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A58472 The religion of the Church of England, the surest establishment of the royal throne with the unreasonable latitude which the Romanists allow in point of obedience to princes : in a letter occasioned by some late discourse with a person of quality. Womock, Laurence, 1612-1685. 1673 (1673) Wing R902; ESTC R14331 24,790 40

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THE RELIGION OF THE Church of England The Surest ESTABLISHMENT OF THE Royal Throne WITH The Unreasonable Latitude which the Romanists allow in point of Obedience to Princes In a LETTER occasioned by some late Discourse with a Person of Quality ROM 13. 5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake LONDON Printed for Randal Taylor and John Williams junior at the Crown and in Cross-Keys Court in Little Britain 1673. THE RELIGION OF THE Church of England The Surest ESTABLISHMENT OF THE Royal Throne In a LETTER occasioned by some late Discourse with a Person of Quality Honoured Sir I Cannot charge you with Vnkindness or say you have put me upon an unpleasing Task by commanding my Thoughts about the matter of our last Discourse though thousands of my Brethren might have done it to better purpose since you have rendred me capable of expressing the Service I owe to my Prince and the Duty to my Mother the Church of England She like her Saviour hath met with a great many Reproaches and by some either Ignorants or Adversaries been particularly misrepresented to you and that Excellency wherein she hath just occasion to glory above all the Churches in the world so miserably sullied by unrighteous Aspersions that she appears not half so amiable to your eye as formerly she hath done Give me leave then to wipe off the Dirt which hath so maliciously been cast upon her to wash off the Spots spirted on her Face and her own Beauty will sufficiently commend her I cannot believe your Judgment so unsteady as really to be captivated with those false Insinuations nor wonder enough at the Impudence of some persons who dare insinuate such palpable untruths as you seem in danger to be perverted with In plain terms That any man should have so hard a forehead as to question the Church of England 's Loyalty to her Prince or maintain that she affords the least Encouragement to any Rebellious Attempt either against his Person or Dignity to shake the Crown upon his Head or make a Finger of his Hand to bleed would put me into a strange fit of Admiration did we not li●e in so prodigious an Age that mens tongues are their own and they will say what they please For my part I look upon these charges to be so grosly slanderous that for your Satisfaction and possibly the Conviction of others I shall confidently assert That no King sits so securely upon his Throne as the King of England by virtue of the Religion established among us It is not to be imagined that the bare propounding this Truth should presently gain it a favourable Reception especially where the Judgment seems already fore-stalled with no mean Prejudices against it But still a Truth it is and to prove it one I shall only proceed upon these two Grounds I. That the Church of England obligeth all her Children to the most Dutiful Carriage imaginable towards All Princes II. To take off your Mis-prision That the Church of Rome allows those of her Communion an unreasonable Latitude in this very point of Obedience and Duty I. That the Church of England obligeth all her Children to the most Dutiful Carriage imaginable towards All Princes It is but Reasonable we should clear our own Innocency before we quarrel with anothers Guilt least our selves fall under the charge of that Crime which is so justly condemned in those of the Romish Party Now certainly the most Rational Account we can have of any Churches Principles must be taken from the Infallible Rule to which in all cases she submits the Doctrin she professeth the Worship which she owns the Ecclesiastical Constitutions she hath framed for outward Order and the constant Practice of all her Obedient Children Her Rule are the Holy Scriptures Commented upon and Interpreted by the Sentiments of the Primitive Fathers Her Doctrin is conteined in the Articles and Homilies Her Worship in the Public Liturgy Her Constitutions in the Book of Canons to which the Carriage of all those who have not only in pretence but reality been her sons hath exactly corresponded Nor is there any one of these which furnisheth us not with an abundant Confirmation of that Truth on behalf whereof it is alledged No Church ever professed a greater Reverence to the Proved I. From the Scriptures Holy Scriptures nor charged her children more strictly to make them the Rule both of Faith and Life We believe nothing but what is therein revealed and are obliged to observe all the Commands therein conteined whatsoever sort of Duties they have respect unto Now it is beyond dispute that the Word of God calls for Obedience to Princes and forbids all Opposition to and Rebellion against them Solomon in the old Testament speaks of a King against whom there is no rising Prov. 30. 31. up which King is every King for by virtue of his Supreme Authority he is beyond the reach of his Subjects Power and above the attempts of all their Force Nor is this only true of such who like David are men after Gods own heart or like Hezekiah and Josiah not to be equalled scarce parallel'd by those that either preceded or succeeded them but of a wicked Saul a loose Amaziah an Idolatrous Manasseh These also being Gods Anointed and wickedness in the Heart wipes not off the sacred Oil from the Head If we look into the Gospels our Blessed Saviour commands the Rendring unto Matth. 22. 21. Caesar the things that are Caesars with the same care that he requires the rendring unto God the things that are Gods which Caesar was Tiberius of whom the Roman Historians give no very good Character And rather than any Offence should be taken he works a Miracle for paying his Tribute-Money sending S. Peter to take it Matth. 17. 27. out of a Fishes mouth To him succeeded the two great Apostles S. Paul and S. Peter the one with his charge Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers Subject Rom. 13. 1. not only for Convenience but upon the account of Duty not only as a piece of Policy to prevent any Secular Punishment but a point of Conscience to please our Heavenly Father Ye must needs be subject not 5. only for wrath but also for conscience sake The other with his command Submit your selves to every 1 P●● 2. 13 14. Ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto them that are sent by him Fear God Honor the King And it is plain 17. when these Apostles wrote Nero that Portentum hominis as Suetonius calls him that Monster of men Suet in vitâ N●ro●●s was then Emperor as wicked a tyrannical Prince and as great an Enemy to the Christians as ever lived Whence we may rationally conclude Though a King be of another Religion though his Life be extremely debauched and his Government severe and cruel yet None of these
neque jure humano nec Divino Idem ibid. p. 327. Edit Celon Agripp n. all Ecclesiastics from Subjection to the Secular Princes it follows that in respect of those Church-men they are not the higher Powers and consequently the Church-men are not obliged to obey them by any Law either Divine or Humane except only in some trivial matters which he there calls Leges Directivae such as a man 's not stirring out of doors after a particular hour without his Sword by his side and a Light in his hand c. In these petty Trifles they will out of good nature obey the King but for any things of greater concern therein they beg excuse to be out of his reach So that in plain terms at this rate all the Clergy in every Kingdom are left at Liberty whether they will be Loyal or no and the Prince shall wholly lose his Coercive Power over a considerable part of his Subjects So that sometimes it may happen there shall not only be a Refusal of Obedience to but a downright Resistance of his Commands Instances hereof are numerous How saucily did Anselm carry to King Rufus and Thomas Becket to Henry the Second till the one died abroad and the other was killed at home And upon every occasion it would happen so still The Clergy believing themselves freed from any Punishment their Prince could inflict and knowing full well that upon an Appeal to Rome the Sentence would surely pass in favour of the Church Or let it but once come to a Contest that the Pope enjoyns one thing the King another the Pope passeth such a Decree the King gainsays it who shall prevail Shall not the Pope because the Church-men are under his Lash but exempted from the Kings nor will they in reason be easily drawn to provoke him who both can and will for another mans sake who neither must nor dare correct them So that in effect they are but titularly Subjects and will so far be dutiful to the King as their own good Inclinations shall prompt them Now how can he expect to be secured in his Throne by those persons who are not under his Jurisdiction In case their Holy Father for some particular pique at him or to gratifie a beloved Nephew declare him an Heretic that he may dispose of his Kingdom these good Children must needs tread in his Steps and do as he bids them they being according to their own Principles as much obliged to take part against as our Religion would teach us to take part with our Prince notwithstanding all opposition in the world Besides these Ecclesiastical Immunities drain a great deal of wealth out of each Kingdom which might better be laid up in the Kings Exchequer All the Profit of Collations to Benefices First-Fruits Tenths and several other Duties of that kind these the Pope hoords up in his own Coffers a Grievance whereof this particular Nation was so sensible that open Complaint was made against it Temp. Hen. III in Parliament for such vast Sums were sent away out of this little Kingdom from one time to another that the People were much impoverished to make it what he called it Puteus inexhaustus a Well not to be drawn dry So that it is strangely wonderful how the Princes abroad to this very day bear so great an Imposition upon them and submit to such a Diminution of their Authority so contrary to the Rule of Scripture so without all Precedent from Antiquity unless one spurious Passage palpably foisted into Ignatius his Epistles so Dangerous to the peaceable state of their several Countreys and so Inconsistent with the Obedience owing to their own persons But it were something tolerable if this might prove II. By teaching the lawfulness to excommunicate 〈◊〉 murther Kings for Religion the worst so far is the Romish Religion from enjoyning Obedience to Princes that it teacheth those pernicious Doctrins of the Lawfulness to excommunicate depose and murther Kings if their Religion may thereby be promoted So that not only the Clergy but the Princes too lie at the Popes mercy His Fingers indeed have long itched to be medling with Crowns and therefore he employs his Agents abroad to whisper these Devilish Maxims into peoples Ears Now when the grave Fathers of the Church teach and their seduced Children admit them for Truths no marvel if the King sits uneasie in his Throne and his Scepter be ready to fall out of his Hand For satisfaction herein I refer you to Bellarmine again for no mans Credit is better in that Church Three Chapters he spends very eagerly in one Book upon this Subject fending and proving according to our Proverb with might and main The D●●●t ●ontifex R●g●bus juber●●● h●c faci●●● 〈◊〉 nisi f●cer●nt etiam cogere per excommunicati●nem al●asque commodas rationes Bellarm. de R●m Pont. l. 5. c. 7. p 505. Pope saith he must command Kings to do these things things relating to the Service of God and if they do them not to compel them by Excommunication and other commodious ways This is pretty smart but all the while sure there is no fear of altering his Property or taking that Dominion from him which God had given Yes there may be Reason for that too if the Cause of Religion require the doing it The Pope may Papa potest mutare Regn● uni a●ferre at que alters conferre tanquam summus princ●ps spiritu●lis si id necessarium sit ad animarum salutem Idem c. 6. p 901. make an Alteration in Kingdoms dethroning one man and exalting another as being the greatest spiritual Prince if it be necessary for the good of souls And this unlimited Power he endeavours to defend by a great many Authorities Nor may he only exercise this strange kind of Prerogative but the good Subjects also must be so much concerned for the Catholic Cause as to set themselves against their Heretical Ruler Christians are Non tenentur Christiant in ● non debeat cum evidente periculo Religionis tolerare regem infidelem Idem p 94. not bound indeed they ought not to tolerate unbelieving King and all of our Principles are with them no better than Infidels if Religion be in any apparent danger They must not tolerate him but how shall it be helped There is scarce any Remedy left but the deposing him and then to make sure work they must either put him into a safe Prison or send him into a cold Grave Now lest this Position of his should be decried as strange and novel being so contrary to the practice of the Primitive Christians who without question were the best Subjects in the world he presently answers that they were not either to be thanked for or imitated in their Obedience since it was matter of Constraint rather than Choice And if they deposed not Nero the Cruel Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem Dioclesianum Julianum Apostatam