EXILE EXILED. Occasioned by a Mandate from Rome, procured by Tho. Fleming alias Barnwell, Archb. of Dublin, and Friar of the Order of S. Francis, from the Congregation of Cardinals De propagandâ fide, for the banishment of Paul Harris out of the Diocese of Dublin.  
By PAUL HARRIS Priest.  In umbra alarum tuarum sperabo, donec transeat iniquitas. Psal 56. 
Printed Anno Dom. 1635.   

To the Reader.  
S. Paul tells us of some kind of men, that they profit, but still to the worse, 2. Tim. 3. It is not long since that there was a Book set forth, admonishing the Friars to be sober, but they have burnt so many of those Books, and read so few of them, as from folly they have profited to extreme madness. It was little sobriety to excommunicate one man, for the fault, or no fault of another. But howsoever clavae errante, vel non errante, the Censures are Episcopal. But for a Prelate to throw away his Keys, & to take the Sword, & to hang it at a Friar's belt, & with it to play the Fencer, yea the Offender.  
Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici?  
The Italian says, That before a man falls into any great calamity, God first gives him a rap upon the pate, that is, he deprives him of his judgement, well expressed by the Poet, De Ponto lib. 4.  

Crede mihi, miseros prudentia prima relinquit,  
Et sensus cunre, consiliumque fugit   
A wretched man, right, reason first forsakes,  
He recks not of advice, nor counsel takes.  
The Friars began with Excom. they arrived at Exile. What's the next? Assizes and Quarter-Sessions. The Prophet saith, De radice colubri egredietur Regulus, Esay 14. from the root of an Adder shall issue out a Cockatrice. By which is signified (as Lyra expounds it) That from a small beginning, & contemptible, great and intolerable mischiefs do arise. But the Adder of Exile being prudently oppressed, the hatch of the Cockatrice was prevented.  
Is it not to be lamented, that the Ecclesiastical & Politic estate cannot consist together, but that the advancement of the one, must be the abatement of the other? In so much that some doubt not to say, that a Catholic can be no good Subject: utinam abscindantur qui conturbant nos: I would to God they were cut off who were the occasions of that scandal. For my part, I profess my name in the number of those who are both good Catholics & good Subjects: And I trust in the mercies of God, so to be found living and dying. And whosoever reads this little Work, I wish him of the same mind, and to be as I am, excepting those afflictions, persecutions, & continual vexations, which I endure à falsis fratribus, and their abused followers, whom God amend, as also thy friend (good Reader)  
PAUL HARRIS Priest.   

A Letter from Card Antonio Barbarini, Praefect of the sacred Congregation of Cardinals De propagandâ fide, unto Tho. Fleming Archb. of Dublin, and by him published not only through this whole Diocese of Dublin, but generally throughout all Ireland, in the months of August and September, of this present year 1635.  
To which Letter, for the better understanding thereof, is added a gloss by Paul Harris, very necessary to be read of all such, to whom that Letter is communicated.  
The Letter of Card Antonio, unto the Archb. of Dublin, Tho. Fleming.  
MOst illustrious and reverend Lord, as brother. here it is written unto the Bishop of Meath, That he command that same Paul Harris to depart forthwith from your Diocese, otherwise to give order byauthority of the same holy Congregation, to the faithful people, that none shall receive from him the holy Sacraments, nor hear his Mass. And that some scandal arise not by means of this order, Your Lordship may give unto the said Bishop (when he receiveth this enclosed) such advertisements and informations as you shall think fitting for prevention thereof. To conclude, I commend myself unto your Lordship.  
Rome 13. Decemb. Your Honour's most affectionate as brother Card. Antonio Barbarini. Francis Ingoli Secretary.  
The Gloss.  
MOst illustrious and Rev. Lo: as brother vid. Thomas Fleming alias Barnwell, to whom this Epistle was directed, as himself publisheth. here it is written to the Bishop of Meath subandi enclosed within this Letter. The name of the B. of Meath is, Tho. Dese Do. of Sorbon in Paris.  
That he command that same Paul Harris viz. mentioned in the enclosed Letter unto the B. of Meath, not yet published.  
To depart forthwith your Diocese  
To wit, the Diocese of Dublin.   

CAP. I.  
NOW this same Paul Harris is doubtless the English Priest, who lives in Dublin, who wrote a Book in answer to Tho. Fleming his Excom. as also a second called Arctomastix, against a libelling Friar, who shadoweth himself under the name of Vrsulanus; and since that, a third Book against the false doctrine of Habits and Scapulars, and Donna Luissa her saturdays Fast. So than it seems this same Paul Harris the English Priest, is to be commanded by the Bishop of Meath Do. Dese, authorized by the Congregation of Cardinals De propagandâ fide, to depart the Diocese of Dublin. Certs if the Bishop of Meath his Warrant come in the Name of King CHARLES, it will doubtless be obeyed; but if it come in any other man's name, Paul Harris (as far as I understand his mind) is resolved not to depart. Nay, if all the Friars, Priests, Bishops, Cardinals, Popes, and a general Council, shall command him to depart, he will not remove a foot out of the Diocese of Dublin. The reasons of this his resolution he hath abundantly yielded, and published unto the world, in an Answer unto the Archbishop's Excom. cap. 3. Yea, but it is said in the text of this Letter, That the Bishop of Meath is to command him Forthwith to depart. Alas good Friars, give him leave to pay his way, and bid his friend's farewell. Forthwith is very sudden. Let him at least depart with bag & baggage, as Soldiers do from the Fort they can no longer defend. Happily Paul Harris cannot say as old Bias did, Omniamea mecumporto. The Friars say, he is rich: Will they not allow him time to transport his wealth to the place of his future residence, to make sale of his houses, and lands, and to recover the arreeres of his rents, to call in his debts, to make an end of his suits in law, etc. All which require time, and cannot be dispatched Forthwith. Patrick Cahil being banished the same Diocese by the present Archb. was allowed 15. days of abode before he removed. O but he was a native, and Harris is an English churl, and must not be so kindly dealt withal. Forthwith: This is like the Summons of Gad's hill, or Salesbury plain, Stand & deliver. Well, perambulet mare & aridam, quaerens quid devoret. Let the Friar compass sea and land, seeking what he may devour, yet old Paul is resolved to live among his old neighbours of Dublin, notwithstanding the Friars should determine the contrary in a general Chapter.  
By this then gentle Reader, you see (at least if this Letter came from Rome, as our Archb. pretends, and would have it to be believed) That the sword of exile is taken out of his fist, and put into the Lord Bish. of Meath his hands; who for all the persuasions that our Bish. Fleming can use (see the luck of it) absolutely denies to draw out the same; In plain terms that he never intends to pronounce any sentence of exile against Harris, and so hath declared himself to the face of our Archb, and his Friars, and to as many as deal with him about it. But how will the Bish. of Meath answer this neglect, or rather contempt of the Roman command? O! let it alone: He knows how to give satisfaction unto the holy Congregation of Cardinals De propagandâ fide, or to any other misinformed, and abused superior. And now it pittyes me to see, (and yet I cannot but laugh) how our Archb. Plemming, and his Friars, torment themselves in this business. For now that they cannot induce the B. of Meath by no persuasion to this horrid fact, viz. to sentence a Priest to exile, yet never called to his answer, and much less convicted of any fault, and consequently innocent, (for so the Law presumes Reg. 8) They now cry out; O frustra nostri suscepti labores! O malè impensi sumptus! O all our labour in vain undertaken! O costs cast away! Albeit in truth, all their labours, costs and charges, were no more than the addressing of one Letter unto Friar Wadding, a man according unto their own heart, resident continually in the City, and pressed to negotiate all their causes, a man of that zeal & earnestness in procuration, as he would well ween to obtain a sentence before a citation, a condemnation before a conviction.  Cordiger esuriens in coelum jusseris ibit. 
I tell you perdie: A hungry Friar, hungry of maintenance, hungry of honour, hungry of vanity and vainglory, & to conserve his declining reputation among his fellows, what will he not do? Ad stygias si jusseris ibit.  
So then our Archb. and his Friars, seeing all their proceedings against Paul Harris, come to no better a pass in the Roman Court. The Archb. disarmed as a party, & therefore partial. The Bishop of Meath only authorized to pronounce sentence, and refusing that service. I say, all designments & machinations so untowardly succeeding on our Archb. side. At last, as desperate of all better success, he betakes himself to this silly refuge, forsooth to publish a private Letter received from a Card. the Pope's Nephew, which Letter is nothing else in the world, but the case or cover of the Letter sent unto the B. of Meath: As if one bereft of his sword, should lay about him with the scabbard. For it plainly appears, that the B. of Meâth hath the sword, and our B. nothing left him but the scabbard, with which he maketh this goodly flourish, sending abroad the copies thereof like so many butterflies among his followers and devotoes, presuming (as he well may) of the many-headed multitude, in all communityes as most injudicious, so with all most factious, being as ready as the blind Senator in juvenal, Sat. 4. to applaud what they hear others to condemn: adding of his own invention, as likewise his Friars in their perambulations, that the sentence of Harris his exile, awarded by the Ordinary, is now ratified & confirmed by the Pope's sentence, which is as far from truth, as Rome is from Dublin Nothing sent from his Hol. in these parts insinuating the same. And that now Harris (saith the Archb.) may turn the edge of his style from me, upon the Cardinals, who have confirmed my sentence: And this he may do with small labour: for it is no more but to change the Title of his Book from me to them. So Tho. Fleming. All which (with due respect unto your place my Lord) are manifest untruths, and so convicted to be by the tenure of this very Epistle of the Card. published by your command into so many hands. For if that sentence be put into the power of the B. of Meath to be pronounced de futuro, without relation to your sentence at all. How then is your sentence confirmed of which no mention is made? A sentence of which it seemed yourself being ashamed, before a grave audience, did in express terms before many witnesses, disclay me and deny ever to have given.  
For you may remember my Lo. Archb. that being called before the Lo. Bishop of Derry, and Sir George Radcliffe Knight, there being then present Do. Peter caddel, Do. Patrick Cahil, William Brown, Patrick Brangan, Edmund Doyle Priests, that you acknowledging and avowing your command of Peter caddel out of your Diocese, you constantly denied the exile of Paul Harris, but only that you willed and advised him to depart, by reason of which your denial, he was forced to produce his witness William Brown Priest, who before those two honourable persons, being charged by them upon his conscience, as an honest man to speak the truth, whether you only desired or commanded him to quit your Diocese; the said William Browne did testify, that you absolutely commanded Paul Harris to depart, and to leave your Diocese, and that himself was the man who was also commanded to deliver that message unto him in your name. All those before named can witness that business so to have passed. And therefore I say, had your exile of Paul Harris been most legal, (which I will never grant) by your voluntary denial thereof it was revoked, and utterly quashed, no less than a sentence of Excommunication, Suspension, etc. by the like deny all remains canceled and revoked. How then now confirmed? It followeth.  Otherwise to give order by authority of the same holy congregation, to the faithful people, that none shall receive from him the holy Sacraments, nor hear his Mass. 
The order which Tho. Fleming gave four years ago, was; That none under pain of Excom. should be present at his Mass. The nullity of which Excom. being declared by an Answer thereunto, it was the less observed, especially of such as were of judgement. What order the B. of Meath was to lay down, appeareth not, for that the Serpent was crushed in the Egg.  
This sacred Congregation of Card. De propagandâ fide, was instituted about the year 1612. by Paulus 5. of which Congregation at this time, Card. Antonio Barbarini, the youngest of the three nephews of this present Pope Vrbanus 8. is head, or Praefect, a man about 30. wise, but not much learned. And it is strange that being wise, and an Italian (a Nation so respective) writing to foreign countries, he would not command his Secretary, to style his Epistles in Latin, unless (peradventure) Latin is become a stranger among the Latin Secretaryes. We Tramontani (as the Italians call us) directing our Letters unto the Court of Rome, neither write them in English, or Irish, albeit we are not ignorant, that there wants not of these Countries in the City, who are able to translate them into Italian. This Congregation of Cardinals (I confess) have a glorious style conferred upon them by his Hol. as to be Propagators, advancers & promoters of the Faith, but surely their endeavours will never answer unto those honourable titles, so long as (giving ear to a company of turbulent & malcontent Friars) they shall seek to disturb the peace & tranquillity of those Kingdoms, over or in which they have no principality. I say, by exercising a secular power over those who are none of their subjects. For as his Majesty of Great Britain, never attempted to exile any of the Pope's subjects out of Rome, or any other his Territoryes; so neither ought they to banish any of his Majesty's liege people, either out of this, or that City, Province, or Diocese, but to know their own bounds, and not to transgress the same. And truly were I either wise or learned, I would endeavour to persuade those most eminent L. Cardinals (in acknowledgement of their error) either to send an Embafsadour unto his Majesty, or at least to direct a deprecatory Epistle unto him, by which he might be induced to pass over that injurious entrenchment upon his Crown & Dignity. And alas what less can they do? This truly would be a commendable act, beseeming their greatness, and answerable unto their high titles; by this means, the Faith might either be propagated, or certs less scandalised. And it may be hoped, that in so generous a breast of our renowned Sovereign, it would find both a gentle admittance and remittance.  
And as for the faithful people here mentioned: Surely as many as be of understanding & capacity (who I confess, are not the greatest part of your flock) do well see & discern, that all these machinations of the Friars against Harris, proceed merely from malice, who for his desire & zeal of their reformation, as well in their corrupt manners in life, as abominable errors in doctrine, do labour by all means to ruinate & undo him. But P.H. is confident, that Qui habitat in adjutorio altissimi, in protectione Dei coeli commor abitur: He that dwells in the help of the highest, shall remain in the protection of the God of Heaven. Neither is he better than his predecessors, so many worthy Prelates and Priests, who for seeking to reform abuses among Monks & Friars, have suffered at their hands extreme persecution, not always ad exilium, but sometimes ad sanguinem. Examples whereof both ancient and modern, our Ecclesiastical Histories do recount. And it is no small comfort unto P.H. and an affront to his adversaries, that his books being by the Friars presented unto the Roman Censors, and by them read & perused, tried, sifted & bolted, yet came off as Gold from the fire, without the least note, obeliske, or asteriss ke of reproof, which is also no small honour unto our holy Faith, because hereby those who are otherwise persuaded in matters of doctrine, may plainly see that the Catholic Church maintains none of those fooleries, which the Friars profructu ventris do daily vent, and were largely confuted in his aforesaid Book. It followeth in the Epistle.  
And that some scandal arise not by means of this order, your Lordship may give unto the said Bishop, when he receiveth this enclosed, such advertisements & informations, as you shall think fitting for prevention thereof.]  
But no advertisements, or informations, that Dublinensis could give, seemed sufficient to Medensis to the prevention of scandal, maturely considering, that it was a thing impossible, without notorious scandal, indictâ causâ to banish a Priest out of the Diocese wherein he hath his habitation, his friends, acquaintance, and benefactors, and that in a continued residence of more than 20. years, and to be sent into Pontus, I mean, to uncouth & unknown places, where being separated from his friends & wellwillers, he may with less difficulty have his throat cut by a malicious Friar, or some suborned Wood-kerne. O! but Harris might pass into his native Country of England. True indeed, and so he may (but not for sic volo, sic jubeo of a Prelate) though as yet he is not so minded: these 20. years of a continued absence, having made him well-near as much a stranger in his own Country, as in the County of Tirconnell, where as yet he never set foot. Such are the fruits of time, whose nature is as the Poet Menander saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to procure oblivion. No no, with the good leave of the State, P. H. now of the age of 63. hath set up his rest, and is resolved to say of Ireland, and in particular of this Diocese of Dublin, Hic habitabo, quoniam elegi eam: here will I dwell, for that I have made choice thereof, till such time as his better part be translated into a better habitation.  
Again, the Lo. Bishop of Meath no doubt doth well consider, that a banishment inflicted without an examination of the cause, without the bill of the Plaintiff, and answer of the Defendant, can not but be most injurious, & illegal, and so by the same nonsense of a nolo, that a party is removed from this Diocese of Dublin, he may also be excluded from any other Diocese, and so consequently out of all Christendom, for that there is no place in any Country of the Christian world, but is contained in some Diocese, and so perforce must be compelled to live either upon the Seas, or among Turks and Infidels.  
Lastly, the Lo. B of Meath had good cause to refuse to be employed in such a piece of service, viz. to pronounce sentence of exile against any of the King's Subjects, for he being a Do. of that famous University of Sorbon, & as by profession a Divine, so also seen in the Canons & Laws of holy Church, doth well understand, that Exile is a punishment beyond the sphere of Episcopal jurisdiction, proper to the Crown, and not to the Mitre, and accordingly to be managed by the Secular, and not by the Spiritual arm. So S. Bernard in his 5. book De consideratione, unto Pope Eugenius, tells us; That as the Keys belong unto the Prelates, so the Sword unto the Civil Magistrate. Forsitan tuo nutu, non tua manu evaginandus: Peradventure by your will (saith he) not by your hand to be unsheathed. Which doctrine is laid down, and canonised in the Decretals of Gregory lib. 5. de Cler. excom. tit. 27. cap. 2. Si quis presbyter, aut alius clericus fuerit degradatus, aut ab officio pro certis criminibus suspensus, & ipse per contemptum & superbiam aliquid de ministerio sibi interdicto agere praesumpserit, & postea ab Episcopo suo correptus in incepta praesumptione perduraverit modis omnibus excommunicetur, & quicunque-cum co communicaverit, similiter se sciat esse excommunicatum. Similiter de Clericis, Laicis, vel foeminis excommunicatis observandumest. Quod si aliquis omnia ista contempserit, & Episcopus minimè emendare potuerit regis judicio ad requisitionem Ecclesiae exilio damnetur: If a Priest or a Clergyman shall be degraded, or for certain crimes suspended from his office, and through contempt & pride, shall presume to do any thing in his ministry forbidden unto him, and after being by his Bishop reproved, shall notwithstanding persevere in his former presumption, by all means let him be excommunicated, and he who shall communicate with him, let him know that he is excommunicated. And this to be observed with Clerks, Laics, & and women excommunicated. But if any shall contemn all these things, and that the Bishop can put no remedy unto it, then by the judgement of the King, at the request of the Church, let him be banished.  
In which Canon is plainly distinguished the office of the Bishop, & of the King. The spiritual censures of Excom. Suspension etc. to be inflicted by the Bishop, & not by the King. The temporal punishment of exile etc. to be commanded by the King, and not by the Bishop. Again, in this Canon may be observed the order & method of a legal process; as first, conviction of crimes, or contumacy, including in his nature & essence, a citation of the party accused; next, infliction of spiritual censures by sentence of the Bishop, as Excom. Suspension &c, which being contemned, & the delinquent incorrigible. What then is to be done? Marry the Bishop's power being exhausted, in the last place comes in the sword, to wit, corporal punishment of Exile, to be adjudged by the King, at the instance of the Church. By which it is manifest, that Exile is a punishment transcending all spiritual power & Episcopal jurisdiction. For else should the Law have said: Then by the judgement of the Bishop, let him be banished; but here it is said in terminis, in express terms, by the judgement of the King let him be banished.  
Like unto this is that other Canon de judiciis, lib. 2. 'tis. 1. cap. 10. In these words. Si Clericus in quocunque ordine constitutus, in furto, vel homicidio, vel perjurio, seu alio crimine fuerit deprehensus legitimè, atque convictus, ab Ecclesiastice judice deponendus est. Qui si depositus incorrigibilis fucrit, excommunicari debet, deinde cotumaciâ crescente anathematis mucrone feriri, post modum vero, si in profundum malorum veniens contempserit, cum Ecclesia non habet ultra quod faciat, ●e possit esse ultra perditio plurimorum, per secularem comprimendus est potestatem. Ita quod ei deputetur exilium, vel alia legitima poena inferatur. That is, If a Clergy man in what order soever, shallbe found in theft, or manslaughter, or perjury, or other crime, and being lawfully convicted by the Ecclesiastical judge, he is to be deposed; who, if after deposition he shallbe incorrigible, he ought to be excommunicated, afterward his contumacy increasing, to be strooken with the sword of Anathema: but if arriving at the depth of all evils, he shall remain in contumacy, whenas the Church hath not further what to do (that there be not besides the destruction of very many) he is to be repressed by the Secular power. So as Exile may be deputed unto him, or some other lawful punishment inflicted. So the Canon.  
In which we see, as in the former, that the power of the Church & of the Prelate, proceeds no further, even with the greatest delinquents, but to excommunication & to Anathema, at which once arriving, they make a period, confessing (as we see in this Canon) that the Church can pass no further, but leaves Exile, & all other corporal punishments, to the Secular power to be awarded & inflicted. What then may we think of that Prelate, who not content with his spiritual sword of Ecclesiastical censures, will with his own hand unsheathe the temporal sword of the Civil Magistrate? which S. Bernard conformable unto the doctrine of the Church, lay de down in these two Canons above cited, flatly denyeth not only to Bishops, but to the Pope himself, Non tuâ manuevaginundus: Not by thy hand (O Pope Eugenius) to be unsheathed. Yet hath our Archb. contrary unto the Laws of holy Church, & the practice of all times, unsheathed the sword of his Sovereign and Liege Lord, once by his own confession, & twice more by conviction of witnesses, before honourable Personages, by exiling out of his Diocese, three Priests, albeit (I confess) with very bad success, their disobedience to unlawful commands, being so justifiable as we have seen.  
I do not marvel then, though the B. of Meath like a good subject, did refuse to meddle in a business of that nature, not having the consent and approbation of the State. All temporal jurisdiction in inflicting corporal punishments, from the least to the greatest, being essential unto his Majesty's Crown & Dignity. And I can not but wonder, that the Archb. Fleming & his Friars, should persuade themselves, that albeit a Prince be of another opinion in some points of doctrine, from the Roman, which we call the Catholic & Apostolical Church, that therefore he is a less absolute and Sovereign Commander within his Realms & Dominions, over which Almighty GOD hath placed him, than any other the most Catholic Prince in the World: which is a doctrine so undoubted, as it is defined by the Church, as a matter of divine faith, which whose denyeth, 
* Coneil. Constant.  is to be ranked among heretics. How then say I, comes it to pass? that, what no Prelate under any Prince in Christendom at this day would do or with the integrity of his faith to GOD, or allegiance to his Prince could do. What no Prelates for these thousand years & upward, under any King of England (since our first conversion from Paganism, unto Christianity, under Pope Gregory the great) did, or durst do. That this present ●rchb. Tho. Fleming, now in these days, dare so boldly attempt, namely; to exile & eject the King's Subjects, without invocating the Secular arm.   

CAP. II. An objection against some points of the former discourse answered.  
IT will happily be alleged in defenee of the Bishop by his Friars: That the times are such, as they do not permit that correspondency 'twixt the Prelates, and the Civil Magistrate in these Kingdoms, as in days of yore, and that therefore they can not expect that the Secular arm will condescend to execute any such their designs or desires. To which I answer. And is it then good Logic, that the Bishops may usurp their power, and entrench upon the right of the Secular arm? That because the King will not strike, that therefore the Bishop may take the sword out of his hand, and lay about him? Let me illustrate this by a familiar similitude: There is a Friar in Paris, & he wisheth with all his heart, that the Archb. of that place would excommunicate one Titius an Adversary of his, who lives in his Diocese, and is one of his flock, but he dares not impart his mind unto him, for that he is persuaded he will never condescend thereunto, & in moving him in that affair, he shall but lose his labour, and peradventure be repulsed with blame. Well, what then? what doth the Friar? Marry he says, Courage m●●n Frers, and without any further delay, he excommunicates the party himself. I demand in this case, Quid juris? It● answered, that the Friar is mercifully dealt withal, 〈◊〉 he be but set upon the Pillory, or upon an Ass, and whipped naked from the waste upward through the streets of Paris. And why? because he presumes to execute that power which he never had.  
True it is, That conformable unto the Canons above alleged, as also the immemorable customs & constitutions of these Kingdoms, in case of enormous crimes, as Theft, Murder, Perjury, Simony, Heresy, etc. as also disobedience, proceeding to incorrigibility etc. and that not only in Clerks, but in Laics, unto their Ecclesiastical superiors, as Bishops, & other Prelates, after spiritual remedies used, as admonitions, censures, depositions, degradations etc. at the instance of the Church upon a siguificaviss, there commonly issued out a Writ from the King's high Court of Chancery, Decapiendo excommunicate. De comburens do baretico etc. according to the quality of the delict. If then our Archbish. hath proceeded in this legal manner with his subject, & is arrived at the uttermost extent of Episcopal jurisdiction. He may then require the assistance of the Secular arm, by intimating his Process into the King's Court of justice, which if they answer his desires, so it is; if not, he must rest contented, and not think to erect a new Tribunal, and a new course of proceeding, contrary to what before, by authority of Church & Commonwealth is established, and by custom of so many ages, confirmed. To make himself both Prince, & Prelate; both Bishop, and Civil Magistrate, to pluck the Roses from the King's Crown, and to place them in his own Mitre. For by so doing, he may draw the sword of the Secular arm upon his own neck, and in prosecuting others, make himself an offendor in the highest degree.  
How often do we find in former ages? when both Prince and Prelate were of one lip and heart in divine worship, and acknowledged obedience unto the Pope in matters spiritual. Yet even in those times, did not those Catholic Princes always answer the instance and requisition of their Bishops, in lending them the assistance of their sword and secular arm, but sometimes were slow and remiss in that kind of correspondency, yea sometimes did absolutely deny the same. As who so will peruse the Ecclesiastical History of the Church, collected by that learned Card. Caesar Baronius in his Annals; Or our Countryman Nicholas Harpsfeild in his Ecclesiastical History of England, shall easily find. And so often as this happened, what did those Prelates? forsooth contained themselves within the bounds of their spiritual and Episcopal juvisdiction, never attempting to hang, burne, or banish, as our hor-spurre Frians have persuaded our Archb. to the great scandal of God's Church, and his own utter ruin, if the King be not the more merciful unto him. Which matters well pondered by the B. of Meath, it is no wonder that he told our Arch that they were none of his friends that procured him that Commission from Rome, to pronounce sentence of exile against any of the King's Liege people; by which act, himself might come to be in the same predicament with Tho. Fleming Archb. not only a bad member of God's Church, but a disloyal subject unto his Majesty, verifying that of the Prophet, Psal. 49. cum videbas furem, currebas cum to etc.   

CAP. III. The informations, by which the Archb. & his Friars procured from the Congregation of Cardinals De propagandâ fide, the Commission of Paul Harris his exile from the Diocese of Dublin.  
Pope's, and Princes, Cardinals, & Bishops are men, and no Angels, & according as they are informed, so they speak, so they write, so they determine causes; so they absolve, and so they do condemn.  
I remember I have read in Philip Commines his history of the wars 'twixt the French King Lewis II. & Charles Duke of Burgundy, that in some services wherein the French had the worse, & routed (more upon a Panic fear, than any just cause of terror) some Commanders being after by the King called to an account for their cowardice: The Author observes, & so reports it: That certain Captains, and great Monsieurs, that ran from the field but six leagues off, were severely punished for their offences; and others who fled from the field, and ran ten leagues beyond them, were highly rewarded for their valour & good service. Noting (as I said before) that Princes by reason of an impossibility of proper knowledge in themselves as touching the estate of absent affairs, are forced (resting upon informations) to judge accordingly, walking sometimes upon the right hand, and other while upon the left.  
And so it happened in the case of P. H. who by Friar Wadding, the Archb. his Agent in the City, and others of his fraternity, as well shod, as barefooted Friars, his mortal & sworn enemies, is accused to be a most turbulent; & a seditious person, disobedient to all lawful authority, and as one confirmed in contumacy, remains incorrigible, and so incurable, without hope of amendment etc. And thus have the Friars chanted their Matins at Rome.  
P. Harris the defendant of his innocence, in the mean time lies at anchor in the Port of Dublin, little knowing how the winds blow abroad, till upon these suggestions, there comes from the City, not a Commission to any particular Bishops, or other Prelates, to examine his cause, or to hear what the Archb. can allege against him, or he make answer thereunto, but the perclose of all judicial proceedings, namely Sentence, and that is thought fit to be of Exile out of the Diocese wherein he lives, and that sentence commanded unto the B. of Meath to pronounce.  
But now hear (good Reader) what Paul Harris saith unto this information. Albeit nothing more, or other can he say, than what he hath delivered in his former Books. Even the same which all the Clergy of Dublin do know at this day to be true. That which so many of the Laity as take notice of our troubles, do know to be true. That which the Friars themselves, the only causers & procurers of all these intestine broils 'twixt the Clergy and the Regulars, best of all know to be true: Namely, that this information made by the Archb. and his Friars, unto the Cardinals at Rome, is most false, most unconscionable & wicked, that it is a mere Chimaera, & an En●rationis, without any existent foundation. And to the end that the world may again & again understand in all places, that which in these parts is most palpable. I could wish, not the shell of a Triton, but the trumpet of an Archangel to sound it through sea & land, that all the inhabitants of the Earth, and not only of Rome, may hear it, and take knowledge of the injustice and falsehood of those, who by their places & office in God's Church, should be lights & lanterns unto others, to direct their paces into the ways of justice, peace, and truth. For it is so far from any shadow of verity; That Paul Harris hath been disobedient unto his Superior the Archb. or that ever he denied upon any summons, citation or message, to appear before him, or to answer any accusation, or matter, little or great, laid unto his charge, that in all his life he never received any message or citation at all from his Ordinary which he hath not obeyed. And this to be true, the Archb. in his own conscience knows, and none better than himself understands the innocence of P. H. in that behalf. But in case it be otherwise, since it is a matter of fact, why hath not the Archb. (in all this time since Harris wrote his two Books,) for his own credit & reputation, and to the greater affront of P. H. declared here at home unto some sufficient & understanding men either of the Clergy, or Laity, the falsity of this his so bold assertion, naming the parties by whom he sent his citations, or his messages, to what place he called him unto his answer? The time when, the day, the month, or the year, that so P. H. being challenged of so notorious an untruth in his writings, might be disrespected accordingly? Doubtless such an advantage would not have been let pass, had P. H. been guilty of any such disobedience unto his Ordinary: Since it is well understood, that the Archb. is not so tender of that man's credit & reputation. And such have been the accusations and informations of the Ordinary and his Friars, against P. H. at Rome, himself never being called to his answer either here or there.   

CAP. IU. Paul Harris not admitted to any hearing of his Diocesan, was forced to seek for justice at the hands of the Civil Magistrate.  
IT is the office of a Prelate, not only to feed, but to govern his flock. As the shepherd doth not only lead his sheep to wholesome pastures, but protects them from the jaws of all ravenous beasts, & such of their fellows as would be hurtful unto them. This our Saviour teacheth, setting down the parts of a good Shepherd, joh. 10. from whose office, among all other professions in the world, it pleased him to transfer that name unto the Governors of his Church, terming both himself, and them, Shepherds, or Pastors, saying; Ego sum pastor bonus etc.  
Now Tho. Fleming a Pastor, having P. H. a member of his flock, whose cure & charge belonged unto him, and being wronged by some of them, who were also under his charge, and complaining of his aggrievances unto his Pastor, could not be admitted unto his presence, sending them by the hands of others, he sped no better. And this P. H. doth aver to be true, not by his own testimony, (which in his own cause is worth nothing) but by the attestation of most grave & Rev. persons yet living, who have firmed the same with their own hands, and are ready to justify it before any Tribunal. Read then as followeth.  
We whose names are here subscribed, do witness; That in our presence Tho. Fleming Archb. of Dublin, did renounce all correspondency, either by word, or writing, with Paul Harris Priest, telling us plainly, that thence forward he never would receive either Letter or Petition from him, or would meddle in any matter of his, for him, or against him; but wholly disclaimed all jurisdiction, or power over him, wishing us to signify so much unto the aforesaid Paul Harris, which accordingly we did,  
May 24. 1631. Peter caddel Pr. William Shergold Pr.  
Thus P. H. being excluded from all audience & correspondency with his Pastor, he addressed himself unto the Temporal Magistrate, yet neither in Ecclesiastical or Criminal cause, but merely Civil, such as was the detaining of some Books from him by a Priest, & a Friar, and the same most injustly, as it appeared upon the hearing before the now Lo. Chief justice of the King's Bench, for by his order they were restored him. After this again, P. H. understanding of some slanderous informations, made by Friars, and others against him, unto the Ordinary and weening that after so long a space he had been come unto a better mind, he solicited him again for an audience, but being repulsed as before, he sent him this message; as followeth.  
THis 15. day of May 1633,  
We whose names are here subscribed, do witness; That being requested to deliver a message unto the R. R. Tho. Fleming Archb. of Dublin, we accordingly the year and day above written, delivered the same: The which was this. That whereas diverse slanders & accusations are intimated unto your Ho. against the aforesaid Paul Harris Pr. and presented unto you his Pastor, as also published abroad by diverse Friars, and others, to the prejudice of the good name & fame of the aforesaid Marris: his request unto you the Lo. Archb. by us, is; that you would be pleased according unto the Laws and Canons of holy Church to judge him, first admitting him unto audience, and to his just defence.  
The Lo. Archb. answer unto us, was: That in case Paul Harris would admit and receive an absolution for the Excom. that he had notoriously incurred, he would; otherwise not.  
james Talbot Pr. William Shergold Pr.  
Thus Reader thou seest, That two years after the former denial P. H. is again debarred of audience by the Archb. or else to be admitted upon such terms, as to acknowledge an Excom. Of which Excom. for that himself hath written very largely in two former Books, he will be here more brief. The Excom. pretended against him, is; That he commenced a suit) as hath been formerly said) before a Temporal Magistrate against a Priest & a Friar, for detaining of certain Books from him. For our Archb. & his Friars are of opinion, that no Ecclesiastical persons, aught to be brought before a Temporal Magistrate, for what cause soever; and that the party so conventing them, incurs Excom. De jure.  
To which P. H. answers; That no such Canon was ever received, or practised in these Kingdoms, as he hath largely declared in his former Books, and that he prefers the judgement of all antiquity under his Majesty, and his Predecessors, before the opinion of Tho. Fleming and all his followers. Since those who are learned in the Laws, as well Canon, & Civil, as Common, do with one voice agree, and have assured him: That in all causes & actions, merely Civil, of which nature this was, against the Priest & the Carmelite Friar, that as well Bishops, as Priests, Abbots, and Priors, did sue, and were sued in the King's Courts, & none other. If then all Bishops and Priests, Abbots and Friars, who have consented and allowed of this practice, for these thousand years & upward, did maintain an error, I think P. H. had better venture upon that error, then upon the skill of a Prelate who never yet studied out of his own Friary, or took degree in any University. But this Physician who is so liberal of his plasters, offering his absolutions, before the Penitents ask them: Sith he can not cure himself, let him seek a remedy in time for his own sores, not being ignorant that himself is notoriously excommunicated ab homine, and by authority of this present Pope Vrbanus 8. in the controversy 'twixt Patrick Cahil, & Patrick Brangan, from which (to the great scandal of God's Church) we never heard that yet he received an absolution. And I pray God, that not guilty of schism, and heresy, he stands not also excommunicate De jure.  
But now ex abundanti: Let it be supposed, (for granted it will never be) that to draw Ecclesiastical persons before Secular Tribunals, in all causes as well Civil as Ecclesiastical & Criminal, is unlawful, and that the Canons inhibit the same under Excom. Suppose also, that this Law be received, and in all times hath been in viridi observantiâ, practised in these Kingdoms. I say all this being granted as most true & undoubted, P. H. is as clear from all spot of Excom. as the sunbeams, or the water in the fountain. As how? Forsooth upon this ground; That before he convented those Ecclesiastical men, to wit, the Priest & the Friar above mentioned, he was denied all audience and correspondency with his Prelate the Archb. either by word or writing, as before hath been declared & testified. In which case it is lawful, not only for a Priest, but for a Layman to seek for justice at the hands of the Temporal Magistrate, against a Cleargy-man, and to convent him before a Secular Tribunal: I say, in case his Prelate refuse to hear him, or to admit his complaint, or to do him justice, Read for this De judiciis tit. 1. cap. 7. Qualiter & Quando, together with the Gloss, & you will find these words: Quod in defectum justitiae, Clerici ad judicium seculare trahi possunt: 
* So Aaor. c. 14. q. 2. Farinas. q 8. De Inquisit-Ambrosinus cap 18 n. 39 Molina de Iust. tract. 2, disput. 31. conclus 4. Salas de leg. disp. 14. sect. 9 n. 111. with many others.  That for want of justice, Clergymen may be drawn to Secular Tribunals. Casus; Titius a Priest is indebted one hundred Crowns to Sempronius Priest, or Layman, the debt cannot be denied, the day of payment is expired: but Titius will not perform. Sempronius is of our Friar's opinion, that it ought to be tried & recovered before the Ordinary; but the Ordinary will not hear him, or receive his libel. Where shall Sempronius sue his Bond against Titius? At Rome? But that hath not been seen or heard of, since the Capitol was built. Ergo, he must either lose his debt, or take the benefit of the Canon. In defectum justitiae, Clerici ad seculare judicium trahi possunt, as before. And S. Athanasius: doubted not long before the Canon was thought of, to convert the Arian Heretics his false accusers of foul crimes before Constantius the Emperor. Athan. in Apolog. ad Constant. And before him S. Paul, Act. 25. appealed in the Controversies he had with his own Nation the jews, unto Caesar. Appello Casarem. But if you answer, that in the aforesaid cases, there was no spiritual superior Prelate or Bishop to hear, or to determine their causes. I then reply: And what distinction make you 'twixt a Prelate that will not hear a Priest's cause, and no Prelate at all Verily none. And this was, & still is the case of P. H. who before his Ordinary never yet could be admitted either plaintiff or defendant. Wherefore I conclude, that in conventing his Adversaries, though Priests, before the Temporal Magistrate in Civil causes, he did not incur any censure of Excom. being warranted by the Canon above alleged; In defectum justitiae, Clerici ad seculare tribunal trahi possunt: For want of justice, Cleargymen may be convented before the Secular judgement. Unless we will maintain the Archb. Tho. Fleming to be above the Canon, which is not only absurd, but heretical.  
And let my Reader (whether Friend or Adversary) observe, that neither Brangan, or Doyle, can be excused from Excom. De jure, in the conventing of P. H. before the Temporal Magistrate, he never having to this day declined the jurisdiction, or forum of the Ordinary. So as the Canon De judiciis, Qualiter & Quando, which hath excused P. H. for drawing them before Secular judgements, namely In defectum justitiae, can no sort militat in their behalf, who have suffered no defect of justice from their Ordinary. In fine then, they remain absolutely excommunicated, together with their Master, and may say; jam sumus ergo pares.   

CAP. V. Of the want of judgement and discretion in the Bishop and Friars, the persecutors of Paul Harris.  
IS it possible, that man a reasonable creature, & made unto the Image of GOD, should have his reason so overruled with passion, and his judgement so overmastered with malice, as they should be powerful, not only to obscure, but in a sort to extinguish the light thereof? For not to speak of conscience, & common honesty, which as in every Christian ought chiefly to prevail, so, especially in Churchmen, who are to be guides, & leaders of others unto their salvation. How is it possible, that wit, capacity, or common sense, should not avert these men from such violent and outrageous courses against P. Harris?  
Is it because that glorious Greatness who sits at the Helm of Government is pleased most graciously to grant unto us some more favourable respect then in times past using us (not with standing what difference soever with others in points of doctrine) with all indiffenrecie in the Politic government: As if he should say, 
Tros Tyriusque mini nullo dìserimine habetur.  
Papists and Protestants are one to me,  
Who in subjects ducties so well agree.  Such is the influence of that blessed aspect in our dread and no less beloved Sovereign, with that gracious & propitious Star, to their perpetual glory, and our unspeakable comfort. O then! what pity is it? That golden Peace, and gowned Rest, should be the parents of so foul an offspring, as is discord and dissension.  
Is it? That we have already surfeited of Ease, and in so short a time become weary of so long-expected a welfare, that now (the rod and rigour of State being removed) we should embolden ourselves upon domestical broils.  
Is it? For that a way is given, nor only to the freedom of our Consciences, but even to the moderate & discreet exercise of our spiritual Functions, as well Episcopal, as Priestly, that we should contend also for Secular power and preeminency, to the encroaching upon our Caesar's jurisdiction?  
Is this the gratitude, and thankfulness we owe and show, for these our, Halcyon days in which no storm is either for the present felt or for the furure feared: If our own ungraciousinesse, and intemperate ambition do not abbreviat and shorten the same.  
Verily, if our Friars had but read their Esop's fables, they might have better understood themselves. The sluggard is sent, to school unto the pismire with a vade ad formicam tiger, pro. 4. Go to the pismire O sluggard, and may not the Friar be sent unto his fables of Aesop, with a vade ad Esopum stulte? Get thee to thy Esop's fables, O fool; and from the example of the Frog and the Mouse, learn wisdom: For there thou mayst observe, how the Frog assaulting the Mouse, & the Mouse defending himself: In the heat of that fierce combat, when neither of them had leisure to look about them, down comes the Hawk suddenly from the stand, and at one stoop, seizing upon them both, ended their quarrel.  
Alas! have these men so soon forgotten S. Stevens day? when for the nonobservance of some points of a Proclamation, all our Houses and Oratoryes were in one hour seized unto the King's use. May not our Franciscans remember, that the first blast and brunt of that tempest, discharged itself upon their own Cells & Oratoryes? For as we read, that some Cities have been razed, and sowed with salt; others, their walls dismantled: So was that their Convent in Cooke-street defaced, having their roof & timber-work pulled down & leveled with the ground. A sad spectacle and exemplar; for whose offence, and the rude uproar of that day, others (no doubt) were the less spared.  
Alas! hath malice against one man so blinded their judgements, and so perverted their wills? that sooner than they will cease to wage an unplacable war with one Priest, they will not only hazard their own peace & quiet, but even of the Church in these parts. Know they not how soon, and how suddenly the Royal Falcon, (if he will deign to so low a stoop) can end the battle betwixt the Frog & the Mouse, to the ruin of both? Do they not yet understand, that two scratches of a goose's quill, can banish both Bishop, Priest, and Friar, & that not only from their several Dioceses, Parishes, & Convents, but even out of his Majesty's Dominions? At what time as well friend as foe, beholding (for our demerits) such calamities to befall us, shall point us out with the singer of Gens absque consilio, & absque prudentiâ etc. Lo, a people without wit & understanding. Haddit P. H. apostated from his faith, or had he turned a jew, or a Turk, then had his persecution from these men wholly calmed. Nay, many doubt not to say, that our Regulars would have much rejoiced, and gloryed therein. But now that (through God's mercy) he preserves himself, and endeavours to keep those also in the Catholic faith, who begin to swarve therefrom; therefore is he made (if not the only butt, yet) the principal mark against whom they shoot their poisoned darts. But P. H. may comfort himself in this: That Regium est benè facere, & malè audire; It is one of to do well, and to be evil spoken of. And it is one of the eight Beatitudes pronounced by our Saviour's own mouth, Math. 5. Beatì estis cum maledixerint vobis, & persecuti vos fuerint etc.   

CAP. VI P. H. is in hope, that the Archb. and his Friars, looking back into themselves, will in time be reclaimed, and become his friends.  
WE have in our English Proverb; that, They go very far who never return. And Seneca out of the Poet Menander tells us; That friendships should indeed be eternal; but enmityes mortal and determinable.  
Immortales inimicitias ne retine, mortalis existens. but nothing aught to be more effectual with Christians to this purpose, than the doctrine of our Saviour, which teacheth, that the mark by which his Disciples are known & distinguished from others, is Charity among themselves, john 13. By this shall all men know that you are my Discipl●●, if you love one another. And the beloved Disciple, speaking of the contrary vice, 1. john. 3. Omnis qui odit fratrem suum, homicida est, etc. Whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer. And why should I not hope, that these men may not only come unto their wits again, but also to their wills, rectified and reform, and as newborn Babes, abandoning all malice, deceit, simulation, envy, and detraction, grow up unto salvation? I say, why should I not hope these things of them? For I understand, that some of them already do day lie pray for me. And I doubt not but their prayers are, That God will give me patience to endure all injuries wrongs, and persecutions at their hands; and above all, to deliver me from their bad tongues: And I thank God, in this Christian duty, I am not behind, for I also pray for them, Inter schismaticos & hareticos, till such time as God shall be pleased to give them grace to recall their doctrines of Habits and Scapulars, and cease to commend unto us the Luissian Fast. But howsoever they should (as God forbid) persevere still mine enemies and persecutors, yet am I also bound by the precept of Christ, both to love mine enemies, and to pray for my persecutors. Notwithstanding I may in the mean time endeavour to defend myself, & to seek justice against them, since the Prophet David hath taught me; that Charity & justice are compatible, and that Peace and justice way kiss each other.  
And as touching this union of Charity and justice: It is not from the purpose to recount an accident which happened in Seville of Spain, in the time that myself lived there. A certain judge of a Court, called in their language an Oydor, riding somewhat late in the evening, was by his enemy who sought his life, assaulted in the street, and by whom he was mortally wounded, yet so as he lived in perfect sense & memory some few days after. The Murderer in the mean time was apprehended, and being brought unto the party, he humbly upon his knees confessing his most wicked attempt, besought him with many tears to forgive him. To whom saith the wounded judge, being at hand to yield up the Ghost: Yes brother, from the Tiles of the House upward, I freely forgive thee; but from the Tiles downward, I desire justice may be done upon thee. And in the same mind that he was dying, am I now living; From the Thatch of the House upward, I freely forgive all my adversaries, persecutors, and enemies: That is, I desire all heavenly graces & good gifts from the Father of Lights to descend down upon them, and after this life, the salvation of their souls in Heaven: Moreover I desire that the good Angels of GOD may keep them in all their ways, & protect them from all harm in body, goods, & good name. Notwithstanding from the Thatch downward, I will not desist to call & cry for justice, and satisfaction against them, so long as I amable either to write, or speak; which satisfaction & reparation of wrongs, as in part I have already by the judgement of the Civil Magistrate, received against some, (for which I shall ever remain most thankful,) So am I in hope, the like justice remains for the rest; which with patience I will expect. For the former, read as followeth.  
Rev. Father Paul Harris,  
Whereas Fa. Thomas Dowd, & Fa. Richard Fortrell Priests, chosen orderers between us two, made an order against me, for the repairing of your good name, & that I always refused, & neglected to perform the said order, until such time as the R. Ho. the Lord Deputy General commanded me thereunto. Now than I being no less willing to show mine humble obedience to his Honour, than also sorry to have detracted of your fame: I do by these presents most willingly and submissively, ask forgiveness of your Rev. Fa. Paul Harris, this being a point of the Order, for all such abuses, obloquyes, detractions, as I have done against you, either by words, or writings, or otherwise. And I do hereby (acknowledging my fault) earnestly pray you in Christian charity, to accept of this mine humble submission, tending to the restitution of your good name. And withal, I do hereby sincerely promise, never hereafter to speak in any sort which may directly, or indirectly, tend to the obscuring of your good name.  
Witness my hand this 23. of Feb. 1633. Edmund Doyle. Being present john Fitton. Stephen jellous. Robert Nugent. William Hechins.  
How truly is it said? Quae nocent, docent, Those things that do hurt us, do instruct us. And the Prophet Esay 28. Vexatio dabit intellectum, Tribulation will give understanding. And day lie experience showeth, that to those duties whom prosperity can not draw, affliction drives, even as froward children are forced to kiss the rod & hand that whipped them. It is observed, that some sort of Birds do sing more sweetly imprisoned in a Cage, then either in the fields, or woods abroad. Howsoever it fareth with Birds, I am assured, these notes & palinodious dittyes had never been sung, but in a Cage; but now the author of this submission being at liberty, for all his Castle-promises, redijt ad ingenium or rather ad vomitum, hath returned to his old disposition, or rather to his vomit. Otherwise had he persisted in the accomplishment of what he solemnly promised, his submission at this time had neither been pressed on published.   

CAP. VII. Of the conveyance of these Letters from Rome, into Ireland, and by what means they came unto the hands of the Archb. Fleming.  
BEing lately in the Country, it was my chance in some communication with one of my acquaintance, to ask of him, if he knew, or could guess, how the Cardinal's Letters were passed into Ireland, and came to the hands of Dublinensis, whether by the post of Paris, or Antwerp, etc. He answered very pleasantly, he could soon resolve me in that point, and that they neither came by the way of Paris or Antwerp, but by the way of Loretto. Your reason quoth I. Why? quoth he, wot you not that there passed from Ireland certain Pilgrims for Loretto the last year, & so from Loretto, to Rome, and returned back this last Spring? Now, before they returned home from their pilgrimage, there was not a word spoken of these Letters; but since their arrival, all the Country hath sounded of them. This discourse of my friend, made me remember a passage which I read some 50. years ago, in a Sermon of Hugh Latimer, which as then, so I now relate, to parallel his conceit.  
It happened in the days of Henry 8. that many ships being cast away upon the coast of Kent, especially in that place which to this day is called goodwin's sands. The Council thought good to grant a Commission to examine such as were of the most ancient inhabitants of those parts, if there could be any cause found thereof, who being called to Dover, were required to say their opinions in that case, what they thought might be the occasion of those dangerous seas & sands, now infamous for shipwrecks, which informer times had no such note of danger. Among the examined, one old man stood up & told the Commissioners, that for his part, he wist well what was the cause of those troublesome sands, which swallowed up so many ships, and by my hood (saith he) it is no other than Tenderton steeple. I say (quoth he) and will abide by it, that Tenderton steeple is the cause of Goodwin sands. For I can well remember the building of Tenderton steeple, and before it was built, there was no Goodwin sands, but soon after the building of that steeple I could hear the seafaring men in the Churchyard after Evensong, and in the Alehouse, complain much of those sands, and they would tell, how such a ship, such a Bark or Pinnace was there sunk etc. Well, well, quoth my friend (interrupting me) it is enough, you have very strongly confirmed my opinion of the Letters; but what matter is it whether the Pilgrims are the cause of goodwin's sands, or Tenderton steeple brought the Letters from Rome, let those whom the matter concerns more than you & me, look to it. For since they have the thread by the end, they know how to wound it up. But since by this occasion we are fallen into mention of the Pilgrimage of Loretto, I pray you resolve what opinion you hold of that strange House of our Ladies, of which there runneth so great a fame, as it draws us out of Ireland from our Houses, Wives & Children, to the great danger of our persons, & expense of our purses, unless for such as make a bon voyage of it, & receive fifteen for five at their return home. And as for the miracles, we hear very much with our cares, but we see little with our eyes; neither the blind or deaf to return welsensed: as for the halt and the lame, I less marvel, for few of them can reach so far. Nay by'r lady, I have known some to carry hence a pair of good legs with them, & scarce have brought them so sound back again. Besides they tell us, that House did use to fly in the air, by sea & land, above a thousand leagues: now it is strange to us, that a House that hath no legs to go upon, should have wings to fly withal. Of these & other matters no less wonderful, I pray you show us the truth, and how far they may be believed; for I confess, God's above all etc. And I think by this time there was as many gathered about to listen to our talk, as were assembled in Queen Dido's Hall, to hear Aeneas discourse of the Trojan war.  
Well then (quoth I) if so great a longing you have to hear the history of the Lauretan House, & the stupendious wonders of that holy place. Albeit the lights upon yonder cupboard are now spent far below their wastes, & so invite us rather to retire ourselves unto our lodgings, then to begin any new discourse: yet to satisfy your no less earnest, then harmless curiosity, I will begin.  
Know then, that I have not only read and heard of this House but I have seen the same, and (which I more esteem) myself within it. And for the reasons which shall after be alleged) I am persuaded this is the very same House in which the blessed Virgin the Mother of GOD was borne, in which she received the Angelical salutation, and in which the Saviour of the World in his infancy was nursed and bred. And albeit (I confess) that of some it is scarce beleevod, how this House (now used as a Chapel) came to be transported from Nazareth, so many, hundred leagues by scarce & land, Et per varios casus, after so many removealls, to be placed where now it stands in the Picene Territory, near unto Ancona in Italy. 
* The house of Loretto came into Italy, 1294. Blondus, 1389. lib. 1. de Italia illustrata reg. 5. writeth of it, and Pet. Georgius, 1461. So also Hieron Anglitanus in the same age, Baptista Mantuan. Erasm. in his Liturg. and in his Sermon thereof In our days Pet. Canisius, Muretus. Turselinus.   
First then for the Posse, those who believe the omnipotency of GOD, cannot doubt of the possibility of the transportation of this House, no more than they can of that history of the Prophet Habaccuck, who by the hair of the head was carried by the Angel, from Indea into Babylon, to Daniel, to give him his dinner in the Lion's den, and from thence back again, Dan. 14. or of the assumption of Elias in a fiery chariot into heaven. 2. Kings 2. Or of Philip, who (from the Eunuch whom heliad baptised) was by the spirit placed in Azotus, Act. 8. The difficulty than is, Defacto esse, whether indeed this transportation of the Lauretan House is by the same faith to be believed, as the former examples out of the Old and New Testament. I answer, No. Those by divine faith excluding all uncertainty for the authority of the revealer, the Holy Ghost this leaning upon humane testimony, hath accordingly humane credibility, not void of all uncertainty, yet not dangerous unto salvation, and may be embraced without disparagement to any man's wisdom, were he equal therein to Solon, or Salvation. For as we believe the City of Rome to have been founded by Romalus, because some profane. Writers do so report: Why may not so much credit given unto the Relatours & Legendars of that history called Domus Lauretana, being Christians, & more pious Historians than the former? It seems to me not much different from a miraculous preservation, that M. Manlius, one man, in the night defended the Capitol from the Gauls, after they had ascended the height thereof, expulsing and throwing them down headlong, being destitute both of Weapon & Armour. Memorable is that also & in my opinion not much short of a miracle: That Horatius Cocles, a valiant Roman, & blind of one eye, by his alone prowess withstood Porsenna King of the Tuscans, & his whole Army, invading the City, & standing upon the bridge, defended the passage, & made it good, one man against a multitude, till such time as his Citizens (being at dinner, & not understanding of that danger) coming to their doors and windows, and seeing in what estate matters were, issued forth to his aid, and breaking down the bridge behind him, he with no less admiration, threw himself into the river Tiber, and in his Armour, swam unto the City shore without any harm. What think you of the two twins Romulus & Remus, immediately after their birth, thrown into the river Tiber, at the command of Amulius, & being cast upon the shore, were no less wondrously preserved by the kind fostership of a she Wolf, who left her own whelps to give them suck? What shall we say of Tarqvinius Priscus the fifth King of the Romans, who cut a whetstone in two parts with a razor? Servius Tull us seen many times with a flame of fire about his head, licking his hair & temples. Can we believe all this, and many other things no less strange, for the authority of one Livy, renowned in the Roman history? And must whatsoever is related by so many pious Authors, and consented unto, by the Suffrages (in a manner) of all Christians, as touching that sacred House of Loretto, be thrown out of doors? To come to Ecclesiastical history, we read that Gregory, B. of Neocesarea, called (for his great & many miracles) Thaumaturgus, removed a Rock out of his place; & this is related by no meaner an Author than the great S. Basil, a Primative Father, and an ancient Doctor of God's Church, who doubteth not to compare the aforesaid Gregory, to Moses, the Prophets & the Apostles. This S. Gregory lived in the year 233. after our Saviour, & S. Basil 370. both of them in the Primitive times of the Church. We know who said unto his Disciples, if they had faith, as a grain of mustard seed, they should say unto this mountain, remove hence, & it should obey, Math. 17. And the like of the Mulberry tree. Luke 17.  
Neither do I applaud that opinion, that maintains all miracles to have ceased with the Apostles and Disciples of our Saviour. For (methinks) that doctrine is not consonant to these Scriptures, Mar. 16. Signa autem cos qui crediderint hac sequentur, etc. The signs that shall follow such as believe, are these; In my Name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take away serpents, & if they drink any thing that is deadly, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands upon the sick, & they shall be healed, etc. Of which miracles, albeit some of them were wrought by the Apostles, and recorded in their Acts, yet why this Scripture may not extend to the faithful in all ages, according to that order & distribution of gifts, laid down by the Apostle, 1. Cor. 12. I would willingly understand? And some verily GOD hath set in the Church: first Apostles, secondly Prophets, thirdly Doctors, next miracles, than the graces of doing cures, helps, governments, kinds of tongues. Are all Apostles? Are all Prophets? Are all Doctors? Are all Miracles? Have all the grace of doing cures? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? This text then that proves unto us, that in the Church are placed Doctors, helps, & governments, tells us also, that in the same, GOD hath set miracles, & graces of healing; neither was the Church which our blessed Saviour purchased with his own Blood, and the Holy Ghost, enriched with those divine graces, to endure only for the time of the Apostles, and the 42. Disciples, but even unto his second coming, & yielding up his government into the hands of his Father. By the same reason then that they exclude miracles, they must also exile Doctors, helps, & governments out of the Church, all concluded by the Apostle in one catalogue, & these later confirmed to be perpetual in the Church. Ephes. the 4. and consequently the former. Again, our Saviour saith, john 14.12. Amen, amen I say unto you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater works than these shall be do. But we find not this Scripture fulfilled in any of the Apostles, or of his Disciples, or in all of them put together, whose miracles (so far forth as we read of them in holy Writ) did neither in number or excellency, equal our Saviour's miracles, and much less exceed them. Who then be they that shall do greater works than our Saviour did? but the faithful who were to succeed in the future ages of the Church? of which times now to descend to speak, me thinks it would argue either too much simplicity, or singularity, to discredit all those miracles, ascribed as well to the Saints departed this life, and their Relics, as to the living; by those Fathers and Doctors of God's Church, who for their antiquity, sanctity, and learning, all ages have, and ever shall admire.  
S. john Chrysostome, in a whole Book against the Pagans, proveth that Christ was God, because he wrought miracles, not only by S. Peter's shadow, and S. Paul his handkerchief, but also by the relics and monuments of Saints, and namely by the ashes of S. Babilas. As Almighty GOD by the bones of the Prophet Elizeus gave life unto a dead corpse, so soon as it touched them, 4. Reg. 13. See for this S. Chrysost. lib. de Babilamar. tom. 5.  
Eusebius. B. of Caesarca, who flourished in the year 326. reports in his Ecclesiastical History, That the woman who was cured by our Saviour of a Flux of Blood, Mat. 9 having the Image of our Saviour made of brass, and placed before her door, there did grow up a certain strange herb at the foot of the Image, which so soon as in growth it came to touch the hem of our Saviour's garment in that Statue, it became medicinable to the curing of all infirmities, but being taken before it sprung up to that height, it had no virtue at all. And the same Author tells us, that this same brazen Image of our Saviour continued till his time, and that he saw it with his own eyes. Euseb. eccles. histor. lib. 7. cap. 14.  
What shall we say unto the miracles wrought by S. Paul. the first Hermit, and by Hilarion, recorded by S. Hierom? The miracles of many Saints, wrought at their tombs and monuments, testified by S. Augustine in his Books De civitate Dei? The miracles of S. Martin, written by Severus Sulpitius. The innumerable miracles of the holy Ermites', living in the deserts of Lybia, recounted by Theodoret in his religious history? The miracles approved by S Gregory the Great in his Dialogues? The miracles reported by S. Bede in his Ecclesiastical History & lives of Saints? with infinite others, recorded by Ecclesiastical Writers of later times: must all these be ranked with the Legends of Amadis de Gaul, of Huyon of Bordeaux, of Primaleon of Greece, or the Knight of the Sun? O no: neither judgement, nor piety can allow of it.  
But to draw to a conclusion, That it may appear unto our senses, that miracles are not ceased, but continued among us even till these times: And that Almighty GOD hath not so restrained his power to the Ordinary course of secondary causes, as that sometimes, and so often as he is pleased, he transcendeth not all the works of Nature, showing such wonders among us, as that the most refractory cannot but say with the unbelieving jews, Act. 4.16. Ecce manifestum signum factum est, & non possumus negare: Behold, a manifest miracle is wrought among us, and we cannot deny it. I will then only insist in that kind of miracle which is called: Gratia sanitatum, the gift of healing diseases, inserted in the List of miracles, both by our Saviour, Mar. 16. and by the Apostle 1. Cor. 12. which gift ab effectis, is apparent to have been conferred from above, unto two Christian Princes, as it were by an hereditary descent from immemorable times, namely, the King of England, and the French King, who only by the touch of their hands. (calling upon Almighty GOD) doc cure that diseafe which in Greek is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin struma, and in our English tongue scarce known by any other name then the King's evil, soyclepped from the Crowned Curers. Neither is this infirmity helped by any other Prince, or Potentate upon Earth, but by those two sacred & anointed Kings, neither have they the gift of helping any other disease or infirmity in man's body, this only excepted. By what then hath been said, as touching the authentication of miracles, as well in modern, as ancient times, I see not but according to the weight & worth of the reporters, they may receive admittance: It being no less a fault of indiscretion to believe nothing, as to believe every thing in that kind published.  
And now in the last place, it remains to answer unto my friend's objection, made in the beginning of this Chap. That (forsooth) many infirm & diseased persons return from Rome & Loretto, & other holy places, with as little health as they passed hence; which difficulty shall be the better resolved, if we consider the variety of Pilgrims, and digest them into their several ranks: Sith among those that pass into foreign Countries, you have in a manner as many ends & purposes, as persons.  
For first we have the Curious Pilgrim, whom commonly we call the Traveller, either some young Gallant in his minority, or lately wived, or who either upon some discontent leaving their home, & friends, make the scope & end of their peregrination (according to the best interpretation) to furnish themselves with knowledge & experience, observing the various manners of Men and Cities, & not always in motion, but sometimes at anchor in some famous University, to hear a Pythagoras, a Plato, or an Aristotle. Who (to observe that short precept of Tully) it shall never repent them at their coming home. Peregrini, & incolae officium est, nihil praeter negotium suum agere. Officer. It becomes a Pilgrim, and an Inmaco, to meddle with nothing but his own affairs. Neither would I wish this our curious Pilgrim to be too long absent from home, lest he taste of such discommodities as Ulysses did, at his return to Ithaca.  
Our second Pilgrim is the Covetous Pilgrim, a venturer, though no merchant, who designs his voyage to some one set place, admitting a probability of danger, either in respect of the Country so remote, or of the indisposition of his body, for age, or infirmity, in regard whereof, he covenants before he departs from his own smoke, to multiply the greater, by the lesser number, according to the exposing of his Dollars, Dublons, Rings, Chains, jewels, Horses, Coaches, & what not: That at his return (if ever) he may say. — I am mihi quarto: I am decies redit in rugam. Pers. Sat. 6. his Creditors at home (in the mean time) cursing those legs that shall ever bring him back.  
Our third Pilgrim, is the Counterfeit Pilgrim, who under pretence of devotion, visiting the most memorable Pilgrimages of Christendom, he walks by Cathedral Churches, abbeys, & Hospitals, not disdaining also (Si spes refulserit nummi) to visit places of inferior note. To which purpose, as the prologue to his intended & pretended Pilgrimage, he puts himself into a Pilgrim's Habit, which is a grey Frise coat, side to the mid-legg, well girt unto him, a stiff felt of a course hat of the same colour, a strong ashen staff in his hand about his own pitch, with two big knots toward the upper end. His knapsack, and his Calavas, accommodated under his left arm, with the provision in them of an Noah's Ark. And to the end it may appear, that he begs not of any necessity, but only like a young jesuit for mortification, his holland-shirt hangs half a foot out of his sleeve at the hand, & below his Frise Habit, you shall discover a fair silk stocking upon his leg, for by that sleight he shall be held by strangers, a man of note & fashion in his Country, & that through extremity of piety, he travels so disguised, to give satisfaction unto his supposed most sincere devotion, either voluntarily undertaken, or enjoined for penance. And whereas the needy beggar, vested as well inside, as outside, with pure unfeigned poverty, shall with much importunity get a penny, this Counterfeit will purchase a pound, and after a few months, returns home, like a Spanish Gallion from the West Indieses.  
Our fourth Pilgrim, who from his motion may be termed the Rolling Pilgrim, being very penurious, makes a virtue of necessity, no less mindful of his wallet then of his devotion, eating the sins of the people by whom he passeth, whose travels commonly do end either with his health, or with his life, imitating the motion of the heavenly bodies; for as they roll about the circumference, so he about the centre. Neither doth it much import where he begins, since he is not determined where to conclude & make an end. Meeting him then upon the borders of France, coming from the never-wasting taper of Arras, he tends for Amiens in Picardy, there to visit the head of S. john Baptist. Thence he passeth to S. Denis, where besides many other rare Relics in rich enclosures, he doth reverence the thorn of our Saviour's Crown. And so to Paris, prostrated at the shrine of S. Genovefa, neither forgets he in his walk the rest of the nostre Dames of France: descending to Marsells in Provence, he religiously adores the Relics of S. Lazarus, whom our Saviour john 11. raised to life: next he arrives at Baubne, where he tenders his devotion at the body of the blessed Magdalen, who anointed our Saviour's head, and washed his feet with her tears: Then entering into Savoy, & passing the Alpine rocks & mountains of snow, he descends into Piedmont, where he visits the Relics of S. Eusebius B. of vercels. At Milan in Lombardy, he visits the monument of S. Ambrose; as also of S. Carolus Borromeus, both Bish. of that place: thence to Milan, to honour the Relics of S. Antony. From thence he speeds himself to the holy Chamber of Loretto, made glorious by the presence of our Saviour in his Childhood, his Mother, and S. joseph.  
Quam virgo coluisse domum magis omnibus unam  
Posthabita fertur Galilea. Hic illius Icon  
Hic stabilis cultus. Locus hic quem tempus in omne  
Esse suum voluit, quem nunc habitatque, fovetque.  
Where after the tribute of his devotion paid, (if his poverty, and no better and outside, be not an impediment) he shall be admitted into the Sacristia, to behold not only the sumptuous ornaments of the Church, but the rich offerings of Emperors, Kings & Princes, of Queens, Nobles, and Ladies, of greater value than all the land and fertile soil he can behold from the hill of Tarro, where I advise him to look to his conscience in the matter of the tenth Commandment. And now taking his leave of Loretto, I wot well he hastens to Rome, the Queen of Cities, sometimes Empress of the Earth, where he presents himself Ad limina Apostolorum, before the Altar of the two Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul, he visits the seven Churches, he makes the holy stairs, (being charitably entertained for three days diet, and lodging, in the Hospital of the holy Trinity) It may be also his good hap to be admitted ad Mensam Papalem, to dine in his Hol. presence, being the daily ordinary of twelve poor Pilgrims, but let him not expect to be admitted to that Table the second time. And now enriched with Beads, Grains, and Medals, and happily with some Relics of the eleven thousand Virgins, or of the martyred Legions in the days of Dioclesian preserved at the trefontanis, a mile from Rome (of which there be great store, and so the less esteemed) he bids Rome farewell, with a Non habemus hic civitatem permanentem, & setting his Palmer's staff upon one end, he is indifferent which way it falls, but resolved that way to wend; If towards the South, he holds his course for Naples, not staying at all for the Convoy, knowing that the empty purse, fears not the thief, inviting in his way the Hospitals to supper & lodging; arriving at that noble City (mindful of his vocation) first, with devout paces, he sets forward to the monument of S. januarius, where with much admiration he beholds the martyrs blood in a Vial, so often bubbling, & boiling, as his head is brought in presence of it: Having complied with his devotions at the rest of the Churches & Chapels, & collected the charitable alms of the City, he cuts over some two days sail, to Leghorn in Tus●●ane, & so betakes himself to Luca, to the miraculous Crucifix: thence by sea or land to Pavia in Lombardy, where he humbly louts at the tomb of the great S. Augustine, in a Church, common both to the Ermites' & Canon Regulars of his Order. And so our Palmer bids sweet Italy adieu, the garden of the World, & a terrestrial Paradise: Importuning his charitable passage from Genoa in a Galley bound for Barcelona, whore coming a shore, after one days journey, he tastes the entertainment of our blessed Lady of Monteserrate, who hath a Diamond in her Crown, valued at fourteen thousand Ducats, the most frequented Pilgrimage, not only of Catalaunia, but of all Spain, admirable for the situation, a Monastery placed in the top of a mountain, among the clouds, the passage thereunto cut out with saws, from whence it hath the name of Monteserrate: after this he passeth to Sarragosa, where he bids his Beads before Nuestra Sinnora de la Pillar, our Lady of the Pillar (her Statue being advanced on the top of a high small Pillar in the chief Church,) which done, he bends his course to our Lady of Guadalupa; from thence to Seville to Nuestra Sinnora de Antigua, with so many silver lamps in silver chains depending, & ever burning. And so leaving Andaluzia, he coasts over Siera Morena, to Burgos, to worship the sweeting Crucifix: & never rests till he arrive at the body of S. james at Compostella in Gallicia a rich Monastery of the Benediotines; where refreshing himself some few days, he betakes himself to his accustomed employments, and bidding Spain a dios, he bends his course for France, passing the mount of S. Adrian, among the Pyren hills, trusting to God, and to his good legs, to find himself at Towers, against the Anniversary solemnity of S. Martin, sometimes B. of that place, whose Feast falls upon the 11 of November.  
And I pray God (quoth my friend interrupting me again) that your head grow not addle, with so many windings, & turn about of your wand'ring Pilgrim; but now having brought him to France where first you found him, I pray you bid him farewell, and give him leave to roll where he list, for it seems, that it is one of his vows, never to rest, so long as he can either go, or creep; & (I trow) I have heard you sometimes to say, such Pilgrims were seldom holy men, 
* Qui multum peregrinantur, rarò sanctifican●u●. Gerson de I●●● as, Chr.  To whom (quoth I) If my discourse have proved long: It is your invitation at the first, and heedful attention, which have been the causes thereof. Nothing more encouraging a man to draw out the thread of his speech to the full length, then attentive Auditors, which I have found you hitherto to be. Having then passed through so many Pilgrims: The Curious, the Covetous, the Counterfeit, and the Wanderer, Give me leave to add to that number the fifth, which is the Distressed Pilgrim, in speaking of whom, had you my friend not interrupted my discourse happily by this time I had given you an account of what you desired at my hands in the beginning, which (if I do not mistake) is this.  
How comes it to pass (say you) That in those which you call holy places, and have in so high an estimation, & glory so much of their miracles? That we behold so great a number of Halt, Blind, Deaf, Dumb, lamed of their limbs, diseased of their bodies, of Dropsies, Palsies, Consumptions, Convulsions, Gouts, Sciaticks, Frenzies, jealousies, Epilepsies, & c? so few to be cured, or to return home sound of wind, & limb, & in perfect health? To which I answer. It seems no more strange than that so many sitting at home, (where they have almighty GOD still present with them) do not recover of the same infirmities, For albeit we hear it said, Petite & dabitur vobis, quarite & invenietis, pulsate & aperietur vobis. Luc. 11. Ask, & it shallbe given you; seek, & you shall find; knock, & it shallbe opened unto you. Yet S. james saith. Petitis & non accipitis, eò quòd malè petatis, jac. 4. You ask & you receive not, & the reason is added, because you ask amiss. Whether then at home, or abroad, you ask amiss; that is, either things unlawful, or in complacency of sin, or with an inordinate desire, as of health, or any other temporal benefit, which happily denied, is better than obtained. This inordinate desire, not conformable to the will of GOD, & repugnant unto our soul's health, may be a sufficient impediment of not receiving what is asked. Our distressed Pilgrim repairs unto Loretto; he speeds not; he went blind, he returns blind; he went crooked, he returns with the same Nemesis upon his shoulders; he went hence with two good legs, he comes limping home; he went with a Dropsy, he comes home with a Timpany; he went to be cured of his frenzy, or his jealousy, and he returns mad. Was there then any insufficiency of almighty GOD, to have supplied these defects, or to have remedied these diseases at the memory of his Saints? O no. The Poet could say, Pers. Sat. 2.  

Poscis opem nervis, corpusque fidele senectae:  
Esto, age: sed grandes patinae, tucetaque crassa  
Annuere his superos vetuere, jovemque morantur.   

Thou asks sound limbs & strength against old age,  
But upheaped plates, the long and fat sausage  
Forbids the Gods; and jove to grant suffrage.   
It is said of our Saviour, Mar. 6. That in his own Country of Nazareth, by reason of their incredulity, Non poterat virtutem ullam facere, he could not work any miracle, but only heal a few sick persons. Not that our Saviour being GOD, could not work miracles, but that on their part there wanted apt dispositions & capacity unto them. Of which dispositions, Faith is the principal? & note, that Non possum is often in the Scriptures put for Nolo, I will not. So our Saviour saith in the Gospel: The children of the Kingdom cannot fast while he be with them, non possunt jejunare, as much as to say, nolunt jejunare, they will not fast. So when a man takes himself to be wronged, he will commonly say, I can not put up this wrong at his hands: I can not digest it: as much to say, I will not.  
Again, we must not infer, that where dispositions requisite in the person of the Patient are found, as a true faith, purity of heart, resignation to the will of GOD, that there is always the benefit of cure in their corporal infirmities, because it is ever a ruled case: That our heavenly Father knows what we have need of, & what is best for us: many more being driven by adversity to seek out their salvation, then by prosperity: those who have but one eye, one foot, one hand, entering into Heaven, when others who have two eyes, feet, hands, are cast into hell fire. Mark. 9 And we know the Parable of the Sun & the Wind. Albeit then we see twenty for one returning from such places (where almighty GOD is pleased sometimes to work miracles, in honour of those who on earth were his faithful & true servants, & now triumphant in Heaven) labouring still of those maladies, for which they sought relief at the memories of Saints, It would be great presumption & temerity in us, to suspect, much more to judge, that they were not prepared for so great a benefit. We know what Apology our Saviour made in the case of the man blind from his nativity. When as the jews demanded of him, Quis peccavit, hic, aut parentes ejus, ut coecus naseeretur? john 9 Who was it that sinned, he, or his parents, that he should be borne blind: The answer was, Neque hic peccavit, neque parentes ejus, etc. Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of GOD might be manifested in him. And by analogy the same may be applied to our case.  
Besides, it is not to be doubted of, but many infirm & diseased people repair to such places, more for devotion & spiritual comfort, then for any desire, or expectation of their bodily health. Non ut benè sit pedi, aut lateri, sed ut benè sit anima: not so tender of the welfare of their corruptible bodies, as of that immortal part, which is, and aught to be most dear unto them. And so much (my friend) to answer your difficulty, why so many return from pilgrimages without reparation of their health.  
The last knot to be untied in this Argument, (& rather insinuated by you, then clearly propounded) is this. How is it to be believed say some? That so many signs and works surpassing all power of Nature, which we call miracles, should be wrought at the memory and monuments of Saints, rather than in other places. The omnipotency of GOD (the Author both of Nature, Grace, and all miraculous works) being one and the same in all places and times.  
To as many as urge this reason, and think it worthy to be insisted upon. I might say as our Saviour said unto the Sadducees, Math. 23. Erratis nescientes scripturas, & virtutem Dei: You err, not knowing the Scriptures, or the power of GOD. Our blessed Saviour tells us, Luke 4. Quòd multa erans vidua, etc. That there were many Widows in the days of Elias in Israel, when as the Heavens were shut for 3. years and six months, in which time there was a great famine through the whole earth, and unto none of those was Elias sent, but in Sarepta of Sidonia, unto one Woman a Widow. And there were many Lepers in Israel, in the days of Elizeus the Prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but Naaman the Syrian. Now what was the cause why no other Widow was exempted from that famine, but only the Widow of Sarepta? Because (notwithstanding the presence of GOD in all places) there wanted also the presence of the Prophet Elias. And why were not the rest of the Lopers clennsed, but only Naaman the Syrian? wanted there the power of GOD, or due preparation in the Subject: Who can say so? No, but the presence of the Prophet Elizeus. By which we see the circumstance of personal presence, though not necessary unto the power, yet many times required unto the will of the worker of signs and wonders. And albeit our Saviour in the Gospel, sometimes did cure the absent, to givers to understand, that his power was not restrained to presence, yet commonly, and so the most part, he cured none but the present: and so the people did understand, both by laying his hands upon them in the Cure: As when by reason of the press of people, they uncovered the roof of the house, Mar. 2. to let down the Paralinique in his bed before him. So the Prophet Elias raised not the Widow's son to life, before himself came unto him. And our Saviour went unto the grave of Lazarus before he revived him. He took the Governor's Daughter by the hand, Math. 9 as also in Naum he touched the Coffin of the dead, before he raised them to life.  
And no less also do we behold a presence required even in those liveless instruments, which it pleaseth the divine Wisdom to use in this kind. So the bones of the Prophet Elizeus, quickened the dead Corpse thrown into his grave, by a Physical touch or contact. The waters of jordan in like manner, the leprosy. The Hemorissa (being so many years diseased) found no cure, till she touched the hem of our Saviour's garment. The waters of the pond in Jerusalem, john 5. did not heal before they were touched. S. Peter's shadow, healed none but such as it passed over. And the Napkins & Handkerchiefs which were sent from the Body of S. Paul, being applied, did not only cure diseases, but cast out devils Acts 19 By which, & many other examples (which for brevity I omit) it may appear, that either Presence, Application, or Physical contact in most miracles, have been required as a condition to the effecting of them. That we may the less marvel, if present at the Relics and monuments of Saints, we receive those helps both spiritual and temporal, which being absent, we might miss of.  
And so I conclude this Chap. of Pilgrimages, myself unfit for those ttavells, to which some against my will, most willingly would compel me. And now our artificial stars being ready to set, & to descend below their Orisons. It is time to end that discourse, to which your attention hath thus far drawn me. And so wishing all welfare & happiness to the whole Company, I bid you all good-night: resolving myself to sleep, till some other occasion shall awake me.  
FINIS.