An impartial consideration of those speeches, which pass under the name of the five Jesuits lately executed viz. [brace] Mr. Whitebread, Mr. Harcourt, Mr. Gawen, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Fenwick : in which it is proved, that according to their principles, they not only might, but also ought, to die after that manner, with solemn protestation of their innocency. Williams, John, 1636?-1709. 1679 Approx. 59 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A66402 Wing W2710 ESTC R211881 17870181 ocm 17870181 106692 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A66402) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 106692) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1110:3) An impartial consideration of those speeches, which pass under the name of the five Jesuits lately executed viz. [brace] Mr. Whitebread, Mr. Harcourt, Mr. Gawen, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Fenwick : in which it is proved, that according to their principles, they not only might, but also ought, to die after that manner, with solemn protestation of their innocency. Williams, John, 1636?-1709. [2], 26 p. Printed for Richard Chiswell ..., London : MDCLXXIX [1679] Attributed to Williams by Wing and NUC pre-1956 imprints. Reproduction of original in the Union Theological Seminary Library, New York. Includes bibliographical references. 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Anti-Catholicism -- England. 2007-06 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-07 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2007-07 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN IMPARTIAL CONSIDERATION OF Those Speeches , Which pass under the Name of the FIVE JESUITS LATELY EXECUTED . Viz. Mr. Whitebread . Mr. Harcourt . Mr. Gawen . Mr. Turner , and Mr. Fenwick . In which it is proved , That according to their Principles , they not only might , but also ought to die after that manner , with Solemn Protestations of their Innocency . LONDON : Printed for Richard Chiswell , at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard , MDCLXXIX . AN ANSWER TO THE Late SPEECHES of the Five Jesuits . THE words of dying persons have always been esteemed of greatest Authority , as Mr. Harcourt in his Speech doth observe : and at the first sight , what was spoken by him and his Associates just before their Execution , doth seem to command it ; when Mr. Gawen after the like Preface doth add , I do solemnly swear , protest and vow by all that is sacred in Heaven or on Earth , and as I hope to see the Face of God in Glory , that I am as Innocent as the child unborn , &c. A Speech of so great Assurance , that if it were not for the clearness of the Evidence that was brought in against them , the impartiality of the Court which they stood before and were Condemned by , the Order which they were of , and the cursed Principles held by that Order ; and Lastly , other things spoken by them at the same time that were manifestly untrue , I should have had so much charity as to believe . But when all this and more doth appear against them , and confute what they have with so much confidence maintained before God and the World , it will be a work of Justice and Charity to detect their Hypocrisie , and to shew that the Jesuits have a Gospel by themselves . And this I shall do : First , By shewing that their present case is such , that although they had been guilty , such a Protestation of their innocence was necessary , if it might be consistent with the principles of Religion . Secondly , That such a Protestation is consistent with their Principles , and what is agreeable to the practice of their Order . Thirdly , That from the consideration of their circumstances , and a careful perusal of what was said by these persons at the time of their death , there is sufficient reason to believe that they acted upon such Principles . First , It was necessary for them at this time , and in their circumstances , tho never so deeply guilty , to stand upon their own vindication , and to vindicate themselves after the most solemn way imaginable . For if this Plot should be believed , and they discovered to be the Contrivers and Promoters of it , it would be a foul blemish to their Religion , and so great a disparagement to their Society , that all their Art and Industry could never be able to wipe it off . It would awaken the Princes of Christendom , and they would never think themselves secure till this Order followed that of the Templers , and was Universally dissolved and extirpated . It would make those that mean well too among themselves to abhor them , and open a fair way for Protestantism to enter in upon them . And therefore it concerned them as much as might be to prevent it ; and how could it be prevented , but by this way that they have taken . For if they had been silent under so great a charge as this , all the World would have concluded them Guilty ; or if they had but faintly denied it , when the Evidence was so full and peremptory against them , the suspitions that are abroad would have increased , and the Evidence already given in would be further enquired into and made out . It was not a sorry Evasion , or some puny Equivocation that would put a stop to these mischiefs , and set them right in the opinion of the World , as they well enough understood ; and therefore it concerned them , if the honour of their Religion , or that of their Society was dear to them , to betake themselves to the most formal Protestations to ensure it ; if so be it might be done with consistency to their Religion , or their own safety in another World. Secondly , I shall therefore shew that such Protestations are consistent with their Religion , and that altho they were never so Guilty , they might stand upon their own Innocency and Justification to the Death . And that is to be done upon these Principles . ( 1 ) If what they are charged with be made Legitimate by a Superior Authority . ( 2. ) If they are under a precedent and sufficient Obligation not to confess what they are justly charged with . ( 3. ) If they are indemnified and declared Innocent . ( 4. ) If they are charged before an incompetent Authority . ( 5. ) If the Charge it self be laid wrong . First , If what they are charged with be made Legitimate and allowable by a Superior Authority ; which may be done two ways . First , By a dispensation from the Pope , or by others ordinarily deputed thereunto in their Church . This is what they do now deny amongst us , confidently maintaining that a Dispensation is never given beforehand . But this is vainly alledged , whether we consider the nature of a Dispensation , which hath a relation to an action yet to be done , or to the continuation of it ; or whether we consider the practice of their Church , of which we have a very modern instance . For whereas the Marrying of a Brothers Wife , the Brother being yet alive , is both contrary to the Law of God and Nature ; there is a Prince now in the World that is dispensed with in that matter , and enjoys the Wife and Kingdom of his Brother by virtue of the Popes Authority . Now if the Pope hath a Power of altering the nature of things , and of giving a Dispensation for what would without that Dispensation have been in it self unlawful ; then the doing of an Action otherwise evil is , by virtue of that Dispensation , no sin ; and he that hath that for his Authority , is so far Innocent . Secondly , The Action may be made Legitimate , by virtue of the command of such a Superior , as they are bound fully and universally to obey . And this is the case of the Jesuits , who are under a perfect Subjection to their Superiors , and whose commands they are not to dispute . This is the first thing which they are taught , to be so Conformable to the Catholick Church ( which in their sence is the Pope ) that if it defines that to be black , which appears to them to be white , they are notwithstanding without more ado to account it black a . And this is an obedience which they are not only bound to yield to the Apostolick Chair , but to the rest of their Superiors , and which their Founder Ignatius writ an Epistle on purpose to confirm them b in . An Epistle , that nothing can be added to , or taken from , saith their General Fr. Borgia c . An Epistle that is truly Divine , saith their General Mutius Vitellescus d . In this Epistle it is that Ignatius doth lay down these things . First , That they must look upon their Superior , not as a person obnoxious to error , but as Christ himself — who could not be deceived , nor would deceive . Secondly , That Whatever their Superior commands or thinks , that they must always be ready to defend , and by no means to reject . Thirdly , Whatever he commands , that they must resolve to look upon as the command of Christ , and with a blind Resolution without any doubt or delay , resolve to do e without giving way to any humane reasonings and discourses , as their General Aquaviva expounds it f , that they renounce not only their own wills , but understandings also , and submit them wholly to his , without calling any thing into question ; for otherwise the excellent virtue of blind obedience would fail , as Ignatius saith g . That every one must perswade himself , that he is acted and governed by Divine Providence , through his Superiors Orders , and that he ought to be in that case as a Carkass , which suffers it self to be carried or disposed of any way ; or as a staff in an old mans hand , which he directs as he pleaseth , as it 's fully expressed in their Constitutions h . Now if they are thus obliged blindly to obey their Superiors , and that whatever they command them , is without any demur to be done , they are so far innocent in their own account , and think that they may safely without doubt , purge themselves as such . But they may say that they are only obliged to this obedience in things Lawful , and no further , according to what Ignatius himself doth say i , and is further confirmed by their constitutions k . But is this likely to be the sence , when their Superior is in the place of Christ l , and whom they are to submit to as to him , and whom they are to attend to , whatever he be , how weak or insufficient soever , as he represents the person of him , whose wisdom cannot be deceived , as Ignatius saith m ? Is this likely to be , when they must universally and wholly submit their own understandings to his , and are without delay or doubt to do what he requires ? And that it is not so , whatever they pretend , is evident from their own Constitutions n , where the Title of one Chapter is , that the Constitutions do not bring any under an obligation to sin ; but how little it answers that Title , any one that reads the Chapter may perceive ; for it's the●e said , that it seems to us — that no Constitutions , &c. can bring under an obligation to mortal or venial sin , unless the Superior in the name of Christ , or in the virtue of obedience should command it : and then that may be done in the cases so judged of , which tends much to a private or universal good . So that a general or particular good may make it lawful for a Superior to command what otherwise would be a sin ; and the Vow of obedience makes it necessary for him that is under command to obey . By which means any sin shall be none , and the greatest Criminal be Innocent . 2. They may justifie themselves if they are under a precedent and sufficient obligation not to confess what they are justly charged with . And such an obligation is ( 1. ) the disadvantage of Religion , or the injury of another . For which reasons it was that Sir Everard Digby did clear all the Priests before the Lords ; and when asked by the Lord Chief Justice , if he had not taken the Sacrament to keep secret the Plot as others did , boldly said , that he had not ; because , saith he , I would avoid the question , at whose hands it were . * And upon this Principle Parsons the Jesuit doth proceed , when he saith , ‡ that if a Priest taken in a mans house , of whose overthrow he either must be a cause , or doth suspect that he may be so , should be asked whether he is a Priest , he is bound to deny himself so to be . 2. Such an Obligation also is Confession ; of which I shall give you their sence in the words of Parsons . ‖ If a Confessor that hath heard another man's Confession should be demanded , whether such an one had confessed such a sin unto him or not , he may not only say I know not , but answer directly , that he hath not confessed any such thing unto him , albeit he had so done ; and that the said Confessor may not only say , but swear also this answer of his , understanding and reserving in his mind , that the Penitent hath not confessed unto him so as he may utter it , &c. All Divines and Lawyers do hold that in this case of Confession , the obligation of secrecy is so great , as for no respect whatsoever , nor to what person soever , though he be never so lawful a Judg , Prince , Prelate , or Superior , nor for saving of a whole Kingdom or Commonwealth , and much less the lives of any particular men or women , or of the Confessor himself ; no , nor of the whole world together , if it were possible , or to work never so much good thereby might he utter the same . To which another Author of the same Order * adds , though the matter confessed was no less than the subversion of Religion , and the destruction of the Sacraments . This was the Defence which Garnet made for himself , why he at the first did not discover the Conspiracy of the Gunpowder-Treason , and why he afterwards did obstinately deny his knowledg of it ; because as he pretended , it was disclosed unto him by Greenwel the Jesuit in Confession , and that it would endanger the lives of divers men * : by which he said he was so bound up , that if one confessed this day to him , that to morrow morning he meant to kill the King with a Dagger , he must conceal it ‖ . The case then is , That if at any time a dangerous Conspiracy is made known to them in Confession , which they themselves were actually before egaged in ; yet it being thus complicated , that their own concurrence in it is joyned with the others confession , they then may and are bound to stand upon their own innocence , because they cannot plead guilty , though they are so , without betraying what they heard in Confession . 3. They may justify themselves , when they are indemnified and declared innocent by Absolution . Pardon is a discharge from punishment , and Absolution is a legal declaration of Pardon ; and in it self is not a making Innocent , but only an assurance , that a person , notwithstanding his former crimes , shall be dealt with as if he were such . But they extend this further , for such a growing thing is power in the Roman Church , that it would bring every thing within its compass . Sometimes Sin by the Pope's power shall be made none ; and a Man shall violate his Oath , and by virtue of a Dispensation from his Holiness shall become perjur'd without Sin. Sometimes the Guilty shall be made Innocent , and by the power of Absolution shall be able to swear it . For if a person by confession to a Priest , and Absolution from him , hath what is sufficient to Salvation , and to set him right in the sight of God ( as is the common opinion among them * ) then it may be thought sufficient also to make him innocent amongst Men , and to give him reason to think so . This seems to be the ground of the present practice amongst them ; as when Gurphy , after his Absolution denied at his Death with all assurance imaginable , That he was guilty of that Burglary , which he was in Ireland condemned for ; though the Rope breaking he lived to confess it † . And this principle hath so far prevailed at this day ; that Mr. Prance doth ingenuously acknowledg ‖ , That if he had been absolved after the Murther of Sir Edmond-Bury Godfry , as Hill , and his other Accomplices in it were , that he should have probably persisted in avowing his Innocence , as they did , and never , or without extream difficulty have been brought to any acknowledgment . Agreeable to this is that which is said by Lud. Lopez , 1. p. Instruct . c. 42. who is quoted as good Authority by Raynaudus the Jesuit , ut supra . A Woman that hath been false to her Husband , doth sin , if she without cause doth swear that she is Innocent , and doth so swear because she hath done Penance for the same ; unless her Husband doth unjustly compel her to swear . The meaning of which is , that if she doth swear it vainly , when not put to it , and there is no reason for it , then she offends ; but if her Husband threatens , and she is in danger ( for that is often the meaning of unjustly in the sence of these Casuists ) then she may safely swear that she is Innocent , forasmuch as she hath repented , and given satisfaction to the Priest , and been Absolved by him . From whence it appears , that if persons be compelled to swear unjustly , as ( in their opinion they all are when made to swear before Hereticks ) that then they may swear , though never so Guilty , that they are Innocent and without fault , as having been Absolved for it . 4. They may plead their own Innocency , and justify it with an Oath , &c. if they stand charged before an incompetent Authority . Of this Opinion is Parsons , for he saith , a If a Judg be not lawful or competent , the party charged may answer as if he was alone , and no Man by , for that he hath no necessary reference to him at all , &c. And much to the same purpose saith Lessius . b Now an incompetent Judg , is one that hath no lawful Jurisdiction over a Person ; as may be gathered from Parsons . c And such with them are ( 1. ) All Hereticks , who are incompetent , because they are uncapable of rule , as Gab. Vasquez saith ; d and as soon as a Prince is fallen from the Catholick Religion , he presently falls from all his Power and Dignity , saith Parsons . e And thus was the case determined with an especial respect to England , as you may see in Greg. Martin in lib. resolut . cas . and Dr. Stillingfleet's Sermon , on Matt. 10. 16. p. 42. ( 2. ) Such again , according to Them , are all Lay-Magistrates , with respect to the Clergy . A Priest being exempted from all civil Jurisdiction , saith Bellarmine f . The belief of which led Emanuel Sa , so far as to say , g That Rebellion in a Clergy-Man is no Treason , because he is not subject to the Civil Power . And Bellarmine saith little less , when he maintains h that Kings are not the Superiors of the Clergy , and therefore such are not bound to obey them , but only as to matter of direction . This is clearly stated and applied to our purpose by Parsons i ; If a Judge , saith he , be not lawful or competent ; as if a Lay-Magistrate in a Catholic Country would enquire of matters not belonging to his Jurisdiction , as for example , sacred or secret : then he may answer as if he were alone , and no man by , for that he hath no reference to him at all . For , as he saith afterward . k Priests both by divine and humane Law , according to Catholick Doctrine , are exempted from Lay-mens Jurisdiction . When therefore Priests are brought before Lay-Magistrates , and Catholics before Heretics , they have a liberty to say what they please , and what may best serve their purpose and convenience : they may protest and swear that they are Innocent , though never so guilty , that they know not what they know , and did not what they did . And if they may thus stand upon their own Vindication , how unjustifiable soever their case be in it self , before incompetent Authority ; then they may as well do it before incompetent Witnesses and Auditors . For the Hereticks at Tyburn have no more right to Truth , than those at the Old Baily ; and they may as well protest and vow by all that is sacred , that they are innocent , when they come to die , as when they were upon their Trial ; since the People there , as well as the Judges here , were alike incompetent and heretical . 5. They may plead Innocency when the Charge is laid wrong . This we acknowledg , when we say that a Person guilty of the Fact , may yet plead not guilty as to matter and form . But now the Charge with them shall always be laid wrong , when they answer to it by Equivocation or Mental Reservation . For then it is not what the Charge is in it self , but what they charge themselves with , that they direct their answer to . As if a Person be charged with a Crime , but by an incompetent Authority , or illegally , he may securely say , I did not do it , reserving within himself that he did not do it in Prison ; or that he had no design upon the King , thereby meaning a painted King l . And this is a current Opinion among them . If a Judg be not lawful or competent , the Defendent may answer as if he were alone and no Man by , and may frame to himself any Proposition that is true of it self , and in his own sence and meaning , though the other that heareth , understandeth it in a different sence , and be thereby deceived , saith Parsons m . If he be guilty , in such Cases he is to turn himself to Almighty God the Judg of all , and frame to himself some true reserved sence , may say , I have not done it , I have not seen him , I have not killed him ; understanding thereby that he hath not done it , so as the Examination or Punishment of it is subject to that Tribunal , or he subject to their Jurisdiction , whereby he is bound to utter the same to them ; as that Author further saith n . But what if he be put to his Oath ? Lessius answers , o That as often as it is lawful to use a doubtful Speech , or a secret Reservation , it is lawful to use an Oath , if necessity or some notable Cause requireth it , namely , to avoid a great evil , &c. And accordingly Parsons p doth lay it down from Azorius , &c. If the Judg that exacteth the Oath be not a lawful Judg , or proceedeth not lawfully in exacting the same ; then hath he that sweareth , no Obligation to swear to his Intention at all , but may swear to his own , &c. Amongst other Examples of this way , we have in Dr. Abbot's Antiologia , p. 12. b. of one John Vnderwood , that being examined before the Arch ▪ bishop of Canterbury , 1612. denied that ever he was beyond Sea ; and affirmed , That he was Married , and had six Children , and was an Husbandman . And yet acknowledged afterward , that he had been formerly six years at Rome in the College , was admitted there into Orders , and was a Jesuit , and that his true Name was Cornford ; and that in what he said before , he meant , That he was married to his Breviary , and that he had six Spiritual Children ; and that he had not been beyond Sea , so as to confess it to the Arch-Bishop . This Answer was much talked of , and what Sancta Clara hath defended under his own hand , as is yet to be seen . This was also the opinion of Garnet , and the way he took q , for having an Oath administred to him , and being examined upon the word of a Priest , whether he had ever sent or writ to Greenwel the Jesuit , since they were together at Coughton ? answered , No ; and when convinced of it by the Letters produced , said , he had done nothing in his denial but what was lawful . But supposing this should be at the point of Death , may this then be practised ? Lud. Lopez r saith , That if a Woman having been excommunicated for not living with her Husband , should at the point of Death , to obtain Absolution , swear , if she recovered , to return to him ; reserving in her self , if it might be without Sin , she shall not be guilty of Perjury ( if she knew an impediment ) though she recovers and lives from him . And this was Mr. Tresham's case , a who having accused Garnet of the Spanish Treason , for fear this might be to the prejudice of the Jesuit , three hours before he died subscribed a Paper , in which he testified upon his Salvation , that he had not seen him of 16 years before : whereas Garnet himself confessed , that within two years before they had frequently been together . All which Garnet said he believed , Mr. Tresham might have done , as he meant to equivocate . And it is an Example may safely be followed , as he maintained b . This was the Case of Parry , that attempted the Life of Queen Elizabeth , who upon his Apprehension , and after at his Trial , confessed it ; but at last denies it , lays his Blood upon the Queen and Judges , and summons the Queen to answer for his Blood before God c . But what if they voluntarily renounce all Equivocations , and Mental Reservations , or are required so to do in Oaths and Protestations ; Is this defensible upon their Principles ? So saith Parsons d ; When thou answerest to a Judg , that is incompetent , by Equivocation : If he ask , whether you Equivocate , or not ? You may answer , No , but with a further Equivocation . If he urges again , and asks whether you did not Equivocate in your denying it ? You may answer , No , with another secret Equivocation , and so as often as you are asked . Nay , he saith further e ; When a Judg is not lawful , though a Person hath first sworn to answer directly , he may use doubtful words ; which if they prevail not , then say the Doctors , that he may deny , and say , I know nothing , I have seen nothing , &c. reserving in his mind , that he knoweth nothing which in that unjust Examination he is bound to utter . This was the measure Garnet the Provincial of the Jesuits took ; for when he was called before the Lords , and was asked , Whether Hall the Jesuit and he had any Conference together in the Tower ? and being desired not to Equivocate ; he stifly denied it upon his Soul , reiterating it with many detestable Execrations : And yet when proved against him , cryed the Lords Mercy , and said , He had offended , if Equivocation did not help him * . Of this we have a notable Instance ‖ in one John Coome , that Anno 1609 , being examined by the Bishop of London , and required to set down his Answer in writing , did it after this manner ; Whatsoever I now affirm , I affirm upon the Faith of a Christian , without all Equivocation and Mental Reservation , or secret Interpretation kept to my self ; and affirm it according to the plain sense of the Words by me spoken ; So God me help , through Jesus Christ . First , I say , therefore that my Name is John Coome , neither have I been called by any other Name here , or beyond Seas ; and particularly that my ordinary Name is not Scammel , neither is it my true Name . Furthermore I affirm , upon the Faith of a Christian , that I never was in Orders according to the Way of the Church of Rome , and did never enter into a Vow according to the Rule of the Jesuits ; nor ever studied in any English Seminary in Spain or Flanders . And to the truth of all this I have subscribed , and of my own accord have subscribed , John Coome . These things he swore , and yet did all by Equivocation and Reservation ; for he afterwards confessed that he was a Priest , and Jesuit , and did commonly write his name Scammel . And that they may use Equivocation when they declare against it ; see it further made good by Dr. Stillingfleet in the sore-quoted Sermon , pag. 39. If we reflect upon these Propositions , we may be able to reconcile all that Mr. Whitebread and his Brethren did declare at their late Execution , or whatever they are made to say in these Speeches that pass up and down in their Names , to the justice of the Sentence they suffered by . It 's true , amongst Protestants , nay amongst Heathens , such solemn Protestations would be hearkned to ; and those that are honest and sincere , could hardly think those that use such Asseverations to be otherwise . But if we consider what hath been before said , we have reason to judg of Them by other measures . For some of their Principles do shew that they may do it . As those of being dispensed with in it ; and of having Absolution after it ; and of denying and swearing , with Reservation before an incompetent Authority . But others of the abovesaid Principles make it necessary , and shew that they ought to do it . As if they were required so to do by their Superiors , whose Commands they are not to question or dispute : If it were for a notable Good , or preventing a considerable Mischief ; or if they heard it in Confession ; In these cases they are obliged to deny , and to deny again ; to equivocate upon Equivocation ; to die , and , I had almost said , to damn themselves , rather than confess when they are thus bound to be secret . But that they need not fear , for besides the security that they have otherwise , it 's said , in a famous Book of theirs , * that God granted to their Order , that for the first 300 years , none of them should be damned . And perhaps they may think it worth the while to venture Purgatory to secure their present Plot from Miscarriage ; as the Lord Cordes is said ‖ to have been content to lie seven years in Hell , on condition Calice might be recovered from the English . That if we consider their Circumstances , and peruse their Speeches , it may be presumed that they acted according to these Principles . And here I shall not repeat what I before said to make it evident , that if they had been guilty , this way of proceeding was necessary to maintain the credit of their Religion and Society , &c. But shall observe , ( 1. ) That there are not in any of these Speeches , higher Protestations and Appeals to God , than what was in the words of Garnet , and the writing of Co●me before spoken of ; which yet were plainly Sophistical , as the Sequel shewed . ( 2. ) That there is in the most material parts of them such an agreement , and that in the phrase it self , ( as hath been already observed ) as if they were to act a prescribed part , and to observe particular Orders in what they should say . ( 3. ) That the Elder , and those who it's likely were to give absolution , spake with greater caution and reservedness , whilst the others spoke with greater freedom and boldness . ( 4. ) That notwithstanding all , there are some things notoriously false , and in which at least they do equivocate ; which may give just reason to suspect that they do equivocate also where it is not so evident . And this falls the hardest upon Mr. Gawen , who thus delivers himself ; Because they [ Jesuits ] are so falsly charged for holding King killing Doctrine , I think it my duty to protest to you with my last dying words , that neither I in particular , nor the Jesuits in general , hold any such opinion , but utterly abhor and detest it ; and I assure you , that among the multitude of Authors , which among the Jesuits have printed Philosophy , Divinity , Cases or Sermons , there is not one to the best of my knowledg that allows of King-killing Doctrine , or holds this position , That it is lawful for a private Person to kill a King although an Heretick , although a Pagan , although a Tyrant ; that is to say , not any Jesuit that holds this , except Mariana the Spanish Jesuit , and he defends it not absolutely , but only problematically , for which his Book was called in again , and the Opinions expugned and sentenced . Now towards the clearing of this , four things are to be enquired into . 1. What the Opinion of Mariana was touching killing of Kings ? 2. Whether Mariana held it problematically only ? 3. Whether and how Mariana was censured for it ? 4. Whether any of the Jesuits besides Mariana were of that Opinion ? 1. What the Opinion of Mariana was touching killing of Kings ? Mr. Gawen saith , That he held it lawful for a private Person to kill a King , if an Heretick or Tyrant , &c. His Opinion is to be sought for in his Book , De Rege & Regis Institutione * ; where he thus delivers himself , ( 1. ) If a lawful Prince becomes a Tyrant , and doth oppress and violate the publick Laws , &c. he is to be admonished ; and if he afterward persist therein , he may be declared a publick Enemy , and may be killed ( if otherwise the Common-Wealth cannot be defended ) and that by a private Person . ( 2. ) That in case there cannot be a publick Convention of the People ( as a Parliament ) that then the common Voice of the People shall be sufficient to warrant it ; and he who then favouring the Publick Wish doth attempt his Life , doth nothing unjustly . ( 3. ) That yet it is not lawful for any private person to kill a King. So that he takes a private person in two sences ; ( 1. ) For one that doth it upon a private account , as for his own Pleasure , or Revenge ; and then he declares it to be unlawful for such an one to kill a King. ( 2. ) For one that is commissioned by Authority , as by a Pope , or Convention of People , or that doth it for a general Good ; and then it is lawful and honourable for him so to do . 2. Whether Mariana held this problematically only ? So saith Mr. Gawen , and so did also Eudaemon . Johannes * , saying , That he delivered his Opinion with doubt The advantage they take of saying so , is from what Mariana saith towards the conclusion of Chap. 6. viz. This our Opinion doth certainly proceed from a sincere mind ; in which , since I may be deceived , as a man , I will thank any one that shall bring better . But this is no more than what is ordinarily said , even by those that write most positively . Thus did Father Barns begin and end his Book against Equivocation ‖ ; If I commit an Error , yet since I submit my Writings to the Canonical Censure of your Holiness , ( writing to the Pope ) my Error is not obstinate . I am a Man , and if I err , it is only an humane Error : And yet that Learned Person was conceived to be so dogmatical in the Point , that he was fetched to Rome by the contrivance of the Jesuits , against whom he wrote it , and died distracted in Prison . But there is nothing more evident , than that Mariana was as positive in this Opinion , as Mr. Burns in the other ; For he not only commends the Murder of Henry the Third of France a , but also saith , That the lawfulness of killing a King , in the Cases above mentioned , is as clear as the day b ; and who is so void of counsel as not to believe it c ? and saith , to exterminate such out of the society of men , is a glorious Work d : And determines for the lawfulness of killing him by Poison , provided it be not in his meat e . 3. Whether and how Mariana was censured for this ? Mr. Gawen saith , That the Book was called in again , and the Opinions expugned and censured . But I would fain know when the former of these was done . I know that there was once a great talk of a Book of Mariana's censured by the Pope , and the Jesuits took an occasion from thence to stop the mouths of those that understood no better ; but alas , it was far from any thing of this Nature ; for whereas a Book of the change of money was written by Mariana ; in which , saith an Author of theirs * , He had sharply censured some corruptions in that kind ; he contracted there by so much displeasure , that at the instance of the Spanish Ambassador , Pope Paul the 5th did prohibit it for a while till the storm was over . But as for the other Book , De Rege , &c. there is not a word in the foresaid Author concerning any such Censure , tho he is so particular as to tell where and when it was first printed ; and who would doubtless have made some remark upon it , if any such thing had been . Which doth mightily confirm what is said by the Abbot Sylvius a ( or whoever was the Author of the Inscriptio ad Gallos ingenuos ) that the Censure of this Book of Mariana by the Jesuits at Paris , in 1606 , and the Letter of Aquaviva their General to them upon it , was wholly fictitious , and brought in by Father Cotton to serve a turn , and a little to cast off the odium from themselves , after the Murther of Henry the 4th , and the Decree of the Parliament of Paris for burning this Book of Mariana's by the Common Hangman , as containing many cursed blasphemies against King Henry the Third ; and principles pernicious to the Lives of Kings , &c. b as it 's there declared . And that which doth more discover the imposture is , since Aquaviva is there made to say , That he was troubled that he knew nothing of this before ; which how unlikely it is , will be evident , if it be considered , that it was about seven years betwixt the first publishing of this Book of Mariana , and this Letter said to be written by Aquaviva ; the Book being licensed Decemb. 1598 , and printed at Toledo 1599 , and the Letter was written 1606. Now that their General should be so long ignorant of a Book written by one of their Order , and by so learned a Man as Mariana , and a Book that had set the World in a flame , cannot be conceived . But indeed I do not find this Censure at Paris much insisted upon by themselves . And the recalling of it is much like the Censure , for besides that Edition at Toledo , there was another at Mentz by Balthazar Lippius , which the Jesuits there did revise sheet by sheet ; not to speak of that printed at Frankford by the Heirs of Wechelus , which a Learned Person saith they did by the instruction of a famous Jesuit c . But however the principles of it are expugned and censured , saith Mr. Gawen . I will take that at the present for granted , which an Author of theirs saith d , viz. That upon a Consultation of the Jesuits at Rome , their General Aquaviva , made a Decree , whereby he forbad to teach , either by Word or Writing , that it was lawful for any person whatsoever under any pretext of Tyranny , to kill Kings , or to plot their Death . A Decree that looks very speciously ; but ( 1. ) we are here to observe , That there is no censure of what hath been already written or taught , or the persons so writing or teaching . ( 2. ) We may very well suppose that the any person whatsoever , will admit of their common limitation , and is to be understood of any private person , that doth it without the command or sentence of the Judg , according to the words of the Decree of the Council at Constance e . And I have the greater reason so to think , because when it was objected that the Council of Constance had condemned this Position ( that the Tyrant may and ought to be kill'd by any one of his Subjects whatsoever ] . Suarez f answers , Where do you find , in the Acts of that Council , that it 's spoken of Princes excommunicate by the Pope , or degraded ? ( 3. ) There is no little exception to be taken against the word King , as it 's here laid ; for in their sence , an Heretical , Excommunicated and Deposed King , is no King ; and he only is with them a King that is not under such a censure , and so the killing of such an one only is to be declared against . ( 4. ) And this we may be the more assured of , since it 's said only under any pretext of Tyranny ; but it 's not said under any pretext of Herefie , Excommunication or Deposition . So that after all , here is no security for a King , if an Heretick ; or for a Catholick King , if Deposed or Excommunicated : And the Doctrine is still left much where it was before the Decree . So that this deserves the like Censure given by the Abbot Sylvius of that before spoken of , that it 's a Censure full of Equivocations and doubtful Expressions g . But the best way to find out the strength and validity of this Decree , is to observe their practice . Were these Principles never reassumed by them ? What must we think of the book of Suarez , printed at Colein , 1614 h , and which was condemned by the Parliament of Paris to be burnt , as containing Propositions highly Scandalous and Seditious , and which tended to the subversion of Kingdoms , and the stirring up Subjects to murder their Kings i . And upon which occasion the Senate sent for Amandus , and the chief of the Jesuits , to let them know how little respect was had to the above said Decree of their General , in Anno 1610. What shall we say to a book of Sanctarellus the Jesuit , printed at Rome 1625 k , not only under the Eye of Vitelliscus their General , but with his express Allowance ? in which were eleven Propositions condemn'd by the Parliament of Paris , and for which it was commanded to be burnt by the Common Hangman . Amongst which it is maintained , That the Pope may depose Princes , if insufficient or negligent , and adjudg them to Death , &c. When this Book was produced , the Parliament sent for several of the Jesuits , and asked them what they thought of that Book ? Father Cotton answered in the name of the rest , That they disapproved it . Being further examined , How it came to pass that they condemned what their General did allow ? He replied , That their General being at Rome , could do no less . When it was asked again , What they would do if at Rome ? He replied , They should think as they do at Rome . This you may see particularly set down by Gramondus l , a Friend of Cottons . So that such Declarations as these are of no force , but are only to serve a present need , to pacify Princes , or please the People , but what they themselves are not obliged by : therein making good that Character of them , which I find in a sober Author of their own , m That a Jesuit is every man ; of which that book will afford some other instances , p. 235 , 236. 4 And so way is made to consider : Whether any of the Jesuits besides Mariana have bin of that Opinion ; I hope it will be granted , that some there are , by what hath been already said ; and it will be further allowed , ( 1 ) That they are of the same mind with him that do commend him for having well acquitted himself upon that argument : Such are Stephen Hoieda , Visitor of their Society in the Province of Toledo , that licensed it , and those that gave their approbation of it to him ; such again are Scribanius n Gretser , Becanus , &c. ( 2 ) They again are of his Opinion , that do hold , not only that a King may be deposed by a Prince or People ; but that also , when deposed , he is no King. So Suarez o , When a King is deposed , then he is neither lawful King nor Prince . So p Lessius , Greg. Valentia , and many others . ( 3 ) They are of Mariana's Opinion , that hold a Deposed King may be killed . So Lessius * , Any having authority , may , if a Prince's Tyranny grow intolerable , Depose him , &c. whereby any thing may be attempted against his Person , because he then is no more a Prince . So Becanus a , The Pope may deprive Princes , and if contumacious , he may have them deprived of their Life . So Suarez b , Eman. Sa c , Molina , &c. ( 4. ) They are of his Opinion , that say , A private person may kill a King so Deposed ; The Sentence being issued out , any one may be the Executioner of it . So Eman . Sa d ; so Molina e . The People may Depose their King , and punish him when he is deposed . So that we see Mariana is still a Jesuit , and they have no Reason to clamour against him , and to cry out of the rashness of one man , as Mr. Gawen doth , when as it 's the prevailing Opinion amongst them ; and it is disingenuously done of them , to do by him as the Deer by one that is wounded , clear themselves of his Company , when he is of the same Herd with them . Indeed after all that Mr. Gawen hath said towards the Vindication of himself and his Order , he hath said but what Mariana did before him ; for Mariana held , as I have before shewed , That it 's not lawful for a private person to kill a King ; and therefore saith , ‖ That John Duke of Burgundy was condemned by the Council of Constance , because he caused Lewis Duke of Orleance to be killed , Non expectata Sententia Superioris , without attending the Sentence of a Superior , as the Pope , i. e. he did it upon his own head , and out of private Revenge . And if this be the meaning of Mr. Gawen , which is the received Sence of those of his Order , we are much beholden to him . For then our Prince is left to the Mercy of the Pope's Bull , or that of the People ; for as soon as he is by them declared against , or is an Heretick , or grows intolerable , or is deposed , then any private Man is the Minister of Justice , and doth right to God and his Church , or the People , if he kill him . If Mr. Gawen had meant honestly , he should have told us that it was not his Opinion , that a King may be Deposed , or that upon Deposition he is no King , and that tho thus deposed it was unlawful for any Person whatsoever to attempt his life . But as long as he useth the current phrase among them , we must take their Interpretation of it also ; and then he must say any private Person may kill a King in the Circumstances before spoken of ; so that a King is only secur'd against private Revenge , or the present rage of his Subjects ; but if they have Warrant for so doing from the Pope or People , then Lord have mercy on him , for he is like to find none from them . So that after all his renouncing of Equivocation , &c. he in his last dying words is found basely to Equivocate , whilst he neither tells us what the King is whom a private person ought not to kill , nor what that private person is , that ought not to kill him . And when if he means according to the stile of his Order , it is no more but that whilst a lawful King is not Excommunicate , an Heretick , or deposed , no one may kill him : and when he is either of those , no one of a private revenge or malice may be allowed so to do : But if the publick good be concerned in it , or there be Authority or Commission from Superiors [ that is , Pope or People in Parliament ] then the private person is no private person , and there is no bar to secure a Prince's life from the Assaults even of such . And if there be such a notorious Equivocation in this so set a performance of his ; and that he acted so conformably to his own Principles , of obeying his Superiors in whatever they commanded , in denying whatever may be to the prejudice of their Cause or Party , in using mental reservations , even whilst he renounced them , for these and the other ends before spoken of ; what hinders but we are to think that all the rest wrote after the same Copy with him ; as when they say that they are as innocent as the Child unborn , of treasonable crimes ; is not this reconcileable to the principles of Dispensation and Absolution ? ( which last they might , and it 's probable did give one to another ) Is it not reconcileable to the Excommunication and Deposition of his present Majesty , and to the Title which the Pope challengeth to these Kingdoms , by the ancient claim of Surrender ? When they speak of the King , might they not apply it either to the Pope or a Successor , doing therein much as a certain Priest did , that when asked who was Supream in all Causes in the Church of England , presently answered the King , meaning thereby the King of Heaven , as he afterward Expounded it ? * When they do declare against a Plot for the Alteration of Government , is not that easily applied to the kind or form , or some main parts of it ? When they renounce Equivocations , &c. Did not Garnet and Coome do the same , and yet in the mean while did Equivocate or Lye ? Did they do all this at their Death , and call God to Witness , and pawn their Souls to verifie and confirm what they said ? Is this more than what was practised by Mr. Tresham and Gurphy ; and what is frequently done by Villains at their Execution without such Reasons for it from Religion or Interest as these Men had ? When I read their Speeches , I can hardly but believe them ; When I think of their Accusations , their Principles , and the Practices usual amongst them , I begin to tremble : To think that at such a time , and in so great a case as this is , men should prevaricate , and to deceive the World , care not what becomes of their own Souls ; or else that they can be so stupid as to think that the Salvation of their Souls can be consistent with such Impieties . I question not but that time will make this as clear as the day , and then what they did to strengthen their Cause , will be the greatest blow to it that perhaps it ever yet had . When it shall be upon record , and published before all the World , That so good may come of it , the good of their Church and Order , they care not what Evil they do , nor how they Subvert the Laws of God and Nature , so they may establish their own . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A66402-e150 a Ignatii Exercit . Spirit . p. 141. reg . 13. Antw. 1635. b Epist ad Patr. & Fratr . Societ in Lusit . c Epist . ad Patres & Fratres Aquitaniae , p. 63. num 9. d Epist . ad Patres prov . Societ . p. 441. e N. 16. 17. f Cl. Aquavivae Industriae , cap. 5 num . 6. g Ibid. n. 3. 9. & n. 12. h Pars 6. c. 1. i Epist . p. 25. n. 18. k Pars 6. c. 1. p. 234. l Aquavivae Industriae , c. 5. n. 6. Constitut . par . 6. c. 1. p. 234. & par . 4. c. 10. p. 183. &c. m Epist . n. 3. p. 13. n Pars 6. c. 5. p. 256. Visum est nobis nullas constitutiones , declarationes , vel ordinem ullum vivendi posse obligationem ad peccatum mortale vel veniale inducere , nisi superior ea in nomine D ▪ N. J. Christi , vel in virtute obedientiae juberet , quod in rebus vel personis illis in quibus judicabitur , quod ad particulare uniuscujusque vel ad universale bonum multum conveniet , fieri poterit . * Sir Everards first Paper , printed at the end of the Gunpowder-Treason , 1679. ‡ Mitigation , c. 13. p. 549. ‖ Ibid. c. 10. Sect. 1. p. 408. * Henr. Henriq . sum . Theol. moral . de Sacr. poenit . l. 3. c. 19. praeversie religionis , & omnium Sacramentorum intentata demolitio . * Proceedings against the Traytors , p. 190. ‖ Ibid. p. 215. * Navar. Man. c. 25. n. 38. Dia. Sum. V. Reus . n. 12. &c. † Vid. The late printed Relation of it , in a Letter to the Earl of Essex . ‖ Pag. 24. of his Narrative . a Mitigation in Equiv . c. 8. part 3. Sect. 2. n. 52. b De Just . & jure , lib. 2. c. 42. dub . 9. n. 47. c Mitig. c. 11. Sect. 9. d Com. in 1. 2. Thom. Tom. 2. dist . 152. Sect. 8. e In his Philopater , p. 194. for he is said to be the Author of it , by Watson in his Quodl . p. 11 , 71 , 284. f Lib. de Cler. c. 30. p. 554 , 80. g Apher Tit. Clericus . Edit . Antwerp . & Colon. h Ibid. c. 28. p. 538. i Mitig. c. 8. Part 3. Sect. 2. n. 52. k Ibid c. 10. Sect. 3. p. 415. n. 11. l Lessius de Instit . l. 2. c. 42. Dub. 9. n. 47 , 48. m Mitigat . c. 8. part 3. Sect. 2. n. 52. n Ibid. c. 10. Sect. 4. n. 21. o Ibid. n. 48. p Ibid. Sect. 6. n. 29. q Is . Casauboni Epist . ad Front. Ducaeum p. 118 , 123. r 1 p. instruct . c. 37. as quoted by Raynaudus in his Defence of Lessius against Barns , c. 15. n. 9. a Proceedings against the Traytors , p. 176 , 219 , 220 , 221. b In some Papers of his , quoted by Is . Casaub . Epist . ad Ducaeum . p. 122. c Foulis Romish Treasons l. 7. c. 4. p. 442. d As quoted by Barns , contra Aequiv . Sect. 20. p. 174 , and Sect. 22. p. 200. e Mitigat . c. 10. Sect 5. p. 426. n. 26. * Proceedings , p. 195. Casaub . Epist . p. 117. ‖ Rob. Abbotti Antilogia . c. 2. p. 12. * Imago primi Saec. Societ Jesu . p. 650. ‖ Bacon's Henry the 7th . 3 General . Mr. Gawen's Speech . * Lib. 1. cap. 6 , & 7. Edit . 2. Typis Wechel . p. 59 , 60. * In Respons . ad Amic . c. 1. ‖ Dissertatio contra Aequiv . Epist . Dedio . & p. ult . libri . a C. 6. p. 53 , 54. b C. 6. p. 60. c Ibid. p. 62. d C. 7. p. 64. e P. 66. * Alegambe in Biblioth . Scrip. Societ . Jesu , p. 258. a Continuat . Thuani p. 101. Francof . 1638. b Ibid. p. 86. c Casauboni Epist . ad Ducaeum , p. 48. d Eudaem Joh. ad Amic . c. 1. e Non expectata sententia aut mandato Judicis Concil . Const . Sess . 15. f Defens . Fid. l. 6. c 4. g Continuat . Thua . p. 101. h Defens . Fidei Cath. adv . Angl. Sect. i Contin . Thuani , p. 410. k Tractatus de Haeresi , &c. l Gram Hist . p. 676. Francof . 1674. m Jesuits Cat. l. 3. p. 234. Engl. 1602. n For he is said by Alegambe to be the Author of Amphitbeat . Honor. o Defens . Fid. l. 6. c 4. Sect. 4. & 18. p De Instit . l. 2. c 9. Dub. 4. Sect. 10 , 12. * Ibid. a Controv. Ang. p. 115. b Ibid. ut prius . c Aphor. Tyrannus . d Ibid. e De Instit . Tom. 4. Tract . 3. Disp . 6. Sect. 2. ‖ Cap. 6. fin . * Abbot . Autilog . cap. 2. p. 12. b.