upon them is that the People committed to their charge may be instructed therein for the conviction of their Judgments and the regulation of their Practice Nay lest such Teaching should not produce an effect answerable to the desires of these good men but people should still take a liberty of Believing and Asserting what they list there is a severe Censure to be inflicted upon such irregular Can. 2 persons for their punishment Whosoever shall affirm that the Kings Majesty hath not the same Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical for in Temporal our Adversaries will grant it more than what they can hook in by In ordine ad spiritualia that the godly Kings had among the Jews and Christian Emperors in the Primitive Church which is the same we plead for or impeach in any part his Regal Supremacy let him be Excommunicated So little do any of our Church Constitutions derogate from the Kings Power that they establish it both by their positive Command to have it preached and received as true Christian Doctrine and the Opposers of it thrown out of the Churches Bosom as not fit for the Society of Christian men And now Sir I cannot imagine there wants any From the Pâ—actice of her Children thing for your further satisfaction unless it be to consider how the Practice of the Children of this Church hath agreed with the excellent Rules delivered unto them For although their Miscarriages could not justly be charged upon her yet we shall find that these Rules have had so great an Influence upon them as they have never dared to engage in any concern against their Prince nor ever been wanting in the manifestation of a due Obedience unto him Be not therefore I beseech you deceived with the vain Pretences of the Romish Party who tell you openly in some of their Books There have been more seditious Insurrections since the Reformation of Religion than were in some hundreds of years before For as there is no reason to take their bare word for it so no more are we engaged to vindicate any but those of our own Church I dare not undertake to justifie all the Proceedings of the Hugonots in France much less of the Kirk-party in Scotland but for the Sons of our Holy Mother of England let them if they can produce any Accusation against us and we are ready to submit to a fair Trial. The ordinary things pleaded are the late Rebellion and the Death of our Royal Martyr neither of which touch us any further than as our sins added to the rest filled up the Number and provoked God to make use of such Instruments for the executing his wrath as startled not at the most excerable Villanies in the world It is notoriously known how many Persons of Honour and Quality out of mere conscience attended that poor injured Prince from place to place during the unnatural War and paid their Service to his Son our now Gracious Sovereign throughout the many years of his calamitous Exile What Numbers spent their Estates and sacrific'd their Lives with all the generous Alacrity in the world to maintein the Distressed Kings Cause had Heaven given success to their loyal Endeavours How many Thousands might we reckon up who fought valiantly fell gallantly and spent their dearest bloud in the asserting his Majesties just Rights against all the Abettors of Rebellion Whereas those who either fomented the War or were afterwards active in the carrying it on had receded from true Protestant Principles and sucked in those pernicious Doctrins from Scotland which she had infectiously drawn either from Rome or Geneva It is not barely upon my own credit that this Truth begs your Belief take it from King Charles his incomparable Pen who being the Sufferer might best distinguish between his Friends and Foes The Scandal of the late Troubles which some may object and urge to you writing to the then Prince of Wales against the Protestant Religion established in England is easily answered to them or your own thoughts in this that scarce any one who hath been a Beginner or an active Prosecutor of this late War against the Church the Laws and Me either was or is a true Lover Embracer or Practiser of the Protestant Religion which neither gives such Rules nor ever before set such Examples And for the Death of that Royal Martyr the remembrance whereof we so much detest as to keep an Anniversary Humiliation upon that day Malice itself dares not lay it at our Door But if you would indeed be satisfied what mischievous Wretches carried on this bloudy Design brought Majesty to bleed on the Scaffold and openly acted such a piece of Villany as the Sun never beheld since Christs Crucifixion They were in plain terms the Papists and the Sectaries who like Sampson's Foxes have their Tails tied together though their Heads seem far asunder For the Papists I shall satisfie you in their Activity afterward For the Sectaries the Proof against them is but too evident and for those of the more refined sort who have confidence enough with Pilate to call for water and wash their hands and say they are innocent from his bloud yet their own Actions testifie against them both before and after that dreadful Blow was given And what horrid Encouragements to and Justifications of that abominable Act fell from the Mouths of those who were then the Godly Preachers of the Gospel remain upon Record Not to surfeit you with such coarse Diet take but a Tast in two or three passages of some eminently esteemed Persons though their Names shall be spared When Meroz had been cursed from one Fast-Day to another and thereby men seduced to take Arms against their Prince called in their sacred Dialect Agoing to the help of the Lord against the Mighty Then were the people of this Kingdom possessed with strange Apprehensions of the King and his Party some telling us it was their Design to root out all Religion I know saith one among them how unsatisfied many are concerning the unlawfulness of the War which hath been managed As I cannot yet perceive by any thing they object but that we undertook our Defence upon warrantable Grounds so am I most certain that God hath wonderfully appeared through the whole And as I am certain by sight and sense That the Extirpation of Piety was the then great Design So am I most certain that this was the Work which we took up Arms to resist The fault was that we would not die quietly nor lay down our Necks more gently upon the Block nor more willingly change the Gospel for Ignorance nor our Religion for a Fardle of Ceremonies with several things to the same purpose Others declared their Fears of a Tyrannical and Arbitrary Government but the greatest Number like the unruly Assembly at Ephesus knew not wherefore they were gathered Acts 19. 32. together When the Sword had for some years been glutted with Bloud mens minds at least appeared a little more composed
Liturgy and Her Ecclesiastical Constitutions Her Avouched Doctrine is declared in the 39 Articles From the Doctrine of the Church in the Articles and Homilies and the Book of Homilies set forth by Authority exactly consonant to them These she acknowledgeth next to the Scriptures as the Measure of her Faith and the Rule for her Practice And because they are no Novel Inventions nor the Products of any particular brain but the first agreed upon by the whole Convocation the Clergies Representative and the Other compiled by able Persons appointed to that employment we see they are of age and shall speak Aâ—t 37. for themselves The Queens Majesty so it was 1562. now the Kings hath the chief Power in this Realm of England and other Her His Majesties Dominions unto whom the Government of All Estates in this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in All Causes doth appertain and is not nor ought to be subject to any forreign Jurisdiction Thus much declared in general terms the Explanation follows presently after Where we attribute to the Queens Kings Majesty the Chief Government we understand that only Prerogative which we see to have been given alwayes to all godly Princes in Holy Scripture by God himself i. e. that they should rule all Estates and Degrees committed to their charge whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil doers Then is there particularly added The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England Upon which passage a motion was made in the Hampton-Court Conference for inserting Nor ought to have but King James in his wisdom rejected it with this answer habemus jure quod habemus intimating that the Actual asserting that Priviledge argued a legal title to it And it may be worth your observation that the Title-page of the Articles tells you they were agreed upon for avoiding diversities of opinions and for the establishing of consent touching true Religion What these speak more concisely the Homilies teach more fully I refer you to the six Sermons against Rebellion proving the greatness of that sin from Scripture and the remarkable Examples of Gods vengeance upon persons guilty of it and proceeding in a method of close and strong arguing so that the perusal of them will be a good improvement of your time and pains Onely towards the latter end of one there is this Exhortation which I could not well omit Let us as the Children of Obedience fear the dreadful 〈◊〉 3. Execution of God and live in quiet obedience to be the Children of Everlasting Salvation For as Heaven is the place of good obedient Subjects and Hell the Prison and Dungeon of Rebels against God and their Prince so is that Realm happy where most obedience of Subjects doth appear being the very figure of Heaven and contrariwise where most Rebellions and Rebels be there is the express similitude of Hell and the Rebels themselves are the very sigures of Fiends and Devils and their Captain the ungrateful Pattern of Lucifer and Satan the Prince of darkness With an exact agreement to this Doctrine is her From â—he Liturgy Liturgy composed And because according to the Apostles Exhortation first of all as a duty never to be neglected supplications and prayers and intercessions 1 Tim 2. 12. and giving of thanks are to be made for all men for Kings and for all that are in authority there are none of Her Services of daily or weekly use wherein her Prince is not particularly remembred and the Almighty Protection of Heaven earnestly desired to be his continual defence Nay all the blessings in the world but especially what concern his Place and Station are the matter of his Subjects prayers a a Second Prayer before the Communiâ—n and the Prayer for the Church Mâ—litanâ— That He may be instructed for Government b b Versicle after the Câ—â—ed Preserved in His Person c c Dâ—iâ—y Prayer Replenished with Heavenly Graces d d Liâ—any Service Prove victorious over his Enemies And as Two of these fall within the compass of Her constant Morning and Evening Devotions so a Third is added three times in the week and all of them used every Sunday and Holiday A piece of duty which with some instead of a just applause hath met with severe censures and been cavelled at like Maries Box of oyntment by Judas To what purpose was this Matt. 26. 8. waste a thing whereof our blessed Martyr took especial notice as a reason why so many Zealots of the times were eagerly bent against the Publick Service One of the greatest faults some men found with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Common Prayer Book I believe was This that it taught them to pray so oft for me to which Petitions they had not loyalty enough to say Amen Not doth the Church onely teach us to pray for the King but to do it with an acknowledgment of His Soveraign Authority and subjection to none but God himself whom therefore she stiles The only Ruler of Princes To all this may be added that in some of those Prayers made for Him we are also enjoyned to implore Gods mercy for the keeping his People in their Allegeance that they may obey him as the Almighties Vicegerent a a First Prayer before the Commuâ—ion That we and all his subjects duly considering whose authority he hath may faithfully serve honour and humbly obey him in Thee and for Thee In a word our Prayers for their fulness loyalty seem excellently framed after the Pattern of the Primitive Church as owned by Tertullian b b Precati sumus semper pro omnibus Imperatoribus vitam illis prolixam imperium securum domum tutam exercitus forâ—es senatum fidelem orbem quiecuâ— quaecunque hominis Caesaris vota sunt Tertul. Apolog. cap 30 We pray at all times for all Emperors that they may have Long Life a Secure Empire a Safe Palace Valiant Armies a Faithful Senate an Honest People a Quiet World and whatsoever each of them can desire either as a Man or a Prince Pass we now from her Liturgy to her Ecclesiastical From the Canons of the Church Constitutions agreed upon in a full Convocation 1603 and then ratified by Royal Authority where the first thing determined is this very Particular All Ecclesiastical Can. 1 persons having cure of Souls shall to the uttermost of their Wit Knowledge and Learning purely and sincerely Teach Manifest Open and Declare four times a year at the least in their Sermons That the Kings Power within his Realms is the highest Power under God to whom all men do by Gods Law owe most Loyalty and Obedience Afore and Above all other Power and Potentates in the Earth Now certainly if the Incumbents are obliged thus to Preach it is an argument this is the received Doctrine of the Church and the design of this Duty imposed
neque jure humano nec Divino Idem ibid. p. 327. Edit Celon Agripp n. all Ecclesiastics from Subjection to the Secular Princes it follows that in respect of those Church-men they are not the higher Powers and consequently the Church-men are not obliged to obey them by any Law either Divine or Humane except only in some trivial matters which he there calls Leges Directivae such as a man 's not stirring out of doors after a particular hour without his Sword by his side and a Light in his hand c. In these petty Trifles they will out of good nature obey the King but for any things of greater concern therein they beg excuse to be out of his reach So that in plain terms at this rate all the Clergy in every Kingdom are left at Liberty whether they will be Loyal or no and the Prince shall wholly lose his Coercive Power over a considerable part of his Subjects So that sometimes it may happen there shall not only be a Refusal of Obedience to but a downright Resistance of his Commands Instances hereof are numerous How saucily did Anselm carry to King Rufus and Thomas Becket to Henry the Second till the one died abroad and the other was killed at home And upon every occasion it would happen so still The Clergy believing themselves freed from any Punishment their Prince could inflict and knowing full well that upon an Appeal to Rome the Sentence would surely pass in favour of the Church Or let it but once come to a Contest that the Pope enjoyns one thing the King another the Pope passeth such a Decree the King gainsays it who shall prevail Shall not the Pope because the Church-men are under his Lash but exempted from the Kings nor will they in reason be easily drawn to provoke him who both can and will for another mans sake who neither must nor dare correct them So that in effect they are but titularly Subjects and will so far be dutiful to the King as their own good Inclinations shall prompt them Now how can he expect to be secured in his Throne by those persons who are not under his Jurisdiction In case their Holy Father for some particular pique at him or to gratifie a beloved Nephew declare him an Heretic that he may dispose of his Kingdom these good Children must needs tread in his Steps and do as he bids them they being according to their own Principles as much obliged to take part against as our Religion would teach us to take part with our Prince notwithstanding all opposition in the world Besides these Ecclesiastical Immunities drain a great deal of wealth out of each Kingdom which might better be laid up in the Kings Exchequer All the Profit of Collations to Benefices First-Fruits Tenths and several other Duties of that kind these the Pope hoords up in his own Coffers a Grievance whereof this particular Nation was so sensible that open Complaint was made against it Temp. Hen. III in Parliament for such vast Sums were sent away out of this little Kingdom from one time to another that the People were much impoverished to make it what he called it Puteus inexhaustus a Well not to be drawn dry So that it is strangely wonderful how the Princes abroad to this very day bear so great an Imposition upon them and submit to such a Diminution of their Authority so contrary to the Rule of Scripture so without all Precedent from Antiquity unless one spurious Passage palpably foisted into Ignatius his Epistles so Dangerous to the peaceable state of their several Countreys and so Inconsistent with the Obedience owing to their own persons But it were something tolerable if this might prove II. By teaching the lawfulness to excommunicate 〈◊〉 murther Kings for Religion the worst so far is the Romish Religion from enjoyning Obedience to Princes that it teacheth those pernicious Doctrins of the Lawfulness to excommunicate depose and murther Kings if their Religion may thereby be promoted So that not only the Clergy but the Princes too lie at the Popes mercy His Fingers indeed have long itched to be medling with Crowns and therefore he employs his Agents abroad to whisper these Devilish Maxims into peoples Ears Now when the grave Fathers of the Church teach and their seduced Children admit them for Truths no marvel if the King sits uneasie in his Throne and his Scepter be ready to fall out of his Hand For satisfaction herein I refer you to Bellarmine again for no mans Credit is better in that Church Three Chapters he spends very eagerly in one Book upon this Subject fending and proving according to our Proverb with might and main The Dâ—â—â—t â—ontifex Râ—gâ—bus juberâ—â—â— hâ—c faciâ—â—◠〈◊〉 nisi fâ—cerâ—nt etiam cogere per excommunicatiâ—nem alâ—asque commodas rationes Bellarm. de Râ—m Pont. l. 5. c. 7. p 505. Pope saith he must command Kings to do these things things relating to the Service of God and if they do them not to compel them by Excommunication and other commodious ways This is pretty smart but all the while sure there is no fear of altering his Property or taking that Dominion from him which God had given Yes there may be Reason for that too if the Cause of Religion require the doing it The Pope may Papa potest mutare Regnâ— uni aâ—ferre at que alters conferre tanquam summus princâ—ps spirituâ—lis si id necessarium sit ad animarum salutem Idem c. 6. p 901. make an Alteration in Kingdoms dethroning one man and exalting another as being the greatest spiritual Prince if it be necessary for the good of souls And this unlimited Power he endeavours to defend by a great many Authorities Nor may he only exercise this strange kind of Prerogative but the good Subjects also must be so much concerned for the Catholic Cause as to set themselves against their Heretical Ruler Christians are Non tenentur Christiant in â— non debeat cum evidente periculo Religionis tolerare regem infidelem Idem p 94. not bound indeed they ought not to tolerate unbelieving King and all of our Principles are with them no better than Infidels if Religion be in any apparent danger They must not tolerate him but how shall it be helped There is scarce any Remedy left but the deposing him and then to make sure work they must either put him into a safe Prison or send him into a cold Grave Now lest this Position of his should be decried as strange and novel being so contrary to the practice of the Primitive Christians who without question were the best Subjects in the world he presently answers that they were not either to be thanked for or imitated in their Obedience since it was matter of Constraint rather than Choice And if they deposed not Nero the Cruel Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem Dioclesianum Julianum Apostatam
being at that time and upon that very Errand sent from Rome into England under several Disguises some pretending to be Gentlemen some Merchants c. And so extremely incensed they were at the King for not granting them A Toleration of Religion which they verily expected and by declaring that expectation made the ordinary people of this Kingdom fear it and by their fearing it to express their Discontents at the Apprehensions of it the greatest occasion of so much Bloudshed for many years after so incensed I say they were that in the Cabal at Rome it was resolved since the King of England would not favour their Profession they would disturb his Peace and endeavour the Ruine both of himself and his Kingdoms And however for the more effectual managing their business they did in outward appearance side with the Royal Interest yet when their Ends were obteined they openly acknowledged how All Affairs had passed through their hands and were carried on by their Contrivance That grave Seignior delivered it ex Cathedrâ when News of his Majesties Death reached Roan The King of England saith Dr. Moulin's Vindication of the Protestaâ—t Religion p 58. he at his Marriage had promised us the Re-establishing the Catholic Religion No wonder that a Lie drops from a Jesuites mouth and when he delayed to fulfil his Promise we summoned him from time to time to perform it We came so far as to tell him that if he would not do it we should be forced to take those Courses which would bring him to his Destruction We have given him lawful warning and when no warning would serve we have kept our word to him since he would not keep his word to us Another Piece of Service wherein they were mainly employed was the Vnhinging our Government not only in the State but in the Church bringing the Episcopal Order into Contempt and raising a Scandal upon the Public Liturgy For they were so well read in Politics as without much study to divine that when a Multitude is once left at Liberty without any Coercive Power to keep Order when the ordinary sort have no prescribed Rules for their Devotions nor the Articles of their Christian Faith by frequent Repetitions riveted in their memory they mey easily be perverted by the crafty Insinuations of cunning Seducers and having no Platform of Religion that is good be quickly drawn to embrace one that is bad To this purpose let me give you the following Story from a very Reverend Prelate lately deceased of a Gentleman who Bishop Nicolson's Apology Part 3. Sect. 2. p. 154 being reconciled to Rome by one Meredith an antient and learned Jesuite though afterwards turning Protestant and proffering to avouch the Truth of this Relation upon Oath This Meredith told him that in England they had been long and industrious about their work of Conversion but it went on slowly and so would till they took a wiser course Two things there were must be done before they should bring their business to a full effect They must first find a way to remove the Bishops and Ministers in whose room they must bring it so about All should have Liberty to Preach Then secondly they must get down the Common-Prayer Book and suffer every man to use what Prayer he list Now if these were not the main things stickled about in the beginning of the Troubles All the Books of that time besides some of our own Observations do very much deceive us So that the Presbyterian was but the Jesuites Agent and did that work for him which he could not do for himself Well when the War had continued some time and the Independent Faction began Dr. Moulin's Vindic. p. 60. to prevail then the Romish Emissaries crept into that Part of the Army about thirty of them being met by a Protestant Gentleman between Roan and Diep who professed their Design was to be Agitators There they struck in with those bloudy Villains in that unparallel'd piece of Wickedness The Murder of King Charles A Reverend Person still alive hath proffered to justifie D. Moulin p. 59. whensoever Authority shall require it that the year before the Death of our Royal Martyr a select Number of English Jesuites were sent from their whole Party in England first to Paris to consult with the Faculty of Sorbonne to whom they put this Question in Writing That seeing the State of England was in a likely posture to change Government whether it was lawful for the Catholics to work that Change for the Advancing and Securing the Catholic Cause in England by making away the King whom there was no hope to turn from his Heresie And it was answered Affirmatively This very Question was afterwards debated at Rome where both Pope and Council declared it not only Lawful but Expedient for the Men of their Religion to promote that Alteration of State And though when all people cried out of that Hellish Act whereupon a Command was given for all the Papers concerning that Subject to be gathered together and burnt yet one Gentleman in Paris kept his shewed it to a Protestant Friend and with a great Abhorrency related the whole Carriage of that Negotiation If you be not yet satisfied in the Loyalty of the Papists you shall have a few more Discoveries Was it not a fair Argument of great Affection to the King to be present at his Murder with a great many Demonstrations of Joy Yet there are several Persons who could name you the Priest and whose Confessor he was who when he saw that Royal Head struck off Flourished with his Sword for he mounted the Scaffold in the Habit of a Soldier with words to this purpose This Blow hath dispatched the greatest Enemy we had in the world Mr Prynne I think was the first Publisher of this Story and if there be occasion it will quickly be verified In the mean while do but reflect upon the sad condition of that Blessed Prince The Sectaries branded and rebelled against him for Endeavours to introduce Popery and the Romanists brought him to the Block as the greatest Opposer of Popery in the World There are some more Stories of this nature which you may read and worth the reading they be in that excellent Book of Dr. Moulin's Two parts of my charge are by this time plainly proved the Third will not require much Trouble How finely did they afterwards wheadle the Rump-Parliament promising what dutiful Subjects they would be to that usurped Power in case they might but enjoy their Liberty bitterly inveighing against the Severities exercised upon them in the Kings time If the Rigour of the Laws were qualified Christian Moderator part 1. pag. 16. to a Temper of Mercy that the Catholics might enjoy but half the Liberties to which they were born they would be the most quiet and useful Subjects of England since their (1) (1) Reconcile this with the former Relations Religion obligeth them to obey the lawful Commands