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<DATE>2014-09-29</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch Z140312.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="B17877">
<STC T="W">B3022</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]12036861</BIBNO>
<VID>196529</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE BISHOP OF CANTERBVRY <HI>His CONFESSION.</HI> WHEREIN Is declared his con&s;tant Re&s;olution, his Plots, and indeavours, to intraduce Popery into <HI>England,</HI> and to advance the Roman Catholick RELIGION. Being from his owne hand, &s;ent and directed to the POPES Holine&s;&s;e. Expre&s;sing to his Holine&s;&s;e his &s;orrow for the unhappy &s;ucce&s;&s;e, and failing of all his labours and endeavours, for the Avancement of POPERY.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed in the Yeare, 164<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"></P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="confession">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>THE BISHOP OF CANTERBURIES <HI>CONFESSION:</HI> Sent unto the Pope.</HEAD>
<P>MO&s;t holy Father of the Roman Catholike Church, (generally acknowledged the undoubted &s;ucce&s;&s;our of Saint <HI>Peter,</HI> and Chri&s;ts immediate Vicar) I hum|bly be&s;eech your Holine&s;&s;e, to meet this my Confe&s;sion with the Armes of mercy, and excu&s;e my unfortunate zeale for the promoting and enlarging of your Sea and Vniver&s;all Epi&s;copacy; I will now &s;trip my &s;oul naked, with as much humility as ever did any confe&s;sing penitent. Your Holine&s;se hath long &s;ince under&s;tood, that as &s;oon as I knew Letters and Learning in the Vniver&s;itie of Oxford, I addicted my &s;tudies to know the chief points and principles of the Roman Religion; on that foundation, I builded, all the &s;tructure of my Faith, yet kept my opinion &s;ecret, and did my Acts in the Schooles at Oxford <HI>(contra Papicolas)</HI> again&s;t the Papi&s;t, but in my heart I was <HI>(pro Papiculos)</HI> for (the Adorers of your Holine&s;&s;e) the Papi&s;ts.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="3">
<P>And being cho&s;en to be Governour of Saint <HI>Iohns</HI> in Ox|ford, which had in it then good wits, and propen&s;e to ambi|tion, the&s;e I cheri&s;hed; and &s;ent &s;ome of them to travell, un|der pretence of Accommodation of manners, but indeed to drinke in the ayre and Religion of forraign Countries; e&s;pe|cially, to &s;ea&s;on them with the &s;alt and &s;avory Holy water of your Sea, &s;ome of them returned again well in&s;tructed in the tenents of the Romi&s;h Church, and fir&s;t in affection to the Supremacy of your Holine&s;&s;e in all Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall matters, tho&s;e imployd them&s;elves <HI>(Semina Eccle&s;iae Catholicae &s;pur|gere in vulgus)</HI> to &s;ow the &s;eeds of the Catholike Religion in the hearts of the common people, but they were &s;uch bad ba&s;e, and barren ground, that they would receive nothing but the preci&s;e &s;eed of Puritan Doctrine. <HI>Sed odi prophanum vulgus,</HI> I ever hated the &s;imple common people, as things that ought to &s;uffer; holding this for an Axiome:
<Q><L><HI>Anglica gens, Optima Flens,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Pe&s;sima ridens.</HI></L></Q></P>
<P>The Engli&s;h Nation were ever good when your Holine&s;&s;e held a &s;trict hand over them, and the Clergy were your Re|ceivers here in England; (which times the ignorant called the time of Popery) but now &s;ince the authority and power of your univer&s;all Bi&s;hopricke hath been expelled out of England, what is England but a Chaos of Confu&s;ion? An out&s;ide of Religion: Prie&s;t and people rebelling again&s;t God and their gracious King CHARLES, whom in my heart and &s;oul I can never enough reverence; for after I had for&s;a|ken the Vniver&s;itie of Oxford, and was known by the title of Doctor <HI>Lawd,</HI> and Bi&s;hop of St. <HI>Davids</HI> in Wales, I accor|ding to my name, thought that
<Q><L><HI>Magna placui&s;&s;e viris non ultima laus e&s;t.</HI></L></Q></P>
<P>That it was a point of wi&s;dome to plea&s;e great men, e&s;pe|cially,
<PB N="3" REF="3"> my Soveraign King CHARLS and his good Queen, who being farre di&s;tant in opinion, I endeavoured to recon|cile them to the Roman Religion: The beams of the Kings favour &s;hining on me, I flouri&s;hed in the Court, by Policie more then by Divinity; and Bi&s;hop <HI>Abbot</HI> dying, I was by my Soveraigne made Archbi&s;hop of Canterbury, an honour (as your Holine&s;&s;e well knowes, and was glad to under&s;tand) the greate&s;t that could be conferred in England on a Church|man; having all power <HI>Iure Divino,</HI> in Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall mat|ters: And when I was advanced, I beganne to &s;hew the <HI>('ENERGIA)</HI> and efficacie of that Roman belief, which I had formerly conceited; I did endeavour the advancement of your Holine&s;&s;e Supremacy, and to e&s;tabli&s;h the Catholicke Roman Religion, both in the doctrine and di&s;cipline of the Church of England, but unhappy events make bad the be&s;t intents; I did but <HI>(inita ova excludere)</HI> hatch &s;ome windy egs of my own de&s;ires, which in promoting your Holine&s;&s;e Pa|pall dignity I could never effect; yet I be&s;eech your Holines to take notice of your humble &s;ervants diligence in &s;ome par|ticulars, and grant my endeavors this favorable cen&s;ure, <HI>Quod in magnis velui&s;&s;e &s;at e&s;t,</HI> that the will in high attempts is to be accepted: when I was firmly &s;eated in the Epi&s;copall dig|nity, I cau&s;ed the Vniver&s;ities to put on the opinions of the Roman Church, and made Arriani&s;m the Cloak under which it &s;hould have entred in; all the mo&s;t pregnant wits in the V|niver&s;ities were drawn to be Papi&s;ts in heart, in hope of pre|ment, which I be&s;towed on tho&s;e that a&s;cribed all Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|call glory to your Holine&s;&s;e; &s;o that the &s;prings of Learning (Oxford and Cambridge) finding how I carried on the &s;treame of Religion untill it &s;hould come unto the Sea of Rome, began all to incline to advance Roman tenents, and all Heads of Hou&s;es were either Arrians or cordiall Papi&s;ts.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="4">
<P>The Colledges had in their Chappels, Altars erected, and &s;o likewi&s;e, Altars were erected in mo&s;t Churches in Eng|land, thus farre I had introduced &s;omething of the Romane Religion: and I brought in Ceremonies, as nece&s;&s;ary mat|ters, be&s;ides Organs were heard in every Church on Sun|dayes, and to make Religion more plea&s;ing unto the people, one Doctor <HI>Rocklington,</HI> did by appointment, write a Book intituled, <HI>Sunday no Sabboath;</HI> and all liberty was permitted on the Sabbath day, for the people (I know) would affect an ea&s;ie and plea&s;ant way of Religion, which by my contriving, was &s;trewd with Ro&s;es, and faire &s;hewes of Ceremonies.</P>
<P>And when I found that &s;ome of the Zealots, or Engli&s;h Puritans, endeavoured to oppo&s;e my Will, and to write and preach again&s;t me, as intending to rai&s;e the Hierarchy of the Clergy, who with my &s;elf, would have willingly become obedient &s;onnes unto you our Holy Father: I being exa&s;pe|rated with high and divine rage, and holy indignation, I cau|&s;ed divers of the Reformation, &s;tirring and painfull Divines, to bee impri&s;oned. I had my Pantacou&s;ts or my Church Scouts, that went abroad to hear Sermons, and if they could bring me any accu&s;ation again&s;t the Puritan Preachers, I would interpret it to be a point of <HI>Le&s;ae Maie&s;tatis vel Reli|gionis,</HI> either Trea&s;on again&s;t Maje&s;tie, or again&s;t Piety: for I knew that Kings mu&s;t be upheld in their greatne&s;&s;e, that they might maintain us Bi&s;hops, under your Holine&s;&s;e, who are the <HI>&s;ummum G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">nus,</HI> in the predicament of the Church: and under your Holine&s;&s;e, all degrees of Clergy-men are con&s;ti|tuted by the differences of their &s;everall Orders.</P>
<P>And be&s;ides, be plea&s;ed Holy Father to under&s;tand, that I confe&s;&s;e I was yours in heart and affection, &s;triving to actu|ate and perform, what I could never bring to pa&s;&s;e. I u&s;ed all the meanes I could, to &s;ettle the Roman Religion in Ireland,
<PB N="5" REF="4"> but was unhappy in obtaining my ends yet I did, proceed, <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 span"> vere lapidem,</HI> to move forward every occa&s;ion, and every &s;tone to the erecting and building up of the Roman Church, whereof your Holine&s;&s;e is &s;upreame Head.</P>
<P>And to that purpo&s;e, if any known Papi&s;t (as the Refor|mers call them) were brought before me, I examined them with all the mildne&s;&s;e and favour that I, could extend to|wards them, multiplying their accu&s;ations: and patronizing and defending (as your Holine&s;&s;e well knowes) &s;ome Prie&s;ts and Roman &s;eed men, as namely one a &s;ubtile Agent for your Holine&s;&s;e and the Catholick Religion, al&s;o <HI>Sancta de clara,</HI> was by my meanes maintained and cheri&s;hed, and kept a long time from the rigour of the lawes of England, that doth im|po&s;e death on any of the&s;e Emi&s;&s;aries which are, &s;ent out from Rome or other places to &s;erve your holine&s;&s;e, and di&s;|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">inate and &s;ow abroad the Papall Religion: On the con|trary I di&s;countenanced, and di&s;couraged all the profe&s;&s;ours, of the Prote&s;tant Religion e&s;pecially, tho&s;e forward or rather factious fellowes, Ma&s;ter <HI>Burton,</HI> Ma&s;ter <HI>Brin,</HI> and Doctor <HI>Ba&s;twick,</HI> men (as I thought of a &s;trange temper, but being a Privy Coun&s;ellour, I &s;ate upon them as their Iudge in the Star-Chamber, and condemned them with the re&s;t of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> Coun&s;ell to an ignominious puni&s;hment which was to loo&s;e their eares, and after that kept them in pri&s;on: but all would not &s;erve to &s;uppre&s;&s;e the Reformed Religion, which I &s;ought to change into that which they call Popery. And moreover I privately cau&s;ed many Catholicks books to be printed and publi&s;hed, as namely the Book called, The Introductor to a divine life, and another intituled, The Epi&s;tle of Ie&s;us Chri&s;t to a devout &s;oule; and tho&s;e books were licen&s;ed by my Chap|lain <HI>Haywood,</HI> and di&s;per&s;ed abroad among&s;t the Engli&s;h Catholicks.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="5">
<P>But yet for all my indu&s;try, my favouring of knowing Papi&s;ts, my policie, my printing of books, &s;urpri&s;ing of zealous preachers; I was unhappy in my proceedings, my intents layed open and di&s;covered, and all the endeavours of my life for your holine&s;&s;e and the Roman Religion de&s;troy|ed in a moment; I was by the Parliament now a&s;&s;embled in England, together with my other fellow Bi&s;hops put out of the Hou&s;e of Parliament, and my &s;elfe (as your Holine&s;&s;e long &s;ince hath under&s;tood) was committed to the Tower, where I now remaine, and I that was once the feare, am now the indignation of the people; I look dayly to come to my grand tryall, and to receive the expected &s;entence of death, which I will undergoe like a Chri&s;tian, my greate&s;t &s;orrow being that I &s;hall not live to doe your Holine&s;&s;e that &s;ervice, which I de&s;ired in advancing Popery and the Catholicke faith, yet that I might give your holine&s;&s;e &s;ome accompt of my diligence and labours in the great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of the Ca|tholick Cau&s;e, I have &s;ent unto your holy hands this Con|fe&s;sion of my Life, and if I dye for my affection to your holine&s;&s;e and the Papall &s;eas, I will carry my prayers for your holine&s;&s;e into Heaven, de&s;iring al&s;o your holine&s;&s;e. Benediction on your mo&s;t humble and unhappy Servant,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>WLLIAM LAUD <HI>Arch-Bi&s;hop</HI> of CANTERBURY.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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