LEWIS COLUMBANUS. fleshly people hath more liking in their bodily ears in such knacking and tattering than in hearing of God's law, and speaking of the blish of heaven. For they wolen hire proud priests and other lecherous lo- | sels thus to knack notes for many marks and pounds but they wolen not geve their alms to priestes and children to lerne and teche God's law. And thus by this novelrie of song is God's law unstudied, and not kept, and pride and other great sins meynten'd, and these fonnyd lords and people gessen to have more thank of God, and worshipen him more in holding up of their own novelries with great cost than in learning and teching and meyntening of his law, and his servants, and his ordinance. But where is more deceit in faith, hope, and charity? For when there ben fourty or fifty in a queer, three or four proud and lecherous losels shullen knack the most devout service that no man shall hear the sentence, and all other shullen be dumb, and looken on them as fools. And then strumpets and thieves praisen sire Jack, or Hobb and William the proud clerk, how small they knacken their notes, and seyn that they serven well God and holy church, when they despisen God in his face, and letten other Christen men of their devotion and compunction, and stirren them to worldly vanity; and thus true service of God is letted, and this vain knacking for our jollity and pride is praised above the moon." -LEWIS's Life of Wiclif, p. 162. [Petition to Pope Paul V. &c.] "THERE is yet extant a petition to Pope Paul V. signed by eleven priests who were under sentence of death in Newgate, for refusing James's oath in 1612. Two of their companions had already suffered death for this offence. They died in resistance to legitimate authority, and by the instigagation of a foreign power! "In their petition they entreat of his Holiness, by all that is sacred, to attend 83 to their horrible situation, and they beg of him to point out to them clearly, in what that oath, for which they were condemned to die, is repugnant to Catholic faith.1 But yet, influenced by the courtly maxims, they declare their belief in his unlimited power, and they conclude with a solemn protest of blind submission to all his decrees, with an obedience as implicit as if Rome were another Mecca, or as if the Vatican were the seraglio of a Mahomet! 66 My heart swells with mingled emotions of pity on one side, and horror and indignation on another, when I contemplate the dilemma in which those wretched men were thus placed, by the pride and the ambition of their superiors. Before them was Tyburn, behind them stood, armed with fulminating thunders and terrors, that grim disgrace, in the opinion of their flocks, by which they would be overwhelmed as apostates, if they opposed the mandates of Rome. On one side conscience stared them in the face, with St. Paul;2 on another, a Vicar Apostolic menaced refusal of "In ergastulo, pedore, squalore, ærumnis con ficimur; bonorum sodalitio, amicorum solatio priva mur; in tenebris vivimus. Ex hoc carcere, in quo decem et tres sacerdotes, ob jusjurandum repudiatum compingimur, ex hác inquam scholá martyrum, duo ex nostris, invictissimi martyres, in arenam prodeuntes, anno præterito, spectaculum exhibuerunt Deo, angelis, hominibus gratissimum, &c. Per horum te martyrum sanguinem, per labores et ærumnas, per vincula, carceres, tormenta, cruciatus, per invictam patientiam, si minus ista movent, per viscera misericordia Dei nostri, partem solicitudinis tuæ afflictissimis Anglia rebus impende, &c. Sunt qui inter te et Cæsarem fluctuant. Ut veritas elucescat, dignetur Sanctitas tua palam omnibus facere quænam illa sint in hoc religionis sacramento quæ a parte fidei et saluti adversantur," &c.-DODD, vol. 3, p. 524. 2" Rom. xiii. Wherefore ye must needs be subject (to the civil powers) not only for wrath but also for conscience sake." St. Paul preached this doctrine when the established powers were pagan and persecuting. Pope Paul V. preached the reverse when the established power in England was Christian and tolerant! Pudet hæc opprobria nobis ! 84 66 COLUMBANUS. the sacrament, even on the eve of death! This covered them with ignominy as apostates, that, though frightful to humanity, was yet attended with posthumous renown! Religion indignantly wraps herself up in her shroud of deepest mourning before the idol of ecclesiastical domination, when she observes the Roman Court sacrificing to its insatiable ambition, the lives of so many heroes, who were worthy of a better fate! perverting sacraments which were instituted for the sanctification of souls into engines of worldly passions, and rendering them subservient to the policy of those sions, and panders to their intrigues! and admittance was refused! Day passed after day, and no answer was received but that which might be collected from the sullen silence of impenetrable obduracy and unbending domination! Both Sixtus and Pius V. had addressed their Bulls with these magnificent titles-We, who are placed on the supreme throne of justice-enjoying supreme dominion over all the Kings and Princes and States of the whole earth, not by human, but by Divine authority,' &c. and now, how could it be expected that in compliance with the petition of eleven begpas-garly priests of the second order, such magnificent titles should be resigned? No, said the scarlet Cardinal, perish the idea! "I can fancy a haughty Pontiff, on receipt of this humble petition, agitated by contending difficulties! I can fancy him seated under a crimson canopy, surrounded by his sycophants, debating in a secret Consistory, whether these unfortunate men shall, or shall not, have permission not to be hanged! The blood of the innocent was now to be shed, or the deposing and absolving doctrines, and all the Bulls and Decisions in their favour, to receive a deadly wound, which no ingenuity could parry, no force could avert, and no skill could cure. "Barrister Theologues of the poddle! Blushing beauties of Maynooth! Do let us hear what middle course you would have devised in such existing circumstances! In the dedication of one of your hodgepodges to Dr. Troy, you declare that whatever opinion he dictates, that opinion is yours! A fortiori your opinions would have been shaped by those of Pope Paul V. who deliberately encouraged the unfortunate priests in Newgate to suffer death! to be offered up as victims on the altar of his pride, rather than resign his pretensions to the deposing power, or retract his decrees! The Catholic religion, calumniated on account of the ambition of his Court, had travelled barefooted over the Alps and the Apennines, from the dreary cells of a dark and noxious prison, and stood bareheaded, and trembling, petitioning for admittance at the haughty portals of the Vatican! Aye, let not an iota be yielded, else we shall lose our worldly dominion, 'Venient Romani et tollent nostram Gentem et Regnum.' All the pride, and pomp, and glory of the Vatican would then be swept away from off the face of the earth, and what would then be the fate of the thunders of scarlet Cardinals and purple Monsignores. "In consequence of this horrible decision, the following innocent English clergymen, alas! how many Irish-suffered as victims to the domination of Vicars Apostolic, and the fatal influence of the Court of Rome. "1. Rev. Mr. Cadwallader, refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance, with a promise of pardon at the place of execution, if he would comply, refused, and in blind obedience to Rome was executed at Leominster, August 27, 1610.'-Dodd, vol. 11. “4. Rev. George Napier, hanged at Ox-| ford, Nov. 9, 1610. The Vice-Chancellor assuring him of pardon if he would take the Oath of Allegiance, which he refused.'— Ibid. p. 373. "5. Rev. Nicolas Atkinson, hanged at York, 1610, for receiving orders by authority of the See of Rome, and for the additional circumstance of refusing the Oath of Allegiance.'-Ibid. p. 376. "6. Robert Drury, hanged, London, Feb. 26, 1607. He was one of the thirteen priests who signed the famous Protestation of Allegiance in the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, but refused the Oath of Allegiance, when it was offered him at his examination and trial, though he seemed inclined to take it before it was prohibited by the Pope's Briefs, as several others were, both Clergy and Regulars.'-Ibid. p. | 377. “ 7. ‘Rev. Matthew Fluther, was executed at York, 1608, but was promised his life if he would have submitted to the Oath of Allegiance.'-Ibid. 85 bright sky appeared to favour them while they were digging for the body, and then it grew dark again to favour them going off.' | —Ibid. "9. Rev. Thomas Gurnet had the favour offered him to be pardoned if he would but take the Oath of Allegiance, but refusing it he was executed at Tyburn, June 23, 1608.' Ibid. p. 413. ECHARD. Hist. of England, p. 385. "Let us now consider who, in the eye of unprejudiced reason, was the persecutor and executioner of those unfortunate men, James or the Pope? The evidence of facts is irresistible. The question bears not one moment's examination. 'Qui facit per alium facit per se.' No. 6, p. 111. ww [The Back-house Bowl.] "If it should be alleged that the Pope pitied those men, who died for his worldly maxims of aggrandizement, that he was not cruel by nature, but by policy, and that he would have saved them if he could by money, or at any expense short of the sacrifice of pompous pride, and uncontrollable dominion, my answer is, that this aggra"8. Thomas Maxfield, hanged at Ty-vates his guilt."-COLUMBANUS ad Hibernos. burn, July 11, 1616, had his pardon offered if he would submit to the Oath of Allegiance, which he refused. On the day of execution, some unknown persons contrived to hang garlands on the gallows, and scattered greens and flowers all underneath, to signify that his death was honourable.— Ibid. p. 378. It was noised about that great numbers of Catholics appeared at his execution, in order to dip their handkerchiefs in his blood and convey away his reliques. To prevent this, the mob seized his quarters, and threw them into a hole near the gallows, from whence they had dug the bodies of two malefactors, formerly buried there, and tumbling Mr. Maxfield's quarters into the hole, they covered them with the said carcases. However, his friends were so industrious as to recover them again that night, and, as my Memoirs inform me, not without an accident that was somewhat surprising (a miracle!). The night being very dark, continued so, till a "AND they have devised to make us believe in other vain things by his pardons, as to have remission of sins for praying on hallowed beads, and for drinking of the backhouse bowl; as a Chanon of Waltham Abbey once told me, that whensoever they put their loaves of bread into the oven, as many as drank of the pardon bowl should have pardon for drinking of it."-LATIMER'S Sermon on the Plough. [The Rosaries and St. Catharine.] PIETRO DELLA VALLE took with him to the Holy Land many rosaries of ivory, and others of gold and silver, that he might touch with them the relics of St. Catharine, and make presents of them at his return. [Wickedness in a poor Estate the Cause of more Poverty.] "THE miserable poor are generally the most corrupt and profligate part of mankind, the very reproach of human nature; and if you make any curious observations about it, you will generally find, that it is not their poverty which makes them wicked, makes them poor: but their wickedness you shall very rarely see an honest, industrious, sober, pious man, but makes a very good shift to live comfortably in the world, unless the times prove very hard, that there is but little work, and provisions dear, or that his family increases so quick upon him that he has a great charge of children, before any of them are capable of working for their living; and in this case such industrious men seldom want friends, for every one who knows them is ready to help them and therefore poor men ought to think of a future judgment not only to save their souls; but to teach them to live in the world, to deliver them from the extreme pressures of want. And this is a double obligation upon poor men to think frequently of a future judgment, that it is necessary to provide a comfortable subsistence for them in this world, and to save their souls in the next. But whether this remove their poverty or no, it will support them under it, make them patient and contented with their portion here, if they govern their lives under the sense of a future judgment, it will support them under the meanness and calamities of their present fortune with better hopes they will then contemplate Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, and comfort themselves with the change of their condition, as soon as they remove into the other world; there they shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more; their wants and sufferings in this world, if they bear them well, shall be greatly rewarded; and though they grovel in the dust here, and are worms and no men, they shall then shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. It is a miserable condition indeed to remove from a dunghill to hell; but a dunghill is a palace if it will advance us to heaven. Nothing but these things can make extreme poverty tolerable, but such hopes as these will make the poorest man rich and happy." SHERLOCK on Future Judgment, p. 288. [Improveable Talents.] "AND good God! when we consider how many talents we are entrusted with, it should make us tremble to think what little improvements we make of them: every thing that is improveable to the service and glory of God, is a talent; and if we do not improve it to God's glory, and to do good in the world, it is a talent hid in a napkin, or buried in the earth. As to give some short hints and intimations of this; for a just discourse about this matter would be too long a digression. "Power must be allowed to be a talent, and a very improveable talent; for every degree of power gives men great opportunities of doing good. Some men move in a high sphere, and can give laws to those below; their very examples, their smiles or frowns are laws, and can do more to the reforming of the world, than the wisest instructions, the most convincing Arguments, the most pathetical exhortations of meaner men. "But though few men have such a power as this, yet most men have some degree of power; to be sure, every father and master of a family has; his authority reaches his children and servants, and were this but wisely improved, it would soon reform the world. "But how few are there who improve this talent; who use their power to make those who are under their authority obedient to God, which is the true use and improvement of power. "Riches, I suppose, will be allowed to be another very improveable talent; for what good may not a rich man do, if he have a heart to do it? He may be eyes to the SHERLOCK - EDWARD STEPHENS. 87 a stream of opinions, without sufficient consideration of the intermixture of truth and falsehood in them; among the Papists or Roman Catholics many sincere Catholics, according to the best of their knowledge; and among the Antipapists, many sincere Primitive christians, according to the best of their understanding; and that on both sides the doctrine preached by the Apostles, once delivered to the Saints, and contended for by the primitive christians, was so retained, that they, who are faithful to what is agreed, cannot be denied to be of the rank of the best christians on both sides; and therefore ought not to be troubled with matters of contention and doubtful disputations (Acts, xv. 24. Gal. i. 7, v. 12. Rom. xiv. 1.), perverting the gospel of Christ, (Gal. i. 7.) and subverting their souls, (Acts, xv. 24. 2 Tim. ii. 14.) but be left blind, and feet to the lame, a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow; a tutelar angel, and even a god to men. And riches are a trust and a stewardship, of which we must give an account. To spend them upon our lusts, in riding, luxury, and wantonness, this is to waste our master's goods and to keep them safe, without doing any good with them is to hide them in the earth as the unprofitable servant did his talent; and if we must be judged and condemned for not improving our talent, for not putting our Lord's money to the Exchangers, that when he comes he may receive his own with usury, as our Saviour tells us; rich men ought to examine their accounts, and see what increase they have made of their talent; not how they have multiplied their gold and silver, but what good they have done with it. Once more, wisdom and knowledge, especially the know-quietly standing upon the rock, (Matt. xvi. ledge of God and of religion is a very improveable talent; for there is nothing whereby we can more advance the glory of God, or do more good to men. To instruct the ignorant, to confirm the doubtful, to vindicate the being and providence of God, to shame and baffle atheism and infidelity, to expound the doctrines and laws of our Saviour, and rescue them from perverse glosses and comments; this makes the glory of God more visible to the world and serves mankind in their greatest and dearest interests; it feeds their souls with knowledge and understanding, directs them in the way to heaven, and minds them to take care of their eternal state."-SHERLOCK on Future Judgment, p. 316. 18.) till God reveal what is farther necessary to them (Phil. iii. 15.). But that besides these there were many others, whose religion was too pharisaical in zeal for their own party, with a dangerous presumption upon that, like that of the Jews heretofore; and others again, the worst of all, men of no religion at all, but of design and interest, who, by pretended zeal for what they have no concern in truth, abuse all the rest; and such have been the chief authors and promoters of all our troubles."-Unaccountable Dealings of Roman Catholic Missionaries, p. 2. EDWARD STEPHENS, the author of this pamphlett, was an odd personage, a sort of seceder from the Church of England in which he was ordained, who at the beginning of the 18th century formed a Church of his own. The principles and practice of our little society, he says, (p. 39) are truly catholic and unexceptionable, that I verily believe no person can forsake our communion, to communicate either with the Church of England, or the Church of Rome itself, without incurring the guilt of schism." And at the close he says that SO |