themselues wormes dust and his petty-seruants as did Gregory the first writing to Mauricius CHAP. VI. Of the Clergie and of their Liberties and Exemption § Tertia Cleriâ—i non possunt a Iudice politico puniri vel vllo modo trahi ad secularis magistratus tribunal CArdinall Bellarmine cap. 28. of his booke De Clericis sayth That Clergie men may not at any hand be punished by the politique Iudge or be drawne before the iudgement seat of the Secular Magistrate He saith also that the cheife Bishop hauing deliuered Clerkes from the subiection of Princes § Respondeo summus Pontifex Clericos exemit a subiectione Principum non sunt amplius Principes clericorum superiores Kings are no longer Superiours ouer Clerkes In the same place also he maintayneth that the goods as wel of the Clergy as of secular men are and ought to be exempted from the taxe and tribute of Secular Princes § Quarta Bona Clericorum tam Ecclesiastica quam secularia libera sunt ac merito esse debent a Tributis Principum secularium Hereunto the King of great Britaine speaking to the Emperour to the Kings and Princes of Christendome sayth in this manner And when the greatest Monarches amongst you will remember that almost the third part of your Subiects and of your Territories is Church-men and Church-liuings I hope ye will then consider and weigh what a feather he puls out of your winges when he denudeth you of so many Subiects and their possessions in the Popes fauour nay what bryers and thornes are left within the heart of your Dominions when so populous and potent a party shall haue their birth education and liuelyhood in your Countries and yet owe you no Subiection nor acknowledge you for their SOVERAIGNES So as where the Church-men of old were content with their tythe of euery mans goods the Pope now will haue little lesse then the third part of euery Kings Subiects and Dominions To these words so full of weight and euidence Coeffeteau answereth very softly and sillily He saith that Catholicke Kings do not apprehend any such calamitie seeing that amongst them Ecclesiasticall Persons liue vnder their Lawes and acknowledge their authority euen the Pope himselfe beeing aware of it That in France the Cardinals and Byshops performe vnto the King the Oath of Fidelity coÌ„mendeth the Kings for hauing giueÌ„ to Clerks great immunities notwithstanding which he sayth that they doe not let to be bound to ciuill Lawes These wordes are full of timerousnesse and lurking ambiguity Answere Hee saith that Clerkes indeede liue vnder the lawes of Princes but hee doth not tell vs that in case of disobedience the King may punish them for otherwise there is no subiection He sayth that the Bishops yeeld the Oath of Fidelity but the question now is not touching fidelity but touching subiection and obedience He speaketh of immunities granted by Princes but he doth not tel vs what these immunities be for this is one as Bellarm. witnesseth and we will shew hereafter that Clerks are no longer subiects to Kings that the King is no longer their Superiour Thus can we learne nothing of this Doctor So that indeede his Maiesties complaint is so iust that if we holde our peace threin the cause wil proclaime it selfe Euery man knoweth what a Diminution to the Crowne and greatnesse of Kings these immunities of Clergy men do bring all which they couer and rabble vp vnder the Title of the liberty of the Church vnworthily transporting this sacred name of Christian liberty which signifieth in the word of God the deliuerance from the curse and malediction and from the yoake of sinne and from the heauy burthen of the ceremonies of the law to ciuill pretences and dispensations with that naturall duety which wee owe vnto our Prince vnder whom we had the happinesse first to behold the Sunne This is a thing that belongeth euen to the law of Nations and besides that is authorised by the word of God that euery person be subiect to the Soueraigne Magistrate But here now see how in one kingdome as in Fraunce there will be found aboue three hundred thousand persons who vnder the title of Clergy-men haue shaken off the yoake of the Princes authority yea euen children that are entred Nouices into that Body exempted from all obedience towards their parents This body of the Clergie hath its Iudges and officers their prisons likewise apart Their causes are not called to be answered before Royall Iudges but receiue hearing and determination in the great State chamber at Rome called La Zuota or in the consistorie There is a third parte of the Lands of this kingdome in the hands of Clergy men to the great preiudice of our kings For it often commeth to passe that the proprietarie owners and possessors of lands doe sell their inheritances whence accureth profite to the Prince by the Kings fine which ariseth of euery first part or first prime of such fales and other rights belonging to the cheefe Lord which Rights are lost when once immoueable goods enter into the possession of the Clergy The king doth also lose his right of Aubaine which is an escheate to the king of all such goods as any stranger dying in Fraunce is possessed of also the right of confiscation and in case of desertion when a man doth quit his owne estate The Clergy being a body that neuer dyeth that neuer confiscateth and in which body inheritances dye by Mortmaine Vpon whom the secular persons conferre euery day new Donations but we neuer see the sharing of Ecclesiasticall goods made to the profite and behoofe of any Lay-man for goods finde many gates open to enter into the Clergy but neuer a one to get our from thence like those footings of the wilde beasts which all turned inward towards the Lyons denne but there appeared no trace of any that euer returned from thence And hence it commeth to passe that as in mans body the thighs and armes grow lesse and lesse by how much the bigger the belly swelleth through excesse so in the body of a Common wealth The Nobility and the Commonalty who are as the armes and legges of that State they are brought low by the increase of the Clergy To this end also they haue obtained that the Church shal alwayes be held in non-age and in her minority that if she shall at any time haue made promise or contract that may turne to her disaduantage she may vnder that pretence be releeued And whereas in common course of law thirtie yeeres are sufficient to keepe possession by way of Prescription De Praescript Cap. 2. in Serto. Contra ipsam Romanam Ecclesiam Centenaria vel contra alias Ecclesias quadragenaria prescriptro Legitima sit completa Against the Church of Rome and against the Templaries no Prescription can be of force vnder one hundred yeares which is in effect as much as that against them there is no Prescription The other
the Bishops of the world We graunt then willingly that the auncient Bishops of Rome before the corruption of Doctrine and vsurpation of the Monarchie in the Church were successors of S. Peter in the Bishoppricke of Rome onely euen as the Bishop of Corinth was successor to S. Paul but withall we adde this that through the corruption of Doctrine which hath by little little crept into the Church of Rome euery age hauing added and contributed thereunto hee is now wholy and iustly falne from that succession For he may not in no wise be called Peters successor who oppugneth the Doctrine preached by S. Peter and who in the Chaire of verity doth establish a lie The Turke may not bee called successor to the Emperour of Greece albeit he be seated in his place seeing that he is rather his subuerter I would haue one shew me that euer S. Peter preached any other purgatory then the bloud of Iesus Christ or any other satisfaction to the iustice of God then his obedience any other sacrifice propitiatory then his death That euer he gaue pardons for an hundred thousand yeares or drew soules out of Purgatory with buls and indulgences that he euer degraded Emperours that he tooke away from the people the reading of the holy Scriptures or the Communion of the Cup or that he commaunded the worshipping of Images and publique Seruice to bee said in an vnknowne tongue or that he euer constrayned other Bishops to take from him letters of Inuestiture and to pay vnto him Annates Or that euer S. Peter was called God on earth the Spouse of the Church and caused himselfe to be worshipped or that euer he sung Masse or commaunded the Host to be adored or that euer he left off preaching the Gospell or quitted the Crosier-staffe to take vnto him a triple Diaderne If I say they can shew me that S. Peter euer did these things then though the Pope were Bishop but of one Village alone I will willingly acknowledge him for S. Peters Successor but still in the Bishopricke only and not in the Apostleship which ended in his person and is not deriued vnto his Successors in particular Churches THus doth the confession of the King of Englands faith remain firme and vnshaken against which Coeffeteau hath armed himselfe with humane testimonies being vtterly destitute of any authority out of the booke of God For as they that are ready to drowne catch hold on any thing so these men in a desperate cause embrace all defences but least of all those that be good Againe whatsoeuer this Doctor alleadgeth out of the Fathers is found to be eyther false or clipt or vtterly counterfeit This payment is not currant especially to such a Prince who hath consecrated his penne to the defence of the truth But this is not to be imputed to Coeffeteaus disability but to the vnlawfulnesse of the cause vnto which we haue in such sort satisfied as whosoeuer shall examine my worke he shall finde an answere to Bellarmines booke also which he hath not long since made against the said booke of the King of great Britaine with more weakenesse and lesse dexterity then Coeffeteau hath done There remayneth the last part of his Maiesties booke wherein with a straine of admirable wit assisted by the spirit of God hee openeth the booke closed with seuen seales and piercing into the secrets of sacred Prophesies he findeth in the seat of Rome the full accomplishment of the Apocalyps When hate and bitternesse shall be extinguished through time Posterity shall admire both the worke and the person and looking backe into ages past for the like patterne shall not be able to finde any thing to be compared with it We will not feare then to enter into these darkenesses vnder so great a guide for it is hard eyther to stumble or to stray where so faire a Torch doth light and shine before vs. But we must here take breath a while before we enter into this taske For the sudden death of our King like a great cracke of Thunder benummeth our handes with astonishment and troubleth our spirits with griefe and anguish Let vs then giue place to necessity and leaue to write that we may haue leisure to lament and let Posterity carefully bethinke it selfe of remedies and hold it for a thing most certaine that hee that setteth light by his owne life is master of another mans and that there is nothing so forcible to make vs to contemne our owne liues as this new doctrine which by the murther of Kings openeth the way to the Kingdome of heauen FINIS Faults necessarily to bee corrected The first number noteth the Page the second the Line The letter R. standeth for Reade L. signifieth the line in the same PAGE PAge 13.25 r. Siloe 14.20 r. Enfant 17.19 r. Armies l. 24. r. these 20.15 r. villanies 42.13 for that r. as l. 19. r. State 49.25 r. things that appeare are more feared c. 56. l. vlt. r retorted 62.2 r. infinity of businesses 71.3 for or r. and. 74.2 r. differents 79.24 r. in the Bookes of the Acts and Charters 81.1 r. See and in the margent paulum annixus 82.1 r. whom l. 3 r. giue it l. 20. r. Ostia 84.25 r. deuolued 90.27 r. Ruota 91.4 r. fifth part or fifth penny 95.14 blot out he l. 25. r. Distinction 97.23 for alleadged r. already 99.18 make it 560.100.26 r. no wayes for now adayes 101.24 for take r. make 102 17. r. aboue 104.24 for Sinnes r. Summes 106.25 r Bellisarius 107.20 r. Conon 108.4 r. debonnaire l. 7. for to r. doe 110.1 for penalty r. priuity 119.12 Consiglio l. 17. r. retchlesse 125.7 for which is r. with l. 11. r. Augustin l. 25. for as r. and. in the margent Ponticus verunnius 127.20 r. different 136.24 blot out kinde in the marg r. communia debere 140.9 r messieurs l. 12. r. of for or 147.15 r. receiued them 158.2 r. or no more 160.25 r. Nattiers 161.1 blot out the. 168.4 r. Doctors l. 17. madonna 27. Letanies 169.22 for Fathers r. saluation 173.11 r. the brecz-flies 174.9 r. discourse l. 19. r. she for he 177. l. the last r. Antonine 178 27. r. places for phrases 180.18 r. as not being 182.18 r. lauour l. 20. r. washed 188.18 r. but saith 193.11 r no prescription 197.27 for toward r. ouer vs. 203.20 r. out of the 217.23 for ouer turnes r. powreth out of l. the last r. therefore 221.1 blot out the. 229.28 r. they saw well that if they should breake 261.3 for tongues r. Fire-tongs 281.11 r. commanded 300.1 r. meditation 301.8 for defectiue r. wanting 305.4 r. another 307.22 blot out that l. 23. r. should 308.1 blot out bad 309.25 r. with l. 28. r. istud 349.14 for if r. though 369.28 r. Suppositions
his fellowes where he saith that the rebellion of a Clergie man against his King cannot be treason in that he is not subiect to the King which agreeth with that which is written by the Iesuite Saunders in his second booke of his visible Monarchie whereof the King of great Britaine in his first booke cyteth many passages Now whereas the Iesuites of France did make a booke intituled * In the pag. 70. of the Edition of the bigger print 1595. you shall finde these wordes The Pope pretendeth nothing ouer Souerainty but to correct as a father as a Iudge such as are pernitious to the Church For then he may not alone but he is bound to shew himselfe their Superior Security wold make thee peruerse froward but thou must be kept down be made to confes that thou hast neyther reason nor conscience For it is fit that Princes shold be often held in and curbed by feare of their temporalities The defence of the truth against the pleading of Anthony Arnold In which they maintaine at large that the Pope may as Iudge depriue Princes of their temporalties This is wholly to be imputed to the times for then it was fit to speake in that manner but now they reserue those Maximes for fitter seasons Diuinity is to be applyed as occasions serue and wee are now in an age that if wee would know how wee were to teach and moue the people we must first looke into the Aâ—minake and accommodate our selues to the affaires of the Common wealth and therefore it is to be hoped that such * The which are produced in the Chapter following passages of Bellarmine that do make the liues and Crownes of Kings subiect to the Pope will be mended in the next Edition And as for the troubles and seditions which these Fathers haue stirred in Polonia which hath cost Demetrius his life and as for the causes which haue moned the Venetians to banish them out of their estate this a thing wholly to be imputed to the Climate or to the strange humors of the Country which is farre differing from Fraunce All this being considered it is to be hoped that the King of great Britaine following the counsell of Doctor Coeffeteau will take them to be neare about his person The other Reasons which are brought to recommend them seeme not to me of any great weight It is said that they carefully instruct youth if it be so how commeth it to passe that since they haue vndertaken to teach learning is so much decayed I would willingly that one could shew mee in Fraunce any of their Disciples that were of exact and exquisite learning or whom haue they in their society that may bee compared with those that were the Schollers of Turnebus or of Cuias Who are yet as many of them as are left the very lights and ornaments of the Court where is now the Vniuersitie of Paris which had wont to haue in it thirty thousand schollers but hath declined towards barbarisme euer since this kinde of people haue vndertaken to teach by their abridgements and Epitomies the which haue beene framed and composed by a rable of Pedants that teach all by rote in stead of drawing their instructions from the Fountaines of the Greeke and in stead ofâ—etling their iudgements by the course of auncient Philosophy And as for humane learning Scaliger Casaubon Passerate Lipsius and diuers like vnto them were they brought vp in their schooles Or indeede whom haue they brought vp comparable to them But Coeffeteau saith that the most Christian King is serued by them dealeth well with them and taketh them neere vnto his person our condition is too low and our vnderstanding too weake to search out the Counsels of so great a King whom God hath endued with an incomparable wisedome but yet I thinke that this serues not to iustifie them for who can tell whether his Maiesty doth this onely to put in practise that rule of the Gospell which is To doe well to those that hate vs Or whether he endeauoureth by his goodnes to master and ouercome their wickednesse and so by that meanes to binde them to fidelity Or who can tell whether his Maiestie herein imitateth the example of God who imployeth the wicked spirits for such causes and to such purposes as are best knowne to his diuine wisedome Or who knoweth whether in this he doth like Vlisses who for auoyding of tempests would keepe the winds with him shut vp in a leather bagge This great King whose paines and industry procureth our generall repose whose vigilancy makes vs to sleepe securely who bereaueth himselfe of himselfe and bestoweth himselfe on the publique and who maketh peace to flourish vnder the shaddow of his victories Long may hee enioy that quiet and repose which he hath broght euen to those that hate him Let his Counsels be euer blessed with happy successe his life with safety his subiects with fidelity his Crowne with glory and his Kingdome with prosperity CHAP. V. Of the power of the Pope ouer the temporalities of Kings and that he cannot take from Kings their Crownes nor free subiects from the Oath of fidelity And thereupon the reasons of Bellarmine are examined THe King of great Britaine in his Apology complayneth of two Breues or letters Apostolique of Clement the eight sent into England a little before the death of the late Queene ELIZABETH which were produced at the arrainment of Garnet the Iesuite by which the said Pope excludeth him from the succession of the Kingdome by a generall debarring of all such as were not of the Romane Religion This thing being so notoriously vniust and so publique yet notwithstanding Coeffeteau saith that there hath beene a wrong interpretation made of this Popes intentions and that it hath beene some particular mens drift to put it into his Maiesties head that he went about to hinder his establishment in the Kingdome These are insurious speeches to say that the King of great Britaine hath beene circumuented and that men haue only made him beleeue things but that he hath not seene any such Breues but speaketh this onely vpon trust There likewise turning to the side of Kings against the consent of the whole Romish Church he speaks thus It is a thing without doubt Fol. 6. pag. 2. that if the Pope would inuade Kingdoms and giue them in prey to whom he pleaseth deuesting the right possessors of them he well deserueth that Princes should stand stiffe against his viosence and should ioyntly runne vpon him as vpon a robber and spoiler of their inheritances And a litle after The Popes pretend nothing ouer the temporalties of Kings are contented only to make their authority appear ouer the crimes of men which he bindeth or looseth without stretching of it tyranically to dispose of their possessions otherwise then such as are fallen vnto him what causes here moued Coeffeteau thus to fauour Kings and to pare the Popes nayles so neare
A DEFENCE OF THE CATHOLICKE FAITH CONTAINED IN THE BOOKE OF THE MOST Mightie and most Gracious King IAMES the first King of Great Britaine France and Ireland Defender of the FAITH AGAINST THE ANSWERE OF N. Coeffeteau Doctour of Diuinitie and Vicar Generall of the Dominican Preaching FRIARS Written in French by PIERRE DV MOVLIN Minister of the word of God in the Church of PARIS Translated into English according to his first Coppie by himselfe reuiewed and corrected LONDON Printed by W. Stansby for Nathaniel Butter and Martin Clerke 1610. To the KINGS most Excellent MAIESTIE I Take mine Authors word and mine owne experience for warrant from beyond the Seas most Dread Soueraigne that your Maiesties excellent knowledge and learning haue wonne you admiration among forraine Nations And for home-affections it is well knowen that your Maiesties sincere loue to the truth of Religion and constant Confession of the Catholicke Faith whereof your Maiestie is worthily stiled The Defender haue knit the hearts of your people vnto you Who well perceiue by your Kingly Apology directed to the Princes of Christendome that God hath made your Maiesty such a one as was DAVID The sweet Singer of Israel euen a Propheticall King 2. â—am 23.1 and a Kingly Prophet whose bold profession it is Psal 119. I will speake of thy testimonies Psal 119.46 euen before Kings and will not be ashamed Such as the Kings also among the Heathen are said to haue beene both Princes and Prophets Rex Anius Virg. Aeneid 3. rex idem hominum Phoebique Sacerdos Concerning the Authour and Pen-man of this booke I neede not say any thing Authorem commendat opus Touching my selfe vpon whom this taske was secundarily imposed I know the Translation will blab out mine imperfections Your Maiesty is apt to pardon greater offences and therfore I hope these The ground worke is your Maiesties owne which maketh me bold to vse that saying toward your Maiesty my Soueraigne Lord wherewith Paulus Orosius dedicateth his Story to S. Austin his Master and Tutor Totum tuum sit quod ex te In initio ad te redit It is all your Maiesties owne doing which comming from you I returne it back againe vnto you And so I dedicate you to your selfe In Apologet. cap. 30. concluding with that which Tertullian reporteth to haue beene the auncient Christians Prayer for the safety of their Emperours and is now in vse also in the Church of Rome if we may beleeue Doctor Coeffeteau but I feare me not with like true affection Fol. 5. Vitam Maiestati tuae prolixam Imperium securum domum tutam exercitum fortem Senatum fiaelem populum probum regnum quietum obnixè precor Your Maiesties most humble and faithfull Subiect IOHN SANFORD To the most Mighty and Gracious King IAMES the first King of great Brittaine and of Ireland SIR AS your greatnesse no way needeth our seruice so your exquisite learning wants not any defence For your greatest enemies to whom your power is redoubtable haue your learning in admiration But were it so that you had vse of any mans pen yet should you haue litle cause to seeke further then your owne kingdomes since amongst your subiects there is so great a number of learned men to whom we are in all regards inferiour Yet notwithstanding we haue held it necessary to declare vnto the world that that religion which you defend is the same which we professe and that it befits vs to make resistance to such as in your particuler person assault the generall truth This vndertaking of mine is great and my abilities but ordinarie besides my vocation very laborious neither is a tempest a fit time to write in or a banke of an vnquiet torrent a fit place for serious meditation But SIR the perfection of your worke may supply my defect for to fight after you cannot be properly termed fighting but the pursuite of your victory for though the point of truth be euer sharpe yet it entreth and pierceth more or lesse according to the force and vigour of the arme It is not then to be maruelled if it strike cleane through errors being guided by so strong and powerfull a hand To you then SIR belongs the glory of this holy worke to vs remaines the good and benefit of following your example for the easiest way to speake well for you is to speake that which we haue learned of you neither is it possible that any one should write well in your defence that writes not in your imitation Wherein these my paines can no way merit to be compared For your Maiesty poureth out largely with a royall hand into the Threasury of the Sanctuary whilest I like the poore widow make offer of my mite the which I do with the more affection boldnesse in respect that our Kings participate with you in the cause and that we do see our crowne already foiled and our kings life endangered for want of considering those things which your Maiesty in your booke propoundeth and God grant that your Maiesties warnings be not prophesies and that our good mercifull and victorious king who flourisheth equally in peace as he is feared in warre being endued with an admired vigor both of body and mind may be long preserued amongst vs who hauing had so good experience and in so many places of our fidelity will not we hope be displeased with this our liberty in defending of our religion to which we are not drawne by the hatred of any but by our zeale to the cause of God and through compassion of the poore peopla who being carried along with the streame of custome thinke they do God good seruice to hate vs yea so farre are they transported as they are become iealous and suspitious of the holy Scriptures fearing lest by the word of God they should be misled and seduced for the saluation of whose enthralled soules we would willingly expose our liues and will not cease daily to pray to God to enlighten them in the truth whom we likewise pray that he will preserue your Maiesty from all euill and blesse your person and kingdomes and the Church that liueth vnder the shade and quiet of your gouernment with praier from my heart I recommend to God remaining From Paris the 20. of Ianuary 1610. Your Maiesties most humble and most obedient seruant P. D. M. The Translator to the Reader Gentle Reader I here present thee a worke very worthy of thy study and Meditation if eyther thou beare a loue to Gods truth or good affection towards thy Soueraigne Onely let me intreat thee out of a common feeling of humane frailty to pardon and before thou reade to amend the faults that haue herein escaped through ouersight of the Printers my sickenesse at that time and the distance of place not giuing me leaue to be alwayes present to preuent the same In the Translation I haue not nicely tyed my selfe to the wordes neyther was it requisite
ART 18. Of Images Pag. 329. ART 19. Of the Image of God Pag. 356. ART 20. Of the Crosse Pag. 361. ART 21. Of Purgatory Pag. 375. ART 22. Of the Anarchy and degrees of Superiority in the Church Pag. 406. ART 23. Of the Popes Supremacy Pag. 413. THE THIRD BOOKE ¶ Of the accomplishment of Prophesies OF THE VSVRPATION OF POPES Ouer KINGS THE FIRST BOOKE CHAP. I. The occasion that moued IAMES the first King of great Britaine to write his booke with the iudgement on COEFFETEAV his booke IT happeneth often that the Lightning falling vpon a man without hurting the flesh breaketh the bones because they onely in the body do make resistance to it and herein the lightning which GOD sends from aboue imitates the nature of him that sendeth it who bruseth the proude and such as withstand him but taketh mercy on the humble which bow vnder his iudgments and tremble at his word But the fulminations of the Bishop of Rome are of a contrary nature for they hurt none but such as feare them nor breake none but such as bow vnder them but he that sets them light is neyther endamaged by them nor breaketh his sleep for them but they fall like the Thunder-bolt into the Sea nay they rather drawe from God a blessing vpon the heads of those that are thus threatned according to that of Dauid Psal 109.28 Though they curse yet wilt thou blesse The happy raigne of the late Queene ELIZABETH will furnish vs with a faire example thereof who notwithstanding the excommuniations of Pope Pius the fift by whom England was interdicted she long time enioyed a Peace without any disturbance or interruption and a prosperity almost beyond example And finally when it pleased God to take her to peace and to gather her to his rest many supposed that the end of her life would be a beginning of troubles and confusions in England and thereupon the opinions and feares were diuers according to the diuersitie of mens desires For the English that were of the Romane Church attentiue and heedy to all occasions had conceiued hope of some great chaunge whether it were that they were led into their hope vpon false grounds or that after the death of a soueraine Prince better things are euer expected from the succeffor or whether that such as are discontented are euer desirous of a change so it was that in this Crisis of humours the spirits of the English waued and floated betwixt hope and feare till by the happy arriuall of IAMES the first the lawfull Successor all things were appeased and cleared euen as by the rising of the Sunne mists and fogges are dispersed and scattered He in the sweetnesse and fairenesse of his owne nature enclined to giue content vnto all his subiects with free liberty of conscience But this his in clination was ouer-ruled by necessity when his wisedome entred into consideration that the matter now in question was not onely Religion but the peace of his estate and the security of his crowne for that it was a thing dangerous to permit publike Assemblies of such persons as had taken Oath to others then himselfe who hold that the Pope may pull downe Kings from their Thrones and dispense with subiects for the oath of their alleageāce Moreouer he called to his remembrance the kings his predecessors whom the Popes had reduced to extream seruitude so farre as to make England parte of the Popes Demaines and in Fee to the Church of Rome and further to make it pay impost and to cause the King to goe beneath his Legats and to giue vp the Crowne into their handes These are considerations that one cannot square or apply to those of the Reformed Religion which liue vnder a Soueraigne of a contrary profession for they take oath to no other but to their Soueraigne Prince They cast their eyes vpon no Forrainer they maintaine that it belongs not to the subiect out of the Religion of the Prince to frame occasions of disobedience making piety the match and kindler of rebellion We are ready to expose our liues for the defence of our King against whomsoeuer though he be of our owne Religion and whosoeuer should doe otherwise should not defend Religion but giue way to his owne ambitions and should draw a great scandall vpon the truth of the Gospell Notwithstanding his Maiestie hath vsed his subiects of the Romane Church in such sorte that excepting the liberty of publique exercise he desired to haue them in like and equall condition with others being vnwilling to haue them disturbed for matter of conscience knowing well that Religion is not by force but by perswasion to take impression and that in this case men will rather follow then be drawne and that persecutions begin when Arguments are at an end Notwithstanding this gentle proceeding those of the Church of Rome now fallen from great hopes which they had imagined turned their despaire into choller and indignation and thereupon plotted an enterprise that should haue enfoulded the King the Queene their children his Maiesties Councell and the Parliament in one and the same destruction the plot was to make a Mine vnder the house of Parliament and so to send the King and his royal family with the chiefe of his Countrey to heauen by a new found way Hatred is an ingenious Mistris of inuention for neyther ancient nor moderne Histories can parallel this with any example The Prince of the world reserued to our times which are the very sinke of former ages something more exquisitely cruell and horrible then euer before hath beene mentioned In the meane time through all their houses there was a certaine forme of prayer prescribed by the Priests and Iesuites for the happy successe of this enterprise to whom the complices did mutually binde themselues by oath sworne vpon the holy Sacrament both for secrecie and perseuerance in the designe The Mine was already finished and the Gun-powder laid ready and nothing wanting but the execution when God who as he is himselfe a King so consequently he is the protector of Kings whom he hath established miraculously discouered this treason the conspiratours being taken suffered according vnto law and amongst others two Iesuites Garnet and Ouldcorne who are now inserted into a catalogue of * It is a table printed at Rome Anno 1608. apud Paulum Mauperinum Matheum Gruterum dedicated to R. Farnesius Prince of Parma in which are the pictures of such Iesuits as haue beene killed and executed sinc◠the yeare 1549. Martyrs imprinted at Rome which is the Spring-head and Forge of all such enterprises Lesse cause would haue sufficed an impatient King to haue exterminated all their complices and to haue let loose the raines of his iust anger but hee with a rare example of clemency suffered punishment to passe no further then to the principall delinquents inuenting and framing to himselfe Causes and Reasons how he might pardon he considered that Superstition might alter
Gospell now a dayes those which haue their handes stayned and soyled with the blood of Kings should be honoured with that Title It is not the suffering but the cause that maketh a Martyr otherwise the diuell might likewise haue his Martyrs but such paines are crymes and are not onely vnworthy of praise but are likewise vnworthy of pardon and such pains and torments as are againe to be punished with future torments Is it then fit that the holy squadron of Martyrs where S. Stephen marcheth first and S. Iames neare vnto him and after them the rest of the Apostles followed by so many of the faithfull who haue bin prodigall of their bloods but careful and thriftie of the glory of God Is it fit amongst them to finde Incendiaries and Parricides with fire and sword in hand not like vnto S. Paul and S. Lawrence that is to say not representing their punishments but as testimonies of their crymes not to signifie the death by which they died but to declare the manner how they murdered Vnhappy age that styleth villaines with title of vertue and that by the corrupting of words and names depraueth the things themselues and so by a new kinde of Grammer introducteth a new kinde of Diuinity But God be praised that he hath not permitted the Pope by his skill and arte to plant this perswasion generally in the hearts of the people but that euen amongst our aduersaries themselues there are very many that no way approue this seditious and bloody doctrine Amongst which number I would willingly place the Doctor Coeffeteau because of his protestations were it not that he allayes them with such modifications and restrictions as giues vs cause to doubt of them And which testifie that those Kings with whose liues and Crownes he would not haue medled are onely such Kings as are obedient to the Bishop of Rome for he saith That the Church of Rome wisheth to Princes an assured Empire victorious Armes and an obedient people Now it is most certaine that the Pope desireth not that those Kings which condemne him should bee victorious or that their people should remain in their obedience since he deposeth them from their Thrones and dispenseth to their subiects the Oath of their Alleageance And a little while after he saith that hee speaketh of such estates wherein the Church meaning the Church of Rome subsisteth which is as much to say that where it cannot subsist there hee approueth this rebellion and murther which he more clearely sheweth after Fol. 6. pag. 1. where after these wordes That the Pope cannot disapproue the courses that you hold to secure your Authority and person he addeth So that they be not offensiue to that Religion which he is bound to defend So that hereof it followeth that if the Romane Religion doe receiue any offence in England Then the Pope doth no longer approue the courses that the King holdeth for his conseruation But he giueth after more certaine proofes of his intention the which wee will remarke in their due places Besides we doubt not but a prudent person knoweth how to fashion himselfe to the times and to reserue his bloody propositions for fitter occasions And many times enterprizes are onely blamed because they are not succesfull and vices are turned to vertue by happy euents Multa sunt quae non nisi peracta Laundantur And the iudgements of those whose malice is accompanied with doubt and feare are framed according to the successe But in respect of our friendship I am rather enclined to thinke well of him and to free him of this suspition I will therefore conclude this Chapter with an obseruation which I thinke not fit to be omitted and it is that in the time of S. Paul Nero was then Emperour which Monster God eyther for the scorne of men or for their punishment had placed in the Empire who by his example declared to what height absolute and exquisite wickednesse assisted with Soueraigne power could ascend who likewise was the first that stirred vp persecution amongst the Christians Had the Christians euer greater cause to rebell Or serued they euer vnder a more vnworthy Master Now I would demaund of my Masters the Papists if S. Paul should haue made a Myne vnder his house or vnder colour of salutations should haue strucken him to the heart with a Poniard or had beene taken in any of these enterprizes and so put to death for them whether had he beene a Martyr or whether had his death beene acceptable or tended to the edification of the Church But because this is a question full of difficulties it is fit we should leaue it vndecided and that we expect some resolution from the Doctors or some decision from his Holinesse After this Coeffeteau Fol. 6. speaketh by the way of the Popes power ouer the temporality of Kings and promiseth afterwards to speake more at large Wee therefore to auoyde the repetition of things twice will set aside that subiect till he commeth to the place where hee fully handleth it And now let vs heare what he saith of the dignity of Cardinals Fol. 8. CHAP. III. Of Cardinals FOrasmuch as Bellarmine vnder the name of Tortus compareth the dignity of Cardinals to the Maiestie of Kings That is to say the Cardinals Cappe with the Regall Crowne the charge of a seruant of the seruant of seruants to the dignity of the ruler of Nations The King of great Britaine speaketh thus in his Apology I was neuer the man I confesse that could thinke a Cardinall a meete match for a King especially hauing many hundreth thousands of my subiects of as good birth as he As for his Church-dignity his Cardinalship I meane I know not how to ranke or value it eyther by the warrant of God his word or by the Ordinance of Emperours or Kings it being indeed onely a new Papall erection tolerated by the sleeping Conniuence of our predecessors I meane still by the plurall of Kings To this Coeffeteau maketh a milde replie intreating his Maiesty to iudge more fauourably of the intentions of so modest and learned a person as Bellarmine is Fol. 8. beseeching him to remember that Caluine acknowledged that the Cardinals flourished in the time of S. Gregory which is one thousand yeares since and that euen in the Councell of Rome vnder Siluester the first there is mention made of the seuen Deacon Cardinals as of no new Institution then And addeth that their charge was to instruct the people and to minister the Sacraments And since they hauing gotten vnto themselues the election of the Pope and being alwayes neere about him their glory is growne and increased by which the Church hath receiued much ease and furtherance the head of the Church hauing alwayes about his person his Councell in affaires of greatest importance Hee likewise saith that Kings reuerence them but they are so farre from making themselues equall with Kings that Princes finde none that beare themselues with more respect towards
c. that if they had been able they would certainly haue done it but that they feared to prouoke this Emperor against them to haue drawn persecution against the Christians O blessed Apostle how fitly to the purpose dost thou stop this euasion furnishest vs with an answer that cutteth off all difficultie for he saith That we must be subiect to Princes not only for wrath but euen for conscience sake He wil that we obey Princes not only for feare of incurring thier displeasure but also to satisfie the conscience and our duety towards God And S. Peter in like manner in his first Epistle and second Chapter Submit your selues to all manner ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as to the Superiour c. This then is to be done not only to stoope and yeelde to the present necessity but also for Gods sake And to say truth could not S. Peter at whose word Ananias and Saphyra gaue vp the ghost and S. Paul who in reasoning with Elymas the Sorcerer strooke him with blindenesse could not they I say by the same power haue crushed this monster Nero or haue throne him from the height of the Capitoll But what wil they say if we produce ages wherin Orthodox Christians were the stronger party and yet did they abstaine from the life or Crowne of the Emperour Constantius was an Arrian against whom Liberius Bishoppe of Rome did not cast forth his lightnings neyther did hee attempt to dispossesse him but vpon the Emperours commaund hee went into banishment After his decease Iulian the Apostata mightily laboured to restore Paganisme at what time almost the whole Empire was Christian and that which is more his Armies were composed of Christian souldiers as Ruffinus witnesseth in the first booke of his Story cap. 1. Theodoret lib 4. cap. 1. Socrates lib. 3. cap. 19. And indeed when the Armies after his death conferred the Empire vpon Iouinian a christian Prince they cryed with one voyce We are Christians What could there be more easie then to haue thrust this Apostata from the Empire And if God hath giuen to the Bishop of Rome this power to degrade Monarches why was he then wanting to this his duety when there was such a pressing necessity and so great a facility to haue done it There liued at that time Gregory Nazianzen the ornament of his age who in his first Oration against Iulian saith that the Christians at that time had no other remedy against the persecutors saue onely their teares But if our Popes now a dayes had then liued This passage is alleadged in the 11. Decree Quaest 3. c. Iulianus and might haue beene beleeued they would easily haue furnished other meanes S. Austin vpon the 124. Psal speaking of the obedience that the Christians yeelded to this Iulian Distinguebant Dominum aeternum a Domino temporali tamen subditi erāt propter Dominū aeternum etiam Domino temporali They made a difference saith he betweene the Lord eternall and the Lord temporall and yet they were subiect to their temporall Lord because of the Lord eternall Such a like example we haue in the Emperour Valens an Arrian and a persecutor whose officers and people were for the most part faithfull beleeuers but their Religion neuer brake out into rebellion The Emperour Valentinian the yonger was infected with Arrianisme as we see by the 33. Epistle of S. Ambrose where Valentinian sendeth his Colonels and Captaines to dispossesse the Orthodox Christians of the Temple in the City of Milan to put in the Arrians Ambrose the Christian people withstood him but with modesty saying Rogamus Auguste non pugnamus Non timemus sed rogamus Whereat Valentinian was so much offended that he called S. Ambrose ‡ Si Tyrannus es scrire volo vt sciam quemadmodum me aduersum te praeparem tyrant At the same time one * Sosomen lib. 7. cap. 13. Maximus a Catholick Prince rebelled against Valentinian and made him to forsake Italy taking in hand the defence of the true faith against an Emperour that was an Hereticke What did the Christians then Did S. Ambrose or the Bishop of Rome commaund the people to obey Maximus and to rebell against Valentinian Nothing lesse nay rather Valentinian by the helpe of Theodosius and the Orthodoxes was re-established in his authority which greatly serued to set him in the right way To be short we finde in the auncient Church many Bishops banished and chastised by Emperours but neuer any Emperour dispossessed of his Empire by the Bishoppe of Rome So then Cardinall Bellarmine doth accuse the auncient Bishops of Rome for that during the oppression of the Church they vsed not those means and remedies which they had in their hands in that they drew onely the spirituall sword whereas our new Popes skirmish with both hands and flourish both swords besides all other dexterities Yea futher if the auncient Bishoppes of Rome were in doubt to prouoke the Emperors for feare of being cause of much slaughter and confusion why did not this feare with-hold the late Popes from thundring against the Emperours Fredericke Barbarossa and Henry the fourth Why did they draw on those horrible confusions which filled the west Empire with blood sacked many townes and caused threescore maine battels to bee fought It is then a manifest corruption of the Scripture when in the same place he produceth the Epistle of S. Paul saying to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 6. that rather then they shold go to law before vngodly men or Infidels they should erect those who were of least estimation in the Church Iudges amongst them Then he addeth Is it so that there is not a wise man amongst you not one that can iudge betweene his brethren From this Text Bellarmine maketh this collection that the Corinthians might establish new Iudges This is to take the Scriptures cleane contrary to the meaning of them For first S. Paul doth not speake of deposing Magistrates secondly he doth not speake of erecting new ordinary Offices in the Common-wealth but to chuse out from among the faithfull some persons to compose their differences by arbitrement peacable meanes rather then to draw blame vpon the Church by bringing their suits and quarrels before Infidels This is the exposition that Theodoret and Chrysostome giue vpon this place and Lyranus and Thomas vpon this Epistle Now if the Cardinall maintaine that S. Paul doth speake of forsaking the ordinary Iudges to institute new in their places let him produce some examples hereof let him shew vs the practise of it There he is silent and for good cause for who maketh any doubt but that the Christians if they should haue set vp ordinary Iudges in place of Imperiall Officers should haue beene held culpable of Leze-maiesty The danger which he pretendeth to be intolerating an heretical King cannot beare skale against the commaundement of God Adde hereunto that this reason is but
weake in the mouth of a Iesuite who holdeth that a Pope Bellar. l. 2. de Rom. Pont. c. 29 be he neuer so wicked and a destroyer of the Church cannot be deposed no not by a general Councell and yet there is greater apparant danger in this then in the former That which Bellarmine addeth seemeth to haue beene written by him being asleepe and is nothing else but a quippe to make men laugh He proueth that a faithfull people may free themselues from the yoake of a Prince that is an Infidell that is to say may rebell against him and that by the example of the beleeuing wife which by the iudgement of the Apostle 1. Cor. 7. is not bound to abide with an husband that is an Infidell when hee will not dwell with her Whereunto I answere first that Similitudes are no proofes Secondly this Similitude being rightly taken doth not hurt vs for as a beleeuing wife is not bound to follow her husband when he forsaketh her and wil no longer co-habite with her so I will freely confesse that subiects are not bound to acknowledge a King that abandoneth his subiects and will no longer be King ouer them but renounceth his Realme and this is all that may be drawne from this Comparison Thirdly this Similitude is aduantageous vnto vs for if we admit the Comparison betweene the condition of a wife and of subiects then will it definitiuely determine our Controuersie and make vs gain the cause For as while an husband that is an Infidell will abide with his beleeuing wife she may not forsake him nor shake off her yoake so while a King that is an Infidell will retayne his soueraignty ouer beleeuing subiects they may not abandone him nor rebell against him The wordes of the Apostle are directly to this purpose If any woman haue an vnbeleeuing husband and he consent to dwell with her let her not forsake him All that which Bellarmine addeth is nothing else but as his manner is suppositions without proofes We graunt him that Princes who against their promise doe warre against the true fayth deserue to be depriued of their Kingdome but wee denye that this power of depriuing them is in the Pope VVe must reserue that iudgement to God seeing it is he that hath established them and that as Tertullian sayth they are inferiour to GOD alone Tertul. ad Scapulam in Apolog. cap. 30. A quo sunt secundi post quem primi Cap. 30. Cum dixit Petro Amas me Pasce oues meas idem dixit caeteris As touching these wordes spoken to S. PETER Feed my sheepe to omit for the present that which S. AVSTIN sayth in his booke of the Christian combate that Iesus Christ saying to S. Peter Feede my lambes spake the same to the rest as all the auncients with one accord doe say that the power of binding and loosing was giuen to the Apostles and to the whole Church in the person of S. Peter to omit this because I will treat of it in his proper place I onely say that albeit this had beene spoken to the Pope yet might he not for all that chastise Princes with depriuation of their estates or by raising a commotion among his subiects or by imposing fines and amercements vpon his countreyes This is to enterprete the word Feede too licentiously we had neede of new Grammer for this new Diuinity for the word Feede which in times past signified to teach and to guide dooth now a dayes signifie to blast whole kingdomes with the lightning of excommunications to ouerthrow great Monarches and to sucke and draw out the very substance of the poore people Beare with our simplicity herein for so great an abuse in wordes maketh vs to feare a greater in the matter it selfe To speake barbarously were an euill somewhat tollerable were it not that Barbarismes doe sometymes passe into Heresies and incongruities in wordes into incongruity in fayth Thus the Bishop of Rome calleth himselfe the Pylot and Steer-man of S. Peters Shippe but he imployeth that barke to trafficke his owne gayne and S. Peters nets to fish for Princes Crownes and to entramell whole States and Common-weales His keyes now a dayes serue onely to open Cofers His power of loosing only to loose the bonds of fidelity through a mutinous piety and a factious Religion which maketh it self Iudge ouer the consciences of kings which euen hateth their Religion because it hateth their rule gouernment and maketh that to be a good subiect to be a good Christian are things that cannot subsist together Bellarmines reasons hauing beene very feeble the examples which he produceth in the Chapter following are lesse currant He sayeth that Osias king of Iuda was dryuen out of the Temple by the High Priest and depryued of his kingdome The text of Scripture is direct to the contrary It is said 2. King 15.2 that Osias began to raigne in the sixteenth yeare of his age and hee raigned fifty two yeates so that he liued threescore and eyght years whence it appeareth that he was King euen vntill his death In the fift verse Iotham his son during the time of his fathers separation because of his leprosie he is not called King but gouernor of his house And ver 7. the beginning of the raigne of Iotham is reckoned only from the death of Osias his father The example of Athalia driuen from the Kingdome by Iehoiada the high Priest is as little to the 2. King 11. purpose For wee speake here of lawfull Princes deposed and he brings vs an example of a woman thâ—t vsurped anothers Kingdome by force and tyranny in which case euery man is allowed to employ himselfe to expel the vsurper and to preserue the Kingdome to the lawfull King The example of S. Ambose Bishoppe of Millan who would not receiue the Emperour Theodosius to the communion by reason of that great slaughter which his souldiers at his commaundement committed at Thessalonica maketh expresly against the Bishop of Rome For would the Pope now a dayes indure that a Bishoppe of Millan or Colleyne should intrude himselfe to excommunicate Emperours and to declare them to be fallen from their Empire without his permission Did Ambrose this by the counsaile or commaundement of the Bishop of Rome And were it so that Ambrose had beene that the Pope now sayth himselfe to be where will Bellarmine finde that Ambrose did degrade the Emperour or that he dispensed with his subiects for the Oath of fidelity Let a man read his three and thirtieth Epistle and he shall see with how great humilty he submitteth himselfe to an Arrian Emperour so farre from preaching any reuolt of his subiects from him that indeede hee willingly offered to dye and to suffer persecution if such were the will of the Emperour As touching the law which Theodosius imposed vpon himselfe by the Counsell of S. Ambrose which was that from thence forward he would stay the execution of any sentence of death
yeelde her that which the Angell Gabriel pronounced of her and that which in her Canticle she prophesied of her selfe that is That she ¶ Luc. 1.28 is blessed amongst women and * Ibid. ver 48. That all generations shall call her blessed I reuerence her as the Mother of Christ whom of our Sauiour tooke his flesh and so the mother of God since the Diuinity and Humanity of Christ are inseperable And I freely confesse that she is in glory both aboue Angels and men her owne Sonne that is both God and man onely excepted But I dare not mocke her and blaspheme against God calling her not onely Diua but Dea and praying her to commaund and controule her Sonne who is her God and her Sauiour Nor yet can J thinke that she hath no other thing to doe in heauen then to heare euery idle mans suite and bufie her selfe in their errands whiles requesting whiles commanding her sonne whiles comming downe to kisse and make loue with Priests and whiles disputing and brawling with Diuels In heauen she is in eternall glory and ioy neuer to be interrupted with any worldly businesse and there I leaue her with her blessed Sonne our Sauiour and hers in eternall felicity Here Coeffeteau playeth the sugitiue and that little which he murmureth in flying are partely falsehoods partely disguisings of the beliefe of his Church He graunteth to the King that she ought not to be called Goddesse and reiecteth with him a thousand ridiculous things and the false honours which superstition hath inuented Now I cannot diuine what Religion it is that giueth to the holy Virgin ridiculous or excessiue honours saue onely the Romane Religion It is onely the Romane religion that calleth her Queene of heauen the gate of Paradise Regina coeli pâ—rta paradisi Domina mundi hauing rule and dominion ouer the world they are the Titles which are giuen to her in the prayer that Sixtus the fourth hath willed to be said before the Image of our Ladie of Loretto with graunt of eleauen thousand yeares pardon I my selfe haue seene in the great Missâ—lles of Paris before the late Popes new plastered them ouer these Sapphicke verses barborously elegant O fellix puer pera Nostra pians scelera Iure matris impera Redemptori It is also in the Church of Rome that throughout all the Churches the Virgin Mary is painted lifted vp and assumed into heauen in body and solemnly crowned Queene of heauen and of all the world without being able to produce any witnes of worth for the same Seeing there is none that euer came backe from heauen that had said that he had seene it to be so And God saith nothing of it in his word neither doth the Auncient Church speake of it It is the Church of Rome also which maketh the Virgin Mary much more inclined to procure our good then Iesus Christ euen so farre as that shee must appease the wrath and indignation of her sonne against vs as they sing vpon the Feast of Alhallowes or Al-Saints Christe redemptor gentium Conserua tuos famulos Beatae semper Virginis Placatus sanctis precibus And so Pope Innocent the third speaketh in the Hymne of Christ and the Virgin to which hee addeth great indulgences Precor te regina caeli Me habeto excusatum Apud Christum tuum gnatum Cuius iram pertimesco Et furorem expauesco This Church of Rome who in her houres Rosaries and Letaines calleth the Holy Virgin Mother of mercie Gate of Heauen our Saluation She that hath bruised the head of the Serpent as also Genesis 3.15 this propertie of bruising the Serpents head which is there giuen to the seede of the Woman in the vulgar translation is attributed to the Woman by a wicked falsification In a word for the toppe of all abuses there are in the Church of Rome two Psalters of our Ladie one of which is called Saint Bonauenture Psalter which is nothing else but the one hundred and fifty Psalmes of Dauid in which they haue taken away the name of God and in it's roome haue put the name of Mary which hauing beene printed an infiuite number of times in Latine hath since beene translated into French and printed at Paris a At Paris by Claudius Chappelet in S. Iames his street at the signe of the Vnicorne 1601. Printed at Paris by Nicolas du Fosse in S. Iames his streete at the golden pot 1601. with priuilede and approbation of the Sorbonne The other Psalter is digested into fifteene Demaunds with like approbation of the Doctrines In which the Virgin Mary is called the first cause of our saluatioÌ„ the finder out of grace that turneth away the indignation of Iesus Christ by vncouering her paps vnto him The Rose by whose smell the dead are raised vp who by the faire Lillies of her face made the King of Heauen in loue with her who at the last day shall moderate the sentence of the Iudge euen so far haue they proceeded as to place her before Iesus Christ in these wordes Glory be to you O Virgin and to Iesus Christ c. It would doe well to report the wole booke Moreouer euery one knoweth how in Italy they speake with much more respect of La madoma then of God whom they call by a terme full of mis-regard Messer Domene Dio Lect. 80. Confugimus primo ad beatissiman vir ginem coelorum reginam cui Rex regum pater celestis dimidium regni sui dedit Quod significatum est in Ester regina Sic pater coelestis cum habeat institiam misericordiam iustitia sibi retenta misericordiam matri virgini concessit Of whom also Gabriel Biel a famous Doctor saith in his exposition of the Canon of the Masse That God hath diuided his Kingdome at halfes with the Virgin Mary hauing reserued Iustice to himselfe and left mercy vnto her Now these things are not drawne out of any obscure authours but out of their owne Missalles Letonies and publicke prayers out of the writings of their Popes and Psalters publickly allowed to the end that Coeffeteau may know that in condemning these things hee warreth against the whole Church of Rome and commeth no longer with a cold dissimulation to disguise his owne priuate beleefe Which shall serue for an answere to that place of Cyril which he alleadgeth where the virgin Mary is called the singular ornameÌ„t of the world A lampe that neuer goeth out the Crown of Virginitie c. For in all this there is not any one of these titles wicked such as are those which we haue before represented no nor the title which Coeffeteau giueth her calling her the Spouse of the Father which is a title which the Scripture giueth to the whole Church not to the Virgin Mary It is not for vs in things of so high nature out of iollity to forge new terms which are to the weake occasion of error or of stumbling The passage which hee alleadgeth
nostram veniunt non appendi As I was in a Village called Anablata seeing as I walked along a burning lampe and perceiuing that it was a Church I went in to pray and found in the porch a veile hung vp coloured and painted hauing in it the picture as it were of Christ or some Saint for I doe not well remember of what hauing then seene that in the Church of Christ there was hung vp the Image of a man contrarie to the authority of the Scriptures I rent it and aduised the keepers of the place to burie some poore dead bodie in it He addeth that hee sent another veile without any Image for recompence of that which he had torne to content the keepers that murmured at it after that he saith I pray you that in the Church of Christ such veiles be no more hung vp which are opposite to our religion And this same Epistle is in the same wordes alleaged in the Councell of Paris held vnder Lewes le debonaire in the yeare 824 that none may thinke it a peece of new forgerie Gregorie of Tours speaking of the Baptisme of King Clouis and his children witnesseth that the adorning of Churches was to hang the Church with veiles or white linnen Of which S. Ambrose speakes Epist 33. and this custome doth yet continue in Lent An euident proofe that then they had no Images for to what end should they then keepe them couered and this was about the yeare of our Lord fiue hundred Out of Monsieur Pithou his librarie who was a man rarelie learned we haue the Councell of Paris against Images wherein King Lewes le debonaires and the French Bishops doe make remonstrances vnto Pope Eugenius who defended Images tooth and naile For the Popes laide handfast vpon this occasionn to shake off the yoke of their master the Emperour of the East vnder a coulour that he puld downe Images Not long before in the yeare 794. Charlemaigne assembled the Councell of Franckford against the worshipping of Images Adonis Chronicon in an 795. Abbas Vspergensis in anno 793. Hinemarus Remensis lib. 20. coÌ„tra Episc Iandunensem Matth. WestmonasterieÌ„s in hyst an 793. Auentinus Annonius Regino Vignier c. wherein the second Nicene Councell was condemned before which Councell of Nice a generall Councell was held at Constantinople in the yeare 750 where there were three hundred and thirty eight Bishops some parts of which Councel are alleaged in the secoÌ„d Councell of Nice howsoeuer maymed yet stronger then that which those Nicence Bishops opposed against it About the yeare 600. Serenus Bishop of Marsilia puld downe all the Images found in Churches because the people worshipped them Greg. Epist 109. ad Serenum Episc Massiliensem lib. 9. Epist 9. and it is not by any meanes credible that the Christians accounted Images for Gods or worshipped them as God Nor doe we find that the said Serenus erected them againe notwithstanding hee was controuled by Gregorie Bishop of Rome Petrus Pithoeus in praefatione in hystorias Miscellas à Paulo Aquilegiensi Diacono collectas Nuper admâ—dâ—m nostri homines imaginosi esse coeperuÌ„t And indeede Monsieur Pithou hath good ground to say that the French-men beganne verie soone after to be addicted vnto Images For Anastasius keeper of the Librarie one superstitiously giuen in the preface to the second Councel of Nice saith that the Gaules had not yet receiued Images because the truth was not yet reuealed vnto them that is to say more then eight hundred yeares after Christ And Nicetas Choniates in the second booke of the raigne of Augustus Angelus saith that the Armenians did gladly receiue the Almaines because Apud Alemannos Armenios Imaginum adoratio aequè interdicta est among the Almaines and Armenians the worshipping of Images was forbidden alike For Charlemaigne had so farre reiected the worshipping of Images that hee himselfe wrote a booke against it which is yet extant And soone after Agobardus Bishop of Lyons compiled a great volume against Images which is also extant and newly printed at Paris To conclude whosoeuer shall diligently reade the scornefull inuectiues of the primitiue Christians flouting the Images of the auncient Pagans shall finde that their reprehensions had beene ridiculous if the Christians had then had Images in their Churches as when Lactantius lib. 2. cap. 4. doth call the Statues in the Pagan-temples Grandes puppas great babies and when cap. 2. he saith that the Images of the Gods are of no vse if they be present and that if they be in heauen then we should rather direct our prayers toward heauen And when S. Austin vpon the 113. Psalme saith that they draw the deuotion of the people in that they haue a humane shape and are set in some high roome And doubtlesse the Infidels would haue returnde the reproofe and reproach to the Christians and to their Images of the Saints and the worshipping of their Statues which they doe not But we haue heretofore heard that they aske the Christians for what cause they haue no Images that any could see ARTICLE XIX Of the Image of God The KINGS Confession YEa the Image of God himselfe is not only expresly forbidden to bee worshipped but euen to bee made The reason is giuen that no eye euer saw God and how can we paint his face when Moses the man that euer was most familiar which God neuer saw but his backe parts Surely since he cannot be drawne to the viue it is a thankelesse labour to marre it with a false representation which no Prince nor scarce any other man will be contented with in their owne pictures Let them therefore that maintaine this doctrine answere it to Christ at the latter day when he shall accuse them of Idolatrie And then I doubt if he will be payed with such nice sophisticall Distinctions For answere whereunto Coeffeteau saith that the Images of God are not made to represent his essence but onlie to expresse the formes wherein he hath appeared That none is so brutish to beleeue that any can paint an essence immortall infinite c. I expected that M. Coeffeteau would haue produced some commandement of God for his ground of the Images of God or some place to shew that God was pleased to haue his Images made seing they are not made to represent his essence at least some auncient example either true or false after his old manner But here is none of these he only saith that Images doe not expresse his being I answere that this may bee said aswell of the Images of men yea of beastes for their pictures doe not represent their essence and neuer was any man so vnreasonable as to thinke that the essence of anie thing could be expressed in a picture Then in like manner doe I say that if these Images be not the Images of God because they represent not his essence then the Images of Saints are not their Images because they represent not
vnto him in the Conclaue presently after his election for so soone as hee is named Pope by the Cardinals shut vp in the Conclaue he is stript out of his ordinary habites and there are others giuen him amongst other things redde hose and redde shoes hauing a Crosse of golde a redde girdle with buckles of golde a redde bonet and a rochet And thus being armed at all points with his redde cloake and triple Crowne See this Ceremony described in the first booke of the Ceremonies Sect. 1. cap. 6. glittering with Diamonds they lift him vp as a sacred body and set him on the Altar there the Cardinals kisse his hands and feete This is vulgarly called among the Italians Adoratione which is the more to be noted because they set him vpon the Altar which is the place where they place their Masse-god and it is the place appointed for diuine adoration So that this manner of adoration cannot be taken for ciuill adoration By this also it is euident that forasmuch as Kings are more mighty and powerfull then Popes in ciuill causes if this were a ciuil worship then coÌ„sequently they ought the rather to be worshipped But they are so farre from being worshipped as that themselues are enforced to worship the Popes And if a King should call himselfe God it should little auaile him to alleadge places of the old Testament where Princes are called Gods for that would no way serue his turne but that among Christians he would be accounted a blasphemer for now the Pope taketh this Title vpon himself exclusiuely shutting out al other Princes because with him it carrieth a religious sense and that importeth adoration Againe Princes in respect that they are called Gods doe not arrogate to themselues a liberty of being free 〈…〉 reprehension or of being iudged of any man as doth the Pope in the Canon Satis dist 96. the words whereof are these It is euidently shewed that the Pope can neyther be bound nor vnbound by any secular power Satis euidenter ostenditur à seculari potestate nec solui prorsus nec ligari pontificem quem constat à pio principe Constantino quem longè superê memorauimê Deum appellatum cum nec posse Deum ab hominibus iuiudicari manifestum sit because we know he hath beene called God by that religious Prince Constantine before mentioned and God cannot be iudged by man He excludeth Princes from the Title of Gods to reserue it to himselfe and approuing the saying of Constantine that called him God hee inferreth thereupon that the Pope cannot be iudged of any man But let vs note by the way that Constantine said in the Councell of Nice speaking to all the Bishops there present You are Gods but he neuer spake this particularly to the Bishop of Rome In consequence also of this Title the Pope calleth his Decrees and Canons Oracles Oracle signifieth the answer of God Extra de Maioritate obed Titulo 33. cap. Per tuas Rom. 3.2 11.4 With like modesty hee termeth his Decretall Epistles Canonicall Scriptures Dist. 19. in the Canon In Canonicis the inscription whereof is this Inter Canonicas Scripturas Decretales Epistolae connumerantur The Decretall Epistles are numbred among the Canonicall Scriptures Hee boasteth himselfe to haue all power in heauen and vpon earth in the last Councell of Lateran Sess 9. and 10. and attributeth it vnto himselfe in his booke of sacred Ceremonies Sect. 7 Cap. 6. according to which power Innocent the third in his Bull Adliberandam In retributionem iustorum salutis aeternae pollicemur augmentum which is at the end of the second Councell of Lateran giueth vnto Pilgrims that came from beyond the Seas an encrease of glory aboue the rest Among all these I finde none so odious as that Title which he taketh of being the Spouse of the vniuersall Church which belongeth particularly to Iesus Christ as S. Paul sayth 2. Cor. 11. For I haue married you vnto one man to present you as a chaste Virgin vnto Christ Extrauag de immunitate Eccles Tit. 22. Capite Quoniam in 6 And yet this is the quality which the Pope taketh vnto himselfe in more then thirty places in his Decrees and Decretals and in the last Councell of Lateran And to the end you may know his bookes in what sense he is called the Spouse of the Church Bellarmine who wrote at Rome § Ac ne fortè l. 1. de Rom. Pont. c. 9. sayth that the Pope is the Spouse of the Church etiam Christo excluso Christ being excluded And albeit Christ were not excluded yet in matter of marriage we are not accustomed to accept of a Deputy Whosoeuer would here heape vp places in which both the Pope and his flatterers attribute vnto him that he is aboue the law and aboue all right and that he may dispense against the Apostles nay against the Gospell it selfe that likewise he hath power to dispense with oathes made vnto God and a thousand things of the like nature whereby he setteth himselfe aboue God might well of these things compose a great volume and grieue the heart of the godly Reader who is touched with a zeale of Gods house But this shall suffice to shew that Coeffeteau wrongeth the Pope much in saying that he is called God onely in that sense that Princes are that is to say for ciuill considerations for in all that is abouesaid there is no one thing spoken of ciuill respect all is built vpon consideration of Religion I should haue said against Religion And as little grace hath hee in defending the Popes triple crowne when he is driuen to say that the title of Maiesty is very fit to bee giuen to the holy things For certainly S. Peter was farre more holy then the Pope and consequently ought to haue had the greater Maiesty and yet neyther Peter nor any other Prelate many ages after him did euer weare three crownes or adorned their heads with Diamonds This lustre well becommeth worldly Maiesty but not spirituall holinesse which ought to shine in vertues and not in pretious stones and to appeare rather in Martyrdome then in pompe and to edifie mens hearts in stead of dazeling their eyes yet all the Maiesty of Kings was neuer comparable to this worldlinesse neuer did any of them thinke it fit to weare three Crownes The onely name of this Head-tire teacheth vs what to iudge for in Italy it is called It regno The Kingdome and the booke of holy Ceremonies doth ordinarily so call it to shew that the Pope weareth that Crowne as a King and not as a Bishop or Pastor of the Church The marke of the Bishopricke in the Church of Rome is the Pastorall staffe which they call the Crosier But the Pope carrieth none such as Innocent the third teacheth vs in his first booke of the mysteries of the Masse cap. 42. Because saith he S. Peter sent his Crosier to Eucharius Bishop of Treuers
which is there kept for a relique The first Author of this Fable is vnknown but it was deuised to perswade the people that S. Peter hauing layde aside his Crosier wore the triple Crowne as Monarch of the earth of hell and of heauen or as gouernour of Asia Affricke and Europe Now it is not without cause that this Crowne is called the Kingdome because the Pope quallifieth himselfe with the Titles of King and Monarch The last Councell of Lateran Sess 10. speaketh thus to the Pope The Empire of your Holinesse and Sess 9. Regale Romanorum Pontificum genus The Royall race of the Romane Bishops Imperium Sanctitatis verstrae Papa Sacerdos Rex and in the 3. Sess The Pope is Priest and King and in the first Session he is called Princeps totius orbis Prince of the whole world and therefore he preacheth no more Sometimes he saith Masse on some solemne day but in that Masse he causeth himselfe at sundry times to be adored If any King be present he must holde the Napkin but it must be vpon his knee as did King Charles the eight to Pope Alexander the sixth And for his better reading in the Missall he hath a Cardinall that poynteth to the letters with his finger Liber sacrarum Cerem l. 2. sect 1 as men vse to teach young children he then changeth his Hose and Shooes many times hee sucketh the Chalice with a reede at his going away he swelleth and puffeth vp his cheekes and giueth the benediction by blowing vpon them as though he gaue the holy Ghost As touching the Titles of Head of the faith supreame Iudge of all Controuersies which his Maiesty of England vpbraydeth the Pope withall Coeffeteau passeth that ouer and speaketh nothing as thinking it a thing not able to be maintayned So doth he disclaime that Title of Monarch of the world condemning therein the Councell of Lateran before alleadged that calleth him King and Prince of the whole world And we haue before produced certaine Theses lately disputed of at Naples and dedicated to the Pope now reigning Paulo 5. Vice-Deo Christiani orbis monarch wherein he is called Vice-God Monarch of the Christian world Titles of greater Antiquity THese new titles being thus taken away Coeffeteau comes on with a fresh supply and bringeth such as are more auncient and herein he craueth the assistance of the Fathers but first he racketh and tortureth them and by strayning constrayneth them to speake things against their will The first place is out of Tertullian cap. 1. of his booke of chastity Pontifex scilicet Maximus Episcopus Episcoporum dicit ego moechiae fornicationis delicta poenitentia functis dimitto O edectum cui ascribi non potest bonum foctum where he calleth the Bishop of Rome Soueraigne Bishop Bishop of Bishops The Reader that will giue himselfe leisure but to looke vpon the place shall finde that Tertullian speaketh this by way of flouting and mocking the Bishop of Rome for these are his words Yea indeed the chiefe Bishop the Bishop of Bishops saith thus I forgiue the sinnes of Adultery and Fornication to those that haue performed their due time of Penance O Edict vpon which a man may write It was the custome of the â—â—omanes to write ouer their Edicts B. F. Bonumfactum a good deed Sueton. in Iulio cap. 81. in Vitellio cap. 14. Plautus Poenulo Banum factum edicta vt seruetis mea THAT SHALL BE WEL DONE Besides we know not whether he spake of the Bishop of Rome or of the Bishop of Carthage a Metrapolitane in Affricke but howsoeuer cap. 21. he followeth the Bishop of Rome farre more plainely faying If because the Lord said vnto Peter vpon this Rocke I will build my Church therefore thou pretendest that the power to binde and loose is deriued vnto thee that is to say to euery Church that hath an affinity or neerenesse with S. Peter who art thou that changest and ouerthrowest the manifest meaning of Iesus Christ Si quia dixerat Petro Dominus super hanc petram c. id circo praesumis ad te deriuasse soluendi alligandi potestatem qualis es euertens atque commutansmanifestam Domiâ—â— intentionem personaliter hos Petro conferentem who conferred the same personally vnto Peter The next is S. Ierome who calleth the Bishop of Rome soueraigne Priest a name which the Ancients giue to euery Bishop as doth also the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The name also of a Foundation of the Church is common the all the Apostles as wee haue shewed and to all their true Successors S. Ierome sayth not that the Bishop of Rome is the only Foundation of the Church and if hee should haue so sayd he would surely haue beene suspected of flattering his Bishop as being himselfe a Roman Priest which neuerthelesse did not hinder him in an Epistle written to Euagrius to affirme that all Bishops are of equall dignity and to place the Bishop of Rome but in equality with others The place is very remarkeable In what place soeuer saith he a Bishop be whether he be at Rome at Agubium at Constantinople at Rhegium at Alexandria or at Tanis he hath one and the same priesthood the power of wealth or basenesse of pouerty maketh not one Bishop higher or lower then another In briefe they are all the successors of the Apostles But thou wilt say vnto me how commeth to passe that at Rome a Prest is receiued to his charge vpon the testimony of one Deacon To this obiection propounded to the end to haue all other Churches ruled after the example of the Romane he answereth thus Why bringest thou me in here the custome of one towne why dost thou bring in a small number by whose meanes pride is crept in among the lawes of the Churches In the third place he alledgeth S. Augustine saying That in the Romane Church the principality of the Apostolike Sea hath alwaies flourished If he had read the ancient histories he should haue learned that antiquity giueth also this principality to the Churches of Antioch Alexandria and of Ierusalem Sozomene chap. 16. of his booke eleuenth speaking of the Councell of Nice Fluic Concilio interfuere in Episcopis qui sedes tenebaÌ„t Apostolicas Macarius Hierosolymorum Antistes c. At this Councell were present amongst the Bishops that held the Apostolike Seas Macharius Bishop of Ierusalem Eustance Bishop of Antioch and Alexander Bishop of Alexandria 〈◊〉 Ruffinus lib. 2. chap. 21. saith that Damasus at Rome Timothy in Alexandria and Iohn in Ierusalem reestableshed the Seas Apostolike In Theodoret lib. 5. chap. 9. the Church of Antioch is called the most ancient Church of all the most Apostolike presently after the mother of all the Churches as it is likewise called in many other places Coeffeteau after these addeth a falshood he saith that the Councell of Chalcedon acknowledgeth the Bishop of Rome to be head of
the Church and the first of all other and this is found in the 16 Session But note that it is not the Councell which speaketh thus but Paschasin deputed from Rome who pleadeth his owne cause and yet this hindred not this Councell from making a Canon expresly declaring and defining that the Bishop of Constantinople is equall with him of Rome in all things yea euen in causes Ecclesiasticall the Canon hath beene produced by vs before He further saith that Irenaeus chap. 3. lib. 3. doth attribute vnto the Church of Rome a principality more powerfull thē vnto others which is most false and an euident corruption of the place Irenaeus speaketh of the principality and power of the city for being the seate of the Empire the faithfull of all Churches had necessary occasions to repaire thither The words are these Ad hanc Ecclesiam propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem conuenire c. Ecclesiam vnto this Church by reason of the more mighty principality it is necessary that euery Church should resort As if I should say that all the Churches of France should come to that of Paris because there is the principality and power of the Realme and yet can I not for all this say that the faithfull ministers of the Church of Paris haue a principality ouer the rest Saint Cyprian in the third Epistle of his first booke doth directly call the Church of Rome the principall Church because in all the West there was no Church so great or so remarkable as it He saith that the vnity of Priesthood came from thence because his opinion was Hoc crant vtique caeteri Apostoli quod Petrus pari consortio honoris potestatis sed exordium ab vnitate proficisc it ur vt Ecclesia vna monstretur that albeit the Apostles were all equall in power and honour yet S. Peter was entertained into his charge some small time before the other Apostles Iesus Christ hauing a determination to begin from one to the end to shew the vnity of the Church as he saith in his treatise of the simplicity of Prelates He beleeued then that S. Peter who for a season held the sacerdo tall dignity alone to testifie the vnity of the Church had beene at Rome and that from thence Christiā religion spred it selfe into the West Now in this Cyprian goeth about to soften and to gratifie the Bishop of Rome to the end to prepare him the better to taste and to brooke the checkes and reproofes which afterwards he adioyneth whereby he proueth to Cornelius that he hath no power at all ouer Affricke and that he neither could nor ought to receiue the causes of those whom the Bishops of Affricke had condemned for saith he presently after seeing it is ordered among vs all and that it is a thing iust and reasonable that euery mans cause should be examined where the crime was committed and that vnto euery Pastor there is allotted a portion of the flocke which each one ought to gouerne and leade as being to render an account vnto the Lord of his carriage and behauiour there is no reason that those whom we guide should runne from one place to another and through their fraudulent rashnesse seeke to breake the concord of Bishops friendly knit together but that they should there pleade their causes where they may haue accusers and witnesses of their crimes lest it fall out that some desperate and forlorne persons should thinke that the authority of the Bishops of Affricke who haue condemned them should be lesse then others their cause hath beene alreadie examined the sentence hath beene alreadie pronounced To conclude he maintaineth that Cornelius may not take knowledge of any causes determined by the Bishops of Affrica without accusing them of lightnesse and vustaydnesse and so trouble the peace and quiet of the Church This is the cause that made Cyprian to gild his pill to extol the dignity of the Church of Rome before he would shew him that he ought not to thrust himselfe into the affaires of other Churches For it is diligently to be noted that those among the ancient Fathers that affirme that the Bishop of Rome is successour to Peter doe thereby vnderstand that he is successour in the charge of Bishop of Rome but not in the Apostleship After this sort also the Bishops of Ephesus were successors to S. Iohn and S. Paul the Bishops of Ierusalem successors to S. Iames so farre as these Apostles were Bishops of Ephesus and Ierusalem but they neuer were successors to the Apostleship and to the gouernment of the Church Vniuersall Nor is there any reason why the Bishop of Rome should be successor to Peter in his Apostleship and yet the Bishop of Ierusalem should be onely successor to S. Iames in his Bishoppricke Besides the Bishop of Antioch more auncient then the Bishop of Rome hath alwaies beene called the successor of S. Peter and why should it not be aswell in the Apostleship and gouernment of the Vniuersall Church If you will say that Peter hath taken away the prerogatiue and preheminence from Antioch and hath transported it to Rome we vtterly deny it and thereof no proofe worthy the receiuing can be brought If they further say that Peter dyed at Rome I will also say that Iesus Christ dyed at Ierusalem And why should not Christ his death at Ierusalem haue in it more power and vertue to make the Bishop of Ierusalem chiefe of the Church then the death of S. Peter at Rome to conferre this great dignity vpon the Bishop of Rome I leaue it likewise to the Readers to iudge who after the death of Peter ought of right to bee the chiefe of the Vniuersall Church For S. Iames liued yet at Ierusalem after S. Peter was dead And the Apostle S. Iohn out-liued him 32 yeares Eusebius in his Chronicle saith that Peter and Paul died the yeare of our Lord 69. and that S. Iohn dyed at Ephesus in the yeare 101. according to the accompt of Eusebius and Irenaeus Is it a thing to bee beleeued that S. Iohn the Disciple whom Iesus loued who leaned on his breast vnto whom he recommended his mother at his death whose writings are diuine oracles as the Reuelations in the Apocalips doe witnes that he should bee inferior to Linus the Disciple of Paul and indeed our aduer saries themselues haue inserred into the first Tome of their Councels certaine Epistles which they say were Clements Bishoppe of Rome amongst which there is one to S. Iames Bishop of Ierusalem and thus it beginneth Clemens to Iames brother of the Lord Bishop of Bishops gouerning the holy Church of the Hebrewes which is in Ierusalem Clemens Iacobo fratri Domini Episcopo Episcoporum yea all the Churches which are founded euery where by the prouidence of God And a little after hee calleth him his Lord words which witnesse that Clemens acknowledged Iames for his superior and chiefe of all