of heauen graunt your Lordship many dayes much honour the loue of your Countrie inward peace and euerlasting glorie From Clarehall in Cambridge 12. Octo. 1610. Your Lordships Chaplaine humbly devoted DAVID OVVEN To the dutifull Subiect THe Puritan-Church-Policie and the Iesuiticall societie began together a See Mâ—licâ—kers preface And the preface of Chemnic before his examen against the first part of the Councell of Trent the one in Geneva 1536. and the other in Rome 1537. since their beginning they haue bestirred themselues busily as he that compasseth the b Iob. 1.7 earth or they that coasted c Matth. 23.15 sea land each one in his order The Puritan to breake downe the wall of Sion by disturbing the peace of the reformed Church the Iesuite to build vp the ruines of Babylon by maintaining the abhomination of the deformed Synagogue These though brethren in sedition and headie are head-seuered the one staring to the presbyterie and the other to the Papacie but they are so fast linked behind and tayle-tied together with firebrands betweene them that if they be not quenched by the power of Maiestie they cannot chose when the meanes are fitted to their plot but set the Church on fire and the state in an vprore Their many and long prayers their much vehement preaching and stout opposition against orders established their shewe of austeritie in their conuersation and of singular learning in their profession as the euill fiend transformed into an angel of light brought them first to admiration Whereby they haue not onely robbed widows houses vnder pretence of prayer and ransacked their seduced disciples by shew of deevotion but also battered the courts of Princes by animating the Peeres against Kings and the people against the Peeres for pretended reformation And whereas God hath inseparably annexed to the crowne of earthly maiestie a supreme ecclesiasticall soueraigntie for the protection of pietie and an absolute immunitie from the iudiciall sentence and Martiall violence for the preseruation of policie These sectaries bereaue Kings of both these their Princely prerogatiues 2. Thess 2.3.4 exalting themselues as the sonne of perdition aboue all that is called God Least they might seeme sine ratione insanire to sowe the seedes of sedition without shewe of reason Caedem faciunt scripturarum as the heretikes in Tertullians time were wont to doe in materiam suam they kill the Scripture to serve their turnes and pervert the holy word of the eternall God by strange interpretation and wicked application against the meaning of the Spirit by whom it was penned the doctrine of the Church to whom it was deliuered and the practise of all the Godly as well vnder the Lawe as the Gospel that did beleeue vnderstand and obey it to maintaine their late and lewd opinions I haue in my hand aboue fortie several places of the old and new Testament which both the brethren of the enraged opposite faction doe indifferently quote and seditiously apply in defence of their dangerous opposition and damnable error against the Ecclesiasticall supremacie and the indeleble character of royal invnction Vnto the which places falsly expounded perverted and applyed I haue added the interpretation of the learned Protestants since the time of Martin Luther who began to discouer the nakednesse of the Romish Church 1517. More especially insisting in the a K. Henry 8. K Iames. Th. Cranmer lo. Whitgift Rich. Bancroft Archb. of Cant. Henry Earle of Northampton Robert Earle of Salisbury most mightie Kings the most reuerend Prelats The L. Burleigh L. treasurer of England The L. Els nere L. chancelor of England The L. Stafford The L. Cooke B. Iewell B. Horn B. Pilkington B Elmere B Couper B. Bilson B. Babington B. Andrewes B. Barlowe B. Bridges D Ackworth D. Sarania D. Cosenâ— D. Sutchliffe D. Prvthetâ—h D. Wilkes D. Morton D. Tochen M. Bekinsaw M. Foxe M. Nowell M. Hooker many others honourable Lords loyall Clergie and other worthie men that haue in the Church of England learnedly defended the Princely right against disloyall and vndutifull opponents which by Gods helpe I meane to publish when I haue added the exposition of the Fathers to confute the falshood of the Puritan-popish-faction to confirme the truth of the Protestants Doctrine in each particular quotation I protest in all sinceritie that I neither haue in this treatise nor meane in the other hereafter to be published to detort any thing to make either the cause it selfe or the fauourers of it more odious then their owne words published with the generall approbation of their seuerall fauorites doe truely inferre and necessarily inforce I hope the loyall subiect and Godly affected will accept in good part my endeauour and industrie intended for the glorie of God the honour of the King and the discouerie of the seditious The displeasure of the malecontented-factious which can no more abide the truth then the owles can light or the frantique the Physitian I neither regard nor care for Farewell Errata Pag. 10. l. 15. for subtilly read subtilty p. 17. l. 4. presto for praesto p. 19. l. 25. Sabanianus for Sabinianus p. 34. l. 27. odience for obedience p. 37. l. 13. his for this p. 39. l. 5. as very foole for as very a foole p. 47. l. 1. regnum for regum p. 48. l. 17. Prince for Princes The Table of the Booke The dutie of Prelates Peeres People by Scripture Chap. 1. Pag. 1. Fathers of the first 300 yeares 2 pag. 3 second 300 yeares 3 pag. 8 third 300 yeares cap. 4 pag. 21 fourth 300 yeares 5 pag. 24 fifth 300 yeares 6 pag. 30 Sedition of Puritans Papists Concord in the matter of sedition cap. 7. p. 36 Discord in the manner of sedition cap. 7. p. 36 Danger of their doctrine to Prince cap. 8. p. 43. People cap. 8. p. 43. Puritan-Iesuitisme or the generall consent of the principall Puritans and Iesuits against Kings from the yeare 1536. vntill the yeare 1602. out of the most authentique Authors cap. 8. p. 46 The first Chapter prooveth by the testimomonie of Scripture that Kings are not punishable by man but reserued to the iudgement of God KINGS haue their authoritie from God a Rom. 13.1 and are his Vicegerents in earth b Prov. 8.15 to execute iustice and iudgement for him amongst the sonnes of men c 2. Chron. 19.6 All subiects as well Prelates and Nobles as the inferiour people are forbidden with the tongue to reuile Kings d Exod. 22.28 with the heart to thinke ill of them e Eccl. 10.20 or with the hand to resist them f Rom. 13.2 The great King of heauen doth impart his owne name vnto his Lieftenants the Kings of the earth and calleth them Gods with an ego dixi g Psal 82.6 whose word is Yea and Amen with this onely difference that these Gods shall die like men h Psal 82.7 and fall like other Princes Wherefore Nathan the man of
which come downe from Gods indignation doe not come thorough vs poore persecuted Christians but from him whom we serue for the wrong done vnto vs. So farre Cyprian As many as liued according to Christs institution did neuer reuile the gouernement of Tyrants much lesse by force resist their violence following the patience of Christ who could by his owne power the might of his Angels or the strength of his creatures haue at the first withstood or at the last reuenged the iniurie of the people the buffer of the Priests seruant the scorne of Herod the iudgement of Pilate Ioâ— 10 15. Io 〈…〉 and the violence of the souldiers He yeelded himselfe patiently to death to teach all his disciples that an iniurie done by authoritie is patiently to be endured not forcibly to be repelled As soone also as Paul became a Christian his seditious and bloody spirit which he had learned of the Pharisies was changed into a desire of peace and quietnesse He honoured the heathen Magistrates as Agrippa Faelix and Lisias ratifying his doctrine by the practise of his life I knowe that Cardinall Alane Cardinall Bellarmine Ficlerus Simancha and other vpholders of the Papall tyrannie that Stephanus Iunius Franciscus Hottomanus Georgius Buchananus and other pillars of the Puritane anarchie doe answear that the Church then as it were swathed in the bonds of weakenesse had not strength sufficient to make powerfull resistance But these Fathers that then liued doe conuince them and all other sectaries of falshood by making demonstration of the strength and potencie of the godly Christians in case they would haue put their forces to the stroÌ„gest proofe Seeing that all publike places as Courts Camps Consistories Cities and countrey villages were stored and furnished with men of that profession and qualitie as doth most euidently appeare by the words of Tertullian in his Apolegeticall defence of the Christians Vna nox pauculis faculis c. One night with a few firebrands would yeeld vs sufficient reuenge if it were lawfull for vs to requite euill for euill But God forbid that Christians should either reuenge theÌ„selues with humane fire or be grieued to suffer that wherewith they are tried Were we disposed not to practise secret reuenge but to professe open hostilitie should we want number of men or force of armes Are the Moores or the Parthians or any one nation whatsoeuer more in number then we that are spread ouer all the world We are not of you and yet we haue filled all the places and roomes which you haue Your Cities Ilands Castles townes assemblies your Tents Tribes and Wards yea the Imperiall Pallace Senate and seats of iudgement For what warre were not we able and readie though we were fewer in number then you that go to our Martyrdome so willingly if it were not more lawfull in our religion to be slaine then to slay we could without armour not by rebelling against you but by departing from you doe you displeasure enough euen with our separation For if so great a multitude as we are should breake out from you in any other corner of the world the losse of so many citizens would shame and punish you You would feare to see your selues left solitarie euen amazed as among the dead You should then see silence and desolation euerie where You would haue many more enemies then inhabitants Whereas now you haue fewer enemies because of the multitude of your citizens that are almost all Christians Haec Tertullianus We see by these three witnesses that the Church of God in the first 300. yeares wanted neither number of men strength nor courage to resist persecution and to haue established the Christian faith if that course had beene lawefull but because their Lord had giuen them no sword to strike withall they chose rather to be crowned Martyrs for their religion then to be punished as traytors for rebellion What number of men what strength of armes had the Church thinke you the next 300. yeares after it had beene backed by Princes defended by lawes prouoked by honourable fauours to professe Christianitie Yet all that while the seruants of God neither did nor would resist Apostasie Heresie or Tyrannie but yeelded their liues with all submission though they wanted neither meanes nor multitude conuenient for any warres as the next chapter by pregnable demonstration shall shewe The third Chapter prooueth by the Fathers of the second 300. yeares that the pleasure of Princes must be endured with patience when their decrees cannot be obeyed with a good Conscience THe next 300. yeares the Christians did as patiently endure Heresie Apostasie and Tyrannie to the glorious triall of their faith and the eternall reward of their patience Whereof we haue a cloud of witnesses namely Hosius Liberius Athanasius Hilarius Basilius Magnus Gregorius Nazianzenus Lucifer Calaritanus Cyrillus Alexandrinus Optatus Milevitanus Ambrosius Augustinus Chrysostomus Leo the first and Gregorie the great Hosius was a famous confessor in the Church before Constantine the great a worthie Bishop during that Emperours raigne and after his death greatly esteemed of all good men yea euen of Constantius the Arrian Emperour himselfe for his old age great experience excellent learning and good conuersation When this worthie Prelate was commanded by the Emperour to subscribe to the condemnation of Athanasius he returned to the Imperiall Maiestie this stout Constant Christian and dutifull answear Ego confessionis munus implevi primum cum persecutio moueretur ab avo tuo Maximiniano I was then a confessor when your grandfather Maximinian persecuted the Church Obsequere scithe contra Athanasiâ—n qui enim contra â—llum scribit the plane nob scum c. And if you doe now raise persecution I am readie to endure any thing rather then betray the truth and shed innocent blood I do not like your manner of writing against Athanasius Cease from it be not of the Arrian opinion Giue no eare to the Easterne Bishops beleeue me rather that for age might be your grandfather Leaue off I beseech you and call to mind that you are a mortall man Feare that dreadfull day of iudgement Enterpose not your selfe O Emperour into the ecclesiasticall service neither command vs in this kind to condemne the innocent but learne rather of vs. God hath entrusted your Maiestie with the Empire and committed vnto vs the seruice of the Church he that with an envious eie maligneth your imperiall soueraigntie contradicteth the ordinance of God Take heede O Prince least drawing to your selfe the right of the Church you become guiltie of grieuous transgression It is written Hosius apud Atham ad solitariam vitam agentes Giue vnto Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that appertaine to God it is therefore neither lawfull for vs Priests to vsurpe your kingdome nor for you Princes to meddle with the sacred seruice and sacrifices of the Church Thus farre Hosius You see the grounds that this good Bishop stood vpon
Kings of Spaine Let all earthly Princes know that they shall giue account of the Church which Christ hath committed to their protection Yea whether the peace and discipline Ecclesiasticall be aduanced by faithfull Kings or dissolued by the vnfaithfull he will require a reckoning at their hands which hath left his Church in their power So farre Isidor Iohn Damascene pleadeth not onely for the exemption of wicked kings themselues but also of their Deputies Parallel lib. 1. c. 21. The gouernours saith he which Kings create though they be wicked though they be theeues though they be vniust or otherwise tainted with any crime must be regarded We may not contemne them for their impietie but must reuerence them because of their authoritie by whome they were appointed our gouernours So farre he Fulgentius saith that no kinde of sedition can stand with religion Cum pro nostra fide libere respondemus c. When we answer freely for our profession we ought not to be taxed with the least suspition of disobedience or contumely seeing we are not vnmindfull of the Regall dignitie and doe know that we must feare God and honour the King according to the doctrine of the Apostle â—ulgent ad Thrasim reg Giue to each one his due feare to whome feare honour to whome honour appertaineth Of the which feare and honour S. Peter hath deliuered vnto vs the manifest knowledge 1. Pet. 2.17 saying As the seruants of God honour all men loue brotherly fellowship feare God honour the King Thus farre Fulgent Our countrie man Beda for his great learning called Venerable is of the same minde Dauid saith he for two causes spared Saul lib. 4. exposit in Samuel who had persecuted him most malitiously First for that he was his Lord annointed with holy oile 1. Sam. 24. â— And secondly to instruct vs by morall precepts that we ought not to strike our gouernours though they vniustly oppresse vs with the sword of our lips nor presume slanderously to teare the hemme of their superfluous actions So farre he Leo the fourth about the yeare 846. agnised all subiection to Lotharius the Emperour I doe professe and promise saith Leo to obserue and keepe vnuiolably Cap. de capitulis dist 15. as much as lieth in me for the time present and to come your imperiall ordinances and commandements together with the decrees of your Bishops my predecessors If any man informe your Maiestie otherwise know certainely that he is a lier So farrre Leo. The Bishops of Spaine assembled in a nationall councell at Toledo made this decree against periurie and treason Quicunque amodo ex nobis Concill Tol. 5. Canon 2 circa annum Dom. 636. Whosoeuer among vs shall from this time forward violate the oath which he hath taken for the safegard of this countrie the state of the Gothish nation the preseruation of the Kings Maiestie whosoeuer shall attempt the Kings death or deposition whosoeuer shall by tyrannicall presumption aspire to the regall throne let him be accursed before the holy spirit before the blessed Saints let him be cast out of the catholique Church which he hath polluted by periurie let him haue no communion with Christian men nor portion with the iust but let him be condemned with the deuill and his angels eternally together with his complices that they may be tied in the bond of damnation which were ioyned in the societie of sedition Thus farre the fathers in that Synod I conclude therfore with these learned Fathers that it is not for the people otherwise then with humilitie and obedience to controll the actions of their gouernours but their dutie is onely to call vpon the God of heauen and so submit themselues to his mercie by whose ordinance the scepter is fallen into his hand and power that enioyeth the crowne whether he be good or bad A right of deposing must be either in him that hath an higher power which is onely God or in him that hath better right to the crowne which the Pope cannot haue because he is a straunger nor the Peeres or people because they are subiects Be the king for his religion impious for his gouernment vniust for his life licentious the subiect must endure him the Bishop must reprooue him the counsellor must aduise him all must praie for him and no mortall man hath authoritie to disturbe or displace him as may euidently be seene by the chapter following The fifth chapter confirmeth this Doctrine by the fathers of the fourth 300 yeares IN this age of the Church the Popes exalted themselues aboue all that is called god vpon priuate displeasures and quarrels did curse and ban Princes incensing their neighbour-nations and perswading their owne subiects to make warre against them as if Christ had ordeyned his Sacraments not to be seales of grace and helpes of our faith but hookes to catch kingdoms and rods to scourge such Potentates as would not or could not procure the Popes fauour How farre these Popish practises did displease the godly and learned I will shew by S. Bernard Walthramus Bishop of Nanumberg the epistle Apolegeticall of the Church of Leige against Paschalis the Pope and the author of Henrie the fourth his life S. Bernard in one of his sermons vpon the words of Christ I am the vine commendeth the answer of a certaine King Bene quidam rex cum percussus humana sagitta c. It was well said of a King when he was shot into the bodie with an arrowe and they that were about him desired him to be bound vntill the arrowes head weare cut out for that the least motion of his bodie would endanger his life no quoth he it doth not beseeme a King to be bound let the kings power be euer safe and at libertie And the same father in an epistle to Ludovicus Crassus the king of France teacheth subiects how to rebell and fight against their Princes Quicquid vobis de regno vestro de anima corona vestra facere placuerit Been epist 221. Whatsoeuer you please to doe with your kingdome your soule or your crowne we that are the children of the Church cannot endure or dissemble the iniuries contempt and conculcation of our mother Questionlesse we will stand and fight euen vnto death in our mothers behalfe and vse such weapons as we may lawfully I mean not swords and speares but praiers and teares to God When Gregorie the 7. had deposed Henrie the 4. he gaue away the Empire to one Rodolphus duke of Saxonie that was a sworne subiect to that distressed Emperour which Rodolph in a battaile against his soueraigne Lord lost his right-hand and gained a deadly wound After his death the Pope made one Hermanus king of Germanie who enioyed his kingdome but a little time for he was slaine with a stone which a woman threwe vpon him from a turret as he made an assault in sport against his owne castle to trie the valour of his
the King of Scotland we did not a little marvaile at the contents thereof so strange and wonderfull as the like hath neuer beene heard of We knowe most holy father and it is well knowne in this realme and also to other nations that the King of England ought not to make answer for his right before any iudge ecclesiasticall or secular by reason of the free estate of his royall dignitie and custome Parliament at Lincolne quoted by M. Beken-shaw without breach at all times vnviolably obserued Wherefore after treatie had and diligent deliberation this was our resolution that our said king ought not to answer in iudgement nor send procurators or messeÌ„gers to your court seeing that tendeth manifestly to the disinheriting of the right of the crowne the ouerthrowe of the state of the kingdome and the breach of the liberties customes and lawes of our fathers for the keeping whereof we are bound by the dutie of an oath and will by Gods helpe maintaine and defend with all our power and strength c. Dated at Lincolne Ann. Dom. 1301. anno Edvardi primi 29. This was then the resolution of the state of this land if our late sectaries Popish or Puritan bring in any other doctrine we may not leaue the cawsey of truth odience whereon our forefathers walked to their commendation to followe these newe guides in their by-paths of pride disobedience and contempt of authoritie to our destruction Vincentius in his Speculo Historiali hath a notable place to disswade from sedition and periurie lib. 15. cap. 1. Vt pace omnium bonorum dixerim haec sola nouitas ne dicam haeresis nec dum è mundo emerserat That I may speake with the fauour of all good men this meere noueltie if not heresie was not sprung vp in the world that preists should teach subiects that they owe no subiection to wicked kings and albeit they haue giuen an oath of fidelitie vnto them they are not bound to keepe it Nay they that obey an euill Prince are to be held as excommunicated and all such as rebell against him are free from the guilt of the crime of periurie So farre he I will end this chapter with Aeneas Siluius who died in the yeare 1464. Sit tandem finis litium Pius 2. de ortu author imperij cap. 23. Let there be an end of contention and one principall head to determine all temporall matters let the occasion of perpetuall debate be taken away let men acknowledge themselues subiect to their Prince giue reuerence to him whom God hath made his vicegerent on earth As that which God commandeth must be obeyed without contradiction so the temporall commandements of Caesar may not be resisted But let the Kings themselues beware that they oppresse no man vniustly nor giue their people cause to crie to God against them for the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof he will not forget the crie of the poore and for the sinne of the Prince he translateth the gouernment from one nation to another There is nothing more offensiue to the greatest God the king and creator of heauen and earth then the neglect of iustice and the oppression of the poore as the Psalmist saith The poore shall not alway be forgotten and the patient abiding of the needie shall not perish for euer So farre Siluius The seauenth Chapter sheweth the concord of Papist and Puritan for the deposition of Kings and their discord about the meanes and persons to be imployed in the execution of their designements CHilderick was deposed and Pipine crowned King of France about the yeare 750. The truth of which historie is this Childericke voide of all princely grauitie gaue himselfe ouer to pleasure and wantonnesse leauing the burthen of the state to Pipinus that was his Lord Marshall Who conspired with the Nobles to aduance himselfe by the deposition of the king his master To set a better colour on the matter Pipine sent his Chaplaine to Pope Zacharie to haue his answer to this Question Whether should be King he that bare the name and did nothing or he that gouerned the kingdome The Pope gaue sentence with the Marshall against the King whereupon Childerick was made a shorne Monke and Pipine a crowned king It is a wonder to see how these opposite sectaries do insist vpon this fact of the Frenchmen to iustifie their dangerous doctrine and seditious conspiracies against Princes As Card. Bellarmine de pontif lib. 2. cap. 17. Thomas Harding against the Apologie of the Church of England fol. 181. Franc. Feuardentius in his commentaries on Hester pag. 85. Boucher alias Raynolds de iusta abdicatione Henrici 3. lib. 3. cap. 14. Ficklerus de iure magistratuum fol. 30. Alexander Carerius patauinus de potestate papae lib. 2. cap. 3. D. Mâ—rta de temporali spirituali pontificis potestate lib. 1. cap. 23 and Doleman in his conference touching succession parte 1. cap. 3. pag. 48. And also these Puritans Christopher Goodman in his treatise of obedience pag. 53. George Buchanan de iure Regni apud Scotos p. 47. Danaeus de politia Christiana lib. 3. cap. 6. pag. 221. Brutus Celta de iure magistratuum pag. 286. Phyladelphus dialogo 2. pag. 65. Franc. Hottomanus in his Francogallia cap. 12. and Speculum tyrannidis Philipi Regis pag. 27. The Papists which ascribe this deposing power to the pope endeauour by tooth and naile to disprooue that interest which the Puritans grant the peeres or the people First this example serued Gregorie 7. to excuse his presumptuous practises against Henrie the fourth Quidum Ramanus pontifex A certaine Bishop of Rome deposed a king of France lib de vrit Eccles apud Scard pag. 3. not so much for his ill life as for that he was not fit for gouerment and placed Pipine which was father to Charles the great in his place absoluing all the Frenchmen from the oath of allegeance which they had sworne to their king Thus farre Gregorie in an epistle to one Herimanus that was Bishop of Metz in France Thomas Harding concludeth from this fact a diuine power in the pope Confâ—t of the Apol â— fol. 181. Can you not see saith Harding what strength and power is in the pope which is able with a word to place and displace the mightiest King in Europe with a word I say for I am sure you can shewe vs of no armie that he sent to execute his will Is it in the power of a man thinke you to appoint kingdomes can the Deuill himselfe at his pleasure set vp and depose Kings no surely Much lesse can any member of his do the same Remember you what Christ said when the Iewes obiected that he did cast out deuils in the name of the prince of deuils beware you sinne not against the holy Ghost who confesse that the Pope hath pulled downe and set vp Kings Which thing vndoubtedly he could neuer do