to curse as well as sixe to blesse Moses the meekest man in all the earth was mediator of the condemning Law Saint Paul that was compounded of affection yet pronounced the greatest curse in the Book of God mens persons ought not so to be had in admiration that their wickednesse passe without condemnation In Courts of Iustice mens causes not their persons should speake Iacob lookes not on his sons cruelty with a fathers indulgent lenity but with a frowning Austerity whom GOD curses Iacob will not blesse cursed be their anger This censure will aggravate their sinne if you consider these circumstances First The Parents curse saith the wiseman rootes out the foundation of a child Gods curse usually goes along with theirs Noah cursed Cham and the Canaanites were cursed of God Saint Austen tells us of a Mother cursing her tenne Children that immediately from Heaven they were shattered in pieces Camerarius relates of one cursed by his father that presently by a miracle hee was fastned to the ground of a second devoured by Serpents of a third torne by devils sad and dreadfull examples a fearefull document to Parents to take heed how they rashly curse their children and for children how they provoke their Parents Parents are not easily moved to curse their children especially if they be religious parents men fearing God and yet Iacob Simeon and Levi's father holy Iacob curses but it is their anger not them their passions not their persons cursed be their anger this is the first aggravation Secondly the words of dying men are living oracles then men speak most affectionately and their words pierce most deepely Iacob at this time was on his death bed his sons crave his blessing he loves them but hates their sins as his soule at first gave no consent so his tongue now shall give no approbation to it at first he reproves them but having more liberty he detests it He was presently to appeare before Gods Tribunall so he calls them to his Thirdly an honest heart doth not only not act wickednes but abhors it Iacob as hee was no Counsellor to the offence so he would be no Patron to the offendors O my soule come not into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united Iacob as before he protested against it so now he disclaimes it Fourthly it 's the curse that followes the Iewes to this day to be a scattered people on the face of the earth division will follow unity in sin Simeon and Levi brethren in evill therefore Iacob makes them strangers in dwelling I wil divide them in Iacob and scatter them in Israel Simeon had no entire inheritance Levi no certaine Thus you have seen their sin and their censure But what 's this to us wil you say or what 's this to the busines of this day Have patience and this shall give more light and bee more welcome to you considering that Iacob in thus speaking is our spokesman Brightman speaking of the seaven Churches saith they were Typicall of the Churches of the Gentiles to the comming of Christ I should be too singular if I did say this history were Typicall and did set forth the tragedy for this day I wil not undertake to give an interpretation but I will promise and your selves shall see an exact application in all the particulars be pleased therefore once more to have recourse to the words of the Text and with a little variation of names and time read it thus Iesuites and Iesuited Papists are Brethren Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations O my soule come not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine Honour be not thou united for in their Anger they slew a man and in their selfe will they digg'd downe a wall cursed bee their Anger for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruell God divide them from the sonne of our Iacob and scatter them from our English Israel I will follow the same method that I did before I will shew you the sinne of these and their censure and that aggravated with the same circumstances as that of Simeon and Levi First then Simeon and Levi in their anger they slew a man a King The lives of Kings are sacred therefore those doctrines the most remote consequences whereof will maintaine killing of Kings are to be abhor'd among us But as for the doctrine of Iesuites and Iesuited Papists their Tenets and and principles sticke point blancke to this killing of Kings and in this their cruelty is farre worse than that of Simeon and Levi Simeon and Levi did once kill a King though de facto they did it yet they did it but once and their Religion condemned it and their father Iacob cursed it But it is the Religion of the Church of Rome and the constant practise of the Iesuites to doe it not only once but often yea their Religion maintaines it and in some cases makes it meritorious yea the Pope their father allowes it countenances and blesses it you were once taught to say on the service of this day that their Religion is Rebellion and their faith faction it is now altered And I have reason enough to beleeve there 's sufficient Reason of State for it though I see none I hope I shall make it easily appeare to you that the Religion of the Church of Rome maintaines killing of Kings Bellarmine in his Letter to Blackwell the Arch-Priest of England makes this Rhetoricall flourish did ever any Pope from the Infancy of the Church at any time command any King though heathenish to be kill'd or approve the Act after it was done Therefore saith hee why shall the King of England feare that that never any Christian King in the Christian world did ever or hath cause to feare boldly spoken and as a Cardinall Iesuite Let Bellarmine answer Bellarmine and throw blushing in his owne face I have the rather made choice of him because he is their Coripheus and few of them I beleeve deny what he affirmes yea I have him to shew if any denies what I say to you in his fifth booke De Roman Pontific 7. cap. he saith plainly Non licet Christianis c. It is not lawfull for Christians to tollerate a Heathenish Infidell Hereticall King yea saith hee it pertaines to the Pope alone to judge if the King be so or no he saith also in the same place if any sheepe become a Wolf any Christian Prince become a Heretick and labours to withdraw his subjects then the Pope ought to expell them excommunicate them drive them away from their kingdome and discharge their subjects of obedience And he gives this Reason and I beseech you marke it why the Christians in the Primitive times did not thus proceed against Nero Caligula Dioclesian Iulian the Apostate Valerian and the rest of those monsters Gods plagues to the Church because they wanted force So that by the doctrine of Bellarmine if Christian Kings are once Hereticks by the Pope
the oath one saith the oath is voyd and holds it sinne for a Papist to performe his word to a Protestant I make no wonder that some Papists take the oath I wonder that any refuse it when the Pope can dispense with it and deale with them as hee did with the French King give him leave to take an oath and then promised to dispense with the breaking of it what certainty or security can Kings have when such damnable Tenents are broached in the world that oathes are not to bee kept with Hereticks and they are Heretickes whom the Pope will have so This is the fifth Aggravation Sixtly Simeon and Levi coloured their revenge and crueltie under a cloak and maske of religion Religion ought not to bee a Bond of Iniquitie yet under Religion in the Church of Rome all iniquitie especially Rebellions treasons Perjury Iustifies it selfe They make the cause of Religion to descend to the execrable Acts of the murdering of Princes Butchering of Innocents firing of States no men more pretend and boast of perfection and the holinesse of their meditations then the Iesuites doe yet this Platforme is heathenish Tyrannicall and able to set Aretine Lucian Machiavell and the Devill himselfe to Schoole I want words to expresse that pestilent project of the Popes coloured under a pretence of Religion for the recovery of the holy Land For two hundred yeares together they made the flower and Chivalrie of Christendome to fall by Millions in the foolish Conquest of Ierusalem They sent Christian Princes far from their own kingdomes to invest themselves into them never any Nation so heathenish and barbarous and divelish whose Religion maintained Murder Treason Treacheries Perjuries In every Religion and State have beene some such found but none whose Religion hath maintained them as the Religion of Rome doth Fawkes had nothing to charge the State withall but that Religion prompted him to this Treason When Ravilliac murdered Henry the fourth King of France being tortured to know his incouragers to it he sent them to the Sermons made by the Iesuites in Lent They that read Bellarmine Suarez Eudeman Becanus Emanuell Say shall easily perceive their Religion teaches Rebellion Treason That Act of Iehu in proclaiming a solemne service to Baal and then murdering of them and that of Constantine commanding all his chiefe officers to worship the Idol and then casheering them wants more subtill Patrons to maintaine it then either my Religion or my reason can reach to Religion needs not to bee shrowded under the Cloak of policy That great Diana of Rome they have lifted up to so high a straine that they equall him to God and say there is no appeale from him to God God and he are of one and the same Consistorie He can determine against the Law of Nations against the Law of nature against the Law of God Yea that his power and actions are no way to bee disputed of That is the cause of causes and the just cause of all O I am weary of the Blasphemy and cruelty of the Church of Rome their Blasphemies are so innumerable their tyranny so execrable their cruelty so unsupportable their delusions so heathenish their perjuries so divelish that the like was never in any state Murders Treacheries Treasons are there in their proper place they are no sinnes in Rome or at least but Veniall sinnes easily dispensed with by the Pope rebellions and Treasons Massacring and butchering of Innocents Draco's lawes and Spanish inquisitors insupportable wrath and inveterate rage perjuries and breaking Covenants these are the Religion of the Church of Rome It was once in the English Liturgy King Henry the eighth put it in Queene Mary put it out That we should pray that our Kingdom should bee delivered from sedition tyranny and conspiracy of the Pope wee may doe it still at least in private prayers from the treasons treachery perjury of the Church of Rome from the rage malice and cruelty from the Religion of the Church of Rome from Iesuites and Iesuited Papists Good Lord deliver us And thus I have done with the first Generall the sinne of Iesuites and Iesuited Papists It now onely remaines to speake of the second their censure Their censure shall I smite them my Brethren Iacob you heare would not spare his own sons though in the same house with him though they ate the same bread drank of the same Cup were of the same faith though what they did they did it in revenge of the wrong done to their sister shall we then spare them No I must follow Iacob still O my soule come not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine honour bee not thou united cursed be their anger for it was cruell and their wrath for it was fierce God divide them from the son of our Iacob and scatter them from our English Israel O my soule come not into their secret we must neither with heart nor tongue affection nor action neither in word nor deed no my Brethren not so much as in thought nor look show any countenance to Popish Cruelty their treasons murders perjuries and the rest of that Heathenish cruelty It hath beene the desire of many the endeavour of some to worke a reconciliation betwixt the Church of Rome and us Franciscus de sancta clara whose booke of reconciliation hath been 23. times printed I have read it and I will say of it that the discourse doth more confirme mee that it 's impossible to make a reconciliation betwixt them indeed there may bee such a forme of confession drawn up in termes that both sides may subscribe to but then the termes shall bee so Ambiguous that at the next opening of the sore the skinne being but heal'd over before the breach will be more deadly A Botch is never cured as long as the core remaines excrements will grow on a dead body while the humor lasts Arius presented the Emperor Constantine with such a forme of confession that when the Orthodox read it they conceived it for their side and the Arians for theirs The quarrell betwixt Rome and us is not like Caesar and Pompey which should be chiefe but like that betwixt Rome and Carthage which should not be if Rome prevaile we shall not stand and if we prevaile they should not stay long Bellar. saith plainly the controversie betwixt them and us is whether the Church of God consist or no or be shattered in peeces A learned man of our Church yet very moderate too conceives it impossible that ever there should be reconciliation betwixt them Therefore saith he if these reconcilers were the wisest men under heaven and shold live to the worlds end they would be brought to their wits end before they could accomplish this works end to make a reconciliation betwixt Rome and us you know who printed it long agoe no peace with Rome that King of Preachers so called by the King of Schollers said plainely The Northerne and Southerne Poles may sooner meete in
waters with whom the Kings of the earth have committed fornication the Inhabiters of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication so hee carryed me away in the spirit into the wildernesse And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast full of names of Blasphemy having seaven heads and ten hornes and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour and decked with gold and precious stones and pearles having a golden cup in her handfull of Abominations and filthinesse of her fornication and upon her forehead was a name written Mystery Babylon the great the mother of harlots and the abominations of the Earth and I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Iesus and when I saw her I wondred with great admiration That by the great whore that by Babylon here spoken of Rome is understood the Romanists themselves doe freely confesse the Rhemists doe not peremptorily but faintly deny it they distinguish indeed of Babylon in Rome and the Church in Rome they tell us Saint Ambrose Tertullian Ierome these confesse it I could adde some more ancient Bellarmine freely acknowledgeth it Indeed they say Saint Iohn speaketh of Rome Ethnick not of Rome Christian Rome under the persecuting Emperour not of Rome under the Christian Pope It is enough they confesse that Babylon is Rome and Rome the seate of Antichrist and we all know Saint Iohn writes a Prophecy not a History Hee tell us what should bee not what then was and if Saint Iohn spake of Rome it must necessarily follow that he spake of Rome as now it is not of Rome as then it was of Rome Christian not Rome Ethnicke of Rome under the Pope not under the Emperor Thus you see Rome is compared to a Whore to a great whore that sits upon many waters rules many nations who made the Kings of the earth drunke with the wine of her fornication that is clothed in Scarlet Purple Gold Silver precious stones and the like and now mark how easie a thing it is to bee seduced inticed bewitched by the Church of Rome what an alluring enticing tempting Religion it is you see it is compared to a Whore to a great Whore to the chiefest of whores to the mother of Harlots she hath in her hand a Violl of Gould full of abominations You that are not acquainted with the Arts and Crafts and subtilties of Whores read what Salomon saith who was the wisest of men yet shamefully befooled by them A thousand women took hold of him and of them all he professed he found not one good hee spake much of them because hee was much abused by them and knew much by them as in other places so in the seaventh of the Proverbs The Whore there spoken of makes Religion her pretext uses much art flattery and impudency This great Whore that bewitcheth the soules of men she pretends Religion Saint Iohn saith She had in her hand a golden Cup though in that Cup was abundance of abomination yet the Cup was of Gold There are in the Church of Rome many singular excellent and admirable truths and things which as a golden cup she holds forth She hath the Scripture the Sacraments the Articles of the Creed the Lords Prayer the Tenne Commandements many excellent things whatsoever the Church of Rome holds with the Church of England is pure silver and pure gold All that she adores besides is at the best hay and stubble yea much poyson and abominations Saint Paul saith verse the fourth the man of sin sits in the Temple of God not in that materiall Temple which was at Ierusalem a fond conceit of some of the Ancients The Papists themselves how willing soever they are to embrace any thing that may take it from Rome yet they themselves refuse it that Temple Daniel saith shall never be restored Christ saith not one stone shall be left upon another and History reports that when they went about to build that Temple again GOD from heaven by fire destroyed it But in the Temple of God that 's the man of sin that sits in the Church of God the most eminent of all the Churches of God where God had a great people and whence God gathered his people Antichrist though he be an Adversary and the adversary Saint Paul speaks of the greatest adversary that ever the Church had yet notwithstanding is no open profest adversary as the Turke and Iew but a secret close mysterious adversary that sits in the Temple of God In that Temple see what bewty and glory to dazle the eye and to charme the mind of the beholder This great Whore is not only arrayed in gold and silver Scarlet Purple and precious stones as a woman may be and therefore is called a woman also but hath the attire of an Harlot wanton lascivious attire a superstitious and Idolatrous dresse look into their Churches and see not only the bewty and glory of them as a woman may have but a superstitious Idolatrous dresse as their Images Crucifixes Altars Crosses and burning Tapers all set forth lively to sight Looke into their service and see what Pompe and glory and outward state What rich Robes what Mucsicke what singing what sweet and burning Incense and the like The Temple in Ierusalem was not more glorious in outward Pompe more gloriously arrayed there were not more sacrifices and ceremonies then there are in the Church of Rome at this day It was necessary to bee so at Ierusalem God would have it so the people were a carnall people meere children in understanding God led them as a Nurse by the hand pleased them with carnall objects with glorious buildings with multitude of significant Ceremonies with terrene and earthly delights God did it to this end that hee might wooe and invite them to his service The Church was then in its Infancy but now the Church is growne neere unto perfection in it 's last age therefore they are not now necessary Gods people how are a spirituall people The Church of Rome useth now what Ierusalem did then what then God commanded now hee forbids what then hee blessed now hee curses To draw them to superstition and Idolatry both which are ever beutifull and specious full of pomp and ceremony Secondly in the Papacy there is nothing hard nor difficult nothing which a meere Carnall man which a voluptuous person a very Epicure and Libertine cannot easily digest All the Religion of the Church of Rome is like the Religion of the Scribes and Pharisees the true fathers of them a very outward Religion an empty Casket a dead and naked Carkas what is Popery but a painted outside Their Church prayers they doe not understand their private prayers they measure by weight their Repentance and confession it is in some small pennance their faith is the faith of the Church they live not by their owne faith Their Obedience is to the Pope not
hands in that great worke you are about Jt would be the glory of this latter age could there such a sheete be let downe to the Church as there was in vision to Peter that the difference of cleane and uncleane may be taken away such a golden Scepter reach'd out that all may be subdued unto it and embrace it O what an honour would it be to the present and a blessing to the future age that a consent of Doctrine and discipline might be confirmed by you that we that professe one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one GOD and Father of all under one King may be one Church That a Trinity of Kingdomes may be a Church in Vnity Pardon my presumption if my zeale for the publicke peace points at the meanes A Royall Convocation rightly constituted unto which all the Kingdomes may send their Clarks would facilitate the businesse It would adde much to the glory of it and be a Crowne unto his Crowne who accounts it the most glorious in all his Crowne to be worthy of that Title Defender of the Faith if from all the reformed CHVRCHES some may be invited if not to vote yet at least to assist The reason wherefore Generall Nationall Provinciall Councells have in this last Century beene so fatall and therefore by some of singular eminency beene disclaimed as a meete meanes for the settling of peace is because the greatest part have their standing Votes who will ever maintaine a strong partie for themselves Is it equall that Arch-Bishops Bishops Deanes Arch-Deacons Chapter men should of course and by reason of their dignities have their places their suffrages when but two Clerks are elected by the choise of the Clergie May the Election of the Clarks for the Convocation be as free as yours for the Parliament and in some proportion unto it J doubt not but we should be as happy in our Canons as we are in your Statutes There hath been strange batteries made upon our Religion the thirty nine Articles are challenged by the Harlot Papists and Arminians claime them as theirs the Booke of Homilies are disclaimed unheard of violation hath bin offered to the second to the fourth Commandements Preaching is cryed downe Preachers discountenanced The Sacraments have beene defiled the people of the Lord have beene made to abhorre the offering of the Lord Presse and Pulpit have vomited forth corrupt and undigested matters Augustus made a Bonefire of all such bookes that corrupted the Roman Ethnick Religion it would be your wisdome to make a diligent search for all Apocryphall books Hereticall Popish Semi-pelagian Pamphlets slanderous Libels and impertinent writings and to sacrifice them to Vulcan We pray for great things to be done by you we have open our mouthes wide to the Lord we have heard of great things of you the Lord prosper you to an happy and blessed conclusion for a glorious reformation of Church and Common-Wealth The Counsellor The mightie God the everlasting Father the Prince of peace he upon whose shoulder the government lyes increase your government and peace order you and stablish you with judgment and justice henceforth for ever the Zeale of the Lord of HOSTS performe this Your Honours in all sincerity service and dutie Richard Heyricke The first SERMON PSAL. 122. ver. 6. Pray for the peace of Ierusalem NOne can speake more punctually in the commendation of peace then they that have beene long harrowed with Warre David a man of Warre in his younger dayes he slew a Lion he kill'd a Beare he overcame Goliah that uncircumcised Philistim that defyed the Host of Israel in his riper yeares he conquered the Canaanites the Amorites the rest of those heathenish Nations he had seaven yeares warre with the house of Saul Warre with his rebellious subjects with his treacherous traitorous sonne God witnesseth that he had shed bloud abundantly that hee had made great wars in his latter dayes he had a breathing time of peace in which respite and Interim he prepares to build God an house he rejoyceth in his preparation and prayes for the prosperity of it and encourageth others to pray Pray for the peace of Ierusalem Ierusalem either the City Ierusalem the Metropolis the chiefe Citie the Royall City the City of the great King the London of the kingdome of Israel wherein the Thrones of Iudgement the Courts of Iustice Westminster Hall was wherein the thrones of the house of David his Court his Pallace his house his Mansion White-Hall was Or Ierusalem taken for the Temple in Ierusalem the house of the Lord the place whither the Tribes went up the Tribes of the Lord to give thanks unto the name of the Lord And so by a figure for the Church of God the Temple in Ierusalem was a type of it Or Ierusalem taken for the whole kingdome it being the chiefe member of the kingdome the Chamber of the kingdome the stomacke of that body politicke which receives all the nourishment the forraine Marchandize and disperseth them abroad to every member take Ierusalem in the first sence in the strict and literal acception of the word for the Citie Ierusalem for the London of that kingdome Then pray for the peace of Ierusalem for the City London that there may be no destroying plague no evill disease no infectious sicknesse no dissentions no divisions no commotions no rising of lawlesse Creatures no rebellions no Treasons Pray that the forreiners and strangers that are in the Citie the Male-content and desperate heard the Cananites that dwell among them the French the Papists may not disturbe their peace and prosperity pray that David and Ierusalem the King and the City may accord together that the Thrones of Iudgment and the Thrones of the house of David Westminster-Hall and Whitehall may be Thrones of Iustice of honour and glory take Ierusalem in the second acception in a sence not so restrained for the Temple in Ierusalem for the house of the Lord for the Church of God and then pray for the peace of Ierusalem for peace in the Church pray that there may bee no heresie no hereticall doctrine no erronious Articles of Religion no Trent determinations no Socinian blasphemies no Arminian quiddities no Antinomian wickednesses pray that there may bee no Schisme no separation no wall of partition no heathenish customes no Samaritan rites no Idolatrous superstitions no Popish ceremonies no Canons to Batter and terrifie the consciences of Gods people pray that the whole Clergie may be of one spirit not divided not distracted not torne in peeces that one part may not speake prosperity in the eares of the King to send him to Ramoth-Gilead to dye there and that the other part may not humor and flatter the people to stubbornnesse and disobedience pray that the Church may be as Ierusalem a Citie compact together to which the people of the Lord may goe up without offence without trouble The Temple in Ierusalem was built by Salomon a King of peace in
Italian Spanish Iesuited Gunpowder Papists I could bee angry and sinne not I could stampe knocke bend my brow and thunder were it lawfull I could take up the execration of David let my tongue cleave to the roofe of my mouth and my right hand forget her cunning when I forget the deliverance of this Day That therefore you may for ever remember and stand fast to the Gospell received and not bee tempted to that damning Religion I have made choise to speake in the words of the Apostle Therefore Brethren stand fast IN which words you have a duty enjoyned Stand fast Secondly the reason enforcing in the illative word Therefore The Apostle the Doctor of the Gentiles exhorted the beleeving Thessalonians to stand fast and the more to move them calls them Brethren {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a brother is derived of {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} uterus a wombe brethren being properly uterus the fruit of one wombe The Apostle and the Thessalonians were not brethren in nature but brethren in grace sanctior est copula cordium quam corporum This compellation carries much affection with it and imports thus much that he tendered the beleeving Thessalonians as his mothers wombe or his own bowels even as his brethren therefore he gives them this necessary exhortation in all brotherly love and earnestnesse Stand fast The reasons that enforce it are implyed in this word Therefore Therefore Wherefore Two Reasons may bee gathered from the coherence of these words First the Apostle tells them there will be an Apostacy a falling away Therefore stand fast Of which Apostacy you may read from the third verse to the thirteenth verse Secondly hee remembers them of Gods mercy to them in bringing them to the knowledge of the Gospell from the thirteenth verse to the fifteenth Therefore Brethren stand fast These are the Reasons to enforce this duty and of these in their order plainly And first Therefore stand fast because there will bee an Apostacy and a falling away That there will bee an Apostacy and a falling away all must all do confesse our times and the times of our fore-fathers are sad witnesses of the accomplishment of this Prophecy The Apostle speakes it in expresse termes there must be an Apostacy and a falling away first That this Captaine Apostate whom the Apostle v. 3. cals the man of sinne and doth so exactly describe is the same with the Antichrist of whom Saint Iohn writes in his Epistle and the false Prophet you read of in the Revelation for ought I know wee have unanimous consent But who this man of sinne is the Antichrist the false Prophet there 's the difference Not to spend much time in the searching out thereof or in answering to this quaere The Fathers are not competent Iudges in this particular The Papists themselves those pretended adorers of them yet in this leave them and refuse them Daniel tells us that the Prophecy is sealed to the end Saint Austen saith ingenuously that concerning this chapter hee could not understand the meaning of it To the Fathers these Prophecies were riddles and darke sayings yet by that glimering light they had the mystery of iniquity beginning in the Apostles time they could they did point out the time the place and some the person The Fathers could not tell who this man of sinne was Our adversaries of the Church of Rome will not tell us they labour to free the Pope from it rather then to fasten it upon any other And while they labour to build new Babel Lord how are they confounded The Rhemists confesse that Rome is the place yea Bellarmine Ribera and others say certainely Rome is the seate The Sunne shines cleare as at noone-day they can but will not see I could muster whole Armies of the reformed Churches produce a cloud of witnesses empannell many grand-Iuries of our owne learned men that readily will answer to this quaere the Papacy is this Apostacy the Pope this man of sinne the Antichrist the false Prophet the time would faile me to bring forth King David and all his worthies King Iames the Bishops and Professors and learned men of that learned age all which plainly and freely confesse and answer that the Papacy is this Apostacie the Pope this man of sinne the Antichrist the false Prophet In this particular I may truly say of that King of Schollars what the servants of King David said he is worth tenne thousand how plainely hath hee publisht to the whole world and sent it abroad to the Emperor to Christian Kings and Princes wherein he hath declared his opinion concerning this thing how plainly in his paraphrase upon the Revelation in his meditation upon the twentieth Chapter in his Apologie to Kings and Princes For my part I will walke under the protection of this great King and follow the steppes of those learned men backt with the authority of the booke of Homilies and take it for granted indeed which cannot reasonably bee denyed it may easily bee made good that the Papacy is this Apostacy the Pope this man of sinne the Antichrist the false Prophet Then my exhortation to you is the same with Paul to his Thessalonians Therefore Brethren stand fast that you be not entangled and drawne away to Popery If Saint Paul thought it necessary in his time when the mystery of iniquity began to worke and the man of sinne was not revealed when the Cockatrice Egges were not hatched and the Pope had no being in the world to exhort the believing Thessalonians to stand fast that they might not bee drawne away with that falling away how necessary is it for us and at this time seasonable for mee to exhort you beloved now that the mystery of Iniquity is strongly working and the man of sin clearely revealed now that the Pope is regnant in full power and strength to exhort you in the words of the Apostle Therefore Brethren stand fast First consider if you stand not fast indeed you may be drawne away to Popery Secondly consider It 's a dangerous thing to bee drawne away to Popery First you may easily be drawne away The Papacy is an alluring inticing tempting bewitching Religion Sir Walter Rawleigh knew what hee said and he spake truth when hee said it that were hee to choose a Religion for licentious libertie and lasciviousnesse he would choose the Popish Religion No Religion under Heaven so consonant so congruous so sutable so agreeable to corrupted nature to flesh and bloud as the Religion of the Church of Rome see I beseech you what the spirit of God faith of it in the seaventeenth of the Revelations and the first and so forth to the sixth verse you must have patience that I may read the words to you And there came one of the seaven Angels which had the seaven Vials and talked with mee saying come hither I will shew unto thee the judgement of the great whore that sitteth upon many
to God They have their pardons their indulgences their Purgatory their supererogations and I know not what no sinne that they can commit but the Pope will pardon no sinne that they would commit but the Pope can dispense withall no matter how long they have lived in sinne in any sinne though the sin against the HOLY GHOST yet extreme unction at the last wil salve all I know they make a great cry and clamor and tell us as the Priests of Baal they cut themselves with Knives and Launcers till the bloud gush out they tell us of their frequent fastings of their often watchings of their bloudy whippings of their long Pilgrimages their Rigorous discipline their voluntary poverty their simple obedience their Massacring the body their lying in the dust and endangering of their lives and a great deale more and could answer all these with the first of Isay Who hath required these things at your hand what are these their sacrifices trifles nothing in comparison of that great worke God doth require were all these true reall and not fained did they the same things indeed which they seeme to doe were there no Iugling nor no delusion nor mitigation nor dispensation yet all these and more in the extremity and height were nothing to the crucifying of the flesh with the affections of it to the mortifying of earthly members sinnes as deere as the bodily members to the killing of the old man to the breaking of the heart to the wounding of the soule to the spirituall observation of the Law and to the beliefe in Christ Iesus what is it for a man to give the first borne of his body for the sinne of his soule to give his goods to the poore and his body to bee burned to save his soule Yea what is it to lye in their Inquisition their Purgatory in hell a thousand yeares and to purchase Christ by this all this were nothing what the servants of Naaman said My Father If the Prophet had commanded thee a greater thing wouldst thou not have done it how much more when he saith Wash and bee cleane If the Pope command greater things to purchase Heaven would they not doe it how much more these small things There 's nothing hard in the Church of Rome which a meere Carnall man a voluptuous Epicure a Libertine cannot easily digest Thirdly in the Papacy there are many Arts and Crafts and subtilties and devises to deceive and entice people withall Saint Paul saith verse 9. that the man of sinne his comming is after the working of Sathan with all power and signes and lying miracles and the like Antichrist hath his hookes his snares his ginnes his temptations and delusions sutable to every complexion and condition of man or woman If hee sees any Ambitious hee tempts them as his father did our Saviour Christ when he shewed him all the kingdomes of the world and the glory of them great preferments and dignities there are in the Church of Rome more preferments and greater than are in the true Church of God nor are they sparing to promise to give them Adams sinne cleaves to all Adams sonnes we would bee above this is a pestilent baite and by this they draw many Schollers from us If they meete with any covetous they have their silver and golden Balls the golden wedge and Babylonish garment they will showre gold into their lappes and by this they draw Marchants and Tradesmen from us If they meete with any credulous and superstitious they have their signes and wonders and lying miracles I know no Religion extant in the world that challenges wonders and miracles but the Religion of the Church of Rome they object against us and upbraid us with it that we have no wonders and miracles they have much good may it do them Antichrist comes in all deceiveablenes of unrighteousnesse with signes and lying wonders to deceive them that perish If they meete with any fearefull by nature and scrupulous of hell they have their apparitions and visions make them heare scriekings and howlings preach nothing but horror and terror hell death and damnation If they meete with any sicke they excercise their charms and spells and can and do cast out devils through the power of the devill If they meete with any constant in Religion they have their torments their tortures their purgatories their hel their Inquisition Satan saith one doth not alwayes appeare in one and the same fashion but hath as many severall changes as Proteus among the Poets At Listra hee appeares like a Comoedian as if a scene of Plautus were to be presented upon the Stage at Antioch like a Iesuite with traditions in his mouth At Athens hee fallies out like a Philosopher At Ephesus like an Artificer in his Apron And as Sathan so the eldest sonne of Sathan so in the manner with signes and lying wonders he hath his profound Plots his lying and subtill devises his wiles and stratagems to deceive them that are stedfast It 's easie to be drawne away then Stand fast Lastly in the Papacy consider the agents the instruments Romes factors the great Whores Pandors are crafty to inveagle and betray me to their Religion they are crafty subtill base and impudent Read how the spirit of God describes them in the ninth of the Revelations and the first verse and so forward And the fifth Angell sounded and I saw a Starre fall from Heaven unto the earth and to him was given the key of the bottomlesse pit and there arose the smoake of the pit as the smoake of a great furnace and the Sunne and the aire were darkened by the smoake of the Pit and there came out of the smoake Locusts upon the Earth and unto them was given power as the Scorpions of the earth have power and it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grasse of the earth neither any greene thing neither any tree but onely those men which have not the seale of God in their foreheads and to them was commanded that they should not kill them but that they should bee vexed five moneths and that their paine should bee as the paine that commeth of a Scorpion when hee hath stang a man therefore in those dayes shall men seeke death and shall not find it and shall desire to dye and death shall flye from them and the forme of the Locusts was like unto horses prepared to battaile and on their heads were as it were Crowns like unto gold and their faces were like the faces of men and they had haire as the haire of women and their teeth were as the teeth of Lions and they had Habergeons as the Habergeons of Iron The Papists themselves confesse that there by the Starre fallen from Heaven is meant the master of some great error and heresie and by the Locusts that arise out of the earth the reachers of those heresies that goe about to infect the people of God The Rhemists say this Starre fallen from
Heaven is such as Arius Luther and Calvin was The Star that shall lead me to the light of this Starre that is fallen from Heaven shall bee that fixed Starre now in Heaven KING Iames Kings have a speciall interest in the book of the Revelation And God hath made them of great use there to bring downe the man of sinne Then it may well stand with the wisdome of God to reveale the meaning to them And of all Kings I heare of none that hath taken that paines in the Revelation as King Iames This Starre saith hee is the Pope who was once in the kingdome of Heaven as a glorious bright Starre in Heaven above who had an eminent place in an eminent Church of God The Locusts that infect the aire are that innumerable multitude and diverse orders of Ecclesiasticall persons as Fryers Monkes Priests Cardinalls Iesuites and I know not whom who bring as much destruction upon all sorts of men as Locusts to the grasse and tender herbe As Locusts come by swarmes and overspread the whole earth so these fill the whole earth with their Insinuations The shape of them is like unto Horses prepared to battell to signifie that their forme of practise and policie shall be so worldly wise that they shall want nothing pertaining to the setting forth of their intents no more than a horse of service which is curiously barbed fitted and prepared for the fight They had on their heads Crownes of Gold they pretend great holinesse none more then that Ecclesiasticall order even as the Elders because of their true holinesse had Crownes of Gold so they because of their pretended holinesse have Crownes of Gold also They have the faces of men they come with the faces and Reasonings of men Sophisticall Arguments subtill Philosophy which Saint Paul cals vaine Philosophy The haire of women As the haire of women is a speciall part of their bewty to deceive men so they have Arts and Crafts to draw men to their Religion They have habergeons of Iron to shew they are backt with authority and the like I could goe on further they are many and crafty full of power have Crownes of Gold the heads and faces of men the haire of women all alluring tempting enticing and bewitching those that in this place are called Locusts in the sixteenth of the Revelation and the 13. are call'd frogs Frogges indeed like those frogs that came into the houses and bed-chambers of Pharaoh King of Egypt and of his servants and all his people no place nor person free they are the sublimate and the transcendent Instruments of deceit they come out of the mouth of the Dragon out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false Prophet The very spirit of the Devill active powerfull strong and stirring full of delusion to deceive men Brethren you see what reason you have to stand fast that you be not by any drawne back againe to Popery Secondly consider it 's a dangerous thing to be drawne away to Popery I say consider the danger that attends all them that are drawn away All Papists in that sense that I speake of Papists for I doe not speake of all that may be Popishly affected or incline to some Popish opinions but such Papists as derive their name from Papa the Pope that hold him to bee the head of the Church that subscribe to the Counsell of Trent all Italianated Iesuited Papists they are Traitors to the King under whom they live Heretickes Infidels and Atheists in continuall danger of temporall destruction and at last sure of eternall damnation First all sorts of Papists are Traitors to the King under whom they live Not to prove this by an Induction of particulars from those many Treasons that have beene committed in this Land when was there any Treason since the beginning of Reformation or scarce before but they were the Contrivers Plotters Actors at least the favourers and Abettors of it Was not Sumervile Parrey Babington and his complices Papists was not Lopez and his Abettors Papists was not Campion and Parsons Papists were not the Gunpowder Traitors Papists was not Catesby Winter and Persey was not Digby Rooke-wood and Tresham was not that Incarnate Devill Guido Fawkes were they not all Papists Nor yet to prove them Traitors because the Law of the Land makes them Traitors which hath enacted that all those Priests and Iesuites that come into the Land are Traitors all that bring Agnus Dei that maintaine the Popes supremacy above the Kings and labour to draw obedience from the King and perswade to Rome are Traitors But I will prove it from the principles and maximes of their owne Religion that shew necessarily all such Papists must bee Traytors in that kingdome where they live All Religions may perhaps have some that are Traitors in it but no Religion under Heaven set aside the Religion of the Church of Rome doth necessitate and compell men to be Traitors They have a maxime among them I finde it in Bellarmine that Kings have not their immediate power from God but from the people yet so that the people transferre their power into the person of the King yet keepe habitually in themselves which they may make a principle for Traytors It 's said of all that the Pope may excommunicate Kings and Kings standing so may be deposed and those that goe about to infect the people the people ought to rise up against them and that it is not only a lawfull but a necessary and a meritorious worke The English Papists saith a Iesuited English Priest are well to be excused for not rising against their King because they want power had they power to their will the King should either obey the Pope or else they would not obey the King Papists are Traytors Secondly Papists are Heretickes Infidels and Atheists not to speake of their innumerable multitude of lesser errors called Veniall sinnes yet notwithstanding the number of them may helpe to drowne the Shippe of Rome nor yet to speake of their grosser Tenents not yet confirmed in the Church of Rome but disputed in their Schooles there are some hereticall errors maintained among some so grosly hereticall that whosoever holds them must necessarily be an Heretick Infidell and Atheist Such is their Image worship their Altar worship their Crosse worship their Saint worship their Angell worship their Relicke worship and the like such is Iustification by works works of super-arrogation but above all the transcendent heresie the head of heresies that the Pope is the head of the Church above the Scriptures above Synods above Counsells that he cannot erre is so hereticall that whosoever holds it in Radice in fundamento denies all the Articles of the faith denies the booke of God and by necessary consequence denies GOD himselfe for whosoever they are that build any thing on a false foundation if the foundation falls all the building falls with it Saint Paul tells us that the man of sinne sits
league no covenants no mariages with them and there 's a morall Reason annexed that concernes us as much as them for they will turne you away from following mee And there you see what GOD charges them To cut downe their groves breake downe their Images and the like I cannot but commend herein the policie of our Adversaries of the Church of Rome That will not suffer one Lutheran nor Calvinist nor any of the reformed Religion to be within their power but upon the least suspition he must into the Inquisition What 's the reason that the Pope will not dispense in Spaine or Italy if a Papist marry a Protestant and yet here they will dispense with them I pitty those that have Papists lying in their bosomes those Children that have popish Parents those servants that have popish Masters those Tenants that have Popish Land-lords those poore neighbours that have great Popish friends Beloved stand fast have nothing to doe with Popery in any kinde whatsoever Thirdly read none of their books trust none of their miracles beleeve none of their Legend preserve none of their Relickes keepe none of their Images You may see what a strict charge God gives the Nazarites he forbids them wine that they should drinke nothing that comes of the Vine The best of the Kings of Iudah are branded for leaving the groves in the beginning of Reformation when the King seized upon the Abbies and Monasteries it was both policy and wisdome in time not onely to seize upon their goods but to demolish their houses to ruine their buildings to lay desolate their places for Ziim and Ohim had they continued those Locusts and Frogges would have filled their places againe In Italy and Spaine there is not one Booke of Protestant writers suffered among them they have their Index Expurgatorius to wipe out what ever may savour of true Religion Nay as a wise and learned Traveller saith the books of Bellarmine are very rare to bee found among them because hee quotes the Arguments of the Protestants in them learne wisedome from them have nothing to doe with what they have Fourthly pray mightily to GOD that God will uphold and strengthen you with the right hand of his power that you may stand fast CHRIST tells Peter hee prayed for him that his faith might not at all faile If CHRIST prayed for Peter Lord what great need have we to pray for our selves that our faith may not faile you may Beloved bee tempted yet above your strength there may yet come a time of tryall and an houre of temptation you have not yet resisted unto bloud yet you have lived in a land of peace and safety you have not beene scar'd with the barking of Vncouth Wolves Priests and Iesuites have been banisht from among us and long may they be banisht once they were banisht from France thither they returned againe the times may come about so that they may returne to us againe O you that would stand fast pray pray mightily to God Barnabas was drawne away for ought I know the temptation may be so great that we may be drawne away Then do as IEHOSAPHAT did when that great Army came against him cry mightily to GOD that you may stand fast Lastly would you stand fast Receive the truth in the Love of it Because they would not receive the truth in the love of it God gave them up to strong delusions I say receive the truth in the love of it You heare many Sermons you have the book of God in your hand much peaching It is not enough to have the word of God in your heads but you must have it in your hearts We read of the Fathers that they received the promise afarre of the word is emphaticall they leapt at the promise received it with great Ioy O let the word sinke deep into your hearts be well grounded in Religion It is better there then swimming in the braine many poore ignorant men by this have kept close to the truth when many great Schollers have proved Apostates receive the truth in the love of it Thus much for the duty have patience for one word of exhortation Must we stand fast to the Gospell that we be not drawne away to Popepery suffer men and Brethren a word of Exhortation You that are Magistrates of the Land you that are Ministers yea all the people of God Among other Reasons some give this Reason for one why Samuel went throughout the Land every yeare in circuit to see if he could find out any Idols of the Gentiles that they had hid or any graven Image or carved worke Our Iudges in their Courts and Bishops in their Visitations give in charge for diligent inquiry what Recusant Papists or popishly affected there are We have singular excellent good lawes for the preservation of the puritie of Religion and to keepe under Popery whence then is it men and brethren that Popery so far prevailes this day that Popery so much increases among us I beseech you that are arm'd with Authority go to the utmost of your authority you that have power to punish punish to indict indict to present present let not Papists rest in peace in safety in security by you If the chiefest and greatest men of a Parish bee Papists their children their servants their attendants their Tenants their poore neighbours their rich kinred and friends are all in danger by them My Lord will have his followers aswell of his vices as of his person If hee leaves his friend at the Church-doore hee turnes not backe without his Attendants If his honour please to bee Idolatrous they will waite on him to Masse You that keepe backe the sword from doing justice when God calls for it you may your selves dye by the sword of God and the bloud of all that Parish through your neglect shall lye upon your heads Crudelitas pro Christo pietas est cruelty for Christ is godlinesse You to whom the sword of the spirit is committed draw forth that sword Lift up your voyce like a Trumpet Cry aloud and spare not Tell the Papists of their transgressions and the Church of Rome of her Abominations Warn the People of God to flye from them least they be partakers of their sinnes and of their plagues Exhort them to stand fast to the Gospell already received discover the nakednesse of the one and shew the beauty of the other The Angell of the Church of Ephesus is commended for his labour and patience and for that hee could not beare with them that were evill but tryed them that said they were Apostles and were not and hated the Nicolaitans which GOD also hates Let this bee our Crowne and our Glory that if any perish they perish not through our default O let not false Shepheards theeves and wolves bee more painefull Let not Iesuites compasse Sea and Land to make one Proselyte of their owne Religion which when they have done they make him seavenfold more
them O my soule come not into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united Secondly with malediction and execration cursed be their anger it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruel Lastly with a Propheticall prediction what should become of them I will divide them in Iacob and scatter them in Israel Of these in their order briefly Revenge is a base and cowardly passion proceeding from a weake effeminate abject mind unworthy the breast of men much more of men of God thunder haile and tempest and the rest of those fearefull motions that we have in the aire here below neither trouble nor hurt celestiall bodies anger rests in the bosome of fooles but revenge to kil argues wicked weaknes and savage cruelty murdering revenge indeed ends the quarrell but wounds the reputation he strikes safely but villanously and dishonourably that strikes and kils And this was the sin of Simeon and Levi The story is well known if any be ignorant of it read it at better leisure in Gen. 34.25 Their bloudy massacre will appeare more horrid if you be pleased to consider with me these aggravating circumstances some are in the text the rest in the story I must make choise of some I cannot travell through all First in their anger they slew a man Thargum Ierusalem reades it Kings and Rulers Hamor and Sechem the chiefe of them murdered was the King and Prince of the Country He that kills a man strikes at Gods Image he that kills a King strikes at his Soveraignty Kings are Gods though not by participation of nature yet of name and power They that conspire against Kings they fight against God Thou shalt not saith the God of these Gods revile the Gods of thy people God imparts his own name to them that they might have his own safety Kings are living and breathing Images of God it is against the Law of nations against the Law of nature against the Royall Law of God to kill to smite to touch a King yea to revile him or in our secret Chambers to thinke evill against him The greater was the sinne of Simeon and Levi In their Anger they slew a man a King This is the first aggravation Secondly Innocents are not to be punished with the guilty As I live saith God this Proverb shall be used no more in Israel The fathers have eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge Farre be it from thee saith Abraham to destroy the righteous with the wicked even heathen Abimelech could plead wilt thou destroy a Righteous Nation shall one man sinne and the whole City perish I have sinned but these sheepe what have they done If Hamor and Sechem had beene worthy of death what had the rest of the Citie done what had their wives their children their servants their horses their cattell their oxen done The Greeke Beza and many others reade it in the plurall number slew men and digg'd downe walls overthrew their house or as in the Margin houghed the Oxen in pieces This is the second Aggravation Thirdly there ought to bee a proportion betwixt the punishment and the offence though all sinnes are mortall yet all are not equall wee are so farre Catholicke that we are not Stoicall lesser sins are not to be punished with the great censures of the law anger in heart is not so evill as Raca in the frowne or foole in the mouth the person against whom as well as the person that offends aggravates the sinne That word which is spoken against a private man will but beare an action against a Lord of the Councell is Scandalum magnatum against the King Treason against God blasphemy sinne and judgement have their Climaxes simple fornication was not to bee punished with death but with maryage or a Dowry Sechem was guilty of no more yet they kill'd him This was the third aggravation Fourthly Ministers of justice ought not rashly to proceed in judgment God hath proclaimed himselfe and would have the Gods of the earth to take notice of it that he is slow to wrath ready to forgive Our Law forbids all men trading in bloud to beare the sword of Government Vespasian sighed and groaned at just execution Nero wished he could not write when hee was to signe a condemnation Queene Elizabeth next to the holy Scriptures prefers as the best piece Seneca his booke of Clemencie Our Gracious King you have often heard it proclaimed how backward hee is to unsheath the sword even as to draw bloud from his owne veines If punishment must follow revenge may not a member may not be cut off without sighes and teares softly deliberately must men execute judgement the greater was the sin of Simeon and Levi that in their anger slew a man and in their selfe will digg'd downe a wall this is the fourth aggravation Fifthly to do as we would be done unto is the standing Law of God and Emperours oathes and covenants are to be sacred and inviolably kept Shall he prosper saith God shall hee breake the covenant and bee delivered Thou Iesus saith Amurath the great Turke if thou be a God as they say thou art Revenge the treachery of thy servants Covenants and agreements ought to be most simple and most naked Hamor and Sechem were at Truce with Israel at Peace not only in covenant with them but in covenant with God they were proselytes in Religion they dealt sincerely and truly the greater was the sin of Simeon and Levi that dealt treacherously and falsly This was the fifth Aggravation Lastly Religion ought to bee the surest bond men that professe Religion that countenance their doings by Religion ought especially to them that are without to be most Religious just and exact that the name of God be not blasphemed that the holy profession be not evill spoken of Simeon and Levi were visible members of the Church militant they themselves professed Religion and undertooke all the Treaty in the way of Religion the more Irreligious their treachery and perfidious their cruelty this is the sixth and last aggravation Collect these all together my brethren Their sinne was murder they shed the sacred bloud of Kings they murdered Innocents they deemed them above their offence they delight in punishing they breake oathes and covenants and they did all this under a pretence of Religion Laborat Annalium fides After ages would never have beleeved this if Gods sacred Annals the History of this book had not recorded it you have seene the sin of Simeon and Levi more briefly see their censure Cursed be their Anger sometimes wee shall have the holy man David cursing not onely mens passions as Iacob his sonnes here but also their persons but then his curses are Indefinite or conditionall or propheticall either hee names not the man or intends it if God intend it so or his curses are rather predictions than male-dictions Non tam vota quam vaticinia God appointed sixe Tribes
Great Prince saith hee Your Majestie need not feare the treason of the Iesuites for you are protected by the particular care and extraordinary favour of GOD which over-shadowes you and makes you redoubtable to all your enemies But Sir saith hee what hopes or meanes of safety or refuge to posterity when the Rat is in the Bagge when the Serpent is in the bosome the powder in the Pistoll Iesuites saith he that are sworne servants to the Pope can never bee true subjects to their Prince they exempt themselves from obedience and avouch the same of all Clergie men to make their party the more strong yet poore Prince after a little while had the Iesuites knife in his heart God preserve our King and hee that brought him from Spaine to the admiration of many that he might preserve him a blessing to this age preserve him from the power and cruelty of Spaine yet as a Privie Counsellor spake of Q. Elizabeth concerning the Papists he never went to bed but awaked with feare least he should heare of her death by Treason nor never Rose in the morning but expected the same ere night So wee may bee sure of this where ever occasion is offered how ever for the present they may strive to appeare good subjects traitors wil be ever traitors ready to vent their Treason the least occasion shall be enough to kill Kings and blow up Parliaments This is the third Aggravation Fourthly Simeon and Levi in their anger they slew a man in their selfe will they digg'd downe a wall Their anger was fierce their wrath was cruell Salvian asketh What so great wickednesse in the Christian Religion that for this cause Parents curse their children and children their Parents No anger so fierce nor rage so cruell as that against sincere professors I cannot but admire at the divelish rage of the Church of Rome against us they esteeme all the reformed Churches no better then Turkes Iewes and Infidels nay worse for they admit these to dwell in the midst of them Blasphemers murderers witches perjured persons traitors they can dispense with they account us dogs worthy nothing but rackes torture torment worthy cruell death and beastly buriall they will not allow us a place in their purgatory but send us to Hell yea those damned Hypocrites the Lords Inquisitors the very Nero's and Caligula's of the Age say they show too much lenitie to such dogges as we are Theodosius in his hot Rage caused 7000. of Thessalonica cruelly to be put to death for which cause Ambrose excommunicated him and he relenting made this Law that execution should not soone follow sentence but thirtie dayes should passe betweene them They have not the reason of men but the rage of Lions the Venym of Serpents and devils that are hasty to shed bloud It was a cruell wish of Caligula that wish't all Rome had but one neck that he might cut it off at one blow and the King of Spaine that wish't all the Netherlands a Sea My brethren there is no rage wrath nor malice like to the wrath of Rome I cannot enlarge my selfe in every particular No piety to God no justice to Innocents no pitty to their friends no loyaltie to their Soveraign nothing is able to keep them in Romes Babylonicall furnace is seaven times hotter their rage and superstition like two impetuous torrents beare down all respects before them but that rage is most hellish which in peace storms and thunders which brings me to the fift Aggravation The fifth circumstance that aggravated the sinne is that they falsified their words they broke their covenants The Papists teach that no faith is to be kept with Infidels Heretickes Oathes and agreements ought to bee sacred and kept among all nations Heathens will not infringe their oathes when once the name of their God is upon them for the terror of that God Therefore the Heathen Embassadors of Rome chose rather voluntarily to returne and be tortured to death then perjured When one of them equivocated to save his life the Senate put him to death But the Rome Christian not onely practise but teach that men may men must breake and the Pope can dispense with the breaking of the oath The Councell of Constance determined this in the case of Iohn Hus and Ierom of Prague whom they illegally burnt though they had promised safety saying no faith was to bee kept with Hereticks This made the friends of Luther so unwilling to let him goe to Wormes though his resolution was unalterable I go saith he in the name of God and of Iesus Christ though as many Devills were in Worms as there be tyles on the houses I would goe And indeed it was the same Iesus Christ preserved him for Baals Priests there would have him put to death and had not the plaine opposition of Lewes Elector Palatine prevailed with the noble disposition of Charles the ninth they had burnt him also Good God! that they that have the faces of men the Intellect of Angels the profession of Christians the Repute of learning so great a name through the whole world yet notwithstanding maintaine such divelish Atheisticall and damnable positions contrary to all humane society to the shame of Christians to the ignominie and reproach of Christ Iesus Saint Paul in the 2 Thessalonians 2. calls him the lawlesse man no law can bind him no covenants no agreements When the Cardinals meete to choose a Pope in the Conclave they make a vow whosoever is chosen Pope he shal sweare to such Articles as they make And Sleydan saith the Pope is no sooner chosen but he breaks them all and checks their Insolencies as if they went about to limit his power to whom al power is given in heaven and in earth The Christian Religion never suffered so great a scandall and losse as when Iulian the Legate dispensed with the oath wch Vladislaus made to Amurath the Turk The cause saith Sir Walter Rawleigh of the cruell war forty yeares betwixt the Netherlands and the King of Spaine which cost one hundred Millions of money and the lives of foure hundred thousand of men is dispensing with the oath the King of Spaine took I le instance in one to which a second cannot bee added Henry the second Emperor and Paschall the Pope made an agreement for further testimony of their Reconciliation and for more security the Pope doth administer the Sacrament with these words Take this pledge of my true love and our unfained reconciliation let him bee divided from Iesus Christ and have no part in his kingdome who first breakes covenant yet the very next yeare with the consent of his Cardinals hee broke this oath when oathes and Covenants are like Sampsons cords not able to binde what safety can there be in the world Some Iesuites laugh at the Zeale of our King and State in making the oath of Allegiance and say it 's to bind silly Foxes and is easily broken and say the Pope can dispense with