ready to second him yea perceiving that some of the greatest Princes in Germany were content though for other ends not onely to give him hearing but incouragement also in his proceedings the mans ambitions and vain conceipts of himself were infinitely raised above his first projects Whereupon as a man sick in his spirits and of a fiery disease he begins now to rage against and to defame all Church Government he abandons his Cloyster throws of his habit breaks yea tramples upon his vows renounceth all obedience to his Superior Preacheth against the whole State of the Clergy and especially against the Superiority of the Bishop of Rome which was ever unto this time held Sacred in matters Ecclesiastical as against a Tyranny in the Church perswading the people not to render any kinde of obedience to them The Pope himself whom yet not long before and since the beginning of the difference he had honored with the title of Christs Vicar and protested unto him very much humble Reverence and obedience he now calls Sathanissimum Papam Messire Asino The Prelates he calls Blinde guides the Religious men Swine Candles put under a Bushel and what not And why think you Preacht he all this Because forsooth otherwise the people should live in darkness still in the shadow of death still be fed and misled by ignorant and blinde guides still remain in ignorance and in the Captivity of Babylon This Prologue having gained him attentive Auditors he begins the Tragedy which was afterwards acted as you shall hear with such incredible Sedition and Tumults His whole study was now bent to undermine the Church and to abolish all Ecclesiastical order which by consequence was of necessity to shake the Foundations and hazzard the State it self Yea this humor fed him with such vain and extravagant hopes That he imagined to conquer the whole World and to subdue the Pope himself whom he was the first that ever absolutely affirmed to be that Antichrist Man of sin and deceiver of the World whom the Apostle mentioneth 2 Thes 2. He was the more encouraged in these proceedings for that now 1519. Maximilian the Emperor was dead whose power and wisdom he had great cause to dread and that Charls the Fifth was chosen to succeed him Surius in Chron. a yong Prince not fully Twenty years of age whom therefore he vainly hoped he should be able to perswade to subdue the Popes power to keep his own Court at Rome and make the Castle of Saint Angelo subject to his commands and that by the assistance of such an Emperor Martin should be able to reform the Church and cast it into what mould he pleased especially seeing John Frederick the Elector and old Duke of Saxony was already his sure Friend and Patron who for his strength riches alliance and other abilities was far Superior to any other Prince of the Empire Hereupon therefore fiâ—st of all he proclaims as it were open war and defiance to all the Bishops and Ecclesiastical State of Germany endeavoring what he can to weaken their authority to abrogate their power yea to make them odious and contemptible to the whole World Therefore in his Book intituled Câ—ntra Statum Ecclesiae Tom 2. oper Latin Jenae falsò nominatum ordinem Episcoporum He sends out a Bull against the said Bishops in these words Attendite vobis Episcoporum umbrae Hearken saith he or rather Look to your selves ye Mock-Prelates ye Bishops in shew or shape onely Doctor Luther intends to read you a lesson which he thinks will not be much pleasing to your tender ears as indeed it was not likely it should be For after a short Exhortation he gives advise what his godly Auditory should do well to see performed viz. To this horrible intent or purpose Quicunque opem ferunt bona famam sanguinem impendunt Whosoever saith he will venture their Lives their Estates their Honor and their Blood in so Christian a work as to root out and destroy all Bishops and Bishopricks which are the Ministers of Satan and to pluck up by the Roots all their Authority and Jurisdiction in the World Hi sunt dilecti filii Del c. These yea these are the true children of God and obey his Commandments And again in his Book against Sylvester Prieras Tom. 1. oper Latin Wittemberg Si fures furcâ latrones gladio haereticos igne tollimus If saith he we dispatch common Felons with a halter Malefactors at the block and Hereticks by fire Cur non magis hos magistros perditionis As for these sons yea masters of perdiâ—ion these Bishops Cardinals Popes c. Why should we not fall upon them with open force and not cease till we have bathed our hands in their blood Was there ever such an Incendiary heard Preach But Objicient saith he going on periculum esse Perhaps some body will be telling us it may cause Tumults and Sedition in the common people Tush saith he I answer must the Word of God be prohibited and the people perish for fear of Tumults The two Mar-Prelates of England and Scotland were not possessed with such a spirit as this and though they were mad enough yet they came not up to such a height of fury Let the Lawyers therefore judge Brunus Minsinger Gail whether this Sermon and Proclamation of Luthers would not bear an Action of Sedition and Conspiracy and whether it were consistent with the Laws and Peace of the Empire any more then it was with the duty of a good man For hereby was the people taught and encouraged when they should be able to pull down and destroy those principal Pillars in the State of Germany viz. The Archbishops of Mentz Colen and Triers the Primate of Magdeburgh the Archbishop and Prince of Saltzburgh the great Master of Prussia the Bishop of Wurtzburgh Bambergh and many others who beside their Spiritual Relations which were so eminent in the Church had also a voice and place in the Imperial Dyet and thereby a great influence and hand in the Government of Germany Can this be avowed to be the act of a dutiful or loyal Subject of the Eâ—pire Doâ—h any Law Reason or Example warrant it in Civil Government That a private man himself a Subject of himself alone should attempt thus insolently against the chief Magistrates and Princes of the Country where he lives That a Sheep should presume to depose the Shepherds And by such wicked suggestions stir up Insurrections and Rebellion against persons of so eminent quality both for Place and Calling Nor did he ever cease or give over these Preachings till out of Saxâ—ny Hess and Wittemberg yea generally out of all places where his Seditious Doctrine prevailed he had expulsed or procured to be expulsed the very name as well as the Authority and Jurisdiction of Bishops Neither staid he here but as fury and success lead him proceeded further Cochlaeus in act Luther At Wittemberg he took upon him to burn not
Ottoman Greatness and the whole Nation of Turks and that in a short time Ferdinand would surely be expelled out of all Germany and forced to seek his fortunes in Spain But O Monstrous O Incredible that such desperate malice and impiety should enter the hearts of any that profess themselves Christians were it not that the Records themselves be extant fide publicâ which do assure us thereof even beyond contradiction who could beleeve it O Malice implacable O Envy most perfectly diabolical And O happy house Family Name of Austria which for the interest of true Religion and Constancy to Justice deservest to be made the object of such execrable Spleen and to Combat perpetually with such odious and Antichristian Conspiracies Guicciard Lib. 20. It is no new thing But Macte istâ virtute Be faithful to God and to those principles of piety and justice descended from so many so Religious and so Renouned Ancestors and reign in spite of Hell so long as the Sun and Moon endureth The Truth is Ambition was so hungry with them that they consulted about dividing the Bears Skin before the Bear was taken They consulted how they should share among them the spoils of the German Clergy and of the house of Austria before either of them was in their power For as by their Chancery-rolls it is evident Their intent was to advance the Palatine to Bohemia Cancel Anhaltina Alsatia and some part of Austria enlarging his Dominion also with the Bishoprick of Spiers and a part of Mentz Bethlehem Gabor should be assisted to keep Hungary which afterwaâ—d this Gabor having no issue might also probably fall to the Palâ—tines lot Too many Crowns herâ—â— you will say to expect any in Heaven Onaltzbach gaped for Two fat Benefices the Bishopricks of Wâ—râ—â—burgh and Bambergh his Neighbors and therefore was it agreed that their Armies should Rendevouz in those parts The Marquis of Baden thirsted after Brisack and was willing by this occasion to continue his possession of the upper Marquisate against the more just claim of the Count Eberstein Brandenburgh expected the least of all being content onely with a part of the Bishoprick of Wirtzburgh which lay fit for him But Anhalt intended to recruit both his purse and broken fortunes with the spoils of Mentz Banbergh and other Catholike places as also with some Lands and Lordships which were like to Escheat in Bohemia If the Venetians would joyn with them they might make themselves Masters of Istria and Friuli and so Oceanum cum Adriatico as their Cancellaria speaks they might joyn Sea to Sea and Land to Land and carry all before them without controule Such were the vast but vain designs of their Ambition and Avarice But before we proceed any further it may not be amiss to examine their Plea It is manifest their design in it self was most pernicious and such as if it had taken effect which God would not suffer had been of general prejudice to the State of Christendom and not onely to the Peace of the Empire which yet every one of the Princes Confederate were bound in some relation or other to maintain beside the subversion of all Laws which apparently it carryed along with it Who doth not remember how all the Pulpits in England when time was and generally of all the Reformed Churches abroad sounded the Alarme against the League and Leaguers in France Which yet was not half so mischeivous as this but was at first set on foot quietly without any sedition or insurrection onely for defense of the Ancient Religion always received and established in France yea confirmed with the Kings personal Oath and approbation And though it were afterward continueed and more strictly prosecuted upon occasion of some horrid Actions of murther and tyranny yet Monsieur Villeroy himself who was a wise man and a great Royallist professeth that their aim was not the Extirpation of the King of Navarre but his Reformation and that if they might be assured of his Religion which he had promised he should be instantly assured of their obedience as in the conclusion it clearly appeared every person in France according as the King condiscended to give them satisfaction in that point entirely acknowledging their Allegiance to him And the mishap which befel him afterwards was not in pursuance of the League but upon a private account not to say upon some new provocation given and which no man living justified But as for this Union it runs in a far wilder strain and is for the advancement of a new Religion entirely disavowed by all the States of the Empire in all their publike Acts. How then can it be otherwise then extreamly disloyal and criminous The Duke of Saxony himself though a Protestant Prince disswaded it and advised the Palatine very prudently and like a friend to quit Bohemia and to seek for reconciliation and pardon where as yet he might possibly finde it Beside it opened the Gates of the Empire to the Turk which mischief alone had there been no other going along with it had been sufficient to condemn it But Plessen confesseth in his Letter to Anhalt That it was an Action of the same nature with Holland and what that was we have seen already In brief they took arms against a King Lawfully Elected solemnly Crowned and established in possession by consent of the States It is true when they first went about the work they nominated the Duke of Saxony as Competitor with the Palsgrave for Bohemia but that was meerly craft and a trick of maliciousness to render the Duke suspected with the Emperor They knew he had rejected their offer and Confederacy long before when their Agent the Count Slick sollicited him in their names By this means they put Austria it self the Emperors Patrimonial Country into sedition The people there through correspondence with the Turk and Gabor were so bold as to tell Ferdinand that unless he would grant them Toleration and such Liberty of Conscience as they desired they would joyn with his Enemies And they were in this point as good as their words For in the year 1620. all the upper Austria did really quit their old Lord and submitted unto a new Protector in his stead If the Catholikes of England should attempt the like how would it be censured for sedition and punished severely as it might and yet surely the cases are much Parallel and if there be any advantage it is on our side who desire the exercise of nothing but what was once publike owned for many ages together by all the people of the Nation and legally established before us But nothing makes the Action more offensive and scandalous then that Anhalt and Onoltzbach two such private and inconsiderable persons in relation to the business they dealt in should take upon them insciis Electoribus without the knowledge and consent of the Princes Electors themselves to dispose of the succession of the Empire and in order to effect this more then
layeth not any greater upon the Christians under him All or most of the old Catholike Bishops and Clergy of England died in prisons Antipath of Prelat as Master Prinn himself confesseth of the chiefest of them amâ—ng Rogues Murtherers and Felons in the Marshalsea The rest in Exile for Religion is this no punishment Or was there any other Crime laid to their charge but onely matter of Religion Not to speak of many others Master William Anderson in 45. Elizab. was executed upon no other charge but that he was a Priest and then found to be in England so was Master Barckworth in the year 1600. was this no punishment Anno 35. Elizab. Master Barwis a Citizen of London was executed for being reconciled to to the Church and Master Pormort attainted at least for reconciling him was this no punishment In the year 1575. as Holinshead himself recordeth it for a matter to be noted The Lady Morley the Lady Brown the Lady Guildford were committed all of them to prison onely for hearing Mass and Leases presently made of two Third parts of their Lands was this no punishment I might be infinite in examples of this kinde but it is needless The case is manifest and the sense of the whole Kingdom proclaimes the contrary to what that Author pretendeth convincing his assertion of not a little imposture and calumny To conclude then the loyalty and obedience of these Gentlemen and other people of all sorts which are commonly called Recusants towards their King and the State appears undeniably in all things not only by their humble petitions to his Majesty that now is in the year 1604. and at sundry times since but by their constant and general conformity unto the temporal Government in all Queen Elizabeths Reign by their Protestation made at Ely in the year 1588. where a great many of them were prisoners by some other offers which they made to the Lord North the Queens Lieutenant there and by their justification of them afterwards by their submâ—ssions sent up to the Lords of the Privy Councel and their profession of all due acknowledgement towards her Majesty notwithstanding the sentence of Excommunication by their readiness to serve her Majesty the State even in that Action of 88. for which they are so calumniated Lastly by the very Irish Recusants joyning their Forces with the Queens at Kinsale in the year 1600. All which Arguments do indeed shew them to be â—ubjects absolutè and not ex conditione or by leave of some other as their adversaries pretend Let the Readâ—r therâ—fore now judge if he please by what hath been said whether to be a Protestant and a loyal â—ubject or a Catholike and a loyal subject be more incompatible things This was the question propounded in the beginning to be declared and it hath been declared I suppose at large both from their doctrinal assertions and constant practises in all parts of Germany France Holland Scotland Genevah and many other Countries of Christendom what kinde of people both Lutherans Calvinist and other sectaries generally are towards their Sovereign Princes It hath bin shewn that the chief scope and end of their endeavours where they come is to set up their several professions by the Sword and violâ—nt resistance of the Civil Magistrate doing but his Office in restraining them according to Law yea with the ruin of the Church and State both that shall oppose them This I say both the Lutheran s n Germany the Hugonets of France the Gâ—uses of Hâ—lâ—and the Protestants and Puritans in all other places where they could have so apparently done or attempted to doe that there is neither colour of excuse for it nor liberty to deny it The World knoweth what was endeavored in Germany against the Emperor in France how long continued they in Armes against their Sovereign Prince viz. till they had by force not to say contrary to his Oath extorted from him such Edicts of Pacification as themselves liked And that in Holland and Scotland where they had the fortune to become Masters they renounced and deposed their Princes absolutely On the other side let us consider how far it is from being true that wherewith so many Books in England have abused the people viz. That to be a Priest or a Roman Catholike and a good Subject withall is impossible They are things inconsistent with one another For if we look back to former times we shall easily finde that from the Saxons to King Henry the Eighth it was never made so much as a quâ—stion To be a Catholike was never held any bar to Loyalty and yet the Princes had their differences somtimes with the Pope even then And in the grounds of Catholike Faith there is certainly nothing contrary unto civil obedience and duty towards the temporal Magistrate Witness the Government of the Sacred Roman Empire of the Kingdoms of Spain France Poland and many other Christian Principalities and States All which differing in their several constitutions or particular formes of Governing yet doe generally and unanimously account him the bâ—st Subject and least dangerous to the State who is most of all devoted to Catholike Religion It is not therefore malum in se simpliciter whatsoever Doctor Morton or Parson White say it is not an evil intrinsecal to Priesthood nor essentially folloâ—ing the profession of Catholike Religion to be an evil subject If it happens to prove so at any time it is ex accidente and from the voluntary wickedness of particular men if not as too often it doth from some evil constitution of State in which the profession of Catholike Religion hath been unduly subverted and is as unjustly prohibited and punished Neither can it be verified of Catholike Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or universally as sedition and troubling the Civil Government is apparently chargeable upon Calvinism and the other several professions of Protestancy Therefore surely it was an errour both uncivil and indiscreet in those Doctors to frame their proposition so general onely to make us odious and suspected with his Majestie who yet we hope understands us better then so and knows that the imputation is groundless and meerly passionate We deal not so with them We are ready to acknowledge that as to particular persons there are many especially among the Protestants of England of more calm and moderate dispositions of no such fiery zeal as works in many other of their Brethren abroad Boni viri boni cives such as we confess to be both good men and good Subjects of sociable nature obsequious not inclined to Sedition nor desirous to persecute And the like good Testimony doth even the Author of the Execution of English Justice give unto Catholikes acknowledging their obedience and loyalty towards the late Queen and that in a time when they wanted not matter of complaint for the manifold oppressions and afflictions which were heavy upon them T is true every man may be supposed to wish the advancement of his