IT is not my purpose to extoll the Dignity, or discourse of the Duety of a Prophet, in the pre­sence of a KING. The wordes of my Text, I confesse, natu­rally exact it; yet may it seeme vnseasonable, in this Royall Pre­sence, in this place, especially in these times. Miserable, & wretched times! in whichEudaemon. Becani Contron. Tortus. Pellar. Gretser. Coquae­us. Schoppius. Mariana. San­ders. Carerius. Allin. Parsons. Philopator. Calvino-Turcis. and the damna­ble and Blasphe­mous, not to be named, Pacen. and infinite o­ther. the chiefe and principall, the essentiall and funda­mentall points of Religion, and Christianity, which should breed Peace in our Consciences, and bring Salvation to our Soules, are almost growne harsh and out of fashion, stale, and out of request. Looke into the many Bookes and volumes, which in these later yeares, haue proceeded from our English Fugi­tives, and Romish Adversaries; in some, you shal finde the Name of Christ seldome mentioned; in many, no one point of Religion handled; in most, if any be handled, it is but obiter, and in transitu, by the way, [Page 2] and superficially, to farce and stuffe out the Volume; the maine scope, & drift of all, hath beene, to advance the Miter aboue the Crowne, and to erect the Mon­ster of the more then Transcendent Superioritie of the Sea and Church of Rome. Insomuch that we are now forced to spend our times & studies, our paines and watchings, our Books and writings, our discour­ses and preachings, yea our very Spirits and Liues, in vpholding the Thrones, in sustaining the Scepters, in setling the Crownes, nay in vindicating the Liues, the Estates, and Dignities of Sacred and Anointed KINGS, from the vniust and bloody Assasinations of Romish and Antichristian Tyranny.

Our chiefe, nay our onely Religion, in these daies consists not in the Faith of that one only Christ, that one only deare & Beloued Sonne of that Living God: Io. 6. but in a servile and slavish Submission and Prostituti­on to the Sea, and Pope of Rome. You knowe whose resolution it is, Quicquid profiteatur, Catholicus non est, Bell. ad Apol. qui est, à Romani Pontificis obedientiâ, alienus: Professe what you will professe, vnderstand the Scriptures ne­ver so exactly, imbrace the Gospell never so syncere­ly, beleeue all the Articles of Faith never so stedfast­ly, professe the Truth never so constantly, practise the workes of Charitie never so devoutly, suffer, & shed your Blood, & lay downe your Liues for Christ ne­ver so patiently; I adde, Invocate all the Saints in Heaven, adore the Fleshly Body of Christ in the Sa­crament, mutter your Confession, performe your Penance, buy your Absolution, purchase Pardons, & [Page 3] Indulgences; All this, and more, is not sufficient, to constitute a Catholike. One thing remaines, you must cast down your Crowns at the Feet of that Man of sin, you must leaue your Kingdomes to bee disposed, at his pleasure; otherwise you haue no part in the true Church, you can expect no portion in Gods King­dome. If he Thunder, the Earth must shake, the Founda­tions of the world must be moued, the Thrones of Kings must totter, their Scepters must fal out of their hāds, their Crownes must be torne from their Heads, All must be cast at his Feet. If you demand (Quo warran­to?) by what warrant, and Commission, He claimes it? The words of my Text, See! this day haue I set thee vp, &c. they are his warrant, they are his Commission. A weake warrant, of so vniust vsurpation! as I trust I shall make manifest, if first you will giue mee leaue briefly to vnfold the words themselues.

The words in their proper and naturall, in their li­terall & Principall sense, are appropriated to CHRIST IESVS, the Prince of Prophets, who hath Excellentiam Potestatis: Personally they are directed to IEREMY; who was Propheta constitutus, antequàm natus, or­dained a Prophet of God, before he was borne, the Sonne of Man: In a subordinate, and qualified sense, they may be applied to all the Prophets, al the Apostles, all the Ministers of the Gospell; who haue delegatam Potestatem. All, Similiter, but not Aequaliter, with like, but not with equall power, being set over Nati­ons and Kingdomes, &c. CHRIST, in that high Pree­minence, and superexcellency of all power, which was [Page 4] giuen him of his Father, both in Heaven and in Earth: Mat. 28. Ieremy, by extraordinary calling and vocation from Heaven: the rest, by subordinate and delegate Com­missiō; being sent of Christ, as He was sent of his Father, Io. 20. 2. Cor. 5. & hauing the word of Reconciliation committed vn­to them.

In the wordes I obserue, first, their Commission; I haue set thee vp. Secondly, the Extent, and latitude of their Iurisdiction; aboue Nations, aboue Kingdomes. Thirdly, their Worke; and that is twofold; ad Destructio­nem: ad Aedificationem, to plucke vp, to root out, &c. to plant, and to build. In other things, Facilius est destrue­re, quàm astruere; yet where Sinne is the subiect wee worke vpon, it is so incorporate into the nature of man, that it is farre greater difficultie, to pluck vp, and root out, then to plant; and to destroy, & overthrow, then to build. Therefore the Spirit of God mentioneth quatuor Tristia: duo Laeta; foure Destroying, but onely two Edifying Metaphors. Lastly, I obserue, that the true and only End of plucking vp, and rooting out, is planting; the End of overthrowing, and destroying, is Building.

The Commission is Authenticall, rooted in HeavenEgo constitui, and grounded vpon Gods Ordination. The Extent & latitude, is large and ample: no Estate, no Dignitie, noSuper Nationes & Regna, Throne, no Crowne, no Scepter, no Diadem exempt from it. The worke is powerfull on both sides: I had al­most said Omnipotent; for, Habet quandam Omnipoten­tiam, Vt evellas, ex­tirpes, non ex Spiritu nostro, sed ex Spiritu, qui est in Spi­ritu nostro; The word of God, in the mouth of his ba­sest [Page 5] servants, hath in it a kinde of Omnipotentie, not by any vertue that is in them, but by the power of that Spirit that worketh in them. The End is full of Grace, and of Favour. Vt plantes, adi­fices.

First, I meet with a note of observation, set (as it were) in the very Front, and Forehead of my Text, [Vide] [See] to this end, that, Qui Manus ad Clavum, & Oculos, ad Coelum, He which sits at the Sterne, either of Civil, or Ecclesiasticall governement, whether He sit on the Throne, or in the Chaire, His eye must ever be fixed in Heaven, vpō the Pole by which his course must be guided, & cōducted. For both in Kingdome, and in Church, Christus in Imo, Christus in Summo; Christ is the roote, Christ is the roofe; Christ is the beginning, Christ is the ending; Christ is α, Christ is ο; Christ is the foundation, Christ is the perfection of all. The Prosperitie, & Peace, the Abundance and Wealth, the Honour and Dignitie, the Stabilitie and Perpetuitie of all, stands vpon his Favour, and is vp­held by his Blessing. It is He, that must blesse vs here, it is He that must crowne vs hereafter. [See] we enioy the Blessing, let Him haue the Glory. From Him we haue our Constitution and Commission, Ego consti­tui, 1 Constitutio. I haue set thee vp: otherwise, [...] who is sufficient for these things? What are our Earthē vessels, to hold that inestimable and heavenly Trea­sure? What our vncleane Hands, to breake, and di­stribute that heavenly Manna? What our leaden and drossy Pipes, to receaue, or convey that water of life? [...] Who is sufficient for these things? [Page 6] No man takes this Honour to himselfe, but he which is Heb. 5. 2 Cor. 4. called of God, as was Aaron? The excellencie of this po­wer it is not of Men, but it is of God.

Before I formed thee in the wombe, I knew thee, before thou camest out the wombe, I sanctified thee; there is Ele­ctio ad salutem: I haue ordained thee to be a Prophet, and See! this Day I haue set thee vp, &c. there is Electio ad Munus; chosen to salvation before eternity, called to the Office of a Prophet this Day. These do not al­waies concurre in one subiect; but where they meet, a thousand thousand Blessings accompany that con­stitution, & a thousand thousand times blessed is he, that is chosen of God both to saue himselfe, and to saue others.

Dei Agricultura estis, Dei Aedificium estis; 1. Cor. 3. you are God's Husbandry, you are God's Building.Chrys. in 1. ad Cor. 3. Ager, Mundus; Aedificium, Fideles; The world is his Field, the Faithfull are his Building. Ager Chrys. Ibid. non est Agricolae, sed Patrisfamiliâs, Aedificium non est Architecti, sed Domini: The field is not the Husband­mans, but the owners, the Building is not the worke­mans, but the Lords. In this Husbandry there is not a fit labourer, that is not sent of God into his Harvest, Mat. 9. In this Building there is not a meete worke­man, which is not inspired from Heaven, as was Aho­liah and Bezaleel, Exod. 31. He which buildes and he which plants, hee which plucks vp, and hee which rootes out is nothing, but Hee which giues the Bles­singCern. de Consid. ad Eug. l 2. and encrease, Hee is all in all. Rusticani Sudor is Schemate quodam, labor spiritualis expressus est: The [Page 7] worke of a Prophet is illustrated by resemblance with the toyle of an Husbandman, and the whole comparison is meerely Tropicall, Figuratiue, & Me­taphoricall.Dried. de Reg. & Dog Sacr. Script. l. 3. c. 4. Nulla est excusatio, carnaliter interpretan­ti, in huiusmodi loquutionibus Tropicis: It is an absurdi­tie beyond absurditie, to make literall interpretation of Figuratiue and Metaphoricall Speeches. Nay it is an Impietie beyond Impietie, to change the elegant resemblances, which the Spirit of God vseth in the Scripture, to Actuall and Reall, and bloody Executi­ons of vniust and vsurped Tyranny. Certainely God never sent forth his Prophets, as Incendiaries, & As­sasinates, with Fire and Sword, with Poyson & Gun­powder, to pluck vp, to root out, to destroy, to overthrow: He sent them that the world might be saved, but not ruinated by them.

The rule is generall, Quicquid in Scriptur is Sacris Dried vt suprd. asperum, saevū, crudele sonat, & commendatur à Sanctis factum, aut iubetur vt faciant, non ad literā, sed ad cupi­ditatis Regnum, & vincendos animae Hostes intelligi­tur esse scriptum. Whatsoever in the Scriptures is commanded or commended in the Saints, and savo­reth of violence, asperitie, crueltie, it is not Literally, but Figuratiuely to be vnderstood and executed.

If you demand, Qui Vectes? quae Ferramenta? with what tooles, and with what Engins He performes so glorious a worke? They are set in the words next before my Text, Behold, I haue put my word in thy V. 9. mouth; a worde sharper then a two-edged Sword, which enters and divides, and woundes, and kils; but, [Page 8] Culpas non Homines; It kils Sinne, but it saues men. ToFerus in Io. 18. this worke he hath set apart Esay, and Ieremy, not Ze­nacherib, not Nabuchadnezar, not Antiochus; Peter & Paule, not Herod and Nero; Augustine, Ambrose, & the Holy Fathers, not Domitian, and Iulian, bloody Empe­rors; Luther, Caluin, & many worthies in his Church, not Hildebrand, Iulius, Boniface, Pius, Sixtus, & the rest of that rabble. Those pluckt vp, & rooted out, Gladio oris, with the Sword of their Lippes; these destroy, over­throw, murder, massacre, Ore Gladij, with the dint and edge of the Sword. Thus, Imperiale fit Papale, Spiritu­ale fit Temporale; the Imperiall right is made Papall, and the Spirituall Ministery is changed into open & professed Tyranny. But Quis constituit? whence haue they their Ordination? from whom cā they challenge their Commission?

They are set vp, Super Nationes & Regna, aboue2. Iurisdictio. Nations, aboue Kingdomes. An ample & a large Iu­risdiction! Bern. de Consid. lib. 2. but Ministerium impositum est, non Dominiū datum; I see a dutie and a charge laid vpon vs, which we must exercise, I see no Soveraigntie, no Domini­on given vnto vs that we should execute. Qui ad Epis­copatum Orig in Es. 6. vocatur, ad Servitutem vocatur, non ad Domi­nium Ecclesiae; He that is called to the office of a Pro­phet, is called to serue, and minister, not to rule and domineere in the Church. I read, that their Sound, I find not, that their Sword, should go through the world. It is true, there is no Privilege, there is no Exempti­on, there is no Throne, there is no Crowne, there is no Scepter, there is no Diadem, that is not subiect to [Page 9] this glorious Ministration. Wee may not feare the faces of mortall men: Saule must heare of his witch­crafts, David of his adultery, Ahab of Naboth's vine­yard, Herod of his brother Philip's wife; Israel must heare of her Sinnes, Iudah of her Transgressions, Sa­maria of her Idolatries, Ierusalem of her Abominati­ons. And if here we could beare rule, and domineere, and offer force, and vse violence, and beat downe sin, and cry out against iniquitie, till their eares tingle, & their Hearts tremble in the midst of their Bowels, we doe nothing but our duties. For this cause are wee set over Nations, over Kingdomes: Herein is our true honour, herein our true Preeminence. Which hath caused the ancient and holy Fathers so often to ex­toll the dignitie of their Ministery, and sometimes, not to compare only, but to preferre it before and a­boue the highest earthly Soueraigntie. Imperium ipsi Naz in orat. ad Cives & Prin. cipem irascen­tem. quo{que} gerimus, addo etiam praestantius ac perfectius; vos enim, potestati meae meis{que} subsellijs Lex Christi subiecit: spoken in the presence, and to the person of an Em­rour. We also haue our authoritie, & that more per­fect, and more glorious then your Soveraigntie; for even your Maiestie hath the law of Christ subiected to our Pulpit. It is to our Pulpit, not to our Tribunal; where wee may reproue, not chastise, reprehend, not punish, depresse, not depose: to vs your Soules, to you our Bodies are committed; into our Handes the Keyes, into your Handes the Sworde is de­livered; wee must denounce, you must execute, God's Iudgements; wee can shut out of Heaven, [Page 10] you may root out of the earth. God hath set his ser­vants over Nations, & Kingdomes, as He set Ionas over Niniveh, vt euersi in malo aedificarentur in Bono; that their sinnes might be pluckt vp, & rooted out, their e­state established, the sentence denoūced against them reversed, their Ruine & Destruction prevented, their Pardon and Peace procured. God hath not set them, as he set Salmanazar, Zenacherib, Nabuchadnezar, over Israel and Iudah, as his whips and scourges, or rather as his Sword & Executioners; vt Aedificati in malo e­verterentur in toto, that when their sinnes were ripe, they should draw the line of emptinesse over them, and chaine their Kings, and fetter their Nobles, and ruinate their estates, and dispose of their kingdomes. We may, nay we must, denounce God's iudgments, but the sword, which must execute them, Hee hath put into another's Hand. If our Saviour demaunde Quis me Iudicem? who hath made me a Iudge overLuk, 12. you? and would not end a Controversie, that was brought vnto Him: may not we lawfully aske, Quis vos Principes? who hath made you Princes? nay more then Princes? to dispose of the estates, of all, yea Lawfull, Anointed, and Soveraigne Princes?

Their Work is to pluck vp and to root out, to destroy, 3. Opus. Bern. vt sup. to overthrow. True! but, Disce sarculo opus esse, non sceptro, vt facias opus Prophetae: See, a Sheepehooke, not a Scepter, a weeding hooke, not a Sword, is the Instrument that fits the Hand, and agrees with the worke of a Prophet. Cum audis Regna & Nationes, noli Carnaliter intelligere, sed cogita Animas Regnatas [Page 11] à Peccato; delicta, cogita, quae evellenda & suffodienda, à Orig. in Hier. 1 Orig. Ibid. sermonibus Dei: when you heare of Nations and of Kingdomes, and of plucking vp, and rooting out, dreame not of earthly kingdoms; but remember, Satan hath a kingdome within you, and sinne hath gotten Do­minion over you; follow, pursue, kill, mortifie these enimies, pluck vp, root out, destroy, overthrow this King­dome. This is a true Propheticall, Evangelicall work, which cannot be destitute, either of a Blessing here, or a reward hereafter. There was a time, wherein God promised, and in his due time Hee performed it; Men shall turne their swordes into sithes, and their Es. 2. Es. 11. Speares into Mattockes, and there shall none hurt nor destroy in all the mountaine of my Holynesse. There was never time wherein Satan practised it not, in these our times hee hath effected it; men haue turned their Sithes into Swords, & their Mat­tockes into Speares, and with Iulius the second, their Miters, into Helmets, and the Keyes of Peter, into the Sword of Paule. There is now nothing, but Blood & Slaughter, but Stabbings and Poysonings, and Fire, and Gun-powder, but Deposing & Ruinating. And vbi{que} Religio praetenditur, vbi omnia, & Humana et Di­vina violantur, and when all the Lawes both of God and Man are violated, Religion must cover all, & the Censure of the Church must warrant all. We haue seene with our Eies, the most woful and dysastrous effects and fruits of this Doctrine the sunne ever loo­ked vpon. You cannot but remember them; I take no pleasure to repeate them. God hath set Bounds and limits, vnto all Authority; the Authority of the [Page 12] Church is confined, to the Courts of Conscience, not extended, to the Courtes of Iustice. The worke of a Prophet is appropriated to the rooting out of sin, not improved to the ruinating of Kingdomes. And this is the end and perfection of all, so to plucke vp and roote out, that we plant, so to destroy & overthrow, that we build.

This is indeed the Proper and Naturall worke of4. Finis. God's Ministers; to plucke vp, and to roote out, is Ac­cidentall and forced vpon them, to plant and to build, is Essentiall to their Office, & affected by them. That is their Hope, and their Ioy and their Crowne of re­ioicing, in the Day of the Lord IESVS. Suprema lex salus Ecclesiae; The fundamentall Law of the Church and the most glorious worke of the sacred Ministery never reached to the Bodies, or Goods, or Liues of Men, but ever was accomplished in the salvation of the soules of men. It is the observation of Chryso­stom, Saepè solet Scriptura vti verbis malis in re bona; the spirit of God in the Scriptures, often vseth sharpe, displeasing, and destructiue phrases, where yet it in­tends to produce Blessed, Gracious, and vital effects. Ignis, Gladius, verba mala sunt; Fire, Sword, are words cloathed with Terror, and vsually Instruments of Death. But the Fire that came downe from Heaven, & sate on the Apostles, illuminat, nō incendit, enligh­tens, scortches not, inflames, burnes not, purges, but consumes not. The sword, which God hath put into the Hands, into the Mouthes rather, of his Prophets, vomicam incidere potest, may launce and open the Im­postumation, [Page 13] which hath beene long breeding in vs, cuts, but hurts not, heales, but endangers not. God authorizing his servants to wound, but so that they might heale againe, to kill, but so that they might quicken againe, to plucke vp and roote out, but so that they might plant againe, to destroy, and overthrow, but so that they might build againe.

Of the plucking vp and rooting out of our Adversa­ries the world hath had long and wofull experience, the Turks, and Infidels haue made their advantage, the Church hath felt the smart, and all Christen­dome to this day groanes vnder the weight & bur­den of it. If you seeke for their Plantings and Buil­dings, you must saile to the Indies, and search into re­mote, barbarous, and vnknowne Lands; it may be in the passage you may heare, of fruitfull Plantations & of glorious Buildings, and of strange Miracles, and of wonderfull conversions; but in the end, you shal find, and see, their Plantations haue beene watered with Blood, the Foundations of their Buildings laid in Blood, in the Blood of innumerable thousands, of poore and naked Innocents; themselues being wit­nessesAcosta. Barthol. Casa. &c. against themselues, and their owne Iesuites de­ploring and detesting their more then inhumane & Divellish Cruelty.

Thus haue I posted over the words of my Text, that you may perceiue we detract nothing from the authoritie of a Prophet. His constitutiō is from God. We exempt no man from their lawfull Iurisdiction; they are set vp, super Nationes, super Regna, aboue Na­tions, [Page 14] aboue Kingdomes. Wee acknowledge their worke powerfull, to plucke vp, root out, &c. but, In Cri­minibus, Bern. ad Eug. l. 2. non in Possessionibus Potestas ista, this power is exercised in extirpation of sinnes, not in extermi­nation of Kingdomes; &, Linguâ, non Manu, Ore, non Gladio, Precibus, non Armis; It must be executed withEspencaeus. our Tongues, not with our Hands, with our Words, nor with our Swordes, with our Prayers, not with our weapons. Lastly, we yeeld double, and treble ho­nour to those, which so roote out, that still they may plant; which so destroy, that yet they may still build vp.

O how easily, & how amply could I here discourse of the Kingdome of CHRIST JESVS! of his many vic­tories, and his glorious Triumphs! all atchieued, Non alijs Armis; quàm clangente Evangelij Buccinâ, sonante Apostolorum Doctrinâ, with no other weapons, but by the sound of his Gospell, and the foolishnesse of the preaching of his Apostles. Thus, thus hath it plea­sed him to raze downe the wals of Iericho! Thus, thus hath hee built vp the walls of his Beloued Ierusalem! Thus hath he planted his faith, overcome the world, subdued Nations, conquered Kingdomes, and spread his Dominion from Sea to Sea, and from the River vnto the ends of the world!

If I haue but touched, where I should haue enlar­ged, and haue digressed from the Observations my Text naturally affordeth; that which the Apostle vseth as his iust Apologie, Vos coegistis, you haue enforced me; I trust with your Favours it may bee accepted as a faire excuse, Illi coegerunt, our Adversaries haue [Page 15] compelled me. For it is not easie, nay it is impossible, for a true man, alwaies to keep the Kings high way, especially if he be driuen to follow Hue and Cry after Theeues and Murderers. I am now in this pursuit; I find God to be dishonoured, his Scriptures adulte­rated, the peace of his Church disturbed, the soules of men bewitched, our estate endangered, tyranny vsurped: if I cannot yeeld remedy, I cannot but giue warning. It is not now a question disputed, but a case resolued, if the PRINCE fall from God, the people must fall from him, they may, nay they must resist & take Armes; Principes iam inauguratos & consecratos Andreae Philopat. Resp. ad Edi­ctum. Regni{que} potitos deturbare possunt, imò debent & tenen­tur facere, si vires suppetant, id{que} in extremo animarum periculo, ac discrimine. And if these resolutions bee growne into practises & executions, so that we can­not liue amongst these men without danger, surely they should not liue amongest vs in such iollity, in such security. Caput iniquitat is tenetist a iniquitas; this is an abomination aboue all abominations. Religi­on must couer all and these very words of my Text must warrant all! By this and such like, Catholike men are warranted, that they be no Traytors, nor hold positi­ons Allen in his an­swer to the Execu­tion of iustice. treasonable, false and vndutiful, in answering, or be­leeuing that for heresie, and such like notorious wicked­nes, a Prince otherwise lawfull and anointed, may be ex­communicated, forsaken, resisted, by warrant of holie Churches iudgment, and censure.

I omit the writings of priuate men, though their Bookes are full of it; I find it in their Lawes, in their [Page 16] Bulls, in their Publike & authenticall Instruments, the monster of their more then supreame Supremacy, all their vnheard-of vsurpation, and tyranny ouer Princes, Kingdomes, the estate and liues of lawfull and annointed Kings, grounded vpon this Tropicall, Figuratiue, and Metaphoricall foundation! See, I haue this day set thee vp, &c. In their well known andExtran. Bonis. 8 de Minor [...]t. & Obe­dient. often mentioned Canon, Vnam sanctam; Ecclesiastica potestas Terrenam habet instituere, & Iudicare: sic veri­ficatur Vaticinium Hieremiae; Ecce, ego constitui. In the Bull of Paulus tertius against HENRY the 8. Praecipu­um super omnes Reges vniuersae Terrae, cunctos{que} popu­los, obtinentes Principatum, iuxta Hieremiae vaticiniū, Ecce ego constitui te, &c. Regem Henricum Regno pri­uamus, &c. Hauing obtained chiefe principality, ouer all [...] the Kings of the whole earth, and ouer all nations, accor­ding to the Prophecy of Ieremy, See, this day I haue set thee vp, &c. We depose King HENRY of this kingdome, and him and all his fauourers doe Wee smite with the sword of accursing, excommunication, & eternall dam­nation; his subiects we absolue from their Oath of Alle­giance, and all subiection to their King, and besides we exhort and require them to take Armes, and in all ho­stile maner to pursue them. By the way it is not vnwor­thy the obseruation; that in the next immediately following chapter there is Institutio & confirmatio Societatis nomio is Iesu, that they might haue new & pestilent instruments, to vphold their new challenge and prodigious Practise. In the Bull of Pius quintus, against Q. ELIZABETH, of famous and euer blessed [Page 17] memory; Regnans in excelsis, vnum Romanum Ponti­ficem Illius authoritate suffulti qui n [...]s in hoc supremo Iusti­tiae Throno colleca­uit; Elizabet. prae­tenso iure Regni, nec non omni & quccunque Domi­nio, dignitate, & priuilegio priuatiō priuamus, itemque proceres subditos & populos docti Regni â iura ento fidelitatis omniqua Dominij & obsequij Debito absolutos absol [...]imus. Apoc. 13. super omnes Gentes & omnia Regna Principem constituit, qui euellat, destruat, disperdat, dissipet, &c. He that raigneth in the highest Heauens, hath constituted the one onely Pope of Rome, a Prince ouer all nations, and all kingdomes, to plucke vp, to root out, &c. Armed by his authority, who hath placed vs in this supreame Throne of Iustice, we depriue ELIZABETH of her pre­tended right to the Kingdome, and of all Soueraignty, Dignity, and Preeminence, and discharge her Nobles and Subiects from their oath of Allegiance, and obedi­ence due vnto Her.

Heare you not the Beast in the Revelation, Lo­quentem magnalia, speaking great things, and vttering Blasphemies against God, and against Heauen? chal­lenging power ouer Kindreds, and Tongues, and Nati­ons? Let them whose names are not written in the book of life worship him. The French haue prooued that these are but Bruta Fulmina, Brutish Thunderbolts; The Venetians, that this is but Ignis fatuus, a false fire; God hath proued vnto vs, that they are Blessings, and not curses: for where they haue cursed most, he hath blest most. Blessed be his name for euer, and for euer!

I cannot prosecute euery particular; I would draw all vnto an head, & yeeld vnto the Church, whatso­euer she may iustly challenge, & suppose (that which they can neuer proue, wee may neuer grant) that all authority of this Church is in the Sea, and Pope of Rome: yet can it neuer be stretched or tentered, to [Page 18] the discharging of subiects from their Allegeance, or deposing of Princes, from their Dignities. I will not deny, but that these words, to plucke vp, to roote out, to build, and to plant, may bee parralell, to bin­ding and loosing in the Gospell; and that by these and such like the CHVRCH may lawfully chal­lenge Authority, yea ouer Nations and Kingdomes, to foretell, and threaten, and denounce Gods iudgments, But God hath made a Distinction, betwixt the Sword and the Keyes, and hath set a separation be­twixt the Prince, and the Priest. Insomuch that the Prince cannot snatch the Keyes, out of the hand of the Priest, without open sacriledge: the Priest may not wrest the sword, out of the hand of the Prince, without manifest impiety and vniust vsurpation. Therefore my Conclusion is, that,

And here we must obserue; first, that wee suppose Darknesse to be Light, and Falsehood to be Truth, and Vsurpation to be Iustice, and Tyranny to bee E­quity; for al this, and much more then this, they must suppose, which suppose the Excommunications of the Pope, to be Iust and Lawfull. Secondly, that I speake [Page 19] of Lawfull and Annointed Kings, I meddle not with Intruders and Vsurpers. Thirdly, that wee deny not, but Princes by Heresie, by Idolatry, by Apostacy, by o­ther Notorious Crimes, may deserue to be Censured: and in this case, we may & must tell them, that these sinnes are Pernicious to their soules, and Perillous to their Estates; yet is it God alone, and no man on the Earth, that can make them for feytures of their King­domes. Fourthly, that we exempt not Kings, from the iust censure and reprehension of the Church. Wee honour the Courage and resolution of Ambrose, wee admire the moderation & submission of Theodosius: though we doubt whether we may imitate the one, or expect the other; but we abhor the partiality of the Pope, who will exempt himselfe, where he subiects Princes. Nauarrus enquires, Quis possit excommunica­ri? Nauarrus Manual c. 27. de Censuris. and resolues, He must be Homo, Mortalis, Baptiza­tus, habens superiorem: and therefore amongest o­thers, there are exempt, Locusta, Infidelis, Daemon, Papa; a Locust or noysome beast, hee is not Man; an Infidell he is not Baptized; the Deuil, he is not mortal; the Pope, though an Heretique, He falls into the hands Etiamsi incidit in Haeresin, non inca­dit in excommuni­cationem Huma­nam, sed Diuinam. of God, he is not subiect to any humane Power. See how fitly he hath matched, & ranked his priuiledged qua­ternion; I malice not their combination, I dispute not of their Exemption: but suppose all, and more then all, against which I can yet take infinite, and iust ex­ceptions, I still hold my Conclusion. My proofes I re­duce to foure heads; 1. The Prerogatiue Royall of a KING, 2. The Duty indispensable of a Subiect; 3. The [Page 20] Continuall Practise of the CHVRCH; 4. The Nature, Effects, Limitations, and End of Excommunication.

The very name of a Lawfull and Anointed KINGRegis Praerogatiua. Etiamsi Apostolus, etiamsi Propheta. Nec simpliciter di cit, Obediat, sed subiect [...] sit. Chrys. in Ro. 13. is sacred, his Authoritie soueraigne, his Person inuio­lable. Maior erit, quam cui possit Censuran [...]cere. Euerie soule must be subiect vnto Him, though he be an E­vangelist, though an Apostle, though a Prophet, not Obedient only, but subiect: yea and that Paul a Blessed Apostle, to Nero a Monster of Men, and a bloody persecutor. No man may stir an Hand or a Foot without him: if he bid saue, they saue, if hee bid kill they kill, ipse solutus Legibus, himselfe exemp­ted from his lawes, nor from the Direction, and Ob­servance of them, but from the Punishment and pe­nalty of them; [...]. It is a speech, and an Act worthiest an Emperour, to oblige and binde himselfe to his lawes: it is a speech & practise vn­fitting the authority of any earthly power to say, if hee transgresse I will chastice him. It was once the language of the Church. Wee adore the Empe­rour Tert. ad Scapulam. as a man, next vnto God, and inferiour to none but him alone. It was once the stile of the Pope, Ego indignus Maiestatis vestrae Famulus, I the vn­worthyCreg. ad Mauritiū. seruant of your Maiestie. It was once & is still, the prerogatiue of a KING, Nullis vo­catur Ambr in Apol. Dauid. ad poenam Legibus; tutus Imperij potestate: There is no Tribunall, to which he may be cited; no law by which he may be punished. He is secured by the preeminence of his Soueraignety: Who can lay his hand vpon Gods annointed, and be innocent? [Page 21] Who can? No man, Because God hath planted him aboue 1. Sam. 26. Quis; Nullus; quia Deus fecis eum su­periorem omnibus: & nulli praestitit authoritatem super ipsum. Deus solus vltor est iniquitatum eius, vnde Dauid: Indicet Deus inter Te & Me. Abul. in locum. 1. Sam. 24. all men, and hath giuen no man autority to punish Him; God alone will take vengeance on his sinnes. Therfore Dauid, when Saul hunted after his innocent soul, as after a prey, yet could appeale neither to Iudge, nor to High Priest, but to God alone, let God be iudge between thee and betweene me. Dauid, when he confessed his sinne, forgot not his Preeminence; To thee, Thee only haue I sinned. I haue sinned; An ingenuous confessiō which obtained a gracious pardon; The Lord hath put away thy sin. To thee, a necessary exaggeration, no man sees, or truly sorrowes for the heinousnes of his sin, without a true apprehension of that glorious Maie­sty, which he hath offended in sinning. But To thee, Thee onely; in his lowest submission to God, remem­bring his high Preeminence aboue men. I doubt not but Dauid sinned against Bethsabee, and that a grie­uous and an vncleane sinne; against Vriah, and that a bloody, and a crying sinne, against the Child of adul­terie, and that a deadly, and a killing sin, against his kingdome, & that a ruinating, and demolishing sin; against his owne soule, and that a fearefull and a pernicious sinne. In istos peccauit; Deo soli Peccauit: Against all those he sinned, but To God onely. They might complaine and Accuse and Testifie against him; but God alone, was to Iudge, to Condemne, to Punish Peccamus in illos quibus inturtam inf [...]rimus peccamus illi, qui in sua peca­tate habet, vel di­mittere, vel vltio­nem de co sumere. him; Tibi peccaui, longè aliud est quam in te Peccaui: we sinne against them whom wee wrong by sinning; wee sin to him, who can remit or punish, who can pardon or bee Reuenged for our wrong, Rexerat, ita vt nullius sub­iaceret Iudicio; he was a KING, therefore To God [Page 22] onely, he sinned before whose Tribunall onely hee was to appeare, and from whose mouth onely, heeTitlem. in Psal. 51. was to receiue his iudgement.

What then? Doe we exempt KINGS from the ob­seruation of the Lawes of GOD? No, wee binde them rather with a double bond, Quâ Reges, Quâ homines; as they are Men, & haue soules to be saued, as they are KINGS, and haue Thrones to be establi­shed. And herein are wee set ouer them, to plucke vp and to roote out, to reproue, to correct, to proclaime to the terror of their soules, though not to the losse of their Kingdomes. Eò terribilius puniendi, quò pos­sunt peccare liberiùs: the greater their Exemption here, the more fearefull their Iudgement hereaf­ter; the ampler their Priuiledge here, the more in­tolerable their Plagues hereafter. They may escape the hands of Men: if they continue in their sinnes; they shall not escape the hands of God neither aliue nor dead. But the Laws of God, of Nature, of Nations, of the Church, of free Monarchies, the Lawes Impe­riall, all Priuiledge and Exempt them; they cannot be deposed by the sentence, they may not bee depri­ued by the force of any Mortall Man. Therfore sup­pose in some causes they might be Excommunicated, which I yeeld not, in any; yet in no case hath Ex­communication that force, to depose them. Reges sunt, They are KINGS.

They are KINGS, we are Subiects, bound in a bond, &Vinculum Subdi­torum. obligation, which exceeds al other Bonds, & cācels al other obligatiōs. A Son vnto his Father, a Wife vn­to her husband, a Seruant vnto his Master, an Homager [Page 23] vnto his Lord, an Inferiour to his Superiour, Nature, Sense, Reason, Humanitie, Christianitie, Divinitie binds them to Obedience, with a Bond which cannot bee broken: but the Bond of Allegiance to our KING con­taines them all, exceeds them al. Is HEE not a Father, an Husband, a Master, a Lord, nay as GOD vnto his sub­iects? Was not Moses, Aarons God, a God to the High Priest, and to the Father of the Priesthood. No warrant can I then find from Heauen; no dispensati­on vpon the Earth, that cā iustifie, or excuse the least Disobedience. It may bee that a Prince is iniurious to his Subiects: Omnis illegitima defensio Filij aduersus Pa­trem; Is he worthy the name of a Sonne, that will en­ter an action of Trespasse against his Father? It may be his yoke is heavy, and his loines burdenous; Feren­do & patiendo, lenienda Iniuria est; Patience, and tole­ration, is the best lenitiue, and the readiest remedie. It may be he is irreligious and would draw others after him: Religio defendenda est moriendo, non occidendo, pati­entiâ, Lact. non Saevitiâ, non scelere, sed Fide; Religion is to be maintained, by dying our selues for it, not by mur­dering others for it, by patience, not by fury, by loyalty, not by rebellion. It may bee hee is a Ty­raunt and bloody: but Inde Imperator, vndè homo Tertul. Apol. antequàm Imperator, inde potestas vnde Spiritus, He made him a King, which made him a Man; and he receaved his authoritie from him, from whom he receaued his breath. Saeuiat, Laniet, Nubecula est, citò transibit. Let him rage, kill, Massacre, hee is but a storme, sent of God to chastise his children, ex­pect [Page 24] but Gods leasure, he will soone vanish, and God will send a calme againe: as he speakes in Tacitus; Nō M. Teren. apud Tacitum. est nostrum aestimare quem supra ceteros, & quibus de causis extollas; nobis obsequij glorîa relicta est. God sets vp whom pleases him; our Vertue, our Dutie, our Glory consists in our Obedience, not for feare only, but for conscience, not [...], to our gratiousLuk. 22. 1. Pet. 2. Lords, but even [...], those whom hee hath set to be whippes & scourges over vs. Are wee then bound to obey them in all things? and to say, as the Israelites did to Ioshuah, All that thou commandest we wil doe? No; for there may be a time, wherein wee must say rather with the Apostles; It is better to obey God, then to obey Men. And if there be an opposition between the willAct. 4. of GOD, and the commandement of the KING: then we must craue pardon; Da veniam Imperator, Tu Car­cerem, Ille Gehennam. But in al cases, yea of profest He­resie, Aug. de verb. Apost. 5, 6. yea of open Idolatry, yea of manifest Apostasie, our tongues are bound, we may not speak evil of them; our very thoughts bound, we may not conspire against them; our hands bound, we may not so much as lift vp our little finger against them. In all cases, Erubescit Ec­clesia, Hostiens. de Ex­communicat. Filios fieri Castigatores Parentum; The Church hath ever shamed to make the Sonnes correctors of their Parents: and Gladium dare in manus Filij, ad tru­cidandum Biel. in Canon. Miss. l. 26. Patrem, membri ad concidendum corpus, Ne­fas est, & insanum; to put a sword into the hand of a Sonne to kill his Father, of a member to wound his own head, or stab into his own heart, it is more then Impietie, more then madnesse. The Sonne vnto the Fa­ther, [Page 25] the Wife vnto the Husband, the Servant vnto his Pater Filio, vx­or marito. Ser­vus Domino, Monachus Ab­bati, Sacerdos Episcopo, tene­tur obedire etiā Excommunica­to. Dried. de li­bert. Christian. l. 2. c. 8. Master, the Monke vnto his Abbot, the Priest vnto his Bishop is bound to performe due and canonicall obedience, notwithstanding any sentence of excommunication. Are all these bound, and may subiects be discharged? GOD hath directly commanded Obedience, and subiection; therefore no man directly or indirectly, absolutely or respectiuely, by temporal iurisdiction, or in Ordine ad Spiritualia, as a Pope, or as a Prince, can iustifie the least disobedience, or warrant so much as a thought of rebellion: no dispensation can discharge the Sub­iect, no sentence can depose a lawfull and an anoin­ted King. God, which is the God of order, & not of cō­fusion, foresaw in his wisdome, that it were better for the Minus malum praviderat ip­se pacis author, Regnosuturum, si Rex immode­ratiùs aliquan­dò impune se erga Populum gereret, quam si Populus Iudex & vltor Regiae iniquitatis pro sua libidine ex­isteret. estates of Kingdomes, & lesse iniurious to his Church, if the insolency of a wicked King, were sometimes tolera­ted without controll, then that the estate of his chiefe de­puty, and Lieutenant vpon the earth should be subiected to change and alteration, to deprivation, or deposing, at the pleasure and partialitie either of Priest, or of People: The one may be the cause of many disorders, the o­ther must needes bee the Mother of perpetuall confusion.

In the Practise of the Church, wee haue Confitentes Praxis Ecclesio. Reos, the evidence and confession of our Adversa­ries. For they which confesse it was not done in the Primitiue times, quia decrant vires Temporales; Bell de Ro. Pon­tif l. 5 c. 7. Allens answer, to Execution of English Iustice. and that the Emperours Constantine, Valens, Iulian, and others might haue beene by the Bishops Excom­municated, and deposed, and all their people released [Page 26] from their obedience; if the Church or Catholikes, had had competent forces to haue resisted: I say, they which yeeld reason why it was not done, evidently acknowledge it was not done.

Looke into the estate of the Iewes, and times of the Prophets; looke into the daies of CHRIST, and of his Apostles; looke into the daies of our Fathers, and Pri­mitiue times: you shall finde many open Idolaters, bloody Persequutors, backsliding Apostataes, many branded with the marke of Ieroboam, which sinned, & made Israel to sinne; yet not one dispossessed of his in­heritance, or deprived from his kingdome.

There is a particle in my TEXT, to which, if to any our Adversaries may lay iust claime, and that is Hodiè this Day: for their vniust challenge of Supremacie, and Domination over Princes, is Nupera, Novitia, Ho­dierna; it is New, it is Late, and in Comparison it is but a Day old. I am sure Ab Initio non fuit sic; from the beginning it was not so; nay long after the beginningEpist. Leodien­sium citata ap­probata ab Es­pencae. in 11 ad Timoth. it was not so. Primus Hildebrandus; Hildebrand was the first that ever practised it, and that Novello Schis­mate, making a new Rent betwixt the CHVRCH, and the Empire. Lego, relego, nusquam inuenio quenquam ante hunc Regno privatum. I read, and read againe, butOtto Frisingens I never find any in any age, before HENRY the 4^th, deposed from his estate and deprived of his Empire. HENRY the first Patient, Hildebrand the first Agent; a man abhorred of all the world, renowned by Car­dinall Allen to the ex­ecution of Iu­stice. p. 109. Allen, as a notable good man, and learned, who suf­fered whatsoever he did suffer for meere Iustice, in that he [Page 27] did Godly, Honourably, and by the Duety of his Pastorship whatsoever he did against the Emperour.

Now began the New, Popish, Antichristian world, to come to his Height: before which time, there was never Flatterer so shamefull, as to yeeld, never Pope so impudently audacious as to challenge this trans­cendent Authority over PRINCES. Which enfor­ced Abulensis to distinguish betwixt KINGS of for­mer, and KINGS of later times; Non est simile de Regi­bus Abul. in 3. Reg. c. 11. illis, et Regibus nostris, the KINGS then, the KINGS now, are not alike; Rex tum praeerat sacerdotibus, & po­terat Abul. in 4. Reg. c. 12. Occidere, à fortiori privare Dignitatibus, & Offi­cijs; the KING was then aboue the Priest, and might take his Life from him, much more depose him from his Office and Dignity. But that was in the olde world; & Franciscus Romulus (quem Bellarminus benè & no­vit Barclaius. M^r Peter de lu Martelliere. & amat, whom Bellarmine both knows and loues; (Bellarmine himselfe being the Author of that Booke, as neere Kin to Him, as to Tortus) puts a difference betwixt the Popes, in Primitiue times, and in our Dayes. They were fitted ad subeundum martyrium, these now made ad Coercendos Principes; They to suffer martyr­dome, these to raise Rebellions; They taught Patience, these practise violence; They professed subiectiō, these moue seditions; They quenched the blood of Tyrants with their Innocent Blood; the bloodthirstinesse of these cannot be swaged, but with the sacred Blood of God's Anointed. All this is [Hodiè] This day! Lamenta­ble it is, that ever the sunne shined, or gaue light vnto this Day. Before CHRIST, & a thousand yeeres af­ter [Page 28] CHRIST, Nec vsus, nec exemplum, nec mentio; there was neither Practise, nor Precedent, nor chal­lendge, nor mention, of this Tyranny. The Possessions & Inheritance of Private mē, the Crownes & Thrones of PRINCES, were then accounted of another Na­ture. They held thē not of the CHVRCH, they could not be deprived of them by the CHVRCH. The CHVRCH could not bestow thē on her dearest Chil­dren by any Blessing; the CHVRCH could not then, therefore cannot now, depriue her greatest enimies of them, by any Curse, Sentence, Censure, Excommuni­catiō. The Prophets never claimed it; our Savior never gaue it; the Apostles never received it; the Holie Fa­thers never heard of it: shall we thinke them carelesse of their lawfull Authority? Nay rather, we conclude, that they, which challendge to be their Successors, are Vsurpers of New, vnheard of, and vniust Tyranny.Excomunicatio maior est Disci­plina Canonica, quâ quis tertiò vocatus, ad e­mendationem manifesti delic­ti & satisfacere vilipendens, à loco Orationis Sacramētorum Comunione & fidelium consor­tio praescinditur vt erubescat, & pudore scoleris conversus poe­niteat, vt sic Spiritus eius salvus fiat.

It is true that the sentence of Excommunicatiō hath ever beene, and ever should be, accounted a fearefull and terrible sentence, a grievous and intolerable Pu­nishment; by some called Virga ferrea, a Rod of yron, by some Mucro spiritualis a spirituall sword, by many Fulmen Ecclesiasticū, the Churches Thūderbolt; which shakes the Consciences, affrights the Spirits, dauntes the Hearts, & leaues behinde it a Terror, in the Souls of Men. In the definition of their Greater Excommu­nication, which I finde in their Law, I finde these cir­cumstances. 1. The Iudge, and that is the CHVRCH, or some Authorized by the Church. 2. The Nature: it is a Censure Ecclesiasticall. 3. The Cause, Contuma­cy [Page 29] in some open notorious mortall sinne. 4. The Pro­ceeding must be Canonicall; the Delinquents openly called, and haue their iust defence. 5. The Effect, separa­tion from the Prayers, from the Sacraments, from the Society of the Faithfull. Lastly, the End, that he may be ashamed, being ashamed, he may convert, cōverting, repent, repenting, he may be saved. Here is all Spiritu­all; Iudge, Nature, Cause, Proceeding, Effect, End, All spi­rituall. Here is Exclusion from spirituall Comforts; here is no violence to their Persons, no preiudice to their Estates. In Ecclesiae Disciplina visibilis Gladius cessaturus; Aug. de Fide & Operibus c. 2. in the Discipline of the Church, there is no vse of the visible and material sword: for we are set vp, to watch over your soules, another beares the sword, Evagi­nandum nutu sacerdotis, to be vnsheathed at the Becke of the Priest; as Bernard speakes, and Allen vrges, butBern. Allen answer to Execution of Iustice. Lindwood, de sentent. excom. Provincial. l. 5. Nutu (i) Rogatu; Non enim mandant Praelati Domino Regi, sed supplicant, siue Rogant; at the becke, that is at the Petition, of the Prelates, for in this Case the Pre­lates commaunde not our Lord the KING, but they supplicate, and make Request vnto him. It is the con­fession of their owne Law, it is the ground of their Significavit; Ecclesia non habet vltrà, quod faciat, theDecret. l. 2. tit. 11. de Iudiciis, cum non ab Homine. Clossa ibid. Authority of the CHVRCH is ended, when the sen­tence of Excōmunication is pronounced. The CHVRCH can proceede no further, then, Tradatur Curiae, secula­ri; Brachium seculare invocandum; the Secular Power must bee implored; the Authority of the PRINCE must be assistant. It is true, that the Law alleadges:Decret. Cons. 23 q 5. par. de Li­guribus. Mille exempla sunt, & Constitutiones, there are manie [Page 30] Examples and Constitutions, wherein it is evident, that they which contēne the censure of the CHVRCH, haue beene Banished, Proscribed, Imprisoned, but, per Publicas Potestates, by Publique, and Temporall Au­thorityGlossa ibid. of Princes, per Potestates (i) Principes.

And here, as in handling all causes of this nature, we must distinguish betwixt the Iurisdiction which the CHVRCH may claime by Commission from CHRIST, and that which the CHVRCH hath receaved by Donati­on, and Indulgence of PRINCES; betwixt that which ap­pertaines to Excommunication properly, & in its owne nature, and the Penalties that haue beene inflicted vp­on the contemners of that sentence, by the Laws and favour of the highest Magistrate. For hereof the Church of Rome makes no smal advantage, when what soever shee hath receaued by the bountie of Princes, whatsoever she hath gained, by subtiltie, or by vio­lence, by the keyes of Peter, or sword of Paul, she now claimes all, as due vnto her, Iure Divino; & she bindes all, ex salute Animarum; as if she possessed all immedi­atly by GODS ordinance, which shee, by her inordinate pride, ambition, and tyranny hath vsurped. I finde in [...]iel. l. 26. the Schoole, that the nature of Excommunication is Purgativa respectu Ecclesiae, Purgatiue in respect of the Church, it purges here from impious and wicked men; Praeservatiua respectu fidelium, preseruatiue in re­spect of the members of the Church, who are by that meanes freed from danger of infection; Sanatiua re­spectu delinquentis, of an healing and curing qualitie to the delinquent: in no case doe I find that it is Pri­vativa, [Page 31] or Destructiva, that it shakes the Thrones or endangers the Crownes of delinquent Princes.

The Effects of excommunication, which the Cano­nistsEffecta. Os, Orare, Vale. Communio, Mē­sanegatur. gather out of the Scriptures, are these; Haue no company with him, 2. Tim. 3. With such an one eate not, 1. Cor. 5. Receaue him not to house, neither bid him God speed, 2. Io. 10. Let him be delivered to Satan, 1. Cor. 5. Let him be vnto thee, as an Heathen, & a Publican, Mat. 18. In Summa Angelica, I finde 21 Effects specified, yet no Deposing, no Depriuing: our volūtary Company, but not our necessarie Dutie, our familiar Salutations, but not our publike Subiection is forbidden. Some bene­fits belong vnto vs, as wee are Men, some as wee are Christians: cōceiue that a man is deprived of all those blessings, which Christianitie, Religion, Faith, Bap­tisme, the Church, the Word, the Prayers, the Soci­etie of the Saints can bring vnto him; yet his House, his Treasure, his Palace, his Crowne, his Estate, his Regalitie is still in safetie. Looke what hee gaines by his incorporation into the Church, that hee looses by his Excommunication out of the Church: but what by nature, by birthright, by iust inheritance, by lawfull succession hath descended vnto him, of that no Cen­sure of the Church can depriue him. The Church cannot make him a KING; once anointed of God, the Church cannot make him no KING.

In the Law the rigor of these Effects is many waiesVtile, Lex, Hu­mile, Res Igno­rata, Necesse. Haec Anathema quidem solvunt ne possit obesse. qualified, and at least dispensed with, if not vtterly ex­tinguished If our Commodity draw vs, if the Law bind vs, if our Estate & condition require it, if Ignorance [Page 32] privilege vs, if Necessitie enforce vs; Excōmunication cannot discharge vs: wee may eate, wee may company, we may converse, we must obey. The estate of a Sub­iect hath all these dependances vpō his SOVERAIGNE, therefore no warrant for disobedience.

Per Excommunicationem Charitas non tollitur; ByBiel. l. 26. Excommunication Charity is not excluded: we may Actiuè and Passiuè performe to him, or receaue from him any worke of Charitie. Praeceptum Ecclesiae pro Dried. de libert. Christ. l. 2. c. 8. charitate institutum contra charitatem militare non po­test; the commandement of the Church which con­sists in loue may not warre against it selfe, and aban­don Loue. By Excommunication, a man ceases not to be a man, neither doth hee loose his libertie; Hee retaines allPer excommun. Homo non defi­nit esse verus Homo, imò nec Liber &c. Na­var. Manual. de cesuris. c. 27. abilitie, wherewith he is naturally furnished, and may doe all things which are agreeable to the Lawes of Nature, Lawes of Nations, Lawes Imperiall. If we may performe the workes of Charitie, wee must per­forme the duties of Obedience; if hee loose not his Li­berty, certainely he looses not his Soveraigntie: if wee may doe what the Lawes of nature and men allow, wee must doe what the Lawes of God command; (that is) whosoever curse, we must blesse, & honour, and obey, and serue, and hazard goods, and venture Liues, and spend the last droppe of our dearest blood for the protection of our KING, whom GOD hath set over vs.

Lastly Excommunicatio Medicinalis est, non Morta­lis, Sixti Decret. l. 5. tit. 11. c. 1. Aug. de fide & operib. c. 3. Disciplinans, non Eradicans; the End is to cure, not to kill, to correct, not to destroy. Non enim perdendos [Page 33] sed corrigendos curandos{que} suscepimus; whatsoeuer au­thority the Church hath receaued, it is for edificatiō, it is not for destruction. If wee refuse their society, it is2 Thess. 3. that they may be ashamed: if we be forced to deliuer them to Satan, it is that they may be saued in the day of the Lord Iesus. The weapons of our warfare are not carnall, yet are they mighty to cast downe euery thing 1. Cor. 5. that exalts it selfe against God. Bellum cum vitijs, non cū 2. Cor. 10. Hominibus; our warfare it is with sinne, it is not with men: and this is Bellum [...], a warre that admits no truce, no cessation. It is not enough to cut, or to lop here, but we must plucke vp, and root out, & not leaue a sprig, least it take roote and spring vp againe: these children of Edom must bee dashed in peeces, these tares rooted out, and extirpated, the Kingdome, the Domi­nion of Satan vtterly ouerthrowne, and ruinated, not a stone left on a stone, nor head, nor taile, nor stalke nor bud remaining. And this is Ministerium omni im­perio gloriosius; a seruice more glorious then a King­dome: Kings themselues neuer happy, but when they submit their Crownes to this Ministery. It is repor­ted of a Turkish Emperour, when he saw a Christian murdered, because he would not deny his Faith, and turn Turke, with his owne hands he slew the malefa­ctor, cast him out on a dunghill, & cryed out with in­dignation; Is this the way to spred the faith of Mahomet? Is it not a shame that should be perpretated amōgst Christians, which is abhorred and detested amongst Turkes and Infidels? Shall they not, trow you, rise vp in iudgement, and condemn the murders, the massa­cres, [Page 34] the Assassinations of these daies? Is this the way to promote the Gospell of Christ Iesus? It is the note of S. Austin, in fact is Prophetarum, intuere quomodò intelligenda sunt verba Prophetarum. Hee indeed ap­plies them to another matter, but they haue theirAug. cont. epist. Parmen. l. 3. c. 4. truth, and vse in this also. Will you vnderstand the meaning of the words of the Prophets? try them by the deeds of the Prophets. Did Ieremie plucke vp, or root out, did he destroy, or ouerthrow estate, Kingdom, Prince, or priuat person? He liued & threatned their ruine, that he might haue extirpated their sinne: hee liued, and saw their ruine, and therfore saw them roo­ted out by the sword of the enemy, because hee, and Gods Prophets could not preuaile to root out their ini­quity. One example for all. Saul was excommunicated, not in Foro Fori, but in Foro Poli; not at the Tribunal of a mortall man, but by the doome and sentence of God himselfe. God did not onely cast him out of his Church, and reprobate him out of the number of his elect; but in expresse termes hee rent his Kingdome from him, and gaue it to another man. Dauid was a­nointed King by the speciall command of God, and by the hand of Gods Prophet: In this case might Dauid resist where God had reiected? or might he de­pose him whom God had reprobated?

Nay euen in this case, stāding vnder the heauy sen­tence of diuine excommunication, who can lay his hand 1. Sam. 26. vpon Gods Annoynted, and be innocent? When he had cut off but the lappe of his Garment, his heart smote him; The Lord keepe me, from doing that thing vnto my !. Sam. 24. [Page 35] Master, the Lords Anoynted, to lay mine hand vpon him, for He is the Anoynted of the LORD. As the Lord li­ueth, 1. Sam. 26. eyther the Lord shal smite Him, or his Day shal come to Dy, or He shal descend into Battaile and perish. The Lord keepe me from laying mine hand vppon the Lords Aug. cont. lite­ras Petili. l. 2. c. 48. Anoynted. Propter vnctionem & honorauit viuum, & vindicauit Mortuum. He was stil his Master, he was stil the Lords Anoynted, therefore hee still Honoured him liuing, and reuenged him dead. In the hand of any earthly man, there may bee Clauis Errans; not so, in the hand of God. And is he still a KING, whom GOD hath reiected? and is he no KING, whom that man of sinne hath excommunicated? I collect all. The Prero­gatiue of a lawfull and Annointed King, is Sacred, and Inuiolable; The Duty of a subiect is a strong obliga­tion, & indispensable; The practise of the CHVRCH hath euer been Obedience vnto Blood, not Rebelli­on or trechery to effusion of blood; The nature of ex­communication is spirituall, not temporall; the Effect, Losse of Heauenly comforts, not of earthly kingdomes; The Limitations allow, nay require and exact Fideli­ty, in Naturall subiects; the End is charitable; Repen­tance, & Restitutio in integrum. Repentance is late, if once Murdered; Restitution impossible, if once depo­sed. Therefore,

Why then should a Kingdome so long instructed, so well groūded in Religion, totter, & stagger, as it were affrighted, & amazed at the sound of this brutish and coūterfeit thunderbolt? at the flashing of this Ignis fa­tuus? Why do they liue amongst vs, why say I, liue? viuunt & in Senatum veniunt, they liue & flourish, & we lodge them in our bosomes; who hold it religion, nay merit, nay supererogation, & the speediest and the directest way to heauen, to passe through a Field and a Sea of Bloud, of Sacred and Innocent Bloud, to that Glorious, & vndefiled Inheritance? What can you ex­pect of them, but that they should be, not Prickes in your Eies, and Thornes in your Sides, as GOD spake and Israel experienced in the Cananites; but Swords in your sides, and Pistols in your Bosomes, and Poyson in your Cups, and Gunpowder in your Vaults? Parri­cida moritur, Parricidium viuit; some of the Tray­tours haue their Reward, and are dead; but whilest there is a Deuil in Hell, a Pope in Rome, Murders, Mas­sacrings, Treasons shall neuer die. I haue one Com­fort; I know Heauen is aboue Hell, GOD aboue Satan, and we liue vnder his Protection, (I would we liued Religiously, in his feare!) whose eies are euer open to descry their conspiracies, and his Hand euer Potent, to ouerthrow their Machinations. I neuer was, I ne­uer wilbe a perswader to the least Cruelty: onely re­member, there may be Crudelis misericordia, a mercy more cruell then cruelty it selfe. I resolue with Au­gustine, Sauire nolumus, dormire nolumus: I would not [Page 37] perswade to Cruelty, but I would gladly rowse you from Security: and with the same Father; Nec obtentu Aug. de Fide & Oper. c. 5. Diligentiae saeuiamus, nec nomine Patientiae torpescemus; I hate that Diligence that leades to Cruelty, I cannot endure that Patience, that endes in stupidity.

But whilest I am pleading against their vniust Ty­ranny, I may not be altogether forgetfull of the per­formance of mine owne Duety. For, See! this Day, I am set vp, aboue Nations, and aboue Kingdomes, &c: and a Necessity is laid vpon me, & Wo is vnto me, if I labour not, to plucke vp, to roote out, &c, that roote of Bitternes, which hath beene the true cause of the plucking vp & extirpation, the rooting out & extermination of all e­states and Kingdomes that ever flowrished, and are come to ruine: I meane Irreligion and Impiety. It is a generall, and a true observation, Imperium & Religio pariter defecerunt; there never yet arose any storme, to the ruine, of any Estate and Kingdome, but it sensibly grew from those vapors, which ascended from back­wardnes, or coldnes, from contempt or indifferencie in Religion. It is as true vbi Procella, ibi Peccatū; whereChrysost. there is a storme that endangereth the ship, surely Io­nas is there, or the sinne of Ionas, or a worse then Io­nas, or a more prodigious sinne then his sinne. I see many Executioners of GOD's iust Iudgements, Fire, Sword, Pestilence, Famine. The Fire never consumed, but sinne blew the Coles, & inflamed it. The sword, ne­ver prevailed, but sinne set an Edge on it. Pestilence ne­ver infected, but sinne spread the Contagion of it. GOD never sent cleanenesse of Teeth, but sinne made the Hea­vens [Page 38] as Brasse, and the Earth as Yron, and the Fields as the Heath, and the fat Pastures, as the Desart. GOD in­deed is the Iudge of all; but Sinne is the Cause of all.

And therefore, Qui vultis Deum Imperatori Pro­pitium, Tertul. estote Religiosi in Deum; As many as beare good will to Sion, and pray for the Peace and Prosperi­ty of their SOVERAIGNE, let them grow and en­crease in Grace, in Faith, in Religiō, in Piety, in Zeale, in Sanctitie, in the knowledge, and in the loue of our Lord IESVS CHRIST; that God may be pleased, and we may be blessed. Plucke vp, Roote out, Destroy, Over­throw, Irreligion, Neutrality, Superstition, Indiffe­rencie, Sinne, Impiety: God will pluck vp, & roote out your enimies, God will Build, and Plant, and Protect, & Establish, & Blesse, your Estate, your SOVERAIGNE, your Peace, your Prosperity.

Even so Blesse vs, Gracious Father, that wee may serue thee. Let thine and our enimies consume like a Snaile that melteth, and like the vntimely fruit of a womā that never saw the sun. But let the KING liue, & Raigne, and let his Throne be established, and his Daies be multiplied, his Posterity be Blessed, and let there not want one of his Royall seede, to sit on the Throne of this Kingdome, vntill the comming of Christ Iesus: and let the Heart of every one wither in the middest of his Bowels, and let their Tongues cleaue to the Boofes of their Mouthes for ever, that without Aequivocation, heartily, and vnfainedly, will not say, AMEN.