MR. Varillas has with­in a few Years gi­ven the World so many-Books of His­tory, and these have been so much read and so well received, that it seems he thinks he is now so far possessed of the esteem of the Age, that he may venture to impose upon it the falsest coyn that can be struck, not doubting but that the [Page 4] name Varillas stampt upon it will make it pass current, and this being a time in which some have thought that they might doe whatsoever they pleased a­gainst those of the Religion, he it seems thinks he may likewise say whatsoever he pleased against them, that so there may be a due proportion between the in­juries that he does them with his pen, and those that others make them feel with severer tools, and perhaps he thought the severities that are now exer­cised upon them, are so contra­ry to that tenderness with which the humane Nature, not to say the Christian Religion, is apt to inspire all that are not trans­ported with such violent Pas­sions that they drown the Mo­tions [Page 5] of our bowels towards the miserable, that nothing could divert the World from those merciful inclinations but the dressing up the first beginnings of the Reformation in such o­dious representations as might possess the Age with so much fury against them, that none of the miseries that they suffer, might create the least Compas­sion for them.

It is true, Princes have their Prerogatives with which they take great liberties as their se­veral passions are excited and dextrously managed, the desire of glory mixing with a heat of blood, at one time can pro­duce a w [...]r, as terrible in its con­sequences, as it was injustifiable in its first beginnings, and the [Page 6] same ambition mixing with a su­perstitious disposition of mind, and working upon colder Blood, can at another time produce a violation of Edicts that have been solemnly sworn to, and often confirmed, and accompany that with a sequel of Severities, that are more easily lamented than ex­pressed; yet an humble regard to the sublime character of a Crown'd Head lays a restraint on those Groans, which we would rather stifle than give them their full scope, least the language of our Sorrows look like an accusing of those, whom, after all that our brethren have suffered at their hands, we would still force our selves to reverence, and therfore we choose rather to sup­port our grief, than to vent it at [Page 7] their cost. But small Scriblers, who have set a price upon their pens, and sacrifice our reputa­tion, that they may merite a pen­sion at the hands of the chief In­struments of our Brethrens suffe­rings, are not to look for such res­pect: he that fights against the Laws of War ought to expect no quarter when he is taken.

A Historian that favours his own side, is to be forgiven, thô he puts a little too much life in his colours, when he sets out the best sides of his party, and the worst of those from whom he disfers: and if he but slight­ly touches the failings of his Friends, and severely aggravates those of the other side, thô in this he departs from the laws of an exact Historian, yet this biass [Page 8] is so natural, that if it lessens the credit of the Writer, yet it does not blacken him, but if he has no regard either to truth or de­cency, if he gives his imagination a full scope to invent, and his pen all the liberties of foul language, he ought not to think it strange, if others take some pains to ex­pose him to the World. And thô their Conscience and Religion obliges them to take other mea­sures with relation to Truth, and their Breeding engages them to a strict modesty of Stile, yet if the things that are said are as severe as they are true, and as wounding as they may appear soft, it is no­thing but what a Zeal for Truth, and an Indignation at so much ill­managed injustice draws from them.

[Page 9] It is not to be denied that Mr. Varillas has an art of writing that is entertaining he pretends to dis­cover many Secrets to give pic­tures of Men to the life, and to in­terweave the Histories that he relates with a thread of Poli­tiques that is very agreable, only this appears to be overdone, and those who have had much prac­tice in humane Affairs see that the conduct of the World is not so steady and so regular a thing as he loves to represent it, unlookt for Accidents, the caprices of some Tempers, the secrets of A­mours and Jealousies, with other particular Passions are the true sources of almost all that is trans­acted in the World; even Inter­est it self does not always govern Mankind, but Humour and Pas­sion [Page 10] have their turns, and oft times the largest share in humane affairs. So that I ever thought that his books had too much of the air of a Romance, and seemed too fine to be true. He does indeed now and then, to maintain his Reputa­tion in his Reader's mind, vouch some letter or narrative, but he neither tells whither it is in Print, or in Manuscript, or where he had it, and where others may find it: so this way of Citation looked suspi­tious, yet I could not easily take up such hard thoughts of him as to imagine, that all this was his own Invention: but being in Paris last Summer, I had the good fortune to become acquainted with some men of great probity, and that had particularly applied themselves to examine the History of France [Page 11] with great exactness; they were of the Church of Rome, and see­med to have no other dislike at Mr. Varillas, but that which was occasioned by the liberty, that he had given himself, to writ his own Imaginations for true Histo­ries they assured me there was no regard to be had to any thing that he writ, that he had gathered to­gether many little stories, which he knit together as he pleased, and that without any good Authority: and they told me that the greatest number of the pieces he cited were to be found now here but in his own fancy. In a word, they spoke of all his books with a sharpness of stile, and a degree of contempt, that I will not re­peat, least I seem to come too near his forms of speech, which are the [Page 12] worst Patterns that one can fol­low.

I found he was generally so much decried in Paris, that he has reason to say in his Preface, that when the Archbishop of Paris thought on him, all the World had abandoned him, for I did not find any Man under a more universal Contempt than he was, and the esteem in which his Works were held in Forreign Parts far beyond what was paied them in France, was imputed to his Method of Writing, that wants none of the beauties of History except that of Truth, and to the Ignorance in which Strangers live as to the Particulars of their History. It is true, at last he has found a Patron and a Pension, and now he has given us an Essay of his Merits; [Page 13] but if this Work is examined se­verely, he will very probably soon lose his appointments; since mer­cenary Pens are seldom paied longer than they can be useful. Here one finds so much occasion for censure, that whereas in other Books one must run up and down to find matter for a Critical Judg­ment, here it occurs so copiously that a Man must take care not to surfeit his Reader with too much of it; and therefore must choose out the more remarkable Errours and there are even so many of these, that it is to be feared that the World will not think him not his Writings worth the time and the pains that must be be­stowed on them.

Mr. Maimbourg has set a Pat­tern to the World, that thô few [Page 14] wil care to imitate, yet it has ta­ken so much with the present Age, that it is no light indication of its degeneracy, when surch books are so much read and sold, in which the Writer seems to have so broken loose from all the common measures either of ho­nesty or shame, that one would wonder of what composition he were made, if they did not know that he has lived 50▪ years the in Ie­suite Order: for as he has no regard to truth, or likelyhood in what he writs, so he seems to be proof against the evidentest discove­ries of his prevarications that are possible; and when they are laid open in a manner capable of making any man besides himself to blush, he neither has the conscience to confess [Page 15] his errours, nor the sense of ho­nour to justify himself: but he finds out still new matter to writ on, and a new stock of Champaigne wine, as I have been told, that he has oft said, to make his blood boil till he has spoild an other piece of History; and he thinks a scorn­full period or two in a Preface is enough to carry off all the shame to which his errours ought to condemn him. He has also the Impudence to dedicate his books to the King, and the world is still willing to be cosened by him. This trade has succeeded so well with him, that it seems Mr. Varil­las vies with him in it, and as he has the chaster stile, and the more natural way of misleading his Reader, so he has resolved not to be behind him in a bold quality [Page 16] that I love not to set down by its proper Name. But thô Mr. Varil­las has the art to refine upon the pattern that Mr. Maimbourg set him, yet Mr. Maimbourg is the Author of the Invention, and therefore he deserves the better Pension.

History is a sort of Trade in which false Coyn and false Weights are more criminal than in other Matters; because the Er­rour may go further and run lon­ger: thô these Authors colour their copper too slightly to make it keep its credit long. If Men think there are degrees of Lying, then certainly those that are the most loudly told, that wound the deepest, that are told with the best grace, and that are trans­mitted to Posterity under the de­ceitful [Page 17] colours of Truth, have the blackest Guilt; but some Men have arrived at equal degrees in hardning their Consciences and in steeling their Forheads, and are without the reach either of inward Remorses or publick Dis­coveries; so that as Augustus fan­cied there was a charm in the Pillour of a Roman, that died hugely indebted, since without an extraordinary saporiferous composition he could not fancy how such a Man could sleep se­curely; so if humane Nature did not often produce some very irre­gular Individuals, a Man that feels the Authority that Truth and Modesty have ever a pure mind, can not easily imagine by what secret others can quite ex­tinguish those Inclinations which [Page 18] he finds are so prevalent in him­self. But I will now by Mr. Varil­las's leave take the liberty to set before him some of his most con­spicuous errours, and thô I do not expect much sincerity from himself, yet I hope the world will be juster than he has shewed himself to be.

Mr. Varillas begins his History with a view of the progress of that which he calls Heresy, in a Pro­phetick stile, setting, forth what effects it was to produce, as if he were foretelling what was to fall out, and that for 11. pages (accor­ding to the Impression of Amster­dam) this has so little of the air of a Historian, and is so full of the fi­gures of a Declaimer, that it looks liker the strain of a heated and angry Fryer, than of a grave [Page 19] and serious Writer of History, who ought to be always in cold blood, and ought not to let the heats of a vitious Rhetorick transport him. But this is so like one of the forced raptures of some Missionary, that one would think it was writ either by one of them, or for one of them. It is much a safer thing to prophe­cy concerning matters that are past, than concerning those that are to come, and one is less in danger of committing errours; yet when heat enters into mat­ters of History, and meets with so vast a deal of Ignorance as is that of Mr. Varillas, no won­der if it carries him into great er­rours.

If Mr. Varillas had gathered the History of the last Age out of any [Page 20] Books or out of those Letters tha [...] he so often vouches, pag. 5. he could not have said that Edward th [...] 6th's Tutor or Governour was the Duke of Northumberland, since there is not any one Book writ concerning that Time, that does not shew the contrary. The Duke of Somerset was his Gover­nour, and for the Duke of Nor­thumberland, thô the last two Years of that Reign, in which that King was past the Age of Tutelage, he bore the chief sway of affairs, yet he had neither the Character of the King's Tutor or Governour, nor any other what­soever, but only that of a Privy Councellour, that was much considered by him, and he at his Death professed that he had been always a Catholick in his Heart, [Page 21] so that his pretending to be of the Reformed Religion to serve his interests, shews that he belongs no more to our Church, than the now forced Converts belong to that of Rome.

In the same page he says that Mary Queen of Scotland did by her Bastard Brother's persuasions marry a single Gentleman, and on the Margent he gives his Name Henry d' Arley; this is a new proof how little he knows the Books of the last Age. This Henry whom he calls d' Arley was Henry Lord Darly, eldest Son to the Earl of Lenox, which was one of the chief Families of Scot­land, and a Branch of the Fami­ly of the Stewarts. It is true it came off from it before the Crown came into it by Mariage, [Page 22] yet the Grandfather of this Henry had matched with one that was very near the Crown, and Cosen German to K. Iames the 4th's and Sister to Hamilton Earl; of, Aran this Lord Darly's Mother was also Uterine Sister to K. Iames the 5. being the Daughter to the Queen Dowager of Scotland that was K. Henry the 8th's Sister, who by her second mariage with the Earl of Angus (Dowglass) had Lady Isabel Dowglass, who was bred in the Court of England, and whom K. Henry the 8. maried to the Earl of Lennox, that had by her this Lord Darly, who as he was the Queen of Scotland's Cosin German, was also the next Heir to the Crown of England after her, and might have been a dangerous Competi­tour to her in that Succession, ha­ving [Page 23] been born and bred in En­gland, so that this mariage was so far from making her con­temptible to her Subjects, that it was considered as the wisest act of her life: and Mr. Var. could not Imagine any thing more honou­rable to the Earl of Morny's me­mory, than to make him the advi­ser of so wise a choice. It is no wonder to see Mr. Var. make so bold with meaner persons, when he takes so much liberty wiht the Royal Family of England, as to stain their descent, for which if the consideration of the Crowns they wear, did not restrain him, yet the particular regard to the King that now reigns, ought to have taught him so much respect as not to have ventured to blot his Scut­cheon so far as to call his Great [Page 24] Grandfather a single Gentleman and if he had payd the respect he owed to the Memory of that un­fortunate Princess, he had no [...] enlarged so much on her Story, but I know what is due to the Memory of a crowned Head, even when it is laid in ashes, and thô he makes an easy weakness to be her prevailing Character, upon which he would discharge all her Misfortunes, this Picture is so different from the Truth that she was certainly one of the wit­tiest and highest spirited Women that ever lived.

But it seems Mr. Varillas has pretended to some Pension from the Crown of England, and in re­venge for the disappointment he has resolved to debase the Race all he can. Here he affords our [Page 25] Kings the honour to be descen­ded at least from a Gentleman, Lib. 9. thô one of the ordin ariest sort; Pag. 249. but upon another occasion he is not so liberal, for in his Histo­ry he says that Henry the 8th had reasons to desire the mariage of his Bastard Son the Duke of Richmond with his Daughter Mary, that were too well known, for libels had been spread over all Europe, reproaching him that his Great Grandfather was not a Gentleman, but that by his credit at Court, and by the vast riches that he had acquired, he had ob­tained leave to marry a Daughter of the Family of the Plantaganets, that was then 16. degrees distant from the Crown, and yet by that means his Grand-child came to reign; upon which he makes a [Page 26] long speculation concerning the King's Reflections on that matter, and the reasons that restrained him from writing on that sub­ject, as if it were an ordinary thing for Princes to become their own Heralds. He also tells us how he comforted himself by the remembrance of the mean­ness of Arbaces K. of Persia, that was the Son of a Locksmith, whose Posterity had reigned so long, and with so much glory, and there­fore he says he designed to marry his Natural Son and his Daugh­ter together. Here is such a mix­ture of Impertinencies, that it is not easy to know at what one is to begin, and if there were but this one period, it is enough to let the World see, how incapable Mr. Varillas is of writing History. [Page 27] I shall not in this place shew the falsehood of that Imputation on Henry the 8th, that he designed this incestuous Match, for that will come in more property upon another occasion; only if his Birth was defective on his Great Grandfathers side, it was an odd method for the correcting of it, to think of adding a new blot, and of bringing a Bastard into the 5th Succession; so the reason is as foo­lish as the matter of fact is false, and the Ignorance that Mr. Var. shews here is the more remarka­ble, because this matter belongs to the most extraordinary transa­ction that is in the whole French History, in which he pretends to be so conversant. I need not say any more to prove the Tudors to be Gentlemen, but to tell that they [Page 28] are Welshmen, of the Race of the Ancient Britons, who do all pre­tend to the highest Birth of any in the English Nation, and do run up their Pedigrees to Iulius Cesar's time; among whom is the Race of the the Ap Theodore's or the Sons of Theodore, that by a corruption of some Ages were called Tudors: but knows Mr. Varillas so little of the French History, as to have forgot that the Daughter of France, that was ma­ried to Henry the 5th of England, in whose right both Henry the 5th, and her son Henry the sixth were crowned Kings of France in Paris, did after King Henry the 5th's death marry Owen Tudor, by whom she had 3. Sons the two eldest were made the Earls of Richmont and Pembroke, being [Page 29] the Kings Uterine Brothers, and the next heirs to that Title, that he claimed to the Crown of France, in the right of his Mother (which I am far from thinking was a good one.) This being the case, it was no extraordinary thing for a man of the Earl of Rich­mont's rank to marry a Lady that was then at such a distance from the Crown, thô it was only in the 6th and not the 16th degree; but I do not insist on this, be­cause it may be only the fault of the Printer, and I will not descend to a doubtful fault, when I have such material ones in my way. I know there are a sort of men that are much more ashamed when their Ignorance is discovered, than when their other vices are laid open, since degenerate minds are [Page 30] more jealous of the reputation of their understanding, than of their honour. And as Mr. Varillas is very like to be of this temper, so if a simpathy with Mr. Maim­bourg has not wrought him up to the like pitch of assurance▪ such discoveries as these ought to affect him a little; and here a man is apt to lose his patience, when he finds such a Scribler pretend to defame the Noblest blood in the world.

There is nothing else in the first Prophetick Rhapsody that re­lates to our matters, so I was inclined to go from hence to a more particular enquiry into our English affairs, Pag. 6. only the Ignorance that he discovers in the next pa­ragraph is so surprising that I will bestow a short remark on it. He [Page 31] says, that the Switzers were so prevailed on by this pretext, that their separating themselves from the Roman Communion was the best expedient to preserve them from falling under the Dominion of the House of Austria (thô it is certain they were then in no sort of fear of that) that the four chief Cantons were seduced in less than a years time; but that the seven little Cantons conti­nued in the belief of their Fa­thers, and the two midle sised Cantons tollerated equally both the Religions.

One would have thought that a man that had pretended to the name of a Historian, would have at least begun his studies with some small tast of Cosmography, and would have taken some [Page 32] pains to know the Map; and as the Switzers are in the neigh­bourhood of France, so they have been so long the Allies of that Crown, that the Ignorance of the Importance of the Cantons is a fault in one that pretends to be such an illuminated Histo­rian, that deserves a worse cor­rection than I think fit to give it. To reckon Basle and Shaff hou­sen among the great Cantons, and Lucern among the small Cantons, Solohern and Fribourg being also so considerable that some reckon them with the great Cantons; and to put Glaris and Ap­peuzel in a superiour order to them that are among the smal­lest of the least is such a Com­plication of errours that it is not easy to imagine how he had the [Page 33] luck to fetch in so many into one period. But this is not all the Ignorance that is in it; for whereas he pretends, that the four Can­tons, that received the Reforma­tion did it in less than a year, this is so false that Zwinglius ha­ving begun to preach the Refor­mation in the year 1519. the whole matter was examined in a course of several years, and at last Zurich received the Reformation in the year 1525. Bern three years after in the year 1528. and Basle a year after in the year 1529. as for Schaff house I must confess my Igno­rance, but there was at least 10 years interval in this matter; and if Lucern is not so much in his favour, because it is the Residence of the Spanish Ambassadour, yet I cannot imagine what has [Page 34] made him degrade Solohern into the number of the small Can­tons, which is the Residence of the French Ambassadour, and is reckoned by many among the greater. But it is likely that he knew nothing of all this mat­ter, except by report, and perhaps he thought the period would run smoother to range the Can­tons thus in the great, in the small, and the midle-sised Can­tons, and that it would also re­flect on the Reformation as a precipitated change to say that 4 Cantons turnd in one year.

But thô Impertinence is a fault scarce to be named, when one has so many of a more cri­minal nature in his way, yet such as are more signal and more advantageously situated for the [Page 35] Reader's eye deserve to be view­ed in our passage, with the scorn that they deserve. Mr. Va­rillas begins his 3. book which opens the progress of Luther's affairs with a Preamble of 38. pa­ges, in which he sets out the state of Europe at that time, so co­piously and with so little judge­ment, that he bestows 14. pages on the Conquests that Selim the Turk had made, and on his de­feat of the Mamelucks. This whole tedious ramble signifies nothing to Luther's matters; but in short it was a secret to swell the Volume, and to raise the price of the book, as well as it must lessen the price of the Author, who shews, how little he un­derstands where he ought to place his digressions. What no­tions [Page 36] does that view of every State of Europe give the world, that doe any way prepare the Readers mind; for what was to come after, unless it be that Mr. Var. being to present a piece of as arrant Poëtry as any that ever pos­sessed the Stage, he thought it ne­cessary to fill it at first with ma­ny Actors, and to make a great ap­pearance, thô none of them were to act any part in his Play? But since he will needs be writing, thô he understands not the common-Elements, I will take the pains for once to instruct him a little how he ought to have made this in­troduction, since he it seems was resolved to begin with one.

He ought then to have open'd the State of Europe with Relation to Religion and Learning; he [Page 37] to have shewed what scandals the Popes and the Court of Rome had given, what was the State of the secular Clergy, the Igno­rance, Irregularity, and vices of the Bishops, and Curates; what were the [...]isorders and dissolutions of the Monastick Orders, both of those that were endowed and of the Mendicants. He ought to have shewed in what sort of Stu­dies they imploied their time, and with what sort of Sermons they entertained the People: and to this he ought to have added some­what of the State of the Univer­sities of Europe; and of the be­ginnings of Learning that were then arising. He ought to have shewed the different Interests, in which the several Nations of Eu­rope were engaged, after the times [Page 38] of the Councils of Constance and Basle; and to this he might have added the State of the Courts of Europe with Relation to Religion, upon all which he might have found matter for a long, and a much more pertinent Introdu­ction. And to conclude, he ought to have told the Dispositions, in which the Peoples minds were, as to those matters: and if he would needs make a vain shew of his faculty of telling of tales, he might have set out the State of the Eastern Churches, after the Treaty at the Council of Florence, and of its effects; of the ruine of those Churches; and of the Igno­rance, as well as misery to which they were reduced by the rigour of the Mahometan yoke. It is true this was not a necessary prelimi­nary [Page 39] to the bringing Luther on the Stage, but it had been much less impertinent, than a long recital of Sultan Selim's Con­quests.

But I am caried too far, and hereafter I will confine my self to that, which does more imme­diatly belong to me. He begins that part of his Advertisement, that relates to the affairs of En­gland, with a sort of an Apoph­thegme worthy of him: he says, it is without comparison more difficult to be exactly true in matters of Re­ligion, than in other matters; since in those others, it is only Interest and Passion that make Men lie; but in matters of Religion Conscience does so entirely conquer all the powers of the Soul, and reduces them to such a Sla­very, that it forces a man to write, that [Page 40] which it dictates, without troubling himself to examine whither it is true or false. Here is such a view of his Notion of Religion, that how false soever this proposition is in it self, yet it gives us a true light of his Ideas of Religion. Good God shall that principle, which does elevate, and illuminate our na­tures, be considered as a more po­werful depravation of them, than that which flows either from Interest or Passion? shall that which is the Image of the God of Truth, and that reduces the Soul to a chast purity of Spirit, be made the Author of the ensla­ving of all our powers, and the emancipating us from all scrupu­losity concerning truth or false­hood? this perhaps is the cha­racter of Mr. Varillas's Religion, [Page 41] thô those that know him well as­sure me, that Religion makes very little impression on him; and if that is true, then his Apoph­thegme fails in himself, since the Interest of a Pension, and the pas­sion of making himself accepta­ble in the present time, have as entirely freed him from all regard to Truth, as ever any false Prin­ciple of Religion did an enraged Zealot. It is matter of horrour to see Religion, and Conscience set up as the violentest Corrupters of Truth: but we know out of what school this has sprung, and it seems Mr. Varillas has so devo­ted himself to the Order of the Jesuites, that he is resolved to speak aloud, that which they more prudently think fit to whi­sper in secret, and indeed if we [Page 42] may judge of him by this chara­cter, that he gives of Religion, we must conclude him to be entirely possessed with it, since never Man seem'd to be less solicitous, than he is, concerning the truth, or falsehood of the things, that hoavers.

He accuses me of favouring my own side too much, and that if I confess some of King Henry's faults, it is only that I may have an occasion to excuse the wret­ched Cranmer. This is some In­timation, as if he had read my Book, but I doe not believe he has done it: for thô I have no great opinion either of his Vertue, or of his Understanding; yet I doe not think, he is so forsaken of com­mon-sense, and of all regard to his reputation, as to have adventu­red [Page 43] to have advanced so many notorious falsehoods, if he had seen upon what Authentical grounds I had so exposed them, that I doe not think it possible even for Mr. Maimbourg himself after all his 50 years Noviciat, to arrive at a confidence able to maintain them any longer, if he had once read my Book, and what I had writ was at least so important, that he ought to have weakned the credit of my Hi­story, by some more evident proofs, than that of saying barely, that I was extreamly partial to my own side. My book was so much read, and so favourably spoken of in France these three Years past, that in common de­cency he ought to have alledged somewhat, to have justified his [Page 44] Censure; but this manner of writing was more easy, as well as more imperious. And if a large Volume of History supported with the most Authentick proofs, that has ever yet perhaps accom­panied any Book of that sort, is to be thus shaken off, it is a vain thing to write Books for Men of Mr. Varillas's temper.

This had been more pertinent, if he had voucht for it a report, which was so spread over Paris, that I had received advices of it from several hands, of a design in which, as was reported, a Cler­gy-man was engaged that has many excellent qualities, to which Mr. Varillas seems to be a great Stranger, for he has both great application, and much sincerity. He has searcht with great exact­ness [Page 45] that vast Collection of Mss. that relate to the last Age, which are laid up in the King's Library, and he had found so many things relating to England, that he inten­ded to publish a Volume of Me­moires relating to our Affairs: he had also said, that in some things he would enlarge himself more copiously than I had done, and that in other things he must differ from me. Matters generally grow bigger by being oft told, so this was given out as a design to write a Counter-History, which should overthrow all the credit that my Work had got. But upon my co­ming to Paris, I found some sincere enquirers into truth, and who by consequence are Men that have no value for Mr. Varillas, who intended to bring us toge­ther [Page 46] that we might in an amica­ble manner reason the matter be foresome of our common Friends▪ and both of us seemed to be so well disposed to sacrifice all to truth, that two Persons of such Eminence, that they can receive no honour by the most advanta­geous Characters that I can give them, who were Mr. The­venot and Mr. Auzont, did pro­cure us a meeting in the King's Li­brary, and in their presence. In which the Abbot as he discovered a vast memory, great exactness and much sincerity, so he con­fessed that he had no exceptions to the main parts of my History; he mentioned some things of less moment, in all which I gave not only our two learned Arbiters, but even himself full satisfaction, so [Page 47] that I quickly perceived I had to doe with a man of honour. He insisted most on the judgment of the Sorbonne against K. Henry's Mariage, which is not in their Registers. But I was certainly informed by a Dr. of the Sor­bonne that their Registers are extreamly defective, and that many of their Books are lost. He alledged a letter to K. Henry that he had seen, telling him, that it was to be feared that he might be displeased with the decision of the Sorbonne, and that it might doe him more hurt than good, which Letter bearing s after the decision that I have printed, does not seem to agree with it. To this I answered, that all the other decisions of Universities being given simply in the King's [Page 48] favours, and that of the Sorbonne bearing only, that the Majority had declared for him, this left a­blot upon the matter, since when the opposition is inconsiderable, decisions are given in the Name of the whole Body; but the men­tion of the Majority imported, that there was a great opposition made, which, thô it was not supported by a number equal to the other, yet was so considera­ble, as to lessen very much the credit of the Decision. To this I added, that K. Henry's printing this the Year after it was given, and none ever accusing that piece of Forgery, Card. Pool on the contrary acknowledging that he was in Paris when it was obtained, these were undenia­ble Evidences of its genuinness, [Page 49] to which he answered by a hear­ty acknowledgment, that he had seen another Letter, in which the detail of the whole Procee­ding of the Sorbonne is set down; and, as I remember, there were but one or two more than the Majority, that opined on the King's side; but the rest were in different Classes. Some suspen­ded their opinions: others, thô they condemned the Mariage, yet did not think it could be bro­ken, since it was once made: and some were positively of the Pope's side. In end, after some hours discours, in which all the Company was fully satisfied with the Answers that I gave, he con­cluded, that as he had seen many more Letters relating to that matter than I had done, so if I [Page 50] thought fit, he would furnish me with a Volume of Authentical proofs for what I had writ, grea­ter than that which I had already printed. And these were the Let­ters of the French Ambassadours, that were in King Henry the 8th's Court, that are in the King's Li­brary; but I did not stay long enough in Paris to procure this.

Now what those Letters of Cardinal Bellays are, upon which Mr. Varillas pretends to found his Relation, I cannot imagine. For as he came not to act in this matter till the last step of it; so his Letters cannot carry any long Series of this affair in them, and they must be far from giving those long excursions, into which Mr. Varillas always delights to wonder. And, as I remember, [Page 51] I was in particular told, that those Letters were in the King's Library, and so, since all that was there, agreed with my His­tory, this must pass among those hardy Citations of Authors, that Mr. Varillas is apt to make, to give credit to his Inventions.

He flourishes a little to shew some small reading, but he is as unhappy in that, as in other things. He mentions Cambden, as having writ the History of that Revolution with some more mo­deration, than he is pleased to al­low me; but he says, he does so constantly favour the Calvinists, in prejudice of those that he calls Catholicks, that one needs only read the first page, that turns up to him, in any part of his Histo­ry, to be convinced of it. This [Page 52] is a very good proof that Mr. Va­rillas never opened any one page of Cambden; Since he does not write of that Revolution. For he begins his History with Q. Elisa­beth's Reign, and says no more of what went before her time, than what amounts to a very short hint of her Birth and Educa­tion, and a general Introduction into her Reign; and that History is writ with so much judgment and impartiality, that as it acqui­red the Author the friendship and esteem of that eminent His­torian Mr. du Thou; so he after Cambden's Death published the second Volume, from the Ma­nuscript that the Author had sent him. If the discovery of a great many Rebellions and Con­spiracies against the Person of [Page 53] that famous Queen is that, which disgusts Mr. Varillas at that His­tory, it is because his Religion has so enslaved his Conscience, that he is so little concerned in Truth or Falsehood, as not to be able to endure one of the gravest Wri­ters, that this Age has produced, because he could not avoid the Recital of those many Crimes, that some of the Men of Mr. Va­rillas's principles as to Religion were not afraid to commit. Af­ter this he mentions another of our Historians, whom he calls Dr. Morton, and to make his Reader know that he is acquain­ted with the History of his Life, he tells us he was afterwards a Bishop; but this is one of the Au­thors of his invention, for thô we had a Doctor Morton, that was [Page 54] Bishop of Durham, and that died about 30 years ago; yet he writ no History. By the Character that Mr. Varillas gives this pre­tended Author, that he was more moderate than Cambden, I fancy he is mistaken in the Name, and that he would say Dr. Heylin, thô this Name and Morton have no affinity; but Hey­lin was no Bishop: it is true, Dr. Heylin has writ so moderately, that some have been severe upon him for it; but I will make no other Reflections on this, unless it be to shew the slightness of Mr. Varillas's way of writing, who it is likely had heard one talk at the same time both concerning Dr. Morton and Dr. Heylin, and he in his assuming way, pretends upon this to give a Character of [Page 55] that History, putting the Name Morton for Heylin; but he never read a Word of Dr. Heylin, thô in his daring way, he pretends to give his Character; and repents himself of the praise of Modera­tion that he had given in prefe­rence to Cambden, and sets it out as an artifice, since whereas Cambden blames always the pre­tended Catholicks without any mitigations, Morton in blaming them counterfeits some pity for them, that is to say, he had some degrees of Mr. Varillas's Charac­ter of Religion. But Dr. Heylin's History being writ only in En­glish, and it having never been translated either into Latin or French, Mr. Varillas cannot give a Character of it from his own knowledg.

[Page 56] From our side he goes to the Writers of the Roman side, and begins with another essay of his exactness to his principles of Re­ligion. For he says, Sanders writ so violently, that it vvas no vvon­der if the Protestants caried their revenge so far, as to force him to die of hunger, in the Mountains of the North of England, to vvhich he had retired. Here are only three capital Errours: for 1. San­ders's Book, concerning the En­glish Schisme, vvas not published till after his Death, so that this could give no occasion for so se­vere a revenge. 2. Sanders did not die in the North of England, but in Ireland. 3. Sanders vvas sent over by the Pope to raise and conduct a Rebellion in Ireland, for vvhich he had immediate povvers from [Page 57] the Pope. He was so active, that he brought an Army together, which was defeated by the Queen's Forces: and upon that he fled into a Wood, where he was, some days after, found dead. So that having received no Wounds, it was believed he died of Hunger. This being the state of that affair, as it is related of all sides, is not Mr. Varillas a very creditable Author, who has the brow to report it as he does? For the Character that he gives of Ribadeneira, it is so embroiled, that I do not think it worth the vvhile to examine it. It is enough to say that Ribadeneira is a Jesuite, that is to say, a Man true to Mr. Varillas his Character of Reli­gion, and his History is nothing but Sanders drest up in another [Page 58] Method. I speak of that which is in Latin, for the Spanish, I have never seen it. For Lesley he is generally a grave and wise Writer, but Mr. Varillas names him, because some body had told him, that one of such a name had writ of those matters, otherwise he had never cited him with re­lation to English Affairs, which he scarce ever mentions, but as they happned to be intermixt with the Scotsh.

In conclusion, Mr. Varillas pre­tends to depend upon Cardinal Bellay's Letters, and so he thinks here is enough to settle, in the spi­rit of his Reader, a firm beleef of all that he intends to write; but let him tell the World where they are to be found, since the printed Volume contains no­thing [Page 59] of the matters, that he pre­tends to cite from him. And since I have printed so many of the Original Letters of that Time, and have told the Reader where they are to be found, I will expect the like from him, otherwise let him cite them as long as he will, I will take the liberty to tell him that I do not believe him. And I think, that by this time I have given him sufficient reasons for excusing my Incredulity, in mat­ters that he gives us upon his own word. Here is enough for a preliminary. But I am affraid I grow heavy to my Rea­der; and that by this time he is so fully satisfied concerning the principles both of Mr. Varil­las's Religion, and his morals, that he begins to lose patience, when [Page 60] he sees how far I am like to carry him in a more copious discovery. But there are a sort of men, that must be severely repressed: and there are some times, in which even a fool is to be answered ac­cording to his folly. Yet I will so far manage my Reader, as not to overcharge him too much: there­fore as to many of those Political digressions, that Mr. Var. makes upon the Interest of England, France and Spain, I will pass them quite over, as the whipped cream that he sets before his Reader. Some of them are not unpleasant, if they were proposed as conside­rations, which might perhaps have had their weight: but his averring them confidently is not to be excused, they might pass in a kind of a Book of Politicks as a [Page 61] refining upon the actions of Prin­ces; but this way of writing is by no means to be allowed in Hi­story, since it is without any sort of evidence, and History ought to relate things as we find they really were designed, and trans­acted; and not as we imagine they ought or might have been. I am now entring upon a subject, in which it will be much more easy for me to say too much, than too little: for Mr. Varillas com­mits so many Errours, that thô I am resolved to let lesser matters pass unregarded, yet I find so ma­ny in my way, which require a discovery, that I am engaged in a task as ingrateful to my self, as it must be severe upon him.

‘1. He begins with an assu­rance, p. 226. that all the rest of Wi­clef's [Page 62] Heresy were so entirely rooted out of England, that the whole Nation, without excep­ting one single Person, was of the same Religion during the Reign of Henry the 7th.’

I am not now near the Re­cords of that time, but in my History I have shewed by the Re­cords of K. Henry the 8th's Reign, that in the year 1511. which was but two years after Henry the 7th's Death, there remain yet in the Registers of the See of Canter­bury the Processes of 41 Persons, of whom 7 were condemned for Hereticks, and delivered to the Secular Arm, and the rest had the weakness to abjure: and from this hint one must con­clude, that Mr. Varillas had no knowledg of our Affairs; but he [Page 63] thought the Period was rounder, and the air of writing was more assuming, when he asserted that the whole Nation, without ex­cepting one single Person, was of the same Religion. The Opi­nions, objected to those Persons, shew, that the Reformation found a disposition in the Nation, to receive it by the Doctrines which were entertained by ma­ny in it: For the chief of them are, that the Sacrement of the Altar was not Christ's Body, but material Bread: That Images ought not to be worshipped: That Pilgrimages were neither necessary nor profitable: and that we ought not to address our Prayers to Saints, but only to God.

But since this may be thought [Page 64] only a flourish of Mr. Varillas's Pen, I go to other matters, in which it cannot be denied that a greater exactness was neces­sary.

‘2. He lays down for a foun­dation to all that was to come after, 228. [...] that P. Arthur was very unhealthy, when he was mar­ried. That he was recovering out of a great Disease, of which he died 5 Months after. It is true, he does acknowledg, that three Words in the Bull, that was granted for the subse­quent Marriage, seem to im­port, that this Marriage was consummated: yet he takes the Word of the other Historians, and repeats this of P. Arthur's ill Health so often, that he ho­ped, it seems, by that means [Page 65] to make his Reader swallow it down easily.’

Here he had writ a little more artificially, if he had set over against this, on the Margent some citation of a Letter, or Recital, vvhich vvould have cost him no­thing, and have been full as true, as his other citations are. Many Witnesses that vvere examined upon Oath, deposed before the Legates, vvhen this matter vvas examined, that P. Arthur vvas of a good Complexion, vigorous and robust, when he vvas mar­ried; that he bedded vvith his Princess every night: and the Decay of vvhich he died, vvas ascribed to his too early Mariage. And of this Mr. Varillas takes some notice, vvithout reflecting on the consequence, that the Rea­der [Page 66] might naturally draw from it; 240. for he says, K. Henry the 7th delayed the marrying of his se­cond Son 6 years after he had ob­tained the Bull, and that the Death of his eldest Son made him apprehend the loss of his second Son; if he married him so young. And thô he intervveaves a Poli­tick reflection, according to his vvay, that is to say impertinent­ly, and says, if this fear vvas not altogether just; yet since K. Hen­ry the 7th had no other Son, it vvas not altogether unreasonable. But it is obvious that this is altoge­ther impertinent, if P. Arthur's Mariage vvent no further than a publick Ceremony. But there are other circumstances that over­throvv this, as much as a thing that is of its nature secret, is ca­pable [Page 67] of being disproved. It is said by our Historians, who writ at that time, that the Spanish Am­bassadour took proofs of the con­summation of the Mariage. And in the Bull of dispensation, for the subsequent Mariage, this was al­so supposed as a thing that was perhaps done. But thô our Au­thor set on the Margent the pre­cise Words, p. 239. in which he says that was conceived; yet either he never read the Bull, Illudqu [...] carnali [...]pula for [...] consum­mavi Etiamsi Matrim [...] ­nium f [...]rit per [...]nalem [...]pulam [...]summa [...] and so took this upon trust, or he was in a fit of his Religion, which was so violent, that it made him not only take no care of what he said, whither it was true or false; but made him advance a delibe­rate falsehood. For whereas in the Preamble of the Bull of Dis­pensation for the younger Bro­ther, [Page 68] it is set forth, that P. Ar­thur and the Princess had been lawfully married, and had per­haps consummated their Ma­riage, where the matter of fact is set down in a dubious manner, he makes that the Dispensation had allowed their Mariage, even thô the former had been con­summated. And as the Words that he cites are not the Words of the Bull, so they give a diffe­rent notion of the matter; since as he gives the Words, they seem only to be a clause put in, to make the Bull more unquestionable; whereas in truth they are a part of the matter of fact represented to the Pope. And thô this doubt­ful way of representing this mat­ter of fact, that is in the Bull, was all that could be decently [Page 69] said upon this case, yet it seems the Spaniards, who knew the Mariage was consummated, re­solved to set the matter past dis­pute, for they either procured at that time a Breve, of the same date with the Bull, or they for­ged one afterwards, in which in the Preamble this matter is as­serted, without any perhaps, or other limiting Word, it being positively set forth, that the Ma­riage was consummated. If Mr. Varillas's Religion sets him at li­berty from the scrupulosity of writing truth, yet that profound Policy, to which he always pre­tends, should oblige him to take a little care, that the falsehoods that he advances, may not be ea­sily discovered.

3. ‘He says, p. 232. Henry the 8th [Page 70] was 12. year old, when his Bro­ther died; and that his Father had designed him for the Ec­clesiastical State.’

This was taken up by the Writers of the last Age, to make the Parallel between Iulian the Emperour and him seem to agree: that as Iulian had been a Reader in the Church; so King Henry should be represented as an Abbot with a little band. But as King Henry was not 12 year old, when his Brother died, for he wanted some Months of 11: and as at that Age young Princes, considering the respect that is payed to them in their Educa­tion, have seldome been found far advanced in Learning; so it does not appear, that he had then any other Education different from [Page 71] what was given his Brother, who understood Latin, and some of the beginnings of Learning. Learning was then in great repu­tation, and K. Henry the 7th en­gaged his Children to study, ei­ther to raise their Authority the higher by that means, or per­haps to amuse them with Lear­ning, that they might not think of pretending to the Crown du­ring his Life, since the undoub­ted Title to it resting in the Per­son of their Mother, it had de­volved upon them by her Death, thô they did not think fit to claim their Right.

‘4. He says, Ibid. that when K. Henry the 7th intended to mar­ry his younger Son to P. Arthur's Widdow, the Privy Council of England approuved it the [Page 72] more easily, because of the pre­caution that had been taken to hinder the consummation of the former Mariage: and to confirm this, he cites on the Margent the Petition, that the Parliament of England offered upon this matter to P. Alexan­der the 6th.’

But as the Depositions are yet extant of the Duke of Norfolk, that was then a Privy Councel­lour, and of two others, that there was no precaution used to hinder the consummation; so Warham, that was at that time Archbishop of Canterbury, op­posed the second Mariage, as being neither honourable, nor well-pleasing to God, as he him­self did afterwards depose upon Oath. The Parliament took no [Page 73] cognisance of the matter, nor did it make any address to the Pope; so that this citation is to be considered as an effect of Mr▪ Varillas his notion of Religion.

‘5. He runs out, p. 235. in his man­ner, into a long speculation concerning the different inter­ests of England and Spain, that made the Spaniards go back­wards and forwards, in the agreeing to the Match, that was proposed for P. Henry and the Princess; whom by an ex­travagant affectation he calls al­ways Duke of York: and makes the Princesse's Parents repre­sent to K. Henry the 7th, the danger of his Son's growing weary of the Princess, since he was 4 year younger than she was, and that in order to the [Page 74] procuring of a dissolution of the Mariage from the Court of Rome, he might pretend that his Father had forced him to marry her, whenever he should grow weary of her.’

All the other Writers of that time put K. Henry the 7th's desi­ring this second Mariage meerly on his covetousness, which made him equally unwilling to repay the Portion, or to send a great jointure yearly after the Princess: and the Prince of Wales was too great a Match to be so uneasily admitted by the King and Queen of Spain. He whom he calls by the Title of the Duke of York, was indeed only Duke of York, for some Months after his Bro­ther's Death, during which time it was supposed, that the [Page 75] Princess might be with child by his Brother; which proves be­yond exception, that it was be­lieved, that the first Mariage was consummated. But when there was no more reason to ap­prehend that, then he carried the Title, that belongs to the Heir apparent of our Crown. But it seems the King and Queen of Spain were more easily satisfied in this matter, than Mr. Varillas would make us believe they were: for two years after the Bull was granted, when P. Hen­ry came to be of Age, he instead of entring into any engagement to marry the Princess, made a so­lemn protestation in the hands of the Bishop of Winchester, by which he recalled the consent that he had given during his Mi­nority, [Page 76] and declared that he would never marry her. But it is very likely Mr. Varillas had never heard of this, thô the instrument of that Protestation was not only mentioned, but printed by ma­ny of the Writers of that Age: and it is confessed by Sanders himself, who, after all Mr. Va­rillas's flourish with his Letters, is his only Author. And for this foresight, that he thinks he may justly ascribe to the King and Queen of Spain, because they are represented by the Writers of that time, to have had an extra­ordinary Sagacity, the reason that he makes them give, shews it was a contrivance of his own: since a moral force, such as the Authority of a Father, was never so much as pretended to be a just [Page 77] ground to annul a Mariage, af­ter it was made and consumma­ted; otherwise most of the Ma­riages that have been made, might have been dissolved.

‘6. He adds to this another speculation, p. 2 [...]6. that is worthy of him, he pretends that the King and Queen of Spain apprehen­ded, that K. Henry the 7th had acquired the Crown of En­gland, and by consequence had a right to dispose of it at his pleasure; upon which the Crown of Spain was afraid, least he should have disinheri­ted his Son, and given the Crown to the Duke of Suffolk, that was then at Brussels, and was preparing an Invasion of England, from which they did not know, but K. Henry the 7th [Page 78] might save himself, by decla­ring Suffolk his Successour, and that upon those fears they were unwilling to consent to the Match.’

Here is such a mixture of Fol­lies, that it is not easy to tell which of them is the most remarkable. This Doctrine of the Crown of England's being alienable at the King's pleasure, might have pas­sed well with those, that some years ago thought to have shut out the next Heir, and yet even these did not pretend that it could have been done by the King alone. But here is a new Theory of Politicks, for which we are sure Mr. Varillas can cite no Authorities from the Laws and Constitutions of England. K. Henry the 7th had indeed ac­quired [Page 79] the Crown, by defeating that Tyrant and Usurper Richard the 3 ^d: but as he pretended to be Heir of the Lancastrian Race him­self, so by marrying to the Heir of the House of York, that was the right Heir, he by a conjunc­tion of all Titles, made the mat­ter sure. But this gave him no right to alienate the Crown at his pleasure, and to fancy, that a King might be induced to give away his Crown from his own Son, to the Person in the World that he hated most, and whom at his Death he ordered his Son never to forgive; who, by the way, was not Duke but only Earl of Suffolk, is a Dream better becoming so slight a brain as is that of Mr. Varillas, than the consummated wisdome of the [Page 80] King and Queen of Spain. But thus it falls out when a Library Keeper turns Statesman; and when from being a teller of tales, he will turn a Writer of Histo­ries, which he composes out of his own Imaginations, he must needs fall into childish errours. When do Kings fall under those weaknesses, as to disinherit an only Son, to cover them from a remote fear: and a very remote one it was; for the Archduke needed at that time the assistance of England against France too much, to be in a condition to raise a Civil War in England, and to support a competition to the Crown, which could have no other effect, as to him, but to give France an opportunity, du­ring the distractions of England, [Page 81] to come and destroy him. In short, here is a Vision of a poor-spirited Pedant, which is too much considered, when it na­med and laught at.

‘7. He pretends to enter into the reasons that were alledged at Rome, p. 237▪ both for and against the granting of the Bull; but at last he concludes, that Pope Alexander the 6th would not consent to it; that he might not give occasion to accuse him, of having broken the Discipline of the Church.’

But here is such a false repre­sentation of the Court of Rome at that time, and in particular of P. Alexander the 6th, that since Mr. Varillas will needs write Ro­mances, I must put him in mind of one Rule; that as Painters [Page 82] shew their Judgment and Lear­ning, in that which is in one Word called le Costume, obser­ving the Air, Manners, and Ha­bits of the Ages and Scenes to which their Pieces belong; so Poets, when they bring un­known Names into their Plays, they may clothe them with what Characters they please; but if they represent Men, whose His­tories are known, they must not confound Characters, nor re­present a Nero as a grave Philoso­pher, or as a good natured Prince; nor a Marcus Aurelius as a wan­ton Stage-player, or as a bloody Tyrant. And therefore, thô Mr. Varillas may shew his pretended discoveries, concerning Men that are less known, yet when he brings in an Alexander the 6th [Page 83] on the Stage, it is too bold a vio­lation of Poetry, to lay a strict­ness of Conscience, or a sense of Honour to his charge: and thô there is one part of this Period true, that there had never been any dispensation of this sort for­merly granted, to serve as a Pre­cedent for it: yet that exactness, in which he represents the En­quiry, that the Divines of Rome made concerning this matter, agrees ill with the State of the Court of Rome at that time; and a Painter may as justly represent the old Romans in Pantalaons, and with Hats in their hands.

‘8. He says, p. 240, 24 [...] K. Henry the 7th was preparing all things for the Mariage of his Son, to the Princess, when he died. And a little before that he had said, [Page 84] that her Parents sacrificed the Interest of their Family to the satisfaction of the King of En­gland, by consenting to it.’

A Match with the Heir of the Crown of England, was no very costly Sacrifice: and for his vi­sion concerning the design of marrying her to the Duke of Ca­labria, and by that means of re­storing the Kingdome of Naples, it does so ill agree with the Cha­racter of the King of Arragon, that since there is no proof brought of this, I must look on it as one of those Imaginations, with which Mr. Varillas loves to entertain his Readers. But for K. Henry the 7th, he was so far from making any preparations for the Mariage, [...]orison. that one of the Writers of that Age assures us, [Page 85] that at his Death he charged his Son to break it, apprehending perhaps a return of a new civil War, upon the issue of a doubt­ful Marriage.

‘9. He gives us a new tast of his unskilfulness in ordering his Scenes. p. 244. He had found that when Henry the 8th's Divorce came to be started, there was some discourse of a Match be­tween him and Francis the first's Sister, afterwards the Queen of Navarre, and therefore he thought a proposition for her, might come in before the Ma­riage, as a pretty ornament to his Fable.’

But the silence of all the Pa­pers of that Time, which I have seen, is a much better evidence against it, than his pretended [Page 86] negotiation of Mr. de Piennes is for it, to which no credit is due. It is well known that in the Ar­chives of Venice there are Reci­tals laid up of all the Negotia­tions of their Ambassadours, and Mr. Varillas having perhaps heard of this, he fancied it would have a good grace, to cite such Recitals as to French Affairs, thô all that know the State of France, know, that this has not been the practice of that Court. But as there is no proof to shew that there was any such Proposition made at that Time, so the State of K. Lewis the 12th's Court dif­fers extreamly from it, in which the Count of Angoulême, after­wards Francis the first, and his Sister, were not so favourable, as to give us reason to think that [Page 87] pains was taken to raise that La­dy to the Throne of England.

‘10. He tells us, p. 245. that King Henry the 8th calling a Parlia­ment in the beginning of his Reign, they thought them­selves bound in point of Ho­nour, to oblige to execute his Father's Orders, relating to his Mariage; who had not on­ly made it the chief Article of his Testament, and charged his Son to do it upon his last Blessing; but had laid the same charge on the Men of the grea­test Credit in England, as he spoke his last Words to them: upon which the Parliament being careful to maintain this Authority, to which they pre­tended, over their Master, did oblige him, by repeated [Page 88] Remonstrances to marry the Princess.’

Here he goes to show how implacably he is set against the Crown of England: formerly he had debased their Birth, but he thought that was not enough; now he will degrade them of their Dignity, and give the Par­liament a Superiority over them. But it is a fatal thing for an igno­rant Man to write History: for if Mr. Varillas could have so much as opened our Book of Statutes, he would have found, that the first Parliament, that K. Henry the 8th held, was assembled the 21. of Ianuary 1510. almost 8. Months after the Mariage, which was celebrated six Weeks after he came to the Crown, in which time, if Mr. Varillas had [Page 89] understood any thing of our Constitutions, he would have known, that it was impossible for a Parliament to have met, since there must be 40. Days be­tween a Summonds and a Mee­ting of Parliament; so that if the new King had summoned one, the Day after his Father's Death, it could not have met sooner, than the day before the Mariage.

‘11. He says, Ibid. the Queen bore five Children, the first three, Sons, and the other two, Girls; but the eldest Son lived only 9 Months, the other two Sons, and the eldest Girl, died imme­diately after they were born, only the youngest, that was born the 8 of February 1515, was longer lived.’

Mr. Varillas has a peculiar ta­lent [Page 90] of committing more Errours in one single Period, than any Writer of the Age: and here he has given a good essay of his art; for the Queen bore only three Children, the first was a Son, born the 1. of Ianuary, that died the 22 of February thereafter, which was not two full Months, much less 9 Months: the second Son died not immediatly, but about a Fourtnight after he was born: and the Daughter, afterwards Q. Mary, was born the 9th of February 1516. So that thô by chance he has hit the Month right, yet he is mistaken, both as to the Year, and the Day of the Month. So unadvised a thing it is for an ignorant Writer, to deliver matters of fact so parti­cularly: for thô this may de­ceive [Page 91] others, that are as ignorant as himself, by an appearance of exactness; yet it lays him too open to those, that can find the leisure and the patience, to expose him: and the last is no easy matter.

‘12. He runs out into a very copious account of K. Henry's Disorders, p. 246. and dresses up Q. Katherine's Devotions in a very sublime strain.’

It does not appear, that in all that time he had any other Mis­tress, but Elisabeth Blunt: and during all that while, he had the highest Panigyriques made him by all the Clergy of Europe, upon his Zeal for Religion and Piety; possible so, that if we did not live in an Age, in which Flattery has broke loose from all the re­straints of Decency, they would [Page 92] appear very extravagant Com­mendations; and if the sublimi­ties of Flattery were not rather a just prejudice against a Prince, which give a character of a swel­led Ambition, and an imperious Tyranny, that must be courted by such abject methods, so that it is hard, whither we ought to think worse of the Flaterers, or the Flatered, we would be temp­ted to judge very advantageously of K. Henry the 8th, by the De­dications, and other fawning Addresses that were made him. As for Q. Katherine, it does ap­pear, that she was indeed a ver­tuous and devout Woman; but Mr. Varillas being more accusto­med to Legends, than to true Histories, could not set out this, without a considerable addition [Page 93] of his own: for the half of it is not mentioned by any Author, that ever I saw, nor by any quo­ted by himself: but a Poët must adorn his matter, and if he has not judgment, he overdoes it.

‘13. He says, p. 248. the King de­signed to marry his natural Son the Duke of Richmont, to his Daughter Mary; upon which he makes that long digression, concerning the Names of the Race of Tudors, that was for­merly considered.’

When a Man affirms a thing, that is so notoriously injurious to the Memory of a Prince, he ought at least to give some sort of proof of its truth: for thô in the acces­ses of Mr. Varillas's Religious Fits, he does not think fit to trouble himself with those inconsidera­ble [Page 94] matters of Truth and False­hood; yet all the World is not of his mind, and some colours of Truth are at least lookt for. It is true, a Negative is not easily pro­ved, so a bold Affirmer fancies, he has some advantages; but in this case it is quite otherwise, for the whole series of the Original Instructions, Messages and Let­ters, that passed between Rome and England, in that matter, are still extant, in all which there is not the least tittle, relating to this Proposition. And there are some things of such indecency, that nothing but a temper like Mr. Varillas's can bring them to­gether. For when K. Henry was pretending a scruple of Con­science, at his own marrying his Brother's Wise, it is very im­probable, [Page 95] that he would have asked a Dispensation for a Ma­riage in a much nearer Degree. For Sanders, that is Mr. Varil­las's Author, says, that both Propositions were made at the same time. There were many Libels printed against K. Henry, about that time; but the stron­gest, and the best writ, was that of Cardinal Pools, in which it is visible, that he spares nothing that he could alledg with any colour of Truth; yet he says no­thing of this matter, thô it had more weight in it to discover the King's Hypocrisy, in pretending to scruples of Conscience, than all the other things he alledges: and I never could find any other Author for this Story, before San­ders, whose Book was printed 60 years after.

[Page 96] ‘14. He gives another essay of his skill in History, P. 250. and that he is equally ignorant of the Histories of all Kingdomes, when he represents to us the endeavours of the King of Scot­land, for the obtaining of a Ma­riage with the Princes Mary, in favours of his Son, upon whose Person he bestows a kind dash of his Pen, and he enters into a speculation of the danger, that King Henry apprehended from this Proposition; and that if he had rejected it, the King and Prince of Scotland might have addressed themselves for it to the Parliament, and that the Parliament would have raised a general Rebellion, rather than have suffered King Henry to re­ject it.’

[Page 97] The dislike that Mr. Varillas has conceived against the Crown of England, seems deep­ly rooted in him; for it returns ve­ry often. Here he represents for­reign Princes complaining to Parliaments, when the Kings do not accept of Propositions for their Children; as if our Princes were less at liberty in the disposal of their Children, than the mea­nest of their Subjects are: but he knows our Constitution as little as he does the History of Scotland, otherwise he could not have re­presented the King of Scotland, as pretending to the Mariage of the Princess Mary for his Son; since K. Iames the fourth, that had married King Henry's Sister, was kill'd at the Battel of Flod­dun the 2 September 1513, above [Page 98] three years before the Princess was born, he left an infant Son, between whom and the Prin­cess a Treaty of a Mariage was once proposed, but no progress was made in it, for K. Henry ne­glected it. And he had always his Parliaments so subject to him, to apprehend any of those vain Schemes, with which Mr. Va­rillas would possess his Reader. There are many that make no great progress in History, but yet know somewhat of the Death of Kings, and that carry some small measure of Chronology in their Head. Yet since Mr. Varil­las has not yet got so far, he had best buy some common Chrono­logical Tables, and have them always before him, when he writes; and this will at least pre­serve [Page 99] him from such childish Er­rours.

‘15. He tells us, p. 2 [...]1. that there were many Pretenders to the young Princess; and to make a full Period, he tells us, that all the Souverains of Europe cour­ted her, both the Emperour, the Kings of France, Spain and Scotland; and so he gives us a fantastical speculation of King Henry's balancing those Propo­sitions one against another.’

But since for a round Periods sake he will needs split Charles the 5th in two, and name both the Emperour and the K. of Spain as two Pretenders, he might have as well subdivided him into the King of Arragon and Castile, Sicily and Naples, and the very Titular Kingdome of Ierusalem, [Page 100] might have come in for its share.

‘16 He tells us that thô the match of Scotland was the most for the Interest of the Nation; P. 252. yet King Henry was so angry with his Nephew the King of Scot­land, for taking part against him, in his last war with France, that he resolved never to give him his Daughter.’

Here Mr. Varillas will see a­gain the necessity of purchasing a Chronological Table; for thô that will cost him some money, which as I am told, goes very near his heart; yet it will preserve him from some scurvy errours, they may spoil the sale of his books: for any one of those Tables, even the worst and cheepest, would have shewed him, that it was not his Nephew that took part with [Page 101] France against him; but his Ne­phew's Father: for King Iames the 4th, that was King Henry's Brother-in-Law, made war on that occasion, and was killed in it, leaving an Infant Son behind him; but it is pleasant to see the Igno­rance of this Scribler, that makes in one place King Iames the 4th to court the Princess for his Son, thô he died several years before she was born, and then makes King Iames the 5th to be ma­king war with his Uncle, du­ring his Father's life, and while himself was an Infant.

‘17. He says, Ibid. the Emperour came, and pretended the se­cond to the Princess, and upon that he sets down a large nego­tiation, that he had with Car­dinal Wolsey.’

[Page 102] But he shews here an igno­rance of Charles the 5th's Life, thô he pretends to have made more than ordinary discoveries concerning his Affairs, that proves, that he has studied all History alike ill. He reckons up the series of the Propositions for the Princess quite wrong; for she was first contracted to the Dolphin the 9 November 1518, by a Treaty yet extant, then Charles the 5th came into England in Person, and contracted a Ma­riage with her at Windsor the 22 of Iune 1522; after that there was a Proposition made for the King of Scotland, that was soon let fall; and last of all there was a Treaty set on foot, for the King of France then a Widdower, or for his second Son the Duke of [Page 103] Orleans, it being left to Francis's option to determine that: and so remarkable a passage, as Charles the 5th's coming to England in person, was unhappily unknown to Mr. Varillas; otherwise he would have dressed up a mighty Scene of Politicks to adorn it.

‘18 He gives us the chara­cter and the History of Card. Ibid. Wolsey, with his ordinary co­lours, in which truth comes very seldome in for an ingre­dient, he tells us how he was Bp. of Tournay, or rather Oeconome of that See, and how many journeys he made between Tournay and London; and that he being enriched at Tournay, he got the Bishoprick of Lin­coln, after that, upon the Bp. of Winchester's death, he had that [Page 104] See, from that he was raised to be Archbishop of York; then he was made Chancellour of England, then Cardinal and Le­gat à Latere, and last of all, he was made Chief Minister of State; and to shew our Author's deep Judgment, this last Article seemed so doubtful a point to him, that he must needs be­stow a proofe on it, and he sends us to P. Leo the 10th's Register, thô the advancements that he had already reckoned up, may well make this pass without a more particular Proof; nor is P. Leo's Register a place likely to find it in.’

Here is a great deal to let his Reader see, how entirely he was possessed with the History of that time; since he could run [Page 105] out so far with the Character and History of that Minister; but for the strain, in which he sets out his Character, one must see, it is only Mr. Varillas's fancy: for how came he to know Car­dinal Wolsey's air and manner of deportment, even in the smallest thing. I that have seen much more of him in his Letters, Dispat­ches and Instructions than Mr. Varillas can pretend to have done, dare not goe so far, because I have not arrived at Mr. Varillas his pitch of Religion; but if his character is no truer than the History that he gives of Wolsey, I know what name is due to it. He was made Bishop of Tour­nay in October, and Bp. or Lincoln in the March thereafter, or rather in February, for the Temporalty [Page 106] was given him the 4th of March, which is always restored after the Consecration, so that here was not time enough to make such journies between Tournay and London, nor to enrich himself with the former: he had not Win­chester but 15 years after that; but he was made Archbishop of York two year after he had Lin­coln; he was also made Cardi­nal and Legate, before he was made Chancelour; for Warham Archbishop of Canterbury was Chancelour while he was Le­gate, and had some disputes with him, touching his legative power; upon which he obtained that Dignity, for puting an end to all disputes; and in stead of his being last of all Minister of State, he was first of all Minister of State, [Page 107] while he was only the Lord Al­moner, and all his other digni­ties came upon him, as the na­tural effects of that Confidence and favour into which the King had received him.

‘19. He cannot assent to some Historians, Ibid. that imagine he was the Confident of K. Henry's Pleasures, since he thinks, if that had been true, he could not have been so cheated after­wards, as he was.’

Here is a Demonstration that he never read my History, into which I have put, besides other Evidences of his being on the secret of Anne Boleyn's matter, two letters, that she writ to him, which are undeniable proofs of it. But as for the long Story into with he runs out, concer­ning [Page 108] Charles the 5th's Intrigues with him, and his way of wri­ting to him, in the stile of Son and Cousin, for which he cites on the Margent the Emperour's Letters to Wolsey, that lie in his fancy, that is the greatest Library in the World, but the hardest to be come at, all this is so loosely writ, that it is plain Mr. Varillas had no light to direct him in it, since he says not a word of the most important circumstance of it, which was the Emperour's coming in person to England, which was beleeved to have been done chiefly to gain Wolsey entirely, and in which it is cer­tain, that he had all the success that he had wisht for.

‘20. He says, p. 257. Wolsey being a­lienated from the Emperour, [Page 109] engaged the King of France, af­ter he was set at liberty, to treat for a Match between the Dau­phin and the Princess of En­gland, upon which they were contracted with great Magni­ficency; but that was not enough, for the Cardinal's malice.’

I have formerly shewed, that the proposition of a Mariage be­tween the Dauphin and the Princess was in the year 1518, long before Francis the first's Im­prisonment; but the Treaty set on foot after his Liberty, was ei­ther for himself, or his second Son, and this sort of a Treaty being somewhat extraordinary, where the alternative lay be­tween the Father and the Son for the same Lady, Mr. Varillas [Page 110] shews his great ignorance of the Affairs of that Time, since he says nothing of it; for this would have given him occasion enough to have entertained his Reader with many Visions and Specula­tions.

‘21. He says, p. 258. that Wolsey dealt with Longland the King's Confessour, to possess him with scruples concerning the lawfulness of his Mariage, that Longland refused to do it, but engaged Wolsey to begin, and he promised to fortify the scru­ples, that the Cardinal should infuse into the King's mind. Upon which the Cardinal did open the matter to the King, and the King being shaken by his proposition, laid the mat­ter before his Confessour, [Page 111] who seconded the Cardinal.’

In this he has taken the liberty to depart from Sanders, thô he is the Author whom he generally copies; but it is easy to pretend to tell secrets, but not so easy to prove them. The King himself did afterwards in publick not on­ly deny this, but affirmed that Wolsey had opposed his scruples all he could, and that he him­self had opened them in Confes­sion to Longland, and the King himself said to Grineus, that he was disquieted with those scru­ples ever from the year 1529, which was three years before the matter was made publick.

‘22. He says, p. 259. the King upon that consulted the Divines of England, concerning the vali­dity of the Mariage, and that [Page 112] all those that were Men of pro­bity and disinteressed, answe­red in the affirmative; but some that did aspire, or that were corrupted, thought it doubtful, others, who were very few in number, affirmed it was unlawful.’

This is so false, that all the Bishops of England, Fisher only excepted, declared under their Hands and Seals, that they thought the Mariage unlawful.

‘23. He gives a Character of Anne Boleyn, P. 260. in which he takes up the common Reports of her ill shape, her yellow colour, her gag tooth, her Lump un­der her chin, and her hand with six fingers: but because all this agrees ill to the Mistress of a King, he, to soften that, [Page 113] adds a long Character of her Wit, her Air and Humour, in which he lays her charms, and here he takes all the licences of a Poët, as well as of a Painter.’

But as several of her Pictures, yet extant, shew the folly of those Stories, concerning her Defor­mity, so the other particulars of this Picture are for most part fetcht out of that Repository of false History, that lies in Mr. Va­rillas's Imagination.

‘24. He says, Ibid. the English Historians, and some other Ca­tholicks, agree to those things, and for his Vouchers he cites on the Margent, Sanders, Ri­badeneira and Remond; but they add many other particulars, thô they differ concerning them, and thô he will not af­firm [Page 114] them to be true; yet he thinks it worth the while to set them down. They say, that Anne Boleyn's true Father was not known: that she was born in England, while he was Am­bassadour in France: that Henry the 8th, being in love with the Mother, had sent away her Husband, that so he might sa­tisfy his Appetites more freely; but that he soon quited the Mo­ther for her eldest Daughter Mary: that Sr. Thomas Boleyn at his return to England, finding his Wife with Child, begun a Sute against her, but that the King forced him to be reconci­led to his Wife, and to own the Child that she bore some time after, who was Anne Boleyn: that this Daughter at the Age [Page 115] of 15, was dishonoured by two of her Father's Domesticks, upon which she was sent to France, where she was so com­mon a Prostitute, that she went by the Name of the English Hackney: that she was a com­mon subject of Raillery: that she became a Lutheran, thô she made still profession of the other Religion. He says, others make her pass for a Heroïne, that cannot be enough com­mended, yet he acknowledges there are not Authentical Evi­dences left, to discover their imposture.’

Here is a way of writing, that agrees well with Mr. Varillas's other Qualities: he was here in a cold fit, and so his Religion did not operate so strong, as to dis­engage [Page 116] him quite from all regard to truth, only it produces one start, that is sufficiently extrava­gant, for he accuses all that is said in favours of Anne Boleyn of imposture, thô at the same time he acknowledges, there are not Authentick Evidences to dis­prove it; but how then came he to know, that those Commen­dations were Impostures? He answers that in the beginning of this Paragraph, and cites in general the Historians of England and other Catholick Writers: and for the Historians of England he gives us Sanders alone, thô he can hardly make a plural out of him, unless he splits him into three or four subdivisions, as he had done Charles the 5th, when he reckoned up the Emperour [Page 117] and the King of Spain as two of the Pretenders to the Princess Mary. But thô I have in my His­tory demonstrated the falsehood of all this Legend so evidently, that I had perhaps wearied my Reader, by prooving that too copiously, yet since I see that na­ture can croud so much impu­dence in Mr. Varillas alone, as might serve even the whole Or­der of the Jesuites, and that he is resolved to keep up the credit of the blackest falsehoods, as the Church of Rome preserves still in her Breviary a great many Les­sons with Prayers and Anthems, relating to them, that are now by the consent of learned Men ex­ploded as Fables, I must again lay open this matter, thô I thought I had so fully confuted [Page 118] those Lies, that even a Pension could not have engaged a Man to support them any more.

It may seem enough to an im­partial Mind, that Sanders was the first, that ever published those Stories, above 50 years af­ter Anne Boleyn's Death: that thô Card. Pool, and the other Writers of that Time, had left nothing unsaid, that could blac­ken K. Henry; yet none of them had brow enough to assert San­ders's Fictions: and that after Anne Boleyn's Tragical Fall, when her Misfortunes had made it a fashionable thing to blacken her, yet these impostures were reserved for Sanders, and for an Age, in which he and many others of his Church were set­ting on many Rebellions and [Page 119] Conspiracies against Q. Elisabeth, they were so powerfully acted by Mr. Varillas's Spirit of Religion, thô they had not the folly to own it, as he has done, as to give themselves the liberty to say the foulest things against the Mo­ther, without giving themselves the trouble to enquire, whither they were true or false: and the things here advanced are of such a nature, that either they must be evidently true, or they are no­toriously false; for an Embassy in­to France of such a continuance, a Sute moved upon Sr. Tho. Bo­leyn's return, were publick mat­ters, and must have lien open to a discovery. The whole Recital is impossible, as it is told; for if she was born after Sr. Tho. Boleyn return'd from an Embassy, to [Page 120] which King Henry had sent him, that he might enjoy his Wife, and in which he staid two years, as Sanders says; then since King Henry came to the Crown in the year 1509, she must be born in the year 1511, and then the 15th year of her Age will fall in the year 1526, and it being certain that the King began to court her in the year 1527, here is not time enough for her Leudness and her long stay in France. But it is certain that she was born in the year 1507, two years before K. Henry came to the Crown, and when he was but 14 years old, and that at 7 years old she went over to France with K. Henry's Sister, when she was married to Lewis the 12th; and thô upon that King's Death the Queen [Page 121] Dowager of France came soon af­ter back into England, yet Anne Boleyn staid still in France, and was in the service of Claud Fran­cis's the first's Queen, and after her Death the King's Sister, the Dutchess of Alençon, took her into her service, and these two Princesses were so celebrated for their Vertue, that this alone is enough to shew, that she was then under no infamy, since she was of their Family. She was al­so Maid of Honour to our Queen Katherine, who, even by Mr. Va­rillas's Character, was of too se­vere a Vertue to admit a com­mon Prostitute to that degree of Honour. So that here is more than enough to discredit all those Calumnies.

‘25. He says, P. 261. thô there is not [Page 122] Evidence enough in the former Reports, yet there is a certain proof for K. Henry's disorders with the Elder of the two Sis­ters, Mary Boleyn, since in the demand, that K. Henry made for a permission to marry Anne, he confessed his disorders with her Sister, and offered to do Pennance for them: and to vouch for this, he cites King Henry's Petition to P. Clement the 7th.’

Here Mr. Varillas shews, how little he understands the advanta­ges that he has, to maintain his Assertions, since there is an Au­thority for this last, that has more appearance of truth in it, than all his other Citations put together, thô his ignorance made him incapable of finding it out. [Page 123] For Cardinal Pool, in his Book against K. Henry, objects this to him, and this has a fair appea­rance: whereas the Petition, that he cites, is a Dream of his own, that was never before heard of. But thô I have said more for the honour of Cardinal Pool, than all the Panegiricks that have been given him, amount to, yet I am very well as­sured, that in this particular he was abused by Reports, to which he gave too easy a belief: for as all the Original Instructions and Dispatches, that were made upon that Affair, are yet extant, in which there is not one Word relating to this matter; so it is plain, that the Affair was never so far advanced, as to demand a permission for a second Mariage, [Page 124] since that could never be so much as asked, till the first was dissol­ved, and that not being gained, there was not room made for it. If the King had given such advan­tages against himself, as to have put such a Confession in a Peti­tion to the Pope, is it to be ima­gined, that the Popes would not have discovered this in some Authentical manner, and even have put it in the Thundering Bull, that was afterwards pu­blished against him? for this alone proved his Hypocrisy of preten­ding scruples of Conscience at his Mariage beyond exception; and if the King acted in this mat­ter without any regard to Con­science, it is unreasonable to re­present him as so strictly Con­scientious, and that he would [Page 125] have confessed so scandalous a se­cret, and so to have put himself in the power of those, of whom he could not be well assured.

‘26. He gives us a long ac­count of Wolsey's design, p. 263, &c▪ to en­gage the King to marry the Dutchess of Alençon. Of the Bishop of Tarke's being sent over to bring the English Princess in­to France, upon her being con­tracted to the Dauphin. And of Wolsey's prevailing with him, to let that Proposition fall, and to set on another, for a Mariage between the King of England and the Dutchess of Alençon. And that the Bp. of Tarke was cheated by Wolsey; and being in the interests of the Dutchess of Alençon, he demanded a publick Audience of the King, [Page 126] in the presence of the Council, in which he imployed all his Eloquence to persuade him to divorce his Queen, and to marry the most Christian King's Sister.’

In all this matter Mr. Varillas is only the Copier of Sanders, yet he cannot tell another Man's Lie, without mixing some additions of his own; for the Bp. of Tarke's being sent over, to demand the Princess, is one of the fruits of his own Religion. But thô a Pe­dant of a Priest, such as Sanders, had told so improbable a Story; yet it ill became a Man, that pre­tends to know Courts, and the Negotiations of Ambassadours, as Mr. Varillas does, to assert such improbabilities, as that an Am­bassadour sent express to demand [Page 127] a Princess for his Master's Son, which was the greatest advan­tage that France could have possi­bly hoped for, should be so far wrought on by the Minister of the Court, to which he was sent, as not only to let all this fall; but to make a new Proposition for the illegitimating of the young Princess, and for offering his Master's Sister to King Henry, and all this without any Instructions from his Master, and thereby exposing the Dutchess of Alençon to the scorn of being rejected, af­ter she was so publickly offered to the King of England; thô every Body knows, that the first offers of Princesses are made in secret. And after all this, that the Bishop of Tarke, who not only excee­ded his Instructions, but acted [Page 128] contrary to them in so important a matter, was neither recalled, nor disgraced; but on the con­trary, he was afterwards pro­moted to be a Cardinal by the re­commendation of the Court of France; and he being a Cardinal, and seeing afterwards how he was abused, if we may believe this Fable, is it to be supposed, that he, either out of his own Zeal for the Court of Rome, or by the Accusations that naturally such a Proposition, begun by him, must have brought on him, would not have told all this se­cret afterwards? In short, as this Relation contains many par­ticulars in it, that are not accor­ding to the Forms of our Court, such as his demanding an Au­dience in the presence of the [Page 129] Council (for it seems, as Mr. Va­rillas set our Parliaments above our Kings, he will make the Pri­vy Council equal to them) so the whole is so contrary to all the Methods of Ambassadours, that this would scarce pass, if it rela­ted to the transactions of the Courts of China or Iapan; but it is so gross an imposition on such as know the Methods of the Courts of Europe, that Mr. Va­rillas presumed too much on the credulity of his Readers, when he thought that this could be be­lieved: and si non è vero, il è ben trovato, is so necessary a Cha­racter for a Man to maintain, that would have his Books sell well, which I am told is Mr. Va­rillas's chief Design, that he had best find out some Judge of his [Page 130] Pieces, that has a true Under­standing, since it is plain, that he has not sence enough himself to make a right Judgment in such matters.

‘27. He says, P. 266. when Cardi­nal Wolsey went over into France he caried a Commission to con­sult the Universities of France, touching the King's Divorce; but that the change of Affairs in Italy, made the King to re­cal him; who was strangely surprised, when he found that the King had no thoughts of marrying the Dutchess of Alen­çon, and that he was become so much in love with Anne Bo­leyn, that he was resolved to marry her on any Terms.’

It is an unfortunate thing for a Man, to have heard too much, [Page 131] and to have read too little of His­tory: for as the one gives him much confidence, so the other exposes him to many Errours. Mr. Varillas had heard, that K. Henry had consulted many Uni­versities; but not knowing where to place this, he fancied, that it must be the first step in the whole Matter. But he knew not, that this was not thought on, till after a Sute of above two Years continuance, in which the King saw, how he was deluded by the Court of Rome; and upon that, he took the other Method of consulting the Universities. All his speculations concerning Card. Wolsey, are built on the common Mistake, that supposes him ignorant of the King's inten­tions for Anne Boleyn, the false­hood [Page 132] of which I have sufficiently demonstrated.

‘28. He tells us, p. 278. that Card. Wolsey having once several Bi­shops to dine with them, the King knowing of it, went to them after Dinner, and made a Writing to be read to them, that set forth the Reasons against his Mariage: the Bi­shops did not approve it quite; yet they were so complying, as to say, that if those things were true, his scruples were well grounded.’

This was too important a thing, not be made appear pro­bable by some of his pretended Vouchers, thô it is most certain­ly false; for a Resolution, signed by all the Bishops of England, ex­cept Fisher, was produced be­fore [Page 133] the Legates, to shew how well the King's scruples were grounded.

‘29. He says, Ibid. the Privy Coun­cel acted more steadily, and in­tended to give the King an un­deniable proof of his Mistresses Lewdness; for Sr. Thomas Wiat, that had obtained of her the last favours, was willing to let the King know it; and so being of the Privy Councel, he not only owned the matter to the rest of that Board, but was content to let the King know it; and when he found that the King would not believe it, he offe­red to make the King himself an Eye-witness to their Priva­cies; but thô the Duke of Suf­folk made this bold Proposition to the King, he was so far from [Page 134] hearkning to it, that Wiat was disgraced upon it, and by this means the Mistress was cover­ed from such dangerous Disco­veries for the future.’

Such a Story as this might have passed from a Sanders, that knew the World little; but in earnest, it seems the fits of Mr. Varillas's Religion are strong even to Extasy, since they make him write as extravagantly of hu­mane Affairs, as if he had passed his whole Life in a Desert. A Man that knows what humane Nature is, cannot think that Wiat would have either so far be­traied Mrs. Boleyn, or exposed himself, as to have made such a Discovery; it being more natural for a Man, that was assured of a young Lady's Favour, to contri­bute [Page 135] to her Elevation, since that must have raised himself, than to contrive her Ruin. And K. Hen­ry, whose imperious temper gave him a particular Disposition to Jealousy, must have been of different composition from all the rest of Mankind, if he could have rejected a Discovery of this nature. And when the secrets of Jealousies are opened to Princes, it is too gross, even for a Ro­mance, to make the Discoverer to begin with the Councel­board, and to procure a Deputa­tion from them, to acquaint the King with them. But as Wiat does not appear to have been a Privy Councelour, till near the end of K. Henry's Reign; so it is plain enough, he was never dis­graced, but continued to be still [Page 136] imploied by the King in some for­reign Embassies, to the end of his Life.

‘30. He says, [...]. 269, & [...]70. Anne Boleyn endeavoured, thô in vain, to engage Sr. Thomas More to ne­gociate her Affair; but he being proof against all corruption, Gardiner, that was a Canonist, was made Secretary of State, and was sent to Rome with My-Lord Brian, who scandalised all Rome with his lewd beha­viour; and had the impudence to assure the Pope, that the Queen desired to be divorced, that so she might retire into a Monastery. And made other offers of great advantage to the Pope, in case he would allow the Divorce.’

Mr. Varillas cannot say too [Page 137] much in Sr. Thomas More's com­mendation; but since he was a Man of so much Sincerity, it is certain, that he approved of the Divorce: for in a Letter, that his own Family printed among his other Works, in Q. Mary's Reign, he, writing to Cromwel, owns, that he had approved of the Divorce, and that he had great hopes of the King's success in it, as long as it was prosecuted in the Court of Rome, and foun­ded on the defects that were pre­tended to be in the Bull; and af­ter that most of the Universities and of the learned Men of Europe had given their Opinions in fa­vours of the Divorce, four years after it was first moved, he be­ing then Chancellour, went down to the House of Commons [Page 138] and made those Decisions to be read there, and upon that he de­sired the Members of Parliament to report in their Countries, that which they had heard and seen; and added these very Words, and then all Men will openly per­ceive, that the King has not at­tempted this Matter for his Will and Pleasure, but only for the discharge of his Conscience. Upon Wolsey's Disgrace, he was made Chan­cellour, and continued in that high trust almost three years; which is an evident sign that he did not then oppose the Divorce; nor did he grow disgusted of the Court, till he saw that the King was upon the point of breaking with the See of Rome. So that he would have liked the Divorce, if the Pope could have been pre­vailed [Page 139] with to allow it; but he did not approve of the King's procuring it another way. Mr. Varillas is no happier in the other parts of this Article: for Gardiner was not sent first to Rome, to ne­gotiate this matter. Knight that was Secretary of State, was first imploied; and Gardiner was not made Secretary of State, till near the end of this Negotiation: nor was he ever sent to Rome with Brian: nor was Brian a Lord, but only a Knight; and it was a year after this Sute was first begun, be­fore Brian was imploied in it; so that he could carry no such delu­ding Message to the Pope, con­cerning the Queen's desiring the Divorce. And for this pretension of the Queen's desiring to retire to a Monastery, it was never [Page 140] made use of by the English Am­bassadours. It was on the con­trary a notion of the Pope's, who thought, that if that could be put in her Head, it would be the easiest Method of getting out of this uneasy matter: and there­fore he ordered his Legate Card. Campegio, to advise the Queen to it. And for the scandals of Brian's Life, they must have been very great, if they gave offence at Rome at that time: but as I can not answer much for Brian, so I will not trouble my self to vindi­cate him; but he could not be­have him more indecently at Rome, than Campegio did in En­gland, when he came over Le­gate, who scandalised even the Court with his lewd behaviour.

‘31. He says, p. 272. the Pope was [Page 141] sensible of his obligations to the King, and resolved to do all he could to gratify him, and so or­dered Cajetan to examine the matter, who did it in his man­ner, after the Method of the Schools. And here he gives us an abstract of his Book. He laid this down for a Maxime, that the High-Priest under the N. Testament had no less Autho­rity, than the High-Priest had under the Law of Moses, who had power to allow of such Mariages, to good ends and in good Circumstances; and that the end of this Mariage was no­ble: that the Crowns of En­gland and Spain being united, might send their Fleets to block up Constantinople. And that by this Mariage, as Italy was to be [Page 142] set at Peace, so K. Henry was diverted from marrying into Families suspect of Heresy: and that therefore the Pope could not grant a Dispensation for an­nulling it. And with his usual Confidence, he cites on the Margent Cajetan's Consulta­tion. And this, he says, con­firmed the Pope in his Resolu­tion, not to grant the Dispen­sation for breaking the Mariage upon any Terms whatsoever.’

I have given such Authentick Demonstrations of the Falsehood of this Particular, that I am sure the strongest Fit of Mr. Varillas's Religion can not resist them. For the Pope, upon the first Propo­sition, franckly granted the Dis­pensation, and only consulted with some Cardinals about the [Page 143] Methods of doing it: and after­wards he sent one over to En­gland, and promised, that he would do, not only all that he could grant either in Law or Jus­tice; but every thing else that he could grant out of that plenitude of Power, with which he was vested in the King's favour. The Pope also proposed a Method, that perhaps would have brought the matter to an easier is­sue, which was, that if the King was satisfied in his own Conscience concerning the Di­vorce, in which he did not think that there was a Doctor in the whole World, that could judg so well as himself, then he might put away his Queen, and marry another, and then the Pope would confirm all. For the craf­ty [Page 144] Pope thought, it would be easier for him to confirm it, when it was once done, than to give Authority to do it: and in short, the Pope made the King still believe, that he would do it, till by that means he brought the Emperour to grant him all he desired. And as for Cajetan's opinion, I am now in a Coun­trey where I cannot find his Works, so I cannot be so positive in this matter; but as far as my Memory serves me, Cajetan writ nothing with relation to this matter: but only in the body of his School-Divinity, that he had published long before this Sute began, he had set on foot a new Opinion, touching the Prohibi­tions of marrying in near De­grees, which the Church by a [Page 145] constant Tradition had in all Times lookt on as Moral Laws; whereas he asserted, they were only Positive Precepts, that did not bind under the Christian Re­ligion, and by consequence, that there was no Law now against Mariages in those De­grees, but the Law of the Church, with which the Pope might dispense. In all the Books that I have seen, that were writ for the Queen's Cause, Cajetan's Authority is brought, as a thing already abroad in the World, and not as a Consultation writ upon this Occasion: and by what I re­member of that Cardinal's Life, it is said, that in his reasonings with Luther he had found him­self so defective in the knowledg of the Scripture, that whereas [Page 146] formerly he had given himself wholly to the Study of School-Divinity, he after that gave him­self entirely to the Study of the Scripture, in which, making allowances for his Ignorance of the Original Tongues, he suc­ceeded to admiration. But thô I cannot procure a Sight of his Treatise concerning the Degrees of Mariage, the Idea that I re­tain of his solide way of writing, makes me conclude, that he was not capable of writing in so trifling a manner, as Mr. Varil­las represents the Matter. For what Man of sense could say, that the Highpriest under the Jewish Religion could dispense with a Brother's marrying his Brother's Widdow, in some cases: in case that a Brother died without [Page 147] Children, his Brother, or the next of Kin, might have mar­ried the Widdow, by the Dis­pensation that the Law gave, and not by a Dispensation of the Highpriest. And for the Ends that he pretends of those two Princes, going to block up Con­stantinople with their Fleets, a Man must be ignorant in History to the Degree of Mr. Varillas, to imagine this, since as the Kings of those Times had no Royal Fleets, but were forced to hire Merchant Vessels, when they had occasion for them; so the blocking up of Constantinople was too bold a project for those Days, and does not seem to have been so much as once thought on. And for the other Ends that he men­tions, thô the procuring such a [Page 148] Peace to Italy, as was for the In­terest of the Popes, was a thing for which they would have sacri­ficed any thing; yet this differs much from P. Iulius the second's Character, who granted the Dispensation, since his whole Reign was a continued Imbroil­ment of Italy. Nor does it appear that K. Henry's Mariage could have any influence on the Peace of Italy, unless it were very re­mote. And as for the other Rea­son alledged for the Mariage, that it diverted K. Henry from marrying into Families suspect of Heresy, this is too great a viola­tion of the Costume; for it seems Mr. Varillas had the present State of Europe in his Head, when he writ it: but Cajetan could not write this, for in the year 1503 [Page 149] there were no Families in Europe suspect of Heresy: so that all this reasoning, that is here entitled to Cajetan, is a mass of Mr. Varil­las's crude Imaginations, which doe equally discover both his Ig­norance, and his want of Judg­ment.

‘32. He accuses Mr. Beau­caire, p. 274. for saying a thing, that was no way probable, when he affirms, that Card. Campe­gio caried over to England a Bull annulling the Mariage, which he was allowed to shew both to the King and to Card. Wolsey, but that this was only an artifice to procure him the more credit for drawing out the Process into a great length.’

But when a Writer rejects what he finds affirmed by ano­ther, [Page 150] that lived in the Time con­cerning which he writs, he ought at least to give some rea­sons to justify his being of another mind; since it is a little too bold for any Man, of a temper more modest than that of Mr. Varillas, to deny a matter of fact, meerly because he thinks it is no way probable: but it is not only pro­bable, but evidently true, as I have made it appear beyond all possibility of contradiction: for after that Campegio had, accor­ding to his Instructions, shewed the Bull, both to the King and to Wolsey, great endeavours were used at Rome to procure an Order for his shewing it to some of the King's Ministers; but the Pope could not be prevailed on so far: and I have printed an Original [Page 151] Letter of Iohn Castalis, that con­tains a long conference that he had with the Pope on this head; by which it appears, that the only consideration that the Pope had before his Eyes in this whole matter, was the Emperour's Greatness, and his Fears of being ruined, if he had made any fur­ther steps in that Affair.

‘33. He says, p. 277. that the Queen having thrown her self at the King's Feet, and made a very moving Speech, the King was so far melted with it, that he said, he was contented to refer the matter to be judged by the Pope in Person, upon which she went out instantly, that so the King might not have time to recal that, which perhaps he had said a little too suddenly: [Page 152] and that she always claimed this Promise, thô the King had no regard to it.’

Here is a new Fit of his Reli­gion, for it seems Sanders felt not those vigorous motions, that were necessary to furnish out his Scenes: and therefore, thô Mr. Varillas adds no Discovery as to matters of fact, beyond what Sanders had made, yet he has the more copious Inventions of the two. But he does not place his contrivances judiciously, for it is much safer to dress up the se­crets of the Cabinet, than pub­lick Courts of Judicature with such garnishings: and as that was the most solemn Trial, that ever England saw, in which a King and Queen appeared as Delinquents, to be tried for In­cest, [Page 153] so the matter is not only par­ticularly related by those that li­ved in that Time, or soon after it; but the Journals of the Court are yet in being, and by all these it appears, that as soon as the Queen made that moving Speech, she immediatly rise and went out, without staying for one Word of Answer. And in all that long Sute that followed af­terwards, for obliging the King to carry on the Sute at Rome, that depended for three years, this offer of the King's, if it had any other being but that which Mr. Varillas's Fiction gives it, would have been certainly alledged, for obliging the King to continue the Process at Rome; but it was never so much as mentioned, so the honour of it belongs to Mr. Varillas.

[Page 154] ‘34. He says, Ibid. that in the Process, as the King's Advo­cates produced a Letter, that Card. Hadrian had writ at the time of the granting the Bull for the Mariage, that he had heard P. Iulius the second say, that he could not grant it, the Queen's Advocates produced likewise a Letter of Pope Iulius to the King of England, that as­sured him, that thô he had not granted the Bull as soon as it was demanded, that was not out of any intention to refuse it; but that he had only waited for a favourable conjuncture, that so he might doe it the more de­liberatly.’

This is of no consequence; but some Men get into ill habits, that engage them, even when [Page 155] there is no advantage to tell Lies. The whole Journals of this Sute mention neither the one nor the other of these matters: there is somewhat like the second, of which some, it seems, had in discours given Mr. Varillas a dark Hint, and he resolved to garnish it up the best he could. There was a Breve of P. Iulius's produ­ced, but not writ to the King of England, for it was addressed to the Kings of Spain, and was in­deed believed to be forged in Spain. It was conceived in the very Words of the Bull for the Mariage, and was of the same date, and the only difference between it and the Bull was, that whereas the Bull mentioned the Queen's Mariage with P. Ar­thur, as having been perhaps [Page 156] consuminated, this spoke of the consummation of that Mariage less doubtfully, and without a perhaps: and the inference that was made upon this was, that the Spaniards foreseeing that the consummation of P. Arthur's Mariage would be proved, he forged this Breve, to make it ap­pear, that the Pope was infor­med of that as of a thing certain, thô it was decent in the publick Bull to mention it doubtfully. But Mr. Varillas shews how dange­rous a thing it is to write History upon flying Reports, helped up a little with the dull Invention of an ill Poet.

‘35. He runs out into a high commendation of the Zeal and Fidelity that some of the En­glish Bishops, [...]. 278. who were na­med [Page 157] to be the Queen's Advo­cates, shewed in pleading her Cause.’

But in this he shews, how lit­tle he understands the common forms of Law: for since the Queen declined the Court, and appealed to the Pope, there was no more occasion given to her Advocates, to speak to the merits of her Cause. And where­as he pretends, that this was done, not only by Bp. Fisher, but by the Bishops of London, Bath and Ely, that was impossi­ble, since all the Bishops had signed a Writing, which was produced before the Legates, in which they all declared them­selves against the Lawfulness of the Mariage.

‘36. He says, the Pope re­called [Page 158] the Cause, to be heard before himself, on this pre­tence, that the King had by Word of Mouth consented to it.’

This is a flight of our Author's, to colour that shameful secret: for when the Emperour had agreed to put Florence into the hands of the Medici, the Pope who had seemed to favour the King's cause till that time, did then admit of the Queen's Ap­peal: and thô he had signed a formal Promise, never to recal the Cause, yet he being as little a Slave to his Word, as Mr. Varil­las is to Truth, broke his faith. But he never so much as once pretended this consent of the King's.

‘37. He says, Ibid. Wolsey being [Page 159] disgraced, was sent to York, where he languished some time, being reduced almost to Beggary.’

This comes in as a dash of his Pen, to set out K. Henry's Seve­rity: but one of Wolsey's Domes­ticks, that writ his Life, tells us, in how great State he went to York, with a Train of 160 Horse, and an Equipage of 72 Carts following him with his Houshold-stuf; for the King re­stored him not only his Archbi­shoprick of York, but also his Bishoprick of Winchester, which Mr. Varillas fancies he took from him: and it was impossible for a Man, that had those two great Benefices, to be reduced to any degrees of Want.

‘38. He says, p. 2 [...]1. Anne Boleyn [Page 160] raised Cranmer to the Dignity of chief Minister of State, who was one of the profligatest Men of England, that had nothing of Christianity in him, but the outward appearances, being ambitious, voluptuous, bold, turbulent and capable of all sorts of Intrigues. He had stu­died long in Germany, where he was infected with Luthera­nisme, thô he did not outward­ly profess it. He took a Concu­bine in Germany, whom he af­terwards married by the King's permission. He had been Chap­lain long in the Family of Bo­leyn, so when the See of Can­terbury fell vacant, Anne Boleyn presented him.’

The Fit here is extream hot and long, and shews, how en­tirely [Page 161] Mr. Varillas was subdued by it, since it is hardly possible for a Man to spit out more Venome and Falsehood at once. Cranmer was never in the Affairs of State, much less chief Minister. And any Ignorance less than Mr▪ Va­rillas's would have found, that Cromwel succeeded Wolsey in the Ministry. As for Cranmers Ambi­tion, as he had passed the grea­test part of his Life in a secret Re­tirement, so he was in Germany when the See of Canterbury fell vacant, and when he understood that the King intended to raise him to that Dignity, he excused himself all he could, and delaied his Return to England some Months, that so the King might have time given him to change his Mind. He was so far from [Page 162] being turbulent and hardy, and from being a Man of Intrigues, that his plain Simplicity made him to be despised by his Ene­mies, till they found that there was a wise Conduct under all that Mildness and Slowness. And it was this simplicity, and his kee­ping himself out of all Intrigues, that preserved him in K. Henry's esteem. He never went to study in Germany, but was sent into Italy and Germany to reason with the learned Men in the Universities concerning the King's Divorce. He married a Wife in Germany, and was so far from obtaining the King's Permission to marry her, that upon a severe Law, that was afterwards made against the Mariage of the Cler­gy, he sent her into Germany for [Page 163] some time, yet he franckly ow­ned his Mariage to the King, when he questioned him upon it, and there was never the least im­putation laid upon his Chastity, except this of his Mariage, which we think none at all. He was never Chaplain in the Bo­leyn Family, but lived private in Cambridg, when the King came to hear of him, and to imploy him in the Prosecution of the Di­vorce. And so far was he from being presented by Anne Boleyn, upon the Vacancy of Canterbury, that he was then in Germany. And now it appears what a se­cret Mr. Varillas has, of making as much Falsehood go into one Period, as would serve another to scatter up and down a whole Book; but we know the Society [Page 164] that has this secret, and it is cer­tain, that Mr. Varillas has learnt it to perfection.

‘39. He says, Ibid. the King ac­cepted Cranmer upon condi­tion, that he would pronounce the Sentence of Divorce be­tween their Majesties of En­gland, in case that the Pope ra­tified their contested Mariage: and thus by a way so uncanoni­cal he was made Archbishop of Canterbury.’

There was no occasion of de­manding any such Promise of Cranmer, for he had openly de­clared his opinion, that the Ma­riage was incestuous and unlaw­ful, so that his Judgment was already known. But Mr. Varillas shews how little he knew our matters, when he says, that [Page 165] Cranmer was made Archbishop in an uncanonical way; for as he was chosen by the Chapter of Canterbury, so he had his Bull from Rome, and how little soe­ver, this is Canonical according to the Canons of the Ancient Church, yet Mr. Varillas has no reason to except to the Uncano­nicalness of it.

‘40. He says, Ibid. he was instal­led by another Artifice, for be­ing required to swear the Oath to the Pope, he had a Notary by him, who attested, that he took this Oath against his Will, and that he would not keep it to the prejudice of the King.’

He made no Protestation, that he took that Oath against his Will; but he repeated a Protes­tation twice at the high Altar, [Page 166] that he intended not by that Oath to the Pope, to oblige himself to any thing, that was contrary to the Law of God, to the King's Prerogative, or to the Laws of the Land, nor to be re­strained by it from proposing or consenting to any thing, that might concern the Reformation of the Christian Faith, the Go­vernment of the Church of En­gland, or the Prerogatives of the King and Kingdome. This is a different thing from protesting, that he took the Oath against his Will, which as it had been ridi­culous in it self, so was very far contrary to that native Singleness of Heart, in which he always acted.

‘41. He says, P. 2 [...]2. there was an ancient Law against the Sub­jects [Page 167] of England's acknowledg­ing a forreign Jurisdiction, upon which the King raised a Sute against his Clergy, for owning the Pope's Jurisdiction, in that which was a mixt Court, rela­ting both to the Temporal and the Spiritual. And he adds, that the Clergy had an easy An­swer to this Charge, since that Law had no regard to the Spiri­tual Authority.’

Matters of Law are things of too delicate a nature for so slight a Man as Mr. Varillas to look into them. He represents this as one single Law, that was very old, and that related only to Tempo­rals, whereas if he had known any thing of our Laws, he would have seen, that there was a vast number of Laws made in the [Page 168] Reigns of many of our Kings, such as Edward the first, Edward the third, Richard the second, Henry the 4th, and Henry the 5th, all relating to this matter, and these Laws were made in express Words against all that brought Bulls and Provisions from Rome to Ecclesiastical Be­nefices.

‘42. He says, Ibid. the motions of the Clergy in their own de­fence, could not but be feeble, since they had two such trea­cherous Heads, as Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lee Archbishop of York, so they made a submission to the King, but he would not receive it, un­less they would acknowledg, that he had the same Authority over the Ecclesiastical Body, [Page 169] that he had over his other Sub­jects: and thus, without thin­king on what they did, they furnished the King with a pre­tence of calling himself, Head of the Church of England.’

Cranmer was so little concer­ned in this matter, that it was past two years before he was Archbishop, while Warham was Archbishop of Canterbury; for the Submission was made in March 1531, and he was con­secrated in March 1533. And Lee of York was so far from con­senting to it, that he strugled long against it, after Warham and his Synode had past it. And whereas he pretends, that the King drew his pretence, to be Head of the Church of England, from a general acknowledgment [Page 170] that they had made of the King's Authority over Churchmen, this is so far from true, that the whole Clergy, even his admired Fisher not excepted, did in the Title of the Submission, to which they all set their hands, call the King in so many formal Words, su­pream Head of the Church and Clergy of England, in so far as was agreable to the Law of Christ: and this was done du­ring More's Ministry, who con­tinued Chancellour 15 Months after this.

‘43. He says, P▪ 283. that upon More's laying down his Office, the King gave the Seals to ano­ther Churchman, that was no less devoted to him than Gran­mer, whose name was An­dley, on whom he bestows a [Page 171] character, thô he knows no­thing concerning him.’

Andley was no Churchman, but a common Lawyer as More was, that had been Chancellour before him, and the Gentlemen of that Robe being raised upon Merit, and not by their Birth, his low Extraction was no extra­ordinary matter.

‘44. He says, Ibid. the King fin­ding that the Pope was ofraid, that he should contract a secret Mariage with Anne Boleyn, re­solved to do it, on design to do the Pope a Spite; so the Day being set, one Polland a Priest, being appointed to do the Of­fice, demanded the Pope's Bull for the Mariage, which he was made believe that the King had procured; but the King [Page 172] swore to him, that he had it in his Closet, and that nothing made him not go immediatly to fetch it, but his unwillingness to retard that Action.’

This is so ill told, that Mr. Va­rillas ought to have imploied a little of his Religious Zeal, to make it more plausible; for it was then so well understood, that the Pope was entirely united to the Emperour, that Polland Lee could not imagine there was any Bull granted; and he was all his Life of too comply­ing a Temper, to need such Ar­tifices to oblige him to do any thing, that might serve to ad­vance him. Mr. Varillas repre­sents the King here too much like a private Gentleman, that keeps his Papers in his own Closet, [...] [Page 177] of several Popes, the Canons of many Synodes and Councils, [...]nd by the concurring Testimo­nies of almost all the Greek and Latin Fathers, both Ancient and Modern, and by the agree­ing Doctrines both of School­men, Canonists and Casuists; and if Tradition was the true Ex­pounder of Scripture, and the sure Conveyance of Doctrine, the Mariage was certainly inces­tuous; so that according to the fundamental Doctrine of the Church of Rome, the Mariage was unlawful: and by the same Authorities it was also proved, that the Pope's Dispensation could not make void the Law of God, and that the Clergy of England were the proper Judges of what fell out in England. This [Page 178] being the State of that Matter, and almost all the Universities of Europe, that of Bologna it self not excepted, thô it was the Pope's own Town, having declared in the King's Favours, it was no wonder, if Cranmer, upon such Grounds, proceeded to give Sentence.

‘47. He dresses up a Speech for Card. p. 286. Bellay, all out of his own Fancy; but one thing is remarkable: he makes the Car­dinal represent to the King, that if he went to separate him­self from the Communion of the Church of Rome, either he would succeed in it, or not; if he succeeded in it, besides that he put himself in a state of Damnation, there would be no place found that would be [Page 179] safe for his sacred Person, against the attempts of zealous Catho­licks, who would endeavour to kill him, that they might preserve their ancient Religion; and if he succeeded not, he might be assured, that he would lose both his Crown and his Life in a general Revolt.’

Mr. Varillas is now in a Fit of Religion of another sort, for as there are hot and cold Fits of Agues▪ so if some of his Fits make him forget the obligations of speaking truth, this makes him speak out a Truth indeed, but of that nature, that if he had been long practised in the Secrets of the Court of Rome, or of the Je­suite Order, he would have known, that thô during the Mi­nority of a King, a Cardinal Per­ron [Page 180] might speak it boldly, or du­ring the confusions of a Civil War, the whole Sorbonne might declare in Favours of it, yet un­der such a Reign, and in the pre­sent Conjuncture, it was to be denied boldly. And one would not have thought, that at this time a Clement or a Ravilliae would have had no worse cha­racter, but that of zealous Ca­tholicks. So we have now an en­tire notion of a zealous Catholick from Mr. Varillas: he does not trouble himself to examine what he says, whither it is true or false, nor will he stick at any Crime, if it may tend to preserve his Re­ligion. And if a Prince goes about to change his Religion, and to depart from the Communion of the See of Rome, he must at first [Page 181] look for a general Revolt, which must end in his Deprivation and Death, and if that fails, there is a reserve of zealous Catho­licks, who will pursue him into every corner, and never give over, till they have sacrificed him to the interest of their Religion. This is the severest thing that the greatest Ennemy to their Church could possibly object to it▪ and yet Mr. Varillas has so little judg­ment, as to put it in the Mouth of a Cardinal. But it is but lately that he has got his Pension, and he has not past a long Noviciat, or perhaps he is now too old to learn the refayings, that his Pat­tern Mr. Maimbourg would have taught him, who in such a Reign as this is in France, must dress up their Religion as a Doctrine, all [Page 182] made up of Obedience and Sub­mission. But perhaps some had told Mr. Varillas, that the late Articles of the Clergy lookt like the beginning of a Separation from the Court of Rome, so that he thought, it was fit to let the King know his Danger, if he went a step further, either in that Matter, or in a Reforma­tion of Religion, of which there has been so much noise made lately in France, thô it is visible that this has been set on foot, meerly to deceive those, that had a mind to cosen themselves by the hopes of some Amendments, to make Shipwrack of their Faith and of a good Conscience.

‘48. He makes the Hopes, p. 287. that the Cardinal Bellay had of succeeding in his Negotiation, [Page 183] to be chiefly founded on the King's being weary of Anne Boleyn, and his becoming in love with Iane Seimour; and that therefore he concluded that time, and a little Patience might infallibly dispose him to return back again to Queen Ka­therine.’

He makes here strange Disco­veries in the matters of Love, since he fancies, that the King's falling in love with a new Mis­tress, might dispose him to re­turn to his old and abandoned Queen. The thing is also so false­ly timed, that it was two years and almost a half after this, be­fore there appeared any begin­nings, either of the King's Dis­like of Anne Boleyn, or of his Love to Iane Seimour. But the [Page 182] made up of Obedience and Sub­mission. But perhaps some had told Mr. Varillas, that the late Articles of the Clergy lookt like the beginning of a Separation from the Court of Rome, so that he thought, it was fit to let the King know his Danger, if he went a step further, either in that Matter, or in a Reforma­tion of Religion, of which there has been so much noise made lately in France, thô it is visible that this has been set on foot, meerly to deceive those, that had a mind to cosen themselves by the hopes of some Amendments, to make Shipwrack of their Faith and of a good Conscience.

‘48. He makes the Hopes, p. 287. that the Cardinal Bellay had of succeeding in his Negotiation, [Page 183] to be chiefly founded on the King's being weary of Anne Boleyn, and his becoming in love with Iane Seimour; and that therefore he concluded that time, and a little Patience might infallibly dispose him to return back again to Queen Ka­therine.’

He makes here strange Disco­veries in the matters of Love, since he fancies, that the King's falling in love with a new Mis­tress, might dispose him to re­turn to his old and abandoned Queen. The thing is also so false­ly timed, that it was two years and almost a half after this, be­fore there appeared any begin­nings, either of the King's Dis­like of Anne Boleyn, or of his Love to Iane Seimour. But the [Page 184] true Account of this last Nego­tiation of the Cardinal de Bellay is that at Marseilles: the Pope had promised to Francis the first, that if K. Henry would submit the matter to him, and send a Proxy to Rome, he would judg in his favours against the Queen, be­cause he knew that his cause was just and good; and the Cardinal was sent over to induce the King to make his Submission; but the King would not upon verbal Pro­mises make so great a step, yet he promised that, if Assurances were sent him, that were for­mal and binding, he would up­on that send a Submission in full form to Rome, and when the Car­dinal procured these from the Court of Rome, the King did send over the Submission. So that Mr. [Page 185] Varillas having supprest the true Account of this Negotiation, he thought he must make it up with somewhat of his own Invention: and as all Liquors drawn out of a musty Barrel tast of the Calk; so there are so many characters that belong to Mr. Varillas's imagina­tion, that it is hard for him to venture on inventing, without discovering, that he has full as little Judgment as he has Since­rity.

‘49. He lays the blame of the slowness of the Courier, Ibid. on the care that the Emperour's Mi­nisters had taken, to stop the passages.’

But this was a ridiculous ob­servation: for there being a Day set for the Courier's Return, he hapned only to come two Days [Page 186] after his time, and it being in the Winter, in which the Sea was to be twice past, there is no need to run to any other speculation for a slowness of two Days in such a Voyage, and at such a Season; but it is often observed of those, that have contracted ill habits, as lying in particular, that their naughty customes return upon them, even when there is no provocation ly­ing on them, to tempt them to them; so Mr. Varillas has given himself such a liberty, to inter­weave his own Fancies with all the Transactions that he relates, that he cannot let the flightest thing pass without bringing in a stroak of his Politicks to adorn it.

‘50. He says, P. 288. the Pope having past Sentence against the King, the King did upon that hold a [Page 187] Parliament on the 24 of April, 1534, in which he made him­self to be acknowledged su­pream Head of the Churches of England and Ireland; and got his former Mariage to be con­demned, and his second to be confirmed, upon which Q. Ka­therine died of Grief.’

In such publick things Mr. Va­rillas should be wiser than to ven­ture on the giving of Dates, for it is at least two to one that he gives them wrong. The Parliament, that past all these Laws, sate down on the 15th of Ianuary, and was prorogued on the 29th of March, and Sentence was gi­ven against the King at Rome the 23 of March: for the truth is, the King did not expect sincere dea­ling from the Court of Rome, and [Page 188] therefore he looking on this last Proposition as a Delusion, to di­vert him from passing the Acts, that he had projected for this Ses­sion, resolved to go on with his Design, knowing that if the Pope would grant him that which he desired, it would not be uneasy for him to get those Acts repea­led. Q. Katherine lived two years after this; so that, thô the Melan­choly, which this gave her, did very likely shorten her Days, yet it was too Poetical, to make her just to die at the end of that Par­liament.

‘51. He says, p. 289. that the King upon the first informations of Anne Boleyn's Disorders, would not believe them; but at last he found such proofs, as fully con­vinced him, upon which he [Page 189] waited, till he found a fit op­portunity, to let his Jealousy break out.’

It agrees ill with what he had said before, that K. Henry was be­come weary of Anne Boleyn, to make him now so uneasy to be­lieve ill of her; for nothing dispo­ses so much to Jealousy, as a Dis­like already conceived, which naturally inclines one to think ill of a Person whom he does not love; but it is certain K. Henry ne­ver pretended, that he saw any thing, that was dishonourable in her: and the ridiculous Tale of the Tilling at Greenwich was a ly too ill contrived, to be again taken up; for the Queen's dropping a Handkerchief, was a favour of too publick a nature, and is not at all credible, considering that she [Page 190] found the King's affections were straying from her. And even that was too slight a matter, to have wrought her ruin, thô it had been true.

‘52. He says, p. 250. her own Father was one of her Judges, but thô she made a cunning Defence, yet she was condemned toge­ther with four of her Adulte­rers, and after that she went to meet Death, with more of fierceness, than of a true great­ness of Soul, and she died as ex­actly in all the Maximes of the Stoical Philosophy, as if she had studied them.’

This assertion of her Father's being one of her Judges, has past so current, that I have no reason to charge Mr. Varillas for it, be­cause I my self yeelded to the cur­rent [Page 191] of Writers; yet having pro­cured a sight of the Original Re­cord of her Process, I found it was a falsehood, and in the end of my first Volume I had corrected the Errour in which I had fallen: so I must at least conclude, that Mr. Varillas never read any History. The Queen had a strange Plea, for there was not one Witness brought against her, so that she was condemned meerly upon Testimonies that were brought in writing, which is expresly con­trary to our Law. As for her Be­haviour at her Death, it was far from being Stoïcal, for it was ra­ther too cheerful; and the Lieu­tenant of the Tower, who knew her Behaviour better than any Person whatsoever, gives a very different representation of it, for [Page 192] in his Letter to Court he tells of her great Devotion, of her cheer­fulness and of the protestations that she made of her innocence the Morning before she died, when she received the Sacre­ment, adding, that her Almoner was still with her, and had been with her ever since two a clock after Midnight. And he also says, that she had much Joy and Plea­sure in her Death. And as all this is very far from the Maximes of the Stoical Philosophy, so it seems Mr. Varillas understands very little what they were, other­wise, if he had remembred what a picture he had made of Anne Boleyn, he must have known, that the amourous disposition that he had fastned on her, agreed very ill with a Stoical Unconcerned­ness [Page 193] and equality of Temper. But this he thought was a pretty con­clusion of one of the Scenes of his Piece.

And now being as weary of this ungrateful Imployment, as any Reader, or as even Mr. Varil­las himself must needs be, I find my self at great ease, being no more obliged to turn over so very ill a Book. And since in the Sur­vey of one of the shortest of the ten Books, of which that Work consists, I have found so many ca­pital Errours, in most of which there is a complication of divers Mistakes in the same Period; to how much publick shame must Mr. Varillas be exposed, if those, who are concerned, examine the other Books, as I have done this. I expect no other Justice from [Page 194] himself, but that he will reckon all this scorn, that such a Disco­very must bring upon him, as a meritorious Suffering at the hands of Hereticks, and that he will use it as an Argument to raise his Pension. But it will be a great happiness if others can learn, thô at his cost, to write with more Truth and greater Caution.

The design of all revealed Re­ligion is, to heighten in us those Seeds of Probity, Vertue and Gentleness, that are in our Na­ture, and I will not stick to say, that it were better for Mankind, that there were no revealed Reli­gion at all in being, and that hu­mane Nature should be left to it self, than that there were such a sort of a revealed Religion recei­ved, that overthrows all the Prin­ciples [Page 195] of Morality, and that in­stead of making Men sincere, teaches them to be false, and in­stead of inspiring them with Love and Mercy, enflames them with Rage and Cruelty, and it is likely, that M. Varillas will easily find out, what that Society is, of which I mean. For he deserves well to be at least one of the Lay­brothers of the Order, if not to fill up Mr. Maimbourg's room, and then the Order will not lose by the change much of a quality, that has been believed to be al­most an essential ingredient in its Constitution, which gave occa­sion to a very pleasant Passage, that, as I was told, fell out at A­miens within these 20 years.

All the Companies of Trades­men in the Church of Rome [Page 196] choose a Saint for their Patron, and the many new invented Trades have put some Bishops to hard shifts to give proper Saints, which has produced some very ridiculous Patronages, for the Cooks have the Assumption for their Feast, because the two first Sillables assum signifies roasted; and when the Needle-makers at Paris asked of the Cardinal Gondy a Patron, he could not easily find out a Saint that had any relation to their Trade, but he advised them to take All-Saints, for it could not be thought, but that some one or other of the Saints had made Needles; but the Bi­shop of Amiens gave Ignatius Lo­yola to be the Patron of the Pac­kers, now the Word emballeur, as it signifies a Packer, it passes [Page 197] also for a Trepan; so the Packers being satisfied with the Bishop's nomination, had Ignatius up on his Day in a Procession, upon which the Jesuites were offended, to see their Patron pretended to by such a Company of Mechanicks, and sued the Packers upon it, they de­fended themselves upon the ac­count of their Bishop's naming him to them, and when the Bi­shop was asked why he had given him for their Patron, he alluding to the other signification of the Word emballeur said, that he had observed that all the emballeurs of Europe were under that Saint's Patronage. But it is not necessa­ry to infer from hence, that Mr. Varillas has a just claim to his pro­tection, for thô he seems to have very good inclinations, yet he [Page 198] wants the address that is necessa­ry to recommend him to so refi­ned a Society, and to a perfection in it, that cost Mr. Maimbourg a whole Jubily for a Novitiat; for thô seven years is enough to learn an ordinary Trade, yet 50 is ne­cessary to furnish a Man with a sufficient stock of Impudence for so hardy an Imployment.