of the Israelites God shewed by an euident terrour to all gouernours that he did not allowe suche right as the prophet sayed the king wolde vse ouer his subiectes For whan king Achab wolde haue bought of his subiecte Naboth his vineyorde which he neded not to haue done if the subiectes goods be the kīges ād he refused to sel it as he might doo for by Goddes lawe he had a propretie therin from which without his will and consent he could not be forced to departe the king fretted so muche bicause he could not haue his will that he fell sicke in his bedde ād wolde not eate His wife Dame Iesabel a woman full of malice and mischief as that kynde is very ◅pte and prone to those vertues and within shorte space doo so therin excell as fewe men can in long tyme matche them taketh the matier in hande What sayeth she be you a mete man to be a king ouer Israel that will suffre suche dishonour at your slaues handes one that bi your auncient prerogatiue which hathe continued thes hundred and three score yeares yea from the first king of Israel ye maye vse in body and goodes as pleaseth you Phy for shame pull your courage to you arise eat your meat be mery I waraūt you the vineorde Out goeth a Cōmission in the kinges name to certain Cōmissionares where Naboth dwelt suche as the Quenes grace was sure fauoured her procedinges Those she requireth to cause Naboth to be endyted and con demned for an heretike and a traitour and so to cause him to be stoned to deathe Her will is furthewith satisfied matier ynough against Naboth prisoner at the Barre bicause she wold so haue it no man might be admitted nor durst speake the truthe in the prisoners cause least they had ben clapped fast and trussed vp also for speaking against the king and Quene no queste durst quite him for fear of kissing the flete no lawes no equitie no iustice might defende the poore innocent So the vineiorde is the kinges by the ordre of lawe Those newes be caried in post to Iesable she sheweth them to her husbande wherwith he as sone as he hearde them was recouered and goeth to take possession of the vineiorde But what foloweth this crueltie ād tirānie Are not bothe the kinges Maiestie and the Quenes highnesse within while after killed ād their blood licked vp of dogges according as the Prophet declared to hi in the vineyorde whā he toke possession of it and all his house so destroied that ther was not lefte therof so muche as a dogge to pisse against the wall Thus ye maie see thende of lustie lordes and ladies that will haue their lustes a lawe and their will to be folowed and obeied of their subiectes as a right in dede The true right and prerogatiue of a king was written in a particular boke by the Prophete Samuel and laied vp by the Arke which boke among many other was loste yet who so lusteth to knowe it maie see it set out by God ī the boke of Deu teronomie After that God had prescribed who shold be their king that is no aliene or straunger but one of their owne brethren for naturally straungers doo not fauour straungers And a straunge prince seketh by all meanes to destroy the natural inborne that he maie with quietnesse and suretie enioie and vse that he cometh euil by and so leaue it to his succession than is set furthe the right and prerogatiue of a king thus Whā your king is made he shall not kepe many horses nor putting his trust in his horsemen he shall not bring the people again into Egipte He shall not haue many wiues least they altre his minde frō God nother yet great treasure of siluer ād golde But whā he is set in his throne he shall cause a copie of these lawes and statutes to be written out of thoriginal remaining with the Leuites and the same he shall haue with hī all the daies of his life that he maie learne to feare the lorde his God ād to kepe not to breake all the wordes and ceremonies that be cōmaunded in the lawe and also to fulfill thē in his doinges And he shal not be prowde and hault ouer his brethren neither shall he swarue from the lawe towarde the right hande or lifte hande that he and his children maie long reigne ouer Israel But besides this lawe appoīted for all kinges he that wilbe accompted a christian king or gouernour must remembre that he is a christian man and that bi being made a king he is not exempt from the lawes and duetie of a christen mā which eueri one professeth in Baptisme but as he is called and exalted aboue the rest of his brethren so should he be an example to them of good lyuing and vertue in obseruīg the lawe which saieth aswell to kinges as to beggers Thou shalt not steale thou shalt not couet any thing that is thy neighbours and so it stablisheth and confirmeth that euery one maie iustly kepe that is his owne and none maie take it from him by ani meane against his will be it king or kaiser And by the doinges of Samuel who albeit he were not a king in name yet hade he being the lieutenaunt and viceroie to God the chief king as great autoritie as any king in the earthe it maie appeare that all thinges of the subiectes be not the kinges owne propre For if they had ben his owne what neded Samuel at the surrendre of his office to offre to make an accompt And to whom I praie you To any bribing Auditour No he offred to make it to God and to the king that succeded him Beholde saieth the I haue done all that ye desired me I haue made you a king to rule you My children yet shall be with you But I am olde and hore headed that is I cā not long cōti nue I haue bē amōg you frō a child to this daie Lo I ā ready to make mine accōpte before God and your kīg for all thīges that cā be laied to me by any of you whose bullocke haue i takē whose asse haue I hade to whom haue I done any uiolence or wrong whom haue I oppressed of whom haue I taken any bribes to maintene him in his wickednesse to winke at his faultes or to stoppe iustice let him come furthe and I will make satisfaction And none of them could saie blacke was his eie No saieth Samuel I take God and your king to witnesse agaīst you I am so nette that ye shall not finde one iote in my fingres but I am hable to laie ynough against you wicked people c. O Samuel Samuel what king or prince can saie to the as thou diddest to the Israelites They loke not to make an accompt no they haue counsail of craftie Alcibiades how they maie make non accompt But they can not escape it they shall mete with an other maner of auditour than any of Mousire
he will execute most seuere iudgement Mercie is graunted unto the simple but they that be in autoritie shalbe sore punished For God which is lorde ouer all shall except no mannes person neither shall he regarde any mannes greatnes for he hathe made the small and greatand careth for all alike but the mightie shall haue the sorer punishement To you therfore O princes doo I speake that ye maye learne wisdome and not offende These saienges nede no particular examples to con firme them but loke on all gouernours and rulers named in the hole Bible or in any other historie and among all ye shall finde that non hathe escaped Goddes punishement but alwayes their iniquitie hathe ben plaged in them selues or their posteritie The cause and maner of king Saules punishemeÌ„t and extinguishing of his posteritie is more commonly knowne than nedeth any rehearsall Roboam bicause he wold reigne as a tyranne and not be subiecte to lawe nor counsail hade ten tribes of his kingdome taken froÌ„ him and geuen to Ieroboam who also forasmuche as he contented not him selfe to be sub iecte to Goddes written worde and lawe but fell to his owne Idolatrous inuenciones and caused his subiectes to folowe his procedinges was so stripped from the enheritaunce of his crowne that his sede was vtterly rooted out The ende of Achab and Iesabel is well ynough vnderstanden And kyng Ioram for his stout stryuing against Goddes lawes and the ordre of his countrey was so sore striken of the lorde with horrible diseases that at leynght his guttes for extreme anguishe flewe out of his bely But wherto bring I out particular examples of Goddes plagues and punishementes vpon kinges and princes that wold not be subiecte to Goddes lawes and the lawes of nature seing the hole body of the Bible and writers of prophane histories be full of them Therfore seing no king or gouernour is exempted from the lawes hande and power of God but that he ought to feare and tremble at it we maye procede to the other part of the question that is whether kinges princes and other gouernours ought to be obedient and subiecte to the positiue lawes of their countrey To discusse this question the right waye and meane is as in all other thinges to resorte to the fountaynes and rootes and not to depende on the ryuers and braunches For as if men should admyt that the churche of Rome were the catholike churche and the pope the head of it and Goddes onely vicare in earthe and not seke further how he cometh by that autoritie than could noman saie but that all his doinges were they neuer so wicked should seme iust so if men should buylde vpon thauthoritie that kinges and princes vsurpe ouer their subiectes and not seke from whens they haue theyr autoritie nor whether that which they vse be iuste ther could be nothing produced to let their cruell tyrannye But for asmuche as we see from whence all politike power and autoritie cometh that is from God and why it was ordained that is to mayntene iustice we ought if we will iudge rightly by Goddes worde examine to trie this mater Saint Paule treating who should doo obedience and to whom obedience should be done saieth Let euery soule be subiecte to the powers that rule for ther is no power but of God Ther are that wolde haue this worde Soule taken for man not as he consisteth of soule and body bothe together but onely of the fleshe and that so by the wor de 〈◊〉 should be vnderstanden onely a worldly man that is a laye man or temporall man as we terme it and not a spiritual man and a minister of the churche Wher vpon Antichrist the bishop of Ro me seking for subiectes to be vnder his kingdom hathe takeÌ„ for his subiectes the cleargie with tagge and ragge that to them belongeth and hathe made lawes that they should be his subiectes obedient to him and not to the politike power and autoritie wher vnto he leaueth for subiectes onely the temporaltie But in scripture this worde Soule is taken for euery kinde of maÌ„ as may appeare whaÌ„ it saieth that all the soules that is man and womaÌ„ that were in the arke with Noe were eight And that all the soules of the house of Iacob which cam in to Egipt were lxx In which nombres it can not be denyed but that ther were as holy and as spirituall persones as any are or were in the kingdome of the bishop of Rome And Chrisostome a priest expounding this texte Let euery soule be subiecte to the higher powers sayeth yea if thow be an apostle an euangelist a prophet or what so euer thow art for this subiection destroieth not religion So that it can not be denyed but by this worde Soule is comprehended euery persone and none excepted Now touching this worde Power some wold haue it interpreted for all those persones that execute iustice be he kaiser king mayre Sherif constable borseholder or neuer so lowe and some wolde haue it to be interpreted only of kinges aÌ„d chiefest officers But it is here to be taken for the ministerie and autoritie that all officers of iustice doo execute and so it maie appeare by Chri stes owne wordes wher he saieth The kinges of the naciones rule ouer â–ª theÌ„ aÌ„d those that ex ercice thautoritie or power be called gracious Benefactours or well doers For as all meÌ„ and womeÌ„ that seme to lyue together in the ho ly ordinaunce of Matrimonie be not maÌ„ and wife for it maie be that the man hathe an other wife liuing or the wife other an husbande or that they came not together â–ª for the loue of God only and to auoide sinne but for sensualitie and to get riches and so thordinaunce it self is one thing and the persones that is the maÌ„ aÌ„d womon an other eueÌ„ so is the politike power or autoritie beiÌ„g thordinauÌ„ce aÌ„d â–ª good gifte of God one thiÌ„g aÌ„d the ê‘sone that executeth the same be he kiÌ„ng or kaiser an other thing The ordinauÌ„ce being godly the maÌ„ may be euil aÌ„d not of God nor come therto by God as the Prophet Osee saieth They haue made them a king and not through me a prince and not through my counsail and will Neither is that power and authoritie which kinges princes and other ministres of iustice exercice only called a power but also thauthoritie that paren tes haue ouer their children and maisters ouer their seruauntes is also called a power and neither be the parentes nor maisters the power it self but they be inistres and executours of the power being geuen vnto them by God Which also S. Paule in an other place plainly sheweth saieng to Titus Warne them to be subiecte to the principalities aÌ„d powers Which some interprete princes and powers to make a distinctioÌ„ betwene the minister and the Ministerie And it foloweth to obey thofficers so that alwaies the difference maie be perceaued So than if by this worde Soule is
ment euery person spiritual and temporal man and woman and by this worde power thautoritie that kinges and princes execute than can not kinges and princes but be conteined vnder this general worde Soule as well as others And they being but executours of Goddes lawes and mennes iust ordinaunces be also not exempted from them but be bounden to be subiecte and obe dient vnto them For good and iuste lawes of man be Goddes power and ordinaunces and they are but ministers of the lawes aÌ„d not the lawes self And if they were exeÌ„pt from the lawes and so it were laufull for them to doo what them lusteth their autoritie beiÌ„g of God it might be saied that God allowed their tyraÌ„nie robbery of their subiectes killiÌ„g theÌ„ without lawe aÌ„d so God thautor of euil which were a great blasphemie IustiniaÌ„ theÌ„perour well coÌ„sidered whan he ma de this saieng to be put into the body of the lawes It is a worthy saieng saieth he for the Maiestie of him that is iÌ„ autoritie to coÌ„fesse that the priÌ„ce is subiectâ—… to the lawes thauthoritie of the priÌ„ce do the so muche depende on thautoritie of the lawes And certainly it is more honour than the honour of the empire to submitte the principalitie vnto the lawes For in dede lawes be made that the wilfull self will of men should not rule but that they should haue a line to leade them as they might not goo out of the waie of iustice and that if any wolde saie they did them wrong they might alledge the lawe for their waraunt and autoritie It is also a principle of all lawes grounded on the lawe of nature that euery man should vse himself and be obedient to that lawe that he will others be bounden vnto For otherwise he taketh awaye that equalitie for ther is no difference betwene the head and foote concerning the vse and benefite of the lawes wherby common wealthes be maintened and kept vp What equalitie I beseche you should ther be wher the subiecte should doo to his ruler all the ruler wolde and the ruler to the subiecte that the ruler lusted The good emperour Traianus whom for his iust behaueour the Senate of Rome toke to be a God being in possession of his office and minding to shewe that he was not ordained to be a tiranne but to see the people well gouerned and that albeit he was the minister of the lawes yet was he subiecte to the lawes toke a sweorde and gaue it to the Captain of the horsemen and saied Take this sweorde use it for me against mine enemies in iust causes and if I my self doo not iustly use it than use it against me Zaleuchus the ruler and maker of lawes to the locres whan he made this lawe that an aduouterour should be punished with the losse of bothe his eies and his sonne hade offended the same albeit the people made great intercession that his paines might be pardoned him he wold not consent vnto it but pul ling out one of his sonnes eies to fulfill and kepe the lawe he suffred one of his owne eies also to be pulled out But thow wilt saie What haue we to doo with Ethnikes Why should we be ordred by Ethnikes doinges I answer that whan Ethnikes doo by nature that thow art bounden also to doo not only by nature but by the lawes of God and man such Ethnikes shall ryse in the vniuersal iudgement to accuse the and worke thy condemnacion The bishop of Romes lawes which albeit he vse not in him self yet will he haue them practiced in others saye thus It is requisite and iust that a prince obeie his owne lawes For than maie he loke that others shall kepe his lawes whan he him self hathe them in honour Iustice will that princes be obedient aud bounden to their owne lawes and that they can not in their owne doinges condemne those lawes which they prescribe unto others Thauthoritie of their sayeng is iust and indifferent if that thei suffre not them selues to doo that they prohibite unto their people This saieth the bishop of Romes lawe And vpon this principle after in the great general counsail of Lateran Which pope Innocent the thirde helde it may seme it was ordained and decreed as they saie that whan kinges and princes that knowlaged no superiour should fall out among them selues or should misuse their power and autoritie ouer their subiecttes that than the matier should be hearde aÌ„d corrected by the bishop of Rome But here it maie be asked who did this iustice on kinges and princes before that time sith it was but than coÌ„mitted to the bishop of Rome To that at this time we shall not nede to answer for that we doo not seke preseÌ„tly to knowe who should be iudge but onely to declare and proue that kinges and princes ought bothe by Goddes lawe the lawe of nature mannes lawes and good reason to be obedient and subiecte to the positiue lawes of their countrey and maie not breake â–ª them and that they be not exempt from them nor maie dispense with them onles the makers of the lawes geue them expresse autoritie so to doo Who shalbe the kinges iudges hereafter thow shalt heare IN WHAT THINGES AND how farre subiectes are bounden to obeie their princes and gouernours AS THE BODY OF MAN IS KNIT and kept together in due proporcioÌ„ by the sinewes so is euery coÌ„muÌ„ wealthe kept aÌ„d maìtened in good ordre by Obedience But as if the sinowes be to muche racked aÌ„d stretched out or to muched shrinked together it briedeth wonderfull paines and deformitie in maÌ„nes body so if ObedieÌ„ce be to muche or to litell in a common wealthe it causeth muche euil and disordre For to muche maketh the gouernours to for get their vocacion and to usurpe vpon their subiectes to litel briedeth a licencious libertie and maketh the people to forget their duetie And so bothe waies the common wealthe groweth out of ordre and at leinght cometh to hauocke and vttre destruction Some ther be that will haue to littel obedience as the Anabaptistes For they bicause they heare of a christian libertie wolde haue all politike power taken awaye and so in dede no obedience Others as thenglishe papistes racke and stretche out obedience to muche and wil nedes haue ciuile power obeied in all thinges and that what so euer it commaundeth without respecte it ought and must be done But bothe of them be in great errours For thanabaptistes mistake christian libertie thinking that men maye liue without sinne and forget the fall of man wherby he was brought in to suche miserie that he is no more hable to rule himself by him self than one beast is hable to rule an other and that therfore God ordained ciuile power his ministre to rule him and to call him backe whan so euer he should passe the limites of his duetie and wold that an obedience should be geuen vnto him And the papistes neither considre the degrees of powers nor ouer what
christianes and bring them to the one and twentie Commissionares or to the bishoppes colehouse or whan he willed and commaunded them to destroye such as wold not denie Christ and folowe his procedinges worshipping idoles did they bring them to the fire ād stande about that they should not speake and to see that none should come nere thē to conforte and streinghten them in their faithe or whan they spake did they cleaue their headdes in pieces with their halbeardes or stoppe their mouthes with their billes No they confessed that in that themperour of heauen thalmi ghtie God and not thēperour of the earthe a wicked mā and a rebelle against God was their emperour ād Captaī ād therin they wolde not obeie Iuliā nor doo that he commaunded in that behalfe And this answer bothe S. Ambrose and S. Augustine yea ād the papistes although they thē selues doo not so propounde and set furthe for a christē doctrine ād a catholike exāple how christē ād good subiectes shoulde behaue thē selues towarde wicked prīces ād their wi cked cōmaundemētes that is in no wise to obeie thē but to leaue thē undone And as mē ought not to obeie their superiours that shall cōmaunde thē to doo any thīg agaīst Goddes worde or the lawes of nature so maie they not doo that they shall cōmaūde thē cōtrary to ciuile iustice or to the hurt of the hole state Nei ther will good prīces attēpt or goo about any suche thing for it is the next waie to bring thē out of their seates and to make thē of kinges no kinges How can that head liue ād cōtinewe wher the body is cōsumed ād dissolued And how cā that body be lustie wher the sinowes the lawes are broken and iustice the marie that should nourishe it vtterly wasted and decaied Antiochus the thrid king of Siria wrote thus to all the cities of his dominion that if he did cō maunde any thing that should be contrary to the lawes they should not passe theron but that rather they should thinke it was stollen or forged without his knowlage considering that the prince or gouernour is nothing elles but the minister of the lawes And this same saieng of this most noble king semed to be so iuste and reasonable that it is taken for a com mon principle how subiectes should knowe whan they should doo that they be commaunded and whan they ought not Likewise a bishop of Rome called Alexander the third wrote to an Archebishop to doo a thing which semed to the Archebishop to be vnreasonable and contrary to the lawes the pope perceauing that tharbishop was offended with his writing and wolde not doo that he required desired him not to be off◅nded but that if ther were cause why he thought he should not do that he required he wolde aduertise him and he therwith wolde be satisfied This is a popes saiēg which who is so hardy dardie to denie to be of lesse autoritie than a lawe yea not felowe but aboue Goddes worde Wher vpon this is a general rule that the pope is not to be obeied but in laufull and honest thinges And so by good Argument from the more to the lesse that princes being but foote stooles and stirrop holders to popes commaunding their subiectes that is not godly not iuste not laufull or hurtefull to their countrey ought not to be obeied but with standen For the subiectes ought not against nature to further their owne destructiō but to seke their owne saluacion not to maintene euil but to suppresse euil for not only the doers but also the consentours to euil shalbe punished saie bothe Goddes and mannes lawes And men ought to haue more respecte to their countrey than to their prince to the common wealthe than to any one persone For the countrey and common wealthe is a degree aboue the king Next vnto God men ought to loue their countrey and the hole common wealthe before any membre of it as kinges and princes be they neuer so great are but membres and common wealthes mai stande well ynough and floris he albeit ther be no kinges but contrary wise without a common wealthe ther can be no king Common wealthes and realmes may liue whan the head is cut of and may put on a newe head that is make them a newe gouernour whan they see their olde head seke to muche his owne will and not the wealthe of the hole body for the which he was only ordained And by that iustice and lawe that lately hathe ben excuted in Englande if it maie be called iustice and lawe it should appeare that the ministers of ciuile power doo somtimes commaunde that that the subiectes ought not to doo Whan the innocent Lady Iane contrary to her will yea by force with teares dropping downe her chekes suffred her self to be called Quene of England◅ yet ye see bicause she consented to that which was not by ciuile iustice laufull she ād her husbande for company suffred the paines of Traitours bothe headles buried in one pitte Whan the blessed mā of God Thomas Cranmer Archebishop of Cantorbury did what he might to resiste to subscribe to King Edwardes will wherby his two sisters the ladies Mary and Elizabeth should haue ben wrongfully disherited yet bicause he afterwarde to contēt the kinges minde and commaundement yea in dede to saue the innocent king from the uiolēce of most wicked traiterous tirannes did subscribe vnto it against his will was it not laied vnto him by the wicked Iudge Morgā whom God not long after plaged with taking awaie his wittes that was a foole before that he ought not to doo any thing unlaufull bi commaundemēt of any power And so he an innocent piked out among a great nombre of very euil doers to satisfie the lawe was condemned as a traitour before he suffred as a martir Were not the ymages ād Roodeloftes in Englande destroied by autoritie of ciuile power And dothe not Boner the Archbocher of londō for all that force them that obeied the authoritie bicause he saieth it was not lauful to make thē vp agaī at their owne charges But Boner thou that allow est nothing to be well done by what so euer autoritie it be done except it be laufull nor nothing to be laufull that is not agreing to thy Canon lawes I haue to saie to thee ▪ Stāde stil a while whilest I rubbe the. Tell me plainly and face not out a lie as thou arte wont speake not one thing and thinke an other as thy nature is ones in thy life tell the truthe and shame thy maister the deuil If thou were the sonne of the earthe by thy fathers side and of an erraunt hoore by the mother and so a bastarde hy what autoritie saiest thou thy masse whan thy lawes suffre no bastardes to be priestes without dispensacion how comest thou to be a bishop whan thy lawes saie thou maiest be no priest How be thy iudgementes laufull whan thou by thy Canones maiest be no
gouernour and kill a tyranne AS ther is no better nor happier cōmon wealthe nor no greater blessing of God thā wher one ru leth if he be a good iuste and godly mā so is ther nō worse nor non more miserable nor greater plague of God thā wher one ruleth that is euil vniuste and vngodly ▪ A good man knowing that he or those by whō he claymeth was to suche office called for his vertue to see the hole state well gouerned and the people defended frō iniuries neclecteth vtterly his owne pleasure and profit and bestoweth all his studie and labour to see his office well discharged And as a good phisician earnestly seketh the healthe of his pacient and a Shipmaister the wealthe and sauegarde of those he hathe in his ship so dothe a good gouernour seke the wealthe of those he ruleth And therfore the people feling the benefit comyng by good gouernours vsed in tyme past to call such good gouernours fathers ād gaue thē no lesse honour thā childrē owe to their parentes An euil persone comyng to the gouernemēt of any state either by vsurpaciō or by electiō or by successiō vtterly neglectig the cause why kinges princes ād other gouernours in cōmō wealthes be made that is the wealthe of the people seketh onli or chiefly his owne profit ād pleasure And as a sowe comyng in to a faire gardin roteth vp all the faire and swet flowres and holsome simples leauing nothing behinde but her owne filthye dirte so dothe an euil gouernour subuerte the lawes and ordres or maketh them to be wrenched or racked to serue his affectiones that they can no longer doo their office He spoyleth the people of their goodes either by open violence making his ministers to take it from them without payment therfore or promising and neuer payeng or craftily vnder the name of loanes beneuolences contribuciones and suche like gaye paynted wordes or for feare he geteth out of their possession that they haue and neuer restoreth it And whan he hathe it consumeth it not to the benefite and profit of the common wealthe but on hoores hooremongers dyceing carding banketting vniust warres and such like euilles and mischieues wherin he dely teth He spoileth and taketh awaye from them their armour and harnesse that they shall not be hable to vse any force to defende their right And not contented to haue brought thē in to such miserie to be sure of his sta te seketh and taketh all occasiones to despeche them of their lyues If a man kepe his house and meddle in nothing than shall it be sayed that he fretteth at the state If he come abrode and speake to any other further with it is taken for a iuste conspicacie If he saye nothing and shewe a mery countenaunce it i◅ a token that he despiceth the gouernement If he loke sorowfully than he lamenteth the state of his countreye how many so euer be for any cause committed to prison are not only asked but be racked also to shewe whether he be pryuie of their doinges If he de parte bicause he wold lyue quietly than is he proclaimed on open enemye To be shorte ther is no doing no gesture no behaueour no place can preserue or defende innocency against suche a gouernours crueltie but as an huntour maketh wilde beastes his praie and vseth toiles nettes snares trappes dogges firret tes mynyng and digging the grounde gōnes bowes speares and all other instrumentes engynes deuises subtilties ād meanes Wherby he maie come by his praye so dothe a wicked gouernour make the people his game and praye and vseth all kindes of subtilties deceates craftes policies force violence crueltie and suche like deuillishe wayes to spoyle and destroye the people that be cōmitted to his charge And whan he is not hable without most manifest crueltie to doo by him self that he desireth than fayneth he vniust causes to cast them in to prison wher like as the bearewardes mosell the beares and tye them to the stakes whyles they be baited and killed of mastyues and curres so he kepeth them in chaines whilest the bishoppes and other his tormentours and heretical inquisitours doo teare and deuoure them Fynally he saieth and denyeth he promiseth and breaketh promyse he sweareth and ◅orsweareth and nother passeth on God nor the deuil as the commyng sayeng is so he maye bring to passe that be desireth Suche an euil gouernour proprely men call a Tiranne Now forasmuche as ther is no expresse positiue lawe for punishement of a Tyranne among christen men the question is whether it be laufull to kill suche a monstre and cruell beast couered with the shape of a man And first for the better and more playne profe of this mater the manifolde and continuall examples that haue ben from tyme to tyme of the deposing of kinges and killing of tyrānes doo most certainly con firme it to be most true iust and cōsonaunt to Goddes iudgement The historie of kinges in the olde testament is full of it And as Carnal Phoole truly citeth England lacketh not the practice and experience of the same For they depriued king Edwarde the seconde bicause without lawe he killed his subiectes spoiled them of their goodes and wasted the treasure of the Realme And upon what iust causes Richard the the secōde was thrust out and Hēry the fourth put in his place I referre it to their owne iudgement Denmarke also now in our dayes did nobly the like act◅ whan they depriued Christierne the tiranne and committed him to perpetual prison Zacharias the pope that inuented first the lampes in the churche deposed Chilperichus king of Fraunce bicause he was sayed to be a lecherous persone and an unprofitable gouernour of the realme and forced him to be a monke and made Pipine father of Charles king of Fraunce Pope Honorious as ye hearde before commaunded that the king of Vngarie should be depriued bicause he diminished the rightes of the Crowne onles he repented and vndid all that he had done A certayn king of Portugale was very negligēt in his office he cōsumed ād wasted awaye the trea sure of his Realme he oppressed his subiectes ād misu sed thē Wherfore Pope inocēt the fourth made the kī ges brother therle of Bolone coadiutour to the king ād gaue hī the hole charge of the Realme discharged the people of their othe to the king and commaūded them to be obedient to the kinges brother in all thinges as king But the Popes learned counsail saied that he ought to haue bē vtterly deposed of the Crow ne These doinges of Popes I rehearse not as though their usurped autoritie were to be allowed but for that ye maye see that it is no newe thing to depose euil kinges ād gouernours ād that those that haue the iust autoritie maie and ought for the like causes doo as they did For albeit thautoritie of the pope be not laufull yet is the reason that moued them so to doo honest and iust and mete to be
receaued and executed among reasonable creatures And this lawe of nature to depose and punishe wicked gouernours hathe not bē only receaued ād exerciced in politike maters but also in the churche For the canonistes the popes ow ne championes grounding them selues upon this lawe of nature saye that popes who maye be in dede by their saieng the lieutenauntes of the deuil albeit they call thē selues the uicares of God maie be depryued by the body of the churche And so at one clappe in the coūsail holdē at Cōstaūce in Germanie in the yeare of our lorde 1415. were three popes popped out of their places Gregory Iohn ād Benet ād the fourthe called Martin the fifthe chosen Afterwarde in the Coūsail of Basil was Pope Eugenius serued with that sawce For the unluckinesse of the coūtrey the rest of Popes haue sith refused that any general counsail should be kept in Germany fearing least they all hauing deserued as muche as the other foure deposed should haue the like punishemēt And thus they cōfirme their doin ges If saye they the Pope hade not a superiour he might beig suffred in his euil brig the churche to de structiō And therfore if he cā not otherwise be brought to amende him self it is laufull to use the lawe of nature that is to remoue him from his office for he is no bishop or pope that abuseth his Popedome and bishopriche An euil prelate ād unreformable semeth not to be ordayned by the will of God saie the Canonistes alledgeing the wordes of S. Ierome upo◅ the sayēg of the prophet Osee that a prince or iudge is not alwayes ordayned by God And he bringeth for example king Saul against whom God sayed Seing the people haue made them selues a king and not a ruler by me and not by my counsail ād yet God hade chosen Saul But yet bycause he was not chosen according to the will of God but according to the mynde and desartes of the synfull people God denyed him to be ordayned by his will or coūsail The Canonistes also saie that albeit the Popedome be by the lawe of God as it is not in dede sayeth the truthe yet that this man or that Paule or Iulie is pope it cometh by the acte of man For the Cardinales representing the uniuersal churche chose him And therfore if he be not according to the will of God and for the wealthe of the uniuersal churche that is if he be not one that seketh Goddes glorie ād the wealthe of christes churche he maye be iustly depryued bycause they erred in chosing him And God semeth not to be agaīst the put ting out of suche an euil persone but to fauour and further it For he sayed If the salt be unsauerie it is good for no use but to be cast out and troden under foote of all mē And agaī If thi right eie be a let unto thee pul it out ād cast it frō thee For it is better that one mēbre perish thā that the hole bodi should be cast in to hell And agaī saie the Canonistes the popes lawers in rehearceīg Christes words If our eie foote ▪ or hāde offēde vs let it be takē frō the rest of the bodi for it is better to lacke mēbres ī this woorld thā that thei should cari the rest of the body in to hell By salt eie foote and hande is vnderstanden the headdes and rulers and not the other mēbres and subiectes And not only the headdes and rulers in the churche but also in all policies and common wealthes Now if it be laufull for the body of the churche to depose and punishe a Pope being the chief priest anointed not on the arme or sholder as kinges be but on the head and handes to declare an higher autoritie than kinges haue nor crowned with a simple crowne as Emperours ād kinges be but with a triple crowne to shewe his Regalitie and power aboue all others how muche more by the like argumentes reasones and autoritie maie Emperours kinges princes and other gouernours abusing their office be deposed and remoued out of their places and offices bi the body or state of the Realme or common wealthe By this lawe and argumentes of the Canonistes and example of depriuacion of a Pope are all clokes wherwith Popes bishoppes priestes kaisers and kin ges vse to defende their iniquitie vtterly taken awaie Saie they We are anointed ye maie not touche vs We are only subiecte to God and eueri man to vs. God will haue vs O most wiked popes bishoppes priestes cruell and euil princes reigne to plage you people for your iniquitie But here ye see the body of euery state maie If it will yea and ought to redresse and correcte the vices and headdes of their gouernours And forasmuche as ye haue allready sene wherof politike power and gouernement groweth and thende wherunto it was ordained and seing it is before manifestly and sufficiētly proued that kinges and princes haue not an absolute power ouer their subiectes that they are and ought to be subiecte to the lawe of God and the holsome positiue lawes of their coūtrey and that they maie not laufully take or vse their subiectes goods at their pleasure the reasones argumentes and lawe that serue for the deposing ād displaceīg of an euil gouernour will doo as muche for the proofe that it is laufull to kill a tiranne if they maie be indifferently hearde As God hathe ordained Magistrates to heare and determine priuate mennes matiers and to punishe their vices so also will he that the magistrates doinges be called to accompt and reckoning and their vices corrected and punished by the body of the hole cōgregacion or common wealthe As it is manifest by the memorie of the auncient office of the highe Constable of Englande vnto whose autoritie it perteined ont only to summone the king personally before the parliament or other courtes of iudgement to answer and receaue according to iustice but also vpon iuste occasion to committe him vnto warde Kinges Princes and gouernours haue their autoritie of the people as all lawes vsages and policies doo declare and testifie For in some places and countreies they haue more and greater autoritie in some places lesse And in some the people haue not geuen this autoritie to any other but reteine and exercice it themselues And is any man so vnreasonable to denie that the hole maie doo as muche as they haue permitted one membre to doo or those that haue appointed an office vpon trust haue not autoritie vpon iuste occasion as the abuse of it to take awaie that they gaue All lawes doo agree that men maie reuoke their proxies and lettres of Attournaie whan it pleaseth them muche more whan they see their proctours and attournaies abuse it But now to proue the later parte of this question affirmatiuely that it is laufull to kill a tirāne ther is no man can denie but that the Ethnikes albeit they had not the right and perfite true knowlage