A letter written to Dr. Burnet, giving an account of Cardinal Pool's secret powers from which it appears, that it was never intended to confirm the alienation that was made of abbeylands : to which are added, two breves that Card. Pool brought over, and some other of his letters, that were never before printed.

A LETTER TO Dr. BURNET, Giving an Account of Cardinal Pool's Secret Powers.

SIR,

I Have fallen on a Register of Cardi∣nal Pool's Letters, which carries in it all the Characters of Sincerity possi∣ble. The Hand and the Abbrevia∣tures shew that it was written at that time. It contains not only the two Breves that I send along with this, but two other Breves, be∣sides several Letters that past between Card. Pool

and the Bishop of Arras, that was afterwards the famous Cardinal Granvell; and others that past between Pool, and the Cardinal de Monte, and Cardinal Morone, and Soto the Emperor's Con∣fessor. There are also in it some of Pool's Letters to the Pope, and to Philip then King of England; and of these I have sent you two, the one is to the Pope, and the other is to Philip: But with these I shall give you a large account of some Re∣flections that I have made on these Papers, since I hear that you desire I would suggest to you all that occurs to me upon this occasion.

You have given the World a very particular Ac∣count, in your History of the Reformation, of the Difficulties that were made concerning the Church-Lands, in the beginning of Queen Mary's Reign; and of the Act of Parliament that past in her Reign, confirming the Alienation of them, that was made by King Henry the Eighth; and of the Ratification of it made by Cardinal Pool, who was the Pope's Legate, and was believed to have full Powers for all he did.

You have observed, there were two Clauses in that very Act of Parliament, that shew there was then a Design form'd to recover all the Abbey-Lands: The one is, a Charge given by Pool, to all People that had the Goods of the Church in

their hands, to consider, the Judgments of God that fell on Belshazzar, for profaning the holy Vessels, even tho they had not been taken away by himself, but by his Father: Which set the matter heavy upon the Consciences of those that enjoyed these Lands. The other was, the Repeal of the Statute of Mortmain for twenty Years; for since that Statute was a Restraint upon the profuse Endowments of Churches, the suspending it for so long a time, gave the Monks Scope and Elbow-room; and it is not unlike, that within the time limited of twenty Years, the greatest part of the Work would have been done: for Su∣perstition works violently, especially upon dying Men, when they can hold their Lands no longer themselves; And so it is most likely, that if a Priest came to tell them frightful Stories of Pur∣gatory, and did aggravate the Heinousness of Sa∣crilege, they would easily be wrought upon to take care of themselves in the next World, and leave their Children to their Shifts in this.

But I go now to give you some account of the Papers that accompany this Letter.

The first is the Breve that contains the Powers that were given to Cardinal Pool, besides those general Powers or Bulls that were given him as Legate. This bears date the 8th of March, 1554,

and so probably it was an Enlargement of the Powers that were, as it is likely, granted him at his first dispatch from Rome; and therefore these carry in them, very probably, more Grace and Favour than was intended or allowed of at first: For Pool had left Rome the November before this, and no doubt he carried some Powers with him; but upon the Remonstrances that were made by the Emperor, as well as from England, it seems those were procured that I now send you.

The most uneasy part of this whole Matter, was that which related to the Church-Lands; For it is delivered in the Canon-Law,* 1.1 That the Pope cannot alienate Lands belonging to the Church, in any manner, or for any necessity whatsoever. And by that same Canon which was decreed by Pope Symmachus, and a Roman Synod, about the Year 500; The Giver and Seller of Church-Lands, as well as the Possessor, is to be degraded and anathematized; and any Church-Man whatsoever may oppose such Alienations, and these notwithstanding may recover the Lands so alienated.

The Pope according to this Decree could not confirm the Alienations that had been made by King Henry; and if he did confirm them, the Act must be null in Law, and could be no prejudice to the present Incumbent, or his Successor, to claim his Right. Therefore pursuant to this, the Powers given to Pool, authorize him only to in∣demnify and discharge the Possessors of the Church-Lands, for the Goods that they had embe∣zelled, and for the Rents that they had received; for it runs in these Words, (which I have mark'd in the Breve it self, that you may readily turn to it) And to agree and transact with the Possessors of the Goods of the Church, for the Rents which they have un∣lawfully received, and for the moveable Goods which they have consumed; and for freeing and discharging them for them, they restoring first (if that shall seem expedient to you) the Lands themselves, that are un∣duly detained by them. By these Powers it is plain, that the Pope only forgave what was past, but stood to the Right of the Church, as to the resti∣tution of the Lands themselves: And that Clause (if that shall seem to you expedient) belongs only to the Order and Point of Time, so that the discharging what was past, might have been done by Cardinal Pool, before or after Restitution, as he pleased: But Restitution was still to be made;

and he had by these Powers no Authority to con∣firm the Alienations that had been made by King Henry the 8th for the time to come.

But these Limitations were so distasteful, both in England and at the Emperor's Court, that Pool found it necessary to send his Secretary Ormanet to Rome, for new Instructions and fuller Powers: He addressed him to Cardinal de Monte for pro∣curing them. Ormanet was dispatch'd from Rome in the end of June, 1554, and came to Pool in the end of July, as appears by the Date of Pool's Letters to the Cardinal de Monte, which is the 29th of July, upon the receipt of the two Breves that Ormanet brought him, bearing date the 26th and 28th of June.

The first of these is only matter of Form, em∣powering him to act as a Legate, either about the Emperor or the King of France, in as ample man∣ner as former Legates had done. The second re∣lates almost wholly to the Business of Abbey-Lands; in it the Pope sets forth, That whereas he had formerly empowered him to transact with the Pos∣sessors of Church-lands, and to discharge them for the Rents unjustly received, or the moveable Goods that were consumed by them; yet since the perfecting of the Re∣duction of England would become so much the easier, as the Pope gave the greater hopes of Gentleness and

Favour in that matter, he therefore not being willing to let any worldly Respects lie in the way of so great a Work, as was the Recovery of so many Souls, and in imitation of the tender-hearted Father, that went out to meet the Prodigal Child, empowers the Cardinal, accor∣ding to the Trust and Confidence that he had in him, to transact and agree with such of the Possessors of them, by the Pope's Authority, for whom the Queen should in∣tercede, and to dispense with them for enjoying them in all time coming. But the Salvo that comes in the end, seems to take all this off; For he reserves all to the Pope's Confirmation and good pleasure, in all those things that were of such importance, that the Holy See ought first to be consulted by Pool.

By these Powers, all that Pool could do was on∣ly provisional, and could not bind the Pope; so that he might disclaim and disown him when he pleased: And the Agreements that he made af∣terwards with the Parliament, were of no force, till they were confirmed by the Pope. And as the Pope that succeeded Julius the Third, who granted these Breves, (but died before the Exe∣cution of them was brought to him for his Con∣firmation) would never confirm them; so this whole Transaction was a publick Cheat put on the Nation, or at least on the Possessors of the Abbey-Lands; nor did it grant them either a good

Title in Law, (I mean the Canon-Law) or give any Security to their Consciences, in enjoy∣ing that which according to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome, is plain Sacrilege.

And therefore I cannot imagine how those of that Church can quiet their Consciences in the possession of those Lands. It is plain by the pro∣gress of this matter, that the Court of Rome ne∣ver intended to confirm the Abbey-Lands; for all that was done by Pool, was only an Artifice to still Mens Fears, and to lay the Clamour, which the Apprehension of the return of Popery was raising, that so it might once enter with the less opposition; and then it could be easy to carry all lesser Matters, when the great Point was once gained, as the Saddle goes into the Bargain for the Horse. And indeed tho a poor Heretick may hope for Mercy, notwithstanding his Abbey-lands, because it may be supposed to be a Sin of Igno∣rance in him, so that he possesses them with a good Conscience, and is that which the Law calls bonae Fidei Possessor; yet I see no Remedy for such as go over to the Church of Rome: for if there is a Sin in the World that is condemned by that Church, it is Sacrilege; so that they must be malae Fidei Possessores, that continue in it, after the en∣lightning which that Church offers them.

A Man may as well be a Papist, and not believe Transubstantiation, nor worship the Host; as be one, and still enjoy his Church-Lands. Nor can any Confessor, that understands the principles of his own Religion, give Absolution to such as are involved in that Guilt, without restitution: So that it is a vain thing to talk of securing Men in the possession of those Lands, if Popery should ever prevail: For tho the Court of Rome would, to facilitate our Reconciliation, offer some de∣ceitful Confirmation, as was done by Cardinal Pool; yet no Man, after he went over to that Church, could suffer himself to enjoy them: Eve∣ry Fit of Sickness, or cross Accident, would, by the Priests Rhetorick, look like the beginning of the Curse that fell on Ananias and Saphira. The terrible Imprecations that are in the Endowments of Monasteries, would be always tinging in his Ears; and if Absolution were denied, especial∣ly in the hour of Death, what haste would the poor Man make to get rid of that Weight which must sink him into Hell: For as he must not hope for such good Quarters as Purgatory, so if he happened to go thither, he would be so scurvi∣ly used by the poor Souls, which have been kept frying there for want of the Masses which would have been said for them in the Abbey-Church, if

he had not with held the Rents, that he would find so little difference between that and Hell, that even there he might be tempted to turn Pro∣testant again, and believe that Purgatory was no better than Hell. If any will object, that at least Cardinal Pool's. Settlement secures them till it is annulled at Rome: To this, as these Papers will offer an Answer, since his Settlement was to have no force, till it was confirmed by the Apostolick See, which was never yet done: So if our En∣glish Papists go into the Opinion that is now gene∣rally received and asserted in France, That the Pope's power is limited by the Canons, and subject to the Church; then the Confirmation given by Cardinal Pool, is null of it self, tho it had been granted exactly according to the Letter of his In∣structions: Since there has been in several Ages of the Church, so vast a number of Canons, made against the Alienations of Church-Lands, that if they were all laid together, they would make a big Book: For in the Ages of Superstition, as the Church-men were mightily set on enriching the Church; so they made sure Work, and took spe∣cial care that nothing should be torn from it, that was once consecrated.

But I return from this Digression, to give you some account of the other Letters that are in my

Register. There is a Letter of Cardinal Morone's to Pool, of the 13th of July, sent also by Ormanet in which he tells him, That tho the Emperor had writ very extravagantly of him to the Pope,* 1.2 yet the Pope said, he was sure there was no just occa∣sion given for it: And whereas the Emperor prest that Pool might be recalled, the Pope continued firm in his resolution, not to consent to so disho∣nourable a thing.* 1.3 He adds, That the Pope was not yet determined in the Business of the Church-lands, but had spoken very often very variously concerning that mat∣ter. After this there follows another Breve of the 10th of July, by which the Pope, upon the consideration of the Prince of Spain's being mar∣ried to the Queen of England, enlarges Pool's Pow∣ers, and authorizes him, as his Legate, to treat with him: but this is meerly a point of Form.

Pool sent Ormanet, with an account of this Dis∣patch that he had received from Rome, to the Bi∣shop of Arras, to be presented by him to the Em∣peror: All the Answer that he could procure, as appears by Ormanet's Letter, was, That the Em∣peror had no News from England since his Son's Marriage: but that he would send an Express thi∣ther, to know the State of Affairs there; which he thought must be done first, before the Legate could go over. And of this the Bishop of Arras

writ to Pool, three days after Ormanet came to him, his Letter bears date from Bouchain, the 3d of August, 1554.

By Ormanet's Letter is appears, that these last Powers gave the Emperor full satisfaction, and were not at all excepted against; only Granvell made some difficulty in one Point,* 1.4 Whether the Settlement of the Church-Lands should be grant∣ed as a Grace of the Pope's, by the Cardinal's hands, immediately to the possessors? or should be granted to Philip and Mary, and by their means to the possessors? For it seems it was thought a surer way to engage the Crown to maintain what was done, if the Pope were engaged for it to the Crown, with which he would not venture so ea∣sily to break, as he might perhaps do with the possessors themselves. But Ormanet gave him full satisfaction in that matter; for the manner of setling it being referred wholly to the Cardinal by his powers, he promised that he would order it in the way that should give the Nation most content.

The Emperor's Delays became very uneasy to Cardinal Pool, upon which he wrote to Soto, that was the Emperor's Confessor, the 12th of August, and desired to speak with him. By the place from whence the Cardinal dates most of these Letters, it appears he was then in a Monastery called Dili∣gam,

near Brussels. I will not determine whether it may not be a Mistake that passes so generally, that no wonder you have gone into it, that he was stopt at Dilling, a Town upon the Danube, by the Emperor's Orders, which might have been foun∣ded on his being lodged in this Monastery; for as he dates some of his Letters from Diligam, and others from Brussels, so he dates one from Diligam-Abbey, near Brussels: but this is not of any great importance.

After some Letters of no great consequence, there comes a long one writ by Pool to the Pope, bearing date from Brussels, Octob. 13. 1554. which I send you. In it Pool gives him an account of the first Conference that he had with the Emperor on this Subject. He told the Emperor, That tho as to Matters of Faith the Pope could slacken no∣thing, nor shew any manner of Indulgence; yet in the Matter of the Church-Lands, in which the Pope was more at liberty, he was resolved to be gentle and indulgent: And as to all the Pains and Censures that the possessors had incurred, and the Rents that they enjoyed, which were points of great importance, he was resolved to use all sort of Indulgence towards them, and to forgive all: Nor had he any design of applying any part of these Goods, either to himself, or to the Aposto∣lick

See, of which some were afraid; tho he might pretend good reason for it, considering the Losses that that See had sustained by reason of the Schism; but he would give up all that to the Service of God, and the Good of the Kingdom. And such regard had the Pope to the King and Queen of England, that he was resolved to grant upon their Intercession, whatsoever should be thought con∣venient, to such Persons as they should think worth gratifying, or were capable to assist in the Design of Petling the Religion. To all this the Emperor answered with a new delay: He was expecting to hear very suddenly from England; and it was necessary to have that Difficulty con∣cerning the Church-Lands first cleared, which by his own Experience in Germany he concluded to be the chief Obstacle: For as to the Doctrine, he did not believe they stuck at that; and he thought that they believed neither the one nor the other Persuasion, and therefore they would not be much concerned in such points: Yet since these Goods were dedicated to God, it was not fit to grant eve∣ry thing to those that held them; and therefore the Pool had told him how far his Powers extend∣ed, yet it was not fit that it should be generally known. But as the Emperor was putting in new Delays, Pool prest him vehemently, that the Mat∣ter

might at last be brought to a Conclusion. The Emperor told him, that great regard must be had to the ill Dispositions of the Parties concerned, since the Aversion that the English Nation had to the very name of Obedience to the Church, or to a Red Hat, or a Religious Habit, was so universal, that his Son had been advised to make the Friers that came over from Spain with him, change their Habits: but tho he had done it, yet the danger of Tumults deserved to be well considered. Pool replied, That if he must stay till all Impediments were removed, he must never go. Those that were concerned in the Abby-Lands, would still endeavour to obstruct his coming, since by that means, they still continued in Possession of all that they had got. In conclusion, it was resolved that Pool should stay for the return of the Mes∣senger, that the Emperor had sent to England.

Two things appear from this Letter; one is, that Cardinal Pool intended only to grant a gene∣ral Discharge to all the Possessors of the Abby-Lands, for what was past; but resolved to give no Grants of them for the future, except only to such as should merit it, and for whom the Queen should intercede, and whose Zeal in the matter of Religion might deserve such a Favour; and it seems that even the Emperor intended no more

and that he thought that this should be kept a great Secret. The other is, that the Aversion of the Nation to Popery was at that time very high, so that Tumults were much apprehended: yet the whole Work was brought to a final Conclusion within two Months, without any Opposition, or the least Tumult: so inconsiderable are popu∣lar Discontents, in Opposition to a Government well established, and supported by strong Alli∣ances.

Pool being wearied out with these continued Delays, of which he saw no end, writ a long and high-flown, or according to the stile of this Age, a canting Letter to Philip, then King of England: I send it likewise to you, because you may perhaps desire to see every thing of Pool's writing, for whose Memory you have expressed a very particular esteem: he tells the King that he had been knocking at the Gates of that Court now a Year, tho he was banished his Country, because he would not consent, that she who now dwelt in it should be shut out of it; but in his Person it was S. Peter's Successor, or rather S. Pe∣ter himself, that knock'd; and so he runs out in a long and laboured Allegory, taken from S. Peter's being delivered out of Prison,* 1.5 in the Herodian Per∣secution; and coming to Mary's Gate, where

after his Voice was known, yet he was held long knocking; tho Mary was not sure that it was he himself, &c. Upon all which he runs division, like a Man that had practised Eloquence long, and had allowed himself to fly high with forced Rhe∣torick. And to say the truth, this way of en∣larging upon an Allegory from some part of Scripture-story, had been so long used, and was so early practised, that I do not wonder much to see him dress this out with such pomp, and so many words. I shall be very glad if these Papers give you any considerable light in those matters; in which you have laboured so successfully: I am very sincerely,

Sir,

Your most Humble Servant, W. C.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Caus. 12. q. 2. cap. 20. Non liceat Papae praedi∣um Ecclesiae alienare ali∣quo modo, pro aliqua neces∣sitate, nec in usum fru∣ctum rura dare, nisi tantummodo domus quae in quibuslibet urbibus, non modica impensa sustentantur: qua lege omnes custodes astringuntur, ut donatur, aecensator, venditor, honorem perdat; & qui subscripserit anathema sit, cum eo qui dedit, vel recepit, nisi restituatur. Liceat etiam quibuslibet ecclesiasticis personis contradicere, & cum fructibus alienata re∣poscere, quod non modo in Apostolica servandum est Ecclesia, verum etiam universis Ecclesis per provincias quidem dicitur convenire.
• * 1.2

  Termini cofi estravagan∣ti,
• * 1.3

  Com▪ auco non si resol∣veva nella materia, delli beni ecclesi∣astici supra laqual sua santita ha parlate molte volte varia∣mente.
• * 1.4

  Esso gindi cava necessa∣rio, che si fosse venuto piu all parti∣colare, circa due cose: la forma delle faculta di intorno questi beni: che gran differen∣za sarebbe se fosse stata commessa la cosa all Sig. Cardinale, o alli serenissi∣mi Princip.
• * 1.5

  Acts 12.