proceedings she was not onely left destitute of all her Allies and Confederates and driven as it were to stand solely upon her own guard against France who was already an Enemy and against Spain who was a friend not very well satisfied But she was forced even at first and at the entrance of her Reign to run upon a Rock which might have Shipwrackt her whole State which was to assist the Rebells in Scotland against their lawful Sovereign under a pretence of expelling the French who were brought in thither by Authority of the Queen onely to maintain the Government established This might have taught her own people a bad lesson at home a man would think though it did not as it proved And being thus engaged in Scotland she was obliged in pursuance of her design to succor the Admiral and those Rebellious Hugonots of France by whose perswasion she invaded Normandy took possession of the Towns of Newhaven Diep and some other places delivered to her by the Vidame of Charteres But the disgrace in ill-defending and loosing of them especially of Newhaven was one of the greatest blemishes that ever the English before that time received upon French ground and far greater then it was Honor to have them delivered upon such occasion into the Queens possession For certainly had either the cause been just or prudently managed they might upon that advantage have easily brought home Calice again or lockt up the Gates of Roan and Paris But they did neither nor brought home any thing but a great Plague after them in most mens judgement a scourge to the Realm for that offence After this upon the like necessity of self-preservation and upon the Reason of State which Polybius prescribeth Vicini nimâ—ùm crescentiâ— potentia quâcunque ex causâ deprimenda By all meanes keep thy Neighbor from growing too great she made no scruple to impede and give obstruction to the affairs of King Philip in the Netherlands who was her Neighbor her Ally her Confederate yea upon more occasions then one and in matters of no small exigence the best friend which she had in the world Yet by reason of those pernicious Counsels concerning Religioâ— which she was fallen upon she was as it were compelled to disown his just interest and profess her self Ungrateful in the face of the world Thereupon Orange and the States are assisted against their lawful Sovereign King Philip. I must not deny but even in doing this she pretended respect unto the Kings interest professing in her Declaration concerning that business Stow. That what she did was to preserve the Ancient Amity and Leagues betwixt the Crown of England and the House of Burgundy and to prevent the loss and utter revolt of those Countries from the Kings obedience which she knew otherwise the States and Orange would deliver up to some other Prince more professedly his Enemy So true it is that which Machiavel observed I suppose much about those times viz. That wise Princes seldom or never want pretences for their Actions What a fair colour is here given to a foul Cause But where is Conscience Christianity and Truth in the mean time The world could see well enough through the Vizard and knew at what mark both the Queen and the States aimed But most Sage sure and worthy of so great a Commander and wise man as himself was is that of Thucydides Nullus Princeps a suis subditis justè puniendis arcendus est c No Prince saith he ought to be hindred from punishing his Subjects according to the Laws and whosoever goeth about to do so by his evil example parem in se legem Statuit c. he makes a Law against himself and inables his own Subjects in like case to seek forreign protection against his jusâ—ice And this the Queen with the whole Nation might have found true by sad experience if that either Henry the Second or Francis the Second Kings of France had lived or that her own Subjects I mean those whom she had not a little injured and alienated by her Misgovernment had not been more loyally respective of her dignity and more inclined to obedience and sufferance for a good cause then many other people in the world were But Divine Providence having decreed for our much unworthiness and many sins to remove the Candlestick of this Nation that is to deprive us of the Light of the true saving Faith and of all publike and free exercise of true Christian Religion and to deliver us up to the darkness and many old delusions of Heresie and to follow our own ways in those things wherein it most of all concerned us to have been ruled by good Authority which is the greatest judgement that can befall a Nation or any people in this woâ—ld all things cooperated to the accomplishment of his just displeasure against us And the Queen with heâ— party were permâ—tted to go on with their work without any interruption Even before her Coronation or that any debate or resolution had been taken in Parliament de novo concerning Religion she being her self but a Sheep of the Flock as Constantine Thedosius and many others her Christian Predecessors in Princely Dignity have not blushed to acknowledge yet presumed to put all the Shepheards of the Kingdom to silence commanding that none of the Bishops or other Prelates should preach till her pleasure was further known And after the Parliament all of them that refused the new revived Oath of Supremacy were deprived of all Honors Dignities and Employments which they had in Church or Common-wealth and committed to several Prisons Of this sort there are reckoned no less then Fourteen Bishops of England all Vertuous and Learned Prelates that were instantly deposed and Ten of Ireland Twelve Deans Fifteen Heads or Masters of Colledges Six Abbots besides inferior dignitaries of the clergy viz. Arch-Deacons and other Priests without number together with Master Shelley Prior of Saint Johns of Jerusalem All these as to their demeanor towards the Queen were blameless there was not the least exception taken against them in that respect The Bishops themselves were all sitting in Parliament at the time of Queen Maries death and acknowledged by diverse Proclamations Queen Elizabeths Right and Title to the Crown The Arch-Bishop of York Doctor Heath was then Chancellor of England and labored by all means possible to do her Majestie service and to settle the Hearts of her people in obedience and loyalty towards her as to their natural and lawful Sovereign especially in that grave Oration which he made to the Nobility and Commons of Parliament upon the first report of Queen Maries death The Bishops joyntly did their Homage and Fealty to her in all dutiful maner and though they were not without some suspicion that she intended to change Religion yet did they practise neither Scotizing nor Genevating towards her Never did they incense the people against her though they were generally Catholik and they might probably have
done it to her no little trouble No they never attempted any kinde or any shew of violent resistance at all either by Domestick or Forreign help but always from first to last most submissively behaved themselves towards her tendring her safety and the Peace of the Realm far above their own Lives Liberties and Estates 'T is true it was once debated among them whither they ought not to proceed to Excommunication against her both for the preservation of Catholikes and discharge of their Office Yet considering the great trouble and inconveniences that might arise thereby both to her Majestie and the State in case the people should fall into any disorders thereupon or take Arms in defence of Religion They concluded notwithstanding her case and proceedings were very much liable to censure yet for their parts to leave her to Gods Judgement and referred the whole business to his Holiness And herein also the Favor and Interest of King Philip as they had always done did stand her in no small stead For he knowing the practises of France upon this occasion and how much they labored at Rome that sentence of Excommunication might pass against Queen Elizabeth onely out of design and hoping to invest themselves of England thereupon under the Title and pretensions of Queen Mary of Scotland who was the next Heir and at that time married to their King Was the more willing to hinder it least by this means England and Ireland both together with Scotland should come to be Incorporate as it were into the Crown of France and so become an enemy too potent for him to deal with out of which respect also even in Queen Maries time more then once he had kept of proceedings against her which otherwise would have concerned her very neerly Therefore so long as there was any hope that the Queen might be capable of better Counsels he ceased not by his Ministers to do all good Offices here betwixt the Queen and the Clergy and at Rome hindered the passing of the censures for no small time notwithstanding all the indeavors and instances thereunto made by the French But the Prelates all this while as I said chose rather a Durate then Armate ever professing with their mouths and making it good no less with their examples and practises that Preces and Lachrimae indeed Prayers and Tears were the onely weapons which they had to fight against the Queen Though the world knows how little these prevailed with her whose severity towards them continued in the same extremity from first to last not relenting nor affording the least remission in any degree of Liberty or Estate unto their dying day Doctor Scot Bishop of Chester died at Lovain in Exile Goldwel of Asaph died at Rome Pate Bishop of Worcester was indeed at the Councel of Trent and subscribed there for the Clergy of England but never returned Doctor Oglethorpe Bishop of Carlile who had Crowned the Queen was yet deprived with the rest dying suddenly and very shortly after so did also Doctor Tonstal that Learned and Famous Prelate Bishop of Durham while he was Prisoner at Lambeth Yet not before he had personally given the Queen a sound and Godly Admonition concerning her strange proceedings with that liberty and freedom of zeal which became so venerable a Prelate and true Pastor of Gods Church as he was and as some have said Godfather to the Queen Bourn Bishop of Bath and Wells was prisoner to Cary Dean of the Chappel and there dyed Doctor Thirlby Bishop of Ely was first committed to the Tower afterwards He and Secretary Boxhal were sent to Lambeth and there ended their days Bishop Bonner of London Watson of Lincoln with the Abbot of Westminster Fecknam died all prisoners and as some say in the Marshalsey Prior Shelly was banished and died in Exile This was the the very Sad yet as by their Patience Submission and Sufferance appeared very Christian Catastrophe of so many grave religious and good Prelates of England chief Pastors of the Church of God in our nation Thus was a third and the most venerable State of the Realm who like the Cedars of Liâ—â—anus ever since King Etheldreds time for so many years together had stood flourishing in great Dignity and Power in this Land on a sudden cast down disgraced put in prison or banished the Realm The chief and immediate cause of which hard procedings against them was the refusing the Oath of Supremacy for no other crime no other fault could be charged upon them This indeed they refused as a thing which concerned their Conscience very much And although perhaps some of the Prelates now living had either for fear or upon surprizal in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth when it was first enacted given more consent or connivence to it then became Prelates of the Church to do yet they had now better considered themselves and resolved to be constant not onely to the Doctrine of Catholike Faith in that point but also to the judgement of the whole Kingdom which so lately in full Parliament had desired the Abrogation of that Law and acknowledged the Supremacy of Ecclesiastical Authority to be where Christ placed it viz. in the Sea Apostolike Nor did the English Prelates refusing to acknowledge the Queen Head of the Church any thing more then what the Protestants themselves at least no mean ones among them would likewise do For 't is manifest that setting aside some few English at home they do generally abroad dislike the Princes Supremacy in Ecclesiastical causes as much as any Not to mention Gilby who in his Book called Admonitio ad Anglos calls King Henry the Eighth reproachfully Monstrum Libidinosum Aprum qui Christi locum invasit c. A libidinous Monster a Wilde Bore broken into Christs Vineyard and making himself Head of the Church which belongs onely to Christ Calvin himself in his Commentary upon O see is very angry at those who attribute so much to Secular Princes as to give them such absolute power in the affairs of Religion and in plain terms confesseth Qui initio tantoperè extulerunt Henricum Regem Angliae certè fuerunt inconsiderati homines c. They saith he who first advanced the Authority of King Henry of England to such a height did not well consider what they did when they gave him that Supream Power in all Causes it was a matter which always greeved me very much saith he For indeed they did no less then blaspheme when they called him Supream Head of the Church under Christ Sir Thomas Moor Bishop Fisher Abbot Whiteing of Glastenbury and those many other Holy Abbots and Religious men of all sorts who suffeâ—ed in the case of Supremacy under Henry the Eighth never said more And Luther himself saith no less but more scurrilously as his humor was Quid ad nos Mandatum Electoris Saxoniae What hath the Prince Elector of Saxony to do to command me Let him look to his Sword and see
Protestants have set it down as a decree against Catholikes and labor to imprint it as an Eternal scandal in the hearts of the people that Catholike Religion and Doctrine is dangerous to the State an Enemy to Sovereignty and therefore neither allowable nor tolerable in a well governed Monarchy Now this being a matter of so great importance as indeed it ought to be esteemed for querelam Ecclesiae quilibet Catholicus facit suam every good Catholike thinks himself injured when the Church is wronged I will endeavor to sift out the truth and shew you what is therein to be holden as matter of infallible vâ—rity as well to justifie them viz. the Catholikes as to inform my self in a point which I know hath made many good men in England to stagger much And that I may not wander in my discourse nor lead you up and down in a Labyrinth I will shew you first the true state of the Quâ—stion to be argued and the method in which it is most regularly propounded First therefore we demand Whether to be a Catholike that is one who professeth due reverence unto the Church of Rome and to be a true Subject to his Prince and Country be incompatible or no Secondly If they be incompatible whether this incompatibility or repugnancy that is betwixt them be general that is as unto all Principalities and States or particular that is to some one or to some few onely Thirdly Whether it be so originally and ever or onely casually that is at some particular time or upon some particular joyncture of affairs in State Fourthly Whether it be so simpliciter loquendo and as malum in se that is whether the being a Catholike be lookt upon as a thing evil intrinsecally and in its own nature or that it be onely accidentally such or made so by particular Statutes and Laws Lastly whether Lutheranism and Calvinism be not more incompatible with Loyalty more opposit and contradictory thereto and that ab origine To judge rightly betwixt Catholikes and Protestants in this grand charge which we have in hand it is necessary that every one of these particulars be cleerly considered and resolved and so I oblige my self to do at least to endeavor before I end my discourse But yet to pay Master Parson some thing in his own coyn I shall make bold to begin with the last Question first and in lieu of his general or rather hyperbolical accusations of our Doctrine to return him double measure both of Doctrine and Practise in each kinde from his own men That is I will examine and declare obsignatis tabulis and by evidence of fact That the Treasons Factions Seditions Tumults which have so troubled all the Kingdoms of Europe and filled Christendom with blood and calamity for these hundred years last past have sprung not so much from any opinions or practises of Catholikes as from the opinions and practises of Protestants and that the egg of this Cockatrice was not laid at Rome nor Rhemes nor Doway as the World must be made to believe but indeed and very truth at Wittemberg at Smalcald at Genevah And this I shall do not Theologically or like a Divine for I will not arrogate so much to my self but Historically sincerely plainly being one that desires to defend the Loyalty of Religions and Innocent men rather then their Opinions and Doctrines which they are best able to maintain themselves and as a faithful relator of what my self have both known and seen and learned the rest from others of whose authority and credit in this kinde no just doubt can be made Neither shall I affect any rhetorical flourishes or elegancy of stile in this discourse Integrity and Truth which I profess appear always most gracious in their own unborrowed beauties they need no paintings no art no colours Come we then by the Will of God to our intended business Titulus Primus LUTHERANISM OR The Troubles in GERMANY IN the year of our Lord 1514. the whole Church of God enjoyed Peace and her ancient Priviledges all Princes with great devotion were Nursing Fathers and Protectors of her no Storm did trouble her no Schism to break her Unity There was an harmony a good correspondence as to matters of Faith and Religion between the Church of Rome and all the Princes and States of Christendom and till then neither in England nor in any other Country of Europe had there been such a Question ever disputed viz. Whether a Catholike might not be a good Subject In the year 1517. Martin Luther an Augustine Fryer a man of a turbulent spirit learned but never counted any famous Clerk was the first that broke this long and happy Peace Surius in Chron. An. 1517. This man unhappily interposing himself in the business of Indulgences which were sent at that time by Pope Leo the Tenth into Germany although it concerned not him further then he made himself the Proctor and Advocate of his Order yet having once begun to inveigh against the injury done to his fraternity as he conceived for as much as the Preaching or publishing of those Pardons was committed unto the Dominicans and not to them viz. the Augustinians as had been usual before he fell afterwards to tax the abuses and covetousness of the Collectors and then to question even the authority of them by whom those Collectors were nominated and such a levy of money required in that nature This was a popular and plausible Introduction fit to win upon the vulgar who can never well endure the pressure of Contributions especially extraordinary and where the covetousness or scandal of Officers gives any occasion of murmur He quickly therefore found many favorers but much more when he began to exclaim against the ambition of Prelates against the ryot and disorders of Religious men taxing some for Tyranny some for Avarice some for Idleness and Ignorance all for corruption and abuses In this maner he stood in arms and as it were a challenger for some years onely against the defects of the Clergy and without much danger For divers good men at first conceived That he onely intended and sought Reformation of disorders and restoring of Ecclesiastical Discipline punishment of irregularities and amendment of life And this they did not without some cause For Saint Hildegardis had foretold a storm to the Church for their sins Savanarola a Dominican had awakned Italy with predictions of terror and Frier Thomas of Guien prophesied a Vae Vae a scourge and desolation to Bourdeaux an inundation of misery to France and the whole World All these not long before Luthers time Who finding thus Populo placere quas fecisset fabulas that the sport which he had begun did take with the people as novelty is ever welcome to the World and that his actions and designs seemed generally to be applauded that many of the best wits especially such as had been bred in Erasmus his School and were any way touched with his humor were
ready to second him yea perceiving that some of the greatest Princes in Germany were content though for other ends not onely to give him hearing but incouragement also in his proceedings the mans ambitions and vain conceipts of himself were infinitely raised above his first projects Whereupon as a man sick in his spirits and of a fiery disease he begins now to rage against and to defame all Church Government he abandons his Cloyster throws of his habit breaks yea tramples upon his vows renounceth all obedience to his Superior Preacheth against the whole State of the Clergy and especially against the Superiority of the Bishop of Rome which was ever unto this time held Sacred in matters Ecclesiastical as against a Tyranny in the Church perswading the people not to render any kinde of obedience to them The Pope himself whom yet not long before and since the beginning of the difference he had honored with the title of Christs Vicar and protested unto him very much humble Reverence and obedience he now calls Sathanissimum Papam Messire Asino The Prelates he calls Blinde guides the Religious men Swine Candles put under a Bushel and what not And why think you Preacht he all this Because forsooth otherwise the people should live in darkness still in the shadow of death still be fed and misled by ignorant and blinde guides still remain in ignorance and in the Captivity of Babylon This Prologue having gained him attentive Auditors he begins the Tragedy which was afterwards acted as you shall hear with such incredible Sedition and Tumults His whole study was now bent to undermine the Church and to abolish all Ecclesiastical order which by consequence was of necessity to shake the Foundations and hazzard the State it self Yea this humor fed him with such vain and extravagant hopes That he imagined to conquer the whole World and to subdue the Pope himself whom he was the first that ever absolutely affirmed to be that Antichrist Man of sin and deceiver of the World whom the Apostle mentioneth 2 Thes 2. He was the more encouraged in these proceedings for that now 1519. Maximilian the Emperor was dead whose power and wisdom he had great cause to dread and that Charls the Fifth was chosen to succeed him Surius in Chron. a yong Prince not fully Twenty years of age whom therefore he vainly hoped he should be able to perswade to subdue the Popes power to keep his own Court at Rome and make the Castle of Saint Angelo subject to his commands and that by the assistance of such an Emperor Martin should be able to reform the Church and cast it into what mould he pleased especially seeing John Frederick the Elector and old Duke of Saxony was already his sure Friend and Patron who for his strength riches alliance and other abilities was far Superior to any other Prince of the Empire Hereupon therefore fiâ—st of all he proclaims as it were open war and defiance to all the Bishops and Ecclesiastical State of Germany endeavoring what he can to weaken their authority to abrogate their power yea to make them odious and contemptible to the whole World Therefore in his Book intituled Câ—ntra Statum Ecclesiae Tom 2. oper Latin Jenae falsò nominatum ordinem Episcoporum He sends out a Bull against the said Bishops in these words Attendite vobis Episcoporum umbrae Hearken saith he or rather Look to your selves ye Mock-Prelates ye Bishops in shew or shape onely Doctor Luther intends to read you a lesson which he thinks will not be much pleasing to your tender ears as indeed it was not likely it should be For after a short Exhortation he gives advise what his godly Auditory should do well to see performed viz. To this horrible intent or purpose Quicunque opem ferunt bona famam sanguinem impendunt Whosoever saith he will venture their Lives their Estates their Honor and their Blood in so Christian a work as to root out and destroy all Bishops and Bishopricks which are the Ministers of Satan and to pluck up by the Roots all their Authority and Jurisdiction in the World Hi sunt dilecti filii Del c. These yea these are the true children of God and obey his Commandments And again in his Book against Sylvester Prieras Tom. 1. oper Latin Wittemberg Si fures furcâ latrones gladio haereticos igne tollimus If saith he we dispatch common Felons with a halter Malefactors at the block and Hereticks by fire Cur non magis hos magistros perditionis As for these sons yea masters of perdiâ—ion these Bishops Cardinals Popes c. Why should we not fall upon them with open force and not cease till we have bathed our hands in their blood Was there ever such an Incendiary heard Preach But Objicient saith he going on periculum esse Perhaps some body will be telling us it may cause Tumults and Sedition in the common people Tush saith he I answer must the Word of God be prohibited and the people perish for fear of Tumults The two Mar-Prelates of England and Scotland were not possessed with such a spirit as this and though they were mad enough yet they came not up to such a height of fury Let the Lawyers therefore judge Brunus Minsinger Gail whether this Sermon and Proclamation of Luthers would not bear an Action of Sedition and Conspiracy and whether it were consistent with the Laws and Peace of the Empire any more then it was with the duty of a good man For hereby was the people taught and encouraged when they should be able to pull down and destroy those principal Pillars in the State of Germany viz. The Archbishops of Mentz Colen and Triers the Primate of Magdeburgh the Archbishop and Prince of Saltzburgh the great Master of Prussia the Bishop of Wurtzburgh Bambergh and many others who beside their Spiritual Relations which were so eminent in the Church had also a voice and place in the Imperial Dyet and thereby a great influence and hand in the Government of Germany Can this be avowed to be the act of a dutiful or loyal Subject of the Eâ—pire Doâ—h any Law Reason or Example warrant it in Civil Government That a private man himself a Subject of himself alone should attempt thus insolently against the chief Magistrates and Princes of the Country where he lives That a Sheep should presume to depose the Shepherds And by such wicked suggestions stir up Insurrections and Rebellion against persons of so eminent quality both for Place and Calling Nor did he ever cease or give over these Preachings till out of Saxâ—ny Hess and Wittemberg yea generally out of all places where his Seditious Doctrine prevailed he had expulsed or procured to be expulsed the very name as well as the Authority and Jurisdiction of Bishops Neither staid he here but as fury and success lead him proceeded further Cochlaeus in act Luther At Wittemberg he took upon him to burn not
the Sword in their hands to compel the King to grant them what Liberty and Terms of Pacification they liked we are first to call again to minde that so famous and indeed furious Battle upon the Plains of Dreux of which Beza formerly boasted That the foundations of Reformed Religion in France were first laid and as it were consecrated therein Let us remember also the Battle of Saint Dennis the Battle of Jarnac the Battle of Coutras the Battle of Moncontour together with the besiedging of Roan and how much and Noble Blood was spilt in all these Actions At Roan the King of Navar lost his life at Saint Dennis the Constable was slain at Jarnaec the Prince of Conde and at Contras the Noble Duke of Joyeuse ended his days Tho Fields are yet stained France was let-blood too prodigally and strangers brought in as Surgeons to launce her wounds who have left behinde them greater cause of Lamentation then Remembrance At Moncentour where the Admiral stood alone as the sole Champion of the Reformed Churches The Missa-pulta testified what their quarrel was which by Beza's devise was advanced as a Basilisk to beat down the Royal Standard of France and the Labarum or Cross of Constantine Now as concerning the outrages assassinations and other mischeifs done and committed by these spirits of Reformation yet pretending nevertheless to be altogether innocent of Blood and Murther Polâ—rot in this Kalender must have the first place for killing the Duke of Guise who was the Kings Lieutenant General at that time so basely and treacherously as he did confessing it afterward before the Queen-Mother and avouching that Beza had both counselled and encouraged him to the Action After him we may remember how the Protestants in Valentia used Signeut de la Motte Gondrin the Kings Lieutenant in Daulphin who had assured them in case they would live peaceably and quietly with the Catholikes he would bring none of the Kings Soldiers upon them yet notwithstanding this they assembled forces of their own privately surprized La Motte and hung him up instantly in cold blood without any provocation save onely of their own malice to shew their contempt of the King and scorn of his Officers among them Which was a villany not sufferable in any Commonwealth especially where such favor and connivence had been offered but immediately before We may remember the Conspiracy of Simon May a man induced by the same spirit and instructed out of the same School to kill the Queen-Mother and Henry the Third But his purpose being discovered he was apprehended and had his desert Neither can the business be excused or shifted off with any colors himself confessed it and accused Seigneur de la Tour and Monsieur d' Avantigny two Gentlemen of good parentage yet birds of a Feather to have been hiâ— Counsellors and Abettors in the Plot Whereupon they were both of them apprehended but afterward released by His Majesty for private reasons not being willing as some thought at that time to search too deep into the wound either for the men engaged in it or the matter it self yet this was not all They proceed much further and seize upon the Kings own Rents and Râ—venues they coyn money and surprize either by fraud or force of Arms the cheif Cities of the Realm Orleans Troyes Poictiers Tours c. putting in Garrisons and Governors of their own party and for their own ends They deliver one of the Keys of France into the custody and command of Forreigners All which were attempts of the Highest Treason that could be and usurpations of the Prerogative Royal being done without colour of Commission or Warrant from the King and contrary to his express Will and the Law Lib. des Financ de France Nicholas Froumenteau a Minister of the new Edition confesseth That in Daulphin onely the Army of the Hugâ—nots killed Two hundred fifty and six Priests and One hundred and twelve Monks and Friers burnt Nine hundred Towns and Villages And yet what a pitiful tale do the Calvinists and others tell of a Massacre at Vassy by the Duke of Guise as if no cruelty had been comparable to that Which yet indeed was nothing at all in comparison of these and was done without the Dukes consent as not onely Monsieur Chasteauneuf in his Commentaries but also Thuanus Thuan. Historian lib. 29. who was a man never suspected to be of the Guisian Faction do expresly avouch Yea the blood that was drawn from the Duke himself laboring to have appeased the fray at the beginning was the cause that some quantity more was drawn from those Hugonots by the Dukes servants then otherwise there needed to have been No it was a toy and a trifle in respect of those outragious excessive carnages of Montbrison of Mornas and many other places acted by the Hugonots But such was the calamity of those times They which most justly deserved and unjustly complained against persecution did persecute their Neighbors most unjustly and tyrannically Let the world and all indifferent men judge by this In these Civil Wars there were no less then Twenty thousand Churches destroyed by Protestants and yet these men were born as they say to edifie the Church Is it not likely Could Mahomet himself edifie better or was his Alchoran and Turkish Superstition set up any other way then by the power of a Tyrants Sword and pulling down of Christian Churches I shall not commend any Act of Cruelty in whomsoever yet let men that are impartial consider how they can justly blame Charls the Ninth King of France for his proceedings against this sort of people at Paris and some other places in the year 1572. The Admiral being the principal Instrument and mover of all those Seditions and Troubles which for a long time had disquieted France and indangered so much the very life and person of the King the Queen Mother and other of the Princes who can wonder if his Majestie at last were compelled to use a mean extraordinary and somewhat rough for the cutting off such a Pestilent Member with his Complices who did nothing but Gangren-like perpetually corrupt and indanger the whole body of his State yea and often threatned the Head it self 'T is well known he was come to such height at this time that he Reigned in France as it were some Petty King in a Common-wealth meerly through the assistance of such people as had by his Means and Sollicitation chiefly revolted from their Lawful and Natural Sovereign he maintained in France an open War against the King and Crown of France he Sollicited and called in strangers to his aid levied Contributions exacted Tributes coyned Mony seized the Kings Revenues invaded his Towns contemned all his Laws yea what actions of Sovereignity did he not usurp exercise in contempt of his Sovereign For which having been first proclaimed Traytor in the year 1569. he afterward met with the punishment which both he and his had most justly deserved
should be abolished and that whosoever defended the Popes Authority in Scotland should be banished and that all former Acts to the contrary should be repealed This was pretended to be done by the three Estates but the Queens Commission could not be shewn nor any consent of hers to confirm such Acts beside the opposition which the Clergy or State Ecclesiastical generally made against such proceedings See Jo. Leslaeus hist of Scotland not onely in the Parliament or Convention of States where they happened to be overborn but all the Kingdom over Therefore to make that seem good by a colour of Law which was at first begun by meer Faction and Violence some years after viz. Anno 1567. and after the deposition or rather unjust and forced Resignation of their lawful Sovereign the Queen they procure an other Parliament to be called the Earl Murray being then Regent and the King scarce out of his Cradle which confirms the Acts of the Parliament 1560. Cap. 9. and prescribes an oath to be taken by all succeeding Kings to maintain the Religion then received to which as yet no King had ever consented and establisheth the Confession of that Church The Queen provoked with their many and insufferable indignities had before this time sent for some French Forces into Scotland to oppose them But this they take so ill and the Preachers of new Doctrine in all parts of the Kingdom improve the occasion so much to her disadvantage and to the further incensing of the people that at last they not onely make shift to exclude her from all Government putting her in condition of a private person but dishonor her beside with most capital and criminous Accusations yea and cast her into prison not without great danger of her life Beza that Tibullus of Genevah instigating and encouraging them much thereunto who is pleased in his Reformed Zeal and Eloquence to call her Medea Athaliah and what not Nullum ejus sceleribus nomen c. The Good Man it seems could not finde words bad enough to express her guiltiness and yet how well is it known he had store of them always at command and how maliciously he pleaded against her while she was prisoner in England onely out of hatred to the House of Lorrain appears abundantly in his Book called Reveille-Matin I confess generally t is better to bury old quarrels then to renew their memory yet to justifie the Innocent and to detect perfectly the evil practises of these men I cannot forbear to insist a while on this Subject and to declare more particularly what inducements they pretended for such exorbitant courses They accused the Queen of procuring the death of her Husband the Lord Henry Darley out of a desire and intention to marry Bothwel who was principal in the murther Therefore say they for zeal to Justice for the Honor of the Realm and satisfaction to Forreign Nations it is necessary that she be under restraint til she cleer her self from the imputation of such heinous crimes These were their Accusations and pretenses But touching the Murther it was very unlike to be true and certainly required manifest proofs if ever any cause did Her Sex was not fit for such a Butchery and her nature known to be too Royal to harbor such dishonorable Treachery though she had some just cause of offence against him If she had desired to put him to death he was her Subject and she might have done it openly legally and by course of Justice He had been of the Confederacy for the killing of David Riza her Secretary his own Dagger was found in his Body The Earl Morton beeing fled into England upon that offence he presumed to revoke him and call him home without thâ— Queens knowledge or allowance Neither was he Loyal to the Queen in respect of Conjugal affection and duty his offâ—nsiveness in that kinde was very notorious and scandalous to all the Court and occasion of much disquiet and difference betwixt the Queen and him and from whence their common Adversaries took advantage in a short time to ruin them both What then is the proof of such a crime what evidence bring they to convince her guilty of the Fact First they object that Douglas Earl Bothwels man was executed for it True And that it was he that brought a Box of Letters of the Queens to Bothwel which he had received of Sir James Balfoor at Edenburgh to carry to his Master by which Letters intercepted their juglings and practises viz. of the Queen and Bothwel were discovered It is answered Lyes have commonly one Leg short and so 't is here For is it probable that either the Queen or the Earl should repose such confidence and so great secrets in a man that was known to be at the devotion of a contrary Faction as Sir James Balfoor was Is it likely she would at all send such a Packet which she knew contained matter of great Peril but of no consequence at all to her self For she directs them to be burnt and might have done that her self well enough without the labor of sending them to him Beside the Queen ever denied those Letters to be hers though her hand had been counterfeited to them neither was there Superscription Indorsement Seal Date or any thing else that might possibly discover more cleerly whose they were or from whom coming Her hand was onely Subscribed the Letters themselves of another Character and truly it is not probable that in a business of so great privacy she should require the State of a Secretary and that of some Stranger too for had it been the hand of any of her ordinary Amanuenses the case had been cleer and a discovery would have been easily made Neither could he who delivered them ever be found out to discover the Pack and Douglass who was the man accused to carry them protested at his death that he never knew of any such Letters Lastly supposing that she had indeed sent them yet was there no express proof of any unlawful act attempt or practise to charge her with Suppose she had desired to have her husband murthered doubtless it had been a great offence against God and odious to all men but was it a sufficient cause for her own Subjects to take Arms against her and to depose her Was not David in a like case in the business of Vriah and Bathshebah Yet he forfeited not his Crown Saint John Baptist reproved Herod for his Adultery yet did neither exhort nor counsel the people to deprive him of his Dignity though he were both a stranger of Idumaea and an usurper Edward the fourth of England was not deposed for keeping another mans Wife though he committed a great sin Nor Henry eighth for cutting off the Heads of so many of his own Wives and committing as great sins Spectante populo in the view of his Kingdom and of all the world Surely these Bouâ—efeux while they presume to punish their Kings for sin without
and Cantons This Union was made by the States in the year 1578. For seeing on the one hand the fortunate Proceedings of the Duke of Parma and on the other the course of thâ— Male-Contents they enter a perpetual League which was comprized in Twenty Articles In the first whereof Holland Zealand Frize and Gelders joyn contra omnem vim quae sub praetextu c. to maintain one another against all force whatsoever that shall be made upon them in the Kings name or for matter of Religion After this viz. in the year 1579. the Prince of Orange who was the contriver and ringleader of all with those of Antwerp and Gaunt enter the League and subscribe on the Fourteenth of February and it was again confirmed at the Hague the Twentieth of July 1581. The design in all being to expel their Leige Lord the King of Spain and to deprive him of those Dominions as presently after they did publishing an Edict in the name of the States unitâ—d with this title or prescription Que le Roy a' Espague est descheu c. That the King of Spain is fallen from the Dominion of the Low-Countries and injoyning an Oath or form of Abjuration to be taken by all the people of those Countries in these words I W. N. Comme un bon vassal du ' pais Sware anew and binde my self to the Provinces united to be Loyal and Faithful to them and to Aid them against the King of Spain as a true Man of the Country Upon this they break all the Kings Seals pull down his Arms seize and enter upon his Lands Rents Customes and all Hereditaments whatsoever taking them into their own possession and as absolute Lords they Coyn Money in their own names they place and displace Officers of State Banish the Kings Counsellors seize upon Church livings suppress Catholike Religion beseidge Amsterdam and do all other acts that might import Supream and absolute Dominion And all this with so much terror and violence that as 't is reported Raald a Counsellor for Frizeland upon onely hearing of their maner of proceeding and of the new Oath against the King died suddenly therewith as of an Apoplexy The reasons they give why the King had forfeited his title and right to these Countries were these First because he labored to suppress Religion They mean their own which they had newly taken up contrary to the old and which had it not been for the opposition made against it by the Kings Governors in the Provinces had long before this time destroyed the Kings Religion which was legally established and received by the geâ—eral consent approbation and profession of the whole Country Secondly for oppressing that is governing them not according to the Law but by Tyranny Thirdly for abrogating their priviledges and holding them in a condition of bondage and servitude Such a Prince say they we are not bound to obey as a Lawful Magistrate but to â—ject as a Tyrant But this is a Presidâ—nt of vâ—ry dangerous consequâ—nâ—e doubtless For if private Subjects as 〈◊〉 that time they were without difpute may depose their Prince meerly upon general Charges and without having done any one overt Act contrary unto the Laws or the duty of his Office and may make themselves sole Judges in the cause of what is right betwixt the Prince and the People of which they were in no capacity either formal or virtual that is representative more then a Minor part Qui stat videat ne cadat there is no Prince nor State in the world can be secure The Rochellers may plead this as much as the Hollanders and so may any discontented party under a government which they like not as well as they But it shall not be amiss to enquire a little further into this business and lay open to plain view the grounds occasions and consequences thereof so compendiously as we shall be able The original primary and true cause of these troubles was the spring and growth â— heresie which by this time was like a Gangreen spread over the greatest part of Germany and not the least in these Low-Countries where under the shadow of religion especially of abetting and promoting liberty of Conscience as they called it All factions of State and discontentments of Ambitious persons shrowded themselves The peoples natural inclination to Novelty was great and set it much forward yet there wanted not the Concurrence of some Forreigners to blow the Coals of dissention both out of England and France Charls the Fifth Emperor a wise and provident Prince remembringing what a piece of work Luther had lately cut him out in Germany and with what danger difficulty and charge he overcame it intended as well for the quietness of these Provinces as for his own Interest and Honor to prevent as much as he could the Propagation of Martinests and all other Sects whatsoever And to that end finding no other means more proper and fit to be applied unto such a Malady had established the Inquisition among them about the yeer 1550. for the Execution whereof Mary Queen of Hungary then Regent of the Low-Countries procured such Explication and Mitigation of some Circumstances as was judged necessary But after this the Emperor resigning the whole government of these Provinces to his Son King Philip retired himself by a most memorable example voluntarily from the world and consâ—crated the last act of his life entirely to God and devotion King Philip at the first entrance into his government finding how much the Sects increased daily in Flanders notwithstanding the means opposed against them and considering what danger would ensue upon it to the State followed strictly his Fathers advise and in the year 1555. renewed the Commission Instructions and Articles for the said Inquisition But this as it happened through the general contagion and distemper of mindes which Heresie had bred in the people provd onely matter of further discontent to the Inhabitants of the Nether-Lands and did no good They alledge that all Strangers would thereupon be forced to depart the Country and by consequence their Trading would decay which was the Golden Mine and maintenance of those Provinces Thus they complained but indeed their inward grief was the humor of Innovation to which they were much inclined and therefore feared themselves There was another Politick Act of the Kings yet withall of very religious concernment and design which added Fewel to this Fire namely the Erecting of those new Bishopricks at Gaunt Ipres Floren. vand Haer de tumult Belgic Antwerp c. which he intended all the Provinces over And a third viz. the authority and power of the Bishop of Arras whose Cardinals Hat lately procured him by the Kings favor made him the more odious so as the greater his Obligation was to his Holiness or the King their Sovereign so much more it seemed was the malice both of the Nobility and common people incensed against him Lastly they urge their Ancient priviledges
best assistance to the support of the Estate Royal and of the Kingdom wherein they lived It is true through the malice of the Devil and Instigation of some Enemies of the Church some of them for the asserting of their legal Immunities and to preserve the Liberty of their spiritual Jurisdiction entirely Free as it ought they were dirven now and then yet very seldom in comparison of such a long tract of time as we instance in unto some vehement and earnest contestation with their Princes and though much further then was pleasing to them yet I suppose not beyond terms of due respect and the Authority of their Function much less did they endeavor to stir up rebellion or instigate the people to sedition and commotions against their Princes nor did they ever upon their own account solely concur in any thing of that nature The first King that ever gave cause in this Kingdom effectually and in the face of the world to trie the admirable patience obedience and loyalty of Catholikcs was King Henry the Eighth Flagellum Dei that scourge of God to the Church of England and all good Catholikes therein yet outwardly professing the same Religion in most things with Catholikes This he did first by a pretended Accusation of the Clergy to be fallen in a Praemunire because Scil they did that which all their predecessors the Bishops and Clergy of England for many Hundreds of years confessedly had done without any exception taken viz. for acknowledging the power Legantine of Cardinal Wâ—lsey which yet the King himself for his own ends and in his own case had first of all procured 2. upon the Statute of supremacy And 3. by suppression of the Abbies These were his Three first breaches by which the Foundation strength and glory of the Catholike Church in England became afterwards utterly ruinated By the first his way was levelled to the Second and the Second obtained gave him power and authority to compass the Third By the First indeed onely the Clergy smarted in a fine of an Hundred thousand pound The second lay heavy upon the Clergy and Temporalty both But by the Third viz. the suppression of the Abbies and Religious houses if we consider the infinite prejudice which the poor Commonalty suffered thereby both in point of spiritual and temporal interest the whole Kingdom might be said to be worse then conquered by him that is Robbed Spoiled Enslaved to the exorbitancy of his sole Will Prodigality Lust and Tyranny And all this done to be revenged on the Pope who condescended not to humor him in the business of his marriage Therefore and to advance his own power and greatness That Authority and Jurisdiction which had alway been acknowledged as sacred by the English ever since the English were Christians must in a moment be abandoned disclaimed abjured himself by an unheard of and fatal Ambition instead thereof made Head of the Church and all persons who out of scruple of Conscience refused to conform to such grand sudden and sacrilegious Innovations and to swear they knew not what were cut shorter by the head executed at Tyborn imprisoned banished and put into such condition as he was sure they should not oppose him The ground of the Praemunire was at first onely a quarrel which he pick't against the Cardinal Wolsey but afterwards stretched it upon the Tenters and made it reach the whole Clergy who being thereupon Summoned into the Kings Bench the business was so aggravated there by the Lawyers The Kings Learned Counsel that in the Convocation house they presently concluded to submit themselves to the King and offer him no less sum then One hundred thousand pound for their pardon This was look't upon by the Christian world as a Prodigy That so many Shepherds should be afraid of one Wolfe And though it becomes us not hear to censure whether they did as they ought yet certainly this weakness of the Pastors boded no good to the Flock and it is observed that neither themselves nor the Church nor Religion ever prospered in England afterwards However the King accepts of thâ—ir offâ—r and signs their Pardon but with a fetch far worse then the first For undâ—r a prâ—â—eâ—ce of procuring this Pardon to be confirmed to them in Parliament he draws thâ—m in there how willingly or unwillingly let the world judge to acknowledge him Supream Head of the Church It was a course even at that time not thought agreeable to Justice or Honor. For as we said the Cardinal Wolsey had the Kings License for the exercise of his Legantine power both under the Kings hand and the Great Seal of England and was employed by the Kings particular Mandate and pleasure in the quality of Legat to sit with the other Legat Cardinal Campegius and examine the business of his marriage And could the Divorce have been granted according to the Kings minde it is easily conjectured the Cardinal had never been questioned for his Legat-ship Touching the Second of Supremacy All the Subjects of England ever acknowledged that the Crown and State of England quoad Temporalia in Temporal affairs and matters is independent of any other power but of that Transcendent Majestie which saith Per me reges regnant and this to the intent that Kings and all Governors considering who will one day take their Audit may be more careful to rule with Justice and common equity without partiality passion prejudice against any mans person further then his crimes against Publike Order Common Right and the Peace of the State shall make him obnoxious and by so doing may keep their accounts streight against the day of Account And on the other side that Subjects remembring their duty and who it is that layeth this jugum suave the sweet Yoke of good Government upon their Shoulders might be induced to obey with more fidelity and prompt affection But the Question which King Henry the first of all Kings Princes or States of Christendom propounded to his Clergy and People in Parliament concerned matters purely Spiritual and wherein not himself onely and his Subjects at home but all Christian Kings Princes States and people in the world were concerned And therefore required far greater deliberation I say not then was used for in truth that was little or none at all the Kings pleasure and resolution was known and that as the world went then was sufficient but I say then could possâ—bly be used in England which was then but one single Kingdom and a small Province of Christendom And for the suppression of the Abbeys and Religious houses by that Act and this other of Supremacy together the Clergy of England were brought absolutely into Captivity and stood meerly as they have done ever since at the pleasure of the King and of the State Their Possessions the greatest part of them were seized their Goods forfeited their Churches profaned and sacked and upon the spoils thereof together with the sale of the Vestments Chalices Bells and other
Posse Tyrannum a quoquam c. That a Prince though Tyrant can be put to death by any private Authority And at a Councel held at Oxford under Steven Langton Arch-Bishop of Canterbury about the year 1228. Excommunication is decreed against all such as violate the Kings Peace or disturb the State of the Kingdom Yea the Councel of Constance Sess 15. declares it to be an error in Faith to hold otherwise Nuper accepit sancta synodus c. This Holy Synod saie the Fathers of it hath been lately informed that certain erronious opinions are holden contrary to Peace and good Estate of the Common-wealth viz. That a Tyrant may be lawfully and meritoriously taken away and killed by any Subject or Vassal of his c. Non obsâ—ante quocunque juramento c. Notwithstanding whatsoever Oath of Fidelity or Allegiance that he hath made to him Such Doctrine saith the Councel is contrary both to Faith and Manners and whosoever shall hold it pertinaciously are Hereticks and as such to be proceeded against according to the Canons What can be said or desired more upon the Parricide of Henry the Fourth King of France the Parliament of Paris a Court ever most studious of their Princes safety and extreamly vigilant against the encroaching of any forreign power contrary to his just Authority in Temporal causes yet thought it sufficient to publish this decree of the Church against the Assassinates of Princes both to shew the heinousness of the crime as also how much the Catholike Doctrine doth condemn such practises So that hereby as in a Glass the world might see the integrity of Catholike Loyalty if men would judge of them not by the private and perhaps misinterpretâ—table assertions of some particular Doctors but by these publike and avowed principles of their beleef This is the Basis on which they build the rule by which they walk and govern themselves in point of obedience towards their Sovereign Princes Or if they would judge of them by their proceedings and addresses to their Superiors their frequent petitions professions protestations of all just obedience will sufficiently cleer them If by their practice and manner of life their quiet deportment their peaceable manner of living and conversing with all men yea their prayers which they daily make unto Allmighty God in the behalf of their Prince and for the happiness of their Country do shew how innocent they are and how little they deserve those black aspersions and calumnies of Treason Rebellion Disloyalty Et quid non which some men are so diligent to cast upon them Yea to speak with no greater confidence then we justly may they shew how much more secure Princes may be and how much better Tye and assurance they have of Catholikes Loyalty then either of Lutherans or Calvinists For although Protestants do seem sometimes to teach obedience to the Civil Magistrate very freely and that it is sin for private Subjects to resist them as for Example Melancthon in his Epitome of Moral Philosophy makes it Peccatum Mortale No less matter then Mortal Sin I use his own words To violate the Tempâ—ral Laws of the Magistrates Yet is their Doctrine so clogged with exceptions so many limitations and Proviso's as it were are commonly added to it that Princes especially such as differ from them in Religion cannot finde I say not full and plenary but not so much as probable or competent security from them Melancthon in the place before mentioned limiteth himself thus Debet autem haec sententia c. But this which I have delivered saith he concerning obedience to the Civil Magistrates must be rightly understood viz. of such Magistrates as command nothing contrary to the Law of God as all Catholike Princes do in his opinion What security therefore have they from his Doctrine Lib. de Consens Evang. Beside we have shewen before according to his doctrine the people or inferior Magistrates may reform Religion and overthrow Idolatry as they call it without any publike Authority or Commission So that if the Justices of the Peace in some County or but the Petty Constables in Towns do beleeve the Religion professed by the Prince or State to be Idolatrous and not according to Gods word they are discharged of obedience by Melancthon and may fall to reforming solely of themselves And what his Master Luthers opinions were concerning this matter hath been sufficiently shewen already there need be no repetition of them here Danaeus teacheth the same or worse Lib. 6. Polit. c. 3. So doth Peter Martyr on Judges Cap. 11. and in his Common places And Althusius Politic. Cap. 35. P. 37. where among other causes of a Just War maintained by Subjects against their Sovereigns Purae Religionis defensio defence of True Religion hath the Second place Yea it is wel known that Sureau a Protestant Minister in France otherwise called Rosâ—eres wrote a Book expresly on this subject That it was lawful to kill Charls the Ninth Belfor lib. 6. cap. 103. his natural Sovereign and the Queen-Mother if they would not obey the Gospel But to conclude with one instance for all The Hugonots of France having in the Nine and thirtieth Article of their Confession professed That men ought to be obedient to the Laws to pay Tributes and to bear the Yoke of subjection quietly even under unbeleeving Magistrates They adde a limitation which corrupts and nullifies all that they had said viz. Dummodo Dei summum imperium integrum maneat So long onely as Gods Supream Authority is entirely acknowledged which under the Government of an Infidel Magistrate cannot be easily conceived Therefore upon the matter they profess nothing but abuse their Prince and the world with bare words as it is usuall with them to do Which is yet more evident by the Declaration which their Synod at Bearn in the year 1572. purposely made of this Article and of the Limitation of it Dei imperium dicitur manere illibatum Poplon nier lib. 34. cum Rex exterminatâ Catholicâ Religione c. Gods Sovereign Authority say they is then understood to be entirely acknowledged when the King abolishing or rooting out Catholike Religion shall set himself to advance onely the true and pure worship of God that is to say that which is so in their sense and opinion But to do this is it a thing to be supposed of an Infidel Prince to whom they pretend to profess subjection or is it to be expected of a Catholike Therefore I say they contradict themselves apparenly in their profession and do indeed profess nothing really but that they are Impostors and deserve to be branded with Characters of jealousie and distrust by all the Princes States of Christendom The book called Comment de Statu Relig. â—c a Protestant piece is ful of such stuff but especially Pâ— 2. Lib. 12. Cap. 1. where he affirmeth expressly That in all Oaths of Allegiance and Duty there is this condition always implyed at
continue such so long as they keep under some few fiery zealots that would still be blowing the coals of dissention among them Not to speak of Sweden Denmark c. doth not that famous Kingdom of Poland Tolerate diversity of Religions doth not the great Emperor of Mosko the same and is not the general Unity of their Subiects which ariseth thereupon and would certainly be otherwise if the Government were otherwise is it not a Wall of Brass to both of them against their great enemy the Turk Let Germany also be our example that vast Nation and people no less Magnanimous and Stout is not Toleration judged expedient among them could any thing else cure their troubles Let us consider how peacably and happily Catholikes and Lutherans have conversed and lived there together for no less then an Hundred years and upwards without any dissention without any trouble upon the account of Religion save onely what Ambition and the factious Spiritedness of some particular Princes have bred and brought upon the Country much against the will of the people under that pretence No man doubteth but Charls the Fifth Emperor and Ferdinand his Brother were in their times great and wise Princes yet found they no better means to redress the troubles of State then by commanding Vt utraque pars caveret c. That special care should be had on both sides to compel no man to make profession of Religion otherwise then in his own Conscience he should be perswaded was best As Dresserus a Protestant relates it rejecting with much disdain the contrary opinion of some who as he saith would have but one Religion onely professed in the Empire And for France the case and condition of affairs there is notorious to all the world Nor could that Kingdom ever be brought to quiet till the Calvinists therein were brought upon their knees that is to such pass as to be glad of and to bâ—gge for that favorable Toleration of their profession from the King which themselves in no parts of the world beside will grant to others What reason can be given by indifferent men why the policy of England should be so singular and so differing from that of all other Christian Kingdoms and Nations about her Why should our Government be more severe in this point and more Sanguinary then that of our Neighbors It may seem to reflect something upon the honor of our Nation to mention the Turk in this case Yet certainly it cannot be denied but that Christians live quietly in his Dominions and upon conditions so easie that I am perswaded the Catholikes of England would be well contented with the like If onely it be determined that we must purchase that with our money which all other our fellow-subjects the people of this Nation do enjoy freely and count it their natural right In a word therefore to conclude seeing that both in the judgement of Protestant Divines and in the practice of Protestant Princes and States Toleration of diverse Religions is held neither unlawful nor unexpedient in Government and seeing that for so long a time of afflictions persecution of our Priests and other manifold pressures upon us for matters of Conscience Catholikes have yet through the grace of God demeaned themselves so loyally and obsequiously in all points as they have not done or attempted to do upon their own account or for the interest and advancment of their own profession any thing offensive to the State or prejudicial to the publike peace seeing that nothing can be fastned upon them in that kinde with any colour of truth but onely the business of the Gun-Powder-Treason and seeing that was a devise though acted by the hands of some desperate and wicked Catholikes yet contrived rather by the Devil and some crafty Enemies which we had in the State to make us eternally odious and suspected in the Nation and to disoblige some great person of his promises in favor of us as it may be justly thought considering what kinde of States-men sate at the Helme in those times what knowing men D' Ossat Lettres liur 2. ep 43. Pryns Antip. of Prelat P. 151. strangers abroad have writ and what Protestants themselves at home have discovered since upon that subject Seeing that Catholikes always wished well to his Majesties Title and prayed for his happy succession to these Kingdoms seeing we were not of Counsel with those who sent Beal into forreign parts to promote the Titie of Suffolk nor that set Hales on work at home as he did with law and little art to make it good nor that procured Sir N. B. to make a nest for the Phaenix by such a great volum as he wrote to that purpose Seeing that we were ever Champions to his Majesties just claim Especially Sir Anthony Brown that wise and noble Author of the Book against Leicester and that Aiax of the Law whom no man ever durst encounter in this cause Master Plâ—ydon We hope so long and so try'd fidelity will by the Kings gracious favor procure us at last some liberty and refreshment and that our humble supplication shall be considered wherein casting our selves down at the feet of our Sovereign and of the State we beg onely of them in those words of the Poet. Hanc animam concede mihi Tua caetera sunto Let our souls be left free unto God and as for our Bodies or Estates take them dispose of them freely as Justice requireth and in due proportion with our Neighbors and other the good people of the Nation for the service of the Kingdom and of the publike AN APPENDIX Concerning LUTHERS Mission I Was now going out of the field but behold an Ambush appears which is laid to surprize me it pretends at one charge to rout all the forces of my arguments and to bereave me of my hopes of Victory by eluding rather then disproving of what I have said It is a reply which some men are pleased to make in behalf of Luther whose heat and irregular vehemency which I call sedition was nothing but zeal say they of Gods honor and truth which burning within his own breast happened to kindle some lively sparks also in others They say that Luther was Elias a Prophet sent immediately and extraordinarily by God to reform the errors and corruptions of the world to restore vertue and good life to detect Antichrist who had for so many ages bewitched the whole Church with his impostures and seduced her into Idolatrie and Heresie And that therefore such a Prophet was not to be tedder'd as it were and bound up to the rules of ordinary professors But if he neglected Authority despised the Laws abused and insulted upon the Majestie of Princes disturbed the peace and tranquility of their States we are not to wonder nor lay it to his charge It was no more then a Prophet might do Tune es qui conturbas Israel did not Ahab say to Elias Art not thou he which troublest Israel The
that should now prohibit it although I perswade it not And concludes generally that whatsoever the ancient Patriarks are reported to have done in this kinde is free in it self to be done and ought not to be prohibited at this day Thus did not Elias preach nor Saint John Baptist nor any of the Prophets But of all his Doctrine concerning grace and good life is most scandalous and detestable In Philip. Fol. 345. Tom. 1. lat Si vera Gratia est c. would you be sure saith he that the grace of God is true grace in you And that with him is only Remission or Pardon of sin See then that you be truly sinners sin lustily and with a witness onely trust as much and be confident in Christ For t is not sin that can divide you from him no nothing but unbeleeving though you should commit Murther Adultery or Fornication a Thousand times in a day As for his Pride it was so intolerable that even those complained of it who were his followers in most things and of his excessive scurrility even in matters most sacred Now to speak of Galvin who was little less then a professed Adversary and taxed him frequently not onely in point of Doctrine but of manners and good life Cont. Melanch nor of Tossanus and others of that side Bucer himself who was his Friend Disciple and Follower confesseth plainly That Luther was blamed of all men for an immoderate insolency and contumeliousness of Spirit which he manifested in all his writings Resp ad Luth. Oecolampadius tells him he begins and ends his work commonly with the Devil But Zuinglius and his Brethren of Zurick are hottest of all Nullum unquam Mortalium c. We beleeve saith they that never Mortal man handled the mysteries of Christian Religion more unworthily and filthily then Luther hath done not observing the bounds even of common modestie and good manners Another calls him Divelish Lyar Campanus and maintains that he never had any true Light or understanding of the Gospel in him No what then is become of Elias their Prophet the man sent so Extraordinarily they say by God to reform the world Doth such a Seer see nothing now but Phantasmes and the immaginations of his own vain heart This were very strange indeed and the poor Country of Germany in an unhappy condition to have followed a seducing Epicure so far But who can they blame but themselves It was too much confidence even in the judgement of their own Brethren For not onely Galvin is very angry Admon ultim ad Westphal that the world should have such opinion of him saying directly Qui volunt de Luthero intelâ—igi c. They that apply the Prophesies of Elias unto Luther do in my opinion very unadvisedly and commit as great a sin as those Egyptians did who adored the Body and Sepulcher of the Prophet Jeremy But to call him The last Elias is unpardonable Sacrilege temeritatis est c. It is a Sacrilegious rashnest saith he to do so as if the Lords hand were shortned and that he could not finde a better or his equal to send forth for the reforming of the Church which was much contrary to the opinion he had of himself I say not onely Calvin but many other more moderately affected more Allied in point of opinion unto Luther do yet finde fault with those Exotick Titles and pretentions of his to Elias and Extraordinary Mission Vrbanus Rhegius both for Quality and cleer confession may serve for all Admon Cap. 6. Scimus istos Magnis clamoribus regerere Lutherum esse Prophetam c. I know saith he very well what some men will reply with no little confidence That Luther was a Prophet immediately raised by God to reform the Church c. but Manifestum est illos pessimè de totâ Christi Ecclesiâ mereri c. They saith he who think so or say so deserve very little thanks of the Church of God neither do they well by such extravagant and undue Titles to exempt any man from the Censure and Judgement of the Churches much less to make his writings as it were a Rule of Faith and Beleeving unto all men And therefore as to the pretence of Extraordinary Mission a thing onely given out to amaze the ignorant world and to countenance irregular courses I suppose it will hardly stand in the judgement of indifferent and wise men there is so little evidence or argument for it Either extraordinary as was most requisite to have been shewen or ordinary that is of but vertuous and commendable Conversation Shall we consider a little the fruits of it and what good it wrought in the world Our Saviour Matth. 7.15 speaking generally of false Prophets and such Pretenders as Luther was telleth us By their fruits you shall know them And it is certain the experience of all Nations and Ages doth confirm it That when a Country hath the happiness to be converted from Heresie Infidelity or any other false and corrupt way of Worshipping God by Preachers lawfully and in truth sent unto them from God some extraordinary and singular Reformation of manners doth follow thereupon and their Conversion worketh in them a great and eminent degree of Holiness Vertue Piety Devotion and purity of Conversation answerable to the means which God useth towards them and to the Spirit which worketh in them But in the Reformation of Luther it was nothing so The change of the world which followed upon his preaching was notoriously seen not to be to the better but to the worse both in respect of the Publike Affairs of State and of the private manners of men Men grew upon it much more lewd much more vicious unchristian and godless in their conversation then they were before And this so evidently that it is not without much regret and shame acknowledged even by those who were a principal cause of it Let Luther himself speak in the first place The world Serm. in 1. Dom. Advent saith he groweth every day worse and worse it is apparent men are now much more covetous much more malicious and given to revenge much more unruly shameless and full of all vice then thâ—y were in time of Popery In vitâ ejus Aurifaber pronounceth as from Luthers own Mouth Post exortum Evangelium c. That since the appearance of this Gospel vertue seems to be utterly extinct and devotion as it were driven out of the world Smidelin confesseth of the Lutherans That the world may easily see they are no Papists and trust not to good works For saith he they do not any The greatest part of our people saith Bucer Bucer de Regn. Christi lib. 1. c. 4. seems to have imbraced the Gospel onely out of intent to shake of the Yoke of Discipline which lay upon them and the obligation of Fasting Pennance c. which they were forced to observe in the time of Popery and to live at