POPERY OR THE Principles Positions Approved by the CHURCH OF ROME When Really Believ'd and Practis'd Are very Dangerous to all and to Protestant Kings and Supreme Powers more especially Pernicious And Inconsistent with that Loyalty which by the Law of NATURE and SCRIPTURE is Indispensably due to SUPREME POWERS In a LETTER to a Person of Honor By T. L d Bishop of LINCOLN Rev. 18. 4. Jer. 15. 6. Come out of her my people least ye be partakers of her Sins and Plagues In the SAVOY Printed by Tho. Newcomb for James Collins in the Temple-passage from Essex-street MDCLXXIX FOR MY Honored Friend L. N. P. SIR I Received and read your Letter and this comes to bring my humble Service and tell you so In your Letter you tell me First Of an Inhumane and Bloody Design and Popish Plot a Traiterous and Roman-Catholick Conspiracy as you call it against the Sacred Person and Life of our Gracious KING whom GOD preserve and many more by them design'd for Ruine and for the Subversion of the true Religion Establish'd by Law and introducing Papal Tyranny Superstition and Idolatry A Design not only Unchristian but Inhumane and Barbarous beyond all examples of Turkish or Pagan Cruelty nor has it in any story any parallel Impiety unless perhaps that Bloody French Massacre or the Gun-powder-Treason all contriv'd and carry'd on by Men of the same desperate Principles and though with the blood and ruine of many thousand innocent persons to advance the Papal Interest Secondly You say That the Popish Party decry this Impious Conspiracy as a State-Trick without truth or reallity to make Catholicks as they commonly miscall themselves odious to the People and this whole Nation This I believe and know they do As their Plots and Conspiracies so their Impudence to deny or lessen them when discover'd is monstrous and were not their Persons and Principles known incredible So they did where and when they durst and still do call the Gun-powder-Treason A State-Design to make them though they were innocent seem guilty and Criminals Thirdly Lastly you say that several Papists tell you in excuse of Popery and their Party That if indeed there be such a Plot and Conspiracy as is pretended yet it is the only fault of those persons concern'd in it not of Popery or their Religion the Principles and Doctrine of their Church giving no ground or incouragement to such impious and Anti-Monarchical practices This I believe too because I find them making the same Apology for themselves to take off the guilt of the Gun-powder-Treason For without all truth or modesty they tell us in Print That the Gun-powder-Treason was MORE THAN SUSPECTED to be the CONTRIVANCE of Cecil the great Politician TO RENDER CATHOLICKS ODIOUS and that there were but VERY FEW of that Religion AND THOSE DESPERADOES TOO detected of it c. All sober Catholicks detesting that and all such Conspiracies Now these things premis'd you desire to know of me whether I think these their Allegations and Apologies true or if I think them untrue and insignificant as you may be sure I do that I would give you some reasons why I do so In obedience therefore to your command and to satisfie that Obligation that lies upon me so far as I am able to Vindicate Truth and my Mother the Church of England though I have little time and few Books here being absent from my own save what I borrow of friends I shall endeavour to say something which may I hope be pertinent towards the conviction of our Adversaries and your satisfaction And here I shall plainly set down I. The Position I undertake to make good II. The Proofs and Reasons of it I. The Position is this ...... The Doctrine and Principles of Popery own'd by the Church of Rome when believed and practised are not onely dangerous but pernicious to Kings especially to those who are Protestants prejudicial to the just rights of Monarchy and inconsistent with that Loyalty which by the Laws of Nature and Scripture is due to them and particularly to our Kings by the establish'd and known Laws of England made antiently even by Popish Kings and Parliaments against Papal Usurpations and Anti-Monarchical Practices And here because it is impossible distinctly to shew how Popish Principles are dangerous to our Kings and prejudicial to their Just Rights and Royal Prerogative unless we first know what that Prerogative and those Rights are I shall inquire 1. What the Jura Coronae the Rights and Prerogatives of the Imperial Crown of England are as to our present concern 2. How Popish Doctrines and Principles may be dangerous or pernicious to them 1. For the First That England is a Monarchy the Crown Imperial and our Kings SUPREME Governors and SOLE SUPREME Governors of this Realm and all other their Dominions will I believe I am sure it should be granted seeing our Authentick Laws and Statutes do so expresly and so often say it In our Oath of Supremacy we Swear that the King is the ONLY SUPREME Governor SUPREME so none not the Pope above Him and ONLY SUPREME so none co-ordinate or equal to Him So that by our known Laws our King is Solo Deo minor invested with such a Supremacy as excludes both Pope and People and all the World God Almighty only excepted by whom Kings Reign from having any Power Jurisdiction or Authority over Him For this Soveraignty and Supremacy belonging to our Kings and the Imperial Crown of England is asserted not only by the Statutes of Q. Elizabeth King James and Charles the Second Protestant Princes but even those Statutes made by Popish Princes and Parliaments declare the same I instance only in Richard the Second Henry the Eighth and Q. Mary though all the Statutes of Provisors were pertinent to this purpose That Richard the Second and His Parliament were Roman-Catholicks is manifest and it is as certain That Henry the Eighth and His Parliaments when the Statutes cited were made were so too For 't is evident that those Statutes were made Anno. 24. and Anno. 25. Hen. 8. that is Anno. Dom. 1532. and 1533. when neither He nor His Adherents were Excommunicate but actual Members of the Roman Church then and for some years after For though Pope Paul the Third was angry and about it Anno. 1535. yet he did not actually Excommunicate him or his Adherents before the year 1538. which was six years after Henry the Eighth and His Popish Parliament had Vindicated the Rights of the Imperial Crown of England against the irrational and unjust Pretences and Usurpations of the Pope and declared that the Supremacy both in Ecclesiastical and Civil Things ever did de Jure belong to the Imperial Crown of England not to the Pope's Mitre He having no more to do in England Jure proprio or by any Law of God or Man than Henry the Eighth in Italy And that Parliament of Queen Mary
the one saying that the Pope is God the other that he is neither God nor Man Now if this be true I desire some of their Canonists would inform me what they think the Pope is For if according to their Law he neither be God nor Man seeing I suppose it will be granted that he is a rational Creature and no good Angel he must be by their Law and Logick an incarnate Devil I do not call him so but only shew what by the just consequences of their impious and blasphemous Glosses he must be 5. And here it may not be unworthy of our observation that although Thomas Manrique Master of the sacred Palace in the year 1572. thought fit to have this impious Gloss left out and has in Print published his opinion yet Pope Gregory the XIII thought otherwise and approves and passes this blasphemous Gloss with such others and so it still remains in the Roman and Parisian Editions Now although the Congregatio Indicis and their Inquisitors in their Indices Expurgatorii take particular notice of and Damn such Sentences as these though Principles of Christian Religion evidently contain'd in Scripture Abraham fide justus Christus credentibus salus Justitia nostra Christus Omnes sumus peccatores I say though they constantly Damn such Sacred Truths and command them to be expung'd yet this impious Gloss making as they think for the Popes absolute Monarchy stands untouch'd in their last and best Editions of their Canon-Law Onely they have in the last Edition I have yet seen added this Note in the Margent over against the Gloss ..... Haec verba sano modo sunt accipienda And that is according to the meaning of Johannes Andreas the Author of that Gloss those words must be taken so as they make most for the Popes Supremacy for so it immediately follows .... Prolata enim sunt ad ostendendam amplissimam esse Pontificis Romani potestatem Now this Supremacy of the Pope being granted which their Lawyers Authentick Laws their Canonists and Councils and all their greatest Writers Jesuits especially generally contend for it evidently follows that the Pope is the sole and onely Supreme Power on Earth and so all Kings and Emperors are and must be his Subjects and so must lose that Supremacy which by the Laws of Nature and Scripture does de Jure belong to them For they say and industriously endeavor to prove this Absolute Supreme Power and Monarchy of the Pope over all Kings and Emperors in the World I shall to satisfie you bring two or three more Witnesses to prove it I. Abraham Bzovius tells us 1. That the Pope is MONARCH of ALL CHRISTIANS Kings and Emperors included 2. That he is SUPREME over ALL MORTALS 3. That there lies no APPEAL from him 4. That he is JUDGE of HEAVEN and in alâ— EARTHLY JUDGMENTS SUPREME 5. That he is THE ARBITRATOR of THE WORLD These and many more such Bzovius industriously indeavors to prove out oâ— their Popish Authors Nor is his Book anâ— surreptitious Work clandestinely publish'd such as Rome would not own for it comes out with all the Solemn Approbations and Commendations of his Superiors and the Apostolick Inquisitor who thus approves Bzovius his Book and so all the above-mention'd Extravagant and Antimonarchical Positions Seeing it sufficiently appears by the APPROBATIONS of the DOCTORS and the Authors FAMOUS NAME that the Learning of this present Work is SINGULAR and the DOCTRINE SOLID both IN FAITH and MANNERS therefore I think it fit to be publish'd FOR THE COMMON UTILITY So that this Doctrine of the Popes Supremacy above all Kings and Emperors is not Bzovius his private Opinion but has the Approbation of the Roman Church at least in the Judgment of those who approved it being attested by those who by that Church are impowered for that purpose II. My next Witness is Isiodorus Mosconius Vicar-General to the Archbishop of Bononia and a learned Lawyer who tells us That the Pope is UNIVERSAL JUDGE KING OF KINGS and LORD of LORDS because his Power is of God That GODS TRIBUNAL and the POPES is one and the SAME and that they have the SAME CONSISTORY and therefore ALL other Powers are HIS SUBJECTS and that the Pope is JUDGED of NONE BUT GOD not of THE EMPEROR or KINGS or of the CLERGY or LAITY And he cites many of their Canons and Councils which as positively as he say and prove the same thing III. Celsus Mancinus De Juribus Principatuum Romae 1596. lib. 3. cap. 1 2. is not far short in attributing an absolute supreme Power to the Pope even in Temporal things For in the place cited he tells us Three things which he fully proves out of their best Authors 1. That the Pope is LORD OF THE WHOLE WORLD 2. That the Pope as Pope has TEMPORAL POWER 3. That this temporal power of the Pope is of ALL OTHER POWERS in the World most EMINENT and ALL other Powers DEPEND on the POPE But let this pass I shall cite you a greater Authority which will not only tell you that the Papal Power is greater than Regal and Imperial but how much it is greater for IV. Pope Innocent the III. as Infallible as any of his Successors tells us that the Papal Power is as much greater than the Imperial as the SUN is greater than the MOON And the Gloss there says that is 47 times greater He who put the Note in the Margent there thinks this too little and therefore he says Quinquagies septies The Papal Power is according to his Arithmetick 57 times greater than the Imperial A Man would think that by these accounts the Popes Power were great enough But there is an Addition there who was the Author of it I know not in which we are told you may believe so far as you think sit that the Papal Dignity exceeds the Imperial no less than 7744. so inconsiderable a thing in these Mens account is Regal and Imperial Majesty in respect of the vast Greatness of Papal Supremacy In short If you compare that Decretal of Innocent the Third but now cited with that famous Extravagant of Pope Boniface the Eighth both which are received into the Body of their Canon-Law you will find them cite several places of Scripture miserably misunderstood and bring reasons to prove the Papal Power above the Regal and Imperial But the consequences they draw from those Texts they cite are so far from being Infallible that they are like those who cite them evidently false and what other Arguments they bring are not only unlike reason but ridiculous yet although neither the Reasons nor the Authority of their Popes nor the general consent of the ablest Writers Rome has who all endeavor to establish the same Position and the Popes extravagant Supremacy can prove that he really has such Power nor are they cited by me to any such
purpose yet they clearly prove that they own that Doctrine which is all I aim at and though they cannot gladly would make it appear probable and have us and all others to believe it 6. And further from this unlimited Supremacy of the Pope they conclude and publickly profess his power to depose Kings absolve their Subjects from all Oathes of Allegiance and dispose of their Kingdoms That this may appear I consider 1. That to cite particular Popish Writers would be endless and needless that Bellarmine Emanuel Sa Suares Mariana Turrecremata c. that the Canonists Casuists Schoolmen Summists Jesuits c. are generally if not universally of this opinion That the Pope may depose Kings c. is notoriously known to all who know them I shall onely instance in two or three to give you a taste of that impious doctrine which all of them profess assert and so far as they are able vindicate c. And here 1. Celsus Mancinus a learned Canon-Regular of the Order of St. Augustine tells us that It is EVIDENT TO ALL THAT EMPERORS ARE DEPOSED and DEPRIVED by the Pope and that not ONELY FOR things pertaining TO FAITH but ALSO for things pertaining to MANNERS and the CIVIL LAW And Abraham Bzovius more fully sayes as generally the rest do 1. That the secular power IS SUBJECT to the SPIRITUAL so that it is no usurpation if the Spiritual JUDGE the Secular 2. The Pope has SUPREME POWER over Christian KINGS and PRINCES who may CORRECT DEPOSE and PUT OTHERS in their PLACES 3. The Pope may DEPRIVE a KING of his Royal Dignity for HERESY SCHISM for any intolerable crime negligence or laziness if in great matters he break his Oath or oppress the Church c. So that in all these cases by him there mention'd and they are Eight or Nine the Pope may depose a Supreme Prince and the Pope himself is SOLE JUDGE both of the CRIME and Condemnation And to make all this good 1. he gives us a Catalogue of above Thirty Kings and Princes who have de facto been Deposed or by Excommunications and Anathema's Damn'd by the Pope 2. And then he cites the Canon of a General Council of their own of which anon and above an hundred eminent Authors of their own Church who assert and justifie that Impious Opinion 3. And then he further adds that AN INNUMERABLE company of ENGLISH MARTYRS following their Captain Edmund Campian a Villain Condemned and Executed for High Treason did with their Pens and Blood maintain the same Opinion INNUMERABILES etiam Anglicani MARTYRES DUCEM Edmundum CAMPIANUM secuti pro PRIMATU Roniani Pontificis ab Hen. 8. Elizabetha caesi Sanguine profuso stilo exerto idem doâ—uerunt So that we may see the Doctrine of the Pope's Power to DEPOSE KINGS must be de Fide an Article of Divine Truth and They Martyrs who die in defence of it for Campian is with them a Most FAMOUS MARTYR These Positions asserted publickly and in Print by Popish Authors with so much confidence and without any check of the Romish Church of which they are Members may justly seem impious and horrid to any sober Christian who wishes well as all good Subjects should to Kings and Monarchy yet I shall shew you greater Abominations One of their Authors writing against King James of happy Memory tells us 1. That the Pope's Power in the BELIEF of CATHOLICKS is not barely Ministerial but IMPERIAL CATHOLICI says he non tantum MINISTERIO sed IMPERIO Papam praesidere CREDUNT And this Papal Power is SUPREME so that there resides in the Pope a night to direct and COMPEL and a POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH And to shew the reason of this he adds That the POPE is the SUPREME VICAR of GOD the Emperor Supreme ADVOCATE of the Church than which NOTHING can be more HONOURABLE for any KING Surely Kings are much bound to him for that Honourable Office The POPE as he goes on is THE HEAD of Christ's Body The Emperor and Kings are ARMS and HANDS And therefore it is MADNESS to say That the HEAD has not EMPIRE over the ARMS The POPE who is the Head and Top of the Ecclesiastical Body is govern'd by the INSPIRATION of the Holy Ghost The ARMS can do nothing but what pertains to the Food Rayment and Protection of the Body And St. Paul forbids us to doubt that the Government and Prescription of all these belongs to the Head and from thence is derived to the ARMS And therefore if Kings do not feed and cloath the Body if the ARMS or HANDS do not do their Office they may by the Command of the HEAD be CUT OFF as unprofitable Members These are his words or the English of them So that by this Popish Doctrine the Pope being Head of the Body may when he pleases for he is Supreme and Sole Judge in the case cut off Kings and Emperors who are but the Hands or Arms of that Body And yet so hard is the Forehead of that Author that he is not ashamed to say and put it in the Margent that all might take notice of it That this great Power of the Pope is NOT AT ALL dangerous or prejudicial to Princes How dangerous this Doctrine of this Papal Supremacy has been to Princes the many Excommunications and Depositions of Kings and Emperors in the six last Centuries are evident and sad Witnesses and what mischief if not carefully prevented it may do for the future it will concern Princes and all who are Loyal and love Them and their own Preservation seriously to consider It was a Wise Mans saying That Protestant Princes may be too secure but never safe while any Jesuite dwells in their Dominions Thuanus speaking of the fatal and by them too secure not fear'd Tragedy of Hen. 3. and 4. of France he seems to blame their too great Security and then adds MISEROS PRINCIPES QUIBUS DE CONJURATIONE NON CREDIâ—UR NISI OCCISIS But to proceed 2. Another of their Authors and he a Learned Bishop Jacobus Simanca by Name tells us that which concerns all Protestant Princes to consider and what they must expect from the Pope when he has Power to put their Traiterous Principles in execution The thing he tells us is this Heretiques says he and we know who are meant by that hard word are actually DEPRIVED OF ALL DOMINION and JURISDICTION and their SUBJECTS FREED FROM THEIR OBEDIENCE and this comprehends KINGS OTHER LORDS So Simanca Nor is this his private or singular Opinion For 1. He proves it expresly out of a Decretal of Pope Gregory the Ninth extant in the Body of their Canon-Law 2. He cites Alphonsus a Castro who also proves the Position of Simanca by evident Testimonies of many and eminent Popish Authors 3. It is to be considered too that Simanca's Book is Priviledg'd and Licenc'd to be Printed by Publick Authority and with
the Approbation and high Commendation of the Censor Librorum the Learned Ben. Arias Montanus who tells us that he had read it and judged it HIGHLY PROFITABLE for the Knowledge and PRACTICE of the WHOLE Argument undertaken and that it contain'd NOTHING OFFENSIVE to the CATHOLICK FAITH then in that great Man's Judgment that Rebellious Roman Doctrine of Deposing Heretical Kings and Absolving their Subjects from all Oaths of Allegiance is not offensive to their Catholick Faith And therefore I JUDGE it WORTHY that FOR THE PROFIT OF MANY it be A THIRD TIME and OFTNER Published So that this Doctrine That Heretical Kings are Depriv'd of all their Dominion and their Subjects Absolved from all Oaths of Allegiance is not only approved by Simanca Alfonsus à Castro Arias Montanus all great and very learned Persons in the Church of Rome but by their Canon-Law and the Decretal of Pope Gregory the Ninth And it is further considerable that this Doctrine though Impious and Trayterous is not in any Index Expurgatorius I have yet seen condemned either in Simanca or any other of all those who generally assert and vindicate it 3. One more I shall only cite though an hundred such might be cited and he a famous Jesuite who plainly tells us what their Society constantly profess and many of them have and do practice That if a CLERGY-MAN Rebel against his KING it is NO TREASON because CLERGY-MEN are not the KINGS SUBJECTS Nor is this the singular Opinion of Emanuel Sa for it is approved and highly commended by their Censores Librorum both at the beginning and end of that Book and as an excellent and learned Person tells me it was highly approved and commended at Rome too So that if such a multitude of eminent Popish Authors may have that credit they deserve in this particular we may be sure that this impious and trayterous Doctrine is approved and received in the Church of Rome And though I said I would cite no more such Testimonies to manifest so certain and clear a Truth yet I shall add two more not unworthy your Consideration which are if that be possible more highly impious than the former 1. Then a great Popish Lawyer in asserting the Papal Power has and endeavours to prove these erroneous and desperate Positions 1. The Emperour and Kings are the Popes Subjects 2. The Emperour and Kings may be Deposed by the Pope for Heresie and any great Sin 3. The Pope has Power in the whole World in Spirituals and TEMPORALS and this TEMPORAL Power he has in a more Worthy a Superiour and perfect manner than Secular Princes 4. Statutes made by Laymen do not bind the Clergy 5. The Pope is Vicar of God and preferred before all Powers as GOD HIMSELF and EVERY CREATURE IS SUBJECT TO HIM 6. It is necessary to Salvation to be Subject to the Pope and he who affirms the contrary IS NO CHRISTIAN This he has out of the Canon-Law and the Decretal of Pope Boniface the Eighth So that by this impious and uncharitable Doctrine all Protestant Kings Princes and People are deny'd to be Christians and absolutely damned without all hope or possibility of Salvation And yet their Canonists to say nothing of others and Jesuites generally nay universally approve and defend it and the Pope and Council confirm and establish it Theologia haec damnatoria Pseudo-Catholica Romana sit licet tamen non est Christiana Let them brag as usually they do of their Catholick Faith for my part I can have no great Opinion of their Faith who have little Charity and damn all save themselves 2 Once more Stanislaus Orichovius while he magnifies the Pope and his Papal Greatness with high contempt of Kings and Blasphemy against God hath this passage unfit to fall from the Pen of any sober Christian The PRIEST says he excels THE KING as much as a MAN excels a BEAST And says further HE WHO PREFERS THE KING BEFORE THE PRIEST he prefers the CREATURE before the CREATOR This is strange Doctrine and yet approved at Rome at least nor condemned there as Antimonarchical Positions which decry Royal and magnifie Papal Power seldom or never are the reason why I say and believe this is Because I find in the Spanish Expurgatory Index some other things of this Author censur'd but this passage now cited is neither medled with nor once mentioned But to pass by particular Testimonies of single Popish Authors who publickly assert and industriously endeavour to Vindicate this Rebellious Doctrine That Kings may be deposed and murdered by the Pope or People I shall give you greater and to the Church of Rome more Athentique Authority As for instance 1. Their Canon-Law approved received used and obey'd in their Church as a Rule of Justice in all their Courts and Consistories I shall quote their best Edition Corrected Approved and Publish'd by the Popes Command and he Infallible no doubt for so he himself tells us ....... Nos providere volentes ut hoc Jus Canonicum sic EXPURGATUM ad OMNES CHRISTI FIDELES SARTUM perveniat ac ne cuiquam liceat operi QUICQUAM ADDERE vel IMMUTARE aut INVERTERE sed prout in urbe nostra Romà nuper impressum fuit perpetuo integrum INCORRUPTUM conservetur Now in his Canon-Law so purged and corrected that it might come to ALL THE FAITHFUL as the Pope himself tells us who if he were Infallible could not and if he were but an Honest Man would not publish an Untruth we are told I. That the Pope may depose Princes and then absolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance ..... A FIDELITATIS etiam JURAMENTO Romanu Pontifex nonnullos ABSOLVIT cum aliquos A SUA DIGNITATE DEPONIT And having set down this for Law it immediately follows II. That another Pope Zachary by Name deposed the King of France not so much for HIS INIQUITIES but that he was UNPROFITABLE for such a Power ..... And then he ABSOLVED ALL THE FRENCH from their Oath of FIDELITY And then adds ... That the Holy-Church he means the Pope does by an usual Authority so absolve Subjects from their Oaths to their Superiors Now concerning this memorable Canon give me leave to observe 1. That the Gloss tells us John Semeca a famous Canonist was Author of it that Pope Gelasius maintain'd the Doctrine of deposing Emperors ..... Gelasius Papa scribens contra Anastasium Imperatorem dicit QUOD POTEST EUM DEPONERE PROPTER malitiam suam c. 2. In the Lemma or Title of this Canon in the old Editions of the Canon-Law it was ..... Gelasius Papa Anastasio Imperatori But in later Editions the Title is this ..... Pontificalis Authoritas A JURAMENTO FIDELITATIS nonnullos ABSOLVIT unde Gregorius Papa The Annotator tells us truly that Gelasius could not speak of the French Kings
this Popish Doctrine our gratious King his great Council the Parliament and all our Courts in Westminster stand now accursed and till they become Papists and Slaves to the Pope which cursed day I hope will never come that curse will be continued and every year solemnly and impiously renewed and I am perswaded that a greater curse cannot befal this Nation than that which will procure a Popes absolution and free us from his Curse 4. In a word the Trent Council publickly maintains this erronious and impious doctrine of the exemption of their Clergy and Ecclesiastiques from the Jurisdiction of all Secular powers The greater Crimes of the Bishops say the Trent-Fathers in the place now cited can be examin'd and punish'd ONELY BY THE POPE and their lesser crimes ONELY BY THE COUNCIL of Bishops No lay-Judge or Judicature how great soever nor Kings nor Parliaments must meddle with them they may securely sin and need not fear any punishment by any Secular power How dangerous and pernicious this must needs be to all Secular supreme powers let the world judge Certainly upon these Popish principles all the Clergy must and will much rather fear and obey the Pope who can than their Princes who by their principles have no power to punish them But this is not all for to omit all other there is one pernicious Popish principle more not yet mention'd which absolutely abrogates and deprives Princes and Kings of all their Regal power as to the Clergy For Lastly It is a constantly approved and received Doctrine at Rome though evidently impious and traiterous That the Clergy and Ecclesiastiques are NONE OF THE KINGS SUBJECTS If this be not true as sure enough it is not then their Popish Canons are erroneous as you shall see anon and their General Councils and Popes so far from being infallible that they are actually and evidently false For both their Canon-law their Councils even General ones and their Popes in their Decrotal Epistles as by the following Testimonies will appear have approved received and by their authority so far as they are able establish'd and confirm'd this rebellious and Popish principle But on the other side if they approve and acknowledge this Principle to be true as constantly they do then they approve a Doctrine which is not onely dangerous but pernicious to Princes which dethrones and unkings them as to all their Clergy and Ecclesiastiques for if they be not Subjects to any Secular Prince then it is evident that no such Prince can be their King it being impossible that any man should be King of such persons who are none of his Subjects And although this Popish principle be erroneous and traiterous against the light of Nature and Scripture Reason and Revelation yet 't is not all For they do not only say that the CLERGY ARE NONE OF THE KINGS SUBJECTS But which is more erroneous and irrational they do expresly say that THE CLERGY ARE SUPERIOR TO THE KING and HE THEIR SUBJECT That both these Popish Positions may appear to be approved by and generally received in the Church of Rome I desire you seriously to consider these following Testimonies 1. In the Body of their Canon-Law of their most correct Editions and as such publish'd by the Authority of Gregory the thirteenth we finde these words The EMPIRE IS NOT SUPERIOR but SUBJECT to the PRIESTHOOD And it there follows immediately THE BISHOP OUGHT NOT TO BE SUBJECT BUT SUPERIOR TO PRINCES And that all may take notice of this Popish Position it is there added Pope Innocent the third says this and it is FIT TO BE ALLEDG'D MUCH for the Popes Supremacy he means And indeed Pope Innocent says that and much more in that Decretal Epistle some of the words are in the margent And all this in their approved Editions of their Canon-Law old and new Panormitan their great Canonist is more express and full to our purpose The sum of what he says as the Author of the Summaries prefix'd to that Chapter tells us is this 1. The Emperor is SUBJECT to and BOUND TO OBEY THE PRIEST 2. The Clergy is NO WAY SUBJECT to the LAITY not to the King but onely for some Lay-Fee or Farm held of him 3. The CLERGY BY THE LAW OF GOD are EXEMPT from the JURISDICTION of LAYMEN And no wonder if the IMPERIAL POWER must be subject to the PONTIFICAL if it be true which their canon-Canon-Law out of the Decretal of Pope Innocent the Third the Author of the Gloss and the Additions to it say For the Pope in that Law says That the Popes power is as much greater than the Emperors as THE SUN is greater than the MOON 2. The Gloss says for so in his Arithmetique the difference is ignorantly and wildly computed that the Popes Power is 47 times greater than the Emperors and the Addition to the Gloss in their best Editions of the Canon-Law further tells us out of Ptolemy that the Sun is greater than the Moon 7744 times and so by this their Account the Pontifical Power is no less than 7744 times greater than the Imperial and then there is no doubt but in their opinion who believe all this the Emperor and all Kings must be the Popes Subjects and they no way superior to him 2. Pope Martin the Fifth cites the Decretal of Pope Innocent the Third and more fully explains the meaning of it approves and confirms it and both their Decretals are now referr'd into the body of their Law where Pope Martins Decretal was not before The Lemma or Title to the Chapter before cited is this .......... Lay-men have NO POWER OVER CLERGY-MEN c. And the Decretal it self says ............ That LAY-MEN have NO AUTHORITY over the Clergy ECCLESIASTICAL PERSONS or their GOODS Pope Urban the sixth has the very same words approves and by his Papal Authority confirms them and declares all Lay-men of what eminence soever who exercise any jurisdiction over Ecclesiastiques Sacrilegious and Excommunicates them and all whoever assist abett or defend them 3. Cardinal Cajetan who his great Learning and eminent place in Government of that Church considered could not be ignorant what Positions were approved at Rome tells us ......... That the Person of EVERY CLERGY-MAN was SACRED thus far that he COULD NOT BE SUBJECT to any SECULAR POWER 4. Nay a whole Learned Colledge assures us of the truth of the 3 Propositions 1. KINGS have NO COACTIVE POWER over ECCLESIASTICKS 2. ECCLESIASTICKS cannot be sued or call'd to an account before any save onely THEIR ECCLESIASTICAL Superior 3. The EXEMPTION of the Clergy is IN THE JUDGMENT OF ALL all Papists they mean of DIVINE RIGHT so that they cannot be JUDG'D or PUNISH'D by any SECULAR no NOT SUPREME POWERS And here I desire you to consider what the Colledge of Bononia here affirms that the
cited in the Margent although a Popish Parliament yet declares fully for the Queen's Supremacy which to some may seem strange for that Act expresly says 1. That the IMPERIAL CROWN of this Realm with all its Prerogatives Jurisdictions c. was descended to the Queen 2. That she was the SOVEREIGN and SUPREME Governor of all Her Dominions in AS FULL LARGE and AMPLE MANNER AS ANY OF HER PROGENITORS therefore in as ample a manner as Her Father Henry the Eighth 3. That by the MOST ANCIENT LAWS of this Realm the punishment of ALL OFFENDERS against the Regality and Laws of this Realm belong'd to the King c. So that even a Popish Parliament acknowledges and declares the Kings of England possess'd of such a Supremacy over all Persons and that by our MOST ANCIENT Laws that He may punish ALL OFFENDERS Clergy or Laity against the Laws and His Regality How contradictory to this the Trent Council and the Doctrine of the Roman Church is you shall see anon But for the Supremacy of the Kings of England according to our Ancient and Later Laws I refer you to the Learned in those Laws who will give you a clear Declaration of this Supremacy and a just Vindication of it from those impertinent and seditious Objections brought against it by some who inslaved to Rome have cast off Loyalty to their King and Love to their Country And lastly As for the Supremacy of Kings so far as it concerns the Laws of God Natural or Positive and Divines to determine it I refer you to the Answerâ— of the University of Oxon to a Letter of Henry the Eighth requiring their Judgment in that Point To the Articles of Edward the Sixth Of Queen Elizabeth The Articles of Ireland The Injunctions of Elizabeth The Canons of 1. Jacobi And the Canons sub Carolo Martyre 1640. besides the Writings of many particular Learned Men In which you may see the Judgement of the Church of England concerning Supremacy and the Loyalty due to our King clearly and fully express'd and in the late unhappy Rebellion more truly profess'd and practic'd by Her Sons than Papist Presbyter or Fanatique though some of them vainly brag of their Loyalty can with any just reason pretend to If you desire further satisfaction and evidence for the Supremacy of Kings particularly of our Kings and the Roman Emperors even in Ecclesiastical Matters you know and at your leisure may consult the Collections of our Saxon and the Imperial Laws where you may have sufficient and abundant evidence that as to matter of Fact never questioned in those days those Emperours and Kings made many Laws and Constitutions in Ecclesiastical Matters which concern'd the Church as well as Civil which concern'd the State And if you desire it I can shew you an Original MS. agreed upon and approved by the Convocations of both Provinces Canterbury and York and subscribed by both Archbishops and several of each Province wherein it is clearly shewn so far as Scripture and other Records of those times mention them that Kings from the beginning of the World till our Blessed Saviours time did and de Jure might exercise an Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Jurisdiction and Supremacy especially the Kings of the Jews his own People which Monarchy was of Gods own and perticularly Divine Institution These things premis'd I come now to shew you in the second place how dangerous and when and where they have power to put them in execution how pernicious Popish Principles are to the Persons of Kings and their just Rights and Prerogatives And here I say 1. That many of their Popish Principles and generally approved and received Doctrines are not only dangerous but destructive to and inconsistent with the just Soveraignty and Supremacy of Kings Because they generally say and in a thousand Books writ to that purpose industriously endeavor to prove it That all Kings and Emperors are so far from being Supreme that they are Subject to the Pope as to their Superior Lord to whom they owe Service and Fidelity That this may appear consider 1. The Emperor when he comes into the Popes presence as soon as ever he sees him he must His Hat off and bare-headed bow till his Knee touch the ground and worship the Pope and coming nearer must bow again and when he comes to the Pope he must how a third time and DEVOUTLY Kiss the Popes Foot The Emperor must WORSHIP the Pope with the Incurvations or bowings of Body even to the ground and then bare-headed and on his Knees DEVOUTLY Kiss the Pope's Foot Execrable and prodigious Pride The Pope without all truth or probability vainly and ridiculously only pretends to be Christ's Vicar and so if it were true is less than his Master and yet our blessed Saviour never requir'd nor had such Adorations Incurvations or Kissings of his Toe of any much less of Kings or Emperors Nor would any Man require such but the Man of Sin who exalts himself takes that greatness which God never gave him above all that is call'd God or worshipped That is above all Kings and Emperors Well but does not the Pope in this Case shew some respect and civility to the Emperor Does he not uncover his head or bow his body c. No for the same Authentick Book of the SACRED Ceremonies of the HOLY Roman Church tells us .... That the Pope never gives any reverence to any MORTAL whomsoever either by rising up apparently or by uncovering or bowing his head Onely sayes that Ceremonial when the Emperor has kiss'd the Foot of the Pope sitting in his Chair he riseth up A VERY LITTLE to him and so he does sometimes to GREAT PRINCES Whether this can stand with that Supremacy which by Divine Law Natural and Positive is due to Kings to be so far subject and slaves to the Pope let Kings who are most concern'd and the World Judge And it is to be consider'd that the Book I cite for those passages concerning the Pope is no Apocryphal or Non-licenc'd Pamphlet containing the inventions of some private person but it contains the SACRED Ceremonies of the ROMAN CHURCH collected by Marcellus ARCHBISHOP of Corcyra dedicated to POPE LEO the Tenth printed at ROME and highly approved and commended by their eminent Writers 2. But this is not all the poor Emperor must do the Pope his great Superior and Master more service and be his Groom or at best Gentleman of his Horse He must hold the Popes Stirrup till he get on Horseback and then lead the Horse for some paces ..... Caesar traditis sceptro pomo uni ex suis praevenit ad equum Pontificis TENET STAPHAM quoad Pontifex equum ascenderit deinde accepto equi fraeno per aliquot passus ducit equum Pontificis and the Emperors have de facto executed this mean Office which was impious and prodigious pride in the Pope
requiring or permitting and degenerous in the Emperors in performing it So the Emperor Sigismund held the Stirrup of Pope Martin the Fifth And the Emperor Frederick of Alexander the Third c. And the same Frederick had done the same to Pope Adrian the Fourth if Baronius say true ..... In conspectu exercitus sui Fredericus OFFICIUM STRATORIS cum JUCUNDITATE implevit streguam FORTITER tenuit And that it might be remember'd Baronius has put this Note in the Margent ..... Ut Reges Imperatores INSERVIANT PAPAE And in the Margent of the next Paragraph ...... Rex implet munus STRATORIS Papae 3. Nor is this all the Emperor must Swear Fealty to the Pope and that he will be his Proctor to defend and maintain all his Rights and Honors c. In this form ..... Ego Rex Romanorum futurus Imperator promitto juro me de caetero Protectorem Procuratorem fore summi Pontificis in omnibus Necessitatibus utilitatibus suis custodiendo conservando possessiones honores Jura c. Thus Pope Innocent the Third made our King John Swear Fidelity and Allegiance to him in this form Ego Johannes Rex Angliae ..... fidelis ero ..... Ecclesiae Romanae ac DOMINO MEO Innocentio Papae 3. c. And before this Pope Gregory the Seventh that Prodigy of wickedness and Papal Tyranny sends Hubertus to William the Conqueror requiring him to Swear Allegiance and Fidelity to him and his Successors 'T is true that the Conqueror had understanding enough to know His Royal Rights and the Popes injust pretences and so as well became a King peremptorily refused to take any such Oath Fidelitatem facere nolui sayes he in his Letters to the Pope neo volo However hoc Ithacus vellet this power they pretended to and as they had ability and opportunity required it and we may be sure when they have an advantage and power they will both require and severely by Interdicts Anathema's and Excommunications exact it And well they might if they had that vast Power and Jurisdiction over Kings which the Canonists Jesuits Schoolmen Casuists Summists and their greatest Writers generally give them I shall of many give you some few Instances 4. Cardinal Pool after he had said and as he thought proved That the King was the product of the Pope and People by them created and made King and that the Office of the Pope and Priest was the Office of a Father the King being his Son He adds ..... That Officium Patris est PRORSUS MAJUS REGIO ET DIVINIUS And then he has put these words in the Margent that they might be taken into special consideration .... The Priest COMMANDS THE KING but the KING CANNOT COMMAND THE PRIEST The Priest then is superior and the King his subject and so good night to the Kings Supremacy And a little before he says .... Henry the Eighth imitated the PRIDE of LUCIFER when he made himself VICAR of Christ. This is pretty well but as the Pope desires so the Cardinal and others generally give him more ...... Petri Cathedram SUPER OMNIA IMPERATORUM solia OMNIA REGUM tribunalia CONSTITUIT CHRISTUS The Pope by their Divinity is Jure divino superiour to all Kings and Emperors And yet St. Paul equal to St. Peter and far above any of his successors acknowledges that the Emperor and he a Pagan was his Judge and legal superior and as such Appeals to him Azorius a great and learned person confirms the Cardinals Opinion and tells us That the Emperor BY THE LAW OF GOD is SUBJECT to the POPE even IN TEMPORALS And since him a learned Man and Prior General of his Order tells us That the Popes EMPIRE is over ALL THE WORLD Pagan and Christian and that HE is the ONELY VICAR OF GOD who has SUPREME Power and EMPIRE over ALL KINGS and PRINCES OF THE EARTH And again ..... Sicut unus est Deus monarcha omnium sic inter homines VNUS DEBET esse PRINCEPS MONARCHA qui OMNIBUS MORTALIBUS praesit DOMINETUR DEI scilicet VICARIUS Non igitur Petrus SUB REGE sed REGES SUB PETRO esse DEBENT sibique suis SUCCESSORIBUS INCURVARI TENENTUR COLLA SUBMITTERE And a little after ...... Unus Dei Vicarius OMNIUM PRINCEPS DOMINUS Cui IMPERATORES REGES Potestates OMNES HUMILITER OBEDIANT sintque SUBJECTI And good reason they should be so if he say true for Princes have all their Power and Authority from the Pope ....... Sicut luna accipit lumen à sole sic REGIA potestas recepit authoritatem NON ALIUNDE nisi A PAPA And for the proof of this he cites two great Lawyers and might have cited an hundred more Johannes Andreas and Hostiensis ... Multas rationes afferunt Johannes Andreas Hostiensis quibus probant Papam esse Principem MONARCHAM SUPERIOREM Laicorum omnium Clericorum Nay 't is THE DUTY OF ALL KINGS to suffer the Pope to domineer over them .... DEBET Potestas Spiritualis Temporali DOMINARI Nay they are damn'd if they do not submit for so the Lemma or Title to that impious Extravagant of Pope Boniface the Eighth Omnes Christi fideles the Text and Gloss expresly say it DE NECESSITATE SALUTIS SUBSUNT ROMANO PONTIFICI Qui utrumque gladium habet OMNES Judicat A NEMINE judicatur The Pope has both Swords that is as their Infallible Judge the Pope falsely and ridiculously expounds it both the Spiritual and Temporal Power and is SUPREME MONARCH above all Kings Nay further they blasphemously say That our Blessed Saviour had not done DISCRETELY unless he had left such a Supreme Monarch over his Church at his Ascension to govern the World .... Non videretur Dominus fuisse DISCRETUS nisi unicum post se talem Vicarium reliquisset And to fill up the measure of their Blasphemy against God and their sordid and impious flattery of the Pope Hence it is that they declare the Pope to be more than Man Papa stupor mundi .... Qui maxima rerum Nec Deus nec homo quasi neuter es inter utrumque So the Gloss upon the Clementines in their Canon-Law And the famous Inscription if I forget not on an Altar at Rome is as blasphemous or rather more as the former The words these Paulo 5 o VICE-DEO Pontificiae OMNIPOTENTIAE vindici acerrimo c. where although VICE-DEUS signifie something less than God yet Omnipotence blasphemously attributed to the Pope must signifie that he was more than Man But there is another Gloss which does not mince the matter but in plain words speaks down-right blasphemy in which it is Dominus DEUS noster Papa So that these Glosses though they agree in Impiety and are both blasphemous yet they contradict each other
deposition seeing Gelasius was dead above 240 years before Chilpericus or Childericus they write him both ways came to be King of France But they say the words of this Canon are found in the Epistles of Pope Gregory the Seventh and therefore they do rightly refer them to him as the true Author of them Now whether it were Gelasius or Gregory the Seventh it is all one as to my present business it is by them confess'd that a Pope was Author of that Rebellious passage Gratian refers it into the Body of their Canon-Law and Pope Gregory the Thirteenth approves and together with the whole Body of the Law the Gloss and Annotations confirms and ratifies it Whence we may rationally conclude that this Doctrine of the Popes Power to depose Kings and absolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance though impious and rebellious is so far from being disown'd or detested by all Papists as some now pretend that the Supreme power of that Church has not only approved but establish'd it for Law By the way though you see that Gratian and Pope Gregory say that Pope Zachary was the Man who deposed the French King Hildericus yet an Historian of more Antiquity and Credit than either of them notwithstanding Gregories Infallibility tells us that it was Pope Stephen Zacharies Successor who deposed him So that all agree that A Pope it matters not which was Author of that impiety 3. When the Canon says that the French King was deposed by the Pope because he was INUTILIS c. the Gloss gives you the meaning of that word ...... Non intelligas INUTILS id est INSUFFICIENS tunc enim ei dari debuit Coadjutor sed quia DISSOLUTUS erat cum MULIERIBUS EFFOEMINATUS so that by this Papal Law we see that if the Pope please the greatest Prince may be deposed for a very small matter 4. When this Canon says the Pope deposed the King of France the Gloss notes ..... Ergo Papa deponit Imperatorem And least we should not take notice of it these words in their best Editions of the Canon-Laws corrected purged revised and whatever wicked men had put into the Text or Margent contrary to the Catholick Faith by Pope Gregories command expunged I say notwithstanding all this these words are put in the Margent ....... IMPERATOR POTEST A PAPA DEPONI Whence it is evident that in Pope Gregories Opinion this impious Doctrine and Position though contrary to the true Christian is not contrary to THEIR ROMAN FAITH being expresly in those Glosses and Canons in which their Supreme and Infallible Judge says There is NOTHING CATHOLICAE VERITATI CONTRARIUM Nor is this Pope Gregories singular opinion that the Pope may depose Kings For seeing it has been approved by their Popes and their General Councils as you shall see anon and for some Ages received amongst their Sacred Canons as they call them it is become a necessary part of their Creed and no Salvation without the belief of it to which all their Secular Clergy Archbishops Bishops and whoever has any cure of Souls and all their Regulars at least the Heads and Governors of them are solemnly sworn For they swear promise and vow without all doubtings to receive and profess ALL THINGS defined and declared in the SACRED CANONS and General Councils and so far as they are able to make others receive them too So that all their Ecclesiastiques especially all who have any Cure of Souls do not only believe this impious Doctrine of Popes Power to depose Kings but they swear both to BELIEVE and PROFESS IT and as far as they are able make others do so too How pernicious to Kings and Princes such Principles and such Persons sworn to Profess and Promote them heretofore have been the many sad and Tragical Examples of deposed Princes in the six last Centuries can abundantly witness and assure us And how pernicious for the future they may be unless with care and prudence they be prevented we or our Posterity may unhappily and too soon see Dirum omen misericors qui solus potest averruncet Deus 5. Lastly If we consult Cardinal Turrecremata a very great and learned person who well understood their sacred Canons and in what sense the Roman Church received them he in his Commentary on the Canon before-cited affirmes and endeavours to prove these following Propositions I. The Pope may DEPOSE the Emperor or a King not subject to the Emperor II. The Pope may LAWFULLY absolve Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance III. The Pope may depose Counts Dukes and other Barons without the Consent of the Emperor or those Kings whose Subjects they are IV. Subjects if they have the Popes consent which they are sure to have if it make for his interest may depose their Kings This he farther proves and adds ..... That if the King be a manifest Heretick as all Protestants are with them then THE CHURCH may depose him The Premises consider'd it will highly concern all Protestant Kings and Princes to look to it who as Hereticks are all damned and Anathematiz'd once every year on Maundy-Thursday in their Bulla Coenae Domini For had they of Rome power to act according to their Principles Pretences and Interest they would make short work a speedy and thorough Reformation and compel all Protestant or as they constantly miscall them Heretical Kings and Princes to quit their Religion or their Realms and Kingdoms Be it concluded then that according to the Approved and Received Doctrine of the Roman Church Kings and Princes may be deposed and their subjects absolved from their Oaths of Allegiance And for the truth of what I here say we have the Precept and Practice of three Popes Zachary Gregory the Seventh and Urban the Second and three Canons grounded on that Papal Authority received into the Body of their Canon-Law which when you have occasion you may for further satisfaction consult Now if you inquire for what Crimes Kings may be deposed by the Pope whether for Heresie onely for that 's universally agreed on or for other Crimes also John Semeca Author of the Gloss on Gratian gives us a full and Categorical Answer For 1. He proposes the Question Pro quo peccato potest Imperator deponi For what Sin can the Emperor be deposed That he may be deposed is in that Law no Question but an undoubted truth the Question onely is for what Crimes it may be done And the Answer is .......... That he may be deposed for ANY SIN if he be INCORRIGIBLE and not onely for his sins but if he UNPROFITABLY manage that Regal Power And this he proves out of another Canon This is the sad condition of Kings and Emperors by the Popish Canon-Law they may be deposed if they be incorrigible for ANY SIN and sometimes for no sin at least as the principal cause of
Forbid all the Peers People and Subjects of England to dare to give any Obedience to the Queen her Monitions Commands or Laws And if any do otherwise we involve them in the same Sentence of Anathema and Excommunication Whence it evidently appears 1. That the Pope in this Authentique Bull and Decretory Sentence does so far as he is able Depose the Queen 2. Absolve all her Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance 3. And under pain of Excommunication command and require them contrary to their Natural Allegiance to give no Obedience to their undoubted Soveraign Nor is this all for 6. When he had done all this he gave away the Queens Kingdom and Dominions to Philip the Second King of Spain as is notoriously known and ingeniously confess'd by an honest Roman Catholick Father R. Caron an Irish Priest Many more such impious Bulls there are in the Roman Bullary in all which Kings and Princes and Anathematiz'd and deposed by the Pope and their Subjects absolved from their Oaths of Allegiance on pretence of that vast and extravagant Supremacy and Dominion over all the World which they challenge by Divine Right though without any and against all Reason even over Kings and Emperors For instance the Excommunication and Deposition of the Emperor Henry the Fourth who was twice Anathematiz'd by Gregory the Seventh Of Frederique the Second By Gregory the Ninth and Innocent the Fourth Of our King Henry the Eighth by Pope Paul the Third And to omit all others we have an Excommunication of all Heretical Kings and Princes and Heretiques in general in that famous Bullà Coenae wherein on Maundy-Thursday an Anathema is solemnly denounced against all Heretiques even Emperors Kings Dukes and all of what Dignity soever and this Anathema is repeated every year So that amongst others our Gracious King and all his Protestant Subjects are Anathematiz'd and Curs'd once every year at Rome as if their Mons Vaticanus were become Mount Ebal from whence all Curses were to come Now whether this Doctrine and Practices of Popes be not dangerous and pernicious to Kings let the World Judge Well but if all this will not do if the Testimonies of their own Writers which both for learning and dignity in their Church are most eminent nor their receiv'd and establish'd Laws and Canons nor their Authentique Papal Bulls and Decretal Constitutions I say if all these be not evidence enough to intitle the Church of Rome to this Seditious Impious and to Kings especially if they be Protestants Pernicious Doctrine yet the Decrees and Canons of their own General Councils which by their own Principles and Confessions are Representatives of their whole Church and Infallible I say the Decrees of such Councils if there be any such will and must be undeniable Evidences of what I have said in this particular And that their approved General Councils have approved this Doctrine of the Popes Power to depose Kings and Emperors and absolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance I shall give you two or three evident Instances I. In the General Council of Lions for a General Council they do universally acknowledge it Pope Innocent the Fourth deposed the Emperor Frederique the Second That he deposed him in that Council is undeny'd by any I have yet met with and that it was after diligent deliberation had with his Brethren and the Council appears by the form of the Excommunication registred and upon Record in the Body of their Canon-Law Where 1. He deprives him of all his Honor and Imperial Dignity 2. And then absolves all his Subjects from their Oaths of Fidelity 3. And Excommunicates all who should acknowledge him King or Emperor or should counsel assist or favor him II. In the great Lateran Council for so they commonly call it in which if they misreckon not there were no less than 1215. Fathers it was Synodically and Categorically concluded That the Pope might depose Kings absolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance and give away their Kingdoms The Series and Sum of the Canon is this First It is decreed That all Secular Powers shall expel all whom the Pope and his Party shall call Heretiques out of their Dominions and they were to be admonish'd to do this Moneantur seculares potestates c. Secondly But in case they obey'd not that Monition they were to be COMPELL'D And not only the Lateran but the Trent-Council a most Apocryphal Conventicle as I shall when required make evident to you useth the same Saucy Language to Princes and Supreme Powers even Emperors Kings Princes and all other of what State or Dignity soever for all these are COMMANDED to observe all the Sacred Canons and ALL GENERAL COUNCILS and so even the Lateran Council and this Canon we are speaking of which are in favor of Ecclesiastical Persons and the Liberties of the Church and they are to observe all these and ALL OTHER PAPAL SANCTIONS as the PRECEPTS OF GOD and DIVINE ORDINATIONS And the Lemma or Title to that Chapter is this ..... COGANTUR c. LET ALL CATHOLIQUE PRINCES and much more Heretical be COMPELL'D to observe ALL the SANCTIONS concerning Ecclesiastical Liberty c. And this is the common and usual Language of their most eminent Writers of their Popes and Councils as you may see to omit all others in Cardinal Tuschus the life of Pope Gregory the Seventh by Platina and in the Lateran Council under Leo the Tenth where the Pope in his Monitory against the Gallican Pragmatical Sanction faucily says .... We PEREMPTORILY COMMAND KINGS c. Secondly Well then by this Lateran Council and Canon we are speaking of Kings are to be COMPELL'D by the Pope to do their duty and that is as the Canon tells us to expell all Heretiques out of their Kingdoms And if you ask Who or What Heretiques those are The same Canon tells you That it is all those whom the Pope and his Party shall be pleased to call Heretiques Thirdly And they Kings and Princes must be COMPELL'D to take an OATH and swear they will Expel such Heretiques and this Oath they must take publickly that all may see and know that Princes obey the Pope for the words of the Canon are .... Praestent JURAMENTUM PUBLICE quod universos Haereticos AB ECCLESIA NOTATOS exterminare studeant Fourthly And if any King or Prince neglect this duty and when it is tendred refuse the Oath or to expel Heretiques out of his Dominions Then the Metropolitan and the Bishops of his Province must Excommunicate him Fifthly And then if he persist contumacious and refuse to give satisfaction by expelling all Heretiques they must signifie it to the POPE that he may DEPOSE HIM ABSOLVE HIS SUBJECTS FROM THEIR OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE and GIVE HIS KINGDOM TO CATHOLIQUES So the Canon So that if the Pope and a
c. So that if the Title of a Decretal publish'd by Pope Gregory the Ninth or the Annotation upon it by Naldus an eminent Lawyer and the Approbation and Confirmation of both by Pope Gregory the Thirteenth be true it will evidently follow that the Lateran Council was a General or Oecumenical Council And afterwards in the same Canon-Law and Decretals we meet with this Title to another Chapter ...... Idem in Concilio Generali And it appears both by the former Chapters of that Title and the Annotation on this that Innocent the Third was the Pope and that in the Lateran was the Council which is there call'd General And afterwards several times to the very same purpose especially in the Fifth Book of Gregories Deeretals and the Seventh Title where this Impious Canon for Deposing Kings and Absolving their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance is intirely Registred for Law referr'd to Pope Innocent the Third in his Lateran Council and that Council declared Oecumenical 6. Lastly To put the matter out of doubt that the Lateran Council was Oecumenical and made Canons the Council of Constans does testifie it several times and expresly names it amongst those General Councils to the observation whereof the Popes were to swear at their coming to the Papal Dignity And although these Authorities be abundantly sufficient to satisfie our more sober Adversaries yet I shall add one more which may I hope silence the more Confident It is the Authority of the Trent-Council which does expresly call it a General Council and confirms one of its Canons The sum of this Discourse is That if the Concurrent Testimonies 1. Of their own most learned and for Dignity most eminent Writers de Conciliis 2. Or their Publishers of their Councils General and Provincial 3. Or many Decrees of their Popes generally approved and received into their Canon-Law of the last and as they tell us of the most correct Editions 4. Or of their General Councils for such they esteem them of Constance and Trent I say if all these be of any validity and with them some of those Testimonies are infallible then it will evidently follow 1. That this Lateran Council under Pope Innocent the Third is and with them must be an Oecumenical or General Council 2. And so those Impious and Damnable Positions in the Third Canon of that Council 1. That Kings and Emperors may be Excommunicated by their own Bishops for not obeying the Pope 2. And Deposed by the Pope 3. And their Subjects Absolved by him from their Oaths of Allegiance 4. And their Kingdoms given away to those who Obey and please the Pope I say all those Positions must be acknowledged to be the Doctrines of the Roman Church being Decrees and Constitutions of her received General Councils which she professeth to be infallible and therefore obliging her to a firm belief of them 3. This being evidently so that the Pope and his Party obliged thereunto by their approved and received Canon-Law and their General Councils do believe and publickly profess such Impious Traiterous and Damnable Doctrines it will be easie for all who have good Eyes and will use them to see how Dangerous and Pernicious such Principles are to all especially Protestant Kings Princes and their People and Subjects And that 1. In point of Conscience and in respect of their Souls and Salvation if they believe and receive such Impious Positions and Principles 2. In point of Civil Prudence in respect of their Persons Honors and Estates if they receive them not 1. In point of Conscience if they submit to the Pope and believe and receive such Heretical Positions and Damnable Doctrines it must of necessity be Dangerous and Pernicious to their Souls For this Argument will be both consequent and evident To believe Heretical and Damnable Opinions and Doctrines is Dangerous and Pernicious to the Soul this all Sides confess But to believe that the Pope can Excommunicate and Depose Kings absolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance so as they may lawfully murder and kill their Kings so Excommunicated and Deposed is Heretical and Damnable Doctrine as is declared in a great and full Parliament on occasion of that horrid and bloody Gun-powder-Treason in the Fifth year of King James In the Oath of Allegiance which Oath not onely you and I but all the Clergy the Nobility Magistrates all Graduates in the University c. have or should have taken and so by a Solemn and Sacred Oath hâ—ve Sworn such doctrine to be Impious Damnable and Heretical Other Arguments I need not use to you or any who love truth and the Church of England to prove the error and impiety of such Opinions and the danger those poor deluded Souls are in who believe and practice them The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Original Error from which the rest follow is that vast Supremacy which the Pope as Peters Successor challengeth and when he has ability Usurps over Kings A power St. Peter never had nor pretended to who knew no power in himself or any other meer Man superior to Kings Submit your selves sayes he to every humane Ordinance whether to the KING AS SUPREME c. He who sayes the KING IS SUPREME does with the same breath and undeniable consequence say he has no Superior It being a manifest contradiction to say any thing is SUPERIOR to that which is Supreme St. Peter commands all to SUBMIT themselves to their Kings and there were none then but Pagan and Idolatrous Princes and obey them as SUPREME Governors the Pope commandâ— Subjects to disobey their Kings if he miscall them Hereticks to refuse any assistance or subjection to them to take Armes against them and tells them that if in zeal to the Catholick Cause they kill them or any Heretique it is no Murder and threatens them with Excommunication if they do not what he commands them Now let any sober person tell me whether they can in this case disobey the Apostle and obey these impious commands of the Pope without great and apparent danger to their Soules Our blessed Saviour whose Vicar the Pope pretends to be does himself pay Tribute to Caesar though a Pagan and Idolater leaving us an admirable and most pious example of that Obedience and Loyalty due even to impious and Pagan Princes nor is this all for he further gives express command That all should render unto CAESAR THE THINGS WHICH ARE CAESARS He acknowledgeth the Imperial Rights of Caesar of which his Impiety and Idolatry did not deprive him St. Paul both by his practice and precept confirms the same doctrine 1. He acknowledges the Emperors power superior to his though he was an Apostle not inferior to Peter or any Apostle which he twice affirms to the Corinthians I stand at Caesars Judgment-Seate saith he WHERE I OUGHT TO BE JUDGED if I have done any thing worthy of
Philip King of Spain hearing of the strange defeat and ruine of his Fleet and seeing the Hand of Heaven in it said more soberly ...... That he did not send his Fleet to fight against God to whose Power and Providence he attributed the loss of it but against Men. 4. The Queen being dead Popish Conspiracies did not die with her the Pope and his Party continue as industrious and as to their Designs and Plots as impious as before They saw and knew that King James a Protestant was Legal Successor and Heir to the Crown of England yet used all Roman Arts to hinder his having possession of it and to this end Father Parsons the Jesuite writes a Book to prove what was evidently untrue and he could not chuse but know it That King JAMES had no just Title to the Crown of England though the whole Right of the Saxons and Normans and of the Houses of York and Lancaster were intirely and evidently united in him But when these Popish and Jesuitical Arts prevailed not having neither true Reason or Religion to further their Designs which were impious and irrational they contrive and resolve to execute such a Conspiracy as for barbarous and prodigious Villany neither Heathens nor Hell had till that time ever put in execution I mean the Gun-Powder-Treason which was not any ordinary or before-known Wickedness as the Killing a King or Poysoning a Prince c. but a black and unparallell'd Villany worthy Rome and a Jesuite the Blowing up of a whole Parliament King Lords and Commons the Murdering of a Kingdom in its Representatives and this in a moment before they could see or dream of any danger But though this for its impiety was a prodigious Conspiracy carried on with sworn secrecie and lay hid in the dark and under ground yet there is no Power or Policy against Providence nor concealing any thing from the All-seeing Eye of our God he saw and gratiously discover'd that horrid Popish-Powder-Treason to the Preservation of his People the Confusion of their Adversaries and nisi periisset pudor if they had any to the Eternal Shame of Papists and Popery their Religion which approves and encourages such abominable Impieties When King James slept with his Fathers and was translated to a better Kingdom out of the reach of such Popish Conspirators and whither without a serious and timely repentance of such inhumane Villanies they can never come their Designs slept not they prosecute their Plots and Conspiracies to ruine our Church and establish'd Religion as much in Charles the First 's as in his Fathers time And at last it came to this issue that other means failing the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury must be made away This was conceived the likeliest means to compass their Ends and bring in that Religion they miscal Catholique and Christian. For certainly such barbarous Murders and Assassinations may possibly promote Turcism and the Errors of Mahomet and if you will Popery but never were nor can be any just means to propagate true Christianity This Traiterous Conspiracy to Murder Charles the First and the Archbishop c. was discovered by an honorable Person to the English Ambassador in Holland and by him to the Archbishop and by him to the King And the Original Copy of the Discovery being found in the Archbishop's Library after his death was then publish'd and is in Print in many hands and amongst others in mine In the mean time our unhappy Civil Wars began and our Popish Conspirators animated by a belief of such Rebellious Doctrines and Principles as I have before mentioned and incouraged and assisted by the Pope are first in Arms and the bloody Rebellion and in Ireland murdered above 100000 Protestants in cold blood without any provocation given but to kill Heretiques which according to their impious and erroneous Principles was lawful and meritorious and thereby promote the Catholique Cause This is notoriously known to both Kingdoms England and Ireland And further when in the process of that fatal Rebellion carried on openly by English and covertly by Popish Rebels that good King was taken imprison'd with design to bring His Sacred Head to the Block for the distance is seldom great between a Princes Prison and His Grave our Popish Conspirators had a Council of Priests and Jesuites which sate in London and signifi'd the condition of their Affairs here to a Council of their Confederates at Paris and they transmitted the Case to Rome from whence Directions and Commands were return'd by the same way back again to London In short it was determin'd that it was for the Interest of the Catholick Cause that the King should die and accordingly their Council of Priests and Jesuites in London Voted His Death This is now Notoriously known to be true and in Print publish'd to the World by a Reverend and Learned Person who if any shall call him to an account for it is so convinc'd of the truth of what he writ that he in scriplis publickly offers and promises to make it good I do not hear that he has as yet been call'd to any account to prove what he publickly and in Print has profess'd and promised to do Nor do I think he will be call'd to any such account because I have reason to believe that he can and will produce such Proofs as will evidently demonstrate both their bloody Conspiracies and the undeniable truth of what he affirm'd 6. By the Premises it may sufficiently appear That the Rebellious Popish Principles and Practices have been very dangerous to all our Protestant Princes and their Loyal Subjects ever since the Reformation and had they taken that effect which they designed and with unwearied wickedness industriously endeavoured they would have proved destructive and both to Prince and People pernicious Nay which I have omitted while this whole Nation continued actually in the Communion of the Church of Rome when Henry the Eighth his Parliament and Convocation all Roman-Catholiques and far from being Protestants had deny'd and lege latâ taken away the Popes Usurped Supremacy that we may be sure the Pope's Practices are suitable to his pernicious Principles Pope Paul the Third Excommunicates Curses and Damns the King and all his Good Subjects Commands him to Abrogate and Null the Laws made against his Supremacy and to appear before him at Rome within Ninety Days and his Adherents and Favorers which were all his Loyal Subjects especially his Parliament and Convocation within Sixty Days They not appearing he Ratifies the Excommunication Deprives him of his Kingdom and Dominions Prohibits peremptorily the King or his Adherents if they die as they did before he Absolved them to have any CHRISTIAN BURIAL and declares them ETERNALLY DAMND Then he layes that most impious Interdict upon the whole Nation forbids all Publick Prayers Masses and Divine Offices Nor this only but he Deprives the Children of Henry the Eighth Born
are and ever will be to all PRINCES espeally PROTESTANTS and all those they are pleas'd to call or miscall Heretiques Their received Principles I have hitherto mentioned are these 1. The Pope with them is Supreme MONARCH of all the World even in Temporals at least indirectè as the most moderate amongst them sometimes say and in ordine ad spiritualis which distinction can afford no comfort or security to Temporal Princes For if the Pope have such vast power directè or indirectè 't is all one he has it and if a Prince be deposed or murdered by either end of the distinction he is equally and as surely Murder'd as he who is kill'd by the edge or back of the Sword is as certainly kill'd 2. They say the Pope has power to Excommunicate Curse and Damn Kings 3. To depose and deprive them of all their Royal Power and Jurisdiction 4. To absolve their Subjects from all Obligations whether Natural or afterwards arising from Oaths to fidelity and obedience 5. To Arme their Subjects against their Sovereigns so deposed by the Pope their Supreme Judge and according to the profess'd Doctrine of the Jesuites Canonists c. infallible too In rebus facti fidei 6. That this taking of Arms against their King when deposed by the Pope is no Rebellion against their King seeing by their Traiterous Principles as soon as deposed he ceases to be their Sovereign 7. That if in such a War they kill their King especially if he be an Heretique it is no crime no Homicide or Murder but a Meritorious work to which the Pope has promised Plenary Indulgence and Pardon of all their Sins and an higher place in Heaven 8 Nay to give them the highest encouragements to commit all those Villanies Christians are capable of they shall be reputed Martyrs referr'd into their Calendars in Red Letters and in their opinion be esteemed great Saints in Heaven who in Earth were known to be Rebels to their Prince and justly Executed for High Treason For so as is before said and proved those who by the Hand of Justice perish'd for their Prodigious Villany in the Gunpowder-Conspiracy are reckon'd for Martyrs in the Jesuites Martyrology Now how dangerous such Principles having such Incouragements may prove to all especially Protestant Princes do you and the World Judge But as to the danger of such Doctrines this is not all though too much for it is not only a received Doctrine in the Roman-Church That the Pope may depose Kings and Emperors if they be Heretiques as with them we are sure all Protestants are but further I. That Subjects also as well as the Pope may lawfully depose their Soveraigns if they be Heretiques II. Nay that they ought and both in Law and Conscience are strictly bound to depose their Princes if they be Heretiques III. And their approved and great Writers publickly confess in their Books printed and licensed by the Authority of their Church that both the former Propositions are approved by all Catholiques Sure I am they have not publickly been condemn'd by any Act Decree or Sentence of their Church and therefore we have reason to believe that they approve them For qui non prohibet peccare cum possit jubet For the proof of all this I shall only give you two or three Testimonies of their own by publick Authority approved and licenc'd Authors who expresly say and endeavor to prove what here I have affirm'd 1. One of them says ........ That it is the Opinion of ALL CATHOLIQUES that Subjects ARE BOUND to depose an Heretical KING And he adds there ....... That they are BOUND by the LAW of GOD by the MOST STRICT BOND of CONSCIENCE and UTMOST PERIL of their SOULS to DEPOSE HERETICAL PRINCES And their great Controvertist and Cardinal Bellarmine says as much and with more authority speaking of Heretical Princes ......... OMNIUM CONSENSU all Roman-Catholicks he means possunt ac DEBENT privari suo Dominio It is the consent says the Cardinal of ALL that Heretical PRINCES may and OUGHT to be DEPRIVED of their Dominions And in a Book approved by the Jesuites and highly commended by the Licencer we are told That the Power and Authority of the PEOPLE is greater than that of their Prince 2. That the PEOPLE as well as the Pope may declare a King to be a Tyrant and when the Pope or PEOPLE have so declared him to be such ANY PRIVATE MAN may MURDER HIM 3. And he there tells us That he is a Tyrant who endeavors to ruin the religion of his Countrey the Roman-Catholique Religion you may be sure he means and then by these Jesuitical and Popish Principles All Protestant Princes are Tyrants and may lawfully be kill'd by any private person So that 't is evident that these Popish Principles are not only dangerous but pernicious to all Protestant Princes who in their account being Heretiques are consequently Tyrants and may be declared such by the People and Murder'd by any private Man I know that some Roman Catholiques deny this Doctrine to be approved by the Church of Rome and tell us that the Church has expresly condemn'd it as scandalous and both in faith and manners erroneous and for this they quote the Council of Constance In answer to this I shall 1. Set down the words of the Council 2. The Answer to them 1. The words of the Council are these and the Proposition they condemn this ...... Quilibet Tyrannus potest ac debet licite ac meritoriè occidi per quemlibet vassallum subditum etiam per insidias vel blanditias vel adulationes non obstante quocunque Juramento seu confederatione factis cum eo non expectata sententiâ vel mandato Judicis cujuscunque That is ..... Any Tyrant may and ought to be lawfully and meritoriously kill'd by any vassal or subject of his even by treachery or flattery notwithstanding any oath or confederation made to or with him and not having the preceding sentence or command of any Judge whomsoever 2. This is the Proposition which the Fathers at the General Council at Constance condemned for a General approved Council and confirm'd by a true Pope they acknowledge it though they have little reason for it as may appear by what b Gesner has said and Longus à Coriolano has not though he endeavour it Answer'd But it is penn'd with that Art and Roman-Catholick cunning that though it seem to say something for the Security of Kings and Princes yet indeed it is as to that purpose altogether insignificant For 1. Here is nothing in this Proposition or the Condemnation of it by the Council which condemns or any way disapproves the Popes Excommunications or Depositions of Kings their Absolutions of their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance or giving away their Dominions It is only the Assassinations and Murdering of Tyrants which are
spoken of not any Excommunications Depositions c. of Kings 2. Nor does the Council deny but that every TYRANT may be kill'd but that which they condemn as erroneous is That every Tyrant may and also OUGHT to be kill'd Now this is a Conjunctive and Copulative Proposition and such Propositions are in Logique false when either part is false though both be not So this Proposition Every Man is rational and Learn'd is erroneous because one part is so for though every Man be Rational yet every Man is not Learned In like manner although it will be granted at Rome that every Tyrant may be Kill'd yet that every Tyrant ought to be Kill'd will not be so easily granted For let him be a Tyrant in respect of Title one who is an Usurper and has no right to the Crown yet let him be a Roman Catholique a zealous Maintainer and Promoter of the Papal Religion and Interest or one under whom they find more favour than they did expect from the true King they will not say that he OUGHT to be Kill'd And on this account it was I believe that the Pope and his Party did not think That CROMWEL though a Tyrant OUGHT to be Kill'd or for ought I know ever went about it though they desired and endeavoured to take away the Life of CHARLES the Martyr who had a most just Title to the Crown because they found more favour under him and more freedom from the punishment of Penal Laws than they ever had before or could expect if the true Owner of it possess'd the Crown In Cromwel's time no Oaths of Allegiance or Supremacy were press'd upon them our Liturgy and Common-Prayers were taken away and an Ordinance passed That no Man should be Censured for not coming to Church so that there was no way then to discover or legally convict a Popish Recusant On which ground the Fathers at Constance might condemn this Proposition as erroneous Quilibet Tyrannus c. Every Tyrant MAY and OUGHT o be Kill'd and not deny that every Tyrant MIGHT be Kill'd 3. When they condemn this Proposition as erroneous ...... Every Tyrant may LAWFULLY and MERITORIOUSLY be Kill'd on the same account the Proposition is erroneous and as such might be condemned by them and yet they might believe it LAWFUL to Kill any Tyrant thought not Meritorious 4. When they say a Tyrant cannot lawfully be kill'd per Quemcunque Vassallum Subditum by any of his Subjects this is but poor comfort for Kings or Pinces and afford them no certain Security For if a King be Kill'd it is not much material whether a Native or an Alien be the Assassin he is Kill'd So that notwithstanding all the Council of Constance has said they may hire an Alien to Kill a Protestant Prince as Lopez was to Murder Queen Elizabeth and a Spaniard to Assassinate Maurice of Nassaw or what was really intended and endeavoured and probably had taken effect had not the good Providence of Heaven miraculously hindred it the Pope may give away our Nation and send a Spanish Armado as he did in Queen Elizabeths time or a French Army to kill Prince and People and take possession of it Dirum omen misericors qui solus potest averruncet Deus 5. When that Council denies this Proposition and condemns the Affirmative as erroneous That a Tyrant may be Murdered by any Vassal and Subject it is in the singular number per Vassallum Subditum and hinders not but that more or the major part of the Subjects and Commonweal may do it for although this Doctrine be impious and Heretical yet at Rome it is Catholique or Roman-Catholique and by many of their eminent Writers maintain'd and justify'd 6 But â—astly This Sentence of their General Council of Constance is so far fâ—om proving that for which it is produced That the Church of Rome does not approve the Depositions or Assassinations of Kings that it evidently proves the direct contrary That this may appear and without any going back or trouble to you I shall put in the Margent the words of the Council of Constance though you have them before Now in the words cited it is evident 1. That when they condemn the Killing of Tyrants NON EXPECTATA SENTENTIA AUT MANDATO JUDICIS Not expecting the Sentence oâ— command of the Judge there is some Judge whose sentence and command should be expected For it were ridiculous to talk of expecting the sentence or command of a judge if there were no such Judge whose sentence could be expected 2. Now although to us and in truth Kings and Supreme Princes neither have nor can have any Judge it being necessary that the Judge be Superior in Power and Jurisdiction to the Person Judged otherwise he cannot be a legal and competent Judge and to say That Kings and Supreme Princes have any Superior on Earth where they are Supreme is a contradiction 3. But at Rome it is otherwise the Roman-Catholiques do constantly affirm That both the Pope and the People are Superiors to Kings and may pass sentence on them and declare them Tyrants 4. And therefore if Subjects may not kill Kings who are Tyrants without such sentence or command but must expect it then if thy have expected and have it then they may kill them lawfully and meritoriously For exceptio firmat regulam in non exceptis 5. And 't is to be observed that it is Sententia vel Mandato Judicis by the Sentence or Command of the Judge So that if any private Person have the command of the Pope or People who are the Popish Judges in this case or the Sentence of either of them declaring any King to be a Tyrant then this is Warrant enough by their impious Popish Politiques for any private Person to kill such a King From which Roman-Catholique Doctrine it evidently follows that when in our late Civil Wars and unhappy Rebellion the Parliament had declared CHARLES the Martyr a Tyrant any particular Person without Erecting an High Court of Justice as they miscall'd it might lawfully have Murdered him 6. It is to be further observed that by their Popish Principles Tyranny and Heresie in Kings are crimes equally deserving Deposition and Death and every Heretical King is a Tyrant with them Whence it follows 1. That if the Pope command any one to kill a Protestant or which with them is all one an Heretical Prince then according to this Decree and Doctrine of the Council of Constance he may lawfully do it 2. Or if he give no such command but pass a definitive Sentence against any such Prince and in a Damnatory Bull declare him an Excommunicate and Deposed Heretique or Favorer of them then any private Person has sufficient Warrant and Authority to Murder him So that when Pope Pius the Fifth had Excommunicated Queen Elizabeth by this their Popish Divinity any one of her Subjects might without any further Authority or fault have Murdered her Now whether
against the Apostle as to positive Law So that Papists may take as many Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy as their Prince shall please yet the Pope when he pleases can dispence with them and set them free from all obligation of fidelity And hence it evidently follows That a true Roman-Catholique who believes this Popish Power of dispensing with all Oaths may take a thousand Oaths of Allegiance and yet give no assurance of his Fidelity to his Prince seeing the Pope may upon their approv'd Principles when he pleases set them free from all such Obligations 4. But if all these ways of nulling the Obligations of Oaths of Allegiance fail yet the Popes Janizaries the Jesuites have a new way to prevent all such Obligations of Oaths without any Dispensations and that is by Equivocations rectifying Intentions and their Doctrine of Probabilities pernicious Errors destructive of Humane Society and so notoriously now known to the World that I neither shall nor need go about to prove them or shew the pernicious consequences of them Sure I am that by their Popish Principles no Papists in England are permitted to take the Oath of Allegiance to their King and then 't is easie to judge what good Subjects they are like to be For certainly what I may lawfully do that on a just and serious occasion I may swear to do If it be a duty and lawful for me to obey my Princes commands and pay him fidelity then certainly I may by Oath bind my self to the performance of it So all Men by the Law of Nature and Moral Veracity are bound to speak truth it is both lawful and a duty and therefore when in Judicature I am call'd to be a Witness I may and by the consent of all Nations ought to take an Oath to bind me and assure others that I will speak truth All Men as I said and all confess are bound by an indispensable Law of Nature to speak truth when there is a just occasion for it and yet in Judicature his testimony would not pass for good evidence who being required would not by Oath confirm the truth of it And therefore Princes have just reason to believe that those who will not take an Oath to be Loyal Subjects will never be so without it And indeed the reason why Princes may justly suspect the fidelity of their Popish Clergy who refuse the Oath of Allegiance will farther appear if we consider 2. That when and where Popery prevails all their Bishops swear absolute Allegiance and Fidelity to the Pope and therefore cannot swear it to their Prince too The Oath every Popish Bishop must take at his Consecration is this ... I. N. from this time forward will be FAITHFUL and OBEDIENT to my Lord the Pope and his Successors ..... THE COUNSELS with which they trust me I will not discover TO ANY MAN to the hurt of the Pope or his Successors ... I will assist them to retain and defend the Popedome and THE ROYALTIES of St. Peter against ALL MEN ..... I will carefully conserve defend and promote the rights honors priviledges and authority of the Pope I will not be in any Counsel Fact or Treaty in which any thing prejudicial to the persons rights or power of the Pope is contrived and if I shall know any such things treated of by ANY WHOMSOEVER I will to the utmost of my power hinder them and with all possible speed signifie them to the Pope .... I will to the UTMOST OF MY POWER observe the POPES COMMANDS and MAKE OTHERS observe them I will impugn and PERSECUTE HERETICKS and REBELS to my LORD THE POPE I will come to the Synod WHEN HE CALLS ME c. This and much more such stuff you have in that Oath Now this is evidently an Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity to the Pope Wherein to omit other things they swear 1. Never to discover the Popes Counsels how treasonable soever TO ANY MAN not the King 2. To defend the Popes ROYALTIES against ALL MEN the King not excepted 3. And if any thing be treated of prejudicial to the Pope BY ANY WHOMSOEVER the King not excepted they swear TO THE UTMOST OF THEIR POWER to oppose and hinder it Here is you see an Oath of absolute Allegiance to the Pope which cannot consist with that Homage and Allegiance or Fidelity which not only at present but anciently even in times of Popery all the Bishops of England did and solemnly swore to their King as a great Lawyer tells me And not long before him it it certain that Bishops at their Consecration took no Oath at all to the Pope but only promised him Canonical Obedience For in the old Ordo Romanus which as all agree was writ by Arnoldus Constantiensis Presbyter about the year 1060. The Metropolitan who consecrates askes the person to be consecrated thus Visne Beato Petro suaeque Ecclesiae ejusque VICARIO successoribus fidem subjectionem per omnia exhibere The Answer is Volo Then follows the promise of fidelity and subjection to his Metropolitan But with this difference To the Pope he promises ....... Fidem obedientiam per omnia as to the prime Patriarch But to the Metropolitan he only promises but swears to neither of them Fidem obedientiam exhibere But to let this pass It is manifest that whenever this Oath to the Pope began to be exacted of Bishops it has been in use ever since the time of Pope Gregory the IX who patch'd up and publish'd the Decretals In which you have the form of the Oath the Bishops then took to the Pope neither so long by far nor so bad as of later years has been required of all Bishops yet bad enough For when they swore obedience and fidelity absolutely to the Pope as now they do CONTRA OMNES HOMINES neither King nor Emperor excepted And we are told in some later Editions of their Canon-Law that now not onely all Bishops but whoever receives any dignity of the Pope take an Oath and swear Allegiance to him and is it possible that these persons who do and must Swear such absolute obedience and fidelity to the Pope can be faithful and loyal subjects to their Prince and indeed are not such Popish Principles both dangerous and especially to Protestant Princes pernicious and inconsistent with the Loyalty of Subjects or safety of Supreme Powers nor is this all there is more danger yet to Kings and Princes from their Popish Principles For 3. They Exempt all Ecclesiastiques from paying any Tax or Contribution to secular Princes without the Popes Leave This is the constant Doctrine of their Casuists their Canon-Law and Canonists Who tell us ........ Quod Laici Collectas imponentes Clericis sunt excommunicati cum suis faâ—toribus All Laymen by their Law are Excommunicated if they lay any Tax upon the Clergy And again more fully we are told 1. That
Ecclesiastiques Secular and Regular are in the opinion of ALL ROMAN CATHOLIQUES by the LAW OF GOD so exempted from the Jurisdiction of all Secular even SUPREME POWERS that they can neither Judge nor punish them Whence it evidently follows 1. That the Popish Clergy where-ever they are especially in England and Protestant Kingdoms are no Subjects of that King in whose dominions they live because they are by the Law of God exempt from all Secular Jurisdiction It being a contradiction to say that any Man is a King in respect of those over whom he has no Jurisdiction And 2. It follows that this impious and traiterous Doctrine and Position is not the opinion of some one or a few private persons but of ALL ROMAN-CATHOLIQUES and so of their Popish Church and then their Church by their own Confession is guilty of maintaining and approving such dangerous and to all especially Protestant Kings Pernicious Principles Q. E. D. 5. But we have greater Authority than that of the Colledge of Bononia to manifest the truth of what we say when we accuse the Popish Church for approving and maintaining this impious and pernicious Doctrine That their Ecclesiastiques are not the Kings Subjects I mean the Inquisitors of Spain and Portugal c. who finding in the Index of Chrysostome words expressing this proposition PRIESTS BY THE LAW OF GOD ARE SUBJECT TO PRINCES they knowing that Position to be inconsistent with the Exemptions of their Popish Clergy damn that Proposition and command it to be blotted out Deleantur illa verba say they though Chrysostome say the very same thing in the place to which the Index refers Now it is evident that they who damn this Proposition as erronious PRIESTS by the Law of God are subject to Princes must of necessity approve and affirm the contradictory That Priests by the Law of God ARE NOT subject to Princes which is that rebellious Position with which the Church of Rome is justly charged 6. Lastly the principal Authorities I have brought to prove this or any of the former Rebellious Doctrines charg'd on the Church of Rome have been 1. Their approved and by Publick Authority of their Church received and establish'd Laws 2. Their Popes Bulls Decretals and Constitutions 3. Or the Canons of their Provincial National or General Councils All which are approved innovated and confirm'd expresly in their Trent Council as was before mentioned and all their Secular Clergy all who have any Cure of Souls the chief of their Regulars all Graduates Professors and Readers in their Universities all Physitians c. are solemnly sworn to approve receive and without all doubting to profess all those Canons and Papal Constitutions and to Anathematize Reject and Curse all contrary Opinions and to endeavour as much as in them lies that all committed to their care shall constantly hold and teach the same The Premises impartially consider'd I think two things may and will evidently follow 1. That the Principles and Positions before mention'd are not only dangerous but pernicious to all Supreme Powers especially to Protestant Kings and Princes and that in one thing omitted before that is That Faith is not to be kept with Heretiques but that any competent Ecclesiastical Judge may condemn and execute Heretiques or those who are reputed such notwithstanding any SAFE CONDUCT given them BY THE EMPEROR KINGS or SECULAR PRINCES though confirm'd by OATH and this impious and to Supreme Powers pernicious Doctrine approved and publickly declared and profess'd not only by particular and private persons but by their own General Council of Constance which condemn'd and executed Jerome of Prague and John Hus notwithstanding the Emperors Safe Conduct without which they would not have come to that Council To which we may add that those Fathers of Constance it will highly concern Protestant Princes to consider it Synodically define and declare That all Heretiques that is all they call and commonly miscal Heretiques all their defendors or favourers c. of what dignity soever Kings and Queens and Dukes c. shall be Excommunicated and deprived of all their Goods and Secular Dignities This in Thesi is their impious Doctrine and Principle and in Praxi they are now endeavouring to put it in execution here in England as evidently appears by their Popish and Hellish Conspiracy by the Gracious and Powerful Providence of Heaven lately and happily discovered I take it then to be evident that the aforesaid Popish Doctrines and Principles are exceeding dangerous and to all Supreme Powers especially Protestant Kings and Princes pernicious 2. And from the Premises it will as evidently follow that the aforesaid Popish Principles are not the private Opinions of some particular Persons only seeing 1. They are profess'd and vindicated by the Jesuites Canonists and generally by other great Writers of that Church in their Books publish'd with the Approbation and Commendation of Authority 2. Establish'd in their approved and received Canon-Law 3. In the Authentick Decretal Epistles and Papal Constitutions 4. In their General Councils those I mean which they acknowledge to be General 5. And to say no more all their Clergy and Ecclesiastiques who have place in those Councils have taken a Solemn Oath to maintain all those Canons and Papal Constitutions and this Oath required and taken by the Authority and Command of the Council of Trent and the Pope who is acknowledged to be their Supreme Judge and since the Councils of Pisa Constance and Basil declared by Pope Leo the Tenth and his Lateran Council which they account a General Council to be above all General Councils and this Declaration that all might know it is Law and Obligatory has lately been referr'd into the Body of their Canon-Law Now these things being undeniably true that their Popes and General Councils the Supreme Authority of their Church have approved and received the aforesaid Principles and Positions and caused their Ecclesiastiques solemnly to swear That they do believe and will constantly profess them and so far as they are able make all committed to their charge do so too it evidently follows that they are Roman-Catholick Doctrines own'd and approved by their Church and not only by private and particular persons So that if any who knows and has impartially considered the Premises deny it I shall not call him Impudent but I may and must say he has a hard Forehead and a little thing will not make him blush To conclude If that Priest or Popish Gentleman you mention who so confidently denies the Church of Rome to approve such Principles as I have laid to her charge can as to the sum and substance of the Testimonies here cited for I neither need nor will undertake for every particular Circumstance or Typographical Error either shew 1. That I have misquoted the Authors and Books I cite and that such Passages do not occur in the places quoted 2. Or
ut ad COMMUNEM UTILITATEM excudatur c. q â— God Mosconius de Majestat Ecclesiae Militantis lib. 1. cap. 7. p. 26. Venetiis â—6 â—2 Pontifex Rom. est Judex Universalis Rex Regum Dominus Dominantium â—o quod ejuâ— Potestas à Deo est nullum â—abet superiorem nisi Deum Eâ—que unum Tribunal inter Dâ—â—m Papam Ideo omnes alie â—oteâ—atâ—s ei sâ—â—ditae sunt à nemine judicatur nisi à Deo non ab Augusto non à Regibus nec à Clero aut Populo Et p. 640. in Margine Papa est omnium Pâ—â—â—cipum Monarcha c. r Mancinus loco citato ait 1. Papa est TOTIUS ORBIS DOMINUS 2. PAPA ut Papa habet POTESTATEM TEMPORALEM 3. Potestas Papae temporalis est OMNIUM aliarum Potestatum EMINENTISSIMA aliaeque potestates OMNES ab illo DEPENDENT s Innocentius 3. cap. Solicitae 6. Extra de Major Obedientiâ t Pontificalis dignitas quadragies Septies Regali majorâ— So the learned Gloss. u Bonifacius 8. cap. Unam Sanctam 1. de majoritate Obed. Extrav Com. x Conspicuum est OMNIBUS à Summo Pontifice DEPONI PRIVARI que Imperatores idque non TANTUM ratione eorum quae ad FIDEM spectant verum etiam eorum quae ad MORES JUS CIVILE spectant Celsus Mancinus De Juribus Principatuum lib. 3. cap. 3. pag. 76. Romae 1596. y Bzovius De Pont. Romano cap. 46. p. 621. col 2. Col. Agrip. 1618. 1. Potestas secularis subdita est spirituali ita ut non sit indicium usurpatum si potestas spiritualis de temporalibus judicet 2. Papa sammam habet potestatem etiam in Reges Principes Christianos qui eos corrigat officio amoveat in loco eorum alios constituat 3. Papa potest Regem propter Haeresin Schisma crimen intolerabile in populo negligentiam aut socordiâ—m si juramento dato in rebus gravissimis non satisfecerit aâ—t Ecclesiam opprimeret DIGNITATE REGIA EXUERE z Bzovius loco citato pag. 611 612 c. * Ibid. pag. 619 620 621. * Campian justly executed for High Treason 24 of Eliz. 1581. Vide Camden's Elizab. Lib. 3. pag. 239 240. * MARTYR CHRISTI INCLYTUS sui seculi CLARISSLMUS Pet. Ribadenâ—ira in Catalog Scriptorum Religionis Societatis Jesu in Edmundo Gampiano Parsons the sesuit says as much for Garnet in his Discussion of the Answer of W. B. pag. 22 23. a Casp. Sciâ—ppiâ—s in his Ecclesiasticum Jâ—cobo Magnae Britanniae Regi Oppositum cap. 139. pag. 502. Edit 1611. b Penes Papam in Ecclesia SUMMUM IMPERIUM Potestas SUMMA tam dirigendi quam COGENDI jus etiam VITAE NECIS in Papa residâ—t Ibidem cap. 138. pag. 426. c Papa est SUMMUS DEI VICARIUS Caesar summus Ecclesiae ADVOCATUS quo NIHIL ULLI REGI amplius aut HONORIFICENTIUS Papa CAPUT est Corporis Christi Caesar â—c REGES sunt BRACHIA seu MANUS Itaque insania est dicere nullum Capitis in Brachia Imperium esse Papa qui est Caput vertex Ecclesiastici corporis Spiritus Sancti inspiratione regitur BRACHIA NIHIL facere possunt nisi quod ad corporis Victum amictum ac protectionem pertinet quorum omnium Regimen ac praescriptum quin penes Caput sit inde ad Brachia derivetur Dubitare Paulus vetat Col. 2. 19. Itaque si Reges non nutriant neque vestiant Corpus Si Brachia aut Manus munere non fungantur nec teneant Caput Ut membrum inutile CAPITIS IMPERIO AMPUTENTUR Ibid. cap. 241. pag. 511. If you desire to see more of the Pope's Deposing King's Card. Baronius in an hundred places vindicates the Power and approves and commends the practice See his Annals Ad annum 593. num 8. ad Annum 730. num 5. d Summa Papae potestas NIHIL PRORSUS PERICULI ADFERY REGIBUS Idem cap. 141. pag. 512. e Jacobus Simanca Enchir. Judicum Tit. 67. Sect. 12. p. 349. Antwerp 1573 HAERETICI PRIVATI SUNT OMNI DOMINIO Jurisdictione EORUM SUBDITI ab eis LIBERI sunt quod REGES alios rerum Dominos comprehendit f Cap. Absolutos 16. Extra de Haereticus g Alph. à Castro de Justâ Haereticor Punit Lib. 2. Cap. 7. c. h Valde utilem esse censeo ad TOTIUS argumenti suscepti cognitionem PRAXIM NIHIL QUE continere quod CATHOLICAM FIDEM offendat Ideoque DIGNUM judico ut ad MULTORUM UTILITATEM TERTIO etiam SAEPIUS edatur So are the words in Arias Montanus his License of that Book i Clerici rebellio in Regem non est crimen laesae Majestatis quia Clericus non est Regisubditus Eman. Sa. Aphor. Confess Verbo Clericus pag. 41. Col. 1599. k Opus Theologis OMNIBUSQUE animarum curam habentibus UTILE ac NECESSARIUM l Hi Aphorismi DOCTI sunt ac PII MULTAMQUE Utilitatem allaturi m Jac. Leschassier operum pag. 421. Edit Paris 1652. n Phil Maynardus de Privilegiis Ecclesiast Dedicated to Pope Paulus 5. and printed at Ancona 1607. 1 Imperator subest Papae ut Reges Art 5. Sect. 19. 21. 2 Imperator Rex ratione fidei peccati gravis possunt à Papa deponi privari Ibid. Sect. 23. 3 Papa habet potestatem in toto Orbe in Spiritualibus Temporalibus in Temporalibus modo digniori superiori perfectiori quam habent Principes seculares Ibid. Art 6. Sect. 1. Sect. 11. 4 Statuta Laicorum non obligant Clericos Art 13. Sect. 9. 5 Vicarius Dei Omnibus Potestatibus Praeponitur SICUT IPSE DEUS PAPAE SUBEST OMNIS CREATURA Ibid. Art 6. Sect. 11. 12. 6 Papae subesse est DE NECESSITATE SALUTIS contrarium asserens NON POTEST DICI CHRISTIANUS Ibidem Sect. 13. o Cap. Unam Sanct. De Major Obedientia Inter. Extrav Communes p Vide Glossam ad dictum Cap. unam Sanctam Card. Turrecrematam summa de Ecclesi Lib. 4. Part 2. Pag. 409. q Vid. Bellarmin de Pont. Rom. Lib. 5. cap. 7. Sect. Item Sect. sic enim r Vid. Apologiam Jesuitarum Editam Anno 1591. cum hoc Titulo La veritè defendue s Vid. Sanction Pragmat Paris 1613. in Quarto pag. 1042. Concil Lateran sub Leone 10. Sess. 11. apud Binium Tom. 9. Concil pag. 153. A. And that OBEDIENTIA VERA and so Subjection is due and to be given Jesu Christi Vicario Pontifci Romano is an Article of their New CREED contrived at Trent EXTRA QUAM NULLA SALVUS ESSE POTEST and to the belief of this all their Ecclesiasticks solemnly swear Vid. Bullam Pii 4. super Forma Professionis Fidei in Concilio Tridentino Sess. 25. t Stanislaus Orichovius in Chimaera pag. 99. u Sacerdos praestat Regi Quantum HOMO praestat BESTIAE Qui Regem praefert Sacerdoti is CREATURAM aneponit creatori loco