prayer should be the supplication of all Kings difficilis est gubernatio mea ne me deseras domine senem The office of a King as it is glorious so it is laborious Caesar sleepes not all the night but makes a Tripartite diuision of it one part to rest the second part to studie the third part to military matters Agesilaus had no leisure to be sicke as hee said such was his regall imployments The regall Diademe is subiect to sundry cares which moued Tigranes King of Armenia to say that if the perils and perplexities which accompany it were duelie weighed Nemo coronaem humi iacentem tolleret None would lift vp the Crowne to the crowne of his head Indeed the Crowne brings content commaund pleasure profit Iuvenal Quicquid conspicuū est pulerumque ex aequore toto resfisciest vbicunque natat What delicates soeuer the world affords the Crowne commands but withall many perils and cares wait vpon the Crowne night and day troubled with publique affaires to preuent foes abroad and foes at home wee of the inferiour ranke take our rest when as they that sit at the sterne of State haue broken sleepes And therefore as the Apostle desires the Ephesians to pray alwaies with all manner of prayer and supplication in the spirit and watch thereunto with all perseuerance and supplication for all Saints and for himselfe that vtterance may bee giuen vnto him to open his mouth boldly to publish the secret of the Gospell so ought all good subiects to pray alwaies with all manner of prayer and supplication in the spirit that God would enlarge with heauenly wisedome the heart of our Soueraigne and the Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord and furnish him with all blessed gifts sutable to performe his royall Taske making him as wise as Salomon as religious as Dauid and as zealous as the good King Iosias defending him from all forraine or domesticall conspiracies saying and praying God saue the King CHAP. IIII. AND truely there be fiue things to name no more which all good Subiects owe vnto their Soueraigne 1. is Prayer 2. Obedience 3. Honor. 4. Seruice 5. Tribute And if any subiect denie any one of these the King may take him by the throat and say Solue quod debes Pay that thou owest 1. First is Prayer to pray for the Kings preseruation on earth and saluation in Heauen The heathen Chaldeans may learne Christians this lesson who cryed to their King Nebuchadnezar O King liue for euer As King Salomon prayed for his people so ought his people pray for him saying of their Lord the King as King Dauid speaks of the Lord of Israel Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for euer and euer and let all the people say Amen saying to the King as Amasa and his company said to Dauid Thine are we O Dauid and with thee O son of Ishai peace peace be vnto thee and peace be vnto thy helpers for thy God helpeth thee That tongue that will not pray for the peace prosperity and preseruation of their annointed Soueraigne is such a tongue as the Apostle Iames speakes of fire a world of wickednesse and is set on fire of hell for Iustus nunquam desinit orare nisi desinit iustus esse saith Austin the iust man neuer ceases to pray vnles he cease to be iust much lesse should hee cease to poure forth feruent and faithfull supplications for the King that vnder him wee may leade a peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty Such vngodly and vndutifull subiects as will not vnloose the strings of their tongues to pray for the safety and felicity of the King wee wish that they were like the men at the riuer Ganges who if wee credit the report of Strabo haue no tongues better it is to enter into the kingdome of Heauen losing a member then hauing such an vngodly member to be cast into hel fire But herein many times the tongue is more officious then the heart with tongue they cry Hosanna but in heart like Iewes wish crucifige with a verball seruice many abound crying and cringing Aue Rex but withall Aue Maria and that will neuer make a good prayer A King had need call to his subiects as God to his seruants da mihi cor giue me thy heart the world is full of faire tongues but false hearts none but the great searcher of the heart hath a window in the heart to see who honour with lippes and their hearts farre from him So that Kings had need examine their Subiects as Christ did Peter thrice diligis me dost thou loue me The world hath bredde so many professors of the Popish doctrine of diuellish equiuocation and so many Parasites profound in the Art of dissimulation that many men are like Goodwin Sands in dubiopelagi terraue doubtfull whether belong to sea or land temporizers or neuters like the Church of Laodicea neyther hot nor cold eyther Prince or Pope please them they will heare a Masse next their heart for their morning sacrifice and our Churches Sermon or Seruice for their euening Incense like the Camelion tetigit quoscunque colores Assume any shape fashionable to the time to whom God will one day say Because thou art luke-warme neyther cold nor hot I shall spue thee out of my mouth I haue read how a certaine King of Tartaria writ to the Polonians then wanting a King that if they would choose him their King he would accept it vpon these termes Vester pontifex meus pontifex esto vester Lutherus meus Lutherus esto but the Polonians reiected the request of this Luke-warme King and yet in Poland arc sundry religions so that if a man haue lost his religion he may finde it there with this wise and worthy answere Ecce hominum paratum omnia sacra Deos deserere regnandi causa behold a man ready to forsake both God and Grace to get a Kingdome Such as these study Machiauell more then the Gospell temporis liberalitate fruendum esse fashion themselues to the fauourable fortune of the time and thinke themselues happy as he counts those Princes happie illum felicem principem existimo cuius in administrando consilia temporum conditioni respondent whose counsels are successiuely correspondent to the condition of the times The prayers of such temporizers whose tongues may flame but their hearts are as cold a a stone are abhominable in the sight of God Esto religiosus in Deum qui vis illum Imperatori esse propitium saith Tertullian The Lord is farre off from the wicked but he heareth the prayers of the righteous sayth Salomon God will not heare the prayers of these Church-neuters no more then the Idolatrous Iewes Though they cry in my eares with a loud voice yet will I not heare them And therefore that we may performe our first bounden duety vnto the
Christians prayed in old time for their Kings yet heathens wishing them vitam prolixam imperium securum domum tutam exercitus fortes senatum fidelem as Tertullian writes A long life a quiet Empire a safe Court strong Armies a faithfull Counsell yea with Dauid that God would clothe all his enemies with shame but vpon him his Crowne to flourish Let the vnited voices of his Maiesties populous Kingdomes send vp to Heauen their cordiall and continuall acclamations God saue the King let the eccho resound in Heauen as seruently as the noyse of the Romanes did in applause of Flaminius generally calling him Sauiour Sauiour the noyse whereof was so violent and vehement that as Plutarch writes it made the fowles of the ayre fall downe dead or as the people of Israel did to Salomon when he was created King in Gihon and anointed there by Zadock with an horne of oyle taken out of the Sanctuary the people piped with pipes and reioyced with great ioy so that the earth rang with the sound of it blowing their trumpets and saying God saue King Salomon So let all the people within his Highnes Dominions lift vp their hearts and hands blow their trumpets ring their bels frequent their Churches saying and praying God saue the King Corporally Spiritually Politically CHAP. II. AND surely we are fallen vpon the times wherein by some rebellion is counted a spice of deuotion Traytors encalendred for Saints or Martyrs vis proditoria nomine vocatur nouâ— Romana virtus In the Iesuites Schoole nothing is so rife as the theoricke and practicke of Princes Murther Mariana prescribes to Traytors rules and cautions for poysoning Kings and highly commends King-killers praeclare cum rebus humanis ageretur si multi It were a merry world if there were many of that kinde so Sixâ—us Quintus makes a long oration to praise that Frier who killed Henry the third the French King stiling it rarum inanditum memorabile facinus Dolman Cymanea Rosseus Fewardentius Bellar. Becanus Suares and others hold the like traiterous assertions Subditos posse depriuare reges à Papa excommunicatos vita regno Subiects may depriue Kings of their liues and kingdomes thinking of Kings royall bloud as Maximinus said of Christians bloud Christianorum sanguinem dijs victimam esse omnium gratissimam the Christians bloud is the most acceptable sacrifice to God as Seneca falsly thought that there is no sacrifice more acceptable to God then a Tyrant offered in sacrifice and most wickedly Guignard called the murder of Henry the French King by poysoned kniues committed by two Iacobin Friers heroicumfactum donum spiritus sancti A most heroycall Act and the gift of the holy Ghost So that the vpstart Champions of the Church of Rome hauing contemned Gods precept Nolite tangere c. Touch not my annointed and both by pen and practise labouring to be the Deuils empericks to let out the bloud of Kings it is the duty of all good Subiects duely and daily to pray vnto God to reueale and reuenge all the mischiefes and machinations of the sonnes and seruants of the purple whore which is drunken with the bloud of Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Christ Iesus Purpurati pontificij omnium matuum authores sunt c. The purple Romanists haue bin the prime instruments of most pernicious actions And therefore let all the people of great Britanie ioyne as their loyall obedience bindes them to their necessary seruice both in hearts and voyces to almighty God the protector of Kings to find out all his enemies and make them like a fiery ouen in the time of his anger to confound all their conspiracies making them like the grasse on the house tops which withereth before it come forth saying and praying God saue the King CHAP. III. THE causes and motiues to induce all good subiects to this Christian seruice and loyall duty to pray continually for the preseruation of the King be many and manifold I will but touch some of them and leaue the rest to Christian rememberance for Breuitas sermone tenexda The first is the Apostle Pauls precept ante omnia before all that Supplications Prayers and Intercessions and giuing of thankes bee made for Kings c and renders a powerfull motiue to perswade all consisting of three benefits arising from it 1. a quiet and peaceable life 2. in all godlinesse and honesty 3. this is good and acceptable in the sight of God The Kings preseruation is our preseruation his welfare is the weale of our Common-wealth reip foelicit as non potest esse absque Principis foelicitate saith Plinie A Country is vnhappy vnder an vnhappie King so that if people desire to liue a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty let them like dutifull members pray for the prosperity of the supreame head for if he fall vpon the rockes they are like to come to ruine Vt ratis in scopulos errat peritura latentes Nullus vbi celsa puppe magister adest As a shippe whose Pilot perisheth is driuen vpon the rocks and so is cast away euen so how can the shippe of State sayle with a prosperous winde whose regall Pilot suffers ship wracke Regall aduersity is the harbenger of popular calamity wherefore if Subiects desire to be happy themselues let them continually pray for the happinesse of their Soueraign whose prosperity is the Axis or Cardo the very foundation of their temporall felicity 2 Motiue is the great difficultie in the right managing of the regall office and therefore had need to be assisted with the frequent and feruent prayers of the people imploring diuine wisedome to direct the heart of their Soueraigne for it is Ars artium the Art of Arts rightly to rule and gouerne common-wealths this many-headed multitude so diuided in Faction and action scarce two quibus vna vox aut votum of one minde or mould Peace pleaseth Cato Warre Pompey the Souldier cries Arma virumque cano The Merchant da pacem Domine Brutus desires a Common-wealth Caesar a Monarchy Ciceroes counsell is seruiendum tempori but Lentulus thinkes that the voice of a flatterer in the popular sort as many heads as hearts Scinditur incertum Studia in contrariavulgus So that to reconcile and to reclaime to vnitie and vnanimity this Babell of men had need of Iethroes head Be wise O yee Kings and learned yee that are Iudges of the earth saith Dauid they had need of great wisedome who are rulers of such popular flocks and therefore Salomon shewed himselfe wise who in the entrance into his regall throne craued of God wisedome and knowledge to iudge the great people that I may say with the son of wisedome If your delight be then in Thrones and Scepters O Kings of the people honor wisedome that you may reigne for euer Dauids
thy truths sake Be euer thankefull to God and then he will euer be mindfull of you to blesse you the Lord will increase his graces towards you euen toward you and your children therefore praise the Lord from henceforth and for euermore for he hath not dealt so with euery Nation and if our deseruing were put into the lottery of other people wee should bee rewarded with a blanke Gods loue and gracious fauour to vs is ignis accendens fire to set vs on fire Let our thankefulnesse to God be ignis accensus a fire flaming to God in all zeale loue duety thankes seruice and deuotion God hath set England as it were vpon an hill a spectacle to all Nations strengthened by sea and land ad miraculum vsque to the admiration of all people blessed it with an extraordinarie peace prosperity of long continuance we are the worlds enuie let vs not become their declamation Nothing but our vnthankefulnesse to God our licentiousnesse in life our disobedience to his Word our securitie in sin our contempt of good meanes and mercies offered can worke our ouerthrow and these if we doe not drowne them quickly in the riuers of repentance so one may breed and bring our wofull downefall The Lord hath blessed this land with great and gracious blessings in it the golden bels of Aaron are powerfully rung the word by faithfull teachers mouingly deliuered Oh let our perpetuall prayers praises and thanks ascend to heauen because Gods graces and mercies plentifully descend to earth Et si desint gratiae quia nos ingrati If any grace be wanting it is because we want grace to be thankefull for this our happy gouernment hauing a prosperous peace and that which is the procurer of peace with God and men that blessed passage of the Gospell Si totum me debeo pro me facto quid debeo pro me refecto saith a Father If wee owe God our selues for our creation what doe we owe vnto him for our regeneration preseruation and saluation We therefore that haue tasted of the great cup of Gods mercy let vs with Dauid take the cup of saluation giue thanks and praise the name of the Lord let vs praise God for these aboundant mercies and euer pray vnto him to preserue the happy instrument of manifold benefits and blessings to vs our most dread and deare Soueraigne duty bindeth vs to this taske our owne welfare mooues vs to this duety for his prosperity is our tranquillity his safety is our felicity the blessing redounds to vs and if he should miscarry which God forbid we should be partakers of his misfortunes Therefore be alwaies obedient and diligent to serue our royall Head golden in all vertues and princely perfections in all loyall and Christian dueties louing his Highnesse in our hearts which is the best earthly defence for a King Inexpugnabile munimentum est amor ciuium saith Seneca The loue of the people is an inuincible munition and as that great Rabbi of pollicie Machiauel hath set it downe for a sure rule Contra regem quem omnes magnifaciunt difficilis coniuratio oppugnatio irruptio Against that King whom all highly esteem and reuerence conspiracy or treachery is very difficult or if attempted seldome succeedes Let vs bee in pace Lepores but in praelio Leones in peace like Hares timerous to offend his Grace in any way of disobedience but like Lions fight for him against all his enemies with an vnwearied courage vndanted magnanimity ioyning with our fighting hands our feruent prayers to God like faithfull Israelites against all rebelling Amalekites Oratio coelos penetrat hostes in terravincit saith Origen Prayers pierce heauen and ouercome enemies on earth plus precando quam praeliando more by praying then by fighting Dauids encountring with Goliah in the name of the Lord was more powerfull then his fling and fiue stones Let vs make it one part of our daily praiers to God to keepe our King as the apple of his eye and hide him vnder the shadow of his wings to saue him from all enemies bodily or ghostly to consume them in his wrath consume them that they bee no more let them know that God ruleth in Iacob euen vnto the ends of the world beseeching God of his great mercie euer to prosper this most peaceable and puissant Monarchie of great Brittaine Arise vnto it as vnto thy resting place Turne not away thy face from thine Anointed who hath now happily to our immeasurable ioy worne the imperiall Diadem of great Brittaine these 15. * yeares Many more happie and prosperous yeares wee pray to be continued prolong his daies O Lord as the daies of heauen and grant that his Highnesse and his Princely posterity may in these kingdomes reigne so long as the world endureth Enlarge and enrich his royall heart with all Regall gifts and Diuine graces sutable for his high calling Saue and defend him from the tyranny or treachery of all forraine and Antichristian power and from the plots and proiects of domestical aduersaries Let them couer themselues with their confusion as with a cloake Blesse his most gracious spouse and bedfellow Queene Anne let thy Angels O Lord encampe about her to guide guard her in a safe protection and euer continue thy most heauenly hand of benediction vpon the high mighty Prince Charles the famous Prince of Wales the second ioy of great Britaine Lord looke vpon him from heauen Giue thy iudgements vnto the King and thy righteousnesse vnto the Kings Sonne Teach him O Lord in his tender yeares like a good Iosias to learne and loue thy true religion the way to winne the eternall Crowne of life Be gracious O Lord to the County Palatine of Rhene Fredericke Prince Elector and to his most vertuous and gracious wife Princesse Elizabeth with their Princely progenie O Lord preserue them with thy mightie and out-stretched arme giue them a most happy peace and prosperity in a Princely honor felicity all the daies of their liues O Lord scatter the deuices of the crafty that their hands may not accomplish any wicked thing they do enterprise Confound all them that haue ill will at Sion that repine at the peace of the Church the welfare of great Britaine the prosperity of his Maiesty his royall progenie that howsoeuer they haue shift of faces and maske vnknowne yet let vs pray that that stone which is cut without hands may breake the Images of such Traitors in peeces giuing him victory ouer all his enemies Cloath them all with shame but vpon him let his Crowne flourish and grant him an happy multiplication of many prosperous yeares to renew with many returnes these our cordiall and annuall Ioyes long to sit vpon his Throne and make his foes his footstoole And let high and low rich and poore young and old yea let Heauen and earth
comfortable In a spirituall sense impious and vnfaithfull men are vsurpers I meane by a spirituall right for godlinesse hath the promises of this life yet haue they a ciuill and sure title among men by birthright succession election or other acquisition by which titles such rights are deuolued to them that we say with Saint Austen Qui dedit Mario ipse Caesari He that gaue dominion to Marius the same gaue it to Caesar he that to Augustus the same to Nero he that to gentle Vespasian the same to bloody Domitian he that to Constantine the Christian the same to the Apostate Iulian for the Kingdome is the Lords and hee ruleth among Nations the most High hath power ouer the Kingdome of Men and giueth it to whomsoeuer hee will and appointeth ouer it the most abiect among men saith Daniel and suffereth for the sinnes of the people a Kingdome to be translated from one people to another yea an hypocrite or infidell to reigne ouer them neither must man seeke to displace or dispossesse an Infidell King but say with Dauid Either the Lord shall smite him or his day shall come to die or hee shall descend into battell and perish knowing the saying of the sonne of Syrack to be true Tyranny is of small indurance and he that is to day a King to morrow is dead 3. Heresie is not sufficient to depriue a King of his temporall Inheritance Popish Diuinity is herein knowne let Bellarmine be the mouth of all the rest Christians are not bound nor may with the euident danger of Religion tollerate an vnbeleeuing King when Kings and Princes become heretickes they may be iudged of the Church and bee deposed from the gouernement neither is there any wrong done them if they be deposed If any Prince of a sheepe become a wolfe that is to say of a Christian become an Hereticke the Pastor of the Church by excommunication may driue him away and withall command the people that they follow him not and so depriue him of his dominion ouer his Subiects so farre goes the Cardinall Now who are Heretickes All those Kings which decline from the Papacy and denie his Supremacy The Cardinall thinkes as much Regnante Constantino florebat fides Christiana c. While Constantine reigned the Christian Faith flourished when Constantius ruled Arrianisme when Iulian Ethnicisme when Henry the eighth and Edward the sixth Luthenarisme when Elizabeth Caluinisme prospered All Protestant Princes by the verdict of the Pope and his Parasites be Hereticks and so consequently to be deposed if this their heresie which yet is the Catholicke verity and sincere and sound profession of the Gospell be accompanied with the Popes excommunication and yet it is a great question and neuer yet proued by the Scripture that Kings are subiect to this censure of excommunication it is disputed much both wayes and let it be yeelded for argument sake Ex abundante That Saint Ambrose did iustly with Theodosius in that abstention for I doubt whether it was a complete excommunication for a King is subiect to the presbyteriall Cure not Court to be informed in his conscience in the Pulpet not to be corrected in the Consistory by punishment to be directed not iudged or remoued from the company of his faithfull Subiects much lesse to be deposed or depriued of his regiment ouer them yet let it bee granted for argument sake that Princes may be subiect to the censure of excommunication which yet is sparingly to be vsed against Princes as Austen counselleth yet though the sentence of excommunication be direfull making them for a time as Ethnicks Sit tibisicut Ethnicus saith our Sauiour Let him be vnto thee as an Heathen Man or Publicane It is tanquam nonplusquam as an Heathen man not worse then an Heathen Man Loyalty and obedience to Ethnicke Kings is to be performed as the precepts and presidents of Christ and his Apostles plainly teach all The spirituall sword onely depriues of spirituall rights to depriue him of the Sacrament not of the Scepter shuts out of the Kingdome of Heauen not meddles with the Kingdome of Earth Excommunication is not an extirpation it serues not to take away any mans temporall goods of body or life or Kingdome on Earth it hath power ouer sinnes not ouer possessions as Bernard to Pope Eugenius It serues to tame the soule not to terrifie or destroy the body it cannot bind Kings that they should not reigne or absolue Subiects that they should not obey or depose Kings from their regall authority by which pretence of diuellish pollicy in challenging a spirituall power of Kings excommunication the Pope hath plagued the World with many temporall rebellions 4. Apostacy takes not away Soueraignty Iulian an apparent Apostate and wicked Idolater as Saint Austen cals him yet as the same Father speakes of it Milites Christiani seruierunt huic Imperatori infideli quando dicebat producite aciem iâ—…ra illam gentem statim obtemperabant The Christian Souldiers serued this Infidel Emperor and when he called to produce the Army or to goe against any Nation they presently obeyed not because they wanted power to resist for his whole Army for the most part were Christians as their voices to Iouinian Iulians Successor testifie Omnes vna voce confessi sunt se esse Christianos They all confessed with one accord that they were Christians but their obedience grounded vpon Saint Austens reference Subiectes fuisse propter Dominum aternum Domino temporali Subiect to their temporall Lord for the eternall Lords sake And though some of the great Diuines of Rome say that the Apostles were subiect to Infidell or apostate Princes and many Martyrs obedient because they wanted power to resist and that they might haue lawfully resisted if they had had strength when rather I may say with Tertullian that they had power but might not lawfully resist The Apostles were no Temporizers to command to pray for Nero if the time and not the truth had not moued them to doe it for conscience sake Shall Subiects for Heathen or wicked Kings be enioyned to poure forth prayers supplications and withall be willing if they haue power to poure out their Soueraignes blood The Prophet Ieremy exhorted the exiled Iewes to offer vp their prayers for the life of the King of Babylon hee would not haue willed them to haue prayed for their persecutor if it had beene a duty contrary to Christian profession or for lacke of power to fall to supplication VVhen King Assuerus had made a decree to kill and destory all the Iewes both yong and old children and women in one day what doe they rebell or rise vp in armes to resist with violence No no sorrow and fasting weeping and mourning sackecloth and ashes are their weapons When Iulian the Apostate threatned the Christian World Lachrimae vnicum medicamentum aduersus eum saith
tongue in Diuine prayers Diaboli calliditatem sapit saith their Catharinus sauors of the Deuill rather this speech sauors of the Deuill And truely these Foxes in this chase haue beene so hunted out of all their blinde holes of ignorance and vnable to vphold this Babell of Barbarisme that they are at last brought to a very desperate defence to produce but two of their Champions who haue drawen out their weapons for the defence of this cause Their Iesuite Salmeron and Cardinall Bellarmine Salmeron saith Finis proprius diuinorum officiorum non est populi instructio adificatio sed potius cultus Deo debitus The proper end of Diuine duties is not the instruction and edification of the people but rather a worship due to God I will not vouchsafe an argument but say with that reuerend Deane Hoc est causae perditissimae vltimum refugium desperationis plenissimum omnis authoritatis rationis praesidijs destitutum This is the last refuge of a most wretched cause full of desperation and void of all authority and reason Bellarmine saith almost the same words vsus precum praecipuus non est aedificatio aut consolatio populi sed cultus Deo ab ecclesia debitus the chiefe vse of prayers is not the edification or consolation of the people but a worship due to God from the Church and so that God doe vnderstand the tongue no matter whether men doe or no a strange argument God knowes our wants before we pray why then should we pray at all or make our petitions to him and yet know not the tenor of our petitions Neuer did any Church teach the people to pray for that which they do not vnderstand but the Church of Rome Yet they themselues confesse it were better if the seruice were in the vulgar tongue yet will not suffer it as Bellarmine Est melius ad consolationem orantis It were better for the consolation of him that prayes melius ad instructionem vt preces intelligantur say the Rhemists better for instruction that the prayers should be vnderstood and Caietan better for the edification of the Church ad fructum deuotionis conducibilius saith Aquine more conuenient for the fruit of deuotion and so their Cardinall Contarenus saith The prayers that men vnderstand not want the fruit which they should reape if they vnderstood them Yea themselues confesse That in the time of the Primitiue Church the people in the vulgar tongue did celebrate their diuine seruice In primitiue ecclesia benedictiones caetera communia fiebant invulgari saith Lyranus in the Primitiue Church benedictions and other common duties done in the vulgar tongue nay Bellarmine goes further Longo tempore post tempore Chrysostomi ac Cypriani ac Ieronymi ea consuetudo valuit long after that in the time of Chrysostome Cyprian and Ierome this custome to celebrate sacred things in the vulgar tongue preuailed The cause which the Trent Councell alleadgeth why all diuine seruice should bee in the Latin tongue is this mos generalis ecclesiae habet vt tantum tribus linguis hebraica Graeca latina celebretur The generall custome of the Church hath beene that in these three tongues Hebrue Greeke and Latin it should bee celebrated In the Primitiue Church and long after no such custome by their owne confession and if any tongue rather the Hebrue the most ancient but the Hebrue and Greeke originals of the Scripture are by them little regarded and the vulgar Latin translation of the Scripture is by the Councell of Trent canonized charging all to vse it as the authenticall text in all their readings disputations sermons and expositions and that they doe not reiect it vpon any pretence whatsoeuer Yea the Bishop of Toledo putting forth the Bible in diuers languages printed the Latin betweene the Hebrue and Greeke saying hee had placed them as the two theeues on eyther side but the Romane or Latin put in the midst betweene them as Iesus Christ and yet I thinke neuer did the sunne see any thing more defectiue and maimed then the vulgar Latin thus by them extolled I could with my finger point at grosse corruptions therein but I may spare that labor their own tongues shall tell it Their owne Bishop Lindan saith it hath monstrous corruptions of all sorts scarce one coppy hath one booke of Scripture vndefiled many points translated improperly abusiuely with many other learned Papists who might be named complaining of seuerall additions detractions falsifications deprauations and barbarismes of the vulgar Latine now by them preferred aboue the Hebrue and Greeke coppies Well if the Lay people may haue this Latin Bible read vnto them yet vnderstand neuer a worde of it and other Church prayers they thinke this seruice is sufficient which is but a little better then vox porcorum or mugitus boum then crying of hogges or the bellowing of buls for it is the comparison of Isidorus Quid potest strepitus labiorum vbi cor est mutum oratio sine deuotione est quasi mugitus boum what is the sound of the lips the heart silent Prayer without deuotion is like the roring of oxen what deuotion or feeling is in that minde which is senselesse of the wordes of his mouth a senselesse petitioner who vnderstands not the sense of his petition If a wauering minded man shall receiue nothing of the Lord as Iames what shall a filly sot obtaine who is both inconstant and ignorant how to pray and what to pray for his Pater noster c or Credo indeum will stand him in small flead Sathan in all his shop of fraud hath not a craftier guile to erect his kingdome of iniquity then this accursed pollicy Therefore let all men who feare God and desire his fauour to heare their prayers follow S. Pauls rule Pray with the spirit and vnderstanding also 2 Implicite saith The Church of Rome which rockes her children in the cradle of ignorance tells them implicite faith is sufficient for them which is the faith of Asses as images are fit bookes for Idiots The description of implicit faith I will fetch from themselues who know best the true image of this their false Idoll Implicita fides est credere secundum quod credit Ecclesia vnde non omnis Christianus tenetur illos articulos fidei scire explicite sed tantum clerici saith their owne writer Implicite or infold faith is to belieue as the Church beleeues so that it is not necessary for euery Christian to know those Articles of faith explicitely but onely Priests a strange faith onely deuised to suppresse knowledge and to countenance ignorance so Bellarmine fides melins per ignorantiam quam per notitiam definitur Faith is better defined by ignorance then by knowledge In their Church a Lay-man may belieue by a proctor or by a Priest explicitly but he that thus belieues
Confirmation granted by Pope Leo the tenth Anno 1513. sept id Martij pontificis anno primo the which Bull was granted Hospitali sancti spiritus in Saxia almae vrbis in which is an approbation of all former pardons obtained to the saide Hospitall and the members thereof as Innocent the third grants to all that visit the saide Hospitall two thousand and eight hundred yeares of pardon Pope Alexander the fourth grants foure thousand yeares eight hundred Lents of pardon Pope Celestine the fifth grants also to the saide Hospitall and the members an hundred thousand yeares of pardon Pope Clement the fift grants also two thousand and eight hundred yeares of pardon Pope Boniface the eight 2500. yeares of pardons Pope Clement the sixt 8000 yeares and 8000 Lents full remission of al their sins Pope Innocent the sixt 2000 years and 2000 Lents of pardons Pope Benedict the 12 3000 years as many Lents of pardons All which grants of pardons by the Popes confirmed to the said Hospitall and the members if this were as good ware as they make some beleiue who would not goe visit this Hospitall yea be a member of it Can any Papist goe to the Deuill who may haue a pardon for a little money and saying ouer a prayer or two which prayers haue such power that when S. Bernard said one before a Rood it so pleased the said Rood that it bowed it selfe and embraced him in the armes Like the Rood of Naples which spake so kindely to Thomas Aquinas Or like the Crucifixe which nodded the head to the Monke Gualbertus Indeed if Popes prayers be like Amphions harpe to mooue stones Saxa moueresono testudinis prece bland◠Ducerè quò vellet The famous Amphion with his harpe could play To moue the stones so popish harpers pray If Popes can giue so large pardons for sinnes and haue so good prayers I muse they cannot cure the Papists of bodily sicknesse for sicknesse is the punishment of sinne rather Popes doe encrease their sicknesse by procuring Gods plagues and punishments to be inflicted vpon them for affecting such practises to haue their sinnes pardoned of Popes when as it appertaineth onely to God They who are Gods dearest Ministers I feare the Pope is none haue no other power heerein then to declare in Gods name forgiuenesse of sinne not to make them a pardon for money if they truely beleeue in Christ and repent and so release the band of discipline in open offenders where the fruites of repentance appeare and so the meanest minister of Christ by vertue of his spirituall office may declare absolution of sinnes to the truely penitent but to forgiue sinnes none can or may doe it but God alone I euen I am hee that putteth away thy iniquities for mine owne sake and will not remember thy sinnes Come vnto me all ye that are weary and laden and I will ease you with a thousand places of Scripture exhorting all to come vnto Christ and apply his bloud vnto their soules for the remission of their sinnes There is no other way by which wee can be saued or our sinnes pardoned ad impetrandam nostris sceleribus veniam non pecunias impendere sed hoc facere c. saith Chrysostome To get a pardon for sinne money will not doe it but to beleeue in Christ And indeed the Pardon-Procters are so dazeled in the defence of them like the sodomites smitten with blindenesse at Lots doore that they cannot tell how to finde any ground for them but are compelled abruptly to say with Bellarmine Sufficit ad Indulgentias Bullas defendendas Ecelesia authorit as The authority of the Church alleadged not proued is sufficient to defend Bulles and Indulgences a weake argument to defend wicked pardons But their Glosse vpon that great Bull of Boniface the 8 saith Foure things concurre as principall to make a pardon effectuall 1 Authority in the granter 2 Capacity in the receiuer 3 Piety in the end 4 vtility in the worke But authority heerein the Pope hath none idoneity or capacity in the receiuer namely that he be a true member of Christ and purged from his fault the Pope cannot tell Piety in the end is none for it opens a wide way to all impiety vtility to the party none for hee is robbed of his money and deluded in his soule the onely vtility comes to the Pope to enrich his coffers for by this deuice a world of wealth is raised for men who doe beleeue these pardon-mongers to be released out of the paines of Purgatory telling them what a grieuous punishment it is to lye in Purgatory fire which is indeed ignis fatuus or the fire of the Popes kitchin to warme his backe and belly they will willingly giue their money to goe to Heauen by a pardon Thus it is written of Boniface the ninth who sent into diuers kingdomes his Treasurers with pardons who extorted great summes of money from simple people that in some one Prouince they would get together aboue an hundred thousand florens omnia peccata relaxantes releasing all offences whatsoeuer Christ said to his Apostles freely you haue receiued freely giue But heere no penny no pardon no pater noster so that wee may say of these Popes as one doth of Gregory the ninth O auarum cor vbi Petri paupert as quamiactatis O couetous hart where is Peters pouerty whom yee boast of that to play impostors to the world will sell such ware as you fetch from the Deuils shop to cozen the simple of their money bring them into a fooles Paradise to hope of pardon of their sinne by buying your mercenary indulgences and Buls the basest trash that can be inuented to sell for siluer remission of sinnes and euen saluation of soules as Iudas did for thirty peeces his Sauiour But heerein let Gods children say to the Pope as Daniel did to Balshazzer keepe thy rewards to thy selfe and giue thy gifts to another keepe your paltry pardons to your selues saying as Dauid did to the Prophet Gad Let vs fall into the hands of the Lord for his mercies are great and not into the hands of men the Pope or his Priests for the very mercies of the wicked are cruell The inuention of Popes pardons was to maintaine their pride the power vnlawfull the causes vngodly the vse abhominable and the end deceiueable neyther by the Scriptures or practise of the Primitiue Church warrantable I hasten to put this Piunace into harbour weary with being on the Sea of Rome therefore to bee briefe let all that desire to be faithfull seruants to their Lord and Sauiour who as yet halt betwixt God and Baal being as one cals them Lunae vituli Moone-Calfes once a moneth come to the Temple hoping to walke to heauen with statute-legges or others who are more setled vpon their lees whose mindes as yet the God of this