THe Policy of the Church of Rome consisteth principally in dividing it Self into Divers and Sundry Orders, which are provided to retain all Humors in Mankind. By this, She maketh Her Interest strong and powerfull: and preserveth Her self from ruine; without which, She could not have continued to this Day, or bin able to act any thing to the hurt or detriment of the reformed Churches.

First, As to the diversity of Orders amongst them; their only Policy to those who despise the Wealth of the World, and that can content themselves with Poverty, are the Mendicants; their Prelates abound in Riches, their Hermits and Capuchins for se­verity of Life, their Cardinals for Pomp and Glory, their Jesuits for Learning, and all manner of Sciences; their Popes and Pre­lates exercising Soveraignty and Princely Command: They take especial care to ingage and ravish all manner of Humors. On the one side of a Street, you shall have a Nunnery, or Cloister of Vir­gins; on the other side a Sty of Courtizans. One day you shall have them all in Masks, with all manner of Obsceneness and Folly that can be imagined, or the corrupt nature of man desire; the day following they will be all in Processions, whipping themselves un­till the bloud commeth. On one Door you shall have Excommuni­cations, throwing Souls and Bodies to Hell: on another Door, a Jubilee, or full Discharge of all Villanies, Murthers, Fornication, Drunkenness, Swearing, Forswearing, Poysoning; in a word, all manner of sin, Leudness, and Impiety: They were led to this Po­licy by the hand of Confessions; by that means they come to dis­cern the nature of Mankind in general. They do not hold it safe to restrain any of these Humors, lest it should cause Eruptions, and make their Subjects seek some other way for to vent them in; so that these Orders are as Sinks to receive the Humors. They have not the sword of the Spirit to destory Vice, nor the Word of Truth to [Page 2] convince of evil Doing; therefore they must trust to carnal Poli­cy: For the more growth sin hath among them, the more the Church in­creaseth in Riches, for that all punishment upon the matter, and par­dons, are Pecuniary. The wayes they have to ravish all sorts of affections, as is said before, are well nigh infinite, there being not any thing either Sacred or Prophane, no Vertue or Vice almost, nothing of how contrary condition soever, which the Church of Rome maketh not in some sort or other to serve Her turn, that each fancy may be satisfied, and each appetite find what to feed on. Whatsoever their Wealth can sway with its Lovers; or volunta­ry Poverty with the despisers of the World; what Honour with the Ambitious; what Obedience with the Humble; what great Imployments with stirring or Martial spirits; as the Orders of Knights, that of Rhodes, St. John of Jerusalem, those now of Malta, that of the Knights of St. Morris, and St. Lazare amongst the Sa­voyards, established by Pope Alexander the fourth, 1644. the Knights of the Order of the Dog and Cock in France. The first were to wear a Collar full of Stags heads, with the Image of a Dog to hang thereon, to signify fidelity; these followed Philip the first, King of France in his Wars: Those of the Cock, signified watchfulness, and had a Cock for their Blazon, for that the An­tients accounted it to be a Bird of Mars: The Order of the Knights of the Ginit in France: The Order of the Knights of the Leli, in the Realm of Navar: The Order of Knights of St. Mary in Jerusalem, of St. John of Accon, and of St. Thomas, of St. Saviour in Arragon, Knights of Mountjoy in Syria: The Order of Knights of the Glo­rious Virgin in Italy: The Order of the Knights of the Golden fleece in the Houses of Burgundy and Austria, with above 200 more Orders of Knights too large here to be mentioned. These Orders are for their Metall'd and Active spirits. Also, they have their perpetual provisions, for their Heavy and Restive Bodies in their Cells: What content or pleasure nature can take in Pass-Times and Jollities; What contrariwise, the Austere mind in Disci­pline and Rigor; What Love, either Chastity can raise in the pure; or Voluptuousness, in the impure or dissolute: What allurements are in knowledg to draw the Contemplative, or in [Page 3] Actions of State to imploy the Polititian: What Miracles with the Credulous: What Visions with the Fantastical: What Ceremonies can do with the Superstitious: What Prayers with the Devout: What dispensing with breach of all Rules, with Men of lawless condition: In sum, whatsoever the Heart of man can desire, he is fitted with, in the Storehouse of the Church of Romes Politicks; for himself to pursue, or at least to Adore or Reverence in another. This is the main Wheel on which the Church moveth, and keepeth fast Members of all sorts; so that, by this means of providing for the several Humours of the Members, it enjoyeth the more quiet in it self, and be­commeth able to oppose and disturb the Reformed Churches; They have other strings to their Bow, besides this aforemen­tioned, which is indeed the chief. The one is their Mira­cles.

Another is, their keeping the Laiety in Ignorance.

For their Miracles: the numbers are infinite that they reckon up­on, but they are all of the same stamp and Impression with these, viz. the representation of the Virgin Mary with the Babe, their Eyes to move at certain times: it is performed by Engine work, secretly contrived to cheat the people into a belief of their Fop­peries: the lifting up the hand of the Image of the Virgin, in imitation of blessing the People, and the like. Her Image giving Milk on the Day of the Nativity, conveyed by small Tinn Pipes at a great distance, begot the admiration in the people, and an Implicit faith of all these wonders. A subtil Jesuite shall make his abode five or six years more or less, being blind (at least seem so to be) by Dying the inner skin of the Eye, by a water distil­led from a certain Herb, not fit to be mentioned here; or seem Lame, or Leprozed; or otherwise by Guzmonds Art of raising an artificial Leprosy, now used among some Beggars, to move com­passion in the Charitable. When he is well known, he shall come and implore the aid of such a Saint: Immediately he shall be as whole as a Fish, and his sight shall be restored; then that Saint is repaired unto far and near; offerings come plentifully; Thus they contrive to enrich the Church, and if it chance that any Bath [Page 4] or Spring break forth of the Earth that passeth thorow any mine­ral, and is of Physical use (as all such are) it is Dedicated to one Saint or other; and sometimes waters of no vertue at all naturally, are cryed up to be for such and such uses, as the Well or Water of St. Winifrid, or the like. People repair to it, to use it: the which, together with the opinion that they have of it, doth effect some kind of cures. It is a true saying, that the Patients good opinion of the Physitian or means, is more then half the cure. The Polititians of the Church of Rome know the truth of that saying, therefore they use all means possible to increase the faith of their Patients or Clyents; which maketh their cure more certain and easy. It is known to Physitians, that several Distempers are cured by the strength of Imagination, as well as several Natures are subjected to several Distempers by Imagination. As in time of Pestilence; many that would dye of other diseases than what was prepared by the Humors, or Disorders in nature. The Fear and Imagination of the party distempered, is as a mould to cast the form of the thing feared in: though others do dye of it, being prepared, as tinder is apt matter for fire; so they more aptly are subject to the Influences operating at that time. God maketh use of second means, although that of the Plague be an immediate dispensation from Him, and is as it were a thing distinct from, and other than, the ordinary workings of Nature.

The Church of Rome are very well acquainted, and do much study Natural Magick, and are very good Proficients therein, as in many hundred cases, they may be traced in their Legends; as most of all which may be performed by the natural Magical Art, though they ascribe unto them the honour of Miracles: As for Example, that of St. Francis, his great wonder of kindling a fire with Ice. We must here let you to know, that it is easy for Artists to make such a composition, that so soon as one drop of water toucheth it, it shall become a violent flame; the which is effected by Antiperi­stasis; that is to say, the strengthning and opposing any quality against its contrary, as of cold against heat; it may be represented in a more familiar Example, as that of the firing of Corn or Hay­stacks, when stackt too moist or wet; it doth not fire, because of [Page 5] heat and dryth, but it fireth because too moist or cold: which is able to oppose, though not overcome the other; qualities being stirred, devour the matter that retained them both. Also the Church of Rome is acquainted with Sorcery, or Diabolical Magick; the which, was practised by Pope Alexander the 6th. Who, the Papists themselves cannot deny, but that he gave himself to the Devil; who was not only the wickedest of Men, but also the wick­edest of Popes: He bestowed the Riches of the Church upon his Bastards; he made away the Brother of Bajazet for a sum of mo­ney, though he fled to him for protection; he used his own Daugh­ter Lucretia, the Wife to three Princes. Innumerable examples might be given of this nature too large here to be insisted upon: So much as to their Miracles, and the means by which they effect them.

Secondly, As to their other part or branch of their Policy, viz. Their practise to divide the reformed Churches: they do it by In­struments and Emissaries of their own, who are sent to divide and infect them with Errors and Contradictions. They, out of the Se­minaries, of the Order of Jesu, do send usually great numbers to all Parts to do this work. This Order was wholly Religious before Luther's time, they vowed the preaching of the Gospel to Pagans, and the Instructing Christians in good Letters gratis. When Luther began to oppose the power of the Church of Rome, they cast off their Religious Vows, and betook themselves to defend the Su­premacy of the Church of Rome to be above general Councils and Princes, by principles and practises of Policy, or rather Devilish circumventing cunning; for they value not the way or means by which they attain to the accomplishing of what they undertake. When seeming Piety shall make way for what they design, they have it at their fingers ends; when the most impious and wicked Act, that ever was on earth done, must accomplish what they de­sign, they there also are most ready: But they make choice rather of seeming sanctity, than of wicked Violations; because the Church hath a better salve to cure the wounds made by the former, than it hath for the wounds made by the latter.

The manner of this political Orders Practise, you shall find in [Page 6] Campanella's Discourse, (one of that Order) touching the Spanish Monarchy, Chap. 25. He adviseth the King of Spain, in the latter End of the Raign of Queen Elizabeth, in these words, Now as con­cerning the weakning of the English, there can no better way possibly be found out, than by causing division and dissention amongst them, and by continual keeping up the same; which will quickly furnish the Spanish Crown, or the Church with more opportunities and advantages than the power of great Armies can procure or produce: As for the Religion of that people, it is that of Calvin, though very much moderated, and not so Rigid, and Austere as it is at Geneva; which yet cannot be so easily extinguished or rooted out there, unless there were some certain Schools set up in Flanders, with which people, the English have great dealing and Commerce: by means of which there should be scattered abroad the Seeds of Schism and Division, in the natural Sciences; as namely, be­twixt the Stoicks, Peripateticks, and Telesians, by which the Errour of the Calvinists might be made manifest: For the truth is, That Sect is diametrically contrary to the Rules of Policy; for they teach, that Whether a man do well or ill, he doth all by divine Impulsion; which Plato demonstrates against Homer, to be opposite to all sounder Policy, which sayes, That every man hath free Liberty of Will, either to do well or ill; So that it is in our power to do and observe whatever is comman­ded, and from hence we are to expect our Reward or Punishment; accor­ding as I have taught in my Dialogue touching Policy, where I have discoursed of this Point, though but briefly; which they, since they have become Hereticks, are grown somewhat subtill in; and yet being of a Nature that is still desirous of Novelties and Change, they are easily wrought over to any thing.

Here may be discerned what advantage they have over us in respect of Religion; and the Reader may perceive the Order and Working of these Polititians; who lay their Designs deep: they study Men, their Minds, Objects, Causes, and their Effects, and the Effects of Effects, ad infinitum: They (and they only) have Iulled this Nation into so many several Lethargies and Sleeps; wherein, Those of this perswasion dream, they only are in the truth, and all others in Errors; So those of another, do the like of the former.

[Page 7] And thus the Jesuit hath divided us, by his observing the seve­ral Humors of the English Nation; those that are more Austere, as the Presbyterian; those that are more pure, as the Indepen­dent, or separate Churches; the Anabaptists, as holy and select, and as persons set apart from the World, by their Submission to that Ordinance of Baptism, at years of Discretion: The Diffe­rence is not much material, yet the Jesuit maketh use of these Distinctions, to carry on his design, by promoting of every one of them, and by keeping them at an eaven poyse; and sometimes again subdivide, that thereby, whilst he divideth them that are most near to the Truth, he may work the better upon those that are of a baser Mind and Humor, and that will receive more gross Principles, more remote from the Truth: And those he practiseth upon such who have not a spirit of discerning, but have some Affection to devotion, as on the Seeker and the Quaker; more loser Principles on the Familists and Ranters; merrier and pret­ty-conceited Devotions amongst the Rosicrucians, and Psalterists, or Halilujaists, or Singers; so of many others: But he sometimes must make use of Truth, and the wayes of Truth, to gain advan­tages in his Design; as the Devils in the possessed, said, What have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth; thou Son of the most High God? The Devil acknowledged Christ to be the Son of God, in design; for the People seeing him to be acknowledged by the Devils, they drew this Conclusion, That he did cast out Devils by the Power of Belzebub, the Prince of Devils: the De­vils would never have confessed, that he was the Son of God, but to produce that contrary Effect: So the Jesuit doth not promote, or cast himself under, those forms that are true, or near the Truth, to any other end than to produce those contrary Effects before premised, viz. to divide and subdivide, to render the Churches lesse formidable or powerful in opposing the Church of Rome; if not subvert them, and bring them back to the Obedience of the Church of Rome. That this is certain, and not taken up upon conjecture, is evident, by the practise of Thomas Ramsy, of the order of Jesus, who joyned with a gathered Church at Hexam, in the North of England, under this pretence, That he was a [Page 8] Jew, and gave himself his name, Joseph Ben Israel; his particular Instructions was to insinuate the Doctrine of Free-Will, the which he did accomplish, and carryed on with a High hand, untill he was discovered; detected, and cast into Prison: One that got more than ordinary advantages of Familiarity, obtained of him the Discovery of many secrets in the Policy of the Jesuits practice, some of which are these; The waies that they practise in their Seminaries, to bring up youth, and render them fit for the intended Imployments, they put them upon, are; They, First ob­serve the Genius of the Party, and observing the peculiar Gifts he is naturally indowed with, they fit him only for that service; he learneth some Trade (to hide and blind his Order,) which he practiseth; by this means he becometh Eminent amongst those of that perswasion he casteth himself into: and, to put him into such a condition, that he may be freed from the stings of Conscience, they first teach him to swear, curse, damn, and forswear; and immediately to implore the Throne of Grace, with all pious De­votion imaginable: By this means they become flexible, and fit for any design that lyeth before them to promote; and if Consci­ence still should pursue them, their Pardons help at a dead lift.

And this they warrant from that Maxim, That no way is to be refused, whereby the Felicity and Peace of the Church of Rome is to be promoted and secured: Let it be by any means whatso­ever, lawful or unlawful. These things considered, How much doth it behoove all that truly fear God, or have any true sincere Religion in their breast, to detest and decline the thought of con­demning this Form, or that; in regard Religion doth not lye in Forms, but in the powerful practise of all Holinesse, and godly Conversation; and therefore consent to some Natural Harmony, or Form necessary to the Truth, that the union thereof may be such, as it may be able to make head against the Church of Rome's designs, and the Projects of the Devil; else we shall continually be divided and subdivided, till at last we shall neither have form or substance left, and be hurried into all manner of Confusion. The Truth of which is to be seen at this day amongst us: How do the giddy and unstable, run out of one thing into another! The [Page 9] Devil and Jesuit can scarcely invent that which hath either see­ming Form or Order in it, fast enough, or so fast, as giddy People, that were never well principl'd in Religion, are ready to be led away captive by poysonous Notions that are daily distilled amongst them, to the ruine of their own Souls, and to the disho­nour of God: Who, so soon as they are tainted by those delusi­ons, immediately think themselves illuminated by Divine Light, as we see by sad Experience at this day amongst us, by People that yield Obedience, and submit to all manner of Delusions, and conform to them as Impulses from on High; which is nothing else but the Effects of depraved minds, agitated, illuminated, and acted by the Evil One.

The Art of the Jesuits is manifest: Another way which ser­veth them to great purpose, is, the loosening of People from Prin­ciples; and when effected, distill Notions to pursue after the dis­covery of new Lights, and instead of meeting with that which is Light, they close with what suiteth to their corrupt Minds or Ends: The Inferiour sort of every Perswasion, when the Jesuit hath distilled his poysons amongst them, receive the Notions and Principles as Truth, and many of them worship under those Forms and Notions, as in Spirit and Truth. The chief of most of them do joyn with them out of corrupt Ends, to be Head of the Facti­ons, to exercise a kind of Domination, which is delightful to mankind: so that the Jesuit doth no more than first distill a Poy­sonous Notion, and nurse it, and defend it, till it be indifferent considerable: when accomplished, it will subsist of it self, and put it self into Form and Order. Then when he hath done that by Error, if that should grow too fast, he allayeth it, by subdivi­ding of it by some true Notion, or some other erronious Notion, which are equally alike to the Jesuit, for that the end of his de­sign is, Dividing. When he hath devided and cast a Nation into many and various Forms, he hath accomplished and arrived to his End; then, if he can Procure, Foment, or Stirr up Dissatisfaction and Jealousies betwixt the Interests, there he keepeth them in continual ebbing and flowing; and naturally every Perswasion will incline some to one Interest of State, some to another: As [Page 10] for Example, the Episcopal doth naturally incline to a Monar­chy.

Campanella did give the King of Spain the best advice to practise this kind of Policy; yea, he commendeth it before the opposing of England by Arms. The reason why he chose the Doctrine of Free-will to be first set on Foot in England, was, because that Opinion concludeth Man to be a free Agent, which looseneth and freeth the Disciples thereof from more firm and founder Princi­ples, and prepareth them to seek after new Lights; and when once arrived to this degree, immediately they turn Enthusiasts, who pretend, or think that all they do, is done by the Spirit, and that they are attended by the Spirit of Revelation: Our Quaker is much pestered with the Malignant Influence of this Opinion.

The Jesuit, by this means, doth not only divide People, as to Religion, and thereby render them lesse formidable against the Church of Rome, but also, bringing an evil Report upon the Pro­testant Religion, disuniteth the affections of the Professors there­of, and causeth Jealousies, Heart-butnings, and Animosities, One against the other; and taketh them off from the Power of Religi­on, to defend Forms and Distinctions: and, that which is worst of all, thereby increaseth so many distinct and different Interests of State, as there are considerable perswasions in a Common­wealth. When a Perswasion is grown up to be considerable, it giveth occasion for Factions in State; Thereby, some ambitious men will become the Heads of this or that Faction, and by the Power of the Faction they Head, become Mighty.

Now, if a State be led by such Principles; W [...]at wickedness shall not it be led into? What Villanies shall not they attempt? What so Sacred, that they shall not Violate? Or, what Interest or Right will not they invade? What shall limit them, if they find opportunity to attempt the accomplishing, or the attaining to their desire? Miserable is that Nation that is subject to such In­conveniences; that are poysoned with Opinions: The World is mistaken, when they apprehend, that the Jesuit worketh imme­diately in Councels to produce Turns and Changes of State; No but he worketh by remote Causes, such as are here before pre­mised; [Page 11] that is to say, by infusing Notions destructive to publick safety, at first into the common People, then it is drunk in by great Ones, then it Cleaveth and Divideth a Nation into so many In­terests as there are Perswasions; then he applyeth matter suta­ble to the Humor, and most apt to be received by the several Per­swasions which shall work naturally such Effects; and as it is the Policy of the Church of Rome to preserve it self, by providing su­table entertainment for each Humor within it self; so, it is to de­stroy other Churches, by several Poysons for each Humor.

Therefore it behooveth all Christian States to endeavour to fortifie themselves with Union: When a State hath arrived to consistency, its Form and Order, is a barr to the Jesuits Operations. Those States that are divided, have no means to stay themselves from falling down the precipice of inevitable Ruine. The Jesuit doth not only operate by distilling Notions in Religion, but also in affairs of State; as for Example, in the Case of our Controversies between the Late King and the Parliament; the Parliament made Warr with Him, because that the discon­tents of the People did bear them up, and inabled them so to do; the which discontents were heightned by the Jesuit. When the Warr was Ended, and the King overcome in the Field; it is evident, that the Jesuit stirred up those Sons of Belial to stain their Hands with his Sacred Blood; the Jesuit also did practise and endeavour to incline the People to a Commonwealth: but in its Infancy also he endeavoured to stifle it, and prevent its ariving to a consistency, lest it should be too firm and heavy for him to move. Also it is his design to endeavour the altering of a Commonwealth again into a Monarchy, and a Monarchy that is erected out of a Commonwealth into an Oligarchy; not that any one of the forms of Goverment will be more Subservient to his design than any other, but that he may alwayes practise Changes: by which means a Protestant State is exercised with strugling In­terests within it self, so that it shall be less formidable and dan­gerous to the Catholike States.

That these things are not Conjectures, or taken up by supposi­tion onely, or that these and such other Rules and Practises they [Page 12] follow, is plainly demonstrable by Adam Contzen the Jesuit, in his Politick, Chap. 16, 17, 18.

Take notice that one of their Maxims is, that the Magistrate hath nothing to do with matters of Religion. As that Maxim serveth their purpose to strengthen the Power of the Chruch, and weaken that of the Magistrate in Catholike-States. So it serveth their purpose in Protestant States to weaken the Magistrate, and lay all in confusion in the Church.

As he here prescribeth means to inrich the Popish Ministery, he adviseth the impoverishing the Protestant, that they may be­come disabled and discouraged to study and labour in the Work of the Ministery, as also that by poverty they may become con­temptible: Indeed the Protestant-Minister is an Eye-sore to the Catholike; and those that Cry out against Ministers maintain­ance, do nothing else than the work of the Jesuit.

That he here saith of Contentions, is sufficiently practised: First, To Create them; And Secondly, To Foment them. That which Contzen principally taketh notice of, is, That Order in the Puritans or Professors of Religion in England, is easy to be ef­fected: But he adviseth, that the Magistrate, or Agent for the Church of Rome, do make use of the Protestants differences, and not permit them to Unite; but rather persue all Wayes and Means of contriving Dis-union, fomenting of Breaches amongst the Professors of Religion of all sorts, and more especially the Church and State of England, than any other; for that it is the greatest State or Kingdom that is in Europ, that is freed from the Barbarous and Intolerable Yoke of the Papal Soveraignty or Supremacy; it is a Place whence the Church of Rome hath been plentifully supplyed with vast sums imposed upon this Kingdom, and obtainted from it: It is evident, that what is here afferted, is no less than Truth; and it behooveth all Interests and Perswasi­ons to reconcil to, conform and unite, and decline being Authors of Discord in the Church: Certain it is, That that which must be able to stand like a Rock against the violent and open Force of the Church of Rome, and its private undermining Policies must be something else then general Indulgence; He who hath any reason, and hath observed any thing of the Practice and Policy of the [Page 14] Church of Rome, must conclude, that it must be Union under a well-governed Church, that must be managed by Councell that must be careful of making good their Ground, and be able to de­tect their Policies and new Contrivances.

I shall add one thing more of Campanella, Chap. 18. Advice to the King of Spain.

Neither would I have this one thing to be omitted; namely, that He erect certain Colledges through all the Provinces of his Dominions, in which should be placed all the most Ingenious Boyes of the said Provinces; (and who are such, may easily be known, by their first Masters, that taught them their Gram­mers, and other the First Rudiments) and these, being thus culled out of all Grammer-Schools, I would have to be brought up, and maintained at the Kings Charge; and there should be a New Order set up of them, like that of St. Do­minick; which Order I would have called, The Austrian Order. And when any of these were come to be 18 years old, they should then be commanded to Preach: and these I would have to be called, The Kings Preachers; and they should then be sent abroad, some into Germany, and others into England: where, if they have managed their business rightly, and well; at their return they should have Bishop-ricks conferted upon them by the King, of those that are in the Kings own Gift: for, by so doing, he shall render himself secure, both from the Pope, and also against all perfidious Preachers and Hereticks; and by this means such persons only shall be maintained at His Charge, as do him service for it, and advance His affairs.

This is an evident Demonstration of the Practises of the Church of Rome; and it would not be amiss, if that something of the like nature were undertaken for the Church and State of England. Chelsey-Colledge Erected, might be of use, and become a good Expedient against the underminings of the Church of Rome; the Hinderers of that Work, were no Friends to the Church of England. How far any can be deemed a Friend to Church or State that is a Roman Catholick, is a great Question: For that all Pretences, Oaths, Abjurations (what not?) in their Opinion may be absolved by the Pope: If so, what can a Pro­testant Prince or State expect from them? they may be Friends to Him in a degree, less or more, as their Interest shall lead them, and not otherwise.