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A27454
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The original of kingly and ecclesiastical government by T.B. ...
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Barlow, Thomas, 1607-1691.
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1681
(1681)
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Wing B1513A; Wing B196; ESTC R37045
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57,729
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118
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any record above seven years date call it making of Ministers and why are they angry with the word Priest Is it because the Prophet Isaiah Prophecying of the Glory of Christs Church tells us we shall be named Priests of the Lord but that men shall call us Ministers of God Isa. 61.6 If the Ministration of the Law be glorious shall not the Ministration of the Gospel be much more glorious 2 Cor. 1.3 and shall the Ministers of the same Gospel be less glorious When you see a man that cannot abide to see anothers glory you may be sure he is no kin to him or very far off so you may be assâ—red that these are no true sons of the Church noâ—â—o right Children who think a Chair too great state for their Fathers to sit in In the Apostles time these Bishops or if you will Superintendents which are all in one signification only a good Greek word chang'd by Mr. John Calvin into a bad Latin word were stiled Embassadors of the Almighty Stars of Heaven Angels of the Church c. but now these Embassadours are used like Vagabonds these Stars are not Stars but fallings and the Angels are no where to be found but ascending and descending Jacobs Ladder whilst this reputation was given unto the Church and its Officers the Stones of its building were in unity but as it is now it seems no otherwise than as a Corps kept under ground seemingly intire but once touch'd soon falls to dust and ashes Never was there such a Monster as this ruling and thus constituted Presbytery the Father of it Rebellion the Mother Insurrection the Midwife Sacriledge the Nurse Covetousness the Milk Schism the Coats Armour the Rattle Drums a Bloudy Sword the Coral Money the Babies that it delights to play withal it grows up to be a stripling and goes to School to a Council of War its Lesson is on the Trumpet its Fescue a Pistol its going out of School in Rank and File its Play-daies the daies of Battail and Black-munday the day of Judgment it comes of age and is Married with a Solemn League and Covenant it begets Children like it self whose blessing upon them is the power of the Sword and whose Imposition of hands are broken pates This Monster cries down this truly Ancient Catholick and Apostolick power which the Bishops exercised and then takes it up again and uses it themselves in a higher nature than ever any Bishops or Apostles themselves did or durst have done even to the Excommunication and Deposement of their Kings to the delivering of them up unto Satan and to Hang-men if they stood but in their way to whom the Apostles taught submission how faulty so ever they were and if not obedience yet submission to every one of their Ordinances if not for their own sakes yet for the Lords sake and for Conscience sake these men cry down the same authority as Popish whilst they exalt themselves above all that are called Gods in a higher manner than ever any Pope of Rome ever yet did We will begin with this Monster in the very place of its Nativity and so observe him all along through the whole tract of time we will consider how it dealt with the first Prince under whose Dominions it pullulated which was under the Prince and Bishop of Geneva and these two were both nullified in the same person as they were both here in England by the same Parliament verifying that Maxim of ours with that fore-running of theirs No Bishop No King and then we will shew you how they dealt with our Princes here at home where ever they had a power viz. with Mary Queen of Scots and James and Charles the First Kings of England and of Scotland both and then usurp a power themselves higher than Popes or Kings Calvin with his gladiators having expuls'd the Prince and Bishop of Geneva setâ— up a Government so high and unexpected that the people would have nothing to do either with him or his Government and thereupon they banished him the City Calvin in exile bethinks himself how he might appease their fury and give them satisfaction and be invited in again Calvinus de tristibus thinks it his best course of endearing himself unto the people to make them sharers with him in the Government whereupon he invented his new fangle of Lay-Elders and so all parties were agreed In comes Mr. John Calvin whilst he was scarce warm in his seat I shall present you with a story of him and of his demeanour of himself towards the temporal Throne There was a Noble-man of Italy who liked the Reformation which he had begun so well that he forsook his Religion and Country sold his Lands and Fortune converted all into money and took Sanctuary in Geneva as soon as he came there great rejoycing and insulting there was that their cause was honoured with so high a Convert The grand Seigniour falls a building directing his Masons he found one of them something more sawcy than to what his Lordship in his own Country had been accustomed little thinking that where there was promised so large a respect of souls there had been so little respect of persons this Noble-man hereupon gives this Mason a gentle tap upon the head the Mason flies upon him like a Drâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 shakes him by the 〈◊〉 my Lord not being used to such course salutations stabs him with his Dagger thinking nothing less but that so high a provocation would have pleaded his indempnity no such matter my Lord was soon laid hold on and brought to his Trial Calvin upon the Tribunal not as a Temporal Judge in such cases take heed of him but only to be asked his opinion in cases of Conscience the Delinquent pleads for himself tells them how insolently he was provoked and wonders considering such provocation he should be questioned for so vile a varlet Hereupon Mr. Calvin soon starts up and tells him that with God whose seat they held there was no respect of persons and for ought he knew that man whom he despls'd to death was as near and dear to God and his favour as himself their Laws knew no such distinction as Man-slaughter and Murder but they were regulated by the Divine Law that told them that the man that sheds mans blood by man shall his blood be shed that there was no exemption by greatness nor buying it off by favour the Noble-man replyed that he had not been long enough amongst them to be acquainted with their Laws it was answered that the Law of nature did forbid that of which he could not be ignorant all this was well enough My Lord told them how hard a case it would be that a man out of his love and liking to the place and manners should seek to it as a sanctuary for his conscience and so soon find it his grave that he was heartily sorry for what he had done and would give any satisfaction to his wife and children that the Court
but figments and delusions of the people obtruded by vain-gâ—orious and haughty men who knowing that they could not be that one Governour of all the rest yet they hope to be one of many thus foolish children set their fathers barns full of Corn on fire to warm their hands when they are ready to starve for lack of bread who had not rather live under a Government wherein a man is only bound to submit to him whom it is honour to obey then to live under a Government where every man is a slave because every one is a Master Finally my opinion is this I had rather have my liberty to kneel before a Throne then to be the tallest man in a crowd and should think it more for my ease and honour CHAP. XIV That there is no such thing as a Free-State in the World IF by a Free-State you mean a people who have shook off their Allegiance to their Prince there are many such Free-States to be found but a beggars-bush or a company of Gipsies who propound to themselves new Laws renouncing the old and yet chuse a King and Queen amongst themselves pleasing one another with a self-conceited opinion of a thing they call Liberty which is no otherwise then an ignoble bondage of their own choosing preferring the correction of a bundle of rods because their own hands have made them before the sway-meant of a Scepter which God himself hath put into their Soveraigns hand is as good a Common-wealth or Free-State as the best but if you mean by a Free-State a freedom from Tyranny you will be as far to seek for any such thing in rerum natura as for a reason why tyranny may not be in many as well as in one But if you mean by freedom an exemption from all such tyrannical oppressions as are expressed in the Petition of Right I see not why such a Free-State may not be under a Monarchy certainly I have seen such Petitions and insistances during the late Kings Reign as having relation to Freeborn people of England and should think that the Magna Charta defended by one who had power to make it good against the infringement of many breakers and by a Parliament of many authorized to the same purpose against the pessundation of it by any one be it by the highest may not be as good a way to make preserve and keep a Nation free as well as the intrusting of a Nations freedom into the hands of a few whose Independency deny all remedies to be either above them or below them It may be it will not be thought tedious if I entertain your eye and consideration with some Observations of my own in those Free-States of Christendom as they call themselves wherein I have been I shall begin with the Free-State of Genoa wherein I have been resident some time and the rather because whilst England was a Kingdom they could not have the face to stand in any competition with us but now the Kings arms were cut off as well as his head how should we do to make a distinction between them and us for both the State of Genoa and the State of England give the very same Coat of Arms and St. George is both our patrons Certainly England must give the Half-moon as the younger brother and why should not the Moon Crescent follow after now the Turkish Alcoran is come before When the overspreading Roman Monarchy like Nebuchadnezzars over-grown and lofty Tree was brought only to a stump chained to the ground and when the Keys of Heaven and Hell had so well fitted the locks belonging to the Gates of Rome as to give way to the enterance of that high Priest into the Imperial seat then was Genoa a lop of that great fall and soon after it was wrought into a bundle or faggot of a Common-wealth until such time as Charles the Great recovered all his Right in Italy saving only the Holy Land whose Princely sword could never strike at the already cloven Miters but at Helmets Amongst other Counties whose subduements acknowledged Charles to be the Great Genoa was one which City was no less happy then famous in affording a man who honoured her Walls with making it known unto the World that he came out of them under the name of Andreas Dory a Genose this famous Andreas Dory was a zealous Common-wealths-man and one of the new Gentlemen as they call'd themselves for you must understand that when these States-men had shook off the yoke of Soveraignty they expelled all their Gentry or Nobility which no sooner done but they made a new Gentry or Nobility amongst themselves and being a deserving man the Emperour Charles the fifth will'd this Andreas Dory to aske and have what he desired of all that he had Conquered he asked Genoa the Emperour gave it him to do with it what he pleased he gave it the Citizens together with all their Liberties and former Freedoms upon this conditions That they should recal the old Gentry in again and settle them again in all their rights and priviledges which being assented unto Genoa became a Free-State again but behold the Freedom or rather the power and bonds of love and gratitude neither the old or new Gentry nor the Common people would allow of any thing that was said or to be done but what this Dory should command or say nor was there a more absolute and powerful Monarch upon the earth then he and whilst he liv'd he did continue so because the people would obey who being once dead the people soon found they did obey because they must Yet still it must be a Free-State because Libertas was written over the Senate-House and City-gates but neither within their Senate or their Walls was there ever such Tyranny over the common people or the Citizens then hath been all along and is at this day practised by some few who spit Monarchy in the face and make no bones to swallow down all its adjuncts Exercising their several Tyrannies with this justification that they are the Supreme Authority whilst they deny Supremacy gulling the people into a scotish belief that they are not suppressed by one hand because it hath many fingers I shall instance unto you one particular which was done whilst I was there whereby you may easily Judge in what Free-state their Commons live There was a substantial Citizen between whom and a Noble Genoese there was some grudge this Senator studies a revenge and thus he intends it to be put Execution He gives command to one of his Braves for so they call their Executioners to kill this Citizen this Slaughter-man being by reason of some former Obligations struck with some remorse of doing so high an act of ingratitude to one who had so well deserved at his hands discovers the whole plot to his so much acknowledg'd patron who very much ackowledges and commends the ingenuity of this discoverer bids him to follow him where â—e leads him over