gouernour and kill a tyranne AS ther is no better nor happier cōmon wealthe nor no greater blessing of God thā wher one ru leth if he be a good iuste and godly mā so is ther nō worse nor non more miserable nor greater plague of God thā wher one ruleth that is euil vniuste and vngodly ▪ A good man knowing that he or those by whō he claymeth was to suche office called for his vertue to see the hole state well gouerned and the people defended frō iniuries neclecteth vtterly his owne pleasure and profit and bestoweth all his studie and labour to see his office well discharged And as a good phisician earnestly seketh the healthe of his pacient and a Shipmaister the wealthe and sauegarde of those he hathe in his ship so dothe a good gouernour seke the wealthe of those he ruleth And therfore the people feling the benefit comyng by good gouernours vsed in tyme past to call such good gouernours fathers ād gaue thē no lesse honour thā childrē owe to their parentes An euil persone comyng to the gouernemēt of any state either by vsurpaciō or by electiō or by successiō vtterly neglectig the cause why kinges princes ād other gouernours in cōmō wealthes be made that is the wealthe of the people seketh onli or chiefly his owne profit ād pleasure And as a sowe comyng in to a faire gardin roteth vp all the faire and swet flowres and holsome simples leauing nothing behinde but her owne filthye dirte so dothe an euil gouernour subuerte the lawes and ordres or maketh them to be wrenched or racked to serue his affectiones that they can no longer doo their office He spoyleth the people of their goodes either by open violence making his ministers to take it from them without payment therfore or promising and neuer payeng or craftily vnder the name of loanes beneuolences contribuciones and suche like gaye paynted wordes or for feare he geteth out of their possession that they haue and neuer restoreth it And whan he hathe it consumeth it not to the benefite and profit of the common wealthe but on hoores hooremongers dyceing carding banketting vniust warres and such like euilles and mischieues wherin he dely teth He spoileth and taketh awaye from them their armour and harnesse that they shall not be hable to vse any force to defende their right And not contented to haue brought thē in to such miserie to be sure of his sta te seketh and taketh all occasiones to despeche them of their lyues If a man kepe his house and meddle in nothing than shall it be sayed that he fretteth at the state If he come abrode and speake to any other further with it is taken for a iuste conspicacie If he saye nothing and shewe a mery countenaunce it i◅ a token that he despiceth the gouernement If he loke sorowfully than he lamenteth the state of his countreye how many so euer be for any cause committed to prison are not only asked but be racked also to shewe whether he be pryuie of their doinges If he de parte bicause he wold lyue quietly than is he proclaimed on open enemye To be shorte ther is no doing no gesture no behaueour no place can preserue or defende innocency against suche a gouernours crueltie but as an huntour maketh wilde beastes his praie and vseth toiles nettes snares trappes dogges firret tes mynyng and digging the grounde gōnes bowes speares and all other instrumentes engynes deuises subtilties ād meanes Wherby he maie come by his praye so dothe a wicked gouernour make the people his game and praye and vseth all kindes of subtilties deceates craftes policies force violence crueltie and suche like deuillishe wayes to spoyle and destroye the people that be cōmitted to his charge And whan he is not hable without most manifest crueltie to doo by him self that he desireth than fayneth he vniust causes to cast them in to prison wher like as the bearewardes mosell the beares and tye them to the stakes whyles they be baited and killed of mastyues and curres so he kepeth them in chaines whilest the bishoppes and other his tormentours and heretical inquisitours doo teare and deuoure them Fynally he saieth and denyeth he promiseth and breaketh promyse he sweareth and ◅orsweareth and nother passeth on God nor the deuil as the commyng sayeng is so he maye bring to passe that be desireth Suche an euil gouernour proprely men call a Tiranne Now forasmuche as ther is no expresse positiue lawe for punishement of a Tyranne among christen men the question is whether it be laufull to kill suche a monstre and cruell beast couered with the shape of a man And first for the better and more playne profe of this mater the manifolde and continuall examples that haue ben from tyme to tyme of the deposing of kinges and killing of tyrānes doo most certainly con firme it to be most true iust and cōsonaunt to Goddes iudgement The historie of kinges in the olde testament is full of it And as Carnal Phoole truly citeth England lacketh not the practice and experience of the same For they depriued king Edwarde the seconde bicause without lawe he killed his subiectes spoiled them of their goodes and wasted the treasure of the Realme And upon what iust causes Richard the the secōde was thrust out and Hēry the fourth put in his place I referre it to their owne iudgement Denmarke also now in our dayes did nobly the like act◅ whan they depriued Christierne the tiranne and committed him to perpetual prison Zacharias the pope that inuented first the lampes in the churche deposed Chilperichus king of Fraunce bicause he was sayed to be a lecherous persone and an unprofitable gouernour of the realme and forced him to be a monke and made Pipine father of Charles king of Fraunce Pope Honorious as ye hearde before commaunded that the king of Vngarie should be depriued bicause he diminished the rightes of the Crowne onles he repented and vndid all that he had done A certayn king of Portugale was very negligēt in his office he cōsumed ād wasted awaye the trea sure of his Realme he oppressed his subiectes ād misu sed thē Wherfore Pope inocēt the fourth made the kī ges brother therle of Bolone coadiutour to the king ād gaue hī the hole charge of the Realme discharged the people of their othe to the king and commaūded them to be obedient to the kinges brother in all thinges as king But the Popes learned counsail saied that he ought to haue bē vtterly deposed of the Crow ne These doinges of Popes I rehearse not as though their usurped autoritie were to be allowed but for that ye maye see that it is no newe thing to depose euil kinges ād gouernours ād that those that haue the iust autoritie maie and ought for the like causes doo as they did For albeit thautoritie of the pope be not laufull yet is the reason that moued them so to doo honest and iust and mete to be
statutes and lawes will saye ◅e doo not willingli any thing against Goddes honour or the wealthe of our countrey or deceaue any that put their trust in vs. If any suche thing folowe it is by reason that we were ignoraunt Tell me If beseche thee if thou hadest hyred one to be thy shepehearde and thy shepe should vnder his hande by his ignoraunce myscarie or if thy horsekeper taking wages should through his necligence suffre thy horse to perishe woldest thou not compte him faulty and loke for amendes at his handes Should ignoraunce excuse him No thou woldest saye I hyred thee and thou tokest it vpon thee And so thou woldest not onely force hym to make satisfaction but also woldest thinke it iuste to haue hi◅ punished besydes to make himself no more cōnyng than the was not to deceaue any that put their trust in him Than thei are muche to blame that being put in trust in Courtes and parliamentes to make lawes and statutes to the aduauncement of Goddes glorie and conseruation of the liberties and common wealthe of their countrey neglecte their off◅ce and charge being appointed to be not only kepers of Goddes people not of hogges neither of horses and mules which haue no vnderstāding but of that deare stocke which Christ purchaced with the price of his hart blood but also as phisicianes and Surgeons to redresse reforme and heale if any thing be amysse And if a phisitian for lucre or other mennes pleasure wold take vpon him the healing of a sore diseased per sone and for lacke of knowlage or vpō other euil pur pose wold ministre thinges to hurt or kill the persone were he not worthy to be taken and punished as a bocher and a man murtherer But ye will saye we gaue credit to others and they deceaued vs. Thinke ye that this balde excuse will serue Is it not written that if the blynde leade the blynde bothe shall fall in to the pitte Did the plea that Eua made for offending in eating the forbidden apple whan she sayed the serpent had deceaued her excuse her Nothing lesse She was not only her self therfore punished with suche paynes as greater than deathe none could be deuised hut also all her posteritie Other perhappes of you will saie ye dare doo non otherwise If ye did ye should be taken for enemies of the gouernour runne in to indignation and so lose your bodies and goodes and vndoo your children O faynt heartes Thinke ye that your parentes had lefte you as ye be if they had ben so faynt harted Or thinke ye that this will serue your turne Was it ynough for Adam our first father whan he fell with bearing his wife companye in eating the forbidden apple to saye I durst not displease my wife or to saye as he sayed The woman whome thou gauest me gaue it me No it auailed not but he and all his posteritie were plagued for his disobedience as we and all that shall folowe vs doo well fele if we haue any feare of God before our eies Whan the brutishe commones of Israel were so importune vpon Aaron that he for feare was fayne to make them the golden calfe wherwith whan Moses sharpely charged him he excused him self sayeng alas Sir this sedicious and rageing brutishe people wold nedes haue me perforce to doo it God knoweth it was sore against my will did this excuse acquite him trowe you No surely If he had not repented he had ben as sure of hell fyre for his labour as they be which haue set vp or sayed the beastly popyshe masse at the furious enforcement of the brutishe commones or in pretense of obedience to the Quenes procedinges in Englande onles they spedily repent and renounce their wicked doing as Aaron did his Thus ye haue hearde not only wherof politike power groweth and of the true vse and duetie therof but also what wilbe layed to their charge that doo not their duetie in making of lawes Now see what is sayed by God to thexecutours of lawes See what ye doo Sayeth God for ye execute not the iudgement of man but of God and what so euer ye iudge it shall redounde to your selues Let the feare of God therfore be before your eies and doo all thinges with diligence For with the lorde our God ther is non iniquitie neither difference of persones nor yet hathe he pleasure in rewardes or bribes But of the ministers of lawes and gouernours of realmes and contreyes more shalbe sayed hereafter VVHETHER KINGES princes and other gouernours haue an obsolute power and authoritie ouer their subiectes Forasmuche as those that be the Rulers in the worlde and wolde be takē for Goddes that is the ministers and images of God here in earthe thexāples and myrrours of all godlynesse iustice equitie and other vertues clayme and exercice an absolute power which also they call a fulnesse of power or prerogatiue to doo what they lust and none maye gaynesaye them to dispense with the lawes as pleaseth them and frely and without correction or offence doo contrary to the lawe of nature and other Goddes lawes and the positiue lawes and customes of their countreyes or breake them and vse their subiectes as men doo their beastes and as lordes doo their villanes and bondemen getting their goodes from them by hoke and by crooke with Sic volo Sic iubeo and spending it to the destruction of their ◅ubiectes the miserie of this tyme requireth to examyne whether they doo it rightfully or wrōgfully that if it be right full the people maie the more willingly obeie and re ceaue the same if it be wrongful that than those that vse it maye the rather for the feare of God leaue it For no douht God will come and iudge the worlde with equitie and reuēge the cause of the oppressed Of the popes power who compteth himself one yea the chief of these kinde of Goddes yea aboue them all and felowe to the God of Goddes we minde not now to treate nother is it requisite For all men yea half wise women and babes can well iudge that his power is worthy to be laught at and were it not bolstred and propped vp with sweorde ād fagot it wolde as it will notwithstanding shortly ly in the myre for it is not buylt on the rocke but on the sande not planted by the father of heauen but by the deuil of hell as the frutes doo manyfestly declare But we will speake of the power of kynges and princes and suche like potentates rulers and gouernours of common wealthes Before ye haue hearde how for a great long tyme that is vntil after the general flood ther was no ciuile or politike power and how it was thā furst ordayned by God him self and for what purpose he ordayned it that is to comprehende all briefly to mayntene iustice for euery one doing his deutie to God and one to an other is but iustice Ye haue hearde also howe states bodies politike and common wealthes
christianes and bring them to the one and twentie Commissionares or to the bishoppes colehouse or whan he willed and commaunded them to destroye such as wold not denie Christ and folowe his procedinges worshipping idoles did they bring them to the fire ād stande about that they should not speake and to see that none should come nere thē to conforte and streinghten them in their faithe or whan they spake did they cleaue their headdes in pieces with their halbeardes or stoppe their mouthes with their billes No they confessed that in that themperour of heauen thalmi ghtie God and not thēperour of the earthe a wicked mā and a rebelle against God was their emperour ād Captaī ād therin they wolde not obeie Iuliā nor doo that he commaunded in that behalfe And this answer bothe S. Ambrose and S. Augustine yea ād the papistes although they thē selues doo not so propounde and set furthe for a christē doctrine ād a catholike exāple how christē ād good subiectes shoulde behaue thē selues towarde wicked prīces ād their wi cked cōmaundemētes that is in no wise to obeie thē but to leaue thē undone And as mē ought not to obeie their superiours that shall cōmaunde thē to doo any thīg agaīst Goddes worde or the lawes of nature so maie they not doo that they shall cōmaūde thē cōtrary to ciuile iustice or to the hurt of the hole state Nei ther will good prīces attēpt or goo about any suche thing for it is the next waie to bring thē out of their seates and to make thē of kinges no kinges How can that head liue ād cōtinewe wher the body is cōsumed ād dissolued And how cā that body be lustie wher the sinowes the lawes are broken and iustice the marie that should nourishe it vtterly wasted and decaied Antiochus the thrid king of Siria wrote thus to all the cities of his dominion that if he did cō maunde any thing that should be contrary to the lawes they should not passe theron but that rather they should thinke it was stollen or forged without his knowlage considering that the prince or gouernour is nothing elles but the minister of the lawes And this same saieng of this most noble king semed to be so iuste and reasonable that it is taken for a com mon principle how subiectes should knowe whan they should doo that they be commaunded and whan they ought not Likewise a bishop of Rome called Alexander the third wrote to an Archebishop to doo a thing which semed to the Archebishop to be vnreasonable and contrary to the lawes the pope perceauing that tharbishop was offended with his writing and wolde not doo that he required desired him not to be off◅nded but that if ther were cause why he thought he should not do that he required he wolde aduertise him and he therwith wolde be satisfied This is a popes saiēg which who is so hardy dardie to denie to be of lesse autoritie than a lawe yea not felowe but aboue Goddes worde Wher vpon this is a general rule that the pope is not to be obeied but in laufull and honest thinges And so by good Argument from the more to the lesse that princes being but foote stooles and stirrop holders to popes commaunding their subiectes that is not godly not iuste not laufull or hurtefull to their countrey ought not to be obeied but with standen For the subiectes ought not against nature to further their owne destructiō but to seke their owne saluacion not to maintene euil but to suppresse euil for not only the doers but also the consentours to euil shalbe punished saie bothe Goddes and mannes lawes And men ought to haue more respecte to their countrey than to their prince to the common wealthe than to any one persone For the countrey and common wealthe is a degree aboue the king Next vnto God men ought to loue their countrey and the hole common wealthe before any membre of it as kinges and princes be they neuer so great are but membres and common wealthes mai stande well ynough and floris he albeit ther be no kinges but contrary wise without a common wealthe ther can be no king Common wealthes and realmes may liue whan the head is cut of and may put on a newe head that is make them a newe gouernour whan they see their olde head seke to muche his owne will and not the wealthe of the hole body for the which he was only ordained And by that iustice and lawe that lately hathe ben excuted in Englande if it maie be called iustice and lawe it should appeare that the ministers of ciuile power doo somtimes commaunde that that the subiectes ought not to doo Whan the innocent Lady Iane contrary to her will yea by force with teares dropping downe her chekes suffred her self to be called Quene of England◅ yet ye see bicause she consented to that which was not by ciuile iustice laufull she ād her husbande for company suffred the paines of Traitours bothe headles buried in one pitte Whan the blessed mā of God Thomas Cranmer Archebishop of Cantorbury did what he might to resiste to subscribe to King Edwardes will wherby his two sisters the ladies Mary and Elizabeth should haue ben wrongfully disherited yet bicause he afterwarde to contēt the kinges minde and commaundement yea in dede to saue the innocent king from the uiolēce of most wicked traiterous tirannes did subscribe vnto it against his will was it not laied vnto him by the wicked Iudge Morgā whom God not long after plaged with taking awaie his wittes that was a foole before that he ought not to doo any thing unlaufull bi commaundemēt of any power And so he an innocent piked out among a great nombre of very euil doers to satisfie the lawe was condemned as a traitour before he suffred as a martir Were not the ymages ād Roodeloftes in Englande destroied by autoritie of ciuile power And dothe not Boner the Archbocher of londō for all that force them that obeied the authoritie bicause he saieth it was not lauful to make thē vp agaī at their owne charges But Boner thou that allow est nothing to be well done by what so euer autoritie it be done except it be laufull nor nothing to be laufull that is not agreing to thy Canon lawes I haue to saie to thee ▪ Stāde stil a while whilest I rubbe the. Tell me plainly and face not out a lie as thou arte wont speake not one thing and thinke an other as thy nature is ones in thy life tell the truthe and shame thy maister the deuil If thou were the sonne of the earthe by thy fathers side and of an erraunt hoore by the mother and so a bastarde hy what autoritie saiest thou thy masse whan thy lawes suffre no bastardes to be priestes without dispensacion how comest thou to be a bishop whan thy lawes saie thou maiest be no priest How be thy iudgementes laufull whan thou by thy Canones maiest be no