The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume II — John Shaqi
The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume IICrashaw, Richard
General
The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume II
Crashaw, Richard
English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700
professe myself in lief and deathe a Christian, and the crosse of Jesus
Christ is my glorye, and His sufferings my salvation. I renounce and
abhorre Atheisme, Iudaisme, Turcisme, and all heresies against the Holy
and Catholike faithe, oulde and newe, and (namelye) Poperie, beinge as
nowe it is established by the canons of Trent and theyr present allowed
decrees and doctors, lyke a confused body of all heresies.' And again:
'I accounte Poperie (as it nowe is) the heape and chaos of all heresies,
and the channell whereunto the fowlest impieties and heresies that have
bene in the Christian worlde have runne and closelye emptied themselves.
I beleeve the Pope's seate and power to be the power of the greate
Antichrist, and the doctrine of the Pope (as nowe it is) to be the
doctrine of Antichrist; yea, that doctrine of devills prophesied of by
the Apostles, and that the trve and absolute Papist, livinge and
dyeinge, debarres himself of salvation for oughte that we knowe. And I
beleve that I am bounde to separate myself from that sinagogue of Rome
if I wil be saved. And I professe myselfe a member of the true Catholike
Churche, but not of the Roman Churche (as nowe it is), and to looke for
salvation, not by that faith nor doctrine which that Churche nowe
teacheth, but that which once it had, but now falne from it.' And then
follow 'groundes' in burning and 'hard' words, intermingled with strange
outbursts of personal humiliation before God and an awful sense of His
scrutiny.
These Title-pages and Will-extracts must suffice to indicate the
Ultra-Protestantism of the elder Crashaw. To qualify them--in addition
to our note of the intensified after title-pages _by others_--it must be
remembered that the Armada of 1588 flung its scaring shadow across his
young days, and that undoubtedly the descendants of Loyola falsified
their venerable Founder's intentions by political agitations and
plottings. These coloured our ecclesiastical polemique's whole ways of
looking at things. His Will and codicil are dated in 1621-2, and during
these years and succeeding, his most fiery and intense 'Sermons' and
tractates were being published. Richard was then growing up into his
teens, and without his 'second' mother. As Crashaw senior died in
1626--his Will having been 'proved' 16th October in that year--our
Poet-saint was only about 13-14 when he lost his father, scarcely ten
when appointed by him executor, the words being: 'I ordaine and make Mr.
Robert Dixon and _my sonne Richarde_ executors of my Will' (10th June
1622).[14]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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