Temporal Affairs by a supereminent and incoercible Authority none may depose him from or deprive him of his Temporals either directly or indirectly much less the Church or Pope whose Power is meerly Spiritual and therefore the behaviours of your Popes have been Rebellious and Scandalous against Reason and Religion against the Doctrine of the Scriptures and the Practice of the Ancient Christians especially since Gregory the 7th who seems to have been the first assertor and practicant in this intolerable presumption not only excommunicating though that be more than St. Augustine will allow him when he tells us nec Rex nec Multitudo Excommunicandi sunt ut-refert Glass in Mat. 23. but also dethroning and deposing the Emperor Henry the 4th whereof he thus complains Ignominiam sustinco ante inauditam I suffer a disgrace never before heard of Vide Albertum Stadiensem ad Annum 1106. Innocent the Third makes Otho although a Rebel to his Prince Emperor and afterwards deposeth him not because a Rebel but because unprofitable to himself Honorius the Third Excommunicates Frederick the Second and deposeth him which Sentence Gregory the Ninth confirms Innocent the 4th also Of the Pride and cruelty of the Popes against this Emperor Frederick the King of France thus complained as Mat. Paris tells the story in Hen. 3. Quo Spiritu vel ausu temerario Papa With what spirit with what daring rashness did the Pope disinherit and depose from his Imperial dignity this worthy Prince than whom a greater is not found among Christians nor yet his equal c. De transgressionibus ejus c. Concerning his Faults objected no credit is to be given to his Enemies among whom the Pope is known to be principal To himself he was always an harmless and good neighbor neither have we ever found him faulty in his fidelity concerning Secular Affairs or the Catholick Faith We know he was a gallant Souldier in the Holy War and boldly exposed himself to all dangers both by Sea and Land I find not so much Religion in the Pope who when he ought to have promoted his Interests and have defended him when he was abroad Fighting Gods Battels did yet in his absence wickedly endeavor to supplant and destroy him Boniface the Eighth threatens to depose Philip King of France absolving his Subjects from their Allegiance and afterwards subjects him and his Kingdom to Albert the Emperor John 23d excommunicates Ludovicus Bavarus Benedict the 12th confirms it and then Clement the 6th deposeth him I shall not trouble you with any more particulars although I might further tell you of the Kingdom of Navar given from the French to the King of Spain by the Pope of Our own Kingdoms of England and Ireland made feodatary to the Popes sometimes transferred to the Spaniard other while to the French of several of our Kings inthralled our Nation involved in bloody Wars by these Papal Usurpations But I shall conclude with a Copy of the Grant made by Pope Alexander the 6th Father to Caesar Borgia of the Indies to Ferdinando King of Spain and his Heirs for ever wherein you may read at large the pride of the Popes in the Power they pretend to Caco I protest you astonish me I pray be pleased to read it over Orthod I am ready so to do Now I begin Alexander Bishop Servant of the Servants of God To Our most Dear beloved Son in Christ King Ferdinando and to Our Dear beloved Daughter in Christ Isabella Queen of Castile Legion Aragon Sicily and Granata Most Noble Princes Greeting and Apostolical Benediction AMong other things acceptable to the Divine Majesty and according to our hearty desire this certainly is the chief That the Catholick Faith and Christian Religion especially in this our time may in all places be exalted amplified and enlarged whereby the health of Souls may be procured and the Barbarous Nations subdued and brought to the Faith And therefore whereas by the favor of Gods Clemency although not with equal deserts We are called to this holy Seat of Peter and understanding you to be true Catholick Princes as we have ever known you and as your Noble and Worthy Facts have declared in a manner to the whole World in that with all your study diligence and industry you have spared no Travails Charges or Perils adventuring even the shedding of your own Blood with applying your whole Minds and Endeavors hereunto as your Noble Expeditions atchieved in recovering the Kingdom of Granata from the Tyranny of the Saracens in these our days do plainly declare your Facts with so great Glory of the Divine Name for the whch as we think you worthy so ought we of our own free will favorably to grant you all things whereby you may daily with more fervent Minds to the Honor of God and the enlarging the Christian Empire prosecute your devout and laudable purposes most acceptable to the Immortal God We are credibly informed that whereas of late you were determined to seek and find certain Islands and firm Lands far remote and unknown and not heretofore found by any other to the intent to bring the Inhabitants of the same to Honor our Redeemer and to profess the Catholick Faith You have hitherto been much occupied in the Expugnation and Recovery of the Kingdom of Granata by reason whereof you could not bring your said Laudable purpose to the end desired Nevertheless as it hath pleased the Almighty God the foresaid Kingdom being recovered willing to accomplish your said desire you have not without great Labor Perils and Charges appointed our well beloved Son Christopher Columbus a Man certes well commended as most worthy and apt for such a matter well furnished with Men and Ships and other necessaries to seek by the Sea where hitherto no Man hath sailed such firm Lands and Islands far remote and hitherto unknown who by Gods help making diligent search in the Ocean Seas have found certain remote Islands and firm Land which were not heretofore found by any other in the which as is said many Nations inhabit living peaceably and going naked not accustomed to eat Flesh and as far as your Messengers can conjecture the Nations Inhabiting the foresaid Lands and Islands believe that there is one God Creator in Heaven and seem apt to be brought to the imbracing of the Catholick Faith and to be indued with good manners by reason whereof we may hope that if they be well instructed they may easily be induced to receive the Name of our Saviour Jesus Christ We are further advertised that the forenamed Christopher hath now builded and erected a Fortress with good Munition in one of the foresaid principal Islands in the which he hath placed a Garrison of certain of the Christian Men that went thither with him as well to the intent to defend the same as also to search out other Islands and firm Lands remote yet unknown We also understand that in these Lands and Islands is great plenty of Gold and
c. Some French Divines for the promotion of the League Fol 66. a Popish Principle concerning Kings A. Dom. 15â—4 and since approved by Pope Sextus Quintus did maintain That the Prince ought to be deposed that did not to his duty that power is only of God which is well regulated otherwise when it is ill ordered it is not Authority but Thievery the words in the Original are thus Qui'il ny à que la puissance bien ordonne qui Soit de Dieu autrement quand elle est dereglee te n'est pas autorite mais Brigandage qu'il est aussi absurde de dire que celuy la Soit Roy qui ne Soait pas gouverner qui est despouruen d'entendement comme de croire qu'un avengle puisse servir de guide on qu'une Statue imobile puisse faire mounoir des hommes vivans Then came News from Rome that the Pope Sextus Quintus who succeeded Gregory the Thirteenth had approved the League and Fol 68. Auno Dom. 1585. over and above had thundered out his Bulls of Excommunication against the King of Navar and the Prince of Conde declaring them Hereticks Relaps Cheiss Fautors and Protectors of Heresie and as such fallen into the Câ—nsures and Penalties imported by the Laws and Canons deprived them and their Heirs of all Lands and Dignities and uncapable to succeed to any principality whatsoever and more especially to the Kingdom of France absolving their Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance with a command not to obey them When Henry the Fourth then King of Navar heard what the Pope had done against him Fol. 71. Anno Dom. 1585. he sent presently to King Henry the Third to complain thereof and let him know that it concerned him more than himself That he might well think if the Pope took upon him thus to determine of the Succession to his Kingdom and declare a Prince of the Blood uncapable of the Crown he might afterwards proceed farther and unthrone him as here-tofore Pope Zachary had degraded Childerick the 3d. The Pope gives to the Duke of Joyense all the King of Navarr's Territories Fol. 82. Anno Dom. 1687. Henry the Third is Excommunicated by Pope Sextus Quintus Fol. 100. Anno Dom. 1589. The Leaguers would have the Duke of Mayenne to take upon him the Title of King of France Fol 101. Anno Dom. 1589. which he refuses but accepts another Title which they give him to be Lievtenant General of the State and Crown of France as if the Throne were empty The Leaguers break the Kings great Seal and make a new one on the one side thereof were the Arms of Escutchion of France and on the other and empty Throne with this Inscription about the new Seal Charles Duke of Mayenne Lievtenant of the State and Crown of France Henry the Third being kill'd by a Roman Priest called Jaques Clement Fol. 112. Anno Dom. 1589. a Jacobin those that did not oppose him because he was a Roman Catholick did believe themselves obliged to joyn with the Leaguers against the King of Navar now King of France by the Death of the foresaid King Henry the Third because he was an Hugonot for the Papists of that Kingdom do hold that none can be King of France that is not a Roman Catholick The reproaches of the Parisians Fol. 139. Anno Dom. 1591. the instant desire of the Legate whom the Pope had sent to countenance and uphold the concerns of the League and the Spanish Cabal oblig'd the Duke of Mayenne to give Battel to King Henry 4th of France Paris being besieged by the French King the Popes Legate forgot and omitted nothing Fol. 152. Anno Dom. 1590. that might encourage the Parisians to hold out he consulted the Faculty of Divinity and obtained from that Society such Resolves against the Bearnois for so was called by the Leaguers Henry the Fourth as he thought good the Legate caused several Processions and all Officers took an Oath of Fidelity to the Holy Union for so was the League called by its Abetttors In the mean time Sextus the Fifth dies leaving in the Treasury of the Church five Millions of Gold Fol. 182. Anno Dom. 1591. to him succeeded Vrban the Seventh who dyed within 13 days and to Vrban succeeded Gregory the Fourteenth who with very much zeal supported the League The King of Spain was seconded by Pope Gregory the Fourteenth in his Assistances to the Leaguers Fol. 185. Anno Dom. 1591. who was much more eager and earnest than the said King for them for notwithstanding all the Letters and entreaties from the Lord of Luxemburg afterwards Duke of Piney and other Princes and Lords who continued with Henry the Fourth and being deaf likewise to the Submissions and Remostrances made to him by the Marquiss of Pisani deputed by the Pope he very hotly embraced the Interests of the League These Sixteen were the chief Abettors of the League in Paris he kept correspondence with the Sixteen receiving Letters from them and writing to them again Moreover the Pope did prodigally lavish the Treasure left him by Sextus Quintus to raise an Army of 12000 men which he sent to succor and assist the League the Command whereof he gave to Count Hercules Sfondrati his Nephew whom he made Duke of Montmortion at that instant for the greater lustre and this Army was seconded by a Minatory or Bull of Excommunication against all Prelates that should assist King Henry and sent this Bull by Marcellin Londriane his Nuntio with a great quantity of Money to be distributed amongst the Sixteen and other Chiefs of the Faction in the Principle Cities of France The Parliament at Tours caused the Bull to be torn by the hands of the Common-hangman and ordined Seizure of the Popes Nuntio On the other side the Parliament at Paris repealed this Decree Ordaining that the Pope and his Nuntio must be obeyed King Henry receives Succors out of England Fol. 191. Anno Dom. 1592. and from the Protestants of Germany and then Besieges the City of Roan King Henry turns Papist Fol. 211.212.213 An. Dom. 1593. and is absolved by the Arch-bishop of Bourges in the Abbey-Church of St. Denis Against the said Bishop the Pope is very angry for absolving the King and till he obtain it of the Pope his Rebellious Roman Catholick Subjects refuse to obey him neither would the Pope be perswaded to grant the King his Absolution till his Majesty had upon the matter totally suppressed the League Jean Castel a young Student educated by the Jesuites Fol. 223.224 A. Dom. 1599. attempts to kill the King but by good fortune only wounded him in the Face whereby the Society of Jesuites are banished out of France and their Scholar is executed for this wicked and lewd Attempt King Henry the Fourth is kill'd by Ravilliac who never expressed any kind of sorrow or Repentance for so wicked a Fact being perswaded he had done the Pope and the Church of Rome a very acceptable Service because he thought that King was Marching into Germany to overthrow the Roman Catholick Faith there FINIS
will clear all Objections that may encounter him in his way it will be necessary to take a brief view of them And here first our Author accuseth us with a pretended Submission to Lawful Powers begins then to boast how patiently their party did bear with the proceedings of the present Parliament how they used no tricks and subterfuges to nip their proceedings in the bud this is his expression and I would be glad to know what they could have done more than they did what means he by this nipping in the bud would he have another Gun-Powder Treason to what purpose is all this enumeration of our several Kings Richard the First Edward Longshanks Edward the Third and Henry the Fifth their Opinions of their Popish Subjects in the first place it may be said that were not so clear-sighted as Princes are in these days that the Roman Writers were not altogether so insolent plain and positive against the Sovereignty of Kings as now As for the French Kings they did very roundly maintain their Rights and Sovereignties having been sufficiently tormented by their Popish Subjects in the time of the League that what the Jesuites were inventing to the prejudice of Kings was by cunning and insinuation Writing one thing and making the French Kings believe another as is usual with that kind of people As for the House of Austria they have the greatest dependences upon the Pope imaginable and the Pope hath a very great tie upon that House for by their Incestuous Marriages authorized by the Popes they make it impossible for them to throw off the Authority of the Pope for should they do so all of the Houshold would prove Bastards and now even in these our days the present King of Poland in the life-time of his Brother known by the name of Cardinal Casimir did Marry his said own Brothers Wife and this was the Policy of the Pope with our Henry the Eighth in dispensing with his Marrying his own Brothers Wife that he might have as great Dominion over the Kings of England as of Spain As for the Authors branding this last Century that what was perpetrated now was never done before as to Mary Queen of Scots and Our late Sovereign I very much wonder at the Impudence of the Man to mix these two actions the first was done by Lawful Authority for her being Queen of Scotland did not bereave Queen Elizabeth of her Sovereignty and I have heard it averr'd by Learn'd and knowing Men that the King of Scotland hath sate in an English Parliament in former ages as a Peer of England and then no wonder nor Injustice neither that the Queen of Scotland suffered Death for her Treasons against the Queen As for the latter the Murther of our late Sovereign of Blessed and Glorious Memory the action is without Example such and so hainous a thing was never acted upon the Theatre of the World And as I said before so I will again that the Murther of that good King may properly enough be said to be the abominable product of that accursed Doctrine of the Popes Infallibility and his Sovereignty over Kings for those accursed Regicides and Murtherers of that Glorious King did but a little alter the Argument for that Power which the Romanists lodged in the Pope these wicked Miscreants placed in the People They had heard there was a Power above Kings and instead of giving it to the Pope they gave it to the Peoples Representative and so fell that Great King to the Consternation of the whole World and for a Memento to all Kings to awake them out of their Lethargy and be an Exhortation to them to Vindicate their Supreme Authority We do all of us much commend the Fidelity of Carlos Whitegrave and the Penderels and Huddlestone and this Author is much mistaken if he think we wish any of them ill We have said enough already to evidence that they effected that glorious and happy action happy I say to these Nations through some other instigations than the Principles of the Romish Religion they were led thereto certainly by a hand Divine as well as assigned by it they carried English hearts about them at that time but if they will Apostatize 't is none of my fault for my part I am well content they be dispensed with as a Mark put upon them for their miraculous preserving our Good King As for the stigmatized person I must needs say for him that he labored in the Vineyard before the last hour of the day and was very ready both with Hand and Pen to promote the Interests of the King for his Restauration and therefore that word of reproach might well have been left out That we differ in Religion is but too true and we dare as boldly as your selves appeal to the day of Judgement something you say we differ I say very much else why does Your Church Damn ours But this is not a place either to Dispute about Religion or express wherein we vary We are assured our Religion is the best free from Superstition free from too much homeliness God and the King are best served in our way Our Church is Monarchical as well as yours but still with a Subordination to Our Sovereign Temporal Prince what our great Ancestors were we shall not be ashamed to remember nor the Conversion of England from Paganism which possibly as all the World besides Converted from the like Errors did retain some few Pagan Ceremonies from which the Church of England was purified in the Reformation of Edward the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth He does well to put us in mind of Romish Persecutions Are not we justified thereby if we do the same to you France forsooth is instanced where the Reformed Religion is permitted which I shall leave indifferent whether to attribute that toleration to their vast numbers or to the innocency of their Tenets not at all prejudicial to Kings This I am sure they own no Sovereign above their natural King they have no Forreign Jurisdictions in their Spirituals and as little in their Temporals Let this be remembered they assisted their King Henry the Third against his Popish Rebels even after the Massacre at Paris and Henry the Fourth in his Siege of Paris when the Duke of Parma reliev'd it But as for the French King he is no competent instance in this case had you singled out some Trent-Catholick such our English Catholicks would be acknowledged there had been a fairer colour for your Argument When you have found some Roman Catholick of the Trent-Perswasion allowing the same favours to known Protestants you may more plausibly plead for the like allowance till when by their Inquisitions and such like entertainments of Protestants they have prescribed the Law for other Princes towards those that no less differ from them in matters of Religion We will wave the Massacre at Paris to come nearer home What think you of the Massacre in Ireland As a fore-runner of the Enlish Troubles Was