Triplici nodo triplex cuneus OR AN APOLOGIE FOR THE OATH of Allegiance Against the two Breues of Pope PAVLVS QVINTVS and the late Letter of Cardinal BELLARMINE to G. BLACKVVEL the Arch-priest Tunc omnes populi clamauerunt dixerunt Magna est Veritas praeualet ESDR 3. ¶ Authoritate Regiâ ¶ Imprinted at London by Robert Barker Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie ANNO 1607. AN APOLOGIE FOR THE OATH of Allegiance WHat a monstrous rare nay neuer heard of treacherous attempt was plotted within these few yeeres here in England for the destruction of his Maiestie the Queene their Posteritie the whole house of Parliament and a great number of good Subiects of all sorts and degrees is so famous already through the whole World by the infamy thereof as it is needlesse to be repeated or published any more the horror of the sinne it selfe doth so lowdly proclaime it For if those a Gen. 4 10. crying sinnes whereof mention is made in the Scripture haue that Epithet giuen them for their publique infamie and for procuring as it were with a lowd cry from Heauen a iust vengeance and recompence and yet those sinnes are both old and too common neither the world nor any one Countrey being euer at any time cleane voyd of them If those Sinnes I say are said in the Scripture to cry so lowd What must then this Sinne doe plotted without cause infinite in crueltie and singular from all examples What proceeded hereupon is likewise notorious to the whole world His Maiesties Iustice onely taking holde vpon the Offenders and that in as Honourable and publique a forme of triall as euer was vsed in this Kingdome 2. For although the onely reason they gaue for plotting so heinous an attempt was the zeale they caried to the Romish Religion yet were neuer any other of that profession the worse vsed for that cause as by his Maiesties gratious Proclamation immediatly after the discouery of the said Fact doeth plainely appeare Onely at the next sitting downe againe of the Parliament were there Lawes made setting downe some such orders as was thought fit for preuenting the like mischiefe in time to come Amongst which a forme of Oath was framed to be taken by all his Maiesties Subiects whereby they should make cleare profession of their Resolution faithfully to persist in his Maiesties obedience according to their naturall Allegiance To the end that hereby his Maiestie might make a separation not onely betweene all his good Subiects in generall and vnfaithfull Traitors that intended to with draw themselues from his Maiesties Obedience But specially to make a separation betweene so many of his Maiesties Subiects who although they were otherwise Popishly affected yet retained in their hearts the print of their naturall duetie to their Soueraigne and those who being caried away with the like Fanaticall zeale that the Powder Traitors were could not conteine themselues within the bounds of their naturall Allegiance but thought diuersitie of Religion a safe pretext for all kinde of Treasons and rebellions against their Soueraigne Which godly and wise intent God did blesse with successe accordingly For very many of his Maiesties Subiects that were Popishly affected aswell Priests as Layicks did freely take the same Oath whereby they both gaue his Maiestie occasion to thinke the better of their fidelitie and likewise freed themselues of that heauy slander That although they were fellow professors of one Religion with the powder Traitors yet were they not ioyned with them in Treasonable courses against their Soueraigne whereby all quietly minded Papists were put out of despaire and his Maiestie gaue good proofe that he intended no persecution against them for conscience cause but onely desired to be secured of them for Ciuill obedience which for Conscience cause they were bound to performe 3. But the deuil could not haue deuised a more malitious tricke for interrupting this so calme and clement a course then fell out by the sending hither and publishing a Breue of the Popes countermaunding all them of his profession to take this Oath Thereby sowing new seedes of iealousie betweene his Maiestie and his Popish Subiects by stirring them vp to disobey that lawfull commandement of their Soueraigne which was ordeined to be taken of them as a pledge of their fidelitie And so by their refusall of so iust a charge to giue his Maiestie so great and iust a ground for punishment of them without touching any matter of Conscience throwing them needlesly into one of these desperate straights Either with the losse of their liues and goods to renounce their Allegiance to their natural Soueraigne Or else to procure the condemnation of their soules by renouncing the Catholicke faith as he alleadgeth 4. And on the other part although disparitie of Religion can permit no intelligence nor intercourse of Messengers betweene his Maiestie and the Pope yet there being no denounced warre betweene them he hath by this Action broken the rules of common ciuilitie and Iustice betweene Christian Princes in thus condemning him vnheard both by accounting him a Persecutor which cannot be but implyed by exhorting the Papists to endure Martyrdome As likewise by so straightly commanding all those of his profession in England to refuse the taking of this Oath Thereby refusing to professe their naturall obedience to their Soueraigne For if he thinke himselfe his Maiesties Iudge wherefore hath he condemned him vnheard And if he haue nothing to doe with the King and his gouernment as indeed he hath not why doeth he mittere falcem in alienam messem to meddle betweene his Maiestie and his Subiects especially in matters that meerely and onely concerne Ciuil obedience And yet could Pius Quintus in his greatest furie and auowed quarrel against the late Queene doe no more iniury vnto her then he hath in this case offered vnto his Maiestie without so much as a pretended or an alleadged cause For what difference there is betweene the commanding Subiects to rebell and loosing them from their oath of Allegiance as Pius Quintus did and the commanding of Subiects not to obey in making profession of their Oath of their duetifull Allegiance as this Pope hath now done No man can easily discerne 5. But to draw neere vnto his Breue Wherein certainly he hath taken more pains then he needed by setting downe in the said Breue the whole body of the Oath at length whereas the onely naming of the Title thereof might as well haue serued for any answere he hath made thereunto making Vna litura that is the flat and generall condemnation of the whole Oath to ferue for all his refutation Wherein he hath as well in this respect as in the former dealt both vndiscreetly with his Maiestie and iniuriously with his owne Catholicks With his Maiestie in not refuting particularly what special words he quarrelled in that Oath which if he had done it might haue bene that his Maiestie for the fatherly care he hath not to
shall take the Crowne from Philip or Philip shall take the Miter from the Pope Whereupon the Pope stirred vp Otho against him who slew him and presently went to Rome and was crowned Emperour by the Pope though afterward the Pope deposed him too Was not the Emperour e Petrus de vineis Epist 2. lib. 2. Cuspian in vit Frederici 2. Frederike asraid when Innocentius the fourth excommunicated him depriued him of his Crown absolued Princes of their Oath of Fidelity to him and in Apulia corrupted one to giue him poison Whereof the Emperour recouering he hired one Manfredus to poison him whereof he died What did f Paulus Ionius Hist lib. 2. Alexander the third write to the Soldan That if hee would liue quietly hee should by some sleight murther the Emperour And to that end sent him the Emperours picture And not g Cuspianus Alexander the sixt take of the Turke Baiazetes two hundred thousand Crownes to kill his brother Gemen or as some call him Sisimus whom hee helde Captiue at Rome Did hee not accept of the conditions to poison the man and had his pay Was not our h Honenden pag. 539. Henry the second afraid after the slaughter of S. Becket That besides his going bare-footed in Pilgrimage was whipped vp and downe the Chapter-house like a schoole-boy and glad to escape so too Had not the King of France his father reason to be afraid when the i Gomecius de â—ebus gestis Fran. Ximenij Archâ—eâ—is Tolet. lib. 5. Pope gaue away his Kingdome of Nauarre to the King of Spaine whereof hee yet possesseth the best halfe Had not the King his sonne reason to be afraid when hee was forced to begge so submissiuely the relaxation of his Excommunication as he was content likewise to suffer his Ambassadour to be whipped at Rome for penance And had not our late Soueraigne reason to looke to her selfe when shee was Excommunicated by Pius Quintus her Subiects loosed from their Fidelitie and Allegiance towards her her Kingdome of Ireland giuen to the King of Spaine and that famous fugitiue Diuine honoured with the like degree of a red Hat as Bellarmine is is not ashamed to publish in print an a Card. Allens answere to Stan. Let. Anno 1587 Apologie for Stanlies Treason maintaining That by reason of her Excommunication and Heresie it was not onely lawfull for any of her Subiects but euen they were bound in Conscience to depriue her of any Strength which lay in their power to doe And whether it were Armies Townes or Fortresses of hers which they had in their handes they were obliged to put them in the King of Spaine her enemies hands She no more being the right owner of any thing But albeit it bee true That wise men are moued by the examples of others dangers to vse Prouidence and caution according to the olde prouerbe Tum tua res agitur paries cùm proximus ardet yet his Maiestie our Soueraigne was neerelier summoned to vse this caution by the practise of it in his owne Person First by the sending forth of these Buls whereof I made mention already for debarring him from Entrie vnto this Crowne and Kingdome And next after his Entrie and full possession thereof by the horrible Powder-Treason which should haue bereft both him and his both of Crowne and Life And howsoeuer the Pope will seeme to cleare himselfe of any allowance of the said Powder-Treason yet can it not be denied that his principall Ministers here and his chiefe Mancipia the Iesuites were the plaine practisers thereof For which the principall of them hath died confessing it and others haue fled the Countrey for the Crime yea some of them gone into Italy And yet neither these that fled out of this Countrey for it nor yet Baldwine who though he then remained in the Low-countryes was of counsell in it were euer called to account for it by And whereas for illustration of this strong Argument of his hee hath brought in for a similitude the historie of a Nazianzenus in â—uliar inuâ—ctâ—ua prima Iulian the Apostata his dealing with the Christians when as he straited them either to commit idolatrie or to come within the compasse of treason I would wish the Author to remember that although a similitude may bee permitted claudicare vno pede yet this was a very ill chosen similitude which is lame both of The disproportion of the Cardinals similitude feete and handes and euery member of the body For I shall in few wordes proue that it agreeth in no one point saue one with our purpose which is that Iulian was an Emperour and our Soueraigne is a King First Iulian was an Apostata one that had renounced the whole Christian faith which he had once professed and became an Ethnike againe or rather an Atheist Our Soueraigne is a Christian who neuer changed that Religion that he dranke in with his milke nor euer was ashamed of his profession Iulian dealt against Christians onely for the profession of Christs cause His Maiestie in this case dealeth with his Subiects only to make a distinction betweene true Subiects and false hearted Traitours Iulians ende was the ouerthrow of the Christians His Maiesties end is to maintaine Christianitie in a peaceable gouernement Iulians drift was to make them commit idolatrie His Maiesties drift is to make his Subiects to make open profession of their naturall Allegiance and ciuill Obedience Iulians meanes whereby he went about it was by craft and insnaring them before they were aware His Maiesties course in this is plaine cleare and voide of all obscuritie neuer refusing leaue to any that are required to take this Oath to studie it at leisure and giuing them all the interpretation of it they can craue But the greatest dissimilitude of all is in this That Iulian pressed them to commit idolatrie to idoles and images But his Maiestie and all his Subiects of his profession are so farre from guilt in this point as wee are counted Heretiques by you because wee will not commit idolatrie So as in the maine point of all is the greatest contrarietie For Iulian persecuted the Christians because they would not commit idolatrie and yee count his Maiestie a persecutour because he will not admit idolatrie So as to conclude this point this old Poets sentence may well bee applied to Bellarmine in vsing so vnapt a similitude Perdere quos vult Iupiter hos dementat And therefore his vncharitable conclusion doth not rightly follow That it seemeth vnto him that some such thing should be subtilly or fraudulently included in this Oath As if no man can detest Treason against the King or professe Ciuil subiection except he renounce the Primacie of the Apostolike Sea But how he hath suckt this apprehension out at his fingers ends I cannot imagine for sure I am as I haue oft said he neuer goeth about to proue it And to answere an improbable imagination is to fight
one to another Which Charitie as it is very greatly to be desired of all faithfull Christians So certainely is it altogether necessarie for you most blessed Sonnes For by this your Charitie the Power of the Deuill is weakened who doeth so much assaile you since that Power of his is especially vpheld by the Contentions and Disagreement of our Sonnes We exhort you therefore by the Bowels of our Lord Iesus Christ by whose Loue we are taken out of the Iawes of eternall Death That aboue all things you would haue mutuall Charitie among you Surely Pope Clement the eight of happy memorie hath giuen you most profitable Precepts of practising brotherly Charitie one to another in his Letters in forme of a Breue to our welbeloued Sonne M. George Arch priest of the Kingdome of England dated the 5. day of the moneth of October 1602. Put them therefore diligently in practise and bee not hindered by any difficultie or doubtfulnesse We require you that ye doe exactly obserue the words of those Letters and that yee take and vnderstand them simply as they sound and as they lie all Power to interpret them otherwise being taken away In the meane while we will neuer cease to pray to the Father of Mercies that hee would with pitie beholde your afflictions and your paines And that hee would keepe and defend you with his continuall Protection whome wee doe gently greete with our Apostolicall Benediction Dated at Rome at S. Marke vnder the Signet of the Fisherman the tenth of the Calends of October 1606. the second yeere of our Pope-dome THE ANSWERE TO the first Breue FIrst the Pope expresseth herein his Sorrow for that Persecution which the Catholiques sustaine for the faiths sake Wherein besides the maine vntrueth whereby the King our Master is so iniuriously vsed I must euer auowe and maintaine as the trueth is according to mine owne knowledge that Her Maiestie neuer punished any Papist for Religion but that their owne punishment was euer extorted out of her hands against her will by their owne misbehauiour which both the time and circumstances of her Actions will manifestly make proofe of For before Pius Quintus his Excommunication giuing her ouer for a Pray and setting her Subiects at libertie to rebell It is wel knowen shee neuer medled with the blood or hard punishment of any Catholique nor made any rigorous Lawes against them And since that Time who list to compare with an indifferent eye the manifold intended Inuasions against her whole Kingdome The forraine Practises The internall publike Rebellions The priuate Plots and Machinations poysonings murthers and all sorts of deuises Et quid non dayly set abroach and all these Wares continually fostered and fomented from Rome Together with the continuall corrupting of her Subiects as well by temporall Bribes as by faire and specious promises of eternall felicitie And nothing but booke vpon booke publikely set foorth by all her Fugitiues for approbation of so Holy designes Who list I say with an indifferent eye to looke on the one part vpon those infinite and intollerable Temptations And on the other part vpon the iust yet moderate punishment of a part of these hainous Offenders shall easily see that gracious Prince as free from persecution as they shall free these hellish Instruments from the Honor of Martyrdome 5. But now hauing sacrificed if I may so say to the Manes of my defunct Soueraigne as well for the discharge of my particular duetie as for loue of Veritie I must next performe my duetie to his Maiestie present in testifying likewise the truth of his Actions in this matter Wherein I must for the loue of Veritie confesse That whatsoeuer was her iust and mercifull Gouernement ouer the Papists in her Time his Maiesties Gouernement ouer them since hath so farre exceeded hers in Mercie and Clemencie as not onely the Papists themselues grewe to that height of Pride in confidence of his mildenesse as they did directly expect and assuredly promise to themselues libertie of Conscience Equalitie with vs in all things But euen we I must truely confesse his Maiesties best and faithfullest Subiects were cast in great feare and amazement of his Maiesties Course and proceedings Euer prognosticating and iustly suspecting that sowre fruite to come of it which shewed it selfe clearely in the powder-Treason How many did his Maiestie honour with Knighthood His Maiesties Benefits and Fauours bestowed vpon the Catholiques of knowen and open Recusants How indifferently did his Maiestie giue audience and accesse to both sides bestowing equally all Fauours and Honors on both Professions How free and continuall accesse had all Rankes and Degrees of Papists in his Court and Companie And aboue all how frankely and freely did his Maiestie free Recusants of their ordinarie payments Besides it is euident what straite order was giuen out of his Maiesties owne mouth to his Iudges to spare the Execution of all Priests notwithstanding their Conuiction Ioyning thereunto a Gracious Proclamation whereby all Priests that were at libertie and not taken might goe out of the Countrey by such a day his Maiesties Generall Pardon hauing bene extended to all conuicted Priests in prison whereupon they were set at libertie as good Subiects And all Priestes that were taken after sent ouer and set at Libertie there But time and paper wil raile me to make enumeration of all the Benefits and Gracious fauours that his Maiestie hath bestowed in generall and particular vpon Papists In recounting wherof euery scrape of my penne would serue but for a blot of the Popes ingratitude and Iniustice in meating him with so hard a measure for the same So as I thinke I haue sufficiently or at least with good reason wiped the a Magno cum animi moerore c. Teares from the Popes eyes for complaining vpon such persecution who if he had bin but politikely wise although hee had had no respect to Iustice and Veritie would haue in this Complaint of his made a difference betweene the times of the late Queene and his Maiestie nowe present And in his commending of our Soueraignes Moderation in regard of former times might haue had hope to haue moued his Maiestie to haue continued in the same clement course For it is a true saying That alledged kindnesse vpon noble mindes doeth euer worke much And for the maine vntrueth of his Maiesties persecution it can neuer be proued that any were or are put to death in his Maiesties time for cause of Conscience except that now this discharge giuen by the Pope to all Catholiques to take their Oath of Allegiance to his Maiestie be the cause of the due punishment of many which if it fall out to be let the blood light vpon the Popes head who is the onely cause thereof As for the next poynt conteined in his Breue concerning his discharge of all Papists to come to our Church or frequent our Rites and Ceremonies I am not to meddle The intendement of this
So his Saint Leo lift vp Saint Peter with praises to the Skie that he being his d For so he calleth himselfe in sermo 1. in die â—ssum heire might haue gone vp with him For his Saint Leo was a great Orator who by the power of his Eloquence redeemed Rome from fire when both e Exbreniario Romano Attilas and Gensericus would haue burnt it Some fruits of this Rhetorick he bestowed vpon Saint Peter saying The Lord f Epist 89. did take Peter into the fellowship of the indiuisible vnitie which words being coupled to the sentence alleadged by the Cardinall That hee hath no part in the diuine Mystery that dare depart from the solidity of Peter should haue giuen him I thinke such a Sare as he should neuer haue dared to haue taken any aduantage by the words immediatly preceding for the benefit of the church of Rome and the head thereof since those which immediatly follow are so much derogatory to the diuine Maiestie And againe My g Epist 52. writings bee strengthned by the merit and Authority of my Lord most blessed Saint Peter We h Epist 89. beseech you to keepe the things decreed by vs thorough the inspiration of God and the Apostle most blessed Saint Peter If i In ser 2. in die anâ—â—â—er asâ—um suae any thing be well done or decreed of vs If any thing be obtained of Gods mercy by dayly prayers it is to be ascribed to Saint Peters works and merits whose power doth liue and Authority excell in his owne Sea He k Ser. 3. in die annâ— assump suâ— was so plentifully watered of the fountaine of all Graces that whereas hee receiued many things alone yet nothing passeth ouer to any man but by him And in a word he was so desirous to extoll Saint Peter That a message from him was an c Epist 24. Embassage from S. Peter Any thing done in his presence was in Saint Peters d Epist 4. presence Neither did he vse all this Rhetorick without purpose for at that time the Patriarke of Constantinople contended with him for Primacy And in the Councell of e Concil Calcâ—d Act. 16. c. â— 28 Calcedon the Bishops sixe hundred and more gaue equall Authority to the Patriark of that Sea and would not admit any priuiledge to the Sea of Rome aboue him but went against him And yet hee that gaue so much to Peter tooke nothing from Caesar but gaue him both his Titles and due giuing the power of calling a Councell to the Emperour as it may appeare by these one or two places following of many If it may please your f Epi. 9. Theodo sio Godlines to vouchsafe at our Supplication to condescend that you will command a Councell to be holden within Italy And writing vnto the Bishop of Constantinople Because the most Clement g Epist 16. Flauiano Emperour carefull of the peace of the Church will haue a Councell to be holden Albeit it euidently appeare the matter to be handled doth in no case stand in neede of a generall Councell Albeit h Epist 17. Theodosio my occasions will not permit me to be present vpon the day of the Councell which your Godlinesse hath appointed So as by this it may well appeare that he that gaue so much to Peter gaue also to Caesar his due and prerogatiue But yet he playeth not faire play in this that euen in all these his wrong applied Arguments and Examples he produceth no other witnesses but the parties themselues bringing euer the Popes Sentences for approbation of their owne Authority Now indeede for one word of his in the middest of his Examples I cannot but greatly commend him that is that Martyrs ought to indure all sorts of tortures and death before they suffer one syllable to be corrupted of the Law of God Which lesson if he and all the rest of his owne profession would applie to themselues then would not the Sacrament be administred sub vnâ specie directly contrary to Christs Institution the practise of the Apostles and of the whole Primatiue Church for many hundred yeres then would not the priuate Masses bee in place of the Lords Supper then would not the words of the a Bellar. de sacra Eucharist lib. 4. cap. 14. Canon of the Masse be opposed to the wordes of Saint Paul and Saint Luke as our Aduersary himselfe confesseth and cannot reconcile them nor then would not so many hundreths other Traditions of men be set vp in their Church not only as equall but euen preferred to the word of God But sure in this point I feare I haue mistaken him for I thinke he doth not meane by his Diuina dogmata the word of the God of heauen but onely the Canons and Lawes of his Dominus Deus Papa otherwise all his Primacy of the Apostolike Sea would not bee so much sticken vpon hauing so slender ground in the word of God And for the great feare he hath that the suddainty of the Apprehension the bitternesse of the Persecution the weakenesse of his Age and other such infirmities might haue bene the cause of the Arch-priests fal in this I haue already sufficiently answered him hauing declared as the trueth is and as the said Blackwell himselfe will yet testifie That hee tooke this Oath freely of himselfe without any inducement thereunto either Precibus or Minis But amongst all his citations he must not Some of Sanders his worthy sayings remembred forget holy Sanderus and his Visibilis Monarchia whose person and actions I did already a little touch And surely who will with vnpartiall eyes reade his Bookes they may well thinke that he hath deserued well of his English Roman-Church But they can neuer thinke but that he deserued very ill of his English Soueraigne and State Witnesse his owne bookes whereout I haue made choice to set downe heere these fewe Sentences following as flowers pickt out of so worthy a Garland a Sand. de visib monar lib. 6. cap. 4. ELIZABETH Queene of England doeth exercise the Priestly acte of teaching and preaching the Gospell in England with no lesse authority then CHRIST himselfe or MOSES euer did The Supremacie of a b Sand de cla Dauid lib. 6. cap. 1. woman in Church matters is from no other then from the Deuill And of all Kings in generall thus hee speaketh The c Sand. de visib Monar lib. 2. cap. 4. King that will not inthrall himselfe to the Popes authority he ought not to be tollerated but his Subiects ought to giue all diligence that another may be chosen in his place assoone as may be A King that is an d Ibidem Heretike ought to be remoued from the Kingdome that he holdeth amongst Christians and the Bishops ought to endeuour to set vp another assoone as possibly they can We doe constantly e Ibidem affirme that all Christian Kings are so farre vnder Bishops and Priests
in all matters appertaining to Faith and Religion that if they shall continue in a fault against Christian Religion after one or two admonitions obstinately for that cause they may and ought to bee deposed by the Bishops from all the Authority they hold amongst Christians f Ibidem Bishops are set ouer Imperiall Kingdomes if those Kingdomes do submit themselues to the Faith of CHRIST We doe constantly g Sand. de clau Dauid lib. 5. cap. 2. affirme That all Secular power whether Regall or any other is of Men. The h Ibidem Anoynting which is powred vpon the head of the King by the Priest doeth declare that he is inferiour to the Priest It is altogether against the will of i Sand. de clau Dauid lib. 5. cap. 4. CHRIST that Christian Kings should haue Supremacy in the Church And whereas for the Crowne and conclusion of all his examples he reckoneth his The Card. paire of Martyrs weighed two English Martyrs Moore and Roffensis who died for that one most weightie head of Doctrine as he alleadgeth refusing the Oath of Supremacie I must tell him that he hath not bene well informed in some materiall points which doe very neerely concerne his two said Martyrs For it is cleare and apparantly to be proued by diuers Records That they were both of them committed to the Tower about a yeere before either of them was called in question vpon their liues for the Popes Supremacy And that partly for their backwardnesse in the point of the establishment of the Kings Succession whereunto the whole Realme had subscribed and partly for that one of them to wit Fisher had had his hand in the matter of the holy a Called Anna Burton See the Act of Parliament maid of Kent he being for his concealement of that false Prophets abuse found guilty of Misprision of Treason And as these were the principall causes of their Imprisonment the King resting secure of his Supremacy as the Realme stood then affected but especially troubled for setling the Crowne vpon the Issue of his second Marriage So was it easily to be conceiued that being thereupon discontented their humors were thereby made apt to drawe them by degrees to further opposition against the King and his Authority as indeed it fell out For in the time of their being in prison the Kings lawfull Authoritie in cases Ecclesiasticall being published and promulged as well by a generall Decree of the Clergie in their Synode as by an Acte of Parliament made thereupon they behaued themselues so peeuishly therein as the old coales of the Kings anger being thereby raked vp of new they were againe brought in question as well for this one most weightie head of Doctrine of the Pope his Supremacie as for the matter of the Kings marriage and Succession as by the confession of one of themselues euen Thomas Moore is euident For being condemned hee vsed these words at the Barre before the Lords Non ignoro cur me morti adiudicaueritis videlicet ob id quod nunquam voluerim assentire in Hist aliquot Martyrum nostri seculi Anno 1550. negotio Matrimonij Regis That is I am not ignorant why you haue adiudged me to death to wit for that I would neuer consent in the businesse of the new marriage of the King By which his owne confession it is plaine that this great Martyr himselfe tooke the cause of his owne death to be onely for his being refractary to the King in this said matter of Marriage and Succession which is but a very fleshly cause of Martyrdom as I conceiue And as for Roffensis his fellow Martyr who could haue bene content to haue taken the oath of the Kings Supremacy with a certaine modification which Moore refused as his imprisonment was neither only nor principally for the cause of Supremacy so dyed he but a halting and a singular Martyr or witnes for that most waightie head of doctrine the whole Church of England going at that time in one current and streame as it were against him in that Argument diuers of them being of farre greater reputation for learning and sound iudgement then euer he was So as in this point we may well arme our selues with the Cardinals owne reason where he giueth amongst other notes of the true Church Vniuersality for one we hauing the generall and Catholike conclusion of the whole Church of England on our side in this case as appeareth by their booke set out by the whole Conuocation of England called The Institution of a Christian man the same matter being likewise very learnedly handled by diuers particular learned men of our Church as by Steuen Gardiner in his booke De vera Obedientia with a Preface of Bishop Boners adioyned to it De summo absoluto Regis imperio published by Master Bekinsaw De vera differentia Regiae Potestatis Ecclesiae Bishop Tonstals Sermon Bishop Longlands Sermon the letter of Tonstall to Cardinall Poole and diuers other both in English and Latine And if the bitternesse of Fishers discontentment had not bin fed with his daily ambitious expectation of the Cardinals hat which came so neere as Calis before he lost his head to fill it with I haue great reason to doubt if hee would haue constantly perseuered in induring his Martyrdome for that one most waightie head of doctrine And surely these two Captaines and ringleaders to Martyrdome were but ill followed by the rest of their countrymen for I can neuer reade of any after them being of any great account and that not many that euer sealed that waightie head of doctrine with their blood in England So as the true causes of their first falling in trouble whereof I haue already made mention being rightly considered vpon the one part and vpon the other the scant number of witnesses that with their blood sealed a point so greatly accounted of by our Cardinall there can but small glory redound thereby to our English Nation these only two Enoch and Elias seruing for witnesses against our Antichristian doctrine And I am sure the Supremacy of Kings The supremacie of Kings sufficiently warranted by the Scriptures may and will euer be better maintained by the word of God which must euer be the true rule to discerne all waightie heads of doctrine by to be the true and proper office of Christian Kings in their owne Dominions then he will be euer able to maintaine his annihilating Kings and their Authorities together with his base and vnreuerend speeches of them wherewith both his former great Volumes and his late Bookes against Venice are filled In the old Testament Kings were directly a 2. Chron. 19. 4. Gouernours ouer the Church within their Dominions b 2. Sam. 5. 6. purged their corruptions reformed their abuses brought the c 1. Chron. 13. 12. Arke to her resting place the King e 2. Sam. 6. 16 dauncing before it f 1. Chro. 28. 6. built the