A Looking Glass for Princes and Peoples Delivered, Book 2 · Part 4 · Chapter 31
CHAP. XXXI. That Now-Rome will not reconceale.
AS there is no hope of their reformation, so theirTheir reconciliation desperate. reconciliation is desperate: It hath been often assayed, but ever in vaine; and the old saying of Romes taking by Armes: Roma nunquā frustra tentata, that Rome was never in vaine assayed, may now be turned to the contraire, Romana reconciliatio semper frustra tentata, that Romes reconciling hath ever beene assayed in vaine. Paul the third politicklie set first nyne Cardinals and then three Bishops, to treat of reformation, yet hee minded no such thing, but onelie to gull the world. Though Wicelius and Cassander were set on worke by Ferdinand and Maximilian, to draw vp some forme of agreement, and abode still in the communion of their Church, yet they damned these Treatises; and a maine cause why they burnt Spalato, was, for that hee held it possible to reconceale the Church of England to Rome.
This irreconciliablenesse is both in the outward peace Sciopp. Class. Belli sacri Tics. Ann. 1619. a) …esuit. Hil. Rati…bo…. Ann. 1607.and in Doctrine. For the outward peace; beside that hath beene said in the former Chapter: Since the Trent Councell they hauehave ever beene plotting; and the Iesuits of Princes Confessaris turned their Corycaei and Counsellers the Frogges from the bottomlesse pit, hauehave stirred them vp to warre: And when they had prepared all things, one (a) of them began the Alarme in an Imperiall dyet. Nunc tempus est haereticorum istorum oppressionem & deletionem maturare: Catholicis nec nervum pecuniam, nec militem, nec Consilia deesse. Now it is time to hasten the oppression and destructionGasp. Sci…p. Class bell sacri. An. 1619. of these Hereticks: For the Catholickes want neither money, nor Souldiers, nor Councell. There is both their plotting and preparation against vsus confessed & it is senselessenesse not to obserue it: But when all was readie, and the fire begunne in Boheme, then Sciopius gaue a formall Alarme, and intitles his Booke suasoria de ratio nibus haereticorum compescendorum. A Suasorie to compesse Hereticks. And because Granvellanus and some otherIbid. in praefat. had suggested peaceable counsels to Emperours about Religion, hee bids these moderate counsellers get them gone, qui mollibus sententijs haereticorum ingenia alere solent in maximam crucem facessant. And to ground their crueltie to Protestants, he bids Princes count of Luther asDiabolum pro Deo colunt Ibid cap 1. a divell, and sayeth, That wee worship Sathan in stead of God. This is like the blasphemous calumnies of the Iesuits of Munster in their Credo Calvini-sequarum, who aCredo in Diabolum Orcipotentem. Sc…oppius. Ibidaffained to vsus that wee belieue in Sathan. Thereafter hee bids destroy all Infaints and Children, percuties in ore gladij & delebis etiam Infantes & pueros. That is Magdeburge Modell. Hee maketh not bones of that, that Iesuits deny:Ibid cap. 19. That it is leasome to cut off Princes that favour Religion. And in end that it is lawfull to make covenants with Turkes, Ethnicks, and Iewes, but not with Protestants.
This is their preamble: Let vsus heare what followeth,Rome intendeth our destruction. and that both from the Popes Consistorie & the Emperours Cabinat. For the first the Cardinalls at Rome declare that the Popes designe is to restore the Church of Rome to Aphorisin. Cardinal. 1623.her wonted greatnesse: And for this end that as the Palatine is broken so Saxon and Brandenburge must also be removed as the greatest stayes of their purposes in Germanie. And when the French King by their instigation had oppressed the Protestants of France, the Iesuite Cornelius at Rome, not content to praise him for it, (lest wee should doubt any longer who are these spirits, who stirre vp Kings to battell) stirreth vp Princes to persecute other Protestants Agite Principes generosi, pergite magnis animis, opus felicibus adeo auspicijs caeptum conficite: Paribus studijs rebellem Comment. in … Proph. min.Calvini haeresin penè evulsam stirpitus ubilibet eradicate. Goe to generous Princes, set forward with great courage, Perfect the worke begunne with so happie successe: And with the like zeale, roote out everie where the rebellious haeresie of Calvine. And least this seeme to bee the humour ofVrban 8. Brevs. Ludovic. 13. An 1628 a privat Doctour. Their infallible Doctour Vrbane the eight breaths the like crueltie to that same young King after his taking of the Rochell, that hee would goe forward to hunt the rest of these fierce beasts, (the Hugonotes) out of their denne, and destroy them all vtterlie.
And from Vienne they declare, that they minde no peace, butSo doeth Austria. to destroy Religion by force. For the Iesuits vnderunder the fable of Abaris the Hyberborean (far worse applyed than Nazianzen did) stirreth vp the Emperour with his Arrow Scipio. Scamb. Epist. ad Ferdinand. 3. Nazian M… nod.& Oracles, to propagate the truth by force as well as by reason. Et aColendi Numinis disciplima inferat volētibus, aut imponat invitis. Scip. ibid. Epist. dedic:norit ad propugnandum coeleste dogma non minus ferri aciem quam ingenij acumen adhibere. And that a Prince must vse Appolloes arrowes, and know that heavenly doctrine is propugned, no lesse by the edge of the sword, than by quicknes of Ingyne. This is another sort of argument, than Christ taught his Disciples Of old it was said, that Faith should bee propagate not by Armes, but by arguments, not by blowes, but by words: For who will compell me (sayth Lactantius) bLib. 5. c. 14. & 20 Ferd. Epist. ad Zunig. Ann. 1621.either to belieue what I will not, or not to belieue what I will? But let vsus heare the Emperour himselfe declaring his intention, Ad exstirpandas sediciosas factiones, quae Calvinistica potissimum factione foventur: …o roote out the factions of the Calvinists.
Beside these wee hauehave evidences of their irreconciliablenesse from their Pacificators and Scioppius. Their PacificatorsThey damne former Patification. were set to worke by authoritie, to colour their crueltie by a large Volume. They saw the Pacification of Passau which was ratified at Augsburge, condemned them of crueltie and persurie: It provided peace of Religion, Compositio Pacis. Pax Augusta… na Art. 1. Ibid. Art 11. Compositio Pacis. pag. 12 13that none should molest or invade other for their profession. And that the peace should hauehave the owne vigour, usque ad finalem compositionem, vntill a finall composition. But when they saw that they prevailed, they set these Lawyers to work to put an Orleand glosse vponupon the Pacification, and to make men belieue it had no force: Their speciall reasons are that the peace was not concluded by way of a Pragmaticall Pag. 7. Pag. 11. Pag. 152. Pag. 147. & 149.sanction, but of a covenant rising of necessitie for the time. That the Emperour is not bound to it, nor the Bishoppes. That beside the case of necessitie there was also feare, & vim inferens non meretur ut ipsi promissio servetur. And lastlie that it is null in it selfe; Because the Pope did not approue it. Thus they elide that solemne Pacification which held Germanie in peace for sixtie yeares and more. Others say the like, that the peace was not valide. That it expyred at P. Windek▪ de exstirp h… res.the publication of the Trent Councell. That it was onelyonly till the Catholicks had expede their businesse (that is their plotting against vsus) & postea hoc vnum bellum contra sectarios administrarent, they would follow out this onelie warre against hereticks. All the time of their practising the treate of Passau was taken to compryse bothCompos. Pacis 551. the Publicke and religious peace: But now when they thinke they hauehave prevailed, they cure their tyrannie with distinctions. That it was not a Sanction but a transaction: And that the Publicke peace did not touch the religious peace but materiallie and by accident, where as formallie they are diverse, yea, adverse. These are shifts to colour perjurie and oppression.
As these Pacificators were set to worke, to loose the They faine a new peace. Consult pacis.bands of the stablished peace, so was Scioppius to propone a new forme of Peace with his two Bookes, the one of the Consultations of Peace vnderunder his owne name: The other is of the Foundations of peace vnderunder the fained name ofFundamenta Pacis annuente Pontifice & assentiente Imperatore. August. Ann. …631. Consult. p …43 57. 71. But it is our revolt. Theophilus Sanctafidius, or rather Miso-theus nulli-fidius.
First, hee confesseth that the wickednesse of their Cleargie gaue iust scandall to the Protestants. Fundament. pag. 48. 157. Next, that their reformation would be a speciall meanes for our conversion. Consult. 50. 57. And that many other commodities would follow. Ibid. 70. 71. 72, Then going alongst in quiring the meanes of peace hee damneth two. The first is Disputs or conference of learned men on both sides. Fundam. pag. 122. 125. The other is transaction or toleration such as was made at Passau. Fuad. p. 126. 137. 155. Thereafter hee commeth to positiue meanes of peace which must bee a Nation allcountell in Germanie Consult. p. 59. But such a one as shall vrge the obedience of the Councell of Trent. Ibid. p. 61. Heerewith hee setteth downe a short Catechisme to bee imbraced of vsus as the speciall ground of peace. Fundam. p. 4. Wherein is theOr else our destruction. Divinitie of their Traditions, the infallibilitie of the Pope: The fiue bastard Sacraments. ibid. p. 16. 17. The Immunitie of the Cleargie, and the Popes Monarchie. p. 14. Impunitie to the Pope and Cleargie were they never so flagitious. ibid. p. 34. 35. 36. 40. 48. 50. 51. 54. But because these may proue weak meanes to worke this peace, therefore his last is the destruction of Protestants: If wee will not imbrace such a faith, to make vsus as Sisera, Zeba, and Zalmuna: And so hee praiseth the Duke of Baveere, andIbid. 139. 140 Count Tillie, comparing them to Gide on and Barac, for destroying Protestants as Canaanites and Midianites. Barac imitatus est Sereniss. Princeps Maximilianus Elector, &c.—& comes de Tillie vir admirandae non minus innocentiae & sanctitatis, quam fortitudinis & fidei, verusque aetatis nostrae Gideon, & rei Catholicae in Germania, propugnaculum. In all their doings they pretended peace, but intended warre, and our ruine. So the Duke of Bavere: Nos nihil nisi pacem publicam quaerere: And yet his owne father giveth him the lie, professing that hee feared nothing Guil. Bav…r. Cancell. Hisp. p. 126.more, than a most filthie peace, if they should embrace the conditions proponed by the King of great Britaine. Sed timeo ne in propositas ab Anglo inducias ruant, ipsam denique turpissimam pacem.
And the Emperour in his Oration at Regensburg: They pretend peace, but intend warre. In Comit. Ratisbon.though the first part of it was a suasorie to peace, yet the fiue remanent Articles were all of warre: The excluding of Count Palatine for ever, the curbing of the Hollanders, the compescing of the King of Sweden, &c. Therefore one defined well the proper notion of their peace, Pacem vocabant domus Austriacae dominationem, & è contra turpem servitij patientiam, they called peace the domination ofAnonymi. Ep. de Comit. Ratisbons. the house of Austria, and on the other part, a vile patience of slaverie, and withall Poperie set vp againe. And Scioppius like himselfe cut them off, done… ex haereticis fiant Catholici seque Pontifici subijciant, till they fall down at thy feete, and of Protestants become Papists, andClassic. cap. 1. subject to the Pope: it is such a peace as the Spartans promised to the Messenians if they would depart altogether out of Pelopponesus. So doe their Pacificators to Protestants if they will change either Religionem or Regionem. This is like Edom, Raze it, raze it, from the foundation. Psal. 137.And wee may say of them with Tacitus, vbi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant, they call it peace, where they hauehave wrought desolation.Their peace is Ludification.
This is the plat-forme of their Pacification, which if any will so blind himselfe as not to see, wee must say of him as Cardinall Caietane said latelie of the Parisians, beholding these superstitious people thronging on him for a blessing, hee whispered these words in stead of a blessing, Quandoquidem hic populus vult decipi, decipiatur: Since this people will bee deceived, let them bee deceived.
If it seeme strange how Scioppius who sounded the bloodie Alarme to the warres turned a Pacificator. Let them consider his alarme & pacification are alike, for in the first like Alecto, hee stirreth men to battell: In the other like Erinnys hee killeth them either by heresie, if they yeelde, or by crueltie if they resist.
But if they seriouslie minded condescending or agreement in doctrine, wee answere them as Gelasius did Euphemianus No condescending in Doctrine.an Hereticke who desired that hee would condescend. Whereas thou sayes, wee ought to condescend vntounto you, thou grants that you are fallen and descended to the pit of error—And you would hauehave vsus descend from our hight vntounto Gelasius.you: But wee rather requeist you that yee would ascend with vsus from your errours to the eminencie of our trueth. This should the more moue them, because they turne it to their owne vse (though aBellar de Laic. cap. 19preposterouslie) There is no agreement betweene light and darknesse, and Bernard sayth,Bernard. sentent Cyprian. de lapsis. That inter Babylonem & Hierusalem non est pax, sed bellum continuum. And Cyprian. non est pax illa sed bellum, nec Ecclesiae iungitur, qui ab Evangelio separatur.
This was Melancthons wise Observation: There wasThey seeke our Palinodie. none in his time either more able to indge of controversies, or more calme to incline to peace: And yet after manie Colloques for agreement hee gathered this conclusion, that while the Papists treate of mitigation, Nihil aliud quam Melanthon. Consil.palinodiam nostram requirunt, They seeke nothing but our recantation: And I adde the other part of the Alternatiue, that if they get not palinodiam they seeke panolethrian our Si pacem postulant arma deponant. Cyprian. August. Serm Temp. 166. 167.vtter destruction. But I say to them with Cyprian, if they seeke peace, let them lay aside their Armes. For (as Augustine saith) Negat Deum Patrem, qui pacificus esse contemnit: And againe, non potest concordiam habere cum Christo, qui discors esse voluerit cum Christiano: Hee denyeth God the Father who will not bee a peace-maker. And hee cannot hauehave concord with Christ, who will bee at discord with a Christian.
And yet lest wee seeme too rigide, wee agree to suchThe right condescending. a condescending as may be elicite out of a …riers sermon at Lyons, Nothing (sayth hee) holds vsus at discord with Hugonots, but this vnhappie word, solum. For wee worship Iunius de Eccles.God, and Saincts, and Images, but they worshipp Deum solum. GOD alone: Wee take both Scripture and tradition for the Rule of Faith and manners; but they tak Scripturam solam, Scripture alone. Wee take good works in iustification, &c, but they take fidem solam, Faith onelie: Wee take with Iesus Christ the Saincts for our Mediators, Intercessors and Saviours by their merits and satisfactions, but they take Christ alone, &c. If then they will come to our solum to worshippe God alone in Christ, and rest on him as our onelie Saviour, then wee will agree. When Agrippa advised Augustus to lay downe the Impyre, Mecaenas diswaded him, hee followed Mecaenas. So the Pope, though hee pretend a louelove of peace and reformation, yet hee keepeth still his Monarchie and proues more like Iulius Caesar, keeping the Dictatorship, than like Sylla in laying it downe.
Seeing then the life and beeing of Poperie is theRome shall bee deserted. Deformation of the Church, and her Reformation is the destruction of Poperie, and they are alreadie both iudged of GOD, and sentenced in his word to consumption and Abolition; and the hand of Providence goeth on in the execution of that sentence there is neither ground to treate for reconcliation, nor hope to attaine to it. Or if wee will treate of it, wee accuse the Lords sentence of iniquitie, and his execution of rigour. Let Babell then bee vnderunder her sinne, and punishment begun and approaching, and let all that louelove the Lord Iesus separat themselues from these wickedmen.