Gregory the great called Mauritius the Emperour his Lord and himselfe the Emperours Seruant but afterwards the case was altered cleane contrariwise and the Pope became the soueraigne Lord of the Emperour and the Emperour the Popes vassall In the yeare 1133 when Pope Innocent the second had set the Crowne vpon the Emperour Lotharius head hee caused the solemne manner thereof to be painted on a wall in his Lateran-Palace and vnder the picture these verses following to be written Rex venit adfores iurans per vrbis honores Post homo fit Papae sumit quo dance coronain The king at Palace of the Pope sweares fealty and than The king receiuing Crowne of Pope made is the Popes sworne man True it is that by the Popes Canon law Dist. 63 c. Tibi Domino et 22. q. 5. de forma in Glossa the Emperours as the Popes vassals must sweare homage to the Pope as holding their Crownes and Empires of him but it was neuer heard of before these Iesuiticall traytours had so heretically dogmatized that the Kings and Emperours hold their liues also of the Pope as the basest villaines that euer were to witte at the Popes pleasure Now iudge Christian Reader what noble schoolemaisters these Iesuites are teaching all Christian subiects the Art of killing their Kings Saint Iohn in his Reuelation Chap. 17. vers 16. prophecied That the King should hate the vvhore the scarlet vvhore died first in the bloud of Martyrs but now in the bloud of Kings and make her desolate and naked and should eate her flesh and burne her vvith fire If euer there were iust cause presented to kings to doe it surely now it is giuen them to the full Prou. 8.15 The King of heauen by vvhom they rule and decree iustice stirre vp betimes their royall hearts with vnited forces to constraine the Pope to renounce this his Antichristian bloudy claime or else to pull his triple Crowne from his head and to lay his Romish Popedome in the dust choosing another Patriarke if a Patriarke must needes bee had and bounding that new one within the Ecclesiasticall tedder onely That learned Gerson in his booke De Aufeberilitate Papae of taking the Pope of Rome cleane away gaue a good Item for this long since BECAN Exam. Page 100 YOu cite out of Bellarmine these words If the Pope should command vice and forbid vertue the Church were bound to belieue vertue to be euil and vice good but most deceitfully For Bellarmine doth not absolutely affirme that which you faine but vpon condition that grant one absurdity another will follow Bellarmines words are these It can not be that the Pope should erre in commanding any vice or forbidding vertue because then he should erre about faith For the Catholike faith teacheth that all vertue is good and all vice is euill But if the Pope should erre in commanding vices and prohibiting vertues the Church were bound to belieue vices to be good and vertues euill vnlesse it would sinne against conscience Dr. HARRIS Reply THis Iesuit makes Bellarmine write farre worse than as I produced him For in my Citation he spake thus If the Pope should command vice or forbid vertue the Church should belieue vice to be good and vertue to be euill but Becane brings him in writing more impudently and blasphemously thus If the Pope should erre in commanding vices or forbidding vertues the Church vvere bound to beleeue vices to be good and vertues to be euill vnlesse the Church would sinne against her conscience Which is plaine blasphemie and for which Bellarmine incurreth S. Pauls curse directlie For hee can not deny but that the blessed Angels of heauen and Apostles were as free from errour in their Angelicall and Apostolicall doctrines of faith and maners as the Pope is yet saith S. Paul Gal. 1. vers 8 If vve or an Angell from heauen should preach vnto you otherwise than that yee haue receiued let him be accursed But Bellarmine thus If the Pope should preach otherwise viz. vertue to be euill and vice good according to that of Esay Chap. 5. vers 20. Woe be to them that speak good of euill and euill of good the Church ought to hold the Pope so blessed as that she should sinne if shee did not belieue him so erring and erroneously preaching What is this else but to giue the holy Spirit of God the Lie in his face 〈◊〉 is here most absurd in writing thus Dato 〈…〉 do sequitur aliud If vvee grant one absurâ—â—◠〈◊〉 followeth another For grant that one absurdity that a blessed Angel of heauen should preach errour should this â—â—â—urditie follow That the Church vvere bound to beleeue him No saith Paul the Church vvere bound to holde him accursed Further it is apparantly vntrue wherewith Becane doth heere charge mee viz. that I said Bellarmine did absolutely affirme the Pope to command vice and forbid vertue or that the Church should belieue vice to be good and vertue euill for I cited it in a hypotheticall or conditional proposition thus If the Pope should command vice c. and not by a categoricall or singlie affirmatiue proposition thus The Pope doth command vice and forbid vertue c. It may be Becanes learning extendeth not so farre as to knowe when a thing is vttered categorically and when hypothetically and so of ignorant simplicitie he falsely burdened me with it If it were so I will the rather forgiue him but then I would haue him to goe to schoole againe to learne the principles of Logike if he knew it and yet would write thus he abuseth his Reader not a little But I will leaue this vnlearned Iesuite a while and indeede I begin to growe very weary of him with Bellarmine here would I gladly change a few wordes and learne of him whether the Church bee bound in any case to beleeue errour in faith or in the necessary precepts of manners If he affirme it he shewes himselfe to be an Heretike 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemned in his owne conscience if hee deny it then suppose the Pope should erre in faith or manners yet the Church should not belieue him therin By the rules of the CanoÌ„ law If the Pope erre in faith that is if he be an Heretike he should be deposed but by Bellarmines paralell If the Pope erre in faith he must be beleeued If this be not doctrine hereticall what can be hereticall Therefore to the euerlasting shame of Iesuites let this hereticall position of Cardinall Bellarmine which Becane seekes heere to defend but the very heathen would blush to assert of any bee ingrauen with a penne of yron in lead or stone for euer viz. If the Pope should erre in commanding vices and forbidding vertues the Church is bound in conscience to belieue vices to be good and vertues to be euill Goe to now ô Pope and say Soule thou hast enough for now doe but command the bloudy and traiterous crime of Regicide that is killing of kings
and so procuring great peace to those Churches Whereupon Rhenanus marginall note was The Bishop of Rome doth Montanize But Tertullian saith againe that he afterward by the means of Praxeas reuoked his said letters and reiected Montanus Whereupon euen on the text word reuocare Beatus Rhenanus his annotation is this Rectissime ergo Ro Pontifex egit c. Therefore right well did the Bishoppe of Rome to condemne Montanus Doth not this shew apparantly that the Bishop of Rome was once a Montanist but after recanted And doth not the Iesuit feele this his owne weapon retorted into his owne hart BECAN Exam. Pag. OVt of the Councell of Constantinople you cite these words Anathematizari curauimus Honorium c. You follow the fraud of the Grecians who vpon enny inserted the name of Honorius when as it is plaine or certaine constat that Honorius vvas not there condemned as Bellarmin de Rom. Pont. lib. 4. cap. 11. proueth out of the Library â—â—eper Athanasius and others Dr. HARRIS Reply IN asserting Honorius to be a Monothelit heretick I doe follow three generall Councells viz. the 6. act 13. the 7. act the last and the eight act 7. And two Popes Agatho in his Epistle to Constantine the Emperour to be seene in the Synod 6. act 4. and Pope Lco 2. in his Epistle at the end of the 6. Synod And further I follow then owne Pontificall of the Popes liues in Leo 2. besides many as learned Writers as Bellarmine by whom it appearech manifestly that Honorius was an Heretick Our English man Harding in his booke against Bishoppe Iewell page 131. of Pope Honorius writeth thus Now at length Ma. Iewell you say that which hath some face of truth for Honorius indeed fel into the heresie of the Monothelits And this is the only Pope who may iastly be burdened with heresie Pope Leo 2. in his Epistle to the Emperour at the end of that 6. generall Councell hath these words We accurse Honorius who hath not lightened this Apostolick Church with Apostolick doctrine but by wicked treachery hath laboured to subuert the vndefiled faith In this my citation I sollow not as this fulse Iesuit saith the Greeke fraude but the edition of Councells by their owne Binnius Tom. 3. thus Concilium Constantinopolitanum tertium sextum vniuersale in quo ducenti octoginta et nouem Episcopi sub Agarhone Papa Constantino Pogouato Imperatore An. 680. et 631. Pag. Binnij 67. act 13. Impia execramur dogmata Sergij Cyri Pyrrhi et Theodori quos Agatho Papa abijcit vtpote contraria rectae fidei sentientes quos Anathemati submitti definiuimus Cum his verò simul proijci à sancta Dei Catholica Ecclesia simulque anathematizari praeuidimus Honorium qui fuerat Papa antiquae Romae eo quod inuenimus per scripta quae ab eo facta sunt ad Sergium quia in omnibus eius mentem secutus est et impia dogmata confirmauit We detest the impious doctrines of Sergius Cyrus c. whom we haue accursed vvith these we haue also cast out of Gods holy Catholick Church and accursed Honorius who was Pope of old Rome because vve found by those things vvhich he wrote to Sergius that he was vvholly of Sergius opinion and confirmed his impious doctrines Heere if I would hunt after Butterflies as this tryfling Iesuit doth I could tax him for his ouer-sight or ignorance in putting downe Athanasius for Anastasius But leauing this vnlearned Iesuit to correct his errors vnto Bellarmine hcere obiected against mee I say that Anastasius writing of the Popes liues in the life of Pope Leo 2 setteth downe Honorius among the hereticks who were condemned by the sixt generall Councell And for further answere I referre Bellarmine vnto Mr. Dr Whitaker Controuers 4. cap. 6. and to Mr. Dr. Reynolds his Conference against Hart ca. 7. Diuis 2. who both very largely and learnedly haue refuted all which Bellarmine hath written materiall for the cleering of Honorius By these Pope Hereticks the Christian Reader may learne what a dangerous thing it is to make the Pope Iudge of all Controuersies And further hee may heere obscrue with what deep silence the Iesuit letteth passe The Pepes Liberius and Leo for Arrian hereticks and Pope Anastasius for a Nestorian heretick So worthy a champion defender is Becane of the Popes Primacy English Concord BEcane in his Iarre and 12. Question demanded Whence the King hath his Primacy And I in my Concord Quest 12. demaunded Whence the Pope hath his Primacy Whether of Christ who said Ioh. 18. v. 36.1 Pet. 5. v. 3. Ro. 13. v. 1. My kingdome is not of this vvorld or of Peter Who forbade his fellow Presbyters to dominere ouer the Clergie much more ouer Kings Or rather of the Diuell Mat. 4. v. 9. Luk. 4. v. 6 who said I will giue vnto thee all the kingdoms of the vvorld and the glory of them for that is giuen to mee and I giue it to vvhom I will And euen so said the Diuels heire Pope Adrian Whence hath the Emperour his Empire but from vs Behold it is in our power to giue it to whom we will By these sayings it is demonstrated that the Pope hath his Primacie not from Christ but from the Diuell Yet heere the Iesuit hath not one word to answere for his Popes Primacy English Concord BEcane in his Iarre and 13. Quest demaunded Whether the King may compell his subiects to the oath of Primacy And I in my Concord and 13. Quest demaunded Whether the Pope may compell his subiects that is all Christians to the oath of Primacy Because according to their Canon law Dist 81. ca. Siquis What Christian soeuer will not obey the Popes precept euen to kill his Soueraigne and natiue King runnes into the sinne of Idolatry Heathenisme Especially the Bishops who 〈◊〉 etyed to the Pope by oath Aenae Sylnaus ad Mogunt That if they gaine-say the Pope though they speake the truth yet they sin against their oath made to the Pope Lastly De Rom. Pont. l. 4. cap. 5. because Bellarmine saith If the Pope should commaund vice or forbid vertue the Church were bound to belieue vertue to be euill and vice to be good BECAN Exam. Page 99 YOu cite out of Gratian Dist 81. cap. Si quis these vvords of the Pope If any will not obey our precept c. You have not read this chapter neither is the beginning of it Si quis but Si qui. Neither doth the Pope there decree that hee incurres the sinne of Idolatry who vvill not obey him in killing his nature King as you calumniate but the Priests and Deacons who after admonition will not abstaine from fornication and also they vvho will presume to heare those Priests and Deacons in their publique Ministery beeing interdicted to enter the Church Consult with the Canon and you shall find it Dr HARRIS Reply IHaue read that Canon ouer diligently more often
deede no other but for that some thinke one thing and some another and they cannot or rather will not finde out the certaine and true Iudge who can decide the matter And this is the property of Hereticks But heere obserue with mee in the last place the guilefull disposition of Becan Doctor Tooker pag. 23. affirmeth that Princes are aboue the persons and not the sacred things as the vvord Sacraments and spirituall graces of the Church adding in the same page Sole ipso c I vvill make it as cleare as the Sunne that the chiefe care of the Prince must be had for things and causes Ecclesiasticall and that their supremacy especially consisteth in the execution of that function From hence the Iesuit maketh this collection The King by confession of Doctor Tocker is not aboue some Ecclesiasticall things as the vvord and Sacraments therefore aboue no Ecclesiasticall things as are the controuersies of Bishops Against Doctor Tooker his expresse meaning in the same leafe BECAN Exam. Pag. 204. YOu say Haintic and Tooker doe not dissent heerein Richard I admire your impudencie Hainric saith Christian Princes commendably haue determined controuersies of faith Tooker saith Christian Kings are not Iudges of faith These are vtterly repugnant there in none so blinde vvho may not heere see a Iarre For if they be no Iudges how can they iudge And if coÌ„mendably they iudge matters of faith they must needes bee Iudges of faith It is certaine Hainric is of opinion that the King is supreme Iudge of faith amongst men in this life or vvhich is all one the supreme President of Councels GOD onely is absolutely the supreme Iudge or President of Councels Wee say The Pope amongst men is supreme Iudge You say The King or Emperour Dr. HARRIS Reply HEere is nought else but the empty froath of the selfe-same things reiterated Doctor Tooker saith The King is not supreme Iudge in controuersies of faith amongst men Hainric averreth the same Hainric saith Christian Kings laudably haue iudged and determined matters of faith Doctor Tooker knoweth and acknowledgeth the same Impudencie it selfe would hardly say there were any iarre heerin But the Iesuit cannot conceiue how one may commendably determine a controuersie in any matter vnlesse he were the onely supreme Iudge euery vvhere touching that matter As though Iames did not determine that controuersie of faith in the CouÌ„cell of Hierusalem Act. 15. v. 19. And yet the Iesuit will not permit Iames to be supreme Iudge in controuersies of faith As though Daniel did not commendably iudge determine the controuersie touching the chastitie of Susanna and yet Daniel was no supreme Iudge of womens continencies or incontinencies When in the first Nicen Councell the controuersie amongst the Bishops was Whether Bishops Priests Deacons or Subdeacons should sleepe vvith their wiues which they had maried before they were in orders And when the rest of those Fathers wold haue made a Canon prohibiting the vse of their wiues Paphnutius grounding himselfe vpon that in Scripture Mariage is honour able among all men and the bed vndefiled determined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The companie of man and vvife to be cleanenesse and chastitie And therevpon saith Sozomen Lib. 1. cap. 22. Paphnuij sententiam approbauit Concilium et de hac re nullam legemtulit sed eam in cuiusque arbitrio non in necessitate poni voluit The Councell approeued his sentence and would not make any such Canon but left it free to the choice of euery one of them And yet Paphnutius vvas no supreme Iudge of all such matters The Iesuit would disdaine to call Hosius Bishop of Corduba supreme Iudge in controuersies of faith yet Athanasius in his second Apology writeth thus of him In qua Synodo dux ille et Antesignanus non fuit Qua Ecclesia istius Praesidentiae non pulcherrima monumenta retinet In vvhat Councell hath not Hosius beeâ—e chiefe and President vvhat Church is vvithout some notable monuments of his Presidentship But why doth not the Iesuit answer vnto Socrates who writeth the very same that Hainric affirmeth herein and much more in the Proem to fift booke where hee hath these words Passim in historia Imperatorum mentionem propterea fecimus quod exillo tempore quo Christiani esse coeperunt Ecclesiaenegotia exillorum nutu pendere visa sunt atque adeo maxima Concilia de eorum sententia et conuocata fuerunt et adhuc conuocantur Therefore in this history haue we mentioned the Emperors because since they first became Christian the Churches affaires depended vpon them and the greatest Councels were and are assembled by their command Surely if to bee Presidents in those greatest Councels be all one as to be supreme Iudges of faith so the Iesuit heere would haue iâ— how can it be avoided but that Emperours were supreme Iudges in those controuersies handled in the said Councels and so in controuersies of faith for such controuersies vvere handled in them seeing that as that great learned man and Cardinall Cusanus in his book of Concord Lib. 3. chap. 16. writeth and he writeth as he sound it That Emperours or other Senatours vvere alwaies Presidents and had the Primacie in those said greatest Councels The Iesnit cannot deny but that Cusanus so writeth vvherefore then doth hee not shape Cusanus his aunswere VVherefore Because a man may as soone expect water out of a Flint-stone as any indicious learning or reading from this so vnlearned and shallow Iesuit If the Pope should be that vniuersall Bishop or supreme Iudge of còtrouersies in faith then as said Pope Gregory the great If he erre in the faith all the members of Christs Church then liuing must erre in the faith Then Hereticks Apostates from the faith and the principall Authors of that Apostasie that is Antichrists viz. Popes may be supreme Iudges of controuersies in faith Which is impious and absurd For as Lyra in Math. cap. 16. saith Constat c. It is certaine that many Popes haue beene Apostates from the faith Therefore we hold no man to be supreme Iudge in controuersies of faith because All men are lyers Therefore we say The Lord alone is supreame Iudge because as Augustine against Cresconius the Grammarian lib. 21. chap. 2. saith Dominus semper veraciter iudicat Ecclesiastici autemiudices sicut homines plerumque falluntur God iudgeth alwaies truly others euen Ecclesiasticall Iudges are most commonly deceiued BECAN Exam. Pag. 206 TOOker heerein followeth your King vvho in controuersies of faith sendeth euery man to his owne priuate conscience for so he vvriteth in his Praeface Monitotory Opto vt velitis I wish you would diligently read ouer the Scripture to take from thence the rule of faith and to place the foundation of your faith in your owne certaine knowledge and not in the vncertaine opinion of others Which is all one as if he had said There is no certaine iudge in the matter of faith but euery one is to rest in
following You profit nothing I vvill teach you once againe It casilie appeareth that you neuer saw either the Glosses or Canons Such Glossators out of England are of no estimation Who would not admire the insolency of this Iesuiticall Bragadochio obiecting ignorance to the incomparablie learned Bishop Iewel vnto whom in the indifferent iudgement of any equall and indicious Readers of the writings of them both Becane is not worthy to holde the candle or to carry his books after him This I thought meete gentle Reader to signifie vnto thee in generall because this trifling disputer in his whole discourse following about Citations dooth nothing else but misspende the time in such emptie sopperies As for this Citation in particular viz. Dist. 9. ca. Innocent The very truth is it was onely the fault of the Transcriber for those very words D. 9. ca. Innocent written I expuncted with mine owne hand before any Iesuiticall censure passed ouer them The matter comprised in the words which I cited viz. That all power is giuen to the Pope as vvell in heauen as in earth was a thing so well knowne to all papists of any reading and also acknowledged as an article of popish faith that for proofe thereof I set downe no Citation in the Margine of my booke But now least this vnlearned Iesuite hauing read so little as by all his writings may appeare in the Canon law or popish Councells or Canonists should imagine that no proofes of the said matter are to be found in them I will direct him for his schooling sake first to the Canon law Dist 22. ca. Omnes Where Pope Nicholas speaketh thus Christ himselfe alone founded the Romane Church and erected it vpon the rock of faith when he gaue to Peter clauiger of eternall life the rights of the Empire earthly and also heauenly What is this else but more plainely translated into English thus He gaue to Peter and consequently to the Pope all power in heauen and earth But it may be the Iesuite would faine see the place where the very words are written Therfore Secondly I doe direct him to the popish Councell of Lateran vnder Pope Leo the tenth in which Councell Stephanus the Bishop of Petracha spake thus openly with great applause In the Pope is all power aboue all powers as well in heauen as in earth Thirdly I direct him to the most famous Canonist Abbot Panormitan who super prima primi de Electione cap. Venerabilem verb. Transtulit writeth thus The Pope may vpon very great cause transferre the Empire from one nation to another because he can doe vvhatsoeuer God can doe otherwise Christ had not beene so diligent a father of his family if he had not lest one on earth in his place vvho can doe all things that Christ himselfe can doe By this it is plaine that as All power in heauen and earth was giuen to Christ So all power in heauen earth is giuen to the Pope And consequently it is as plaine that as Christ is God so the Pope is God For better vnderstanding of which consequent I send the Iesuite to that learned and iudicious yet popish Writer Marsilius Patauinus who relateth out of Bernard thus All things were giuen to Christ because he was the eternall Sonne of God And Christ doth challenge to himselfe all things by the right of creation and merit of redemption And vvhosoeuer takes these vnto himselfe makes himselfe indeede God 2. Thes 2.4 That is as Saint Paul describeth him the popish Antichrist sitting in the temple of God as God shewing himselfe that he is God or rather exalting himselfe aboue all that is called God or worshipped Which may better appeare by Becanes solution of these two Questions following First whether as to Christ and Pope All power is giuen in heauen and earth so both Christ and Pope haue one and the same name giuen to them viz. The name aboue euery name that at the name of the Pope Phil. 1.9 as at the name of lesus euery knee should bow of things in heauen in earth and vnder the earth Vnto this former questioÌ„ I suppose Becane would say Respondetur quod sic that is affirmatiuely because in his Examen pag. 133. he saith The Pope Peter was receiued into the fellowship of the name and dignity of the indiuiduall vnity or Godhead Then the second questioÌ„ goes further thus whether at the name yea at the feete of the Pope all should not doe more than bow the knee since the greatest Emperours must fall downe flatte with their faces on the ground to kisse his feete and with their necks stretched out must receiue and entertaine his feete trampling vpon them and lastly as it is challenged at this time must offer readily their throats to be cut at the Popes pleasure Before I leaue this Straine I must set downe that which the Glosse out of the foresaide Canon Omnes D. 22. inferreth viz. thus Argumentum quod Papa habet vlrumque gladium et spiritualâ—m et temporalem This argueth that the Pope hath both the swords Spirituall and Temporall Euen as the Canonists also thence gather the Popes supreme power temporall euen ouer the Empire to conferre it to vvhom he will and to transferre it whence and whither he will And so the Pope falleth into the iust condemnation of God and Confusion in heauen whereof we heard before out of Chrysostome Here two great mischiefes are necessarily inferred pat vpon the Popes head the former That he is that Antichrist and his Primacy Antichristian The later That the Pope by reason of that his Primacy lieth deepely plunged into hellish confusion And yet here the Iesuite Becane is as mute as a fish so miserable a desendour of the Pope is he even that Becane who in the Preface to his Examen wished that he might be the kings valiant Champion to desend his Cause Now surely his Maiestie should be maincly wel holden vp through his great store of ignorance more grosse then euer I perceiued in any Iesuite Writer whatsoeuer English Concord BEcame in his Iarre Question 3. demanded Whether the King by reason of his Primacy may be called Primate of the Church And I in my Concord demand Whether the Pope by reason of his Primacy Anton. de Rosellis may be called as popish Writers call him King of Kings and Lord of Lords For example Boniface 8. vvho in time of solemne supplications vvent apparelled right as the Emperour himselfe Crowned vvith a golden Crowne Caesar like glistering in an embroidered gowne and a naked sword carried before him at his commandement Can ye Vide vit Dond in Sexco ô Academicks for the Iesuite often speakes to you beholding this spectacle forbeare laughing Vnto this the Iesuite saith no more but as followeth BECAN Exam. YOu cite out of the life of Boniface 8. vvhich is in the sixt booke of the Decretals these words Boniface 8. In time of solemne â—pplication but falsery There is no such
Sedsi quis In the Extrauagants of Ioan. 22. De verborum significatione cap. Quia quorundam the Glosse citeth thus 56. Dist § his omnibus And thus 14. q. 1. § Quia ergo Whereas the first word of the Canon is Episcopus By these lectures as I suppose I haue schooled this Becane heerein suficiently but now falleth the Iesuit into a desperat case for he hauing found out the Canon he cannot find out these words Sitotus mundus c. I see I must take him to schooling once again and teach him where he shall find those very words syllables viz. in the Glosse verb. or § Neque ab omni clero The words of the Glosse are these Argumentum quod concilium non potest Papam iudicare vt extra de Elect significasti vnde sitotus mundus sententiaret in aliquo negotio contra Papam videtur quod sententiae Papae standumesset vt 24. q. 1. Hac est fides This argueth that the Councell cannot iudge the Pope Therefore if the whole vvorld should giue sentence in any matter against the Pope the Popes sentence must stand Now may the Iesuit run cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I haue found it and withall thanke the learned Bishop Iewell for his citing of the Canon viz. not by the first words of the Canon but by the words following whereby hee pointed as with his finger the Iesuit to the Glosse where those words are written BECAN Exam. Pag. 96. YOu cite out of the Glosse Dist 19 cap. Si Romanorum these vvords That which the Pope alloweth c. Therefore whosoeuer will not obey the stetutes of the Romane Church is to bee accounted an heretick But the Glosse hath not these later vvords they are added by you the new Glossator I know not of what account these new Glossators are in England I am sure out of England they are of none Dr. HARRIS Reply HEere againe this vnluckie Iesuit shewes naked his great ignorance when hee saith that those later words or the substance of them are not in the Canon law or Glosse but are of my Gloss hee would haue said Bishop Iewells Glosse Had not the Iesuit beene a very vnlearned man indeed the learned Bishop directing him to the Glosse verb. Reprobantur might haue taught him presently to haue found those later words or the very matter viz. That it is heresie wilfully to disobey or oppose the statutes of the Romane Church For in that very place the Glosse citeth 24. q. 1. cap. Haec est fides where S. Hierom is produced asserting That if any shall blame that quod Papae iudicio comprobatur vvhich the Pope alloweth se non atholicum sed haereticum comprobabit hee shall proue himselfe no Catholick but an haeretick The reason wherof the Iesuit may read Dist 22. cap. Omnes in these words Fidem violat qui aduersus Romanam Ecclesiam agit quae est mater fidei For he violates the faith vvho doth against the Romane Church the mother of saith It may be the simple Iesuit knoweth not that by their Canon law the Pope may make new Articles of faith through his statutes Let him therfore read Extra Ioan. 22. De verborum significatione cap. Cum inter nonnullos in Gloss and these words there Papa princeps Ecclesiae Christique Vicarius potest articulum fidei facere The Pope Prince of the vvorld and Christes Vicar can make new Articles of faith and there shall the Iesuit find this case put The Pope did newly in that Canon statuere ser it downe That Christ and his Apostles had some-what proper or in speciall After which it is there thus resolued That to assert obstinatly that Christ his Apostles had nothing in speciall in proprietie haereticuÌ„ fore censendum was to be accounted hereticall cum Decretalis exiâ—t after the Decretall had gone forth and not before I will put a few more cases to the Iesuit to make him vnderstand it better Admit the Pope as Nabuchodonoser did by his Image set vp at the lifting vp of his Idol the wafer cake which hath no moe eyes to see nor eares to hear nor hart to vnderstand then Nabuchodonosers Image had but wil sooner putrefie then his should commaund all Nations kindreds and people to fall downe and worship it and three were found as those three children who would not fall downe worship it should they not all three be reputed hereticks Admit that the Pope should statuere establish that Doctrine of Diuels 1. Timo. 4. verse 2. that is should forbid eating of flesh in the Lent as vnholie and one should as one did eate wilfully a pigge in Lent should not that one be as indeed he was burnt for an heretick Admit where Christ commaunded euen the lay people to read and search the Scriptures the Pope Iob. 5.39 contrary to Christ that is in one word Antichrist should forbid all laytie to read and search the Scripture and one layick should be found either reading the Scripture or carrying about him the Bible translated into his mother tongue should not such a one be estloones carried into the house of slaughter I meane the house of Inquisition whence commonly such neuer returne aliue Admit that the Pope contrary to the lawes of God and man the lawes of nature of Nations should statuere set it downe in his Briefes that what subiect soeuer should take the Oath of Allegiance but euen so far as to swear to maintaine and defend to his power the life of his Soueraigne against all forraine power should sweare against the Catholick faith and any one vvilfullie opposing that stature made by the Pope should take the Oath as law full should not hee goe for an heretick vnlesse the Pope dispensed with him to take it By these palpable instructions the Iesuit may learn that those later words afore-said were not my Glosse as hee saith of no value but the capitall Popish doctrine most pernicious to Kings and States Antichristian disloyall diabolicall By force vvhereof if the Pope as I said before should statuere set it downe that Becanus the Iesuit should goe into England to raise there sedition and rebellion to contriue and act a new GVNNE-POWDERTREASON wherin to fold vp in one suddaine destruction the King Queene Prince Nobility CoÌ„munalty Bishops Iudges c. as a thing meritorious and the Ieluite should wilfully refuse to doe it as a thing vnlawfull hee would be reputed and punished as an heretick although he should haue lost his life on earth and hangd his soule in hell by dooing it So farre extendeth their blind obedience Iesuiticall to the Statutes and authoritie Papall BECAN Exam. Pag. 97. OVt of another Glosse Dist 40. cap. Si Papa you cite these vvords It is a kind of sacriledge to dispute of the Popes fact But as vnfaith fully as before For the Glosse hath no such word or rather the contrary for thus it speaketh expresly If the Popes crime bee notorious and he
as a vertue it is presently good and the Church is bound in conscience to beleeue it to be good The like is to be said of Adulterie Incest Idolatrie Blasphemy VVhat needes now the Pope to dispence with these sinnes seeing that by his commanding of them to be done he makes them euen vertues That which Bellarmine affirmeth here to bee an absurditie and impossibilitie their great learned VVriters Schoolemen and Canonists as Ockam Cusan Antonin Sanders Turrecremata Zabarella Canus Alphonsus Hostiensis and Panormitan their Popish Councels as the 5. Roman vnder Symachus Councel of Basill yea the very Canon law Si Papa Dist. 40. grant and dogmatize to weet That the Pope may erre not onely in precepts of manners but more then so in doctrines of faith and also be an heretike Among the synodicall Epistles in the Councels of Basill thus wee read Many Popes are saide to haue fallen into errours and heresies It is certain that the Pope may erre The Councell hath often times condemned the Pope in respect as vvell of his heresie in faith as of his lewdnesse in life And touching the Canon law in this point Panormitan de Electio et Elect. potest ca. Significasti writeth thus The Councell may condemne the Pope of Heresie as in Dist. 40. Si Papa where it is saide that the Pope may be an heretike and may be iudged and condemned of Heresie VVho then could haue thought that Bellarmine would haue beene so shamelesse a flatterer of the Pope as to write that the Pope can not erre according to that of Alphonsus against Heresies Lib. 1. ca. 4. Non credo aliquem esse adeò impudentem Papae assentatorem vt ei tribuere hoc velit vt nec errare nec in interpretatione literarum sacraruÌ„ hallucinari possit I do not think that there is any one so impudent a flatterer of the Pope as to say he can not erre or be deceiued in interpretation of the Scripture To conclude I would learne of Bellarmine what answere he will make to this question of Erasmus writing vpon 1. Cor. chap. 7. thus If it be true which some assert That the Pope can neuer erre iudiciously vvhat vse is there of general Councells or of learned Diuines or Lawyers in those Councells vvherefore lyeth an appeale to the Councell or to the Pope himselfe better taught wherefore should there be any Vniuersities or any in them to busie or disquiet themselues in the questions of faith vvhen as all men may learne the certaine truth of one man onely how commeth it to passe that the decrees of one Pope are contrary to the decrees of another Pope And further I wil demaund why the Pope suffereth so many controuersies to be vndecided for example these three 1. Whether the Virgin Marie vvere conceiued without sinne or not 2. Whether the Popebe aboue a generall Councell or a generall Councell aboue the Pope 3. Whether the Pope haue supreme power in the Temporalls of all Princes Kings and Emperours Directly or Indirectly especially considering that the most learned Popish VVriters bitterly and irreconcileably dissent in these points This Iesuit Becane Page 101. in the winding vp of his most ignorantly-grosse and vniust censures of my false citations as he falsely speakes First tells me with a lying mouth and a brasen face that I neuer read the Authors which I haue cited But the Iesuit shall find feele by this Reply that I haue read and diligently perused them BECAN Exam. SEcondly That I may knovv if I haue read the history how that moe then 400 false citations were by Bishop Eureux noted to be in Plessaeus his booke of the Eucharist and that Plessaeus was publiquely coÌ„nicted of that crime before Henry 4 King of Fraunce Dr. HARRIS Reply I Read that story ouer in French from the beginning to the end partially written against Plessaeus wherein I find but 9 citations whereof Plessaeus and the Bishop disputed before the King Howsoeuer Plessaeus at that time daunted as may seeme by the Maiesticall presence of the King who had then forsaken the Orthodoxall faith which once hee for a long time professed and to his vttermost maintained and whom then notwithstanding outward shewes of indifferencie Plessaeus found indeed aduerse to him wholly addicted to his Aduersary did not so well iustifie those citations of his as either himselfe desired or his friends expected yet afterwards in his Booke printed he hath in particular maintained his said citations vnto the which booke I reâ—erre the Iesuit BECAN Exam. Page 102. THirdly Becane giues me his fatherhoods counsell to be warned by Plessaeus harms yet after his Iesuiticall lying manner he tells me withall That had my booke beene as large as that of Plessaeus vvhere there vvere 400. false citations in his booke according to the proportion there would haue beene in my booke a thousand Dr. HARRIS Reply THe learned Bishop did not tax Plessaeus his citations as this friuolous Iesuit doth mine for the ouersights of the Composer or Transcriber mistaking one syllable for another one word for another one name for another or one Canon for another so that the substance of the matter according to the meaning of the Author or truth it selfe were truly cited Which graue and learned course if Becane had kept with mee he should haue found none no not any one false citation of that kind as this Reply doth demonstrate wherein is iustified the very substance of all yea the very words and syllables almost of all the citations set downe in my booke of English Concord Therefore with strange impudencie doth this Iesuit say that my false citations in proportion would haue growne to a thousand as though none to none had any proportion Neuerthâ—lesse hereafter because this trifling Iesuit fowleth for feathers that is escapes in printing throgh the composer or Corrector I will be Corrector my selfe as my weighty busines will permit In the meane time gentle Reader vouchsafe to obserue what a warie course this Iesuit in his writings taketh duly proportioned to his very small learning and reading viz. to vse in a manner none or very few citations of any kind but onely to set downe with his penne whatsoeuer his empty braines conceiue After which course it were no hard thing to write a booke as large and as materiall as commonly his are euery weeke throughout the yeere one Now the Iesuiticall Syrts are past heereafter wee shall ride in the calme of apparant vniforme Concord touching the Kings Supremacie how soeuer this turbulent Iesuit like those restlesse wicked ones spoken of by Esay whose waters cast vp myre and durt endeuour to trouble the waters with the myre and durt of his Iesuiticall discord which by this Reply following is returned home and impacted vpon his owne face English Concord IN these Questions the Aduersaries dissent extreamely On the one side Augustinus Triumphus Aluarus Pelagius Hostiensis Panormitanus Syluester Henricus Gaudauensis Rodericus Sancius Alexander Alensis
it our of the Scriptures and Fathers as hath appeared but hevtterly denieth that either the King or Pope or any other but the Lord IESVS onely is Head of the Church in the Popish sense viz. such a Head by whom all the body boing coupled and knit together by euery ioynt for the furniture thereof Eph. 4. v. 16. according to the effectuall power which is in the measure of euery part receiueth increase of the body to the edifying of it selfe in loue For suchan Head Pope leo made Peter so him selfe Epist 89. and euery Pope writing of Peter as taken vpinto the fellowship of the Indiuiduall vnitie writing I say not onely of God inspiring but De inspirante Petro of Peter inspiring So that no good thing passeth from God the fountaine of all good things but by participation vvith Peter Asthough he were Emmanuell Such a Head as is also the Head of faith and therefore the author of faith because the head is the author and originall of all sense and motion which are deriued thence into the rest of the members Such a Head vvhose body is the vvhole Church Such a Head as is the rocke and foundation of the Church Such a Head of his Church as hee is the Bridegroome of his Church If the Church haue but two such Heads it cannot chuse but bee a monstrous bodie as the reuerend Bishop ineuitably hath concluded against the Church of Rome Where the Iesuit saith that Christ and the Pope are both of one kind and Christ and the King are of diuerse kinds I answere him that the King doth resemble Christ as Head much more then the Pope doth For both the Scriptures and ancient Fathers call Kings Heads of the Church and Viears of GOD within their Dominions but no Scripture or ancient Father for the space of fiue hundred yeeres at least after Christ called the Pope of Rome as by his proper Title either the Vicar of GOD or Head of the vniners all Church Heere is matter for Becane to worke vpon or rather a bone for Becane to gnaw vpon Yet our Kings Gods Vicars and Heads of the Church doe not take vpon them to bee Heads-Bridegroomes Heads-Rocks Heads-Foundations Heads-Authors of faith Heads-Originalls of all life sense and motion of the Church They rather detest from their soules the Luciferian and Antichristian pride of the Romish Bishoppe challenging to be such an Head of the Church But what will the Iesuit say to three Popes at onces Had the Church of Rome then but two Heads It were hard to iustle out Christ as no Head and it is no easie matter to shape one Head of three Popes and those Antipopes shoueled together Or vvere there so many Pope-Heads then quot sunt in Mitra Pontificia coronae as there be crownes in the Popes Mitre BECAN Exam. Pag. 131 YOu cite Clement asserting all to be subiect to the motion of the Papisticall head of the Church Why doe you not adde the place vvhere Clement saith so I thinke you neuer saw Clement You make too much hast And you perceiue not that you cite these vvords in preiudice of your King Because the vvords All are subiect to the motion of the Head signifie nothing but this that all are subiect to the commaund of their Superiours Dot you exempt anie from the gouernment and motion of your Head in England Peraduenture your selfe and such like Predicants Dr. HARRIS Reply I Did not imagine the ignorance of this Iesuit to haue beene such that when I had set down the expresse words of the Canon law so triuiall as being notoriously knowen by the meanest students of that law he could not haue readily found the place where those words are written But sith I see the case of his ignorance to be so pittiful I wil supply his want of skil Let him therfore turne to the Clementines of Pope Clement the 5. Title 3. De Haereticis cap. Ad vestrum and there vpon the Text-word Ecclesiae in the Glosse which is cited by the learnedst Canonists for good Canon law he shal find written these very words and sullables Omnes igitur sunt subiecti motioni illius Papae et sunt in illo quasi membra de membro de Elect. Significasti All are subiect to the motion of the Pope are in him as members of the member the Head Becane dare not deny this to be catholick and Canonicall popish-doctrine not withstanding it may be he further desireth to hear a Text-Canon of another Author of Canons touching this motion Papall the strange subiection thereunto For this let him turn to Dist 40. cap. Si Papa There shall he heare Boniface the Martyr vttering these Text Canonicall words If the Pope negligent of the saluation of his own sonle of others should draw with him by heapes innumerable people to be tortured with him by many plagues or hellish torments eternally they all must be so subiect to that his drawing motion that hee may not be rebuked of any of them for that motion Or admit the Popes motion were to forbid vertue to command vice then as saith Bellarmine the vvhole Church must be so subiect to that motion as to belieue that vice is good and vertue euill vnlesse they will sin against conscience Is not this lowly good infernall subiection Farre be it from any of vs to acknowledge any subiection to any such motions of our Kings or Queenes But why doth the Iesuit presume to tell the meaning of that Author whom as hee heere confesleth he knoweth not Let him learne more modestie heerafter and in the meane time knowe that for members to be subiect to the motion of their Head for example the Church of Rome to their Pope-Head is not onely to obey the commaund of their head as if the legges should moue when the head would haue them moue but to receine the vertue of motion from the head without which they cannot moue at all Hence it is that in great distemperatures of the head as Apoplexies or the like the members are void of all motion And so it fareth with the Church of Rome and their Pope-Head from whom as from their Head so saith their Canon euen their Head of faith GOD powreth out his gifts the gifts of motion into all the members Yet in such sort as that without partaking of the Pope-Head GOD saith Leo powreth no gift or grace into any member God for bidde wee should acknowledge the King to be such an Head of motion or wee bee subiect to any such motion His Maiestie detesteth any such claime and wee derest all such subiection So little is the King preiudicated by this quotation Touching the scornfully obiected exemption of our Predicants from the Kings command were your popish shauelings borne in England the Seminary Priests and Iesuits as loyall and obedient to the King as our English Preachers are the crown wold stand vpon the Kings head with more safety his subiects
Pag. 48. DIstinguish but the times as St. Augustine teacheth you namely the times of the Churches peace wherein raigned Christian Princes and the times of persecution wherin Pagan Kings had the Soueraignty and you shall rightly vnderstand the Scriptures Of the peaceable times of the Church so writeth Dr. Tooker pag. 42. It belonged to King Dauid Salomon Iehoshophat and Iosias to giue lawes to the Leuites and to the whole congregation of Israel And in the same place he writeth again of the times of persecution Erat Apostolorum omnium c. It vvas not one but all the Apostles which both called the Councell and decreed vvith like solemnity of these words Visumest Spiritui sancto et nobis It seemed good to the holy Ghost and to vs. Ma. Thomson speaking of this matter doth not denie that the lame Apostolicall law had any force without the fauour of Caesar as though there had neuer beene law in the Church vvithout the aforsaid approbation of the Emperour but onely that without it they had no force vnder paine of corporall punishment as is most plaine by the tenor of his vvords So that heere is no Iarre or dissension among the English Writers as hee affirmeth but onely a dreaming dorage of the Iesuit who childishly sporteth himselfe with a fallacy of Equinocation especially when hee endeuoureth to match in equall ranke the lawes and Canons of Bishops with the lacred decrees and Constitutions of the Apostles Well wrote Saint Augustine Dâ—Nâ—ur et Grana c. 61. I am bound to consent to the holy Scriptures of the which sort are the decrees of the Apostles without all refusall And in another place Iread other Writers Epist 19. ad Hiero. Dist 9. Egoâ—oht how much soeuer they excell in holinesse or learning so as I doe not therefore thinke it truth because they thought so but because they perswade mee by other canonicall Authors or by probable reasons not differing from truth And against Faustus Lib. 11. ca. 5. We must read this kind of learning such as are the writings of the holy Fathers and Doctors non cum credendi necessitate sed cum libertate iudicandi not as bound to belieue them but as free to iudge them And vnto this purpose he writeth in another place Neither vvill I obiect the Councell of Nice vnto thee Cont Maxinn l. 5. c. 14. neither must thou obiect the Councell of Ariminum vnto mee let matter vvith matter and reason dispute vvith reason out of the authorities of holy Scriptures The Iesuit I hope will not deny that all the Apostolicall Sanctions vvere giuen by Diuine Inspitation and dareth hee affirme so much of all Ecclesiasticall Canons of Bishoppes yea though the Popes Holinesse haue breathed vpon them yea of the Councell of Trent Against which the Embassadours of the French King Anno 1562 who was there present protested in this manner Minus legitima minusque libera c. All those Councells vvere euer accounted lesse free and therefore not so lavvfull vvhen they vvho vvere assembled not ledde by the holy Ghost spake after the pleasure of some other to vveet the Pope And the Vniuersitie of Paris Anno 1517. in their appeale against Pope Leo the tenth and his Councell assembled at Rome wrote in this sort Leo Papa dicimus in quodam coetu c. Leo the tenth in a certaine Assembly in the Citie of Rome vvee knovve not hovv gathered together yet vve are sure not in the holy Ghost And is Becane the Iesuit ignorant in what pleasant manner Cardinall Cusan brake this iest vpon Eugenius the Pope saying De còcord lib. 2. ca. 20. Hovv can Pope Eugenius affirme this thing to be true because hee vvill haue it so and for no other cause Ac si inspiratio ipsius Sancti spiritus c. As if the mind of the holy Ghost vvere in the power of the Bishop of Rome and must then inspire vvhen the Pope vvill have him inspire To conclude this Question I desire the Iesuit Becane in the behalfe of Ma. Thomson to yeeld a sound reason wherefore the Bishops in the first Councell of Constantinople did in this humble manner entreat Theodosius the Emperour Rogamus clementiam c. Wee beseech your clemency that by the letters Patents of your Piety you vvould confirme and cause to be ratified the decree of this Councell BECAN Exam. Page 162 THe Apostles by diuine right might make lawes Which right cannot be proued to haue bin transtated froÌ„ them to Kings or Emperours but to Bishops successours of the Apostles with whom as with the Apostles the Spirit of truth remaineth for euer Therefore the Bishoppes and their Lawes or Canons euen in England are no lesse diuinely inspired then the Apostles or their Lawes or Canons Apostolicall Which if you deny the Arch-bishop of Cauterbury or certainely the Bishop of Ely will cause you to be punished therefore You are abasht to speake any thing of King Henry 8. his law touching the lawfull marriages in degrees not prohthited which carnall knowledge followed Dr. HARRIS Reply VVHat modest Hearer will not be abashed and what Christian heart will not tremble to heare these blasphemies vttered by the Iesuite The Apostles were Gods chosen pen-men to write the Scripture as they were immediately mooued by the Spirit of God 2. Pet. 2.19 21 without possibility of error They were Gods immediate instruments either joyntly in Councell or singularly alone to set downe Lawes and Canons Essentiall parts of that Scripture wherof we read thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 3.16 1. cor 15.15 The whole Scripture is gluen by inspiration of God The Apostles were such chosen witnesses to testifie Gods truth Gal. 3.8 that if an Angel from heauen should testifie otherwise than they did he must be accursed Are all Bishoppes or any one two three c. Gods immediate pen-man to write portions of holie Canonical Scripture Are all the Lawes and Canons made by Bishops in all Councells essentiall parts of Canonicall Scripture giuen by inspiration of God Are all Bishops God immediate chosen witnesses to testifie the truth so without all possibility of falshood that the Churches faith should depend thereon so sure that if an Angell of heauen testifie other wise then they haue preached or written he should be accursed Then must writings testimonies and lawes hereticall go for Scripture Canonical and so Diuine Scripture must be hereticall Is not this blasphemy And this necessarily followeth from the Iesuite his premisses here to weet That all Bishops and the lawes and Canons in Councells and other writings made by Bishops are and were inspired by the spirit of truth without errour as the Apostles and their Canons and writings were Ten seucrall prouinciall Synods gaue consent with the Arian Heretikes And whereas in the first and most famous generall Councell of Nice which maintained or thodoxally Christ his God-head there were but three hundred and eighteene Bishops In the hereticall
key hee open to the Pope that is remit his sinne then heab solueth the Pope For wherefore is one excommunicated but because his sinnes are bound wherefore is one absolued but because his sinnes are remitted If it bee not in respect thereof the King may be said to haue power to excoÌ„municate that is to say to keep men from the Communion viz. when he committeth some to close prison where neither any can speake to them nor they to any Now therefore if the Priest may be the cause of the cause that is if hee can binde the Popes sinnes vvhy may he not be the cause of the effect that is why may he not excommunicate the Pope or which with S. Paul is all one deliuer him to Sathan According to that of Saint Hierome to Heliodore of the Eremiticall life God for bid that I should speak any euill of those who succeeding the Apostolike degree make the body of Christ vvith their sacred mouth vvho hauing the keyes of the kingdome of heauen in sort iudge before the day of Iudgement It is not lawfull for mee to sit before a Priest hee may if I sinne deliuer mee to Sathan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saued And so Saint Rasil of the solitarie life cha 23. Peter inquit Amas me c. Christ said vnto Peter Louest thou mee Feed my sheep And in like sort vnto all Pastors and Doctors hee gaue the same power A token vvhereof is this that all binde and loose equally as vvell as Peter If euery Pastor and Doctor binde and loose equally as well as Peter vvhy not in Court exteriour as well as Peter sith the sheep are committed vnto them as well as vnto Peter The Minor Proposition I also deny heere as I did in the English Concord That is I deny that any Bishoppe hath power to throwe the King out of the Church or to excommunicate him according to canonicall excommunication so properly called and defined And further I denied that the supposed excommunication of Theodosius by Ambrose was canonicall excommunication yeelding there some reasons thereof Whereunto though very materiall this silly Iesuit answereth not one word and yet with Iesuiticall that is with brasen face is bold to set before thee Christian Reader his loathsome Coleworts twise yea thrise sodden ⧠Becans Iarre XI Question Whether the King may be Iudge of all Controuersies in the Church 1. COntrouersies that arise in the Church are of two sorts some are about faith and Religion others are concerning Ecclesiasticall affaires The former of these questions then is Whether the King by vertue of his Primacy bee supreame Iudge of all Controuersies vvhich pertaine vnto faith and Religion Maister Salclebridge saith be is pag. 163. in these vvords Sic luce clarius est Christianos Principes cum laude Controuersias fidei dijudicasse diremisse etiam in vniuersalibus octo Concilijs c. So as it is more cleare then the Sunne that Christian Princes vvith praise haue iudged of and decided controuersies of faith and that in eight Generall Councells c. Which is as much to say in the first of Nice the first of Constantinople that of Ephesus Chalcedon the second third and fourth of Constantinople and the second of Nice vvherein diuerse controuersies concerning matters of faith vvere iudged of and decided especially cuncerning the diuinitis of Christ against the Hereticke Arius of the diuinitie of the holy Ghost against Macedonius of one person of Christ against Nestorius of two Natures in Christ against Eutiches and Dioscorus and so of others All these Controuersies saith Maister Saclebridge were iudged of and decided by Kings and Emperours 2. Maister Tooker now hee affirmeth the quite contrarie vvho by no meanes vvill haue Kings or Emperours to bee Iudges of Controuersies of faith For thus hee vvriteth pag. 3. of his books Olere autem malitiam ac clamitare audaciam tuam illud videtur cùm Regem caput Ecelesiae Primatemque confingas omniumque causarum controuersiarum quae ad sidem Religionem pertinent iudicem tribuas It may seeme to sauour of malice cry out vpon your sausinesse vvhen as you faine the King to be head of the Church Iudge of all causes and controuersies vvhich pertaine vnto faith and Religion c. And againe pag. 50. Rexin suo Regno omnibus superior sit nullisubditus Fidei iudex no appelletur quidem Although the King in his owne Kingdome be aboue all subiect to none yet hee may not be called in any case the Iadge of our Faith c. And pag. 313. Reges Christiani non sunt fidei ac Religionis Iudices Christian Kings are not Iudges of faith and Religion 3. So as if now in England there should chaunce to arise a dissension or debate concerning any point of Faith or Religion as for Example concerning the reall presence of Christ in the Eucharist vvhat should your Academicks heere do To vvhom should your Cittizens and the rest of the subiects haue recourse Should they goe vnto the King as Iudge in this point and aske his sentence determination Maister Tooker you see vvould not goe to the King What should they goe to some other Iudge then But Maister Salclebridge hee vvill admit no other What then vvere best to bee done in this case Truly euen that vvhich hitherto hath been done in the debate of the Kings supremacy to vvit alwaies to braule and iarre thereabout and neuer end the controuersie And vvhat 's the cause In very deede no other but for that some thinke one thing some another and they cannot or rather vvill not finde out the certaine and true Iudge vvho can decide the matter And this is the propertie of hereticks 4. The other Question is Whether the King be Iudge of all Controuersies that concerne other Ecclesiasticall affaires Maister Salclebridge saith that hee is pag. 165. in these vvords Audin ' Controuersias Episcopales ab Imperatore diremptas Doe you not heare Sir that Episcopall Controuersies haue been decided by Emperours c. is hat Ma. Tooker thinketh of this point is not vvell knowne For sometimes hee affirmes it as for example pg. 24 thus Nemini dubiuÌ„ est quin in Primitiua Ecclesia de rebus personis Ecclesiasticis â—us dicerent Imperatores No man can doub but that in the Primitiue Church Emperours iudged of matters and persons Ecclesiasticall c. And yet pag. 23. hee seemeth to deny it Non est Princeps supra res sed supra personas The Prince saith he is not aboue the matters but abone the persons c. And then againe pag. 49. Rex in suo Regno supremus est non supra res sed supra homines The King in his owne Kingdome is the chiefe or principall but yet not chiefe ouer things but ouer men And thus you see euery vvhere nothing but iarring and disagreement English Concord BOth Doctor Tooker and Hainric deny the King to be supreme Iudge in
controuersies of faith but in other controuersies both of them agree that Christian Emperours haue giuen iudgement vpon Ecclesiasticall persons in Ecclesiasticall matters Heere then you see is no Iarre but a full and perfect concord Wherein the Iesuit is taken guilty of a double falsehood First when hee blusheth not to write that Hainric affirmeth the King by vertue of his supremacie is supreme Iudge of all controuersies when on the cōtrary he deemeth no mortall man nor King nor Angel can be that supreme Iudge nor Saint Peter according to that It seemed good vnto the holy Ghost and to vs and least of all the Pope of Rome Lastly hee constantly denieth that any one of the Fathers euer numbred this dignity of beeing supreme Iudge of controuersies among the other duties of Primate of the Church or Ecclesiasticall supremacie Secondly though Becan saith Hic vhique dissidium nothing but iarring yet in good sooth that Christian Princes haue with commendation iudged taken vp controuersies of faith out of these words of Socrates Lib. 5. cap. 10. Theodosius called together a Councell of all Sects and vvhen the Emperour vnderstood their manifold dissensions hee commaunded them that euery of their Sects should put in vvriting the particular articles of their seuerall faith They put their opinions in vvriting accordingly Then when they vvere sent for to the Court the Bishoppes of each Sect appeared and met together the Emperour taketh at their hands the vvritten scroules of their faith Afterward he shutteth vp himselfe in his Closet alone and most earnestly maketh prayer to GOD that his Maiestie vvould helpe him to finde out the truth Lastly hee readeth euery confession seuerally and hauing read them be condemneth and teareth them all except the faith of the Consubstantiall that hee praised and approoued not onely Hainric but before him Ma. Doctor Bilson the most graue learned Bishop of Winchester in his book of Christian obedience printed at London Anno 1586. and before him that most excellently learned Iuell Bb. of Salisbury Part. 6. cap. 13. Diuis 2. Pag. 524. in the defence of his Latine Apologie gathered the same doctrine and concluded the same opinion the words are these pag. 172. in the Apology Theodosius Imperator vt ait Socrates c. The Emperour Theodosius as Socrates vvriteth did not onely sit among the Bishops but was also chiefe at the decision of the controuersie and did rend in peeces the vvritings of the Haereticks approouing the faith of the true professing Catholicks That which Hainric writeth heere of the controuersies of faith remembred by the Iesuit in the foure first generall Councells as for the second Councell of Nice it was rather a godlesse and trifling conspiracy then a Councell wherein Emperours sate Presidents and together with the consent of the Synod gaue iudgements and concluded those differences that did also Bishop Iuell write long before him Part. b. cap. 13. b. 1. Pag. 522. out of Cardinall Cusanus in his third booke De Concordia cap. 16. whom we will sooner belieue then tenne thousand Becans the words are these Sciendum est quod in vniuersalibus octo concilys semper invenio Imperatores c. This you must knowe that in the first eight generall Councells I alwaies find that the Emperours and their substitutes with the Senate had the supremacie and office of Presidentship and vvith the consent of the Synode gaue the iudgements and decisions Now Sir I pray you what other thing is this then to iudge and take vp controuersies of faith and yet the Iesuit turnes Iester in this so serious a matter as if the gods of his societie had giuen him some great aduantage saying vpon his former weake inferences So as if in England there should chaunce to arise a debate c. And I will follow his steppes and turne his owne tearms vpon him in this manner So as if in Rome there should chaunce to arise a dissension or debate about any point of faith as for example about the Popes supremacie or which is all one his beeing vniuersall Bishoppe what would the Academicall Fathers of the societie of IESVS doe vvho haue suppressed the Sorbonists What would the people of Rome doe or other the Popes subiects Should they goe to Pope Paul the fift as their onelle Iudge and desire his sentence determination why then Pope Gregory the great a farre wiser man vvill stand against it Should they goe and desire any other Iudge to take vp the matter Surely Bellarmine wil not endure that What were then best to be done in this case Euen that which hither to hath beene done in the debate of the Popes supremacy For the Papists haue euer beene at odds and iarred and could neuer end this controuersie And what 's the cause In very deed no other but for that some thinke one thing and some another and they cannot or rather will not finde out the certaine and true Iudge who can decide the matter And this is the property of hereticks Againe I will touch Becane in one instance more neerely If there chaunce to arise a controuersie about this point or article of the Popes religion An sides haereticis seruanda Whether promise must be kept with hereticks what will the Academicall Fathers of the societie doe Will they goe to Pope Paul the fift Becane will not like of that Will they goe to any other Iudge Barronius will not endure it no nor Ignatius Loyola the Syre of all the Iesuits who first inuented the Art of Equiuocation and so the breach of faith if hee were aliue Heere I might boinfinite but I will confine my selfe in one or two examples If it chance a dissension or debate to arise about the body of Christ in the Eucharist as whether it may be broken or chewed with the teeth of them that care it according to the Decree Part. 3. dist 2. cap. 42. What would the Romane Catholicks doe in this case Would they repaire to Pope Paul the fist as Iudge of this controuersie Berengarius in his Recantation hath giuen warning to the contrary Would they goe to Pope Nicholas Bellarmine will not allow of him vvho in his third booke and tenth chapter of this Sacrament of the Eucharist vvriteth Christus vere in Sacramento existit sed non teritur non roditur Christ is trulie in the Sacrament but hee is neither bitten nor chewed To conclude if there arise a dissension at Rome about the Reall presence as for example Whether Christs body be really present but without bignesse as Durand holdeth in 4. Dist 10. q. 2. or with greatnesse but vvithout distinction of parts as Decam in 4. q. 4. and thirdly with bignesse and all distinct parts as Bellarmine Lib. 3. cap. 5. De Euchar. what were then best to be done in this case For the Papists are alwaies at odds iarre about the corporall presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the strife can neuer be taken vp What 's the cause In very
faith Touching the Reall presence there is no discord amongst vs but therein are discords endlesse amongst the Papists as in the other points heere mentioned though this Iesuit with brasen face deny the same If any man hauing an honest and good hart doubt in any matter of faith our King hath heere put that man in the King of heauen his high way to put him our of doubt viz. by sending him to the Law Esay 8. and to the Gospell Thirther flie wee and not to our King in controuersies of faith But miserable Papists who leaue the law Gospell as dead Inke whither should they flie in their controuersies of faith To the Pope belike as the Thomists and Scotists did The case was this There fell out betweene those two Sects this odious quarrell Whether the Virgine Mary were conceiued in sinne or no. The one side said yea The other faction cried nay Their factions encreased the Schooles were enflamed the world troubled No Doctor no Coucell was able to accord them The Scotists alleaged for themselues the Councell of Basil The Thomists said that Councell was disorderly summoned and therefore vnlawfull In the midds of these broyles Pope Sixtus tooke vpon him as supreme Iudge to determine that controuersie in faith between them When all the world expected his resolution desirous to bee satisfied in that question The Pope commaunded both the Thomists and the Scotists to depart home and to dispute no more of that matter and so left them as doubtfull as he found them Could not a Supreme Iudge made of clowts haue done the office of a supreme Iudge therein as vvell as Pope Sixtus that is to say haue done iust nothing Lastly whereas this trifling Sophister framing his childish argument Papist Writers iarre in many points Therefore English Writers iarre not in the poynt of their Kings Primacy vpon the anvile of his owne fantasie onely and so framed would father it vpon mee let his fatherhood learne by this reply that my onely scope therein was in vrging him to the quick by those obiected iarres as it were by so many incisions of his Basilica vaine to giue a vent vnto that falt fierie scoffing humour of his at our seeming iarrs which in his plethorick body was so redundant and put◠ifying in him As also to giue him to vnderstand how pat those words of our Sauiour Christ fall vpon his head Math. 7. v-5 viz. Hypocrite first cast out the beame out of thine owne eye and then shalt thou see cleerely to cast out the mote out of thy brothers eye Their Popish Iarres are Beame-Iarres our English seeming Iarres are lesse then Mote-Iarres In truth they are no Iarres at all but true Concords And thus is his froath once againe scattered to nothing ⧠Becans Iarre XII Question Whence and by vvhat Title hath the King his Primacie in the Church 1. THe sense heereof is Whether the King precisely in that hee is a Christian King hath the Primacy of the Church The former part of this point Ma. Thomson seemeth to approoue pag 78. where he saith Omnes Principes etiam Pagani obiectiuè habent supreman potestatem in omnes omnino personas suorū subditorum generatim in res ipsas siue ciuiles sint siue sacrae vt in cultu diuino Religione procuranda saltem quoad modum exercitium All Princes yea euen those that bee Pagans haue for the obiect of their supreme power all manner of persons that be their subiects and generally all things vvhether ciuill or sacred as in advauncing Gods honour Religion at least-wise so farre forth as belongeth to the manner and exercise thereof c. And then againe pag. 94. Primatus est Regium bonum quod Censurâ tolli non potest Nec est absurdum Regem velut Ethnicum esse Primatem Ecolesiae Primacy is a certaine Kingly right that cannot bee taken away by censures Nor is it absurd that a King as he is an Ethnicke be Primate of the Church c. And yet further in the same place Rex Ethnicus cum Christo initiatur non acquirit Primatú de nouo An Ethnicke King saith hee vvhen as hee is instructed in Christ or the Christian faith doth not purchase any new primacie c. To whom consenteth Ma. Burhill pag. 251. thus Rex titulo Registemporalis potest sibi vindicare assumere Primatum Ecclesiae A King by the title of a temporall King may claime vnto himselfe and take vpon him the Primacie of the Church c. And pag. 267. Rex etsi iustissimè excommunicatus non amittit Primatum in rebus Ecclesiasticis A King although he be most iustly excommunicated yet doth he not loose his Primacy in Ecclesiasticall matters c. 2. My L. of Ely now he teacheth vs a quite contrary lesson in his Tortura Torti pa. 39. where he averreth that the Primacie of the Church doth belong to the King not because hee is a King but because hee is a Christian King and therfore Ethnick Kings haue no Primacy in the Church so long as they remaine Ethnicks but doe then receiue the said Primacy when they are made Christians and loose the same againe also when they be excommunicated His vvords are these An non Regi Ethnico praestare fidem fas Imo nefas non praestare In Ethnico enim est vera potestas temporalis idque sine ordine ad potestarem Ecclesiasticam Is it not lawfull then to yield Allegiance to an Ethnicke King Nay rather not to yield it is a vvickednes For in an Ethnicke there is true temporall power and that vvithout respect to Ecclesiasticall power c. And a little after Rex quiuiscùm de Ethnico Christianus fit non perdit terrenum ius sed acquitit ius nouum Itidem cùm de Christiano sit sicut Ethnicus vigoresententiae amitut nouum ius quod acquisierat sed retinet terrenum ius in temporalibus quod suerat illi proprium priusquam Christianus fieret c. Euery King when as of an Ethnicke he becommeth a Christian dooth not loose his earthly right but getteth a nevv right And so in like manner vvhen as of a Christian hee becommeth as an Ethnicke to wit by excommunication then by vigour of the sentence hee looseth that nevv right vvhich he had gotten but yet notwithstanding he still retaineth his earthly right intemporall things vvhich vvas proper vnto him before he became a Christian c. 3. So as according to the opinion of Ma. Thomson and Ma. Buthill it followeth that all Kings vvhether Christians or Ethnicks or of vvhatsoeuer other Sect or Religion they bee are Primates of the Church in their owne Kingdoms Therefore all Englishmen and Scots vvho liue at Constantinople are by their sentence subiect to the Turke in Ecclesiastical matters as also they that liue in Spaine are subiect to King Philip and they at Rome to the Pope so to others in other places What now shall these men doe
if the Turke should commaund them to follow the Alcoran The King of Spaine force them to heare Masse The Pope to pray for the dead and some heathen King perhaps compell them to Idolatry Shall they then obey these Princes commaund But then should they doe against their consciences Shall they refuse to obey Then farewell Primacie of the Church Perhaps they vvill aunswere that they vvill obey vvhen they thinke good Shall therefore subiects be Iudges of their King May then the Catholicks in England say after this manner If it please your Maiestie in this point we think good to obey your Maiesties commaund but in that not English Concord IN this place either the Iesuit is beside himselfe or else hee hath much forgot himselfe For euery where in his other Questions hee affir meth that no King either Pagan or Christian hath any Primacy in the Church and yet heere hee enquireth from whence and by what title hee hath his Primacie in the Church Therefore by his owne learning hee beateth his braines to find the originall of nothing If he take away this supposition that the King hath a Primacie in the Church either precisely as hee is a King or else because hee is a Christian King hee is a foolish Sophister For his dispute runnes not thus The King if he haue Primacy of the Church he hath it either as he is a King or as a Christian King but hee hath it in neither of the said two respects therefore hee hath it not at all If hee let that supposition stand then because it is manifest that our most gracious King Iames is by birth a King and by religion a Christian King he is a brainsick wrangler For sith by his supposall heere The King hath the Primacie of the Church vvhat matter is it whether he haue it as hee is a King or as hee is a Christian King if so bee he haue it at all Wherefore there is no cause that we should much stand vpon this idle and beggerly question wherein is onely a shadow of a question Furhermore I would haue the Iesuit vnderstand that this Primacie of the Church hee standeth vpon is not deriued from the title of a King but from God himselfe For Moses was adorned with this dignitie in the Church of Israel And yet we neuer read that hee was stiled with the title of a King But certainly that you may knowe heere is no iarre or odds among vs respecting the maine the worthy Bishop of Ely in his Tortura pag. 377. hath soundly and according to the very truth manifested That the Primacie of the Church belongeth not to Ethnicke Kings as Ethnick but vnto Kings as they are Christian Kings or Defenders of the Diuine truth His words are these Et sunt ista quidem ex Testamento veteri satis solida fundamenta non quod ad reges infideles Primatum pertinere probent c. And those things before related out of the old Testament are so solid and substantiall grounds as Tortus shall neuer bee able to shake Not that they proue this Primacie of the Church to belong to Pagan Kings no surely wee in the new Testament giue no more vnto such Princes then vvas giuen in the old vnto Ahasucrus and Nabuchodonosor Wherfore in this point Tortus is beside himselfe but yet if Caesar become a Christian as in Constantine then presently he hath the same right ouer the Church of the new Testament vvhich Iosias had in the old Reditus statim fit ad iura regum Israel there is a present possession of the ancient rights of the Kings of Israel as soone as euer they are made Kings of the Israel of God giuen vp their names to Christ. Wherefore this is not our purpose that the Persecuters of the Church such as vvere Cains and Tiberius should be the Gouernours of the Church vvho would not receiue that title although a man would giue it them because they employ their vvhole strength to ruine and roote vp the Church but let them then take superiority in the Church vvhen they are vnfainedlie converted to the faith thereof There are due to Caesar the things of Caesar and there belong to the Christian Caesar vvhatsoeuer duties vnder the old Law were either payd or payable by the people of God to their Kings vnto vvhom were then due and yielded all manner of subiection and obedience not onely in the affaires of the couill state but also of the Church These things so expressed are very true and fitting our purpose for in them we haue learned that Pagan Kings as they are Pagans haue no Primacie in the Church But what if almighty God so guide and gouern the hearts of Pagan Kings as that they would stand for the worship of God against error and make lawes for the same let the Iesuit tell mee in that case vvhether God doth not hinde our cōscience to obey pagan Princes And let him take heed how he deny it least Bellarmine fall on his Iack for it because he hath resolued the matter in the very same words De pont Rom. lib. 5. cap. 2. But yet if he doubt lot him resort to Saint Augustine in his 166. Epistle to the Donatists who writeth on this manner Quando Imperatores veritatem tenent c. When Emperours stand for the truth and giue out a commaundement for the same against errour vvhosoeuer shal despise the same encreaseth his owne damnation For euen among men hee suffereth punishment but before God hee shall not dare to appeare vvhich refuseth to doe that which truth it selfe commaundeth by the hart of the King And according to this opinion our reuerend B. in his Tortura Torti pag. 381. most truly writeth Quodcunque in rebus religionis c. Whatsoeuer the Kings of Israel did in matters of religion neither did they anything vvithout commendation vvherein they had power authority to enact Lawes as that GOD should not be blasphemed vvhich you will not deny the King of Babel also did Dan. 3.29 And the King of Nineuch Ionas 3.7 that vvith a publique proclaimed fast God almightie might bee satisfied Andaccording to this sentence wrote Saint Augustine many yeares before him in his 50. Epist to Bonifacius the Souldiour Sed illud propheticum iam impletur Psal 2. Et nunc reges seruite domino in timore c. But now is the propheticall Oracle fulfilled vvhich speaketh in the 2. Psalm Now ô yce Kings serue the Lord in feare And how shall Kings scrue the Lord in feare vnlesse they prohibite and punish those enormities with religious seueritie and iustice vvhich are daily committed against the Lords will and commaundement And because hee is a King he serueth as a seruant by making Lawes vvith force and vigour to commaund things that are righteous and to forbid the contrarie Euen as Ezekias serued by destroying the Temples of Idols and cutting downe the groues Euen as King losias serued by dooing the like Euen as the King of
successors in their kingdoms The first Kings that ruled after the dinision of the kingdome made were Ieroboam King of Israel Roboam King of Iuda In either Kingdom were Priests and Leuits But the high or Chiefe Priest could not resid-in both kingdoms but onely in one and that ordinarily in Iuda yet not withstanding hee was Head of all the Prusts and Leuites that remained in both Kindoms Neither could Ieroboam lawfully say vnto his Priests and Leuites You shall not obey the High Priest that resideth in the Kingdom of Iuda but you shall obey me onely for you are exempted from his iurisdiction and power c. And though he shold haue so said yet no doubt but he had offended If now King Ieroboam could not exempt the Priests and Leuites of his ovvnâ— Kingdome from the Iurisdiction and Power of a sorraine High Priest by vvhat right then doth now King Iames of England doe the same especially seeing hee anerroth that hee claimeth no more right or inrisdiction vnto himselfe oner the Church then the Kings of the old Testament did The Conclusion 1. ALL then that hath beene hither to said may be reduced into three heads The first is that the Kings Primacie in the Church is a nevv thing and first brought in by King Henty the eight nor hitherto hath beene beard of or vsurped in any other place then onely in the Kingdome of England The second is that there be so manie Iarres and disagrements of the English Ministry among them selues concerning this Primacy that it is not manifest nor certaine what the said Primacy is nor what sorce and authority the same hath The third that the Oath of this Primacy can neither be exacted by the King nor may the subtects take the same 2. Heerehence three other questions which might bee made concerning the Subiects will easily be solued There be 3. sorts of Subiects in England The sirst as some call them are Henricians vvho both acknowledge and sweare vnto this Kingly Supremacy The second sort are Puritans orpure Calumists who indeed doe not acknowledge the said Supremacy but yet doe sweare thervnto The third are Catholicks which neither acknowledge it nor will sweare it 3. The first question then is What may bee said of these Henricians vvhich both acknowledge and swear to the Kings Supremacy I aunswer that they doe vnwisely and inconsideratly The reason is Because it is folly and rashâ—es as before I haue said to sweare a thing that is doubt full vncertaine But the Primacy of the King is a thing altogether doubtfull and vncertaine amongst the Henricians as is manifest by their iarres and dissentions which hither to we haue shexed Ergo to sweare to such a Supremacy is both folly and rashnes 4. The second question is What may be said of the Puritans or pure Caluinists who doe not indeed acknowledge the Kings Primacy and yet if they be commaunded doe sweare thereto I answer that they are periured persons and Politicians The reason is Because they belieâ—c one thing and sweare another They beliene with Caluin that neither Kings nor secular Princes haue any Primacy in spirituall and Ecclesiasticall matters but onely in temporall yet neuerthelesse they sweare Allegiance vnto the King together with the foresaid Henricians as to the Primate and supreme Head of the Church and this they doe to make an externall and politicall peace vvhich is more esteemed by them then their faith and Religion and therefore they are rather to be called Politicks then Christians Of whom his Maiestie gaue a most vvorthy testimonie in his Preface Monitory to wit That hee had found more truth and honesâ—ie in the high-land and bordering theenes then in that sort of people 5. The third question is what may bee said of Catholicks vvho neither acknowledge the Kings Primacy nor swcar thereto I answere that they be inst vpright men vvho walke before God in truth veritie They be sincere who professe with their month that vvhich they thinke in their bart They are wise indeed who with good Eleazarus had rather die then consent to any vnlaw full thing no not so much as in outward shew They be like vnto the Apostles vvho endeauour to obey God rather then men They be like vnto the Martyrs of the Primitine Church vvho freely professe themselues before the persecutors to be such as indeed they are 6. But you vvill say they be miserable For if they refuse the Oath they are forced to vndergoe impresonments torments punishments Truely they are not therefore miserable but most happy For so dâ—d our Sauiour teach vs in the Gospell Math. 5. 10. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for â—ustice for theirs is the kingdome of heanen But then you will say It is a hard thing to suffer How is that hard which is done with â—oy and delight Heare what is said of the Apostles Act. 5. 41. And they went from the sight of the Councell reioycing because they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the Name of Iesus Heare what the Apostle saith of himselfe 2. Cor. 4. Superabundo gaudio in omâ—i tribulatione nostra I exceedingly reioyce in all our tribulations 7. And from vvhence commeth this ioy Truly froÌ„ a twofold gift of the holy Ghost to wit Hope and Charity Hope of future glory that maketh vs ioâ— full and full of comfort in all adnersities Rom. 8. 18. The sufferings of these times are not condigne to the foture glory that shall bee renealed in vs. And againe Rom. 12. 12. Reioycing in hope and patient in tribulation And Heb. 10. 34. The spoyle of your owne goods you tooke with ioy knowing that you haue a better and a permanent substance Do not ther fore leese your confidence which hath a great reward For patience is necessary for you that dooing the will of God you may receiue the promise c. 8. Nor is the force of Charitie lesse Rom. 8. 35. VVho then shall separate vs from the Charitie of Christ Tribulation or distresse or famine or nakednes or danger or persecution or the sword c. But in all these things we onercome because of him that hath loâ—ed vs. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor Angells nor Principalities nor Powers neither things present nor things to come neither might nor height nor depth nor other creature shall be able to separate vs from the Charitie of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord c. 9. Heereto belong the examples of Christ of other Saints vvhich haue great force and efficacy to stirre vp and streng then the harts of Catholicks to suffer patiently in this life prisons fetters torments yea death it selfe 1. Pet. 2. 20. If dooing well you sustaine patiently this is thanke before God For vnto this are you called because Christ also suffered for vs leaning you an example that you may follow his steppes who did not sin neither was guile found in his mouth who when he was reâ—â—led did
betwixt the Papists vvho hold obedience fidelitie to the King in things ciuill from those that were indiutdually affected to the Gun-powder treason Concerning your glorious Martyrs as you stile Bishoppe Fisher and Sir Thomas More you might haue learned out of Tortura Torti pag. 360. how the worthy Bishop of Ely stoppeth Tortus his mouth saying Dixerat Apologiae author c. The Author of the Apologie said that it was not any spirituall Primacy but a carnall matrimony that brought the supposed Martyr dome to Sir Thomas More and the Bishop of Rochester and this he spake not amisse But then replyed Tortus Then it vvas a carnall matrimany that caused holy S. Iohn Baptist to suffer martyrdome when he freely reproued King Herods mariage With this example Tortus woundeth himselfe For tell mee O Tortus vvhat was that mariage vvas it not with his brothers wife vvas not this the vvord that cost the Baptist his life It is not lawful for thee to haue thy brothers wife But what was the cause of the death of More and Fisher was it not cleane contrary It is lawful for thee to haue thy brothers wife it is not lawful for thee to put her away So that if Saint Iohn Christs forerunner died vniustly they died most iustly and if hee vvere a Martyr as he was then vvere they some other thing vvhich I will not tell you For he dyed that the King should not keepe his brothers vvife but these dyed that the King should not put away his brothers vvife Hee told King Herod it vvas not lawfull they told King Henry it was lawfull and hee must not doe otherwise Could Tortus any vvaies marre their martyr dome more deepely So far the Bishop of Ely And giue mee leaue to adde something more O glorious Martyrs who had rather consent together to die then to confesse the royall supremacy of Kings established in the Scriptures vsed and practised by all the most commended Christian Kings and withall to establish the Papall Primacy which Christ himselfe expresly forbad which the Fathers of the Councell of Ephesus called the smoake of worldly power and they of Carthage with all care and diligence admonished the Church to beware of as Typhum saeculi the arrogancie of this present vvorld Concerning that notorious fact of Pope Paul the fift and Bellarmine which heere the Iesuit remembreth full of inhumanitie impietie and audaciousnesse that excellently learned man Ma. Causabon in his Epistle to Front Ducaeus hath taught him pag. 167. thus De fidelitatis iuramento cui occasionem praebuit pulueraria coniuratio c. Concerning that Oath of Allegiance first occasioned by the Gun-powder treason I maruell vvhy the English Papists so much complaine They haue much more cause to complaine of Cardinall Bellarmine some fevv others vvho hardened the hart of Pope Paul the fift to yeeld vnto them vvho at the first vvith stood them for I speake not rashly but haue good Authours for my assurance that all the Catholicks in England should heere perish rather then a matter so iust and equall should be permitted For vvhat can be more equall then that subiects should promise fidelity to their Soueraigne especially after a treason so barbarous and notable for crueltie The King in the Common-wealth is the same that a householder is in his priuate house and doe you thinke that such a man were well advised to keepe in his family any seruaunts of whose fidelity he was not perswaded or rather whose disposution hee greatly suspecteth I thinke no bodie that is not mad would grant such a thing Wherfore either King Iames hath lesse power in his Kingdome then a householder in his house or else these complaints about the subiects Oath of Allegiance are all vniust and friuolous For in good sooth I haue met with many Papists both in France and England and I haue also read the writings of many vvho deeme this Oath not onely most iust but also most holie Wherefore many of your side some of them Priests yea the Arch-priest Black well haue taken the same without all scruple of conscience not against their wills and by their publique writings learnedly and truly though sharply against the Pope and the Iesuits haue perswaded others to doe the like such are Maister Sheldon and Maister Warmington But yet there are some vvith whom the Popes Bulls and Bellarmines Letters preuaile more then the law of God the law of nature of all Nations or the examples of vvise men And if the Law run vpon these vvhat place is there left for complaint And you your selues which call this a persecution of Catholicks cannot tell for vvhat cause and by vvhat example of antiquitie you so tearme it It was neuer done nor heard of that Christian people said they suffered persecution if they vvere commaunded to sweare Allegiance to their Soueraigne But wee read the contrary in the Councells vvhere they are accursed that breake faith to their Kings vvhich they had voxed to them for the preseruation of the slate of their Countrey and of their King And you know the fourth Councell of Toledo declareth all such excōmunicat from the Church Heere is worke for the Iesuit let him satisfie these things and in the meane time let him vnderstand that that Catholique faith is accursed with all maledictions as inhumane impious sacrilegious Antichristian diabolicall whereof this is one Article That Christian people ought not to sweare allegiance to their lawfull Soueraigne to weet that which as hath been declared the law of God the law of nature and the Canons of Councells haue ordained as most equall and most holy Orelse thus to speake after Becans manner That for Christian people to sweare allegiance to their lavvfull Prince is to deny the Catholick faith And this reason being very sound all good Catholicks admit saith Becane but in truth this reason as very rotten is onely admitted by Antichristian Catholicks but we Protestants the onely true and proper orthodoxall or right belieuing Catholicks will neuer admit it And I saith the Iesuit will adioyne two other reasons on the behalfe of Catholicks against the Oath of Supremacie which by the Aduersary cannot bee reiected Hee should rather haue said thus And I for the destruction of my friends the Romish Catholicks will adioyne two other reasons vvhich may be most iustly refused exploded by all our Aduersaries the Protestants But hath Martin the Iesuit heere forgotten himselfe were not the reasons of Pope Paul and Bellarmine lately alledged expresly brought against the oath of Allegiance which onely was in controuersie and will he now dispute against the oath of Supremacie which is distinct and seuerall from the Oath in question Martin therefore should rather say thus I haue determined for the ruine of Catholicks in England to adioyne two reasons more nothing differing from the former Well then let vs heare these two prettie reasons his first reason is this 1. It is manifestly false or at least