Chapter XVII. A Catalogue Of The Laws Against Catholics Made By Queen Elizabeth And Confirmed By This King, And Of Others Added By Himself.
It hath ever been one point of policy in the Government of England, since the beginning of persecution there, to hide the same from the knowledge of the world, and from being judged to be such by other kingdoms round about them, as much as could be possible. To this end they have ever sent and maintained their instruments in other countries to[542] maintain that opinion in men's minds. To this effect often advices have been[543] sent into all Princes' Courts by letters, which their friends and favourers there should publish and procure to be believed. For this cause, when any Catholic Princes' Ambassadors have come into England, there hath been cunning wits ever employed to resort unto them and possess them with a different conceit from that which is and hath been the true state of Catholics in England. And if they were such as come with intention to labour for the help or ease of Catholics in any sort, then, perhaps, for a time there should be some cessation, or else some hope or half promises given, of toleration, or mitigation at least, in that matter. And that which they could not hide from being seen, they would at least cover, and keep from being known to be persecution for cause of religion. And, therefore, both in their laws at home, and letters of information sent abroad, would invest the same with other names, as of treason, and [pg 316] offences against the State; when nothing less than disobedience to the civil government was found in Catholics, nor any subjects in the realm more faithful, or loving, or obedient to their Prince in all things which were not against their faith or religion. Yet did the politics ever with printed books endeavour to prove that all was but the execution of justice against traitors and persons disobedient to the State. But herein they follow the platform of the first enemies and persecutors of Christ and His Church; and we the example of our Master, suffering as He did, for that which we neither preach nor practise, nor can be proved against us. Although they cry out never so loud, “Invenimus hos subvertentes gentem nostram,”[544] because we desire to draw them to their ancient faith and profession of the same: “et prohibentes tributum dari Cæsari,”[545] because we will not grant the supremacy in ecclesiastical matters which he affecteth, (for as for other corporal tributes, none are so ready as Catholics to pay all duties): “et dicentes se Christum et regem habere[546] alium,”[547] because we say and profess that the Pope is Christ His Vicegerent on earth and governeth His spiritual Kingdom, and we His children and subjects in this spiritual government.[548]
Therefore, although they cry out never so much that this is “contradicere Cæsari,”[549] and that whosoever doth favour this cause is not “amicus Cæsaris;”[550] yea, though they cry, “Crucifige, crucifige,”[551] against us, and lay the heavy cross of persecution upon our shoulders for this cause, we must and will have patience, because it is [pg 317] Christ His cause and quarrel, and not as they affirm, and would have the world believe, that we suffer for matter of State, or for stubbornness and disobedience to[552] the King or civil government.
And that the truth may herein the better appear, I will now, according to my former promise, set down a Catalogue of the laws that are made and stand in force against Catholics in England, which being carefully considered by the discreet and pious reader, I will ask no other judge than himself, either touching the greatness or the cause of persecution in England, for I know he will both see and say much contrary to that which the politic heretics in our country and their favourers in other places have given out, and would gladly have to be believed.
And albeit there be many severe and rigorous laws and statutes in force against Catholics at this day in England, that were made by King Henry the Eighth after his revolt from the Church of Rome, as also in[553] the Governors of King Edward the Sixth, under whom religion was first altered and the sects of Zuinglius and Calvin were brought into our country: which laws and statutes, being repealed by the Princes of pious memory, King Philip and Queen Mary, were revived again and established by the authority of other Parliaments under Queen Elizabeth and the same confirmed, as hath been said, by His Majesty that now is: yet do I not think it necessary to set down[554] in this place any other statutes than such as were made and allowed by these two latter Princes, which comprehend all the other, with many additions and aggravations besides. And in citing them, I will use as near as I can the very words themselves of the statutes, as they are in print.
First, then, Queen Elizabeth, coming to the crown in [pg 318] the year of Christ 1558, she called a Parliament soon after, in the said first year of her reign, wherein she repealed all the good statutes and laws which her sister, Queen Mary, had made in favour of Catholic religion, conform to the laws of all her ancestors, Kings of England, from the first Christian King until that time, except the latter end of her father's reign, King Henry the Eighth, and the minority of her brother, King Edward the Sixth, whose laws in favour of schism and sectaries[555] Queen Elizabeth revived, adding many of her own, which after do ensue.
And first of all, she meaning to break principally with the See of Rome, as well in regard of her nativity, which the said See held not for legitimate, as of the favour borne by the said See to Queen Mary of France and Scotland, mother to our King that now is, then living and reigning in prosperity, and much envied and suspected by the other; it was enacted that every Englishman, of what state, degree, or condition soever, whensoever he taketh any office, dignity, ecclesiastical benefice, or holy orders, any degree of school, university, profession, or other promotion temporal or spiritual, shall take a corporal oath upon the Evangelist protesting and swearing that he doth utterly testify and declare in his conscience that the Queen is Supreme Head of the Church of England and not the Pope; and that neither he nor the See of Rome had any ecclesiastical jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-eminence over that Church, nor ought to have. So help him God.[556] Stat. an° 1° Elizab. cap. 1°.
And moreover, that whosoever shall refuse to take and make this oath, being required thereunto, shall for the first time of denial, not only be disabled of the foresaid preferments, offices, degrees, and dignities whatsoever, but also lose and forfeit all his goods and lands to the said Queen, and suffer perpetual imprisonment as in case of [pg 319] præmunire. And for the second time, if he persist three months in the same after the first tender, and will not take and pronounce the same oath in form aforesaid, then he shall forfeit, lose, and suffer death, and other like pains, forfeitures, judgments, and executions as is used in cases of high treason. Ibid. et an° 5° cap. 1°. This treason you may see was only against the state of heresy and schism, not against the State of Queen or Commonwealth.
And then yet further. Whosoever shall by writing, printing, preaching, or teaching, by express words, deed, or act (for so are the words of the statute), advisedly and directly affirm, hold, set forth, maintain or defend the authority, power, or jurisdiction spiritual or ecclesiastical of the Bishop of Rome, or his See, heretofore claimed or used within the realm of England, or of any other dominion or country thereunto belonging; for his first offence he shall forfeit and lose all his goods and chattels, as well real as personal: and for the second offence, besides the loss of goods and lands, he shall be cast into perpetual prison: and for the third time (if again he offend in defending the said Pope's authority), he shall suffer the pains of death, and other penalties, forfeitures, and losses appointed in the cases of high treason. An° 1° Eliz. cap. 3° et an° 5° cit°.
And then for conclusion. Whosoever shall be aiders or abettors to any such offenders, assisting or comforting them to set forth and extol the said power and ecclesiastical authority of the Bishop of Rome, or to refuse the foresaid oath in form before set down, and shall be lawfully convicted thereof; they shall for the first time lose all their goods and lands, and for the second be condemned to perpetual prison as in the statute of provision or præmunire. An° 5° Eliz. cap. 1°.
And these punishments were afterwards more increased by another Act of the same Queen, in the fifth year of her reign, where it was ordained that all aiders, counsellers, [pg 320] and comforters[557] in this case should for the second time suffer the pains of death, and other forfeitures and losses of their goods, lands, honours, and nobility, as in cases of high treason. An° 5° cap. 1°.
It was ordained in like manner, for preventing of the Catholic education of all English youths, that no person shall take upon him to be a schoolmaster or teacher of children, either in public schools or private houses, except he first take the said oath against the Pope's spiritual authority, and that he believe the supreme authority of the Queen in all causes ecclesiastical. Ibid.
Moreover, it is enacted by authority of the said Parliament that all clergymen shall leave and abandon from this time forward the old Roman use of Latin service, Mass, and administration of other Sacraments, and shall betake themselves to say or sing the same in English in all churches and chapels, and to administer the Sacraments after the manner, rites, and fashion which is set down and prescribed in a new book of Common Prayer set forth for the purpose, and he that shall refuse to do so, or shall use any other rite or form of service or Sacraments than is therein appointed, shall for his first default be committed to prison for six months and lose the fruits of all his ecclesiastical living for a whole year, and for the second offence shall lose all his living for ever and lie in prison a year, and for the third time shall be condemned to perpetual prison all the time of his life. An° 1° Eliz. cap. 2°. Here you may see what it is they intend when they urge Catholics to come to their churches and service, and that it is no act of temporal duty or obedience in civil matters which they require (as they will sometimes pretend, to make us thought disobedient and stubborn), but a renunciation of our old and the only true religion and a conformity to their new doctrine. This is the thing which we refuse, and for which they call us recusants, and for [pg 321] which they punish us by many and severe penalties, as shall appear by those that follow.
And conform to this it was also decreed that if any layman that hath no ecclesiastical livings shall be present at any other sort of service than the aforesaid appointed in the common book of prayer, as, for example, at Mass or Roman service, or shall receive any other sacraments, or after other manner, form, or ceremony than is there prescribed, he shall, for the first time of his so offending, forfeit an hundred marks of lawful English money unto the Queen, for the second four hundred marks, and for the third shall lie in prison all days of his life. And if he refuse to come to the church he shall pay xiid. for every Sunday and holiday wherein he faileth. Anno 1° et 5° Eliz. cap. 2°.
These laws made Queen Elizabeth in the first five years of her reign. But afterwards, growing more angry with Catholics and Catholic religion, but especially with the See of Rome for the sentence of Pius Vtus against her, she added many bloody laws more, in the thirteenth year of her reign. As, for example, that if any man shall bring into England or into any of the dominions thereunto belonging, from the Pope of Rome or from any man that hath authority from him, any Bull, writing, instrument, or authority to absolve or reconcile any person, or to promise any such absolution or reconciliation by speech, preaching, teaching, writing, or any other open deed, that then all and every such act or acts, offence or offences, shall be deemed and adjudged by the authority of this Act to be high treason. And as well the offenders as the procurers, abettors, and counsellors, shall suffer death and other losses as traitors. Anno 13° Eliz. cap. 1°.
Moreover, that if any person within the realm of England or dominions thereof, after the first day of July, Anno Domini 1571, shall willingly receive or take any such absolution or reconciliation from the said Bishop [pg 322] of Rome or any of his successors, or by any that have authority from him; yea, if he shall receive or admit any manner of Bull, writing, or instrument from the said See of Rome, written or printed, containing any such thing, matter, or cause whatsoever, or if any offer thereof, motion, or persuasion being made unto him, shall not disclose or reveal the same to some of the Privy Council, all shall be high treason in him, and he shall suffer death and other losses for the same, as in cases of that crime is accustomed. Ibidem.
And yet further, that whosoever shall bring into any dominions of England after the time before named any token or tokens, thing or things, called by the name of Agnus Dei, or any crosses, pictures, beads, or any such like, from the Bishop or See of Rome, or from any person or persons authorized from the said Bishop or See to consecrate or hallow the same; or shall deliver or offer, or cause to be delivered, any part thereof to any subject of this realm, or of any the dominions thereof, to be worn or used in any wise, that then, as well the same person or persons that shall receive the same to the intent to use and wear, being thereof lawfully convicted by the order of the common laws of this realm, shall incur the penalties, pains, and forfeitures provided by the statute of præmunire, which are the loss of all his lands and goods and perpetual imprisonment. Anno 13º Eliz. cap. 2°.
Now when, by the acerbity and peril of so many cruel laws and statutes, divers Catholics, being terrified, desired and sought means to go into voluntary banishment beyond the seas, and to leave the realm either with or without licence, the Queen, understanding thereof, prevented them with another new law the very next year after, enacting that all and every person and persons, of what state, degree, or condition soever they be, under the obeisance of the said Queen, who sithence the first day of her reign have passed or hereafter shall pass into any dominions [pg 323] of foreign Princes without her special licence by writing, under the great seal of England, privy seal, or privy signet, and shall not return within the space of six months next after proclamation made for them to return and yield their bodies to the custody and ward of the sheriff of the county, &c.; all such persons shall forfeit and lose to the said Queen the whole profits of their manors, lands, tenements, and hereditaments during their lives, and all their goods and chattels for ever. Anno 14° cap. 6°.
Moreover, that if any person, born under the obedience of Her Majesty, have or shall pass into foreign countries with leave and licence, as before is prescribed, and shall not presently, within six months after the expiring of the said licence, return home and yield their bodies in custody, as is before prescribed, shall suffer the same loss of goods and chattels and the rents of their lands as the other that went forth without licence.
And whatsoever conveyances, estates, grants, leases, gifts, or devises, they or any of them shall be found to have made of their lands and goods for their own relief to defraud the Queen, shall be utterly void, and of no validity at all in law. Anno 14º Eliz. cap. 6°.
These laws passed in the first fourteen years of the Queen's government. But afterwards, as she grew older, she did in most Parliaments aggravate the same. As, namely, in the twenty-third year of her reign, taking upon her to expound and explicate the former statute of bringing in Bulls, &c., from Rome, she determineth that by what means soever any man did pretend faculty or power to absolve any person or persons from their sins, or shall reconcile them to the Roman Church, or persuade to the acknowledgment of the Pope's ecclesiastical authority over England, it shall be high treason both to the absolver and the absolved, to the reconciler and to the reconciled, that shall willingly yield thereunto, yea, and to all the procurers, aiders, and counsellors. All which, being [pg 324] lawfully convicted thereof, shall suffer death, as in case of high treason. Anno 23° Eliz. cap. 2°.
And if any person or persons shall come to know of any man so absolved and reconciled, or of any such that doth absolve or reconcile, and shall not, within twenty days at the furthest, disclose the same to some justice of peace, or to some higher officer of the Prince, he shall be taken, tried, and judged, suffer and forfeit as offenders in misprision of treason, vdlt., he shall forfeit his lands and livings, but not suffer death for the same. Ibidem.
Month's Recusance.
In this Parliament also it was decreed, that for so much as many Catholics did upon conscience retire themselves from going to the Protestants' church and service more than before, that every such recusant, being above the age of sixteen years, instead of paying xiid. for every Sunday, which was by former statute appointed, should now forfeit and pay to the Queen 20l. of lawful English money for every month, and, besides this, should be bound to put in sufficient sureties in the [sum] of 200l. at the least for their good behaviour, and so to continue bound until such time as the person so bound do conform himself to come to church. Anno 29° Eliz. cap. 2°.
And, moreover, because it was presumed that every recusant would not be able to pay this 20l. a month for his recusancy, it was enacted that such as were not able to pay the said statute should pay two parts of three of all their lands and goods, so as he that should (for example) have three hundred should pay two hundred yearly to the Queen for his recusancy, and retain one hundred for maintenance of himself, his wife, children, and family.
In the same Parliament it was also enacted that if any person or persons, body politic or corporal, after the Feast of Pentecost then next ensuing, should keep any schoolmaster for their children which should not repair to the church, or not be allowed by the Bishop or Ordinary of the [pg 325] diocese (which allowance could not be had without abjuring the Pope's authority and the Catholic religion, as before hath been showed), then shall he or they forfeit and lose for every month[558] 10l., and the schoolmaster or teacher himself, besides his lying in prison for one whole year, shall be disabled for ever to be a teacher of youth or to exercise that office in any place afterwards.
And to the end that Catholic recusants might be able to pay these payments and pecuniary forfeitures to the Queen, and not be able to make away any part of their livings for their better relief, it was also enacted and declared in this Parliament that every grant or conveyance of goods or lands, every bond, judgment, or execution had or made from that time forward which should be judged to be done of purpose to defraud the Queen, or to save their lands or goods from being forfeited by virtue of[559] this statute, that all such conveyance made by any Catholic recusant since the beginning of the said Queen's reign, or after to be made for the use and relief of the said recusant, or any of his, should not be available in law, but all void, as if they had not been made. Anno 28° Eliz. cap. 6°.
But a little before this, to wit, in the precedent year, the said Queen, understanding that Priests and ecclesiastical men were multiplied in England by reason of the English Seminaries in Catholic Princes' dominions,[560] caused terrible thundering statutes to be made against them. And first, that all and every Jesuit, Seminary Priests, and other Priests whatsoever, made and ordained out of the realm of England by any authority, power, or jurisdiction derived, challenged, or pretended, from the See of Rome, since the Feast of the Nativity of St. John Baptist in the first year of the said Queen's reign, 1559, [pg 326] shall within forty days depart out of the realm, and shall not return again without peculiar licence of Her Majesty, under pain of death and other losses and forfeitures accustomed in cases of high treason. Anno 27° Eliz. cap. 2°.
And then, secondly, if any subject of the realm whatsoever, after the said time of forty days expired, shall wittingly and willingly receive, relieve, comfort, or maintain any such Jesuit, Seminary Priest, or other Priest, Deacon, Religious, or ecclesiastical person as is aforesaid, knowing him to be such an one, such suffer the pain of death, and other losses, as in case of felony. Ibidem.
Moreover, it was enacted by authority aforesaid, that if any of Her Majesty's subjects or their children, now being or hereafter shall be brought up in any College of Jesuits or Seminary already erected or hereafter to be erected in the parts beyond the seas, shall not within six months next after proclamation in that behalf, to be made in the City of London under the great seal of England, return into this realm, and thereupon, within two days next after his return, before the Bishop of the diocese, or two justices of peace of the county where he shall arrive, submit himself to Her Majesty and the laws, and take the oath of supremacy against the Bishop of Rome his ecclesiastical jurisdiction, set forth in the first year of the Queen's reign; that then every such person otherwise returning or abiding without such submission and forswearing his religion, as is aforesaid, shall be adjudged a traitor, and suffer, lose, and forfeit, as in cases of high treason. Anno 21° Eliz. cap. 6°.
And it was further enacted in the same Parliament that, if any subject of the Queen's, after the foresaid forty days expired, shall either by way of exchange, bank, merchandize, or any shift or means whatsoever, wittingly and willingly, directly or indirectly, convey or send over the seas or out of the Queen's dominions any money or other relief to or for any Jesuit, Seminary Priest, Deacon, [pg 327] Religious, or ecclesiastical person, scholar, student, or the like, or for the maintenance or relief of any College or Seminary already erected or to be erected, that every such person so offending shall lose all his goods and lands and suffer perpetual imprisonment, as in case of præmunire. Also it was enacted that whosoever should send over any such students as aforesaid to the Seminaries shall for every time forfeit 100l.
The Statute of confinement.
And yet further, in the year 35 of the Queen's reign it was enacted that every recusant persevering in denial to go to the Protestants' churches should be bound to go to their ordinary places of dwelling, and not to depart from thence above five miles, under pain of losing all their goods and chattels. And they which should have no certain dwelling-place should repair to the place where their father and mother dwelt, under the same pains and forfeiture. And he that should fail in this either is condemned to live in perpetual prison or to abjure the land. Anno 35° Eliz. cap. 2°.
And yet this being not thought sufficient severity in this kind, another statute was made, ordaining that whosoever, by printing, writing, or express words, deeds, or speeches, should practise or go about to move or persuade any of the Queen's subjects to deny her power in ecclesiastical causes, or to abstain from going to the Protestants' church, or to be present at any unlawful assemblies under colour or pretence of any exercise of religion contrary to Her Majesty's laws, or shall themselves refuse for three months' space to go to the said churches and hear divine service, that then they shall be forced to abjure the realm and go into perpetual banishment, or if they refuse the same, they shall suffer death and other losses for it, as in cases of felony. Anno 35° Eliz. cap. 1°.
These are the chief statutes made against Catholic religion in general by the late Queen Elizabeth. For we do pretermit divers others more particular, and concerning [pg 328] particular persons. As, for example, that of the 28th of her reign (cap. 1°), wherein the Lord Thomas Paget, Baron, Sir Francis Inglefield, Knight (one of the Privy Council to Queen Mary, of worthy memory), and other Catholic gentlemen, were attainted of treason, their goods and lands confiscate, upon the former statute of fugitives, for that they either went forth of England without licence, for preservation of their consciences, or returned not when their licence was ended.
Another statute was also made in the 39th year of Queen Elizabeth's reign (cap. 8°), wherein it was decreed that all such Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, and other spiritual Prelates of Queen Mary's time, as were deprived by this Queen's ecclesiastical authority, for that they would not accommodate themselves unto the form of religion by her set forth, were well and lawfully deprived, and by their deprivation the said bishoprics were made merely void, and the others invested in their places by the Queen's authority were only the true Bishops and had lawful episcopal jurisdiction.[561] And divers other such particular things, which in this place we think good to pass over.
All these statutes, then, of Queen Elizabeth against Catholic people and their religion, being so grievous and rigorous, as you see, were confirmed by His Majesty that now is, without any restraint or mitigation, in the first Parliament, as before hath been said, with divers other aggrievances thereunto added of new; as that Catholic recusants should not only pay the 20l. a month ordained by the former statute for such as refused to go to the Protestants' church and service for conscience sake, but, besides this 20l. a month to be paid for himself, he should also pay 10l. a month for his wife or children that shall refuse to go to the said churches, yea, and another also for his servants.
Moreover, that all such young men or children that shall study on that[562] side the seas (being Catholics) or frequent the schools or Colleges of any of the Jesuits, or shall not return home within a certain time limited to give account of themselves and their religion, shall forfeit their inheritances in England and other dominions of His Majesty, and the next of his kindred shall enjoy the forfeiture that will conform himself, &c.
And furthermore, whereas, in the beginning of his said reign, certain new canons, constitutions, and ordinances were agreed upon by those of the Protestant clergy to molest and afflict Catholics withal, by pretended censures of excommunications, as, namely, that four times at least every year all preachers, readers of divinity, and all other ecclesiastical persons, in sermons, collations, and lectures, shall teach open and declare to the people that all authority and jurisdiction of the Pope of Rome (as a thing not having any ground by the law of God) is, for most just causes, taken away and abolished, and that therefore no manner of obedience or subjection is due thereunto, but only that the King's power, which in his dominions and countries is the highest power under God, above all other powers and potentates upon earth; and that whosoever denieth this, let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored but only by the Archbishop after his repentance and public revocation of those his wicked errors. These are the words of his first two canons.
And the same punishment is laid upon whomsoever shall hold or affirm that the Church of England now established by law under His Majesty, is not a true and Apostolical Church, teaching and maintaining the doctrine of the Apostles.
And many other things like unto this, passing from one article to another of their sect, and binding Catholics, under pain of excommunication, to believe and hold [pg 330] all that they hold, or else to be vexed with citations, condemnations, excommunications, and other vexations, together with the writs and processes de excommunicato capiendo, as before you have heard suggested by the Chancellor. Unto all which His Majesty gave consent and authority by his letters patent, under the great seal of England, upon the year 1603, and first of his reign, in these words:—
“We have, for us and our heirs and lawful successors, of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion given, and by these presents do give our royal assent to all and every of the said canons, orders and ordinances and constitutions, and to all and everything in them contained. And we do, by our said prerogative royal and supreme authority in causes ecclesiastical, notify, confirm, and establish, by these our letters patent, the said canons, orders, &c., and all and everything in them contained. And, moreover, do straitly enjoin and command by our said authority, and by these our letters patent, that the same be diligently observed and executed,” &c.
So His Majesty, in the first year of his reign, after he had confirmed and revived all the laws of Queen Elizabeth made and executed against Catholics; by all which he made it evident unto his Catholic subjects that he would not only continue and go forward in the steps of Queen Elizabeth touching the persecution of Catholics, but increase and add unto the same. For this increase of afflictions, which was laid upon Catholics the first year of his reign, was little in respect of that which was intended against them. Which divers of the forward Puritans did not stick to affirm and to threaten in the King's name, as Roboam did in the beginning of his reign, saying, “Minimus digitus meus grossior est dorso patris mei. Et nunc pater meus posuit super vos jugum grave, ego autem addam super jugum vestrum; pater meus cecidit vos [pg 331] flagellis, ego autem cædam vos scorpionibus.”[563] To the like effect did many of his officers give out His Majesty's intentions to be; which, though we may presume to have been contrary to his royal disposition, yet they did so far prevail with him, that he afterwards verified what they had foretold, by confirming the former laws of Queen Elizabeth and adding unto them as you have heard. But especially when he called the second Parliament, and in that suffered to be packed together all the principal Puritans of the realm, whose insatiable hatred against Catholics we knew very well would never take up until they had made laws answerable to their mind and malice against us. Then they all before the Parliament consulted, and concluded of the bills and laws they would urge to be passed against Catholics, as afterwards, indeed, it was performed. And many of those intended laws were known to divers Catholics long before the Parliament time, which, as it is thought, was a great motive unto the gentlemen to undertake their rash and dangerous conspiracy, as deeming so desperate a course to be a needful remedy in so desperate a case.[564]
End Of The Narrative.