unjust or otherwise tainted with any crime must bee regarded Wee may not contemne them for their impiety but must reverence them because of their authority by whom they were appoynted our Governours So farre he Fulgentius saith that no kind of Sedition can stand with Religion Cum pro nostra fide libere respondemus c. When we answer freely for our profession we ought not to be taxed with the least suspition of disobedience or contumely seeing we are not unmindfull of the Regall dignity and do know that we must feare God and honour the King according to the Doctrine of the Apostle Give to each one his due feare to whom feare Fulgent ad Thrasim Reg. 1 Pet. 2.7 honour to whom honour appertaineth Of the which feare and honour Saint Peter hath delivered unto us the manifest knowledge saying As the servants of God honour all men love brotherly fellowship feare God honour the King Thus farre Fulgent Our Countriman Beaa for his great learning called Venerable Lib. 4 expos in Samuel â— Sam. 24.6 is of the same mind David saith he for two causes spared Saul who had persecuted him most maliciously First for that he was his Lord annoynted with holy oyle And secondly to instruct us by morall precepts that wee ought not to strike our governours though they unjustly oppresse us with the sword of our liâ—s nor presume slanderously to teare the hemme of their superfluous actions So far he Leo the fourth about the yeare 846. agnised all subjection to Lotharius the Emperours Cap. de 〈◊〉 dist 5. I do professe and promise saith Leo to observe and keepe unviolably as much as lieth in me for the time present and to come your Imperial ordinances and commandements together with the decrees of your Bishops my predecessors It any man inform your Majesty otherwise know certainly that he is a lyer So far Leo. The Bishops of Spaine assembled in a Nationall Councell at Toledo made this Decree against Perjury and Treason Concil Tol. 5. Can. 2 〈◊〉 ann Dom. 636. Quicunque amodo ex nobis Whosoever among us shall from this tune forward violate the oath which he hath taken for the safegard of this Countrey the state of the Gotish nation and the preservation of the Kings Majesty whosoever shall attempt the Kings death or deposition whosoever shall by tyrannicall presumption aspire to the Regall Throne let him be accursed before the Holy Spirit before the blessed Saints let him be cast out of the Catholike Church which he hath polluted by perjury let him have no Communion with Christian men nor portion with the just but let him be condemned with the Devill and his angels eternally together with his complices that they may be tyed in the bond of damnation which were joyned in the society of sedition Thus far the Fathers in that Synod I conclude therefore with these learned Fathers that it is not for the people otherwise then with humility and obedience to control the actions of their Governors but their duty is only to call upon the God of Heaven and so submit themselves to his mercy by whose ordinance the Scepter is fallen into his hand and power that enjoyeth the Crown whether he be good or bad A right of deposing must be either in him that hath an higher power which is only God or in him that hath better right to the Crown which the Pope cannot have because he is a stranger nor the Peeres or people because they are subjects Be the King for his Religion impious for his Government unjust for his Life licentious the subject must endure him the Bishop must reprove him the Councellor must advise him all must pray for him and no mortall man hath authotity to disturbe or displace him as may evidently be seene by the Chapter following The fift Chapter confirmeth this Doctrine by the Fathers of the fourth 300 yeares IN this age of the Church the Popes exalted themselves above all that is called God and upon private displeasures and quarrels did curse and ban Princes incensing their neighbour-Nations and perswading their own Subjects to make war against them as if Christ had ordeined his Sacraments not to be seales of Grace and helps of our Faith but hookes to catch Kingdoms and rods to scourge such Potentates as would not or could not procure the Pope's favour How far these Popish practises did displease the godly and learned I will shew by S. Bernard Waltramus Bishop of Nanumberg the Epistle Apolegeticall of the Church of Leige against Paschalis the Pope and the Author of Henry the fourth his Life Saint Bernard in one of his Sermons upon the words of Christ I am the Vine commendeth the answer of a certaine King Bene quidam Rex cum percussus humana sagitta c. It was well said of a King when he was shot into the body with an arrow and they that were about him desired him to be bound untill the arrow's head were cut out for that the least motion of his body would endanger his life no quoth he it doth not beseem a King to be bound let the Kings power be ever safe and at liberty And the same Father in an Epistle to Ludovicus Crassus the King of France teacheth subjects how to rebell and fight against their Princes Quicquid vobis de Regno vestro de anima Corona vestra facere placuerit Whatsoever you please to do with your Kingdom Bernard Epist 221. your soule or your Crown we that are the children of the Church cannot endure or dissemble the injuries contempt and conculcation of our mother Questionlesse we will stand and fight even unto death in our mothers behalfe and use such weapons as wee may lawfully I meane not Swords and Speares but Prayers and Teares to God When Gregory the 7 had deposed Henry the 4 he gave away the Empire to one Rodolphus Duke of Saxony that was a sworn subject to that distressed Emperor which Rodolph in a battaile against his Soveraigne Lord lost his right-hand and gained a deadly wound After his death the Pope made one Hermanus King of Germany who enjoyed his Kingdom but a little time for he was slaine with a stone which a woman threw upon him from a turret as he made an assault in sport against his own castle Ex vita Henr. 4. quae habetur in fasciculorerum scienâ—io um Colâ—â—â—ae impresso to try the valour of his Souldiers Then did Egbertus by the Popes encouragment ascend the Imperiall Throne whereon he sat but a while for as he stepped aside from his Army into a Mill to rest himself in the heat of the day he was discovered by the Miller to the Emperor's friends and lost his life for his labour During this hurly-burly in that State Walthramus a godly Bishop wrote to one Ludovicus an Earle of the Empire diswading him from partaking with the seditious against that good Emperor whom the Pope had deposed Walthram by
our Fathers for the keeping whereof we are bound by the duty of an oath and will by Gods help maintaine and defend with all our power and strength c. Dated at Lincolne Ann. Dom 1301. anno Edwardi primi 29. This was then the resolution of the state of this land if our late sectaries Popish or Puritan bring in any other Doctrine we may not leave the cawsey of truth and obedience whereon our forefathers walked to their commendation to follow these new guides in their by-paths of pride disobedience and contempt of authority to our destruction Vincentius in his Speculo Historiali hath a notable place to disswade from sedition and perjury Vt pace omnium bonorum dixerim li. 15. c. 84. haec sola novitas ne dicam haeresis nec dum è mundum emerserat That I may speake with the favour of all good men this meere novelty if not heresie was not sprung up in the world that Preists should teach Subjects that they owe no subjection to wicked Kings and albeit they have given an oath of fidelity unto them they are not bound to keep it Nay they that obey an evill Prince are to be held as excommunicated and all such as rebell against him are free from the guilt of the crime of perjury So far he I will end this Chapter with Aeneas Silvius Pius 2. de oâ—tu author imperii cap. 23. who dyed in the yeare 1464 Sit tandem finis litium Let there be an end of contention and one principall head to determine all Temporall matters let the occasion of perpetuall debate be taken away let men acknowledg themselvs subject to their Prince and give reverence to him whom God hath made his vicegerent on earth As that which God commandeth must be obeyed without contradiction so the Temporall Commandements of Caesar may not be resisted But let the Kings themselvs beware that they opreise no man unjustly nor give their people cause to cry to God against them for the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof he will not forget the cry of the poore and for the sin of the Prince he translateth the Government from one Nation to another There is nothing more offensive to the greatest God the King and Creator of Heaven and Earth then the neglect of justice and the oppression of the poore as the Psalmist saith The poore shall not alway be forgotten and the patient abiding of the needy shall not perish for ever So far Silvius The Seventh Chapter sheweth the concord of Papist and Puritan for the deposition of Kings and their discord about the meanes and persons to be imployed in the execution of their Designements CHilderick was deposed and Pipine crowned King of France about the yeare 750. The truth of which History is this Childerick voyd of all Princely gravity gave himselfe over to pleasure and wantonnesse leaving the burthen of the State to Pipinus that was his Lord Marshall Who conspired with the Nobles to advance himselfe by the desition of the King his master To set a better colour on the matter Pipine sent his Chaplaine to Pope Zacharie to have his answer to this Question Whether should be King he that bare the name and did nothing or he he that grverned the Kingdome The Pope gave sentence with the Marshall against the King whereupon Childerick was made a shorne Monke and Pipine a crowned King It is a wonder to see how these opposite sectaries do insist upon this fact of the French-men to justifie their dangerous Doctrine and seditious conspiracies against Princes As Card. Bellarmine de pontif lib. 2. cap. 17. Thomas Harding against the Apologie of the Church of ENGLAND fol. 181. Franc. Fevardentius in his Commentary on Hester page 85. Boucher alias Raynolds de justa abdicatione Henrici 3 lib. 3. cap. 14. Ficklerus de jure magistratuum fol. 30. Alexander Carerius patavinus de potestate Papae lib. 2 cap. 3. D. Marta de temporali spirituali pontificis potestate lib. 1. cap. 23. and Doleman in his conference touching succession parte 1. cap. 3. page 48. And also these Puritans Christopher Goodman in his treatise of obedience pag. 53. George Buchanan de jure Regni apud Scotos pag. 47. Danaeus de politia Christiana lib. 3. cap. 6. pag. 221 Brutus Celta de jure magistratuum pag. 286. Philadelphus dialogo 2 pag. 65. Franc. Hottomanus in his Francogallia cap. 12. and Speculum tyrannidis Philipi Regis pag. 27. Cardinall ' Pellarmine the grand-master of Controversies De â—ontis lib. 2. c. 17. cannot endure to heare that this deposition was done by any other then the papall Authority Caeterum quod monachus iste saith Lambertus Danaus whereas this monke Bellarmine contendeth that Childerick was lawfully deposed by Pope Zacharias a stranger a Priest no Magistrate but in this respect a private person though he were Bishop of Rome Resp Danaei ad Bellar l. 2. c. 17 pag. 316. Will he ever be able to prove or defend his assertion Can Zacharie have authority in France being a stranger Can he depose the publike Magistrate being but a private person or transferre that principality to Pipin that he hath no right unto and commit so many sacriledges and impieties stealing from Childerick and giving to Pipin another mans right authorising subjects to violate their oaths which they had sworn to their King transporting Kingdomes from one man to another wheras it doth only belong to God to depose Kings and dispose of Kingdoms Thou maist see Bellarmin how many outrages this thy Zachary hath committed beside that he did thrust his sickle into another mans harvest and meddled with the Cobler beyond his Last in that being but a Priest he took upon him the decision of the right of Kingdomes Thus far Danaeus who is not so violent against the Pope Danaeus pol. Christ l. 6 c. 3 pag. 414. as he is virulent for the deposing power of Peeres or States of the Kingdome Men cannot say as it is in the Proverb nimium altercando veritas amittitur seeing that in this opposition the truth is not lost but divided among them For their premisses brought together will unavoidably conclude that this deposing power is neither in the Pope the Peeres nor the People Though it were the reason of the seditious Papists and Puritans à facto adjus is sophisticall in the Schooles where nothing can be concluded ex meris particularibus of meere particular instances Absurd in Law quia legibus non exemplis vivitur for men must do as the Law requireth not as other men practise Erroneous in Divinity non ideo quia factum credimus August ad Consen de mendac c. 9. faciendum credamus ne violemus praeceptum dum sectamur exemplum We may not do that which hath been done by other men least we break the Law of God in following the example of man And dangerous in policy as my Lord of Northampton the
their City men women and children with the edge of the sword Did David for whom they were slain when he had Saul in his power take revenge or suffer his servants to do it when they were ready and offred themselves to slay Saul David b 2 Sam. 11.4.17 defiled Vrias his bed and caused him to be killed Did Absolon well to conspire against him that was both a murtherer and an adulterer Salomon c 2 Reg. 11.8 brought into the land many strange wives and as many different Religions into the Church Did the high Priest the Peeres the Prophets or the people offer to chastice or depose him Achab d 1 Reg. 21 8 9. suffered Jezabel to put Naboth to death and to kill the Lords Prophets Did Elias depose him intice his subjects to rebell against him or implore foraigne aide to destroy him Herod e Marke 6.27 Act. 12.24 beheaded John Baptist kill'd Iames imprisoned Peter and would have slain him also if he had not been delivered by an Angell Did Peter take vengeance on Herod which he might have done with a word as wel as on f Act 5.5 Ananias No he did leave him to the Lord whose iudgment insued in most g Acts 12.23 fearefull manner In a word wicked Princes have never been lawfully punished by Prelates Potentates or people of their Kingdome as the Papists and Puritans aver but must be reserved to the judgement of God as the Protestants affirme Gregory Nazianzen in this Oration at the funerall of S. Basil reporteth that the Emperor's Deputy in Pontus Basilius magnus commanded S. Basil to put out a widow that had taken sanctuary to save her selfe from forced marriage The Bishop not willing to violate the Ecclesiasticall Laws granted by the Imperial Majesty refused so to do The Governor call the Bishop before him threatned to whip him and to teare his flesh with iron books the people hearing that indignity offered to the Bishop fell to an uprore and would have slaine the Lieutenant Monodia Nazian inter opuscula Basil fol 95 had not that innocent man of God with much ado stayd that furious tumult delivered his persecutor from that perill to whose pleasure he did afterward submit himselfe The same Nazianzen for his admirable learning called the Divine writeth of Iulian the Apostata-Emperor's death Iulian was punished by the mercy of God thorough the teares of Christian men which teare were many and shed of many for that they had no other remedy against that persecutor Thus far Nazianzen This godly father lived under five Emperors Constantius Iulianus Valens 2 Oâ—at cont Iulian Valentianus and Theodosius in all which time he could finde no remedy against the Tyranny Heresy and Apostasy of Princes beside prayers and teares The Devill of Hell had not as yet hatched the distinctions of propriè and impropriè directé and indirectè simpliciter and secundum quid absolutè inordine ad spiritualia wherewith the Iesuites do fill the schooles with clamorous evasions the Church with erroneous superstition and many Christian states with tragicall sedition Lucifer Calaritanus in sundry books against Constantius useth many immodest and disloyall speeches but he perswaded not the Pope to depose him the state to punish him the people to rebell against him or forraine aide to suppresse him but threatened him with the dreadfull punishment of God He that in the servency of zeale durst call so cruell an Emperor Theef Church-robber Murtherer Beast Hangman Heretique Apostata Idolator the fore-runner of Antichrist and Antichrist himselfe would surely have encouraged the Pope the Peeres or the people to have removed that evil King and placed a better in his stead If there had been any such opinion in those daies as our moderne Iesuites and Puritans beare now the World in hand As this Father in his writings kept not the modesty of the other Fathers which lived in that age under Constantius so he did not continue in the unity of the Catholique Church Orat in obit sratris Satir. Lucifer saith Ambrose divided himself from our Communion though he were banished with us for our Religion When Ambrose was commanded to deliver up his Church in Millaine to Maxentius an Arrian Bishop he declared his resolution in a sermon to the people which were very sory for his departure Orat. Ambrosii adpopulum inter epist 32.33 Quid turbamini volens nunquam vos deseram Why are you troubled I will never willingly depart from you If I be compelled I have no way to resist I can sorrow I can weep I can sigh my teares are my weapons against Souldiers Armour Gothes such is the munition of a Priest by any other meanes than teares I neither ought nor can resist So far Ambrose Not disability but duty not want of strength and martial forces but a reverend regard of the Emperors Majesty commanded by the Law of God kept this blessed Ambrose from resisting For hé might easily have wrought the Churches liberty his own safety and the Arrians calamity by the overthrow of the Emperour through the force of the Garison in that City which refused to attend the Prince to any other Church than that wherein Ambrose was The stout and peremptory answer of the Captaines and Souldiers is thus reported by Ambrose in an Epistle to Mercellina a religious woman Si prodire vellet haberet copiam se praesto futuros Epist 35. The Emperor may go at his pleasure they would be ready to attend him if he would go to the Catholique Assemblies or otherwise they would keep on their way to that Congregation wherin Ambrose was Thus far the Souldiers They refused as you see to obey and preferred God's true Service before the Emperor's favour they reviled not his secred person they resisted not his Soveraign power but yeelded themselves to his mercy and pleasure Epist eadem to save their soules from Gods wrath and displeasure as we find in the same Epistle Vnum Iob miraturus ascenderam I went to Church to extoll the patience of Iob where I found every one of my hearts a Iacob worthy to be extolled In every one of you Iob is revived in each of you his patience and vertue shined what could be said better by Christian men than that which the Holy Ghost this day spake in you We beseech O Emperor we offer not to fight we feare not to dye we intreat your clemency Oh it was seemely for Christian Souldiers to desire the tranquility of Peace and Faith and to be constant in truth even unto death Thus far Ambrose S. Augustin relateth the same of the Christian Souldiers under Iulian the Apostata Emperor Iulianus extitit Imperator insidelis Iulian was an unbeleeving Emperor was he not an Apostata An Oppressor and an Idolater Christian Souldiers served that unbeleeving Emepror When they came to the cause of Christ they would acknowledge no Lord but him that was in Heaven when they were