Reflections UPON THE NEW TEST AND The REPLY Thereto WITH A LETTER OF Sir FRANCIS WALSINGHAM's Concerning the PENAL LAWS Made in the REIGN of Queen ELIZABETH LONDON Printed in the Year MDCLXXXVII REFLECTIONS UPON THE New Test AND The REPLY thereto THE design of the Test is to attack the Church of England's Loyalty and the substance of it is That she owns the King Supream Head in Ecclesiastical Affairs that she began under Ed. 6. and at his Death indeavour'd to set up a Brat of her own and exclude Queen Mary the only Legitimate because she was a Catholick after her Death Queen Elizabeth a known Bastard rais'd this Church again to support the weakness of her Title and no sooner was this Church under her re-establish'd than those Cannibal Laws were Enacted of Hanging the Priests of the living God together with other penal Laws that she Murder'd the Queen of Scots who was the undoubted Heir to the Crown that to Charles I. this Church was faithful but on the other hand to force an Universal Uniformity to her Liturgy c. was the occasion of that War and she now refuses to repeal the Test and penal Laws that the King will no longer trust her and that she should learn obedience from her Catholick Neighbours Thus far the Test To this is reply'd That the Church of England does own the Kings Supremacy and therefore thinks her self more Loyal than the Romanists who rob the King of that part of his Prerogative that after Ed. 6. Death the Kingdom was divided about the Title to the Crown some for Queen Mary some for Lady Jane and Protestants on both sides and while the Title was to them dubious neither party could be charged with Disloyalty That if Queen Eliz. was a known Bastard the Romanists were the disloyal Party in setting her upon the Throne and excluding the lawful Heir which they did by a Popish Parliament sitting at Queen Mary's Death so that it appeared by their own Parliament that Mary Queen of Scots was not lawful Heir and therefore it could be no disloyalty in Executing her for Treason That 't was not the Church of Englands Ambition from whence that War in Charles I. time ensued but from the division the Romanists had wickedly made amongst Protestants by one call'd Faithful Commin and others of the Fraternity then the Author recriminates shews it to be the declared opinion of the Church of Rome that she has power to Depose Princes and gives several instances where very often they have put that opinion into practice Thus far the Replyer The Replyer though he has sufficiently answer'd the Pamphlet yet since Loyalty is almost the onely thing which at this time recommends us to our Princes's Favour he might and ought to have given a more ample account of our Fidelity to Princes I shall now therefore take both the Test and the Reply into particular Examination and shew the defects of both But first I would willingly know what prospect the Author of the Test could have by publishing such a Pamphlet Was it to oblige his Party by drawing us out to expose both their Principles and Practices in point of Civil Obedience which may be with as great ease justly done as we can thrô off that malitious and false charge of his or was it to oblige the King by blowing up these Fears and Jealousies which his Majesty a gracious Father of his Country has us'd means to allay His Majesty tells us we are Loyal and assures us of his Protection the Test tells us we are Snakes in his Bosom and the King will not protect us for my part let this Fellow stare and brazen as he pleases I shall believe the King whatever he would have us think of him When so heavy a charge was laid upon our Church me thinks in reason the Author should have shew'd the World what Convocation or at least what private Doctor of our Communion ever acknowledg'd it as a Principle of our Church that disobedience to the supream Magistrate was upon any score whatsoever allowable that is that we might refuse both active and passive obedience for else admit he could instance that some of our Communion have acted Disloyally it proves no more than that some who have in outward appearance profess'd themselves to be with us were not really so nor did keep up to the Principles of our Church What 's more common than to see a Romanist drunk upon a Fasting Day but unless I hear them justifie the thing as allowable shall I reason from their bare practice that their Church allows Debauchery upon those dayes she has pointed out for Mortification Wherefore the Tests absolute silence herein demonstrates either that he is a great Dunce at Argument or that there is no such thing to be found in our Principles no not from the Testimony of any single Doctor And of this defect the Replyer takes no notice The Members of the Church of England says the Test were faithful to Charles I. but on the other hand their ambition to force Uniformity c. was cause of the ensuing War. He means if to the purpose That an ambition to force an Uniformity in Religion is Disloyalty which is a most admirable Discovery especially since the Church of Rome can so easily clear her self from the guilt of that Ambition If what he alledgeth were true his Reprehension is just like an old Drunkard in a drunken Fit railing against Drunkenness But the Replyer has shew'd him a more probable and natural cause of that War and has well referr'd to that Book of Foxes and Fire-brands which will give a reasonable Enquirer full satisfaction and further from thence well observes what excellent Subjects Romanists make to Protestant Kings We are not now to be surpriz'd with their Tests and such-like Pamphlets we are sensible the glorious Lustre of the Church of England does so offend and dazle their weak Eyes that it must be darken'd though the Fog be rais'd from Hell and therefore thus goes on the Test After Edward the Sixth's death Protestants endeavour'd to set up a Brat of their own to exclude Queen Mary because she was a Catholick at whose death Queen Elizabeth raised this Church to support the weakness of her Title and then they Murther'd the Queen of Scots who was the undoubted Heir to the Crown A Brat to exclude Queen Mary because a Catholick Nay we were more wicked than this for we set this Brat up too to exclude Queen Elizabeth because she was a Protestant for in excluding one we excluded both And if we thought we had power to pull down and put up as the Popes assume why did we not as well put up Elizabeth as Lady Jane The Index Expurgatorius has not yet done the honour of a Visit to our Modern Histories and therefore in them we find that by a Cabal onely of some of King Edward ' s Council he was prevail'd upon by his last Will and Letters-Patents to
Exclusion but when it came to the Lords House from whence the Popish Lords were excluded they shew'd their Fidelity by throwing it out How readily at Monmouth's appearance did the Parliament protest to stand by the King and how freely did divers Protestant Gentlemen venture themselves in the Kings Cause and this they must always upon occasion do if they measure their actions either by the Principles or Practices of our Church Our Author therefore is a great Friend to the King in calling us to learn of our Catholick Neighbours which is to debauch this good Principle and I shall expose to the World some of the Lessons they would teach us at our entrance we must learn that Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction which is a glorious part of the Kings Prerogative belongs to the Pope so strongly does the Test fancy that their Church of right assumes this Power that he ridicules the contrary Opinion as a particular Revelation to the Church of England In answer to this the Replyer has well referr'd to Dr. Barrow and Lord Cook but because some may not have these Books I shall give one or two plain instances Greg. 1. 15. Ep. 11. 56. doth alledge divers Laws of divers Emperours concerning Ecclesiastical affairs as obligatory Rules of practice and divers Laws concerning things Ecclesiastical made by the Emperour are extant in the Codes of Theodosius and Justinian The Christian Emperours took upon them to depose Bishops and Popes thô since the Popes are even with them Constantius banish'd Pope Liberius and put another in his room Otho put out John the Twelfth Justinian deposed Pope Silverius and banish'd Pope Vigilius and the same Emperour prescrib'd Conditions and Qualifications concerning the Ordination of Bishops and subjoyns Si quis autem citra memora tam observationem Episcopus ordinetur jubemus hunc omnibus modis Episcopatu depelli Justin Novel 123. Ca. 1. But if any Bishop be Ordain'd without using our foremention'd constitution we Command that by all means he be remov'd from his Bishoprick Omnes sayes Leo 1. to Theodocius the Emperour Partiam Ecclesiae nostrarum omnes mansuetudini vestrae cum gemitibus Lacrymis supplicant Sacerdotes ut generalem Synodum jubeatis intra Italiam celebrari Leo 1. Ep. 42. nor was this power usurp'd by the Emperours as sometimes loyal Catholicks pretend No quite contrary Semper fuit Orthodoxis piis Imperatoribus c. This is what the Pious and Orthodox Emperours did Justin in Syn. 5. Collat. 1. p. 209. but what 's yet higher Haec says the Councel of Arles Domino Imperatori praesentanda decrevimus poscentes ejus Clementiam ut si quid hîc minus est ejus prudentiâ Suppleatur si quid secus quà m se ratio habet ejus judicio emendetur si quid rationabiliter taxatum est ejus adjutario divinâ opitulante Clementiâ perficiatur Councel Arel 4. ca. 26. Ann. 813. Sub Carolo M. These things we have Decreed to be presented to our Lord the Emperour desiring his Clemency that if any thing be defective it may be supplied by his Prudence if any thing be unreasonable it may be corrected by his Judgement if any thing be reasonably ordered it may by his help the Divine Grace assisting be Perfected So that it seems notwithstanding the blustering the Popes make now it was a revelation to all the Churches of the World in the first Ages that the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was in the Temporal Magistrate This also have Papist Kings and their Lay-Subjects justified in England Xenulphus by his Letters Pattents did grant to Abbot Ruchin Quod praedictus Ruchinus c. That the said Ruchin should for ever be free from all Episcopal Jurisdiction whatsoever This was pretty well for a Temporal Prince without Ecclesiastical Power and to demonstrate that he was not singular in assuming this Power this Charter was confirmed by King Edwin and pleaded the 1 H. 7. and allowed and continued till the dissolution of that Abby in H. 8. When H. 1. founded the Abby of Reading the Charter run thus Henricus Dei c. Statuimus tam Ecclesiasticae quam Regiae prospectu potestatis ut c. We appoint as well by our Ecclesiastical as Temporal Power c. In the 25 Ed. 1. by a Parliament held at Carlisle it is declared That the Holy Church of England was founded in the State of Prelacy by the King and his Progenitors the Popes Usurpations complained on and enacted they should not be suffered By a Statute made 16 R. 2. ca. 5. It is declared That the Crown of England is Subject to none but God. Of this opinion was Bracton who wrote in H. 3d's time Omnis says he quidem sub Rege ipse sub nullo sed tantum sab Deo. Lib. 1. ca 8. nu 5. Every one owes Obedience to the King but he to none but GOD. I must give one instance more if it be only to shew the nature of a Begotted Papist Ed. 3. much concern'd that his Subjects would deprive him of his right by Appeals to Rome by a Statute it was made a Praemunire the hearty Begots did so rail and curse at the Executors of that Law that the Kingdom was obliged to make a Statute on purpose to prevent such defamations But when after many struglings the Popes did begin to finger this Jurisdiction as if poyson'd with their touch it immediately swells to such a prodigious magnitude as quite to over shadow and crush all other Powers now 't is Hunc unum c. Pope Pius the Fifth in his Bull that Excommunicates Queen Elizabeth Him alone says he meaning himself he made Prince over all People and all Kingdoms to pluck up destroy scatter consume plant and build c. So that Temporal Princes are but as so many Pagents to be set up and pull'd down as the Infallible Head shall see cause and an Emperour is no more to a Pope now than a Pope was to an Emperour heretofore To prove this the Replyer has given several very true examples to which I shall add That in King John's time the Loyal Popish Barons were in open Rebellion The Pope instead of using his pretended Authority to reduce them to their Allegiance he takes advantage of the King's necessities and will by no means permit him to nominate a Successour to the deceased Archbishop of Canterbury but for so doing the King was Excommunicated this with the King of France his appearing in the Pope's defence incourag'd the Barons to continue in their Rebellion and to calumniate their King with the most approbrious language as Infidel c. that no King ever indured the like finding himself on all hands thus oppress'd his submission to the Pope was absolutely necessary and therefore now tenders him his Crown which the Pope by his Legate received upon this and all but reason the King is Absolved but still the hardy Barons refuse their duty till the King had ratified their Priviledges c. which he was forc'd upon
his Oath to agree to But the King being now a good Child of the Church is discharged by the Pope from these condescentions to the Barons the whole compact is declared Null the King's Oath Dispenc'd with and the Barons Excommunicated till they submitted to the Sentence This is something like to whip and stroke them by turns Thus the Heaven Door is open'd and shut in a breath that no man alive can be sure whether he shall go in or out When Queen Elizabeth came to this Crown Sir Edward Karn was by her direction to inform the Pope thereof who made this humble and obliging return That England was held in fee of the Apostolick See that she could not succeed being illegitimate nor could be contradict the Declarations made in that matter by his Predecessors Clement the Seventh and Paul the Third He said it was great boldness in her to assume to the Crown without his consent or which in Reason she deserv'd no favour at his hands yet if she would renounce her Pretensions and refer her self wholly to him he would shew a fatherly affection to her and do every thing for her that could consist with the Dignity of Apostolick See so far the Servus Servorum In this haughty speech 't is not so much the Queens illegitimation is complain'd on as her great boldness to assume the Crown without consent of his Holiness for if she will at last submit here 's great hopes for her notwithstanding her Illegitimation But his Successor Pius IV. leaves her in no manner of doubt He sent one Parpalia to her to promise that if she would join her self to the See of Rome he would disannul the Sentence against her Mother's Marriage c. Hence I observe that the Popes what e're they said did not believe Q. Eliz. Illegitimate or else what 's worse they declare that for their Temporal Interest they would make that lawful which the Law of God had made unlawful for if Q. Eliz. was a Bastard she was so because Hen. the 8's Marriage with his first Wife was lawful who was living when Eliz. was born of another woman if so nothing is plainer than that this second Marriage was against the Law of God. But 't is all nothing there had been no harm done no rightful heir disseiz'd no title of a Bastard set up had Eliz. made her acknowledgments that England was held in fee of the Apostolick See. So speaks the Shepherd and the sheep know his voice In fine the King deposing Doctrine is not only practised by one or two wicked Infallible Heads but 't is the setled Doctrine of their Church 't is that their Lateran Council and a long Succession of Popes have declared and that which their best men have imploy'd their Pens to maintain for which see the Bishop of Lincoln's Brutum Fulmen Whether the Test or Penal Laws ought to be abolished is a subject more proper for the King and Parliament than us But when you call us Cannibals for making them you speak like a man of sense and ought to be considered tho the Replier has taken but little notice of it their words are these And they meaning the Church of England no sooner found themselves re-establisht then they Enacted those bloody Cannibal Laws to hang draw and quarter the Priests of the living God Imprisonment Banishments and Confiscation of Goods were the moderate Church of England's Laws c. No sooner he says were they reestablisht c. Now one would think by this representation that this Law he so abhors was made the next hour after the Queen was proclaim'd and yet in truth 't was the 27 year of the Queens Reign before this Law had birth Well but if Cannibals they must be who Enact Sanguinary Laws against those that purely dissent in matters of Religion I know no Church deserves the honour of that title but yours your lenity towards Hereticks and all are Hereticks with you that are not of your faith is so universally known that 't is in vain to trouble the world with particular instances however if you please you may look in Qu. Mary's days look into the Bishop of Lincoln's Book and when you are looking look into France But why do I cry look here or look there when 't is impossible to look amiss However since to recriminate is no justification and since we hear that you pride your selves to talk of our Penal Laws endeavouring to render us extreamly cruel I should apply my self particularly to shew the reasons and steps of those Laws did I not find it incomparably well done to my hands by a Letter which 't is great pity the whole Kingdom has not read and tho it be long yet there being not a sentence in it not full of weight I will for the publick good transcribe the whole which fully vindicates us in this point Sir Fr. Walsingham's Letter to Monsieur Critoy concerning the Queens proceedings against both Papists and Puritans SIR WHereas you desire to be advertiz'd touching the proceedings here in Ecclesiastical Causes because you seem to note in them some Inconstancy and Variation as if we inclin'd sometimes to one side and sometimes to another and as if that Clemency and Lenity were not us'd of late that was us'd in the beginning All which you imputed to your own superficial Vnderstanding of the Affairs of this State having notwithstanding Her Majesty's doing in singular Reverence as the real Pledges which She hath given unto the World of her Sincerity in Religion and of the Wisdom in Government well meriteth I am glad of this occasion to import that little I know in that Matter unto you both for your own Satisfaction and to the end you may make use thereof towards any that shall not be so modestly and reasonably minded as you are I find Her Majesties Proceedings to have been grounded upon two Principles The one that Consciences are not to be forced but to be won and reduced by force of Truth with aid of time and use of good means of Instructions and Perswasion The other That Causes of Consciences when they exceed their bounds and grow to be matter of Faction lose their Nature and that Sovereign Princes ought distinctly to punish their Practices and Contempt tho coloured with the Pretences of Conscience and Religion According to these Principles Her Majesty coming to the Crown utterly disliking the Tyranny of Rome which had used by Terror and Rigour to settle Commandments of mens Faith and Consciences Tho as a Princess of great Wisdom and Magnanimity She suffered but the Exercise of one Religion yet her Proceedings towards the Papist was with great Lenity expecting the good Effects which time might work in them and therefore Her Majesty revived not the Laws made in the 28th and 35th of her Fathers Reign whereby the Oath of Supremacy might have been offered at the Kings pleasure to any Subject so he kept his Conscience neâ—er so modestly to himself and the