thy truths sake Be euer thankefull to God and then he will euer be mindfull of you to blesse you the Lord will increase his graces towards you euen toward you and your children therefore praise the Lord from henceforth and for euermore for he hath not dealt so with euery Nation and if our deseruing were put into the lottery of other people wee should bee rewarded with a blanke Gods loue and gracious fauour to vs is ignis accendens fire to set vs on fire Let our thankefulnesse to God be ignis accensus a fire flaming to God in all zeale loue duety thankes seruice and deuotion God hath set England as it were vpon an hill a spectacle to all Nations strengthened by sea and land ad miraculum vsque to the admiration of all people blessed it with an extraordinarie peace prosperity of long continuance we are the worlds enuie let vs not become their declamation Nothing but our vnthankefulnesse to God our licentiousnesse in life our disobedience to his Word our securitie in sin our contempt of good meanes and mercies offered can worke our ouerthrow and these if we doe not drowne them quickly in the riuers of repentance so one may breed and bring our wofull downefall The Lord hath blessed this land with great and gracious blessings in it the golden bels of Aaron are powerfully rung the word by faithfull teachers mouingly deliuered Oh let our perpetuall prayers praises and thanks ascend to heauen because Gods graces and mercies plentifully descend to earth Et si desint gratiae quia nos ingrati If any grace be wanting it is because we want grace to be thankefull for this our happy gouernment hauing a prosperous peace and that which is the procurer of peace with God and men that blessed passage of the Gospell Si totum me debeo pro me facto quid debeo pro me refecto saith a Father If wee owe God our selues for our creation what doe we owe vnto him for our regeneration preseruation and saluation We therefore that haue tasted of the great cup of Gods mercy let vs with Dauid take the cup of saluation giue thanks and praise the name of the Lord let vs praise God for these aboundant mercies and euer pray vnto him to preserue the happy instrument of manifold benefits and blessings to vs our most dread and deare Soueraigne duty bindeth vs to this taske our owne welfare mooues vs to this duety for his prosperity is our tranquillity his safety is our felicity the blessing redounds to vs and if he should miscarry which God forbid we should be partakers of his misfortunes Therefore be alwaies obedient and diligent to serue our royall Head golden in all vertues and princely perfections in all loyall and Christian dueties louing his Highnesse in our hearts which is the best earthly defence for a King Inexpugnabile munimentum est amor ciuium saith Seneca The loue of the people is an inuincible munition and as that great Rabbi of pollicie Machiauel hath set it downe for a sure rule Contra regem quem omnes magnifaciunt difficilis coniuratio oppugnatio irruptio Against that King whom all highly esteem and reuerence conspiracy or treachery is very difficult or if attempted seldome succeedes Let vs bee in pace Lepores but in praelio Leones in peace like Hares timerous to offend his Grace in any way of disobedience but like Lions fight for him against all his enemies with an vnwearied courage vndanted magnanimity ioyning with our fighting hands our feruent prayers to God like faithfull Israelites against all rebelling Amalekites Oratio coelos penetrat hostes in terravincit saith Origen Prayers pierce heauen and ouercome enemies on earth plus precando quam praeliando more by praying then by fighting Dauids encountring with Goliah in the name of the Lord was more powerfull then his fling and fiue stones Let vs make it one part of our daily praiers to God to keepe our King as the apple of his eye and hide him vnder the shadow of his wings to saue him from all enemies bodily or ghostly to consume them in his wrath consume them that they bee no more let them know that God ruleth in Iacob euen vnto the ends of the world beseeching God of his great mercie euer to prosper this most peaceable and puissant Monarchie of great Brittaine Arise vnto it as vnto thy resting place Turne not away thy face from thine Anointed who hath now happily to our immeasurable ioy worne the imperiall Diadem of great Brittaine these 15. * yeares Many more happie and prosperous yeares wee pray to be continued prolong his daies O Lord as the daies of heauen and grant that his Highnesse and his Princely posterity may in these kingdomes reigne so long as the world endureth Enlarge and enrich his royall heart with all Regall gifts and Diuine graces sutable for his high calling Saue and defend him from the tyranny or treachery of all forraine and Antichristian power and from the plots and proiects of domestical aduersaries Let them couer themselues with their confusion as with a cloake Blesse his most gracious spouse and bedfellow Queene Anne let thy Angels O Lord encampe about her to guide guard her in a safe protection and euer continue thy most heauenly hand of benediction vpon the high mighty Prince Charles the famous Prince of Wales the second ioy of great Britaine Lord looke vpon him from heauen Giue thy iudgements vnto the King and thy righteousnesse vnto the Kings Sonne Teach him O Lord in his tender yeares like a good Iosias to learne and loue thy true religion the way to winne the eternall Crowne of life Be gracious O Lord to the County Palatine of Rhene Fredericke Prince Elector and to his most vertuous and gracious wife Princesse Elizabeth with their Princely progenie O Lord preserue them with thy mightie and out-stretched arme giue them a most happy peace and prosperity in a Princely honor felicity all the daies of their liues O Lord scatter the deuices of the crafty that their hands may not accomplish any wicked thing they do enterprise Confound all them that haue ill will at Sion that repine at the peace of the Church the welfare of great Britaine the prosperity of his Maiesty his royall progenie that howsoeuer they haue shift of faces and maske vnknowne yet let vs pray that that stone which is cut without hands may breake the Images of such Traitors in peeces giuing him victory ouer all his enemies Cloath them all with shame but vpon him let his Crowne flourish and grant him an happy multiplication of many prosperous yeares to renew with many returnes these our cordiall and annuall Ioyes long to sit vpon his Throne and make his foes his footstoole And let high and low rich and poore young and old yea let Heauen and earth
as the very naming of them is a confutation Simancha and Creswell haue concluded that no hereticke that is a Protestant is capable of a Crowne and though a lawfull heire yet no iust possessor hauing obtainedit And to this effect Pope Clements Bull was After the death of the late Queene whether by course of nature or otherwise whosoeuer should lay claime or Title to the Crowne of England though neuer so directly or neerely interessed therein by descent and Blood royall yet vnlesse he were such an one as would not onely tollerate the Catholicke Romane religion but by all endeuours and force promote it they should admit or receiue none to the Crowne of England And Samancha Tit. 64. Sect. 75. faith The father may be deposed for an hereticke and his sonne and heire also excluded from claime of succession vnlesse he be a Romane Catholicke Thus they seeke to dispossesse Kings who are enthroned by God and haue their Scepters from the King of Kings yea they â—ind Kings to their good behauiour if they doe displease the Pope then depose them and so no Kings Molina saith The King can vse his Temporall sword but at the Popes becke Tract 2. de Institut Di. 29. Thus debasing Kings the highest powers on earth to be subiects to the Pope who yet in a counterfeit style cals himselfe Seruus seruorum a seruant of seruants Sonat humilit as in voce sed superbia in actione Saith Gregory Iacobs voice and Esawes hands Hypocriticall humility is worse then manifest pride And truly if the Pope had a sparke of the spirit of humility he would condemne his Parasites voices Papa est per queâ—reges regnant The Pope is he by whom Kings reigne Saith Bozius or Papa data est omnis potest as in caelo in terra Dominatur amarivsque admare à flumine vsque adtermin os orbis To the Pope is giuen all power in heauen and earth and reignes from one Sea to an other from the stood to the end of the world or Papa potest omnia facere quae Deus potest The Pope can doe all that God can doe horrible impiety and intollerable flattery And these tell the world he can make and vnmake Kings and the Popes like it well enough excommunicating Kings deposing them and disposing of their Kingdomes to others So that it mooued Art 〈◊〉 King of Peru to say as Benzo and Lopez tell it Insigniter fatuum esse opertere papam qui quae non haberet alijs liberaliter largitur vel carte impedentem nebulonem qui eiectis veris possessoribus alienas terras peregrinis addiceret in mutuas cades mortale genus armaret That either the Pope was an egregious Sot who would liberally giue things which he had not or a very impudent companion who expulsing the true possessors giues it to strangers arming the world to mutuall yea mortall slaughters I will not trouble my selfe to behold the nakednesse rather wickednesse of these drunken Noes vncouered in the midst of their Tents vomiting out vile positions full of sedition and disobedience against the Kings of the earth it require rather teares to bewaile it then a pen to report it and the learned heerein know more then I write and for the ignorant it is good for them in this case to be ignorant still yet I confesse I aimed most in this labour to informe the ignorant hauing no minde to meddle with seducing Priests I cannot charme such deafe Adders if this litle handfull of my loue and labour presented vnto you may be profitable to win any of you I will say and end with the Apostle Iames Brethren if any of you haue erred from the Truth and some man hath conuerted him let him know that hee which hath conuerted the sinner from going astray out of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sinnes The Lord who is a God of Truth for his mercy sake and for Christs merits sake open all your eies to behold the Truth and your hearts to embrace it that we may all hold one Head in vnity and haue one heart in verity that all with one minde and mouth may praise and pray vnto the Lord in the militant Church on earth and be thrice happy members of the Triumphant Church in heauen Amen Candido lectori Humanum est errare errata hic corrige lector quae penna aut praelo lapsa fuisse vides FINIS * Epist 34. * Baron annal tom 1 ad an 1. fol. 53. * Math. 2. 11. * Walafriâ— Strabo lib. de rebus Eccles * Epist 77 * Eccluâ— 24. 39. * 1 Cor. 4. 3. * Le moribus a 2 Kings 11 3. b 2 Chr. 22. 9. 10. 11. c 2 King 11. 4 d 2 Chr. 23. 2. e 2 Kin. 11. 4. f 2 Ch. 23. 3. g 2 King 11. 6. 11. h 2 Chr. 23. 11. i 2 Kin. 11. 12. * A queene ouer men a queene ouer her selfe for a maiden queen k Mundi totius vna decus Beza Epigram in class hisp Anno 1588. l Gen. 27. 41. Ad certum tempus sunt Christiani postea peribunt redibunt Idola verum tum cum expectas miserinfidelis vt transeant Christiani transis ipse sine Christianis Aug. in P s 70 m Quo nil praestaÌ„tius orbe nobiliusque nihil nostro sol aspicit aeuo Mortua regina quasi non est mortua quia reliquit similem plus quam fimilis hic n Quem beneficia accepta memorem non redduÌ„t is grauius suppliciuÌ„ meretur Chrysost de Sacerd. lib. 4. o Tertul. in Apâ—log c. 30. p Psal 132. 18. q Plut. in vita Flaminij r 1 Kin. 1. s 1 King 1. 40. t 39. Proditor est martyr coeli certissimê° hares u Mariana de reg lib. 1. c 7. * Maria. p 60. Vid orat sixt Qt habit in consistoria Saunders Fra de Verone Azorius Philopater Allen aly x Tertul in Apol. Spolia opima Joui Sen. Prosperum scelus vocatur virtus y 1 Chr. 16. 22. z Reu. 17. 46. a Machau Princ. c. 11. b Psal 21. 8. 9. c Psal 129. 6. a 1 Tim. 2. b Tribus argumeÌ„tis ostendit oranduÌ„ esse proregibê° quorum duo sumpta sunt ab effectu vtili Pisc in locuÌ„ c Plin 2 Panegy ad Traianum Rex sapiens est stabilimentum populi Wisd 6. 24. Rex si bonus est nutritor est tuus si malus tentator tuus est Aug. ser 6. de verb. dom secund Math. Bellua multorum capitum homine nullum morosius animal nec maiori arte tractandum Sene. d Quot capita tot sententiae quot homines tothumores quot humores tot mores Lipsius e Exod. 18. 19. f Psalm 2. 10. g 2 Chr. 1. 10. h Wisd 6. 21. i Magna seruituâ— est magna fortuna nam ipsi Caesari cui omnia licent propter hoc ipsu multa non licent Seneca consolat ad
that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye beseeching God to be Protector Saluationum Vncti the defender and deliuerer of his Anointed to giue him prosperity peace and plenty of all things yea plenty of it which Lewes the eleuenth the French King complained hee onely wanted in his Court and being demanded what it was hee said â—ruth a Diamond faire and fit to adorne a Diadem commendable to God acceptable to Kings profitable to Common wealths Hee is the Kings and Countries best seruant that brings in his mouth a message of Trueth I haue read how a certaine poore man comming to see Constantine an Emperor renowned through the world by Fame and Fortune and that poore man fixing his eies vpon him said thus Putabam Constantinum aliquid praeclarius mirabilius fuisse sed iam video eum nihil aliudesse praeter hominem I had thought Constantine had beene some rarer and more admirable Creature but I see he is but a man to whom Constantine gaue many thanks being both plaine and true saying Tu solus es qui in me oculos apertos habuisti Thou art onely the man that hast looked vpon mee with open eies others did flatter him making him beleeue that hee was not but this man honestly and truelie told him what hee was Like Macedonius the Eremite who said to the officers of Theodosius Dicite Imperatori non es Imperator solummodo sedetiam homo Tell the Emperor he is not onely an Emperour but also a man For though in Scripture they be called Gods it is in sensu modificato a qualified sence Gods by deputation earthly Gods not by nature but by regiment they shall dwell in the Lords Tabernacle and are worthy to be in Kings Courts who walke vprightly worke righteously and speake the trueth from their hearts Qui verit atem occultat qui prodit mendacium vterque reus est ille quia prodesse non vult iste quia nocere desiderat saith Austen He that hides the truth he that tels a lye both be guilty He because he would not profit this because hee would haue hurt The Lord and louer of Trueth euermore blesse his Maiesty with trusty Nathaniels in whom is no guile Such are the best seruants and secretaries to King and Country who like one of those three seruants to King Darius the keepers of his body come with this sentence laying it vnder the Kings pillow Trueth ouer commeth all things But keepe from him O King of Kings all flattering Doegs crafty conspiring Achitophels rebellious Shebas treacherous Zimries vnfaithfull Zibas false Ioabs and Romish Iudasses who honour him with their lips but their hearts be far from him And let all true subiects to his gracious Highnesse faithfully performe all loyall seruice to this our Iosias who restores the booke of the Law and holy Scripture who like Dauid fetcheth home the Arke of God and his sacred Gospell who like Asa puts downe Idolls and commands all to seeke the Lord God who like Iehu not kills but banishes Baals Priests the Romish rout of Seminaries and Iesuites waiters and worshippers of the Papall Moloch an Idol hauing hands alwaies to receiue gifts Our Soueraigne loathes these locusts and labours has terris templis auertere pestes To free the Church and Country of these plagues so that it makes our hearts leape for ioy and cry aloud O Lord how fauourable hast thou beene vnto our land in placing religion learning vertue and honour in one seate Quam bene conueniunt cùm vna sede locantur Maiestas virtus An admirable spectacle to behold vertue and honour in the royall Throne What fires of zeale loue and seruice should it kindle in the hearts of subiects in thankefulnes to God to serue the Lord in feare and come before his presence with a song of thankesgiuing falling downe before the Lord our Maker in soule in body all within and all without He giues all must be praysed of all prayed to of all for he is all in all He hath not dealt so with euery Nation and therefore let vs with the Psalmist say and sing O my God and King I will extoll thee and praise thy name for euer and euer Let Israel reioyce in their King and to conclude with the words of Musculus Acceptus foelix gratiosus sit iste quem Dominus nobis regem dedit Welcome wished and most worthy is he whom God hath set vp to raigne ouer vs who happily succeeded a Virgin Queene proclaimed a day before the Festiual of the Queene of Virgins a faire Prologue of much ioy who now with great felicity and tranquility hath raigned 15 yeeres in this great and flourishing Kingdome many more yeeres we continually pray to be multiplied Addat é nostris annos in annos Deus Make him full of dayes and full of Trophees of honour and grant him loyall Subiects faithfull in obedience and dutifull in all seruice saying in tongue ioyfully in heart truly God saue the King CHAP. VIII THE fifth duty of Subiects to be duly and truly payed and performed to their sacred and dread Soueraignes is Tribute which is as Vipian saith Neruus reip The strong sâ—ew of the Common-wealth without which King nor Kingdome cannot stand And therefore our Sauiour first by president paid Tribute and also by precept resoluing the Disciples of the Pharises demanding whether it was lawfull to giue Tribute vnto Caesar or no told them peremptorily That they must giue vnto Caesar that which was Caesars Reddendum est tributum honor obedientia in omnibus quae non pugnant cum verbo Dei saith Piscator vpon that place Tribute Honour and Obedience is to be giuen vnto the Magistrate in all things not repugnant to the word of God for this cause saith Saint Paul ye pay Tribute because the King is the Minister of God for thy wealth applying themselues for the same thing Custodit te Princeps saith Theophylact ab Hostibus debes itaquè ei tributum The Prince keeps thee safe from enemies thou doest owe him therefore Tribute and as he speakes still in that place Nummum ipsum quem habes ab ipso habes The money which thou hast thou hast from him and therfore Non date sed reddite Not giue but pay not a gift but a debt which all Subiects owe to him Non damus sed reddimus quiequid ex officio cuiquam damus saith Beucer We doe not giue but pay that which of duty we owe Tributes Subsidies and Taskes c are not gifts but debts which of necessity they must and ought to pay Hoc Scripturae approbant hoc leges ciuiles communi gentium omnium consensu recipiunt saith Hiperius This doe the Scriptures allow of writing there of the payment of Tributes this doe the Ciuill Lawes with the common consent of all
vp Israel against Dauid and all Adoniahs that gape to take the kingdome from our Salomon all like them let them perish like them Then will all loyall subiects reioyce when they see the vengeance they shall wash their feet in the bloud of the wicked Let our feruent prayers be daily powred forth vnto God to defend him from all Traytors to reueale their plots and reuenge their purposes that they qui volunt occidere regem posse nolunt That they who would kill a King may neuer haue power to performe it that no danger may assault him no treachery may endanger him giue thine Angels charge O Lord to sentinell ouer him make his chamber like the tower of Dauid built for defence a thousand shields hang therein and all the targets of the strong men and his bed like Salomons threescore strong men round about it of the valiant men of Israel they all handle the sword and are expert in warre euery one hath his sword vpon his thigh for the feare by night that so no enemy may oppresse him nor the wicked approach to hurt him to destroy his foes before his face and plague them that hate him his seed long to endure and his daies as the daies of heauen So shall the Lord be gracious to his Seruant and mercifull to vs his people who continually pray God saue the King Corporally CHAP. X. 2. Spiritually GOD Saue the King Spiritually God euer keep him constant and couragious to maintaine the true profession of the Gospell and to labour to purge Gods Church of all superstition and to plant in it Gods true religion This is the first duety of Kingly seruice vnto God to cleanse his Church of all idolatry and superstition The good Kings Ezechias and Iosias were carefull in this behalfe Ezechiah when hee came to the Crowne of Iudah he tooke away the high places brake the Images and cut downe the groues and brake in peeces the brazen serpent c. that is rooted and raced out all Idolatry So Iosiah puts downe all Idols and Idolatrous Priests who defiled the Temple So Asa tooke the wicked Sodomites out of the land and deposed Maacha his Mother because shee had made an Idoll in a groue So Salomon installed in his kingdome built a Temple for seruice and worship of the Lord. It is the office of a King specially to take care to prouide that God may be religiouslie worshipped that his people may feare the Lord serue him in the trueth for the happinesse of King and Kingdome consists in the trueth of their religion For that nation and kingdome which will not serue the Lord shall perish and be vtterly destroyed saith the Prophet Esay Est boni Principis religionem ante omnia constituere saith Liuie It is the part of a good King first to establish true religion for that is the very fountaine and foundation of all felicity Beneficentia quae fit in cultum Dei maxima gratia That loue and care which is declared towards the true worship of God is most commendable for true religion is Cardo or Axis the very Pillar of all prosperity the soule of Tranquility the totall summe of true felicity Propter Ecclesiam in mundo durat mundus saith Luther Christs Church on earth is the cause of the continuance of this earthly world without the light of the Gospel Kings people liue in thraldome in the Egypt of wofull blindnesse it is but painted happinesse a vaine flourish nay a dangerous ship of state where God sits not at the sterne As all kingdomes stand luteis pedibus vpon clay feet so that Kingdome cannot stand at all which wants the foundation true religion It is the speech of an Heathen but may be the lesson of a Christian Religio vera est firmamentum reip c. True religion the foundation of a Common wealth and the chiefe care ought to be to plant the same So Dauid reioyces in nothing so much as in the Arke of God desirous rather to be a dore-keeper in Gods house then to rule in the tents of the vngodly Like to that good Emperor who gloried more to be membrum Ecclesiae then caput Imperij a member of Gods Church then an head of a great Empire Salomon begins well first in building an house for God knowing nothing can prosper without God Except the Lord keep the City the watchman watcheth but in vaine In vaine doe the Kings of the earth stand vp if they assemble against the Lord for then hee laughes them to scorne and shall haue them in derision Be wise now therefore O ye Kings serue the Lord in feare be wise in Diuine matters serue the Lord in feare for his feare is the beginning of wisedome to direct you to rule your selues and people in the seruice and worship of his holy name We read it recorded of Constantinus the Emperor that when he died he did much lament for three things which had happened in his reigne First the murther of Gallus his kinsman Secondly the liberty of Iulian the Apostate Thirdly the change and alteration of religion And surely there cannot be a greater cause of lamentation then an innouation or alteration of religion yea then a tolleration of a contrary religion It had beene a hard matter to haue had obtained a tolleration of such a thing as a Masse at Moses hands with a masse of money A godly Prince may not suffer any religion but the true religion in his Dominions and this we may proue by diuers reasons First the exercise of a false religion is directly against the honour and glory of God Ergo. Secondly consent in true religion is vinculum Ecclesiae the chayne and bond of Gods Church for there is but one faith therefore a difference and dissention in religion is a dissolution in Gods Church but no Prince ought to haue his hand in dissoluing Gods Church for Kings are nursing Fathers of the Church Thirdly it is the Princes duty to prouide for the safety of the bodies much more for the safety of the soules of his Subiects Now true religion is the foode but false the bane of soules and you know Qui non seruat periturum cum potest occidit He that doth not helpe one ready to perish being able to helpe kills him Fourthly the Angell of the Church of Pergamus is reprooued for hauing such in Pergamus as maintained the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicholaitans and the Church of Thiatyra reproued for suffering Iezabel to teach and deceiue Fiftly the Lords Altar and Baals Altar must not stand together Quae concordia Dei Belial No agreement twixt God and Belial Indeed the Papists haue beene very earnest to supplicate for a Tolleration for their corrupt religion and yet themselues neuer allow it The Pope neuer afforded such fauour to Protestants witnesse their
Inquisition Nay Bellarmine doth confesse that the Papists would not suffer any among them Qui ostendunt vllo signo etiam externo se fauere Lutheranis Who doe declare by any signe externall that they fauour the Lutherans but they doe mittere illos mature in locum suum send such quickly to their last home Read but Lencaeus the Louayne professor in his booke Devnica religione or Pamelius in his book De diuersis religionibus non admittendis Who both with might and maine dispute against Tollerations It was a great commendation in the Emperour Constantino who would not suffer Idolatry in any part of his Dominions as Eusebius writes of him And it was commendable in Amphilochius a Bishop who reproued Theodosius the Emperor that he so long winked at Arrius and suffered him to spread his pestilent heresie ouer the body of the Church and it was commended in the Emperor who was not angry with the words of iust reproofe but forthwith banished Arrius gaue him some part of his iust deserts But heerein we neede not seeke out forraine histories wee haue examples at home who neuer would yeeld to tollerate corrupt religion Edward the sixth a Prince most famous and vertuous was sollicited by Carolus the Emperour and his owne Counsellors to permit the Lady Mary to haue Masse in her owne house his resolution negatiue saying he would spend his life and all that he had rather then to agree and grant to that hee knew certainely to be against the truth The late Queene Elizabeth of blessed memory could neuer be perswaded to tollerate Popish Religion who after innumerable dangers and manifold persecutions with vnspeakeable courage notwithstanding many difficulties at home of Princes abroad and of the Diuell euerwhere professed to maintaine the truth of the Gospell and to deface Idolatry and superstition which with singular constancy shee continued all the dayes of her life And now this our great gracious Soueraigne followes the steps of those religious Princes not all the World can change his constant resolution in Christian Religion his eares and hearts abhorre their charmes who are Petitioners in this kind for the granting of such a request might much disquiet the Christian Church State and Gospell God euer keepe and blesse the King in this his holy and spirituall perseuerance in the truth of the Gospell make his heart like Mount Sion neuer to be remoued A King so constant in profession of the Gospell and so learned and profound in all spirituall knowledge that he is able to confute and conuince with sound arguments the enemies of the Gospell and thereupon it was as I take it that Suarez the Iesuit said That Learning did disparage the royall dignity because the Champions of Rome see that they are not able to incounter with his Highnes matchlesse knowledge And surely if learning grace any man it must be more gracious in a Monarch a Man of Men. What made Salomon so famous and so renowned but specially his wisdome and knowledge Iulius Caesar Constantine and Charles the Great Iustinian Leo Palaeologus Cantacuzaenus the Alphonsi and many more Sigismund the Emperor commended for playing the Deacon at the Councell of Constance Henry the eight writing for the seauen Sacraments whose Booke subscribed with his owne hands the Popish Priests glory to haue it in their Vatican The Cardinall of Millan thinkes it the highest commendation he could giue the late King of Spaine In eius regia dignitate vt verbo complectar sacerdotalem animum licet aspicere In his regall dignity to comprize all in a word wee may see his sacerdotall heart Iuuenal Haec opera atque hae sunt generosi Principis artes And in the sacred studies of diuine Learning our dread Soueraigne may carry the Palme and weare the royall Crowne who hath deliuered to the World better Principles of Theologicall knowledge out of his Chaire of State then the Mitered Pope did euer é Cathedra for a King to descend to the Preacher is a worke of piety as Salomon did I the Preacher haue beene King in Ierusalem but for the Priest to climbe into the Kings throne is to play the Popes part the part of Antichrist Our royall Soueraigne hath made it his last delight to delight in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth hee meditate day and night In which spiritual labour hee hath so profited himselfe and others that hee hath taken Princely paines to publish the truth of Christ and to proclaime to the Potentates of the world the errors of Antichrist So that all people haue cause to pray God saue the King spiritually That a diuine sentence may be in the lips of the King and his mouth shall not transgresse in iudgement who like the good Emperour Constantine labours to decide matters of Religion by the true rule of Gods word for so Constantine commanded the Bishops to order all points by the Booke of God which Booke he placed for the same purpose in the middest of them And euen so speaks our dread Soueraign whatsoeuer I find agree with the Scriptures I will gladly imbrace what is otherwise I wil with their reuerēce reiect godly golden words The Lord euermore blesse his body and soule spiritually and enlarge the great Talent of his Princely wisdome giuing him as great a measure of knowledge as was giuen to Salomon yea such riches treasures and honours as none had before him or after him and as his Maiesty hath taken manifold paines to reduce the Popish Sectaries out of their spirituall blindnesse that they who will not bee wakened out of their slumbers of ignorance by the voice of so royall and religious a sheapheard may be compelled by the Sword of Magistracy to depart out of Babylon or out of his Dominion But herein it becomes not me to giue counsell rather fall to prayer that the Lord whose cause it is would take the cause into his owne hand and stirre vp the hearts and hands of all Christian Kings to compell all people who will not be moued by the word of Gods Ministery to come out of Babylon might be forced by the sword of Magistracy to depart from her least they receiue of her plagues Qui phreneticum ligat lethargicum excitat ambobus molestus ambos amat saith Austen He that bindeth a franticke man and awakes him that hath the lethargy loueth both though he be greeuous to both And as the same Father in another place Quod autem vobis videtur inuitos ad veritatem non esse cogendos c. Whereas you thinke that men are not to bee compelled to the truth against their wils ye erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the Power of God which maketh those willing though they be compelled against their wils Goe into the high wayes and compell them to come in saith our Sauiour Christ whereupon Saint Austen saith Qui compellitur quô
in feeding Peter with his Angle caught a fish that had mony in the mouth so the Pope fishes more for money then for men and cannot abide to be like Peter or to succeed Peter when hee saith Siluer and gold haue I none Platos Common wealth Tullies Orator Moores Vtopia and Peters supremacy are alike The gouernement of Christs Church is rather Aristocraticall with many vnder one Christ then Monarchicall vnder one visible Head no Primacy of power or Iurisdiction among the Apostles if of order Petrus primus non primas for there was a parity of power among the Apostles yea as their Leo Electio pares labor similes finis facit aquales Their election makes them alike the labour alike the end equall or as Cyprian Pari consertie praediti honotis potestatis Like fellow ship honor and power But let vs suppose for impossibilities may bee supposed that Peter had a supremancy ouer the Apostles or more that Peter was Pope of Rome how comes this speciall priuiledge to the Pope They will answer by way of succession To which we reply that true succession standeth in holding the same true faith but the Pope departs from Peters doctrine Submit your selues vnto all manner of ordinance for the Lords sake whether it be vnto the King as vnto the Superiour c. Not onely Precept but President of Peter is disliked in paying tribute for Christ and himselfe But what if Peter was chiefe of the Apostles must hee therefore be aboue Kings and must his imagined successor be aboue Emperors But let vs fee how the Papists proue Papall succession of Peter in this imagined supremacy Canus doth confesse That it is not written in the Scriptures that the Pope succedeth Peter in the supremacy and Bellarmine acknowledges it in these words Licet Romanos Episcopos Petro succedere in sacris lobris non habeatur c. Although it be not written in the holy Scripture that the Romane Bishops succeed Peter yet wee haue it by Tradition from Peter The Rhemists and many other would yet prooue it by Scripture when as their chiefe Champion confesses it to be an vnwritten tradition But Caietane proues it another way The Pope succeedeth Peter in as much as he is Bishop of Rome and there Peter made his feate and died at Rome To proue this they alledge a sew humane stories subiect to error as themselues are and I thinke it being a matter of so great moment as they make it that all are damned vnlesse they obey their Pope as Saint Peters successor and by vertue of this succession beleeue his authority in matters concerning soule and conscience this life present and the future it had need to be proued by pregnant places out of Scripture and not by any fallible or doubtfull history But I would faine be resolued of this point by a schoole Papist If the Pope succeeded Peter immediately after Peters death who it was that succeeded him whether Linus or Cletus or Anacletus or Clemens it shall be in their choise to name the man Clemens Romanus an old new Father whom some say was the Popes owne childe writes in his Apostolicall Constitutions That Linus was the first Bishop of Rome made by S. Paul and that Clemens after the death of Linus was the second ordained by Peter If this relation be true the Pope sits not in the chaire of Peter but in the seate of Paul who appointed the first Pope Franciscus Turrianus in his Apologeticall annotations vpon the text of Clemens answereth that Linus was not Bishop of Rome but Suffragan or vicar generall executing it in S. Peters non-residencye So Marianus Sâ—otus in the life of Peter saith of Cletus contradicting the Romane Martyrology which makes Linus and Cletus both absolute Bishops of Rome and Baromius in his Annotations vpon their Martyrdomes and Ecclesiasticall Annals reckons thus Linus the first Cletus the second Clemens the bird Bishop of Rome after S. Peter the sameê° Baronius thinkes Cletus and Anacletus were all one but Bellarmine doth gainesay him others hold that Clemens was the fourth Pope after St. Peter some write hee was first some second some third some the fourth make the musicke in this mystery But Bellarmine labours to reduce these iarring fractions to a better harmony Indeed saith he Clemens by right was the first Pope but he suffered out of his humility Linus and Cletus to execute his office so long as they liued yet Damasus and Sophronius and Siâ—eon Metaphâ—â—stes affirme that Linus died before Peter heere the Cardinall contemnes these writers which elsewhere hee commends for learned and Catholike Authors In a worde let it be granted that Clemens suffered these his competitors to liue yet if three Popes were aliue at once who was the true successor of Peter whether Lord Cletus Lord Linus or Lord Clemens I would faine be resolued of this question by them who so eagerly maintaine the Pope to haue from S. Peter his succession surely they cannot assoile this demand who so vary among themselues and so stammer in their owne talke vncertain who was the first second third or fourth Pope of Rome that the Lord hath done to them which hee threatned to the Egyptians I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians so euery one shall fight against his brother and euery one against his neighbour city against city and kingdom against kingdome one against another and God and the truth against them all Thus I haue a little diuerted into this point of Peters pretended supremacy and the imagined succession of Popes after him whereupon this vsurped power ouer all the Pope principally challenges I know this matter hath bin largely handled by the choice Diuines of our Church and the Papists haue beene put to desperate and wofull shifts I did not purpose to be large in it onely but to touch it because our Lay-Papists haue a great fancy to it and doe beloeue any thing because they know little or nothing and according to Nazianzene the rude vulgar wonder at that they doe not vnderstand and thinke their learned Guides prooue this very authentically when as there is no point more weakely proued and wherein they themselues are more distracted And but that their popish tutors presume vpon their simplicity and ignorance they would be ashamed to argue thus to proue it as first Christ said Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke will I build my Church Ergo the Church is built vpon Peter and the Pope or againe The gates of Hell shall not preuaile against the Church Ergo Peter and the Pope are the Church against which the gates of hell shall not preuaile or I haue prayed for thee Peter that thy faith faile not Ergo the Pope cannot erre or Feede my sheepe Ergo Peter was the supreame head of the Apostles What a silly and simple kinde of arguing is this
the Ablatiue of grace A Bishop or Priest should be no striker or fighter no warrior no man of bloud no tutor to Traytors no teacher of rebellion to publish doctrine of King-killing Oh but will some Iesuite reply It is abhominable to kill a King marke their euasion or equiuocation but a King excommunicated or at least deposed by the Pope is no King no King in popery then if he command take him by the throat presently In hunc Tarba 〈◊〉 â—…sa They will haue some desperate Rauilliacke Chastell or Gerard to touch the Lords Annointed Iesuites will compasse Sea and land Sollicitando pollicendo as Simo chargeth Crito in the Comedie solliciting promising and perswading no obedience is to be giuen to Kings excommunicated or deposed as Parsons and Campian did after the Bull of Pius the fift and what followes Rebellion in the North. Haec Cornua quibus ventilabis Israel These are the hornes which proceed from Papall Bulles rebellion treason which if at any time it succeeds according to their expectation they triumph in it and say Hic digitus Dei est It was the Lords worke and as Salomon of the wicked They reioyce in doing euill imitating Dyonisius who after the robbing of a Temple finding the winde and weather fauourable to his shippes burst foorth into this hellish voice Ecce dij approbant sacrilegium Behold the gods approue of our sacriledge but let them know that at last though perchance too late they shall finde and confesse Nec surdum nec Tiresiam quenquam esse deorum God is not deafe or blinde he sees all sin Abhors all sinners who delight therein And therefore you of the Church of Rome who are or should be guides for the blinde iustructers of them who lacke discretion teachers of the vnlearned hate and abhorre your former doctrine the doctrine of Deuils in teaching disobedience to Gods Annointed or to be your selues actors authors or fautors of so abhominable practises as King-killing for know this Religion with bloud builded will be in bloud buried and that voice from heauen concerning this Babilon shall bee verified Reward her euen as she hath rewarded you and in the cup that she hath filled to you fill her the double For the Lord will condemne this great whore which corrupts the earth with her fornication and auenge the bloud of his seruants shedby her hand And you who style your selues Lay-Romane-Catholikes behold the persons plotters of this treason brought to a miserable confusion Consider ortum scelerum obitum sceleratorum the birth of their treason the death of these traytors God confounding both scelera sceleratos the actors and their actions Gods eyes are pure and abhorre such practises and likes not such who walke in the counsell of the vngodly for both the workes and the way of the wicked shall perish As for the final and eternall doom of the Iudge of quicke and dead vpon these dead Malefactors it belongs not to vs to search after it and say with Gregorie Diuina iudicia nesciuntur non audacisermone discutienda sunt sed formidoloso silentio veneranda Gods iudgements are vnknowne to vs and are not rashly to be spoken of but with fearefull silence to be reuerenced he will haue mercy vpon whom hee will haue mercy They that were apprehended satisfied Iustice on earth yet mixed with mercy so that for the persons I haue no more to say but end this in the Apostles wordes Now these are examples to vs to the intent wee should not lust after euill things as they lusted and are written to admonish vs to beware of sinne and aboue all such capitall and crying sins as these Sequitur Rebelles vltor à tergo Deus Gods plagues and punishments hang ouer Rebels heads Ex vitio alterius sapiens emendat suum and therefore let others harmes make all beware to flie from this sinne of treason as from a serpent CHAP. VIII 3. The Causes THE motiues or inducements which prouoked these Practisers and Conspirators to inuent this Tragedy was onely and meerely religion they were no bankerupt persons or discontented vpon occasion of any disgraces done vnto them for then it might haue seemed a worke of reuenge but it was onely as they confessed the cause of religion which moued them to this Treason A deplored and desperate religion which must stand for a stawking-horse to practise rebellion This colour of religion like the Fowlers glasse and feather serues to draw some within the reach and net of treason to lay snares to catch the children of God and bring them to destruction Grace vses no sword Faith no knife the Church no bloudy tooles Non mactando homines Christumque fidemque docere Ecclesia arma ara non laniena macelli The Church by force the faith did neuer plant Her Altar-prayers her Armes she shambles want But the Church of Rome vses these tooles when their prayers can doe no good they fall to weapons and would seeme to doe the Lords worke in the destroying of the Lords people farre better were it for them to follow the counsel of Elias to try themselues whether they be Baals Prophets or no to call vpon the name of their God to prepare a sacrifice and see if the Lord will send a fire from heauen as hee did for Elias to manifest the trueth of their cause and religion but their prayers are so bad inuocating dead Saints and adoring dumbe Images that though they cry like Baals Priests from morning vntill noone not a voice or word can they get from their woodden gods no fire from heauen then they will fetch fire from hell the hope of the plantation of their Romish religion shall be the ruine of an whole nation for Non stetisset nostra Troia si cecidisset noster Priamus for our Land could not haue stood happy if our Priamus Prince Peeres and Parliament had beene destroyed as they intended And indeed a long time these Pope-Catholike men haue vsed a pretence of religion by which goodly vizard they haue practised most horrible butchery cruelty and abhomination It is lamentable which is of late reported of Ferdinandus Mendoza a Spanish Catholike who with his cruell company in Westphalia spared neyther sexe nor age no not them which submitted themselues ripping vp womens bellies taking out their infants and hung them about their Mothers neckes compelled the men with long famine to eat their owne children with such brutish butchery as is abhominable And so the Pope when he sent his secular armes the Spaniards among the Indians vnder a faire errand to winne them to religion they vsed them in an heathenish yea hellish cruelty rosted them with fire worried them with dogs c. so that in forty yeares space they destroyed as some write fifteene millions of men that is 150 hundred thousand wasted and vnpeopled fiue times as
by the wicked were by the wisedome of our gratious God escaped and the wicked were snared in the worke of their owne hands A deliuery deseruing eternall Trophies of Triumphs to glorifie God with our prayers and praises with our lips and liues and neuer follow them of whom the Apostle who glorified not God neyther were they thankefull but may continually call vp our hearts to this duty and cry with the Psalmist Come and hearken all yee that feare God and I will tell you what hee hath done to my soule for he hath deliuered our soules from death and our feet from falling that we should walke before God in the land of the liuing Therefore praise our God yee people and make the voice of his praise bee heard and say with the children of Reuben Gad and Manasses God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord and turne this day away from the Lord c. And as the children of Israel after their returne from the captiuity in Babilon and hearing Ezra reade the Law the ioy of their soules Ezra praised the Lord the great God and all the people answered Amen Amen lifting vp their hands and bowing themselues worshipping the Lord with their faces towards the ground and Nehemiah with Ezra and the Leuites tels the people This day is holy vnto the Lord your God so let our English Israel deliuered from the intended bondage of Babilon hearken to their Ezraes in the Pulpit made for the preaching of Gods Law wherof they should haue beene depriued and with their Priests praise the Lord our great and good God answering Amen Amen bowing themselues in all humility at the footestoole of Gods Maiesty annually celebrating the fift day of Nouember with praises of thankesgiuing and saying This day is holy vnto the Lord our God This day shall be vnto vs a remembrance and wee will keep it an holy feast vnto the Lord throughout our generations we will keep it holy by an ordinance for euer to remember this maruellous worke of Englands deliuerance from the plotted powder-destruction to praise Gods holy name and glory in his praise singing and saying cheerefully with our tongues and deuoutly with our hearts Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for euer audeuer and let all the people say Amen Amen To the ternall and eternall glorious Godhead Father Sonne and holy Ghost one and the same God in nature and number indiuisible inuisible inuincible our sole and soueraigne protector and preseruer God ouer all blessed for euer be all praise power faith feare glory and maiesty yeelded by vs by ours and by all his redeemed for all his mercies in generall and for this speciall deliuerance in particular humbly heartily holily for euer and euer Amen Glory be to God in the high Heauens and peace on earth Luke 2. 14. FINIS A SHORT DISSVVASIVE FROM POPERY To all Lay-Papists who desire to be true seruants to their Sauiour or good Subiects to their Soueraigne 1. Kings 18. 21. How long halt yee betweene two opinions If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal be he then goe after him Tert. de resurr carn Aufer haereticis quae cum Ethnieis sapiunt vt de Scripturis solis quaestiones suas sistant stare non poterunt Hugo de Claustro anim lib. 1. Superstitio dicitur verae religioni superaddita falsa religioÌ„ Melancthon Ex malo dogmate malis moribus dignoscuntur lupi By SAMVEL GAREY a Preacher of Gods Word and a perpetuall petitioner to God for your happy conuersion to Gods holy Truth LONDON Printed by Iohn Beale for Henry Fether stone and Iohn Parker 1618. To the Right VVorshipfull Sir Philip Kniâ—et Baronet and his worthy Lady The Spirit of Grace Truth and Wisedome be multiplied Right VVorshipfull I Am bold vpon experienced acquaintance with your generous qualities and gentle fauours towards me to send this vnworthy Treatise to your worthy viewe I know whose iudgement it must passe yet am fearelesse not in a grosse stupidity of mine owne weakenesse but in an hopefull presumption of your vsuall Gentlenesse a disposition euen naturalized in your courteous breasts whereof I acknowledge with gratefulnesse the acceptable fruites of your long and large loue towards me and for which I euer rest your thankefull friend and ingaged debtor in part of requitall whereof I haue presumed to offer to you this Handfull of my duty and hearty loue towards you and vnder your worthy name to send it to the world that they who are bettered by it may thanke you for it A short Disswasiue from Popery necessary for these Times wherein you may behold in part some points of the corrupt Doctrine of the Romish Church which is the common Mother of corruption superstition For that Church must needes be a Chappell of errors which enlarge the sacred Canon with Apochryphalls diminish the authority of the Scripture with Traditions ouerthrow the Originall with Translations peruert the Text with Glosses as the Romish Church doth Yea to maintaine her errors she conceales the light of Truth the Scripture from Lay people vnder the curtaine of the Latin language and euen in the Schooles among the learned she is put to poore shifts often forced to conclude arguments out of meere Allegories lame Similitudes fained miracles naked names of Fathers hired Testimonies of Schoolemen and other deboshed vassailes and proctors of the Romane Court who with all artificiall pollicy labour to adorne the Romane Harlot with painted trimmings whereby the vnwary young age of many more credulous then iudicious is deceiued and deluded The whole subiect of our former worke well perused and indifferently weighed doth giue good light looking vpon her corrupt precepts and cursed practises to discouer that smooky Kingdome of Antichrist but perchance you may say to me with Seneca Quidme torques lacer as in quaestâ—…bus Subtilius est contempsisse quam 〈◊〉 Why doe you trouble me with such questions it is more subtilty to contemne them then to confute them Worthy Sir it shall not be I hope labour lost if to your priuate contemplations you shall adioyne these short and sacred speculations specially penned for your seruice and published for the beâ—…e of all who are willing to open their eyes to walke in Truth I giue all but a small kind of taste in these points of Popish fragments if any mans appetite long for it I dare promise him heereafter more full dishes The Lord giue vnto you a Christian care in the profession of the Truth which with a sincere heart I haue preached vnto you and perfit your first Progresse in the grace of God to the holy Sanctification and happy Saluation of your bodies and soules for euer For which mercy and grace to be bestowed on you I shall euer vnfainedly pray to God and rest Your Worshipes poore Orator in Christ Samuel Garey A SHORT DISSVVAsiue to all Lay-papists who desire
held Deum ex humanis membris consistere God did consist of humane members then how abominable is it to worship God vnder the shape of an Image and ascribe the same honor to the Image as they doe to the samplar God as they say by it representedâ— So that to such God will say as the Prophet speakes Confounded be all they that serue grauen images or that glory in Idolles and as Esay I am the Lord this is my name and my glory will I not giue to an other neither my praise to grauen Images And I wonder that any should be so bewitched as to delight in Images historicall vsel deny not but all spirituall vse is fornication and abomination but more to creepe and croutch to them the visible obiects of dust or dirt to bowe to the stocke of a Tree as the Prophet speakes this is the basest thing that almost the Sunne euer sawe vnworthy of man whose knee should bow to his Maker and not to the stocke that he hath made himselfe how odious is the seruice and sacrifice of such creeping and croutching Idoll-suppliants in the Lords sight he will cast the dung vpon their owne faces euen the dung of their solemne feasts such fordide seruice such prophane and heathenish sacrifice which stinckes in his nostrills and say I neuer required this woodden worship at your hands I neuer commanded you to buy these Bookes which you say shall put you in remembrance of me but you that cannot remember me without the sight of an Image on earth I will forget you and shall neuer haue a sight of my Image in heauen Thus hauing spoken a little yet enough to satisfie a temperate and ingenuous Reader to behold the corruptions of Popery in the forepassed points I will come to our next promised part Popes pardons wherein I wil be more briefe because they are called by them Bullae Bulls or Indulgences rather bubbles something in appearance empty in the substance of proofe or profit Fourthly Popes pardons Their Cardinall Allen in his defence of Popes pardons saith that to impugne the power of pardons is to ouerthrow the greatest matters which life and Faith doe stand vpon and saith that Luther except one Witclife condemned in the Councell of Constance was the first that contradicted them from which point did begin the toyle and tragedy of these times wherein the Cardinall speakes not 〈◊〉 Cathedra for the Waldenses long before Witclife and Bohemians before Luther did contemne and condemne this vsurped power of popish pardons wherein the pith of popery is inclosed Indeede when it pleased the Lord to open Luthers eyes to see the truth he began first to finde fault with the base inundation of picke-purse pardons though as hee saith then he did but fight in the darke for when Pope Leo the tenth had sent abroad his pardons which were preached by Terelius a Dominicke Frier ' Luther admonished the people of the abuses and deceits of the pardons and pardoners which long before his time had beene reproued in the Councels of Lateran and Vienna and complained to the Archbishop of Mentz to the Bishop of Brandenburg to the Prouinciall of the Augustine Friers and to the Pope himselfe and Surius the Papist confesses that he did iustly complaine and afterward compelled by intollerable iniuries and neglect of manifest truth and reformation cast off the seruile yoake and vassalage of Antichristian captiuity These Pardons haue no ground in holy Scripture or Primitiue Church or Fathers of the Church for a thousand yeares after Christ but are indeede the impostures of this last age delusions of Sathan and the temptations to Epicurisme and all vice when as such pardons for all kinde of sinnes are proffered and prostrated to all such as can prouide money for them For the Court of Rome hath an order containing the price to be paid for all kinde of sins as murther incest parricide sodomy sacriledge c. and they that would see the particular summes of money for all kinde of sinnes and offences and what their pardon will cost in the Court of Rome for all capitall and horrible faults let them read Musculus common places in the title of the Ministers of the worde of God towards the end Some of their writers confesse De Indulgentijs nihil habemus nec in Scripturis nec ex dictis antiquarum doctorum we haue nothing of pardons neyther in the Scriptures nor in the ancient Doctors their Gregory of Valence saith that Gratian Lombard who liued not aboue 400. yeares agoe Nihil de indulgentis â—…nisse haue recorded nothing of Indulgences And the same Iesuite saith Erant Catholici quidam ante Lutherum quorum opinionem Thomas refent qui indulgentias pias fraudes esse duxerunt There were certaine Catholickes before Luther whose opinion Thomas recites who accounted these indulgences holy fraud rather lenocinia diaboli the enticing impiety of the Deuil and the whore to be so indulgent to their sons as rather to cocker then correct them for their sinnes So Pope Boniface the 8 the first inuenter of Iubily pardons grants Non solumplenam largiorem immo plenissimam omniâ—m suorum veniam peccatorum Not onely a full and large pardon but a most full pardon of all their sinnes and to giue pardon for many hundred yeares to come and that for doing a very small seruice as Pope Gregory who made a prayer about the length of a Creede which whosoeuer shall say deuoutly shall receiue fiue hundred yeares of pardon quicke worke yet prouided that at the end of euery verse he say a Pater noster and an Aue. Sometimes pardons for dayes as Pope Innocent the sixt to them who say a short prayer about the scantling of an Aue hee shall obtaine pardon for twenty thousand daies Pope Iohn the two and twentieth giues to them who say a short prayer three thousand daies of pardon of mortall sinnes and twenty thousand daies of venials and if that prayer too long or pardon too short let him say fiue Pater nosters before the Vernacle and hee shall haue ten thousand daies pardon by that Pope Gregorie the third giues a pardon to them that shall say a prayer as long as three Aues and kneele before a Crucifice for sixe thousand sixe hundred threescore and sixe daies iust so many daies as Christ had wounds on his body as some say saue that our Lord appeared to S. Briget at Rome and told her that his wounds were but fiue thousand foure hundred and fourescore or as others tell it fiue thousand foure hundred fourescore and ten excepting the prickes of his crowne which were threescore and twelue But some other Popes haue beene more liberall in the grant of these pardons Pope Sixtus the fourth graunted to them who say a prayer of his making which hath not aboue fiue and forty words forty thousand yeares of pardon Read a Bull of
of the Land who are the eyes and eares of this politicke Body who well know Scita patrum leges iura fidemque deosque To you I may dedicate and appropriate these our labours whose places and paines serue to this purpose to serue the King and Countrey and to helpe to preserue the welfare of the King and Kingdome Your publike paines and priuate prayers speake to the World these words God saue the King You are sworne to this seruice and sweat in it neuer more Malefactors in this kind and as Paul tels Timothy In the last dayes shall come perillous times for men shall be Traytors heady high-minded c. You know the Nilus where these Crocodils are bred and fed vse all good diligence to catch them spread your nets not Vulpina retia Foxes nets but Regni retia The Lawes of the Land if you can take them you shall doe God and the King good seruices Spare none of this kind who dare lift vp their hand against the Lords Annointed for they are worthy to die Bonis nocet qui malis parcit He hurts the good which spares the bad yea in all your loyall and legall seruice let neither feare or fauour flattery or bribery blind your eyes or deafe your eares remembring that you exercise not the iudgement of man but of God and thinke vpon this verse in your Iudgement seate Hic locus odit amat punit conseruat honorat Nequitiam pacem crimina iura bonos Farre bee that leprosie from the Iudges of our Land which so corrupted them in Ciceros dayes that he could say His iudicijs quae nunc sunt pecuniosum hominem non posse damnari In these iudgements which are now a monied man cannot be condemned But bribery foules not your hands who to corrupting Simons say with Symon Peter Thy money perish with thee Neither let any of Agesilaus letters moue you who writ to a Iudge for his fauourite in this stile Si causa bona pro iustitia sin mala pro amicitia absolue If his cause be good dismisse him for Iustice sake if bad for friendship sake Let Iustice be vnpartially executed yet tempered with lawfull pitty thinke vpon that Christian caueat Duo sunt nomina peccator homo quod peccator corripe quod homo miserere These are two names an offender a man as an offender punish him as a man pitty him be not too seuere with Draco Ne superet medicina modum Least the medicine exceed the malady nor too remisse with lenity for that is a kind of cruelty Tam omnibus ignoscere crudelitas quam nulli saith Seneca To pardon all is cruelty as well as to pardon none But Sus mineruam You know best to keepe the meane and Medium tenuere beati So shall you performe laudable seruice to God King and Countrey if you execute Iustice punish disobedience which is the falling sicknesse of a corrupt Common-wealth Command all to giue * Caesar his due represse all his enemies by force of lawes and cut them off with the sword of Iustice that their exemplary punishments may terrifie all others from such attempts and bee like monitors and remembrancers to all people crying Discite iustitiam moniti non temnere diuos Virg. Let others harmes admonish thee and learn not to despise these supreame powers for which offence so many Traytors dies Seauenthly to the Common-wealth Last of all to you the inferior yet sound members of the supreame Head the natiue and nationall children of our common Mother whom I may fitly compare to the hands and legges of this politicke body to fight and stand strongly for the defence and welfare of our King and Kingdome To you I hope this little Booke will be welcome and therefore say to you as the Angell said to Iohn Take this little Booke and eate it and if you be good Subiects it will be sweet in your mouthes and not bitter in your bellies for you cannot be true Christians vnlesse you be true Caesarians there is no true Religion in that heart which entertaines a motion to rebellion it is a rotten member that will not be obedient to the regall Maiestie And consider with your selues the happy blessings you enioy by the mercifull prouidence of God in giuing to this Realme so godly and gracious a Soueraigne to reigne ouer you and it will make you cry forth with the Psalmist Saluation belongeth vnto the Lord and his blessing is vpon the people O Lord how fauourable hast thou beene vnto our Land in placing ouer vs so religious and renowned a King so absolute and compleate a Prince in wisdome learning and religion and it will stirre vp all thankefull hearts to say with the Psalmist Let the people praise thee O God yea let all the people praise thee Sing prayses to God sing prayses sing prayses vnto our King for hee hath chosen our inheritance for vs euen the glory of Iacob whom he loued If we be not truly thankefull for so great benefits it may be truly verified of vs which was said of Canaan Bona terra sed gens mala A good Land but in it there be bad people O vnthankefull and vngratefull Britaines if euer you forget so great blessings Vae vobis propter ingratitudinem Woe be vnto you for your ingratitude Ingrata patria Vngratefull Countrey it is an infamous name odious to nature and Nations Gratiarum actio est ad plus dandum inuitatio Giuing of God thankes for fauours receiued is a kind of supplication and inuitation to obtaine more The Anatomists tell vs that euery creature hath foure muscles about the eyes but a man fiue foure serue to turne about the eyes the fifth serues to lift vp the eye and looke vpward to Heauen Man should not with other brutish creatures looke altogether vpon the earth but lift vp his eyes hands and heart to Heauen to giue God due and true thankes for his daily and fatherly fauours and mercies bestowed vpon him The Oxe knowes his Owner and the Asse his Masters Crib yea the Riuers are tributary to the Sea from whence some say they first come and againe returne All Creatures seeme in their kind to be gratefull debtors to their curteous Benefactors except the Swine whose mast makes him forget the tree from whence the Acornes fall or the Moon which being at the full by interposition of the earth darkens the Sunne from whence yet shee borrowes all her light It was Israels sinne vnthankefulnesse I pray God it be not Englands sicknesse vngratefulnesse to God Woe vnto vs if we scant God of our fruits who hath not scanted vs of his fauours Bring presents to the King of glory giue vnto the Lord glory due vnto his Name worship the Lord in his glorious sanctuary Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy Name giue the glory for thy louing mercy and for