is so playne and easie to be vnderstanden that no ignoraunce cā or will excuse him that therin offendeth Against thoffendours of this lawe ther was no corporal punishement ordayned in this worlde til after the destruction of the worlde with the great floud For albeit Cayn and lamech had committed horrible murthers yet were they not corporally punished but had a protection of God that none should laufully hurte them But after the flood whan God sawe his gentilnesse and pacience could not worke his creatures to doo their dueties vnforced but iniquitie preuailed and mischief daily encreaced and one murthered and destroyed an other than was he constrayned to chaunge his lenitie into seueritie and to adde corporal paynes to those that wold not folowe but transgresse his ordinaunces And so he made this lawe which he declared to Noha He that Sheadeth the bloud of man his bloud Shal be Shead by man For man is made after the ymage of God By this ordināce and lawe he instituteth politike power and geueth authoritie to mē to make more lawes For he that geueth man autoritie ouer the body and life of man bicause he wolde haue man to lyue quietly with mā that all might serue him quietly in holynes and righteousnes all the dayes of their life it can not be denyed but he gaue him autoritie ouer goodes landes possessiones and all suche thinges as might bried controuersies and discordes and so hyndre and let that he might not be serued and glorified as he requireth This ordinaunce also teacheth makers of lawes how they should behaue thē selues in making lawes that is to set aparte all affectiones and to obserue an equalitie in paynes that they be not greater or lesse than the fault deserueth and that they punishe not thinnocent or smal offendour for malice and let the mightie and great thefe escape for affection And out of this ordinaunce groweth and is grounded thautoritie for Magistrates to execute lawes for lawes without execucion be no more profitable than belles without clappers But whether this authoritie to make lawes or the power to execute the same shal be and remayne in one person alone or in manie it is not expressed but lefte to the discreciō of the people to make so many and so fewe as they thinke necessarie for the mayntenaunce of the state wherupon in som places they haue ben content to obey suche lawes as were made by one as the Israelites were with those that Moyses ordayned the Lacedemones with those that Licurgus made the Athenes with those that Solon gaue them And in some places with suche as were made by certayn outchosen men as in Rome by the ten men And in some they receaued none but suche as all the multitude agreed Vnto Likewise in some countreyes they were cōtent to be gouerned and the lawes executed by one king or Iudge in some places by many of the best sorte in some places by the people of the lowest sorte and in some places also by the king nobilitie and the people all together And these diuerse kyndes of states or policies hade their distincte names as wher one ruled a Monarchie wher many of the best Aristocratie wher the multitude Democratie and wher all together that is a king the nobilitie and cōmones a mixte sta te which men by long continuance haue iudged to be the best sort of all For wher that mixte state was exerciced ther did the cōmon wealthe longest continue But yet euery kynde of these states tended to one ende that is to the mayntenaunce of iustice to the wealthe and benefite of the hole multitude and not of the superiour and gouernours alone And whan they sawe that the gouernours abused their autoritie they altred the state As among the Israelites for the iniquitie of the children of Samuel their iudge from Iudges to kinges among the Romaynes for the tyrannye and oppression that Tarquinius vsed ouer the people as the chief occasion and afterwarde for his sonnes lewdenesse as the outwarde occasion from kinges to Consules and so from Consules for their euil demeanour to Decem viri and Triumviri that is to ten rulers and three rulers and so from chaunge to chaunge tyll it came to the state Imperial yet alwayes preseruing and mayntening thautoritie albeit they altred and chaunged the kinde of gouernement For the Ethnikes themselues being ledde only by the lawe of nature and their owne reason sawe that without politike power and autoritie mankynde could not be preserued nor the worlde continued The riche wold oppresse the poore and the poore seke the destruction of the riche to haue that he hade the mightie wold destroye the weake and as Theodoretus sayeth the great fishe eate vp the small and the weake seke reuenge on the migh tie and so one seking the others destruction all at leynght shoulde be vndone and come to destruction And bicause this authoritie and power bothe to make lawes and execute lawes proceded from God the holy goost in scripture calleth them Goddes not for that they be naturally Godds or that they be transubstantiated in to Goddes for he sayeth they shall dye like men and in dede their workes declare them to be non other than men but for thautoritie and power which they receaue of God to be his ministers here in earthe in ruling and gouerning his people and that the people should the rather obeye them and haue them in honour and reuerence according to his ordinaunce And the wonderfull prouidence of God is herein to be wel noted and considered of all suche as loue and feare God that in all places and countreyes wher Goddes worde hathe ben receaued and embraced ther for the tyme the people folowed God no tirannye could entre but all the membres of the body sought the prosperitie and wealthe one of an other for Goddes worde taught them so to doo Thou shalt loue the lorde thy God sayeth it aboue all thinges and thy neighbour as thy selfe And what ye will that men doo vnto you doo you euen so vnto them The frutes of his worde is loue one of an other of what state or degree in this worlde so euer they be And the state of the policies and common wealthes haue ben disposed and ordained bi God that the headdes could not if they wolde oppresse the other membres For as among the Lacedemonians certain men called Ephori were ordayned so see that the kinges should not oppresse the people and among the Romaynes the Tribunes were ordayned to defende and mayntene the libertie of the people from the pride and iniurie of the nobles so in all Christian realmes and dominiones God ordayned meanes that the heads the prīces ād gouernours should not oppresse the poore people after their lustes ād make their wil les their lawes As in Germanye betwene thēperour ād the people a Counsail or diet in Fraūce and Englande parliamentes wherin ther mette and assembled of all sortes of people and nothing could be done without
receaued and executed among reasonable creatures And this lawe of nature to depose and punishe wicked gouernours hathe not bē only receaued ād exerciced in politike maters but also in the churche For the canonistes the popes ow ne championes grounding them selues upon this lawe of nature saye that popes who maye be in dede by their saieng the lieutenauntes of the deuil albeit they call thē selues the uicares of God maie be depryued by the body of the churche And so at one clappe in the coūsail holdē at Cōstaūce in Germanie in the yeare of our lorde 1415. were three popes popped out of their places Gregory Iohn ād Benet ād the fourthe called Martin the fifthe chosen Afterwarde in the Coūsail of Basil was Pope Eugenius serued with that sawce For the unluckinesse of the coūtrey the rest of Popes haue sith refused that any general counsail should be kept in Germany fearing least they all hauing deserued as muche as the other foure deposed should haue the like punishemēt And thus they cōfirme their doin ges If saye they the Pope hade not a superiour he might beig suffred in his euil brig the churche to de structiō And therfore if he cā not otherwise be brought to amende him self it is laufull to use the lawe of nature that is to remoue him from his office for he is no bishop or pope that abuseth his Popedome and bishopriche An euil prelate ād unreformable semeth not to be ordayned by the will of God saie the Canonistes alledgeing the wordes of S. Ierome upo◅ the sayēg of the prophet Osee that a prince or iudge is not alwayes ordayned by God And he bringeth for example king Saul against whom God sayed Seing the people haue made them selues a king and not a ruler by me and not by my counsail ād yet God hade chosen Saul But yet bycause he was not chosen according to the will of God but according to the mynde and desartes of the synfull people God denyed him to be ordayned by his will or coūsail The Canonistes also saie that albeit the Popedome be by the lawe of God as it is not in dede sayeth the truthe yet that this man or that Paule or Iulie is pope it cometh by the acte of man For the Cardinales representing the uniuersal churche chose him And therfore if he be not according to the will of God and for the wealthe of the uniuersal churche that is if he be not one that seketh Goddes glorie ād the wealthe of christes churche he maye be iustly depryued bycause they erred in chosing him And God semeth not to be agaīst the put ting out of suche an euil persone but to fauour and further it For he sayed If the salt be unsauerie it is good for no use but to be cast out and troden under foote of all mē And agaī If thi right eie be a let unto thee pul it out ād cast it frō thee For it is better that one mēbre perish thā that the hole bodi should be cast in to hell And agaī saie the Canonistes the popes lawers in rehearceīg Christes words If our eie foote ▪ or hāde offēde vs let it be takē frō the rest of the bodi for it is better to lacke mēbres ī this woorld thā that thei should cari the rest of the body in to hell By salt eie foote and hande is vnderstanden the headdes and rulers and not the other mēbres and subiectes And not only the headdes and rulers in the churche but also in all policies and common wealthes Now if it be laufull for the body of the churche to depose and punishe a Pope being the chief priest anointed not on the arme or sholder as kinges be but on the head and handes to declare an higher autoritie than kinges haue nor crowned with a simple crowne as Emperours ād kinges be but with a triple crowne to shewe his Regalitie and power aboue all others how muche more by the like argumentes reasones and autoritie maie Emperours kinges princes and other gouernours abusing their office be deposed and remoued out of their places and offices bi the body or state of the Realme or common wealthe By this lawe and argumentes of the Canonistes and example of depriuacion of a Pope are all clokes wherwith Popes bishoppes priestes kaisers and kin ges vse to defende their iniquitie vtterly taken awaie Saie they We are anointed ye maie not touche vs We are only subiecte to God and eueri man to vs. God will haue vs O most wiked popes bishoppes priestes cruell and euil princes reigne to plage you people for your iniquitie But here ye see the body of euery state maie If it will yea and ought to redresse and correcte the vices and headdes of their gouernours And forasmuche as ye haue allready sene wherof politike power and gouernement groweth and thende wherunto it was ordained and seing it is before manifestly and sufficiētly proued that kinges and princes haue not an absolute power ouer their subiectes that they are and ought to be subiecte to the lawe of God and the holsome positiue lawes of their coūtrey and that they maie not laufully take or vse their subiectes goods at their pleasure the reasones argumentes and lawe that serue for the deposing ād displaceīg of an euil gouernour will doo as muche for the proofe that it is laufull to kill a tiranne if they maie be indifferently hearde As God hathe ordained Magistrates to heare and determine priuate mennes matiers and to punishe their vices so also will he that the magistrates doinges be called to accompt and reckoning and their vices corrected and punished by the body of the hole cōgregacion or common wealthe As it is manifest by the memorie of the auncient office of the highe Constable of Englande vnto whose autoritie it perteined ont only to summone the king personally before the parliament or other courtes of iudgement to answer and receaue according to iustice but also vpon iuste occasion to committe him vnto warde Kinges Princes and gouernours haue their autoritie of the people as all lawes vsages and policies doo declare and testifie For in some places and countreies they haue more and greater autoritie in some places lesse And in some the people haue not geuen this autoritie to any other but reteine and exercice it themselues And is any man so vnreasonable to denie that the hole maie doo as muche as they haue permitted one membre to doo or those that haue appointed an office vpon trust haue not autoritie vpon iuste occasion as the abuse of it to take awaie that they gaue All lawes doo agree that men maie reuoke their proxies and lettres of Attournaie whan it pleaseth them muche more whan they see their proctours and attournaies abuse it But now to proue the later parte of this question affirmatiuely that it is laufull to kill a tirāne ther is no man can denie but that the Ethnikes albeit they had not the right and perfite true knowlage
of God were endued with the knowlage of the lawe of nature For it is no priuate lawe to a fewe or certain people but common to all not written in bokes but graffed in the heartes of men not made by man but ordained of God which we haue not learned receaued or redde but haue taken sucked and drawne it out of nature wherunto we are not taught but made not instructed but seasoned and ◅s S. Paule saieth mannes conscience bearing witnesse of it This lawe testifieth to euery mannes conscience that it is naturall to cutte awaie an incurable membre which beīg suffred wolde destroie the hole body Kinges Princes and other gouernours albeit they are the headdes of a politike body yet they are not the hole body And though they be the chief membres yet they are but membres nother are the people ordained for them but they are ordained for the people Vpō this lawe of nature ād to cōserue the hole body the Ethnikes not knowīg that the soule is īmortall nor that ther shalbe a Resurrection of the body and soule to iudgement but thought the soule perished with the body and that ther was no difference betwene a brute beast and mannes life thought it reasonable and made it laufull by their positiue lawe for eue ry man to kill a tiranne And to encourage men to entreprise to kill a tiranne they estemed the dede to be worthy so great rewarde that they thought him worthy perdone that killed a tiranne though he had killed his owne naturall father before And besides this whan they sawe that tirannes vsed to haue their bodies defended with great garisones and gardes of forain people or kept them selues in strong holdes and secret chambres so as none without great hasarde and peril might come vere them they propouned great rewardes to him that should destroie a tiranne Nother thought they rewardes or giftes to be a sufficient recompence for so vertuous an acte but they vsed also to make the ymage of him that killed a tiranne in brasse and to set it vp in the most solemne place of the citie for a perpetual memorie of the acte the commendacion of the doer and thencouragement of others to doo the like They dedicated to hi◅ praise and honour songes and verses and wolde haue them taken of men as Goddes worthy immortalitie Wherof came the name of Nobilitie or how were those that be called heroical or noble personages diui ded from others and had in suche honour and reuerence seing all men came of one man and one womans was it for their lustie hawking and hunting for their nimble diceing and cōning carding for their fine singing and daunceing for their open bragging and swearing for their false fliering and flattering for their subtil piking and stealing for their cruel polling and pilling for their merciles man murthering for their vnnatural destroieng of their natural coun trey men and traiterous betraieng of their countrey No no ther was no suche thing The respecte only of their vertue ād loue to their coūtrey brought them therto Bicause they reuenged and deliuered the oppressed people out of the handes of their gouernours who abused their autoritie ād wickedly cruel ly and tirannously ruled ouer them the people of a grate and thākefull minde gaue them that estimacio◅ and honour Of this kinde of nobilitie was Hercules Theseus and suche like Good kinges gouernours and states in time past tooke it to be the greatest honour that could be not to take cities and Realmes to their owne vse wha◅ they were called to aide and releue thoppressed as princes doo now a daies but to rescue and deliuer the people and countreies from the tirānie of the gouernours and to restore them to their libertie So did the Romanes the Lacedemonianes out of the tirannie of Onabis and all Grece from the bondage that Phi lippus Demetrius sonne king of Macedonia hade them in So did the noble mē of the people of God also come to their highe estimacion and honour as Gedeō Barac Iepthe and Samson who for the deliuerie of his contrey from the power of the idolatrous cruell Philistines pulled vpon him self present deathe So that this principle that euil ād euil doers ought to be punished and rotten membres to be cut awaie was no peculiar lawe of the Ethnikes but it procedeth of nature and therfore common to all men as it is plaine by the Chronicles and experience of all ages and purposely exemplified for our sure staie and learning as wel in the boke of Iudges as in many other histories of holy scriptures according to the expresse worde and commaundement applied to this sense and meaning which saieth Let euil be taken out of the middes of the congregacion that the rest which heare of it maie be afraied and not entreprise to doo the like And Christ pronounceth that euery tree which bringeth not furthe good frute shalbe cut downe and cast in to the fire muche more the euil tree that brīgeth furthe euil frute And albeit some doo holde that the maner and meane to punishe euil ād euil doers is not all one amōg Christianes which be in dede that they professe ī worde ād Ethnikes which thīke it lauful for euery priuate mā without respecte of ordre ād time to punishe euil yet the lawes of many christiane regiones doo permitte that priuate mē maie kil malefactours yea though they were magistrates in some cases as whā◅ gouernour shall soda◅ly with his sworde rēne vpō an innocēt or goo about to shoote him through with a gōne or if he should be foūde in bedde with a mānes wife or goo about to defloure ād rauishe a mā nes daughther muche more if goo about to betraie ād make awaie his coūtrey to foraīers c. Neuertheles forasmuche as all thīges ◅ euery christē cōmō wealthe ought to be done decētly ād accordīg to ordre ād cha ritie I thīke it cā not be maītened by Goddes worde that any priuate mā maie kill except wher execuciō of iuste pūishemēt vpō tirānes idolaters ād traiterous gouernours is either by the hole state vtterly neglected or the prīce with the nobilitie ād coūsail cōspir◅ the subuersiō or alteraciō of their cōtrey ād people any priuate man haue som special inwardecōmaundement or surely proued mocion of God as Moses had to kill the Egipciā Phinees the Lecherours and Ahud king Eglon with suche like or be otherwise commaūded or permitted by common autoritie vpon iuste occasion and common necessitie to kill But now perchaunce thou wilt demaunde why christen mē neuer made expresse positiue lawe of the kinde of punishement of tirannes Might it not be answered as Solō did excusing that he had not made a lawe for suche as killed their parentes that no man wolde suspecte that so vnnatural a facte should be thought muche lesse committed or that those that should be the ministers yea the ymages of God here in earthe charged bothe by God and man to see the people defended
ha ue autoritie to make lawes for the mayntenaunce of the policie so that they be not contrary to Goddes lawe and the lawes of nature which if ye note well the question before propouned whether kinges and princes haue an absolute power shall appeare not doubtfull or if any wolde affirme it that he shall not be hable to maintene it For first touching Goddes lawes by which name also the lawes of nature be comprehended kinges and princes are not ioyned makers herof with God so that therby of thē selues they might clayme any interest or autoritie to dissolue them or dispense with them by this Maxime or principal that he that maye knyt together maye lose asondre and he that maye make maye marre for before Magistrates were Goddes lawes were Neither can it be proued that by Goddes worde they haue any autoritie to dispense or breake them but that they be still commanded to doo right to ministre iustice and not to swarue neither on the right hande or on the lefte Than must it nedes folowe that this absolute autoritie which they vse must be mayntened by mannes reason or it must nedes be an vsurpaciō But what can reason saye If it be not laufull by no lawes no neither by honestie for any mannes seruaunt to altre his maisters a mortal mannes commaundement can reason saye it is laufull for any persone to altre Goddes cōmaundement or breake it That a mannes seruaunt maye be wiser than his maister that he maye be iuster than his maister that he maye see what is more profitable and necessarie to be done thā his maister cōmonly it happeneth and therfore he maye haue som apparēt cause to altre or breake his maisters cōmaun dement But to saye that any creature is or that any creature wolde seme in worde or dede to be more wise than God more iuste than God more prudent and circumspecte than God or knoweth what is better for the creature than the creatour him self as it must nedes be saied that he dothe that taketh vpon him to breake or dispence with Goddes will and commaundementes what an horrible blasphemie is it What luciferous presumpcion is it If we will not submit our selues to Goddes iudgement herein expressed by his worde as Christianes should let vs yet marke the sequele and therby gather Goddes iudgement as Ethnikes doo For whan we haue wrought our wittes out and deuised and done what we can we can not so exclude God but he will haue a saieng with vs. Goddes worde will and commaundement is that he that wilfully killeth a man shall also be killed by man that is the Magistrate But this lawe hathe not ben obserued and all wayes executed but kinges and princes vpon affection haue dispensed and broken it graunting life and libertie to traitours robbers murtherours c. But what hathe folowed of it Haue they whose offences haue ben so pardoned after ward shewed them selues penitent to God and thankfully profitable to the common wealthe No God and the commonwealthe haue hade no greater enemies They haue added murther to murther mischief to mischief and of priuate malefactours haue become publike and of men killers they haue at leinght growen to be destroiers of their countrey yea and many tymes of them that saued them from hanging and other iust paines of the lawe And no maruail for God dothe not oneli punishe the principalles and autors of suche mischief but also those that be accessaries and mayntenours of it and plageth iniquitie with iniquitie Ye maie likewise see what frutes haue folowed wher popes haue dispensed that mariages might be made contrarie to Goddes lawes We shall not nede to rehearse any thende will declare all But let vs leaue to reason that wherein nothing can be saied for it And let vs come to that wherein somewhat maye be saied that is whether kinges and princes maye doo thinges contrary to the positiue lawes of their countrey As for example It is a lawe positiue that a meane kinde of apparail or a meane kynde of diet should be vsed in a common wealthe to thintent that men leauing thexcesse thereof wherof many occasiones bothe to destroie nature and to offende God folowe they might conuerte that they before euil spent to the relief of the pouertie or defense of their countrey For answer to this question this diuision ought to be made that ther be two kyndes of kinges princes and gouernours The one who alone maye make positiue lawes bicause the hole state and body of their countrey haue geuē and resigned to them their authoritie so to doo which neuertheles is rather to be compted a tiranne than a king as Dionisius Philippus and Alexander were who saued whom they wold ād spilt whom they lusted And thother be suche vnto whom the people haue not geuen suche autoritie but kepe it them selues as we haue before sayed cōcerning the mixte state True it is that in maters indifferent that is that of them selues be neither good nor euil hurtfull or profitable but for a decent ordre Kinges and Princes to whom the people haue geuen their autoritie maie make suche lawes and dispense with them But in maters not indifferent but godly and profitably ordayned for the common wealthe ther can they not for all their autoritie breake thē or dispense with them For Princes are ordained to doo good not to doo euil to take awaie euil not to increace it to geue example of well doing not to be procurers of euil to procure the wealthe and benefite of their subiectes and not to worke their hurt or vndoing And in thempire wher by the ciuile lawes themperours claime that the people gaue them their autoritie to make lawes albeit they haue ben willing and ofte attēpted to execute their autoritie which som Pikethākes to please them saie they haue by the lawes yet haue they ben forced of them selues to leaue of their enterprise But such as be indifferent expounders of the lawes be of that minde that we before haue declared and therfore make this a general conclusion and as it were a rule that thēperour willing any thing to be done ther is no more to be done than the lawes permit to be done For saie they neither pope Emperour nor king may doo any thing to the hurt of his people without their cōsent King Antigonus Chauncelour saieng vnto him that all thinges were honest ād laufull to kinges ye saie true quod the king but to suche kinges as be beastes barbarous ād without humanitie but to true ād good Princes nothing is honest but that is honest in dede and nothing is iuste but that is iuste in dede Anthiochus the thrid king of Asia considering that as he was aboue the people so the lawes were aboue him wrote general lettres to all the cities of his countrey that if they shoulde perceaue that he by any lettres should require any thing contrary to the lawes they should thinke that suche lettres were obteined without his cōsent and therfore they
should not obeie them Now if wher the people haue geuen their autoritie to their gouernour to make suche lawes yet can he not breake or dispēse with the positiue lawes how muche lesse maie suche gouernours kinges and princes to whō the people haue not geuen their autoritie but they with the people ād the people with thē ma ke the lawes breake them or dispēse with them If this were tolerable thā were it in vaine to make solēne as semblies of the hole state long Parliamentes c yea I beseche the what certayntie should therbe in any thyng wher all should depende on ones will and affection But it wilbe saied that albeit kinges and princes can not make lawes but with the consent of the people yet maie they dispense with any positiue lawe by reason that of long tyme they haue vsed so to doo and prescribe so to doo for long custome maketh a lawe To this it maye be answered euil customes be they neuer so olde are not to be suffred but vtterly to be abolished and non maie prescribe to doo euil be he king or subiecte If the lawes appoint thee the time of thrittye or fourtie yeares to claime a sure and a perfit interesse of that thow enioiest yet if thow knowe that either thy self or those by Whom thow claimest came wrongfully by it thow art not in dede a perfit owner of it but art bounden to restore it Although the lawes of man doo excuse and defende thee frō outwarde trouble and punishemēt yet cā they not quiet the cōsciēce but whā thy cōscience remēbreth that thow enioiest that is not thyne it will byte the that thow haste done wrong it will accuse the before the iudgement seat of God and condemnethe And if princes and gouernours wolde shew thēselues half so wise as they wolde men shoulde take them to be and by thexample of others learne What mischief might happen to them selues they wolde not if they might clayme muche lesse execute any suche absolute authoritie No neither wold their Counsailours if they loued them maintene them in it nor yet the subiectes if they did but considre their owne sauetie and felicitie in this life wolde not if they might suffre their Prince to doo what him lusted For thone purchace to them selues a perpetuall vncer◅aintie bothe of life and goodes and thother procureth the hatred of all which albeit it be coloured and dissembled for a season yet dothe it at leynght burst out and worketh the reuenge with extremitie Ther lacke no examples to verifie this It was dryven in to the head of temperour C. Caligula that he was subiecte to no power that he was aboue all lawes and that he might laufully doo what him lu sted This lesson was so swete to the fleshe that it was no soner moued than desired no soner taught than learned no soner hearde than practiced First by like that thempire should not goo out of his owne race he coupleth not with one but with all his susters like bitche and dogge He killeth his brother Tiberius and all his chiefest frendes he murdereth many of the Senatours of Rome He delited to haue honest men to be garshed scotched and cut in the faces and so to make him pleasure to haue them cast to rauenous beastes to be torne and deuoured in his sight or to be sawed asondre in the middes It was a pleasunt pastyme for him to see the parentes stande by lamenting and weping whiles their children were tormented and killed He vsed to complayne and lament that no common calamitie and notable miseries happened in his time He reioyced muche whan newes were brought him of the slaughters of hole armies of men great hongre pestilence townes burnyng and openynges of the earthe wherin many people were swalowed vp But the daye he sawe any of these him self he neded neither meat nor drinke he was so iocunde and merye And being glutted with the pastime of euery mannes deathe by him self to procure a newe appetite he deuised an other if he could haue brought it to passe But whan he could not haue it done the memorie therof was so swete that he ofte desired that is that all the he addes of the people of Rome stode on one mannes necke that he might with ones was he cut it of Many other noble actes by his absolute power he wrought and at leynght he commaunded that his ymage should be set vp in the temple at Ierusalem and ther worshipped as not vnlike Saīt Gardiners for he hathe done no smal thīges shalbe shortly by Anti cipaciō in Englād But what was thende of Caligulaes absolute power whā he had reigned three yeares and ten monethes his owne householde seruaūtes conspired against hym and the general of his own◅ Armie slewe him Nero thēperour was of nature very modest gen til and mercifull and the first fiue yeares of this reigne he behaued him self very vertuously After other counsaillours and maisters than Seneca crept into his fauour who tolde him that he might doo what him lusted He was sone persuaded therunto And to shewe som profe that he had well caried awaye their aduise he killed his mother Agrippina This cruel acte did so moue his wicked conscience that he durst not come abroade in the Senate but kept him self secrete in his priuie chābre For he feared the hatred of the people and knewe not what was best for hī to doo He lacked no flattering Counsailours Ther were pleintie that sought their owne profit and gayne and the satisfieng of their lustes more than their princes honour and sauetie and the cōmon wealthe of their coūtreie Saie they Sir whi should ye be thus amased with the deathe of this womā She was of all people abhorred ād hated the people wōderfully reioyce in your doīg and cōmēde you aboue the moone for so noble an acte They desire that ye will returne in to the citie that they maie with triumphe expresse how muche their ioie and gladnesse is and how they loue you for so noble a feate These craftie knaues seing how they might blinde their maisters eies cōmaunded in themperours behalf that all the people should come out of Rome to mete themperour The Senate in their best apparail cometh out alle other ordres likewise after their degrees folowe and finally man Woman and childe Themperour whan he sawe them thought all was done from the botome of their heart The Senate shewed suche outwarde honour the commones so great loue eueri body pretended so great ioye and gladnesse And thinke ye ther were not about him that said Dothe not your Maiestie well finde all our saienges true maye ye not credite vs in that we coun sail and aduise you What folowed Themperour embrewed with the blood of his mother and his vnnatural acte commended by his wicked Counsailours ceasseth not from his crueltie but earnestly goeth forwarde He putteth awaie his wife Octauia bicause she semed to be baren He marieth his harlot called Puppie He sendeth his wife
ment euery person spiritual and temporal man and woman and by this worde power thautoritie that kinges and princes execute than can not kinges and princes but be conteined vnder this general worde Soule as well as others And they being but executours of Goddes lawes and mennes iust ordinaunces be also not exempted from them but be bounden to be subiecte and obe dient vnto them For good and iuste lawes of man be Goddes power and ordinaunces and they are but ministers of the lawes aÌ„d not the lawes self And if they were exeÌ„pt from the lawes and so it were laufull for them to doo what them lusteth their autoritie beiÌ„g of God it might be saied that God allowed their tyraÌ„nie robbery of their subiectes killiÌ„g theÌ„ without lawe aÌ„d so God thautor of euil which were a great blasphemie IustiniaÌ„ theÌ„perour well coÌ„sidered whan he ma de this saieng to be put into the body of the lawes It is a worthy saieng saieth he for the Maiestie of him that is iÌ„ autoritie to coÌ„fesse that the priÌ„ce is subiectâ—… to the lawes thauthoritie of the priÌ„ce do the so muche depende on thautoritie of the lawes And certainly it is more honour than the honour of the empire to submitte the principalitie vnto the lawes For in dede lawes be made that the wilfull self will of men should not rule but that they should haue a line to leade them as they might not goo out of the waie of iustice and that if any wolde saie they did them wrong they might alledge the lawe for their waraunt and autoritie It is also a principle of all lawes grounded on the lawe of nature that euery man should vse himself and be obedient to that lawe that he will others be bounden vnto For otherwise he taketh awaye that equalitie for ther is no difference betwene the head and foote concerning the vse and benefite of the lawes wherby common wealthes be maintened and kept vp What equalitie I beseche you should ther be wher the subiecte should doo to his ruler all the ruler wolde and the ruler to the subiecte that the ruler lusted The good emperour Traianus whom for his iust behaueour the Senate of Rome toke to be a God being in possession of his office and minding to shewe that he was not ordained to be a tiranne but to see the people well gouerned and that albeit he was the minister of the lawes yet was he subiecte to the lawes toke a sweorde and gaue it to the Captain of the horsemen and saied Take this sweorde use it for me against mine enemies in iust causes and if I my self doo not iustly use it than use it against me Zaleuchus the ruler and maker of lawes to the locres whan he made this lawe that an aduouterour should be punished with the losse of bothe his eies and his sonne hade offended the same albeit the people made great intercession that his paines might be pardoned him he wold not consent vnto it but pul ling out one of his sonnes eies to fulfill and kepe the lawe he suffred one of his owne eies also to be pulled out But thow wilt saie What haue we to doo with Ethnikes Why should we be ordred by Ethnikes doinges I answer that whan Ethnikes doo by nature that thow art bounden also to doo not only by nature but by the lawes of God and man such Ethnikes shall ryse in the vniuersal iudgement to accuse the and worke thy condemnacion The bishop of Romes lawes which albeit he vse not in him self yet will he haue them practiced in others saye thus It is requisite and iust that a prince obeie his owne lawes For than maie he loke that others shall kepe his lawes whan he him self hathe them in honour Iustice will that princes be obedient aud bounden to their owne lawes and that they can not in their owne doinges condemne those lawes which they prescribe unto others Thauthoritie of their sayeng is iust and indifferent if that thei suffre not them selues to doo that they prohibite unto their people This saieth the bishop of Romes lawe And vpon this principle after in the great general counsail of Lateran Which pope Innocent the thirde helde it may seme it was ordained and decreed as they saie that whan kinges and princes that knowlaged no superiour should fall out among them selues or should misuse their power and autoritie ouer their subiecttes that than the matier should be hearde aÌ„d corrected by the bishop of Rome But here it maie be asked who did this iustice on kinges and princes before that time sith it was but than coÌ„mitted to the bishop of Rome To that at this time we shall not nede to answer for that we doo not seke preseÌ„tly to knowe who should be iudge but onely to declare and proue that kinges and princes ought bothe by Goddes lawe the lawe of nature mannes lawes and good reason to be obedient and subiecte to the positiue lawes of their countrey and maie not breake â–ª them and that they be not exempt from them nor maie dispense with them onles the makers of the lawes geue them expresse autoritie so to doo Who shalbe the kinges iudges hereafter thow shalt heare IN WHAT THINGES AND how farre subiectes are bounden to obeie their princes and gouernours AS THE BODY OF MAN IS KNIT and kept together in due proporcioÌ„ by the sinewes so is euery coÌ„muÌ„ wealthe kept aÌ„d maìtened in good ordre by Obedience But as if the sinowes be to muche racked aÌ„d stretched out or to muched shrinked together it briedeth wonderfull paines and deformitie in maÌ„nes body so if ObedieÌ„ce be to muche or to litell in a common wealthe it causeth muche euil and disordre For to muche maketh the gouernours to for get their vocacion and to usurpe vpon their subiectes to litel briedeth a licencious libertie and maketh the people to forget their duetie And so bothe waies the common wealthe groweth out of ordre and at leinght cometh to hauocke and vttre destruction Some ther be that will haue to littel obedience as the Anabaptistes For they bicause they heare of a christian libertie wolde haue all politike power taken awaye and so in dede no obedience Others as thenglishe papistes racke and stretche out obedience to muche and wil nedes haue ciuile power obeied in all thinges and that what so euer it commaundeth without respecte it ought and must be done But bothe of them be in great errours For thanabaptistes mistake christian libertie thinking that men maye liue without sinne and forget the fall of man wherby he was brought in to suche miserie that he is no more hable to rule himself by him self than one beast is hable to rule an other and that therfore God ordained ciuile power his ministre to rule him and to call him backe whan so euer he should passe the limites of his duetie and wold that an obedience should be geuen vnto him And the papistes neither considre the degrees of powers nor ouer what
of the Israelites God shewed by an euident terrour to all gouernours that he did not allowe suche right as the prophet sayed the king wolde vse ouer his subiectes For whan king Achab wolde haue bought of his subiecte Naboth his vineyorde which he neded not to haue done if the subiectes goods be the kīges ād he refused to sel it as he might doo for by Goddes lawe he had a propretie therin from which without his will and consent he could not be forced to departe the king fretted so muche bicause he could not haue his will that he fell sicke in his bedde ād wolde not eate His wife Dame Iesabel a woman full of malice and mischief as that kynde is very ◅pte and prone to those vertues and within shorte space doo so therin excell as fewe men can in long tyme matche them taketh the matier in hande What sayeth she be you a mete man to be a king ouer Israel that will suffre suche dishonour at your slaues handes one that bi your auncient prerogatiue which hathe continued thes hundred and three score yeares yea from the first king of Israel ye maye vse in body and goodes as pleaseth you Phy for shame pull your courage to you arise eat your meat be mery I waraūt you the vineorde Out goeth a Cōmission in the kinges name to certain Cōmissionares where Naboth dwelt suche as the Quenes grace was sure fauoured her procedinges Those she requireth to cause Naboth to be endyted and con demned for an heretike and a traitour and so to cause him to be stoned to deathe Her will is furthewith satisfied matier ynough against Naboth prisoner at the Barre bicause she wold so haue it no man might be admitted nor durst speake the truthe in the prisoners cause least they had ben clapped fast and trussed vp also for speaking against the king and Quene no queste durst quite him for fear of kissing the flete no lawes no equitie no iustice might defende the poore innocent So the vineiorde is the kinges by the ordre of lawe Those newes be caried in post to Iesable she sheweth them to her husbande wherwith he as sone as he hearde them was recouered and goeth to take possession of the vineiorde But what foloweth this crueltie ād tirānie Are not bothe the kinges Maiestie and the Quenes highnesse within while after killed ād their blood licked vp of dogges according as the Prophet declared to hi in the vineyorde whā he toke possession of it and all his house so destroied that ther was not lefte therof so muche as a dogge to pisse against the wall Thus ye maie see thende of lustie lordes and ladies that will haue their lustes a lawe and their will to be folowed and obeied of their subiectes as a right in dede The true right and prerogatiue of a king was written in a particular boke by the Prophete Samuel and laied vp by the Arke which boke among many other was loste yet who so lusteth to knowe it maie see it set out by God ī the boke of Deu teronomie After that God had prescribed who shold be their king that is no aliene or straunger but one of their owne brethren for naturally straungers doo not fauour straungers And a straunge prince seketh by all meanes to destroy the natural inborne that he maie with quietnesse and suretie enioie and vse that he cometh euil by and so leaue it to his succession than is set furthe the right and prerogatiue of a king thus Whā your king is made he shall not kepe many horses nor putting his trust in his horsemen he shall not bring the people again into Egipte He shall not haue many wiues least they altre his minde frō God nother yet great treasure of siluer ād golde But whā he is set in his throne he shall cause a copie of these lawes and statutes to be written out of thoriginal remaining with the Leuites and the same he shall haue with hī all the daies of his life that he maie learne to feare the lorde his God ād to kepe not to breake all the wordes and ceremonies that be cōmaunded in the lawe and also to fulfill thē in his doinges And he shal not be prowde and hault ouer his brethren neither shall he swarue from the lawe towarde the right hande or lifte hande that he and his children maie long reigne ouer Israel But besides this lawe appoīted for all kinges he that wilbe accompted a christian king or gouernour must remembre that he is a christian man and that bi being made a king he is not exempt from the lawes and duetie of a christen mā which eueri one professeth in Baptisme but as he is called and exalted aboue the rest of his brethren so should he be an example to them of good lyuing and vertue in obseruīg the lawe which saieth aswell to kinges as to beggers Thou shalt not steale thou shalt not couet any thing that is thy neighbours and so it stablisheth and confirmeth that euery one maie iustly kepe that is his owne and none maie take it from him by ani meane against his will be it king or kaiser And by the doinges of Samuel who albeit he were not a king in name yet hade he being the lieutenaunt and viceroie to God the chief king as great autoritie as any king in the earthe it maie appeare that all thinges of the subiectes be not the kinges owne propre For if they had ben his owne what neded Samuel at the surrendre of his office to offre to make an accompt And to whom I praie you To any bribing Auditour No he offred to make it to God and to the king that succeded him Beholde saieth the I haue done all that ye desired me I haue made you a king to rule you My children yet shall be with you But I am olde and hore headed that is I cā not long cōti nue I haue bē amōg you frō a child to this daie Lo I ā ready to make mine accōpte before God and your kīg for all thīges that cā be laied to me by any of you whose bullocke haue i takē whose asse haue I hade to whom haue I done any uiolence or wrong whom haue I oppressed of whom haue I taken any bribes to maintene him in his wickednesse to winke at his faultes or to stoppe iustice let him come furthe and I will make satisfaction And none of them could saie blacke was his eie No saieth Samuel I take God and your king to witnesse agaīst you I am so nette that ye shall not finde one iote in my fingres but I am hable to laie ynough against you wicked people c. O Samuel Samuel what king or prince can saie to the as thou diddest to the Israelites They loke not to make an accompt no they haue counsail of craftie Alcibiades how they maie make non accompt But they can not escape it they shall mete with an other maner of auditour than any of Mousire
from iniuries shauld so muche abuse their office and autoritie as to conuerte the sweorde to the destruction of them whose championes and defendours they ought to be Yea rather of all to saie which is most certain the simple people deceaued by great othes and begiled with faire promises suffred their gouernours to vsurpe suche autoritie and power ouer them and so long winked and bare with their iniquitie that they were not hable to take it from them But I beseche thee what nedeth to make one general lawe to punishe bi one name a great many offen ses whan the lawe is all ready made for the punishement of eueri one of them particularly If a prince robbe and spoile his subiectes it is thefte and as a thefe ought to be punished If he kill and murther them contrary or without the lawes of his countreye it is murther and as a murtherour he ought to be punished If he committe aduoutrie he is an aduouterour and ought to be punished with the same paynes that others be If he violently rauishe mennes wyues daughthers or maydens the lawes that are made against ra uishers ought to be executed on him If he goo about to betraie his countrey and to bring the people vnder a foreyn power he is a traytour and as a traitour he ought to suffre And those that be iudges in cōmō Wealthes ought vpon complaynt to summone and cite them to answer to their crymes and so to procede as they doo with others For the prophet speaking vnto those that haue the rule in cōmon wealthes and that be iudges and other ministers of iustice saieth ministre iustice to the poore and orphan pronounce the miserable and poore to be innocent if he be innocent take the poore and deliuer the nedy out of the handes of the wicked Whan ye sitte to iudge ye shal not haue respecte of persones whether they be riche or poore great or smal feare no man for ye execut◅ the iudgement of God sayeth the holy goost by the mouthe of Moses Iudge not after the outwarde appe araunce of men but iudge rightly sayeth Christ. God him self gaue thexample of punishement of euil gouernours For whan the children of Israel hade committed Idolatrie he commaunded moses to take the Princes of the people and to hang them up against the Sunne that his wrathe and furie might be tur ned from Israel Whan that doughtie dame Quene Athalia the woman tyranne seing after her sonne Ahaziahu was dead that she was childles and past hope to haue any childrē ha◅e killed all the kynges progenye sauing Ioas whom Iehosaba Iorams daughter hid and get with his nource out of the waye purposing to reigne therby in securitie and to transpose the right of the erowne to straungers or som other fauourer of her cruel procedinges at her pleasur by the helpe and subtilti of her traiterous Counsaillours and so went on in all abominacion and crueltie without comptrolling a great space Did her subiectes suffre her in her wickednesse still vnpunished though she was the vndoubted Quene and chief gouernour of the lande No no. But as sone as Ioas was a littell nourced vp and crept somwhat out of the shell being a childe of seuen yeares olde the nobilitie and commones feling by experience what miserie it was to lyue vnder the gouernement of a mischieuous woman not only garded Ioas with mē and all decent regal ceremonies vnto the house of God by thaduise and appoyntement of Ieoiada the high priest and ther crouned himsolemnely but also whan Athalia the Quenes highnesse cam in mar uailing what adoo that was and perceauing the mater rent her clothes howling and crieng as the maner of madde women is specially in the hotte seasones of the yeare they layed handes on her for all her crieng Treason treason and whan they hade caried her out of the house of God they slewe her And so was the realme ridde of a tyranne the right enheritour possessed in his regal astate the people made a newe bāde with God to serue him syncerely accordig to his worde and banished all idolatrie and false reli gion which the Quene had set vp and vsed and the common wealthe florished a freshe in her former peace and libertie The prophet Elias being no ciuile magistrate ca◅ sed the kyng and Quenes highenesse chaplaynes Baals priestes to be killed before Achabs face bicause they were idolaters and taught and mayntened false religion though scarce so false and idolatrous as the popes masse and religion is And whan the Quenes maie stie dame Iesabel that the deuil saw Iehu cō to her p◅ lace cried and reuiled h◅ as a traitour Iehu not passing vpō her wordes though she was his soueraigne ladi ād maistres cried alowde who is on my side who As though he hade saied if ther be any among you that setteth more by Goddes true religiō and their natural countrei than by that idolatro◅s witche the Quene cast her out at the wyndow And so two or three of her priuie Chambre threwe her out to him bursting her necke and bones against the walles And as sone as Iehu hade trodē her vnder his fete dogges as ye hearde before eat vp her fleshe ād slossed vp her blood Ioram was knowne the king and right enheritour of the crowne of Israel And yet whan he sawe Iehu and his cōpanie come towarde him he asked him whether he came in peace Iehu saied what peace should ther be as long as the horedomes of thy mother Iesabel and her witchecraftes be so great And so for his idolatrous tyrannie and euil gouernement Iehu slewe him And many moo suche examples in scriptures we haue which as the reste of the Bible is be lefte for the instruction of all christen common wealthes in like case as we want not also the like experiēce and examples euen in these our dayes Bicause the remembraunce of the horrible destruction of the euil gouernours and alteracion of the common wealthe in Schwuzerlande and certain other places in high Almayne now in our tyme is not very pleasaunt I will purposely passe it ouer albeit the mater is so freshe and grene yet still in all mennes sightes that it is spoken of vnyuersally through the worlde And was not Petrus Aloysius Pope Paule the thriddes sonne and duke of Placenza iustly slayne now lately of his owne people bicause of the euil gouernement and ◅rannye he vsed among them And wher this iustice is not executed but the prin ce and the people playe together and one wynketh and beareth with the others faultes ther can not be bust a most corrupte vngodly ād vicious state which albeit it prospre for a season yet no doubt at leynght they maye be sure that vnto thē shall come that came to Sodome Gomorra Ierusalem ād such other that were vtterly destroyed And on the other side wher the nobilitie and people loke diligently and earnestly upon their autorities and doo see the same executed on their headdes
A SHORTE TREAtise of politike pouuer and of the true Obedience which subiectes owe to kynges and other ciuile Gouernours with an Exhortacion to all true naturall Englishe men Compyled by D. I. P. B. R. VV. 1556. Psal. 118. It is better to trust in the Lorde â–ª than to trust in Princes TO THE GENTIL READER COntent thy self to reade ouer this shorte â—…reatise wherin is neither heresie felonye nor treason but all that is written here in fewe is ment for thy pleyntifull benefite necessary admonition and faithfull instruction And albeit the Printour is not sure whether the autor be gone to God allready as by the discourse of the mater he semeth to be or yet still in this life yet for as muche as the grauitie of the Worke the sobrenesse of the stile and the equitie of the cause ioyned with substauntial Profes importe a mightye zeale and aferuent care of the autor for his countrey he is pleased to put furthe the Worke to thintent the trauaile of the doer be not lost neither true Englis he hartes frustrate of so worthie an instructioÌ„ onles they wil willingly neglecte their owne saue garde the state of their countrey and the Preseruation of theyr posteritie God geue thee good reader a will to forsee an heart to per ceaue and a iudgement to discerne thyne owne state in tyme and in Christ hartily well to fare Amen VVHEROF POLITIKE povver grovveth vverfore it vvas ordayned and the right use and duetie of the same c. AS OXEN SHEPE GOATES aÌ„d suche other unreasonable creatures caÌ„not for lacke of reason rule themselues but must be ruled by amore excellent creature that is maÌ„ so maÌ„ albeit he haue reason yet bicause through the fall of the furst man his reason is wonderfully corrupt and sensualitie hathe goten the ouer hande is not hable by himself to rule himself but must haue a more excellent gouernour The worldlinges thought this gouernour was their owne reason They thought they might by their owne reason doo what them lusted nod onely in priuate thinges but also in publike Reason they thought to be the only cause that men furst assembled together in companies that common welthes were made that policies were well gouerned and long continued but mensee that suche were utterly blynded and deceaued in their ymaginacions their doinges and inuentiones semed they neuer so wise were so easili and so sone contrary to their expectacion ouerthrowen Wher is the Wisdome of the Grecianes Wher is the fortitude of the Assirianes wher is bothe the wis dome and force of the Romaynes become All is uanished awaye nothing almost lefte to testifie that they were but that which well declareth that their reason was not hable to gouerne them Therfore were suche as were desirous to knowe the perfit and only gouernour of all constrayned to seke further than them selues and so at leynght to confesse that it was one God that ruled all By him we lyue we haue our being and be moued He made us and not we our selues We be his people and the shepe of his pasture He made all thinges for man and man he made for him self to serue and glorifie him He hathe taken upon him thordre and gouernement of man his chief creature and prescribed him a rule how he should behaue him self what he should doo and what he maye not doo This rule is the lawe of nature furst planted and graffed only in the mynde of maÌ„ thaÌ„ after for that his mynde was through synne defiled filled with darknes se aÌ„d encoÌ„bred with many doubtes set furthe in writing in the decaloge or ten coÌ„maundemeÌ„tes and after reduced by Christ our saueour ì to these two wordes Thou shalt loue thy lorde God aboue all thinges aÌ„d thy neighbour as thy self The later part vvherof he also thus expoundeth vvhat so euer ye vvill that men doo vnto you doo ye euen so to them In this lawe is comprehended all iustice the perfite waye to serue and glorifie God and the right meane to rule euery man particularly and all men generally and the only staye to mayntayne euery coÌ„ moÌ„ wealthe This is the touchestone to trye euery maÌ„ nes doinges be he king or begger whether they be good or euil Bi this all mâ—…nes lawes be discerned whe ther they be iuste or uniuste godly or wicked As for an example Those that haue autoritie to make lawes in a common wealthe make this lawe that no pynnes shalbe made but in their owne couÌ„trey It semeth but a trifle Yet if by this meanes the people maye be kept from idlenesse it is a good and iuste lawe and pleaseth God For idlenesse is a uice wherwith God is offeÌ„ded and the waye to offende him in breache of these commaundemeÌ„tes Thou shalt not steale thou shalt not kill thou shalt not be a horemâ—… nâ—… ger c. Por all these euilles come of 〈◊〉 â–ª On the other syde if the people be well 〈◊〉 in other things and the people of an other countrey lyue by pynne making and uttring thâ—… 〈◊〉 if ther should be a lawe made that they 〈◊〉 not sell them to their neighbours of the 〈◊〉 countrey otherwise well oc cupied it were a wâ—…cked and an uniuste lawe 〈◊〉 â—…aking awaye the meane wherby they lyue a meane is deuised 〈◊〉 kill them with famyne and so is not onely 〈◊〉 commaundement broken Thou shalt not kill but also the generallawe that sayeth Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy self And vuhat so euer ye vuill that men do vnto you euen so do you vnto theÌ„ For you your selues vuold not be killed vuith hungre Likewise if ther be a lawe made vtterly prohibiting any maÌ„ that can not lyue chaste to marie this is an vniuste an vngodly and a wicked lawe For it is an occasion that wher with marieng he might auoide synne he not marieng dothe committe horedome in acte or thought contrary to Goddes will and commaundemeÌ„t Thou shalt not coÌ„mitte horedome Agayn a prince forceth his subiectes vnder the name of request to leÌ„de him that they haue which they doo vnwillingly and yet for feare of a worse tourne they must seme to be content therwith Afterwarde he causeth to be assembled in a ParliameÌ„t such as per chaâ—…ce lent nothing or elles such as dare not displease him They to please him remit this general debte This is a wicked vngodly and vniust lawe For they doo not as they 〈◊〉 be done vnto but be an occasion that a great 〈◊〉 be vndone their children for lacke of sustenaunce perishe through famyne and their seruavâ—…ntes forced to 〈◊〉 and perchaunce to coÌ„myt â—…urther So that if men â—…ill weigh well this 〈◊〉 and lawe that God hathe prescribed to man Thou shalt loue thy lord God aboue all thinges and thy neighbour as thy self And what so euer ye will that men do vnto you do ye euen the same vnto them they maye sone learne to trye good from euil godlynesse from vngodlynesse right from wrong And it
Octauia in to an Ilan de he byndeth her in chaines and causeth her to be let blood in all partes and fearing least feare wolde dryue the blood to the harte and so she lyue longer than he wolde he setteth her in a bayne of hotte water that her blood might the soner come out But what becometh of his deare dearling Puppie he dalieth a while with his Puppie and at leynght his hotte loue being turned in to displeasur he spurneth her being with Childe on the belye and so she dieth To late he repented but yet ceassed not his crueltie He killed his maister Seneca he persecuted the churche of Christ most miserably and so thinking that he might doo what him lusted and that all was well done were it neuer so euil done he neuer lefte of his crueltie til the people finding occasion and oportunitie to vttre their dissembled hatred slewe him But what thinke you who were to be blamed for these cruell actes He for doing theÌ„ or others for flat tring hiÌ„ or the Senate aÌ„d people of Rome in suffring him Surely ther is none of them to be excused but all to be blamed and chiefly those that might haue bridled him and did not He is a good citez in that dothe non euil saieth a noble wiseman but he is a better that letteth others that they shall not doo hurt nor vniustice to others The blood of innocentes shalbe demaunded not only at the handes of the sheaders of blood but also of those that make or consent to wicked lawes to condemne innocentes or suffre their head to kill them contrary to iust lawes â–ª or to spoile them of that they iustly enioie by the ordre of the lawe Now sithe kinges princes and gouernours of common wealthes haue not nor can iustly clayme any absolute autoritie but that thende of their autoritie is determined and certain to maintene iustice to defende the innocent to punishe the euil And that so many euilles and mischiefes maie folowe wher such absolute and in dede tiraÌ„nical power is vsurped let vs praie that they maie knowe their duetie and discharge theÌ„ selues to God and to the worlde or elles that those which haue the autoritie to refourme them maie know and doo their duetie that the people finding and acknowlageing the benefite of good rulers maie thaÌ„ke God for them and labour euery one to doo their duetie and that seing the head is not spared but euillesin it punished they maie the more willingly absteine froÌ„ tyraÌ„nie and other euil doinges and do their dueties and so all glorifie God VVHETHER KINGES princes and other politike Gouernours be subiecte to Goddes lawes and the positiue lawes of theyr countreyes HE that noteth the procedinges of princes and gouernours in these our daies how ambicious they are to vsurpe others Dominiones and how necli geÌ„t they be to see their owne well gouerned might thiÌ„ke hat they beleue that either ther is no God or that he hathe not care ouer the thiÌ„ges of the worlde or that they thinke themselues exempt frome Goddes lawes and power But the Wonderfull ouerthrowe of their deuises whan they thinke themselues most sure and certain is so manifest that it is not possible to denye but that bothe ther is a God and that he hathe care ouer the thinges of the worlde And his worde is so playne that non can gaynsaye but that they be subiecte and ought to be obedient to Goddes lawes and Worde For the hole decalog and euery part therof is aswell written to kinges princes and other publike persones as to priuate persones A king maye no more committe Idolatrie than a priuat man he mayâ—… not take the name of God in vayne he maye not breake the Sabbat no more than any priuate man It is not laufull for him to disobeye his pareÌ„tes to killany persone contrary to the lawes to be an hooremoÌ„ger to steale to lye and beare false witnesse to desire and couet any mannes house wife seruaunt mayde oxe asse or any thing that is an others more than any other priuate man No he is bounden and charged vnder greater paines to kepe them than any other bicause he is bothe a priuate man in respecte of his owne persone and a publike in respecte of his office which maâ—…e appeare in a great meigny of places whe roâ—… parte I will recite The holy gost by the mouthe of a king and prophet saieth And now ye kinges â—…nderstande be ye learned that iudge the earthe Serue the Lorde in feare and reioi ce with trembling Kisse the sonne that is receaue with honour least the Lorde be angrie and ye lose the waye whan his wrathe shall in a moment be kyndled And in an other place thus The Lorde vpon thy right haÌ„de shal Smyte and breake in pieces eueÌ„ kinges in the daye of his wrathe Esaias also the prophet saieth The Lorde shal comme to iudgemeÌ„t against the princes and elders of the people Likewise saieth the Prophet Micheas speaking to all princes and gouernours vnder the heades of the house of Iacob and the leaders of the house of â—…srael He are ye princes and gouernours saieth Micheas Should ye not kno we what were laufull and right But ye hate the good and loue the euil ye plucke of meÌ„nes skynnes and the fleshe from their bones ye cheoppe them in pieces as it were in to a Caldron and as fleshe in to a potte Now the tyme shall come that whaÌ„ ye call vnto the lorde he shall not heare you but hyde his â—…ace from you by cause that through your owne ymaginationes ye haue dealt so wickedly And again he saieth O heare ye rulers and gouernours ye that abhorre the thing that is lauful and wraste asyde the thing that is straight ye that builde vp Sion with blood your magestie and tirannie with doing Wrong For so maie Sion and Ierusalem be well expounded O you iudges ye geue sentence for giftes O ye priestes ye teache for lucre O ye ê“phetes ye prophecie for money yet Will they be takeÌ„ as those that holde vpoÌ„ God and saie â–ª Is not the lorde amoÌ„g vs How can than any mysfortune happen to vs But Sion that is your cities for your sakes shalbe plowed like a fielde and IerusaleÌ„ that is your palaces shall become an heape of stones and the hill of the teÌ„ple that is your Monasteries frieries and chauntries shall be come an high woodde The holy goost also by the mouthe of king Salomon sayeth Heare O ye kinges and vnderstande O learne ye that be iudges of the eÌ„des of the earthe Geue eare ye that rule the multitudes and delyte in muche people For the power is geueÌ„ unto you of the lorde aÌ„d the streinght from the highest who shall trye your wor kes and searche out your ymaginaciones how that ye being officers of his kingdom haue not kept the lawe of righteousnesse nor Walked after his will Horribly and that sone shall be appeare vnto you for vpoÌ„ the most high
christianes and bring them to the one and twentie Commissionares or to the bishoppes colehouse or whan he willed and commaunded them to destroye such as wold not denie Christ and folowe his procedinges worshipping idoles did they bring them to the fire ād stande about that they should not speake and to see that none should come nere thē to conforte and streinghten them in their faithe or whan they spake did they cleaue their headdes in pieces with their halbeardes or stoppe their mouthes with their billes No they confessed that in that themperour of heauen thalmi ghtie God and not thēperour of the earthe a wicked mā and a rebelle against God was their emperour ād Captaī ād therin they wolde not obeie Iuliā nor doo that he commaunded in that behalfe And this answer bothe S. Ambrose and S. Augustine yea ād the papistes although they thē selues doo not so propounde and set furthe for a christē doctrine ād a catholike exāple how christē ād good subiectes shoulde behaue thē selues towarde wicked prīces ād their wi cked cōmaundemētes that is in no wise to obeie thē but to leaue thē undone And as mē ought not to obeie their superiours that shall cōmaunde thē to doo any thīg agaīst Goddes worde or the lawes of nature so maie they not doo that they shall cōmaūde thē cōtrary to ciuile iustice or to the hurt of the hole state Nei ther will good prīces attēpt or goo about any suche thing for it is the next waie to bring thē out of their seates and to make thē of kinges no kinges How can that head liue ād cōtinewe wher the body is cōsumed ād dissolued And how cā that body be lustie wher the sinowes the lawes are broken and iustice the marie that should nourishe it vtterly wasted and decaied Antiochus the thrid king of Siria wrote thus to all the cities of his dominion that if he did cō maunde any thing that should be contrary to the lawes they should not passe theron but that rather they should thinke it was stollen or forged without his knowlage considering that the prince or gouernour is nothing elles but the minister of the lawes And this same saieng of this most noble king semed to be so iuste and reasonable that it is taken for a com mon principle how subiectes should knowe whan they should doo that they be commaunded and whan they ought not Likewise a bishop of Rome called Alexander the third wrote to an Archebishop to doo a thing which semed to the Archebishop to be vnreasonable and contrary to the lawes the pope perceauing that tharbishop was offended with his writing and wolde not doo that he required desired him not to be off◅nded but that if ther were cause why he thought he should not do that he required he wolde aduertise him and he therwith wolde be satisfied This is a popes saiēg which who is so hardy dardie to denie to be of lesse autoritie than a lawe yea not felowe but aboue Goddes worde Wher vpon this is a general rule that the pope is not to be obeied but in laufull and honest thinges And so by good Argument from the more to the lesse that princes being but foote stooles and stirrop holders to popes commaunding their subiectes that is not godly not iuste not laufull or hurtefull to their countrey ought not to be obeied but with standen For the subiectes ought not against nature to further their owne destructiō but to seke their owne saluacion not to maintene euil but to suppresse euil for not only the doers but also the consentours to euil shalbe punished saie bothe Goddes and mannes lawes And men ought to haue more respecte to their countrey than to their prince to the common wealthe than to any one persone For the countrey and common wealthe is a degree aboue the king Next vnto God men ought to loue their countrey and the hole common wealthe before any membre of it as kinges and princes be they neuer so great are but membres and common wealthes mai stande well ynough and floris he albeit ther be no kinges but contrary wise without a common wealthe ther can be no king Common wealthes and realmes may liue whan the head is cut of and may put on a newe head that is make them a newe gouernour whan they see their olde head seke to muche his owne will and not the wealthe of the hole body for the which he was only ordained And by that iustice and lawe that lately hathe ben excuted in Englande if it maie be called iustice and lawe it should appeare that the ministers of ciuile power doo somtimes commaunde that that the subiectes ought not to doo Whan the innocent Lady Iane contrary to her will yea by force with teares dropping downe her chekes suffred her self to be called Quene of England◅ yet ye see bicause she consented to that which was not by ciuile iustice laufull she ād her husbande for company suffred the paines of Traitours bothe headles buried in one pitte Whan the blessed mā of God Thomas Cranmer Archebishop of Cantorbury did what he might to resiste to subscribe to King Edwardes will wherby his two sisters the ladies Mary and Elizabeth should haue ben wrongfully disherited yet bicause he afterwarde to contēt the kinges minde and commaundement yea in dede to saue the innocent king from the uiolēce of most wicked traiterous tirannes did subscribe vnto it against his will was it not laied vnto him by the wicked Iudge Morgā whom God not long after plaged with taking awaie his wittes that was a foole before that he ought not to doo any thing unlaufull bi commaundemēt of any power And so he an innocent piked out among a great nombre of very euil doers to satisfie the lawe was condemned as a traitour before he suffred as a martir Were not the ymages ād Roodeloftes in Englande destroied by autoritie of ciuile power And dothe not Boner the Archbocher of londō for all that force them that obeied the authoritie bicause he saieth it was not lauful to make thē vp agaī at their owne charges But Boner thou that allow est nothing to be well done by what so euer autoritie it be done except it be laufull nor nothing to be laufull that is not agreing to thy Canon lawes I haue to saie to thee ▪ Stāde stil a while whilest I rubbe the. Tell me plainly and face not out a lie as thou arte wont speake not one thing and thinke an other as thy nature is ones in thy life tell the truthe and shame thy maister the deuil If thou were the sonne of the earthe by thy fathers side and of an erraunt hoore by the mother and so a bastarde hy what autoritie saiest thou thy masse whan thy lawes suffre no bastardes to be priestes without dispensacion how comest thou to be a bishop whan thy lawes saie thou maiest be no priest How be thy iudgementes laufull whan thou by thy Canones maiest be no
and gouernours making them to yelde accompt of their doinges than without faile will the princes and gouernours be as diligent to see the people doo their duetie And so shall the common wealthe be godly and prospre and God shalbe glorified in all But thou wilt saye what if the nobilitie and those that be called to cōmon Coūselles and should be the defendours of the people will not or dare not execute their autoritie what is than to be done The people be not so destitute of remedie but God hathe prouided an other meane thas is to complayne to som minister of the worde of God to whō the keyes be geuen to excōmunicate not only common people for all notorious and open euilles but also kaisers kinges princes and all other gouernours whan they spoile robbe undoo ād kill their poore subiectes without iustice and good lawes And what so euer suche minister of Goddes worde byndeth vpon those occasiones here in earthe it is fast bounden in heauen before the face of God And no meane to vndoo it by any good worke muche lesse by popes pardone or friers prayers without repentaunte of the partie offending ād satisfactiō made to the partie offended for the iniustice and iniu ries committed and the mercie of God through the on ly merites of our saueour Iesus Christ. Exāple we haue of S Ambrose who being no pope nor popes Com missary but bishop of Millane excommunicated the Emperour Theodosius Whose doinges bicause thou maiest the better knowe I will in fewe wordes expres se theffecte of the historie This Theodosius albeit he were an Emperour and a Christen man yet was he of nature colerike and muche disposed to be āgrie and as it semeth without consideration It chaunced that in a sediciō at Thessalonica sōof his officers were stoned to deathe and some very euil intreated He in a rage sendeth thider a nōbre of merciles men of warre who making no differēce betwene thautours of the sediciō and thinnocent people make an horrible slaughter of the poore people mā woman and childe Afterwarde thēperour after his accustumed maner came towarde the churche and S. Ambrose mette him at the churche dore ād wolde not suffre him to entre but not only tolde him it was no place for murtherers but also did excommunicate him out of all christen companie til he repented and made satisfactiō for the hor rible murther cōmitted by his souldiours Thēperour being brought vp and instructed in the worde of God as I wolde to God all christē princes were at this pre sent and knowing thoffice bothe of the minister of Goddes worde ād of an Emperour obeyed and return◅d wepīg ād crieng to his palace Eight monetes af t◅r came the feast of the natiuitie of Christ ād Ruffinus lorde great maister or stuarde of his house came to thēperour whō he founde very heauie weping and sobbing He beig familiar with him desired to knowe the cause of his sorowe Ah Ruffinus saieth thempe rour thou art mery for thou felest not mi paines I l◅ mēt ād mourne for my calamitie It is free for slaues and beggers to goo to the churche ād ther to praye to God but I maie not come ther no heauē gats be schut to me Christes words goo not out of my hart what so euer ye binde on earthe shalbe boūdē also in heauē At leynght beīg ēcouraged by Ruffinus that he might be absoiled of S. Ambrose he sendeth hī before to be a meane for hī ād he him selfe folowed But Ruffinus could not intreat the bishop After themperour cometh but durst not entre in to the churche but without the dores fell on his knees to S. Ambrose and desired absolucion S. Ambrose saied he was not mete to be absoiled for his comyng was more like a tiranne one that wolde by force be absoiled than a christen man that shewed him self penitēt and sory No sayeth thēperour I wil not presume against the ordre of the churche to entre in by force but I hūbly beseche thee to lose me out of these bōdes of excōmunicatiō ād that thow wilt remē bre the mercie that God useth and that thou wilt not shutte against me the gate that God opened to all that be penitent The bishop asked him what worthy penaūce he had shewed syth the tyme he had cōmitted that wicked acte or with what medicine he had healed those most greuous woundes It is your part sayeth themperour to prepare the medicine and myne to re ceaue and use it At leynght S. Ambrose required ther might be a lawe ordayned that thexecucion of reuēge should not be done sodainly but delaied so as it should not proced of angre and thēperour made that lawe Afterwarde he was releassed of thexcōmunicatiō ād commyng in to the churche he made his praiers not standing nor kneling but lyeng flatte on the grounde pulling his heare beating his browe wepīg lamēting and cryeng with Dauid My soule cleaueth to the pauement quicken me O lorde according to thy worde ād asked mercie ād forgeuenesse Thus ye see what any minister of the churche maie doo upō the greatest prince if he will execute his office ād the power that Christ geueth him But thou wilt saie what if the minister passe not on his duetie but be contēt to winke at all the uices of the gouernours be thei neuer so wic ked so he maie haue a bishopriche a deārie a prebēde or a good fatte benefice ād liue ūpunished in all abomi naciō Yea ād what if ther be suche special grudges be twene the nobilitie and commones that the one sorte neither trusteth nor loueth the other so as the one dare not open the necessitie ād meane of suche correction and redresse of the euil gouernours vices for feare least if the purpose come to light before hande the mater be dashed and the mocionar leape headles for his labour as it is in these daies often sene What shifte than In dede ther be certain examples and paternes in the holy Bible Which I will not sticke to rehearse though not expounde but holly referre them to the further debating and iudgemēt of thine owne conscience through the holy goost by whose prouidence they are enrolled for our learning We reade that after the lorde God hade sondry times deliuered his people of Israel from wicked tirānes with whom he hade plaged them for their wickednesse and Idolatrie at leinght whan through aboundaunce of wealthe and quietnesse they fell to a certain careles securitie of life not only forgetting God and his holy sincere worde but also seking euery one his owne singular self gaine with the hurt and contempt of his neighbour God toke from them their natural liege lorde the good Iudge Othoniel and placed yee saieth the scripture he streynghtened a straunge prince among them an Idolatrous persone and a wicked called Eglon. This Eglon vsed the matier so with bribing those Israelites that for preferrement wold be traitours to their natural countrey and specially in