A Looking Glass for Princes and Peoples Delivered, Book 2 · Part 3 – Part 4
The third part of the Treatise, concerning their crooked courses to vphold this Vsurpation.
CHAP. XIII. And first of their Professions institute to defend it.
FOr vpholding their Vsurpation they vse foure speciall things: First Professions for defending it. Secondlie, Recrimination, charging vsus with their owne crimes, Thirdlie, Tergiversation, in contesting. Fourthlie. Ludification of Kings. For the first, Sathan knew this Monster could not subsist alone, and that truth could never countenance errour; therefore as hee begot it on mans fleshlie wisedome, hee sette that same wisedome to foster it when it was brought foorth; and so according to the severall times, made that Antichristian Church to erect such professions as could best maintaine it. These are Schoole-men, Canonists: Casuists: The Hypocrisie of Orders: And lastlie the Iesuits.
The first are Schoole-men, a sort of Theologues slavishlie addicted to the Pope: For after that darknesse had covered1. Schoolemen. the Church, and a new light of learning seemed to breake vp, it was worse than the former darknesse, as Errour and Heresie are worse than simple ignorance or a a man after long sicknesse changed from a light fever to a frensie. It is true, they hauehave some good thinges, as distinct Notions; exact distinctions and words though rude, yet verie significant; but it is as sure they spilt Divinitie, and turned it in Philosophie; and like Nadab and Abihu brought vnkouth fire in the Sanctuarie In divine thinges they disdained either to thinke or speake with Scripture aOs consecratum est Evangelio, & nihil crepat ni si Averroem, vel Aristotele Erasm Annot …. Tim. 1and made their mouth consecrate to the Gospel, to sound nothing but Averroes, and Aristotle, as Erasmus wiselie marketh. And Canus bPlerique ab Aristotele non aliter pen dent atque ab oraculo. Ca nus l. 10. c. 5.followeth his steppes. Marie now depend on Aristotle no lesse, than on a divine Oracle—And we hauehave heard of some Italians, who spend as much time on Aristotle and Averroes, as others doe on Scriptures, and trust them as much as the Apostles and Evangelists. They inquired all things curious…ie, and determined boldlie, affecting more to close with the Philosophers words than with Christ, and that with endlesse …angling: For quo plus est eiusmodi questiuncularum, hoc plus etiam subscatet Erasm. vbi supra.—Etiamsi millies mille milla produxeris. The more petit questions they made, the more questions ever grew, whereof though a thousād times a thousand thousand were determined yet moe were behind. They made Divinitie like cornered Spectacles, through which one thing seemeth to be fourtie or thirtie according to the number of the corners, so that a man putting his hand to take vp that one thing, knew not how to finde it among so many speces. So the(c) Verum est vnum falsum vero multifidum Nazian truth that is in everie thing, but one indivisible point was lost amongst so manie Questions. dNon sine manifesta suspicione adu lationis. Eras. vbi supra.Their maine end was to hold vp the Pope in his tyrannie, and that by base flatterie eI am verò de Rom. Pont, potestate &c. Eras vbi supra Bellar. contra Barcla…ū p. 27They disputed more of his power, than of the power of God; and questioned, if hee had a two-fold power, and if hee might abrogate that which was decreede by the Apostles: If hee might coyne a new Article of faith. If hee had a greater power than Peter, or equall. If he might command the Angels. fHominem acerrimum op pressum fuisse suae civitatis consuetudine, ac legibus. Civit. l. 6. c. 2&c. The Pope was their god, the current oppinions of the time was their rule: And naturall reason and Philosophie was their grounds. Hee had them at hand, to turne his fact into a right, and to determine all questions in his favour: And these seventie Divines re…koned out by Bellarmine, were all of that sort, and defenders of this Vsurpation. Wee may say of them all, as Augustine did of Verro, that these quicke and skilled men were oppressed by the custome and Lawes of their owne Citie, in so far as beeing preoccupyed by an evill time, they went the way of the common errour, and though they would father their fashion on Augustines disputs, speciallie against the Priscillianists, yet it is nothing like: For every where hee presseth Scripture: But they disdaine it as triviall, and delight rather to say, At contra Philosophus, than contra Christus.
They were not all alike, but time brought out three distinct Classes of Schoole-men▪ The first like Lombard had s…me Scripture: The second had lesse Scripture, and more Philosophie: The third was worst, that neglected Scripture, and had nothing but a masse of Philosophie and humane Possevin Ap p…rat. C. Mar Victor. Possev. Ibid. Bonaventura.subtilities; They could not hauehave sound Divinitie who (as Possevine witnesseth of Marius Victorinus) were whollie taken vp in profaine lear…ing, and ignorant of Scriptures: And if any of them ioyned knowledge with affection, and turned Theorie to Pietie, as Bonaventura did he was contemned of the rest, albeit Gersome, Trithemius, and others call him a most compleete Divine. But notwithstanding these differences, they went all one way to Bin. Tom. 1. pag. 239.maintaine the Popes tyrannie. The most of their businesse was as Constantine speaketh of Arius inanis dissoluti otij certatio. The vaine iangling of dissolute idlenesse. But all their worke is the building of Babel; they hurt Rome more in their doctrine, than they helpe their government, for scarcelie is there any point controverted, wherein they plead not for vsus.
The second sort of defenders are Canonists, and these2 Canonists. more shamelesse flatterers of the Pope than Schoolemen: They made Lawes of their owne, and wrested all to the wrong end: As a Tyrant when he hath oppressed a Kingdome, abrogateth the auncient lawes, and makes lawes for his[b] Machiavel. Princeps. cap. 6. owne behoue to approue his tyrannie, and secure his possession, (a) So did the Pope by his Canon Law: they gaue it a proud name, as though it were a ruling Law: Their Catholicke faith is Romane heresie, and their Canon Law a Romane rule. So long as they lived Ecclesiasticklie, Gods word sufficed them for a rule of Faith and manners, and the Canons of Councels for government: But when they turned Monarchs, they would hauehave Traditions and Schoole-divinitie for a rule of Faith, and a Canon Law for Governement, So Lancelotus aLibris … ris Pont diligenter intuentibus, facile apparebit eos ad quandam imitationem, &c. Lancel. Inst. …ur. Can. proem.confesseth, That it is made to the imitation of the civill Law; for as the one dependeth on the authoritie of the Emperour, so the other on the authoritie of the Pope. Few things they hauehave from Scripture, moe from Fathers, and more yet from Councels, but most of all from the Popes owne Letters.
After many compylers, as Cresconius, Isidore, Hincmarus, Ivo, Burchardus, and others whereof their Analist bBaron a…. … 6 5. n. 4. 5. 6writteth at length. Gratian put foorth his Decretum; thereafter came the Decretals farre worse for these wings put to his Decretum, caried them downeward to an earthlie Monarchie. But the Clementines, are cruell, and the Extravagants are extravagant indeede, and lay the grounds and processe of a bloodie inquisition. cFrancis. Peg. disp. de aut. extr….And lastlie, the seventh of the Decretals dConstit. Pontif. edit. a Petro Math.is worst of all. Gratians Decreit, pointed at his Monarchie as a thing that must bee: The Decritalls vrge it as a thing must bee: But this last setteth it out with an absolute power. But what ever their Lawes beare in their sense; they can turne and expone all to the Popes behoue. Even as Martinus the Iurist, who for to please Fridericke the Emperour,Radiu. de gest. Fred. declared that by Law, all the goods of the Insubrians pertained to him in propertie, and therefore got his palfrey. So the Canonists expone all Lawes for the Popes end, and put all vnderunder his foote, and so they get Benefices. They follow the Schoole-men in their confusion, and their resolutions agree as well as Clockes in a Citie.
The third sort of defenders are Casuists: Conscience is 3 Casuists.the most authoritatiue power and act in man, and therefore must bee taken in for their defence. The Pope saw that mens minds might bee possessed with Schoole-divinitie, and with the Canonists in the outward iudicatory, there la…ked onelie the captivating of their Consciences in foro interiori; therefore the Casuits were erected. They run the same way with their Brethrē to maintaine the popes vsurpation, but with a more presse straine, giving him power to bind & loose in Heaven, Earth, & Purgatorie what hee will: They make people so plyable by superstitious credulitie, that what hee bindeth or looseth, biddeth or forbiddeth, &c. All floweth from a plenitude of power, and is ratified of God in Heaven. They abuse the name of Conscience in their profession, yet they racke Conscience more than direct it, and a man after reading shall come more perplexed from them, than when hee began.Summa Angelica. Summa summarum. Tolet. Instruct Sacer. Vivald. Candel. Sayri casus Consc
In all their large Volumes (wherein as Sheepe they follow the beaten rodde of the current opinion) there is little that smelleth of Conscience▪ or that serveth to keepe it, but rather to destroy it: And for instance; if wee looke to their cases and resolutions on the fift and sixt Commands, they are like Dracoes Lawes, and on the seventh Command they are more vile than Arrius Thalia, or Sotades filthie poesie, aMalven. de Antichristo lib. 1. cap. 12.& seeme rather to bee written by Sannio or Messalina in the Borthell, than by Christian Divines vnderunder the vow of Chastitie. bCaie…. de Delect. mo…osa. Gerson. de mollitie. Casuist. Tit. de debito conjugali.It is a wonder how either they had heartes to thinke, or mouthes to speake such villanies. But their maine drift is to holde vp the Popes tyrrannie in absolute power of iudging, dispensing, absolving, reserved cases, &c. and to set his Throne vponupon the consciences of men.
Fourthlie, because people are not aye capable of the subtilties of these three squadrons of defendents, but craue some visible thing, therefore the iugling of the last 4 Religious orders.orders, was brought in, speciallie of Franciscus Hypocrisie, & Dominicus crueltie, who lik Pandarus and Bittas at the Port of Aeneas Towne, held vp the tottering Laterane Church. Hee inri…hed them by spoyling the secular Cleargie of Tithes, to make them a counterpose to the Cleargie, and as Garisons intertained by Princes against themselues: Their Hypocrisie served much to luster his wickednesse, for what could the world but thinke all was good stuffe vnderunder so glistring colours. They gaue out their Monasteries as as many Armies to fight gainst Sathan, and by their merits and supererogation to helpe men to heaven: But in effect they were the Popes spyes and Garisons. First to eate vp Kingdomes, and then to hold them in his obedience. This their politicksNostro hoc s… culo tam multae sunt religiones à Pontisi… cibus confirma tae, &c. Can. lib. 5. c. 5. fine. doe, But the wiser sort thought, this folie and hurtfull to their state: So Canus saith in their name: In this our Age, there are so many Religions confirmed by Popes, that who ever would defend them as profitable, or necessar to the Church: Hee may iustlie bee convicted of imprudence, if not of foolishnesse.
Lastlie, the latter times hath drawen them on their deepest devyces: Valdensis, Wickliffe, Hus &c. gaue them5. Iesuits. great blowes, and their former provision, sufficed to mak some defence; but Luther and Calvine came with the great ordinance; and hauehave battered their Walls, therefore they tooke them to a new sort of Souldiers: These are their Triarii or Souldiers of trust. The Iesuits aThuan. hist. lib. 1…0 Hasenmull. hist. …es…itic. Arnold… orat. lesuit. Lubin. praefat. ad Philippen.Ignatius Schoolers; who like another Atlas putteth their shoulders vnderunder staggering Rome. They are the last order, but the worst, and hauehave extracted from the rest all that may compleate them for this great service. They hauehave borrowed subtiltie from the Schoole-men, Impudencie from the Canonists, a cauterized Conscience from the Casuists, Hypocrisie from the Franciscans, crueltie from the Dominicans, And because these are not sufficient to perfect them, they hauehave taken from the Mahumetanes Assasinisme, to kill and destroy Princes,. The Romans affrayed of Porsenna, sent out Scevola either to kill him or boast him to p…ace: So the Popes fearing the power of Princes, houndeth out Iesuits, either to cut them off, or make them plyable to his tyrannie.
This order perfecteth his tyrannie, for after Hildebrand, they held the… with excommunication, deposition, &c. But since the Iesuits arose, there are moe Princes stobbed, than in sex ages before; and all these Warres in Europe, since their rysing, and this fearefull combustion these last twelue yeares, are of their plotting. Their hand is most about Princes, and States, and make their Crownes, liberties, and lyues problematicke: They lay them at the staike at their pleasure; and being impatient of their life, doe consult Sathan about their death, as Cotton did of Henrie the fourth. Such consulting Tertullian called divelish in the Pagans, Magos consultat de capite Caesaris. Tertul. Apol. 35.Their fourth vow aIgnat. Epist. ad Lusi…anos.proper to them alone, proveth them to bee the Popes Devotists, as Mutius, Curtius, & the two Decij offered themselues for their country; so hauehave they bound themselues to doe, and suffer all for the Popes Grandure. This Gregorie the thirteenth observed, when reading the Iesuits Annals, and seeing what paines they tooke▪ cryed out, I hauehave so many thousand Tot sunt mihi milli… Clericorum, sed soli Iesuitae omnes superant, &c. Lucij. hist. Iesuit p. 144. Laur. Austriac. p. 49 Antonius Gallon. de …ita-Philip. Nerij pag. 200.Clerkes; and yet the Iesuits overcome them all, in stablishing our Kingdome; therefore they are worthie to bee entertained aboue the rest: Heerevpon hee augmented their priviledges, and exalted them to hold vp the Popes dignitie: And the Iesuites in their Apologie against the Bohemians declare, se velle totum orbem Rom Pont. subijcere, that they would subdue all the world to the Pope.
And least Ignatius Souldiours bee not sufficient to keepe such a breach, Philippus Nerius (whether of emulation like Themistocles burning for Miltiades victorie, or of a blind zeale) did institute his congregatio Oratorij, that hath brought out vntounto vsus most rigid zelots: Of this sort was Baronius, the two Bozij, &c. They are more myld in cariage than the Iesuits, but more peremptorie (if more can be) in maintaining the Popes power. They condemne the moderation of their owne Complices, and count them Hereticks, and profaine Politicks, who mitigate any thing; sometymes these distinctions of Iuris divini, & humani, directly and indirectly, &c. had some vse, but now they hauehave casten them over the barre, and proponeGul. Barclai…s contra Bel. cap. 13. their tenets in broad termes of a power divine in originall, direct in vse, and absolute in kind. It is like that Ignatius & Nereus Schollers, are stryving who shall most indeere the Pope to themselues by their service; and sure it is, that Sixtus the fift was more pleased with the Nereans, than with the Iesuits, as shall bee seene heereafter. All these are but fleshlie subsidies to maintaine an earthlie Monarchie, and doe rather procure, and hasten its ruine, than hold it vp.
CHAP. XIIII. Of their second Coverture: RECRIMINATION.
THeir second Coverture of this Tyrannie, is Recrimination: They charge vsus with their doctrine, and treasonable practises; and lyke the old Pagans, crimina sua nobis obijciunt, as said Tertul. Apol. Salmeron aNon audiunt Principes seculares, nec Imperatores, Salmer. tom. 6. Tractat. 23.hath it summarlie, that wee obey not secular Princes and Emperours: And Scribanius bSocietati h…retici sua appingunt scelera. Scriban. Amphitheat. lib. 1. c. 10The Calvinists (sayeth hee) layeth over their owne wickednesse vponupon the Iesuits, for al… the troubles of France are to bee ascryved to them. But Richeomus cOmnes Gal li… calamitates, &c. Richeo… Expost. Apol. cap. 26the Iesuite most fullie, that all the calamities of France are brought in by the pestiferous doctrine of the Protestants: And that the doctrine of Luther and Calvine armeth men, and powseth them to wickednesse and treason: And Iesuite dLutheri, atque Calvini disciplina suapte natura ad scelus ar… mat at que impellit.Fisher is so bold, as to attest King Iames of happie memorie, That their doctrine was not so preiudiciall to Princes, as the opinion of most of the Calvinists. This is their calumnious disposition, whereof they gaue a proofe at the Massacre of Paris: when vnderunder colour to make a perfect peace, they drew in the chiefe Protestants to Paris, Thuan. Hist.and murthered them treacherouslie: They dispatched letters to forraine Princes, bearing. that the Protestants had conspyred against the King; and what hee did, was done vponupon his owne defence. But they were soone ashamed of that colour, and dispatched a Post to the Pope,Oratio Sixti 5 Antisixtus. to feede him with the newes of that crueltie; and his gratulation in the Consistorie telleth who were the Authors. Thuan relateth, and abhorreth both this calumniousRex alia habuit crimina praemeditata, &c. Cardinal Lothar. apud Goldast. polir. pag. 1139. Genes. 31. 32 dealing, and the Massacre it selfe: And the Cardinal of Lorraine confesseth, that the King had other crymes premeditate, to make the Hugonets cause abhominable. But wee say to them, as Iacob did to Laban, search our stuffe, even all the doctrine of the reformed Church; and shew what positions or practise they finde like their bloodie doctrine. Some Humanists and Poets, or others, hauehave spoken some things, that may bee so throwne; but it was in the Hypothese of some particular abuse, and not the doctrine of our Church. But the killing of Kings amongst them is disputed, determined, and put in execution: And when a treasonable plotte was ready, their Iesuits and …riers vented in the Pulpi…s bloodie Sermons, both to incourageThuan. Continuat. the miscreants who attempted treason, and to mol…fie the myndes of people about parricide: And Ravilliacke beeing posed what moved him to his parricide, answered, The preachings of the Iesuits and Friers against the King.
Beside their expresse Tenets of that doctrine, they hauehave also some other points to maintaine it (for no great heresie can bee alone) but hath a brotherhood with moe hereticall points, which hauehave a concatenation to maintaine each other: So this point of killing Kings hath auricular confession: The seale of confession: and Equivocation 1. Auricular confession.to defendit. Auricular confession is a secret and sure way for consulting with a Priest or Iesuit, vponupon the matter of …reason, and to presse his Conscience with a necessitie to doe it.
The pretended seale of confession maketh the Traitour2. Aequivocation. 3. Seale of confession. bold to reveale himselfe to his Confessar, because of secrecie: It secureth also the Confessar, that though he be privie to Treason, yet hee shall not be punished because hee must not breake the seale of confession. This is a maine point of that mysterie wherein though they differMalder. de sigillo. c. 2 among themselues (as Panormitane calling it, but Iuris Ecclesiastici, & Malderus, Iuris divini) yet all of them agree in this: That neither the Pope, nor Church may cause the Priest to reveale it: aMaldonat. summul. pag. 310. 317. Casaub. Epist. ad Front. Duc.No not though the world should perish, as Binetus the Iesuite affirmed to Casaubone. And another Iesuite beeing privie to Ravilliacks treason testified, that God had given him such a gift, that so soone as hee heard of any treasonable matter in confession, hee forgot both the persons and purpose. Tertulians speach of the Heathen Altars fi…teth them, inter aras lenocinia tractari: But wee may adde that they treat not onelie of filthynesse, but alsoTert. Apol. C…vit. 2. 22 Treason, so that S. Augustines speach is likewise true, that men discedunt peiores ab eorum sacris, they depart worse from their Sacraments, than they came to them. So their Sacrament of pennence is a Machiavilian devyce, to plotte practise, and keepe treason secret, in alibertie of consultation by auricular confession, in pressing their conscience with the equitie of the fact, and incouraging them to doe it vnderunder opinion of satisfaction and merite. France had a proofe of this vnderunder Henrie the third: The Iesuits in their confessions, vrged men to ioyne them to the League against their King, and refused absolution to such as they found Oratio vera & ingenua.stedfast in loyaltie to him: And as their owne Authour sayes, Two hundreth Iesuites did more hurt in few moneths, than an hundreth thousand men could doe: And they caused such as they absolved to sweare. that they would neither acknowledge Henrie the third, nor his Successour forlawfull Kings. And then all must bee confirmed by taking their Eucharist. aLud. Lucij hist Iesuit p 368.So they abuse their Sacraments: Pennance serveth to plotte treason and practise it securelie, and the Eucharist to harden them in that wickednesse.bCasa…b. ad Front. …17 130 & 136
Equivocation is a shelter for the traiterous complices that hee shall not reveale them, but illude the Iudge by Ambiguities and mentall reservation: So cLicet ei vts aequivocations dicendo non fe ci & ipse non habuisse complices, &c. Tolet. de In struct Sacerd. l. 5 c. 58 n. 7Tolet affirmeth that4 Aequivocation. the guiltie Person may use Equivocation, and say, that hee had not complices, albeit hee had them—And hee must be wylie to speake according to his owne intention, as to say, I did it not (vnderstanding with himselfe, in the prison) and I had not complices in other crimes or such like. This is a point most defended by the Iesuites, and that to serue their turne for particide, as their Barnesius dBarnes. toto lib. de aequivocatione.proues in his large Booke which hee hath written, fathering Equivocation vponupon the Iesuits as their proper Arte. And some others confesse, that it is the Arte of our Iesuits to deceiue Magistrats in their Oathes. eSacerd Vis bic…n. Epist. ad Catholic.Ars est nostrorum Iesuitarum ut in iuramentis suis Magistratibus illudant: Seeing therefore the reformed Churches hath no such Doctrine as Equivocation, auricular confession with the seale of it (which are the maskes of King-killing) their Recrimination is calumnious.
Their practise also proveth this, in that fanaticke dementation of some whom they either finde or make for such a mischiefe. If they finde one ladened with grievous sinnes, that craveth great penall Iniunctions, or Melancholicke in complexion, or hardened in a blind resolvednesse to bee a Scholler in that Schoole, where caeca obedientia blind obedience reigneth, thē they work on him by their speach and illusions in their Chamber of meditations, to mak him thinke it his happinesse to doe such things as they injoyne, though it were to kill a Prince, and withall to bee secret and dye silent. This they hauehave learned of the Assasines aGoldast. Replic. c. 1. ex Tyrio & Paul. Venet. Princeps c. 10and for their choyse of the instrument, Machiavell hath taught them that Caedes quae ab obstinati & obfirmati animi proposito accidunt, evitari non possunt Machiavell. the slaughter comming from the purpose of an obstinate and obfirmed minde cannot bee eschewed, and of Seneca: cQui mortem suam con… tempserit tuae dominus est. Senec.That hee who contemnes his owne death, is Master of thine: As for their silence in death, it is natiue to them through Ignatius their Master, For when Piso was treacherouslie killed by a Spainiard, no torture could moue the Traitour to reveale his complices.dTacit….
Lastlie, the rewards they hauehave promised them for that fact, remission of sinnes in this life, canonizing and eternall life: Becket was sancted for his treason, and counted a Martyre: So is Garnet for the powder plotte: and because they thought it grosse to call him a Martyre in t… armes, they devysed the conceate of spica Garneti: eCydon Apol Garnet. cap. 14That fained picture of a strae-Sainct was a sufficient motiue to canonize him: But since they call it a Palea, fTantum vulnus palea inflictum Calviniane super stiti…ni▪ Ibid. pag. 552.it is but a ehaffie argument, and may passe with the Paleas in their Canon Law: And Garnet was more ingenuous himselfe, than the Cretian; for beeing asked, What if the Church of Rome after his death would declare him a Martyre? Hee answered, Mee a Martyre? gMartyrē me? &c. Gar, net. apud Casaub. Front. pag. 163.Oh! what a Martyre? I pray God, that the Church of Rome never thinke such a thing.—Now I acknowledge my fault, and confesse that the sentence pronunced against mee is most iust. Heere their Martyre dissavowes his martyrdome. But they hauehave found out a new way to heaven by Rebellion, Periurie, and slaughter.hIbid. p. 170
But I dare hazard the decision of this point vponupon Richeomus owne ground, That pestilent and abominable seate (said hee) which King David calleth the Chaire of Pestilence—that is the Monster-bearing seate aIlla est por tentifica sedes &c. Richeom. Expost. Apol. cap 27whence floweth the Doctrine, which all Kings, Princes and People should abhorre as the Pest. Wee subscriue this proposition: As for the assumption, hee meaneth it of Geneve, and wee of Rome: But let Baronius bIn Cathe dram Petri in …rusi sunt homines monstruosi. &c. Baro. Anno 897. num. 4.make the assumption for vsus both. In Peters Chaire (saith hee) were intruded, Men monstrous, most filthie in life, most dissolute in manners, and every way most vyle. And Genebrard more fullie: For the space of an hundreth and fiftie yeares, cApotastici Apostaticive, potius quam Apostolici Genebard. Chron. 1. 4 saec 10some fiftie Popes fell close away from the vertue of their Predecessours, and were rather inordinat and Apostaticke than Apostolicke. What can bee the conclusion but this, That therefore the Church of Rome is this pestilent seate? Or let them show any seate in the reformed Churches so broodie of monsters as the seate of Rome?
Lastlie, they purge vsus: As yet (sayeth Bellarmine)dNondum parasiti principum exorti fuerunt, &c. Bellar, contra Barcl. p. 31 The flatterers of Princes were not risen, who pull the Kingdome of Heaven from them, to establish their temporall kingdomes. To passe both their vncharitable censure in adjudging Kings to hell, and the falshood of their challenging vsus of flatterie, wee easilie evince this from their owne mouth, that wee neither preach nor practise King-killing, since they accusevs of flatterie: And I am confident that so horrible a fact as the killing of Kings, had beene still abhorred in the world, as the greatest parricide, if first the Assasines, and then the Iesuits had not made it common in Doctrine and practice. I close this point of Recrimination witheViderint qui vel furore suo &c. Cyprian. Epist. 42 Cyprian: Let them consider who serving either their furie or lust doe forget divine Law and holinesse, and yet vaunt of the things they cannot they proue, and when they cannot destroy the innocencie of others, thinke it enough to rubbe blottes on them by lying and false rumour. And with Augustine dIsti attendant specu ū saum, & si milia conqueri, si vllus pudor est, eru bescant. Ci vit. 4. 7.I desire them to looke in their own Glasse, and (if they hauehave any shame) to blush to obiect such things to vsus.
CHAP. XV. The third colour of their tyrannie, To wit: Tergiversation.
THe thrid colour of their Tyrannie, is Tergiversation, Richeom. les. Expost. Apol.wherin they carie themselues variouslie: denying Excusing: Transferring it on others: Or making apologies. For their denying Richeomus denyeth plainlie these positions which Iesuites affirme: As that it followeth not on their Doctrine that Kings excommunicat are tyrants & may be killed: aCapite 21 pag. 174.That Subiects are absolved from their obedience: That the facts of Clemens, or Castellus were approved by them, bIbid. 174That the violence that falleth out, commeth not of their Doctrine, but of the nature of the Catholicke… cIbid p. 222 Defens Aphoris. Iesuit.. The like hath Becanus, and Hussius, an Iesuite, following his Master Gretzer: And Scribanius spends some Chapters of the first booke of his Amphitheater to that end: Thus they spake in a strast, when they are taken red hand with some mischiefe.
If they can not get it denyed, then they excuse it. So Cydonius speaketh of Marianaes bloodie doctrine: Mariana Cydon. confut. Anticot Scripsit Mariana nescio quidwrote I can not tell what, &c. But the Parliament of Paris told that his little diminutiue was a superlatiue, even a damnable treasone, when they damned the booke to bee burnt publickly.
Thirdly, they transferre it, and shift it from hand to hand. The Cleargie cast it on the Laicks, the Laicks on the Cleargie, the secular Priests on the religious orders: The other Orders on Iesuits, and the Iesuits cast it on other Orders againe.
Fourthlie, when they see some Tragicall event of their Cydon. Apol. Henric, Garnet.doctrine, as a King killed, a treasonable plotte disappointed or discovered, when the World crie out against them, as in the powder treason, then they take them to A pologies So Cydonius wrote his Apologie for the Iesuite Garnet, to lay that cryme off him, and his societie. AndRicheom. Expost. Apol. Richeomus when he saw France abhorring the fact of Castellus, the Parliament condemning them, the Pyramide erected, and the Iesuits banished, hee laboureth to purge their order of that treason. This was but a floorish of words, for in the meane tyme, the Iesuits of Doway set out a refutation of the Parliaments sentence against Castell.
But in a free contest and dispute, they maintaine these matters flatly. The Pope sayeth Bellarmine aPotest sū mus Pontisex …igare Principes saeculares &c, Bell. contra Barclaiū. cap. 3 pag. 46may bind secular Princes, by excommunication by his spirituall power: Hee may by that same loose his people from the oath of fidelitie and obedience; may binde these same people vnderunder the paine of excommunication, that they obey not the excommunicate King, but choose another King to themselues: and more peremptorly: Kings bPossunt, & debent Reges privari suo dominio. Recog pag. 45both may and ought to bee depryved of their dominioun. And D. Marta giveth him that same power over Kings, by vertue of his temporall iurisdiction. And Franciscus Veronensis dIesuita Sicarius. p 49affirmeth that the anoynting that made [c] Marta de Iuris. part. 1 cap. 23 to…o-them Kings, was w…ed off by excommunication, and they made private men, and by private men may bee killed: That they are furious men, and eIbid. 61ought to bee killed or bound: And when they are so, the people ought to hauehave recourse to the Pope, as a commoun father for remeede fIbid. 63.. As for Castellus attempt to kill Henrie the fourth, he calleth it a iust fact; that it was holy and lawfull; that it was most holy and humane, in so farre that it is blasphemie to condemne it; that it was divine, as the arrow or stroke that came from Heaven vponupon Iulian, and as the fact of Ehud gIbid. 44. 133. 142.&c. And as though that were little, it is plus quam Ehudi, more than that of Ehuds; and in a word, it was good service to God, and meritorious: That it was an Heroicke worke, both in attempting, and constant induring torments for it; and that in his honorarie punishment hee was so farre from confessing of sinne in that stroke▪ that hee craved God pardon for his misse, in not killing him, but stryking out a tooth. As for Iaques Clements killing of Henrie the third, hee calleth it an heroick worke than which there was nothing more generous hIbid. 272&c. And Mariana iHenricus eo nomine 3. jaceat manu Monachi peremptus de Princip lib. 1, cap. 6insulteth vponupon that killed King: Let Henrie the thirdly killed by the hand of a Monke with a poysoned knyfe thurst in his bowels.
Hildebrand also alloweth this doctrine, as a father doeth his childe. Wee holding the Statutes of our Predecessours, doe absolue by Apostolicke authoritie all these who are bound by oath or Sacrament, to excommunicate persons aGratian, Caus. 15. quast 6. Can. nos., &c. And Vrbanus bGratian, Caus. 23. quest 5. Can. Excommunicatorum.the second following his steppes, forbade these who were sworne to their Prince, to serue him so long as hee was excommunicate: But more cleerely in his bloodie Canon: Wee iudge them not Man-slayers, who burning in the zeale of the Catholicke mother, against them that are excommunicate, doe kill some of them. And Becane cBecan. Controvers. Anglican.in his latter writes is more Iesuited, affirming that the Pope having excommunicate, and deposed Kings, may take their life from them, and their Kingdome also, that hee may depose them two wayes, one by absolving his Subiects from the bond of Obedience:—The other by way of compensation, that seeing they will not protect people, but trouble them for their Religion, they are no more bound to them. In like manner, Sixtus the fifth delyvered a gratulatory oration in the Consistorie, for killing of Henry the third, preferring it to the fact of Iudith. Cydonius denyeth it not dConfut. Ant. p. 49And while the world was astonished, and France sunk in sorrow for the death of their last King, a Preacher at Culen publickelie commanded Raviliacke. eThuan. Contin l. 3 Oratio. Sixt. 5 Ballar. resp. ad Apol. oratio Sixti, &c.But wee nee le not inquire the opinions of their I heologues: Let vsus heare Sixtus the fifth, commending the fact of Iaques Clement in the Consistorie: And how Bellarmine defends that Oration. What can bee found (saith hee) of Sixtus Oration, but praises and admiration of the wisedome and providence of God?—The Pope extolleth to the heavens, that a simple Monke with one stroke killed a great King in the midst of his Guards. And then giving vsus the vses of that Oration. Thereby the Pope would admonish Kinges—for that King commanded to kill a sacred man (the Cardinall of Lorrane) and God caused a sacred man (a Monke) to kill that same King, not without a manifest miracle of the providence of God. Here the Popes Oration, defending Clemens Regicide is defended, and the fact it selfe fathered on God. With what face then doe they deny that they allow Regicide? Cyprian said of another wickednesse, that it was not onelie committed but taught, and wee may addeScelus non tā tum agitur sed & docetu. Cypr, epist. 3 more, that by them greatest treason is both taught, practised, and (which is the toppe of iniquitie) ascrived vntounto God.
Some times disapointment maketh them speak moderatlie. I excuse not the fact (sayeth Bellarmine) aNon excuso factum, odparricidia execror conspirationes. Bellar. resp. ad Apol. de Iurament. pag. 22of the powder-plot, I hate murther, I abhorre conspiracies: But If God for our sinnes had given way to that blow, wee should finde them Apologists, defending the lawfulnesse of it, who now abhorre it; and his damning of it, is not for Atrocitie of the matter, but for the disappointing of the successe, as in Castellus attempt: And how can it stand with the posed resolvednesse of the Iesuits, to maintaine the Doctrine, and condemne the practice? And what meaneth Garnets bApolog. Garnet. pag. 263.exhortation to his Catholickes to pray profelici successu gravissimae cuiusdam re… in causa Catholicorum at the beginning of the Parliament: It could not bee for the disappointing, for that hee might hauehave done by revealing it, which hee knew without confession. That happie successe therefore was the blow it selfe. These facts are such quae non nisi peracta laudantur, they praise them when they are done, and consequentlie frustrata damnantur, they are damned, when they are frutrated.
How ever then they deny, excuse, or transferre the matter▪ it standeth on their doctrine and practise, that Kings may bee excommunicate and killed, and Richemous speaches, were neither from his heart, nor according to the trueth, but to serue the time in glosing a wise and offended King. The Iesuits then were in great disgrace, and the sacrifice of publicke hatred, as a Fox in the snaire, they gaue faire words; but beeing at libertie, returned to their nature: So soone as they were restored, the Pyramide cast downe, and the King himselfe pleading for them, whereof they boast, aHenricus 4 patroc…nium Iesuitarum suscepit, & publicè pro ijs perora vit. Becan Opuscul Tom. 1. p. 500they proved irreconciliable: For though hee of a Princelie clemencie pardoned their treason, yet they neither layed downe their natiue or first hatred, nor the second, that they conceived of their supposed disgrace in banishment, but cut him off; and so declared to the world, that their Apologies bApolog Iesuit Bohemorum. Laurea Austriaca. l. 1were nothing, but fained complements. That good Patriot cOratio ingenua p. 102.(whom Iesuits call a profaine politicke) proved a Prophet in the end of his diswasiue Oration to the King, and foretolde with teares, That if hee restored them, they would destroy him, and so it came to passe.
This is the summe of their Tergiversation, wherein the Iesuits labour to purge their order: dApolog. Garnet. 57. Confut. Ant. Cott. 32.So when that order is iustlie pressed, then some one must suffer: But when France is in a broyle, Mariana must bee sacrificed to quench the fire. Cotton eContinuat Thuan. 99.condemneth him; Gretzer calleth it his provat opinion: Cydonius extenuats it, but Aquaviva fConfut. Anticot p. 39 Vno Mariana aegre excepto. Casaub. ad Front. p. 8.censures it severelie in shew: The Authour of the Iesuits Apologie defendeth all, praiseth all, except Mariana alone. But that nicenes is needlesse, for hee is guiltie of a crime that commandeth to doe it as Cyprian gNon est immunis a scelere▪ qui …t sieret, impera…it. Cyprian Epist. 31.sayeth. In the meane time of all this shifting, they giuegive no securitie to Princes, but they are cutted downe, and cannot tell who doeth it, they ioyne scoffing with violence,Matth. 26. as the Souldiers did to Christ, when they buffeted him, and said, Prophecie who smote thee?
But some may thinke, that these Effronts which they hauehave suffered in the late tossing of their cause, hath brought them to some moderation. No, but they are as hard sette against Princes as ever. Let vsus heare the Cardinals of the Consistorie aIn man… Pont. Mux. est—Majesta tem…mperatoriam redintegrare, &c. Apboris. Cardin. 12.It is in the Popes hand to set vp the Maiestie of the Impyre, to transferre the Impyre from Nation to Nation, and alluterlie take away the right of Election. They thinke matters succeede to their desire, and therefore tell plainelie, that their intention is no lesse than to overthrow Impyres, for the establishing of their Hierarcho-Monarchie. And Marta bCaveant igitur Principes▪ expellere, vel parum honorare Episcopos▪—si volunt eorum regna, & status longo tempore possidere. Iu…is part. 2. c. 34. n…ult.giveth a strange advertisement to Kings, Let Princes (sayeth hee) beware to cast out or misregard Bishops, or other Prelats and Ecclesiasticks if they will possesse their Kingdoms and States, for a long time. This is plaine talke; and the just extract of that which the King of the Assasines caused one (carying a long speare full of sharpe knifes) proclame before him: Fugite ab eo qui portat exitiū regum flee from him who caries the ruine of Kings. But I answere: Let Princes looke to this piece of Divinitie so deepelie contrived for their ruine, & ex ungue Leonem: Iudge what a Religion it is that maintaines such bloodie Doctrine and canonizes the executioners of it: And that so much the more that they are not ashamed of it as a sinne, but glorie in it as their perfection, in setting large Catologues cAzor 2 5. 43. Becan controvers. Ang▪ l c. 122. Bellar, contra Barclaium.of Kings excommunicate, deposed and cut off by them: And that speciallie to terrifie Kings, in showing them their doome, if they doe not adore the Pope.
CHAP. XVI. Of their fourth coverture, to wit: LVDIFICATION. And first of their pretended louelove to Kings.
THe fourth Coverture of their tyrannie, is Ludification. They are not content with indignities done to Princes; but scoffe them also; and that fiue speciall wayes: Pretext of louelove: Fained limitations of the vse of their power: Futile and idle Distinctions: The baite of glorious titles while they are living, and canonizing after death.
First, they professe great louelove to Kings, and that all Vsurpations and censures are for their good, as Baronius aPro Rege agimus, imo cum Rege veritatis am antissimo Baron an. 1097. no▪ 8intending to throw the Monarchie of Sicile from the King of Spaine, will make him thinke that hee is pleading for his good, and in a flattering style calleth him a Tutour and keeper of the Faith, &c. But how that King bEdict. Phi lip. 2. contra Baron. Thuan Cont. Spalat. l. 6 fineexpondeth his flatterie, may bee seene by his Edict, condemning that Tome of Baronius to the fire in all his Dominions, and that for presuming to dispute the right of that Kingdome. This is like Ioab and Iudas kisse, vnderunder friendship to destroy them: And like Iulian cIulian. epist, ad Ecebol pag. 308 Semper insidi… osa est, callida, blanda adulatio. Hieron. adver, Pelag. lib. 1.scoffing of Christians, saying, Hee would helpe them to heaven by causing them keepe their Masters command: If any man take thy Cloake from thee, giuegive him thy Coate also. Wise Princes know their flatterie to bee but insidious, according to Ieromes censure▪ that flatterie in Hereticks is insidious, craftie, and full of insinuations.
Of the same sort of mocking is their offer of good counsell to Kings: So Bellarmine dBellar. de offic. Princip lib. 1. cap 4sayeth: Bee wise yee Kings, bee learned yee that iudge the Earth, &c. Men would think by this Text, that their wisdome were to kisse the Sonne of God: But their sense is to kisse the Popes feete And a Commenter of this wee hauehave in Baronius, aBaron. an. 701. n. 22ascryving the prosperitie of Sancius, and others then Kings of Spaine, to the obseque of the Pope. So they abuse Scripture contrair to its end and meaning, for therein Kings rebelling against Christ, are exhorted to repent, and turne to him: But heere they mocke both God and Princes, in bidding them goe on in their rebellion against Christ, and adore Antichrist. Even as the Pope writting to that Apostate Clemens 8. Ian. 1601.Iustus Calvinus (who called himselfe thereafter Iustus Baronius) abused that Scripture, Come out of Babylon, bVides vt delivarit Rex, dum ista furens scripsit. Baron.The head of Babylon called Syon by the name of Babylon, and Babylon by the name of Syon: They count Kings wise, when they serue them, as though they had taken on the Iesuits fourth vow: But if they vse their Authoritie, then they call them madde and furious, as Charles of France, because hee wrote as a King, behold (say they) how the King roveth when hee wrote these things in a furie, cIn sensum reprobum dati non fnissent. Bellar. vbi supra.And when God in merciemercy openeth the eyes of Kings to see the tyrannie of Popes, and forsake them they call that work of Gods grace in reformation, a giving vp to a reprobate minde. dAperuisti Regum oculos &c. Cor. Cornel. praesa. in Proph. min. August. Psal 2.as though that were not rather a reprobate minde to giuegive their power to the Beast in fighting against the Lambe: In like manner, (e) another Iesuite calleth Kinges serving of the Pope in destroying of the Saincts, an opening of their eyes, and thanketh God that hee opened the eyes of Lewes of France, to destroy the Hugunotes. But Augustine expoundeth that Text better, that to kisse the Sonne, is not to bee sorrowfull, as though any benefite were taken from them, but to bee wise in not reigning rashlie, but serving the Lord in feare.
CHAP. XVII. Of their second Ludification, To wit, their sained Limitations.
IN their second Ludification of Princes, they tell them, that they neede not feare the Popes transcending power, because though it bee plenarie in it selfe, yet it is limited, and that in respect of the Iudge. The cause, and the proceeding: For the Iudge, they say, hee is limited, and doeth it not alone, but with advyce of Councell and Consistorie of Cardinals. aPontifices ordinariè in Synodis Episc… porum, &c. Bellar. contra Barcl. c. 12And Becane sayeth, that whither a King hath deserved deposition, it is to bee tryed by the iudgement of learned and godlie men. But that is a scoffing of the world, though in word they joyne to the Pope, the advyce of(b) Ex prudē ti piorum ac doctorum hominum judicio aesti…andum est. Becan. controver. A… glic. pag. 252 Synods and Consistorie, yet they put all in his hand alone, for without the definition of a Synode, the definitions of the Pope are sufficient sayeth Suarez. cSine concilij definitione, &c. Suarez. defens 6 6. 27And Castaldus is more cleare to the point, dLib de Imperatore quaest. 81That the Pope alone without a Councell may depose the Emperour. And Dominicus Bannez eBannez. 22. quaest. 10is more peremptorie than both, affirming that it is left to the Dominion and iudgement of the Pope when to vse this power: And though it were a generall Councell, yet all its firmnesse and infallibiltie is from the Pope alone, sayeth Bellarmine fBellar. Rom. 4. 3And Pius the second, gBulla 2. pag. 120.cutteth short this Limitation, when hee dischargeth all appellatition from the Consistorie: So they must stand to his excommunication vnlesse they will incur an other excommunication by a penaltie of Councell. Yea, and Augustinus Triumphus affirmeth more blasphemoussie, that the Popes power is such a qua non potest appellari ad Deum ipsum hDe potest. Eccles q. 6as from which we cannot appeale to God himselfe: Let Councels then stand content, seeing God himselfe is excluded. What ever their Theologues dispute in Schooles, matters are caried absolutelie according to the Popes will.
As for the respect hee hath to the Colledge of Cardinalls in the consistorie, Palaeottus a Cardinall can tell vsus best, who for his practicke wit, and great performances at the Councell of Trent, gote aHist. Trident. p. vlt.a Cardinals hatte for his reward. Hee maketh them the Popes creatures absolutlie, and that it is their best to giuegive their voice in the consistorie, according to the Popes pleasure. Quemadmodum illi (sayeth he) qui Divinam voluntatem, tanquam primam, ac potissimā rerum omnium regulā sequuntur: As they (saith he) who follow the will of God, as the first and chiefe rule of all things, are counted wise. So i…n may bee said, that the Cardinall, who in giving counsell, adhereth to the iudgement of the Pope, (which is the reerest rule of humane action) hee followeth the best course in doing his office, and exeemeth himselfe from all danger of errour; and with all, giveth wholesome advyce to the matter it selfe. This ground beeing layed, hee telleth vsus, that the Colledge of Cardinals assisteth not the Pope by way of limitation of his power, but by way of Ministerie bPaleot Consult. consist part. 5. pag 251.and that the consent of Cardinals, or other in matters consistoriall, is no wayes necessarie cCollegium Cardinalium non assistit Pa pae per modum limitationis sed instar mi nisterij Ibid. part. 1. quaest. 3 artic 2.: For what ever they advise, it is in his power to follow, or not follow at his pleasure dIbid art 3Where is then the limitation they speake of, seing it is heere denyed in termes: And what is this else but as Paul the second said to Platina, Doest thou not know, that all reason and law is in the shrine of our breast eIbid. art. 4.? And what moderation hee vseth in the Consi…orie, Paulus Servita in his considerations for the republick of Venice, declarethPope Paul his quarrells. lib. 1 how contrare to lawes divine and humane hee carryed that matter in the beginning, in the furie of his passion fPlat…na in vita Paul 2 An nescis not omnia jura in scrino pectoris habere.,
The limitation of the causes is like the former, which they summe vp in some generalls. Animarum gCausis exigentibus Be… contra Barcla tum. p. 21.salus; Aeternum & spirituale bonum, and bonum Ecclesiae: The salvation of Soules, Eternall and spirituall good, and good of the Church: These are faire pretexts, as though hee sought nothing but mans spirituall good; but they are onelyonly colours for his ambition: For if hee can come be his Monarchie he careth neither for the good of the Church nor of Soules; for hee hath varifyed Basiles saying, That Basil. Epist. 8how much a Church decayeth, the more are they desirous of government: And it seemeth that hee had a Propheticall Spirit in that place, when hee said, that the domination of Bishops was devolved ad infelices homines, servos servorum, to vnhappie men, the servants of servants, This is the Popes propper stile: But the discerning of the weight or lightnes of these causes, is restrained to the Pope alone, because hee as a spirituall Father can best discerne when Kings doe wrong to their Subiects in things spirituall bBeca…. controvers. Angl p. 252. And they hauehave a more compendious course; for beside Dogmaticall heresies in points of faith, they hauehave also a practicall heresie or schisme, which they call the Henrician heresie cOrt… ▪ est haeresis Henrit ciuna, &c. Bin. Tom. 3 part. 2. 406: For as they call Antichristian vsurpation, Ecclesiasticke libertie, so they call the lawfull defence of imperiall authoritie, by the name of Henrician heresie. Binius defyneth what it is, to wit, the same that the Politicks of our tyme affirme. Behold wee hauehave witnesses for the libertie of Princes, vnderunder the name of Politicks; as well as we hauehave witnesses of dogmatick trueth, vnderunder the Name of Heretiks: And it were wisdome in these Politicks to ioyne themselues to reformed doctrine, as they doe in the vindicating of Princes. They gaue the Name of Henriciana haeresis, from Henrie the fourth, who was opposite to Hildebrand the father of the Hildebrandine tyrannie. And a dConcil. Quintil cont. haeres Henrician…. Bin. ibid. pag 405.councell at that tyme, was indicted by Hildebrand against that pretended heresie.
And though they doe none of these, but bee slack in rooting eSed etiam propter negligē …ian… potest excommunicari. Ra…mond apud Bellar. contra Barcl. pag. 17out of Protestants, that slacknes is a cause of deposition: for a secular Iudge may be deposed, not only for his heresie, but also for his negligence in rooting out of heresies. So whē the Pope is angry, he shal never want a cause: heresie, (as they call it) or Schisme negligence, &c. that is to say, the louelove of the trueth, the defence of their liberties, and clemencie to their Subiects, are sufficient causes with him to cast them down. And smaller things than heresie o… schisme are found causes relevant: If they but violate the least priviledge of a monasterie, they shall bee cast out of their Kingdome: So Valdensis concludeth it for the power of Gregorie over the French Kings, and Bellarmine approveth his Conclusion fBellar. Ibid. 26.. But Bozius holdeth vsus not long in suspense,Bozius de sig… nis. 17 4 vel sine causa. affirming that the Pope may transferre greatest impires vponupon iust causes, or without a fault. Persidious men (said Tacitus) g…ersidis nunqam causa defic…et &c Constit. Pont. pag. 120. Azor. 1▪ 5. 15will never want a cause to break their promise, for they will ever set some collour of law vponupon their deceate. Lastly Alphonsus à Castro putteth vsus out of doubt saying, that they hold firmely many things pertaining to faith, by the Popes definition alone, wherein the Pope hath given no reason of his definition▪ The Popes will then is a sufficient cause; h…e careth for no cause, though it were to breake his owne oath: For when Gregorie the twelfth was periured in keeping still the Popedome, which hee sware to lay downe; yet it was not perjurie (sayeth Azorius out of Panormitane, because hee had a iust cause so to doe. This c…use was his owne will, and the louelove of the Popedome.
Their third Limitation is from the manner of proceeding. It is not rash hBell. Barc. 7(say they) but all is in louelove and wises dome, for this is the Popes custome, first to rebuke fatherlie, next to depriue them of the Sacraments by Ecclesiasticke censure: Lastlie to loose their Subiects from their oath, &c. Azorius iAzor …ar. 2 lib. 10 c. 7putteh three conditions: First, to bee admonished. Next, that the cause bee notour. Thirdlie, that hee be disobedient. The like moderation is set downe by their …ateran… kConcil. lateran. sub. …oc. 3.Councell. And as for their sentence of excommunication, it is to bee vnderstood clave non erran…e, if the key doe not erre. lGratian caus 11. qu…t 3. cap. Sententia.But their Law proues this a scoffing, for the sentence of the Pastour whither iust or vniust, is ever to bee feared, where the glosse and their Do…tours everie where affirme, that the vnjust sentence of excommunication is valide and differeth from that that is null. And Navarrus aNavar. Enchir. c. 27 n. 3.affirmeth, that even the vniust sentence regularlie is valide. And Bellarmine taketh away all doubts, saying, Peccabit princeps spiritualis; sed non poterit tamen princeps temporalis iudicium sibi sumere Bellar. contra Barcl. c. …7For if a spirituall Prince abuse his power in excommunicating v…iustlie a temporall Prince, or loose his Subiects from obedience without a iust cause, and so trouble the state of the Common-wealth, the spirituall Prince sinneth in so doing: But yet the temporall Prince may not iudge of these thinges, &c. And Hildebrand speaketh more bTamen eum supplicē venire oporte… Aventin. lib. 5. pag. 575.peremptorlie: Although that hee, to wit, the Emperour had beene v…iustlie excommunicate by vsus, yet hee should hauehave made supplication to vsus, and sought the benefite to bee absolved. And what they speake of the not erring of the Keye, is in vaine for they maintaine that the Key cannot erre in the Popes hand, and hauehave layed that fearefull yo…ke vponupon the Church, to tak that for good, which he commandeth, cTenetur in rebus dubijs Ecclesia acqui escere judicio summi Pontificis &c. Bel de Rom. Pont. lib. 4 cap 5although it were vice. For the Church (say they) is bound in doubtfull things to acqu…esce to the Popes iudgement, and to doe what hee commandeth, &c.—And least she should doe against her conscience, shee is bound to belieue that to bee good which hee biddeth, and that to bee evill which hee forbiddeth.
But they neede not a long Procedor, for how soone dQuamprim…m Reges fiunt haeretici, &c. Simancha King becommeth Hereticks, his people are loosed from their obedience. And though hee bee not excommunicate by man, all is one, …not… matter needeth no pronouncing of a sentence. And there is yet more, for the Pope needeth neither to call a Cou…cell nor a Consistorie▪ for his interpreta… … … eIn hac ca… sa … ad est … interpret▪ … …nnes…is sufficient. There is then no more for Kings, but after the condemnatorie sentence of deprivat…o▪—Hee may bee …pry…ed of his Kingdome, f…e… …uare. lib 6 c▪ 4 n. 1….And Thomas closeth all; affirming that Subiects of an excommunicat King are indeede loosed from his Dominion and oath of fidelitie,
This is contrare to the wisedome and lenitie of the primitiue Church, for Cyprian aCyprian epist. …8 ex pe…sa enim moderatione libranda est.telleth, that in consuring Philumelus and Fortunatus the meanest of the Cleargie, hee would not proceede without the consent of his Brethren and the people.
But they agree not amongst themselues in their limitation. Simanca will hauehave the cause declared; and Thomas sayeth, It is enough that the sentence bee pronounced; And Cydonius darre determine nothing therein. Yet Princes must bee content with that they know not what, declared or vndeclared: The Key erring, or not erring: In Councell, or out of Councell: Iustlie, or vniustlie: But all agree to castAzor part. 2. l. 10 c. 8 downe Kings, and that with so many frivolous causes, as the justest King cannot eschew some of them.
All their moderation in proceeding, which they call aliqua ratione: Omni ratione necessaria: Commodas ratioones: Congruum remedium: Convenientem medelam: AndBellar. Rom. Pont. 5 6 Idem contra Barcl p. 19 Simancha. such like floorish of words resolue in a summar & violent destroying of Kings: Their Church is like some late Physitians, who wearie of Galens Methodicke curing, tak them to Paracelsus minerals and extracts, so they leaue the methode of …enitie and LoueLove, that Christ gaue to his Apostles, and are come to a summar dealing, ure, seca: burne & cut: And of all cures of the sicknesse of their Monarchie which they thinke commeth of Kings, they like best to cutte the Basilicke veine. The k…ngl…e head of Nations is that they shoote at, and that not at the …are as Peter did to Malchus but at the heart and throat, … Clement, Castellus, and Raviliacke did to the Kinges of France. So all this Limitation, is but a mist cast in the eyes of the world, and the sword put in the Popes hand to vse it absolutely and summarlie at his pleasure.
CHAP. XVIII. Of their idle and futile Distinctions.
THeir third Ludification of Princes, is by idle and futile distinctions: And first of the Iudge, pronouncing such bloodie sentences: That it is not the Pope aNon potest Papa vt Papa Bellar. Rom. Pont. 5. 6 Idem contra Barcl. c. 12 Idem recog. pag. 23. Suarez. 6. 6 Platin. vitae Gregor. 7.as Pope, but as hee is the chiefe spirituall Prince. Next they distingiush the Nature of the power, that it is not a temporall power, but a power in temporall things. Thirdlie, they distinguish the manner of the power, that it is not direct, but indirect, and in ordine ad spiritualia. That they allow not the killing of a King, but of a private man: That an excommunicate King is but a private man, and so may bee lawfullie killed. Of this sort are these, that albeit deposition of Kings exceede the bounds of excommunication, yet it exccedeth not the Popes power. Item, though absolution from excommunication restore a King to the peace of the Church, yet it restoreth him not to his Kingdome.
I doubt if the Iesuits speak of these distinctions without Discrimen vocum directè & indirectè▪ non refertur ad modum ac… quirendi, sed ad explicandū obiectum secū darium, Bellar contra Barcl. cap. 12smyling, for they know they are but Cousenings, as thogh we would say, that David caused kill Uriah, not as a King, but as an Adulterer to cover his adulterie with Bersheba: Was his sinne the lesse before God? Or if a thiefe shall deny that hee stole his Neighbours goods, because hee did it not directlie by comming in at the doore, but indirectlie by creeping in at the Window, shall hee escape punishment? And when Saul pretended a spirituall good end to Samuel in sparing the Cattell of the Amalekites for sacrifice, was hee allowed of the Lord? Such are these foolries, they are fained to obscure the trueth, and harden their owne hearts in a wicked course.
Besides, they doe not agree amongst themselues concerning the Nature of this power, and the qualitie of it: Some afrme it absolutelie, as the most part of the Iesuits and Philppus Ner…us Schoolers Congregationis oratorij, others deny it absolutelie such as they themselues call profaine politicks. And a third sort like Meteors, hing betweene these two, pressing to agree them with distinctions and mitigations. The Canonists goe from the Schoole-men, and the Schoolemen, are divided amongst themselues. So Bellarmine▪ aNon desunt altercats ones quid sit, & qualis est, &c. Bellarm. vbi supra c. 3 Dubiae quastionis est inter Catholicos … Azor. pag. 2. lib. 4. cap. 19confesseth that there lacketh no chydings among them of what sort & qualitie that power is, that is, whither it be by it selfe & properlie temporall: Or necessar, if it be spirituall it selfe, but by certaine consequence and in order to spirituall things dispone of temporall things. If it bee so, that they agree not amongst themselues of the Nature, the qualitie, and vse of this power, why trouble they the world in tyrannicall exercing of it? This is (as Augustine noteth of Heretickes) that they are like Sampsons bOpinio diversa vanitas vna. August. Psal. 80.foxes, though their opinion be diverse, yet their vanitie and wickednesse is one: Two of them speake not one way of the matter, and yet they all agree to fire the world.
They vse Papa ut papa like Iuglers, playing fast and loose: When they speake of his knowledge they grant he may erre ut Doctor, but not ut Papa. There Papa caryeth away the priviledge: But heerein the vse of his power, hee may not vse it in temporall things ut Papa, but as summus Princips spiritualis: Heere Papa hath lost his priviledge. I require them to agree these two, that since his knowledge and power are transcendent things, why the one resteth on him as Papa, and not the other? This is a tricke, they care not what they say, so that they say some thing, and serue the time and their turne. For this cause Bellermine cBellarminus in…elicissimus distinctinum architectus.is iustlie called by some of them, an vnhappie devyser of distinctions: And wee may say of them all, as hee doeth of them, Qui defendunt Imagines adorarilatria, coguntur uti subtilissimus distinctionibis, quas vix ipsimet Bellar. de imag. c. 22.intelligunt nedum populus imperitus. Who defended that Images ought to bee worshipped cultulatriae, that their distinctions per se & per accidens, propriè, & impropriè: Relativè terminative, & conterminativè, &c. are so subtle, that scarcelie they who vse them doe vnderstand them, farre lesse the ignorant people.
Cardinall Peronius hath a new devyce, which hee calleth a double wall about Kings: That the Execution of their downe casting partaineth not to the Pope alone, …ut to the body Thuan Con rinuat. lib. 8 pag. 495. Duplex vallum adhi…e…, &c.of the Kingdome: And therefore, if the Pope erre, the States of the Kingdome shall adhere to the King. This he did to gull the Estats of France, and to hold off the Oath of a leadgeance (a better Guard to Kings than his fansie.) Where was his double wall when both their Kings were killed? The Parricids waited neither on the Churches definition, nor the Subiects consent, but went on at the Iesuites instigation: With his Eloquence hee blew that Assemblie blind, and turned them to a blinde passiue obedience, that the Iesuits actiue blinde Obedience, might ruine all.
All this argues that they presumed on the simplicitie of Princes, as though they could bee content with such distinctions: Neither are miscreants stayed from attempting treason, but rather inboldened, while as Conies they may play vnderunder the Clapper, of such sandie distinctions: neither are Princes secured from violence neither comforted heereby if it shall overtake them. What comfort would it hauehave beene to Henrie the third, to tell him: This is not done to you by the Pope, as Pope in an ordinar course by a direct power, but as a supreme Iudge and indirectlie for the good of the Church. Who can suffer himselfe vnderunder such injurie to be so mocked? I turne Gretzers word vponupon them, reproving Plessie, for chopping at the cutting off the …e… p…ars, But thou art come, O Plessie too lat… …t n…mis se…us & tardigra… Advocatus es—ejusdem vt litat…. sunt serum & null…m patro cinium. Mysta saland slow an Advocate for them. The matter is long si… iudged and done And a late, and no Patrocinie are of alik… worth. So their Cardinals late fancied Guard proved no Guard.
But how shall Princes stand content with these distinctions, seeing the Pope is not content, for the hard temper of the Ca…onists and Nerius Schollers please him better. Doctor Marta aMarta Iuris c 19 & 20 Azor part▪ 2 lib. 4 cap 19mocketh Bellarmines nicenes of potestas in temporalibus, & non potestas temporalis. Carerius calleth him and other mitigators by the name of profaine politicks, so doe the two Bozii, and Azorius professeth a simple mislike of their mitigations. Mihi non placet modus loquendi quo utuntur Victoria Sotus, Bellarminus—In iure enim Can absolutè & simpliciter dicitur, &c. I like not the manner of speach which Victoria SoTus, Bellarmine &c. Doe vse to insinuat that the Pope hath onelie spirituall power, and not a temporall▪ And Sixtus the fifth was so angrie at Bellarmine for his distinction of direct and indirect power, that hee was minded to cause burne all his Bookes, as Barcklay bBellar satisfacere non potuit ambitioni imperio sissimi …xti 5 &c Barcl▪ de potest. Pap. cap 13.obiecteth to him. And when hee commeth to cBel. contra Barcl. cap 13.answere that part of Barcklayes Booke, hee passeth it in silence; Wherevpon Barcklayes …onne d…o Barcl. pietas. c. 13in his replye to Bellarmine taketh that silence or preterition of so weightie a challenge for a confession. Like to the Remonstrants in our time, …hen they are challenged of Socinianisme eCensura confes. c 19.about the state (f) Examen censur. 19.of the dead, and desired to declare themselues heerein, they passe that weightie challenge with silence, and neete it with an impertinent Recrimination which is in effect a taking with that imputation: silence in such a case is to plead guiltie.
CHAP. XIX. Of their fourth Ludification of Kings. In glorious Titles.
FOurthlie they mocke Princes with glorious Titles: So Charles the Great gote the name Christianissimus: And King William of Scotland was called Defensor Ecclesiae, Defender of the Church, which stile the Councell of Mentz had long before given to Ludovicus aBaron. an. 847. … ▪ 25. Connaeus de stat. relig. p. 63.And Iames 4. of Scotland was called Protector bCamerar. de Sanctis Scotia. lib. 3.Christianae religionis, protector of the Christian religion, by Iulius the second. Henry eight of England was called defensor cLeo. 10. Bulla. 12.fidei, defender of the faith, by Leo …0. Ferdinand was called Rex Catholicus, the Catholicke King, which Alfonsus many ages before him had vsed. And the Helvetians were called Defensores dGoldast. replic. p. 432libertatis Ecclesiasticae, Defenders of the Church libertie, by Iulius the second.
The ground of such denomination was some benefite receaved. Charles inlarged their patrimonie. King William Kings Titles are ye Popes triumphs.inriched their Church, with the Abbacie of Aberbrothoke. Henrie the eight wrote against Luther. The Helvetians at Iulius the seconds desire scattered the Councell of Pisa, when it was gathered to reforme the Church. And Ferdinand was fi…te for their purpose, by his Catholicke Monarchie, to build their Hierarchie. The end of this denomination was, to proue their Superioritie over Princes, and please them with that Title while they were pulling their honours from them, and to ingage them more to a base subjection. But there is also some presage heerein, for these Titles were some-what Propheticall that the Kings of these Kingdomes should …e… in Gods tyme reformers of the Church, to purge her from that superstition which raigned in her, when these titles were given them: For even Caiaphas serving his owne humour and preiudice, will some-tymes Prophetically light vponupon a trueth. It hath also proven true in some part. The Kings of England proue now defenders of the Ancient and Apostolicke faith: So the Kings of Scotland proue also defenders of the Church; and France and Spaine will follow in that same worke, in Gods tyme.
This is like another conceate, when the Pope sendeth to Princes Roses, or Swords consecrate in the day of Christs Nativitie: So Pius the second sent a sword to King Iames (a) Bull 15.the second of Scotland: And Sixtus the fifth sent another to the Prince of Parme, for to overthrow the Hollanders, &c. Tiberius gaue great honours to Seianus, while he feared his greatnesse, and plotted his ruine: So the Pope sendeth childish toyes to please Princes, while hee pulleth their honour and power from them.
CHAP. XX. Of their last Ludification. In Canonizing Kings.
LAstlie they mocke Princes by Canonizing, and a long list of the Names of canonized Kings is set out as a Glasse to them to looke in, but in effect to let them see their reward, if they will serue the Pope. They hauehave learned it from the olde Senate, with whom divinitie was weighed with humane pleasures as sayeth Tertullian aNisi homini Deus placu erit, Deus non erit, homo iam Deo propitius esse debebit. Tertul. Apol. cap. 5.For except God pleased man, hee was not made a God, and man was propitius to God: And as it now practised amongst them, it is but a noveltie, and their Patrone bBellar de Sanctorum beatitudine. Baron. 998 num. 3.bringeth not a practise of it before the eight age: The Church till then was destitute of canonized patrons, and had none in Heaven but Iesus Christ for their Advocate: First (sayeth h…e) they were worshipped by custome, and thereafter Bellar. recog. pag. 68.came formall canonizing. But when Idolatrie grew, they ioyned patrons to him, as though hee alone sufficed not: And this conceate they turned also to Kings, and sancted them at their pleasure, as they found them superstitious in religion, or obsequious to Rome. Augustine observed that Aesculapius was made a God, but not the Philosophers, because men felt the benefite of bodily health by medicine, but not the health of their soule by Philosophie: and hee avouched, that Plato was more worthie to bee deifyed than any of their gods: So Popes being sicke of ambition and avarice, canonized such Kings as cured their diseases: No good and auncient Pope did so, but when they turned monsters, and were fardest from God, they tooke on them to make Gods by canonizing, they resigned holinesse to Kings, or rather declared that they were more holy than themselues cHis tempo ribus quibus P. R. apieta te veterum de generaverant Principes sae culi sanctitate florebant. Chr nol an 1026They distribute their charitie with discretion, and gaue to Kingdomes their kyndlie titular Kings, the pride of Spaine, and policie of Italie, either affoorded not, or admitted not many such Saints, but the simplicitie of the Transalpine people was more plyable to the Popes they filled them with Saints, while at Rome they were drowned in Atheis…e.
I demaund if these canonized Kings …e holyer than Melchisedecke, Moses, David, Ezekiah, Iosiah before Better Kings not canonized than canonized.Christ? Or then Constantine, Theodosius after him? I thinke they will not call them so. If they were not; why are they canonized, and no the other? Why suffer they these who are honoured by Scripture, and true histories, to stand amongst the people without respect, while as the other are in the Roll of Heavenlie Advocats, and honoured with Temples Dayes, Alt…s, Services, &c? And if these other b…e holyer as they a… indeede▪ why is the Church defrauded of their int…c…ssio…? They are lyke their forefathers the Romans, who apotheosed manie wicked men; but did not so to Cato, of whom Velleius sayeth, that he was in all things nearer to gods than men, and that hee was free of all humane vices. Neither did they referre in the number of their gods, S…ip…o Nas…ca their high Priest, whom Augustine calles better than all the gods. aAugu C… vit. lib. 1 cap 23. & 32.So of some of the Popes gods, the common speach is verified, that manie mens bones are worshipped on earth, whose soules are tormented in hell.bMultorū in terris cineres veneramur, & ossa, Quorum a nimas Orcit…r… m…na dira necant.
But heerein the Popes would proue their superioritie over Princes, for hee that deifies, setteth himselfe aboue that that is deified. They would reallie be Kings, and therefore pleased Kinges in making them titular and imaginarie Saincts. But it is no Divinitie that is subiect to men, and that mutuall protection is ridiculous, when gods keepe living men, and men keepe the statues of dead gods. cTertul.So they know nothing about Kings, but the two extermities of Excommuication or Canonization: If Kings serue them baselie, they shall bee deified by canonizing: If not, they shall bee damned to hell: But there is no truth in any of these▪ and both of them argue an Antichristian presumption in Popes: They vsurpe over Kings, in casting them downe, and setting them vp at their pleasure, and over God himselfe, in making gods and thrusting them on him as intercessours.
I close this point with Cicero dMagis est in Romul… admirandum, &c. August. Civit. l. 22. cap. 6.wondering at Romulus Apot heosing: For though times of ignorance made men gods, yet it was wonderfull in the midst of learning, men were so exalted, but hee satisfieth himselfe; in that none, but Rome counted Romulus a god, and that when shee was little and b… ginuing. So it was no wonder in the middle Ages of darknesse, to see Rome canonize men, but now in so great a light of the Gospel, and in the Contest with Rome for her Idolatrie, to see her multiplie her …ut…ar gods, it is wonderfull. But wee may content our selfe with Cicero. Who taketh these to be gods but Rome (a) & that no… in her minorite & beginning, but in her maioritie and declining to […] Quis autem Romulum Deum nisi Roma credidit. vbi suprae Ecce attendite &c. b…d▪ lib. cap. 32destruction? I intreat you therefore with Augustine, to consider of this your Pagan impietie if your minde, so long drunk: with errours, suffereth you to thinke of anie wholesome thing. And this much of their cloakes of shame, or their Spider-web-covertures of their open tyrannie.