CAESAR'S PENNY, OR A SERMON OF OBEDIENCE, PROVING by the practice of all ages, that all persons ought to be subject to the King, as to the Superior. PREACHED AT St MARIES in Oxford at the Assizes the 24 of july 1610. BY JOHN DUNSTER Master of Arts and Fellow of Magdal. College. MATTH. 22. V 21. Date Caesari, quae sunt Caesaris; & Deo, quae sunt Dei. AT OXFORD, Printed by joseph Barnes. 161●. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON. RIght Reverend, at the first that I was entreated by Authority to this Sermon, I intended it only to be, filium horae, the son of an hour, ●o die as soon as my breath should expire, but only so much of it as the holy ●host should quicken in their hearts who ●eard me that day: but scarce being out ●f the Pulpit, I found to be true by expe●ence, which a Ench. c. 15. Epictetus affirmeth to fall ●t in every business (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) That every thing, especially a Sermon; ●th two handles; some, both Ho. and Wor. took it by the right ear, & accepted of it beyond its worth; others b● the left ear, haling it to a farthe● sense then (God knoweth) ever it was intended. The main scope was to cry dow● the Supremacy of Rome, where by reaso● of those words, To te King as to the Superior, in the order of my Text, I was occasioned to say somewhat of the Immunity of Kings from all coactive power of thei● subjects. All that I said was not much, eu● no more, then hath been said befor● me, b Can. totam de poen. dist. 3. Solum principem soli Deo h●bere de pe●cato reddere rationem, and again, c Can. aliorum 9 q. 3 Soli coen debere Innocentiae rationem. A doctrine think, never denied in print by any, until d Vindiciae contra Tyrannos. Brutus, and e De jure regni apud Scotos. Buchanan, and f De justâ abdicatione Hen. 3. Bo●chier 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, using or abusing rathe● their malicious zeal to treasonable occasions, did embase the metal of th● Crown, and put the g Dan. 2. golden head ● the picture under its foot of clay, & subjecteth Kings to the mercy of their people. That which I then spoke, was delivered ●n their words, from whom I borrowed ●t, and sure I am in their time held to be good and sound divinity, and I cannot yet understand the contrary, but true & necessary for these times also; when, if ●ever we have occasion to preach over & over again that Text of Scripture, h Ps. 105.15. Touch ●ot mine Anointed, and ●oe my Prophets no ●arme. When the sacred Majesty of Kings ●s made so vulgar, that many less tremble to cut the throat of their Sovereign, i Sam. 24. v. 6. than David to cut off the wing of Saules garment. And when, had not our Gracious Sovereign both Regium & Sacerdotalem animum, as Leo hath it of good Theodosius, Epist. 17. ad Theod. semp. Aug. Aaron's rod, and the pot of Manna, would both be snatched out of the Ark by profane hands, and peradventure the Ark itself be given up into the hands of the Philistims. The phrase is popular and easy, applied to the auditory which then was mixed, and I would have that to commend a Sermon which doth commend an honest woman, Ep. Ench. cap. 62. Modestia non forma. Whatsoever it is either for matter or manner, I humbly offer it unto your Lordship's censure; and if your L. shall encourage me, I will step farther abroad. Propert. Crescet & ingenium sub tua jussa meum. If otherwise, it shall be my excuse that I have ventured thus far only to give satisfaction to the world, and to bear true witness to mine own innocency: Serm. 1. in anniversario assumpt. Eius ad Sum. pont. Rom. culmen & onus. & my prayer for your L. ever shallbe the same of B. Leo for himself, Qui ibi honoris est author, ipse fiat administrationis adjutor, det virtutem, qui contulit dignitatem. Your Lordships in all duty JOHN DUNSTER. 1. PETER. CHAP. 2. 13. Therefore submit yourselves unto all manner ordinance of man for the Lords sake, whether it be unto the King, as unto the Superior. 14. Or unto Governors, as unto them which are sent of him for the punishment of evil doers, & for the praise of them that do well. WHEN these Catholic Christians, dispersed jews, or converted Gentiles, to whom St. Peter addresseth this his Catholic Epistle, were eagerly driven at by the secular Arm of Pagan Infidels: & it should seem upon the wont, and colourable accusation of all Primitive Christians (Nos infamamur circa Maiestatem Imperij, Cont. Scap. saith Tertullian) that they did deny obedience to the civil Magistrate, as if they were the only Sons of belial, men without yoke: & it were their language in the psalm: Let us break their bonds asunder, Ps. 2. and cast their cords from us. &, as if Christ their Mr, & not Antichrist were that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that lawless, & transcendent man (2. Thess. 2.) & came into the world, Non tollere peccata, sed iura mundi; not to take away the sins, but the laws and societies of the world: a point so far mistaken of them, that if ever nation, it was the people of God, take it jewish or Christian, whether you will, that doted upon Magistrates, for they would rather have non Deum then non regem: no God, them no King at all, They have not cast thee away, but they have cast me away, that I should not reign over them, in that they said, make us a king to judge us like all nations (1. Sam. 8.) when these Catholic Christians (I say) were grievously, & upon a false ground (as you have heard) which to a bending, and ingenuous nature, is more grievous, persecuted: our blessed Apostle S. Peter from his sea of Rome, the western Babylon, Hier. oecum. Beda. as it is probable out of the last of this first Epistle, writeth unto them; not to claim any right of Sovereignty for himself he had learned from his Masters own mouth: Luc. 22.25. Reges Gentium dominantur, vos autem non sic: but to persuade them in all humble obsequiousness to submit their necks under the yoke of Infidels, and to offer their throats unto the sword of the civil Magistrate, in these words; Therefore submit etc. So that this parcel of holy Scripture may well be called the Magistrates Scripture: and Caesaris denarius, Caesar's penny: for it hath every where his Image, and superscription. And in it I observe these 6 parts. 1 A duty enjoined: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: be ye subject. 2 The object of this duty: to whom we must be subject, delivered at large omni humanae creaturae, to all manner ordinance of man; so called, because it is proper to man, not instituted by man; for it hath his beginning from God: By me King's reign, and Princes decree justice, by me Princes rule, and the nobles, and all the judges of the earth (Prou. 8. c. 15.16. ver.) Omni homini, to every man, Ergo omni Tyranno, therefore to every Tyrant, saith Caietan: we must obey good Princes willingly, & endure evil Tyrants patiently▪ Omni: to every one. Non distinguendo inter Ethnicos, & fideles, not distinguishing between Christians, & Infidels (saith Catarinus) & S. Aug. giveth a reason of both: Nam qui regnum dedit Caesari, De civ. Dei l. 5. c. 21. dedit & Mario: qui Augusto, & Neroni: qui Constantino, Christiano, & Apostatae juliano. He who gave the Empire to julius Caesar, gave it also to Marius: to Augustus, and to Nero, to Constantine the Christian, and to julian the Apostated Infidel. 3 The distribution of this object into his parts: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The King as the superior, & to other Inferior Magistrates, as his subordinat Lieutenants; to Pharaoh, and to joseph; to Caesar, and to Pilate; to Moses and to his Sanadrim. 4 The reason of our duty before enjoined: Propter Dominum: for the Lord's sake, Sic ordinantem, so ordaining it: All power is of God, & he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God: (Ro. 13) or Propter Dom: for the Lord's sake: that is, not outwardly only with eye service, but inwardly also in the heart where the Lord seethe. Or thirdly, propter Dominum for the Lord, huius exemplum ostendentem: giving us an example hereof in his own person: * Luk. 2.51. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: here is the very word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; he was subject unto them; and he saith to * joh. 19.11. Pilate, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Romani Caesaris potestatem Christus super se quoque fatetur fuisse ordinatan: (S. Be.) Christ confesseth that the power of the Roman Emperor was over him to: and an other where: (S. Be.) Quid saecularitatem contennitis? Ad Hen. Sen. Arch. saecularior nemo Pilato, cui Dominus adst● tit iudicandus. Why do ye contemn the secular powers? No man was more secular than , before whose bar our Lord stood to be judged. Or four, and lastly: propter Dominum: for the Lord, that is, In his quae ordinantur ad Dominun, In those things which are in respect & ordination to the Lord, and then as before, he taught, Quibus debent, to whom they ought: here he teacheth In quantum debent, how far forth they ought to obey. viz: In all things where the Lord is not prejudiced. For if S. Aug. case be, August. de verb. dom. 2. Mat. ser. 6. Aliud Imperator, aliud Deus: the Emperor commandeth, & God countermandeth the same: we have our answer, whether it be better to obey God, or man, judge ye. If Cesar say, Solve tributum: Ibib. pay thy tribute, Esto mihi in obsequium: yield me thy service and obedience. We answer, it is right, we own service; we own tribute; we must obey: but if he bid us to bow the knee to Baal, or to leave a hoof behind us in Egypt, or not to name jesus in our preaching and profession, there we are forbidden saith he: who forbiddeth? A greater power Da veniam Imperator, tu Carcerem ille gehennam. O pardon Emperor, thou threatenest but prison, he threateneth Hell, thou to kill the body for a time, he to kill both body and soul for ever. 5 The persons who must perform this duty; Ye; Be ye subject, etc. Ye who are called at the 9 v. A chosen generation: a royal Priesthood: an holy nation: a people set at liberty, and yet this Christian liberty no way exempting them from subjection. Libertas per Christum Concessa, Aquinas. est libertas spiritus, caro adhuc remanet servituti obnoxia, and there be for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Lib. 5. de Rom. pont. cap. 3. Lords after the flesh: Eph. 6. and Bellarmine himself, Non obest regibus Christi beneficium: The liberty of the Gospel & benefit of grace by Christ do not prejudice kings in the right of their obedience, But be ye subject. 6 The end of all, both command, and subjection: praemium & poena; reward, and punishment. Both the King & his judges are sent of him, that is of God, for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. It would be too long to handle each several part apart. And I should to much abuse your Honourable patience. Marc. 12. Wherefore in imitation of him who contracted 10 words into 2: Deum & proximum, God, and our neighbour: & the many books of the Old & new Testament into 2. joh. 1.17. Mosen & Christum: Moses, and Christ: I reduce all unto these two heads: Lineam, & Lineam, a line, and a line: praeceptum, & praeceptum, a precept, and a precept. 1 The first praeceptum nostrum, a precept for us, our duty, the duty of the Subject, obedience: Be ye subject, etc. 2 The second, praeceptum vestrum: A precept for you (R. H.) The duty of the Magistrate care and conscience, For the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. First of the first, Our duty, the duty of the subject, Obedience. Be ye subject. That Christians are to be subject in God's ordinance unto the Civil Magistrate, is evident to every one, that doth but observe how in the whole book of God, all both the language, & actions of all the servants of God, do savour of very perfect obedience. Daniel never spoke unto the king of Babylon but with terms of respect, My Lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thy enemies: and again to Darius, O king live for ever: & the jews were commanded to pray for the life of Nabuchadnezar, and for the life of his son Balthasar: and the form of prayer is prescribed them, ut aetas eorum aevo Coeli respondeat; that their days might be upon Earth as the days of Heaven (Baruc.) And in the time of the gospel we shall find this Doctrine of obedience to be consecrated in the person of our Saviour. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, but mine ears hast thou opened: The L. God hath opened mine ears and I was not rebellious. He lived obediently, As a sheep before his sheerer, so opened he not his mouth: he died obediently to; Ne perderet obedientiam perdidit vitam: he lost his life that he might not lose his obedience. And the Apostles (that we may know them to be the disciples of this Master, did ever teach this duty of Obedience, Put them in mind (saith Paul to Titus, Tit. 3. that they submit themselves to powers, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the very word of my Text: and an otherwhere to the Rom. Rom. 13. Let every soul be subject unto the Higher powers: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the same word again. These powers and higher powers were cruel & merciless Tyrants, which did use, or abuse rather their power no way more, then in the Torment of Christians: and yet Plautus. (Indigna digna habenda, rex quae facit, saith the Poet: and Quomodo sterilitatem, aut nimios imbres, & Caetera naturae mala sic Improbitatem Dominantium, Tacitus. Saith the wise historian.) We hear of nothing but of subjection and obedience. And if we search into the stories of after ages, we shall find that the Christians of the Primitive Church for above a thousand years together, did profess, and practise this doctrine of obedience. In Apolog. Tertullian maketh it clear in his time: we pray for the Emperor, saith he, that God would give unto him, vitam prolixam, Imperium securum domum tutam, exercitus fortes, senatum fidelem, populum probum, orbem quictum, & quaecumque hominis, & Caesaris vota sunt: A long life, a happy reign, trusty servants, valiant soldiers, faithful Counsellors, orderly subjects, and the world quiet under him, & whatsoever else people or Prince could wish for. And why did Christians thus pray for the prosperity of these Wolves & Tigers, think ye? sciunt quis illis dederit Imperium: O, saith he, Ibid. they know who hath given them their Empire, sentiunt Deum esse solum in cuius solius potestate sunt, à quo sunt secundi, post quem prim●, ante omnes & super omnes: they are resolved, that it is God alone in whose alone power Emperors are, from whom they be the second, and after whom the first: and in another place you that think we care nothing for your Emperor, Inspicite Dei voces, Literas nostras: look upon the oracles of our God, the books of old and new Testament: and scitote ex illis nobis esse praeceptum: know ye that out of them we are commanded to love our enemies, and to pray for our persecutors; Et qui magis inimici, et persecutores Christianorun, quam de quorum maiestate convenimur in crimen? and for conclusion he appealeth unto their own experience: consider your annals, examine your records of justice, see, and tell me: unde Cassij, & Nigri, & Albini? Whence was Cassius, & Niger, & Albinus, and their like? De Romanis; they were Infidels of your own; sure I am, de non Christianis, the● were no Christians. Aug. in Ps. 124. To go a step lower to S. Aug. time, he wi● tell us how the case stood even then. Iulianu● exstitit infidelis imperator: julian, saith he, wa● turned infidel Emperor, milites Christiani serui●runt Imperatori Infideli: yet, Christian soldier did serve under this infidel Emperor, when he bade them sacrifice, they indeed refused, whe● he lead them forth to fight, they obeyed. Distinguebant Dominum aeternum à Domino temporal● & tamen subditi erant propter Dominum aetern● etiam Domino temporali: They did distinguish the eternal God, from mortal man, & yet the● were subject to man for God's sake. Here is subjection propter Dominum: the words in m● Text. To come yet somewhat lower to S. Ber● time: the doctrine of obedience was sound ●ven then. In his 170 Epist. to Lewis called th● Gross king of France, as wicked, and profane and Tyrannical, and infest a king to the Church as ever was in France: a whole Catalogue of whose obliquities we have in his 220 Epistle yet how doth he write unto him? S● totus orbis adversum me coniuraret, ut quippy am molirer contra regiam maiestatem, ego tame● Deum timerem, & ordinatum ab eoregem teme● offendere non auderem: nec enim ignoro ubi legerim: Qui potestati resistit, Dei ordinationi resistit. If all the world should bandy against me, & egg me forward to some undutiful attempt against the king's Majesty, I should so fear God, that I should not dare to transgress against the king his ordinance for I know where it is written, He that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. Here is again obedience propter Dominum. Let Theobald the Earl of Champagne & Raoul the Earl of Vermandois lift up their heel against there Sovereign, yet we of the Clergy will ever Contain ourselves within our duty to God's ordinance: Non imminuetur honor regis per nos 16. Hoc sentite de nobis●, hoc sentite de nostris, in the same Ep. o think thus of Berinthia, and all that are like Ber. I know what Bellarmin replieth: if Christians did suffer and obey Tyrants, and Arrians, surely it was * Lib. 5. de Rom. pont cap. 7 Quia deerant vires temporales Christianis, because they wanted power enough to depose them an exception (beloved) directly contrary to that which they themselves testify of themselves. For to begin where even now I did, saith * Add quod nec id licuit cum potesta● impiorum superior esset Bouch. Tertull. Simo hosts agere vellemus: if we would deal with you by revenge: deesset nobis vis numerorum, * In Apol. & copiaerum? should we want either number or strength? Consider well: Externi sumus, & vestra omnia implevimus: we are strangers unto you & men as it were of another world; yet we have filled all places of yours: your Cities, islands, Castles, boroughs, meeting places, Tents, tribes, bands, Palaces, Senate, and Court, and all. Nay it is an exception in his judgement very absurd. For, saith he: Cui bello non idonei, non apti fuissimus, etiam impares copijs, qui tam libentèr trucidamur? What war are we not ready & fit for, though unequal in power, though unequal in power, suppose that, who do so willingly suffer death? Si non apud istam disciplinam magis occidi liceret, quam occidere: but that by this profession it is more lawful to be killed then to kill. And S. Cyprian to Demetrianus the officer of a persecuting Emperor; Nemo nostrum adversus iniustam violentiam, quamvis nimius et copiosus sit noster populus ulciscitur, none of us doth revenge himself of your unjust violence, though the number of our people be marvelous great: mark I beseech you here is violence, yea unjust violence, & * Copios. pop. power enough to resist, nay * Nimius & cop. more them enough to resist, & yet Nemo nostrum ulciscitur, none of us ever offered to revenge. But the story of S. Ambrose will put all out of question: He being summoned by Valentinian the Arrian Emperor to departed from his Churches, & to leave them to the Arrians, tells us himself of himself, that not to say any thing of Christ & his holy Angels (who ever pitch their tents about the Godly) Maximus in the west, and Theodosius the Orthodox Emperor in the East, and all the people, & most of the soldiers were on his side: In so much that the Emperor being solicited by some in his Court to go in person against the Bishop, made answer: * Lib. 5. ep 33. ad Marcellinam so rorem suam. Si vobis iusserit Ambrosius vinctum me tradetis, No saith he, for if Amb. hold but up the finger, you will betray me bound hand & foot unto him. Yet what spirit did this otherwise stout, and courageous prelate take unto himself? Upon what terms for justification of Arms stood he with his Sovereign? * Ibid. Tradere Basilicam non possum, sed pugnare non debeo: rogamus Imperator, non pugnamus: * Oratio in Auxen● dolere potero, potero flere; adversus arma lachrymae meae arma sunt. Talia enim munumenta sunt Sacerdotis, aliter nec debeo nec possum resistere: I cannot betray the Church, and yet I may not fight, we supplicate, o Emperor! we do not carry Arms: a shower of Crystal tears is all the buckler I oppose between me and your forces; these are the munition of a Priest, otherwise I neither can nor aught to resist. You here all the resistance that this good Bishop did make, and yet by the way this is that Bishop to whom Bristol doth so often parallel Pius 5 that insolent Anathematizing Pope of Rome. Tom. 2. Mot. 19 p. So that still you see Obedience to be the doctrine of the Primitive Church: and we find it too (right Ho:) at the same time the contrary to be given for a mark of Reprobates and Heretics. We read in S. judes Epistle of some desperately wicked ones, * Vers. 8. Dominationem spernunt, they despise government, maiestatem blaspemant, they blaspheme Majesty, & there is a woe against them too. * Vers. 11. Vae illis qui in contradictione Core. And * Lib. 3. Optatus observeth it as a point remarkable against Parmenian the Donatist, that Donatus the Father and Author of that heresy, was wont to say: Quid est Imperatori cum Ecclesia? What hath the Emperor to do with Church & Churchmen? And that he did revile in one of his letters the officers of the Empire, writing thus to Gregorius the Precedent: Gregori macula senatus & dedecus praefectorum, & caetera talia: o Gregory the stain of the Senate, and disgrace of Precedents. These all knew very well the nature of Majesty to be great, that the style of the holy Ghost did put Kings & Emp. at the top of jacobs' ladder, & almost within heaven itself. (dixi Dij estis I have said ye are Gods. Dij incarnati, God's incarnate saith Luther) and us base worms at the foot: * 1. Tim. 2. I beseech you Brethren that prayers and supplications be made for all men, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Kings and all that be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in sublimitate in sublimity. And * Rom. 13. let every soul be subject, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 again, in sublimity: & in my Text; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, always in sublimity. And it cannot be but desperate, and unwarrantable presumption, for any son of the earth to swell so big as to offer to bring into order, if out of order these powers in sublimity. They are not countable to us, for their actions, their inditement belongeth to a higher bar, whatsoever they do commit, whether adultery or murder, or idolatry, or whatsoever else the Devil can suggest, and wickedness armed with authority exsecute, it is their language and privilege, * David quia rexerat alium non timeba● Hier. tibi soli peccavi: against thee, against thee only have I sinned: * Sup. Imper. non est nisi solus Deus qui fecit Imp Opt. lib. 3. at the bar of heaven only do they stand for sentence: no laws either of their own constitution, or municipal, & fundamental of their subjects (for coactive power) can take hold of them. I would be loath to teach this transcendent liberty of Kings had not I warrant for it from Antiquity: S. Ambr. in his Apology for David: Liberi sunt reges à vinculis delictorum, neque enim ullis ad poenam vocantur legibus tuti imperij potestate, Princes are free from the bonds of their sins▪ from all obligation to human punishment for sin: they are not pleadable by any law, being safegarded by the power of Empire. And * Lib. 5. c. 17. Gregory Bishop of Towers to king Chilpericke, a Bishop to a king: Si quis de nobis o Rex justitiae limites transcendere volverit, à te corripi potest, si vero tu excesseris quis te corripiet? Loquimur enim tibi, sed si volveris audis, si autem nolueris quis te damnabit, nisi solus qui se pronunciavit esse justitiam? And * In ep. ad Fred. Oen. praefixâ cron. Otho Frisigensis to Frederick Oenobarbe a Bishop likewise to an Emperor: Cùm nulla inveniatur persona mundialis quae mundi legibus non subiaceat, subiacendo non coerceatur, soli reges utpote constituti supra leges divino examini reservati, saeculi legibus non cohibentur: whereas there is no person in the world which is not subject unto laws, by a subjection Coactive, only kings, as being placed above the laws and reserved for God's inquisition, are not bridable by the laws of this world. Neither is this the holy water of the Court as some call it, which smells sweet in the nostrils of Ambition, nor that Oleun peccatoris, that precious balm in the Psalm which pestilent flatterers power upon the head of Majesty: but true divinity grounded upon evident scriptures. Elihu demandeth (job. 34.18.) Wilt thou say to the king * No rather quoth Calv.) Ser. 132. in haec verba. say, Et bien Seigneur ceuxcy dominent en con nom il fault donc que nous leur soyons suiects. thou art wicked? Or to the Princes ye are ungodly? It boots not, nay it fits not. Seeing where the word of a king is, there is power, and who shall say unto him what dost thou? * Eccl. 8.4. And is it so (Right Hon:) Is it the Apostles precept, Be ye subject? and unto the king as unto the Superior? How far wide then from this doctrine and practice are they who will have kings to be subordinate to Ephori and Paedagogi, to Ushers and Tutors? Calvin, Inst. l. 4. c. 20. & 31. to the public Honourable assembly of the States of the Realm. (And yet I may not charge him too far in this point, for he speaketh doubtfully and very cautelously— Si qui nunc sint populares magistratus, & quâ fortè potestate funguntur in singulis regnis tres ordines, De jure regni ap. Scotos. & rerum Scot l. 17. p. 560. And non veto, And pro officio intercedere.) Buchanan to Populus, the beast with many heads the common people: Rossaeus to Resp: Christiana, the christian commonweal & the Masters of the Reformed Discipline to their Presbytery and Senate Ecclesiastical (for so they style a few Artisans & base people in an Eldership. Discip. Eccles. from Roch. Ano 1574. ) All these to some few or many, who shall have power to give checkmate to their Sovereign, & to play with him * Regen spoliare at their pleasure. Le roy de spowillè. Nay some go farther and will bring the king to his own bar, for his own life, a thing so unheard of even among Pagans, and Infidels, that the Orator being to plead for Deiotarus a king before Caesar tells us, Regem capitis reum esse, ita inusitatum, ut ante hoc tempus inauditum: that for a king to plead for his life, was so unusual, as unheard of until Caesar's time. Again is it unto the king indeed as unto the superior? And was this the Doctrine of the Primitive church? What meaneth then the high Priest of Rome to exalt his linen Ephod above the Golden crown, & Sceptre of kings, making himself the Cedar, and them but the Thistle in Libanon. What is the world turned upside-down? And whereas Moses was once Aaron's God, Ex. 4.16. v. will Aaron now become a God to Moses? It is an observation of one of their own. * Carerius l. 2. c. 1. Aquin. come. in 1. Pet. 1. Chapt. Stapleton. doct. prin. lib. 5. c. 22. In lege veteri regnum erat sub stantivum, & sacerdotium adiectivum. In the old Testament kingdom was the Subst. & Priesthood but the Adiect. But now the Grammar is altered, & Priesthood is the Subst. & kingdom but the Adiect. And now it is held for good divinity: Cum rectâ fide tenendum: * Carerius lib. 2. cap. 9 to be held as an Article of the right faith, Principatum Rom. Pontificis esse verum & unicum principatum totius orbis nedum quoad spiritualia, but quoad temporalia. That the kingdom of the Pope is the true & only immediate principality or kingdom of the whole world, & that not only in spiritual, but temporal Causes also: and that all other powers in the world, A primâ fummi Pontificis regiâ potestate pendere, * Careriu lib. 2. cap. ●o depend upon the first kingly authority of the Pope. And hence it followeth that every king for example the King of Great Britamny) ad iussū●rincipatus papalis, mobilem, revocabilem, * Apud Carer. l. 2. cap. 9 corrigi●ilem, & punibilem: at the Pope's pleasure, and command, is movable, revocable, corrigible, & punishable. And whereas the French affirm that there king holds his kingdom immediately from God, this habetur res maximè ridicula Romae: * Author libelli cui inscriptio brevis Narratio quomodo Henricus 4. fr. & Nau. rex apud Clem. 8. humiliter perlegatos egerit. Ibib. jer. 1. c. 10. Lib. 1. c. 3. is at Rome accounted a ridiculous, nay most ridiculous matter: & nugantur huiusmodi politici: they that talk so are but trifling politicians. And they have scripture to for all this: good God that Divines should allege thy word to the prejudice of thy ordinance: for whereas the Lord saith to his Prophet jer. behold this day have I set thee over the nations, & over the kingdoms, to pluck up & to root out, & to destroy, & throw down. Carer. will tell us: Hoc Propheta in personâ Christi ad Roma. Pontificem loquitur: that the Prophet in the person of Christ doth speak this to the Bishop of Rome: 2. Cron. 26.20. & because Azariah the Priest did thrust Vzziah the king stained with Leprosy out of the Temple: therefore the Pope may excommunicate kings defiled with the Leprosy of the soul, which is heresy: durant excommunicatione qui obnoxii erant vinculo fidelitatis vel juramenti tali vinculo liberabuntur Tol. Inst. Sac. lib. 1. cap. 13. Et postquam per Pontificem excommunicantur, ex tunc vasalli ab eorum fidelitate denunciantur absoluti, saith * Massoveus. & when the kin● is so excommunicated, then, and then instantly his subjects are freed from their allegiance, an● they may lawfully, nay aught to kill him. An● when we reply that David after the sentence o● Excommunication pronounced by Samuel against Saul, * De Maiemilit. Eccl. par. 2. lib, 4 de Imper. 1. Sam. 15.26. v. God hath cast thee away from being king over Israel, more terrible than any that eve● came from Rome: did notwithstanding honour him, and was so far from taking away his life▪ that when he had him shut up in a Cave, & was animated by his soldiers so to do, would not lay violent hands upon his person, but * 1. Sam. 26 10. v. protesteth that as the Lord liveth, except the Lord strike him, or his day shall come to die, or that he perish in war, God be merciful unto me that I lay not my hands upon the Lords anointed: and when he had but cut off a lap of his garment as if he had pared away some branch of his Majesty, his heart smote him for it: and it is observed by * Lyran. ib. some, that David circa mortem fuit punitus in * Poena do cente culpam Lyr. 2. Sam. 1. simili, to wit, in vestibus, in his clothes, for they would not warm him in his old age, according to that (Wis. 11) per quae peccat quis per haec & torquetur: In the same that a man sinneth, he shall be punished. They answer to all this, that David was ●ot ex optimatibus populi: Iu. Brutus pag. 212. David was no peer ●f the kingdom, his father was but Ishai the ●ethelemite, or Secondly, it was conscientiae scrupulus: ●e scruple and tenderness of his conscience, & his maketh a man, Saepè permissis abstinere, oftentimes to hold off his hand from doing that ●hich he might lawfully do: or * Bouch. l. 3. cap. 18. Thirdly, perfe●tionis hic exemplum non necessarij officij esse intel●gendum: this was an example of perfection ●ot of necessity to be imitated. Or Fourthly and ●●stly he did it in policy, seeing himself ordained ●o be his successor, because he would not give ●uch an example for others to practise towards himself. Thus they shift over all Scriptures, that they ●ay make way for their Attentates, and usurpations over kings: you see (R.H.) how high ●hese men build the Babble of their pride: We ●aue heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding ●roud, as it was said of old by * In Apol. Tertullian. Nisi ho●ini Deus placuerit, Deus non erit: except God ●lease man, he shall be no God at all: So a king ●halbe no king except it so please the the man of ●●nne the Pope of Rome: he will crown whom ●e pleaseth, and discepter, and dethrone whom ●e pleaseth. If Henry the 3. King of France, be traduced at Rome by sycophants, that he loved in heart the Protestants: that he was wont to style our Queen Elizabeth, * Bouchier. At Bloys) vos clerus meus. bonam suam Sororem, his good Sister: and that he used to call the Clergy of France, Clerum suum, his Clergy (a * Clerum enim Gallicanum vel regni dicere debuerat. Boucheir. style forsooth savouring too much of absolute Monarchy) not the Fhench Clergy, or the Clergy. A conspiracy shallbe plotted, and confirmed, or hollowed rather at Rome, & be sent into France by the name of the Holy ligue, to depose him of his Regalities: and Bouchier a Priest shall write a book, de justa abdication Henrici tertij; of the rightful deposition of Henry the third: & a * james Clement. jacobin shall have a knife put into his hand edged with that Text of Scripture (suscitavit Israelitis salvatorem, judg. 3. qui Aeglon interficeret, suscitavit & me Catholicis, qui H. interficiam.) to kill the King, and after the murder is performed upon his sacred Majesty, the Pope in the middle of his Cardinals shall make a panagericke in commendation of the fact. * Xistus Quintus 2. Dec. 1589. Mortuus est rex Francorum per manus monachi, magnum & memorabile facinus. The King of France is slain by the hand of a Monk, o rare and memorable Act. And why? Occidit Monachus regem non fictum aut pictum in chartâ, sed regem Francorum: for he hath slain a king not painted in paper, or graven in stone, but the French King, and therefore o memorable Act, done by the admirable providence, will, Ibid. and secure of Almighty God. And in applause hereof, * K. of Fr. had his Embass. whipped at Rome for penance. Apos. for the oath of allegiance there shall be song that hymn in the Psalm. The right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly, the right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty things to pass: And of late again, H. the fourth immedidiate successor both in name and fate to H. the 3, shall be dispatched in the same bloody & boucherly manner: would ever man have thought, that he who in submission to the holy Church did receive discipline at Rome? he, who at the instance of the jesuits did demolish the Pyramid the monument of * The house where john castle was borne, being razed to the ground, & a pyramid builded in its place, speaketh thus, Hic alta quae sto pyramid, domus fui, Hûc me redegit tanden, herilis filius, malis magistris usus, & scholâ impiâ Sotericum eheu nom●● usurpantibus their disobedience; & did recall, & restore, and endow, and countenance that order above all other orders of Friars: he who might well say with our Saviour: For which of my good works do ye stone me? Would ever man think that he should find that aversion of heart, and indignation from that society that whereas before he refused to swallow down the knife put into his mouth, he must now admit it into his bowels, and have his very heart strings cut therewith? * By john castle. And is the king of great Britain in better terms of amity with that Church, * By Ravail i art. than these two unhappy and disastrous kings before recited? Or hath he in this king-killing age a super sedeas from danger? It was once the Divinity o● Rome, Tenentur Angli vi reginam suam deijcere the English are bound to depose their Queen saith Bannes: & * In his admonition. pag. 33. C. Allen: My Lords & Countrymen for God's sake fight against the Queen to depose her▪ and now that our Queen is dead is our King in greater safety? Lib. 5. de Rom. pont. cap. 7. Is there not a position in Bell: tha● reacheth unto him? Non licet subditis tolerare regem Hereticum: sed expellere eum debent, ut pasto● Lupum: It is not lawful for subjects to tolerate a king an Here: but they ought to expel him, as a shepherd the wolf. Hath he not already felt the effects hereof? Be not there some sons of belial in our land, geniti proditionis, as the Prophet calleth them, who plot & practise till their heads ache again, to find out the thread of our dread sovereigns life: but that the good God of this Land hath enclosed it in a maze of his mercies past their finding out. Did they not of late go to the Devils forge for a Torture? of which we may say: Claudian. Quid tale immanes unquam gessisse feruntur? and again with the same Poet: O mites Diomedis equi Busiridis arae Clementes! If they be compared to this late prodigious tragic Gunpowder stratagem. If the grape gatherers come unto thee, would they not leave some grapes? If thieves come by the night they will destroy till they have enough: and but till they have enough (jer. 49. ●.) but these merciless men, these Ignatian Pyrachmons, will down with all at one blow, Surely every battle of the warrior is with noise and tumbling of garments in blood, but this should have been with burning and devouring of fire. Is. 9.5. they will bury in one common * fire, root & branch, head and tail, patrem & patriam, King, Queen, Prince, Clergy, Nobility, the R. judges, the flower of the Commonalty of our Land, and only, I think, that they might see an image of Tophet, and hell in this world. And do you think they will here cease? no no, * Ep. ad praeposit. soc. Ies. In his Ep. to the King Campian hath told us long ago: ●rascatur homo, saeviat Daemon, erunt in Angliâ qui curent salutem suam, erunt qui provehant alienam. And Bishop of late in more express terms: when they shall see no hope of remedy, the state being now settled, and a continual posterity like to en●ue of one nature and condition, God knoweth what ●hat forcible weapon of necessity may constrain & ●riue men to at length: they will betake themselves to their old Gods again: Buthos & silen●ium, as * De praesc. Tertul. observeth of some Heretics in ●is time: the depth of Satan to invent, and silence closely to carry their Machinations, until ●hey meet with an opportunity to act them. I remember a saying in * Liv. de aetolis linguam tatum Graecorum habent sicut speciem hominum, moribus ritibusque efferatioribus quam ulli Barbari immanes bell. luae, vivunt. Livy, of a sort of people not far unlike to these men: Mare interiectum ab istis praedonibus non tuetur nos, quid si in medio Peloponeso arcem sibi fecerint, futurum nobis est? The sea is between them and us, and yet all the water in the seâ cannot quench their rage and wildfire, and what do you think would become of us, if they had convents, and colleges in the heart of our Land? I fear me I insist to long in this argument: It is only to show your L. the straits in which we are. Aut dandus aut trahendus sanguis est: that either we must give them ours, or take from them their heart blood: and as Tully wrote once to his friend Brutus, video te lenitate delectari. I must change the number, I see your H. delighted with lenity, praeclare quidem, you do well: sed alijs rebus, alijs temporibus locus esset solet, debetque Clementiae: but in other affairs, & at other times there is and aught to be place for clemency. Nun● quid agas Brute? templis Deorum immortalium imminet hominum egentium spes: now what is to be done? * The secular Priest's preface to the jesuits catechism. Ibid. A society of men who style themselves Fratres minimi, the lowest and meanest society and who apply unto themselves that in the Prophet: qui sunt isti qui ut nubes volant & qua● columbae ad fenestras suas? Who be these that fl● like clouds, and as doves to their windows and why doves? One of them will tell us: Quia fellis acerbitate caret haec pacifica societas jesu: for that this peaceable society of Jesus hath no gale: and yet are proud Giants of the earth and Incendiaries of this Christian world▪ these men I say are ready at all occasions to set fire on our houses, & daggers at our hearts, therefore Cui parcimus? aut quid agimus? What do ye? whom spare ye? It is to you (R. H) that the Spouse in the Canticles speaketh, take ye these Foxes: or if you will have it in an other idiom, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, halter ye these Wolves. It is into your ears that the Apostole poureth the affectionate desire of his zealous heart, I would to God they were even cut off that trouble you. Non est crudelis qui crudeles iugulat, saith S. Hierome, He is not cruel which killeth them which are cruel, but on the contrary, he is cruel who doth not so, for crudetissima humanitas quae cum pernicie multorum, saith the same Hierome: It is a most cruel kind of gentleness to spare to the peril & hurt of many. And I say unto you all that hear me this day: put every man his sword upon his thigh: go to and fro not only from gate to gate, but from Dan even to Bethsheba, from one corner of this kingdom to another, and slay (the Minister with the sword of his mouth, the Magistrate with the mouth of his sword, The one with his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the other with his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, these fathers and children of Babylon, and let that eye want sight that pitieth them, & heart be destitut of comfort that cries at their downfall: Alas for these men. The second part followeth, and that is praeceptum too: and it concerneth your duty, in which I will not be long, neither need I, seeing your LL. are so well experienced already: and I know what S. Ber. saith, Indoctus si praesumat docere quod nescit, nihil indoctius agit: if Phormio will teach Hannibal he doth nothing more unhappily. Yet seeing that it hath pleased your good Lordsh. to come with Moses into the sanctuary to consult with the Oracle of God before you give sentence suffer I beseech you the word of exhortation, and permit me to go so far with you as my Text doth, and to tell you that you are the governors sent of God and your Sovereign for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For the punishment: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: for just ultion and revenge upon evil doers, it is not enough to discountenance or punish them, if convicted, but you must use prosecution and persecution against them, you must inquire after them, search tribe, and family, and household, and man by man, to find out wicked Achan who hath stolen the wedge of God, and the Babylonish garment: Ios. 7. c● & when you have found him you must hale him to the bar of justice, and with the sword which God hath put into your hands cut him of from among men: Auferte malum ex vobis, saith the Apostle, (1. Cor. 5.) put away from among you the evil man, purge out the sour leaven, Auferatur malus ne malos generet, saith S. Berinthia: let the wicked be taken out of the way that he make no more wicked: and ne inultum peccatum caeteris noceat exemplo: saith S. Hierome: Lest his unpunished sin encourage others by his example. There be two kinds of wicked men that I think good especially at this time to commend unto your L: the 1 is the wicked and deceitful man: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: it is the Prophet David's Combination, Ps. 3. Deliver me o Lord from the deceitful & wicked man. the second is the wicked & cruel man: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: it is likewise the Prophet David's Combination, Psa. 71. v. 4. Deliver me o God out of the hand of the evil and cruel man. By the wicked and deceitful man I mean those Foxes, those little Foxes in the Cant. Cant. 2. 2● Ber. ser. i● Cantic. Parvulae non malitiâ, sed subtilitate: saith S. Bernard little indeed not in malice, for their wrath is fire and their rage cruel, but in wiles, & subtleties making but little noise in the vineyard yet tending to as great a desolation thereof as the wild Boar himself. Quid faciemus his malignissimis vulpibus, ut capi queant? saith S. Bern: what shall we do to these mischievous Foxes that we may take them? Quae nocere quàm vincere malunt: had rather conquer by secret revenge then by open enmity, Et ne apparere quidem volunt sed serpere: and will not show their heads out of their holes, but creep in darkness from place to place. Eò licentiùs quo la tétiùs. Ber. Hence their going masked under so many names, as so many vizards, that they may the more surely & securely entrap us. Garnet, alias Walley, alias Darcy, alias Roberts, alias Farmer, alias Philips. S. Amb. observeth of Auxentius the Arrian Heretic that sometimes he would be called Auxentius, Orat. in Aux. sometimes Merculinus: unum portentum & duo nomina, it is one monster, saith he, under two names: mutavit vocabulum, sed perfidiam non mutavit, he hath changed his title, but his malice & treachery he never foregoes: exuit Lupum, & induit Lupum, he put off the Wolf in one name, and put it on again in another. A right Emblem of our jesuits, who you see are already grown from Foxes in S. Bern: to Wolves in S. Amb. and let them have but head a little, and they will be Lions to▪ but of these I spoke but now, there is a 2 sort of wicked ones, even in this kind. I told you but now that the Priests and jesuits were Foxes, and you know, Vulpes foveas habent: * Mat 8. Foxes have their holes, and these have their hiding places and harbourers in our Land. They have their Dan and Bethel, where they do kiss the Calves, and erect their Idolatrous worship, they have their high places and Hill-altars, and groves amongst us, where they pray o Baal hear us, and swear not by the fear of Isaak, 1. Kings. 18.26. but by the sin of Samaria: saying thy God o Dan liveth, & the manner of Bersheba liveth. There be to to many Michahs in our Land, judges. 1 who have a Priest and a Teraphim in Mount Ephraim in some private Chapel or Chamber, or Closet or the like: 1. King. 1 to many who with Obadiah hide Prophets, but false Prophets, by fifties in a Cave. these would be looked after and be drawn to the Bar to receive their demerit for their treasonable charity: at the least such order would be taken with them as that their Recusancy should not be to the advantage of their estates. If you talk with them they will tell you of disgraces, imprisonment, and losses, of their inexplicable grief of heart, for the aversion & indignation of his Majesty, more grievous and heavy unto them then all temporal losses and afflictions. And yet if you look upon their estates you shall find many of them gain by this trade. In an answer to a po●ish libel entitled, a pe●ition to the ●. Preach. & Gospelers. by Francis Bunny. It is a story printed to the disgrace of our Laws, that a prisoner in York Castle got so by this lost that he gained where by to purchase land worth an hundred pounds by the year: and it were greatly to be wished that recusantes under this colourable pretence of their losses might not rack their rents, and deal hardly with their tenants as they do, nor lessen their charge and live far under that state there Ancestors have heretofore lived, and they might yet if they pleased. Again there is a custom, I fear me (permit and pardon my jealousy) for women to reconcile to the Church of Rome. The woman jezable, is the Prophet, and under the warrantable liberty of her husband's conformity, she entertains, instructs, reconciles all comers, and by these sugared Sirens many of the kings loyal and honest subjects, are brought acquainted with Foreign opinions. dearly beloved, the Devil was ever wont to use the woman for his last most forcible help to speed his Temptations with all. Quid non mihi Foemina praestas? And I cannot but think that in this eager business of his, he useth their help beyond our knowledge and suspicion: this also would be looked unto. The second sort of wicked ones is the wicked and cruel man: the greedy depopulator; who to make room for a shepherd and his dog, doth send a whole world of people a begging: these are the wicked of whom job speaketh, they have undone many, they have forsaken the poor: & spoilt houses which they never built. job. 20.19 and concerning which wicked ones it is said to you (R.H.) Let no man oppress and circumvent his brother, for the Lord is avenger of all these things. 1. Thes. 4. Ahab will have Naboths vineyard: give me thy vineyard: he confesseth it to be his vineyard: 1. King. ● 2. Confitetu● lienam ut poscat in●bitam. Am● and yet he must have it from him, or he willbe sick after it. And why? because it is near by mine house. These great men must dwell alone in the world, they cannot endure the shouldering of neighbours. * Vers. 2● Lion-like they make a partition of all to themselves, for so saith S. Aug. Amat & avaritia unitatem: De verb Dom. se● 20. Covetousness loveth a kind of unity to join house to house, and land to land, that he may dwell alone on the earth: and to what use must Achab have Naboths vineyard? only to make Hortum Olerum, * Verse. ● that I may make a garden of herbs thereof, that I may make a sheep pastor for my profit, or a park for my pleasure, or peradventure that I may only be said to be Lord of all this large circuit: and yet be Achabs' reasons never so weak, or his end never so unlawful, let the Prophet Isay cry never so loud in his ears: Is. 5. v. 8. Woe unto them that join house to house, & lay field to field, till there be no place: Mich. 2.2. and the Prophet Michah, Woe unto them that covet fields and take them by violence, & so oppress a man and his house, a man and his heritage. Let God and his Ministers say what they will, Ahab must & will have Naboths vinyeard: Historia Achab tempore vetus est, * Ambr. de Nabuthe Jesraelita cap. 1. usu quotidiana, saith S. Amb: the story of Achab and Naboth is old indeed, but the example of Achab & Naboth is every days example. Ibid. Quotidiè Achab nascitur. Quotidiè Nabuthe sternitur every day there is an Achab borne into the world, & every day there is a Naboth sent out of the world. A lamentable case that men should better endure the bleating of sheep & Oxen in their ears, than the tears and groans & cries of there harbourless & desolate brethren. And yet if they did but strip them of their vineyards only, and turn them out of house and home, it were well, but sometimes it cometh to pass, Ibid. cap. 1. ut possessio pauperi eripiatur, vita pulsatur: that the possession may come the better over, there be devises to fetch the poor owner within the compass of the law. And be cause it was Ahabs method: ociidisti et possedistis the poor man shall suffer at the gallows, 1. King. 21.19. that he may suffer the Rich quietly to enjoy the inheritace of his fathers. This is a thing (R.H.) which concerneth you nearly. Let not such Ahabs find favour in your Courts, let not, o let not justice, Ar. in eth. which is as the beauty of the morning and evening star be thus blemished. Ordinatio divina non est peccatorum obstetrix, saith S. Aug. Courts of justice, which are God's ordinance, are not, ought not to be a midwife to help into the world, or bolster out sin. And if there be any Ahabs that hear me to day my counsel to them is that of Daniel to Nabuchadnezar, Dan. 4.24. break off your sins by righteousness, your iniquities by mercies towards the poor, & quem ultorem timetis facite debitorem: whom you either do, Amb. de Nab. c. 2. & certainly do or should fear your judge for the cause of the poor and widow, make him your debtor. He that giveth unto the poor dareth unto the Lord: & as you have turned their joy into mourning, Ipse cibo in paupere pascitur. Amb. and their gladness into sackcloth, so go back again, and turn their mourning into joy, and sackcloth into gladness, let their loins bless you, and warm them with the fleece of your sheep. For the praise of them that do well. I fear me I have been too long: All that I would say in the remainder is this. Dishearten and oppress not innocency, let not flattering Zibah insinuate into Mephibosheths' wealth, & if at any time by error you have done wrong in this kind, 2. Kings. 16 as sometimes no doubt you do, Non voluntate nocendi, sed necessitate nesciendi, as S. Aug. pleadeth for you, not of purpose to do wrong, but because you cannot come to the knowledge of the right, recall and cancel your former acts: put Zibah out of Mephibosheths' possession, let not your laws be like printers characters, that with the same letters can print heresy & principles of the true religion, let it not be double tongued to speak to the Protestant in his language, the language of Jerusalem, and to the Papist as kindly in his language, the languag of Ashdod: Let it not have mensuram & mensuram a measure and a measure: pondus & pondus, a weight a weight: one weight for great men at the court another for poor of the Country: one for your kinsman and friend, another for your enemy: one for the Laity, another for the Clergy. Let it not be said of you as of some judges in S. Aug. time, alienus animus alienum tribunal, tha● if the judge favour you not, the law shall not favour you: or if so, yet let it not ' o let it not be said of you, that you are some of those judges in the Psalm (Ps. 93) Qui fingunt afflictionem pro lege▪ who give wormwood and bitterness, instead of judgement, and turn Mispat into Mispah, ●udgement into a snare, to ensnare the simple & innocent. And you the Gent. of the Country, do not end your countenance to strengthen the arm of sin. And you councillors, do not lend ●our tongues to varnish over the rotten body of sin. And you I urers, do not lend your ●oules (which you have impaned by oath) to set ●inne lose & out of fetters. Again, you Gent. of the Country, do not lend your countenance ●o the discountenance or oppression of the innocent. And you Councillors, do not lend ●our tongues to make virtue ill-favoured, or justice guilty. And you jurors do not lend your ●ouls either in favour of the judge, or some great man on the Bench, to find a wound for the stroke of justice, where there is none. And I beseech you my L. for the honour of your Christian profession: for the peace & security of our King, and Gospel under him, for the glory of your God, which may be hence illustrated. Let not the equivocating jesuite slip from under, or out dare your laws: let not Recusants bear false witness any longer against ●heir own souls, in complaining with Crocodiles ●eares of imprisonment, and losses. Let the statute as far forth as it was intended, & you may make them speak truth. Let not women by privilege of their sex, have impunity to do wha● they list in the matter of Religion. Again, let not Ahab range at lose without a hook in his nostrils. Let not nobility underprop itself with titles to oppress. Let not the wealthy increase their gains by swallowing up the poor and beggaring the labourers of the Land. Let not Officers strip and grind the people with tricks and devises of cozenage. Let not Naboth lose his vineyard, or if his vineyard must needs go, let him not lose his life for crying out of wrong and oppression. Da propriam Thymbraee domum da moenia fessi● Let equity be mingled with justice, & both put in practice according to the law and Christian charity, and a good conscience: let sin bear its burden, and have his wages punishment. Let virtue have her reward impunity, acceptance & praise, so shall he who made you judges on earth, make you Angels in heaven, and shall bring you out of these Courts on earth, to the assemblies of the first borne which are in heaven, to God the judge of all, and Christ the judge of the world to come. FINIS.