An historical defence of the Reformation in answer to a book intituled, Just-prejudices against the Calvinists / written in French by the reverend and learned Monsieur Claude ... ; and now faithfully translated into English by T.B., M.A.

CHAP. I.

That our Fathers could not expect a Reformation either from the hands of the Popes, or from those of the Prelats.

WE may now, methinks, suppose it evi∣dent and proved, That our Fathers had a right and were bound to examine by themselves the matters of Reli∣gion, and not to refer themselves ab∣solutely to the Conduct and Authority of their Prelats. But from thence it manifestly follows, that they had a right to Reform themselves. For since they could examine only in order to discern the good from the bad, and the true from the false, who can doubt, that they having a right to make that discernment,

would not also have had a right to reject that which they should have found to have been contrary to, or alienated from Christi∣anity, which is precisely that which is called Reformation. I acknowledge that it yet remains to be inquired into, whether those things which they have rejected are indeed Errors and Su∣perstitons, as they are pretended to be, and whether they did not deceive themselves in the Judgment that they made. But who sees it not necessary, for the deciding of that Question, to go to the bottom, and to enter upon that discussion which our Adversaries would avoid? From whence it may appear, as I have said in the beginning, that all that Controversy which they raise against us about the Call of our Reformers, is nothing else but a vain amusement; and that to make a good Judgment of that Action of our Fathers, and to know whether it be just or un∣just, we ought always to come to the bottom of the cause, and to those things themselves which are Reformed, for upon that the Question doth wholly depend, whether they did well or ill.

Notwithstanding to shew that we would forget nothing that may serve for our Justification, and that after the desire to please God, we have not a greater then that of approv∣ing our selves to our Country-men, and in general to all men, we shall not fail to make yet some particular Reflexions upon the Circumstances of the Reformation, which will more and more confirm the right of our Fathers, and manifest the Justice of their Conduct, and at the same time we shall answer to some Ob∣jections of the Author of the Prejudices. That shall be the business of this Second Part.

Our first Reflexion shall be, on that deplorable State of the Latin Church in the days of our Fathers, in respect of its Pre∣lats; for its Condition was such, that there was no more hope of ever seeing a good Reformation to spring up by their Ministry. In effect, what could be expected from a Body that had almost wholly abandoned the care of Religion, and of the Salvation of Souls, (which was plunged in the intrigues and interests of the World) which kept the People in the ignorance of the My∣steries of the Gospel, and in the most gross Superstitions, and with which (the whole body) it self did entertain it self, and was found to be possest by Ambition, by Luxury, and by Covet∣ousness, and engaged in the vilest manners, and living in almost a general opposition to overthrow of all Discipline? They will

SEE then what a German Bishop says in a Book intituled Onus Ecclesiae, who lived and wrote in the year, 1519. that is to say, near the very time of the Reformation, but one who was no ways Luthers friend, as it appears by his writings. I am afraid, says he, That the Doctrine of the Apostle touching the Qualifica∣tions of a Bishop is but very ill observed in these days, or rather that we are fallen into those Times, which he noted, when he said,

I know that after my departure, ravenous Wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock:

Where may one see a good man chosen to be a Bishop? one approved by his works and his Learning, and any one who is not either a Child, or Worldly or Ignorant of spiritual things? The far greater number come to the Prelateship more by underhand canvassings, and ill ways, then by Election and lawful ways. That Disorder which may be seen in the Ecclesiastical Dignities, sets the Church in danger of perishing; for Solomon says,

There is one evil which I have seen under the Sun, as an Error which proceedeth from the Ruler, when a fool is raised to high dignity.

It is therefore that I said, that the Bishops ought to excel in Learning, to the end that by their Instructions and their Preaching they might govern others profitably. But alas! What Bishop have we now a days that Preaches, or has any care of the Souls committed to him? There are, besides that, very few who are contented with one Spouse alone, that is to say, with one only Church, and who seek not to appropriate to themselves more Dignities, more Prebends, and what is yet more to be condemned, more Bishopricks. Our Bishops are feasting at their own Tables then when they should be at the Altar, they are unwise in the things of God, but they love the wisdom of the World, they are more intent on Temporal Affairs, say it may be, that I suffer my self to be carried away by my Passion, and that all these clamourous Accusations are but the effect of that Engagement in which we all are set against the Church of Rome. But to leave no ground for that Suspicion, besides what I have set down in general in the second Chapters of my first Part, I will further produce here more particular Testimonies of that Truth, by applying them to the Ages of our Fathers. I will say nothing of my own head, I will make their Authors that are not suspected by them, to speak, whose passages I will faithfully relate, which they may see in the Originals if they will take the pains. And as I hope that they will not lay to my charge what may appear to be too vehement in their Expressions, so also I not do pretend to impute to the Prelats of these days, that which those Authors censured in those of the former Times.

then on the work of Jesus Christ. Their Bodies are adorned with Gold, and their Souls defiled with filth, they are ashamed to meddle with Spiritual things, and their glory lies in their Scurrilous humor and carriage. Whence it was that Catherine of Sienna told them, that in the blindness wherein they were, they placed their glory in that which was truly their shame, and that on the contrary they held those things to be a reproach to them whereon their honour and Salvation did depend; to wit, in humbling themselves under their Head, which was God. Furthermore they have no love for any but sinners they despise the poor, and howsoever the Canons forbid them they keep about their persons Pimps, debauchers of Women, Flatterers, Buffoons, Players, where they should have had wise and holy men.—In fine, instead of the Law of Truth, the Law of Vanity is in the mouths of the Bishops, and the lips of the Priests preserve knowledge, but it is that of the World, and not of the Spirit. And a little after, At present, says he, the State and Dignity of the Bishops may be known by their Earthly riches, by their affairs and sordid cares of the World, by their trou∣blesome Wars, and by their Temporal Dominion. Alas, the Lord Jesus said plainly that his Kingdom was not of this World, he retired himself alone into a Mountain, when he knew that they went about to make him a King. How then is it that he who holds the place of Jesus Christ, not only accepts Dominion, but seeks it; and that he whom Jesus Christ has taught to be meek and lowly in heart, should reign in pleasures, in luxury, in violence, in pride, in haughtiness in riches and in rapines? And yet a little after, The Bishops have re∣nounced Hospitality, they neglect the poor of Jesus Christ, but they make themselves fat, and feed their Dogs and other Beasts, as if with a formed design, they would be in the number of those to whom Christ shall say, I was poor and you relieved me not; go ye cursed into Eternal fire. For Generally almost all the Bishops lie under the evil of Covetousness, they are ravishers of others goods, and but ill despencers of the Churches; turning aside to other uses, that which they ought to employ in Divine uses, or the feeding of the poor. What Bishop is there, adds he, who does not more love to be a rich Lord and Honoured in the World, then to help the poor? The whole design of their lives is but for the things of the World, They love to array themselves after the Fashion of that, and as for the Ecclesiastical Orna∣ments, whether they be Corporal or Spiritual, they scarce make any ac∣count of them: and therefore it was that S. Brigit said, That the Bishops took the counsel of the Devil, who said to them, Behold those honours which I offer you, the riches that are in my hand. I dispence plea∣sures,

the delights of the World are sweet, you must enjoy them.—That same Saint says further that the Covetousness of the Bishops is a bottomless Gulph, and that their pride and their luxurious Lives was an unsavoury steam, which made them abominable before the Angels of Heaven, and before the Friends of God upon Earth.

As to the other Prelats and the Curats, the same Author re∣presents them to us after this manner. In these Times, says he, there are very few Elections that are Cononically made, and without under hand canvassings; on the contrary, the greatest parts of the Prelats and Beneficed men, are made by Kings and Princes in an un∣lawful manner, and which is more, being brought in by Canvassings and Simony, they are confirmed by the Popes, against the Priviledges of the Churches, and the Statutes of Germany, and against all man∣ner of Justice. Furthermore the Bishops ordinarily promote to dig∣nities and the Cure of Souls, their Cooks, their Collectors of their Tribute, their Pensionaries, the Grooms of their Stables: Hence Ubertine said, That the Antient Holiness of the Prelats wasted away by degrees, and that it began to fall by Canvassings, by Pomp, and by Simony, by unlawful Elections, by Covetousness, and by the abundance and superfluity of Temporal things, by the promotions that the Bishops made of their Creatures, by neglecting the Divine-wor∣ship, and by other perverse works; and that by Reason of those ill dispositions, the Devil was let loose against the present State of the Church.—Now, none of them who are called to the Pastors Charge and the Cure of Souls inform themselves either of the quality of their Flock, or of their manners, or their vices. Not one Prelate called to the Government of a Monastery will take the pains to Observe either its Rules, or the Order of its Ceremonies, or the Discipline of the Religious, there is not wholly any more mention made of the Salva∣tion and Edification of those that are under them, but they only inform themselves very exactly of the plenty of their Revenues, and what such a Benefice may bring in Yearly, though yet they do not reside there. It is these Curates that Vincentius cri'd out upon, when he said, O what Obduration is there in the Church of God! The Prelats are Proud, Vain, Sumptuous, Simonists, Covetous, Luxurious Men, that regard only this Earth. They neglect their Ecclesiastical Duties, they are void of Charity, Intemperate, Lazy. For they neither perform Divine Offices, nor Preach, and do nothing but what creates Scandal. They despise the foresight of their Holy Mother the Church, which ordains that when the Rectors of Churches shall not be able to

Preach, they should employ fit persons, which should in their stead edify the people by their word and their Example, and that they should supply them with all needful things. But on the contrary the Prelats and Curates are only careful to put into their places, men that are very well skilled, not to feed the sheep, but to poll them, to destroy, and flea them. He goes on with that vehemency throughout a large Chapter, where he relates the many complaints of the Abbot Joachim, Saint Catherine of Sienna, and of Saint Brigitt; Behold this last among the others; Those who Rule the Churches commit three sins, the one is that they live a beastly and luxurious, life the other that they have a Covetousness as insatiable as the Gulphs of the Sea, and the third is, That they are Prodigal to satisfy their own vanity, as the Torrents that pour forth their waters impetuously, such horrible sins which they commit ascend up to Heaven before the face of God, and hinders the Intercession of Jesus Christ as the black Clouds disturb the purity of the Air? The Revenues of the Church are given, not to the Servants of God, but to those of the Devil, to the Debauchers of Women, to Adulterers, Gamesters, Hunters, Flatterers, and such like men, and hence also it is that the house of God is become Tributary to the Devil. The Abbot who ought never to be out of his Monastery, but to be the head and example to the rest of the Religious, is become the head of a whole Troop of leud Women, with their Trains of Bastards: instead of being an Example to and feeder of, the poor, he makes himself Master of their Alms, and he may be seen far oftner in the field with the Souldiers, then in his Cloister. He ought to be the Father and the Instructer of his Brethren, but he is their Seducer, and their Tyrant. For while he enjoys himself, and lives in Pomp and Delights, those poor miserable Religious, pass away all their days in murmurings and afflictions. That Author describes in the same Stile the Lives of the Canons, Monks and other Ecclesiasticks, and that which he has said does not leave us any more room to doubt that there was in the Church in those days, as great and as general a disorder as can be conceived.

He does not spare the Court of Rome, but on the contrary, he sets forth livelily enough their excess, even to say, that that Court is the Seat of the Beast, that is to say, the Church of the wicked, that is, the Kingdom of darkness. That it is a loathsome pit that devours Riches, and is filled by Covetousness, That the Law is far from the Priest, the Visions of the Prophet, and the Councel of the old men. That the heads of the Church serve themselves by Simony and Ambition, and that in a word, the sins of those people are such,

that they cannot be either concealed or denyed, since Rome is become a Gulph of Crimes. Where the Pope ought to cry with Jesus Christ, Come, and you shall find rest for your Souls; he cries, Come and see me in a far greater Pomp and Pride then ever Solomon was in, come to my Court, empty your purses there, and you shall find destruction for your Souls.

The disorder of that Court, and that of the whole Clergy of those times was a thing so little to be contested, that Adrian the sixth did not scruple to acknowledge it in the Memoirs that he gave his Nuntio for the Diet of Nuremberg, and which Ray∣naldus Relates. For he gave him an express charge to confess, That the Troubles of Germany, about the matters of Religion, had fallen out by Reason of the sins of Men, and particularly of the Priests and Prelats of the Church; That the Scripture shewed that the sins of the people came from those of their Priests, for which Reason it was, as Chrysostome says, that when our Saviour would heal Jerusalem, he entered first into the Temple to correct the sins of the Priests, doing like a wise Physitian, who goes to the root of the evil. That for many years past, abominable things had been committed in the holy See, that spiritual things had been abused, through the ex∣cess of its Injunctions, and that all things had been perverted there. That the evil had spread it self from the Head to the Members, from the Popes to the Inferiour Prelats, and that as many as they all were, that is to say, Prelats and Ecclesiasticks, they were come to that pass that for a long Time there had not been any that were good, no not so much as one.

We could produce a multitude of other such Testimonies if we did not hope that unbyass'd persons would agree upon it, as not long since an Author in these Times has done in a Book In∣tituled, Motives to a Re-union to the Catholick Church. The cause of the Separation, says he, was the open abuse of Indulgences, and the Ignorance, Covetousness, and the Scandalous lives of the Church∣men. The Superstition of the meaner sort of people who had not been well instructed, the immense riches, and riotous profuseness of the Prelats, their too great care in Externals, in their Magnificence, Ornaments, and increasing of Ceremonies, and little Devotion in the Chief-worship of God, the indiscreat zeal of some Brethren, who seemed to have cast off all honour for the Master, to give it to his Servants. The Tyranny that Parents exercised over their Children to imprison them in Cloisters; the wickedness of those who contrived false Miracles, to draw to themselves the concourse of the People. Add

to that, Politick humane Considerations of some Princes and Kings, who had not received from the Pope all possible Satisfaction, or who took occasion from thence to cast themselves among a Party of per∣secuted men, the better to Establish their affairs; in brief, all that which Ignorance, Superstition and Covetousness could Contribute, served for a pretence to those who would separate themselves to Reform those Disorders. The Ground was not only specious, but it had been in a manner accompanied with Truth, if the Church in those days had been throughout in that miserable condition, which we have described, and principally so in those places wherein that detestable Separation began. Those who separated were aided indirectly by the zeal of some good men, who cried out loudly against those disorders, abuses, and corruptions of manners. The people who judged no otherwise then by the appearance suffered themselves to be easily carried away with that Torrent, seeing that they did not complain but of those things which they knew were but too true, and which the better sort of Catholicks granted.

Behold then in what a condition the Church was in those days, and we may from thence, methinks ask all rational persons, whither they believe in good earnest, that our Fathers ought to have expected a Reformation from the hands of a Clergy, which on the one side had so many worldly interests that bound them to oppose it, and which on the other found it self so deeply sunk into Ignorance, Superstition, and Corruption.

But to urge that matter yet further, we need but to set down those just complaints which they had made for a long time touch∣ing those disorders, and the continual demand that all the World made for a good Reformation, at least in respect of manners, of Discipline, and those most gross abuses, without ever being able to obtain it. I pass by the complaints of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries, which would be but too great, if they were compared, with those just grounds that all honest men in those days had for them. For those two Centuries were famous for wickedness, (grievous) crimes, and those who know any thing of History cannot deny it. But, not to go so far, not to say any thing either of the Scandalous Lives of the Popes of that Time, or the Wars wherewith they filled all the West, or of the Abuses they committed in their Excommunications, or of the Baptizing of Bells: Wherewith they increased the Ecclesiastical Ceremo∣nies, or of the vices which reigned then throughout all the Clergy, can they tell us what good effect those smart Censures of Saint

Bernard wrought, and those of Petrus Cluniensis, of Abbot Joa∣chim, of Petrus Blesensis, of Conrard Abbot of Ʋrspurg, of Ho∣norius of Autun, of Bernard Monk of Cluny, of Arnoul an Eng∣lish Monk, of John Bishop of Salisbury, of Matthew Paris, of William Durandus Bishop of Mande, of Robert Bishop of Lin∣colne, of Francis Petrarch Archdeacon of Parma, of John Vito∣duram of Dante, of Marsilius of Padua, and I know not how many others, who cried out as loudly against the abuses of the Court of Rome, as those of the rest of the Prelats? Can they tell us what effect the complaints of Emperors, of Kings, of Princes, and of the People produced who for so long a Time panted after a Reformation? It is a hundred and fifty Years said Arnald du Ferrier the Ambassador of France to the Council of Trent since a Reformation of the Church has been all along in vain demanded in divers Councils, at Constance, at Basil, at Ferrara. Let them tell us what good change has hapned since St. Bernard wrote, That the Dignities of the Church were managed by a most dishonest barter∣ing, and with a Trade of darkness, That the saving of Souls was no more sought after, but the abundance of Riches. That it was for this that they took their Orders, that they frequented the Churches, and Celebrated Masses, and sung Psalms. Now a days, says he, they strive without any shame for Bishopricks, for Arch-Deaconries, and Abbies, and other Dignities, to the end they may dissipate the revenues of the Church, in Superfluity and Vanity. What remains but that the Man of sin, the Son of Perdition should be Revealed? The Demon not only of the day, but of the noon day, who transforms himself into an Angel of Light, and lifts up himself above all that is called God, and worshipped. What good change could they see since Cardinal Hugo borrowing the words of Saint Bernard, had wrote, That those words of David could not be more properly applied to any, then to the Clergy, They are not in Trouble as other men. For every order of men has its Labours and its pleasures, but I admire, says he, the wisdom of our Clergy, who have chosen all the pleasures for themselves, and rejected the Labour. They are as proud as Souldiers, they have as great a train of Servants as they, and of Horses, and Birds, and they live as merrily as they. They are arrayed like women with skins of great value, they have rich Bids, Baths, and all the Allurements of soft delights. But they take great heed least they put on a Breast-plate with the Souldiers, or pass away the nights in the Field, or to expose themselves to Battels, and yet they take less heed to keep Modesty and the Laws of Decency, which are proper to women, and to labour so

much as they do. At the Resurrection then, when men shall arise every one in his own order, what place do you imagine those men will find? The Souldier will not own them, for they took no part with them in their Labours, nor in their dangers. The Labourers and Dressers of the Vineyard will not any more for the same Reason. What then can they look for? But to be driven from and accused by all Orders, and to go into those places where there is no Order, but where Everlasting horrour Dwels. Has it been amended since William Bishop of Mande wrote these words, Alas! the Churches are reduced to that Condition, that when they come to be vacant, one can hardly find any persons fit to be chosen to succeed. And if sometimes, which rarely happens, there be found some good Man hid as a Lilly among the Thorns, the Number of the wicked and uncapable, exceeds so much, that they will never let a good man be chosen Prelate; but crying up such as themselves they chuse men after their own hearts, to the Ruin of the Church, and the people that are under them. Else if the greater part in the Church were good, the Elections would be made by the Majority of voices, and they would be good and Canonical, for those that would chuse for God, would be the far greater number then those who should chuse for the Devil. But in these days it is quite the contrary. It is the Fashion, that there must be more wicked then good, so that usually, the Elections are rather Diabolical then Canonical, and not made by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but by a Conspiracy, or Treacherous Machination. All these Complaints were to no pur∣pose, the evil was too general, and too inveterate to be stopt or remedied.

In the Council of Constance, all those Nations who liv'd under the disorders of a long and obstinate Schisme, propounded some Articles to Reform as well the Head as the Members, and correct the ill manners of the Church. But Martin the Fifth, who was then Pope, eluded that Proposition, with saying, That that Council had already lasted four years to the great damage of the Bishops and the Churches, That it was needful to turn over that business to ano∣ther Time, and that that Affair deserved to be thought on more leisurely; because, says he, according to St. Jerome, every Province has its Maxims, and its opinions which cannot be changed without stirring up great Troubles. As if Justice, Piety, Holiness, and good Discipline, were not the same among all people and in every Countrey.

The Council of Basil assembled some Time after, with a design to proceed to a Reformation of the Head and the Members;

A Declaration was made very Solemnly that there the very begin∣ning, and their first Acts should contain no other thing. But when they would have meddled with the Court of Rome, and the Popes Soveraign Authority, every one knows after what manner Eu∣genius the Fourth exalted himself against them, and what endea∣vours he used to separate them, or at least to render their designs unprofitable. That produced new Troubles, and new disorders, and cast the Latin Church into a new schism. For that Council declaring its right, deposed Pope Eugenius, and chose Amadeus Duke of Savoy; but all that came to nothing. For Eugenius re∣mained Master, Amadeus was at length constrained to renounce the Papacy. The Council of Basil and all its good designs, were brought to nothing, and things remained in the same State in which they were before. Which made an Author in those Times say, That there could not be any thing expected from those who pre∣sided in the Councils on the behalf of the Popes, unless that, when they saw the affairs of the Council ordered against their Masters and against themselves, they should oppose their Decrees either by Dissol∣ving the Council, or making Divisions spring up in it. So that, says he, matters come to nothing, and return into their old Chaos, that is to say, into Error and Darkness, which no man can be ignorant of, at least, that has any knowledge of things past; and the Tragedy that hapned in our Age at the Council of Basil, is a most manifest proof of.

Some Time after that, Pope Innocent the Eighth being dead, and all preparations made for a new Nomination, Lionel Bishop of Concordia made a long and fine Oration to the Cardinals, who were to go into the Conclave to perswade them to make a good Election, that might answer the desires of the whole Church; he represented to them, That Christianity was threatned every day by the Power of the Turk, that the Hussites were in Arms against their Brethren the Catholicks, that pernitious Errors against the Or∣thodox Faith might be observed to increase in all places, That the Church of Rome, the Mother and Root of the Ʋniversal Church, was every day more and more despised, that Luxury reigned in the Clergy, and that it was extream among the people. That the Pa∣trimony of Saint Peter was wasted, That Christian Princes, animated with a mortal hatred one against another, were just ready to destroy one another, and that in fine, to make use of the words of Jeremy, One desolation called to another, which made him to weep over the Church, and say to it, Daughter of Sion thy Desolation is great as

the stretching out of the Sea; who is it that will bring thee any Re∣medy? After having represented those things, he adds, That although the affliction of the Church was exceeding great, yet they might notwithstanding mitigate it, if laying aside their own passions, their Canvassings, and their Cabals, they would look to nothing else in chusing a Pope, but Holiness, Learning, and Fitness, or Capacity. That the Eyes of all the Church were upon them, to beg of them a Pope who might by the good odor of his Name allure the Faithful people to Salvation. He urged that discourse much farther, in shewing them the necessity that the Church stood in of a Holy man, whose life should be without reproach. He added to his Exhortations, threatnings on Gods part, and passed by nothing that might move the minds of those Cardinals to do some good. Will you not say that words so weighty and so pungent ought to have made some Impression on the minds of those Cardinals, and that, at least for that Time, they should have done well? They saw the whole Church in disorder, the Conquests that the Infidels made, Christian Princes in Arms one against another, Church-Discipline overthrown, the lives of the Clergy profuse, Piety violently beat down, and Christianity degenerated in all places, could any one imagine that such sad representations would not have been considered? But be not hasty, All the effect that they pro∣duced was the Creation of Alexander the sixth. That Name alone, sufficiently Celebrated in the History of the Popes, was enough to make men understand of what disposition those Pre∣lats were, and how little they were touched with the wounds of the Latin Church. Let us hear nevertheless what Raynaldus says, who in these kind of things is an Author that can no ways be suspected. The greatest part of the Cardinals, says he, were very remote from those good Counsels: for Authors complain that some corrupted with Money, others gained by promises of Benefices and Places, and others drawn by the Conformity of a vitious and impure life, gave their Voices to Roderic Borgia. So that, in stead of chu∣sing a chaste man, they chose one who was infamous for his unclean∣nesses and fornications, for which he had been reproved by Pius the Second, yet was so far from amending under that reproof, that he took no care to conceal his impurities. For on the contrary he lived with Vacosia a Courtisan of Rome, as if she had been his real Wife, and he had divers Children by her, upon whom he heape'd Riches and Honors as much as it was possible for him to do, as if they had been his Legiti∣mate Children. Behold what the Court of Rome was then.

Alexander the Sixth being dead, and Pius the Third who suc∣ceeded him having lived but thirty days after his Election, the Cardinals met again in the Conclave. And because the Life and Government of Alexander had given scandal to all the World, and that the Cardinals themselves had been but very ill satisfied with it, before they proceeded to an Election, they drew up some Articles, which every one swore to observe upon condition the Nomination should fall upon him; and there was one among the rest which carried this with it, That the new Pope should call at the end of two years a General Council for the Reformation of the Church in its Head and its Members. Julius the Second was chosen, but he did not believe himself bound to keep his Oath, for seven years past away without any thing being talkt either of a Council or a Reformation. And therefore it was that this Pope thought the less of it. Nevertheless it fell out, that, having ill Treated one party of the Colledge of Cardinals, and having moreover stired up the Emperor Maximilian, and Lewis the Twelfth the King of France against him, those two great Princes joyned with the disgraced Cardinals, and called a Council at Pisa. The Act of that Convocation, on the part of the Princes, says expresly, that it was for the Extirpation of Heresies and Errors, which through the negligence of Superiors had sprung up in divers parts of the World, and particularly for the Reformation of the manners of the Ʋniversal Church in the Head and the Members, and for the amendment of many great, notorious, long continued, and almost in∣corrigible crimes, which had scandalized the Ʋniversal Church. The Cardinals also alleaged the Oath that the Pope had took, just before his promotion, in these very words, I swear to observe and perform these Articles throughout, and in every particular, sincerely, unfeignedly, seriously and in good earnest, and under pain of falling under perjury and an Anathema, from which I cannot absolve my self, nor give power to any other person to absolve me. They added to that, that by another Article they all, and Julius himself had sworn, That if he who should be chosen should not perform his promise in good earnest, he should be held guilty of perjury, to be a breaker of his Vow and of his Faith, a disturber of the Church, and the cause of Scandal to all Christianity, and that then two thirds of the Sacred Colledge should have power to assemble a General Council. The Council then being assembled, declared openly, That there was a most evident necessity of Reforming the Church in the Head and the Members; and made a Decree formed in these words, The Holy and sacred

General Synod of Pisa, lawfully called in the name of the Holy Ghost, composing a General Council, and representing the Catholick Church, doth define and declare, That that Holy Synod would not, nor could not, dissolve it self, till the Ʋniversal Church should be Reformed in Faith and Manners, as well in the Head as the Members, and till the Heresies and Schisms that had sprung up should be Extin∣guished.

Behold, hitherto, the fairest hope in the World. It is not necessary for us to inquire, whether that Reformation was the true Cause of the Calling of that Assembly together, or whether it was only a pretence, and according to all appearances it was the latter. But whatsoever it might be, whether a pretence or not, three thing result from it; the one, That that Reformation was generally judged to be most necessary; the other, That it was extreamly desired by the people, for they would never have con∣trived to have took up those things for a pretence which did not appear necessary, and which were not wisht for; and the Third is, That a Reformation so necessary and so much desired should extend it self to Faith as well as to Manners, even, say they, 'till the Ʋniversal Church should be Reformed in Faith and Man∣ners.

See then what was the success of so weighty a business. Julius on his side, who according to the general mind of the Popes, mor∣tally hated those Propositions of a Reformation, display'd all the Authority, Force, and Artifice that he had to elude that Council, and to turn all those projects into Air. And first of all, he made void and disanull'd that Convocation that had been called, he declared them the Authors of Schisme, and Rebellion, as Dathan, and Abiram, and their Council, a Conventicle of Schismaticks, a Synagogue of Satan, and a Church of Malignants, he forbad all Prelats to go thither under pain of Anathema, and excommuni∣cated all those who should afford them any help or assistance di∣rectly or indirectly, and in fine, he interdicted the Towns and Churches that should receive them. But as that way of Authority alone could not produce the effect which he desired, since the World did not care always to be frightned with the Papal Thun∣der, so it was necessary for him further to elude that pretence of a Reformation which those of Pisa had taken up. He then had recourse to that Ordinary Artifice of the Popes, which is, that when they cannot longer avoid a Council, they labour to make themselves Masters of it, to the end that nothing may pass there

but what agrees with their Interests and their desires. For this Reason he called he called one at Rome it self, and to make him∣self more sure, taking up as well as his Adversaries that pretence of the Reformation of the Church; the better to colour his Af∣fairs, and to strengthen his Party, he created some new Cardi∣nals. Nevertheless as he would not omit any thing, he had re∣course to Arms, he made a League with Spain against France, he assaulted Ferrara that was held by the French, he went himself in Person into his Army, he filled all Italy with War, he drew the Switzers and Venetians to his Interests, he gave Battels, he Excommunicated the King of France and all his Confederates, and after having got off the Emperor Maximilian from them, he gave away their Kingdoms to him who should first Conquer them, and in fine he set up his Conventicle at Lateran, where he and his Successour Leo the Tenth made all things pass that they would have. I say, he and his Successour Leo the Tenth, For Julius dy'd after the fifth Session, and Leo not being yet thirty seven years Old was chosen in his place, by the Faction of the young Cardi∣nals, against the mind of the elder sort, by Reason of which Alphonsus Petrucius, a young Cardinal, having had it given him in charge to declare the new Election to the people, he did it in these words, We have chosen Leo the Tenth for our Pope, Let the young men live. Leo then, continued that Council, in which, in favour of some light Reformations which consisted but in words without any effect, he more then ever established the Soveraign Authority of his See, and confirmed the Abuses of his Court, and the disorders of the Latin Church. For he there Solemnly made void the Pragmatick Function, which was almost the only good thing that remained in the Government of the Latin Church, he there made the Council of Basil to be declared a Conventicle, and caused it to be determined, That the Authority of the Popes is above all Councils; which obliged the University of Paris to reject that Decree, and to sue forth an appeal made to a Council lawfully called.

After this, I know not whether they can any farther say with any confidence, that our Fathers ought to entertain good hopes of the Latin, Prelats, and that they ought to have expected a good Reformation from their hands. All the World desired that there should be a Reformation in the Government of the Church, they impatiently demanded it, they themselves acknowledged the necessity of it, in the Head and the Members, the Pope found him∣self

engaged to do it by a Solemn Oath, but when it was urged to be put in Execution, he chose rather to enflame all Christen∣dome, then to deliberate to reform himself, and to re-establish Order, and he managed his party so well, that he found a whole Council disposed blindly to do whatsoever should please him, without any regard had either of God or the Church, or of themselves. Did not all that give a fair hope of a Reforma∣tion?

They will say, it may be, that Adrian the sixth, Successour to Leo, after having ingenuously confessed, in the Diet of Nurem∣berg, the disorders of the Court of Rome, and of all the Prelats, as we have seen before, promised also to Reform them. For he declared. That he was resolved, as well, from his own inclination, as from the duty of his place, to labour to correct so great an Evil; And he would do it in such sort, that first of all the Court of Rome, whence possibly the evil had grown so extream, and so destructive, should be reformed; and so much the more, as he saw that all the World pas∣sionately desired it. I confess those Historians give a good Testi∣mony enough of the Intentions of that Pope in that respect; but we ought also to adjoyn, what they add, to wit, that that Con∣fession and promise of his, which he made were very ill taken at Rome, and moreover, that they generally offended the Prelats, that they seemed to be too ignominious for them, saying, that it rendred them yet more odious to the Seculars, and contemptible to the People, and that especially, they were amazed to see a door opened for the in∣troducing a diminution of their conveniencies, or convincing them of an incorrigible obstinacy. We ought not also to omit, that Adrian dyed soon after the Return of his Nuntio from Germany, not without a suspition of being Poisoned, as William Lochorst, in∣sinuates in a Letter set down by Raynaldus, Seu nimio, says he, Estu labore{que} fatigatus, seu infesto esu aut potu refectus, incidit in Morbum; by Reason of which, Paulus Jovius relates, that im∣mediately after the Death of Adrian, some young debauched persons went by night and set up a wreathed Garland on the door of the House of his Physitian, with this Inscription, Liberatori Patriae S. P. Q. R. We ought not likewise to pass by in silence what the Author of the History of the Council of Trent has told us, That Clement the Seventh, who succeeded Adrian, saw clearly that Pope Adrian, having too far abandoned the Ordinary Stile of the wiser Popes, had been too facil, as in Confessing the Faults of the Court of Rome, so in promising a Reformation, and that he was too

mean spirited, in asking the Counsel of Germany how provision might be made against the Contentions of that Kingdom. For thereby he drew upon his back the demands of a Council, which was of great im∣portance, especially with a condition to Celebrate it in Germany, and had given too much courage to the Princes, that they dared not only to send, but to print also a Book which they called the Centum Grava∣mina, or Hundred Grievances, a writing that was ignominious to all the Ecclesiasticks of Germany, but more to the Court of Rome. That notwithstanding having considered all things well, he resolved, that it was necessary to give some satisfaction to Germany, yet so, that his Authority might not be indangered, and that the advantages and profits of the Court of Rome might not any ways be diminished. In effect, he sent a Legat to Nuremberg, where the Princes of Germany were afresh assembled, who propounded to them such a Reformation, as should only respect the inferiour Clergy; So that it was judged, that that Reformation would not only foment the evil as light and palliating Medicines usually do; but that it would serve to enhance, and raise the Dominion of the Court of Rome, and the greater Prelats, to the Prejudice of the Secular Powers, and that it would open a door to a greater Extortion of Money, so that it was not received, being looked upon meerly as a mockery to elude the Expectations of Germany, and to reduce it to a greater Slavery.

Notes

• Onus Eccles. Cap. 20. Sect. 2.
• Sect. 3.
• Sect. 6.
• Sect. 9.
• Sect. 13.
• Idem. Cap. 21.
• Ibid▪
• Idem, Cap. 6. Sect. 6.
• Sect. 8.
• Sect. 12.
• Roynald ad Anna, 1522.
• Motifs de Re∣union, premeir Motif. Pag. 6.
• See his Oration set down by Thuanus, lib. 35.
• Bernard, Serm. 6. in Psal. Qui ha∣bitat.
• Hugo Card. in Psal. 72.
• Platin, in vit. Martin 5.
• Jacob. de Pa∣radiso de Sep∣tem Statib. Eccles.
• Raynald ad Ann. 1492.
• Vide Raynalud in Jul.
• Raynald. in Adrian. 6.
• History of the Council of Trent. Book 1.
• Vide Raynald. in Adrian.
• History of the Council of Trent. Book 1.