ye passed nothing on it but as the Iewes being downed in sinne mocked scorned and murthred the prophetes of God which long before prophecied vnto them their captiuities and vtter destruction so ye laughed and iested at your preachers wordes nothing regarding the threattes of God but contēnyng thē yea increaceīg in your wickednesse ādnowat leyn ght murthering most cruelly the ministers of God And seing wordes of warnyng toke no place with you God for his louing mercie hathe warned you also by monstrous maruailes on the earthe and horrible wonders in thelement to put you beside all maner of excuses What wonderfull monstres haue ther now lately ben borne in Englande What celestial signes most horrible A childe borne besides Oxforde in the yeare M. D. LII with two heades and two partes of two euil shaped bodyes ioyned in one A childe borne at Couentree in the yeare M. D. LV without armes or legges A childe borne at Fulhā by Londō euen now this yeare with a great head euil shaped the armes with bagges hanging out at the Elbowes and heles and fete lame A childe newe borne at Lōdō furthewith speaking as a prophet and mes sager of God An horrible Comete this year besides diuerse eclipses whiche folowe But what were these only bare signes No certaynly they doo and must signifie the great wrathe and indignacion of God Not long after the passion of our saueour Christ whan the Britaines our cōtreymen went about to re couer their libertie and to be despeched of the most cruel seruitude and miserie which the Romaines kept thē in wherein no Britayn was certayn of wife childrē goodes no not of their liues all thigs were so in bōd◅ ge of the cruel Romaynes pleasur ther were of our coūtreymē slayne at one tyme three score ād ten thousaūt mē ād at an other tyme thrittie thousaūt Before which slaughters ther were many wōders sene in Eng lād Thimage of the Idole which the Romaines hade in their tēple called Victorie was turned backe as though she gaue place to thenenies The sea was like blood ymages of mēnes bodyes founde on the sea syde And womē were out of their wittes ād cried destructiō at hāde destructiō at hāde so that the Britaynes were in great hope ād the Romaynes in great feare Before Britayn now called Englād came in to the full power of the Danes kīg Edmūde the sōne of Ethelberte beīg slayne ther were diuerse straūge thinges wherby all men gessed that an alteration of the Realme was towarde but chiefly they gessed the great calamitie by the sodain swelling of the sea without any euidēt cause which so brake in to the lande that it destroyed many townes and people Before that great slaughter of Englishe men and Normādes which was by reason of the warres that were in Normandie betwene king Hēri the furst king of Englāde and Robert Duke of Normandie his brother at which tyme Normandie was ioyned to Englande the ryuer of Trent did not runne one hole daye together but was so emptie that men passed ouer on fote and at that tyme a sowe brought furthe a monstre with the face of a man and a henne a foure foted monstre So that by that that is past ye maye the boldlier diuine of that that is to come The childe by Oxforde what did it betoken but that our one swete head king Edwarde should be taken awaye as he was in dede and that ther should be in his place two headdes diuerse gouernours and a towarde diuision of the people but not all together which so manyfestly folowed that no man can denye it or two people should be knytte together but not in god proporcion nor agrement The childe of Couentrie without the principal membres to helpe and defende the bodye must nedes signifie that the natural body that is the people of Englande shalbe helpeles ready to be troden vnder the fote of euery creature and non to releue or succour it The childe of Fulham what can it signifie but that the natural body of England shalbe weake the chief membres tharmes and legges which is the nobilitie so clogged with chaynes of golde and bagges of money that the hande shall not be hable to drawe out the sweorde nor the heles to spurre the horse to helpe and defende the body that is the commones And as the head of it is the greatest part and greater than it ought to be with to muche superfluitie of that it should not haue wherfore it must pull from the other membres to confort it and lacke of that good proporcion it ought to haue so shall the gouernours and headdes of Englande sucke out the wealth and substaunce of the people the politike body and kepe it bare so that it shall not be hable to helpe it self yet shall the head neuer come to that nature requireth What is to be gathered of the yōg chil de I doo not saie it is true bicause the father was forced onles he wold haue lost his life to r◅cant it but might it not be true Is ther not as muche to be saied for it as for the popes trāsubstāciacion Dothe not Eusebius Pamphili a man of as good credite as Thomas Aquinas Scotus Gratianus and suche other the inuētours and mainteners of transubstanciacion write that a lambe contrary to nature and possibilitie did in plaine wordes before declare the nature and disposicion of Bochorus king of Egipt They that write the cronicles of the Romaines saie that a dogge a serpent and oxen did speake But scripture plainly saieth that Baalams asse a creature vnreasonable without possibilitie to speake did saie to his maister why beatest thou me And Iohn the baptist contrary to the common course of nature lept and reioiced in his mothers wombe whan Christes mother being with childe came to see Elizabeth his mother If men that beleued not the miracles which the gogle ◅ied Roode of Boxley the Idole of walsinghā the bawde of willesdō which euery foole might see to be deceates and open illusions were condemned and burned for heretikes how should they be taken that doo not beleue the manifest workes of God The horible Comete and blasing starre that was sene this yeare greater in Englande than elles wher what elles dothe it betoken but the great displeasure of God and therfore famin pestilēce warres sediciō deathe of princes inuasion of forain naciones destruction of som or many cities and countreies and the alteracion and chaungeing of the state and gouernement For if it be laufull for man to diuine of Goddes wonderfull workes and by the like thinges past coniecture those that be to come why should we not affirme that these plages will folowe Before the great warres made by Xerses against the Grecianes and the ouerthrowing of the hole state of Grece ther was a blasing starre sene of the shape of an hor◅e and an eclipse of the sunne Before the last and vtter destruction of the citie of Ierusalem ther was sene hanging in thelement ouer
he will execute most seuere iudgement Mercie is graunted unto the simple but they that be in autoritie shalbe sore punished For God which is lorde ouer all shall except no mannes person neither shall he regarde any mannes greatnes for he hathe made the small and greatand careth for all alike but the mightie shall haue the sorer punishement To you therfore O princes doo I speake that ye maye learne wisdome and not offende These saienges nede no particular examples to con firme them but loke on all gouernours and rulers named in the hole Bible or in any other historie and among all ye shall finde that non hathe escaped Goddes punishement but alwayes their iniquitie hathe ben plaged in them selues or their posteritie The cause and maner of king Saules punishemeÌ„t and extinguishing of his posteritie is more commonly knowne than nedeth any rehearsall Roboam bicause he wold reigne as a tyranne and not be subiecte to lawe nor counsail hade ten tribes of his kingdome taken froÌ„ him and geuen to Ieroboam who also forasmuche as he contented not him selfe to be sub iecte to Goddes written worde and lawe but fell to his owne Idolatrous inuenciones and caused his subiectes to folowe his procedinges was so stripped from the enheritaunce of his crowne that his sede was vtterly rooted out The ende of Achab and Iesabel is well ynough vnderstanden And kyng Ioram for his stout stryuing against Goddes lawes and the ordre of his countrey was so sore striken of the lorde with horrible diseases that at leynght his guttes for extreme anguishe flewe out of his bely But wherto bring I out particular examples of Goddes plagues and punishementes vpon kinges and princes that wold not be subiecte to Goddes lawes and the lawes of nature seing the hole body of the Bible and writers of prophane histories be full of them Therfore seing no king or gouernour is exempted from the lawes hande and power of God but that he ought to feare and tremble at it we maye procede to the other part of the question that is whether kinges princes and other gouernours ought to be obedient and subiecte to the positiue lawes of their countrey To discusse this question the right waye and meane is as in all other thinges to resorte to the fountaynes and rootes and not to depende on the ryuers and braunches For as if men should admyt that the churche of Rome were the catholike churche and the pope the head of it and Goddes onely vicare in earthe and not seke further how he cometh by that autoritie than could noman saie but that all his doinges were they neuer so wicked should seme iust so if men should buylde vpon thauthoritie that kinges and princes vsurpe ouer their subiectes and not seke from whens they haue theyr autoritie nor whether that which they vse be iuste ther could be nothing produced to let their cruell tyrannye But for asmuche as we see from whence all politike power and autoritie cometh that is from God and why it was ordained that is to mayntene iustice we ought if we will iudge rightly by Goddes worde examine to trie this mater Saint Paule treating who should doo obedience and to whom obedience should be done saieth Let euery soule be subiecte to the powers that rule for ther is no power but of God Ther are that wolde haue this worde Soule taken for man not as he consisteth of soule and body bothe together but onely of the fleshe and that so by the wor de 〈◊〉 should be vnderstanden onely a worldly man that is a laye man or temporall man as we terme it and not a spiritual man and a minister of the churche Wher vpon Antichrist the bishop of Ro me seking for subiectes to be vnder his kingdom hathe takeÌ„ for his subiectes the cleargie with tagge and ragge that to them belongeth and hathe made lawes that they should be his subiectes obedient to him and not to the politike power and autoritie wher vnto he leaueth for subiectes onely the temporaltie But in scripture this worde Soule is taken for euery kinde of maÌ„ as may appeare whaÌ„ it saieth that all the soules that is man and womaÌ„ that were in the arke with Noe were eight And that all the soules of the house of Iacob which cam in to Egipt were lxx In which nombres it can not be denyed but that ther were as holy and as spirituall persones as any are or were in the kingdome of the bishop of Rome And Chrisostome a priest expounding this texte Let euery soule be subiecte to the higher powers sayeth yea if thow be an apostle an euangelist a prophet or what so euer thow art for this subiection destroieth not religion So that it can not be denyed but by this worde Soule is comprehended euery persone and none excepted Now touching this worde Power some wold haue it interpreted for all those persones that execute iustice be he kaiser king mayre Sherif constable borseholder or neuer so lowe and some wolde haue it to be interpreted only of kinges aÌ„d chiefest officers But it is here to be taken for the ministerie and autoritie that all officers of iustice doo execute and so it maie appeare by Chri stes owne wordes wher he saieth The kinges of the naciones rule ouer â–ª theÌ„ aÌ„d those that ex ercice thautoritie or power be called gracious Benefactours or well doers For as all meÌ„ and womeÌ„ that seme to lyue together in the ho ly ordinaunce of Matrimonie be not maÌ„ and wife for it maie be that the man hathe an other wife liuing or the wife other an husbande or that they came not together â–ª for the loue of God only and to auoide sinne but for sensualitie and to get riches and so thordinaunce it self is one thing and the persones that is the maÌ„ aÌ„d womon an other eueÌ„ so is the politike power or autoritie beiÌ„g thordinauÌ„ce aÌ„d â–ª good gifte of God one thiÌ„g aÌ„d the ê‘sone that executeth the same be he kiÌ„ng or kaiser an other thing The ordinauÌ„ce being godly the maÌ„ may be euil aÌ„d not of God nor come therto by God as the Prophet Osee saieth They haue made them a king and not through me a prince and not through my counsail and will Neither is that power and authoritie which kinges princes and other ministres of iustice exercice only called a power but also thauthoritie that paren tes haue ouer their children and maisters ouer their seruauntes is also called a power and neither be the parentes nor maisters the power it self but they be inistres and executours of the power being geuen vnto them by God Which also S. Paule in an other place plainly sheweth saieng to Titus Warne them to be subiecte to the principalities aÌ„d powers Which some interprete princes and powers to make a distinctioÌ„ betwene the minister and the Ministerie And it foloweth to obey thofficers so that alwaies the difference maie be perceaued So than if by this worde Soule is
iudge All men knowe that thy mother whan thou wast begoten was an hoore The common voice and fame saieth and the truthe is that albeit one Boner a bare whippe Iacke for lucre of money toke vpon him to be thy father and than to mary thy mother yet thou wast persone Sauages bastarde and of that race come thy Cousins Wimmeslowe thy Archediacon of london a mete eie for suche a grosse head and Wimslowe his brother and a great meany moo notable These thinges be so euident aÌ„d plaine that thou cannest not without blushing denie them neither thou wilt I knowe denie theÌ„ For thou boastest aÌ„d braggest muche that thou comest of gentil blood But thou wilt saye thou hast a bull of dispeÌ„sacion from the pope I require to knowe what time it was graunted Thou saiest whan thou wast at Rome It is euen that I requiered Thou wast in dede at Rome proctour for the princes dowager the Quenes mother in the cause of diuorce betwene King Henry the viij and her Whan thou sawest that no prebendes no ArchediacoÌ„ries no bishoprikes were to be goten by continuing on her parte thou betraiedest her cause and becamest of Counsail with the king O noble counsaillour O seuere and laufull iudge A mete man to sit in condemnacion of so many innocentes yea more mete to stande on the pillarie than in a pulpit to be tied vp in a boare franke than walke in a princes chambre to weare 〈◊〉 Tiburne tippet than a graie amise But what if thou haue no dispensacion What a murtherour art thou of true Englishe men What a tormentour of the people of God How haste thou deceaued the Erles of Oxeforde and Sussex the Lorde Riche the Maires and Sheriffes of London and many other of the nobilitie gentilmen and Commones forceing them to washe their handes in innocentes blood with thee what consciences maie they haue through thee How cannest thousalue their wounded soules But thou wilt saie it maketh no matier The cleargie is faire ridde of a great meany of enemies A dead man can doo no hurt But be thou certain thou wilt be deceâ—…ued What so euer becometh of thy bocherly body I wishe thy soule to be saued Repent therfore in tyme become Paule of Saul Whan the prince of Sebech called Adonisebech cut of the handes and fete of Seuentie kinges and made them lyue by licking vp the cromes that fell Vnder his table he thought those poore maymed men could doo him no hurt but God payed him home For he him self hade his handes and â—…ete cut of and was forced to pike vp cromes vnder the table as he hade forced the other kinges King Abimelech caused his thre score and teÌ„ brethren by the father side to be all killed bicause he might reigne alone he thought all was Cocke and so did they that holpe him to execute so horrible an acte But what did they escape No. God suffred the deuil to make discorde betwene the king and his deare dearlinges and first thei were iustly destroied by their king and after he him self hauing his head broken with a pece of a stone lette fall out of a weake womans handes for shame willed his seruaunt to kill him with a sweorde that it should not be reported a woman hade killed him King Achab and Quene Iesabel thought non should reuenge poore Nabothes deathe but contrary to their expectacion by Goddes iustice dogges slossed and licked vp the blood of them bothe Quene Athalia thought her self sure whan she had killed al the kinges progenie but God serued her with the like sawce she reigned not long but she was killed All the miserie and mischief in the Realme of Naples came by a woman called Quene Ioane a woman of muckle lust who after she hade ben a while maried to a noble gentilman and waxed weary of his worke caused him to be hanged out of an open galerie in the toppe of the house bicause noman should see him and not after the poore theues maner with an halter of hempe but with a rope of golde Wrought with her owne and her sisters Madam Mari malecasta her owne fyngers She triumpheth for a while and after besides an vnspeakeable nombre of pryuie mariages she made foure by daye in a litle space but at leynght God plageth her and she was hanged in that place wher she before hanged her husbande Whan those that conspired the deathe of the two brethren the Admiral and the Protectour hade brought it to passe so as they might robbe the king and spoile the Realme at their pleasure did they at leynght escape scotte free No â–ª Som of them by the iuste iudgement of God were plaged with the like punishemeÌ„t with the same axe vpon the self same blocke and in the same place And the rest hereafter are not vnlike without repentaunce which they shewe not to receaue their rewardes either in them selues or their posteritie O wonderfull workes O iust iudgement of God that hatâ—…th those that doo euil and destroyeth those that worke mischief that abhor reth blood thirstie people and those that haue double hartes and treble tongues But Boner I maye not leaue thee thus Geue me leaue Sauage Boner to dispute this mater of laufull and not laufull a litle more with thee If thou and the rest of the traitours thy CoÌ„paniones should persuade the freÌ„deles Quene of England whoÌ„ ye haue enchauÌ„ted to geue ouer the towne of Calese and Barwike to a straunge prince and contrary to her othe not to diminishe any parte of the rightes of the Crowne and liberties of the people which kinges of England at their Coronacion in tymes past made and which she also made to her subiectes Whan she was crowned before she was a perâ—…it Quene she folowed your counsail and som noble personage sent thider to deliuer the keyes and the de putie and garison did not strike of the messagiers head and set it on the gates but obeyed it and not resisted it wer not thou aÌ„d thi felowes traitours for ê‘suading her so doo hade not she broken her othe and promyse were not that tournay a traitour for doing that he was commaunded Were not the deputie and garison traitours for suffring it to be done Answer What cannest thou saie for thy self and thy folowes Giltie or not giltie Thou standest mewet What not a worde Thou art sure your good will will stande you in as good stede as the dede done Neither doo ye passe though the crowes be fedde with your carion carcases and the deuil with your soules so ye maye leaue behinde you a fame that by your traytourie the laitie of EnglaÌ„d was destroyed and the spiritualtie restored to their pompe and lordly power But before the halter stoppe thy winde Boner let vs knowe what thou canst saye for her Sayest thou princes be not bounden by theyr othes and promisses ynough â—…hat for the rest let them remembre that not loÌ„g agoo their neighbour MoÌ„sieur Ver uin Captain of Boloigne was
of the Israelites God shewed by an euident terrour to all gouernours that he did not allowe suche right as the prophet sayed the king wolde vse ouer his subiectes For whan king Achab wolde haue bought of his subiecte Naboth his vineyorde which he neded not to haue done if the subiectes goods be the kīges ād he refused to sel it as he might doo for by Goddes lawe he had a propretie therin from which without his will and consent he could not be forced to departe the king fretted so muche bicause he could not haue his will that he fell sicke in his bedde ād wolde not eate His wife Dame Iesabel a woman full of malice and mischief as that kynde is very ◅pte and prone to those vertues and within shorte space doo so therin excell as fewe men can in long tyme matche them taketh the matier in hande What sayeth she be you a mete man to be a king ouer Israel that will suffre suche dishonour at your slaues handes one that bi your auncient prerogatiue which hathe continued thes hundred and three score yeares yea from the first king of Israel ye maye vse in body and goodes as pleaseth you Phy for shame pull your courage to you arise eat your meat be mery I waraūt you the vineorde Out goeth a Cōmission in the kinges name to certain Cōmissionares where Naboth dwelt suche as the Quenes grace was sure fauoured her procedinges Those she requireth to cause Naboth to be endyted and con demned for an heretike and a traitour and so to cause him to be stoned to deathe Her will is furthewith satisfied matier ynough against Naboth prisoner at the Barre bicause she wold so haue it no man might be admitted nor durst speake the truthe in the prisoners cause least they had ben clapped fast and trussed vp also for speaking against the king and Quene no queste durst quite him for fear of kissing the flete no lawes no equitie no iustice might defende the poore innocent So the vineiorde is the kinges by the ordre of lawe Those newes be caried in post to Iesable she sheweth them to her husbande wherwith he as sone as he hearde them was recouered and goeth to take possession of the vineiorde But what foloweth this crueltie ād tirānie Are not bothe the kinges Maiestie and the Quenes highnesse within while after killed ād their blood licked vp of dogges according as the Prophet declared to hi in the vineyorde whā he toke possession of it and all his house so destroied that ther was not lefte therof so muche as a dogge to pisse against the wall Thus ye maie see thende of lustie lordes and ladies that will haue their lustes a lawe and their will to be folowed and obeied of their subiectes as a right in dede The true right and prerogatiue of a king was written in a particular boke by the Prophete Samuel and laied vp by the Arke which boke among many other was loste yet who so lusteth to knowe it maie see it set out by God ī the boke of Deu teronomie After that God had prescribed who shold be their king that is no aliene or straunger but one of their owne brethren for naturally straungers doo not fauour straungers And a straunge prince seketh by all meanes to destroy the natural inborne that he maie with quietnesse and suretie enioie and vse that he cometh euil by and so leaue it to his succession than is set furthe the right and prerogatiue of a king thus Whā your king is made he shall not kepe many horses nor putting his trust in his horsemen he shall not bring the people again into Egipte He shall not haue many wiues least they altre his minde frō God nother yet great treasure of siluer ād golde But whā he is set in his throne he shall cause a copie of these lawes and statutes to be written out of thoriginal remaining with the Leuites and the same he shall haue with hī all the daies of his life that he maie learne to feare the lorde his God ād to kepe not to breake all the wordes and ceremonies that be cōmaunded in the lawe and also to fulfill thē in his doinges And he shal not be prowde and hault ouer his brethren neither shall he swarue from the lawe towarde the right hande or lifte hande that he and his children maie long reigne ouer Israel But besides this lawe appoīted for all kinges he that wilbe accompted a christian king or gouernour must remembre that he is a christian man and that bi being made a king he is not exempt from the lawes and duetie of a christen mā which eueri one professeth in Baptisme but as he is called and exalted aboue the rest of his brethren so should he be an example to them of good lyuing and vertue in obseruīg the lawe which saieth aswell to kinges as to beggers Thou shalt not steale thou shalt not couet any thing that is thy neighbours and so it stablisheth and confirmeth that euery one maie iustly kepe that is his owne and none maie take it from him by ani meane against his will be it king or kaiser And by the doinges of Samuel who albeit he were not a king in name yet hade he being the lieutenaunt and viceroie to God the chief king as great autoritie as any king in the earthe it maie appeare that all thinges of the subiectes be not the kinges owne propre For if they had ben his owne what neded Samuel at the surrendre of his office to offre to make an accompt And to whom I praie you To any bribing Auditour No he offred to make it to God and to the king that succeded him Beholde saieth the I haue done all that ye desired me I haue made you a king to rule you My children yet shall be with you But I am olde and hore headed that is I cā not long cōti nue I haue bē amōg you frō a child to this daie Lo I ā ready to make mine accōpte before God and your kīg for all thīges that cā be laied to me by any of you whose bullocke haue i takē whose asse haue I hade to whom haue I done any uiolence or wrong whom haue I oppressed of whom haue I taken any bribes to maintene him in his wickednesse to winke at his faultes or to stoppe iustice let him come furthe and I will make satisfaction And none of them could saie blacke was his eie No saieth Samuel I take God and your king to witnesse agaīst you I am so nette that ye shall not finde one iote in my fingres but I am hable to laie ynough against you wicked people c. O Samuel Samuel what king or prince can saie to the as thou diddest to the Israelites They loke not to make an accompt no they haue counsail of craftie Alcibiades how they maie make non accompt But they can not escape it they shall mete with an other maner of auditour than any of Mousire
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