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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04286	An apologie for the oath of allegiance first set foorth without a name, and now acknowledged by the authour, the Right High and Mightie Prince, Iames, by the grace of God, King of Great Britaine, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. ; together with a premonition of His Maiesties, to all most mightie monarches, kings, free princes and states of Christendome.	James I, King of England, 1566-1625.; Paul V, Pope, 1552-1621.; Bellarmino, Roberto Francesco Romolo, Saint, 1542-1621.	1609 (1609)	STC 14401.5; ESTC S1249	109,056	264

curse those that worship Images that haue eyes and see not that haue eares and heare not would much more haue cursed them that worship a piece of a sticke th●t hath not so much as any resemblance or representation of eyes or eares As for Pugatorie and all the trash depending thereupon it is not worth the talking of Bellarmine cannot finde any ground for it in all the Scriptures Onely I would pray him to tell me If that faire greene Meadow that is in Purgatorie haue a brooke running thorow it that in case I come there I may haue hawking vpon it But as for me I am sure there is a Heauen and a Hell praemium poena for the Elect and reprobate How many other roomes there bee I am not on God his counsell Multae sunt mansiones in domo Patris mei saith CHRIST who is the true Purgatorie for our sinnes But how many chambers and anti-chambers the Deuill hath they can best tell that goe to him But in case there were more places for soules to goe to then wee know of yet let vs content vs with that which in his Word hee hath reuealed vnto vs and not inquire further into his secrets Heauen and Hell are there reuealed to be the eternall home of all mankinde let vs indeauour to winne the one and eschew the other and there is an end Now in all this discourse haue I yet left out the maine Article of the Romish faith and that is the Head of the Church or Peters Primacie for who denieth this denieth fidem Catholicam saith Bellarmine That Bishops ought to be in the Church I euer maintained it as an Apostolike institution and so the ordinance of GOD contrary to the Puritanes and likewise to Bellarmine who denies that Bishops haue their Iurisdiction immediatly from God But it is no wonder he takes the Puritanes part since Iesuits are nothing but Puritan-Papists And as I euer maintained the state of Bishops and the Ecclesiasticall Hierarchie for order sake so was I euer an enemy to the confused Anarchie or paritie of the Puritanes as well appeareth in my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heauen is gouerned by order and all the good Angels there nay Hell it selfe could not subsist without some order And the very Deuils are diuided into Legions and haue their chiefetaines how can any societie then vpon earth subsist without order and degrees And therefore I cannot enough wonder with what brasen face this Answerer could say That I was a Puritane in Scotland and an enemy to Protestants I that was persecuted by Puritanes there not from my birth only but euen since foure moneths before my birth I that in the yeere of GOD 84 erected Bishops and depressed all their popular Paritie I then being not 18. yeeres of age I that in my said Booke to my Sonne doe speake tenne times more bitterly of them nor of the Papists hauing in my second Edition therof affixed a long Apologetike Preface onely in odium Puritanorum and I that for the space of sixe yeares before my comming into England laboured nothing so much as to depresse their Paritie and re-erect Bishops againe Nay if the daily Commentaries of my life and actions in Scotland were written as Iulius Caesars were there would scarcely a moneth passe in all my life since my entring into the 13. yeare of my age wherein some accident or other would not conuince the Cardinall of a lye in this point And surely I giue a faire commendation to the Puraitnes in that place of my booke where I affirme that I haue found greater honesty with the high-land and border theeues then with that sort of people But leauing him to his own impudence I returne to my purpose Of Bishops and Church Hierarchie I very well allowe as I saide before and likewise of Rancks and Degrees amongst Bishops Patriarches I know were in the time of the Primitiue Church and I likewise reuerence that institution for order sake and amongst them was a contention for the first place And for my selfe if that were yet the question I would with all my heart giue my consent that the Bishop of Rome should haue the first Seate I being a Westerne King would go with the Patriarch of the West And for his temporall Principalitie ouer the Signory of Rome I doe not quarrell it neither let him in God his Name be Primus Episcopus inter omnes Episcopos and Princeps Episcoporum so it be no other wise but as Peter was Princeps Apostolorum But as I well allow of the Hierarchie of the Church for distinction of Orders for so I vnderstand it so I vtterly denie that there is an earthly Monarch thereof whose word must be a Law and who cannot erre in his Sentence by an infallibilitie of Spirit Because earthly Kingdomes must haue earthly Monarches it doeth not follow that the Church must haue a visible Monarch too for the world hath not ONE earthly temporall Monarch CHRIST is his Churches Monarch and the holy Ghost his Deputie Reges gentium dominantur eorū vos autem non sic CHRIST did not promise before his ascension to leaue Peter with them to direct and instruct them in all things but hee promised to send the holy Ghost vnto them for that end And as for these two before cited places wherby Bellarmine maketh the Pope to triumph ouer Kings I meane Pasce oues and Tibi dabo claues the Cardinall knowes well enough that the same words of Tibi dabo are in another place spoken by Christ in the plural number And he likewise knowes what reason the Ancients doe giue why Christ bade Peter pascere oues and also what a cloude of witnesses there is both of Ancients and euen of late Popish writers yea diuers Cardinals that do all agree that both these speeches vsed to Peter were meant to all the Apostles represented in his person Otherwise how could Paul direct the Church of Corinth to excommunicate the incestuous person cum spiritu suo whereas hee should then haue said cum spiritu Petri And how could all the Apostles haue otherwise vsed all their censures only in Christs Name and neuer a word of his Vicar Peter wee reade did in all the Apostles meetings sit amongst them as one of their number And when chosen men were sent to Anti●chia from that great Apostolike Councell at Ierusalem Acts 15. The text saith It seemed good to the Apostles and Elders with the whole Church to send chosen men but no mention made of the Head therof and so in their Letters no mention is made of Peter but onely of the Apostles Elders and Brethren And it is a wonder why Paul rebuketh the Church of Corinth for making exception of Persons because some followed Paul some Apollos some Cephas if Peter was their visible Head for then those that followed not Peter or Cephas renounced the Catholike faith But it appeareth well that Paul knew

to the Emperours for their Confirmation And this lasted almost seuen hundreth yeeres after CHRIST witnesse Sigebert and Luitprandus with other Popish Historians And for Emperours deposing of Popes there are likewise diuers examples The Emperour Ottho deposed Pope Iohn the twelfth of that name for diuers crimes and vices especially of lecherie The Emperour Henry the third in a short time deposed three Popes Benedict the ninth Siluester the third and Gregory the sixt as well for the sinne of Auarice as for abusing their extraordinarie authoritie against Kings and Princes And as for Kings that haue denied this temporall Superioritie of Popes First we haue the vnanime testimonie of diuers famous Historiographers for the generall of many Christian Kingdomes As Walthram testifieth That the Bishops of Spaine Scotland England Hungary from ancient institution till this moderne noueltie had their Inuestiture by Kings with peaceable inioying of their temporalities wholly and entirely and whosoeuer saith hee is peaceably solicitous let him peruse the liues of the Ancients and read the Histories and hee shall vnderstand thus much And for verification of this generall assertion we will first begin at the practise of the Kings of France though not named by Walthram in this his enumeration of Kingdomes amongst whom my first witnesse shall be that vulgarly knowen Letter of Philip le Bel King of France to Pope Boniface the viij the beginning whereof after a scornefull salutation is Sciat tua maxima fatuitas nos in temporalibus nemini subesse And likewise after that Lewes the ninth surnamed Sanctus had by a publike instrument called Pragmatica Sanctio forbidden all the exactions of the Popes Court within his Realme Pope Pius the ij in the beginning of Lewes the eleuenth his time greatly misliking this Decree so long before made sent his Legate to the said King Lewes with Letters patents vrging his promise which he had made when he was Dolphin of France to repeale that Sanction if euer hee came to bee King The King referreth the Legate ouer with his Letters-patents to the Councel of Paris where the matter being propounded was impugned by Ioan. Romanus the Kings Atturney with whose opinion the Vniuersitie of Paris concurring an Appeale was made from the attempts of the Pope to the next generall Councell the Cardinall departing with indignation But that the Kings of France and Church therof haue euer stoken to their Gallican immunitie in denying the Pope any temporall power ouer them and in resisting the Popes as oft as euer they prest to meddle with their temporall power euen in the donation of Benefices the Histories are so full of them as the onely examples thereof would make vp a bigge Volume by it selfe And so farre were the Sorbonists for the Kings and French Churches priuiledge in this point as they were wont to maintain That if the Pope fell a quarrelling the King for that cause the Gallican Church might elect a Patriarch of their owne renouncing any obedience to the Pope And Gerson was so farre from giuing the Pope that temporall authoritie ouer Kings who otherwise was a deuoute Roman Catholike as hee wrote a Booke de Auferibilitate Papae not onely from the power ouer Kings but euen ouer the Church And now permitting all further examples of forraigne Kings actions I will onely content mee at this time with some of my owne Predecessors examples of this Kingdom of England that it may thereby the more clearly appeare that euen in those times when the worlde was fullest of darkened blindnesse and ignorance the Kings of England haue oftentimes not only repined but euen strongly resisted and withstoode this temporall vsurpation and encroachment of ambitious Popes And I will first begin at King Henry the first of that name after the Conquest who after he was crowned gaue the Bishopricke of Winchester to William Gifford and forthwith inuested him into all the possessions belonging to the Bishopricke contrarie to the Canons of the new Synod King Henrie also gaue the Archbishopricke of Canterburie to Radulph Bishop of London and gaue him inuestiture by a Ring and a Crosiers staffe Also Pope Calixtus held a Councell at Rhemes whither King Henry had appointed certaine Bishops of England and Normandie to goe Thurstan also elected Archbishop of Yorke got leaue of the King to goe thither giuing his faith that hee would not receiue Consecration of the Pope And comming to the Synode by his liberal gifts as the fashion is wanne the Romanes fauour and by their meanes obtained to bee Consecrate at the Popes hand Which as soone as the King of England knewe hee forbad him to come within his Dominions Moreouer King Edward the first prohibited the Abbot of Waltham and Dean of Pauls to collect a tenth of euery mans goods for a supply to the holy Land which the Pope by three Bulles had committed to their charge and the said Deane of Pauls compering before the King and his Councell promised for the reuerence he did beare vnto the King not to meddle any more in that matter without the Kings good leaue and permission Here I hope a Church-man disobeyed the Pope from obedience to his Prince euen in Church matters but this new Iesuited Diuinitie was not then knowen in the world The same Edward I. impleaded the Deane of the Chappell of Vuluerhampton because the said Deane had against the priuiledges of the Kingdome giuen a Prebend of the same Chappell to one at the Popes command whereupon the said Deane compeered and put himselfe in the Kings will for his offence The said Edward I. depriued also the Bishop of Durham of all his liberties for disobeying a prohibition of the Kings So as it appeareth the Kings in those dayes thought the Church men their SVBIECTS though now wee be taught other Seraphicall doctrine For further proofe whereof Iohn of Ibstocke was committed to the goale by the saide King for hauing a suite in the Court of Rome seauen yeares for the Rectorie of Newchurch And Edward II. following the footsteps of his Father after giuing out a Summons against the Abbot of Walden for citing the Abbot of S. Albons and others in the Court of Rome gaue out letters for his apprehension And likewise because a certaine Prebend of Banbury had drawen one Beuercoat by a Plea to Rome without the Kings Dominions therefore were Letters of Caption sent foorth against the said Prebend And Edward III. following likewise the example of his Predecessors Because a Parson of Liche had summoned the Prior of S. Oswalds before the Pope at Auinion for hauing before the Iudges in England recouered the arrerage of a pension directed a Precept for seasing vpon all the goods both spirituall and Temporall of the said Parson because hee had done this in preiudice of the King and Crowne The saide King also made one Harwoden to bee declared culpable and worthy to bee punished for procuring the Popes Bulles

hath not procured my sparing by these answerers who haue neither spared my Person directly in naming me nor indirectly by railing vpon the Author of the Booke it is now high time for me no longer to conceale nor disauow my selfe as if I were ashamed of my owne deed And therefore that yee may the better vnderstand the nature of the cause I will begin at the first ground thereof The neuer ynough wondered at and abhorred POVVDER-TREASON though the repetition thereof grieueth I know the gentle hearted Iesuite Parsons this Treason I say being not onely intended against me and my Posteritie but euen against the whole house of Parliament plotted only by Papists and they onely led thereto by a preposterous zeal for the aduancement of their Religion some of them continuing so obstinate that euen at their death they would not acknowledge their fault but in their last words immediatly before the expiring of their breath refused to condemne themselues craue pardon for their deed except the Romish Church should first condemne it And soone after it being discouered that a great number of my Popish Subiects of all rankes and sexes both men and women as well within as without the Countrey had a confused notion and an obscure knowledge that some great thing was to be done in that Parliament for the weale of the Church although for secrecies cause they were not acquainted with the particulars certaine formes of prayer hauing likewise bin set down and vsed for the good successe of that great errand adding hereunto that diuers times and from diuers Priests the Arch-traitors themselues receiued the Sacrament for confirmation of their heart and obseruation of secrecie Some of the principall Iesuits likewise being found guiltie of the foreknowledge of the Treason it selfe of which number some fled from their triall others were apprehended as holy Gamet himselfe and Ouldcorne were and iustly executed vpon their owne plaine confession of their guilt If this Treason now clad with these circumstances did not minister a iust occasion to that Parliament house whom they thought to haue destroyed couragiously and zealously at their next sitting downe to vse all meanes of trial whether any more of that mind were yet left in the Countrey I leaue it to you to iudge whom God hath appoynted his highest Depute-Iudges vpon earth And amongst other things for this purpose This Oath of Allegiance so vniustly impugned was then deuised and enacted And in case any sharper Lawes were then made against the Papists that were not obedient to the former Lawes of the Countrey if ye will consider the time place and persons it will bee thought no wonder seeing that occasion did so iustly exasperate them to make seuerer Lawes then otherwise they would haue done The time I say being the very next sitting downe of the Parliament after the discouerie of that abominable Treason the place beeing the same where they should all haue bene blowen vp and so bringing it freshly to their memorie againe the persons being those very Parliament men whom they thought to haue destroyed And yet so far hath both my heart and gouernment beene from any bitternes as almost neuer one of those sharpe additions to the former Lawes haue euer yet beene put in execution And that ye may yet know further for the more conuincing these Libellers of wilfull malice who impudently affirme That this Oath of Allegiance was deuised for deceiuing and intrapping of Papists in points of conscience The truth is that the Lower house of Parliament at the first framing of this Oath made it to containe That the Pope had no power to excommunicate me which I caused them to reforme onely making it to conclude That no excommunication of the Popes can warrant my Subiects to practise against my Person or State denying the deposition of Kings to be in the Popes lawfull power as indeed I take any such temporall violence to bee farre without the limits of such a Spirituall censure as excommunication is So carefull was I that nothing should be contained in this Oath except the profession of natural Allegiance ciuill and temporall obedience with a prom●se to resist to all contrary vnciuill violence This Oath now grounded vpon so great and iust an occasion set forth in so reasonable termes and ordeined onely for making of a true distinction betweene Papists of quiet disposition and in all other things good Subiects and such other Papists as in their hearts maintained the like violent bloody Maximes that the Powder-traitors did This Oath I say being published and put in practise bred such euill blood in the Popes head and his Cleargie as Breue after Breue commeth forth vt vndam vnda sequitur prohibiting all Catholiques from taking the same as a thing cleane contrary to the Catholicke faith and that the taking thereof cannot stand with the saluation of their soules There commeth likewise a letter of Cardinall Bellarmines to Blackwell to the same purpose but discoursing more at length vpon the sayd Oath Whereupon after I had entred in consideration of their vniust impugning that so iust and lawfull an Oath and fearing that by their vntrue calumnies and Sophistrie the hearts of a number of the most simple and ignorant of my people should be mis-led vnder that faire and deceitfull cloake of conscience I thought good to set foorth an Apologie for the said Oath wherin I proued that as this Oath contained nothing but matter of ciuill and temporall Obedience due by Subiects to their Soueraigne Prince so this quarrelling therewith was nothing but a late vsurpation of Popes against the warrant of all Scriptures ancient Counsels and Fathers vpon the temporall power of Kings where with onely my Apologie doth meddle But the publishing of this Booke of mine hath brought such two Answerers or rather Raylers vpon me as all the world may wonder at For my Booke beeing first written in English an English Oath beeing the subiect thereof and the vse of it properly belonging to my subiects of England and immediatly thereafter being translated into Latine vpon a desire that some had of further publishing it abroad it commeth home vnto me now answered in both the Languages And I thinke if it had beene set forth in all the tongues that were at the confusion of Babel it would haue beene returned answered in them all againe Thus may a man see how busie a Bishop the Deuill is and how he omitteth no diligence for venting of his poisoned wares But herein their malice doth cleerely appeare that they pay me so quickly with a double answere and yet haue neuer answered their owne Arch-priest who hath written a booke for the maintenāce of the same Oath and of the temporall authoritie of Kings alledging a cloud of their owne Scoolemen against them As for the English Answerer my vnnaturall and fugitiue Subiect I will neither defile my pen nor your sacred eies or eares with the describing of him who ashames nay abhorres not to rayle

nay to rage and spewe forth blasphemies against the late Queene of famous memorie A Subiect to raile against his naturall Soueraigne by birth A man to rayle against a Lady by sexe A holy man in outward profession to insult vpon the dead nay to take Radamanthus office ouer his head and to sit downe and play the Iudge in hell And all his quarrell is that either her Successour or any of her Seruants should speake honourably of her Cursed be he that curseth the Anointed of God and destroyed mought he be with the destruction of Korah that hath sinned in the contradiction of Korah Without mought such dogs and swine be cast forth I say out of the spirituall Ierusalem As for my Latine Answerer I haue nothing to say to his person he is not my Subiect he standeth or falleth vnto his owne Lord But sure I am they two haue casten lots vpon my Booke since they could not diuide it the one of them my fugitiue to rayle vpon my late Predecessor but a rope is the fittest answere for such an Historian the other a stranger thinketh he may be boldest both to pay my person and my booke as indeed hee doth which how iustly either in matter or maner we are now to examine But first who should be the true Authour of this booke I can but guesse He calleth himselfe Matthaeus Tortus Cardinal Bellarmins Chaplain A throwen Euangelist indeed full of throward Diuinitie an obscure Authour vtterly vnknowen to me being yet little knowen to the world for any other of his works and therefore must be a very desperate fellow in beginning his apprentisage not only to refute but to raile vppon a King But who will consider the cariage of the whole booke shall find that hee writeth with such authoritie or at the least tam elato stylo so little sparing either Kings in generall or my person in particular and with such a greatnesse Habemus enim exemplaria Breuium illorum in manibus and Decernimus as it shall appeare or at least be very probable that it is the Masters and not the mans labour especially in one place where he quarrelleth mee for casting vp his moralis certitudo and piè credi vnto him hee there grossely forgetting himselfe saith malâ fide nobiscum agit thereby making this Authour to be one person with Bellarmine But let it bee the worke of a Tortus indeed and not of a personated Cardinall yet must it be the Cardinals deede since Master Tortus is the Cardinals man and doeth it in his masters defence The errand then being the Cardinals and done by his owne man it cannot but be accounted as his owne deed especially since the English Answerer doeth foure times promise that Bellarmine or one by his appointment shall sufficiently answere it And now to come to his matter and manner of Answere Surely if there were no more but his vnmannerly manner it is enough to disgrace the whole matter thereof For first to shew his pride in his Printers preface of the Po●itan edition of this elegans libellus he must equall the Cardinals greatnesse with mine in euery thing For though he confesseth this Master Tortus to bee an obscure man yet being the Cardinals Chaplaine he is sufficient enough forsooth to answere an English booke that lacketh the name of an Authour as if a personated obscure name for Auhour of a Cardinals booke were a meet match for answering a Kings booke that lacketh the name of an Authour and a Cardinals Chaplaine to meete with the Deane of the Kings Chappell whome Parsons with the Cardinall haue as it seemeth agreed vpon to intitle to bee the Authour of my Apologie And not onely in the Preface but also through the whole Booke doeth he keepe this comparatiue greatnesse He must bee as short in his answere as I am in my booke he must refute all that I haue said against the Popes second Breue with equall breuity and vpon one page almost as I haue done mine and because I haue set downe the substance of the Oath in 14. Articles in iust as many Articles must he set downe that Acte of Parliament of mine wherein the Oath is contained And yet had hee contented himselfe with his owne pride by the demonstration of his owne greatnesse without further wronging of me it had bene the more tol●rable But what cause gaue I him to farce his whole booke with iniuries both against my person and booke For whereas in all my Apologie I haue neuer giuen him a foule word and especially neuer gaue him the Lye he by the contrary giueth me nine times the Lye in expresse termes and seuen times chargeth mee with a falshood which phrase is equiualent with a Lye And as for all other words of reproch as nugae conuitia temeritas vanitas impudentia blasphemiae sermonis barbaries cum eadem foelicitate scribendi cauillationes applicatio inepta fingere historias audacia que in hominem sanae mentis cadere non potest vel sensu cōmuni caret imperitia leuitas omnem omnino pudorem conscientiam exuisse malâ fide nobiscum agit vt lectoribus per fas nefas imponat of such like reproches I say I doubt if there be a page in all his booke free except where he idlely sets down the Popes Breues and his owne Letter And in case this might onely seeme to touch the vnknowen Authour of the booke whom notwithstanding he knew well enough as I shew before he spareth not my Person with my owne name sometimes saying that Pope Clement thought me to be inclined to their Religion sometimes that I was a Puritane in Scotland and a persecutor of Protestants In one place he concludeth Quia Iacobus non est Catholicus hoc ipso Haereticus est In another place Ex Christiano Caluinistam fecerunt In another place hee saith Neque omnino verum est Iacobum nunquam deseruisse Religionem quam primò susceperat And in another place after that hee hath compared and ranked me with Iulian the Apostate he concludeth Cum Catholicus non sit neque Christianus est If this now be mannerly dealing with a King I leaue it to you to iudge who cannot but resent such indignities done to one of your quality And as for the matter of his booke it well fits indeed the manner thereof for he neuer answereth directly to the maine question in my booke For whereas my Apologie handleth onely two points as I told you before One to proue that the Oath of Allegiance doeth onely meddle with the ciuil and temporal obedience due by Subiects to their naturall Soueraignes The other that this late vsurpation of Popes ouer the temporall power of Princes is against the rule of all Scriptures ancient Councels and Fathers hee neuer improoues the first but by a false inference that the Oath denieth the Popes power of excommunication directly since it denyeth his authoritie in

obedience any of you may looke for of any of them de facto he plainly forewarneth you of by the example of Gregorie the Great his obedience to the Emperor Mauritius not beeing ashamed to slaunder that great Personages Christian humilitie and obedience to the Emperour with the title of a constrained and forced obedience because hee might or durst doe no otherwise Whereby he not onely wrongs the said Gregorie in particular but euen doeth by that meanes lay on an heauie slaunder and reproach vpon the Christian humilitie and patience of the whole Primitiue Church especially in the time of persecution if the whole glorie of their Martyrdome and Christian patience shall be thus blotted with that vile glosse of their coacted and constrained suffering because they could or durst do no otherwise like the patience and obedience of the Iewes or Turkish slaues in our time cleane contrary to S. Paul and S. Pe●●rs doctrine of obedience for conscience sake and as contrarie to Tertullians Apologie for Christians and all the protestations of the ancient Fathers in that case But it was good lucke for the ancient Christians in the dayes of Ethnicke Emperors that this prophane new conceit was yet vnknowen among them otherwise they would haue bin vtterly destroyed and rooted out in that time and no man to haue pitied them as most dangerous members in a Common-wealth who would no longer bee obedient then till they were furnished with sufficient abilitie and power to resist and rebell Thus may ye see how vpon the one part our Cardinall will haue all Kings and Monarchs to be the Popes Vassals and yet will not on the other side allow the meanest of the Pope his vassals to be subiect to any Christian Prince But he not thinking it enough to make the Pope our Superior hath in a late Treatise of his called the Recognition of his bookes of Controuersies made the people and Subiects of euery one of vs our Superiors For hauing taken occasion to reuisite againe his bookes of Controuersies and to correct or explaine what he findeth amisse or mistaketh in them in imitation of S. Augustine his retractions for so hee saith in his Preface he doth in place of retracting any of his former errours or any matter of substance not retract but recant indeed I meane sing ouer againe and obstinatly confirme a number of the grossest of them Among the which the exempting of all Church-men from subiection to any Temporall Prince and the setting vp not onely of the Pope but euen of the People aboue their naturall King are two of his maine points As for the exemption of the Clerickes he is so greedy there to proue that point as he denieth Caesar to haue beene Pauls lawfull Iudge contrary to the expresse Text and Pauls plain Appellation and acknowledging him his Iudge besides his many times claiming to the Roman priuiledges and auowing himselfe a Roman by freedome and therefore of necessitie a Subiect to the Roman Emperour But it is a wonder that these Roman Catholikes who vaunt themselues of the ancientie both of their doctrine and Church and reproch vs so bitterly of our Nouelties should not bee ashamed to make such a new inept glosse as this vpon S. Pauls Text which as it is directly contrary to the Apostles wordes so is it without any warrant either of any ancient Councell or of so much as any one particular Father that euer interpre●s that place in this sort Neither was it euer doubted by any Christian in the Primitiue Church that the Apostles or any other degree of Christians were subiect to the Emperour And as for the setting vp of the People aboue their owne naturall King hee bringeth in that principle of Sedition that he may thereby proue that Kings haue not their power and authoritie immediatly from God as the Pope hath his For euery King saith he is made and chosen by his people nay they do but so transferre their power in the Kings person as they doe notwithstanding retaine their habituall power in their owne hands which vpon certaine ocasions they may actually take to themselues againe This I am sure is an excellent ground in Diuini●●e for all R●bels and rebellious people who are hereby allowed to rebell against their Princes and assume libertie vnto themselues when in their discretions they shall thinke it conuenient And amongst his other Testimonies for probation that all Kings are made and created by the People hee alledgeth the Creation of three Kings in the Scripture Saul Dauid Ieroboam and though he be compelled by the expresse words of the Text to confesse that God by his Prophet Samuel anointed both Saul and Dauid yet will he by the post-consent of the people proue that those Kings were not immediatly made by God but mediatly by the people though he repeat thrise that word of Lott by the casting whereof hee confesseth that Saul was chosen And if the Election by Lott be not an immediate Election from God then was not Matthias who was so chosen and made an Apostle immediatly chosen by God and consequently hee that sitteth in the Apostolike Sea cannot for shame claim to be immediatly chosen by God if Matthias that was one of the twelue Apostles supplying Iudas his place was not so chosen But as it were a blasphemous impietie to doubt that Matthias was immediatly chosen by God and yet was hee chosen by the casting of Lots as Saul was so is it well enough knowen to some of you my louing Brethren by what holy Spirit or casting of Lots the Popes vse to bee elected the Colledge of Cardinals his electors hauing beene diuided in two mighty factions euer since long before my time and in place of casting of Lotts great fat pensions beeing cast into some of their greedy mouthes for the election of the Pope according to the partiall humours of Princes But I doe most of all wonder at the weaknesse of his memorie for in this place hee maketh the post consent of the people to bee the thing that made both these Kings notwithstanding of their preceding inauguration and anoyntment by the Prophet at GODS commandement forgetting that in the beginning of this same little booke of his answering one that alledgeth a sentence of S. Cyprian to prooue that the Bishops were iudged by the people in Cyprians time hee there confesseth that by these words the consent of the people to the Bishops election must be onely vnderstood Nor will he there any wayes be mooued to graunt that the peoples power in consenting to or refusing the Election of a Bishop should be so vnderstood as that therby they haue power to elect Bishops And yet do these words of Cyprian seeme to be farre stronger for granting the peoples power to elect Church-men then any words that hee alledgeth out of the Scripture are for the peoples power in electing a King For the very words of Cyprian by himselfe there cited are That

our owne time and therein remember what a Panegyrik oration was made by the Pope in praise and approbation of the Frier and his fact that murthered king Henry the third of France who was so farre from either being Heretike Ethnike or Persecutor in their account that the said Popes owne wordes in that oration are That a true Frier hath killed a counterfeit Frier And besides that vehement oration and congratulation for that fact how neere it scaped that the said Frier was not canonized for that glorious acte is better knowen to Bellarmine and his followers then to vs here But sure I am if some Cardinals had not beene more wise and circumspect in that errand then the Pope himselfe was the Popes owne Kalender of his Saints would haue sufficiently proued Bellarmine a liar in this case And to draw yet nerer vnto our selues how many practises and attempts were made against the late Queenes life which were directly enioyned to those Traitours by their Confessors and plainely authorized by the Popes allowance For verification whereof there needes no more proofe then that neuer Pope either then or since called any Church-man in question for medling in those treasonable conspiracies nay the Cardinals owne S. Sanderus mentioned in his letter could well verifie this trueth if he were aliue and who will looke his bookes will find them filled with no other doctrine then this And what difference there is betweene the killing or allowing the slaughter of Kings and the stirring vp and approbation of practises to kil them I remit to Bellarmines owne iudgement It may then very clearely appeare how strangely this Authours passion hath made him forget himselfe by implicating himselfe in so strong a contradiction against his owne knowledge and conscience against the witnesse of his former bookes and against the practise of our owne times But who can wonder at this contradiction of himselfe in this point when his owne great Volumes are so filled with contradictions which when either he or any other shall euer be able to reconcile I wil then beleeue that he may easily reconcile this impudent strong deniall of his in his letter of any Popes medling against Kings with his owne former bookes as I haue alreadie said And that I may not seeme to imitate him in affirming boldly that which I no wayes proue I will therefore send the Reader to looke for witnesses of his contradictions in such places heere mentioned in his owne booke In his booke of Iustification there he affirmeth That for the vncertaintie of our owne proper righteousnes and for auoiding of vaine glory it is most sure and safe to repose our whole confidence in the alone mercie and goodnes of God Which proposition of his is directly contrary to the discourse and current of all his fiue bookes de Iustificatione wherein the same is conteined God doeth not encline a man to euill neither naturally or morally Presently after he affirmeth the contrary That God doeth not encline to euill naturally but morally All the Fathers teach constantly That Bishops do succeede the Apostles and Priestes the seuentie disciples Elsevvhere he affirmeth the contrary That Bishops do not properly succeed the Apostles That Iudas did not beleeue Contrary That Iudas was iust and certainely good The keeping of the Law according to the substance of the worke doeth require that the Commandement be so kept that sinne be not committed and the man bee not guiltie for hauing not kept the Commandement Contrary It is to bee knowen that it is not all one to doe a good morall worke and to keepe the Commandement according to the substance of the worke For the Commandement may be kept according to the substance of the worke euen with sinne as if one should restore to his friend the thing committed to him of trust to the end that theeues might afterward take it from him Peter did not loose that faith whereby the heart beleeueth vnto iustification Contrary Peters sinne was deadly Antichrist shall bee a Magician and after the maner of other Magicians shall secretly worship the Deuill Contrary He shall not admit of idolatrie he shall hate idoles and reedifie the Temple By the words of Consecration the true and solemne oblation is made Contrary The sacrifice doeth not consist in the words but in the oblation of the thing it selfe That the ende of the world cannot bee knowen Contrary After the death of Antichrist there shall bee but fiue and fourtie daies till the ende of the world That the tenne Kings shall burne the scarlet Whoore that is Rome Contrary Antichrist shall hate Rome and fight against it and burne it The name of vniuersall Bishop may be vnderstood two wayes one way that hee which is said to be vniuersal Bishop may be thought to be the onely Bishop of all Christian cities so that all others are not indeed Bishops but only Vicars to him who is called vniuersal Bishop in which sense the Pope is not vniuersall Bishop Contrary All ordinary iurisdiction of Bishops doeth descend immediatly from the Pope and is in him and from him is deriued to others Which few places I haue onely selected amongst many the like that the discret and iudicious Reader may discerne ex vngue Leonem For when euer hee is pressed with a weightie obiection he neuer careth nor remembreth how his solution and answere to that may make him gainesay his owne doctrine in some other places so it serue him for a shift to put off the present storme withall But now to returne to our matter againe Since Popes saith hee haue neuer at any time medled against Kings wherefore I pray you should onely the King of England bee afraid of that whereof neuer Christian King is or was afraid Was neuer Chistian Emperour or King afraid of the Popes How then were these miserable Emperours tost and turmoiled and in the end vtterly ruined by the Popes for proofe whereof I haue already cited Bellarmines owne bookes Was not the Emperour afraid who waited bare-footed in the frost and snow three dayes at the Popes gate before hee could get entrie Was not the Emperour also afraide who was driuen to lie agroofe on his belly and suffer another Pope to tread vpon his necke And was not another Emperour afraide who was constrained in like manner to indure a third Pope to beat off from his head the Imperiall Crowne with his foote Was not Philip afraid being made Emperour against Pope Innocentius the thirds good liking when he brake out into these wordes Either the Pope shal take the Crowne from Philip or Philip shal take the Miter from the Pope whereupon the Pope stirred vp Ottho against him who caused him to be slaine and presently went to Rome and was crowned Emperour by the Pope though afterward the Pope deposed him too Was not the Emperour

vnto the said Arch-priests charge as I haue neuer done to any for cause of conscience so was Blackwels constancie neuer brangled by taking of this Oath It being a thing which he euer thought lawfull before his apprehension and whereunto hee perswaded all Catholikes to giue obedience like as after his apprehension he neuer made doubt or stop in it but at the first offering it vnto him did freely take it as a thing most lawfull neither meanes of threatning or flatterie being euer vsed vnto him as himselfe can yet beare witnesse And as for the temperature and modification of this Oath except that a reasonable and lawfull matter is there set downe in reasonable temperate words agreeing thereunto I know not what he can meane by quarelling it for that fault For no temperatnes nor modifications in words therein can iustly be called the Deuils craft when the thing it selfe is so plaine and so plainely interpreted to all them that take it as the onely troublesome thing in it all bee the words vsed in the end thereof for eschewing aequiuocation and mentall reseruation Which new Catholique doctrine may farre iustlier bee called the Deuils craft then any plaine and temperate words in so plaine and cleare a matter But what shal we say of these strange countrey clownes whom of with the Satyre we may iustly complaine that they blovv both hote and cold out of one mouth For Luther and our bolde and free speaking Writers are mightily railed vpon by them as hot brained fellovves and speakers by the Deuils instinct and novv if vve speake moderately and temperately of them it must bee tearmed the Deuils craft And therefore we may iustly complaine vvith CHRIST that when we mourne they wil not lament and when vve pipe they vvill not dance But neither Iohn Baptist his seueritie nor CHRIST his meekenesse and lenitie can please them vvho build but to their owne Monarchie vpon the ground of their ovvn Traditions and not to CHRIST vpon the ground of his Word and infallible trueth But vvhat can bee meant by alleadging that the craft of the Deuill herein is onely vsed for subuersion of the Catholique faith and euersion of S. Peters Primacie had need bee commented anevv by Bellarmine himselfe For in all this Letter of his neuer one vvord is vsed to proue that by any part of this Oath the primacy of S. Peter is any vvay medled vvith except Master Bellarmine his bare alledging which without prouing it by more cleare demonstration can neuer satisfie the conscience of any reasonable man For for ought that I know heauen and earth are no farther asunder then the professon of a temporall obedience to a temporall King is different from any thing belonging to the Catholique faith or Supremacie of S. Peter For as for the Catholique faith can there bee one word found in all that Oath tending or sounding to matter of Religion Doeth he that taketh it promise there to beleeue or not to beleeue any article of Religion Or doeth he so much as name a true or a false Church there And as for S. Peters Primacie I know no Apostles name that is therein named except the name of IAMES it being my Christen name though it please him not to deigne to name me in all the Letter albeit the contents thereof concerne me in the highest degree Neither is there any mention at all made therein either disertis verbis or by any other indirect meanes either of the Hierarchie of the Church of S. Peters succession of the Sea Apostolike or of any such matter but that the Author of our Letter doeth brauely make mention of S. Peters succession bringing it in comparison with the succession of Henry the eight Of which vnapt and vnmannerly similitude I wonder hee should not bee much ashamed For as to King Henries successour which he meaneth by mee as I I say neuer did nor will presume to create any article of fayth or to bee Iudge thereof but to submit my exemplary obedience vnto them in as great humilitie as the meanest of the land so if the Pope could bee as well able to proue his either Person all or Doctrinall Succession from S. Peter as I am able to proue my lineall descent from the Kings of England and Scotland there had neuer been so long adoe nor so much sturre kept about this question in Christendome neither had M. Bellarmine himselfe needed to haue bestowed so many sheetes of paper De summo Pontifice in his great bookes of Controuersies and when all is done to conclude with a morall certitude and a piè credēdum bringing in the Popes that are parties in this cause to bee his witnesses and yet their historicall narration must be no article of faith And I am without vantrie sure that I doe farre more neerely imitate the worthy actions of my Predecessors then the Popes in our age can be well proued to be similes Petro especially in cursing of Kings and setting free their Subiects from their Allegiance vnto them But now we come to his strongest argument which is That he would alledge vpon me a Panick terrour as if I were possessed with a needlesse feare For saith the Cardinall from the beginning of the Churches first infancie euen to this day where was it euer heard that euer a Pope either commanded to be killed or allowed the slaughter of any Prince whatsoeuer whether he were an Hereticke an Ethnike or Persecutor But first wherefore doth he here wilfully and of purpose omit the rest of the points mentioned in that Oath for deposing degrading stirring vp of arms or rebelling against them vvhich are as vvell mentioned in tha● Oath as the killing of them as being all of one consequence against a King no Subiect being so scrupulous as that hee will attempt the one and leaue the other vnperformed if he can And yet surely I cannot blame him for passing it ouer since he could not otherwise haue eschewed the direct belying of himselfe in tearmes which hee now doeth but in substance and effect For as for the Popes deposing and degrading of Kings hee maketh so braue vaunts and bragges of it in his former bookes as he could neuer with ciuil honesty haue denied it here But to returne to the Popes allowing of killing of Kings I know not with what face hee can sent so stout a deniall vpon it against his owne knowledge How many Emperors did the Pope raise warre against in their owne bowels Who as they were ouercome in battaile were subiect to haue bene killed therein which I hope the Pope could not but haue allowed when hee was so farre inraged at Henry the fift for giuing buriall to his fathers dead corps after the Pope had stirred him vp to rebell against his father and procured his ruine But leauing these old Histories to Bellarmines owne bookes that doe most authentically cite them as I haue already said let vs turne our eyes vpon