The Height of Israels Heathenish Idolatry, Section 2 · Chapter 10
CHAP. X. Satans policies in himſelfe and by his Inſtruments the Popiſh ſort, for the killing the bodies of the Saints.
2. Popiſh plots and policies for the effecting of their ſecond end. Namely, For the killing the bodies of the Saints.LEt vsus now in the next place ſee if we cannot alſo finde like deuilliſh ſleights and policies vſed for and in the killing of the bodies of the Saints. Satan, to animate the Heathen to the voluntary murthering and killing themſelues & children in ſacrifice to him, wanted not his tricks of deceit and deluſion, his religious pretext of moſt acceptable ſeruice, when our deareſt things are not ſpared for Gods ſake, his plauſible perſwaſions, as of a thing moſt reaſonable, viz. that man who ſinneth, ſhould alſo by his bloud expiate ſinne, eſpecially the innocent (as are children) die for the nocent,In the 3. Sect. and the like, of which more hereafter. In like manner we may now finde him, by his inſtruments, plotting and politiquely practiſing the death of Gods deareſt ſeruants on earth. I doe not ſpeake of that Popiſh bewitching the minds of their owne, whereby men are perſwaded and made willing to vndergoe an imaginarie and falſe martyrdome; but of thoſe pretences, grounds, colours and deuices, which are vſed by them for the animating of others to attempt and practiſe the murthering of Chriſts harmeleſſe ſheepe. Our Sauiour hath foretold vsus, that whoſoeuer killeth his ſeruants, Ioh. 16.2.will thinke that he doth God ſeruice. So now the time indeed is come, when the doctrine and practiſe of killing Gods Saints, eſpecially of Chriſtian Kings, is made paſſable and approued, vnderunder pretence of pleaſing God. All now is ſhrouded vnderunder the habit of Catholike zeale, and the Catholike cauſe, Let vsus in particular ſee vponupon what grounds and pretences they goe, and by what degrees they proceed.
Firſt, they hauehave learned one point of policie, of old practiſed by others. Pharaoh king of Aegypt (who knew not Ioſeph nor Gods people and children with him) ſeeing the Children of Iſrael to increaſe abundantly, and fearing herevpon the weakning of his kingdome, called a Conuocation, and ſaid to his people, Come on,Exod. 1.10 1….22. let vsus deale wiſely with them, leſt they multiply, &c. Hereupon, when hard taskes could not keepe them vnderunder, hee commanded the Hebrew midwiues to kill all the males as ſoone as they were borne, and (that not taking effect) his owne people to caſt them into the riuer and drowne them. Now this was a Deuilliſh Policy, and fit for him to practiſe who is a deuouring Dragon, which accordingly he did: for fearing what now hee feeles, namely, the weakning of his kingdome by the birth of Chriſt,Reuel. 12.2. He ſtood before the woman which was ready to be deliuered, for to deuoure her childe as ſoone as it was borne. Mat. 2.13.16.Euen ſo did Herod ſeeke to deſtroy and kill our Sauiour ſo ſoone as hee was borne, whoſe Kingdome he imagined would be contrary to his, and conſequently ruinate it. The very ſame, the Iewes (his owne people to whom he came) afterward went about, and alſo practiſed vponupon like ground. For they being inraged againſt our Sauiour Chriſt, ſought by all meanes to kill him, yet ſome pretence (to ſatisfie the people) they muſt hauehave, (which yet was a true ground in them.) It was this: they ſeeing what miracles he did, and that hereupon many beleeued in him, the high Prieſts and Phariſies gathered a Councell, and ſaid,Iohn 11.47.48. If wee let him thus alone, all men will beleeue on him, and the Romanes ſhall come and take away both our place and nation. They therefore thought, if Ieſus liued their kingdome could not ſtand, and hereupon they ſought meanes to kill him.
This leſſon is taken out by Antichriſt and his members, who in like manner goe about to vphold and eſtabliſh their kingdome by ſhedding the innocent bloud of Proteſtants, of the members of Chriſt,Nolite tangere Chriſtos meo…. Pſal. 105.15. eſpecially of Kings and Princes, of whom God hath ſaid, Touch not mine annointed, and doe my Prophets no harme. Their ground is, they know that their kingdome of Antichriſt and the Kingdome of Chriſt cannot ſtand together. If then the life of any Chriſtian King, though in profeſſion not a Proteſtant, but onelyonly a remiſſe Catholike, as Henry 3. of France; or a ſuppoſed Proteſtant in heart, as Henry 4. (whom both within few yeares they therefore hauehave murthered;) or yet if the life of any zealous Proteſtant ſhall be iudged to be any hinderance to the ſpirituall good, or to the proceedings of the Romane Church, there is then cauſe ſufficient with them, to rid him out of the way: and it is warrant enough to any bloudy practiſer whoſoeuer; for ſo he helpes to ſeate and ſettle the Pope in his throne.
Secondly, to backe this, and to giuegive encouragement to vnnaturall and bloudy attempters, behold another couſenage and deluſion. They make this practiſe a thing highly meritorious; ſo that now the trampling downe and treading vponupon the backes of Emperors and Kings, is not onelyonly made a ſtep and footſtoole whereby the Popes of Rome mount and aſcend vponupon the back of that Scarlet-coloured Beaſt, the ſeat and ſea of Rome, but alſo vſed as a ladder, whereby baſe and deſperate ſpirits, who dare but attempt ſuch villanies, are thought to aſcend to heauen it ſelfe. For now to murther Kings is the next way to be canonized for Saints in heauen, and to receiue the glorious Crowne of Martyrdome. And thus, among others, is Garnet, one of our Powder-traytors, both made a ſaint and prayed to.
Lactant. Jnſtit. lib. 1. cap. 18.Lactantius an ancient Father, tels vsus of ſome, who by cruelty and ſlaughter thought they not onelyonly merited a place in heauen,Si fas caedendo coeleſtiaſcandere cuiquam eſt, Mi ſoli, coeli maxima porta patet. but euen to be gods in heauen. Hereupon he alledgeth out of Ennius, the ſpeech of Scipio Africanus, famous for his great ſlaughters of men, who thought, ſaid, and aſſured himſelfe, that if men were admitted to heauen for their ſlaughters, the greateſt gate of heauen ſhould be ſet open for him. No maruell then if blinded Papiſts vponupon hope of ſo great reward as heauen it ſelfe, ſtriue to put ſuch practiſes in execution, ſeeing they hauehave no better meanes of their owne to come thither.
Thirdly, men thus once heartned and hardened, ſee vnderunder what colours and pretences they vſe to put in practiſe their intended villanies. Iudas betrayed his maſter with a kiſſe, and ſo did Ioab Abner. Herod intending and ſeeking to deſtroy Chriſt, yet that he might the better know where he was, and ſo kill him, he pretended to worſhip him. So theſe men often by like ſhewes of louelove and friendſhip gaine the aduantage of practiſing their plots.Sleidan. c…nte…t. Thus Alphonſus Diazius, a Spaniard, but a wicked diſſembling Papiſt, after ſhew made of his diſtaſte of Romiſh ſuperſtition, by a friendly and brotherly letter ſent to his naturall brother Iohannes Diazius a zealous Proteſtant, he got the opportunitie to hauehave his brother moſt barbarouſly murthered early in the morning in his chamber, hauing on him onelyonly his ſhirt and nightcap, by the villaine who carried the letter. Thus was that bloudy Maſſacre in France of 30000. Proteſtants, practiſed vnderunder pretence of friendſhip,Anno 1572. being ſhadowed by the mariage of the Kings ſiſter to a Chriſtian Prince, Henry 4. one who was conceiued in heart to fauour the Proteſtants. Nay, holy places, holy actions, holy things, are by them prophaned, and muſt be made acceſſory to their villanies. Thus Pope Gregory 7. hired one to hauehave brained the Emperour Henry 4. with a ſtone in the Church, but the miſchiefe was preuented by the breaking of the beame, and falling both of the ſtone and of the murtherer. And Clemens 5. poyſoned Henry 7. Count of Lucelburge, then Emperour, in and by a conſecrated Hoſt. And vnderunder pretence of a promiſe ſolemnly made by the Emperour Sigiſmund, was Iohn Hus put to death, who vponupon that faithfull, or rather faithleſſe promiſe made, was imboldned to goe to their Councell vnderunder the ſafe conduct of the Emperour, but contrary thereunto he neuer returned. And this is according to their new doctrine, that promiſes made to Hereticks, as they call vsus, are not to be kept. So that our complaint may iuſtly be as Dauids once was,Pſalm. 12.1. Tides exulat… regnat fra…s. The faithfull faile from among the children of men,— with flattering lips and with a double heart doe they ſpeake. Such conqueſts though they ſeeme aduantageous to Papiſts, yet the manner thereof (beſides the hainouſneſſe of the crime it ſelfe) brands them with a perpetuall note of periury and reproach.… ſuperâ ſe iuvat, ſi ſuper…ſſe pude…. Al…. Emblem. 123.
Fourtly, ſee one fetch more whereby Hereticks may be finely fetcht ouer the coales, and brought to the ſtake. For when they can find no true and iuſt cauſe againſt vsus, which yet they ſeeke as did the chiefe Prieſts and Scribes againſt our Sauiour,Luk. 20.1…, 20, 21, 22, 23 (who watching him an euill turne, craftily ſent forth ſpies, which ſhould faine themſelues iuſt men, that they might take hold of his words, that ſo they might deliuer him vntounto the power and authoritie of the Gouernour) they then betake themſelues to another courſe, much like to that which wicked Ieſabel tooke with Naboth who would not part with his Vineyard and inheritance to Ahab: ſhe writes letters in Ahabs name, and ſeales them with his ſeale, which ſhe ſent to the Elders and Nobles that were in the Citie dwelling with Naboth, commanding them to proclaime a faſt, to ſet Naboth on high among the people, and to ſet two wicked men,… King. … …. falſe and ſuborned witneſſes, to charge him with blaſpheming both God and the King, and ſo to carry him out and ſtone him that he may die. Which was accordingly done. Or the tricke is the ſame that to like purpoſe was put vponupon the Prophet Daniel, Dan. ….4. &c.who being preferred aboue all the Rulers and Gouernours in the ſpacious kingdome of Darius, was hereupon enuied and maligned by theſe Rulers, who ſeeking an occaſion againſt him concerning the kingdome,foreign. Arieſt. Rhet. lib. 1. and finding none, they made a decree, and got the Kings ſeale to it, that whoſoeuer ſhould aske a petition of any God or man for 30. dayes, ſaue of King Darius, ſhould be caſt into the Lions den. Thus good Daniel, continuing for all that, his wonted practiſe of praying three times a day to his God, was fetcht in and caſt to the Lions, though God miraculouſly deliuered him. The like conſultation in effect, and vponupon like grounds of enuy, is made by Papiſts againſt vsus Proteſtants, in whom, when with Feſtus, Act. 25.25.they can finde nothing worthy of death that we hauehave committed, as liuing according to the lawes of Chriſt, Come, ſay they, let vsus gather a Councell at Trent, and make new Conſtitutions, let vsus adde twelue moe Articles to the Chriſtian Faith, and whoſoeuer will not ſubſcribe to them with vsus, let him be accounted an hereticke, let him be accurſed, let him be burned, as a rebellious perſon to the Triple Crowne, and as a diſobedient ſonne to his Mother the Church. And here indeed they hauehave vsus at aduantage; for we, ſtill perſiſting to obey God more then man, are therefore accounted and accuſed for hereticks, and ſo, when they hauehave power, they hauehave alſo their wils on vsus, and yet goe ſmoothly away with it.
Theſe are their deuilliſh policies and plots againſt vsus, by which they may be knowne whoſe children they are. For if where Antipas was ſlaine, there, and in that regard,Reuel 2.1… Satan reigned, we may likewiſe conclude, that where the Saints are killed, which is in and vnderunder the preſent Romane tyrannie, there is Satans throne.