or forgiuenesse thereof I will that none should pray because it is not pardonable Or else in the same sence for that man who committeth such a sin vnto death I say not that any should pray for Whereof our Sauiour himself hath spoken in S. Matthew saying that he that sinneth against the holy Ghost shal not be pardoned neither in this world nor in the world to come Where he setteth down three sorts or kinds of sin to wit against the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost and that the two first are lesse hainous and pardonable but that the third is altogether vnpardonable and not to be remitted All which difference proceedeth from the distinction of the attributes as the Diuines teach vs which seuerally are appropriated vnto euery seuerall person of the holy Trinitie And although as the essence of all the three persons is but one so also is their power wisedome and goodnesse as we haue learned in the symbole of Athanasius where he saith almightie is the Father almighty is the Sonne and almighty is the holy Ghost yet by attribution power is ascribed vnto the Father wisdome vnto the Sonne and loue vnto the holy Ghost whereof euery seuerall as they are tearmed attributes so are they so proper vnto euery seuerall person that they can not be attributed and referred vnto any other By the contraries of which attributes we come to discerne the distinction and greatnesse of sinne The contrary to power which is onely attributed vnto the Father is weaknesse and therefore that which we do amisse through infirmity of nature is said to be committed against the Father The opposite vnto wisdome is ignorance and blindnes through which when any man sinneth he is said to sinne against the Sonne therefore that which we commit through naturall infirmity and ignorance is more easier forgiuen vs. The third attribute which is the holy Ghostes is loue and hath for his contrary ingratitude and vnthankfulnesse a vice most detestable and odious which causeth men not to acknowledge the loue of God his benefites bestowed vpon them but to forget despise yea and to hate them Whereout briefly and finally proceedeth that they become altogether obstinate and impenitent And this way sinne is committed against God with greater danger and perill then if it were done through ignorance and weakenesse of the flesh and therefore it is tearmed a sinne against the holy Ghost And because such sinnes are seldome and difficultly pardoned and not without great abundance of grace in some sort they are said to be vnpardonable whereas altogether through vnrepentance onely they become simply vnpardonable For whatsoeuer is done amisse in this life although it be against the holy Ghost by repētance it may be wipt out and defaced before death but they that perseuere therein till death are excluded from all grace and mercy hereafter And therefore for such sinners and sins the Apostle hath forbidden to pray after their deceasse Now therfore because we vnderstand not without our great griefe that the said king is departed out of this world without repentance and impenitent in the companie to wit of heretickes for all his armie was made almost of none other but of such men and that by his last will he hath commended and committed his crowne and kingdome to the succession of Nauarre long since declared an hereticke and excommunicated as also in his extremitie and now readie to yeeld vp his ghost desired of him and such like as he was there standing by that they would reuenge his death vpon those whom he iudged to be the cause thereof For these and such like most manifest tokens of vnrepentance we haue decreed not to solemnize his death with funerals not that we would seeme to coniecture by these any thing concerning the secret iudgements of God against him or his mercies who could according vnto his good pleasure in the departing of his soul from the body conuert and turne his heart and deale with him mercifully but this we haue spoken being thereunto moued by these exteraall signes and tokens God grant therefore that all being admonished and warned by this feareful example of heauenly iustice may repent and amend and that it may further please him to continue and accomplish that which he hath mercifully begun in vs as we do put our trust in him to the end we may giue euerlasting thankes to him to haue deliuered his Church from such great and imminent dangers Whereof when his Holinesse had spoken he brake vp the Consistorie hauing giuen his blessing let them al depart Whether that the Pope in this his Oratiō applauded or approued the Friars murtnering his Prince I would rather the learned reader should be iudge thereof then my selfe his wisdome doubtlesse was too great to approue by any cleare and direct sentence so vile and detestable a fact Howbeit this I can witnesse that it was commonly spoken by many in Rome that had the Friar bene a Franciscan as he was a Dominican he might haply haue bene then declared a Saint And this is most certaine which my selfe liuing in the court of Rome saw that as it were to retaine a pious memory of such a deed the Friars picture was drawne on paper together with the Kings in one square or quadro in Italian and publikely sold without controlement to my knowledge which many admired to see Besides this likewise is true that M. William Reynolds then being in the Low countries to whō as to my speciall friend I sent a copie of the Oration esteemed it so did many others as an approuing of the Friars act For returning me an answer to my letter he gaue me heartie thankes for it saying that I could not haue gratified him with any thing more then by sending him the approbation of the Sea Apostolicke which came in very good season he being at that time writing his Rossaeus Peregrinus a booke of such a like subiect If any desire to know how I should light on a copie thereof when as it is most true that neither the Cardinall whose office it was to haue noted the Popes oration was not prouided of paper nor inke as he should haue bene had any such occasion of vsing it bene thought of before and therefore was not taken by any as Cardinall Bellarmine saith well let him vnderstand that the Oration and Consistory being ended and the Pope departed toward his chamber certaine Cardinals among which if my memory faile me not were Cardinall Gallo and my most honorable patron Cardinall Borromeo Archbishop of Millan who are yet liuing with a greedie desire flocked about Cardinall Alan there in the chamber intreating him that he would cal to remembrance and write what they had heard there spoken to the end they might after at more leisure reade and consider it better and that so worthy a speech of his Holinesse might not perish Cardinall Alan crauing pardon besought them not to impose on him a matter of such difficultie for
world We know well that as he is the Sonne of God he is the King of glory King of kings Lord of heauen and earth and of all things Psal 23. Domini enim est terra plenitudo eius and reigneth with the Father and the holy Ghost for euer but what is this to a temporall kingdome what is this to the imperiall dignitie of secular maiestie Therefore I meane not to stand to confute this opinion of Canonists which hath bene most learnedly confuted by Cardinall Bellarmine Lib. 5. de sum Pont. c. 2. 3 but to let it passe as most absurd that cannot be proued by any sound reason nor ancient authorities either of Scriptures Fathers or Councels but maintained by captious fallacies vnapt similitudes and corrupt interpretations An other opinion there is of Diuines who dislike and with most strong reasons do confute the Canonists positiōs but yet so as they vphold and labour to maintain the Popes temporall power though in other sort then the former that is De Ro. Pont. lib. 5. c. 6. indirectly or casually and by consequence This then they write and namely Cardinall Bellarmine Asserimus Pontificem vt Pontificem et si non habeat vllam merè temporalem potestatem tamen habere in ordine ad bonum spirituale summam potestatem disponendi de temporalibus rebus omnium Christianorum We affirme that the Pope as Pope although he hath not any meerly temporal power yet in order to the spiritual good he hath a supereminent power to dispose of the tēpotall goods of all Christians And againe in the same chapter Quantum ad personas non potest Papa vt Papa ordinariè temporales Principes deponere etiam iusta decausa eo modo quo deponit Episcopos id est tanquam ordinarius iudex c. As touching the persons the Pope as Pope cannot ordinarily depose temporall Princes yea for a iust cause after that sort as he deposeth Bishops that is as an ordinary iudge yet he may change kingdomes and take from one and giue to an other as the chiefe spirituall Prince if that be necessarie to the health or sauing of soules And in the same booke the first chapter where he putteth downe the Catholicke opinion as he saith he altereth it somewhat in this manner Pontificem vt Pontificem c. That the Pope as Pope Lib. 5. cap. 1. hath not directly and immediatly any temporall power but only spirituall yet by reason of the spirituall he hath at least indirectly a certaine power that chiefe or highest in tēporals You haue here set downe by Cardinall Bellarmine the opinion of Diuines that the Pope as Pope or chiefe Bishop as chiefe Bishop hath not directly and immediatly any temporall power to depose Christian Princes but that indirectly I wot not how he may depose them and dispose of their temporals and so in effect and after a sort agreeeth with the Canonists that indeed such power is rightly in him only he differeth about the manner with a restraint from infidels to Christian Princes But I trust as he in improuing the Canonists assertiō of direct power ouer al the world driueth them to Scriptures or tradition of the Apostles so likewise we may require that he proue his indirect power by one of these two wayes If he cannot as most certainely he cannot then why should men giue more credite to him then to the other they being as Catholike and haply no lesse learned then he Why should his opinion be thought more true then the former To disproue the Canonists thus he writeth Ex Scriptur is nihil habemus Bellar de Ro. Pont l. 5. c. 3. nisi datas Pontifici claues regni coelorum declauibus regni terrarium nulla mention fit Traditionem Apostolicam nullam aduersary proferunt Out of Scriptures we haue nothing but that the keyes of the kingdome of heauen were giuen to the Pope of the keyes of the kingdome of the earth no mention is made at all Apostolical tradition our aduersaries produce none Hereby it seemeth the Cardinall goeth about to proue against his aduersaries that because the keyes of the kingdome of the earth are no where mentioned in the Scripture to be giuen to Peter and his sucsessors therefore the Pope hath not any direct authoritie to depose the Princes of the world nor dispose of their temporals insinuating that the keyes of the kingdome of heauen promised and granted to Peter or to the Church in the person of Peter can worke no such effect nor were granted to depriue Christian Princes or others of their scepters and regall dignities but onely by censures and spirituall authority to exclude vnworthy sinners from eternall felicitie and admit such as are truly penitent to the kingdome of heauen If this argument be good against the Canonists then why is it not also good against Cardinall Bellarmine himselfe when as he can no more produce Apostolicall tradition to confirme his indirect authoritie then the other their direct And of the keyes of the kingdome of the earth required for deposing Princes and disposing of temporals no mention is made in all the Scriptures no not for his indirect or casuall authoritie Consider besides I pray you for it is worth the noting how obscurely and ambiguously he writeth of the Popes power to depose thereby haply intending to seeke some starting hole of equiuocation if occasion serue and meane while leaue his reader doubtfull and still to seeke of his meaning which in my simple Judgement is such as the iudicious wit can hardly conceiue nor tell what he would say As for example that the chiefe Bishop as chiefe Bishop hath not any power meerly temporall c. as is noted before lib. 5. cap. 6. and in the same chapter The Pope as Pope cannot ordinarily note depose c. no not for a iust cause mary as he is the chiefe spirituall Prince he may depose and dispose c. Helpe me good Reader to vnderstand this riddle how these two differ in some essentiall point Pope and chiefe spirituall Prince I must confesse that I vnderstand not how he is the chiefe spirituall Prince but as he is Pope that is the Father of Fathers or chiefe Pastor of soules in the Church of God It is wel knowne that this title Pope or Papa in Latin hath bene attributed to many ancient Patriarchs and Bishops as well as to the Bishop of Rome though principally to him and now is appropriated to him alone and for nought else but for being Bishops and Ecclesiasticall Princes of the Church and for that cause only not for being a temporal Prince Peters successor hath his denomination Which in effect D. Kellison affirmeth saying D. Kellisons Reply to M. Sutel ca. 1. f. 9. Bern. lib. 2. de consid I grant with S. Bernard that the Pope as Pope hath no temporall iurisdiction his power as he is Pope being onely spirituall If then it be so that the Pope as Pope
receiued regall authoritie frustra est enim potentia quae nunquam redigitur in actum But supposing with the Cardinall there were not then any reclamation nor any muttering against it yet may such a constitution being neuer receiued Panormitan 10. Andr. or vpon disuse of so long time be iustly said to be abrogated as many Canons and Decrees of this and other Councels haue bene And namely that in this Councell which forbiddeth new religions to arise Can. 13. since which time notwithstanding Conc. Trid. Sess 25. c. 16. haue risen the Minims of S. Francis de Paula the religiō of the Iesuites and others That Metropolitans should celebrate prouinciall Councels euery yeare was appointed ca. 6. which is not obserued Can. 3. And in the Councell of Lateran vnder Leo 10. was decreed that Monasteries after the deceasse of the Abbots should not be giuen away to any in commenda or cōmended to any who were not religious but how this likewise is obserued Constantino Conc. can 50 59. the Monkes and religious of Italie France and other countries can testifie In the sixth generall Councell clergie men were forbidden to play at dice and it was ordered that Baptisme should be administred onely in Churches which are not kept Many mo instances out of other Councels might be to this purpose produced but to auoide tediousnesse these few may suffise Now for a further answer I wish you to note that this Councell indeed as by the words in the chapter is cleare did first excommunicate all heresie that lifted vp it selfe against that faith which the Fathers had set down in the two precedent chapters and ordained that such as were therefore condemned as also all other heretickes should be left vnto the secular powers to be condignly punished Secondly this holy Synode decreed that such as were onely suspected of heresie should cleare themselues of that note within a yeare after admonition otherwise they were to be excommunicated and auoyded till they had made condigne satiffaction Which was but the right practise and true proceeding of the Church to inflict spirituall censures that the soules of the offendors might be saued in the day of our Lord leauing them to the secular Magistrates to be further punished temporally Thirdly it was set downe in this Synode as meete and conuenient that secular powers should be admonished and if need were compelled to take a publike oath for defence of faith and to do their best endeuours to roote out of their territories all such heretikes as should be denounced by the Church none to be assumed into office which should not by oath confirme this chapter By secular powers and such as shall be assumed into potestacie or office either spirituall or temporal was not nor could be meant Emperor or King but rather Presidents or Gouerners of Prouinces subiect vnto Kings and absolute Princes who being Catholickes may by their excelling power assisting the Church compell them to confirme this chapter by taking such an Oath but themselues cannot be compelled by any hauing no superior on earth in temporals to force them thereunto Neither may it be said properly that a King coming to his crowne by lawfull succession and inheritance or election is assumed into office by any his subiects or others for then it would follow that he were not supremus Dominus a Soueraigne but in some sort inferiour to those that do assume him because he that is assumed or taken into office receiueth authoritie from him that assumeth As the Pope creating a Cardinall and saying Assumimus te insanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem We assume thee to be a Cardinall of the holy Romane Church giueth him by his supreme authoritie that spirituall office and dignitie of assisting him in the gouernment of the Church and his temporall state and to haue vocem actiuam passiuam in the election of the Pope c. But his Holinesse though elected by the Cardinals cannot properly be said to be assumed by them to the Popedome because he receiueth no power or authoritie from them but immediatly from God Finally to the latter part Si vero dominus temporalis on which Cardinall Bellarmine fortifieth his assertion of the Popes authoritie to depose Princes saying It is the voice of the Church it may be answered that the Church here defined it not as he well knoweth if she had no doubt but his Grace would haue spoken it plainly to put all out of doubt By temporall Lords in this place ought not to be vnderstood Kings but rather such as are explicated in the Emperours constitution to wit Potestates Consuls Rectors is hereafter followeth pag. 34. or such feudatarie Princes as haue principall Lords ouer them like to certaine in Italy where this Councell was held which is manifest by this Canon that reserueth the right of the principall Lord Saluo iure Domini principalis But I know some will say that Kings and absolute Princes are to be also included for that the words in the latter end seem to import so much The same law being kept about those who haue not principall Lords which ought to be vnderstood of absolute Princes Lord being a generall word signifying sometime Kings May it not be admired that out of this obscuritie of the law men will enforce Kings to be vnderstood and to be subiect to temporall punishments who acknowledge no superiour on earth to punish them in temporals especially when as no mention is made of them at all in the law In penals as I haue said before pag. 51. a restriction is to be vsed not an ampliation and Kings are no lesse to be named or specified by the orderly proceeding of the Church then Cardinals Conc. Trid. sess 24. de reform cap. 1. who are alwayes named in poenis or else not included though the Pope command sub poena excommunicationis all Patriarchs Archbishops or Bishops of what dignitie soeuer If yet any will enforce that By those who haue not principall Lords Kings are or may be vnderstood it helpeth them nothing at all for that such a law first neuer receiued and againe per desuetudinem being neuer by the Church put in practise is abrogated and of no validitie Neither was it defined in this Councell as all men of meane iudgement may see that the Pope hath authoritie to absolue subiects from their loyaltie or naturall obedience due to their Princes but onely signified that he might denounce the vassals of certaine temporall Lords absolued as it were by vertue of some former law to wit that of Gregorie 7 Nos sanctorum 15. q. 6. ca Nos sanctorū or some other from their fealtie who being admonished and excommunicated by the Metropolitane shall contemne to make satisfaction within a yeare which is not to absolue them by any authoritie giuen by this Councell and so it maketh nothing against the Oath of allegiance That the Pope cannot absolue me from this Oath Then lastly it followeth
and much more moment then their owne And lest you should hauing perchance neuer seene this imperiall Decree doubt thereof I haue thought good to set it downe at large which is this Statuimus etiam hoc edicto in perpetuum valituro Constit Fred. Imper. cont Patarenos vt Potestates Consules seu Rectores quibuscunque fungantur officijs defensione fidei praestent publicū iuramentum quòd de terris suae ditioni subiectis vniuersos haereticos ab Ecclesia denotatos bona fide pro viribus exterminare studebunt ita quod amodo quandocunque quis fuerit in perpetuam potestatem vel temporalem assumptus hoc teneatur capitulum iuramento firmare alioquin neque pro Potestatibus neque pro Consulibus seu consimilibus habeantur eorumque sententias ex tunc decernimus inutiles inanes Si vero Dominus tēporalis requisitus monitus ab Ecclesia terram suam purgare neglexerit ab haeretica prauitate post annum à tempore monitionis elapsum terrans ipsius exponimus Catholicis occupandum qui eam exterminatis haereticis abque vlla contradictione possideant in fidei puritate conseruent saluo iure Domini temporalis dummodo super hoc nullum praestet obstaculum nec aliquod impedimentum apponat eadē nihilominus lege seruata contra eos qui non habent Dominos temporales c. Datum Paduae 22. Februarij indictione 12. In English thus We decree also by this edict for euer to be of force that Potestates and Consuls or Rectors what offices soeuer they beare for defence of faith take a publike oath that they shall seriously endeuour what in them lieth to roote out all heretikes noted by the Church out of the countries subiect to their gouernment so that from hencefoorth whensoeuer any shall be assumpted to a Potestacie for euer or for a time let him be bound to confirme this chapter by oath otherwise let them not be esteemed for Potestates or for Consuls or such like and their sentences we decree forthwith to be vnprofitable and of no force And if the temporall Lord required and admonished by the Church shall neglect to purge his countrie from hereticall prauitie after a yeare expired from the time of the admonition we expose his countrie to be occupied by Catholikes who when the heretikes are rooted out may possesse it without any contradiction and maintaine it in the puritie of faith the right of the principall Lord being reserued so that vpon this he bring no obstacle nor procure any impediment the same law notwithstanding being obserued against them that haue not principall Lords c. Giuen at Padua 22. of Februarie indiction 12. Now can any man perceiue by this imperiall law procured and vsed by the Church in the punishment of heretikes that kings are bound to take the oath therein specified or that it is meant their countries should be giuen from them if after the Churches admonition they yet remaine negligent in extirpating heretikes Nothing lesse First because kings are not named or mentioned which is requisite but Potestates as are in Italie Consuls and Rectors or Gouernours of prouinces such as are inferiors or subiect to the Emperour or kings therefore they are not comprised in the law Nor secondly can they be comprised therein though perchance you will say that by the latter clause it is meant also by kings and all other absolute Princes who haue no dependance of the Emperour for that they are not bound to the keeping of the law being penall L. Princeps D de legibus Princeps enim solutus est legibus For the Prince is freed from lawes That is as the Grecians vnderstand frō the penalty of lawes Thirdly the Emperor being no superior to absolute kings cannot constraine them by any law ciuill nor punish them L. non magistratus D. de recep Qui arbi For Par in parem non habet imperium multo minus inferior in superiorem A peere or equall hath not dominion ouer his equall much lesse an inferiour ouer his superiour as subiects ouer their lawfull Prince Now if the Emperour or any other Peere may by vertue of that law depriue an absolute king of his kingdome and confiscate whatsoeuer he hath which are grieuous punishments then is he subiect to penall lawes and to be corrected not onely by his peeres but also by inferiors and his owne subiects which is absurd Tert. ad Scapulā Praesid Carthag Amb. in li. Qui inscrib Apol. Dauid and against the authorities abouesaid and iudgement of ancient Fathers Tertullian Ambrose Gregorius Turonensis and others who write that a king is inferiour but to God alone that is in temporals that they are not to be punished by penall lawes being defended with the power of their empire Greg. l. 5 hist c 7. if thou speaking of a king dost offēd who shall correct thee who shal cōdemn thee but he that hath pronoūced himselfe to be Iustice This being so then cannot that law of the Emperor take hold on kings nor punish thē temporally But supposing that chapter of the Councell whereof we spake before or rather of Innocentius in the Councell were a decree what then doth it follow infallibly that it is de fide No. The most reuerend Cardinall Bellarmine will tell you Bella l. 2. Concap 12. that in Councels the greatest part of the acts appertaine not to faith as disputations reasons explications c. Sed tantum ipsa nuda decreta ea non omnia sed tantùm quae proponuntur tanquam de fide That is But onely the verie bare decrees and not all those neither but onely such as are proposed as of faith For sometime saith he Councels do define somewhat not as certaine but as probable as the Councell of Vienna which decreed to be holden as the more probable that grace and vertues are infused to infants in Baptisme as is Clement vnica de summa Trinit fide Cath. Why then Sir how shal I know when a decree is of faith and when it is not Cardinall Bellarmine in the place aboue noted will put you out of doubt thereof Quando autem decretum proponatur tanquam de side facilè cognoscitur ex verbis Concilij semper enim dicere solent se explicare fidem Catholicam vel haereticos habendos qui contrariū sentiunt c. Whē a decree is proposed as of faith it is easily knowne by the words of the Councel for they are alway accustomed to say that they explicate the Catholike faith or they are to be held for heretikes that think the contrarie or which is most vsuall they say Anathema and exclude out of the Church those that are of contrary opinion And when they haue none of these it is not certaine that the matter is of faith This he By which you learne may secure your conscience that the doctrine of depositiō of Princes either directly or indirectly ordinarily or
of their kingdome c. but this is not to be granted And in the same question Si aliqui Reges c. If some Kings with the people haue deliuered ouer themselues to the Popes of Rome as it is said of Englishmen it is nothing to vs. Yet do I not thinke that Englishmen by any meanes would permit the Pope to depose their King and set vp another for they neuer yet suffered any of the Bishops of Rome to do it But lest any man here take hold and say that King Iohn was brought to yeeld his crowne to the Popes Legate and for redeeming it granted an annuall tribute to the Sea Apostolike let him reade S. Thomas More for his better satisfaction herein who plainely denieth it thus More supplic of soules pag. 296. If he the Author of the Supplication of beggers say as indeed some writers say Platina and others that King Iohn made EnglaÌ„d Ireland tributarie to the Pope the Sea Apostolike by the grant of a thousand markes we dare surely say againe that it is vntrue and that all Rome neither can shew such a grant nor neuer could and if they could it were nothing worth for neuer could any King of England giue away to the Pope or make the land tributarie though he would To conclude this point of deposing Princes I will note vnto you onely one place more to this purpose out of the Decrees of the Church of France collected by Bochellus a late writer Bochel ex Cod. libert Eccles Gallie li. 2. tit 16. c. 1. Regnum Franciae eiusque pertinentias dare in praedam Papa non potest c. The Pope cannot giue away for a prey the kingdome of France and the appertenances thereof or dispose therof in any other sort whatsoeuer And notwithstanding whatsoeuer admonitions excommunications or interdicts the subiects are bound to performe due obedience to their King in temporals neither can they be dispenced or absolued from the same by the Pope The reason hereof is that such obedience is due by the law of God and nature against which no man may dispence according to S. Thomas In his quae sunt de lege naturae c. In such things as are of the law of nature and in diuine precepts Tho 2.2 q. 88 ar 10. no man can disp ence O that French-men if that their doctrine be currant in France would vouchsafe to teach their doctrine here in great Brittaine In them it seemeth tollerable and would be doubtlesse vnpunishable But certaine English priests no lesse Catholicke then well affected subiects for teaching the like in defence of their King and countrey must be subiect to the losse of faculties the onely meanes that many haue of their reliefe calumniation obloquie of tongues reputed as schismatikes little better then heretikes and esteemed of some vnworthy of foode to maintaine life diuerse hauing bene forbidden to visite such in prison or relieue them This is too true would God it were not so O tempora O mores Wel may we cry out with S. Paul Miserabiliores sumus omnibus hominibus 1. Cor 15. Psal 13. we are more miserable then all men But though the throate of some be an opeÌ„ sepulcher and with their tongues they deale subtilly and the poison of aspes be vnder their lips yet we neede not one eye looke to his mercifull and most wonderfull care of Daniel feeding him imprisoned in the middest of Lions and with the other behold his daily relieuing the beasts of the field and fowles of the aire all made for man as man for God Then confortamini in Domino nolite timâ—re multis passeribus pluris estis vos Comfort your selues in our Lord and feare ye not you are much more worth then many sparrowes you I meane that intend not to derogate from the spiritual authoritie of Christs Vicar but to render no lesse vnto him his due then to Caesar his But to returne whence we haue digressed if it be true that a Councell may not iudge punish or depose the Pope though he endeuor to destroy the Church of God Li. 2 de Rom. Pont. c. 29. as Cardinall Bellarmine writeth which belongeth to none but to a superiour a Councell not being aboue the Pope as many hold why are we not to beleeue the same of Kings though they persecute the Church Li. 3. c 19. Tert. ad Scapulam praesid Carthag when as witnesse the same Author they acknowledge no superior no iudge on earth in temporals Well let such Doctors as teach deposition in schooles withdraw themselues from speculation to practise from scholasticall distinctions and disputations to Magistrates examinations such as haue potestatem crucifigendi vel dimittendi haply they may change their subtile shifts into a simple proposition that it is small wisedome to band with the supreme Magistrate in a matter so important as is Caesars right neuer any thing being yet determined by the Church of God to warrant them so to do And it may be in my iudgement admired that catholicke Princes permit such dangerous positions not onely to be disputed but also taught for truth within their dominions and to passe without controlement knowing that a sparkle of fire lying smothering in combustible matter if it be neglected and left vnquenched may cause in short space an vnquenchable flame so such a speculatiue doctrine litle regarded is not vnlike in time to breed a wofull practicall ruine of kingdomes and nations And this of the Popes temporall power Is it then by spirituall authoritie alone or by both that Princes maybe deposed for it seemeth by later Diuines that Popes may depose them directly or indirectly The mirror of this age for diuine literature Cardinall Bellarmine in his late booke against Barclai cap. 5. and elsewhere writeth not so plainely as were to be wished nor so as he satisfieth his reader whether it be spirituall onely or temporall onely but seemeth to incline more to the spirituall power yet mixt with temporall Iam dixi inquit potestatem de qua loquimur c. I haue alreadie said In Barcl c. 5. that the power wherof we speake is to be found expresly in the Scriptures but generally not in particular to wit in the 16. of Saint Matthew Tibi dabo claues regni coelorum And Iohn 21. Pasce oues meas and by these same diuine testimonies may be gathered that accession and coniunction of power to dispose of temporals in ordine ad spiritualia as more then once is declared And may it not I pray you be as well said with due respect to his dignitie that by those diuine testimonies no such glosse of accession or coniunction of power may be gathered because those places were euer vnderstood by all ancient Fathers of the sole spiritual authority of the Pope without accession or coniunction of temporall power yea in ordine ad spiritualia By the keyes of the kingdome of heauen promised to Peter yet not for Peter
alone but for the n = * O igen In hunc loc ho. 1 Aug tract vlt. in Ioan. l. 1. d◠doct Chr. c. 18. Coster in O. siand c. 4. Church signifying power to be giuen to bind and loose to admit the worthy to the kingdome of heauen and to exclude the vnworthie can any other power be vnderstood then meerely spirituall most certainely there cannot For aske when this promise of our Sauiour was performed No man I thinke will denie but then Christ gaue these keyes when after his resurrection he vsed this ceremonie of breathing on his eleuen Apostles giuing them all like power to forgiue or reteine sinnes by these words Quorum remiseritis peccata c. Whose sinnes you shall forgiue Ioan. 20. they are forgiuen them and whose you shall reteine they are reteined By which words the Fathers often say that the keyes were giuen to all the Apostles If any man so build on that which Christ said to Peter Quodcunque ligaueris super terram c. Whatsoeuer thou shalt bind vpon earth Math. 16. it shal be bound also in the heauens and whatsoeuer thou shalt loose in earth it shall be loosed also in the heauens that Peter and his successors haue power to set vp and plucke downe Kings then must it of necessitie follow See Iansenius Concor c. 72. that the rest of the Apostles had the same because he vsed the like phrase to them also Quaecunque alligaueritis c. Whatsoeuer ye shall bind vpon earth shall be bound in heauen c. And so consequently all Bishops who are appointed gouernours likewise of the Church of God Act. 20. as Saint Paul saith Attendite c. Take heed to your selues and to the whole flock wherin the holy Ghost hath placed you Bishops to rule the Church of God which he hath purchased with his owne blood may dethrone Kings if they iudge it expedient which is not to be granted This former interpretatiō of anciēt diuines seemes more agreeable to Christs words as Iansenius noteth to vnderstand by these keyes power to bind and loose because with these two powers as with two keyes the kingdom of heauē is opened to the truly penitēt with the other it is shut against the vnworthy impenitēt sinner then is the interpretatiō of later Diuines who say that Christ meant of the keyes of knowledge of discerning inter leprā lepram who is worthy to be absolued who vnworthie and of power to bind loose Howsoeuer they are to be vnderstood yet therby cannot be gathered power to depose or dispose of temporals Theophylact vpon this place hath thus Claues autē intelligas quaeligant soluunt hoc est delictorū vel indulgentias vel poenas Theoph. in 16. Math. c. And vnderstand keyes which bind and loose that is either pardons or punishments of sinnes For they haue power to remit and to bind who haue attained to the grace of Episcopacie as Peter hath Which power he affirmeth was granted to all the Apostles Quamuis autem soli Petro dictum sit Dabo tibi c. And although saith he it be spoken to Peter alone I will giue thee yet the keyes are granted to all the Apostles When When he said Cap. firmiter de summa Trinit fide Cath. c loquitur 24. q. 1 Vict. de clauibus nu 4. Rabanus Whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted For when he said dabo he signified a time to come to wit after his resurrection So Theophylact. If they were giuen to Peter doth it not follow that the Apostles receiued them of Peter But Victoria teacheth that they receiued them of Christ not of Peter Rabanus likewise Albeit this power of binding and loosing seeme to be giuen onely to Peter yet it is also giuen to the rest of the Apostles and is now likewise to all the Church in Bishops and Priests But therefore Peter specially receiued the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and the principalitie of iudiciarie power that all beleeuers through the world may vnderstand that whosoeuer do separate themselues in any sort from the vnitie of his faith and societie that such can neither be absolued from the bonds of sins nor enter into the gate of the kingdome of heauen This he But let it be granted according to the sentēce of many anciēt Fathers that Christ speaking specially to Peter gaue him more ample power then he gaue to the rest of the Apostles yet all was but spirituall as the words import and to a spirituall end in aedificationem non in destructionem to edification not to destruction not tending to deposition or depriuation of the temporall goods of any within his gouernment but to excommunication or separation of certaine obstinate offenders from the common goods of the Church militant and so consequently from the ioyes of the Church triumphant And let it be that Peter receiued the keyes of our Sauior when he said vnto him Pasce oues meas Feed my sheep all was but spirituall Ioan. 21. for the same power is required to feed the flocke of Christ that is to open or shut the kingdome of heauen Vict de clau nu 4. And then was he instituted the Vicar of Christ on earth by whose institution and as he is Bishop or Pastor of the whole Church Card. Bellar. de Ro. Pont. l. 5. c. 10. the most illustrous Card. confesseth that he receiued not power to ouerrule dommari but pascere to feed Which kind of secular domination was forbidden the Apostles and ministration commanded as Saint Bernard saith Bern. de consid l. 2 c. 5. L. 4. c. 4. de consid Who in an other place explicateth what it is to feed Euangelizare pascere est Opus fac euangelistae pastorum opus implesti To euangelize is to feed Do the worke of an Euangelist and thou hast fulfilled the worke of Pastors But some are forced to say that excommunication of the Pope necessarily worketh this temporall effect of deposition for that they know not otherwise how his Holinesse can attaine to such power If this were so then what Bishop soeuer do excommunicate any within his diocesse doth also depose and depriue them of their temporals for what the Pope is in the vniuersall Church such is a Bishop in the particular L. 5. de sum Pont. c. 3. as Cardinall Bellarmine once held though lately in his Recognitions he retracteth it after this manner Whereas I said that a Bishop was the same in a particular Church as the Pope is in the vniuersall it is thus to be taken that as the Pope is the true Pastor and Prince of the Church vniuersall so is a Bishop a true Pastor and Prince of a particular Church not a Vicar or administrator for a certaine time c. Which yet serueth well for our purpose in hand for if a Bishop a spiritual Prince of a particular church cannot by vertue of
taken without deniall of their faith neuer shewing them any particular point which it is for to say truth they cannot So then their bare word must be beleeued as an oracle or else in fine with a bat they will beate men downe The Popes commandement not hauing ought else to say which may conuince It may be admired they make no more conscience in such an important businesse as this is not hauing the Churches definition nor ancient Fathers approbations for their assertions After all some burst forth in most vncharitable railing slanderous backbitings against such priests as in conscience haue performed their dutie in taking it and persist in teaching the lawfulnesse thereof withdrawing friends and charitable almes from them counselling some and commanding others not to resort vnto them as I haue bene credibly told by some that haue themselues bene forbidden and much more such like dealings which shall not be here rehearsed Ignosce illis Deus quia nesciunt quid faciunt These ought not to be the proceedings neither of good subiects nor of discreete guides of mens soules or true disciples of Christ who are made knowne to all by a notorious cognisance commonly called loue or charity giuen by our Sauiour Christ In hoc cognoscent omnes quia discipuli mei estis Ioan. 13. si dilectioneÌ„ habueritis Adinuicem In this all men shal know that you are my disciples if you haue loue one to another Which badge were to be wished more visible then it is in some that pretend to be true followers of Christ Now to the authoritie of S. Paul may be answered that an hereticke so taken condemned and denounced by the Church is to be auoided in his heresie to be taken heed of that he be not seduced by him haeresis enim serpit vt cancer for heresie creepeth as a canker and in humane conuersation also when there is hope to reduce him thereby to a better mind Vt spiritus saluus sit But as no Catholike is by the lawes of this realme to be accompted a Recusant till he be conuicted so is none by the lawes of the Church to be reputed an hereticke to be auoided till he be by her admonished condemned and denounced for such which is neuer without pertinacie in heresie And what maketh this for them that say we denie the Popes authoritie God forbid that I by his grace a Catholicke priest should euer denie the Popes spirituall power to excommunicate any Prince or people that were once incorporated into the body mysticall of Christ by Baptisme but as I haue denied excommunication of her owne nature to extend to deposition and taking away of temporals so I may not grant that euery excommunicate person is to be abandoned of all and debarred of all humane society and conuersation Though humane communication esteemed one of the common goods is found also among the faithfull as to eate together to salute to talke negotiate and such like yet this sort of communication belongeth not to them properly as they are Christians and members of the Church but as they are citizens parts of the body politick And as they are such they are bound to adhere vnto the head of this body their Prince not to forsake but obey him in all iust ciuill causes notwithstanding any sentence of excommunicatioÌ„ as hath bene proued before out of Syluester Panormitan others which is not to deny the Popes power No if you reade Tortus and beleeue him I know you wil change your opinion for vpon those words That the Pope neither of himselfe nor by any authority of the Church or Sea of Rome hath any power or authority to depose the king c. or to discharge any of his subiects of their allegiance and obedience to his Maiestie c. He writeth thus Torâ—us par 3. Here it is manifestly seene that this Oath doth not containe onely ciuill obedience in things meerely temporall as the Authour of the Apologie our Soueraigne so oft hath repeated but it containeth also a denyall of the Popes power which is not a thing meerely temporall but a holy thing and giuen from aboue which no mortall man can take away or diminish It is strange that his Maiesties oft repetition of a truth nothing to be contained in the Oath or required but ciuil obedience seemeth irkesome to the Cardinal it being very necessary wheÌ„ men will not vnderstand but his Grace goeth not about to disproue it And who I pray you is a better interpreter of a law when doubts or difficulties arise then he that made the law If it containes a deniall of the Popes power his Grace should haue done well to haue proued it and shewed wherein Though the Cardinall for many respects ought of me somtime not vnknown vnto him highly to be reuerenced and his writings credited yet in this matter to me most cleare I must craue pardon if I differ from him in opinion and write otherwise not being able after study and diligent search of this matter to see it so manifest as his Grace wold make his reader beleeue It is most manifest the ancient Fathers neuer taught so viz. to be in the Popes power to depose Kings nor discharge subiects of their loyaltie and dutifull obedience the Church neuer yet defined it so can I then be so credulous to beleeue his bare word without better proofe His ipse dixit in this will not be sufficient The other florish to leade away a simple and inconsiderate reader forsooth that the Popes power is spirituall a holy thing from heauen c. is somewhat vainely and to no purpose inserted for no Catholicke denieth it and we that haue taken the Oath of allegiance are readie with Gods grace if need were to shed our bloud in defence therof and euerie point of Catholicke faith albeit we suffer disgraces and neuer receiued temporall benefite nor euer tooke oath vsque ad effusionem sanguinis inclusiuè so to do as the most illustrous and most reuerend purple Fathers are accustomed to take when in publicke consistory they receiue their hats The Cardinall in Tortus goeth on further to prooue by subsequent words in the Oath that the Popes spirituall power is denied Parag. 4. which were enough to terrifie Christian subiects if it were true The words are these Also I do sweare from my heart that notwithstanding any declaration or sentence of excommunication or depriuation made or granted or to be made or granted by the Pope or his successors or by any authoritie deriued or pretended to be deriued from him or his Sea against the said King his heires or successours or any absolution of the said subiects from their obedience I will beare faith and true allegiance to his Maiestie his heires and successors Here saith the Card. is openly denyed that the Pope hath power to excommunicate Kings though they be heretikes Note his proofe For how saith he can a Catholicke lawfully and iustly sweare that he will
disturbance of him or his people c. This they so vertuous and learned did with their Prince without resistance as knowing it to be their dutie so to do and his case to be farre different from that of our Soueraigne who was neuer excommunicated nor relapsed or indeede hereticke as I haue alreadie said and could more largely proue if need were yet they did not then nor euer will denie the Popes spirituall power to excommunicate And may not the King of great Brittaine require the like of his subiects both Clergie and people and they performe the same as well as the French without preiudicating the Apostolicall power When Monsignore Fontana Bishop of Ferrara knowing well the now Duke of Modina then vsurping the title and dominion of Ferrara to be excommunicated by name in most parts of Italie did notwithstanding of necessitie communicate with him as a subiect with his Prince and did refuse to publish it in his owne Church without the Dukes consent notwithstanding the Popes order and commandement vnto him Will any man say that this good Bishop denied the Popes spirituall power to excommunicate That were ridiculous or offended in disobedience No necessitie if nought else excused So enough of this matter There is another knot to be vntied which seemeth insoluble to wit that I do beleeue that neither the Pope nor any person whatsoeuer hath power to absolue me of this Oath or any part thereof c. And that I doe renounce all pardons dispensations to the contrary Is not this a plaine denying of the Popes spirituall authoritie Cardinall Bellarmine in Tortus plainly teacheth me Tortus §. 5. that he who a little before by swearing denieth the Popes power to bind the same doth now denie his power to loose For of those words of our Lord Quodcunque solueris super terram erit solutum in coelis all Catholicke men gather that power belongeth to the chiefe Bishop to absolue not onely from sins but also from punishments censures lawes vowes and oathes when it may be expedient to the glorie of God and health of soules This knot to him that vieweth it well will not be found to haue more difficultie to vnknit then the former of binding For as it is an vndoubted veritie that no Bishop no nor the Pope can by vertue of excommunication lesse by any temporall power out of his owne territories thrust any priuate Christian man out of his possessions who before had right thereto and bereaue him thereof as hath bene proued so it is as certaine that they can no more absolue a subiect of his dutie and naturall allegiance to his Prince and of his oath of fealtie made vnto him discharging him of all subiection and obedience then they can a wife of her dutie to her husband of childrens honoring their parents or seruants their maisters being warranted for the performance thereof by the law of God Honour thy father and thy mother c. against which no power in earth can dispence nor absolue them that is release them of such dutie At this word Absolue some silly soules yea and others that would be accounted wise are as it were scandalized beleeuing that taking the Oath they shall denie the Popes spirituall power of absoluing a sinner of his sinnes in foro conscientiae which euery Priest hauing iurisdiction may do little considering that they are not like to confesse their sinnes to him this yeare or euer in their life and out of confession his authoritie stretcheth not to remit or absolue one from deadly sinne These in a sort resemble some good creatures that I haue noted in Italie when they heare the Preacher in his sermon vtter this word Confiteor will by and by knocke their breasts thinking he is talking of confession when as the word signifieth sometime to giue thankes And like people of small vnderstanding beleeue that by renouncing all pardons and dispensations to the contrary they must denie the Popes power of granting indulgences or pardons as the practise is to beades graines crosses c. and of dispensing in any case whatsoeuer it being spirituall as cannot be denied Here I stand ambiguous Prou. 26. whether I should follow Salomons counsell or no Responde stulto iuxta stultitiam suam ne sibi sapiens esse videatur Answer a foole according to his folly lest he thinke himselfe wise It shall not be haply amisse for their more satisfaction to condescend somewhat vnto such letting them to vnderstand that to men of any iudgement it must needs be ridiculous who know it cannot nor ought so to be vnderstood but onely of pardoning and dispencing or releasing subiects of a lawfull Oath of fealtie and dutifull obedience to their Soueraigne This is not spirituall power which belongeth to the Church and therefore when such pardons and dispensations shall be offered by his Holines as is neuer like to be euery good subiect is bound to renounce them as being contrary to the ordinance of almightie God I aske these what they thinke whether the Pope or any power in earth can command absolue in this sence as we take it or dispence against the law of God and nature They must needs say as truth is he cannot and according to S. Thomas doctrine In his quaesunt de lege naturae 2.2 q. 88. ar 10. in praeceptis diuinis non potest per hominem dispensari In such things as are of the law of nature and in diuine precepts it cannot be dispensed withall by man Then I inferre and it is Barclaies argument not solued by Cardinall Bellarmine But subiection and obedience due to Princes and superiors is de iure naturali diuino this cannot be denied being euident in Scriptures Therefore neither the Pope nor any power in earth can command any thing absolue or dispense against it and consequently cannot command subiects not to performe obedience to their Prince or superior in that wherein he is superior if he should it is lawfull for them not to obey him not to accept of such a dispensation We grant with the Cardinall that it appertaineth to the Popes spirituall power to absoblue from sins also from paines and censures lawes vowes and oathes verumt amen non quidquid libet licet it is not meant in all lawes all vowes nor all oathes No man I thinke will say that he can absolue from the iust ciuill lawes of secular Princes for that were in alienam messem falcem mittere and to be a monarchicall superior in temporals which is not to be admitted but onely in his owne lawes and the Canons Decrees or positiue lawes of the Church wherein I confesse he hath plenitudinem potestatis as likewise Princes haue in the commonwealth and thereby may dispense in their owne lawes as S. Thomas teacheth 2.2 q. 6.7 ar 4. Princeps habet plenariam potestatem in republica 1.2 q. 96. a. 5. ad 3. Who according to the same in another place is said to be
freed from the law as touching the compulsiue force of the law because no man may giue iudgement of condemnation against him if he do against the law if none then not the people nobles or commons assembled whereupon on that of the Psalme Psal 50. Tibisolipeccaui To thee only O God I haue sinned the Glosse saith Quòd Rex non habet hominem qui sua facta dijudicet That a King hath not any man that may determine his facts But as touching the directiue power of the law the Prince is subiect to the law by his owne will as it is said Extra de constitut cap. Cum omnes Quod quisque iuris c. What law any do decree for another he ought to vse the same law himselfe According to that Patere legem quam ipse tuleris What if a Prince will not do what he ought to do what then who may compell him None but God to whom onely he is inferiour Tert. Ad Scapulam in Apologet. Greg. Nazian orat in Iulian. Amb. orat ad pop inter ep 32.33 Tertullian and other Fathers affirme who ruleth the hearts of Kings at his pleasure being his Vicegerents in earth and other remedy then prayers teares and patience subiects haue none at all I will not deny the Popes Holinesse to haue power to dispence in vowes yet if I should affirme that in solemne vowes of religion he cannot I should not disagree from S. Thomas and other Diuines Papa non potest facere c. 2.2 q. 88. a. 11. The Pope cannot make one that is professed in religion to be no religious man that is release or free him of the bonds of chastitie pouertie and obedience vowed Abdicatio proprietatis c. The renouncing of proprietie as also the keeping of chastitie is so essentially annexed to the monasticall rule or the state of a Moncke that against it the Pope himselfe cannot dispence This is the opinion of S. Thomas as Caieta◠affirmeth as much as it dependeth of the Decretall Extra de statu Monach. in fine illius cum ad monasterium And he concludeth And therefore in a solemne vow of religion it cannot be dispenced withall by the Church Who will say that this holy Doctor denieth the Popes spirituall power though he differ from Cardinall Bellarmine Were he not a great Doctor and blessed Saint that writeth in this wise I know some of our tender consciences would be much scandalized for they cannot endure to heare any man talke a word of the limitation of the Popes power what he cannot do forsooth as if he were omnipotent But these are for the most part the ignorant sort that beleeuing him to be Christs Vicar beleeue also that he is endued with Christs power of excellency and can do all that he could do as man when he was here on earth Let these learne that his Holinesse neither challengeth Christs power of excellencie as to institute sacraments to remit sinnes without out the ministery of a sacrament to make an article of faith and such like but onely that which it pleased our Lord to communicate vnto him nor the most learned Diuines yeeld him all authority without limitation For beside that which S. Thomas writeth of dispensation in vowes Victoria de sacram ord Franciscus à Victoria disputing whether the Pope may delegate power vnto a Priest who is not a Bishop to giue orders concludeth that S. Thomas Paludanus and all say he cannot And against his dispencing in matrimony before consummatiō Idem tract De matrim cland nu 282. Teneamus cum tota caterua Theologorum quòd Papa non potest dispensare in matrimonio rato Let vs hold with the whole troupe of Diuines thant the Pope cannot dispence in matrimony called ratum that is before it be consummate And Cardinall Bellarmine admitteth a limitation Dicimus Papam habere c. Bellarm. lib. 5. de Ro. Pont. cap. 4. We say that the Pope hath that office which Christ had whē he liued here on earth but we cannot giue him those offices which Christ had as he was God or as a man immortall and glorious but onely those which he had as a mortall man Whereby you see that the Popes power is not without some limitation howbeit he exceedeth in yeelding him all that Christ had as he was a mortall man as is said before Now remaines to be discussed whether his Holinesse may absolue from all oathes and so from this Oath of allegiance Which question serueth most for our purpose in hand It is to be noted that euery oath is either assertory that is of things present or past or else promissorie of things to come and either of good and lawfull matters or of euill and vnlawfull An vnlawfull thing and that which cannot be performed without sinne is not matter of an oath and therefore requireth no dispensation or absolution from it as is manifest for whosoeuer should sweare to commit adultery which is promissorie or neuer to pray neuer to fast and such like will any man say that he must seeke to be absolued from that oath and not rather that he is bound ex naturarei not to performe it 2.2 q. 89. ar 9. ad 3. being euill in it selfe S. Thomas saith Sometime it happeneth that that which falleth vnder a promissorie Oath is repugnant to iustice either becausce it is a sinne and so is bound not to keepe it or else for that it is a hinderer of a greater good as not to liue a virgine not to enter into religion and such an Oath needeth no dispensation but is lawfull for him that sweareth to keepe it or not to keepe it And somtime he saith somewhat is promised of which there is doubt whether it be lawfull or vnlawfull profitable or hurtfull absolutely or in some case and in this euery Bishop may dispence But in an assertorie Oath Syluester verbo Iuramentum 5. n 2. S. Thomas in the place aboue said ad 1. and all Dolors hold there can no dispensation or absolution be granted by any Bishop or Pope The reasons such as vnderstand may see in S. Thomas When in an Oath is any thing sworne or promised to Prince or priuate man which is manifestly iust according to the law of God and accompanied with these three associates Veritie Iudgment and Iustice that ought duly to be performed of him that so sweareth Exod. 20. Matth. 5. Reddes Domino iuramenta tua and cannot be dispenced withall when as the obseruation of an Oath falleth vnder a diuine precept which is indispensable as S. Thomas writeth in the place aboue noted ad primum And in euery such Oath yea though it be coacted riseth an obligation whereby a man resteth bound to God which is not taken away in foro conscientiae as he affirmeth To which purpose S. Bernard writeth thus Bern. lib. de praecepto disp c. 5. Illud quod non ab homine traditum c. That which