maketh any such vow or promise first it had been very good that he had never made it and next it were very convenient never to put the same in execution bâ—cause the sin that hurteth but one man alone is much more tolerable then that which may endanger many This promise therefore if it were never made but suggested requireth no performance and if it were once made it likewise ought not to be performed because it is impossible and cannot be maintained without great effusion of blood without hurt unto many and prejudice unto a whole estate From this promise therefore unto tâ—e fourth Reason a Reason almost as easie to be refuted as to be repeated For the Emperor Constans maintained the Corps and Colledge of Arrianus not for any affection that he baâ—e unto them but because he thought it part of his charge and duty to conserve and preserve the life of his Subjects Theodosius sirnamed the Great who was always a most moâ—tal enemy unto their opinion did likewise permit them to live in company with his other Subject And Valens and Valentian whereof the one wâ—s an Arrian and the other a Catholick suffered men of both Religions to live under their Government The Emperor Ferdinand granted leave and liberty unto his subjects of Silecia and Lituania which are Provinces of Bohemia to change their Religion And not long after him Maximilian the Emperor licensed them to build Churches after the manner and fashion of Protestants Besides the Pope himself the Dukes of Mantua Ferrara Florence and Baviera together with the Seigniory of Venice suffer Iewes to live in their Country And the Kings of Poland and Moscovia vouchsafe to suffer a number of Tartarians and Mahometists to lead their lives in their Countries Imitating therein the example of Constantine the great who after that he had established Christian Religion in Rome excluded not any Pagans and Infidels out of Rome In the Kingdom of Poland the Greek and Roman Religion was at one time a long whiâ—e professed And now there are many Lutherans Catholiques Anabaptists and Calvinists Lastly it cannot be denied and this methinketh should move the King of Spain most of all that his Father Charles the 5 after that he had fought a long while with the Princes of Germany which professâ— Luâ—herasme being aided in the same Warrs by the Pope and all the Princes of Italy granted at the length that Peace unto the Protestants which is called the Peâ—ce of Aubspurge Considering therefore that al these Popes Emperors Kings Dukes Princes and Barons having no less regard then the King of Spain of their Soules health hoping to have no worse part then he in the kingdom of Heaven did permit do yet permit the professed and sworn Enemies of Christ and of his Gospell namely the Jewes to live nay to be born and to enrich themselves within their kingdomes Dominions and Principalities What Shame Dâ—shonor or prejudice can it be unto the King of Spains Catholick Majesty to give leave unto his loving and trustie Subjects to adore and worship the same Goâ— which he himself honoreth and reverenceth in such forme and manner as they desire I know not what should be the cause that he who is so desirous in all other things to follow his Fathers 〈◊〉 Examples and Counsells doth not vouchsafe to imitate him in this Toleration which will be acceptable unto his Subjects answerable â—nto their desires agrâ—eâ—ble unto Gods word and very proâ—itable for the Advâ—ncement of his own reputation It is to come unto the fift Reason because the Queen of of England and the King of France will not yeeld unto any such Toleration in theâ—r several kingdoms Alaâ— neither the example of the one nor the other can serve to strengthen his cause For he hath not the like Authority in Flanders as they have in France and England They are free and he is bound They are tied to no conditions and he is fastened unto many and especially unto these not to break their ancient Priviledges nor to innovate any thing without the consent of the States of the Country by whom he is to be directed in all matters of great counsel and importance Besides there must needs follow farr greater Inconvâ—nience unto him then unto her by denying Liberty of conscience unto their Subjects For his are so many that require the same that above 30000 departed at â—ne time out of Flanders because he refused their humble Request and the number of Traditioners in England is so little that all that were of any note and name amongst them were heretofore and are at this present reduced into one little Island nay into no great house of a little Island But the late King of France who was esteemed one of the wisâ—st Princes of Europe would not in any wise suffer two Religions to be professed in his kingdom but because he would plant one onely there he made wars a great while against his own subjects destroying their houses wasting their Fields ruinating their Cities and Massacring their persons But who gave him Counsel so to do Was it not the King of Spain or his Pensioners And what advantage got he therefore Truly no other but the ruin and desolation of his Country And what end had he of his war before he died Forsooth such an end as made him to repent that ever he undertook those wars And what continuance had these wars Certainly they lasted above thirty years and the Protestants are now stronger then ever they were And what issue is come of these French troubles Undoubtedly the issue was such that whereas the Realm was divided but into two Factions a little before the Kings death there were three and of those three the last was most unjust pernitious and execrable For in the same one Papist killed another the son bore Arms against the father the brother against the seed of his mothers womb and the subjects being in their opinion of a good Religion against their King whose Religion was as good or better then theirs It is not then the French kings examples that moveth him It beseemeth not his Catholâ—ck Majesty to be directed by other Princes what to grant or what to deny to his subjects This is the last and in effect the best of his Reasons For it is usual amongst Princes and therefore no shame to crave counsel advice and direction one of another in matters of great weight and moment and happy haâ—h that Prince been alwayes accompted who could and would follow such advice as hâ—s faithfull Friends abroad gave him Thence it cometh that Princes send Ambassadors one unto another that they crave conference one with another that they have oftentimes Interviews and solemn Meetings and according to this custom he either dissembleth egrediously or meant truly that the Ambassadors sent by the Emperor the Queen of England and other Princes of late years to Cullen should have ended all contentions and controversies betwixt him and his Subjects
it cometh to pass that divers learned men in their Writing striving to yeild more praises to Spain then it deserveth make mention of such commodities to be as yet in Spain which many years before our great Grand-fathers time were never seen nor found therein So doth Iohannes Vasoeus in his Preface of his History of Spain say that there was sometimes so great abundance of gold and silver Mines in one Province of Spain called anciently Boetica as that divers forain Nations being drawn thither with an unsatiable desire and covetousness thereof did not only lade their Ships with Gold and Silver but also made Anchors for their Ships of silver The same Authour addeth further That when the Carthaginians came first into Spain they found in many houses great Barrels and Hogsheads made of pure silver and in some Stables the Mangers for their Horses of silver In so much that the Carthaginians being enriched only with the wealth of Spain were made able therewith alone to subdue the Sicilians Libians and Romans for they found their silver in such great quantity that one man called Bebelo gave daily unto Hannibal there thousand Crowns The same Authour proceeding in one and the same manner of commendation affirmeth our of Iustin That Spain may compare for fertility of soil with France Affrica and Italy for that these Countries never help Spain but Spain oftentimes holpe them with Corn and all other kind of Victuals The same Authour Hyperbolishing still in one manner calleth Spain the most warlike Nation of the world the Teacher of Hannibal to war the Nurse of Souldiers and the Province which knew not her self nor her strength before she was overcome and that she troubled the Romans more then any other Nation of the whole world The same Authour always continuing one course preferreth Spain for Antiquity of true Religion and for faithful obedience to her Soveraign Kings and Governours before all other Nations attributing the first foundation of their faith and profession of Christ unto Paul the Apostle and Iames the son of Zebedeus and extolling their loyalty because they have not only been always true unto their own Kings but also to forraign Princes and Leaders As Hannibal Pompey Iuba King of Numidia Sertorius a notable Roman Rebel reposed greater trust and confidence in Spaniards then in their own Nations Lastly the same Authour striving to exceed all others in flattery equalleth Spain for learned men and women with the most learned Nations of Europe And Sebastianus Foxius in his Book de Institutione Historiae with a Spanish brag speaking by way of a Dialogue more arrogantly then wisely of himself giveth such praises unto himself for eloquence as Tâ—lly the father and founder of eloquence would or did ever challenge And yet Tullies Verse O fortunatam natam me Consule Romam argueth that he was somewhat proud and arrogant Now to avoid the just reprehension of hatred or malice I will forbear to confute their Assertions at large and briefly impugn them not by mine own but by other mens Testimonies who shall not be inferiour but equal to Vasoeus for learning and sidelity Munster therefore shall tell you that Spain now yeildeth no golden or silver Mines but that all the Mines it hath are of Lead and Tin which may perhaps in time turn into Gold and Silver if we may beleeve Raymundus Lullius and other Alchimists of his opinion which if it should chance at any time as many Historiographers as write of England would tell you that England should not then go behind Spain for gold and silver The same Authour shall likewise tell you how likely it is that Spain should excel Affrica France and Italy in fertility of soil since as he saith Spain lieth barren waste and desolate in many places and late experience sheweth that Denmark Holland and England have many times supplied Spains wants of Corn and other Victuals How warlike a Nation Spain hath been let not only Terapha a Spanish Chronocler and better witness for Spain then Vasoeus a Flemming but also reason and daily experience testifie both which telling us as you shall hereafter hear that Spain hath been conquered by more sundry Nations then any other Nation in the world do by necessary inference conclude that Spain yeildeth unto all those Nations in Prowess and Chivalty And all Historians of former times and of this present Age will undoubtedly controll as many as shall presume to affirm that France and England troubled not Rome much more then Spain did before they could be conquered for where was Caesar in greater danger then in England Where was there a Prince that durst challenge him to a single Combat but in England And what hold had he of his Conquest after he had conquered England No better then Vasoeus might have of a wet Eel by the tail But to proceed to the confutation of the rest Terapha in some manner agreeth with Vasoeus touching the Antiquity of Religion for he saith that during the Raign of Claudius the Emperour Iames the Apostle travelled over all Spain and not long after Paul came to Narbona but how many won Iames to profess the Gospel by travelling over all Spain Forsooth but poor nine Disciples as Terâ—pha reporteth a small number for so great a Travel or for Vasoeus to boast and brag of much less for him to preâ—et Spain in this respect before all other Nations for I know not why for Antiquity of Religion England should yeild unto Spain because the same Iosephus which buried the body of Christ not alone as Paul and Iames came into Spain but with great company arrived into England and not he alone but divers of his society converted not poor nine but infinite many and not to profess Christ Jesus but to be baptized And if a Spaniard may carry equal credit with a Flemming which a Spaniard will rather die then not do our little English Island professed Christ long before Spain For Dr. Illescas in his Pontiâ—ical History reporteth that Pope Elutherius sent Fugacius and Damianus into England to baptize King Lucius and all his Houshold And England was the first Province in all the world in common opinion of all other Nations that received and professed Christian Religion and if Spain may brag of their Isidorus Archbishop of Sivil or of Eludius Archbishop of Toledo which purged their Country of the Heresie of the Monopoliss why may not our Island boast of Augustinus Militus and that Iohn which Pope Gregory the first sent into England not to remove errors as their Bishops did but to confirm our Countrimen in that Christian Religion and Profession which they had received and entertained almost five hundred years before their coming Neither may it be justified that Spain as Vasoeus saith after it had once entertained the Doctrine of Christ never fell from the same for Illescas in the life of Pope Pelagius the second affirmeth that in the 585. year of Christs Incarnation
gracious Queen Elizabeth hath hitherto enjoyed that it lieth not in the ambitious Spaniard nor in the proud Prelate of Rome her mortal enemies her sworn and professed adversaries to shorten her days but one day or one minute Their wishes are on earth but cannot ascend to heaven they may purpose but not dispose they have often desired but could never prevail they have suborned many but never found nor shall find any that shall be able to accomplish their desire the Axe may be layed to the root of the Tree but it shall not have power to fell it the Lyon perhaps may go about to seek his prey but he shall never find it the divel as a divel may provoke and procure his instruments to be ready to further his attempts but Gods Angels attending on her person having a care of her health and a special charge of her safety will not permit divellish ministers to have the least power that may be over her The Rule and Government of Women is rare and omnia rara sunt chara Their Sex is weak and the Almighty hath promised to be the Protector of the infirm and weak Their capacity is not answerable to mans policy and the Lord hath said that his elect shall not be confounded with humane wisdom he hath said and we may swear That heaven and earth shall sooner perish then his word shall fail Why then do the Princes rage Why then do the Pope and the King of Spain fret and fume against the Lords Anointed Against his chsen Vessel Against his dear Virgin Why the cause is the Lords and he will try it he will end and determine it Is it because she upholdeth and defendeth the Spaniards afflicted and oppressed Subjects Why therefore she was ordained therefore the Lord preserveth her Is it because she liveth in peace and they in wars Why the Almighty hath blessed the Peace-makers and hath vowed to be the Protector and Patron of as many as love peace Is it because her subjects rebel not against her as theirs do Why that is an express and manifest sign of their evil and her good Government Is it because she withstandeth their attempts and purposes Why she medleth not with their doings but with such as tend to her hinderance and those it is both lawful and honourable for her to cross and prevent Briefly Is it because the wisest Princes and Subjects of the world favour her more then them Why that is because their actions are not in any respect equal or comparable unto hers for they pretend one thing and intend another her thoughts and pretensions do alwaies agree together They would seem to love Peace and yet dwell continually in wars she seeketh peace and embraceth it They combine themselves and employ their strength and Forces against Christian Religion she useth her power to no mans detriment or destruction Briefly they do or would usurp more then belongeth unto them and she requireth no more then is her own That such is her mind desire and purpose is most apparent to all the world because when she might have had the Soveraignty and universal Government of Flanders she accepted it not when she might have excluded the Spaniard out of the possession of his rich and wealthy Indies she deprived him not of them And when as her Forces are sufficient to disturb his whole Realms of Portugal and Spain she employeth them not to his disturbance But In magnis voluisse sat est She hath assaulted the Indies attempted the conquest of Portugal and assayed what her Forces could do in Spain It cannot be denyed but that her Majesty hath done as much and perhaps more then is said but not before she was provoked thereunto neither with a mind so much to prejudice the Spaniard as to provide for her own safety For when Sir Francis Drake with such Forces as he and his friends with a very slender help from her Highness had provided happily spoiled part of the Indies and returned thence with no smal prey if he had gone thitherward somwhat sooner then he did better furnished then he was with a larger commission then he had al which lay in her Majesty to have granted him undoubtedly either the season of the year or the number of his ships or the largenes of his Authority would both have encouraged and also enabled him to have done those her Highness enemies much more and greater despight then he did But as wise men going about a great piece of work and finding when they have begun the same that their ability will not serve to accomplish it sit down and study what ways to take and how to put those ways in execution for the full perfection of their enterprise So her Highness having so mighty an enemy as the Spaniard whose Attempts and purposes it was necessary for her own security to cross and prevent And finding that her Treasure was not comparable to his wealth especially seeing he attempted divers ways to annoy her and purposed to weary her with length of time and variety of expences resolved with her self that it could not be amiss to permit her loving Subjects to adventure some part of their wealth and a small portion of her own Treasure inâ—hope to bring from the Indies much more then they carried thither The which her Resolution being put in practise found the same event which was expected and the sequel thereof sufficiently declared that a greater Navy well furnished with sufficient men and good store of Victuals and Munition might then and may yet put her Majesty in quiet possession of the richest and best part of the Indies But it sufficeth her Highness to try the Forces of those Countries to acquaint her Sea men and Souldiers with the way thither to give them a taste of the Indian wealth and to make her power known as well unto the Inhabitants of those remote Countries as of other nearer Regions of the world who thought too basely of her strength and carried too good a conceipt of her Adversaries might and puissance And finally to fetch from her mortal enemies own Dominions some Treasure wherewith to withstand the Rancor and extremity of his malice In which Action her Majesty fully and wisely imitated the example of the Florentines who fearing that Pope Iulius the second would war upon them for consenting unto that Counsel which divers Cardinals with the consent and furtherance of the French King and other Princes had summoned against him and thinking it convenient to defray the charges of Wars moved in defence of Church-men with Church goods seized upon so much of the Clergies goods as they thought would suffice for the maintenance of those Wars Even so her Highness hearing that the Spaniard had a long time prepared to invade her Realm and being well assured that as soon as he could be well able he would send the same preparation towards England held it expedient and necessary to seek all means possible whereby
Recaredus King of the Goths and of Spain was the first King that expelled the Arrian Heresie out of his kingdom and expresly commanded all his Subjects to receive and profess Christian Religion Whereby it appeareth that Spain lived from the time of St. Iames and St. Pauls being there until Recaredus his Raign which is better then four hundred years in manifest and manifold Heresies a crime which cannot be proved to have been in England or in many other Nations after they had once submitted themselves to the Doctrine of Christ and his Disciples Lastly if Spain will still continue to brag and say that their King Ferdinand was entituled by Alexander the sixth by the name of the Catholique King they may leave to boast thereof when they shall hear that Henry the eighth our King not much after the same time was surnamed by Leo the tenth Pope of Rome Defender of the Catholique faith and that the Switzers for their service done unto the same Pope Leo the tenth received of him the Title of Helpers and Protectors of the Ecclesiastical Liberty a Title in no respect inferiour unto that of Spain And lastly that Clouis King of France above nine hundred years before their Ferdinando the fifth was honoured with the Title of The most Christian King A Title as for Antiquity so for worthiness better then the other because the French Kings for the worthiness and multitude of their deserts towards the See of Rome are called Primâ—geniti Ecclesiae the eldest Sons of the Church of Rome Now from their faith towards God to their fidelity towards their Princes a matter sufficiently handled and therefore needless and not requiring any other confutation then the advantage that may be taken of Vasoeus his own words for if they have been faithful unto forrainers and strange Princes and have submited their necks unto many several Nations it argueth inconstancy fellow-mate to levity which is either a Mother or a guid unto disloyalty because light heads are quickly displeased and discontented minds give easie entertainment unto rebellious and treasonable cogitations To conclude then this Point with their learning let me oppose a Spaniard unto a Flemming a man better acquainted with the vertues and vices of his own Country then a stranger a man who giveth his Testimony of Vasoeus and of the cause of his writing of the Spanish History Iohn Vasoeus a Elemming seeing the negligence of the Spaniards and how careless they were to commit to perpetual memory the worthy exploits and actions of their own Nation began of late years to set forth a small Chronicle Why then the Spaniards are negligent they are careless of their own commendation so thought Vasoeus or else he had not written their History so saith Sebastianus Foxius the man whom I bring to confute Vasoeus the man who by attributing as you have heard more unto himself then any modest man unless it were a bragging Spaniard would do giveth me occasion to think that he will not derogate or detract any thing from the praises due unto his own Country This man therefore in his before mentioned Book speaketh thus of the learning of Spain Our Country men saith he both in old time and in this Age having continually lived in forrain or domestical Wars never gave their minds greatly unto study for the rewards of learning in our Country are very few and they proper unto a few paltry Pettyfoggers and our wits being high and lofty could never brook the pains that learning requireth but either we disdaining all kind of study give our selves presently to the purchase of Honours and Riches or else following our studies for a small while quickly give them over as though we had attained to the full and absolute perfeâ—tion of learning so that very few or none are found amongst us who may compare for learning with the Italians or have shewed the ripeness and sharp maturity of their wits in any kind of any kind of study You have heard two contrary opinions touching the Spaniards learning I leave it to your discretion to follow and beleeve which of them you please and withal to consider by the way what manner of Ecclesiastical Discipline and Government we should have if the Spanish ignorant and unlearned Clergy might as they have a long time both desired and endeavoured prescribe Laws and Orders unto all the Churches of Christendom The favourable Assertions in the behalf of Spain being thus briefly refelled it remaineth now to make a conjectural estimate of the Spanish present Forces by an Historical Declaration of the power thereof in times past and because it were over tedious to trouble you with the recital of such forces as Spain hath imployed many hundred years ago in her own defence or in disturbance of her forrain enemies abroad I will restrain my self unto such a time as is within the memory of man and especially unto the Raigne of Charls the fifth For as I take it Spain was never for this many hundred years so strong as when the said Charles was both King thereof and Emperor And albeit Piero Mexias in the life of Gratianus the Emperor attributeth so much unto Spaniards as that he more boldly then truly affirmeth that the Emperor flourished more under Spaniards then under any other Nation whatsoever and alledgeth for proof of his Assertion the flourishing Estate thereof under the before named Charles the fifth Yet I think that the Empire being added unto Spain rather beautified Spain then that Spain being conjoyned with the Empire did any thing at all illustrate the majesty of the Empire because as little Stars give no light or beauty unto the Moon but receive both from the Moon so a lesser dignity being joyned to a greater addeth no reputation thereunto but is greatly honoured and beautified by the conjunction thereof neither redoundeth it much in my simple opinion unto the honour of Spain or of the Empire that Charles the fifth was Emperor Spain is not greatly honoured thereby because Charles the fifth was a Flemming and no Spaniard and Spain came unto him as I have said by marriage with the heire of the Kingdoms of Arragon and Castile and the Empire was rather disgraced then honoured by the said Charles because he being born in Gaunt was not onely a vassal and natural-born subject unto the King of France but also unto the See of Rome for all the Dominions Lands and Seigniories which he had in possession saving those which he held of France and the Empire But Charles the fifth such an Emperor as he was and undoubtedly he was a very mighty wise and politick Prince never brought into the Field against any of his Enemies whatsoever so great forces and so mighty an Army as might worthily be called invincible by which name the proud and bragging Spaniards baptized their late Army against England This Emperor being as you may conjecture and perceive by that which hath been already said both Ambitious and Warlick
the execution praiseth her Sons wisdom thanketh God that it hath pleased him to put that counsel into the Kings head and to give him grace to execute the same and now saith she my Son playeth the king indeed The Parisians are presently certified of the Dukes death there is weeping and gnashing of Teeth the Crochilers have lost their Countenance the Facâ—ious their Father the Seditious People their ambitious Patron and the Malitious Sorbonists their Religious Protector What followeth Sudden accidents must have suddain consultations new devises hasty resolutions hastie executions and the new year must begin wiâ—h new Treasons They chuse the Duke of Aumale for their Head they draw the kings picture in the durt through the streets they rob and ransack his Exchequer his Palace his Store-houses and for their last resolution they conclude that he must be no longer their king According to this conclusion after that their City was hardly beset and they had almost endured as hard a siege as the Citizens of Ierusalem they send out a desperate Jacobin Fryer as their Iudith to behead Holofernes to execute their doom and devillish sentence upon the Lords anointed and their lawfull king The Fryer goeth to the kings Camp which was at St. Clovis feigneth to have Letters of great weight to deliver unto the king he is brought to his presence kindly received for the king alwayes loved those Fryers too well and lovingly willed to declare the cause of his coming he delivereth his Letters the king readeth them seriously and the Jaobin more like a Iudas then a follower of St. Iames seeing the kings doublet loose about him aiming at a place where he might be sure to dispatch him whilest he was busied in reading the Letters thrusteth a poysoned knife into his Bowels of which wound he died within a few hours after You have heard his Tragedy his Reign and his End and what can you finde that savoureth of Heresie Was it Heretical to persecute those whom they call Hereticks before he Reigned and as long as he reigned Was it Schismatical to proscribe banish and massacre them Was it Apostatical to proclaim and make Wars against them whensoever and wheresoever the Guisards required him Was it irreligious and hypocritical for him in a Lent time when men use to be penitent for their Sins to whip themselves while the blood followeth by his own Example to induce the Cardinal of Lorrain and others his chiefest Counsellors and Courtiers to do the like Was he a despiser of God who with consent of the Popes Holiness to shew his zeal and to leave an Eternal Monument thereof did erect a new order of Knighthood of the Holy Ghost and took an Oath to live and die in defence of the Catholick Faith Was it impious and an Act not beseeming a Christian Prince to go in person and accompanied with most of the Peers of his Realm in Procession bare-headed and bare-footed If none of these things be Heresie Apostacy and contempt of God and Religion then undoubtedâ—y the late French King having done all these things was no Heretick no Apostate no Schismitick no despiser of God but a Zealous a Religious a Catholick and a most Christian Prince But the Duke of Guise his death is the matter that is most urged is the sore that most grieveth is the objection that needeth a present and large confutation He was murthered without any desert without any rightfull administration of Justice without any manner of proof that he had committed a Crime worthy of death God said unto Cain where is thy brother Abel He said unto the woman accused or Adultery Where are thy Accusers He said unto his Disciples In the mouth of two or three consisteth a Truth He said unto the Judges of the Earth Be ye wise and discreet in your judgements And why said he all these Forsooth to shew that in every Capital Cause there ought to be an Accuser divers witnesses and a Judge to give Sentence according unto Law and unto his Conscience Truly the Laws of France and the Lawes of all Nations require that a man being held guilty of any Crime be it never so odious never so horrible be called unto Judgement and be convinced by his own confession or some other pregnant and forcible proof before he can be condemned But if the crime whereof he is accused be so manifest that all the world knoweth it that he cannot deny it and hath nothing to say for his defence it is lawfull to condemn him yea to execute him without hearing his Cause especially if by giving him notice of his Arreignment you give him time and opportunity to escape without punishment The Word of God saith Thou shalt do no murther But the Laws of Nature the Laws of Nations yea the Laws of Princes say That it is better to kill then to be killed The Apostles have taught that the testimony of two or three witnesses is sufficient in any Cause but the Civil Laws require sometimes seven other times five and commonly they are contented with two and by Canonical constitutions according to the degrees of dignities of Ecclesiastical persons the testimony of seventy two of sixty four of twenty seven and of seven is oftentimes requisite and necessary God hath commanded every man to do according to his conscience but the Lawes of Princes command all Judges to give judgement according to the proofs and allegations that are made before them I may therefore boldly say that not onely the Pope unto whom the Canonists onely attribute this power and authority but also every lawfull secular Prince unto whom God hath commanded that every soul should be obedient may upon good occasion and consideration of some circumstances qualify and interpret the Lawes of God He that striketh with the sword shall perish with the sword sayeth the holy Scripture and there is no express commandment given not to suffer Malefactors to live But Humane Policy hath thought it convenient and equitable that children because they know not what they do that mad men because they are deprived of the use of Reason and Understanding that any man killeth one another by mischance because he offendeth through ignorance and not of malice And lastly that an honest man if he chance to kill a Thief by night or by day in defending his own person or goods because it is lawfull to repel force by force shall not be condemned to death although his crime in it self in strictness of Law be Capital There is nothing more certain then the commandment of God not to swear and yet it is lawfull to swear yea it is an offence not to swear if a man be commanded by a Magistrate to swear and if a truth cannot be known but by an Oath and the oath that a man hath taken must be inviolable It cannot be broken and there is no mans more odious no crime more detestable then the sin of perjury and yet a Judge that hath
unto his Majesty in the year 1575. to negotiate a general peace betwixt the King and his discontented Subjects as well Papists as Protestants This Ambassador in the preamble of his Speech to the King used these words We thank God that it hath pleased him so highly to favour us as to send us a King that both will and can hear himself the wants and complaints of his Subjects and order and redress the same according to his good pleasure and the laudable course of Justice For if our Writers have imployed their Labours in writing to blame and reprehend those Kings which hear not but by the Ears of others which see not but by the Eyes of others and speak not but by the Mouthes of others We have most great occasion to think our selves very happy and blessed unto whom God hath sent a King so gentle and so loving unto his Subjects as that he will hear all our causes and controversies himself and a King of so rare and excellent Wisdom as that he is able to decide and determine our Contentions This commendation given him by Seigneur Darennes far exceedeth Sir Henry Cobhams because he was the Ambassador of a Prince that was in League with the late King and the Siegneur Darennes of a Prince that not long before had born arms against this King And Sir Henry might speak for favour but the other spake as he thought because it appeareth by the rest of the speeches which he used in the same negotiation that he neither would or could dissemble And because this praise and commendation was given by an Enemy rather then by a friend it cannot but be void of all partiality assertion or flattery Thus you have heard the French Kings Vertues and his Imperfections the Leaguers folly and the Spanish Kings indiscretion Now it resteth to declare unto you his further error which although it be the last yet it is not the least and I fear me I shall have occasion to enlarge my self more of it then I did of the other three It is not unknown unto all or most part of the World that the King of Spain too much crediting the light and false reports of certain English Fugitives did once attempt and doth still intend to invade and subdue England This attempt and this intention although it seemeth to be grounded upon good reasons and to be allowed by the wisest Councellors yet I will shew that it was neither begun with wisdom nor is continued with any great discretion To shew this it shall be needful to examine all and every of the causes which moved him to undertake this attempt and purpose The causes are many and some of them are already sufficiently declared others rest first to be discovered and then then to be confuted It hath already been shewed that for succouring of France for aiding of Flanders for intercepting his money and for favouring and furthering of Don Antonio his resolution to recover the Kingdom of Portugal the Spanish King had no just occasion to be offended with the Queens Majesty It remaineth to prove that the Popes Excommunication That the false and sinister reports of the English Fugitives the death of the late Queen of Scots OF the sending away of his Ambassador with some small disgrace out of England giveth him no just occasion to trouble her Majesties quiet and peaceable Government All this being proved his indiscretion shall be made appear by three principal Reasons The first because he took no good course for the accomplishment of his enterprise The second Because that although his course had been good yet he neither was nor is able to subdue England And the third Because albeit he should chance to conquer our Realm yet he could not hold the same long The order whereunto I have tied my self requireth that I begin with the Popes Excommunication And for the better clearing of this point it were necessary to shew what Authority he hath to excommunicate But this is a matter that requireth a whole and large Volume and therefore I have thought good not to medle therewith but to refer you for your better instruction unto the large Apology which Marsilius Paturius wrote above 266 years ago in the defence of the Emperor Lewis of Baviera against the Pope that would not admit or allow him for Emperor There you shall see that the Pope although he were Christs lawfull and indubitate Vicar a point which never was nor will be proved yet he hath no more Authority then Christ himself had There you shall read that Christ came not into the world to Rule that he took not upon him to Command Princes but that both he himself obeyed and taught his Apostles to obey Princes There you shall understand that Saint Paul the Apostle Saint Peter and other of Christs Disciples obeyed the Civil Magistrate and submitted themselves unto Temporal Government There briefly you shall learn that not Clergy man ought to meddle with Temporal matters And that the Pope hath no more Authority to pardon sins or excommunicate any man then other Inferior Priests and Ministers have All this being true as in that Apology you shall finde it learnedly substantially and sufficiently proved not by humane Reasons which may be erroneous but by sacred Scriptures which cannot be controlled your own discretion may sufficiently warrant you that this Excommunication can be of no great force And yet because many of our Countrimen attribute too much unto the Popes Authority and cannot be perswaded but that he came unto the same directly and holdeth it immediately from Christ. I will shew you as briefly as I can how the Pope of Rome attained unto that great Authority which he now enjoyeth It appeareth by Du Haillan in the French Chronicle that in the time of Charles the Great the Popes of Rome had no power or authority in Rome it self they medled but onely with matters of Religion with Ecclesiastical Discipline and with points of Divinity It appeareth also by Platina Dr. Illescas and Robert Barnes three notable Writers of the Popes lives the first being an Italian the second a Spaniard and the third an Englishman that many years after Christs passion and after St. Peters death they were cruelly massacred and martyred by the Emperors of Rome It is also notorious and apparent by the testimony the same Writers and of many more that they were wont to be chosen approved and confirmed by the Roman Emperors insomuch that he was not held for a lawful Pope which had not the Emperors approbation Briefly you shall find in the Histories and Chronicles of France that three Popes being chosen at one time they came into France the Kings whereof were then also Emperors to excuse themselves and their election because it was made without the consent or privity of the Emperor and to stand to his opinion that then was Emperor which of the three should be Pope but now there is a great alteration and a marvellous change
all their audacious Enterprises but they care not for the first set as little by the second contemned the third and excommunicated them all They rest not satisfied with these honours they proceed further and desire more commanding that no secular Prince shall take upon him to give any Spiritual Living any Ecclesiastical Dignity they excommunicate as well those that give such Livings as those which receive them at their hands having obtained this advantage they covet still more and think it not sufficient to be Priviledged themselves but all the Clergy must participate and taste of their honours All Priests and Ecclesiastical persons must be exempt from all charges subsidies and impositions no man must be so bold as to meddle with their Rents with their Revenues The Bishops and all the Clergy are bound to them for their Liberality In requital therefore of these great Priviledges and Immunities it behooveth them to purchase and get the favour and good liking of all secular Princes of some to get as much by them as they can possibly of others to have their help against their enemies and against those that will not yeeld and condiscend to all their demands and desires They deal herein so cunningly that they finde some so ready willing and desirous to help and succour them that they vouchsafe to imploy their Goods their Subjects yea their own lives to do them service All Histories are full of Wars of Battels of Victories begun fought and obtained at the instance at the request and in the behalf of the Popes I shall not need to name the Princes to record the Battels or to mention the victories Our Histories and the Histories of all other Nations remember them sufficiently Our forefathers declared them unto their Posterity and we may have heard of them of our Fathers of our Grandfathers But to give the more credit unto my speech and occasion unto the incredulous to beleeve me the better I will briefly discover unto you the means the cunning and the subtilty which they have used to attain unto their greatness and height and to the continuance and perpetuity of their Rule and Government There is nothing more profitable or expedient for him that will advance himself in credit reputation and authority then to know the deliberations and purposes of his Enemies And because it is very difficult and hard to attain unto this knowledge he deserveth gret praise commendation that can behave himself so cunningly so politickly as to learn all his secret adversaries intents and practices and it is not only necessary to understand his determinations but also it is convenient and fitting sometimes to foresee and prevent them yea it is needfull to be acquainted with his Actions and not onely with those which he intendeth to do presently and at home but also with them which he purposeth to do hereafter and far from home for by understanding and knowing these things a man may quickly either get all that he desireth or else so temporize and prolong matters until the time fall out fit and favourable for his purpose All Princes therefore to have a certain and sure knowledge of these things are accustomed to have their Ambassadors in the Courts of their Friends and Confederates who do not onely send them certain news of the intents and purposes of their Friends but also whatsoever else is done or said in their Courts or in their Councils But the Pope as he challengeth unto himself a Preheminence above all other Princes so he far excelleth them all in this kinde of providence For besides that he hath his Ambassadors in the Courts of divers Princes he hath also his Espies his Favorites and his sworn men There are many Bishops Abbots Priors and Cardinals which are Councellors unto Kings although they have sworn to do nothing in prejudice of the Holy Church to condiscend unto nothing that shall weaken or diminish the Popes authority to learn espy understand prove attempt foresee and practice all things that may any wayes befit or advance his Pontifical Dignity Moreover to make his way more ready and easie for his Ambassadors to understand all that may stand him in steed he purchaseth the favour and good opinion of Princes Favourites and such as are neerest about them by rewards promises bribes and corruptions Unto some he giveth a Cardinalship unto others his daughters or kinswomen in marriage and not to leave the Princes themselves uncorrupted he sufferth them sometimes to take the tenths of their Kingdoms to make their profit of his Croicadoes and to procure them to be the more ready to do him pleasure he feedeth them with fair words with sweet and sugered speeches he adorneth them with new titles with new honours and dignities that are more gorgeous in shew then in deed calling some of them Catholick Kings others most Christian Kings some Protectors of the Sea of Rome and others Defenders of the Faith and when he hath occasion to change or innovate any thing then he helpeth himself with a specious shew of a zeal of Religion with the report and remembrance of that authority which he challengeth to have received from God and with a vain flourish of that honour and reverence which some Princes being more zealous and devout then wise have shewed unto him endeavouring to perswade others by their examples to do the like But if it chance either by the iniquity of time or by their incredulity whom he seeketh to make his Friends that they will not give ear unto his perswasions he hath presently recourse unto the decrees and constitutions of his Predecessors he wresteth the Text of the holy Scripture to serve his purpose and forgetteth nothing that hath been either done or devised and decreed for his advantage He putteth them therefore in mind that Boniface the eighth made a Decree That as many as would be saved and have a part in the Kingdom of Heaven must of necessity be obedient in all cases and in all places unto the Pope Wherein he doth not onely resemble but make himself equal to and better then his Master Christ because he while he was upon the earth did not onely shew obedience but also taught his Apostles as I have formerly said to be obedient unto Inferior Magistrates and such as were in Authority And the Pope will be both honoured and obeyed of the greatest Princes and Monarchs of the World Yea if all the Princes of Europe if the sacred and general Councils of all the Nations of the World should make a Law or Ordinance the same shall be of no force strength or validity if he do not approve ratifie and confirm the same and if any Prince being more bold then the rest presumeth to say there have been many bad and evil Popes it shall be answered him presently that he ought not therefore to contemn or reject their pontifical Authority and that no man upon earth may be so bold as to examine or reprehend or censure the
himself Monarch of all the world all the Princes of Christendom fearing his over growing greatness began to consult and take advice how they might bridle his ambition and hinder the proud and insolent projects of his aspiring and imperious minde But the Princes of Germany who had greatest occasion to fear him most were the fiâ—st that bended all their thoughts and all their cogitations to move the rest of the Princes and Potentates of Europe to joyn with them in League and Amity against him Then were there sent Ambassadors unto the King of England France and Denmark Then were there Letters written unto the Swiâ—zers Then were Letters dispatched to the Duke and Seigniory of Venice to desire help against the Emperor and to distract the Venetians from the League of Amity which they had with him and to intreat both the Venetians and the Switzers not to suffer any Forces to pass by their Dominions which should be sent out of Italy unto Caesar. Then did as many Princes as were not in League with the Emperor shew themselves forward in this honourable Action and those who for their Leagues sake could not openly assist the Confederates against Caesar exhorted others to joyn with them against him and to make them more able and willing to enter into the action they lent or paid them great sums of mony which they owed unto them Then since it behoveth Princes in wisdom and policy to keep their next neighbours as weak as they may since the Spaniard before the king of France changed his Religion pretended to war against him for no other causeâ— but to inforce him thereunto and now continueth his Wars and aiâ—ing his Rebels although the French king is of himself become a Catholick which proveth manifestly that it was not Religion but ambition that moved him to aid and assist those Rebels since it is apparent to the World that he onely disturbeth as I have said the peace and quietness of all the world and causeth the Turk to insult as he doth upon Christian Princes since both Othon the Third and Conrad the Emperors Laws injoyn all Princes as it hath been shewed upon other occasion to bend their Forces and to bandy themselves with main might against such a Prince and such a disturber of common peace as the Spaniard is I see no reason why the Princes of Christendom as well Friends as Foes unto him should not all joyntly and with one consent inforce him to contain himself within his bounds and limits and to succour and assist him against the common Adversary of Christian Religion who of late hath given the Christians no small overthrow The Popes of Rome were wont when Christendom stood in no greater danger of the Turk then it doth at this present to send their Ambassadors from Prince to Prince to reconcile them if they were at variance and to exhort them to imploy the uttermost of their powers against the professed Enemy of Christendom It is written that Paulus Tertius a Poâ—e that was ninety years old when he departed this world not long before he diâ—d considering the great danger and peril that was likely to fall upon Christendom by reason of the pride and ambition of the great Turk and the unnatural discord and dissention that was betwixt â—rancis the first and Charles the fifth sent his own Nephew the Cardinal Fernese unto them to make a friendly composition and agreement betwixt them The like Atonement might the present Pope make betwixt the French king and the Spaniard who hath now no other pretence to fight against France but that the king thereof although he is become a Catholick yet he remains Excommunicate a pretence both vain and frivolous because the kings of France and the Peer thereof and also all his Officers cannot be lawfully excommunicated by the Pope as it may appear by the priviledges granted unto divers kings of France by many Popes as namely by Martin the third and fourth Gregory the eighth ninth tenâ—h and eleventh Alexander the fourth Clement the fourth and fifth Nicholas the third Urban the fifth and Boniface the twelfth The which Priviledges are to be seen in the Treasury where the kings Charters are usually kept And when the Pope shall interpose his Authority many other Princes shall likewise labour to make them friends as of late years the King of Denmark was a Mediator of peace betwixt him and our gracious Sovereign And if when this motion shall be made unto him he will neither regard the Authority of the Intercessors nor respect the manifest eminent danger of Christendom but still continue and follow his ambitious nature and unchristian course then will it be a sit and convenient time to implore and imploy the aid and assistance of his near and dearest friends against him then because â—insmen forsake even the next of their own blood when they will not yeeld unto reason and friends many times fall unto variance when they are put in mind of old quarrels and antient injuries it will not be amiss to revive the memory of old and new wrongs and indignities offered by the house of Austria unto their Neighbors their Allies their Kinsmen their Friends and other Princes that now either fear or favour them Then would it be shewed that all the Emperors and Princes of that Family have neither regarded consanguinity of blood or alliance of Friendship nor the wealth of their Subjects nor the bonds of Equity and Reason but have always preferred their private gain before the Commonweal their own interest before their â—â—insmens and Friends commodity and advantage their own will and pleasure before all Law and Justice briefly their subtil devices and deceits before plain dealing and sincerity Then to begin with the infancy of their Family it would be made known that when they were but poor Counts of Hapsparge they encroâ—ched upon their Neighbours they wronged and oppressed the simple and well-meaning Switzers over whom they tyrannized so long that at length by common consent and by a general Revolt against them both they and their Officers were violently driven out of the Country Then would it be declared that Rodulph the first Emperor of their House obtained the Empire by plain deceit and cunning and so carried himself therein that he sought his own commodity more then the wealth of the Empire and shewed many evident signs and arguments of loathsom and detestable ingratitude For whenas the Empire had been void almost Twenty years and divers Compeitors affected the same as Henry of Thyringia and VVilliam Earl of Holland Alphons King of Castile and Richard Brother unto the King of England and all those Corrivals had almost wasted themselves and their friends in seeking for the place and in maintaining themselves therein The Electors being over-wearied with the length and troubles of this tedioâ—s Competency sent Conrade Archbishop of Coruge unto Othagarius King of Bâ—hemia to pray him to accept the Empire but he thinking himself not sufficient