of the most deliberate refolutions and the moft devout preparations;

ther, upon those who had never given them the fmalleft offence or provocation. Henry III. was no Proteftant but a cruel perfecutor of them by wars and maffacres the greater part of his life; but the neceffity of his affairs having constrained hitn, to abandon the league and join the Proteftant party, and having been execrated and depofed by the Sorbonne as a tyrant, a murderer of a cardinal, and a favourer of heretics, and alfo formally fentenced by the Pope, he was reckoned lawful prey. About two months after, his fentence was palled at Rome James Clement a Jacobine friar and priest piously resolved to become the church's executioner, and affaffinated the king at St. Cloud near Paris in the midst of his guards and at the head of his army, Never was a more intrepid perfon feen than this monk. He fupped gaily on the evening before, with the domeftics of La Guele procurator general, to whem he had applied for admittance to the king under pretence of important bufinels. He was unmoved by all the questions they put to him; and fleft profoundly all night. In the morning having been introduced into the king's chamber, he approached him without confufion, spoke to him without hesitation, prefented him fʊme letters, and while the king read them, took his opportunity, drew out his con cealed knife, (faid to have been poi ched), and gave him a mortal wound in the belly Yet base as this act was, many could not fail to remark the signal justice of heaven in bringing the king to this untimely end, who had authorized fo many actions of the fame nature against the Huguenots, and had been a principal actor in the maff cre of Paris, especially as he was affainated in the fame place, in the fame apartment, and at the fame hour of the day, in which the bloody facrifice of Bartholomew was concluded upon in 1572, the king then Duke of Anjou, being prefident of the council.

Ravaillac, no lefs intrepid, ftabbed Henry the Great in his coach in open day in the streets of Paris: and thought he had done fuch a glorious deed, that he never attempted to make his cfcape, but ftood with his bloody knife in his band, till he was apprehended. This wretch, who had just understanding enough to imbibe thoroughly the fpirit and principles of the league, and to profit by the example and praises of his predeceffor Clement, could never hear the word Huguenot mentioned without falling into a rage, and, as he had been taught, believed it lawrul for him or any private perfon to kill the king, because he was too favourable to the heretics, and because he had been told that he intended to make war on the Pope; and to make war against the Pope, faid Ravaillac to his judges, is to make war against God, seeing the Pope is God, and God is the Pope.

Many great and eminent perfons, have been openly or fecretly deftroyed from fuch motives, and by perfons of fimilar characters, which we stay not here to mention.- -Sleidan. Strada. Thuan. Mezeray. Moreri. Jurieu, &c.

*Father Paul fays, there were no less than 50 confpiracies formed against Henry the Great; fo that he lived in continual fear and danger of his life. Besides the attempt or Chatel by whom he was wounded in the mouth, various others were made by different perfons,`male and famale, ftrangers

preparations *; and the base infernal affaffins have been

and domeftics. His cup bearer, Borbrenius was employed by the Jefuits to poifon him-Queen Elizabeth spent the greater part of her life, and efpecially the Latter part of her reign, in the fame unhappy circumstances, arifing from the fame caufe. Sommerville of Edderfton being inftigated by Hall a feminary prieft, and intoxicated with the books and libels written against the excommunícated queen, went privately to court, breathing out nothing but deftruction to heretics, and fet upon one or two perfons with his drawn fword, intending as he confefied to have murdered the queen.-Dr. William Perry a member of parliament, upon reading Allen's bo k, took up the fame resolution, and held confultations about putting it in execution, and several times attempted it, but was overawed, he faid, by her prefence,-York and Williams, two defperate Papifts, were employed in the fame defign, having oaths of fecrefy adminiftred to them by a priest who fent them away with his bleffing.-John Savage by the perfuafion of Gifford a doctor of divinity, and others, was induced tobelieve that it was a meritorious work to take away the lives of princes excommunieated, and thereupon vowed to kill the queen : many others were taken into the defign, which was called Babington's confpiracy.-In 1598, one Squire was fent home into England on the fame errand, by Walpole an English Jefuit, who gave him a peculiar poifon to anoint the pommel of the queen's faddle, and the chair of the Earl of Effex, according to the rules of Mariana,—which was done; but without effect.-To which we might add the attempts of Cullen, Lopez the phyfician, &c. Some of the Popish fecular priests themselves in the end of this reign accused the Jefuits as difturbers of the nation, and the real authors, by their wicked defigns of all the severities exercised against the Roman Catholics: representing in their writings" that in the first 11 years of the

queen's reign, not one Papift had his life called in queftion for his religion, "that in 10 after the Pope's bull and the Popish rebellion, not above 11 "priests were put to death for treafon, till 1580 when the Jefuits crept into "England and ruined all: that their many treafons had made fevere laws ne"ceffary for the fafety of the queen and kingdom. That 50 had been fent 6 over yearly from their new erected seminaries: defiring the English Papifts. "not to fend their children to be educated in the colleges of the Jesuits where "they imbibed, they faid, the poison of treafon and rebellion with their first "rudiments.". In the popish plot in the reign of Charles II. a defign was formed to overthrow the Proteftant interest, and to murder the king. If we believe the evidence against Coleman, he had declared, "that if he had a fea "of blood and an hundred lives, he would lofe them all to carry on the defign; "and if to effect it, it were necesary to destroy ico heretical kings he would "do it." Singleton the priest affirmed, that he would make no more to fiab 40 parliament men than to eat his dinner.-Need we fpeak of the affaffinationplot in 1696 against king William, and many others of a like nature during that reign and afterwards, concerted between French and British Papifts in favour of their abdicated prince? Mathieu, Hift. du regne de Henri IV. Eachard. Rapin. Tindal. Burnet, Hift. of his own times.

* Clement having, as was pretended fien a vifion whereby he was ordered to

kill

68

been exalted to heaven, and almoft adored on earth*. Ia

kill the king, confulted Burgoin the fuperior of his order upon the fubject, and having been fufficiently fati:fied as to the lawfulness of the undertaking, "he applied himself to cleanse and purge his foul, (as a brother of the older expreffed it), and for many days gave himself to faftings and abstinence, living on bread and water, made confeffion, and received the communion as one going to render his foul to God," Peter Barriere, who went from L'ons with a view to affaffinate Henry IV. and having heard at Paris of the converfion of the king, he applied to Aubry curate of St. Andrew's to know if he might fill without fcruple attempt the life of that monarch, Aubry treated that conversion as a bagatelle, and did his utmost to perfuade Barriere," that "nothing but the death of the king, that abominable heretic,” as he termed him, "could give fecurity to the Catholic religion." He then fent him to his vicar, and to Varrade Rector of the Jefuis at Paris, by whom being farther confirmed in his refolution, he was confeffed by Varrade, and afterwards again received confeffion and the communion from the Vicar; and thus prepared, went to execute his defign, though prevented and difcovered at Melun. Squire who attempted to poison Elizabeth was thus dism ssed by the Jesuit whọ employed him; " God bless thee and give thee ftrength, my fon; be of good courage ;-I pawn my foul for thine; and thou shalt have my prayers dead "and alive.".

hand, and recommend it to him thus ;

Nay, fome have given us the process at full length, faid to be used by the Jefuits in confecrating Regicides; extracted from a process printed at Delft, by John Andrew. As it is very extraordinary we fhall lay it before our readers in the words of the authors from whom we have taken it.. The perfon përfuaded by the Jefuits to affaffinate a king or prince, is brought by them into a fecret chapel, where they have prepared upon an altar a great dagger wrapt up in linen cloth, together with an Agnus Dei: drawing it out of the sheath they befprinkle it with holy water, and faßten to the hilt feveral confecrated beads of coral, pronouncing this indu'gence, that as many blows as the 'murderer shall give with it to the prince, he shall deliver fo many fouls from 'purgatury. After this ceremony they put the dagger into the parricide's Thou chofen fon of God, take the "fword of Jephthah, the fword of Sampfon, the fword of David wherewith he cut off the head of Goliah, the fword of Gideon, the fword of Judith, "the fword, of the Maccabees, the fword of Pope Julius II. where. "with he cut off the lives of feveral princes his enemies; filling "whole cities with flaughter and blood;-Go, and let prudence go along with thy courage. Let God give new ftrength to thine arm.'"After which, they fall down on their knees, and the fuperior of 'the Jefuits pronounces the following exorcifm; Come, ye cherubims, ye feraphims, thrones and powers! Come, ye holy angels, and fill up tais "bleffed veffel with an immortal glory! Do ye prefent him every day with the crown of the bleffed Virgin Mary, of the holy patriarchs, and marryis.-We "do not look upon him now as one of ours, but as one belonging to you. U 2 "And

ઠંડ

In the profecution of the war of pretended Catholics against pretended heretics, it is difficult to determine, whe

ther

"And theu, O God! who art terrible and invincible, and haft infpired him, in prayer and meditation, to kill the tyrant and heretic, for to give his crown to a Catholic king; comfort, we beseech thee, the heart of him we have confecrated to this office. Strengthen his arm, that he may execute his enterprize. Clothe him with the armour of thy divine power, that, having per◄ "formed his defign, he may escape the hands of those who fhall go in pursuit of him Give him wings, that his holy members may fly away from the power of impious heretics. Replenish his foul with joy, comfort, and light, by which his body, having banished all fear, miy be upheld and animated in the midft of dangers and torments." This exorcifm being ended, they bring the parricide before another altar, whereto hangs an image of James Clement a Dominican friar, who with a venomous knife killed King Henry III. This image is furrounded with angels who protect and bring him to heaven. The < Jefuits fhew it him, and put afterwards a crown upon his head, saying, Lord! regard here the arm and the executor of thy juftice: let all the faints arise, bow, and yield to him the most honourable place amongst them.'— • Afterwards he is permitted to speak to none but to four Jefuits deputed to keep him company. They are not wanting to tell him oft, that they perceive · a divine light that furrounds him, and is the caufe why they bow to him, kiss“ his hands and feet, and confider him no more as a man but as a faint; nay, they make a fhew as if they envied the great honour and glory attending him, and fay, fighing, Oh that God had been pleafed to make choice of us instead ❝of you, and given us so much grace, that, as you, we might be translated into "heaven without going into purgatory." Preuv. de la Sat. Men. tome iii.

P. 346, 347. Le Grain, Dec. de Hen. le Gr. l. v. p. 450. Mem. de la Lig. tome v. Thuan. l. 107. D'Aub. tome iii. l. iii. ch. 24. Emilliane, Hift. Monaft. p. 206. Owen, Jacob. Princ. Exam. p. 49, &c.

* Some evidences of this have been already produced, to which the following curious anecdotes may be fubjoined. After the fuccefs of Clement's attempt upon the perfon of Henry was known in Paris, every sign of approbation and joy appeared. All the chefs of the league inftantly threw off the black fearts which they had worn for the deceafed Guifes, and put on green. Te Deum was appointed to be fung in the churches. Every place rung with the praises of Clement. In the pulpits his deed was compared with the must heroic actions mentioned in facred hiftory: Bourgoin ftyled him the most bleffed child of St. Dominic, and the holy martyr of Jefus Chrift. Pictures, ftatues, and images of him were multiplied, accompanied with his elogy, and the recital of his attempt. They were even placed upon the altars, to which candles were offered, and honours paid, as to a canonized faint. It was propofed to erect a flatue to him on a pillar of marble in the church of Notre Dame. His mother was fent for to Paris, loaded with rewards, and regarded by the people as one beatified: nay,' his other relations were alfo fought for, and had perfions allotted them at the

expence

ther injuftice or impolicy, cruelty or perfidy, have been ever most apparent. Nor age, nor fex, nor rank nor dig, pity, has found protection or mercy. Thoufands have been

"

profcribed

expence of the public. Had not his body been torn by horfes, and confumed to afhes, they had venerated it as the most precious reliques. "In fine," fays Mezeray, of that abominable monfter, of whom it might be faid that hell "had produced him, they endeavoured to make a faint of the highest rank in Paradife; and, if they had not been diverted by other affairs, they had not failed to forge miracles in his name. But an incident happened, which may "be confidered as an effect of divine juftice to deftroy a devotion fo pernicious. Eighteen or twenty of the most zealous leaguers having gone by water to St. "Claud to fee the place where that monk had been killed, and having loaded "their boat with the earth which they found ftained with his blond, fuch a "furious wind arofe all of a fudden, as drowned it and all therein; fo that not of them was ever after feen. Happy for France, had their deferved fhip"wreck buried with them the remembrance of that parricide, or at least if the "heavens had extinguished in the water all the rage of the league, and that in"fernal doctrine which fome years after made a fecond be committed, more de the greatest and best of our kings."

one

"teftable, upon Nor was the worship of this new created faint confined to Paris alone. Thouloufe, a city from time immemorial diftinguished for the rage of fuperftition and cruel bigotry, if posible, exceeded Paris in paying him pofthumous ho hours. Te Deum was alfo there fung: fireworks were made, and public fune rals folemnized in the church of the Jacobins for James Clement, at which all the companies of the city affifted. His funeral oration was there pronounced by the Provincial of the Minims, who made ufe of all his eloquence to fhew, that the friar by his death had deferved a crown of martyrdom. They coined medals for him, and placed him in the litanies of the faints. And, that his name and worthy acts might be transmitted with honour to future times, the parliament farther ordained, that a folemn proceffion fhould be made every year for ever on the first of Auguft, the day on which the monk gained his crown of martyrdom by the affaffination of the king. In other places alfo his name was admitted into the martyrologies; the Jefuits particularly inferted him in their lifts, and continued to pay extravagant honours to his memory, as they afterwards did to others of the fame stamp: "Witness the table," fays Du Moulin, "which with "mine own eyes I have feen in the Fathers Hall in the college of La Fleche, "where, among the Jefuitical martyrs, there are divers which have ben "cuted for fuch parricides." Mariana, in his writings, not only vindicates the act, but calls Clement Galliæ decus alernum, the eternal ornament of France! Bucher was about concluding his book against the king, De ja Henrici III. abdicatione, &c. when he heard of his death; upon which he added two chapters exprefs, the one to celebrate his murderer, and the other to give a last panegyric on the pretended martyrs of Blois. Other books were licensed and published about the fame time, in which the friar was extolled to the kies: one of them

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