in authoritie vnder them that we may leade a quyet and a peaceable life in all godlines and honesty For that is acceptable before God our Sauiour And it is not for any man not only to exempt himselfe from obaying the prince but also to deny to pay him tribute seeing that our lord Iesus Christ did pay it and hath commaunded to pay it S. Paule doth also witnes the same thing saying that the duty of conscience commaundeth vs to pay tribute to princes because they be the ministers of God and serue thereunto Therfore geue vnto euery mā sayth he that which is due vnto hym Tribute to whome tribute belongeth custome to whō custome pertaineth duty to whom duety belongeth and honor to whom honor is due To be short next after God wee owe to the Prince all obedience honour and feare neither ought wee to thinke it straunge that God shoulde haue the cheefe preheminence seeing that the prince is but his minister and seruant and that the Liefetenant ought not to goe before him which putteth him in office nor the seruant before the master And that was the cause why Daniell said so boldly vnto the king Darius that he had made no fault in disobaying his commaundement which he could not haue obayed without offending both God and his own conscience Also it was for the selfesame cause that the obedience which the people of Israell did yeald vnto their king Ieroboham which caused Calues of golde to be made and commanded the people to honor them is condemned by the word of god For in matters of Religion we ought to hold the generall rule which S. Peter teacheth saying We must rather obay God than man. The reason hereof is the same that is alleadged by S. Paule namely That we be redeemed or bought with the precious bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ which is a thing of so great and excellent price that we ought not to turne away from the saluation which he hath purchased vs for any thing in all the world We haue heretofore alledged some of the decretall Epistles of the Popes Gelasyus Innocēt the third and Bomface the eight by that which they haue done their indeuour to thrust down emperours kinges and other Princes far vnderneath them but the auncient Canons speake farre otherwise for by them euen the Pope himselfe whensoeuer he cōmitteth any fault ought to be corrected and punished by the Emperour as Pope Leo the fourth auoweth and confesseth in his epistle written to the Emperor Lewes which epistle is made canonicall If we haue done sayth he any thing which wee ought not or haue not performed the equity of the law towards your subiects we are ready to amend our fault by the iudgement of your selfe or of your commissioners for if we which should correct the faultes of other men do worsse then they we be not the children of the trueth but which thing I speake with great grief we be masters of error more thā others Wherfore we most hūbly besech your maiesties clemency to vouchsafe to send hither some commissioners of yours such as feare God to informe you of our behauiour and to make as diligent inquisition thereof as if your imperiall maiestie were here present in proper person and to search out the trueth by peecemeale not onely of the thinges afore mentioned but also of all other matters which may haue bene reported vnto you So as by that meanes al things may be determined by lawfull examinatian of the case and nothing remayne to be discussed and decided hereafter By which Canon it appeareth playnely that the Emperour of Rome hath power and authoritye to inquire of the misbehauiour and misdealings of the pope and that he may by lawful iudgement condemne and punish him when he doth amisse We do also read in S. Gregory who is esteemed for one of the best Popes that in his epistle which he wrote to the kings of fran̄ce of Englād and of the westerngothes he did alwaies call them his children But when the wrate to the Emperor which raygned in his tyme whose name was Mawrice hee called him his Lord and spake very humbly vnto him as vnto hym that was his soueraygne declaring that he did and would obay the sayd Emperors most mylde commaundementes for those be his termes that he vseth There are other Canons also by the which all power of Soueraintye is attributed vnto princes as well ouer the lay people as ouer the clergye and ouer the goodes both of the one and of the other These be the very wordes of the Canon S. Peter in fishing found tribute in the mouth of a fish because that the church ought to pay tribute of such outward good as are sene to al mē And the case so standeth that for his tribute he was commaunded to pay not all the whole fish which he had caught in fishing but onely the peece of siluer which he had founde in the mouth of the fish which he had caught because the church it selfe or the preheminence of the place ought not to be geuen to Emperours and Kinges nor to be put in subiection to their power But surely as I sayd before that which was found in the mouth of the fish is commaunded to be geuen for the tribute of Peter and of the Lord because wee ought to pay tribute vnto princes of the outwarde goods of the church according to the auncient custome to the end they may mayntayne defend vs in good peace and quietnes By which canon it appereth that princes may as well rayse tribute vpon men of the Church as vpon the lay people although they may not take authority in deuine matters further than to cause obedience to be geuen to the commaundements of God as it is sayd in an other Cannon in expresse wordes When Emperors make wicked lawes to maintayne falshood agaynst the trueth it serueth to trye the true beleuers who are crowned with martirdom for perseuering in the truth But when they make good lawes and edictes to mayntayne the truth agaynste the falshood the persecutors are strickē in fear by it and such as vnderstand the truth do amend themselues Whosoeuer therefore doth refuse to obay the edictes of the Emperoures and princes that mayntayne the true doctrine doe procure themselues great punishment but as many as refuse to obay the edicts made agaynst the will of God winne to themselues great reward Eor euer since the tyme of the prophets all kinges are blamed which haue not prohibited and rooted out from amongst Gods people all such thinges as haue bene set vppe agaynst his commaundements And these which haue prohibited thē and rooted them out are highly praysed aboue al others Nabuchodonosor being an Idolater did make a trecherous proclamation that all men should worship his Image But those which refused to obay the vngodly law dealt faythfully and holyly With this Canon agreeth an other canon taken out of S.
¶ An Apology or defence for the Christians of Fraūce which are of the Euāgelicall or reformed religion for the satisfiing of such as wil not liue in peace and concord with them Whereby the purenes of the same Religion in the chiefe poyntes that are in variance is euidently shewed not onely by the holy scriptures and by reason But also by the Popes owne Canons Written to the king of Nauarre and translated out of french into English by Sir Iherom Bowes Knight AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate And are to be sold at his Shop vnder the gate 1579. Cum Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis ¶ To the right high noble Prince Henrye the second king of Nauarre Prince of Bearn Duke of Vandome and Albret Earle of Foyze Arminack Agenois Bigorie Marle c SYR it is not without cause nor without exaumple that I dare take vpon mee to dedycate vnto your highnes this litle Apologye which contayneth a defence of the reformed Religion and of the Professors of the same For in asmuch as your Maiestie hath euen from your youth vndertakē the defence therof with the hasard of your life gooddes for the same I could not more fitly preferre the iustification of so holy a cause to any than to your Highnes who haue alwayes maintayned the same not onely in words but also by deedes and that with most noble and Princely courage following the renowmed footsteps of the late Queen of Nauarre your mother whose godlynes curtesie and other heroicall vertues are consecrated for euer to most honorable eternitie And I haue beene led to take vpō me this defence to dedicate it to your Maiestie by the example of many good and godly men in the Primitiue church who in their times wrote diuers Apologies in defence of the Christians against the misreportes and illusions of the heathen and did put them vp to the Romayn Emperors that were in those dayes who notwithstanding that they were heathen Princes and ignorāt of the true Religion were moued by them to succor the Christians and to surcease the persecutions that were made against them Quadratus and Aristydes wrote Apologies in their times in defence of the Christians against the heathen and dedicated them to the Emperor Adrian who hauing reade them and perceiuing therby that the Christians worshipped the great God which gouerneth all the world and that in the exercising of their Religion they did not any thing that was preiudiciall to the lawes of the Romain Empire but rather prayed for the prosperitie of him and of his Empire sent a Proclamation to Fundanus the gouerner of Asia wherin he forbad the persecuting of thē any more as in respect of Religion and commaunded that the slaunderers of them should be sore punished And moreouer he caused diuers faire churches to be builded in many places without any Images pictures or portratures greatly allowing the doctrine of the Christians for that it forbiddeth the painting and portraying of God the worshipping of Images or the hauing of them in their churches Likewise Iustine the Philosopher wrote in his time two Apologies that are come to light in defence of the Christians against the false accusations of the heathen whereof he dedicateth the one to the Senate of Rome the other to the Emperor Antonine the godly who being moued therat made a generall law wherby he restrayned the heathen from their false blaming of the Christians for the earthquakes and other publike calamities willing them to impute them to their owne sinnes for he sayd that the Christians worshipped the great God more deuoutely than the heathen themselues worshipped the multitude of their Gods. And he prohibited all men aswell Magistrates as priuate persons to persecute the Christians any more or to slaunder them with accusations or false crimes commaunding them to obserue the foresayd proclamation of his father and Predecessor the Emperor Adrian in all pointes Also Melito the Bishop of Sardis wrot an Apologie in defence of the Christians against the Heathen which he dedicated to the Emperor Marke Antony the Philosopher who was moued therby to fauor the Christians and to cause the persecutions to cease which had bin made in the Prouinces of the Empire without his knowledge and commaundement by the Gouernors and other Magistrates which abused the mildnes and clemency of their Prince as a number doe in these dayes Yea and this good Emperor finding by experience that the Christians were the good and welbeloued seruants of the true God for he wan a great battell against the Marcomannes and Quades by the only prayers of a Legion of Christian Soldiars that were in his army not only forbad the persecuting of the Christians by open Proclamation but also gaue leaue to become Christians to as many as would willing and commaunding that all such as accused any man alonly in respect of Christian Religion shold be greeuously punished as cosoners and slanderers and that no Christian should be compelled to change his Religion Many others besides these as Tertulian and Appollinaris haue pleaded and mayntayned the same cause by setting forth Apologies which haue greatly auayled yea euen with the Heathen Emperors of their times who to say the truth as heathenish as they were haue treden out the way to the Princes of our dayes which beare the titles of Christians and Catholicks to shew them what vprightnes and modesty they ought to vse in the case of Religion Forasmuch therfore as our reformed religiō is blamed and outragiously defaced nowadayes by such as neither do nor wil vnderstand it I after the example of so many good persons haue set my hand to the pen to shew by this short defence that the same is not only grounded vpon Gods pure word and consequently agreeing with the Christen Religion of the primatiue Church but also that it is warranted by the very Canons of the Popes themselues and of the Church of Rome And I am sure that your maiestye being naturally enclined to the peace of Fraunce will not onely take more pleasure to heare the sound of these Canons than the sound of those which haue so often times terribly thundered to the destruction of this desolate kingdome of Fraunce but also be moued to maintaine the same Religion constantly more and more and to be a meane to the French king our soueraign Lord for the reliefe and quietnes of such as professe the same For if the heathen Emperors whom I haue named afore haue vouchsafed to releeue and fauor the Christians in their times without hauing any further knowledge of the Christian Religion than that it contayned not any thing contrary to the Ciuill Lawes how much more ought we to hope for the like at the handes of our most Christian king by your intercession specially seeing that our Religion thanks be to God contayneth not any doctrine which may not well beseeme good Christians and which tendeth not to the aduancing of kings and of their estates as
his maiestie may easely discerne if it may please him to heare our reasons or but only to looke vpon this litle Apologie And surely Sir we assure ourselues that you will alwayes continue to be a mean to his Maiestie euery day better than other for the maintenance and quyetnes of vs and our Religion because you were brought vp in it in your young time and haue made a good profession of it Besides this the famous examples of your noble ancestors which haue been euer renowmed for their godlynes doe direct you to the following of their footesteps For the Histories doe auow vnto vs that your Ancestors of the renowmed house of Burbon for I will not speake of those of late time whose remembrance being yet fresh in mens mindes and will continue honorable for euer among them that come after vs haue alwayes been had in honor for their great zeale towards the Christian Religiō and for their feruent loue to the mayntenance of the crown of Fraunce of the quyetnes of their countrey which are two principall points wherein godlynes shineth forth For first of all the great and dangerous voyages which your Ancestors haue made with men of warre into the East countreys and into Affrike against the Turkes Sarasyns for the great desire they had to aduance the Christian Religion as the two voyages of king Lewis the saint The two voyages of Lewes Duke of Burbon and the voyages of many other princes of their race doe yeald sufficient record of their Religious and godly disposition And although that in those dayes by reason of the great ignorance of languages and of good learning and consequently of the pure doctrine Religion was not so well vnderstoode nor so purely taught as it is nowadayes through the grace of god yet it is not to be douted but that if they had had a purer and cleerer vnderstanding therof they would haue been so much the more earnest and zealous in it And as touching loue and dutifulnes towards their countrey which is the second poynt wherin godlynes consisteth your sayd aūcestors haue geuen so good tryall therof by their contynuall imploying of themselues valyantly in the defence and inlarging of the Crown of Fraunce aswell against forrain enemies as against the disturbers of the publick peace that the house of Burbone hath alwayes iustly had this honorable reporte to haue been alwayes a florishing branch of the bloud Royall and a sure piller of the liberty and safety of the Realme As for example Iaques of Burbon Earl of March and Cōstable of Fraunce gaue good proofe of his loue towards the welfare of his countrey and towards the Crown of Fraunce in hazarding himselfe in many battailes against the English men then almost inuincible enemies of this Realme specially at the battel of Poytiers in the time of king Iohn and also in doing his indeuour with great good will to conclude the peace at Britany and to driue the Companions and Outlawes out of Fraūce which tooke their pleasure in spoyling the coūtrey and in maintayning of trouble in the Realme Also Lewis of Burbon the first Earl of Vādome for that Earldome fell vnto him by his mother made warre against the Englishmen in the time of king Charles the sixt not only in Fraunce but also euen in England and he was a curteous Prince and very profitable to his Countrey aswell in matters of war as of peace His sonne named Lewis also being then Lord great master of Fraunce was in many battailes where he fought valiantly specially at the battaile of Agincourt notwithstanding that he was taken prisoner by the Englishmen with many other great Princes and Lords of Fraunce Likewise he was one of those that toke most paines to make the peace at Arras in the time of king Charles the seuenth for the suppressing of the Ciuil wars which had indured so long time welnere to the vtter destruction of the Realme Iohn of Burbon Earle of Vandome and sonne of the sayd Lewis was also a virtuous Prince and a valyant warryor and aduentured himselfe in many a battaile specially at the siege of Fronsack in the Marches of Burdeloys where he was made knight for his valiant desertes and he was one of the Princes which tooke part with Lewis the Dolphin and with the Dukes of Burbon and Alaunson in setting themselues against the wicked and tirannicall dealings of certayne timeseruers and flatterers of king Charles the seuenth Fraunces of Burbon his sonne a good and stout prince went in the viage to Naples with king Charles the eighth and behaued himselfe nobly in matters both of peace and warre to the honor and profite of the Crowne of Fraunce and of his whole country But I should not soone make an end if I minded to recken vp all the excellent princes of your maiesties most renowmed house of Burbon and much les should I do it if I ment to take vpon me to rehearse their heroycall deedes and vertues which would require many great volumes But I thinke it inough for me to haue named some few of them that might serue for examples to princes and to all other men to speed themselues valiantly in the defence and mayntaynance of the peace of their countrye Which examples wil in my opinion be the better liked of your maiesty because they come not onely of your owne house which hath alwayes been most fruitfull in noble and vertuous princes but also of the Linial discēt of your progenytors For the late king of Nauare your father was the sonne of Charles of Burbon the first duke of Vandome who was sonne of the foresayd Fraunces Earle of Vandome who was sonne to the forenamed Iohn who was sonne to the foresayd Lewis Lord great master of Fraunce who was the sonne of the other Lewis the first Earle of Vandome who was the son of Iohn Earle of March who was the sonne of Iaques Earle of March and constable of Fraunce who was the sonne of Lewis first duke of Burbon surnamed the great duke who was the sonne of Robert of Fraunce Earle of Cleremount and Beawuoysin who was the Sonne of good king Lewis the saynt And so your Maiestie is the eleuenth in order descending in the right line from S. Lewis your great Ancestor whose vertues I hope that God will make to grow more and more in your Royall person making you to be a follower of his steps in that he was a good defender of the Christian Religion a louer of vpright iustice a natiue example of good manners a seuere correcter of partiall corrupt Iudges an vntreatable punisher of blasphemers Atheistes and vsurers and a zealous furtherer of all good reformation But now to come back agayn to my matter I hope that such of the Romain Religion as shall reade this my wryting shall haue no cause to finde fault with me or to say that I deale to roughly with them For hauing once simply and without any bitternesse set down my
them euidently that it is not so when we come to the scanning of euery poynt particularly that is in question And for proofe and demonstration of our sayinges we will take for our grounde three Maximes or generall rules which are very certayne and true whereby euery man shall easely be able to iudge whether the same religion is to be reckned wicked new and hereticall or no. The three Maximes are these The first is that that doctrine of Religion whereby God is most honored is the best The second is that that Doctrine which is best builded vpon the worde of God is the moste auncient and true The third is that the Romish Catholickes cannot well accuse that doctrine of heresie which is approued by their own Canones Which three rules or maximes be so cleere euident of them selues that in mine opinion the day or the Sun is not clearer For seeing that Religiō is no other thing than the duty which we owe vnto god It doth folow that that doctrine which teacheth vs to yeld vnto him all dutye and honour and to rob him of no part thereof is a good and true doctrine and that there can be no better Likewise it is certayn that the doctrine which is builded vpon the only word of God ought not to be called new but that we may rather say that it is as olde as the world it selfe In so much that they which doe call it new may not nor cannot so call it in respect of it selfe but onely in respect of their own ignorance for to the ignorāt euery thing that they vnderstand not is new Neither is it to be douted but that it is most true because that God who is the author therof is the truth it selfe and the fountayn of light and wisdome In like maner I thinke that al mē will easily graunt that euen the earnestest Catholickes of Rome can not dispence so much with them selues as to accuse that Religiō of heresie which is approued by their own Canones because the Canones be authorysed by the Popes themselues For the decrees of Gracian from whence I intend to draw the most partes of the Canōs which shal be alleaged were ratifyed authorised by Pope Euginie the third who commaunded that they should be red in the Vniuersytyes and vsed in iudgemēt as they haue bene euer since So that to reiect and condemn the Canons were as much in effect as to deny the Pope and all the Romane Religion But full well I know that hereafter when I shall alleadge the Canons those passionate Catholickes will rise vp and say that there be other canons contrary to these and truly I will not deny but that the bookes of the Canon law are ful of cōtraryeties Yet dare I boldly say and assuredly auow that those Canons which I will alleadge in this booke are of the best and most auncient of al the Canon law which haue proceeded from the best springs fountaynes and from such authors as were most principall in skill and holynes as may easely bee iudged by those that will compare them with their bookes Hauing thus set downe these three Maximes the truth whereof is easelie to be perceaued by euery man of common capacitie yea euen of the grossest sort I am now to apply them orderlye to euery particular poynt And first of all we will treate of Prayer ⧠OF PRAYER The second Chapter THe doctrine of the professors of the Gospell touching prayer is verye playne Their opinion is in effect that we ought to offer our prayers vnto God our maker who is able inough to geue vs whatsoeuer we aske gratious in harckening gentlye to our requestes Who also hath manifested his great goodnes in giuing his euerlasting Sonne to the end that by him our manhoode might haue accesse to his Godhead And therefore they say that in praying to God our creator wee muste alwayes vse the credite and intercession of his Sonne our mediator who may boldly goe to the Father because he is God as he is in the selfsame Godhead and being and disdayneth not also to apply himselfe to men and to be an intercessor for them because he is man as they be Nether is this manner of praying vnto God altogether disalowed of the Romain Catholicks but they wil needes adde thereunto that we must haue also other Mediators and Intercessors to God the Father and to Iesus Christ himself That is to wit the hesaints and the shesaintes which are many in number in their times haue done many a faire miracle For say they if a man would be a suiter to a king in any cause or to his eldest sonne he would not at the first dash preace to their presence but goe to some of their seruants or Lordes of their court And so it seemeth a thing very reasonable and meete that when a man is minded to pray to god for any thing he go first to some of the Celestial court to purchase acces to god to Iesus Christ his Sonne by their meanes and that to doe otherwise were a kinde of dispising of the saints who haue the charge from God to pray continually for the Millitante Church and euery particular person of the same Truely it is not to be denied but that these reasons haue some colour and shew of truth if we shall iudge of God as of man. But hereunto the Protestants reply that we may not iudge of God as of a king or as of another mortall mā for there is great difference God is altogether good and inclyned to doe good But men be they kinges or other are naturally euill and disposed to doe euill both against God their neighbors God vnderstandeth our Prayers assoone as they be conceiued in our harts and before our mouthes doe vtter them But to cause a king to vnderstande our suites we must put them in wryting or tell them by word of mouth and therfore we haue neede of Aduocates to lay forth our cases of Maisters of requestes to preferre our petitions to the Prince or to his councell and of the fauor of great Lordes and councellours to get vs audience and dispatch All which thinges haue no place with god So that to compare the maner of praying vnto God with the preferring of suits vnto Princes is a token that we slenderly consider the greatnes of god And here wee haue to note a proper saying of S. Ambrose which he vttereth in these expresse wordes Those which in steede of resorting vnto God repayre vnto creatures are wont to colour their contempt of God with this miserable excuse That by the menes of those to whō they haue recourse they may attayne to the presence of God as men attayne to the presence of a king by meanes of his officers But I pray you is there any man so mad or so careles of his owne life that he dareth yeald the honor to any of the kings seruantes or officers which belongeth
cōmaundement of the Church of Roome But asfor the supper of our Lord It is no sacrifice but an holy bancket which is prepared to put vs in mynde of thonelye and soueraigne sacrifice whereby our Lord Iesus Christ himselfe was once for all sacrificed for our redemption and to make vs pertakers of his body and bloud by the spirituall and effectuall eating thereof So that there is noe more lykenes betweene the celebrating of the Lordes supper and the celebrating of the masse than is betwixt geuing taking which are things far differyng For in the supper the faythfull receyue the body and bloud of Christ but in the Masse the Priest geueth or offereth vp Christ wholly vnto God the Father as an host of sacrifice Now it must needes be graunted that in this poynt of the Masse the catholickes and the Protestantes doe vtterly disagree And that the same disagreement is the principall cause why the Catholicks do so extreemely bate the doctrine of the sayd Protestants For they esteeme the masse to be one of the principall poyntes of the Christian religion and therfore think it very straunge that the Protestants should be so bould as to reiect it syth it hath dured so long tyme and is cōposed of so many good things drawē out of holy Scripture the whiche the Protestantes seeme to reiect in reiectyng the texts that are taken out of it In deede these reasons geue some likelyhood wherby to iudge so without hearing the other partye But if the Catholickes will vse a little patience and here the replies of the Protestantes they shall not finde them so voyde of reason as they thinke For first they say that the onely sacrifice whereby Christ hymselfe was sacrificed once for all is more than sufficient for the saluation of the whole worlde Yea though he had shed but one only drop of hys precious bloud vpon the crosse It had bene sufficient to haue satisfyed the Iustice of God his father and to washe away the sinnes of all men which should be borne into the world in an hundred thousand yeres if the world shold last so long for that inasmuch as he was the sonne of god the dignity of his priesthoode and the infinite greatnes of hys Sacrifice are of sufficiency and worthines inough and more than inough to doe away the innumerable sinnes of all men hetherto borne or hereafter to be borne And therefore it is great outrage say the Protestants to our Sauiour to crucifie hym new agayne as they do in the masse to obtayne remission of sinnes and lyfe euerlasting for the quick and the dead for it is all one as to say that hys onely once sacrificing of himselfe is not sufficient to take away our sinnes and to obtayne vs lyfe euerlasting because that if they held it for sufficient and perfect as in truth it is it should follow that it were in vayne to do it any more And is it not a great blasphemy to say that the oblation and sacrifice of the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ is not sufficient for the saluation of the whole world Truely it is not to be douted for although it be nether auailable nor appliable to any other than to such as beleue in him yet notwithstanding his sacrifice is more thā sufficient to saue all the world And furthermore wheras the Catholickes at the least wise the simple common people imagine that the Protestants in reiecting the masse doe reiect the holy Sacrament of the body bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ they deceyue themselues greatly for contrariwise the Protestantes hold the same sacrament in his true perfection as we haue showed in the Chapter going before Neither do they reiect the textes that are stuffed into the Masse and be taken out of the holy Scripture But they like much better to read learn them in the bible it selfe than in the Massebooke Neither do they reiect the good prayers which are mingled in the Masse but they say it is much better to pray to God with a contynual prayer for Princes Magistrates for the Shepheards of the church for the necessities of all the people for the remission of sinnes for those which are sick and afflicted for the conseruation of the faithfull for the inlightening of the ignorant and for the aduancement of the kingdome of Iesus Christ as they themselues doe than to say an Oremus or particular prayer for euery of these thinges as the Priest doth in his masse which sayth now one Oremus for himselfe and by and by another for the Pope and 〈◊〉 a third for his benefactors and for those that are departed and often times for brute beastes as is done in the Masse of S. Anthony For besides that the most part of the prayers in the masse be not allowable by the word of God It is certaine that men pray more hartely more aduisedly and with greater zeal when the prayer is contynued to the end without interruption than when it is sayd by iumps with often interruption Besides this the people which do harken to the Priestes Oremus cannot set their mindes well vpon the prayer which he is saying because they vnderstand it not nor often times the Priest himselfe To be short therfore by this doctrine of the Protestants God is better honored than by the doctrine of the Catholicks For the Protestants in not admitting any other sacrifice than that which our Lord Iesus Christ himselfe did make of his own body vpon the crosse which sacrifice they esteeme to be very sufficient and perfect for our saluation doe therby yeald the honor and the effect of our felicity vnto our Lorde Iesus Christ onelye wheras the Catholiques doe attribute parte of his honor to the Priest and parte to the sacrifice of the Mas. Likewise the Protestantes doe much better honor God in learning the texts of Scripture in the Bible it selfe which is the very originall Record of his will than those which wil needes learn them in the Massebook where they be confusedly packed and vnaptly applyed And now to shew that the doctrine of the Protestantes which admitte the only Sacrifice of Christ and reiect the Sacrifice of the Masse is euidently grounded vpon the holy Scripture there needeth no other witnes than the Apostle to the Hebrues For first he doth testifie vnto vs that there is none other Sacrifice for the remission of mennes sinnes but Iesus Christ only and that he himselfe by his own bloud hath obtayned for vs an euerlasting redemtion For thus he sayth Christ being become the high Priest of the good things that are to come by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands That is to say not of this building nor by the bloud of Goates and Calues but by his own bloud is entered in once into the holy place and hath found eternall redemtion And to the end we should not thinke that Christ is no more a Priest but that although he
god For a true virgine maye wel be misused but she cānot be made a whore because the godly virgine is the church of God and her chastity cannot be defiled by the brothelhouse For the chastity of the minde abolisheth the infamy of the place For the vnderstanding of the which Canon we must haue an eye to the time of the primitiue Church when diuers among the heathen men did put their bondslaues whether they were wiues or maydens into brothel houses and common stewes to rayse gayne of the shamefull abuse of their bodies And it fel out oftentimes that their poore slaues were Christians and yet full ill against their willes they were faine to suffer that shamefull abuse in their bodies and to become as it were open brothels and harlots to make gaine to their Masters wherof they are excused by this Canon as hauing only their bodies abused by a forcible constrainte and not their mindes by consent of their willes Now therfore it may wel be discerned by these Canones whether this doctrine of the Protestants concerning mariage ought to be reputed erroneous or not and whether it be not more agreable to Gods word and the auncient Cannons than the doctrine of the Romish Catholickes And now let vs proceed on ¶ Of princes and Magistrates The x chapter THe Protestants hold opinion that all such as dwel within the lands Dominions or Prouinces of any Prince be they naturall subiectes or free Denizens ought to yeald faithful obedience to him and also to all Magistrates vnder him without any exception of persons or of their goods And that they ought to acknowledge and to honor him as Gods Lieutenant vpon earth hauing the sword in his hand to minister iustice to al men and to be the defender and maintayner of Gods commaundements and to cause his Subiectes to obay them Also they hold opinion that all folke ought to pray to God for the preseruation and prosperitie of the Prince and of all other Magistrates And they beleeue that to disobay the prince is a disobaying of God who hath set him vp And that mē must obay him not only for feare but also for the duety of conscience which doth binde vs to obay God and so consequently the Prince whom God hath commaūded vs to obay But the opinion of the Romish Catholicks is that such as are of the clergie be exempted from this generall rule and that they be not the subiects of temporall Princes but of the pope And that so by consequence the prince neither may nor ought to leuy any tribute beneuolēce loane or subsedy of the Cleargie of his Countreis nor of their goods Accordingly as Pope Boniface the eight in one of his decrees expresly forbiddeth all Kings Princes Dukes Earles Barons Potentates Captaines Officers Gouerners of Cities and Castles and all other persons of what estate degree or condition so euer they be to doe the like vpon paine of present interditing and excommunication whereof none other but only the Pope himselfe can geue absolution Also they hold opinion that the Prince whom they tearme secular hath no authoritie in matters of Tenthes nor in matters of Matrimony among the lay people nor in many other such like things Thirdly they hold opinion that the Pope hath power to put down kings and Princes and to depriue them of their Realmes and Principalities as Pope Gelasius vaunteth himselfe in an epistle sent to the Emperor Anastasius wherin he alleadgeth the example of Pope Zachary who deposed king Chelderike of Fraunce from his kingdome not for any wicked doings sayth he but because he was vnfitte to be a king And did set vp king Pipin the father of Charlemaine in his place Also by reason of this great authoritie which the Popes tooke to themselues ouer kinges they be puffed vp with such pride that they compare themselues to the Sun and to Golde and kinges and Emperors to the Moon and to leade tearming themselues the masters of them as the same Pope Gelasius did write to the sayd Emperor Anastasius Euery man therefore may iudge whether doctrine is the better either that of the romish Catholicks which doth so limmit cut short the authoritie of kinges and Princes to augment the greatnes of the Popes and Prelats Or that of the Protestants which doe not challenge but disalow such limitations affirming that the Pope hath no such iurisdiction ouer the Subiects of kings and Princes And seeing that Princes be the Lieutenantes of God here on earth holding their Scepters and Crowne of him No doute but the honor which is done to them is done to God himselfe And so consequently God is better honored by the doctrine of the Protestantes than by the doctrine of the Romish Catholicks The doctrine of the Protestantes is groūded euidently vpon the word of God which commaundeth all men without exception of any person to obay the Prince vnder whose Dominion they dwell not only for feare of his sword but also for conscience sake These be the words of S. Paule who speaketh generally Let euery man be subiect to the higher powers for there is no power but of God and the authorities that be are ordayned of God and therefore we ought not to be subiect for fear of displeasure only but for conscience sake also And hereupon S. Chrisostome saith that this rule is so generall that there is neither Apostle nor Euangelist nor Bishop nor other person that is exempted from the obedience of the Prince And likewise S. Peter speaking to al Christians and to al Gods chosen flock sayth thus Submitte your selues to all ordinance of man for the loue of God whether it be to the king as to the chief or to the gouernors as to those which be sent and oppointed by the Prince to punish malefactors and to prayse the well doers And the reason why euery one ought to yeald obedience to the Prince is because the charge and estate which Princes take vpon them is of God For the Scripture doth call Princes Gods because they are the Lieuetenants of God. And therfore next after God we ought to feare and honor the Prince as sayeth S. Peter Feare God and honor the king And as Salomon doth also teach vs saying My Sonne feare the Lord and the king And it is to be noted that in these textes the king is put next after god as his Lieuetenant presenting God himselfe And we ought not onely to honor and feare the prince but also to pray to God for him and for all those which are in authoritie vnder him that their gouernment may be in peace and tranquility and that we may liue vnder their obedience in the seruing of God with all godlines and goodnes These be the very wordes of S. Paule I warne you therfore that before all other thinges you make intercessions prayers supplications and thankesgeuinge for all men and specially for kings and for al such as are