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Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.Major, Richard Henry

History

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

Name: Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.
Author: Major, Richard Henry

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

May Your Majesty give no heed to the plausible arguments which some may
perhaps advance, with some show of political consideration, that Your
Majesty is not in a condition to undertake the conquest of new kingdoms
of such great extent and so far off, but will have enough to do to keep
those which you already have. There will also not be wanting men learned
in the scriptures, who will prove from them that Your Majesty may
disregard the fulfilment of an obligation so distinct, and may withdraw
from the contract you have made with the Redeemer, through the medium of
His vicar and the head of His Church. May Your Majesty give no heed to
this, but abominate it as mischievous to your greatness, your
conscience, and to your crown. For this conquest is to be a spiritual
and evangelical one, and by no means entailing, as is supposed, any
considerable expense upon Your Majesty, nor a matter which can divert
you from walking conformably to the dictates of the Apostle. But rather,
in order to secure Your Majesty the restoration and increase of your
royal power to the extent of your desires, may Your Majesty give the
attention of your exalted understanding to the words of the Apostle to
his disciple Timothy, as if he had addressed them personally to Your
Majesty: “For the time will come (please God that it may not be that in
which we live) when they who are under an obligation to follow sound
doctrine so important as this, not only do not receive it, but cannot
endure it, heaping up to themselves the opinions of men with the title
of teachers, who thereby only flatter them and conform to their wishes,
turning away their ears from the truth and changing it into fables.” For
such are the superficial arguments of expediency for reasons of state
which are advanced in opposition to the extension of the Catholic Church
and the increase of our holy faith. The Apostle then says, and we may
reasonably understand him as on the present occasion addressing himself
to Your Majesty: “But do thou (who, as sovereign prince of this Catholic
monarchy, and as having made a contract with the King of kings, art
pledged by promise to the completing of the preaching of the gospel),
abominating those who shall propose to thee the contrary, watch day and
night over the fulfilment of this glorious and important obligation,
labour as much as lieth in you that it may by all possible means be
accomplished, do the work of an evangelist; for as the evangelists wrote
the gospel in order that thou mightest cause it to be preached to the
gentiles, do thou after thy manner perform the same office which they
performed in preaching. Placing great value on the fact that the
Redeemer would not entrust the charge to any other prince but to thy
illustrious house, do thou give all thy strength to the full and perfect
completion of this grand and exalted ministry, so that no gap be left.”
By so doing Your Majesty will be able to say at the day of account, that

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

May Your Majesty give no heed to the plausible arguments which some may
perhaps advance, with some show of political consideration, that Your
Majesty is not in a condition to undertake the conquest of new kingdoms
of such great extent and so far off, but will have enough to do to keep
those which you already have. There will also not be wanting men learned
in the scriptures, who will prove from them that Your Majesty may
disregard the fulfilment of an obligation so distinct, and may withdraw
from the contract you have made with the Redeemer, through the medium of
His vicar and the head of His Church. May Your Majesty give no heed to
this, but abominate it as mischievous to your greatness, your
conscience, and to your crown. For this conquest is to be a spiritual
and evangelical one, and by no means entailing, as is supposed, any
considerable expense upon Your Majesty, nor a matter which can divert
you from walking conformably to the dictates of the Apostle. But rather,
in order to secure Your Majesty the restoration and increase of your
royal power to the extent of your desires, may Your Majesty give the
attention of your exalted understanding to the words of the Apostle to
his disciple Timothy, as if he had addressed them personally to Your
Majesty: “For the time will come (please God that it may not be that in
which we live) when they who are under an obligation to follow sound
doctrine so important as this, not only do not receive it, but cannot
endure it, heaping up to themselves the opinions of men with the title
of teachers, who thereby only flatter them and conform to their wishes,
turning away their ears from the truth and changing it into fables.” For
such are the superficial arguments of expediency for reasons of state
which are advanced in opposition to the extension of the Catholic Church
and the increase of our holy faith. The Apostle then says, and we may
reasonably understand him as on the present occasion addressing himself
to Your Majesty: “But do thou (who, as sovereign prince of this Catholic
monarchy, and as having made a contract with the King of kings, art
pledged by promise to the completing of the preaching of the gospel),
abominating those who shall propose to thee the contrary, watch day and
night over the fulfilment of this glorious and important obligation,
labour as much as lieth in you that it may by all possible means be
accomplished, do the work of an evangelist; for as the evangelists wrote
the gospel in order that thou mightest cause it to be preached to the
gentiles, do thou after thy manner perform the same office which they
performed in preaching. Placing great value on the fact that the
Redeemer would not entrust the charge to any other prince but to thy
illustrious house, do thou give all thy strength to the full and perfect
completion of this grand and exalted ministry, so that no gap be left.”
By so doing Your Majesty will be able to say at the day of account, that

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

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