Astraea Redeunt Saturnia regna progenies caelo Demittitur alto Bishops the Coâ—on prâ—â—ier Booke â—ewarded Sectaries reiected SALMASIUS HIS BUCKLER OR A Royal Apology FOR King CHARLES the MARTYR Dedicated to CHARLES the Second King of Great Brittain Salus Populi Salus Regis LONDON Printed for H.B. and are to be sold in Westminster-hall and at the Royal Exchange 1662. The Epistle to the Reader THere have been so many Wolves in sheeps-cloathing and so many Innocents by the reviling tongues of their Enemies robbing them of their good names as well as of their good estates made Malignants in this our worse than iron age that I know not what Epithite to give thee If thou art an Honest man Rara avis in terris I invoke thee to be my Patron If thou art not Noli me tangere But since St. Austin once perhaps as zealous a Reprobate as thy self was converted by looking on the Bible by chance I will not prohibit thee from eating of this fruit Though I believe to think that thy view of my Book will work the like conversion on thee is to have a better opinion of thee and the Book than both will deserve For though an Angel should come from heaven or a man arise from the dead yet could he not perswade our hot-headed Zealots but that they did God good service even when they rebell against his own Ordinance transgress his Commandements murther their Father the KING and pollute their once flourishing Mother the CHURCH Before this prodigious off-spring like Vipers destroyed the Mother by their birth The Jews indeed murthered the Lord of life because they did not know him and therefore thought it was pleasing to God But wo be to them who did not only with Ham see their Fathers nakedness and reproach him but commit Paricide see his heart naked and call the multitude to laugh at it En quo discordia Cives produxit miseros O the miserable effects of seditious men Who shall now cure the Kings evil Or who shall cure the evil of the People O purblind City how long will you enslave yourselves to ravenous woolves who by their often changing of their feigned Governments do but change the thief and still your Store-houses must be the Magazine to furnish them with plunder You must never look to enjoy your lives estates or Gods blessing with the fruition of your Wives and Children before your lawfull King and Soveraign CHARLS the II. unjustly banished by Rebells be restored to his Crown and Kingdom For what Comfort can any honest or conscientious man take in any thing so long as he seeth his own native Prince like King David driven from his own natural inheritance by the unjust force of a multitude of Traytors both to God and their King Who Judas-like acknowledging his Master with a kiss so they swore with their mouthes that King CHARLS the I. was their only lawfull King and Soveraign and had the Supreme power over them all and then delivered him to the Sword-men who came out with Clubbs and Staves against their Soveraign as against a Thief and as the Jews did the Lord our Saviour whom they did not acknowledge to be their King otherwise they would not have done it These men murthered their dread Soveraign whom they all acknowledged and vowed to be their only King Excelling the Jewes only in wickednesse Therefore since by the Laws of the Land there can be no Parliament without the King what difference is there between a Protector and one of their Parliaments but only number For their Protectors are but the head thieves and their Parliaments but a headless multitude of thieves For so long as the Royal Progenie of CHARLS the I. which God long preserve remain alive all other our Governours besides them will be but Rebells Traytors and Tyrants let them call themselves a Free State or by what names they please continue until the worlds end Therfore rouze up Citizens and take courage How long will you be the common Hackney to be ridden by every one that will stride you How long shall your Sanctuary be made a Stable and Den for Thieves Shall your Streets blush with the blood of Prophets and with the blood of your Citâ—zens and will not you change your colour where is the reverend Doctor Hewyt that Glory of your City that Glory of all Christians that Glory of the whole World whose fame shall out-live the Sun and his renown shine longer and brighter than the Moon or the lesser Stars Caesar the Usurper was wont to say Si violandum est jus regnandi causa esse violandum That if it is lawfull to forswear one self for any Cause the Cause of gaining a Kingdom is the most lawfull But there are those amongst us who have turned the Supposition into a Proposition and confidently by their practice affirm that it is lawfull to forswear one self for any thing and most sacred to be forsworn if by the perjury a Kingdom may be gained But I will not touch the Soars which lye raw before every mans eyes only this will I say which every one knoweth to be true that no Kingdom in the World was so happy both for peace and plenty law and religion and all other good things as our Kingdom of England was whilest due obedience was lawfully paid to our Soveraign Lord the King but now the King being murthered and all goodness with him no Nation under the Sun is more miserable and so it will continue untill King Charles the second be restored to his Crown The Sword of Gods word ought only to fight for Religion the Iron sword of Rebels did never establish Christian Religion nor ever will set up Christs Kingdom especially if it be unsheathed against Kings by their Subjects And to satisfie all Objections whatsoever against my writing I answer Si natura negat facit indignatio versum It was not to shew my self to the world for as in Tempests so in our daies he is best who is seen least abroad But it was to shew and prefer the Truth which hath been laid asleep by the Charmes of our Sins For to this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witnes to the truth every one that is of the Truth will hear the voice of the truth when I saw the many revolutions turnings of men like Weathercocks being presented almost every day with new strange and various shapes and forms of Government it caused me more diligently to search after the true reason of our changings which I found to be our Sins and the absence of our King also which was the best kind of Government which I found to be Monarchy and that all trayterous Tyrants sine titulo might most lawfully be killed by any privat hand but Kings only by God Truth often getteth hatred and it is the doom of serious books to be hooted at by those who have nothing
the shame of this impiety Providence bestoweth her blessings with blinde hands Prosperity doth not alwayes joyn hands with goodness neither is Adversity a true sign of illegality Good Kings may perish whilest wicked Rebels flourish David was forced by ungodly Traytors to flee from his Country Therefore our King may be a man after Gods own heart yet wrongfully driven from his own HAving given the unfortunate an Antidote Let us apply this Cordial That goodness is not an unseparable incident to prosperity success is no invincible argument that the cause is good Goodness and greatness are not alwayes companions Though Foxes have holes and Birds of the air have nests yet our Saviour the King of Kings had not where to lay his head King David though a man after Gods own heart was not without his troubles but had many infoelicities Though the subtile Foxes with their deceitful wiles banish our King from his Sacra Patrimonia his sacred Patrimony for so the possessions of Kings are called and make him wander up and down like a Pelican in the wilderness yet this is but like Jobs afflictions to make him the more glorious The top which is most scourged spinneth the better and the blustering windes make the Tree take the deeper root The Camomile the more it is trodden on the better it groweth and the Palm depressed riseth the higher so the afflictions of our Soveraign shall extol his renown the higher and like a ball thrown against the ground shall rebound and fly with more lofty Majesty For why his goodness doth increase by his misery and his Royal virtue like grass after a shower shall florish more gloriously God let Daniel be thrown into the Den to encrease his honour and chasteneth the Children which he loveth onely for their good What though cross gales drive us from our intended Haven And our hearts fail of all our desired injoyments so that blinde Fortune only striveth to make us miserable in prohibiting us from all our pleasing wishes Yet is this no argument that we are sinfull or that our desires are prophane What though a man be born blinde and so continue from his birth to his death Yet neither may this man have sinned nor his parents But that the John 29 works of God might be made manifest Can any one have the impudence to say that the King is wicked and that his cause is naught because the multitude of reprobates prevail and through the mightiness of their villanies subdue all that is good So may they argue that the Jews were Saints when they murthered our Saviour and that the Devil was an Holy Angel when he spoiled Job No God correcteth the pious that he may preserve them and permitteth the designs of the wicked to coach them to their own destructions He letteth Rebels dethrone their Soveraign and pull the earthly Crown from off his head that he may crown him in Heaven with everlasting glory The meanness of the case doth not diminish the lustre of the Jewel and Christ was a King though in the manger Seneca in Hyppolito Res humanas ordine nullo Fortuna regit spargitque manu Numera caeca pejora fovens Fortune doth not alwayes signally attest the design of such a party or the justnes of such an action to be righteous by permitting it to prosper and taper up into the world the Sun shines upon the bad aswell as the good and the rain makes their corn to grow oftentimes more plentiful than the righteous mens which makes the wicked glory in their actions and scorn all those as Atheists who will not Canonize them for Saints Honesta quaedam scelera successus facit If success doth but attend their enterprises let them be never so impiously wicked all the Logick and Rhetorick in the world cannot perswade them but that they are most sacred and righteous such is their profound ignorance and blind zeal That if the Devil put it into their hearts to murder their lawful King and Soveraign and likewise assist them to effect it they think they do God good service and punish all those with an Egyptian slavery who will not be of their opinion although expresly against God his Commandments viz. Fear God honour the King 1 Pet. 2.17 They make God to be even altogether such a one as they are in crying that it is Gods cause even when they commit the greatest Sacriledge Persperum ac faelix scelus virtus vocatur a mischief neatly effected is one of their chiefest virtues This indeed made King David to stagger nay his steps had wellnigh slipt when he saw the prosperity of the wicked when he considered that they were not in trouble as other men nor plagued like other men Their Eyes stand out with fatness they have more than heart could wish This made him cry out Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence But when he went into the Sanctuary of God Then understood he their end For Surely thou didst set them in slipery places Thou castedst them down in destruction How are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream when one awaketh So O Lord when thou awakest thou shalt despise their image was his next vote Prov. 1.30 They would none of my Counsell they despised all my reproof Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices for the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of Fools shall destroy them Thus you see that prosperity is sometimes a curse and no blessing To those beasts we intend to kill we commonly allow the best pasture And surely those men are better acquainted with Mahomets Alchoran than our Saviours Gospel who will not be convinced but that temporal happiness is the true index of Divine favour God scattereth his outward blessings upon the wicked aswell as on the good because if Virtue and Religion should only appropriate riches more men would become virtuous and religious for the love of mony and wealth than out of any love they did bear either to Virtue or Religion Maro O fortuna potens quam variabilis Tantum juris atrox quae tibi vindicas Evertisque bonos erigis improbos Nec servare potes muneribus fidem Fortua immeritos auget honoribus Fortuna innocuos cladibus afficit Justos illa viros pauperie gravat Indignos eadem divitiis beat Haec aufert juvenes retinet senes Injusto arbitrio tempora dividens Quod dignis adimit transit ad impios Nec discrimen habet rectaque judicat Inconstans fragilis perfida lubrica Nec quos deseruit perpetuo premit Therefore let not those despair whom blind Fortune hath kicked into any mishap nor measure the justness of their actions by the quantity of success Though the voyce of the world censure it For it is not the event which makes it good or bad Careat successibus opto Quisquis
that had been too little thou wouldest moreover have given unto me such and such things Against thee who hast made me Judge over all and loaded me with so many prerogatives above my brethren have I sinned and for the Judge to offend makes the offence so much the more grievous The people did not call David in question for his wicked acts but only God Deus suam omnem in reges authoritatem contulit caelum sibi retinuit terram agendam ferendamque pro libito tradidit All the whole Heavens are the Lords the Earth hath he given to Kings to dispose of as they please Therefore saith Solomon Prov. 30.31 A King is he against whom there is no rising up And therefore Job might well ask that question 34.18 Is it fit to say to a King thou art wicked and to Princes ye are ungodly For presumptuous are they and self-willed who are not afraid to speak evil of dignities 2 Pet. 10. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars Mark 12.17 Render therefore to all their dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custome to whom Custome Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour For Rulers are not a Terrour to good works but to the evil wilt thou then not be afraid of the power Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same For he is the Minister of God to thee for good But if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain for he is the Minister of God a Revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake For for this cause pay you Tribute also For they are Gods Ministers attending continually upon this very thing Rom. 13. Submit your self to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well for so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men As free and not using your liberty for a Cloak of maliciousness but as the servant of God Honour all men love the brother-hood Fear God honour the King We are commanded to obey the King whether he be good or evil Propter Deum for the Lords sake Not only because it is the will of the King but because it is the will of God that we should do so he hath commanded it and therefore for his sake we must do it If we resist the King we resist God and he that resisteth God shall receive damnation For when we pretend that we are free born Subjects that the Kings commands intrench upon our liberty and that for the freedom of our liberties we may rebel against him This is to make Liberty a Cloak to cover our maliciousness and wicked designs against the King Which is forbidden by the Apostle for not to serve the King is bondage and to rise up against him to preserve and keep our liberties is to enslave our selves to the Devil and to make us his servants to perform all wicked actions For we must needs be Subject to the Kings precepts not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake Et si plures sunt quos corrigit timor tamen meliores sunt quos ducit amor Although they be most whom fear makes obedient Yet they are best who out of true love obey their Soveraign We must not obey the King only that we may avoid giving of him offence and so not incurr punishment But it is a duty laid upon our Consciences so to do and if we love God we must love as faithful Servants to be obedient unto the King not as eye servants who only do their duty when their Master looketh over them But all our actions either publick or private must savour of obedience to him For he is our Master and we are his Servants and the Servant is not greater than his Master but ought alwayes to be diligent in his Masters service And although the King do recompense good with evil and punish them who like faithful Servants have not deserved it Yet they being good even in their sufferings shall receive praise from the power as did our Saviour and the Apostles when they were most wickedly murthered For do we not until this day praise and honour their Martyrdom Although the power which destroyed them did not give them praise yet by their obedience and patience in their unjust punishments did they receive a Crown of everlasting glory and renown from God and men Who can sufficiently celebrate the fame of those worthy Martyrs who unjustly suffered for Religion under the Government of Queen Mary Have not they by their unjust punishments received greater rewards of praise than if they had unjustly rebelled Surely yea for if they had rebelled although it was to save their Religion their Epitaphs would have been Rebels and Traytors instead of pious and Godly Martyrs The wicked only are afraid of the Kings power and punishments to whom he is a Terrour But a conscience voyd of offence towards God and towards man maketh the courage of the righteous like Lyons to contemn all earthly misery Hic Murus aheneus esto Nil conscire sibi nulla pallescere culpa Be this a wall of Brass to have within No black accuser barbour no pale sin Non est fas Christianis armis ac vi tueri se adversus impetum persecutorum saith Cyprian Epist 1. It is not lawfull for Christians by violence to defend themselves against Persecutors Therefore surely they ought not to murther their King and again Cyprian Epist 56. Incumbamus gemitibus assiduis deprecationibus crebris haec enim sunt munimenta spiritualia tela divina quae protegunt Let us apply our selves to daily sighes and continual prayers for these are the spiritual bulwarks and divine weapons with which Christians should only fight These not guns and swords will only defend us Ambrosius adversus reginae Justinae Arianae furorem non se manu defensabat aut telo sed jejuniis continuatisque vigiliis sub altari positus Ruffinus li. 2. c. 6. Ambrose did not defend himself against the fury of the Queen by the force of the hand and of the sword but by fastings continual watchings and prayers And shall we offend our gracious Soveraign with clubbs and axes Who by his sufferings shewed us the example of a true Christian whiles we like Jews triumph in his murther crying out crucify him crucify him Tertulian Apolog. c. 37. saith expresly that the Christians might for strength and number have defended themselves against their Persecutors but thought it unlawful Yet we because by our wicked plots and devices we have got a numberless company of those who like our selves will do any thing for gain think it a sin if we do not