Religion as beeing instructed by their schoolemasters in Religion And who were they but Ecclesiasticall persons All this presupposed as matter of trewth I draw this conclusion Howsoeuer no small number of the French Clergie may perhaps beare the affection of louing Subiects to their King and may not suffer the Clericall character to deface the impression of naturall allegiance yet for so much as the Order of Clerics is dipped in a deeper die and beareth a worse tincture of daungerous practises then the other Orders the third Estate had beene greatly wanting to their excellent prouidence and wisedome if they should haue relinquished and transferred the care of designements and proiects for the life of their King and the safety of his Crowne to the Clergiealone Moreouer the Clergie standeth bound to referre the iudgement of all matters in controuersie to the sentence of the Pope in this cause beeing a partie and one that pretendeth Crownes to depend vpon his Mitre What hope then might the third Estate conceiue that his Holinesse would passe against his owne cause when his iudgement of the controuersie had beene sundrie times before published and testified to the world And whereas the plot or modell of remedies proiected by the third Estate and the Kings Officers hath not prooued sortable in the euent was it because the said remedies were not good and lawfull No verily but because the Clergie refused to become contributors of their duty and meanes to the grand seruice Likewise for that after the burning of bookes addressed to iustifie rebellious people traytors and parricides of Kings neuerthelesse the authors of the said bookes are winked at and backt with fauour Lastly for that some wretched parricides drinke off the cuppe of publike iustice whereas to the firebrands of sedition the sowers of this abominable doctrine no man saith so much as blacke is their eye It sufficiently appeareth as I supose by the former passage that his Lordship exhorting the third Estate to referre the whole care of this Regall cause vnto the Clergie hath tacked his frame of weake ioynts and tenons to a very worthy but wrong foundation Page 9. Howbeit he laboureth to fortifie his exhortation with a more weake and feeble reason For to make good his proiect he affirmes that matters and maximes out of all doubt and question may not be shuffled together with points in controuersie Now his rules indubitable are two The first It is not lawfull to murther Kings for any cause whatsoeuer This he confirmeth by the example of Saul as he saith deposed from his Throne whose life or limbs Dauid neuerthelesse durst not once hurt or wrong for his life Conc. Constan Sess 15. Likewise he confirmes the same by a Decree of the Councill held at Constance His other point indubitable The Kings of France are Soueraignes in all Temporall Soueraigntie within the French Kingdome and hold not by fealtie either of the Pope as hauing receiued or obliged their Crownes vpon such tenure and condition or of any other Prince in the whole world Which point neuerthelesse he takes not for certaine and indubitable but onely according to humane and historicall certaintie Now a third point he makes to be so full of controuersie and so farre within the circle of disputable questions as it may not be drawne into the ranke of classicall and authenticall points for feare of making a certaine point doubtfull by shuffling and iumbling therewith some point in controuersie Now the question so disputable as he pretendeth is this A Christian Prince breakes his oath solemnely taken to God both to liue and to die in the Catholique Religion Say this Prince turnes Arrian or Mahometan fals to proclaime open warre and to wage battell with Iesus Christ Whether may such a Prince be declared to haue lost his Kingdome and who shall declare the Subiects of such a Prince to be quit of their oath of allegiance The L. Cardinall holds the affirmatiue and makes no bones to maintaine that all other parts of the Catholique Church yea the French Church euen from the first birth of her Theologicall Schooles to Caluins time and teaching haue professed that such a Prince may bee lawfully remooued from his Throne by the Pope and by the Councill and suppose the contrarie doctrine were the very Quintessence or spirit of trewth yet might it not in case of faith be vrged and pressed otherwise then by way of problematicall disceptation That is the summe of his Lordships ample discourse The refuting whereof I am constrained to put off and referre vnto an other place because he hath serued vs with the same dishes ouer and ouer againe There we shall see the L. Cardinall maketh way to the dispatching of Kings after deposition that Saul was not deposed as he hath presumed that in the Councill of Constance there is nothing to the purpose of murthering Soueraigne Princes that his Lordship supposing the French King may be depriued of his Crowne by a superiour power doth not hold his liege Lord to be Soueraine in France that by the position of the French Church from aage to aage the Kings of France are not subiect vnto any censure of deposition by the Pope that his Holinesse hath no iust and lawfull pretence to produce that any Christian King holds of him by fealtie or is obliged to doe the Pope homage for his Crowne Well then for the purpose he dwelleth onely vpon the third point pretended questionable and this hee affirmeth If any shall condemne or wrappe vnder the solemne curse the abettours of the Popes power to vnking lawfull and Soueraigne Kings the same shall runne vpon foure dangerous rocks of apparent incongruities and absurdities First he shall offer to force and entangle the consciences of many deuout persons For he shall binde them to beleeue and sweare that doctrine Pag. 14. the contrary whereof is beleeued of the whole Church and hath bene beleeued by their Predecessors Secondly he shall ouerturne from top to bottome the sacred authoritie of holy Church and shall set open a gate vnto all sorts of heresie by allowing Lay-persons a bold libertie to be iudges in causes of Religion and Faith For what is that degree of boldnesse but open vsurping of the Priesthood what is it but putting of prophane hands vpon the Arke what is it but laying of vnholy fingers vpon the holy Censor for perfumes Thirdly hee shall make way to a Schisme not possible to bee put by and auoyded by any humane prouidence For this doctrine beeing held and professed by all other Catholiques how can we declare it repugnant vnto Gods word how can wee hold it impious how can wee account it detestable but wee shall renounce communion with the Head and other members of the Church yea we shall confesse the Church in all aages to haue bene the Synagogue of Satan and the spouse of the Deuill Lastly by working the establishment of this Article which worketh an establishment of Kings Crownes He shall
not onely worke the intended remedy for the danger of Kings out of all the vertue and efficacie thereof by weakening of doctrine out of all controuersie in packing it vp with a disputable question but likewise in stead of securing the life and estate of Kings he shall draw both into farre greater hazards by the traine or sequence of warres and other calamities which vsually waite and attend on Schismes The L. Cardinall spends his whole discourse in confirmation of these foure heads which wee now intend to sift in order and demonstratiuely to prooue that all the said inconueniences are meere nullities matters of imagination and built vpon false presuppositions But before wee come to the maine the reader is to be enformed and aduertised that his Lordship setteth a false glosse vpon the question and propounds the case not onely contrary to the trewth of the subiect in controuersie but also to the Popes owne minde and meaning For he restraines the Popes power to depose Kings onely to cases of Heresie Apostasie and persecuting of the Church whereas Popes extend their power to a further distance They depose Princes for infringing or in any sort diminishing the Priuiledges of Monasteries witnesse Gregorie the first in the pretended Charter granted to the Abbey of S. Medard at Soissons the said Charter beeing annexed to his Epistles in the rere The same hee testifieth in his Epistle to Senator by name the tenth of the eleuenth booke They depose for naturall dulnesse and lacke of capacitie wether in-bred and trew indeed or onely pretended and imagined witnesse the glorious vaunt of Gregory VII that Childeric King of France was hoysted out of his Throne by Pope Zachary Caus 15. Can. Alius Qu. 6. Not so much for his wicked life as for his vnablenesse to beare the weightie burden of so great a Kingdome They depose for collating of Benefices and Prebends witnesse the great quarrels and sore contentions betweene Pope Innocent III. and Iohn King of England as also betweene Philip the Faire and Boniface VIII They depose for adulteries and Matrimoniall suites witnes Philip I. for the repudiating or casting off his lawfull wife Bertha and marrying in her place with Bertrade wife to the Earle of Aniou Paul Aemil. in Phil. 3. Finally faine would I learne into what Heresie or degree of Apostasie either Henry IV. or Frederic Barbarossa or Frederic II. Emperours were fallen when they were smitten with Papall fulminations euen to the depriuation of their Imperiall Thrones What was it for Heresie or Apostasie that Pope Martin IV. bare so hard a hand against Peter King of Arragon that he acquitted and released the Aragonnois from their oath of Alleagiance to Peter their lawfull King Was it for Heresie or Apostasie for Arrianisme or Mahumetisme that Lewis XII so good a King and Father of his Countrey was put downe by Iulius the II Was it for Heresie or Apostasie that Sixtus V. vsurped a power against Henrie III. euen so farre as to denounce him vnkingd the issue whereof was the parricide of that good King and the most wofull desolation of a most flourishing Kingdome But his Lordship best liked to worke vpon that ground which to the outward shew and appearance is the most beautifull cause that can be alleaged for the dishonouring of Kings by the weapon of deposition making himselfe to beleeue that he acted the part of an Orator before personages not much acquainted with ancient and moderne histories and such as little vnderstood the state of the question then in hand It had therefore beene a good warrant for his Lordship to haue brought some authenticall instrument from the Pope whereby the French might haue beene secured that his Holinesse renounceth all other causes auouchable for the degrading of Kings and that he will henceforth rest in the case of Heresie for the turning of Kings out of their Free-hold as also that his Holinesse by the same or like instrument might haue certified his pleasure that hee will not hereafter make himselfe Iudge whether Kings bee tainted with damnable Heresie or free from Hereticall infection For that were to make himselfe both Iudge and Plaintiffe that it might be in his power to call that doctrine Hereticall which is pure Orthodoxe and all for this end to make himselfe master of the Kingdome and there to settle a Successour who receiuing the Crowne of the Popes free gift and grant might be tyed thereby to depend altogether vpon his Holinesse Hath not Pope Boniface VIII declared in his proud Letters all those to be Heretiques that dare vndertake to affirme the collating of Prebends appertemeth to the King It was that Popes grosse errour not in the fact but in the right The like crime forsooth was by Popes imputed to the vnhappy Emperour Henrie IV. And what was the issue of the said imputation The sonne is instigated thereby to rebell against his father and to impeach the interrement of his dead corps who neuer in his life had beate his braines to trouble the sweet waters of Theologicall fountaines Annal. Beio Lib. 3. Iâ—â—â—anen Episcop It is recorded by Auentine that Bishop Virgilius was declared Heretique for teaching the Position of Antipodes The Bull Exurge marching in the rere of the last Lateran Councel sets downe this Position for one of Luthers heresies A new life is the best repentance Optima poenitentia noua vita Conc. Constan Sess 2. Among the crimes which the Councel of Constance charged Pope Iohn XXIII withall one was this that hee denied the immortalitie of the soule and that so much was publiquely manifestly and notoriously knowen Now if the Pope shall be caried by the streame of these or the like errours and in his Hereticall prauitie shall depose a King of the contrary opinion I shall hardly bee perswaded the said King is lawfully deposed THE FIRST INCONVENIENCE EXAMINED THE first inconuenience growing in the Cardinall his conceit by entertaining the Article of the third Estate whereby the Kings of France are declared to be indeposeable by any superiour power spirituall or temporall is this It offereth force to the conscience vnder the penaltie of Anathema to condemne a doctrine beleeued and practised in the Church in the continuall current of the last eleuen hundred yeeres In these words he maketh a secret confession that in the first fiue hundred yeeres the same doctrine was neither apprehended by faith nor approoued by practise Wherein to my vnderstanding the L. Cardinall voluntarily giueth ouer the suite For the Church in the time of the Apostles their disciples and successors for 500. yeeres together was no more ignorant what authoritie the Church is to challenge ouer Emperours and Kings then at any time since in any succeeding aage in which as pride hath still flowed to the height of a full Sea so puritie of religion and manners hath kept for the most part at a lowe water marke Which point is the rather to be considered for that during the first
of our Catholike Religion then if it should bee granted the Church hath decided the said points without any authoritie c. Mee thinkes the L. Cardinal in the whole draught and course of these words doeth seeke not a little to blemish the honour of his Church and to marke his religion with a blacke coale For the whole frame of his mother-Mother-Church is very easie to be shaken if by the establishing of this Article she shall come to finall ruine and shall become the Synagogue of Satan Likewise Kings are brought into a very miserable state and condition if their Souereigntie shall not stand if they shall not bee without danger of deposition but by the totall ruine of the Church and by holding the Pope whom they serue to be Antichrist The L. Cardinall himselfe let him be well sifted herein doeth not credit his owne words For doeth not his Lordship tell vs plaine that neither by Diuine testimony nor by any sentence of the ancient Church the knot of this controuersie hath bene vntied againe that some of the French by the Popes fauourable indulgence are licensed or tolerated to say their mind to deliuer their opinion of this question though contrary to the iudgement of his Holinesse prouided they hold it onely as problematicall and not as necessary What Can there be any assurance for the Pope that hee is not Antichrist for the Church of Rome that she is not a Synagogue of Satan when a mans assurance is grounded vpon wauering and wilde vncertainties without Canon of Scripture without consent or countenance of antiquitie and in a cause which the Pope by good leaue suffereth some to tosse with winds of problematicall opinion It hath beene shewed before that by Gods word whereof small reckoning perhaps is made by venerable antiquitie and by the French Church in those times when the Popes power was mounted aloft the doctrine which teacheth deposing of Kings by the Pope hath bene checked and countermanded What did the French in those dayes beleeue the Church was then swallowed vp and no where visible or extant in the world No verely Those that make the Pope of Soueraigne authoritie for matters of Faith are not perswaded that in this cause they are bound absolutely to beleeue and credit his doctrine Why so Because they take it not for any decree or determination of Faith but for a point perteining to the mysteries of State and a pillar of the Popes Temporall Monarchie who hath not receiued any promise from God that in causes of this nature hee shall not erre For they hold that errour by no meanes can crawle or scramble vp to the Papall See so highly mounted but grant ambition can scale the highest walls and climbe the loftiest pinacles of the same See They hold withall that in case of so speciall aduantage to the Pope whereby he is made King of Kings and as it were the pay-master or distributer of Crownes it is against all reason that hee should sit as Iudge to carue out Kingdomes for his owne share To bee short let his Lordship be assured that he meeteth with notorious blocke-heads more blunt-witted then a whetstone when they are drawen to beleeue by his perswasion that whosoeuer beleeues the Pope hath no right nor power to put Kings beside their Thrones to giue and take away Crownes are all excluded and barred out of the heauenly Kingdome But now followes a worse matter For they whom the Cardinall reproachfully calls heretikes haue wrought and wonne his Lordship as to mee seemeth to plead their cause at the barre and to betray his owne cause to these heretikes For what is it in his Lordship but plaine playing the Praeuaricator when he crieth so lowd that by admitting and establishing of this Article the doctrine of Cake-incarnation and priuie Confession to a Priest is vtterly subuerted Let vs heare his reason and willingly accept the trewth from his lips The Articles as his Lordship granteth of Transubstantiation auricular Confession and the Popes power to depose Kings are all grounded alike vpon the same authoritie Now he hath acknowledged the Article of the Popes power to depose Kings is not decided by the Scripture nor by the ancient Church but within the compasse of certaine aages past by the authoritie of Popes and Councils Then he goes on well and inferres with good reason that in case the point of the Popes power be weakened then the other two points must needs bee shaken and easily ouerthrowen So that hee doeth confesse the monstrous birth of the breaden-God and the blind Sacrament or vaine fantasie of auricular confession are no more conueyed into the Church by pipes from the springs of sacred Scripture or from the riuers of the ancient Church then that other point of the Popes power ouer Kings and their Crownes Very good For were they indeed deriued from either of those two heads that is to say were they grounded vpon the foundation of the first or second authoritie then they could neuer bee shaken by the downefall of the Popes power to depose Kings I am well assured that for vsing so good a reason the world will hold his Lordship in suspicion that he still hath somesmacke of his fathers discipline and instruction who in times past had the honour to be a Minister of the holy Gospel Howbeit he playeth not faire nor vseth sincere dealing in his proceeding against such as he calls heretikes when hee casts in their dish and beares them in hand they frowardly wrangle for the inuisibilitie of the Church in earth For indeed the matter is nothing so They freely acknowledge a visible Church For howsoeuer the assembly of Gods elect doth make a body not discerneable by mans eye yet we assuredly beleeue and gladly professe there neuer wanted a visible Church in the world yet onely visible to such as make a part of the same All that are without see no more but men they doe not see the said men to be the trew Church Wee beleeue moreouer of the vniuersall Church visible that it is composed of many particular Churches whereof some are better fined and more cleane from lees and dregs then other and withall we denie the purest Churches to be alwayes the greatest and most visible THE FOVRTH AND LAST INCONVENIENCE EXAMINED THE Lord Cardinall before he looketh into the last Inconuenience vseth a certaine preamble of his owne life past and seruices done to the Kings Henry the III. and IIII. Touching the latter of which two Kings his Lordship saith in a straine of boasting after this manner I by the grace of God or the grace of God by mee rather reduced him to the Catholike religion I obtained at Rome his absolution of Pope Clement 8. I reconciled him to the holy See Touching the first of these points I say the time the occasions and the foresaid Kings necessary affaires doe sufficiently testifie that he was induced to change his mind and to alter his religion vpon the strength of other
troubled in spirit and hauing fasted long before as the text testifieth and being come to a woman that was bruted to haue such knowledge and that to enquire so important newes he hauing so guilty a conscience for his hainous offences and specially for that same vnlawfull curiositie and horrible defection and then the woman crying out vpon the suddaine in great admiration for the vncouth sight that she alledged to haue seene discouering him to be the King though disguised and denied by him before it was no wonder I say that his senses being thus distracted hee could not perceaue her faining of her voice he being himselfe in another chalmer and seeing nothing Next what could be or was raised The spirit of Samuel prophane and against all Theologie the deuill in his likenesse as vnappeirant that either God would permit him to come in the shape of his Saints for then could neuer the Prophets in those dayes haue beene sure what spirit spake to them in their visions or then that he could fore-tell what was to come thereafter for Prophecie proceedeth onely of GOD and the diuell hath no knowledge of things to come EPI Yet if ye will marke the words of the text yee will finde clearely that Saul saw that apparition for giuing you that Saul was in another chalmer at the making of the circles and coniurations needfull for that purpose as none of that craft wil permit any others to behold at that time yet it is euident by the text that how soone that once that vncleane spirit was fully risen she called in vpon Saul For it is said in the text that Saul knew him to be Samuel which could not haue beene by the hearing tell onely of an olde man with a mantill since there was many moe old men dead in Israel nor Samuel And the common weid of that whole countrey was mantils As to the next that it was not the spirit of Samuel I grant In the prouing whereof ye need not to insist since all Christians of whatsoeuer religion agrees vpon that and none but either mere ignorants or Necromanciers or Witches doubts thereof And that the deuill is permitted at sometimes to put himselfe in the likenesse of the Saints it is plaine in the Scriptures 1. Cor. 11.14 where it is said that Satan can transforme himselfe into an Angel of light Neither could that bring any inconuenience with the visions of the Prophets since it is most certaine that God will not permit him so to deceiue his owne but onely such as first wilfully deceiue them-selues by running vnto him whom God then suffers to fall in their owne snares and iustly permits them to be illuded with great efficacie of deceit because they would not beleeue the trueth as Paul sayth And as to the diuels foretelling of things to come it is true that he knowes not all things future but yet that hee knowes part the tragicall euent of this historie declares it which the wit of woman could neuer haue fore-spoken not that hee hath any prescience which is onely proper to God or yet knowes any thing by looking vpon God as in a mirrour as the good Angels doe hee being for euer debarred from the fauourable presence and countenance of his Creatour but onely by one of these two meanes either as being worldly wise and taught by a continuall experience euer since the Creation iudges by likelyhood of things to come according to the like that hath passed before and the naturall causes in respect of the vicissitude of all things worldly or else by Gods imploying of him in a turne and so foreseene thereof as appeares to haue beene in this 1. King 22. whereof we finde the very like in Micheas propheticke discourse to king Achab. But to prooue this my first proposition that there can be such a thing as Witch-craft and Witches there are many moe places in the Scriptures then this as I said before As first in the Lawe of GOD Exod. 22. it is plainely prohibited But certaine it is that the Law of God speakes nothing in vaine neither doeth it lay curses or enioyne punishments vpon shadowes condemning that to be ill which is not in essence or being Exod. 7. 2. as we call it Secondly it is plaine where wicked Pharaobs Wise-men imitated a number of Moses miracles to harden the tyrants heart thereby Thirdly said not Samuel to Saul that disobedience is as the sinne of Witch-craft 1 Sam. 15. To compare it to a thing that were not it were too too absurd Acts 8. Acts 16. Fourthly was not Simon Magus a man of that craft And fiftly what was she that had the spirit of Python beside innumerable other places that were irkesome to recite CHAP. II. ARGV What kind of sinne the practisers of these vnlawfull arts commit The diuision of these arts And what are the meanes that allure any to practise them PHILOMATHES BVt I thinke it very strange that God should permit any man-kind since they beare his owne Image to fall in so grosse and filthie a defection EPI Although man in his Creation was made to the image of the Creator Gene. 1. yet through his fall hauing once lost it it is but restored againe in a part by grace onely to the elect So all the rest falling away from God are giuen ouer into the hands of the diuell that enemy to beare his image and being once so giuen ouer the greatest and the grossest impretie is the pleasantest and most delightfull vnto them PHI. But may it not suffice him to haue indirectly the rule and procure the perdition of so many soules by alluring them to vices and to the following of their owne appetites suppose hee abuse not so many simple soules in making them directly acknowledge him for their master EPI No surely for he vses euery man whom of he hath the rule according to their complexion and knowledge and so whom hee findes most simple he plaineliest discouers himselfe vnto them For he being the enemie of mans saluation vses all the meanes hee can to intrappe them so farre in his snares as it may bee vnable to them thereafter suppose they would to rid themselues out of the same PHI. Then this sinne is a sinne against the holy Ghost EPI It is in some but not in all PHI. How that Are not all these that runne directly to the diuell in one Categorie EPI God forbid for the sinne against the holy Ghost hath two branches The one a falling backe from the whole seruice of God and a refusall of all his precepts The other is the doing of the first with knowledge knowing that they doe wrong against their owne conscience Hebr. 6.10 and the testimonie of the holy Spirit hauing once had a taste of the sweetnes of Gods mercies Now in the first of these two all sorts of Necromancers Enchanters or Witches are compre hended but in the last none but such as erre with this knowledge
righteousnesse that their persons as bright lampes of godlinesse and vertue may going in and out before their people giue light to all their steps Remember also that by the right knowledge and feare of God which is the beginning of Wisedome Prou 9.10 as Salomon saith ye shall know all the things necessarie for the discharge of your duetie both as a Christian and as a King seeing in him as in a mirrour the course of all earthly things whereof hee is the spring and onely moouer Now the onely way to bring you to this knowledge The meanes to know God is diligently to reade his word and earnestly to pray for the right vnderstanding thereof Search the Scriptures sayth Christ for they beare testimonie of me and Iohn 5.39 the whole Scripture saith Paul is giuen by inspiration of God and is profitable to teach 2. Tim. 3.16.17 to conuince to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be absolute being made perfite vnto all good workes And most properly of any other belongeth the reading thereof vnto Kings Deut. 17. since in that part of Scripture where the godly Kings are first made mention of that were ordained to rule ouer the people of God there is an expresse and most notable exhortation and commandement giuen them to reade and meditate in the Law of God I ioyne to this the carefull hearing of the doctrine with attendance and reuerence for faith commeth by hearing Rom. 10.17 sayth the same Apostle But aboue all beware ye wrest not the word to your owne appetite as ouer many doe making it like a bell to sound as ye please to interprete but by the contrary frame all your affections to follow precisely the rule there set downe The whole Scripture chiefly containeth two things a command Wherein chiefely the whole Scripture consisteth and a prohibition to doe such things and to abstaine from the contrary Obey in both neither thinke it enough to abstaine from euill and do no good nor thinke not that if yee doe many good things it may serue you for a cloake to mixe euill turnes therewith And as in these two points the whole Scripture principally consisteth Two degrees of the seruice of God so in two degrees standeth the whole seruice of God by man interiour or vpward exteriour or downward the first by prayer in faith towards God the next by workes flowing therefra before the world which is nothing else but the exercise of Religion towards God and of equitie towards your neighbour As for the particular points of Religion I need not to dilate them I am no hypocrite follow my footsteps A regardable paterne and your owne present education therein I thanke God I was neuer ashamed to giue account of my profession howsoeuer the malicious lying tongues of some haue traduced me and if my conscience had not resolued me that all my Religion presently professed by me and my kingdome was grounded vpon the plaine wordes of the Scripture without the which all points of Religion are superfluous as any thing contrary to the same is abomination I had neuer outwardly auowed it for pleasure or awe of any flesh And as for the points of equitie towards your neigbour because that will fall in properly vpon the second part concerning a Kings office I leaue it to the owne roume For the first part then of mans seruice to his God Religion which is Religion that is the worship of God according to his reuealed will it is wholly grounded vpon the Scripture as I haue alreadie said quickened by faith and conserued by conscience For the Scripture I haue now spoken of it in generall but that yee may the more readily make choice of any part thereof for your instruction or comfort remember shortly this methode The whole Scripture is dyted by Gods Spirit The methode of Scripture thereby as by his liuely word to instruct and rule the whole Church militant to the end of the word It is composed of two parts the Olde and New Testament The ground of the former is the Lawe which sheweth our sinne and containeth iustice the ground of the other is Christ who pardoning sinne containeth grace The summe of the Law is the tenne Commandements more largely delated in the bookes of Moses Of the Law interpreted and applied by the Prophets and by the histories are the examples shewed of obedience or disobedience thereto and what praemium or poena was accordingly giuen by God But because no man was able to keepe the Law nor any part thereof it pleased God of his infinite wisedome and goodnesse to incarnate his only Sonne in our nature for satisfaction of his iustice in his suffering for vs that since we could not be saued by doing we might at least bee saued by beleeuing The ground therefore of the word of grace Of Grace is contained in the foure histories of the birth life death resurrection and ascention of Christ The larger interpretation and vse thereof is contained in the Epistles of the Apostles and the practise in the faithfull or vnfaithfull with the historie of the infancie and first progresse of the Church is contained in their Actes Would ye then know your sinne by the Lawe Vse of the Law reade the bookes of Moses containing it Would ye haue a commentarie thereupon Reade the Prophets and likewise the bookes of the Prouerbes and Ecclesiastes written by that great patterne of wisedome Salomon which will not only serue you for instruction how to walke in the obedience of the Lawe of God but is also so full of golden sentences and morall precepts in all things that can concerne your conuersation in the world as among all the prophane Philosophers and Poets ye shall not finde so rich a storehouse of precepts of naturall wisedome agreeing with the will and diuine wisedome of God Would ye see how good men are rewarded and wicked punished looke the historicall parts of these same bookes of Moses together with the histories of Ioshua the Iudges Ezra Nehemiah Esther and Iob but especially the bookes of the Kings and Chronicles wherewith ye ought to bee familiarly acquainted for there shall yee see your selfe as in a myrrour in the catalogue either of the good or the euill Kings Would yee know the doctrine life and death of our Sauiour Christ Vse of the Gospel reade the Euangelists Would ye bee more particularly trained vp in his Schoole meditate vpon the Epistles of the Apostles And would ye be acquainted with the practises of that doctrine in the persons of the primitiue Church Cast vp the Apostles Actes And as to the Apocryphe bookes I omit them because I am no Papist as I said before and indeed some of them are no wayes like the dytement of the Spirit of God But when ye reade the Scripture How to reade the Scripture reade it with a sanctified and chaste heart admire reuerently
tyrant whom they can obiect nor was here fore-warned to the people of God and yet all rebellion countermanded vnto them if tyrannizing ouer mens persons sonnes daughters and seruants redacting noble houses and men and women of noble blood to slauish and scruile offices and extortion and spoile of their lands and goods to the princes owne priuate vse and commoditie and of his courteours and seruants may be called a tyrannie And that this proposition grounded vpon the Scripture may the more clearely appeare to be trew by the practise often prooued in the same booke we neuer reade that euer the Prophets perswaded the people to rebell against the Prince how wicked soeuer he was When Samuel by Gods command pronounced to the same king Saul 1. Sam. 15. that his kingdome was rent from him and giuen to another which in effect was a degrading of him yet his next action following that was peaceably to turne home and with floods of teares to pray to God to haue some compassion vpon him And Dauid notwithstanding hee was inaugurate in that same degraded Kings roome not onely when he was cruelly persecuted for no offence but good seruice done vnto him would not presume hauing him in his power skantly but with great reuerence to touch the garment of the annoynted of the Lord and in his words blessed him but likewise 1. Sam. 2 4. 2. Sam. 1. when one came to him vanting himselfe vntrewly to haue slaine Saul hee without forme of proces or triall of his guilt caused onely for guiltinesse of his tongue put him to sodaine death And although there was neuer a more monstrous persecutor and tyrant nor Achab was yet all the rebellion that Elias euer raised against him was to flie to the wildernes where for fault of sustentation he was fed with the Corbies And I thinke no man will doubt but Samuel Dauid and Elias had as great power to perswade the people if they had liked to haue employed their credite to vproares rebellions against these wicked kings as any of our seditious preachers in these daies of whatsoeuer religion either in this countrey or in France had that busied themselues most to stir vp rebellion vnder cloake of religion This farre the only loue of veritie I protest without hatred at their persons haue mooued me to be somewhat satyricke And if any will leane to the extraordinarie examples of degrading or killing of kings in the Scriptures thereby to cloake the peoples rebellion as by the deed of Iehu and such like extraordinaries I answere besides that they want the like warrant that they had if extraordinarie examples of the Scripture shall bee drawne in daily practise murther vnder traist as in the persons of Ahud and Iael theft as in the persons of the Israelites comming out of Egypt lying to their parents to the hurt of their brother as in the person of Iacob shall all be counted as lawfull and allowable vertues as rebellion against Princes And to conclude the practise through the whole Scripture prooueth the peoples obedience giuen to that sentence in the law of God Thou shalt not rayle vpon the Iudges neither speake euill of the ruler of thy people To end then the ground of my proposition taken out of the Scripture let two speciall and notable examples one vnder the law another vnder the Euangel Ier. 27. conclude this part of my alleageance Vnder the lawe Ieremie threatneth the people of God with vtter destruction for rebellion to Nabuchadnezar the king of Babel who although he was an idolatrous persecuter a forraine King a Tyrant and vsurper of their liberties yet in respect they had once receiued and acknowledged him for their king he not only commandeth them to obey him Iere. 29. but euen to pray for his prosperitie adioyning the reason to it because in his prosperitie stood their peace And vnder the Euangel that king whom Paul bids the Romanes obey and serue for conscience sake Iere. 13. was Nero that bloody tyrant an infamie to his aage and a monster to the world being also an idolatrous persecuter as the King of Babel was If then Idolatrie and defection from God tyranny ouer their people and persecution of the Saints for their profession sake hindred not the Spirit of God to command his people vnder all highest paine to giue them all due and heartie obedience for conscience sake giuing to Caesar that which was Caesars and to God that which was Gods as Christ saith and that this practise throughout the booke of God agreeth with this lawe which he made in the erection of that Monarchie as is at length before deduced what shamelesse presumption is it to any Christian people now adayes to claime to that vnlawfull libertie which God refused to his owne peculiar and chosen people Shortly then to take vp in two or three sentences grounded vpon all these arguments out of the lawe of God the duetie and alleageance of the people to their lawfull king their obedience I say ought to be to him as to Gods Lieutenant in earth obeying his commands in all things except directly against God as the commands of Gods Minister acknowledging him a Iudge set by GOD ouer them hauing power to iudge them but to be iudged onely by GOD whom to onely hee must giue count of his iudgement fearing him as their Iudge louing him as their father praying for him as their protectour for his continuance if he be good for his amendement if he be wicked following and obeying his lawfull commaunds eschewing and flying his fury in his vnlawfull without resistance but by sobbes and teares to God according to that sentence vsed in the primitiue Church in the time of the persecution Preces Lachrymae sunt arma Ecclesiae Now as for the describing the alleageance that the lieges owe to their natiue King out of the fundamentall and ciuill Lawe especially of this countrey as I promised the ground must first be set downe of the first maner of establishing the Lawes and forme of gouernement among vs that the ground being first right laide we may thereafter build rightly thereupon Although it be trew according to the affirmation of those that pryde themselues to be the scourges of Tyrants that in the first beginning of Kings rising among Gentiles in the time of the first aage diuers common-wealths and societies of men choosed out one among themselues who for his vertues and valour being more eminent then the rest was chosen out by them and set vp in that roome to maintaine the weakest in their right to throw downe oppressours and to foster and continue the societie among men which could not otherwise but by vertue of that vnitie be wel done yet these examples are nothing pertinent to vs because our Kingdome and diuers other Monarchies are not in that case but had their beginning in a farre contrary fashion For as our Chronicles beare witnesse this I le and especially our part of it
resolued them That either must all the partes of those roumes bee narrowly searched and no possibilitie of danger left vnexamined or else hee and they all must resolue not to meddle in it at all but plainly to goe the next day to the Parliament and leaue the successe to Fortune which he beleeued they would be loth to take vpon their consciences for in such a case as this Agreed that the search should be vnder colour of seeking for Wardrobe stuffe missed by Whynniard an halfe doing was worse then no doing at all Whereupon it was at last concluded That nothing should bee left vnsearched in those Houses And yet for the better colour and stay of rumour in case nothing were found it was thought meet that vpon a pretence of Whyneards missing some of the Kings stuffe or Hangings which he had in keeping all those roumes should be narrowly ripped for them And to this purpose was Sir Thomas Kneuet a Gentleman of his Maiesties priuie Chamber employed being a Iustice of Peace in Westminster and one of whose ancient fidelitie both the late Queene and our now Soueraigne haue had large proofe who according to the trust committed vnto him went about the midnight next after to the Parliament-house accompanied with such a small number as was fit for that errand But before his entry in the house Fawkes found at midnight without the house finding Thomas Percies alleaged man standing without the doores his cloathes and bootes on at so dead a time of the night he resolued to apprehend him as hee did and thereafter went forward to the searching of the house where after he had caused to be ouerturned some of the Billets and Coales he first found one of the small Barrels of Powder and after all the rest to the number of thirty sixe Barrels great and small And thereafter searching the fellow whom he had taken found three matches and all other instruments fit for blowing vp the Powder readie vpon him which made him instantly confesse his owne guiltinesse declaring also vnto him That if hee had happened to be within the house when hee tooke him as he was immediatly before at the ending of his worke hee would not haue failed to haue blowen him vp house and all Thus after Sir Thomas had caused the wretch to bee surely bound and well guarded by the company hee had brought with him hee himselfe returned backe to the Kings Palace and gaue warning of his successe to the Lord Chamberlaine and Earle of Salisburie who immediatly warning the rest of the Councell that lay in the house as soone as they could get themselues ready came with their fellow Counsellers to the Kings Bed-chamber being at that time neere foure of the clocke in the morning And at the first entry of the Kings Chamber doore Vpon Sir Thomas Kneuets returne the Councel warned the Lord Chamberlaine being not any longer able to conceale his ioy for the preuenting of so great a danger told the King in a confused haste that all was found and discouered and the Traitor in hands and fast bound Then order beeing first taken for sending for the rest of the Councell that lay in the Towne The prisoner himselfe was brought into the house where in respect of the strangenes of the accident no man was stayed from the sight or speaking with him And within a while after the Council did examine him Who seeming to put on a Romane resolution did both to the Councill and to euery other person that spake with him that day appeare so constant and setled vpon his grounds as wee all thought wee had found some new Mutius Scaeuola borne in England For notwithstanding the horrour of the fact the guilt of his conscience his sudden surprising the terrour which should haue bene stroken in him by comming into the presence of so graue a Councill and the restlesse and confused questions that euery man all that day did vexe him with Yet was his countenance so farre from being deiected as he often smiled in scornefull maner not onely auowing the Fact but repenting onely with the said Scaeuola his failing in the execution thereof whereof he said the diuel and not God was the discouerer Answering quickly to euery mans obiection scoffing at any idle questions which were propounded vnto him and iesting with such as he thought had no authoritie to examine him All that day could the Councill get nothing out of him touching his Complices refusing to answere to any such questions which hee thought might discouer the plot and laying all the blame vpon himselfe Whereunto he said hee was mooued onely for Religion and conscience sake denying the King to be his lawfull Soueraigne or the Anoynted of God in respect he was an hereticke and giuing himselfe no other name then Iohn Iohnson seruant to Thomas Percie But the next morning being caried to the Tower hee did not there remaine aboue two or three dayes being twise or thrise in that space reexamined and the Racke onely offered and shewed vnto him when the maske of his Romane fortitude did visibly beginne to weare and slide off his face And then did hee beginne to confesse part of the trewth and thereafter to open the whole matter as doeth appeare by his depositions immediatly following THE TREW COPIE OF THE DECLARATION OF GVIDO FAWKES TAKEN IN THE PRESENCE OF THE Counsellers whose names are vnder written I Confesse that a practise in generall was first broken vnto me against his Maiestie for reliefe of the Catholique cause and not inuented or propounded by my selfe And this was first propounded vnto mee about Easter last was twelue moneth beyond the Seas in the Low-Countreys of the Archdukes obeisance by Thomas Winter who came thereupon with mee into England and there wee imparted our purpose to three other Gentlemen more namely Robert Catesby Thomas Percie and Iohn Wright who all fiue consulting together of the meanes how to execute the same and taking a vow among our selues for secrecie Catesby propounded to haue it performed by Gunpowder and by making a Myne vnder the vpper House of Parliament which place wee made choice of the rather because Religion hauing bene vniustly suppressed there it was fittest that Iustice and punishment should be executed there This being resolued amongst vs Thomas Percy hired an house at Westminster for that purpose neere adioyning to the Parliament House and there we begun to make our Myne about the 11. of December 1604. The fiue that first entred into the worke were Thomas Percy Robert Catesby Thomas Winter Iohn Wright and my selfe and soone after wee tooke another vnto vs Christopher Wright hauing sworne him also and taken the Sacrament for secrecie When we came to the very foundation of the wall of the House which was about three yards thicke and found it a matter of great difficultie wee tooke vnto vs another Gentleman Robert Winter in like maner with oath and Sacrament as aforesaid It was about Christmas when we brought
Now to shew that he is a forger of new opinions by which he would faine make himselfe singular see but his wordes immediately preceding those which a little before wee mentioned where hee boasteth and is wonderfully in loue with a new name which he hath taken vpon himselfe that is to say Purus putus Euangelicus A mainly pure Gospeller although indeed the word pure was neuer yet taken in a good part For amongst the ancient Heretiques there was a Sect that called themselues Catharoi and there was also another Sect among the Anabaptists that were called Puritanes from whence the Precisians of our Kingdomes who out of selfe-will and fancie refuse to conforme themselues to the Orders of our Church haue borrowed their name And for the word Gospeller although it hath bene assumed in diuers places by some of our Religion yet hath it this ill fortune that it is more vsually receiued in those parts of Hungary and Boheme where there are such infinite diuersities of Sects agreeing in nothing but in their Vnion against the Pope then in any other place The holy Scripture it selfe in the Actes of the Apostles mentioneth the name of Christians and the ancient Primitiue Church did attribute vnto the faithfull the names of Catholique and Orthodox So as for such a fellow as Vorstius to affect new Titles for his Religion it hath surely no good relish his intention without doubt being no other then by this meanes to make a distinction and in time a rupture betwixt himselfe and the Orthodox professors of our Religion And for proofe that hee is stedfastly resolued to persist in all these nouelties and not to retract any thing of that which he hath written see what hee saith in the last page saue one of his said Preface Opinor enim ipse vt magni illius Erasmi verba hìc aemuler in libris meis nihil reperiri quo deterior quispiam reddi possit For I am of opinion to vse the words of that great Erasmus that there is nothing to be found in my Bookes that can make any man the worse that reads them As for his Booke which followes this Preface it verifies the Prouerbe Dignum patellà operculum A couer fit for such a dish For it is so full of distinctions and sophisticall euasions so stuft with As it weres in some sorts in my sence and such words as these as euen in that poynt hee hath also a tincture of Bellarmine But God is Vnity it selfe and Veritie is One and naked and in our vsuall manner of speech we call it the simple Verity but neuer was it yet called the double veritie Wee haue thought good to set downe here two places of his sayd Booke that thereby the Reader may iudge of the rest whereof one is in the twelfth page in these words Argumenta quae adferuntur à Patribus vel à recentioribus Theologis pro aeterna Christi generatione aut fallacia sunt aut friuola The arguments which are vsed both by the Fathers and by the moderne Diuines for the eternall generation of Christ are either sophisticall or friuolous These words as he saith he is charged to haue vsed and he cannot bethinke him of any other euasion but to adde the word Quaedam some arguments c. Now wee shall desire thee good Reader here to obserue that this man condemning some arguments which the Fathers had gathered out of the holy Scripture to prooue the eternall generation of Christ as deceitfull and friuolous hee will bee sure howsoeuer not to alleadge any other arguments either out of the Fathers or of his owne brayne which shall be stronger then those which he hath reiected And in the same fashion he behaues himselfe throughout his whole Booke for we shew you this but for a scantling In the other place he directly denies that euer he affirmed in his other Booke that Feare and Desperation were incident to God his wordes are these in the eighth page Nam metum desperationem ne quidem vspià m nominaui For I did neuer so much as name Feare and Desperation in any place And yet neuerthelesse let any man looke vpon his other Booke Tract Theol. de Deo pag. 114. and pag. 450. and hee shall find two seuerall Discourses of a good length concerning these two points Herein hauing no other shift he betakes himselfe to an absolute and flat Negatiue But to the intent that the Reader may iudge of his maner of speaking through his whole last Booke intituled A Christian and modest Answere and how he playes the Sophister therein we haue set downe diuers of his phrases in manner of a Table which we haue caused to be extracted out of his said Booke ¶ 1. Estne Deus essentialiter immensus vbique presens 1 Pag. 16. lin 16. NVsquam disertè scriptum est substantiam Dei simpliciter seu quouis modo immensam infinitam esse 2 Pag. 16. lin 23. Et non pauca in S. Literis occurrunt quae contrarium non dico clarè asserunt sed tamen asserere videntur Interim aliud est videri aliud reuerâ esse Respondeo tamen ex sensu meo 1 Pag. 22. lin 23. Quoad Thesin seurem ipsam est Tametsi non quoad 2 Pag. 4. l. 19. specialem modum seu 3 Pag. 22. l. 26. hypothesin scholasticam 4 Pag. 23. l. 1. Quae tamen falsa non est verùm aliquatenùs hactenus infirmiùs asserta sic aliquatenùs dubia Is God essentially immense and euery where present It is in no place clearely set downe that the substance of God is simply and euery way immense and infinite And there be many places in the holy Scripture which I doe not say clearely affirme yet seeme to affirme the contrary In the meane time it is one thing to seeme and another thing to be indeed Yet in mine owne sense I answere thus Simply and positiuely it is Howsoeuer not in that speciall maner and sort as the Scholemen hold Which opinion neuerthelesse I doe not say is false but I say it hath hitherto bene somewhat weakely proued therefore in some sort doubtful ¶ 2. Estne in Deo quantitas Est sed 1 Pag. 2. l. 28. non physica Verùm 2 Pag. 23. l. 12. hyperphysica Attamen 3 Pag. 2. l. 29. nobis planè imperceptibilÃs merè spiritualÃs Is there Quantitie in God There is but not a naturall Quantitie But a supernaturall Neuerthelesse not possible to be perceiued by vs but meerely spirituall ¶ 3. Estne Deus infinitus 1 Pag. 3. l. 16. Omnia Entia certam definitam essentiam habent id quod Deo ipsi alìquatenus aptare licet 2 Pag. 3. l. 18. Deum quolibet sensu rectè infinitum dici non posse quum infinitudo illa quae definitioni certae oponitur in Deum reuerâ non cadat Is God infinite Euery thing that hath a being hath
to continue or hold eighteene yeeres like the Councill of Trent should not poore France I beseech you be reduced to a very bad plight should she not be in a very wise and warme taking To be short His Lordships whole speach for the vntying of this knot not onely surmounteth possibilitie but is stuft with ridiculous toyes This I make manifest by his addition in the same passage If the Pope deceiued in fact shall rashly and vniustly declare the King to be an heretike then the Popes declaration shall not be seconded with actuall deposition vnles the Realme shall consent vnto the Kings deposing What needes any man to bee instructed in this doctrine Who doth not knowe that a King so long as he is vpheld and maintained in his Kingdome by his people cannot actually and effectually be deposed from his Throne Hee that speaketh such language and phrase in effect saith and saith no more then this A King is neuer depriued of his Crowne so long as he can keepe his Crowne on his head a King is neuer turned and stript naked so long as he can keepe his cloathes on his backe a King is neuer deposed so long as he can make the stronger partie and side against his enemies in briefe a King is King and shall still remaine King so long as he can hold the possession of his Kingdome and sitfast in his Chaire of Estate Howbeit let vs here by the way take notice of these words vttered by his Lordship That for the deposing of a King the consent of the people must be obtained For by these words the people are exalted aboue the King and are made the Iudges of the Kings deposing But here is yet a greater matter Can. Si Papa Dist 40. Nisi sit à side demins For that Popes may erre in faith it is acknowledged by Popes themselues For some of them haue condemned Pope Honorius for a Monothelite S. Hierome and S. Hilarius and S. Athanasius doe testifie that Pope Liberius started aside and subscribed to Arrianisme Pope Iohn 23. was condemned in the Councill of Constance for maintaining there is neither hell nor heauen Diuerse other Popes haue been tainted with errour in faith If therefore any Pope hereticall in himselfe shall depose an Orthodoxe King for heresie can it be imagined that he which boasts himselfe to beare all diuine and humane lawes in the priuy coffer or casket of his breast Omnia â—â—â—a in serinio pectoris will stoope to the remonstrances of the French and vayle to the reasons which they shall propound though neuer so iustifiable and of neuer so great validitie And how can he that may be infected with damnable heresie when himselfe is not alwayes free from heresie be a iudge of heresie in a King In this question some are of opinion that as a man the Pope may fall into error but not as Pope Very good I demand then vpon the matter wherefore the Pope doth not instruct and reforme the man or wherefore the man doth not require the Popes instructions But whether a King be deposed by that man the Pope or by that Pope the man is it not all one is he not deposed Others affirme the Pope may erre in a question of the fact but not in a question of the right An egregious gullery and imposture For if he may be ignorant whether Iesus Christ died for our sinnes doubtles he may also be to seeke whether we should repose all our trust and assured confidence in the death of Christ Consider with me the Prophets of olde They were all inspired and taught of God to admonish and reprooue the Kings of Iudah and Israel they neither erred in matter of fact nor in point of right they were as farre from being blinded and fetcht ouer by deceitfull calumniations as from beeing seduced by the painted shew of corrupt and false doctrine As they neuer trode awry in matter of faith so they neuer whetted the edge of their tongue or style against the faultlesse Had it not beene a trimme deuice in their times to say that as Esay and as Daniel they might haue sunke into heresie but not as Prophets For doubtlesse in this case that Esay would haue taken counsell of the Prophet which was himselfe To be short If Kings are onely so long to be taken for Kings vntill they shall be declared heretikes and shall be deposed by the Pope they continually stand in extreame danger to vndergoe a very heauy and vniust sentence Their safest way were to know nothing and to beleeue by proxie least if they should happen to talke of God or to thinke of religion they should be drawne for heretikes into the Popes Inquisition All the examples hitherto produced by the Lord Cardinall on a rowe are of a latter date they lacke weight are drawne from the time of bondage and make the Popes themselues witnesses in their owne cause They descant not vpon the point of deposition but onely strike out and sound the notes of excommunication and interdiction which make nothing at all to the musicke of the question And therefore hee telleth vs in kindnesse as I take it more oftentimes then once or twice that hee speaketh onely of the fact as one that doeth acknowledge himselfe to bee out of the right Hee relates things done but neuer what should bee done which as the Iudicious know is to teach nothing THE SECOND INCONVENIENCE EXAMINED THE second Iuconuenience like to grow Pag. 86. as the Lord Cardinall seemeth to be halfe afraid if the Article of the third Estate might haue passed with approbation is couched in these words Lay-men shall by authoritie bee strengthened with power to iudge in matters of Religion as also to determine the doctrine comprised in the said Article to haue requisite conformitie with Gods word yeathey shall haue it in their hands to compell Ecclesiastics by necessitie to sweare preach and teach the opinion of the one fide as also by Sermons and publike writings to impugne the other This inconuenience he aggrauateth with swelling words and breaketh out into these vehement exclamations O reproach O scandall O gate set open to a world of heresies He therefore laboureth both by reasons and by authorities of holy Scripture to make such vsurped power of Laics a fowle shameful and odious practise In the whole his Lordship toyles himselfe in vaine maketh suppositions of castles in the aire For in preferring this Article the third Estate haue born themselues not as iudges or vmpires but altogether as petitioners requesting the said Article might be receiued into the number of the Parliament bookes to bee presented vnto the King and his Counsell vnto whom in all humilitie they referred the iudgment of the said Article conceiuing all good hope the Clergie and Nobilitie would be pleased to ioyne for the furtherance of their humble petition They were not so ignorant of State-matters or so vnmindfull of their owne places and charges to beare themselues
to display the colours and ensignes of their censures against Princes who violating their publike and solemne oath doe raise and make open warre against Iesus Christ I grant yet againe that in this case they need not admit Laics to be of their counsell nor allow them any scope or libertie of iudgement Yet all this makes no barre to Clerics for extending the power of their keyes many times a whole degree further then they ought and when they are pleased to make vse of their said power to depriue the people of their goods or the Prince of his Crowne all this doeth not hinder Prince or people from taking care for the preseruation of their owne rights and estates nor from requiring Clerics to shew their cards and produce their Charts and to make demonstration by Scripture that such power as they assume and challenge is giuen them from God For to leaue the Pope absolute Iudge in the same cause wherein hee is a partie and which is the strongest rampier and bulwarke yea the most glorious and eminent point of his domination to arme him with power to vnhorse Kings out of their seates what is it else but euen to draw them into a state of despaire for euer winning the day or preuailing in their honourable and rightful cause It is moreouer granted if a King shall command any thing directly contrary to Gods word and tending to the subuerting of the Church that Clerics in this case ought not onely to dispense with subiects for their obedience but also expresly to forbid their obedience For it is alwayes better to obey God then man Howbeit in all other matters whereby the glory and maiestie of God is not impeached or impaired it is the duety of Clerics to plie the people with wholesome exhortation to constant obedience and to auert by earnest disswasions the said people from tumultuous reuolt and seditious insurrection This practise vnder the Pagan Emperours was held and followed by the ancient Christians by whose godly zeale and patience in bearing the yoke the Church in times past grew and flourished in her happy and plentifull increase farre greater then Poperie shall euer purchase and attaine vnto by all her cunning deuices and sleights as namely by degrading of Kings by interdicting of Kingdoms by apposted murders and by Diabolicall traines of Gunne-powder-mines The places of Scripture alleadged in order by the Cardinal Pag 66. in fauour of those that stand for the Popes claime of power and authoritie to depose Kings are cited with no more sincerity then the former They alledge these are his words that Samuel deposed King Saul or declared him to bee deposed because hee had violated the Lawes of the Iewes Religion His Lordship auoucheth elsewere that Saul was deposed because he had sought prophanely to vsurpe the holy Priesthood Both false and contrary to the tenour of trewth in the sacred history For Saul was neuer deposed according to the sense of the word I meane depose in the present question to wit as deposing is taken for despoiling the King of his royall dignitie and reducing the King to the condition of a priuate person But Saul held the title of King and continued in possession of his Kingdome euen to his dying day 1. Sam. 23.20 24.15 2. Sam. 2.5 Yea the Scripture styles him King euen to the periodicall and last day of his life by the testimony of Dauid himselfe who both by Gods promise and by precedent vnction was then heire apparant as it were to the Crown in a maner then ready to gird and adorne the temples of his head For if Samuel by Gods commandement had then actually remooued Saul from his Throne doubtlesse the whole Church of Israel had committed a grosse errour in taking and honouring Saul for their King after such deposition doubtlesse the Prophet Samuel himselfe making knowen the Lords Ordinance vnto the people would haue enioyned them by strict prohibition to call him no longer the King of Israel Doubtlesse Dauid would neuer haue held his hand from the throat of Saul 1. Sam. 26.11 for this respect and consideration because he was the Lords Anointed For if Saul had lost his Kingly authority from that instant when Samuel gaue him knowledge of his reiection then Dauid lest otherwise the Body of the Kingdome should want a Royall Head was to beginne his Reigne and to beare the Royall scepter in the very same instant which were to charge the holy Scriptures with vntrewth in as much as the sacred historie begins the computation of the yeeres of Dauids Reigne from the day of Sauls death Trew it is that in the 1. Sam. cap. 15. Saul was denounced by Gods owne sentence a man reiected and as it were excommunicated out of the Kingdome that hee should not rule and reigne any longer as King ouer Israel neuerthelesse the said sentence was not put in execution before the day when God executing vpon Saul an exemplarie iudgement did strike him with death From whence it is manifest and cleare 1. Sam. 16.23 that when Dauid was annointed King by Samuel that action was onely a promise and a testimony of the choice which God had made of Dauid for succession immediately after Saul and not a present establishment inuestment or installment of Dauid in the Kingdome Wee reade the like in 1. King cap. 19. where God commandeth Elias the Prophet to annoint Hasael King of Syria For can any man bee so blinde and ignorant in the sacred historie to beleeue the Prophets of Israel established or sacred the Kings of Syria For this cause 2. Sam. 2.4 when Dauid was actually established in the Kingdome hee was annointed the second time In the next place he brings in the Popes champions vsing these words Rehoboam was deposed by Ahiah the Prophet 1 King 12. from his Royall right ouer the tenne Tribes of Israel because his father Salomon had played the Apostata in falling from the Law of God This I say also is more then the trewth of the sacred history doeth afoard For Ahiah neuer spake to Rehoboam for ought we reade nor brought vnto him any message from the Lord As for the passage quoted by the L. Cardinal out of 3. Reg. chap. 11. it hath not reference to the time of Rehoboams raigne but rather indeed to Salomons time nor doeth it carry the face of a iudicatorie sentence for the Kings deposing but rather of a Propheticall prediction For how could Rehoboam before hee was made King be depriued of the Kingdome Last of all but worst of all to alleadge this passage for an example of a iust sentence in matter of deposing a King is to approoue the disloyall treacherie of a seruant against his master and the rebellion of Ieroboam branded in Scripture with a marke of perpetuall infamie for his wickednesse and impietie He goes on with an other example of no more trewth 1. King 19. King Achab was deposed by Elias the Prophet
because he imbraced false religion and worshipped false gods False too like the former King Achab lost his crowne and his life both together The Scripture that speaketh not according to mans fancie but according to the trewth doeth extend and number the yeeres of Achabs raigne to the time of his death Predictions of a Kings ruine are no sentences of deposition Elias neuer gaue the subiects of Achab absolution from their oath of obedience neuer gaue them the least inckling of any such absolution neuer set vp or placed any other King in Achabs throne That of the L. Cardinall a little after Pag. 68. is no lesse vntrew That King Vzziah was driuen from the conuersation of the people by Azarias the Priest and thereby the administration of his Kingdome was left no longer in his power Nor so For when God had smitten Vzziah with leprosie in his forehead 2. Chro. 26. he withdrew himselfe or went out into an house apart for feare of infecting such as were whole by his contagious disease The high Priest smote him not with any sentence of deposition or denounced him suspended from the administration of his Kingdome No the dayes of his raigne are numbred in Scripture to the day of his death And whereas the Priest according to the Law in the 13. of Leuit. iudged the King to be vncleane he gaue sentence against him not as against a criminall person and thereby within the compasse of deposition but as against a diseased body For the Law inflicteth punishments not vpon diseases but vpon crimes Hereupon whereas it is recorded by Iosephus in his Antiquities Antiq. l. 9. cap. 11. that Vzziah led a priuate and in a maner a solitarie life the said author doeth not meane that Vzziah was deposed but onely that he disburdened himselfe of care to mannage the publique affaires The example of Mattathias Pag. 69. by whom the Iewes were stirred vp to rebel against Antiochus is no better worth For in that example we finde no sentence of deposition but onely an heartning and commotion of a people then grieuously afflicted and oppressed He that makes himselfe the ringleader of conspiracie against a King doeth not foorthwith assume the person or take vp the office and charge of a Iudge in forme of Law and iuridically to depriue a King of his Regall rights and Royall prerogatiues Mattathias was chiefe of that conspiracie not in qualitie of Priest but of cheiftaine or leader in warre and a man the best qualified of all the people Things acted by the suddaine violence of the base vulgar must not stand for Lawes nor yet for proofes and arguments of ordinarie power such as the Pope challengeth to himselfe and appropriateth to his triple-Crowne These be our solide answeres Page 67. we disclaime the light armour which the L. Cardinall is pleased to furnish vs withall forsooth to recreate himselfe in rebating the points of such weapons as hee hath vouchsafed to put into our hands Now it wil be worth our labour to beate by his thrusts fetcht from the ordinary mission of the New Testament from leprosie stones and locks of wooll A leach no doubt of admirable skill one that for subiecting the Crownes of Kings vnto the Pope is able to extract arguments out of stones yea out of the leprosie and the drie scab onely forsooth because heresie is a kind of leprosie and an heretike hath some affinitie with aleper But may not his Quoniam Page 66. bee as fitly applyed to any contagious and inueterate vice of the minde beside heresie His warning-piece therefore is discharged to purpose whereby hee notifies that hee pretendeth to handle nothing with resolution For indeed vpon so weake arguments a resolution is but ill-fauouredly and weakely grounded His bulwarkes thus beaten downe Page 69. let vs now view the strength of our owne First he makes vs to fortifie on this maner They that are for the negatiue doe alleadge the authoritie of S. Paul Let euery soule bee subiect vnto the higher powers For whosoeuer resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God And likewise that of S. Peter Submit your selues whether it be vnto the King as vnto the superiour or vnto gouernours c. Vpon these passages and the like they inferre that obedience is due to Kings by the Law of God and not dispensable by any Spirituall or Temporall authoritie Thus he brings vs in with our first weapon But here the very chiefe sinew and strength of our argument hee doeth wittingly balke and of purpose conceale To wit That all the Emperors of whom the said holy Apostles haue made any mention in their diuine Epistles were professed enemies to CHRIST Pagans Infidels fearefull and bloody Tyrants to whom notwithstanding euery soule and therefore the Bishop of Rome for one is commanded to submit himselfe and to professe subiection Thus much Chrysostome hath expresly taught in his Hom. 23. vpon the Epistle to the Romanes The Apostle giues this commandement vnto all euen to Priests also and cloistered Monkes not onely to Secular be thou an Apostle an Euangelist a Prophet c. Besides it is here worthy to be noted that howsoeuer the Apostles rule is generall and therefore bindeth all the faithfull in equall bands yet is it particularly directly and of purpose addressed to the Church of Rome by S. Paul as by one who in the spirit of an Apostle did foresee that rebellion against Princes was to rise and spring from the citie of Rome Now in case the Head of that Church by warrant of any priuiledge contained in the most holy Register of Gods holy word is exempted from the binding power of this generall precept or rule did it not become his Lordship to shew by the booke that it is a booke case and to lay it foorth before that honourable assembly who no doubt expected and waited to heare when it might fall from his learned lips But in stead of any such authenticall and canonicall confirmation he flieth to a sleight shift and with a cauill is bold to affirme the foundation laid by those of our side doeth no way touch the knot of the controuersie Let vs heare him speake It is not in controuersie whether obedience be due to kings by Gods Law so long as they are kings or acknowledged for Kings but our point controuerted is whether by Gods Law it be required that hee who hath bene once recognised and receiued for King by the body of Estates can at any time be taken and reputed as no King that is to say can doe no maner of acte whereby hee may loose his right and so cease to be saluted King This answere of the L. Cardinall is the rare deuise euasion and starting hole of the Iesuites In whose eares of delicate and tender touch King-killing soundeth very harsh but forsooth to vn-king a King first and then to giue him the stab that is a point of iust and trew descant For to kill a King once
the peace of his Kingdome will beare in mind the great and faithfull seruice of those who in matter of religion dissent from his Maiestie as of the onely men that haue preserued and saued the Crowne for the King his father of most glorious memorie I am perswaded my brother of France wil beleeue that his liege people pretended by the L. Cardinall to bee heretikes are not halfe so bad as my Romane Catholike subiects who by secret practises vndermine my life serue a forreine Souereigne are discharged by his Bulls of their obedience due to me their naturall Souereigne are bound by the maximes and rules published and maintained in fauour of the Pope before this full and famous assemblie of the Estate at Paris if the said maximes be of any weight and authoritie to hold mee for no lawfull King are there taught and instructed that Pauls commandemement concerning subiection vnto the higher Powers aduerse to their professed religion is onely a prouisionall precept framed to the times and watching for the opportunitie to shake off the yoake All which notwithstanding I deale with such Romane-Catholikes by the rules and wayes of Princely clemencie their heinous and pernicious error in effect no lesse then the capitall crime of high treason I vse to call some disease or distemper of the mind Last of all I beleeue my said brother of France will set downe in his tables as in record how little hee standeth ingaged to the L. Cardinall in this behalfe For those of the reformed Religion professe and proclaime that next vnder God they owe their preseruation and safetie to the wisedome and benignity of their Kings But now comes the Cardinall and he seekes to steale this perswasion out of their hearts He tells them in open Parliament and without any going about bushes that all their welfare and securitie standeth in their multitude and in the feare which others conceiue to trouble the State by the strict execution of lawes against Heretikes He addeth moreouer Note by the way that here the Church of Rome is called a Sect. that In case a third Sect should peepe out and growe vp in France the professors thereof should suffer confiscation of their goods with losse of life it selfe as hath bene practised at Geneua against Seruetus and in England against Arians My answere is this That punishments for heretikes duely and according to Law conuicted are set downe by decrees of the ciuill Magistrate bearing rule in the countrey where the said heretikes inhabite and not by any ordinances of the Pope I say withall the L. Cardinall hath no reason to match and parallell the reformed Churches with Seruetus and the Arians For those heretikes were powerfully conuicted by Gods word and lawfully condemned by the ancient Generall Councils where they were permitted and admitted to plead their owne cause in person But as for the trewth professed by me and those of the reformed Religion it was neuer yet hissed out of the Schooles nor cast out of any Council like some Parliament bills where both sides haue bene heard with like indifferencie Yea what Council soeuer hath bene offered vnto vs in these latter times it hath bene proposed with certaine presuppositions as That his Holinesse beeing a partie in the cause and consequently to come vnder iudgement as it were to the barre vpon his triall shall be the Iudge of Assize with Commission of Oyer and Determiner it shall bee celebrated in a citie of no safe accesse without safe conduct or conuoy to come or goe at pleasure and without danger it shall be assembled of such persons with free suffrage and voyce as vphold this rule which they haue already put in practise against Iohn Hus and Hierome of Prage that faith giuen and oath taken to an Heretike must not be obserued Now then to resume our former matter If the Pope hitherto hath neuer presumed for pretended heresie to confiscate by sentence either the lands or the goods of priuate persons or common people of the French Nation wherefore should hee dare to dispossesse Kings of their Royall thrones wherefore takes he more vpon him ouer Kings then ouer priuate persons wherefore shall the sacred heads of Kings be more churlishly vnciuilly and rigorously handled then the hoods of the meanest people Here the L. Cardinal in stead of a direct answer breakes out of the lists alledging cleane from the purpose examples of heretikes punished not by the Pope but by the ciuill Magistrate of the Countrey But Bellarmine speakes to the point with a more free and open heart hee is absolute and resolute in this opinion that his Holinesse hath plenary power to dispose all Temporall estates and matters in the whole world I am confident saith Bellarmine and I speake it with assurance Contr. Barclaium cap. 27. that our Lord Iesus Christ in the dayes of his mortalitie had power to dispose of all Temporall things yea to strip Souereigne Kings and absolute Lords of their Kingdomes and Seignories and without all doubt hath granted and left euen the same power vnto his Vicar to make vse thereof whensoeuer hee shall thinke it necessary for the saluation of soules And so his Lordship speaketh without exception of any thing at all For who doth not know that Iesus Christ had power to dispose no lesse of priuate mens possessions then of whole Realmes and Kingdomes at his pleasure if it had beene his pleasure to display the ensignes of his power The same fulnesse of power is likewise in the Pope In good time belike his Holinesse is the sole heire of Christ in whole and in part Sess 9. The last Lateran Council fineth a Laic that speaketh blasphemie for the first offence if he be a gentleman at 25. ducats and at 50. for the second It presupposeth and taketh it for graunted that the Church may rifle and ransacke the purses of priuate men and cast lots for their goods The Councill of Trent diggeth as deepe for the same veine of gold and siluer It ordaines That Emperours Kings Dukes Princes Sess 25. cap. 19. and Lords of cities castles and territories holding of the Church in case they shall assigne any place within their limits or liberties for the duell betweene two Christians shall be depriued of the said citie castle or place where such duell shall be performed they holding the said place of the Church by any kind of tenure that all other Estates held in fee where the like offence shall be committed shall forthwith fall and become forfeited to their immediate and next Lords that all goods possessions and estates as well of the combatants themselues as of their seconds shall bee confiscate This Councill doeth necessarily presuppose it lieth in the hand and power of the Church to dispose of all the lands and estates held in fee throughout all Christendome because the Church forsooth can take from one and giue vnto an other all estates held in fee whatsoeuer as well such as hold of the
inthralling of his Crowne and Kingdome Therefore the Popes right pretended to the Crowne of England which is nothing else but a ridiculous vsurpation hath long agoe vanished into smoake and required not so much as the drawing of one sword to snatch and pull it by violence out of his hands For the Popes power lying altogether in a certaine wilde and wandring conceit or opinion of men and being onely an imaginary castle in the ayre built by pride and vnderpropped by superstition is very speedily dispersed vpon the first rising and appearing of the trewth in her glorious brightnesse There is none so very a dolt or block-head to deny that in case this right of the Pope ouer England is grounded vpon Gods word then his Holinesse may challenge the like right ouer all other Kingdomes because all other Kingdomes Crownes and Scepters are subiect alike to Gods word For what priuiledge what charter what euidence can France fetch out of the Rolles or any other treasurie of her monuments or records to shew that she oweth lesse subiection to God then England Or was this yoke of bondage then brought vpon the English Nation was it a prerogatiue whereby they might more easily come to the libertie of the sonnes of God Or were the people of England perswaded that for all their substance wealth and life bestowed on the Pope his Holinesse by way of exchange returned them better weight and measure of spirituall graces It is ridiculous onely to conceiue these toyes in thought and yet with such ridiculous with such toyes in conceit his Lordship feeds and entertains his auditors From this point hee falleth to another bowt and fling at his heretikes with whom he played no faire play before Pag. 105. There is not one Synode of ministers as he saith which would willingly subscribe to this Article whereunto wee should bee bound to sweare But herein his Lordship shooteth farre from the marke This Article is approoued and preached by the Ministers of my Kingdome It is likewise preached by those of France and if need bee I asssure my selfe will bee signed by all the Ministers of the French Church The L. Cardinall proceedeth for hee meaneth not so soone to giue ouer these heretikes All their Consistortes beleeue it as their Creed that if Catholike Princes at any time shall offer force vnto their conscience then they are dispensed withall for their oath of alleagiance Hence are these modifications and restricitions tossed so much in their mouthes Prouided the King force vs not in our conscience Hence are these exceptions in the profession of their faith Prouided the Soueraigne power and authoritie of God bee not in any sort violated or infringed I am not able to conceiue what engine can bee framed of these materialls for the bearing of Kings out of their eminent seates by any lawfull authoritie or power in the Pope For say those of the Religion should be tainted with some like errour how can that be any shelter of excuse for those of the Romish Church to vndermine or to digge vp the Thrones of their Kings But in this allegation of the L. Cardinall there is nothing at all which doeth not iumpe iust and accord to a haire with the Article of the third Estate and with obedience due to the King For they doe not professe that in case the King shall commaund them to doe any act contrarie to their conscience they would flie at his throat would make any attempt against his life would refuse to pay their taxations or to defend him in the warres They make no profession of deposing the King or discharging the people from the oath of allegiance tendred to the King which is the very point or issue of the matter in controuersie and the maine mischeife against which the third Estate hath bin most worthily carefull to prouide a wholesome remedie by this Article There is a world of difference betweene the termes of disobedience and of deposition It is one thing to disobey the Kings commaund in matters prohibited by diuine lawes and yet in all other matters to performe full subiection vnto the King It is another thing of a farre higher degree or straine of disloyaltie to bare the King of his Royall robes throne and scepter and when he is thus farre disgraced to degrade him and to put him from his degree and place of a King If the holy Father should charge the L. Cardinal to doe some act repugnant in his owne knowledge to the Law of God I will religiously and according to the rule of charitie presume that his Lordship in this case would stand out against his Holinesse and notwithstanding would still acknowledge him to be Pope His Lordship yet prosecutes and followes his former purpose Hence are those armes which they haue oftentimes borne against Kings when Kings practised to take away the libertie of their conscience and Religion Hence are those turbulent Commotions and seditions by them raised as well in the Low-countryes against the King of Spaine as in Swethland against the Catholike King of Polonia Besides he casteth Iunius Brutus Buchananus Barclaius and Gerson in our teeth To what end all this I see not how it can bee auaileable to authorize the deposing of Kings especially the Popes power to depose And yet his Lordship here doth outface by his leaue and beare downe the trewth For I could neuer yet learne by any good and trew intelligence that in France those of the Religion tooke armes at any time against their King In the first ciuill warres they stood onely vpon their guard they stood onely to their lawfull wards and locks of defence they armed not nor tooke the field before they were pursued with fire and sword burnt vp and slaughtred Besides Religion was neither the root nor the rynde of those intestine troubles The trew ground of the quarrell was this During the minority of King Francis II. the Protestants of France were a refuge and succour to the Princes of the blood when they were kept from the Kings presence and by the ouer powring power of their enemies were no better then plaine driuen and chased from the Court I meane the Grand-father of the King now raigning and the Grand-father of the Prince of Conde when they had no place of safe retreate In regard of which worthy and honourable seruice it may seeme the French King hath reason to haue the Protestants in his gracious remembrance With other commotion or insurrection the Protestants are not iustly to be charged But on the contrary certaine it is that King Henry III. raysed and sent forth seuerall armies against the Protestants to ruine and roote them out of the Kingdome howbeit so soone as they perceiued the said King was brought into dangerous tearms they ranne with great speed and speciall fidelitie to the Kings rescue and succour in the present danger Certaine it is that by their good seruice the said King was deliuered from a most extreame and imminent perill
500. yeeres the Church groned vnder the heauy burthen both of heathen Emperours and of hereticall Kings the Visigot Kings in Spaine and the Vandals in Affrica Of whose displeasure the Pope had small reason or cause to stand in any feare beeing so remote from their dominions and no way vnder the lee of their Soueraigntie But let vs come to see what aide the L. Cardinall hath amassed and piled together out of latter histories prouided wee still beare in mind that our question is not of popular tumults nor of the rebellion of subiects making insurrections out of their owne discontented spirits and braine-sicke humors nor of lawfull Excommunications nor of Canonicall censures and reprehensions but onely of a iuridicall sentence of deposition pronounced by the Pope as armed with ordinary and lawfull power to depose against a Soueraigne Prince Now then Exampl 1. pag. 18 Enag hist Eccles lib. 3. cap. 32. The L. Cardinall sets on and giues the first charge with Anastasius the Emperour whom Euphemius Patriarke of Constantinople would neuer acknowledge for Emperour that is to say would neuer consent he should be created Emperour by the helpe of his voice or suffrage except he would first subscribe to the Chalcedon Creed notwithstanding the great Empresse and Senate sought by violent courses and practises to make him yeeld And when afterward the said Emperour contrary to his oath taken played the relaps by falling into his former heresie and became a persecutor he was first admonished and then excommunicated by Symmachus Bishop of Rome To this the L. Cardinall addes that when the said Emperour was minded to choppe the poison of his hereticall assertions into the publique formes of diuine seruice then the people of Constantinople made an vproare against Anastasius their Emperour and one of his Commanders by force of armes constrained him to call backe certaine Bishops whom he had sent into banishment before In this first example the L. Cardinall by his good leaue neither comes close to the question nor falutes it a farre off Euphemius was not Bishop of Rome Anastasius was not deposed by Euphemius the Patriarch onely made no way to the creating of Anastasius The suddaine commotion of the base multitude makes nothing the rebellion of a Greeke Commaunder makes lesse for the authorizing of the Pope to depose a Soueraigne Prince The Greeke Emperour was excommunicated by Pope Symmachus who knowes whether that be trew or forged For the Pope himselfe is the onely witnesse here produced by the L. Cardinall vpon the point and who knowes not how false how suppositious the writings and Epistles of the auncient Popes are iustly esteemmed But graunt it a trewth yet Anasta sius excommunicated by Pope Symmachus is not Anastasius deposed by Pope Symmachus And to make a full answere I say further that excommunication denounced by a forraine Bishop againsta party not beeing within the limits of his iurisdiction or one of his owne flocke was not any barre to the party from the communion of the Church but onely a kind of publication that he the said Bishop in his particular would hold no further communion with any such party For proofe whereof I produce the Canons of the Councils held at Carthage In one of the said Canons it is thus prouided and ordained * Nomecan Affric Can. 77. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any Bishop shall wilfully absent himselfe from the vsuall and accustomed Synodes let him not be admitted to the communion of other Churches but let him onely vse the benefit and libertie of his owne Church In an other of the same Canons thus * Can. 81. eiusd Nomo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If a Bishop shall insinuate himselfe to make a conuciance of his Monasterie and the ordering thereof vnto a Monke of any other Cloister let him be cut off let him be separated from the communion with other Churches and content himselfe to liue in the communion of his owne flocke In the same sense Hilarius Bishop of Poictiers excommunicated Liberius Bishop of Rome for subscribing to the Arrian Confession Anathematibi à me Liberi Faber in frag Hilarij In the same sense Iohn Bishop of Antioch excommunicated Caelestine of Rome and Cyrill of Alexandria Bishops for proceeding to sentence against Nestorius without staying his comming to answere in his owne cause In the same sense likewise Victor Bishop of Rome did cut off all the Bishops of the East not from the communion of their owne flocks but from communion with Victor and the Romane Church What resemblance what agreement what proportion betweene this course of excommunication and that way of vniust fulmination which the Popes of Rome haue vsurped against Kings Examp. 2. but yet certaine long courses of time after that auncient course And this may stand for a full answere likewise to the example of Clotharius This ancient King of the French fearing the censures of Pope Agapetus erected the Territorie of Yuetor vnto the title of a Kingdome by way of satisfaction for murdering of Gualter Lord of Yuetot For this example the L. Cardinall hath ransackt records of 900. yeeres antiquitie and vpward in which times it were no hard piece of worke to shew that Popes would not haue any hand nor so much as a finger in the affaires and acts of the French Kings Gregorie of Tours that liued in the same aage hath recorded many acts of excesse and violent iniuries done against Bishops by their Kings and namely against Praetextatus Bishop of Roan for any of which iniurious prankes then played the Bishop of Rome durst not reprooue the said Kings with due remonstrance But see heere the words of Gregorie himselfe to King Chilperic If any of vs O King shall swarue from the path of Iustice him hast thou power to punish But in case thou shalt at any time transgresse the lines of equitie who shall once touch thee with reproofe To thee wee speake but are neuer heeded and regarded except it be thy pleasure and bee thou not pleased who shall challenge thy greatnesse but hee that iustly challengeth to bee Iustice it selfe The good Bishop notwithstanding these humble remonstrances was but roughly entreated and packt into exile being banished into the Isle of Guernsay But I am not minded to make any deepe search or inquisition into the titles of the Lords of Yuetot whose honourable priuiledges and titles are the most honourable badges and cognizances of their Ancestours and of some remarkeable seruice done to the Crowne of France so farre I take them to differ from a satisfaction for sinne And for the purpose I onely affirme that were the credit of this historie beyond all exception yet makes it nothing to the present question Wherein the power of deposing and not of excommunicating supreme Kings is debated And suppose the King by Charter granted the said priuiledges for feare of Excommunication how is it prooued thereby that Pope Agapetus had lawfull and ordinary power to depriue him of