The Iesuit, and the monk: or, The serpent, and the dragon: or, Profession, and practice. Being a sermon preached on the fifth of November, 1656. / By Richard Carpenter.

About this Item

Title
The Iesuit, and the monk: or, The serpent, and the dragon: or, Profession, and practice. Being a sermon preached on the fifth of November, 1656. / By Richard Carpenter.
Author
Carpenter, Richard, d. 1670?
Publication
London, :: Printed by Francis Leach,
1656.
Rights/Permissions

To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.

Subject terms
Jesuits -- Early works to 1800.
Bible. -- O.T. -- Proverbs IV, 14 -- Sermons.
Sermons, English -- 17th century.
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A80534.0001.001
Cite this Item
"The Iesuit, and the monk: or, The serpent, and the dragon: or, Profession, and practice. Being a sermon preached on the fifth of November, 1656. / By Richard Carpenter." In the digital collection Early English Books Online 2. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A80534.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 16, 2024.

Pages

Page 2

My Text greets you▪

Prov. 4. 14. in the end.

Goe not in the way of Evil Men.

THe Vulgar Edition delivers it, * 1.1 Nec tibi placeat malorum Via: Neither let the way of evil men please thee.

This Reading is more restrictive; and indeed narrows the sense, and binds it even to the denial of all delight, pleasure, or complacence in the ways of evil men.

The Context in the Latine Bible, especially touched with the Original, gives us to know what manner of Evil men these are, and that they have sulphureous hearts, and that their holy work is to supplant and destroy Princes.

The Text is a negative Exhortation, moving us to decline the crooked way and evil example of such profane men as are Sup∣planters of their Brethren.

We must not goe in this way, because it is the way of evil men: that is to say, it is not the way of the Saints and Servants of God, to which we are called.

Assuredly Jacob was a Saint of God, and the same, a Sup∣planter of his Brother: But he supplanted him irrationally, that is, when he had not as yet the use and exercise of Reason; and he pre-occupied his Brothers Blessing, instructed by his Mo∣ther, who now acted according to the Regulation of a super∣natural Principle: and all this was mysterious, and designed for the signification of Things afterwards to come, by him who only is able to make Things foresignifie Things.

And the two Brethren now growing to some ripeness of age, are briefly characteriz'd, Gen. 25. 27. And the Boyes grew; and Esau was a cunning Hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in Tents. * 1.2 The Latine sayes, Vir simplex, a simple man. * 1.3 The word in the Hebrew Basis is Tam: * 1.4 which the Septuagint render, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, not feigned, or daubed o∣ver; that is, exempt of guile and fraud. * 1.5 Symmachus reads 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, without fault, or blemish, irreprehensible. * 1.6 Aquila gives 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a plain man, that had nothing of duplicity in him. Where Simplici∣ty it not opposed to Prudence, but to Craft and Falsehood.

Page 3

The bottom-Truth is: The Hebrew Tam arises from the Root Tamam, which signifies to perfect or consummate; and therefore speaks Jacob to have been a man of a right and good way, of an innocent work, and of a perfect life, yea, a plain man, dwelling in Tents; that is, continually meditating upon the brevity and vanity of this life, according to which inter∣pretation it is written of our Saviour Christ, Jo. 1. 14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. * 1.7 Where the Greek affixeth; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, And the Word was made flesh, and pitched his Tent or Tabernacle among us.

Beloved, ye have seen holy Jacob; and ye have seen him differenced from his Brother Esau. I have seen much of Esau, and somewhat of Jacob in the world. In all the gleanings of my Experience gathered from the Church of Rome, I cannot find with a Candle (I had almost said) one Priest (with whom I have mingled near acquaintance, commerce and conversation) that hath not (give me leave to speak at large; for the Things are beyond ordinary limit and compass) a thousand Esaus in him, and more than a million of our common and quotidian Mountebanks and Jugglars. (They are Cunning Hunters after Money, Books, Apparel, Goods, Provi∣sion, and Gifts out of the Country; of all which in their kinds the good Monks have cheated me; having then in a manner, blown me up, though not with Powder. And therefore their continual, and most ready Profession is, that they are poor.) And whither will not the bold and presumptuous attempts of such high-soaring people ascend? This Diabolical Fraud, Falshood, Cunning, is the most unhappy Mother of all damna∣ble mischief.

Now God hath moreover declared, that he converseth chiefly, that is, intimately, and familiarly, with simple Hearts. As Prov. 3. 32. For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his Secret is with the Righteous. * 1.8 The Vulgar Latine speaks it more plainly: Quia abominatio Domini est omnis illusor, & cum simplicibus Sermocinatio ejus. For God abominates every Mocker and Deceiver, and his Communication is with the simple. * 1.9 It lies couch'd in the Hebrew, His Secret is with the right. * 1.10 To the which Aben Ezra contributes his reason. Because God communicates his Counsels and Secrets unto those who are right of Heart. * 1.11 And therefore the Chaldee diggs it up: Cum rectis

Page 4

Colloquium ejus, He talks privately, and entertains the sweet Colloquies of Love, with such as are simple, right and candid, not with such, who, gestant sub pectore Vulpem, who carry a whole kennel of Foxes, or a Fox in their Brest.

And the Reason, why God admits not of any friendly and familiar Conversation with Deceivers, Destroyers, and such as have a Powder-mill in their brains, is, because all such are extracted from the seed of the old Serpent, and are the Children of Cain.

As soon as we hear of the Serpent in holy Scripture, we hear likewise of his Subtilty, and that he is pragmatical, busie, yea full of violent action and mischief. Gen. 3. 1. Now the Serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field. He was, Doctor Sub∣tilis, a Subtle Doctor. * 1.12 The Latine unsheaths it: Sed & Ser∣pens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae, more crafty, that is (say some, not I) more Jesuitical, more Monkish. * 1.13 Aquila goes to the root, and affords 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, more pragmatical, more acting, moving, restlesse, and more fire-like; more ready for every work and shape, whereby he may deceive; yea, ready to perform, if it were possible, all works at once, that he might delude all mankind in one manifold performance.

The holy Apostle imitates Aquila, and sanctifies his Transla∣tion in this parricular, 2 Cor. 11. 3. But I fear, lest by any means, as the Serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For, through his subtilty, the Greek assumes 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in his craft, when he takes all shapes, and works all things to comply with his detestable and horrible Ends.

Gather your thoughts together now, and, I pray, note with me; that here in the beginning of Genesis, the first Book of Holy Scripture, the beast into which the Devil entred, hath his Name, à Serpendo, from creeping. He was but a creep∣ing beast when he first began to plot against us. I utter the words of my Soul, Heart, and Spirit: The Jesuites and Monks, (if I may religiously say so) have egregiously out-done him, and gone excessively beyond all that he did or could have done when he was a Creeper. Now it is plain, that the Serpent, the Creeper, is in length of time grown into a Dragon; such we find him in the last Book of Scripture the Revelation, Chap. 7. 12. And there was War in Heaven, Michael and his Angels fought

Page 5

against the Dragon, and the Dragon fought, and his Angels. Had not the Dragon been a Spirit, and his Enemy Michael, a Spirit, ye had heard here perhaps, in the introit of the last Times, of the first Powder-Plot. But, however the Devil is grown from a Creeping Serpent to a Flying Dragon, think not, I beseech you (I am heartily sorry that I have cause to say it) that the Jesuit and the Monk fly far behind him.

Indeed, and in truth, A Man skill'd in the Motions, Promo∣tions, Actions, Transactions, and Overtures of Rome, would have reasonably thought, that, if there were any pure and silken threads of true Christian sincerity & simplicity interweav'd into the Practice of the Church, they would have been found amongst the Benedictine Monks; these having been the most antient order, and the most Sun-beam'd from Christ, as the most near to him. And I grant there are apparently such amongst the Religious of other Nations.

But casting aside all the vain Follies and Falshoods of Love, with which, I humbly confess I have been captivated and en∣chained; (for, extravagant Love, and Hatred, are alwayes er∣roneous, and never sound and piercing in their judgements) I declare upon my Christian Word, our English Monks, who in the flourishing days of an old Monk, the Behemoth of humane Po∣licy (for whose Ashes I have yet so much Reverence, as to conceal his name, though, I beleeve, the Chronicling of his notable Actions would yeeld a great access to the knowledge of Despotical Dominion) expended no time upon me, to pe∣nance and prepare me for Profession, but much to perswade me, that the Jesuites are the grand Abusers of Mankind, and the mighty Plot-Masters of the world; are now themselves, in re∣gard that the Devil is grown from a Serpent to a Dragon, be∣come, (I will hold my Peace, but I was in the way to say) De∣ceivers and Impostors beyond a Parallel, and beyond a Rival. (And to adde) never any Dancer on the Ropes, educated his tumbling Boy; never any vile man tutor'd his Ape, to so ma∣ny strange tricks, and wondrous Faces, as these tumbling and Apish Monks are apted to, and exactly taught, when they are furnish'd out, and manumised into this Nation from their Monasteries. But not a word of this.

Many put it upon the question, What kind of Serpent it was, into which the Devil entred. * 1.14 Eugubinus thinks it to have been

Page 6

a Basilisk; because he is the King of Serpents. * 1.15 Pererius, that it was a Serpent called Scytales; because the back thereof is vari∣ously coloured. * 1.16 Martinus del Rio, a Viper. Camara, a common Snake. Others think otherwise: and when we have all thought, we have but thought, and can but think.

I would verily believe, if I durst, that it was a Serpent most fitly chosen, as having certain subtil postures, motions, and tumblings, that our young Monks and Jesuits now use. My Reason is, The Devil had it in his commnds from God, that he should not assume a shape, but one most shewing his nature; to the end, Eve might thereby be advertised. * 1.17 For as St. Au∣stin divinely admonishes, Had the Work been referred to the arbitriment of the Devil, he would have rather covered his treachery (let me not say) his Jesuitism, his Monkishness, under the sweet shape of a Lamb or Pigeon, as often times the old Monks and Jesuits do. Questionless, It was a Serpent that could move, turn, wind all manner of ways; and had (Men say so, but they speak as they please) part of the motions, windings, turnings, returnings, and overturnings of blessed Father Garnet, when he was religiously instructing his godly Ghostly Chil∣dren in Confession, and sub sacro Sigillo, under the sacred Seal, to blow up the Parliament House: and moreover, had (it is not I that say it, but another out of the clouds) part of the mo∣tions and mutations of our old Monk and Behemoth, when he was instilling, in his close and private Chamber, his black Art of Po∣licy into his Novices. But the Dragon was the compleat and master-Workman▪ & he that polished their high Performances.

And that these are the children of Cain, all the children of Abel easily believe, Gen. 4. 8. Cain rose up against Abel his bro∣ther, and slew him. These rose up against many thousand Fathers and Brethren, and would have slain them, and given them over to a most horrible Death. They had a most pregnant and effica∣cious Will to it, and the Effect was not wanting on their part. They did not impede it, but concurred to the production of it, with the last dram of their Power. Cain was in the Cause, that his Brother Abel became Hebel, Vanity; and they would have turned all these their Fathers (the Fathers of their Country) and Brethren, into Vain smoke.

A man is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a little House. Wherefore the Hebrews call a Son Ben, quasi Domum, as it were a House, quam bana

Page 7

that is, which the Father hath built. How many fair Houses of Flesh, had the Fathers of the Persons then designed for de∣struction, richly built and educated, which our base Children of the Serpent and of Cain, would have most suddenly and most cru∣elly destroyed? King, Prince, Bishops, Nobility, Gentry, and thou∣sands of innocent and ignorant people near to the Place, in the heat of their other Thoughts, should have been fir'd and torn without a grain of Mercy.

Let me tell thee, O thou Jesuit, or, O thou Monk, (some o∣ther Power offended at thee, speaks this by me) that now out∣actest the Jesuit in all the high and airie motions of transcen∣dent Villany: the Devil could not have raised the dust of his Body to this Plot, had he stood a Serpent; he could not, until he came, through all the Degrees and Ascents of his Experi∣ence, to swell into a Dragon; and until the worst of times offe∣red you for his Instruments.

Some curiously enquire, especially of the Jewish Rabbins; what Sign it was which God set upon Cain, answerably to Scripture, Gen. 14. 15. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. * 1.18 Some fancied this Mark or Sign to have been a most horrid yelling and crying; Some, a gastly Countenance, accompanied with fury; Some, a Wandriug flight; Others, a continual trembling of his Bodie; Others, a Mark impressed on his forehead, as with a hot iron: and thus on.

The Cain's Mark of a Jesuit or Monk, (when I speak thus of the last of these, I speak unwillingly) is a Face figuring it self into all the Shapes of a nimble Fancy, and a Body that crout∣ches, cringes, and winds any way, every way, all waies, espe∣cially, when a Plot's upon the anvile, or, when there is Odor lucri, any sent of gain; or, of a good Dinner.

This Way, as it was not the Way of the Saints of God, but of the Serpent, and of Cain: so was it not the Way of the Prince of Saints, Christ Jesus. And first, because when he came into the World, as delegated by his Father to direct the World in∣to the good Way, his Forerunner cried out, John 3. 3. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths streight. * 1.19 The Latin inserts, Rectas facite semitas ejus: make his paths right. * 1.20 The Greek word is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, right or plain. Secondly, Christ made his Con∣quest of the World, by a small and simple Herd of poor and plain Disciples. Thirdly, His Conquest was not effected by the

Page 8

shedding of other mens Bloud, but by the patient suffering of his own to be shed.

In the four Evangelists, (joyn to them the Acts of the Apo∣stles,) where have ye the least apparition, glimpse, or shadow of a Powder-plot?

It is chronicled of Christ, Philip. 2. 8. He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. And to this he composes and conforms his Disciples, Lu. 9. 23. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny him∣self, and take up his Cross daily, and follow me. And if ye will search into his very bowels, come to the 15 Chap. of St. Matth. v. 32. Then Jesus called his Disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude. He had compassion on the People, being hungry both in Body and Spirit: and these our Commis∣sioners from Hell, would, that the People should never have eat more, nor have ever thriv'd more in Spirit or Body. * 1.21 The Greek proposes it, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is, I am mov'd with a great motion of affection and bowels towards the People. * 1.22 There∣fore Vatablus offers, Intimè miseret me turbae, I have inward∣ly, and in my very bowels, compassion towards the People. And hither steers the Exhortation of the Apostle, Coloss. 3: 12. Put on therefore (as the elect of God, holy and beloved) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, bowels of mercies.

Here, Beloved, I am in the way to set before you, that this Way is no way answerable to their own Profession.

There is a Book newly published, and lately written by a Priest, (I could name him to you, but I am not yet come so far as to name Persons,) wherein he divides the Doctrine of the Church of Rome, which is of Faith and fundamental, from the Opinions and various Out-walkings of the Schools. He had rendred himself more ingenuous, had he divided with an even hand betwixt the Doctrine of the Church of Rome, and the pra∣ctice of the same Church. But it is probable, that Blessed Op∣portunity will devolve this Work upon me, and I shall dispatch it with as much haste and fidelitie as I can.

As for the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the present time, it shall be sufficient to shew, that this abominable way is much out of the way of their own hypocritical Profession.

The Jesuit and the Monk, are the Persons I arraign: the Je∣suit, as the most malicious Author and Plotter of the Gunpow∣der-Treason;

Page 9

and the Monk, (when I think of the Primitive Saints abstracted from the world, I sigh, and am loth to speak; but we are now in a lower Orb;) as one that hath of late years, put off all honesty as a Garment, and come up to all the nimble motions of the Jesuit in Falshood and Perfidiousness; yea gone before him, left him behind, and lost him.

Ye two, Jesuit and Monk, (did ye not hear me sigh?) can not be ignorant, but that I abundantly know you. And your own hearts, know with me, that neither the Indies, nor the Do∣minions of the Great Turk, nor the rugged and ragged skirts of the Arabian Deserts, nor any other wild place of the World, where God is not known, can produce two such high-flown and sublimated Men-Dragons as your selves: and I shall prove it by your professing as Men, and your performing as Dra∣gons.

First, ye profess as soon as ever ye are born into the World, that your Conversation shall be white, direct, simple, and inno∣cent. For this very purpose, ye have put upon you in your Baptism, a little white linnen garment; in the which your Sus∣ceptores implicitly promise for you, a plain, just, and innocent Life. * 1.23 Ye call St. Austin to witnes in this Matter, preaching on the Octave of the Pasch, which is, with you, Dominica in Albis, the Sunday wherein all newly baptized did appear in their white, that they might appear outwardly no more in it. Hodiè Neophytorum habitus commutatur, ita tamen, ut Candor qui de habitu deponitur, sempèr in Corde teneatur; This day the Habit of the Neophyts, (that is, of the new plants lately bapti∣zed,) is changed; yet so, that the whiteness of the Garment is tetai∣ned in the mind or heart; which is afterwards to be manifested in their practice. * 1.24 Jobius in Photius, discovers the manner of it; Can∣didum amiculum gerebatur septem dies à baptizato, The white garment was worn seven daies of him that was baptized, that is, from Easter-day, to Dominica in Albis, being the Sunday that next follows and waits upon Easter-Sunday. * 1.25 To make this strong, ye go back as far as Dionysius Areopagita, the learned Disciple of St. Paul. Ye contend, that the white garment, not only signifies your whiteness of Soul after Baptism, but also re∣lates to your future whiteness of manners; and moreover, that your whiteness of manners hath anagogical reference to the white∣ness of the robes worn in Glory: according to St. John in the

Page 10

Revel. 3. 4. They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy; and v. 5. He that overcometh; the same shall be lothed in white rai∣ment.

I pray now, How doth your white Garment in Baptism, a∣gree with the most Palpable darkness and hideous blackness of the Powder-plot, and with all your other execrable Actions, Jugglings, Conveyances? And, Are ye of those that shall wear white raiment in Heaven? Had a man been indued with the Spirit of Prophecie, respectively unto the futurition of your Actions, and had likewise been present at your wearing of the white Dress in Baptism, he might have happily declar'd a∣gainst the Lye in white, or the lye of the white Garment, and have said, These little white ones will deny their white in their black lives, and attempt to destroy the top and flower of their own Country with a cursed Powder-plot. O most Hypocritical Pro∣fession! O most Diabolical Practice!

Secondly ye profess, that as ye ascend in years, ye ascend in Vertue. Then presently we hear of the fifteen Gradual Psalms, and of the Priests ascending the fifteen stairs of the Court, when they sang them lowder and lowder, as the Lark: * 1.26 and R. David Chimchi is brought forth with his Records. Ye make Scripture yours in this affair, Psal. 84. 5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee: in whose heart are the ways of them. The Latine is more open: Beatus vir, cujus est auxilium abs te: ascensiones in corde suo disposuit. Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: he hath disposed ascensions in his heart. It falls in opportunely, v. 7. They go from strength to strength. * 1.27 In the Latin, Ibunt de virtute in virtutem, They shall goe from vertue to vertue. The Hebrew hath under ground, from Army to Army. The Targ. admitteth, from one School to another. Dionysius is called to the vogue, who requires in the Perfect way of Christian Piety, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, sacred Ascensions.

Tell me, I humbly pray, Have ye ascended by these holy As∣censions, (by the thirty Degrees of Joannes Climmacus) to this horrible Cliff so near a Precipice, to this Master-peece of ex∣treme Villany? When we go from vertue to vertue, we are brought at last to a sublime performance of heroical and eminent vertue. No man cometh by sacred Ascensions, to the Crest or Spire of unheard of, and almost unconceivable villanies. Go ye dirty Hypocrites, ye ascend in Virtue, according to Pro∣fession;

Page 11

according to Practice, ye wrap and ingulph your selves into bottomless mischief.

Thirdly, ye profess your selves to be men of most unblamea∣ble lives; and that as ye are called religious men, so your Pra∣ctice is most refined, Regular, and religious, your lives are a continual Presentation to God of the Sacrifice of Abram, as a Sign that ye shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven; as his Sa∣crifice was to him a Sign, that he should inherit the Land of Ca∣naan, Gen. 15. 8. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? v. 9. And he said unto him, Take me an Heifer of three years old, and a She-Goat of three years old, and a Ram of three years old, and a Turtle-Dove, and a young Pigeon. The Goers on the Ground, being in their full strength, shadow forth your strong Action, and most ahle Performance of the Practical Part: the Turtle Dove, that your whole life is a mourn∣full Penance, and continual Martyrdom: and the young Pigeon, the sweetness of your Innocency and harmlesness. It is not far off, to wit, v. 11. And when the Fowls came down upon the Car∣cases, Abram drove them away. It is visible, ye are men con∣sisting of flesh and blood, and the Devil's Temptations come down upon your Sacrifice, but they carry not a bill-full away. The Birds fly over your heads, but they do not lodge in your Hair. The Powers and Faculties that are not in your power, powerfully present idle motions, but they move you not. Ye wait for another world, and the Apostle's 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ear∣nest expectation of the Creature, Rom. 8. 19. is in you especially, as the holiest of earthly Creatures. Ye hold up your heads, and are stretch'd out in most earnest expectation, towards the com∣ing of Christ in the East. But doe ye hear me, is it clear as Chrystal, that your Practical Part is firm and sincere?

By the way as we go. In some of your Religious men, Lucifer himself is predominant. We hear continually and vexati∣ously, from their own humble Mouths, that they forsooth are of noble birth, that their breeding and Education was noble and dainty, and that now their Mortification is the greater. In o∣thers Asmodeus reigns. I could furnish you with apposite ex∣amples. And of our Powder-Traitors 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 had full and plenary possession.

In Christian earnest, Men whose intentions are touch'd with the true loadstone of Grace, and who purely and piously

Page 12

seek solid and Primitive Perfection, are not fit Spectators of your Dirtinesse; your filthinesse will not endure their Eyes.

And now, answer me sincerely, Where is the Turtle Dove in your Lifes? Ye look soberly and whiningly sometimes, yea gravely in your Houses, (and ye are most stately, and require more Courtship than the great Turk, or grand Mogul.) But when ye come into England, ye are the merriest Men in the Nation, and of all others, most given away to Idleness, Plea∣sure, and the Follie of the Tavern. And there was, I am cer∣tain, no news of the little Pigeon in the Powder-plot, the great Powder-plot. O peerless Hypocrites, ye are indeed, after a sort, as the Beasts going on the Ground: but the quintessential part of the Practical part, and the Turtle Dove, and the young Pigeon are quite flown away from you. And why did ye not drive away the foul Temptation of the Powder-plot, but enter∣tained it, together with the Foul-one himself, in your Hearts? And your true and Christian expectation of our Lords coming, is yet expected. They are your Lives, which torture me. * 1.28 Here is Sedes prima, & vita ima, as S. Bernard to Eugenius; a high place for Meditation, and a base low Life, as low as Hell.

Fourthly, ye profess, that ye are men of soluble and melting Hearts; and that Donum Lacrymarum, the Gift of Tears, is part of your proper Dowry; and that ye weep continually for your own Sins, and for the sins of the World. Ye avouch, that Christ calls unto you especially, Cant. 5. 6. Open to me, my Si∣ster, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. * 1.29 Ye do illustrate it out of the Chaldee: Capili capitis mei pleni sunt lacrymis tu∣is, sicut Vir cujus capilli capitis tinguntur de rore caeli: et cin∣cinnus caesariei meae, repletus guttis est oculorum tuorum. The hairs of my head are full of thy tears, as a man whose hair is all bedewed and pearl'd with the dew of heaven; and my locks are filled with the drops of thine eys. And ye give us to learn, that the Priests of old times when they celebrated Masse, were wont to weep whole showrs of tears; and that therefore, they had a Napkin hanging on their left hand: * 1.30 of which Amalarius. * 1.31 Venerable Bede, speaking of the Priestly Vestments, calls it map∣pula, or amapha; and he sayes, that the Priest wore it on his left hand. Whence it is undeniable, that this mappula was

Page 13

in place of the manipulus now worn by the Priest on the left arm▪ for, manipulus, is quasi manus mappula, as the hand-napkin: and the Priest putting on the manipulus, praies, Merear, Domine, portare manipulum fletus & doloris, ut cum exultatione recipi∣am mercedem laboris, Let me, ô Lord, bear the Maniple of Weeping & Grief, that with exultation I may receive the reward of my labor.

A word now, pray: Have ye a fountain of tears in your eyes? or, is the Head of Christ adorned with your tears, as with O∣rient Pearls? Have ye wept your eyes dim in the celebration of the Mysteries? How comes then, this Powder-plot? Is this the proper Effect of your tears, and weeping? Have ye in the cele∣bration of the Holy Mysteries, wept your selves into a Powder-plot? Does your weeping for Sin, produce a sin above all the sinnes that ever were heard of? I warrant, ye had great store of the tears of the Crocodile ready too, to shed over the Parlia∣ment House. Go, go, ye are drie and dull Weepers, ye ne∣ver wept so many tears, as would have quencht this magazin of sulphur and powder, had it broke forth into effect. Hypo∣crites, now ye have a new reason of weeping; weep on, and drown the memory of this most loathed and odious Mischief, if ye are able.

Fifthly, Ye professe, that ye are great Lovers of Princes; and that Princes, ordained by your sacred Rites, are sacred Persons. Indeed, the Princes are they, who chiefly uphold and enrich you. They have multiplied your Religious Houses, and Mo∣nasteries: they have beautified them. Ye know, that the Em∣perors of Constantinople were installed in the pronouncing of these words by the Patriarch, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, be thou holy; * 1.32 who like∣wise, in the very pronunciation, did anoint the head of the Emperour, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the form of a Crosse, with oil; and pre∣sently added, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, be thou worthy; intimating, that no∣thing could make him worthy of an Empire, but Holiness. And ye know that Kings anointed with oil, are thereby rendred ca∣pable of Spiritual Jurisdiction, and of the giving of Benefices, as in whom there is. Jus Patronatus, the Right of Patronage. And ye know again, that Kings are certain foundations of their king∣doms; and that they are called Mich. 6. 2. the strong foundati∣ons of the earth. And therefore, a King is named in the Greek Language, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, quòd sit 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, populi basis; because he is the basis and foundation of the people: And if the foundation

Page 14

be subverted, all is ruinated. And the Hebrew word Adon, from whence comes Adonai, signifying Dominus, Lord, is bor∣rowed from Eden, a basis or foundation.

Me thinks now, that ye having had so many Princes your most royal Benefactours, might have been loyal, and spared your own Prince for their sakes, with whom your oil and Ce∣remonies still remained; which enstated him, even in your judgements, holy and inviolable. And me thinks ye should not have adventured to destroy the foundation of a kingdom; the People, together with the foundation on which they stood, root and branch. I thought, that the hands of the Clergie had been set apart from all bloud; especially, from the bloud of their lawfull Princes. How can the bloudy Hands of a Priest, con∣sort with an unbloudy Sacrifice? Yee are still Hypocrites, and your Profession and Practice are divers in their Generati∣ons.

Sixthly, ye profess, that ye mortifie the lusts of your Bodies; and that ye act over again, everie day, the severe execution of St. Hilarion upon his Bodie: * 1.33 who speaks to his Bodie in St. Hierom, Ego te, Aselle, jam non hordeo, sed paleis alam, ne calcitres, O my Body, my Asse, I will not feed thee now with bar∣ley, but with chaff, lest being high-fed, thou shouldest kick. And the People are diligently taught, that Beasts were not offered unto God under the old Law, until they were dead, and the bloud, which is Passionum vehiculum, the Chariot of the Pas∣sions, was clean run out. Yea, these mortified Men, are as Cloth before the Tailor, readie to be cut into any fashion; or, like a dead Corps on the shoulders of the Bearers, apt to be carried, without the least repugnance, even whither they will carrie it. They would make us believe, that they are ex∣cellently knowing in Custodia Cordis, & Sensuum; in the kee∣ping of the Heart, and of the Senses; and when they are in their Postures, they will not look beyond the length of a Grave. They bring Scripture, by a kinde of material Concurrence, into their pious Juggle, Proverbs 4. 23. Keep thy Heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of life. * 1.34 The Latin holdeth up, Omni custodiâ serva Cor tuum, Keep thy Heart with all guard. * 1.35 In the Greek it runs, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Which word is brought from the Warrs, and signifies the keeping of a place with a militarie Guard. And there were

Page 15

in war, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Guards for the securing of such places both by day and night. Those were by the Ro∣mans, properly called Excubiae, these Vigiliae. Therefore these dead-will'd men stand close to it, That They keep continual Guards over their Hearts and Senses.

But had they kept their Hearts, they had never entred such a damnable Plot into them. Had they kept a guard upon their own senses, and not look'd beyond the length of their own Graves, they had never found the way to the Parliament-House upon such a monstrous and menstruous occasion. O Hypocrites, load not our ears with your Ass-bodies, and your sacrificed Beasts, with your similitudes of the Tailor and his Cloth; and of the Bearers, bearing the dead Body. Trouble us not with your 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Tell not us of God in your Profession, when we see with our eyes, Baalzebub; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the God of corrupting Flies, and with him a whole Legion of Devils in your Practice.

But I must needs parl here a little with our Monk. (And yet, not I, but my Angel) If ye Monks are such rigid Mortifiers of your Hearts and Senses, how comes it to pass that the Popish Alewife yonder, bedaubs a strict-liv'd Man amongst you, whom ye have lately sent to hear the Confessions of the Nuns at Cambray. I confess, Her Tongue is the foulest and filthiest of all that ever I heard word it; but she is of your own Raven∣feather, your practical feather; and we hear not of her satisfa∣ction. Besides, our Hamborough-Merchants report (but I hope they speak it not out of the Tavern) that variety of choice Di∣shes, strong Wines, good Beer, and special Tobacco were the greatest Mortifications they ever saw at the English Monastery in Lambspring; and it is every where known, (some say, I know it not) that the Monks in the English Monasterie at St. Mallows, come ordinarily drunk into the Quire. These are but the fragments or Segments of what I can produce. And all this while your Procurator for Paris lies dormant, but I shall have time to wake him.

Seventhly, ye professe, that ye are always on the wing, always in your high Thoughts and Meditations. The Jesuits will stuff our ears with the crambe of their Spiritual Exercise; and the Monks with their Meditations, according to the Rule of St. Bennet; and those amongst the Bonedictines, are able to entice the Soul out of the Body: Meditations are admirably usefull,

Page 16

and Scripture sets Gods mark upon Meditations, Cant. 6. 5. Thy Hair is as a Flock of Goats. The Hairs of our Head are our Thoughts; and the Goats feed always on high places, as on the tops of Rocks and Mountains. But if your Meditations are high, ought they not likewise to be pure and harmless? The Prophet David exalts his voice, and cries, Psal. 55. 6. O that I had wings like a Dove: for then would I flie away, and be at rest. He wishes not to himself, the feet of a Dove, that he may walk upon Dunghils; or the wings of a Hawk or Eagle, that he might pursue others to destruction; but only the wings of a Dove, a meditating Creature, that he might fly to some hid∣den place of Recollection, and there meditate. A righteous heart walks in her Meditation, super montes aromatum, upon the Mountains of Spices, as it is Cant. 8. 14. where every step is sweet, odoriferous, and harmless; and such a one dies at last like the Phoenix, in the delicious odours of a Christian life.

Now in this pious Meditation, or Spiritual Exercise, which prepared you, in a Dark Chamber, wherein light assisted you no farther, than in the fight of some horrid Picture, before this high attempt of blowing up the Parliament House: Pray, which was your Punctum Primum, first point? Sans doubt, it was that the King and his family must be extirpated. But hear a little, was this the Meditation of the Dove? Or, were ye then footing it upon the Mountains of Spices? O Hypocrites be∣yond all Hypocrites, Strike not our Ears with your Meditati∣ons, whereof the Puuctum ultimum, last point, is Fire, Sword, Blood, Massacre.

Eighthly, Ye professe, That ye sing God's Praises in the holy Quire, day and night. Ye throw abroad, that in this regard, ye are stated in the highest Degree of Perfection. Ye pull home, and apply the two last gradual Psalms to your selves, Psal. 133. 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren to dwel to∣gether in unity. * 1.36 The Septuagints read, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to dwell toge∣ther into the same thing, the same faith. * 1.37 St. Hierom gives: Ecce quam bonum, & quam decorum, Bohold, how good, and how comly, The Hebrew word is nahhim, which signifies fair, and comely. The word nahhim is attributed to the Bridegroom, and interpreted fair; Cant. 1. 16. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved: And Psal. 234. 1. Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye Servants of the

Page 17

Lord, which by might stand in the house of the Lord. v. 2. Lift up your hands in the Sanctuary, and bless the Lord. Ye note, that where it is said Ps. 1. 2. and in his Law doth he meditate day and night: The Hebrew word signifying night, comes from a Root, interpreted, he howled; and thence ye raise, that ye sing God's praises by night, when the Wolves howl, and when wicked men sing and revel in Taverns, and loose Houses, and there wallow in the sink of all impurity. Yea, this Quire-Monk will farther press upon us, that in the year of Christ 459. in the Church of Constantinople, Gennadius being Archbishop thereof, a Monastery was erected which they named Coenobi∣um Acoemetarum, the Monastery of those that sleep not, from the Greek 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, who sang God's praises without pause, and without end. The Secret is, they were divided into three Quires; and while the one Quire sang, the other slept; and so they went the round, and thus represented the Singers of Heaven, that sing God's Praises for hereafter in all Eternity. * 1.38 They bring in the Rere Drexellius a Jesuit for their Author.

And now ye pretious singers of God's praises, either by day or night, what kind of praises did ye sing to God in the dark night, when Guido Faux held a Guide or Candle to your Bre∣thren? was it your good and pleasant unity, that was imployed in this most horrible Conspiracy? Ye beat into us, that in the end of all your Prayers and Meditations, ye build, as it were a Sconse of good purposes. Did your lifting up of your hands in Gods House by day or night, produce this black purpose, this ugly Monster of the Night? Is this fair and comely, and like the Bridegroom? Can ye be so unreasonable as to think, that any Miscreant in the whole world was as wickedly busied that black night as your selves? And if ye could set up all your Mo∣nasteries, to praise God without stop or intermission; while some of your Brethren, who are not so Quire-strong, are let loose for such horrid imployments, that is, to thunder out Gods praises in Powder-plots; we shall think you as ye are, Superla∣tive Hypocrites; and that, while ye profess to sing God's prai∣ses, your performance sings Hymns and Lands to the De∣vil.

Ninethly, Ye profess, that ye are Missiouers, Apostles, and appointed for the Conversion and Salvation and Souls. Ye firm it by Scripture, Psal. 132. 16. I will also cloth her Priests

Page 18

with Salvation. * 1.39 The Chaldee annexeth, vestibus redemptionis, with the Garments of Redemption. Ye make us know, That the Image of Christ, carrying home the lost Sheep upon his shoul∣ders, was very antient and famous among you, and that this figure was enstamped upon your Patens and Chalices, * 1.40 as Tertullian hath left upon Record. * 1.41 And Isidore Pelusiot hath committed to Posterity, that the Bishops were wont to wear a certain Superhumeral, called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, made of Wool, and signifying 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the skin of the Sheep, which Christ having found, carried home upon his shoulders. * 1.42 Ye put into our mouths out of Simeon Thessalonicensis, the very form of words which the Bishops used in their putting it on. And the Vertue attending upon this duty is, in your own stile, Zelus Animarum, the Zeal of Souls.

Now confess ingenuously, were ye clothed in this Powder-Treason with Sarments of Redemption, or of Destruction? Are ye the Disciples of him that carried home the wandring Sheep, and restored it to the Flock (O Lord of the whole earth, thou knowes, such Hypocrites are not extant in all the earth) or, of him that devours both Sheep and Flock? Have not ye given the scandal unto this Age, which some dissolute and carelesse Christians gave to the Romans in the infancy of the Church; who therefore called Christ, not Christum Christ, but Chre∣stum, quasi 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, utilem, as profitable, because his Name and Religion were very profitable to those his Professours, * 1.43 as Lampridius hath commended to Posterity. Is this the way of your Zeal of Souls? Psal. 29. 9. The voice of the Lord maketh the Hindes to Calve. The Interpretation is, The Hindes doe bring forth with much difficulty: But when it thunders, they fear; and then bring forth. And so the voice of God here, is Gods thunder in the Clouds. These heavenly Men found, that the Pro∣testants did not easily bring forth according to their Sense, and therefore their mind was now, to thunder them into a fear and trembling, and so, make the Hindes to Calve. O Hypocrites, * 1.44 the Sons of Thunder did not purchase their Name upon this horrid account.

Tenthly, ye profess. That ye have Devotions and Aspirations tuned and accommodated unto all Times and Places. * 1.45 Ye drop into us, out of Petrus Chrysologus, In plateis, & in triviis, su∣um Pietas habet Secretum, In the Streets, and where sundry

Page 19

waies meet, Godliness hath its Secret. * 1.46 Ye bring to your hive, out of St. Hierom, Sanctisetiam ipse est Somnus Oratio, The very Sleep of the Saints of God is a Prayer. They lay them down to sleep with an Aspiration, and it is an Aspiration that wakes them. And again from the same Epistle, Esto Cicada nocti∣um, Be thou the Grashopper of the night. Ye give it sinews from Scripture; As, Cant. 4. 11. Thy lips, O my Spouse, drop as the honey-comb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; That is, Thou hast most sweet expressions of Love, which thy Heart continu∣ally sends forth to thy Tongue, by which thou dost sweeten the bridegroom to thee: Thou keepest both honey and milk under thy Tongue; thou hast Lessons lying alwaies in ambush under thy Tongue; and expedited both for the production of Spiritual nourishment and Profit, and of Pleasure: For profitable nourishment, as Milk; for Pleasure, as Honey. These are ad∣dressed to meet and congratulate with all Occasions, and whatsoever offers it self.

I beseech you, answer me plainly, What divine Aspirations and Ejaculations had ye, wherewith to spiritualize this most damnable Plot? What choice Texts of Scripture could Faux produce to concurr with his dark-Lanthorn; or, with the sight of the Cellar throng'd with Gun-powder and Barrs of Iron? What Milk or Honey could lie waiting and watching under the Tongues of Garnet or Oldcorn, to salute in the language of Cha∣naan, this horrible overthrow? or under the tongue of Tomp∣son, who vaunted at Rome, that he digg'd and delv'd under the Parliament-House, beyond the sweat of his Brows? O Hypo∣crites, ye have prostituted all the sweet Delicates of Devotion, to the contempt of men, by the most wicked Practices that e∣ver humane ears entertained.

Eleventhly, Ye profess, That ye are Persons of most excel∣lent Charity, and Humility, and that yours is the tried, exer∣cised, and perfect Faith, of which St. Paul, Galat. 5. 6. Faith which worketh by love. * 1.47 Your Novice hears daily from you out of Thomas à Kempis, Disce obtemperare, Pulvis; Disce te humiliare terra et limus, et sub omnium pedibus incurvare—, ut omnes super te ambulare possint, et sicut lutum platearum conculcare. Learn to obey, O thou Dust; Learn to humble thy self, O thou Earth and mud, and to bow thy self under the feet of all Persons—, that all men may walk upon thee, and kick thee as the dirt of the Streets.

Page 20

The Holy Ghost appeared in the form of a Dove, and of Fire. * 1.48 And S. Austin speaks learnedly to it, Nè Spiritu sanctificati dolum habeant, in Columbâ demonstratum est: nè Simplicitas frigida remaneat, in igne demonstratum est. Lest those who are sanctified by the Spirit, should have Craft and Deceit, (without which Deceit and Craft none are, but such as are profoundly humble,) it is demonstrated in the Dove: lest Simplicity should re∣main cold, (and without Charity,) it is demonstrated in the fire. So that, from your Charity and Humility, ye strongly deduce, that ye are of the Holy Ghost.

Now I gently entreat you, Whither was your Seraphical Charity gone a Pilgrimage, when this grand Plot was on the wheel? And, where in the ground had your Profound Humili∣ty hid it self? Ye were low-minded indeed; for ye dug deep under the Parliament-House; and whatsoever the inflammati∣ons were, wherewith ye were inflamed, ye would have in∣flamed thousands of others, with your new and strange Fire. O new Humility! O strange Charity! And yet ye are in your own Looking-glass, the only humble Souls, the only charitable per∣sons; People out of a Cloyster, are dross, dirt, dunghil-filth, if set in the same ballance of comparison with you. O Hypocri∣sie of a deep die!

Twelfthly, and lastly; (for, Time checks me,) Ye profess, That ye come at last, even in this world, to be Gods; and this, not only in Power, as Princes, Judges, &c. but also in Holiness and Perfection. Moreover, That ye grow more and more Gods while ye live. And your invincible reason is, Quia nullus est Deificationis terminus; because Deification hath no end. * 1.49 Ye pull to you Dionysius Areopagita, calling those who are studious of Perfection, Deiformes, & se Deificantes, Deiform, and Deifying themselves. * 1.50 Ye send us to St. Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre, a Greek Author, who calls the old Fathers near Christ, Deiferos Patres, Fathers carrying God in and about them. Ye make it fast by Argument, Whereas God and Christ are propo∣sed for our imitation, we are invited, as it were, to an infinite Perfection. Texts are cited to appear, 1 Pet. 1. 15. As he which hath called you, is holy; so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Matth. 11. 29. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Matth. 5. 48. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Page 21

Judge, O ye Angels, and Men; Were these Viri Sangui∣num, Men of Blonds, Gods, or Devils? Did they imitate in this vast Sea or Mischief, God? Did they imitate Jesus, a Saviour? Were they made partakers of the divine Nature? or, were they Devils incarnate? Are these (O my God!) the Deiform Saints, and they who deify themselves? Are these, as one saith, Christs in the Divinity and Humanity? O Antichristian hypocrites! They profess Christ; they perform Antichrist: They profess God; they perform the Devil.

I could wade exceedingly further. But by what ye have heard, it is plentifully evinced, that they wondrously dissent from their own Profession. And if ye look upon them general∣ly, in their other Actions; ye will find their Lives to jarr and and quarrel with their Doctrines. Their Pens speak one thing, and their hands and hearts another. This Discoverie I pro∣mise to the World.

Take especial notice, I pray, that the Powder Treason is pri∣vatly applauded by many, and that nothing is disliked in it, but the want of success; and therefore, these Objections are in force, and militant against all such, in regard of their Will of Approbation, and their Affection to the Saintship of Garnet, and his holy Medals.

I inferr, first, These damnable Plotters know not the way of God, Exod. 34. 6. God is mercifull, and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Micah 7. 18. he delighteth in mercie. 2 Cor. 1. 3. He is the Father of mercies. These Car∣casses of Christians, have no mercie. Prov. 12. 10. A righte∣ous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Hence in Scripture, a just man is called Cha∣sid, that is, pious and mercifull: and Justice is called chesed, that is, Piety and Mercy. The Reason is at hand, Because the Charity authorized by true Faith, which acting in the virtue of it, constitutes a man just, constitutes him also merciful; it be∣ing the proper Work of Charity, to love all, and to do good to all. On the other side, A wicked man is void of Charitie, and full of the love of himself.

A reason, ab extrinseco, from without, why these Men are so cruel and bloud-thirstie, may be, because they run often from the Spanish Armie in Flanders, to be Jesuits and Benedictives; (ye shall know one of them by this Mark: He speaks like a Mag∣nifico

Page 22

concerning Hebrew and Greek, and hardly understands Latin.) And such are commonly, Men fram'd and fashion'd for Crueltie, and Falshood, and even all the Sinnes of a lewd Camp.

I inferr, secondly, These Hell-instructed Plotters, know not the way of Christ; of whom it is prophecied, Is. 9. 6. The Go∣vernment shall be upon his shoulder. * 1.51 The Hebrew, for Govern∣ment, gives Misra, being, as the Hebrew Doctors teach, a Con∣tract of Missir sara, Ex spinâ Imperium; that is, The Crown of his Government, shall be of Thorns. He was a King devoted to Griefs and Sorrows; * 1.52 and therefore, his Crown was agreeable. And if this King, who wears a Crown of Thorns, be angrie; he does not presently go a plotting, he is quickly pleas'd again. * 1.53 S. Hilary seaks like himself, Virga de radice Jesse floruit, ut virgae severitatem floris suavitas temperaret; A rod flourished from the root of Jesse, that the sweetness of the flower should asswage the se∣veritie of the Rod.

These our greedie Suckers of Bloud, are cruel without mer∣cie; and they call their Cruelties, Mercies: * 1.54 as Valentinian the Emperour merrily called his She-Bear Innocency, which in sport (but in earnest) had devour'd manie poor Christi∣ans.

I inferr, thirdly, These Villanous Plotters, know not the way of God's Church. The Spouse sings of her self, Cant. 5. 5. My hands dropped with myrrhe, and my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrhe. * 1.55 The Latin somewhat differs, Manus meae stillaverunt myrrham, et digiti mei pleni myrrhâ probatissimâ; My hands dropped with myrrhe, and my fingers were full of most approved myrrhe; that is, of myrrha prima, and electa, the first, and cho∣sen myrrhe, which flows of it self, without cutting and gashing the Tree. Myrrhe is an Enemie to Corruption. The Spouse laies up her Treasure in Heaven: and no corrupted Works fall from her singers. Her Actions bring no man to untimely death and Cor∣ruption; but her aim is, to carrie all before her to incorruption and immortalitie.

These Ghosts of the old Christians, have corrupted hands, they do not forgive sins, or absolve the Penitent in Confession, without corruption, without a fee. They reserve the old phrase amongst the Jews, their hands must be filled, or they scarce think themselves to be Priests, or their Ordination valid; and in

Page 23

verity, their hands are moreover filled with wild-fire, not with Myrrhe. Their chief work is, The persons which they cannot assimilate to themselves, they will assimilate to fire, and convert into miserable Ashes.

I infer, fourthly, This way was worse than the way of the old Infidels under Nero. * 1.56 They burnt Christians, as Tacitus re∣counts, in usum nocturni luminis, that they might have light to see by night. Our appointed Victimes of this matchless cru∣elty, should not have been suffered to shine by day or by night, but should have been thunder-struck, and torn, yea catch'd away, in a moment of time, as with a whirlwind; and they should not have shew'd themselves in their depar∣ture.

And this way was worse than the Sicilian Vespers, in which at the Toll of the Bell, the Frenchmen were massacred. No Bell should have sounded in the departure of our Elect Mem∣bers.

And truly, the massacre of the Protestants in France, was in no kind to be put into the ballance with this Machination; for they saw Destruction, at some distance, coming towards them; and a time of Preparation, did ansam praebere, hold a Cup of blessing, with the handle towards them. It was obstinately de∣nied here, by these Holy Ghostly Fathers.

And is not all this, founded and grounded upon the cursed Position of the Donatists? * 1.57 of the which, St. Austin, Quod volu∣mus, sanctum est, That which we will have done, is holy, whatsoe∣ver it be.

I infer, fiftly, This is the malignant way, and these are the true Malignants; Malignus, or, a Man of a malign Heart, is he, that is male ignitus, inspired with an ill fire; and therefore, is ready to blow up all, and to mingle Heaven and Earth. * 1.58 Ruffi∣nus, is of this judgement, Malignus, saith he, quasi malo igne plenus dicitur. A Malignant is he that is full of evil Fire. This is the Malignant Spirit, that, like fire, cannot rest, until every com∣bustible matter be consumed. These are truly the Children of Be∣lial, as the word is gathered from beli ol, that is, sine jugo, with∣out yoke: * 1.59 So, many times, S. Hierom turns it; and with him, A∣quila. They are like the Wild Boar of the Forrest. No force can impale them. They break, burn, blow up all Barrs, Yokes, Liga∣ments, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Divine, of Nature, of Man, of God.

Page 24

I infer, lastly, That these black Saints, having gone in the Devils high way, may justly partake of the Devils Titles.

Ye, when we have look'd every way, and put all our Abi∣lities upon the quest, the Names of Serpent and Dragon, are their proper Names, the Names that are most proportionable to their Nature: because these Names most comply with the Devil, whose (give the word a pass) natural Children they are; and because they denote their crooked and uneven motions, turn∣ings, and windings, which produce more indirect Angles, than ever Euclid or Geometry took notice of.

* 1.60 Sozomenus commits to our Thoughts concerning Pachomius the Abbot, that he was the head of a thousand and three hun∣dred Monks; whom that he might the better distinguish and govern, he divided into four and twenty Classes; according to the number of the Letters in the Greek Alphabet; so far forth, that in what Letter soever they were placed, their Natures and Manners should be deciphered and repreened by the shape of the Letter. Those whom Nature had endowed with a direct and simple Disposition (for in those times there were many such) he put into the Classis of Iota, and they bore that Name. Now is the plainest and simplest Letter of all o∣thers; it being but one right little line struck downwards. But his involv'd, cunning, and obscure-hearted Monks, if less cun∣ning, he called ζ, if more ξ, because these are Serpentine, Dra∣gonish, and winding Letters.

Verily-Verily (they are our Saviours holy Words) I ne∣ver saw (I would I could say the contrary) an Iota Jesuit or Monk in all my life, but of and Jesuits and Monks I have seen whole swarms, being people of dark and crooked Hearts, and of tongues having all irregular motions, and moving through every dark place in the whole Labyrinth of a Lye.

Allow me freedom a little. I know a Yorkshire Knight. Mistake me not, He is no Monk, but his Brother is their Lord Prelate in Germany (for such they prefer, beyond the Seas, who are allied to rich persons in England) and there governs (ano∣ther would say a nasty crew, I may not, I dare not, I will not) a few Monks whom he multiplies with his own poor kinred; yea, there he sells strong drink to the drunken Germans. The Knight will tell you in his York-shire Language, that he has been a Pilgrim at Jerusalem; and that there he thrust his right arm,

Page 25

even up to his shoulder, into the hole on the top of Mount Cal∣vary, wherein the Cross of our Saviour was fastned. My scope is, This Arm, notwithstanding it was straight in the ground, where the foot of our Saviours Cross stood, turns and winds it self in the world, and has more strange motions of the Serpent in the business of gain and lucre, than any other Arm in York-shire, yea of those that never were enquiring into the hole at Mount Calvary.

Their Arms will winde and turn, their Hands, their Tongues, their Hearts. These great Professors without performance are, as they are call'd, Phil. 2. 5. Natio prava & perversa, a crook∣ed and perverse Nation; and belong to the crooked Serpent, Job 26. 13.

To shut up this Note. * 1.61 Nieremergius writes of a stinking beast in India, the excrement of which is living Snakes. Re∣flect, at your leisure, upon a Passage in Geffrey Chaucer; unto which I adde my grain; If that stinking Beast the Devil, were in a condition of exercising vital operations, that is, the acts of life, I will not say, in his old shape of a Serpent, but as a Dra∣gon, he could not analogically and agreeably have other Excre∣ment than an English Jesuit, or (my Heart bleeds Tears) Monk; they, are so Dragonish, so fiery, so full of new shapes, so lying, so like the Devil.

I am now yours, Beloved. First, think with your selves; Had this Prodigie of mischief march'd on, and caught effect; as in the death of the little Infants * 1.62 (for, as St. Cyprian takes into Consideration, Infantia innocens ob nomen ejus occisa est, Innocent Infancy was fitly killed for his Name.) As, I say, in the death of the little Infants, Mat. 2. 18. Rachel wept for her Children, and would not be comforted, because they were not: How many Rachels should we have had weeping amongst us? Ra∣chel in the Oriental Tongues signifies a Sheep, and she mighr well weep for her little Lambs, cruelly slain in rhe cause of the Lamb of God.

Secondly, Beloved, Let me commend unto you, the Exhor∣tation of St. John (who as he was the beloved Disciple, most and chiefly exhorted his Disciples to Love) 1 Jo. 3. 18. My little Children, let us not love in Word, neither in tongue, but in deed, and in truth. Little Children love sincerely, * 1.63 and therefore our Sa∣viour set one in the midd'st of his Disciples, exhorting them

Page 26

to be as that little Child. The Word is here distinguished from the Tongue. An unprofitable word may perhaps break loose for want of continual attention; but he that gives over the iustrument of Speceh, which is the Tongue, unto Fraud and falshood, is himself altogether unprofitable. If ye cannot love spiritually, love morally.

Psal. 139. 4. There is not a word in my Tongue. Others set it forth. Non est dolus in linguâ meâ, There is no deceit in my Tongue. * 1.64 Or, as another in St. Chrysostom, Non est 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, there is not another and another Speech; there is no Contradicti∣on betwixt my mind and my Mouth; I concentre my Heart and my Countenance in my Tongue.

Thirdly, Beloved, Ye will hear all this Powder-Plot con∣tradicted by them, and thrown back upon those who then wore the Names of Puritans. This, as other Things of the same badge, makes evidently plain, that as it is, Jo. 8. 44. They are of their Father the Devil, and that the lusts of their Father they will doe: he was a lyer and a murderer from the beginning, They are Lyars, Slanderers, &c. * 1.65 Pliny speaks truly, Nullum tam im∣pudens Mendacium est, ut Teste careat, There is not a lye so impudent, but it is furnished with a witness.

Now do I greatly want Raphael Urbinus, an Italian Painter, who having pictured St Peter and St. Paul with red faces, and being demanded the reason by a Cardinal his noble Customer, answered, That he pictured them, as now they were in Hea∣ven, mainly blushing in the sight of their wicked Successours. I would have St. Ignatius Loiola painted with a very red face, a face as red as fire; and (be not offended if I modestly use thy name in the cause of Eternity) St. Bennet with a face red be∣yond fire, and as if he had been even now (O sad News!) plen∣tifully entertained at Lamb spring, where his Monks sell Beer that paints a deep red in the faces of the merry Germans. Now I have said this, I am sorry; I have a relenting heart beyond Decency.

Fourthly, Beloved, Let us heartily bless God, that hath de∣livered us. There is, Laus Mentis, Laus Oris, Laus Operis, the praise of Mind, the praise of Mouth, the praise of Work. Let us praise him chiefly, with our utmost praise; that is, with holy lives and Conversations.

For Mouth-praises: God's praises in Iob are excellently co∣incident

Page 27

with our Deliverances, Job 5. 12. He disappointeth the Devices of the Crafty, so that their Hands cannot perform their Enterprise, v. 13. He taketh the wise in their own Craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. And so for∣ward.

The Greeks and Eastern Christians use a verie pious manner of Salutation betwixt Easter and Whitsuntide. One meeting an other, saith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Our Lord is risen. The other an∣swereth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it is true▪ he is risen. He that began, replieth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. It were pure Devotion, if for some daies after the Celebration of this Deliverance, we did salute in our meetings, one the other, after some remarkable Form: wherin we might join Spirit to Spirit, as in a holy Kisse: As thus, One should begin, By the Goodness and Mercy of God we were delivered; The other might answer, It is true, By the Goodness and Mercy of God, and by those alone. And then the first again, We are as men risen from the grave: * 1.66 and if we be risen with Christ, let us seek those things which are above. And the other might conclude, It is most just, that God should live and reign in us, to him be glorie for ever and ever.

Finally, Beloved, It is a good Mark when we are afflicted. The Hebrew Divines observe, That Jona, signifying a Dove, is so called from Janah, which is latin'd afflixit, moerore affecit, he hath afflicted, he hath griev'd, Because the Dove is persecu∣ted by Hawks, and other Birds of Prey, Psal. 34. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. God make you righteous.

I do assure you, It is my Glorie, that I bear in my face, a Mark of barbarous cruelty, given by one linag'd from such like Saints, with an Irish Dagger; and this, in the maintenance and Defence of Vertue, and Reprehension of Vice.

Let me send forth one sigh, and a groan after it, O that unwise Ewe, and ignorant of future Things, that gave suck to the forsaken whelps of the Wolf; which afterwards would have destroyed her, and her young, and all the Flock!

One word more: I seldom see a Jesuitical or Monkish Good-Man (so they are called) but methinks I behold a stately Swan in his swimming. The swimming Swan shews his white fea∣thers; but he hides his black leggs under the water. Take the

Page 28

Swan from his swimming, and ye will quickly perceive his black Walkings.

Go now, O ye Jesuits, to produce and print several shapes of Garnet's Straw (which I have seen:) All your shapes, and all the shapes of the Straw, are not worh one poor untainted Straw, that has the shape wherein God made it.

A Word now to you, as ye are a Companie. That ye, if ye concurr with the end of your Vocation, are great Instruments of the Advancement of God's Glorie, and of Learning, is a Truth plain to the Eie of Reason; but what it is to concurr with the end of your Vocation, is not easily discernable. Therefore, to concur with the End of your Vocation, is, to Print and advance di∣vine Truths and true Learning, by the which only, God is glo∣rified. For, if ye walk otherwise, ye advance God's dishonour, and are Enemies to sound and true Learning: and ye print Garnet's Straw in several shapes.

Ye are the Conduit-Pipes, and Chanels, by the which, wa∣ter is conveyed to the World: But ye are reasonable Conduit-Pipes, and Chanels, no senseless, and inanimate; and there∣fore, be ye sure and secure, that the Water be not foul and in∣fectious. As the Case, and the Die of Chance falls now, It is your Dutie to know the Subjects of the Discourses which ye Print; and Ignorantia non excusat hominem in his quae per∣tinent ad Officium ejus, Ignorance doth not excuse a man in the Things which pertain to his Office or Dutie. Indeed, when that Office was an others, who might act at Pleasure, there was a large difference. Give me leave to speak the Words of my own Dutie.

One Thing more, Because Learning is so deeply concern'd in your Vocation; ye more comply and are more congruous with your Vocation that have received some tincture of Learning. Learning is helpfull to all Christians; especially to those, into whose Vocation it falls.

We read, Psal. 71. in the end of the fifteenth Verse, and in the beginning of the sixteenth, I know not the numbers there∣of; I will go in the strength of the Lord God. * 1.67 The Vulgar Latin clothes it; Quoniam non cognovi literaturam, introibo in po∣tentias Domini: Because I have not known Learning, I will en∣ter into the powers of God; as if they had more of the Power of God, and drew nearer to him, that are ignorant of Learning.

Page 29

* 1.68 The Septuagint gives us also, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Learning. * 1.69 The He∣brew word is Siphrot; and signifies Ciphers, numbers. * 1.70 Thus Sym∣machus translates it; thus the Rabbins: to whom Arnobius, St. Chrysostom, and St. Austin do fully and freely consent; who take the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, negotiation, or merchandizing; or, if ye will pragmatizing: which indeed, throngs a man with temporal business, and diverts him from knowing the Works and Wonders of Gods ower; when true Learning enables him to a further Compliance with divine Power.

I shut up all, in the Commendation of one serious Matter to you. I have not anie Thing of this Orb or Nature, more fit∣ly to commend to you, in the Publishing of which, ye may ad∣vance the Wonders of God's Power; than such Matters as declare the Goodness and Power of God, in the blazoning of this most horrible Plot▪ •…•…d of the Discoverie attending upon it.

It is clear, That as a Flower may be painted with it's own colour, and survive it self; so this most horrid Wickedness hath black enough in it self, wherewith to be painted in it's own foul hue. But the Tongues and Pens of Scholars are also needfull, as the skilfull hand of the Painter; that it may be translated, in it's own Colour, from Age to Age, from Day to Day, untill we come to the black Day, (which the Plotters would have represented amongst us) the Day of Doom.

And as the Children, and Common People, were taught in the Primitive Church, commonly to sing and say, Alle∣lujah, Praise ye Jah, or God who is: * 1.71 So let it be in use with us. And let the Reason follow with a Train: For he hath delive∣red us from the Devil, and the English Jesuits, and —, (I will here lose the Word that should follow) that cursed Rabble which blows up all; in this our blessed Deliverance from the Powder-Treason.

I have here eatnestly defended those whom God hath won∣derfully delivered: and in effect, I have defended God and his wonderfull Deliverance. I have been vehement against wicked∣ness and wicked Persons, wheresoever I found them: So was Christ, and his Apostles, and all the Fathers. I have inveighed against unpriestly Priests, and irreligious religious Men: Thus did St. Austin, Salvianus, Gildas, and Armies of others. Ma-Many will hastily let fly their uneven Censures concerning the

Page 30

ground of my Quarrel against the Monks; Assuredly, it is grea∣ter, yea more intricate and winding than to be comprized pre∣sently by an ordinary Fancy: but I may be able to express it hereafter. Let it suffice here, that one Action, wherein they and their envenom'd Friends were busie Bees and Com∣petitors; was more than a Powder-Plot against me, and a∣gainst that which the Law of God, of Nature, and of Nations call'd mine, until they came with their Volumus & Jubemus, we Will and Command.

Laus Deo Liberatori.

Praise be unto God o•…•… Deliverer.

Notes

Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.