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cause_n	good_a	lord_n	see_v	4,192	5	3.2926	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96595	Vindiciæ regum; or, The grand rebellion that is, a looking-glasse for rebels, whereby they may see, how by ten severall degrees they shall ascend to the height of their designe, and so throughly rebell, and utterly destroy themselves thereby. And, wherin is clearly proued by holy Scripturs, ancient fathers, constant martyrs, and our best modern writers, that it is no wayes lawfull for any private man, or any sort or degree of men, inferior magistrates, peeres of the kingdom, greatest nobility, lo. of the councel, senate, Parliament or Pope, for any cause, compelling to idolatry, exercising cruelty, prastizing [sic] tyranny, or any other pretext, how fair and specious soever it seems to be, to rebell, take armes, and resist the authority of their lawfull king; whom God will protect, and require all the blood that shall be spilt at the hands of the head rebels. And all the maine objections to the contrary are clearly answered. / By Gr. Williams, L. Bishop of Ossory.	Williams, Gryffith, 1589?-1672.	1643 (1643)	Wing W2675; Thomason E88_1; ESTC R204121	92,613	114

have thrust it into my heart or as one saith if I convey my estate in trust to any friend to the use of me and mine the person intrusted falsifie the faith reposed in him by conveying the profits of my estate to other ends to the prejudice of me and mine no man wil think it unlawfull for me to annihilate if I can possibly do it such a deed of trust And therefore Noble Peeres and Gentlemen of this ancient Kingdome of Ireland that your Parliament may prove successefull to the benefit of the Common-wealth let me that have some interest and charge over all the Inhabitants and Sojourners of Kilkenny perswade you to thinke your selves no Parliament without your King and that your Votes and Ordinances carrying with them the power though not the name of Acts of Parliament to oblige both King and Subjects to obey them are the most absolute subversion of our fundamentall Lawes the destructive invasion of our rightfull Liberties and that by an usurped power of an arbitrary rule to dispose of our estates or any part thereof as you please to make us Delinquents when you will and to punish us as Malignants at your pleasure and through your discontent to dispossesse your rightfull King though it were to set the Crown upon the head of your greatest Oneale is such a priviledge that never any Parliament hath yet claimed Or if you still goe on for the enlargement of your own usurped power under the title of the priviledge of Parliament to Vote the diminution of the Kings just prerogative that your Progenitors never denied to any of his Ancestors to exclude us Bishops out of your Assemblies without whom your determinations can never be so wel concluded in the feare of God and to invade the Liberties of your fellow subjects under the pretences of religion and the publique good I will say no more but turne my selfe to God and put it in my Lyturgy From Parasites Puritans Popes and such Parliaments Good Lord deliver us CHAP. IX Sheweth the unanimous consent and testimonies of many famous learned men and Martyrs both ancient and moderne that have confirmed and justified the truth of the former Doctrine ANd so you see that as for no cause so for no kind or degree of men be they what you will Peeres Magistrates Heads of Families Darlings of the people or any other Patriots whom the Commons shall elect it is lawfull to rebell against or any waies to resist our chiefe Princes and soveraigne Governours This point is as cleare as the Sunne and yet to make it still more cleare unto them that will not beleeve that truth which they like not but as Tertullian saith Credunt Scripturis ut credant adversus Scripturas doe alleadge Scriptures to justifie their owne wilfull opinions against all Scripture I will here adde a few testimonies of most famous men to confirme the same Testimonies of famous men Henry de Bracton Lord Chiefe Justice of the Kings Bench under Hen. 3. saith as he is quoted by the Lord Elismer L. Elismer in orat habita in Camera Fiscali anno 1609. pag. 108. that under the King there are free men and servants and every man is under him and he is under none but onely God if any thing be demanded of the King seeing no Writ can issue forth against the King there is a place for Petition that he would correct and amend his fact and if he shall refuse to doe it he shall have punishment enough when the Lord shall come to be his revenger for otherwise touching the Charters and deeds of Kings neither private persons nor Iusticiaries ought to dispute this was the Law of that time what new Lawes our young Lawyers have found since I know not I am not so good a Lawyer The Civill Lawyers do far surpasse the Common Law herein for Corsetus Siculus saith Rex in suo regno potest omnia Corsetus Sic. tract de potestat reg part 5. num 66. imo de plenitudine potestatis And Marginista saith Qui disputat de potestate Principis utrum benè fecerit est infamis Hostiensis saith Princeps solutus est legibus id est quoad vim coactivam Marginista in Angelum Perusinum c. l. 9. tit 29. De crimine sacrilegii l. 2. Hostiens sum l. 1. rubr 32. de offic ligati non quoad vim directivam Thom. 1. 2 ae q. 96. ar 5. ad 3. quia nulli subest nec ab aliis judicatur And to omit all the rest Gulielmus Barclaius out of Bartolus Baldus Castrensis Romanus Alexander Felinus Albericus and others doth infer Principem ex certâ scientiâ supra jus extrajus contrajus omnia posse Principem solum legem constituere universalem Princeps soli Deo rationem debet Princeps solutus est legibus temerarium est velle Majestatem Regiam ullis terminis limitare Barclaius contra Monarchomach l. 3. c. 14. which things if I should English seditious heads would thinke my head not sufficient to pay for this but I onely repeat their words and not justifie their sayings and therefore to proceed to more familiar things Pasquerius writeth Pasquer de Antiquit Gallican l. 1. that Lewis the 11th did urge his Senators and Counsellours to set forth a certaine edict which they refused to doe because it seemed to them very unjust Sicut olim Lacedaemonii victoribus responderum si duriora morte imperetis potius moriemur and the King being very angry threatned death unto them all whereupon Vacarius President of the Councell and all the Senate in their purple robes came unto the King and the King astonished therewith damanded whence they came and what they would have Vacarius answered for all we come to undergoe that death which you have threatned unto us for you must know O King that we wil rather suffer death then doe any thing against our conscience towards God or our duty towards you Wherein we see the Nobility of this King like Noble Christians doe more willingly offer to lay down their lives at the command of their Liege Lord then unchristian-like rebell and take Armes against their delinquent Soveraigne And so Colmannus a godly Bishop did hinder the Scottish Nobility to rise against Fercardus that was their most wicked King Tertullian writing unto Scapula the President of Carthage Tertull. ad Scapul saith we are defamed when the Christian is found to be the enemy of no man no not of the Emperour whom because he knoweth him to be appointed by God he must needs love and reverence and wish him safe with all the Romane Empire for we honour and worship the Emperour as a man second from God Et solo Deo minorem and inferiour onely to God And in his Apologetico Tertull. in Apologet he saith Deus est solus in cujus solius potestate sunt reges à quo sunt secundi post quem primi super omnes homines ante

others his prime Councell should be led by evill advice to set up Idolatry and to play the Tyrant to take a way the goods destroy the lives and bring most of his people to most miserable conditions may neither private men nor the subordinate Magistrates nor the prime Nobility of the people nor any other Court or Assembly of men restraine his fury or remove this mischiefe from Gods inheritance from the Church and Common-wealth this is that Gordian knot which is so hard to be untied But if I might in the Schoole of Divinity have leave to resolve this question Solutie and not to be confuted as Saint Steven was with stony arguments 2 Parts of their obiection I would soone answer that 1. In neither of these cases 2. Neither of these men may doe it and I could make this good by very good authority for Si Magistratus est bonus nutritor est tuus If our Governour be good he is our nursing father and wee should receive our nourishment with thankes and no thankes to us for our obedience to such a one And if our Governour be evill hee is so for our transgression and we should receive our punishment with patience and therefore no resistance but either obey the good willingly or endure the evill patiently But to proceed to breake this Gordian knot in pieces and to answer each part of this objection 1. 1 Part of their obiection answered No to rebell for any cause 1. Not for our compulsion to Idolatry I say that many wicked Kings and cruell Emperours have set up Idolatry and blasphemy against God and yet I doe not find that any of Gods servants did ever rebell against them for you know Jeroboam the sonne of Nebat that made Israel to sinne did set up golden Calves to be worshipped Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon made an Image of gold and commanded all his people to fall downe to worship it And what shall I say of those Idolatrous Kings Achab Manasses Julian and abundance more that most impiously compelled their subjects unto Idolatry and yet you shall not finde that either the faithfull Iewes under Ieroboam nor the Prophet Daniel in Babylon nor Elias the man of God in the time of Achab nor any of all the good Christians that were under Iulian did either themselves or perswade others of the servants of God at any time to rebell against those Idolatrous Kings for they considered how farre the Law of God that prohibiteth Idolatry and instigateth us against the allurers and perswaders of us to Idolatry and blasphemy extendeth and that is If thy brother Deut. 13.6 How far the Law of God extendeth to resist Idolaters the son of thy mother or thy son or thy daughter or the wife of thy bosome or thy friend which is as thine owne soule shall intice thee to Idolatry and to serve strange gods thine eye shall not spare him neither shalt thou have any pity upon him but for the sonne to rise up against the father the wife against her husband the servant against his Lord the subject against his King here is not a word and therefore by this Law they are not obliged but rather forbidden to doe it for though the sonne is not expresly prohibited to accuse his father nor the wife her husband nor the servant his Lord nor the subject his King Yet because Gods Law is absolute and perfect to which wee must neither adde nor detract nor construe it as we please the Divines conceive those things forbidden which are not expressed especially in penall precepts which are to be restrained and not extended any further then they are set downe Tostatus in Deut. 13. q. 3. as Tostatus doth most truely conclude And what the sonne may not doe against his father nor the wife against her husband nor the servant against his Lord that certainly no man may do against his King which is the father of his Countrey the husband of the Common-wealth and the supreme Lord over all his subjects And therefore Christ himselfe that came to fulfill the Law and knew best how farre it reached living under the Empire of Tiberius the Principality of Herod and the Government of Pilate that were all wicked and idolatrous did notwithstanding submit himselfe in all things which the Law of God forbad him not unto them and though for strength policie and power he might easily have resisted them The obedience of all his Apostles and prime Christians to idolatrous Governours yet did hee not onely performe all the offices of subjection unto these wicked Magistrates and idolatrous Governours but also commanded all his followers to doe the like and so wee see they did for the Christians which were at Hierusalem when James was martyred were more in number and greater in power then were the persecuters of that Apostle and yet for the reverence they bare to the Law of God and the example of their Master Christ interimi se à paucioribus quàm interimere patiebantur they rather suffered themselves to bee killed then they would kill their Persecuters Clement recognit l. 1. f. 9. saith S. Clement And so the other Apostles under Caligula Claudius Nero Domitian that were bloudy Tyrants cruell Persecuters and most wicked Idolaters and those holy Fathers of the Church Liberius Hosius Athanasius Nazianzen Hilary Ambrose Augustine Hierome Chrysostome and the rest Cyprian ad Demetrian Tertull. in Apolog He that would see more plenty of proofe let him reade the Treatise A perswasion to loyalty Where the Author bringeth the Fathers of all ages to confirme this point for a thousand yeares together followed the example of Patience without resistance yea Quamvis nimius copiosus noster sit numerous though their power was great and their number greater then their adversaries yet none of them strugled when he was apprehended saith S. Cyprian and the reason is rendered by Tertullian because among the Christians Occidi licet occidere non licet It was lawfull for them to suffer themselves to be killed but not to kill for our Saviour had pronounced them blessed that would suffer for righteousnesse sake and what more righteous then to suffer death for not being an Idolater to die rather then to deny their God therefore they are not to be blessed which refuse to suffer because that in not suffering but in rising up and rebelling against their Persecuters they are as the Apostle saith convinced of sinne and in sinning they acquire unto themselves damnation Rom. 13. Besides if it were lawfull to maintaine this Doctrine then the Papists that beleeve our Religion to be false and that we perswading men unto it doe seduce them from the true service of God may lawfully rebell against their Prince and justifie all their most trayterous plots and every hereticall Sect that beleeveth we are Idolaters as they doe all which oppose the crosse in Baptisme may without offence fall into rebellion against all those Magistrates that

unto the rules of justice when as The Law condemneth no man much lesse the King before his cause be heard And seeing such a competent Judge as can justly determine this controversie betwixt the King and his People or rather betwixt one part of his people and the other cannot be found under Heaven therefore to avoid civill warres and the effusion of humane and Christian blood and the prevention of abundance of other mischiefs That we ought not by any means to resist our Kings Proved both the Scripture teacheth and the Church beleeveth and Reason it self sheweth and the publique safetie requireth that we should transmit this question to be decided onely by him which is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will when he seeth good bind evill Kings in fetters and their Nobles with links of iron CHAP. V. Sheweth by Scripture the Doctrine of the Church humane reason and the welfare of the weale publique that we ought by no means to rebell A threefold power of every Tyrant Three kinds of tyraunies The doubtfull and dangerous events of Warre Why many men rebell Jehu's example not to be followed 1. THe Scripture saith 1. By the Scriptures I counsell thee to keep the Kings commandement and that in regard of the oath of God that is the oath whereby thou hast sworne before God and by God to obey him Be not hastie to go out of his sight that is not out of his presence but out of his rule and government and stand not in an evill thing that is in opposition or rebellion against thy King which must needs be evill and the worst of all evils to thy King for He doth whatsoever pleaseth him that is Ecclesiast 8.2 3 4. he hath power and authority to do what he pleaseth Where the Word of a King is there is power and who may say unto him What doest thou or Why doest thou so And Solomon saith A Greyhound an Hee-Goat and a King Prov. 30.31 against whom there is no rising up there ought not to be indeed I will not set down what Samuel saith but desire you to read the place 1. Sam. 8.11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18. where you shall see what the King will do and what remedy the Prophet prescribeth against him not to rebell and take up armes but to cry unto the Lord that he would help them And Saint Paul saith Whosoever resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God Rom. 13.2 and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation And Saint Peter saith that they which despise government 2. Pet. 2.10.12 and are not afraid to spoake evill of dignities are presumptuous and doe walke after the flesh in the lusts of uncleannesse and as naturall bruit beasts that are made to be taken and destroyed they speake evill of the things they understand not and therefore they shall utterly perish in their own corruption And Saint Jude in like manner calleth those that despise Dominion and speak evill of Dignities the very phrase of Saint Peter filthy dreamers Iude 8.10 11. that defile the flesh and therefore shall perish in the gainsaying of Corah This is the doctrine of God therefore Saint Paul exhorteth us not to rebell nor to speak evill of our Kings 1 Tim 2.2 be they what they will but first of all or before all things to make prayers and supplications for our Kings and for all that are in authoritie And I wonder what spirit except it were the spirit of hell it selfe durst ever presume to answer and evade such plain and pregnant places of Scripture to countenance disobedience and to justifie their rebellion And therefore 2. 2. By the Doctrine of the Church The Church of Christ beleeveth this Doctrine to be the truth of God for no man saith Saint Cyril without punishment resisteth the Laws of Kings but Kings themselves in whom the fault of prevarication hath no place because it is wisely said it is impiety therefore against the will of God to say unto the King Cyril in Iohan. l. 12. c. 56. Iniquè agis thou dost amisse for as God is the supreame Lord of all which judgeth all and is judged of none so the Kings and Princes of the earth which do correct and judge others are to be corrected and judged of none but onely of God to whose power and authority they are onely subject and therfore King David understanding his own station well enough when he was both an adulterer and a murderer and prayeth to God for mercy saith Against thee onely have I sinned because I acknowledge none other my superiour on earth besides thee alone and I have no judge besides thee which can call me to examination or inflict any punishment on me for my transgression And so the Poet saith Regum timendorum in proprios greges Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis But you will object against Saint Cyril Obiect if it be impiety to say unto the King Thou doest amisse how shall we excuse Samuel that told King Saul he did foolishly and Nathan that reproved King David and Elias that said to King Ahab it was he and his fathers house that made Israel to sinne and John Baptist that told Herod It was not lawfull for him to have his brothers wife I answer 1. Sol. That by the mouth of these men God himself reproved them because these men were no private persons What the Priest or Prophet may do private men may not do but extraordinarily inspired with the Spirit of God to perform the extraordinary messages of God 2. I say as I said before that as Moses may correct and punish Aaron if he doth amisse so Aaron the Priest inregard of his calling may reprove and admonish Moses the chief Magistrate when he doth offend but so that he do it wisely and with that love and reverence which he oweth unto Moses as to his God not publiquely to disgrace and vilifie his Prince unto his people but modestly and privately to amend his fault and reconcile him to God and this is the work of his office which he ought to do as he is a Priest and not of his person which ought not to do it as he is his subject 3. Reason it self confirmeth this truth 3. By humane reason because the King is the head of the body politique and the members can neither judge the head because they are subject unto it nor cut it off because then they kill themselves and cease to be the members of that head and therefore the subjects with no reason can either judge or depose their King 4. 4. From the welware of every Common-wealth The event of every warre is doubtfull The publique safety and welfare of any Common-wealth requireth that the Subjects should never rebell against their King 1. Because the event of a rebellious warre is both dubious and dangerous for who can divine in whose ruine it shall end or which

take upon you more learning then the chosen Bishops and Clerks of this Realme have this was the judgement of that judicious man and I must tell you that Religion never taught Rebellion neither was it the will of Christ that faith should bee compelled by fighting but perswaded by preaching for the Lord sharply reproveth them that built up Sion with bloud Micah 3.10 and Hierusalem with iniquity and the practice of Christ and his Apostles was to reforme the Church by prayers and preaching and not with fire and sword and they presse obedience unto our Governours yea though they were impious infidels True religion never rebelleth and idolatrous with arguments fetched from Gods ordinance from mans conscience from wrath and vengeance and from the terrible sentence of damnation and this truth is so solid that it hath the cleare testimony of holy Writ the perpetuall practice of all the Primitive Saints and Martyrs and I dare boldly say it the unanimous consent of all the Orthodox Bishops and Catholique Writers both in England and Ireland and in all the World that Christian Religion teacheth us never with any violence to resist or with armes to withstand the authority of our lawfull Kings If you say the Lawes of our Land Whether the Lawes of our Land doe warrant us to rebell and the Constitutions of this our Kingdome doe give us leave to stand upon our liberty and to withstand all tyranny that shall bee offered unto us especially when our estates lives and religion are in danger to bee destroyed To this I say with Laelius Laelius de privileg Eccl. 112. that Nulla lex valeat contra jus divinam mans laws can exact no further obedience then may stand with the observance of the divine precepts and therefore wee must not so prefer them or rely upon them so much as to prejudice the other and for our feare of the losse of estate life or religion I wish it may not be setled upon groundlesse suspitions for I know and all the World may beleeve that our King is a most clement and religious Prince that never did give cause unto any of his subjects to foster such feares and jealousies within his breast and you know what the Psalmist saith of many men They were affraid where no feare was And Iob tels you whom terrours shall make affraid on every side Iob 18.11 12 and shall drive him to his feet that is to runne away as you see the Rebels doe from the Kings Army in every place and in whose Tabernacle shall dwell the King of feare for though the ungodly fleeth when no man pursueth him yet they that trust in God are confident as Lyons without feare they know that the heart of the King is not in his owne hand but in the hand of the Lord Prov. 21.1 as the rivers of waters he turneth it whithersoever it pleaseth him either to save them or destroy them even as it pleaseth God hee ordereth the King how to rule the people Bonav ad secundam dist 35. art 2. q. 1. And therefore in the name of God and for Christ Iesus sake let me perswade you to put away all causles feares and groundlesse jealousies and trust your King if not trust your God and let your will which is so unhappy in it selfe become right and equall by receiving direction from the will of God and remember what Vlpian the great Civilian saith that rebellion and disobedience unto your King is proximum sacrilegio crimen and that it is in Samuels judgement as the sin of witchcraft The remembrance of his oath should be a terrour to the conscience of every rebell whereby men forsake God and cleave unto the Devill and above all remember the oath that many of you have taken to bee true and faithfull unto your King and to reveale whatsoever evils or plots that you shall know or heare to bee contrived against his Person Crowne or Dignity and defend him from them Pro posse tuo to the uttermost of your power So helpe you God Which oath how they that are any wayes assistant in a warre against their King can dispence with I cannot with all my wit and learning understand and therefore returne O Shulamite returne lay downe thine armes submit thy selfe unto thy Soveraigne and know that as the Kings of Israel were mercifull Kings so is the King of England 1 King 20.32 thou shalt find grace in the time of need but delay not this duty lest as Demades saith the Athenians never sate upon treaties of peace but in mourning weeds when by the losse of their nearest friends they had paid too deare for their quarrels so thou be driven to doe the like for except the sinnes of the people require no lesse satisfaction then the ruine of the Kingdome I am confident and am ready to hazard life and fortunes in this confidence that the goodnesse of our King The Authors confidence of the Kings victory the justnesse of his cause and the prayers of all honest and faithfull Ministers for him and our Church will in the end give him the victory over all those his rebellious enemies that with lyes slanders and false imputations have seduced the Kings subjects to strengthen themselves against their Soveraigne and all the World shall see that as Christ so in Sensu modificato this Vicegerent of Christ shall rule in the midst of these his enemies and shall raigne untill hee puts them all under his feet And because we never read of any rebellion not this of Corah here A rebellion that the like was never seen which of above six hundred thousand men had not many more then 250. Rebels nor that of Absolon against David who had all the Priests and Levites and the best Counsellours and a mighty Army with him such as was able to overthrow Absolon and twenty thousand men in the plaine field nor Israel against Rehoboam because they did but revolt from him and not with any hostile Armes invade him nor the Senate of Rome against Caesar though hee was the first that intrenched upon their liberty and intended to exchange their Aristodemocracy into a Monarchy nor any other that I can remember except that Councell which condemned Christ to death that was growne to that height to bee so absolute and so perfect a rebellion in all respects as that a whole Parliament in a manner and the major part of the Plebeians of a whole Kingdome should make a Covenant with Hell it selfe yea and which is most considerable that as I understand the beginning of this rebellion in this Kingdome of Ireland was the Commenalty therein should so fascinate the Nobility as to allure them so long to confirme their Votes till at last they must bee compelled in all thhings to adhere unto their conclusions that they whose power was formerly most absolute without them must now bee subordinate unto them that the strength of the people may defend