omitted sometimes spoke remissely of good workes yet betweene those who seuerely adhere to him other Churches which in some other things depart a little from them in this point I haue obserued no dissention 6 But the Romane Church at this present is tempested with a violent storme in this maâ—ter that is by what way and meanes man can be enabled to doe any meritorious worke In which Controuersies after the Dominicans and the Iesuites had with much earnestnesse prouoked and with much bitternes replied vpon one another Benius in a booke as moderate and elegant as any these later ages haue affoorded proiecting a way in his Epistle to Clement the eight how these dissentions might be re-vnited and reconciled obserues that all the Controuersies betweene them ariseth out of presuming a false ground and foundation to be true which is the famous Distinction of Sufficient and Efficient Grace And so he dooth not onely demolish all that they had diuersly built thereupon but defeats and destroies that foundation which Bellarmine himselfe was most confident in and euicts that that distinction which that Church hath vsed of late yeares against all opposition is neither containd nor conueniently deriued either from Scriptures Councels or Fathers but is refeld resisted by the Councell of Trent it â—elfe Noâ— can they extenuate this matter as though it were oâ—â—maâ—l consequence since neither small matters should produce amongst Religious men so much and so bitter Argumenâ—ation nor can it bee in it selfe esteemed a small matter vpon which Benius saies the questions of Predestination Iustification Merite Perseuerance Glorification and many more depend and that all Diuinitie is shaken therein 7 And if they thinke howsoeuer they suffer an intestine war to make vs beleeue that all is peace and that this variety is onely De modo they must remember that that for which they burne and damne men which is Transubstantiation is but a question De modo which may be sometâ—mes so essentiall That if the Arrians had agreed with the Orthodox of the maner of the generatioÌ„ of the Soâ— or the Greeke Church would agree yet with the westernâ— of tâ—e maner of the proceeding of the Holy Ghost there could be no diffrence in tâ—ese points and therfore these dâ—ffreÌ„ces controuersiâ—s irresolutioÌ„s in the Roman Church caâ—not be â—xcuâ—'d or diminished by this that they are De modo since they are not De modo probâ—tionis which is when a certaine truth is illustrated by diuers waies of proofe but they are so De modo essendi or existendi So as if you remoue these wayes by which they are said to be they are not at all 8 And howsoeuer those Doctors whome they stile Seraphicos and Illustratos and Irrefragabiles Fontes vitae with which transcendent Titles they enamell so many of the writers in the Franciscan Families so are in so high a piâ—ch as dazles vs or diue so low as we cannot discerne what they â—old in this matter of Merit yet what the vulgar doctâ—ine is in this point the Expurgatory Inâ—ices shall sufficâ—ently informe vs for no opinion of any Faâ—her or Doctor or of any vniuersity can be of so mâ—ch crediâ—e and authority as those books since they are compiled by a commission issuing from the Pope himselfe who was either authorized or entreated to that office by a generall Councell So that in these bookes there are all these approaches to an infallibility that they were determined and prouided by a Councel executed by a Popes Buls and iustified by him when they were perfited â—nd accomplished 9 And those bookes haue not bestowed so much diligence vpon any point as this that nothing remaine in any Authour which may prefâ—rre Christs passion before our merits And therfore to omit innumerable instances to this purpose in that Catholique booke imprinâ—ed in a Catholique state wâ—ich is stiled Ordo Baptizandi Modus Visitandi they haue expunged these wordes Doost thou beleeue to come to glory not by thine owne merites but by the vertue and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ And a little after they haâ—e cut off this question Dost thou beleeue that our Lord Iesus Christ died for our saluation and that no man can be saued by his owne merits or any other way but in the merite of the passion of Christ And though they might haue excuse to extoll our merites yet they might haue spared the first part of the sentence and giuen vs leaue to beleeue That our Lord Iesus Christ died for our saluation 10 Amongst these great works pregnant both of Merite for our selues and satisfaction for others Martyrdome is in theâ—r Doctrinâ— that Opus priuilegiatum which takes away al sinne by occasion of which wordes To take away I cannot forâ—beare to warne you in this place of one ordinarie indirect dealing in Bellarmine which is thaâ— in his Indices and Tables he presents wordesâ— veâ—ie fâ—râ—e from the sense of the place to which they relate As in this point of merite where his Index saies Martyrium tollit peccata S. Hierome out of whom the Text â—o which he relates is drawnâ— sâ—ies only per martyrium peccata non imputantur which is nothing to the naturall condignitâ—e of the woâ—â—e it selâ—e And I should haue neglected to haue noted Bellarmines Index but that I obserue that they are so seuere vpon the Indices made by some of their owne Church that pretending stâ—ll to haue rased nothing in the body of the fathers they expunge in the Indices many sentences though the very wordes be in the Text it selfe as in tâ—is point of Merite Iunius hath noâ—ed that these wordes Meritum nullum nisi quod a Christo confertur are cut out of the Index to Chrysostome though the same wordes be in the text 11 To proceede then for the dignity of this woâ—ke Bellarmine against Soâ—o and Ledesmo maintaines that martyrdome doth saue a man ex opere operato And that there is required in the martyre no further disposition nor other preparation then in one who is to be baptized For saies he though Charity be required it is not precedent Charity but it is because a Martyr cannot depart without Charity because by a couenant from God Grace is infâ—s'd and so Charity and therefore it abolishes originall sinne and actuall sinne and both eternall and temporall punishment belonging thereunto And in another place Bellarmine saies That it is euident that martyredome is so full a satisfaction that it expiates all guiltinesse contracted by all sinnes how huge soeuer the number or haynousnes therof be and if any milder man of that Church would say otherwise as Ferus doth directly the Passions in this life are not worthy of future glorie hee must be detorted to the other sense as Senensis saies of this place I am of opinion that Ferus his wordes might bee deflected to the other sense Or if the wordes will
Councell to expound Scriptures according to the sense of the Fathers I thinke we ought to adhere to the opinion that she was slaine But if the sense of the Fathers did not stand in my way to confesse the truth I should approue the other opinion because that deliuers so great a person as Iephthe was both from rashnesse and foolishnesse in making the vow and from impietie and cruelty in keeping it 12 This bondage and yoake we need not cast vpon our selues but may lawfully take Chrisostomes libertie since our cause is better then his for hee dis-approued all Oathes Neuer produce to me saies that Father this Saint or this chaste man or this milde man or this Priest for if you tell mee of Peter and Paul or of an Angell from Heauen you shall not thereby terrifie me with the dignitie of the persons 13 The Fathers which must gouerne in these points must not be the Fathers of the Societie but they must be Patres Patrati Fathers which haue Fathers that is whose words are propagated from the Apostles Of which sort of Fathers in my poore reading I neuer found any that consented with the Doctrine of Purgatorie now established 14 In which that which we principally complaine of at this time is that it incites to this false martyrdome Not but that they confesse that there are also some other wayes besides martyrdome to escape Purgatorie else how got Lypsius so soone to heauen for as soone as his Champian Cochelet calls him Lypsius aunswers Wee that are receaued into heauen doe not despise our fellowes And that powerfull Indulgence which though Saint Francis obtained immediately from Christ yet Christ sent him to aske it againe at the Popes hands because sayes Sedulius hee would not derogate from the power which he had deliuered to his Vicar deliuers as many as doe but come to a certaine place from all sinne and danger of Purgatorie All which die in that Order are saued yea All which loue that Order hartily how great a sinner soeuer he be shall haue mercie And yearely on his birthday all which are in purgatory especially of his Order flie vp to heauen And hee himselfe carried aboue 1000. away with him from thence when he went At one Masse at the Commemoration of the Dead a Friar saw soules flie from Purgatorie as thicke as sparks from a furnace and this Masse he celebrated euery day and so did infinite others If then that Friar made a true relation of the state of Purgatorie in his time That of 5000 which died in the world since his comming thether there came but three to that place there is no great vse of heaping so much treasure for that imployment since by these computations neither the Number can bee great nor the stâ—y long 15 And if the authoritie of this Sedulius seeme light yet his booke is dignified with this Approbation That the impudency of Heretiques may bee beat backe with most firme arguments and with most cleare reasons Soto might weigh more who considering the intensnes of the fire of Purgatory thinkes none shall remaine there aboue tenne yeares But for all this Bellarmine saies That by most certaine apparitions it is euident that some soules already there shall remaine there till the day of iudgement And though hee make an impertinent doubt Whether euer any Popes haue graunted Indulgences for many thousand yeares yet in another place he assignes certain reasons why conueniently the Popes may do so because the penitentiall Canons inflict many yeares punishment for diuers sinnes which many men coÌ„mit often euery day But of this the Popes are so libâ—ral though it is impossible they should keepe any iust Audit or account since they neither know what they receiue nor what they lay out that they will put in 1000. yeares more rather theÌ„ remit that six pence which you must paie not for the pardon but for the paper And therefore Martin 5. had a iust and proportionall respect to the nature of this ware when he appointed a yearly Faire and yearely Indulgence both of three moneths continuance to be kept together at Loretta and that the Priests and Merchants should open and shut vp shoppes together 17 But Martyrdome is of much more value then these Indulgences because it is infallible for some incapacity and indisposition in the partie may hinder the working of an Indulgence but Martyredome cannot faile of the effect to worke our deliuerance as appeared by that which we cyted out of Bellarmine in the end of the last part of Merite And therfore that doctrine which teaches such a Purgatory as you speak of incytes to such a Martyrdome as we speake of disapproue 18 Hauing therefore proceeded thus farre That the purest and acceptablest Sacrifice which we can offer to God which is our liues may be corrupted and enuenomed with diâ—tastefull mixtures and that euen in the deuotedst and safest times it fell out not seldome to be so And that our corruption now is more obnoxious and apter to admitte and inuite such poysâ—nous ingredients and temporall respects then in those purer times especially in the Romane Church which misinflames the minde to false Martyredome both by depressing and trampling vppon the dignity of Princes and maintayning euery litigious clause of Ecclesiastique immunity with our blood And also by extolling our owne Merites and encouraging vs thereby to trafique though with losse of our life for the benefit and aduancement of the treasury of that Church And lastly by the certaineâ—y seuerenesse and length of Purgatory which are infallibly hereby auoided the next thing which I present to your discourse and consideration is That the Iesuites more then any other Order claim to themselues a greater forwardnesse and alacrity to this and are therefore busier and apter to prouoke seuere lawes against themselues and to incurre the dangers thereof CHAP. IIII. That in the Romane Church the Iesuites exceed all others in their Constitutions and practise in all those points which beget or cherish this corrupt desire of false-Martyrdome TIll the Iesuites haue a Pope of their owne it will be I hope no Heresie to doubt or call in question their sanctity they may be content yet to affoord vs since our cause is safer the same excuse which is allowed for Origen Chrysostome Hierome and Cassianus euen for maintaining a lawfulnesse in lying That the Church had not then determined the contrary They may fauour our weakenesse with the same helpe which they apply to a Pope himselfe That it was then lawfull without danger of Heresie for him to beleeue in earnest that our soules should not see God till the resurrection because there was no Definition oâ— the Church in that point Their Charity may relieue vs with the same Indulgence which they affoord to Senensis who reiects some part of the Canonicall Scripture after the determination of the Trent Councel Because he did
That is that the seales and instruments of Gods grace the Sacraments are in the dispensing of the Clergy as temporall blessings are in the Prince and his lawes strictly and properly though concurrently both in both for the execution of the most spirituall function of the priest as it is circumstanced with time and place and such is ordinarily from the Prince â— But we are a litle affraid that by a literall and punctuall acceptation of this comparison we may giue way to that Supremacy which they affect ouer Princes because their Sepulueda saith That the soule doth exercise ouer the body Herile Imperium vt Dominus in seruumâ— and so by this insinuation should the pope doe ouer the prince 25 Howsoeuer in their first institution Popes were meere Soules and purely spirituall yet as the purest Soule becomes stain'd and corrupt with sinne assoone as it touches the body so haue they by entring into secular businesse contracted all the corruptions and deformities thereof and now transferre this originall disease into their successours And as in the second Nicene Councellâ— when the Bishop of Thessalonica aâ—err'd it to be the opinion of Basil Athanasius and Methodius and the Vniuersall Church that Angels and Soules were not meerely incorporeall but had bodiesâ— The Councell in a prudent conâ—iâ—encâ—e foâ—bore to oppose any thing against that asseueration because it facilitated their purpose then of making Pictures and representations of Spirits though Binius now vpon that place say his Assertion was false and iniurious to the Church So though in true Diuinitie the Pope is meerely spiritual yet to enable him to depose Princes they will inuest and organize him with bodily and secular Iurisdiction and auerre that all the Fathers and all the Catholicke Church were euer of that opinion For the Pope will not now be a meere Soule and Spirit but Spiritualis homo qui iudicat omnia a nemine iudicatur For so a late writer stiles him and by that place of Scripture enables him to depose Princes Noâ— will this serue but he must be also spiritâ—alis Princeps of which we shall hereafâ—er haue occasion to speake 26 And as a cunning Artificer can produce greater effects vpon matter conueniently dispos'd thereunto then nature could haue done as a Statuarie can make an Image which the Timber and the Axe could neuer haue efâ—ected without him And as the Magicians in Egypt could make liuing Creatures by applying and suggesting Passiue things to Actiue which would neuer haue met but by their mediation So after this Soule is entred into this Body this spirituall Iurisdiction into this temporall it produces such effects as neither powâ—r alone could worke nor they naturally would vnite and combine themselues to that end if they were not thus compressed and throng'd together like wind in a Caue Such are the thunders of vniust Excommunications and the great Earthquakes of transâ—erâ—ing Kingdomes 27 And these vsurpations of your Priests haue deseru'd that that stygmaticall note should still lâ—e vpon them which your Canons retaine That all euill proceedes from Priests For though Manriqe whom Sixtus the fift employ'd had remooued that glosse yet Faber to whom Gregorie the thirteenth committed the suruey of the Canons reâ—aines it still And if the Text be of better credit then the glosse the Text hath auerred Saint Hieromes words That searching ancient Histories he cannot find that any did rent the Churchâ— and seduce the people from the house of God but those which were placed by God as Priests and Prophets that is Ouerseeâ—s for these are turnd into winding Snares and lay scandals in euery place 28 Euen the Name of King presents vs an argument of pure and absolute and independant Authoriâ—ieâ— for it eâ—presses immediatly and radically his Office of gouerning wherâ—s the name of Bishop hath a metaphoricaâ—l and similitudinarie deriuation and being before Christianitie applied to Officers which had the ouerseeing of others but yet with relation to Superiours to whom they were to giue an account deuolu'd conueniently vpon such Prelates as had the ouerseeing of the inferiour Clergie but yet gaue them no acquitance and discharge of their dueties to the Prince 29 And God hath dignified many races of Kings with many markes and impressions of his power For by such an influence and infusion our kings cure a diâ—ease by touch and so doe the French Kings worke vpon the same infirmitie And it is said that the kings of Spaine cure all Daemoniaque and possessed persons And if it bee thought greater that the Pope cures spirituall Leprosies and lamenesses of sinne his Office therein is but accessorie and subsequent and after an Angel hath troubled our waters and put vs into the Poole that is after we are troubled and anguished for our sinnes and after we haue washed our selues often in the riuer Iordan in our teaâ—es and in our Sauiours blood vpon the Crosse and in the Sacrament then is his Office to distinguish betweene Leaper and Leaper and pronounce who is clensed which all his Priests could doe as well as he if he did not Monopolize our sinnes by reseruations 30 And this is as much as seemes to me needfull to bee said of their auiling Magistracy in respect of Priesthood for for vs priuate men it must content vs to be set one 〈◊〉 higher then dogges for so they say in their Missall cases that if any of the consecrated wine fall downe the Priest or his assistant ought to licke it vp but if they be not prepar'd any Lay-man may be admitted to licke it least the dogge should And of the comparison of these two great functionsâ— Principality and Priesthood I will say no more least the malignity of any mis-interpreter might throw these aspersions which I lay vppon persons vpon the Order And therefore since we haue sufficiently obserued how neare approaches to Priest hood the Christian Emperours haue iustly made and thereby seene the iniustice of the Romane Church in deiecting Princes so farre vnder it we will now descend to the second way by which they debase Princes and derogate from their authority 31 For it is not onely in comparisons with Priesthood that the Romane writers diminish secular dignity but simply and absolutely when they make the Title and Iurisdiction of a king so smoakie a thing that it must euaporate and vanish away by any lightning of the popes Breues or censures except they will all yeeld to build vp his Monarchy and make him heyre to euery kingdome as he pretends to be to the Empire for of that saith a Iesuite now there is no more controuersie And if the electors dissagree in their election then the election belongs to him And whether they agree or no this forme of Election is to continue but so long as the Church shall thinke it expedient And if he had such title to all the rest that Monarchie might in a vaster proportion extend
God For he which is King of men had not this Kingdome from men but from God And so hee proceedes to apply many places of Scripture to this purpose to the shame and confusion of them who to ouerthrow or subiect secular principalitie detort Scriptures for the aduancement of Ecclesiastique immunitâ—es As in the Septimes that new limme of the body of the Canon Law those priuiledges are proued to be Iure Diuino out of the word of the Psalme Nolite tangere Christos meos which was spoken of all the Children of Israel as they were protected in their passage to the land of Canaan and cannot be appropriated to Priests onely 104 And from this libertie which men of this Religion haue taken to speake slightly and malignantly of the Person and dignitie of Kings a long and inueâ—erate custome hath so wrought vpon them that it hath caried them farther and made them as bold with the word of God himselfe Out of which they can deduce principall and direct Prophecies for euery passage in Saint Francis his storie For the Dreame of Pharoes officer A vine was before me and in the Vine were three branches signifies Saint Francis and the â—hree Orders deriued from him sayes the Booke of Conformities and Sedulius the fresh Apologer thereof So he sayes Christ prophecied of this Order and it is fulfilled in this Order which hee said Feare not little flocke for it is your Fathers pleasure to giue you the Kingdome And of these it is spoken sayes hee The sound of them is gone into all Nations Of these prophanations the examples are too frequent for as they haue fitted all other things spoken of Christ to Saint Francis in the Booke of Conformities so doth Sedulius maintaine the giuing to him the title of Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes 105 So also must the Scriptures affoord prophesies for euery ragge and inch of the Sindon which wrapped our Sauiour in the Sepulchre For in that Liturgie or Office as they call it which is appointed by the Pope to be said in the Chappell where this Sindon is preserued all those places of Scripture which speake of Christs body sprinkled with blood are referred and saide to bee intended of this Sindon And therefore saies the Author thereof Since the Pope hath so applyed them this exposition thereof cannot be reprehended 106 By this license they giue all the names of Christ to the Pope yea the name of God himselfe And of Goddesse to our Lady And by this license did Crusius the Iesuit call Ignatius Constitutions the Decalogue because saies Gretzer his fellow Iesuite Metaphorically and instruction of our life is call'd the Decalogue 107 Nor can these blasphemous detorsions bold mis-applications besalued by Sedulius his guiltie excuse that they are somewhat too freely written according to the simplicitie of the age And such as some men would rather wish vnwritten and Circumspect men wish'd vnsaid And some things too rawly somethings too couragiously vttered And these which he so tenderly and calmely passes ouer with light animaduersion are such sayings as these That S. Francâ—s was deified That hee was made one spirit with God That hee saw the secrets of hearts And that he was more then Iohn Baptist and better then the Apostles And that God did obay him at a beck in euery thing 108 Nor will Serarius his elegant euasion serue them in this That some men too indulgent and carefull of their verse or the delicacie of the Latine language may haue gone into these excesses For the fiâ—st place where the Pope is called the Lord our God is in a place barbarous and loose inough which is the glosse vpon an Extrauagant And though Bembus in whose letters written for Leo the 10 our Lady is called Goddesse doe often stray inâ—o prophane elegancies as in another place when he would exprâ—sse an inspiration of the Holy ghost in one he saies he was afflatus Zephiri caelestis aâ—rà And calls Excommunication Interdictionem aquae ignis yet this will neither excuse that Pope which sign'd those Letters nor those to whose câ—re the expurgation of bookes hath beene committed So that none of their piae fraudes with whâ—ch they emplaster this venemous contagious wounding the scriptures of God the phrase of his spirit will acquit or excuse them 109 And if their misâ—applying of Scriptures carried them no further then to simple and childish actions as Saint Francis commanded Massaeus to tumble round like a childe because saies Sedulius it is written Nisi Conuersi fueritis efficiamini sicut paruuli non intrabitis Or if it carried them but to stupid actions as the penitent which confessed to S. Anthony that he had kicked his mother receiuing this answere If thy foote offend thee cut it off went and cut off his foote but S. Anthony honestly set it on againe Or if it carried them but to bolde and confident actions as Saint Anthony when his Host set him a Toade vpon the Table and tolde him that it was written in the Gospell De omni quod tibi apponitur comedes he with the signe of the Crosse made it a Capon ready rosted sillinesse or some such disease might lessen the fault 110 But then is there extreame horrour and abominations therein when God and his Lieuetenants are at once iniur'd which is when places of Scripture are malitiously or ridâ—culously detorted to the auiling of Princes With what soule then could Pope Alexander say treading vppon Fredericke Super aspidem Basiliscum ambulabis of which Acte a Bishoppe in that Church saies that it ought to be commended and that it was lawfully and worthily done And with what conscience could the same seruile Bishopp of Sixtus the fift proue the kissing of the popes feete out of those wordes of Esay Kings and Queenes shall worshippe thee with their faces towards the Earth and licke vp the dust of thy feete how durst hee say that this kissing of the popes feete was established in saint Luke when the sinner kissed Christs feete Because saies he if it were affoorded Christâ— belongs it not to his Church which is bone of his bone And out of Deuteronomy hee thinkes this reuerence is euidenly enough demonstrated because it is saide of God the saints of God are said to be humbled at his feete So that whatsoeuer is applyed to the Church or to God by this detorsion is giuen to the pope But this Bishoppe is so transported with this rage of detorting scriptures that rather then not mis-applie them hee will apply them to his owne Condemnation For thus hee concludes his Epistle with the wordes of the Apostle Gaudeo siue per veritatem siue per occasionem Romanae Ecclesiae dignitatem extolli so that it is all one to him whether scriptures bee faithfully applyed or
apparition And some of their saddest Diuines haue eased them thus much in any such perplexitie that to worship the diuell himselfe in such a forme with opinion that it were God is not Idolatry not onely for these inconueniences but euen for a generall infamy and suspition that these apparitions which begot Purgatorie haue in them the more moderate sort of Catholiques haue declined from any great approuing of them 7 Yea Serarius though of that order that hath lost all ingenuity confesses from Baronius and Villa Vincentius that in these legends in their Histories there are vaine and vitious relations and that the pictures of those Saints are but Symbolicall And Sedulius acknowledges that that storie in the booke of Conformities that S. Francis was seene to goe out of the wound in Christs side with a banner and a great Armie is but figuratiue Of which sayes he there are many so highly mysterious that it is not fit to discouer and explicate them to the wicked So that these Mirabilarij Mythologistes of that Church wil solemnly reserue these their Arcana Ecclesiae to themselues and shall without any enuie from vs. 8 And yet I denie not but that in sober antiquitie and in the grauest Fathers there are some impressions which occasioned this error of purifying soules after this life As Bellarmine sayes truly that for the most part lies haue their foundation vpon some truth For it was very long in the Church of God before the state of the soule after our death was cleare and constant and vniforme the Fathers being diuided in their opinions whether our soules enioyed perfect happinesse presently or expected and attended it till the generall iudgement And the phrase and language in which sometimes they spoke of the last consummation of our happinesse in the re-vnion of the body and soule being obscure and various gaue occasion of doubting that they reserued and adiourn'd all our happinesse till that time And that which they meant of that perfect and consummate happinesse not to bee enioyed till then hath beene mis-vnderstood or detorted to the soule alone And by such irresolution in some and perplexity in collating their opinions and misapplying their words haue been imprinted indelible characters of Purgatorie and of prayer for the dead of whose condition in the next worlde they were not tâ—roughly assured 9 If any of the Fathers haue strayed farther then so to speak doubtfully of some such thing as Purgatorie Wee will not say as you doe Let vs excuse it or extenuate it or denie it by some deuise or faine some other conuenient sense when it is opposed in Disputation Nor dare we obtrude a contrarie exposition as you doe when you make Pope Telesphorus instituting the Quinquagâ—sima for the Clergy by his worde Statuimus to meane Abrogamus Or when Pope Innocent writes to Decentius a Bishop that it is not reade that in all Italie France Spaine Affrique and the Ilands there was Alius Apostolus praeâ—er Petrum to make him meane by Alius Contrarius which the glosse vpon the glosse in the Margine mis-likes because no Apostle was contrarie to Peter and therefore makes the Pope to meane that there was no other Apostle in those places then Peter or such as he sent We dare not correct so boldly as to make Bertram who for 800. yeares together had said Visibiliter now to say Inuisibiliter Wee dare not hope to scape with such a small insertion as Non which you haue intruded to the destruction of Didacus Stellaes sense in his Commentarie vppon Saint Luke and in Eucherius his Commentarie vppon Genesis Wee dare not steale out that little particle to alter the whole intention of him that hath it as Bellarmine hath done out of a sentence cited by Gratian out of Leo by which Mariage is no Sacrament if Non be admitted Wee will not be so vnnaturall to the Fathers as Bellarmine makes the Pope to be when being pressed by Nilus to followe in the question of the Primacie the opinion of the Fathers sayes that the Pope hath no Fathers in the Church but that they are all his Sonnes Nor can wee exceede Bellarmine in dis-esteeming the Fathers who hath called in question some bookes of almost euerie one of them as Clement Anicetus Cyprian Tertullian Ambrose Augustine Hierome Damasus Damascen Basil Iustine Nyssene Honorius Eusebius Chrysostome and others And when Damascene cites out of Palladius That a dead scull beeing asked whether our Prayers did them any good in hell aunswered that it brought them some ease and relaxation Bellarmine sayes This is false and Apocryphall and that there is no such thing in Paladius So ill a Patrone is hee of Damascenes credite heerein Nor doth hee onely indefinitely say of the Fathers That it is euident that some of the chiefest of them haue grieuously erred but as of Tertullian who imputes Montanisme to Pope Zephirine hee sayes There is no faith at all to be giuen to him And in another place somewhat more sharply Wee doe not reckon Tertullian amongst the Catholiques So doth he to very many of the other Fathers boldly impute such errours as would vitiate any Author not to haue but obserued them and for touching whereof the Centuriators are by him accounted prophane and blasphemous So also doth Medina say That Hierome Ambrose Augustine Sedulius Primasius Chrysostome Theodoret Oecumenius Theophilact and others were of the same opinion as Aerius was and the Waldenses and Wickliffe 10 But as Gratian preferred Hierome before a Councell because hee had Scripture on his side And as your Expurgatorie Index which I cite so often because no booke of equall authoritie doth shew so well your corrupt doctrine that is what you cannot endure to heare and your indirect practise to make Authors speake your words addes to one Author in the Margine Wee must giue no credit to these words of Eusebius and after This opinion of Iustin and of Epiphanius is not true So if for the defence of Purgatorie in the full sense of the Trent Councell you obtrude any Father which yet I professe that I haue neuer seene if that Father be destitute of the support of Scripture you must allow vs some of that libertie which you take since we are more modest in the vse thereof then you are 11 For we need not euen by your frequent examples binde our selues to that seruility which your Azorius subiects himselfe vnto who disputing of the immolation of Iepthes daughter confessing That it is not euident that she was killed nor likely nor that she could be comprehended in that vow any more then any vncleane thing which might haue met him and That the contrarie is more Analogall to the other places of Scripture and that the Rabbines Lyra and some other Catholiques denie her death yet saies he because we are bound that is by the oath of the Trent
these also Pelargus hath noted the Iesuites to haue gone beyond others and therefore more then others they incite in these points to a false Martyrdome 34 But as the late inuention of Artillery and Gunpowder though it haue much horrour and affâ—ightment in it yet haâ—h not done so much harme as it threatned because the fury and violence thereof hath occasioned men to study more waies of defence and auoidance so thâ—t wee see the warres deuoure fewer men now then before this inuention came so hath the impetuous rage and pertinacy of the Iesuits in oppugning euerie thing which they find not to be at Rome encouraged other Churches to oppose strong defences against them and superstition swallowes fewer men now then before these new Enginers laboured to promote and aduance her And as those instruments of battery which the auncients vsed in the warres were more able to ruine and demolish then any which are made out of this new inuention but were left off and dis accuâ—tomed only because they were not so maniable and tractable and apt for transportation as these are So certainely the Arguments and bookes of the Friars and Schoolemen of the Romane Church which is the Arsenall from whence the Iesuites prouide and â—urnish themselues haue as much force against the truth as the subtilties of the Iesuites but that these men aâ—e by their Rule and Constitutions apter for conueyance and insinuation then the dull cloysterall Monkes can be 35 For there are diuers poysons which cannot work except they be eiaculated from the creature it selfe that possesseth it and that his personall and present liuely malignity concurre to it and giue it vigour for which these vbiquitary Monks haue the aduantage of all others 36 Nimietates sunt aequalitates saies Cassianus And so two extreamities haue made the Schoolemen and the Iesuites equally valiant for the Schoolemen out of an ignorance of danger hauing neuer come to hand-blowes would venter vpon any peece of seruice and any employment and pierce through and spie euen into Gods secret Cabinet of his Essence and of his Counsails as a fresh Souldier will goe with alacrity to any breach And then because these sublime and ayrie meditations must haue some body to inhere in they vsed to incorporate their speculations of God in the Pope as it were to arrest and conserue them the better being else too spirituall and transitorie And so they haue so much exemplified them one in the other that they haue made them so like and equall in their writings as though they were but one 37 And the Iesuites out of a desperate necessity must maintain their station because if they yeeld one steppe they will be the lesse able to stand in the next but after they haue confessed that the Church hath erred in one thing thinking that will subiect her in all no place of Scripture is so abundantly and euidently pregnant no reason or consequence so directly and necessarily deduced and concluded no History nor matter of fact so faithfully presented and so certainly and religiously testified but they will stand stubbornly and desperately to oppugne and infirme it 38 What wound so euer they receiue in this battaile they disguise and hide from their Disciples by â—orbidding our bookes And as Ribadeneyra sayes of their Father Ignatius That he halted of the wound which he receaued at Pampelune but so little that the most curious could scarse discerne that he halted So by some euasions or supplements or concealings they euer dissemble their maimes and deformities 39 To which purpose they haue one round and dispatching way which is not onely to neglect but to bragge of all which we impute to themâ— for so one of them sayes That it is the greatest Argument of Innocence to be accused by vs And that he cannot be guilty of error in Religion whom an Heretique condemnes For as it was paâ—t of the Oath of the Grecians against Xerxes that those Temples which the barbarous Armie had demolished they would not reedifie that thereby there might bee a continuall testimonie remaining of the impiety So I thinke the Iesuites flatter themselues with some such resolution by leauing vnanswered the books and arguments of so many reuerent persons which haue spoken plentifully and prosperously of these points of Merit and Purgatorie 40 But of their other Doctrine by which more then others they prouoke to this lauish and contemptuous expence of life which is The auiling of the dignitie of Princes there can neuer enough be said For all other Orders may consist and execute and performe all their vowes without any iniuâ—ie to Princes They may be as poore as they will till they come to that state if they desire it which Nerius begd of God That he might lacke a pennie and no body might giue it him They may be as chaste as that Iesuite which Gretzer sayes hee knew who being not able to scape from a woman which tempted him and held him anointed his owne face retrimentis suis that thereby she might abhor him They may be as obedient as Cassianus sayes the Tabennentiotes weâ—e who durst not presume without leaue of their Superiour Naturali necessitati satisfacere Or as that Friar Iohn who at his Abbats commaund planted a dry withered sticke and twice a day for a whole yeare fetched water two miles of to water it sparing no festiuall day nor apprehending any impossibility in it Or as Saint Francis his Nouice who at his bidding set plants with the head downward These things they may doe and yet be good subiects But the Supernumerâ—ry Vow of the Iesuites by which they doe especially oblige themselues to the Popes will doâ—h in the nature and Essence and scope thereof make them enemies to the digniâ—ie of all Princes because their Soueraigntie cannot consist with that temporall Supremacie which the Iesuites must maintaine by the obligation of that vow by which they are bound with expence of their lifes to penetrate any Kingdome and instill Sedition into their Disciples and followers 41 How fast this infection works in them as by many other Demonstrations so by this also it appeares euidently that there are extant more Authors of that one Order that haue written of Secular businesses and of Iurisdiction of Princes then of all the rest since their beginning For their Casuists which handle Morall Diuinitie and waigh and measure sinne which for all that perplexitie and entangling we may not condemne too hastily since in purest Antiquitie there are liuely impressions of such a custome in the Church to examine with some curiositie the circumstances by which sinnes were aggrauated or diminished doe not onely abound in Number especially of the Spanish Nation but haue filled their bookes with such questions as these How Princes haue their iurisdiction How they may become Tyrants What is lawfull to a priuate man in such a case and of like seditious nature So that they haue abandoned the
how farre it extended Aquinas who vnderstood it well hath well express'd That they are bound to Obey only in those things which may belong to their Regular conuersation And this vse and office that obedience which is exhibited in our Colledges fulfils and â—atisfies without any of these vnnatural childish stupid mimique often scandalous and sometimes rebellâ—ous singulâ—rities 22 Any resolution which is but new borne in vs must bee abandon'd and forsaken when that obedience which is borne with vs is requir'd at our hands In expressing of which trueth Saint Bernard goes so exceeding farre as to say That Christ gaue ouer his purpose of Preaching at the increpation Mulieris vnius fabri pauperis And because his Mother chid him when shee found him in the Temple from twelue yeeres to thirtie we find not sayes hee That hee taught or wrought any thing though this abstinence were contrarie to his determination So earnest is that deuoute father to illustrate our Blessed Sauiours obedience to a iurisdicton which was Naturally Superiour to him And therefore this submission by our owne Election to another Superiour cannot derogate from the Prince nor infirme his Title to our Alleageance or obedience 23 Another obedience derogatorie to Princes they haue imagined connaturall and congenite with our Christianitie as this is with our Humanitie and conducing to our Wel-being and ouâ— euerlastingnesse as this doeth to our Being and temporall tranquilitie which is An obedience to the Romane Church and to him who must bee esteem'd certainely the Head thereof though sometimes he be no member thereof 24 Certainely the inestimable benefits which wee receiue from the Church who feedes vs with the Word and Sacraments deserues from vs an humble acknowledgement and obedient confidence in her yea it is spirituall Treason not to obey her And as in temporall Monarchies the light of nature instructs euery man generally what is Treason that is what violates or wounds or impeaches the Maiestie of the State and yet he submits himselfe willingly to the Declaration and Constitutions by which somethings are made to his vnderstanding Treason which by the generall light he apprehended not to be so dangerous before So in this case of spirituall Treason which is Heresie or Schisme though originarily and fundamentally the Scriptures of God informe vs what our subiection to the Church ought to be yet we are also willing to submit our selues to the lawes and decrees of the Catholique Church her selfe what obedience is due to her He therefore that can produce out of eyther of these Authentique sorts of Records Scripture or Church that is Text or Glosse any law by which it is made either High Treason Heresie not to beleeue that in my baptisme I haue implied a confession That the Bishop of Rome is so monarch of the Church that he may depose Princes or petit Treason that is Schisme to adhere to my naturall Soueraigne against a Bull of that Bishop shall drawe me into his mercy and I will aske Pardon where none is graunted at the Inquisition 25 Else it is most reasonable and that is euer most religious to relie vpon this That obedience to Princes is taught by Nature and affirm'd and illustrated by Scriptures If the question be how much this obedience must be I must say all till it be proued either that Peaceable and religious being be not all the ends for which we are placed in this world or that the authority of Kings exercised by the Kings of Israell and the Christian Emperours is not enough to performe these endes For to say that a King cannot prouide for meanes of saluation of soules because he cannot preach nor administer the Sacraments hath as much weakenesse as to say hee cannot prouide for the health of a City because he cannot giue physicke 26 Till then I shal be deterr'd from declining to this second obedience by the contemplation of many inconueniencies and impieties resulting from thence first by the vastnes of that Iurisdiction For since they haue taught vs to say so we may say Dominus non esset discretus vt cum reuerentia eius loquar if he had laid the cure of the whole Church and the iudgement of all matters emergent of fact and faith vpon one man which he hath done if Pesantius say true That the Pope is Iure Diuino directly Lord of all the World which booke is dedicated to the present Pope who by allowing it may iustly be thought to fauour that opinion 27 How much it is that they would entitle him to appeares by their expunction of a Sentence in Roselli a Catholique though a Lawyer That it is hereticall to say that the vniuersall temporall administration is or may be in the Pope vpon which booke mine eye fals often because you haue beene so lauish and prodigall in those expunctions that a man might well make a good Catechisme and an Orthodox Institution of Religion out of those places which you haue cast away And by this one place we see what you would haue For if the vniuersall administration of temporall matters be in the Pope what neede is there of Kings You would soone forget kings or remember them to their ruine and looke that kings should do to you as condemned men are said to haue done to the kings of Persia to thanke them that they were pleased to remember them And Azorius will not pardon their modesty that say that the Pope in dealing with temporall matterâ— vses but a spirituall power though this in effect worke as dangerously but he vseth saies he Absolutely and simply a temporall Iurisdiction 28 And what can impeach this Vniuersall Iurisdiction since al matter and subiect of Iurisdiction that is all men may by their Rules be vnder him by another way that is by entring into Religion for first Tannerus the Iesuit saies If Princes had their authority immediately from God yet the Pope might restraine that authority of theirs that it should fall onely vpon Lay-men For saies another He may take from the Emperour all his Iurisdiction therefore any part thereof And as many as will saies Bellarmine may without the consent of their Prince yea though he resist it thus deuest their Allegeance as they might resist their parents if they should hynder them 29 And in contemplation of this Vniuersall Iurisdiction which might be if it be not in the Pope the Iesuite whom we first named breakes out into this congratulation If at this instant all the Princes and all their subiects would enter into Religion and transferre all that they had into the Church would it not bee a most acceptable spectacle to God and Angels and Men Or as he saies before if their estates were so transferr'd to the Church though not their persons could not Ecclesiastique Princes rule and gouerne all these lay men as well as they doe some others already But because as hee doubts in that
and approued but commended and commanded and as he addes after Canonized and determined for Canonicall law and authorized and set forth for Sacred and Authenticall whatsoeuerâ— For they continue stâ—ll that practise which Frederic the Emperour obserued in his time when they interdictâ—d his Kâ—ngdome of Sicily Offundunt bibulis auribus Canonâ—s 27 And when they list to vrge a Canon any litle rag torn or fallen off from â—hence must bind the Church de fide as a cathedrall and Decretall resolâ—â—ion for so saies he that made the Notes vppon Cassianus excusing Origen Chrysostome some other Fathers for inclining to Platoes opinion of allowing some vse of lies in wise men That it was lawfull till the Church had defined the contrary But now saies he the Pope hath decreed it And how hath he decreed it In a letter vpon a question of Vsurie the Pope saies Since the Scriptures forbid lies euen for defense of any mans life much lesse may vsury be permitted But if in this question of lying the band did not aâ—ise out of the euidence and truth of the matter it selfe but relied vppon the authority of the Popes declaration and decision can such a ragge casually and incidentally fall into a letter of another purpose by way of comparison binde the whole Church De fide when as though Sixtus 4. had so much declared himselfe to fauour the opinion of our Ladies conception without originall sinne that he had by one Canon instituted a particular Festiuall thereof and appointed a particular Office for â—hat day with many Indulgences to the obseruers thereof yet the fauourers of the contrary opinion forbore not for reuerence of that Canon to preach publiquely against that Doctrine till some yeares after he forbad it vnder paine of Excommunication by another Canon that any should affirme that she was conceaued in originall sinne and yet this is not esteemed as yet for all this to be decreed as a matter of faith in that Church yea it is so farre from it that after all these solemnities and preiudices of that Pope yet the Commissioners of Sixtus the fift and Gregory the thirteenth appointed to expunge all dangerous passages in the Canons in the Glosse vpon that Canon which reckons all the festiuall daies which are to be obserued haue left these words vntouched The Conception of our Lady is not named because it ought not to be kept though in England and some other places it be And the reason is because she was conceaued in originall sinne as all but Christ were And after the Iesuite of whom I spoke before had refreshed that Doctrine That a Confession of a person absent made by letters was Sacramentall and Clement the eight was so vehement against it that by a solemne decree he condemned it for false rash and scandalous at least and commaunded that no man should speake of it but by way of condemning it and excluded euen dumbe men from this benefiâ— yet another Iesuite since a great Doctor perplexorum findes escapes to defend that Doctrine from beeing Hereticall 28 So that though in trueth there goe verie many Essentiall formalities to such a Decree as bindes the conscience De fide yet these men when they need the Maiestie of a Canon will euer haue feâ—ters in all corneâ—s to holde all consciences which offâ—r to slip or breake from them and still oppresse them with waights and with Mountaine of Canons Which way the Canonists doe noâ— only approue as the most conuenient to hold men in that Religion because the Canons are more easily vâ—ried and flexâ—ble and appliable to occasionâ— then the Scriptures are but also because ordinâ—rily the Canonists haue no other learning they think the way by Canons to be the fittest means to reduce them whom they call Heretiques For so sayes one of them in his booke to the present Pope with mâ—ch aâ—uâ—enesse certainty and subtilty The Canons may well be alleadged against Heretiques because they alleadge Scriptures and they cannot know Scriptures by any other way then Canons 29 But besides that I haue giuen you sufficient light to look into the deformity and coâ—ruption of the Canons which GOD forbid any should vndeâ—stand me to meâ—ne of Canons in that sense and acceptation that the Ancients receaued it which is of the Constitutions of Orthodox Councels for I take it here as your Doctors do as your Confessors doe for the whole body of the Canon law extant before I enteâ— into the suruay of those paâ—ticular Canons which vsually are obtruded in this point of the Popes temporall Supremacie I will remember you briefly of some of those reâ—sons and occasions such as may be fittest to vn-entangle your consciences and deliuer them from perplexiâ—ies in which the Canons doe not binde vs to theâ—r obseruation 30 Oâ— which one of the most principall and important is That Canons doe neuer binde though they be published and knowledge taken of them except they bee recâ—aued and practised in that Country So saies Gratian Lawes are instituted when they are published but confiâ—med when they are put in practise And therefore saies he none are guilty of transgressing Telesphorus Decree that the Clergie should fast fiftie dayes because it was neuer approued by practise No more doth the Decree of Aâ—exander the third though vnder excommunication That in Armies there should bee abstinence for reuerence of certaine dayes binde any manâ— because it was not practised which opâ—nion Nauarre also followes and a late Canonist writing to this Pope calls it Singularem et Magistralem et a toto mundo allegatum And vpon this reason the Councell of Trent bindes not yet in some Countries in neither Tribunall of conscience or the outward censures of the Church because it is not receaued 31 And can you finde â—hat any such Canons as enable the Pope to depose a Prince haue beene admitted by our Princes and practisâ—d as ordinarie and currant law Or can you finde any Canon to this purpose with the face and countenance oâ— a law made by the Popes in reposed peaceable times deliuered quietly as a matter of Doctrine and conscience and so accepted by the Church and state For if in temporall Scismes and differences for temporall matters betweene the Popes and other Princes the Popes to raise or maintaine a party against their enemies haue suffered seditioâ—s Bulls and Rescripts to passe from them to facilitate and effect their enterprises then in hand this is farre from the nature of a law and from being accepted and practised and so iustified as it may be drawne into consequence and haue power and strength to binde the conscience 32 And as acceptation giues life to law so doth disuse or custome to the contrarie abrogate it And howsoeuer a superstition toward the Canons may still be preserued in some of you yet the generall state that is the same authority by which those
to be Hereticall and that since there was a Canon of a generall Councell pretended for the conâ—rary opinion and that it was followed by many learned men it were too much boldnesse for a priuate man to aâ—erre it to be Hereticall I am willing to deliuer them of that scruple 37 It is no strange nor insolent thing with their Authors to lay the Note of Heresie vpon Articles which can neither be condemned out of the word of God nor are repugnant to any Article of faith for Castrensis that he might thereby make roome for traditions liberally confesses That there are many Doctrines of the Heretiques which cannot be refelled by the testimonie of the Scriptures And the Iesuite Tannerus is not squeamish in this when hee allowes thus much That in the communion vnder one kinde and in fasts and in feasts and in other Decrees of Popes there is nothing established properly concerning faith So that with you a man may be subiect to the penalties so to the infamie so to the damnation belonging to an Heretique though hee hold nothing against the Christian faith 38 But wee lay not the Name of Heresie in that bitter sense which the Canons accept it vppon any opinion which is not agaâ—nst the Catholique faith Which faith wee beleeue Leo to haue described well when hee saies That it is singular and true to which nothing can be added nor detracted and we accept S. Augustines significâ—tion of the word Catholique wee interpret the name Catholique by the Communion with the whole world which is so Essentiall so truly deduced out of the Scriptures that a man which will speake of another Church then the Communion of all Nations which is the name Catholique is as much Anathematized as if he denie the Deaâ—h and Resurrection of Christ. And what is this Essentiall truth so euident out of Scripture which designes the Catholique Church Because sayes Augustine the same Euangelicall truth which tells vs the Death and Resurrection tells vs also That Repentance and Râ—mission of sinnes shall be preached in his Name through all Nations That therefore is Catholique faith which hath beene alwaies and euery where tâ—ught â—nd Repentance and Remission of sinnes by the Death and Resurrection oâ— Christ and such truthes as the Gospell teaches are that Doctrine which coagulates and gathers the Church into a body and makes it Catholique of which opinion Bellarmine himselfe is sometime as when he argues thus whatsoeuer is Heresie the contrarie thereof is veritas fidei for then it must be maâ—ter of faith And an errour with pertinacie in those points onely should bee called Heresie in that heauie sense which it hath in a Papists mouth 40 Castrensis foresaw this Danger of Recrimination and retorting vpon themselues tâ—is opprobrious name of Heretique if they were so forward to impute it in matters which belonged not to fâ—ith for accordingly he saies They amongst vs which doe so easily pronounce a thing to be Heresieâ— are often striken with their own arrow fall into the pit which they digged for others And certainly as tâ—e Greeke Church by vsing the same stâ—â—nesse and râ—gour towards the Romane as the Romane vses towards the other Westerne Churches which is not onely to iustifie their opinions but to pronounce the contrarie to be Heresie hath tamed the Romane writers so farre as to conâ—esse that tâ—ey condemne nothing else in tâ—eir opinion and practise of consecrating in a different bread but that they impose it as a necessitie vpon all other Churches and hath extorted a Decretall from Pope Eugenius That Priests in Consecrating not onely may but ought to follow the custome of that Church where they are whether in leauened or vnleauened bread and â—nnocent the thiâ—d required no more of them in this point but that they would not shewe so much detestation of the Romane vse therein as to wash and expiate their Altars after a Romane Priest had consecrated So if it should stand with the wisedome and charity of the Reformed Church Iuridâ—cally to call all the Addiâ—ions which the Romanes haue made to the Catholique faith and for which wee are departed from them absolute and formall Heresie though perchance it would not make them abâ—ndon their opinions yet I thinke it would reduce them to a moâ—e humane and ciuill indifferencie to let vs without imposing tâ—eir traditions enioy our own Religion which is of â—t self in their coÌ„fession so free froÌ„ Heresie that they are forced to maâ—e this all our Heresie that we will not adâ—it theirs 41 Yeâ— somethings haue so necessary a consequence and so immediate a dependance vpon the Articles of faith that a man may be bolde to call the contrary Hereticall though no Defiâ—ition of any Councell haue pronounced it soâ— yea somâ— Notions doe so precede the Articles of our faith that the Articles may be said to depend vpon them so farâ—e as they were frustrate if those prenotions were not certaine Of that sort is the immortalâ—ty of the soule without which the worke of redemption weâ—e vaine And therefore it had beene a vitiâ—ous tendernesse and irreligious modesty if a man duâ—st not haue called it Hereticall to say that the soule was mortall till Leo the tenth in the Laterane Councell Decreed it to bee Heresie For though Bellarmine in one place reqâ—ire it as Essentiall in an Heresie I hatâ— haue beene condemned in a Councell of Bishoppes yet he saies in another place That the Popes alone without Councels haue condemned manâ— Heresies 42 And this liberty hath beene vsed as well by Epiphanius and S. Augustine in the purer times as by Castrensis and Prateolus in the later Romane Church and of late yeares of those which adhere to Caluins Doctrine by Danaeus and of Luthers followers by Schlusselbergius all which in composing Catalogues of Heretiques haue mentioned diuers which as yet no generall Councel hath condemned So did the Emperours in their constâ—tutions pronounâ—e against some Heresies of which no Councell had determined So did the Parliament of Paris in their sentence against Chastell for the assassinate vppon the person of this King of France pronounce certaine words which he had sucked from the Iesuits and vttered in derogation of Kings to bee Seditious Scandalous and Hereticall 42 And if the Oath framed by order of the Councell of Trent and raâ—ified and enioyned by the Popes Bull be to be giuen to all persons then must many men sweare somethings to be of the Catholique faith and some other things to be Hereticall in which he is so farre remooued from the knowledge of the things that he doth not onely not vnderstand the signification of the wordes but is not able to sound nor vtter nor spell them 43 And hee must sweare many things determinately and precisely which euen after that Councell some learned men still doubt As that a license to heare confessions in euery Priest
to a Law according to the proper signification of the words then there is no place for such discretion and for admitting a diuers sense but the wordes of our Oath which are According to the plaine and common sense fall directly within his first Rule 59 And the law hath good warrant and precedent to assume the word hereticall in such a moderate signification for so the Scriptures vse the word when S. Paul saies oportet hereses esse which Gretzer confesses when to excuse the vulgate Edition which hath in that place left out the wordes Vobisâ— he saies It would do no harme to their cause to admit those wordes because it is not spoken De haeresi propriè dicta 60 And so the generall Councell of Constantinople within the first â—oure hundred yeares calles some Heretiques though they be not Anathematized by the Church because they make Conuenticles against bishopps and accuse them vnorderly and against the forme of Canons So also doth another Councell say of Simony that it is not onely Sacrilegious but hereticall And accordingly to these a late Pope Leo 10. in a formall Decree and Bull vses the worde in a like sense For he condemnes the Articles imputed to Luther Tanquam respectiue haereticos because out of some of them it would follow that the Church had erred But that proposition out of which the next deducted Conclusion might bee Heresie is not it selâ—e necessarily Heresie properly vnderstood 61 And as these do so also doe the Canons in the law speake in a moderate phrase For in one place wher the text saies that a thing is done Contra fidem Catholicam the Glosse explâ—catâ—s it Contra bonos Mores and in another plâ—ce it interpretes the same wordes so because it dooth Sapere heresim and yet it is not heresie and so we finde a late Decretall to call Simony True and vndoubted heresy where Gregory is produced to giue this reason why Simony is called heresy because whosoeuer is ordained by Simony is therfore ordained that he may be an heretique So thâ—t we see such acts as beget or accompany heresy are called heresy in this milde acceptation which our law giues it 62 From which sense the Fathers did not abstaine in vsing that worde for Tertullian saies That no man will doubt to call Adams transgression heresie since by his owne election he adhered rather to his owne will then to Gods And in another booke he saies Not so much newnes as truth doth conuict things to be heresies for whatsoeuer tastes against truth is an heresie though it be an ancient custome And so saies S. August if their owne men cite him truely That Schisme is called Heresie not that it is heresie but that it disposes to heresie 63 And the Iesuits themselues who are the precisest and seuerest accepters of this word come thus neere That some things tolerated by the Church though they be not propriè haeretica â—et thâ—y are haeresi proxima For so saies Bellarmine and hee might iustly make this position which wee speake of his example And his defender Gretzer saies that some opinions are so framed that though no Decree of the Church haue yâ—t condemned them yet they are enormous Scandalous and haeresi proximae 64 And thus also do the Schoolemen somtimes take it For so saies Aquinas out of S. Ierome that he which expounds the Scriptures against the sense of the holy Ghost may be called an heretique though he depart not from the Church And so haue diuers compilers of the Ecclesiastique history done for Epiphanius râ—ckons diuers sects of the Iewes and Gentile Philosophers amongst Heretiquâ—s And Bernardus de Lucemburgo inserts into his Catalogue of heretiques Auerros and Auicen though they were not Christians And lastly that the word was vulgarly so vsed as by many other obseruations so is it euident by a Story in Math. Paris where one vpon his death-bed cals the Friers heretiques for not reprehending the Prelates the Prelates heretiques for conferring Benefices vpon vnworthy persons yea in this very case which we haue in hand an authour of your owne Religion pronounces thus of those fifteene Bishops which adhered to Gregory the seuenths party against the Emperor It is great heresie to resist the Ordinance of God who onely hath power to giue Empire which heresie it appears that those fifteene false Bishops haue committed 65 As therefore all sorts of men into whose mouthes vpon any occasion this word was like to come haue vsed the word for Erroneous and Impious and Corrupting good manners and disposing preparing absolute and proper Heresie so doth the law accept it in this oath where it makes it equiualent and Synonimous to the wordes which are ioyned with it which are Impious and Damnable and therefore it is but a Calumny cast vpon the law and a tergiuersation picked out for their escape if any pretend for that word to decline the Oath 66 But if this word in this place were to be vnderstood in the strictest and seuerest sense that a Iesuite could vse it against vs yet hee that shall take the Oath doth not thereby pronounce that any Position which attributes any power to the Pope is hereticall Not that hee may excommunicate a King no nor that he may depriue him but it is thus conceiued That this position is hereticall That Princes which be excommunicate or depriued by the Pope may be deposed or murdred by their subiects or any other So that it casts no Manicles vpon the Popes hands if he will excommunicate let him if he will depriue let him Onely them who by his act of the goodnes or badnes whereof this Proposition pronounces nothing may be mis-led to an vnchristian vndutifull desperatenes it forewarnes and aduises to a due and iust consideration of such proceedings For as when men were content to heare heresies Leo said wisely in reprehension of that easinesse They which can hearken to such things can beleeue them So since it is too late to forbid hearing of this heresie of deposing Princes since out of Iesuites bookes which speak of state-learning scarce any thing is to be sucked but it or such preparatiues as worke and conduce to it it was necessary to begin a step higher then Leo did and pronounce it hereticall that so none might beleeue it since hee that can beleeue it can be content to affoord his helpe to the doing thereof 67 And hauing thus gone as far as I purposed in both parts of this Chapter in the first whereof I shewed that in speciall cases new oathes were necessary and that the forme of them ought to bee such as might reach home to the intent thereof and not be eluded which had beene if any part of this oath had been omitted and that their writers which neuer teach that vpon a Bishops excommunication a Prince may be deposed denie implicitely this power in