ART 18. Of Images Pag. 329. ART 19. Of the Image of God Pag. 356. ART 20. Of the Crosse Pag. 361. ART 21. Of Purgatory Pag. 375. ART 22. Of the Anarchy and degrees of Superiority in the Church Pag. 406. ART 23. Of the Popes Supremacy Pag. 413. THE THIRD BOOKE ¶ Of the accomplishment of Prophesies OF THE VSVRPATION OF POPES Ouer KINGS THE FIRST BOOKE CHAP. I. The occasion that moued IAMES the first King of great Britaine to write his booke with the iudgement on COEFFETEAV his booke IT happeneth often that the Lightning falling vpon a man without hurting the flesh breaketh the bones because they onely in the body do make resistance to it and herein the lightning which GOD sends from aboue imitates the nature of him that sendeth it who bruseth the proude and such as withstand him but taketh mercy on the humble which bow vnder his iudgments and tremble at his word But the fulminations of the Bishop of Rome are of a contrary nature for they hurt none but such as feare them nor breake none but such as bow vnder them but he that sets them light is neyther endamaged by them nor breaketh his sleep for them but they fall like the Thunder-bolt into the Sea nay they rather drawe from God a blessing vpon the heads of those that are thus threatned according to that of Dauid Psal 109.28 Though they curse yet wilt thou blesse The happy raigne of the late Queene ELIZABETH will furnish vs with a faire example thereof who notwithstanding the excommuniations of Pope Pius the fift by whom England was interdicted she long time enioyed a Peace without any disturbance or interruption and a prosperity almost beyond example And finally when it pleased God to take her to peace and to gather her to his rest many supposed that the end of her life would be a beginning of troubles and confusions in England and thereupon the opinions and feares were diuers according to the diuersitie of mens desires For the English that were of the Romane Church attentiue and heedy to all occasions had conceiued hope of some great chaunge whether it were that they were led into their hope vpon false grounds or that after the death of a soueraine Prince better things are euer expected from the succeffor or whether that such as are discontented are euer desirous of a change so it was that in this Crisis of humours the spirits of the English waued and floated betwixt hope and feare till by the happy arriuall of IAMES the first the lawfull Successor all things were appeased and cleared euen as by the rising of the Sunne mists and fogges are dispersed and scattered He in the sweetnesse and fairenesse of his owne nature enclined to giue content vnto all his subiects with free liberty of conscience But this his in clination was ouer-ruled by necessity when his wisedome entred into consideration that the matter now in question was not onely Religion but the peace of his estate and the security of his crowne for that it was a thing dangerous to permit publike Assemblies of such persons as had taken Oath to others then himselfe who hold that the Pope may pull downe Kings from their Thrones and dispense with subiects for the oath of their alleageāce Moreouer he called to his remembrance the kings his predecessors whom the Popes had reduced to extream seruitude so farre as to make England parte of the Popes Demaines and in Fee to the Church of Rome and further to make it pay impost and to cause the King to goe beneath his Legats and to giue vp the Crowne into their handes These are considerations that one cannot square or apply to those of the Reformed Religion which liue vnder a Soueraigne of a contrary profession for they take oath to no other but to their Soueraigne Prince They cast their eyes vpon no Forrainer they maintaine that it belongs not to the subiect out of the Religion of the Prince to frame occasions of disobedience making piety the match and kindler of rebellion We are ready to expose our liues for the defence of our King against whomsoeuer though he be of our owne Religion and whosoeuer should doe otherwise should not defend Religion but giue way to his owne ambitions and should draw a great scandall vpon the truth of the Gospell Notwithstanding his Maiestie hath vsed his subiects of the Romane Church in such sorte that excepting the liberty of publique exercise he desired to haue them in like and equall condition with others being vnwilling to haue them disturbed for matter of conscience knowing well that Religion is not by force but by perswasion to take impression and that in this case men will rather follow then be drawne and that persecutions begin when Arguments are at an end Notwithstanding this gentle proceeding those of the Church of Rome now fallen from great hopes which they had imagined turned their despaire into choller and indignation and thereupon plotted an enterprise that should haue enfoulded the King the Queene their children his Maiesties Councell and the Parliament in one and the same destruction the plot was to make a Mine vnder the house of Parliament and so to send the King and his royal family with the chiefe of his Countrey to heauen by a new found way Hatred is an ingenious Mistris of inuention for neyther ancient nor moderne Histories can parallel this with any example The Prince of the world reserued to our times which are the very sinke of former ages something more exquisitely cruell and horrible then euer before hath beene mentioned In the meane time through all their houses there was a certaine forme of prayer prescribed by the Priests and Iesuites for the happy successe of this enterprise to whom the complices did mutually binde themselues by oath sworne vpon the holy Sacrament both for secrecie and perseuerance in the designe The Mine was already finished and the Gun-powder laid ready and nothing wanting but the execution when God who as he is himselfe a King so consequently he is the protector of Kings whom he hath established miraculously discouered this treason the conspiratours being taken suffered according vnto law and amongst others two Iesuites Garnet and Ouldcorne who are now inserted into a catalogue of * It is a table printed at Rome Anno 1608. apud Paulum Mauperinum Matheum Gruterum dedicated to R. Farnesius Prince of Parma in which are the pictures of such Iesuits as haue beene killed and executed sinc◠the yeare 1549. Martyrs imprinted at Rome which is the Spring-head and Forge of all such enterprises Lesse cause would haue sufficed an impatient King to haue exterminated all their complices and to haue let loose the raines of his iust anger but hee with a rare example of clemency suffered punishment to passe no further then to the principall delinquents inuenting and framing to himselfe Causes and Reasons how he might pardon he considered that Superstition might alter
course But to this I reply that for this opposition he was forged both to forsake England and quit his Bishopricke The contradiction of one of the Popes pensionary Prelates opposing his Soueraigne is of small moment in this behalfe for Anselme was accounted the Popes not the Kings subiect Nor is it any greater wonder if Mathew Paris who so often magnifies this King Henry doe now and then cast some imputation vpon him in as much as he was a superstitious Monke and liued soone after who in euery passage complaining of the tyrannie and exactions of the Popes doth yet sometimes restrain himselfe for some idle respects in which he oftener gropes for the truth then he doth see or finde it We must also obserue that the principall quarrell betweene the King of England and the Pope being for inuesting men with spirituall promotions the Pope hath bestowed very glorious Titles on those persons that suffered for this quarrell as if he should write Rubarbe vpon a pot of Rats-bane So hath he placed this Anselme in the Kalender of Saints and Confessours and Thomas of Canterbury in the Catalogue of Martyrs that lost his life not for the profession of the Gospell but for a Controuersie of Prebends and the right of Inuestiture Coeffeteau doth here adde That the Kings of England in the matter of ordination of Priests haue neuer violated the Discipline of the Church The King of England alleadgeth these and many other examples of like nature And I suppose that hee had not vouchsafed the reading of the booke against which he writes For the Kings book saith that Henry the first inuested an Archbishop in his Archbishopricke with his Ringe and Crosier-staffe without the Popes leaue which is flat repugnant to the discipline of the Church of Rome Fol. 15. pag. 1 And besides the now Pope Paul the fift doth pretend that the Venetians in punishing the criminall offences of their Clergy doe derogate from the liberty of the Church Edward then the first and second by inflicting corporall punishment vpon the Clergy that would hold a dependancy from the Pope haue by this reckoning derogated from the liberty of the Church To conclude our Doctor sayth that Henry the first did in other things submit himselfe to the lawes of the Church that in the Records of England most of the monuments speake of yeelding obedience to the See Apostolique that his Maiestie embraceth a Religion which his Predecessors neuer possessed but haue euer acknowledged the authority of Rome in all matters depending vpon matter of conscience First I answere that this is to wander from the question for heere is nothing questioned but the Popes Supremacy ouer Kings in matters temporall Secondly that barely to affirme and to confirme nothing especially writing against a King doth eyther discouer much weakenesse or argue ouer-much neglect and indeede his whole allegation is vntrue Concerning Henry the first I confesse that he ascribed too much honour to the Church of Rome for he liued in a dark ignorant age and in the height of the Popes tyranny to which England of all Countries was most enthralled which cannot bee proued of the times more auncient It may well appeare that the Citie of Rome being the seat of the Empire was by consequent the resort of all nations by which meanes the Church of that citie how poore and miserable soeuer might haue aduertisements from all parties and haue intelligence with all the Churches within the Empire and consequently which is the Church of great Brittaine which was originally planted by some of S Iohn Disciples that came thither out of Asia whereof we haue this proofe that euen to the time of August which was sent into England by Gregogorie the first about the yere 596. the Church of the Iland did keepe the feast of Easter according to the custome of Asia vpon the 14. day of the month which if it had beene vnder the iurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome no question but it had abrogated that custome when Victor in the yeare 200. did excommunicate the Churches which made any precise obseruation of the 14. day Helene mother vnto Constantine was of the Iland and held no points of Papistrie maintained at this day Pelagius was also of this Iland and sauing the points of free will and originall sinne dissented not in any opinions from S. Angustine Now S. Angustine receiued no Popish opinions now defended as we haue proued in the 20. chapter of my booke of the Eucharist in another place In the twenty Chapter of my booke of the Eucharist Pontificus Verumnius lib. 4. Jo. Lelandus that he died excommunicate from the Church of Rome The first Christian King of great Brittaine that can be remembred was Lucius that possessed a part of the Iland in the time of Marcus Aurelius who questionlesse had commerce with the Bishop of Rome for he had beene at Rome and held correspondence with the Emperour but that he should be subiect to the Bishop of Rome or acknowledge him the head of the Vniuersal Church admits no manner of proofe In the yeare of our Lord 530. that Warlike Prince Arthur raigned in great Britaine of whom being a Christian it doth not appeare that eyther he depended vpon the Bishops of Rome or that they intermedled in the election or inuesting of the Britaine Bishops during the raigne of Arthur or his Successors In the yeare 596. soone after that the English Saxons being Almaines and at that time Infidels had inuaded Britaine then did Gregory the first send Austen into this Iland a man full of faction and arrogancy to plant the Christian faith although the Christian Religion had beene planted here more then foure hundred yeares before But by the Christian faith these men doe now vnderstand the authority of the Pope This Austen was strongly and stoutly opposed by the Christians of that Countrey who refused to change their auncient forme of Religion which they had receiued from such as were Disciples to the Apostles They had seuen Bishopricks and one Archbishopricke the seat whereof being first errected at Carleon was afterward translated to S. Dauids as it is recorded by Rainulphus Cestrensis lib. 1. cap. 52. for the Archbishop of London was of a later foundation besides they had a Colledge of 2100. religious persons at Bangor who about the yeare 550. when the Order of S. Benet began to flourish in this I le were called by the new name of Monkes Men that adicting themselues to the study of Diuinity got their liuing by the labour of their handes not being tyed to the rigorous obseruation of a Vow whereunto no man by the ancient Order of S. Benet is obliged This Austen then found meanes to insinuate himselfe into the familiar acquaintance of one of the petty Kings of the Countrey called Ethelfred King of Northumberland who was an enemy to the auncient Christians of that land and had inuaded their Countrey and wasted many Churches with this Austen then
receiue some lustre from his reflection But those that desire to make themselues knowne by the greatnesse of their Aduersaries are alwaies such as haue little in themselues why the world should take note of them This Doctor in his booke handleth the King of great Britaine as a Nurce doth her nurce-childe who after shee hath dandled it beates it mingling curstnesse and flattery For in humble termes hee wrongeth him and giueth him respectfull lyes flatters him with iniuries accuseth him to speake vpon trust and that he busieth himselfe with quirkes and subtleties and sayes that he makes S. Paul an Interpreter of the Apocalips This is the forme of his writing as for the matter and substance of his booke I finde that he hath ill measured his owne strength and that with the weakenesse and meanenesse of his skill he hath made the strength of his Maiesties reasons more manifest Gyants are not to be ouerthrown with a breath neyther is a Lion to be fought against with a Festue Other kind of forces are necessary to make resistance to so exquisite a doctrine that is euer abundantly sustained by the truth And indeede he clearely confesseth his weakenesse in this that hee neuer cyteth the Text of the Kings booke but only reporteth the sense thereof disguised and weakened that he may giue himselfe greater scope and liberty forming to himself Chimera's which he impugneth with other Chimera's of his owne as will sufficiently appeare by the examination of his booke to which we now will enter God herein enlighten vs since that which wee say is for his truth which is the light of our soules CHAP. II. Certaine Remonstrances of COEFFETEAV his iudgement touching the Treasons and attempts vppon the life of the King of England ARISTOTLE in the second booke of his Rhetoriques Chap. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith that the Countrey people vse to haue their speeches very full of sentences but folly is more sufferable then vnseasonable wisedome Coeffeteau beginneth his booke much after such fashion making to the King of great Britaine many sententious Remonstrances interlaced and mingled with threats and commendations But whilst he representeth to Kings their duties he goeth beyond his owne for S. Ierome forbids Monkes to be teachers saying in his booke against Vigilantius Monachus non docentissed plangen tis habet officium wishing Monks rather to bewaile and be sorrowfull for their owne faults then to reprehend those of other men But chiefly his Remonstrances are ill employed to a King that is better read in the Bible then he is in his Missall and that hath carefully put in practise the commaundement of God in the seuenteenth of Deuteronomy where hee commaunds Kings to read the booke of the law all the dayes of their liues verse 19. The exhortation that Luther often vsed by his Letters to Pope Leo the tenth to renounce the papacy and to liue of his owne and to come and doe as he did had more grace with it then this of Coeffeteau for it is more probable of the two Sleidan li. 2. that the Pope was the likelier to haue followed Luthers counsell This Doctor hauing thus employed the seuen first pages of his book in these exhortations which haue no other fault but that they are ill applyed comes to those motiues which estrange and keepe the King of England from the Romane Religion supposing the conspiracies that haue beene against his person to be the causes of it thereupon protesteth Fol. 5. pag. 1. that the Romane Church no way approueth such attempts but condemnes them as parricides and wisheth to Princes secure gouernement victorious armes obedient people and faithfull Councell And after addeth That for these considerations the head of the Church which is the Pope cannot disaproue the courses that your Maiestie holaeth to secure your authority and person against the miserable enterprizes so that they bee not repugnant to that Religion which he is bound to desend To this I say Coeffeteau hath beene very ill enformed for the conspiracies against the King of Englands life haue not with-held or kept him from Popery since euen from his Infancy he hath made open profession of the true Religion and before this conspiracy had published the confession of his faith conformable to that which we professe And whereas he condemnes such attempts as are made vpon the liues of Kings we greatly commend him for it and thereby suppose that he no way approued the enterprize of Iames Clement who was domesticke with him and his companion From thence I likewise gather that when the Iesuite Mariana in the sixt Chapter of his booke De Regno prayseth the Act of Iames Clement saying that he was perswaded and enduced thereunto by Diuines with whom hee had conferr'd I gather that Coeffeteau was none of those Diuines and that when this Parricide Saint and Coeffeteau went a begging together hee made him not acquainted with his secret And further it is no small vertue in this Doctor that he feareth not in so iust a cause to condemne many Iesuites who were complices or instigators of this last conspiracy and haue been executed for it Nay more it sheweth a magnanimity in Coeffeteau that hee dares so couragiously oppose himselfe to the Pope and Bellarmine who by their letters before mentioned incite the English to rebellion which could neuer take effect so long as the Kings life should be in safety By the same meanes he likewise condemneth the Authors of the Legend of S. Iames Clement which wee haue seene with our eyes but not without much wonder and admiration The successe of things haue grudged him this honor and men haue beene nothing fauourable and propitious to this Saint otherwise doubtlesse hee had before this beene put into paradice It is likewise a cause of iust ioy vnto vs to see that a Doctor of the Sorbons dare approue the sentence of the Court of Parliament against Iohn Chastell though the Pope of late hath newly censured it By which it dooth also follow that he doth not thinke it well done that Garnet and Ouldcorne Iesuites and parties in the gunpowder treason are at Rome inserted in a roll of Martyres Whosoeuer prayseth and approueth an acte already done will questionlesse counsel and aduise the doing of it for that which is wicked in the vndertaking cannot be good in the execution But the Pope in his breue before mentioned calleth the punishment of Treason and rebellion by the name of Martyrdom which is a dangerous speech able to make Kings tremble when the people shall be taught by Murders and Treasons to seeke the Crowne of Martyrdome An abhominable and detestable doctrine can there be any so colde and frozen zeale that will not hereby be warmed and moued to a iust anger that this so sacred name of Martyr so much reuerenced in the Church should in such sort be prostituted that whereas the holy Scripture calleth them Martyrs which suffer for the testimony of the
and of such or such a Saint wee commit vnto you the Church of S. Sabina or of S. Chrisogonus c. that is he committeth to him one of the Parishes of Rome which is nothing but a bare formality and wordes without substance for after this ceremony this new Cardinall returneth home it may be into Fraunce or Sapine without euer setting his foote againe into the Church of which he beares the title And from thence it grew that for a long time there was in Rome but eight and twenty Cardinall Priests according to the number of the auncient Parishes in Rome which was seuen Churches vnder euery one of the foure principall and Patriarchall Churches of Rome as for the fift that is the Church of Lateran where the Pope made his residence that was aboue the other foure This number of eight and twenty Cardinall Parishes that is to say Parsons of Parishes continued in Rome vntill the time of Honorius the second father of the Cordeliers in the yeare 1125. as Onuphrius sheweth since which time the number hath encreased or lessened according to the pleasures of the Popes who were at that time in the height of their glory And the dignity of the Bishoppes of Millaine and Rauenna being decayed which before were held equall with the Bishop of Rome Since that there hath beene little speech but onely of the Cardinals of Rome As touching Deacons the custome of the City of Rome was to haue onely seuen following the example of the sixt Chapter of the Actes of the Apostles whose charge was to keepe and distribute the almes and to carry the Eucharist in the Church to the faithfull and to remoue the holy table and to cause those which were not yet fully instructed in the Christian Religion Catechumeni to goe out of the Church before the communion and to read the Gospell c. S. Laurence that suffered Martyrdome vnder Decius in the yeare 252. was one of those seuen Deacons as Prudentius testifieth Hic vnus ex septem viris Qui stant ad aram proximi Leuita sublimis gradu c. Likewise in the time of S. Cyprian there were but seuen as appeareth by the Epistle hee wrote to Cornelius in the sixt booke of Eusebius chap. 42. which agreeth with the twelfth Canon of the Counsell of Neocaesaria Now when the Church was growne to be in peace and quiet peace bringing plentie and plenty pride these Deacons became proude and insolent of which S. Augustine complaineth Falcidius duce stultitia Romanae ciuitatis iactantia Leuitas Sacerdotib ' equare contendit Quanquam Romanae Ecclesiae Diaconi modico inuericundiores videntur in his booke of questions of the olde and new Testament saying That one called Falcidius lead by folly and following the arrogancy and vaunting of the Citie of Rome would equal the Romane Deacons with other Priests and a little after saith that The Deacons of the Church of Rome seeme to be a little too impudent Pride was then in blooming but it is now full eared which sheweth that Haruest is at hand In the succeeding ages the number of Christians being greatly increased it is to be presumed the number of Deacons increased likewise amongst whom those which were the cheefest were called by the name of Cardinall Deacons which is as much to say as principall Looke Eusebius in the Election of Fabian Anno 240. It is not to be omitted that the election of the Bishoppes of Rome was long after this made by the voyces of the common people and Clergy the first mention of any Pope that was elected by Cardinals that I can finde in Platina is in the life of Nicholas the second in the yeare 1059. And yet a little after he ioyneth with them both the layetie and Clergy Onuphrius saith that Gregory the seuenth called Hildebrand See likewise Sigonius Ann. 1059. Nos Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinales Clerici acolythi presentibus Episcopis abbatibus multisque tum Ecclesiastici tum laici ordinis eligimus c. in the yeare 1072. and yet Platina affirmeth that he was elected not onely by the Cardinals but also by the whole Clergie in the presence of the people So that the custome which reserueth to Cardinals onely the elections of the Popes is of a new constitution as likewise those goodly vses they now haue to shut the Cardinals into the conclaue to put their meate in at a hole to serue their drinke in cleare bottles and their bread cut into little morsels to make them dyne euery one alone by themselues prohibiting them to serue one another diminishing euery day their allowance and when the name of a new elected Cardinall is declared out at the window to the people to runne home to his house and robbe and spoyle it as likewise that custome by which the elected Pope giueth to whom he list his place and Cardinals hatte as Pope Iulius the third did in the year 1505. who bestowed his place vpon a little boy called Innocentius who kept him an Ape Augusti Thrani Histor lib. 6. But chiefely that corruption by which euery Cardinall selleth his suffrage receiuing from Princes great pensions to giue their voyces with one of their faction Now after this bargaine and sale we must yet beleeue that such a purchast Pope cannot erre in faith By what which is already faid it appeareth that the Cardinals now a dayes haue no more resemblance of those of former times then the Pope hath of S. Peter or the Masse of the Lords supper first the auncient Cardinals were Pastors or Deacons of the Parishes of Rome to teach and to administer the Sacraments but the Cardinals now neyther teach nor haue any cure of soules secondly then the Cardinalship was a function now it is a dignitie Most ordinarily the creation of Cardinals is in vse one of the ember weekes thirdly then a Cardinall was not made but vpon the death of some other because that the Parish might not remaine without a Pastor But now the Pope createth when he pleaseth and as many as he pleaseth by which it hath happened that the Pope being carelesse thereof the number hath beene so strangely diminished that when Vrban the fourth was elected there were only two Cardinals Onuphrius so contrary to this Leo the tenth created eight and thirty in one day fourthly Then the Romane Cardinals were onely in the City of Rome whereas now they are euery where else and rule the Counsels of diuers Kings It is likewise to be presumed that in auncient time election was made of Cardinall Priests of the Inhabitants of Rome and such as were of most sufficiency but now the Cardinalshippe is bestowed vpon Infants and Princes children that are altogether vnlearned as likewise vpon others at the request and intreaty of Kings in recompence of their seruices Then the title of Cardinall Priests did not lift him vp higher then his fellowes but onely in some kinde of precedency
seeing that the thing can no wayes belong to mee in what sort soeuer Furthermore Bellarmine by this distinction hath no meaning to contradict the Popes whom we haue produced who speake of Kings as of their subiects and terme themselues Soueraignes in temporall affaires so that this commeth all to one It bootes not to dispute of the excellency of the spirituall power aboue the Ciuil by comparing as did Innocent the third the Pope to the Sunne and the Emperour to the Moone for albeit this were so yet doth not the excellency of one thing aboue another necessarily import that one must therefore gouerne another for if I say that the faculty of Diuinity is more noble and more excellent then the care and custody of the Kings Treasure must it needes therefore follow that Diuines and Clergy men must sway the Kings Exchequer And as litle to the purpose is it to alleadge that the temporall power is subiect to the spirituall for the question is not whether it be simply subiect vnto it but whether it be subiect to it in temporall things and with what punishments the Pastor of the Church may punish the Magistrate when he forgetteth his duety Foüiller en sa bourse to wit whether by depriuing him of his estates or by fingering his purse this is the point of the question which Bellarmine was to proue and not to suppose For what authority soeuer God hath giuen to faithfull Pastors ouer the Magistrates as they are Christians yet doe they not let for all that to be subiect to the Magistrates as they are Citizens and make a part of the Common-wealth A king that is sicke is for the time subiect to the gouernement of his Physitians and yet they neuertheles remaine his subiects As then the Temporall gouernement doth not impose spirituall punishments so the spirituall gouernement cannot impose temporall punishments vnlesse it be sometimes by miracle as S. Peter did vpon Ananias and Sapphira for ordinary power he hath none to doe it neyther doth the word of God giue him any Now if the Pope by vertue of his keyes of which he so much boasteth could dispossesse a King of his Kingdome for any fault whether it be true or pretended it should thence follow that he hath a greater power ouer Kings then oner priuate and particular men from whom he cannot by way of Penance plucke away their lands or houses to giue them to their neighbours for if it were so the Pope should be the direct Lord of all the lands and possessions of Christendome And seeing it is generally confessed that the Heathen Emperours were not subiect to the Bishops in temporall matters can it stand with reason that Princes by being become Christians should become lesse Soueraignes then they were before and that the faith of Iesus Christ should diminish their Empire I am not ignorant that the Prince ought so to administer temporall things that the spirituall administration be not thereby impeached I know also that if Princes offend God it belongeth to the Pastors not to be silent but to oppose themselues against that euil by al those wayes means which God hath permitted which are courses ful of all respect and farre from any rebellion and sedition The faithfull Pastor that shall least of all flatter the Magistrate in his vices is the man that shall carefully retaine the people in their obedience towards the Magistrate and shall keepe that golden meane which is betweene flattery and sedition As he must not be a dumbe dogge so must he not be a furious beast that had neede to be tyed vp And to the end that you may know that these two kindes of subiection doe not iustle or shoulder each other as incompatible I say that the Princes and the Pastors in a State are as the will and vnderstanding in the soule of a man The will commandeth the vnderstanding with an absolute commaund which the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Lord-like inioyning it to study or to learne this or that thing But the vnderstanding on the other side leadeth on the will by suggestion without commaund the one is done by authority the other by perswasion So Princes command Pastors Pastors sollicite and intreate Princes The respect which Princes owe vnto them is not to their persons but to their charge and calling and to the word or message which they bring for they be not the candle it selfe but onely the Candlesticke on which it is set Ioh. 1. ver 8. sent as our Sauiour saith of S. Iohn not to be the light but to beare witnesse of the light Howbeit this comparison taken from the vnderstanding and the will doth halt in more then one point for the will cannot constraine the vnderstanding but Princes may compell Pastors to obey their lawes and to punish them corporally when they doe amisse Againe the vnderstanding is to guide the will in al things but the Prince in an infinite of businesse may do well enough without the helpe and counsell of his Clergy especially in affaires that are temporall and meerely ciuill Againe the will doth neuer teach the vnderstanding for it consisteth wholly in motion and action but many Princes haue reformed their Pastors and brought them back to their dueties as did Constantine who in the Councell of Nice stifeled and smothered vp all quarrels among the Bishops by casting their diffamatorie libels into the fire as did Dauid who erected new orders in the Temple and as did Salomon who deposed Abiathar from the Priesthood being attainted of conspiracy against him And likewise Ezechias and Ichosaphat who clensed the Temple and set vp the purity of Gods seruice againe In this sense a Synodall Epistle written to Lewes the Courteous calleth him Rectorem Ecclesiae gouernor of the Church And Lewes his young sonne being at Pauia tooke an account of the liues of the Bishops and of their diligence in their charge as Sigonius witnesseth in the yeare 855. The same Authour saith in his seuenth booke that Adrian conferred vpon Charlemaigne the honour of gouerneing the Church and of choosing the Bishoppe of Rome not that he might change the doctrine of the Church at his pleasure but only to hold a strait hand for the execution of the things which were enioyned by the word of God But Bellarmine addeth for a second reason That if the Church that is to say the Pope had not the power to dispose of temporall things it could neuer attaine to perfection but should want necessary power to arriue at her intended end For saith he wicked Princes might without feare of punishment intertaine heretickes to the ouerthrow of Religion This is a reason without reason and full of impiety for it accuseth the Church which was in the Apostles times of imperfection which then had no power at all ouer the Temporalty all things being then in the handes of Infidels Add hereunto that Kings might vse the same reason and say that their power could not
be perfect vnlesse they had the meanes to dispose of spirituall things for that otherwise wicked Bishops might without feare of punishment be vitious mutinous Necromancers and firebrands of sedition against Princes of all which enormities the Sea of the Bishop of Rome can alone furnish a multitude of examples yea after Baronius Coeffeteau himselfe doth confesse Coeffeteau in his booke entituled A Refutation of falshoods fol. 68. pag. 1. that many monsters haue sitten vpon that seate The Churches perfection doth not consist in a strength able by force to defend it selfe but in the purity of prescribing the wholsome meanes of saluation No otherwise then the perfection of Philosophy dooth not consist in hauing a strong house or a good sword able to represse those that should hinder her from being taught and professed but rather in the certainty perspicuity and sufficiency of her Demonstrations God who hath neuer suffered that his Church should be extinguished by false teachers which infect the soules will not permit that it shall be abolished by wicked Princes which offer violence to the bodies for whatsoeuer necessity any man can alleadge why he should plucke the Crowne from a lawfull Princes head yet can there be no necessity of doing any thing contrary to the will of God as there is no necessity that doth binde a man to bee disloyall there can be no dispensing with the law of God God sayth by the mouth of his Apostle Rom. 13.1 That euery person ought to be subiect to superior powers for there is no power but of God Where it is cleare that he speaketh of Princes and temporall Lords because he addeth that they beare the sword as being the Ministers of God ordeyned for iustice And a little after he commaundeth to pay them tribute and customes Now at the time when the Apostle spake this neyther the Bishoppe of Rome nor any other did eyther carry the sword or receiue any tribute Who is he then that can dispense with so precise a commaundement Or what thing can be more necessary then to obey God And note moreouer that if the Pope be the Iudge of this case of necessity for which Princes ought to be dispossest it will bee easie for him at any time to say that it is necessary that this or that King be degraded to the end to make himselfe by that means King of Kings and disposer of their Crownes Howbeit let vs a little weigh and consider what this necessity may be which carrieth on the Pope to plucke from a King his Scepter and to giue his Crowne to another Bellarmine alleadgeth but one to wit if it be necessary to saluation As in case a King be an Hereticke an Infidell or a persecutor of the Church or a fauourer and vpholder of errour But he would faine hide and conceale from vs that the Pope doth aswell intrude himselfe to dispossesse Kings that are of his Religion and no way in fault So in the Decrees of the Romish Church in the 15. Cause Quaest. 6. in the Canon which beginneth Alius Romanus Pontifex Zacharias scil Regem Fran corum non tam pro suis iniquitatibus quà m pro coquod tantae potestati erat inutilis à regno deposuit c. And the Canonists who haue made the Glosse dispute vpoÌ„ that place whether a man ought to pay his debts to one excommunicated Probabiliter dici potest quod excommunicato non sit soluendii cum nemo debeat participate cum en Lib. 5 cap. 7. §. Tertia Non licet Christianis tolerare Regem infidâ—leÌ„ aut hereticum c. the Pope speaketh in this manner Zachary the Bishop of Rome hath deposed the French King not so much for his iniquities as for that he is not fit for nor capable of so great a power and hath set vp Pippin the faher of Charles Emperour in his place and hath discharged all the French-men from their Oath of fidelity 〈◊〉 Iulius the second could not accuse Lewes the twelfth nor Iohn King of Nauarre of heresie nor yet Sixtus the fift the late king Henry the third who notwithstanding were by the Popes thundering Bulles declared to haue beene fallen from their kingdomes I freely indeede confesse that in an Electiue kingdome when question is made of choosing a new king they to whom that charge belongeth ought in no wise to chuse a king that is an Infidell or an Idolater But it is one thing to speake of a king who is chosen by his subiects and another of a king who is a lawfull inheritour and who is beholding to his birth for his Crowne and to whom ouer and aboue his subiects haue taken the Oath of Alleageance And therefore the Argument which Bellarmine draweth from the one to the other to proue that Subiects are at no hand to endure a king that is an Heretick or an Infidel doth not follow vpon good consequence It auayleth not to say that the danger is like both in the one and the other for it may so fall out that two things may be alike dangerous whereof the one may be bad and the other not as for example for a man to receiue in his body the shot of an harquebuse from one that did aime to hit him from another that did it by chance is alike dangerous but not alike wicked And indeede euen in humane pollicy and without any relation to the commandements of God it is not expedient that subiects should shake off the yoake of their Prince which is of a different Religion for this were the next way to estrange Princes and Monarches from Christian Religion and to make them to haue it in detestation as that which counselleth and perswadeth to rebellion and maketh piety the cause of mutiny Moreouer the question here is not of the danger but of the duety nor yet what may arriue but what ought to be done we must not do euill that good may come of it Many things are lawfull which are not expedient but there is nothing expedient which is not lawfull When we haue done what we ought to doe then God will doe what pleaseth him and he will doe nothing but for the good of his Church which he cherisheth as the apple of his eye he hath bought it too deare that he should be of the minde to destroy it Now if this rule of the Cardinall be necessary that it is not permitted to Christians to suffer a King that is an Hereticke or an Infidell Saint Paul was very much mistaken in giuing commaundement to obey Nero an Infidell and a persecutor and the Christians then did not as they ought to haue done in that they did not stabbe him or make a myne of powder vnder his house Bellarmine answereth that they might iustly haue done it but that they wanted forces that is to say Lib. 5. de Rom. Pontif. cap. 7. §. Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem c. Id fuit quia deeraÌ„t vires
he combined against the Christians and both together massacred the poore religious men of Bangor and flew no lesse then 1200. of them The same Ethelfred assisted by the petty English Kings to despite the Christians inhabiting the Countrey remoued the Archiepisopall seate from London and translated it to Canterbury where ordinarily he made his residence Now the principall difference betweene the Christians and the Romish faction was about the day of Easter the single life of Priests and the Church-musique processions and Letany after the order of Rome consider further that some of the people were Pelagians for there was no speech then of transubstantiation nor of the Popes grand Pardons and indulgences nor of the Sacrament vnder one kinde nor of such heresies as were hatched in the after ages Whereof we haue sundry witnesses as Amandus Zirixensis in his his Chronicle Beda in the second booke of his Ecclesiasticall History of England Mantuan in fastis and Polydore Virgill Mantuanus Adde quòd Patres ausi taxare Latinos Causabantur eos stulte imprudentur aequo Durius ad ritum Romae voluisse Britannos cogere c. but especially obserue the wordes of Geffery of Monmouth in his eight booke de Britannorum gestis * In patria Britonum adhuc vigebat Christianitas quae ab Apostolorum tempore nunq tam inter eos defece rat Post quam autem venit Augustinus c. In the Countrey of the Brittà nes Christian Religion flourished which neuer failed among them from the time of the Apostles For Austen being arriued there found seuen Bishoprickes and an Archbishopricke in their Prouince all furnished with very religious Prelates and Abbots men that liued by the labour of their hands The King of England produceth also the Statute of Richard the second King of England by which all English-men were forbidden to holde or sue for any Benefice from the Pope which was in the heigth of the Popes vsurpation and this as the greatest part of the booke doth Coeffeteau passe by being content to scratch where he cannot bite CHAP. VIII That they which haue written against the King of great Britaines booke doe vniustly call him Apostata and Hereticke OVR Aduersaries are as open-handed in bestowing titles vpon vs as they are niggardly in giuing any reason of their doings Bellarmines booke vnder the name of Tortus sayth that the King of great Britaine is no Catholique but shewes neyther in what sense nor for what reason and as vniustly doth he call him an Apostata for an Apostata is one that hauing followed doth againe doth forsake the true Religion Now his Maiestie of England hath not forsaken the true Religion inasmuch as hee still maintaineth the same and should his Religion be as hereticall as it is sound and holy yet could he not be called an Apostata because he neuer professed any other Religion He that hath alwayes done euill is not a backeslider from vertue and no man can forsake that which he neuer had Now graunt that hee had beene baptized in the Church of Rome yet it followes not that he therefore receiued their faith that baptized him for the Church of Rome conferring any thing vpon him that is good bindes him not to follow her in that which is euill But because it may be presumed that the Queene his mother being of the Church of Rome might haue giuen him some impressions of that Religion his Maiesty therefore meeteth therewith and testifies that she adhaered not to the grosser superstitions of Poperie and that in the christening of the King her sonne she charged the Archbishop that baptized him not to vse any spittle in the Ceremonies saying that shee would not haue a rotten and pocky Priest to spit in her childes mouth that at her entreaty the late Queene ELIZABETH who was an enemy of Popery was his God-mother and christened him by her Ambassadour that she neuer vrged him by any letters to adhaere to Popery that euen her last words befor her death were that howbeit she were of a diuers Religion yet shee would not presse him to change the Religion he professed vnlesse he found himselfe moued therevnto in his conscience that if he ledde an honest and a holy life if he did carefully administer iustice and did wisely and religiously gouerne the people committed to his care she made then no question but he might and ought to perseuere in his owne Religion By these Demonstrations doth his Maiesty of England prooue that this great Princesse had no sinister opinion of our religion Hereunto Mr. Coeffeteau sayth hee will giue credite for the respect hee beareth vnto the King although it will with great difficulty bee generally perswaded that some Princes allied vnto his Maiestie could shewe some letters to the contrary Which is as much to say that although that which the King sayes be false yet to doe him a pleasure he will beleeue it and so giues him the lye very mannerly as if he should spit in his face doing him reuerence like the Iewes that cryed all haile to our Sauiour when they buffeted him His Encounter should haue had some coulerable matter at the least for what can argue more weakenesse in him then to mention letters that no man euer saw Or what strength hath it to weaken the testimony of a King concerning his own mother For to whom should she haue opened her minde more familiarly then to her sonne Or what wordes are more serious or more vndissemblingly spoken then such as are the last that dying persons doe vtter For then doth the hand of necessity pull off the maske from the deepest dissemblers then is it no time to hide themselues from men when they must mâ—ke their appearaÌ„ce before God But especially she then speaking to her onely sonne with whom to haue dissembled had beene a most iniurious dissimulation and an vnnaturall skill which if it bee blameable in a mother in any part of her life how much more at the time of her death His Maiesty of England being thus cleared from the crime of Apostasie he dooth likewise acquite himselfe from the imputation of heresie which is the ordinary wrong they doe him The word Heresie signifies a Sect by which name the Christian Religion was in auncient time traduced for so the Iewes speake to the Apostle S. Paul in the last of the Acts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as concerning this Sect or heresie We know that it is euery where spoken against And his Maiesty of England may very rightly say with the same Apostle cap. 24. vers 4. This I confes that after the way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which they call Heresie I worship the God of my fathers beleeuing all things which are written in the law and the Prophets After which phrase of speech Tertullian and Cyprian doe call the Christian religion a Sect Tertul de Pallio c. 6. Denique etiam diuinae sectae ac disciplinae commercium pallio conferri Cyprianê° l
yeelde her that which the Angell Gabriel pronounced of her and that which in her Canticle she prophesied of her selfe that is That she ¶ Luc. 1.28 is blessed amongst women and * Ibid. ver 48. That all generations shall call her blessed I reuerence her as the Mother of Christ whom of our Sauiour tooke his flesh and so the mother of God since the Diuinity and Humanity of Christ are inseperable And I freely confesse that she is in glory both aboue Angels and men her owne Sonne that is both God and man onely excepted But I dare not mocke her and blaspheme against God calling her not onely Diua but Dea and praying her to commaund and controule her Sonne who is her God and her Sauiour Nor yet can J thinke that she hath no other thing to doe in heauen then to heare euery idle mans suite and bufie her selfe in their errands whiles requesting whiles commanding her sonne whiles comming downe to kisse and make loue with Priests and whiles disputing and brawling with Diuels In heauen she is in eternall glory and ioy neuer to be interrupted with any worldly businesse and there I leaue her with her blessed Sonne our Sauiour and hers in eternall felicity Here Coeffeteau playeth the sugitiue and that little which he murmureth in flying are partely falsehoods partely disguisings of the beliefe of his Church He graunteth to the King that she ought not to be called Goddesse and reiecteth with him a thousand ridiculous things and the false honours which superstition hath inuented Now I cannot diuine what Religion it is that giueth to the holy Virgin ridiculous or excessiue honours saue onely the Romane Religion It is onely the Romane religion that calleth her Queene of heauen the gate of Paradise Regina coeli pâ—rta paradisi Domina mundi hauing rule and dominion ouer the world they are the Titles which are giuen to her in the prayer that Sixtus the fourth hath willed to be said before the Image of our Ladie of Loretto with graunt of eleauen thousand yeares pardon I my selfe haue seene in the great Missâ—lles of Paris before the late Popes new plastered them ouer these Sapphicke verses barborously elegant O fellix puer pera Nostra pians scelera Iure matris impera Redemptori It is also in the Church of Rome that throughout all the Churches the Virgin Mary is painted lifted vp and assumed into heauen in body and solemnly crowned Queene of heauen and of all the world without being able to produce any witnes of worth for the same Seeing there is none that euer came backe from heauen that had said that he had seene it to be so And God saith nothing of it in his word neither doth the Auncient Church speake of it It is the Church of Rome also which maketh the Virgin Mary much more inclined to procure our good then Iesus Christ euen so farre as that shee must appease the wrath and indignation of her sonne against vs as they sing vpon the Feast of Alhallowes or Al-Saints Christe redemptor gentium Conserua tuos famulos Beatae semper Virginis Placatus sanctis precibus And so Pope Innocent the third speaketh in the Hymne of Christ and the Virgin to which hee addeth great indulgences Precor te regina caeli Me habeto excusatum Apud Christum tuum gnatum Cuius iram pertimesco Et furorem expauesco This Church of Rome who in her houres Rosaries and Letaines calleth the Holy Virgin Mother of mercie Gate of Heauen our Saluation She that hath bruised the head of the Serpent as also Genesis 3.15 this propertie of bruising the Serpents head which is there giuen to the seede of the Woman in the vulgar translation is attributed to the Woman by a wicked falsification In a word for the toppe of all abuses there are in the Church of Rome two Psalters of our Ladie one of which is called Saint Bonauenture Psalter which is nothing else but the one hundred and fifty Psalmes of Dauid in which they haue taken away the name of God and in it's roome haue put the name of Mary which hauing beene printed an infiuite number of times in Latine hath since beene translated into French and printed at Paris a At Paris by Claudius Chappelet in S. Iames his street at the signe of the Vnicorne 1601. Printed at Paris by Nicolas du Fosse in S. Iames his streete at the golden pot 1601. with priuilede and approbation of the Sorbonne The other Psalter is digested into fifteene Demaunds with like approbation of the Doctrines In which the Virgin Mary is called the first cause of our saluatioÌ„ the finder out of grace that turneth away the indignation of Iesus Christ by vncouering her paps vnto him The Rose by whose smell the dead are raised vp who by the faire Lillies of her face made the King of Heauen in loue with her who at the last day shall moderate the sentence of the Iudge euen so far haue they proceeded as to place her before Iesus Christ in these wordes Glory be to you O Virgin and to Iesus Christ c. It would doe well to report the wole booke Moreouer euery one knoweth how in Italy they speake with much more respect of La madoma then of God whom they call by a terme full of mis-regard Messer Domene Dio Lect. 80. Confugimus primo ad beatissiman vir ginem coelorum reginam cui Rex regum pater celestis dimidium regni sui dedit Quod significatum est in Ester regina Sic pater coelestis cum habeat institiam misericordiam iustitia sibi retenta misericordiam matri virgini concessit Of whom also Gabriel Biel a famous Doctor saith in his exposition of the Canon of the Masse That God hath diuided his Kingdome at halfes with the Virgin Mary hauing reserued Iustice to himselfe and left mercy vnto her Now these things are not drawne out of any obscure authours but out of their owne Missalles Letonies and publicke prayers out of the writings of their Popes and Psalters publickly allowed to the end that Coeffeteau may know that in condemning these things hee warreth against the whole Church of Rome and commeth no longer with a cold dissimulation to disguise his owne priuate beleefe Which shall serue for an answere to that place of Cyril which he alleadgeth where the virgin Mary is called the singular ornameÌ„t of the world A lampe that neuer goeth out the Crown of Virginitie c. For in all this there is not any one of these titles wicked such as are those which we haue before represented no nor the title which Coeffeteau giueth her calling her the Spouse of the Father which is a title which the Scripture giueth to the whole Church not to the Virgin Mary It is not for vs in things of so high nature out of iollity to forge new terms which are to the weake occasion of error or of stumbling The passage which hee alleadgeth
auncient Agate stone which the people kissed and that himselfe beholding the ingrauing he found it to bee a Venus weeping ouer her Adonis lying by her And further that to Lewis of Bourbon Prince of Condee being in the same Towne there was brought amongst other Reliques an arme of siluer which being opened there was found within it a knaue of spades with a loue ditty And that at Bourges there was found in a casket of Reliques a little wheele turning round vpon a staffe hauing a little scroule written about it When this wheele about shall turne My loue with me in loue shall burne How can a man reconcile S. Iohn of Angerie with Amiens and Arras seeing that these three Townes doe bragge that they haue the head of Saint Iohn Baptist How many houses might there be built with that which is said to be the wood of the true Crosse Or who could recken the thornes of Christ his Crowne Or the milke or the haire of the Virgin Marie In England only in the beginning of the reformation of religion there were found aboue a bushel full of S. Apollonies teeth And alwaies the bason to receaue the offering is at hand Wee see many Churches founded by this meanes What semblance of these thinges was there amongst the auncients nay was there euer any grosser cosenage in all the Heathen Paganisme In all this abuse of Reliques finde me out any Relique or remnant of Pietie or any trace of Christianity ARTICLE XVIII Of Images The KINGS Confession BVt for worshipping either them or Images I must account it damnable Idolatrie I am no Iconomachus I quarell not the making of Images either for publike decoration or for mens priuate vses But that they should bee worshipped be prayed to or any holinesse attributed vnto them was neuer knowne of the Ancients and the Scriptures are so directly vehemently and punctually against it as I wonder what braine of man or suggestion of Sathan durst offer it to Christians and all must be salued with nice Philosophicall distinctions As Idolum nihil est And they worship forsooth the Images of things in being and the Image of the true God But the Scripture forbiddeth to worship the Image of any thing that God created It was not a nihil then that God forbad onely to be worshipped neither was the brasen Serpent nor the the body of Moses a nihil and yet the one was destroied and the other hidden for the eschewing of Idolatrie Master Coeffeteau answers Fol. 57. that the Church of Rome doeth not beleeue that there is any Deitie in Images nor doeth worship them nor make any petition vnto them or repose any confidence in them but doeth onely honour them for that which they represent Iust as the men of Reuben and Gad and the halfe tribe of Manasses beyond Iordan Ios 22. erected another Altar beside the Tabernacle only for amemoriall for their posteritie but not for the offering of sacrifices So Coeffeteau saith that the Church of Rome doth not erect Images vnto Saints that they should bee accounted either Gods or Images of God nor to offer sacrifices vnto them but to testifie that we are not depriued or seperated from the Communion of our holy brethren that dwell beyond Iordan in the Land of promise That as in ciuill Gouernements Statues are aduanced for those that haue spent their liues in the defence of the Commonwealth both for honour and example so for the same purposes are Martyrs adorned with triumphant Statues that they are faire Church ornaments and that thereby we make protestation that we liue in the same Church and in hope to attaine the same societie He addeth thereunto the testimonie of the Fathers alleadging one of the second age Lib. de pudic c. 7. to wit Tertullian speaking of an Image in a Chalice two of the fourth age First Gregorie Nyssenus Secondly Basil speaking of the Images of certaine Saints engrauen vpon a seeling and Painted vpon the Walles Lib. 5. byst c. 21. Three other Authours of the fifth age namely Sozomen who speakes of the Image of Iesus Christ broken by Iulian the broken pieces whereof were brought afterward into the Church and the Poet Prudentius and Paulinus speaking of Painting in Churches And farther he addeth that the distinction of an Image and an Idoll is grounded vpon the Scripture That the Cherubins were Images and not Idols That an Idoll either presenteth things that neuer were in being or representeth them in the nature of a God Which doth no way agree to the Images of Saints who haue had a true being and whom men doe onlie honour as the seruants of God That the brasen Serpent was broken and the bodie of Moses concealed for that the Iewes were humorouslie enclined to Idolatry and would readily haue acknowledged Moses for their Sauiour and worshipped and burnt incense vnto the brasen Serpent And that therefore Ezechias did religiously breake it but that he medled not with the Cherubins in the Temple because this was abused but those were not Whereupon Coeffeteau concludeth that the abuse not the Images is to be blamed the good vse of them being not forbidden especially in Churches This is the substance of his discourse Answere which hee loades with so many and such tedious wordes that the matter is hardly perceiued By which discourse he sheweth that he is ashamed of his religion For he speaketh of Images as of memorials or meere representations whereas the Church of Rome commandeth men to reuerence them to performe religious worship vnto them nay to adore them In the second Councell of Nice Pope Adrian writing to Tharasius Bishop of Constantinople speaketh thus a Act 2. Imagines omnium Sanctorum beatitas vestra colere adorare pergat Let your beatitude continue to serue adore the Images of all Saints This commandement is repeated through the whole Councell aboue twenty times These wordes are to be found in the seauenth Act. b Virginis Mariae Deiparae intemeratae quin etiam gloriosorum Angelorum omnium Sanctorum has quoque adorandas salutandas putamus Qui vero non est ita animatus sed circa venerādarum imaginū adorationem laborat dubitat cum anathematisat sancta venerāda nostra Synodus We hold that the Images of the pure Virgin Marie the mother of God and also of the glorious Angels and of all Saints are to be adored and saluted That if so be any be otherwise minded and doe wauer and be of a doubtfull opinion concerning the adoration of venerable Images our holy and reuerend Synod doth anathematise him And which is more in the first Act of this venerable Councell it is declared * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that a Church without Images is nothing worth Which is againe affirmed that to oppose Images is the worst of all heresies In the fourth Act it is said that c Vt etiam meo iudicio cum sanctis Euāgelijs venerāda
nostram veniunt non appendi As I was in a Village called Anablata seeing as I walked along a burning lampe and perceiuing that it was a Church I went in to pray and found in the porch a veile hung vp coloured and painted hauing in it the picture as it were of Christ or some Saint for I doe not well remember of what hauing then seene that in the Church of Christ there was hung vp the Image of a man contrarie to the authority of the Scriptures I rent it and aduised the keepers of the place to burie some poore dead bodie in it He addeth that hee sent another veile without any Image for recompence of that which he had torne to content the keepers that murmured at it after that he saith I pray you that in the Church of Christ such veiles be no more hung vp which are opposite to our religion And this same Epistle is in the same wordes alleaged in the Councell of Paris held vnder Lewes le debonaire in the yeare 824 that none may thinke it a peece of new forgerie Gregorie of Tours speaking of the Baptisme of King Clouis and his children witnesseth that the adorning of Churches was to hang the Church with veiles or white linnen Of which S. Ambrose speakes Epist 33. and this custome doth yet continue in Lent An euident proofe that then they had no Images for to what end should they then keepe them couered and this was about the yeare of our Lord fiue hundred Out of Monsieur Pithou his librarie who was a man rarelie learned we haue the Councell of Paris against Images wherein King Lewes le debonaires and the French Bishops doe make remonstrances vnto Pope Eugenius who defended Images tooth and naile For the Popes laide handfast vpon this occasionn to shake off the yoke of their master the Emperour of the East vnder a coulour that he puld downe Images Not long before in the yeare 794. Charlemaigne assembled the Councell of Franckford against the worshipping of Images Adonis Chronicon in an 795. Abbas Vspergensis in anno 793. Hinemarus Remensis lib. 20. coÌ„tra Episc Iandunensem Matth. WestmonasterieÌ„s in hyst an 793. Auentinus Annonius Regino Vignier c. wherein the second Nicene Councell was condemned before which Councell of Nice a generall Councell was held at Constantinople in the yeare 750 where there were three hundred and thirty eight Bishops some parts of which Councel are alleaged in the secoÌ„d Councell of Nice howsoeuer maymed yet stronger then that which those Nicence Bishops opposed against it About the yeare 600. Serenus Bishop of Marsilia puld downe all the Images found in Churches because the people worshipped them Greg. Epist 109. ad Serenum Episc Massiliensem lib. 9. Epist 9. and it is not by any meanes credible that the Christians accounted Images for Gods or worshipped them as God Nor doe we find that the said Serenus erected them againe notwithstanding hee was controuled by Gregorie Bishop of Rome Petrus Pithoeus in praefatione in hystorias Miscellas à Paulo Aquilegiensi Diacono collectas Nuper admâ—dâ—m nostri homines imaginosi esse coeperuÌ„t And indeede Monsieur Pithou hath good ground to say that the French-men beganne verie soone after to be addicted vnto Images For Anastasius keeper of the Librarie one superstitiously giuen in the preface to the second Councel of Nice saith that the Gaules had not yet receiued Images because the truth was not yet reuealed vnto them that is to say more then eight hundred yeares after Christ And Nicetas Choniates in the second booke of the raigne of Augustus Angelus saith that the Armenians did gladly receiue the Almaines because Apud Alemannos Armenios Imaginum adoratio aequè interdicta est among the Almaines and Armenians the worshipping of Images was forbidden alike For Charlemaigne had so farre reiected the worshipping of Images that hee himselfe wrote a booke against it which is yet extant And soone after Agobardus Bishop of Lyons compiled a great volume against Images which is also extant and newly printed at Paris To conclude whosoeuer shall diligently reade the scornefull inuectiues of the primitiue Christians flouting the Images of the auncient Pagans shall finde that their reprehensions had beene ridiculous if the Christians had then had Images in their Churches as when Lactantius lib. 2. cap. 4. doth call the Statues in the Pagan-temples Grandes puppas great babies and when cap. 2. he saith that the Images of the Gods are of no vse if they be present and that if they be in heauen then we should rather direct our prayers toward heauen And when S. Austin vpon the 113. Psalme saith that they draw the deuotion of the people in that they haue a humane shape and are set in some high roome And doubtlesse the Infidels would haue returnde the reproofe and reproach to the Christians and to their Images of the Saints and the worshipping of their Statues which they doe not But we haue heretofore heard that they aske the Christians for what cause they haue no Images that any could see ARTICLE XIX Of the Image of God The KINGS Confession YEa the Image of God himselfe is not only expresly forbidden to bee worshipped but euen to bee made The reason is giuen that no eye euer saw God and how can we paint his face when Moses the man that euer was most familiar which God neuer saw but his backe parts Surely since he cannot be drawne to the viue it is a thankelesse labour to marre it with a false representation which no Prince nor scarce any other man will be contented with in their owne pictures Let them therefore that maintaine this doctrine answere it to Christ at the latter day when he shall accuse them of Idolatrie And then I doubt if he will be payed with such nice sophisticall Distinctions For answere whereunto Coeffeteau saith that the Images of God are not made to represent his essence but onlie to expresse the formes wherein he hath appeared That none is so brutish to beleeue that any can paint an essence immortall infinite c. I expected that M. Coeffeteau would haue produced some commandement of God for his ground of the Images of God or some place to shew that God was pleased to haue his Images made seing they are not made to represent his essence at least some auncient example either true or false after his old manner But here is none of these he only saith that Images doe not expresse his being I answere that this may bee said aswell of the Images of men yea of beastes for their pictures doe not represent their essence and neuer was any man so vnreasonable as to thinke that the essence of anie thing could be expressed in a picture Then in like manner doe I say that if these Images be not the Images of God because they represent not his essence then the Images of Saints are not their Images because they represent not
vnto the 15. verse of the 21. chapter Seauen dayes after his arriuall he is taken and to auoyd the violence of the Iewes he appealeth vnto Caesar when he came to Rome he preached there two yeares Acts 28.30 and there suffered Martyrdome as we may easily gather out of the 2. Timothy Chapter 4. verse 6. and by the subscription of the Epistle From whence it appeareth that the Epistle to the Romanes could not be written aboue three yeares before his death and not to be too strict let vs admit that it might be 4. yeares let vs now shew that S. Peter had not beene at Rome when S. Paul wrote this Epistle for that is prooued by the fifteenth chapter of the said Epistle to the Romanes where Saint Paul saith that he is resolued to goe to Rome whereof he rendreth this reason to wit I study to set forth the Gospell not in those places where mention hath beene already made of Iesus Christ to the end faith he that I build not vpon another mans foundation He presupposeth then that neyther S. Peter nor any Apostle had till that time laid nay foundation in the Church of Rome otherwise S. Paul going thither soone after should haue built vpon anothers ground-worke The renowne and credite and the mutual conference and conuersation of the Christian strangers with the Romanes had sowen the Christian Religion at Rome but before S. Pauls comming thither there was not any forme of a Church gouerned S. Paul laid the first foundation as is manifest by the place alleadged This being thus gained let vs end the rest of the combat The Kings Maiesty of England hath aduisedly noted that the Apostle S. Paul did excommunicate the incestuous person of his owne authority the spirit of the Corinthians ioyning with his spirit without making or medling with S. Peters spirit Coeffeteau here answereth that by the spirit S. Paul meant not authority but knowledge and declaration of will as Beza expoundeth it I aunswere that this declaration of will was done by vertue of the power and authority which he had as he addeth in the wordes following In the name of our Lord Iesus and by his power so calleth he that power which Christ had giuen him and which hee denieth to haue receiued from any man Gal. 1. v. 1. and chap. 2. v. 6. n = * They which were the cheef brought nothing vnto it But saith Coeffeâ—eau it is not necessary at all times to expresse all the functions of the Church nor the Primacy of S. Peter it being sufficient to beleeue it Then say I if he omitted it in this place and neuer thelesse beleeued it you must then shew vs some other place wherehe confesseth that he beleeued it Coeffoteau goeth further and saith Coeff fol. 89. That in the Letters of the Councell of Ierusalem the decision was made by the authority of the whole Assembly without speaking of Peter Acts 15.23 because the Letters were sent in the name of all the company n = * The apostles and the Elders brethren to the brethren that are of the Gentils in Antiochia Besides it is sufficient that elsewhere S. Peter is called cheefe by the Oracle of truth and that Peter himselfe speaketh first To this I say that if in these dayes a Councell where the Pope were present should write Letters to decide a Controuersie it would be thought very strange if in those Letters there were no mention made of the Pope Againe we cannot finde that the Oracle of truth did euer giue vnto S. Peter any power or Iurisdiction ouer the other Apostles Furthermore in this Councell Peter spake as a man that gaue his aduise or iudgement but it was Iames that spake last and pronounced the finall decision as President in the action But among all the reasons alleadged by the King of great Britaine that is most witty and forcible which is drawne from the first chapter of the first to the Corinthes which hath not beene yet noted by any other S. Paul had founded the Church of Corinth and had laboured mightily but after his departure from them they fell to faction and partaking one saying I am of Paul another of Apollo and another of Peter Those that said they were of Paul had a desire rather to become his followers then Peters it appeareth then that S. Paul had not taught them to acknowledge S. Peter to be his Superior and to be the head of the vniuersall Church for if he had so taught them they would neuer haue resisted and withstood that his instruction Neyther is it possible that any man would oppose himselfe herein against S. Paul thinking in so doing to become his Disciple or that he would not beleeue him to the end he might become his follower This is not onely absurde but it is also impossible from this argument so aptly collected Coeffeteau being vnable to comprehend the force thereof is driuen to shifts and querkes cleane from the purpose To as little purpose is it when he saith that Caluine speaking of the Controuersie betweene Paul and Peter Coeff fol. 90. Gal. 2. did not inferre a Preference of S. Paul before S. Peter but onely an equalitie for his Maiestie doth not intend a preheminence of S. Paul aboue S. Peter in generall but onely in this particular action Forasmuch as iustly to reprehend is a thing more noble then to be reprehended and to teach better then to learne I also adde that it is very likely that if S. Peter had had his Cardinals about him or a guard of Swyssers and Light Horsemen See Crysostome vpon chap. 1. to the Galathians he would not haue suffered S. Paul to haue withstood him to his face But follow on the line and leauell of S. Pauls purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it will lead you directly to the truth that S. Pauls drift was to meete with and to preuent the mis-regard which some had of his Apostleship which some held to be of an inferior ranck because he was none of the twelue but came after them Against this opinion of theirs he iustly armeth himselfe and saith in the very beginning of his Epistle that he is an Apostle not of men nor by man but by Iesus Christ where he teacheth vs sufficiently that hee had no commission from S. Peter And chap. 2. verse 6. he saith that they that seemed to be in estimation added nothing vnto him He saith that the charge was diuided betweene him and Peter to him were the Gentiles committed euen as to Peter those of the circumcision that Iames Peter and Iohn who were accounted the Pillars gaue him the right hand of Fellowship that he withstood Peter to his face when he came to Antioch Petrum solum nominant sibi comparat quia primatum ipse accepit ad fundandam Ecclesiam se quoque pari modo electum vt primatum haberet in fundandis gentis um Ecclesijs and went not the right
the Church and the first of all other and this is found in the 16 Session But note that it is not the Councell which speaketh thus but Paschasin deputed from Rome who pleadeth his owne cause and yet this hindred not this Councell from making a Canon expresly declaring and defining that the Bishop of Constantinople is equall with him of Rome in all things yea euen in causes Ecclesiasticall the Canon hath beene produced by vs before He further saith that Irenaeus chap. 3. lib. 3. doth attribute vnto the Church of Rome a principality more powerfull thē vnto others which is most false and an euident corruption of the place Irenaeus speaketh of the principality and power of the city for being the seate of the Empire the faithfull of all Churches had necessary occasions to repaire thither The words are these Ad hanc Ecclesiam propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem conuenire c. Ecclesiam vnto this Church by reason of the more mighty principality it is necessary that euery Church should resort As if I should say that all the Churches of France should come to that of Paris because there is the principality and power of the Realme and yet can I not for all this say that the faithfull ministers of the Church of Paris haue a principality ouer the rest Saint Cyprian in the third Epistle of his first booke doth directly call the Church of Rome the principall Church because in all the West there was no Church so great or so remarkable as it He saith that the vnity of Priesthood came from thence because his opinion was Hoc crant vtique caeteri Apostoli quod Petrus pari consortio honoris potestatis sed exordium ab vnitate proficisc it ur vt Ecclesia vna monstretur that albeit the Apostles were all equall in power and honour yet S. Peter was entertained into his charge some small time before the other Apostles Iesus Christ hauing a determination to begin from one to the end to shew the vnity of the Church as he saith in his treatise of the simplicity of Prelates He beleeued then that S. Peter who for a season held the sacerdo tall dignity alone to testifie the vnity of the Church had beene at Rome and that from thence Christiā religion spred it selfe into the West Now in this Cyprian goeth about to soften and to gratifie the Bishop of Rome to the end to prepare him the better to taste and to brooke the checkes and reproofes which afterwards he adioyneth whereby he proueth to Cornelius that he hath no power at all ouer Affricke and that he neither could nor ought to receiue the causes of those whom the Bishops of Affricke had condemned for saith he presently after seeing it is ordered among vs all and that it is a thing iust and reasonable that euery mans cause should be examined where the crime was committed and that vnto euery Pastor there is allotted a portion of the flocke which each one ought to gouerne and leade as being to render an account vnto the Lord of his carriage and behauiour there is no reason that those whom we guide should runne from one place to another and through their fraudulent rashnesse seeke to breake the concord of Bishops friendly knit together but that they should there pleade their causes where they may haue accusers and witnesses of their crimes lest it fall out that some desperate and forlorne persons should thinke that the authority of the Bishops of Affricke who haue condemned them should be lesse then others their cause hath beene alreadie examined the sentence hath beene alreadie pronounced To conclude he maintaineth that Cornelius may not take knowledge of any causes determined by the Bishops of Affrica without accusing them of lightnesse and vustaydnesse and so trouble the peace and quiet of the Church This is the cause that made Cyprian to gild his pill to extol the dignity of the Church of Rome before he would shew him that he ought not to thrust himselfe into the affaires of other Churches For it is diligently to be noted that those among the ancient Fathers that affirme that the Bishop of Rome is successour to Peter doe thereby vnderstand that he is successour in the charge of Bishop of Rome but not in the Apostleship After this sort also the Bishops of Ephesus were successors to S. Iohn and S. Paul the Bishops of Ierusalem successors to S. Iames so farre as these Apostles were Bishops of Ephesus and Ierusalem but they neuer were successors to the Apostleship and to the gouernment of the Church Vniuersall Nor is there any reason why the Bishop of Rome should be successor to Peter in his Apostleship and yet the Bishop of Ierusalem should be onely successor to S. Iames in his Bishoppricke Besides the Bishop of Antioch more auncient then the Bishop of Rome hath alwaies beene called the successor of S. Peter and why should it not be aswell in the Apostleship and gouernment of the Vniuersall Church If you will say that Peter hath taken away the prerogatiue and preheminence from Antioch and hath transported it to Rome we vtterly deny it and thereof no proofe worthy the receiuing can be brought If they further say that Peter dyed at Rome I will also say that Iesus Christ dyed at Ierusalem And why should not Christ his death at Ierusalem haue in it more power and vertue to make the Bishop of Ierusalem chiefe of the Church then the death of S. Peter at Rome to conferre this great dignity vpon the Bishop of Rome I leaue it likewise to the Readers to iudge who after the death of Peter ought of right to bee the chiefe of the Vniuersall Church For S. Iames liued yet at Ierusalem after S. Peter was dead And the Apostle S. Iohn out-liued him 32 yeares Eusebius in his Chronicle saith that Peter and Paul died the yeare of our Lord 69. and that S. Iohn dyed at Ephesus in the yeare 101. according to the accompt of Eusebius and Irenaeus Is it a thing to bee beleeued that S. Iohn the Disciple whom Iesus loued who leaned on his breast vnto whom he recommended his mother at his death whose writings are diuine oracles as the Reuelations in the Apocalips doe witnes that he should bee inferior to Linus the Disciple of Paul and indeed our aduer saries themselues haue inserred into the first Tome of their Councels certaine Epistles which they say were Clements Bishoppe of Rome amongst which there is one to S. Iames Bishop of Ierusalem and thus it beginneth Clemens to Iames brother of the Lord Bishop of Bishops gouerning the holy Church of the Hebrewes which is in Ierusalem Clemens Iacobo fratri Domini Episcopo Episcoporum yea all the Churches which are founded euery where by the prouidence of God And a little after hee calleth him his Lord words which witnesse that Clemens acknowledged Iames for his superior and chiefe of all