayne mens purſes; as it will be but loſt labour to ſtand much vponupon it. Therefore to paſſe ouer examples which are frequent in this kinde of deluſion: I ſay onelyonly, that it was, and is, an ordinary cuſtome and practiſe of the Romiſh Prieſts, when they confeſſed ſuch perſons as lay at the point of death, to cauſe them to make S. Francis, or S. Dominick, or ſome other Saint, the Patrone of their Religion, their heire, or elſe they could not be ſaued: by which meanes, they drew from ſome halfe, from others two third parts, and from others the whole ſumme of their ſubſtance; which ſhould hauehave bene to maintaine their wife and children: for ſometimes if the children refuſed to turne Monkes, they ſeazed vponupon all as their owne inheritance. There be extant at this day many Teſtaments and Wils, that giuegive faith to this report. But that which is worſe then all, is, that ofttimes they do not ſtay till men be neere their end, but make them put off their clothes ere they be willing to go to bed, as the prouerbe ſpeaketh. Their Croyſado is a notable trick to this purpoſe; for neuer did any theefe ſo iniuriouſly take a trauellers purſe by the high way, as the Croyſado miniſters do ſecretly robbe and ſpoile infinite numbers of people; and that not onelyonly the rich, but euen the poore alſo; making them to borrow, beg, or ſteale, to giuegive to this holy vſe; or elſe neitheir themſelues, nor their children, can be ſaued. By which meanes it is no doubt, but that many of theſe poore people, in ſtead of redeeming their ſoules from the deuill, as they ſuppoſed, hauehave euen ſold them into his hands. It is no new nor ſoft cry of theirs, that Paradiſe is to be bought for money, as the old Latine verſes found in S. Stephens Church at Bourges, engrauen in a Table of ſtone beare witneſſe. The firſt whereof is this, Hic des deuote, coeleſtibus aſſocio te: but neuer were men conſtrained to buy Paradiſe till this trick of the Croyſado was inuented: for the authorization and confirmation whereof, the Preach…rs of thoſe times alleadged many ſtrange tales and reportes, as this one among the reſt; that when the liuing gaue money to the Prieſts for the dead, the ſoules that were in Purgatory, hearing the ſound of the money ting in the baſon, fell a laughing for ioy of their deliuerance.
3. Thus was the world deluded in thoſe times, by theſe panick feares of that ſuppoſed fire of Purgatory, which men ſtood in more awe of, then of hell it ſelfe. But yet ſome were wiſer then others, and eaſily ſmelt out this religious fraud: of which ſort I will propound ſome few examples. Pope Clement the eight, being beſieged in the Caſtle of S. Angelo, together with certaine Prelates his friends, a Gentleman of Rome was bold thus to ſay, Hitherto I hauehave beleeued that the Pope could deliuer ſoules out of Purgatory: but now ſeeing that he cannot free himſelfe out of this earthly priſon, I am conſtrained to beleeue, that much leſſe can be deliuer ſoules out of that infernall priſon. Another ieſt was acted at Florence, of the ſame mettall with the former: A certaine Florentine being importuned by ſome Friars, to cauſe Maſſe to be ſung, to deliuer the ſoule of his Sonne lately deceaſed out of Purgatory; hee conſented, and promiſed them a crowne for their paines, when they had deliuered his Sonnes ſoule: whereupon the Friars hauing ſung their Maſſes, forgot not to demand their crowne. But the Florentine made them this anſwer: If you make it appeare vntounto me, that you hauehave deliuered him out of Purgatory, you ſhall hauehave your crowne, but not before that be done. The Friars, after long conteſtation, complained to the Duke, and deſired iuſtice againſt the party; who called the man before him, and demanded why he did not pay them according to his promiſe? to whom he anſwered, that his promiſe was vponupon condition, that they ſhould deliuer his ſonnes ſoule out of Purgatory; which if it might appeare that they had done, he would preſently pay them. The Duke hearing this, told the Friars that the man had reaſon; and therefore cauſe either the ſoule that you hauehave deliuered to come before me in perſon, and teſtifie his deliuerance, or let him ſend two other ſoules to witneſſe the ſame, or at leaſt let him ſend a letter ſigned with the hand of Ieſus Chriſt, and then you ſhall bee ſure to receiue your crowne. Thus was Purgatory derided, at Florence in Italy, vnderunder the Popes noſe, and that in the time of their greateſt blindneſſe. Another like mockage was committed in France; for when as the Prieſts demanded their pay of a certaine man for deliuering a ſoule out of Purgatory by their Maſſes, he asked them; If a ſoule that was once come out of that priſon were in any danger to returne thither againe? Who an wered, No: why then (quoth he) there is no neede that I ſhould giuegive you money for this ſoule that is already deliuered and in ſafety; I will rather keepe it for the deliuerance of one that is ſtill there detained. An Italian alſo at Ʋenice, in as merry a moode, and with as good a grace, told the Popes Legate; that if his Holineſſe had bene well aduiſed, hee would not hauehave ſaid that he could deliuer ſoules out of Purgatory, but out of Hell. For concerning Purgatory, there were two things to proue: Firſt, that there is a Purgatory: and ſecondly, that he can deliuer ſoules out of it: whereas eueryevery one beleeueth that there is a hell, and ſo there remained nothing but to proue, that he could deliuer ſoules out of it.
4. He that doth but well conſider the reaſons which they alledge for Purgatory, will ſay that there neuer was a greater deluſion in the world: for to omit the Texts of Scripture, which they wreſt and wring till they bleed againe, againſt all ſenſe for the proofe thereof: they vſe beſides in their preaching, many pretty tales, to amaze and delude the vulgar ſort. A certaine preacher at Paris, in the reigne of Henry the ſecond, ſpeaking againſt the Lutherans that would not beleeue there was a Purgatory, ſaid, he would tell his Auditors a ſtory to confute theſe fellowes; which was this, and thus: I rode (ſaith he) late one euening to my fathers houſe at S. Anthonies bridge, and as I was riding with my man before me on a very good horſe that carried my cloak-bag, his horſe ſtayed on a ſuddaine contrary to his cuſtome, and began to puffe and ſhort: I bad my man to ſpurre him: ſo I do ſaid he, but he will not go forward; for a certaine I know he ſeeth ſomething: Then I remembring what my mother had told me long before, that in that very place ſhe had ſeene ſome apparition; I fell to my Pater noſter, and Aue, and bad my man againe to ſpurre his horſe forward, which he did, but the horſe hauing gone two or three ſteps, ſtopped againe, and began a freſh to puffe and blow; my man then told me againe, that doubtleſſe there was ſome ſpirit in the way; and then I ſaid my De profundis, which was no ſooner done, but the horſe went forward, and by and by ſtopped the third time; I had no ſooner ſaid, Auete omnes animae et Requiem aeternam, but he paſſed freely without any more ſtopping. Therefore ſeeing theſe wicked Lutherans ſay there is no Purgatory, and that we ought not to pray for the dead; I ſend them to my mans cloak-bagge horſe, euen to my mans horſe, to learne their leſſon. This Aſſe-like reaſon you ſee is taken from an horſe, and indeed fitter for a horſe to beleeue then a man. Another preacher, a gray Friar, called Bardotti, being demanded why the good theefe went right into Paradiſe, and taſted not of Purgatory, ſeeing he had not done any pennance here on earth; anſwered, that the reaſon (as he found it related in a certaine Goſpell) was, for that when Chriſt being an infant, was carried into Aegypt, this theefe hindered his companions from robbing him, and thoſe that were with him, and alſo that he then ſaid to Chriſt; I pray you beare in memory the good turne that I do you; which was promiſed by Chriſt, and this promiſe was then performed, when they were crucified together: for in recompence of his good turne, he freed him from Purgatory, and led him directly into Paradiſe. But I wonder in what Goſpell hee found this. Sure I am, neither in Mathew, Marke, Luke, nor Iohn, but in ſome Apocrypha Goſpell, if rather it were not alye forged in his owne braine. Take with you two or three ſtories more, and then I ſhall leaue this Popiſh fire to be quenched, or kindled at their pleaſures. The Cordeliers or gray Friars, and the Iacobins, enuying each others gaine and thriuing, and labouring to get cuſtome in their trades, thus encountred together. A gray Friar preaching to the people in a towne of Sicily, made his Auditours beleeue, that S. Francis eueryevery yeere vponupon his Feaſt day, deſcended into Purgatory, and deliuered from thence, all the ſoules of ſuch as had bene bountifull to his brethren. The Iacobins perceiuing that by this tale the Cordeliers had gained much cuſtome, and profit, and ſo hindered their trading, began to preach, that the Virgin Mary, as hauing more charity and authority then S. Francis, did not leaue as he did, her deuout followers and benefactors a whole yeere in Purgatory, but ſeuen daies, onelyonly at the longeſt: for eueryevery Saturday (which day is dedicated vntounto her) ſhe deſcended into Purgatory, to redeeme thence all thoſe that had giuen almes to her brethren: which deuice of theirs being beleeued, brought them againe into more credit and trading then euer they were before. The other tale is out of S. Brandons Legend, where to perſwade ſilly people, that their prayers and Maſſes are able to deliuer ſoules out of Purgatory; they tell how Iudas is permitted to come out of hell eueryevery Saturday at Euen ſong time, and to reſt himſelfe on a certaine rock in the Sea, vntill all the Sunday ſeruice be performed: concluding ſtrongly, that if the praiers of the Church can eaſe for a time the paines of hell to the damned, much more are they of force to free the ſoules of the Saints out of Purgatory, and ſend them directly into heauen. A third is in the life of S. Thomas of Canterbury: at the day of whoſe death (ſaith the Legend) there died in the whole world, three thouſand thirty and three: of whom the three thouſand went directly into hell, thirty into Purgatory, and three onelyonly into Paradiſe, whereof S. Thomas was one. And this (ſaith it) was reuealed by one of them that went to heauen, to a friend of his vponupon earth: Sum praedicant. tit. mors. By theſe and a thouſand ſuch like fictions and fables, touching this purging fire, they kept the world in awe; and deluded them after a miſerable manner for their owne gaine: it being no maruaile, that ſeeing Purgatory maintaines them, and their pompe, and pride, they alſo maintaine it, and ſtoutly ſtand in the defence thereof: for what with counterfeit apparitions of dead ghoſts, and ſuch terrible tales of tormented ſoules, the poore people were ſo ſcarred, that they ſpared for no coſt to preuent this paine: when in the meane while, for want of true faith and repentance, they caſt themſelues into hell and deſtruction.