The contemplations upon the history of the New Testament. The second tome now complete : together with divers treatises reduced to the greater volume / by Jos. Exon.

TO [ A] POPE URBAN THE EIGHTH, JOSEPH Bishop of EXCESTER wisheth Right Wits and Charity.

WHY may not the meanest Bishop be bold to expostulate with a Pope? I crave no leave, neither need I; I take our antient [ B] liberty. I wis, there was no such distance of old betwixt Rome and Eugubium, or between my Ex and the chanell of Tiber. Hear now therefore (Pope Urbane) that which ere long thou shalt hear with horror and confusion of face before that dreadfull Tribunall of Christ. These bloody blots of thine little beseem the Shepherd of a Christian Flock. What, is it for thee like a grim Herald to give the Summons to War? Is it for thee to excite Christian Princes (already too much gorged with blood) to the pro∣fligation and fearfull slaughter of their own Subjects? Were the Keyes for this cause committed to thy charge, that thou shouldest open the Iron gates of War, and the Pale gates of Death? Tell me, thou shadow of S.Peter, didst [ C] thou take these French Protestants for Malchus, whose ears while thou wouldst have cut off, thy sword by a light mistake glanc'd upon their throats? Or was it lately voiced to thee from heaven concerning these wretched Animals sta∣bling in France, Arise, Pope Urbane, Kill and eate? Art thou the Pilot of the Churches peace, and talkest of nothing but glittering helmets, swords and spears, instruments of war & bloodshed? What noise could the howling of the She-Wolf of thy Romulus have made, if this direfull note of thine become the Bell-weather of S.Peter's fold? Well, since thou wilt bespaul, bedribble the ashes of unhappy Rochel, and scatter with thy disdainfull breath the despised dust of that forlorn City; yet withall call to minde a little, how not many Ages are [ D] past since the time was, that the hereditary Sceptre of this thy now Lewis broke open the gates of Rome, demolished the walls, dispersed and slew the inhabi∣tants, and shut up thy great Predecessour laden with bitter scoffes and execra∣tions in his blinde dungeon. Neither shall many years run on again, (unlesse my presaging thoughts too much deceive me,) before the Angel shall shout forth, and the amazed world shall congratulate the fall of thy Babylon. Rochel's case shall ere long be thine own, (O thou most accursed City.) Blessed shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast rewarded us; yea happy he that shall take thy little ones, and dash out their brains against the stones. In the mean time, sport thy self at our miseries, laugh at our tears, make merry at our sighs, sing at our groans, [ E] and applaud our torments: But know for all this, there is a just avenger that looks down from his Heaven upon us, whose rod we at once kisse, and exspect his vengeance. Plead thou our cause (O God) yea thine own, only thine: why should not our confident Innocence appeal to thy Judgment? If there be any thing in the whole composure of our most Sacred Religion hitherto professed by us that hath issued out of the impure fountain of mans brain, let it even pe∣rish with the authors, yea let it utterly perish (O Lord) and be banished into that Hell whence it came: But if we never dared to obtrude any Doctrine up∣on the Christian world but that alone wherewith thou didst of old inspire thy Prophets and Apostles, and by those thine infallible pen-men didst faithfully [ F] deliver over to thine own people; surely then, either it must be our happiness to erre with thee (the God of Truth) or thou dost and wilt still ever maintain with us this thine only True and Evangelicall Religion.

But alas, poor souls! we are mistaken all this while: it is nothing else but pure Piety (forsooth) which we ignorantly condemn for Cruelty; 'tis the zeal

[ A] of Gods house wherewith (Good Prelate) thou art so inflamed, that thou hast hereupon both wished and importuned the utter extirpation of all those Here∣ticks stabling in the French Territories. O forehead! O bowels! For us, we call God, Angels, Saints to witness of this foul calumniation. I wis, those whom thou falsly brandest for Hereticks, thou shalt one day hear when the Church shall imbrace them for her children, Christ for the spiritual Members of his mystical body. For what (I beseech you) do we hold which the Scri∣ptures, Councils, Fathers, Churches and Christian Professors have not in all Ages taught and published? To say the truth, All that which we professe, your own most approved Authors have still maintained: whence then is this [ B] quarrell? Shall I tell you? There are indeed certain new Patches of Opinion which you would needs adde to the ancient Faith: these we most justly reject, and do still constantly refuse. They are humane, they are your own; briefly, they are either doubtfull, or impious. And must we now be cast out of the bo∣some of the Church, and be presently delivered up to fire and sword? Must we for this be thunder-strucken to Hell by your Anathemas, there to frie in perpe∣tuall Torments? Is it for this, that a stall and shambles are thought good enough for such brutish animals? Good God! See the justice and charity of these Popelings! This is nothing but a mere injury of the Times; it was not wont to be Heresie heretofore that is so now-a-daies. If it had been our Happi∣nesse [ C] to have lived in the Primitive times of the Churches Simplicity, before ever that Romish Transcendency, Image-worship, Transubstantiation, Sacrifice of the Masse, Purgatory, single or half-Communion, Nundination of Pardons, and the rest of this rabble were known to the Christian world; surely, Heaven had been as open to us as to other Devout Souls of that purer Age, that took their happy flight from hence in the Orthodox Faith of Christ Jesus. But now that we are reserved to that dotage of the world, wherein a certain new brood of Articles are sprung up, it is death to us (forsooth) and to be expiated by no lesse punishment then the perpetuall torments of Hell-fire. Consider this, O ye Christians wheresoever dispersed upon the face of the whole earth; consi∣der, [ D] I say, how far it is from all Justice and Charity, that a new Faith should come dropping forth at mens pleasure, which must adjudge Posterity to eternal death for Mis-believers, whom the ancient Truth had willingly admitted into Heaven. These new Points of a politick Religion are they indeed that have so much disturbed the peace of Christendome; these are they that set at va∣riance the mighty Potentates of the earth, who otherwise perhaps would sit down in an happy Peace; these are they that rend whole Kingdomes, distract people, dissolve Societies, nourish Faction and Sedition, lay wast the most flourishing Kingdomes, and turn the richest Cities to dust and rubbish. But should these things be so? Do we think this will one day be allowed for a just [ E] warrant of so much war and bloodshed, before the Tribunall of that supreme Judge of Heaven and earth?

Awake therefore now, O ye Christian Princes, and You especially (King Lewis) in whose eares these wicked counsels are so spightfully and bloodily whispered; rouse up your self and see how cruell Tyranny seeks to impose upon your Majesty in a most mischievous manner, under a fair pretence of Piety and Devotion. They are your own native Subjects whom these malicious foreigners require to the slaughter; yea they are Christs: and will you imbrue your hand and sword in the blood of those for whom Christ hath shed his; yea who have willingly lavished their own in the behalf of You and your great Father? [ F] Hear I beseech thee, (O King) who art wont (amongst thine own) to be insti∣led Lewis the Just; If we did adore any other God, any other Christ but thine, if we aspired to any other Heaven, embraced any other Creed, any other Bap∣tisme, lastly, if we made profession of a new Church built upon other founda∣tions, there were some cause indeed why thou shouldest condemn such Here∣ticks stabling in France to the revenging sury of thy flames. If this thy people

have wilfully violated any thing established by our common God, or lawfully [ A] commanded by thee, we crave no pardon for them, let them smart that have deserved; it is but just they should. But do not in the mean time fall fiercely upon the fellow-servants of thy God, upon thine own best Subjects, whose very Religion must make them loyall; suffer not those poor wretches to perish for some late upstart superfluous additions of humane invention, and mere will-worship, who were alwaies most forward to redeem Thine & thy Great Fathers Safety and Honour, with the continuall hazzard of their owne most precious lives. Let them but live then by thy gracious sufferance, by whose Valour and Fidelity thou now reignest. But suppose they were not yours, yet remember that they are Christians (a title wherewith your style is wont most to be hono∣red) [ B] washed in the same Laver of Baptisme, bought with the same price, re∣newed by the same Spirit, and (whatsoever impotent malice bawle to the con∣trary) the beloved Sons of the Celestiall Spouse, yea the Brethren of that Spi∣rituall Bride-groom Christ Jesus. But they erre (you will say) from the Faith. From what faith? (I beseech you.) Not the Christian surely, but the Romish. What a strange thing is this? Christ doth not condemn them, the Pope doth. If that great Chancellour of Paris were now alive, he would freely teach his Sorbon, (as he once did) that it is not in the Popes power (that I may use his owne word) to hereticate any Proposition. Yea, but an Oecumenicall Council besides hath done it. What Council? That of Trent. I am deceived [ C] if that were hitherto received in the Churches of France, or deserved to be so hereafter. Consult with your own late Authors of most undoubted credit; they will tell you plainly how unjust that Council was, yea how no Council at all: It was only the Popes act, whatsoever was decreed or established by that pack'd Conclave, envassalled to the Seven hills. Consider lastly, (I beseech you) how the Reformed Christians stand in no other terms to the Papists, then the Papists do to the Reformed; Heresie is with equall vehemency up∣braided on both sides. But do we deale thus roughly with the followers of the Roman Religion? Did we ever rage against the Popish Faith with fire and sword? Was ever the crime of a poor misled conscience capitall to any soul? [ D] You may finde perhaps (but very seldome) some audacious Masse-priest, some firebrand of Sedition and contemner of our publick Laws to have suffered con∣dign punishment: But no Papist (I dare boldly say) ever suffered losse either of life or lim merely for his Religion. Why dost not thou then (the Son of that gracious and mercifull Henry) carry thy self alike toward thy faithfull Sub∣jects, who most innocently professe the Reformed Religion? Why should it prejudice any of them with thee to have served their God according to the holy Scriptures, and the practice of the Ancient Church? To conclude then, Let it be but lawfull for thy people to be truly Religious. And thou, Pope Urban, return at last to thy self, and consider how well this bloody advice of thine sutes [ E] with those thy Purple robes. A Sword rather then a Sheep-hook would be∣come that hand that should write thus. Neither is this a Net for the holy Fisher-man of Rome, but rather for the bloody prizes of the Theatre. Beautiful are the feet of them that preach peace, (saith the Prophet:) But we may say far otherwise of thee, Cursed are the hands of them that denounce war. The least noise of an hammer must not be heard in Gods Temple: But you (Good man) would fill the holy Church of God with loud alarms, clashing of bloody wea∣pons and fearfull groans of dying men. Give eare therefore now at last, thou who proudly scornest the sentence of any mortall Judge. That which once our famous Robert, the holy and learned Bishop of Lincoln, is said to have done to [ F] thy Predecessour, the same doe I now unto thee. Let me summon thee to that dreadfull Tribunall of Almighty God, before which thy wretched Soul shall one day appear, to give an account of this thy bloody advice. In the mean time, if thou hadst rather to flee from the Wrath to come, and to fare well hereafter, Repent.