A letter written upon the discovery of the late plot Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715. 1678 Approx. 91 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A30379 Wing B5825A ESTC R23836 07915509 ocm 07915509 40390 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A30379) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 40390) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1199:16) A letter written upon the discovery of the late plot Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715. [2], 45, [1] p. Printed for H. Brome, and R. Chiswell, London : 1678. "Licensed W. Jane, Octob. 17, 1678." Attributed by Wing to G. Burnet. This item is identified in the reel guide as Wing B5825. It is actually Wing (2nd ed.) B5825A. Reproduction of original in the Bodleian Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Popish Plot, 1678. 2003-10 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-10 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-02 Paul Schaffner Sampled and proofread 2005-02 Paul Schaffner Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER , Written upon the DISCOVERY Of the Late PLOT . Licensed W. Jane , Octob. 17. 1678. LONDON : Printed for H. Brome , and R. Chiswell , both living in St. Paul's Church-Yard , 1678. A LETTER , Written upon the DISCOVERY Of the Late PLOT . SIR , I Heartily thank you for the News your last brought me , of the discovery of that horrid Plot , both against his Majesties Person , and the whole Kingdom . I doubt not but all good men are offering up their acknowledgments to God , for so great a Blessing ; which is a fresh demonstration of his care of this Church , and State : and that all our Crying sins have not provoked him yet to abandon us : of which I pray God make us all sensible , that we may not continue to pull down such judgments , as the malice of wicked men would readily become instrumental in , if the Providence of God did not so wonderfully and seasonably interpose . There is only one Passage in your Letter , that I wonder at . You tell me every body is surprized with this Plot now discovered . I confess I am not of their mind ; for although I know there are persons of high Honour , and untainted Loyalty of the Roman Religion , who abominate the thoughts of all secret Assassinations , much more of Murdering his Majesty ; yet such practices are so necessarily consequent to the Principles of that Church , that no Member of it , who throughly understands them , can , while they continue in that Communion , avoid the being involved in Conspiracies , as oft as a sit occasion presents it self . These several years past they have boasted much of their Loyalty , and their Services and Sufferings for his Majesty , during the late Civil Wars . All this was necessary to make the Government put confidence in them , that so they might more secretly lay their designs : which were to take effect , when a Conjuncture was offered that seemed favourable . But I must again and again repeat , what I often told you in discourse ; That no Member of that Church can thorowly understand and believe the Principles of it , and be a good Subject even to a King of his own Perswasion : But he can be much less so , to a Prince whom he looks on as an Heretick , who thereby lies under a general Excommunication , and may be brought under a particular and Formal one , before he , or any body else , but such as are fit to be entrusted with the Secret , shall know it : And then the Prince is at the mercy of all his Popish Subjects , who if they consider aright the Doctrine of their own Church , must depart from their Allegiance to Him , and be ready to do any thing that is laid on them , by those who are either directly their Superiours , if they have taken Religious Vows ; or at least , have some authority over their Consciences . This I shall open to you in as short and plain terms as is possible ; and the rather , that you may communicate it to some persons of Honour of that Religion , who I hope upon so fresh a Discovery of these practices , may be now not unwilling to examine a Point , the consideration of which they before rejected , as an Imputation cast on their Religion . This will now , I imagine , move them so far to demur , as to consider impartially whether such practises flow only from the ill Tempers of particular Persons , or from the received Principles of their Church . This latter I undertake to make out , from the undeniable Maximes , to which all of that Communion are bound to adhere . There are Two Principles , which I may well call the Fundamental Principles of the Roman Church : since all Opinions that are not inconsistent with them , can be tollerated among them : But whatever strikes at these , must needs be Abominated , as Destructive of that , they call The Catholick Faith. The one is , The Authority of the Church , The other is , The Certainty of Tradition . If then the Doctrine of Deposing Kings , and by consequence Killing them ( for if they are justly deposed , it 's as just to kill them as to kill any Usurper ) is such , that without denying the Authority of the Church , and the Certainty of Tradition , it cannot be denied ; then all men must resolve either to acknowledg it , or to renounce their Subjection to a Church that must needs believe it . About the Authority of the Church , Two things are to be observed , that serve for clearing what I design to make out . The First is , That the Church in any one Age has as much Authority as ever it had , or can have in any other Age : For if Christs Promises , together with the other Arguments they bring for the Authority of the Church , be good , they are alike strong at all Times , and in all Ages : And therefore though in writing Books of Controversies they muster up Authorities out of the former Ages , because we profess we pay little esteem to the latter Ages : Yet among themselves all Ages are alike , and the Decrees of them are of equal authority . Secondly , The Authority of the Church is as little to be disputed in moral matters , that fall under practice , as in Articles of Faith that only fall under Speculation , and in a word , The Church must be the Infallible Expounder of the Ten Commandments , as well as of the Creed . All the Arguments from Christs Promises , from the hazard of trusting to our private Reasonings , and the Necessity of Submitting to a publick Judg , are by so much the more concluding in Practical matters , as it is of more Importance , That Men think aright in Practical than in Speculative Opinions . If then there arises a Question about a Moral matter , or the Exposition of any of the Commandments , The only certain Decision must be expected from the Church . For instance , a Question arises about Images , Whether it is lawful to use them in the Worship of God , upon the seeming Opposition which the worship of them has to the 2d Commandment ? Since the Church has once Determin'd that it may be lawfully used , it is Heresie to deny it , on this pretence , that we fancy it is contrary to one of the Commandments . So if a Controversie arise upon the Fifth Commandment , How far a King is to be acknowledged , if the Church has determined the Limits of that , it is Heresie to carry it further . If also another Question arise how much the Sixth Commandment obliges ? It must be carried so far and no further than the Determination of the Church allows . I confess by the Doctrine of that Church , even a General Council may err in a point in which any matter of Fact is included : Because they may be deceived by a false Information . But in a General Rule about Morality , and the Extent of any of the Ten Commandments , The Decision of the Church must either be certain , and for ever Obligatory , or the whole Doctrine of the Infallibility of the Church falls to the ground . Concerning the Certainty of Tradition , the general Opinion of that party , is , That Tradition is an Infallible Conveyance of Divine Truth : and that whatever any Age of the Church delivers to another as derived from Christ and his Apostles , must be received with the same Veneration and Obedience that we pay to the Holy Scriptures . And for the ways of distinguishing a Tradition of the Church from any Imposture , or Novelty : There be four of them . The first , That is the most doubtful , is , That the greatest and most esteemed Doctors in any Age deliver as a Divine Truth . Nor is it necessary that they formally say , This is a Tradition : but if many of them mention an Opinion , and declare their own assent to it , this passes as a sufficient proof of the Tradition of any Age of the Church . So in all points of Controversie between them and us , the greatest part of their Writers , ( some few later and suspected ones only excepted ) think they have sufficiently justified their Church , when they bring Testimonies out of any of the Writings of the Fathers , that seem to favour their Opinion : and will call it unreasonable for us to reject these , because they only deliver their own opinion , and do not call it the Tradition of the Church , but conclude , That many Writers in any age asserting an Opinion , it may well be looked on as the Tradition of that Age. But , because this is more liable to exception , there is another way , that is more infallible to judg of Tradition : and that is , by the conveyance of the See of Rome , which they judg the chief Depository of the Faith ; and for which they fansie they have so many proofs , from the high things some of the Fathers have said about the dignity of that See. Now if these conclude any thing , it must follow , That whatever has been delivered in any Age by a Pope , as conveyed down from Christ , or his Apostles , must either be so indeed , or the See of Rome is not a faithful Transmitter of Tradition . But , there is yet a more certain way of judging of Tradition , by what the chief Pastors of the Church have delivered , when assembled in a general Council . This being the Supreme Tribunal in the Church , there can lie no appeal from it : Nor can the Doctrines delivered or approved by it be questioned . For instance , If it were under debate , How the Tradition about Transubstantiation can be made out in the Thirteenth Century ; it is needless to seek any other evidence , than , That one Almerick is condemned for denying it , and in Opposition to that , it was formally established in a general Council . This is as much as can be had , and he were very unreasonable that were not satisfied with it : So if it be asked , How can the Tradition of the Doctrine of Deposing Kings , and giving away their Dominions in the same Century be proved ? The Answer is plain , That same very Council decreed it : Upon which a great Prince was deposed , and his Dominions were given to another . These are the Common Standards by which Traditions are Examined . But to these a new one has been lately added : which is indeed a much shorter and nearer way : And that is , whatever the Church holds in any one age , as a Material point of Religion , she must have received it from the former age , and that age from the former , and so it climbs upwards till the days of the Apostles . If this be a certain Track of Tradition by which we may infallibly trace it ; Then for instance , If in any one age , it hath been believed , That St. Peter had power from Christ , which he left to the See of Rome , by which his Successor in it can depose Kings , then this must be an Apostolical Tradition , and by consequence of equal authority with any thing written in the Scriptures . To these General Considerations about the Authority of the Church , and the Certainty of Tradition ; I shall add Two other , about the Nature of Supreme and Soveraign Power : By which we may judg of what Extent the Popes Power must be , if he have an authority to depose Kings , and transfer their Dominions to other persons . First , When the Soveraign Powers proceed in a Legal way against its Subjects ; If either they abscond , so that they cannot be found ; Or have such a Power about them , that the Sovereign cannot bring them to punishment ; He may declare them Rebels , and set Prices on their Heads ; And in that case it is as lawful for any Subject to kill them , as it is for an Executioner to put a condemned Person to Death . These being the several ways the Law provides in those several cases . So when a Pope deposes a Prince , He may as lawfully set on private Assassinates to kill him , as oblige his Subjects to rise with open force against him . For if the Pope has a Power over him to depose him ; this clearly follows from the Nature of Sovereign Power , and it is the Course that sometimes must be followed , when the Rebel can be no other way brought to deserved punishment ; and if the Pope has the power of deposing , then a Prince who after such a Sentence , carries himself as a King , is a Rebel against his Supreme Lord : And is also an Usurper . For his Title being destroyed by the Sentence , He has no authority over his Subjects : and therefore may be as lawfully killed as any Rebel or Usurper . Secondly , The Supreme power may in cases of great necessity , when the thing is in it self materially just , pass over such Forms as ought in ordinary Cases to be observed . I need not tell you , That in a great Fire , Subordinate Magistrates may blow up Houses . But doubtless the Supreme Power of all , as a King in an absolute Monarchy ( and such is the Papal Power if these Opinions be true ) may dispence with some Forms , when the Matter is in it self just ; and if the chief design of a Law be pursued , the circumstantial parts of it may upon extraordinary occasions be superseded : Therefore , if the Pope is Supreme over all Kings , and has this deposing Power ; Then though by the Canon , a King ought to be first a Year Excommunicated for his Heresy or favouring Hereticks ; and at the Years end he may be Deposed by the Pope , ( There are also other Rules for Excommunications , tho the Summary way in some cases may be used ) yet all these are but circumstantial and lesser Matters . The design of that Law , is , That no Heretical Prince , or favourer of Heresie , be continued in his Power ; The other , are but Forms of Law , that cannot be indispensibly necessary in all cases . Besides , the very Canon Law teaches , that when there is both a Notorietas juris & Facti , Summary proceedings are Legal ; when then it is Notorious , that the Doctrines of the Church ( of England for Instance ) are Heretical , and that the King is an Obstinate Favourer of these Heresies , and will not extirpate them , Summary and Secret proceedings are justifiable . There is no hope that Bulls , Breves , or Citations would do any good in this case : These would on the contrary , alarm the State , and bring all the Party under great hazards : Therefore from the Nature of Supreme Power , it is most justly Inferred , That though there have been no publick Sentence of Deposition ( according to the Forms of the Canon Law ) yet all these may be dispensed with , and a Secret and Summary one may do as well . These Positions are such , that I cannot fansie any just Exceptions to which they are liable ; and from all these laid together , the Inference will undeniably follow : That according to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome , the power of Deposing Kings is lodged with the Pope , by a Divine Authority ; and that , by consequence , private persons may conspire to take away the Life of a King so deposed : Even though there be no publick Sentence given about it . But before I bring the Evidence for all this , I shall desire the Reader will a little reflect on the Positions I have laid down : in which he will find an Answer to all the Exceptions , that can be made against the following Evidence . By the first , The Authority of the Church , being the same in all Ages ; he will see it is to no purpose to pretend these were dark Ages : So that what was done in an ignorant time , cannot oblige the World when things are seen in a better light . But if the Church has an Authority from Christ , that shall last till the end of the World , it must be the same in all ages . The Ignorance of the age is a very good answer when made by a Protestant , but can signifie nothing in a Papists Mouth . By the second , Of the Churches authority in setling Moral Rules for practice , it appears how fond that distinction is , which they make between a Canon and a Decree . It is true , a Decree about a particular Case , in which there is some matter of Fact , may be wrong according to their Principles , and yet the authority of the Church remain entire . For instance , in the deposing a Prince , or condemning a Man for Heresie , the Church may either by false Witnesses , or mistaking a Man's words , be drawn to pass an unjust Sentence , by reason of a mis representation of the Fact. But that is nothing to the purpose here , where a Decree is made as a perpetual Rule of Practice ; this must be of the same authority of a Canon about any article of Faith. Otherwise it will follow , that the Church may mislead the People in matters indispensably necessary to Salvation : For such is the Obedience to the Ten Commandments . By the first way of judging of the Tradition of the Church , from what the most received Writers in any age deliver , as the Doctrine of the Church , it will appear ; That the Schoolmen and Canonists are as competent Conveyers of Tradition from the twelfth age downward , as the Fathers were from the sixth Age upward ; and laying this for a Principle , That the Church is the same in all Ages , they are really more competent Witnesses than the Fathers were . First , Because they write more closely to the subject they have in hand ; they consider what is said for , or against an Opinion in a more exact manner , than the Fathers did , who being carried with the heat they are sometimes in , go off from the purpose : and generally affect Eloquence , which is the most improper Stile for nice Matters : Whereas the Schoolmen write in a blunt way , only considering the purpose they are about , coyning the most barbarous words they can light on , when they think them the fittest to express their Notions . Secondly , They were divided into two famous Schools , among whom there were great heats , the Scotists and Thomists : So that if either of these had asserted any thing that was not the received Doctrine of the Age they lived in , the other Party had such Emulation against them , that they would not have failed to have laid them open : as they did in the matter of the Immaculate Conception of the B ▪ Virgin. Whereas the Fathers writing only against Hereticks , or other Enemies to Christianity , they might have mistaken some things , without so publick a discovery as was likely to happen among the Schoolmen ▪ 3dly . The Schoolmen wrote on purpose to deliver the Doctrine of the Age in which they lived , to those who were to succeed them . Their Books being generally the Divinity Lectures they read , either in Colledges or Religious Houses , to their Scholars , whereas the Fathers wrote upon Emergent Occasions , either Letters or Treatises to private Persons , regarding more the present , than the succeeding Age. In which we cannot expect that exactness , that is to be looked for in a Publick Lecture . Upon all which I assume , That allowing the Church to have the same Authority in all Ages , the Schoolmen are more competent Witnesses of the Tradition of the Church in their Ages , than the Fathers were in theirs . By the second Rule for judging of Traditions , from the Conveyance of the See of Rome , it does undeniably follow , That the Popes from Gregory the Sevenths time downward , were as sure Depositories of the Traditions of the Church , as were the Popes from Gregory the First his time upward . They were both alike Christ's Vicars , and St. Peters Successors . So that all the high words that the Fathers bestow on the See of Rome , were either Complements , in which they are not wanting , or were said because of the worth of the Bishops , whom they had known in that See. But if they be to be understood in that sence in which the Writers of Controversy obtrude them on us , then it will follow manifestly , that as to the Conveyance of Tradition , P. Gregory the 7th is as much to be believed , when he says any thing in the Name of St. Peter , or of Christ , as any of the Popes are . For in the Preamble of Bulls and Breeves , the Reasons are given of what follows , which are most commonly vouched from Apostolical Authority and Tradition . So let the Pope be ever so ignorant , or so corrupt in his Manners , what he asserts to be Apostolical Tradition , must be either received as such , or the authority of that See is overthrown : therefore they must either cease to press us any more with tht Authority of the See of Rome , or acknowledg that all the Popes Declarations , which they make about Traditions , are to be received . It is an Answer to be made use of only to ignorant Persons , to say , These Depositions were the Deeds of some Popes , who might be ill Men , and the Church is not concerned to justify them . I confess , whether this or that Deposition was justly or lawfully made , is a personal thing , in which only the Pope who decreed it is concerned . But if he declares in the Preamble , that the Power of deposing upon those reasons , is grounded on an Apostolical Tradition , then the See is concerned in it : for either he declares true or false ; if the former , then that Power of deposing comes from Apostolical Tradition ; if they acknowledge he declares false , then we are not any more to be urged with the Authority of that See , as the certain Depository of the Traditions of the Church . By the third Mark , to judge of the Tradition of any age from the Decision of a General Council , it appears , that the Decisions of the fourth Council of Lateran are as Obligatory as the Decrees of the first Council of Nice : the Church having the same power in all Ages . If it be said , it was only a Council of the Western Church , the like may be objected against the first General Council , which were generally made up of Eastern Bishops , and very few of the Western Bishops sat in them . And if we esteem a Council General , because it was received by the Church , then the whole Church of Rome having received that Council , it must be acknowledged to be General as much as any ever was . But to this , others answer , That a Council is only Infallible , when a thing is decreed by it according to the Tradition of the Church . If this be true , the whole Controversie between the Roman Church and us , about the authority of Councils , is decided on our Side . For if a Council has only authority to declare Traditions , then it is free for every Person to examine , whether this Declaration be according to truth or not ? And if it be found that it is not so , they may lawfully reject such Decisions . For instance in the second Council of Nice , the worship of Images was established upon a mock-shew of Tradition : and yet all the World knows , there were no Images allowed in the Church the first four Ages after Christ ; and even in the sixth Age P. Gregory declared , That though they might be in the Church , yet they ought not to be worshipped . Nor was there any contest about it , before the eighth Century . This being thus examined , and found to be True , then according to the foregoing Answer , that Decision was of no force , though made by the second Council of Nice . In a word , if this Maxime be true , That Councils are only to be submitted to , when they decree according to Apostolical Tradition , then they have no Authority in themselves : and their decisions can have no more force than this , That it may seem probable that they were not mistaken , and in an Ignorant Age , even this probability will vanish to nothing . No Body will reject the Decision of a Council , when the Decrees are just and right : But if it be upon that score alone , that they are to be submitted to , then none are bound by them , before they have examined them : And if upon a Search it appear they decreed against Tradition , then their Decrees are to be rejected . So it is apparent this Answer does plainly , according to their Principles , lay the foundation of all Heresie ; since it gives every Man a right to question the Decrees of a General Council . Besides , How can those Persons be assured , that the fourth Council of Lateran did not decree according to Tradition ? The Acts of that Council are lost : so we cannot know upon what reasons they made their Decrees . And it cannot be said , that because there is no mention made of any Tradition in the Decree , that therefore they considered none . It is seldom found that the reasons of any Decree are put with it . But we may reasonably enough believe , that they followed the Method in this Council , that had been used in some former ones ( particularly in the second Council of Nice ) which was this , a Writing was read , penned perhaps by the Pope , or a Patriarch , in which the Tradition of the Church was confidently alledged ; and some Quotations were brought ; and very oft out of some later Writers . The Paper was no sooner read , than a loud and often repeated Shout of applause followed , without any further search or canvasing about these Authorities . And upon that the Decree was made . This was the practice both of the second Nicene , and of some more ancient Councils ; whose Journals are hitherto preserved ; and where the Journals are lost , we have reason to believe they followed the same method : so that it is very probable there might have been some such Writing read in the Council of Lateran . And if they did not found their Decree upon Tradition , they were much to blame ; for they had as venerable a Tradition , as either the second Council of Nice , or some other Councils had : a practiee about 150 years standing from the days of Pope Gregory the VII . so that it is not to be denied but they had as good authority from Tradition , to make this Decree , as to make most of the other Decrees , on which they insist much , in the Books of Controversies that are written by them . By the fourth Rule of judging about Tradition , the matter is yet much plainer : for if the generally received Belief of any Age of the Church , is a good Thread to lead us up to the Apostles times , then there needs no more be said . For it is certain , that for near four Ages together , this was the universally received Doctrine of the Church of Rome . And the opposition that some Princes made to it was condemned as Heresy , Rebellion , and every thing that was evil . And it is remarkable , that both Ockam that wrote much for the Emperors cause against the Pope , and Gerson and Almain , no great favourers of Papal power , are cited by Cardinal Perron , as acknowledging the Ecclesiastical power of deposing , if a Prince were guilty of spiritual crimes . So that the Controversies in this matter that were managed between the Writers for the Popes and Emperors , were not , whether the Pope in cases of Heresy might depose a Prince ? but were concerning two things very remote from this . The one was , whether the Pope had a direct Temporal power over all Kings , by which as being Lord of the Fee , he could proceed upon any Cause whatsoever against a King , and take his Dominions from him . To this indeed Gregory the 7th pretended tho more covertly , and Boniface the 8th more avowedly . There was great Opposition made to this by many Writers ; but at the same time they all agreed on it , as an undeniable Maxim , That the Pope had an indirect Power over Princes , by which in the Cases of Heresy he might excommunicate and depose them ; nor was there so much as any Debate about it . A second thing about which there was some Controversy was , whether the Particulars that fell under debate came within the Head of Heresy , or not ? So in the Case of Princes giving the Investitures into Bishopricks , the Pope brought it in within the Head of Heresy , and condemned those Persons as Simoniacks . The Writers on the other side denied this , pretending it was a Civil Matter , and a right of the Crown . The like Debates fell in , when Princes were sentenced on any other account . The Authority of the Sentence in the Case of Heresy was not controverted ; all the Question was ; Whether the Point under debate was Heresy or not ? And concerning these things , any who have read the Writings in the great Collection made of them by Goldastus , will receive an easy and full Satisfaction . By which it appears , that the Popes Power of deposing Kings in the Case of Heresy was the received Doctrine of the Church for several Ages , and by consequence it must be looked on as derived down from the Apostles , If the Doctrine of any one Age of the Church can lead us backward in a certain Track to discover what it was in the Apostles days . By the first Position about the Nature of Supreme Power , it is apparent , that in the Case of Heresy , a Prince deposed by the Pope , if he stands out against the Sentence , may be as lawfully killed as any Tory or Moss-Trooper , or Bantito , may be ; for he is a Rebel against his Lord , and an Usurper over the People , from that day forward . And therefore tho Mariana told a Secret too publickly , yet it cannot be denied to be a certain Consequent of their Principles . It had been indeed more discreetly done to have ordered this only to be infused unto Peoples Consciences , by their Confessors in secret . And for Mariana , tho the Book in gross is condemned , as they give out , yet the Opinions set down in it are not censured . But a Suarez writing against K. James , tells him in plain Terms , That a King , who is canonically deposed , may be killed by any man whatsoever . This was not only published with an ordinary License , but the whole University of Alcala declared every thing in it to be according to the Doctrine of the Church . Valentia , tho he disguises it a little , yet says , That an Heretical Prince may by the Popes Sentence be deprived of his Life . b Foulis cites ten more Doctors for the same Opinion of killing Kings by private persons . I do not build upon the Assertions of these Jesuits , as binding Authorities in that Church , but make use of them to shew , that some of their own eminentest Writers acknowledg the force of this Consequence ; which is indeed so evident , that nothing but good Manners , and some small Care not to provoke Princes too much by such bare-faced Positions , keeps others from asserting it . Few Princes are so tame as Childeric was , to go into a Monastery after they are deposed . Therefore this Doctrine is but a lame provision for the Churches Security from Heresie , if the Lawfulness of killing does not follow that of deposing Kings . And it was so generally received , that it is told of Gerson , that he was at great pains to get it declared that no private Cut-throat might kill a King , and that by consequence it was only the Popes Prerogative to order them to be destroyed . By the second Position about the Nature of Supreme Power , that in extraordinary Cases Forms of Law may be superseded ; It is also clear , that tho we know nothing of any Sentence of Deposition given out against the King , yet he is not a whit the safer , for he lies under an yearly Curse every Maundy Thursday . The Notoriousness of his Heresy will sufficiently justify a particular Sentence , without any further Process or Citation , according to the Maxims of the Canon Law. And there may be for ought we can know , as valid a Deposition as Parchment and Lead can make it , already expeded . And if it be not yet done , we are sure it may be done very suddenly , and will be done whensoever they see any probability of Success . Bellarmine hath very sincerely told us the Reason why Heretical Princes are not deposed , because the Church has not strength enough to make such a Sentence good , or does not think it expedient ; that is to say , They will do it whensoever they find a Prince who will execute the Sentence , and yet by that Conquest not grow so strong , as by that means to turn the Ballance . So the two Considerations to which we owe our Security are , the want of Force , and the Fear of another Prince his becoming too powerful by the Conquest . But I must add , that Bellarmine , while he was a Jesuite , had taught , that Heretical Princes were not to be deposed , except they endeavoured to turn their people from the Faith : This was all his Bounty to them of which we could not pretend to a Crumb , since there were such Laws made against Popery among us . Yet when he became a Cardinal , he considered better of the Matter ; so that in his Recognitions he retracts that , and says therein be followed Durandus his Opinion , who maintains it against Aquinas , but he thinks the latter was in the right , and says , Even in that Case they may be deposed , only the Church does it not always ; either because she wants Strength , or does not judge it expedient . But he concludes , If Princes endeavour to draw their Subjects from the Faith , they may and ought to be deposed . So in our Case there is no Mercy to be expected , unless we repeal all Laws against that Religion . But after all this there is another Device in the Canon-Law , called , Ipso facto , by which a Sentence is incurred immediately upon the doing of a Fact. This began in the Priviledges granted to Monasteries or Churches , in most of which this Clause is to be found , That if any King or Prince , &c. did any thing contrary to these Priviledges , he thereby fell from his Power and Dignity . Now that Heresy is one of the things upon which a Prince is ipso facto under Excommunication and Deposition , we have the Authority of Father e Parsons , or Creswel , who tells us , That the whole School of Divines and Canonists agree in it , and , That it is certain , and of Faith , That a Prince falling from the Catholick Religion , and endeavouring to draw away others from it , does immediately fall from all his Power and Dignity , even before the Pope has pronounced any Sentence , and that his Subjects are free from their Oaths of Obedience , and may eject such an one as Apostate and Heretick . But there is a clearer Evidence for this ; the great and famous College of the Sorbon , ( seventy Doctors being present ) when consulted , whether the People of France were not freed from their Obedience to Henry the third , upon his putting the Duke and Cardinal of Guise to death ; they , before ever the Pope had given Sentence , declared , That they were absolved from their Obedience , and might with a good Conscience make War upon him for the defence of the Catholick Faith. Upon which the Parisians wrote to the Pope to desire the Confirmation of that Decision . From all which it appears , that if the deposing Power be in the Pope , the King is not a whit the safer , because we know nothing of any such Sentence pronounced against him . And thus having made good and illustrated the Positions I laid down , against all the Exceptions which that small and condemned Party of Widdrington's Followers make use of , to cover themselves from the Charge of Treason , that lies against their Church ; I go next to lay open the Evidence , after which I shall leave it to every Man's Conscience to pass the Verdict . There are in f Pope Gregory the Great 's Works , four Priviledges granted ; one to the Abbey of St. Medard , another to the Hospital , a third to the Nunnery , a fourth to St. Martin's Church of Autim . In which after the Priviledges are granted , a Sanction is added in these words ; If any Kings , &c. shall endeavour to countervene this Writing , let him lose the Dignity of his Power and Honour . Or shorter , in that of St. Medard , Let him be deprived of his Dignity . These are to be found both in all the MSS , and Printed Editions of that Popes Works . It is true , the first of these to Saint Medard's Monastery , is looked on as a forged Piece , both by Cardinal Perron , Sirmond , and Lannoy . But as it went for a true one till of late , and is still defended by others , Baronius in particular , concluding from thence for the Popes Power over Kings ; so the other Priviledges are not denied to be true by any , except Lannoy of late , for ought I know . These have been for above 600 years looked on as the Grants of that Pope . But this may seem a private Writing , and not of such force . About 130 years after that , Pope g Gregory the 3d deposed Leo the Emperor , from all his Dominions in Italy , because he would not tolerate the Worship of I , mages . And if that single Heresie merited such a Sentence what may we look for , among whose many imputed Errors this is but one , and none of the most considerable ? Not many years after that , did his Successor Zacharias upon a Message he received from France , absolve that Nation from their Oaths to Childeric , and ordered Boniface to Crown Pepin in his stead And not long after that Pope Adrian gave the Empire of Rome , and of the West to Charles the Great . As h Bellarmine proves from above 30 of the Historians of that time , and the Testimony of many Soveraign Princes . Yet these being dark Ages , in which there was more of Action than Dispute , we do not find the Grounds laid down , on which those Proceedings were founded . But the constant Maxim of the Papacy , was , once to begin a Practice , and then to find Arguments to defend it , among which the Practice it self was no inconsiderable one ; for he was a mean spirited Pope , that would in a Title fall short of what his Predecessors had assumed . About 250 years after Charles the Great had assumed the Empire of the West , there arose a Pope ( Gregory the Seventh ) that resolved to make the most of his See that could be : and reckoning , That the Empire of the West was the Gift of his Predecessors , and building on that known Maxim , That none can give that which they have not , he looked on the supreme Dominion of it , as one of the Perquisites of the See , which he would by no means part with . And therefore in his i Dictatis , in which he asserts the several Branches of his Prerogative , these be three of them : That the Pope only may use the Imperial Ensigns . That he may depose Emperours . And , That he can absolve Subjects from their Fidelity to wicked Princes . And to shew he was in earnest in these Doctrines , he began soon to lay about him . His first Threatnings were against King Philip of France , who was a vicious Prince : In a Letter to the Bishops of France , he requires them to admonish the King for his Faults , and if he did not mend them , to put the whole Kingdom under an Interdict : And if after all that he continued still Disobedient , he Swaggers out in these Words , k We will have none to be ignorant , or doubtful , what we intend to do upon it ; for by the help of God we will endeavour by all Means , to wrest the Kingdom of France out of his Possession . But upon the submission of that King , these Threatnings came not to any effect : Yet he went on against the Emperor , Hen. the 4th , at the rate he had threatned the King of France . I need not tell what all the World knows : That he first Excommunicated and Deposed the Emperor , in the Year 1076. Then upon his doing of Penance , he received him into his Favour . But upon new provocations he deposed him a second , a third , and fourth time , in the years 1080 , 1081 , and 1083. In all which he had the concurrence of so many Roman Councils , and set up against him , first Rodolph , after that Herman : as his Successors did ; first Conrade , and then Henry , that Emperor 's unnatural Sons . The prosecution of the History , is needless to my Design . But in his Letter to Herman , Bishop of Mets , l we meet with that which is more considerable . For there he largely justifies his Proceedings , which he grounds on the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven , being given to St. Peter ; and the power of Binding and Loosing joined to them . More places of Scripture he sought not , but his Successor , m Boniface the 8th , made use of Ecce duo Gladii , and the power given to the Prophet Jeremiah , Over Kingdoms , to Root out , Pull down , Destroy , Throw down , to Build , and to plant : And they took it in great dudgeon , if any would compare a single Prophet under the Law , to Christ's Vicar under the Gospel . But Gregory goes on in his Proofs , to the Tradition of the Church : And says , The Fathers had often both in General Councils , and in their particular Writings acknowledged , That this Power was in the See of Rome ; That it was the Mother and Head of all other Churches : That all matters were to be judged by it , from whose Sentence no Appeal could lye : Nor could there be a Review made of the Judgments passed in that See. And to confirm what he had asserted , he cites some Passages out of Gelasius , and Julius , and that Clause in the Priviledges granted by Gregory the Great , formerly mentioned . So here he very fully and formally delivers the Tradition of the Church , and builds upon it . He also cites the Precedent of Pope Zacharias , his Deposing Childeric , not for any fault he found in him , but because he thought him not fit to Govern. From that he goes on to some Reasons , ( such as they are ) for the justification of his Proceedings . The Pope having thus declared the Tradition and Doctrine of the Church , it is not to be wondered at , if both the Schoolmen mixt it with the Instructions they gave their Scholars , and the Canonists made it a part of the Law of the Church . n Hugo de Sancto Victore , Alexander Alensis , Bonaventure , Durand , Peter of Aliac , John of Paris , Almain , Gabriel Biel , Henry of Ghant , John Driodo , John de Terre iremata , Albert Pighius , Thomas Waldensis , Petrus de Palude , Cajetan , Franciscus Victoria , Dominicus a Soto , and many others , ( in all 70 are reckoned by Bellarmin , but Foulis enlarges the number to 177 , whom he cites , who ) did formally assert it . Aquinas also taught it ; tho' in some places he contradicted himself . But a Boniface the 8th , thought his Predecessors had proceeded in this matter too cautiously , and therefore he went more roundly to work . In the Jubilee in the year 1300 , He shewed himself the first day in the Pontifical Habit , but the second day , he was clothed with the Imperial Habit , a naked Sword being carried before him , and cried out with a loud voice , I am Pope and Emperor , and have both the Earthly , and Heavenly Empire . This upon so publick an occasion looks very like the Teaching the Church Ex Cathedra : But because words vanished into Air , he left it in writing , in these terms : p We say and define and pronounce , that it is absolutely necessary to Salvation for every humane creature , to be subject to the Bishop of Rome . This being put into the Text of the Canon Law , in which it is continued to this day ; we cannot think it Strange that Panorimitan , Ostiensis , Silvester , with all the other Canonists assert the Popes direct Dominion over all the World. And what can they say less , Believing him to be Christs Vicar on Earth , to whom all Power in heaven and earth was given of his Father , therefore the power in Heaven being judged enough for Christ to manage himself , they thought all the power in Earth was Committed to the Vicar . This passed down without Contradiction among them , but was not received by the rest of the Church : yet the Indirect , or as they termed it , the Ecclesiastical power in cases of Heresie was Universally agreed to : not one person Opposing it , till Luther and his Followers came , sawcily to look into the Popes Title to this , and many other pretended Rights of the See of Rome . But because the Plea for an Indirect Power , was not Sufficient , Since if a Prince did not Favour Heresie , it was of no use : And the pretention to a direct power was of an harsh sound : Therefore a Title of another kind was set up . It was pretended , That all the Kingdoms in the Western and Northern parts of Europe were by formal Surrenders offered up to St. Peter , and St. Paul ; And therefore whatever the Popes did , was said to be done in Defence of their Rights ; which made Gregory the 7th fly to them in that flanting Address , with which he begins his Sentences against the Emperor . First of all , the Donation of Constantine the Great was forged : By which the Power of all the West , Italy , Sicily , Sardinia , Germany , France , Spain , and England , were given to the Pope . This was put into the Text of the Canon Law : and was stood to , by all the Canonists . It is true the Civilians wrote generally against it . Among whom Bartholus may be reckoned , for in his Preface to the Digests having mentioned the Opinions of some against it , when it comes to his own , he delivers it thus ; Take notice that we are now in the Territory of the Church ( for he taught at Bulloigne ) and therefore I say that Donation is valid . But till Valla discovered the Impostures of it so manifestly , that they are now ashamed to maintain it any longer , their plea from it was never laid down . But Augustinus Steuchus , who undertakes the Vindication of that Donation against Valla , does likewise alledge from some Instruments in the Vatican , that both the Kingdoms of Spain , Arragon , France , England , Denmark , Muscovy , Sicily , and Croatia and Dalmatia , did Subject their Crowns to the See of Rome . b Krantzius tells us , that Lakold King of Poland , made it Tributary to Rome . And for the German Empire , tho Steuchus says nothing of it , perhaps that he might not offend Charles the 5th , yet there is both in the Canon Law , and the Letters of Popes , more to be said upon that Head , than for any of the rest . They pretend the Popes set up first the Empire of the West : Then gave the Princes of Germany the Right of choosing the Emperor , and does still give the Imperial Crown , upon the Emperors Swearing an Oath of Homage to them , according to the verse under that Insolent Picture set up by Pope Innocent the 2d . In the Lateram r of the Emperor lying prostrate at his feet , and receiving the Crown from him . Post homo fit Papae , sumit quo dante Coronam . But all these Surrenders were made use of only to strengthen the great pretention they had of being Christs Vicars , and St. Peters Successours ; which from the end of the 11th Century , till the beginning of the 16th . for above 4 Ages together was as Authoritatively asserted by Popes , as positively taught by Divines , and as tamely received by the whole Church , Emperors and Kings not presuming to contradict it , as any other Article of Faith. And for proofs of this we need appeal to no other witnesses than those 3. great Cardinals Baronius , Bellarmin and Perron , who may be presumed to have understood the Doctrine of their own Church , better than any body else . The First of those , through his whole work strains his Industry , to discover as many Instances as he can of it : and never parts with any without expressing the particular satisfaction he had in so pleasant a Discovery . I shall only set down what he says on the two 1st . occasions that he met with . When he takes notice of Gregory the Great 's priviledges formerly mentioned , he adds , s You see Reader , That the Popes can make Laws , to which if Kings themselves do not yield Obedience , they shall lose their Kingdoms . Upon the first Deposition m●de by Gregory the 3d. He adds , t The Faithful in the West being awakened by this Thunder , do immediately fall from the Obedience to Leo , adhering to this Apostolical Pope . So this Gregory left a worthy Precedent to Posterity , that Heretical Princes , be not suffered to reign in the Church of Christ , if having been often admonished , they continue to persist obstinately in their Errors . Such strains as these do so often occur afterwards , that they can scarce be reckoned . It is well known what advice he gave P. Paul the 5th in the quarrel with the Venetians , applying the voice to St. Peter , Arise and Kill , to the case in hand ; and that , with his Insolent Paraenesis to that Republick , are clear Evidences of his sence in this matter . What Bellarmin taught more shortly and obscurely in his Controversies , was afterwards made more plain both by his Writings , about the Translation of the Roman Empire , upon the Interdict of Venice , and against King James , and William Barklay : And Cardinal Perrons Eloquent speech against the Bill put in by the Third Estate of France , for Condemning those pretensions of a Deposing Power , shews us not only his own sense , but the sense of the whole Clergy of France ; in whose name he delivered it . u He calls the Contrary Opinion , a Doctrine that breeds Schisms , a Gate that leads unto all Heresie , and so detestable , that he and his Fellow Bishops will choose to burn at a Stake rather than consent to it . He affirming That all the parts of the Catholick Church , and of the Church of France in particular , and all the Schools of Divinity , till the coming of Calvin , held the affirmative , and says , That no where in France since the Divinity Schools were set up , can they find any one Doctor , Divine , or Lawyer , any Decree , Council , or Sentence of Parliament , or any one Magistrate Ecclesiastick , or Politick , who had held that in case of Heresie or Idolatry , Subjects might not be absolved from their Oaths of Fidelity to their Princes . It is true , at first he spake more modestly , and pretended the thing was problematical , and so was not fit matter for an Oath : but when that modester Strain ( tho it tended all to depress the Regal , and exalt the Papal Power ) had so far prevailed with the King , that he ordered the matter to be laid aside , and not to be further insisted on . They were not satisfied with this , but made a new Address in the Name of the Clergy ; and the Cardinal spake now in a higher tone , asserting formally the Popes indirect Power in Temporals ; and that all who maintained the contrary were Schismaticks , and Hereticks , even those of the Parliament it self ; and did plainly threaten the King , That if he did not raze all the Proceedings out of the Register , the Clergy would leave the Assembly , and Excommunicate all who denied the Popes Power of Deposing . And if the King would not suffer them to execute these Censures , they would proceed upon their hazard tho they were to suffer Martyrdom for it . For which zeal , they received a Breve from the Pope , giving them his solemn Thanks for what they had done ; desiring them to persevere in the same mind . So we have in this Instance , not only Cardinal Perrons own mind , but the sense of the whole Clergy of France . I do not think it necessary to enquire further into the opinion of later Writers ; tho it were easie to shew , that to this day , both the Court of Rome , the whole Order of the Jesuites , the Writers both of Controversies , and Cases of Conscience , and the Expositors of Scripture , do as oft as occasion offers , assert the power of Deposing Kings to be still in the See of Rome . And tho some few Writers of that Religion , since Barkelay and Widdrington's time , both of the English and Irish Nation , have adventured to deny this power ; they have been censured for it , and branded with Heresy . This has been so notorious in the matter of the Irish Remonstrance , that I need say no more of it . But whether the Writers of this Age allow it or not , they are bound according to their Doctrine about Tradition , to acknowledg it ; since two of the Characters of Tradition are found to agree to it . For it has been delivered in several Ages of the Church , as true Catholick Doctrine by all the publick Doctors in these times : so that either This is a Tradition of the Church , or That is not a true mark of Tradition : nor is it a certain conveyance of Truth , if we may be thus deceived in a clear Tradition , for four Ages successively . It does also appear , that if the See of Rome be a faithful Depositary and Transmitter of Church Traditions , this must be one , since it is delivered to the world by so many Popes in the names of St. Peter and St. Paul , and founded on the Power of the Keys , and of Binding and Loosing granted to St. Peter . But I shall next shew how the third mark of Tradition , the Authority of General Councils , agrees to this Doctrine . When this Doctrine had been so well spread over Europe , then the Popes found it was safe , to trust it to the judgment of such an Assembly as they esteemed a General Council . And they proceeded in this matter , after the same manner that they had done in the worship of Images : and as they did afterwards in the points of Transubstantiation , and denying the Chalice in the Communion . They took care first to infuse it into all the Clergy , ( which God wot's was no hard thing ) and then brought them together , and made up the Pageant of a Council , for giving it more authority . So above an hundred years after Gregory the VII . had first taught this Doctrine , a thing under the name of a General Council sate in the Lateran at Rome , where , upon the advantage the Popes had against the Albigenses and others , who were according to their Opinion most pestiferous Hereticks ; they first procured a Decree for it . It is true , many Provincial Councils had concurred with Gregory the VII . ( one of these is called a General one , 110 Bishops being present ) and the other Popes who had formerly given out these Thunders : But now the matter was to be more solemnly Transacted . In this Council many Hereticks are condemned and Excommunicated ; and all that had sworn Oaths of Fidelity or Homage to them , are Absolved from those Oaths : and they are required in order to the obtaining the Remission of their sins , to fight against them : and those who die doing penance in that manner , may without doubt expect Indulgence for their sins , with eternal rewards . And in conclusion , by the authority of St. Peter and St. Paul they Remit to all who shall rise and fight against them , two years Penance . Here the Council does industriously infuse this Doctrine into all people ; and calls Rebellion Penance ( a very easy one to a poor or discontented Subject ) and assures them of a deliverance from Purgatory , and that they should be admitted straight to Heaven for it . In an Age in which these things were believed , more effectual means than those could not be found out , to engage the people in it . By this Decree , if we are guilty of the Heresies then condemned , ( as no doubt we are of most of them ) without more ado , or any further Sentence , upon the declaring us guilty of the Heresies of the Albigenses , the Subjects are delivered from their obligations to the King. And when they conspire or rebel against him , they are only doing penance for their sins ; and he were hard-hearted that would punish men only for doing of penance . About thirty years after that Council , the Pope had a mind to regulate the former Law , That the Deposing of Kings might be declared a part of his Prerogative ; and that thereby he might with authority Dispose of their Kingdoms to others . For hitherto the Popes had only pretended to the Power of Deposing , and then the States of the Kingdom as in an Interregne , were to choose a new Prince . But P. Innocent the III. thought it was half work , except he could bestow , as well as take away Crowns . His Predecessor Celestine had in a most extravagant humour set the Crown on Henry the Sixth his head , with his two feet , and then kickt it off again ; to shew , according to Barronius his Comment , That it was in his power to give , to maintain , and take away the Empire . A very full Assembly therefore being called of about 1200 of one sort or other to the Lateran again , It was first Decreed , That the aid of Secular Princes should be required for the Extirpating of Hereticks ; after that they proceed and enact thus . When the Temporal Lord required or admonished by the Church , shall neglect to purge his Territory from Heretical wickedness , let him be Excommunicated by the Metropolitan and his Suffragans . And if he persist in neglecting to give satisfaction for the space of a year , let him be signified to the Pope : That he from thenceforth may pronounce his Subjects discharged from their Obedience ; and expose his Territory to be seized on by Catholicks , who having exterminated the Hereticks , shall possess it withont contradiction , and preserve it in the purity of the Faieh ; so as no injury be done to the Right of the Supreme Lord , where there is such , provided he do not any way oppose himself : and the same Law is to take place on them , who have no Superiour Lord. The Deposition of the Court of Tholouse , being the thing then in their eye , made that the Decree runs chiefly against Feudatary Princes , yet as the last Clause takes in Soveraign Princes , so by the Clause before , it was provided , That if the Soveraign did any way Oppose what was done against his Vassal , he was to forfeit his Right . I did in the former part of this Letter , meet with all the Exceptions that are commonly made to this Canon . Only one pretty Answer which a person of Honour makes , is yet to be considered . He tells us , that there were so many Soveraign Princes , or Ambassadors from them , at this Council , that we are to look on this Decree , as a thing to which those Princes consented . From whence he Infers , It was rather their Act , than an Invasion of their Rights made by that Council But be it so , he knows they allow no Prescription against the Church . If then those Princes consented to it , upon which the power of Deposing had that Accession to fortifie it by , it can never be recalled nor prescribed against . It is true there were many Ambassadors from Princes there : But they were all such as either held their Dominions by the Popes Grant , or had been either Deposed by him , or Threatned with Depositions , or were the Children of those whom he had Deposed . So no wonder they stood in such fear of the Pope , that they durst not refuse to consent to every thing he had a mind to . For indeed this Council did only give their Placet to a paper of Decrees penned by the Pope . Henry called the Greek Emperor , Brother to Baldwin , that had seized on Constantinople , had no other Title to it besides the Popes Gift . Frederick the 2d . who had been the Popes Ward , was then the Elect Emperor of Germany , made so at the Popes Instance , who had Deposed the two Immediately preceding Emperours , Philip and Otho the 4th . the last being at that time alive ; So that he durst not contradict the Pope , lest he should have set up Otho against him . But no Emperor , except Henry the 4th , ever suffered more from the Popes Tyranny , than he did afterwards . One sad Instance of it was , that the Pope having pressed his March to the Holy-land much , did at last Excommunicate him for his delays : upon which , he to avoid further censures , carried an Army thither : which was so succesful , that the Pope who hoped he should have been destroyed in the Expedition , ( as the first Emperor of that name was ) now being vexed at his Success , complained that he should have presumed to go thither , while he lay under Excommunication , and was in Rebellion against him ; and went about not only to Dethrone him , but to get him to be betrayed by the Knights Hospitallers , and Templers , into the Sultans hands , who abominating that Treachery , revealed it to him . John of Brenne had the Kingdom of Jerusalem by that same Popes Gift , who took it from Almeric King of Cyprus , and gave it him ; But Almeric had no cause to complain , since he held Cyprus only by the same Copy of the Popes Gift : So they both were at the Popes Mercy Our John of England was his Vassal , as he usually called him ; But his Successour went higher , calling the King of England not only his Vassal , but his Slave ; and Declared That at his beck he could procure him to be Imprisoned , and Disgraced . James King of Arragon , who was also the Popes Ward , had no less reason to be afraid of the Pope , who had Deposed his Father for Assisting the Count of Tholouse . Philip Augustus King of France , had his Kingdom twice put under an Interdict , worse things being also threatned . The like Threatnings had been made to Andrew King of Hungary , but upon his Submission he was received into favour . And now is it any wonder , that those Princes gave way to such a Decree , when they knew not how to help themselves by Opposing it , which would have raised a Storm , that they could not hope to weather ? Anothet thing is remarkable concerning this time , by which the Belief of the Deposing Doctrine in that Age will better appear . Other Princes whom Popes had Deposed , procured some Civilians to write for them ; and got Synods of Bishops sometimes on their side against the Pope . Because it was evident the Pope proceeded not upon the Account of Heresie , but of private spite and hatred . But in the case of the Count of Tholouse , who was a manifest Favourer of that , which was esteemed Heresie , ( the Opinions of the Albigenses that were his Subjects ) not a Writer in all that Age durst undertake to defend his cause , nor could he procure one Bishop to be of his side . So universally was it received , that in the case of Heresie , a Prince might be Deposed by the Pope . The 3d General Council that Confirmed this Power , was the Council of Lions , held by Innocent the 4th against the forementioned Frederick the 2d , where ( as the Sentence bears ) The Pope having Consulted with his Brethren and the Holy Council , being Christs Vicar on Earth , to whom it was said in the person of St. Peter , whatsoever ye bind on Earth , &c. Declares the Emperor bound in his sins , and thereup●n Deprived by God of his Dominions . Whereupon he by his Sentence does Depose him , and absolves all from their Oaths of Fidellty to him . Straitly charging all persons , to acknowledge him no more either Emperor or King. Declaring all that did otherwise , Excommunicated ipso facto . There are in this Process several things very remarkable . It is grounded on a pretence to a Divine Tradition ; So here the whole Council concur with the Pope , in asserting this power to flow from that Conveyance . And thus either that Tradition is true , or the Councils are not to be believed when they Declare a Tradition 2ly . Tho this is but a Decree in one particular Instance , yet it is founded on the General Rule ; And so is a Confirmation of it , by which it is put out of doubt that the 4th Council of Later an included Soveraign Prin●es within their Decree . 3ly , When the Emperors Advocate appeared to plead for him ; He did not at all except to their Jurisdiction over him , or Power of Deposing in the case of Heresie , but denyed that the Emperor was guilty of the crimes Objected , namely Heresie , whereby he , at least , waved the denial of their Power in that case . He also desired some time might be granted for the Emperor to appear and plead for himself in person . Whereby he plainly acknowledged their Jurisdiction . 4ly When the Ambassadors of France and England , Interceded that the Emperors desire might be granted ; the Council gave him near two weeks time to appear in : which was so incompetent a time , and all had declared themselves so prepossest , or rather so overawed by the Pope that hated him Mortally ; That the Emperor would not appear because they were his professed Adversaries . And upon that , and other grounds ( none of them touching on the power of Deposing in cases of Heresie ) He appealed from them , to the next General Council ; Upon which the Pope and Prelates sitting in Council , with Candles burning in their hands , thundred out the Sentence against him . Here were three very publick Judgments , of three General Councils on this Head , within the compass of sixty years . But it may be imagined , these were Councils that wholly depended on the Pope ; and so their Decrees are to be looked on , only as a Ceremony used by the Pope to make his own Sentence look more solemn . But when upon the long Schism in the See of Rome , the power of that See was much shaken , and a Council met at Constance to heal that Breach ; in which the Bishops taking advantage from that Conjuncture , to recover their former Dignity , began to Regulate many matters . It may be , upon such an occasion , expected , that if any Party in the Church had disliked these practices , they should have been now condemned ; and that the rather , since by so doing , the Bishops might have hoped to get the Princes to be of their side , in their Contests with the Pope . But it fell out quite otherwise . For as the Murtherers of his late Sacred Majesty pretended , when the King was killed , that all his power was devolved on them , and would have even the same precedence allowed their Ambassadors in forreign parts , that his had : So the Council of Constance reckoned , that whatever Rights the Popes had assumed , did now rest with them , as the Supreme Power of the Church . For in one of their Sessions , a Decree was framed , made up of all the severe Decrees that had ever been made against those who violated the Rights of the Church : And this Clause often returns , That all the Breakers of these Priviledges , whether they were Emperors , Kings , or whatsoever other Degree , were thereby , ipso facto , subjected to the Banns , Punishments , and Censures set down in the Council of Lateran . And tho they do not call it the Fourth Council , yet we are sure it could be no other ; for they relate to that in which Frederick the 2d . was consenting to , which was the fourth in the Lateran And in another Decree , by which they hoped to have set up a Succession of General Councils , at every ten years end ; this Clause is added , That if any person , whether of the Papal ( for they had subjected the Pope to the Council , and had more reason to fear his opposing this Decree , than any Bodies else ) Imperial or Regal Dignity , &c. should presume to hinder any to come to the next General Council , he is declared to be first Excommunicated , then under an Interdict , and then to be subject to further punishment both Temporal and Spiritual . And in the Pass they gave the King of the Romans , to go to the King of Arragon , they add this Sanction , That whatever person , whether King , Cardinal , &c. do hinder him in his Journey , he is ipso facto , deprived of all Honour , Dignity , Office , or Benefice , whether Ecclesiastical or Secular . So here the indirect power over Princes , by which they may be both deposed and punished , is plainly assumed . It is true that same Council did indeed Decree , That no Subject should murther his King or Prince ; upon which some of our English and Irish Writers , who condemn these practices , think they have great advantages . That D●cree was procured by Gersons means , who observing that by the many Rebellions that had been generally set on by Popes , the Persons of Princes were brought under such contempt , that private Assassinations came to be practised : and in particular that of the Duke of Orleance by the Duke of Burgundy : Therefore to prevent the fatal consequences which were like to follow on that , and to hinder such practices for the future , he with great earnestness followed that matter : And tho it had almost cost him his life ( it is like from some of the Duke of Orleance his Faction , who were resolved on a Revenge ) yet at last he procured it : But this was only a Condemnation of private Cut-throats . And the Article condemned had a pretty Reservation in it , for it strikes only against Subjects killing their Prince , without waiting for the Sentence of any Judg whatsoever . So if a Sentence be past by the Spiritual Judg , then this Condemnation notwithstanding , a Prince may be Murthered . And the other Decree of that Council passed in the same Session , shew they had no mind to part with the Deposing Power . Besides the Answer to this Decree is clear . It is acknowledged : by the Defenders of the contrary opinion , That it is not lawful in any case to kill a King ; but when one that was a King is no more such , but becomes a Rebel and an Usurper , then it is lawful to kill him . Pursuant , to the Decree made at Constance , a Council met at Siena ten years after , in which all the former Decrees made against Hereticks are confirmed , and the Favourers or Fautors of Heresie are delared liable to all the pains and censures of Hereticks , and by consequence to the chief of them all , Deposition . After that came the Council of Basil , which ratified the forementioned Decree made at Constance about General Councils . By which Popes , Emperors , Kings , &c. that presumed to hinder any from coming to the Council , are subjected to Excommunication , Interdicts and other Punishment Spiritual and Temporal . Last of all came the Council of Trent , and tho matters were at that pass , that the Council durst not tread on Princes , as others had formerly done , lest they should have been thereby provoked to join with the Protestants ; yet they would not quite lay aside the pretence of a Deposing power , but resolved to couch it so into some Decree , that it might continue their claim to a Right , which they would not part with , tho they knew not at that time what to make of it . So in the Decree against Duels , they declare , That if any Emperors , Kings , &c. did assign a field for a Combat , that they did thereby lose their Right to that place , and the City , Castle , or other places about it . Now it is certain , if by their Decrees a Prince may forfeit any part of his Dominion , he may be also dispossessed of all the rest ; since his Title to his whole Territory being one individual thing , what shakes it in any part , subjects it entirely to him who has such authority over it . Here we have found 7 General Councils , as they are esteemed by that Church , all either expresly asserting the Deposing Power , or ratifying former Decrees that had asserted it . And from such a succession of Councils , it is reasonable to conclude , That this Third Character of a Tradition of the Church agrees to it ; and if General Councils are fit Conveyors of Traditions , we have as full Evidence as can be desired , for proving this to be a Church-Tradition . This last Character of a Tradition is what the whole Body of the Church has held in any one Age. Upon which , they say , we may calculate that such opinions must have come down from the Apostles , since it seems neither credible nor possible , that the Belief of the Church could be changed . With this Arnold has of late made great noise . And as the new Fashions that come from France do please our young Gallants best , so some of the Writers of Controversies among us have taken up the same plea here . That the whole Church received the Deposing Doctrine in cases of Heresy , may be inferred from what had been said . The Church is made up of Popes , Bishops , & Priests : Of Soveraign Princes , and Subjects of all ranks . That the Popes believed it , none can doubt . So many Definitions of Councils , shews us as plainly what the Bishops and other Prelates believed : the Writing of the School-men and Canonists shew , what the rest of the Clergy believed . Those Princes who suffered under the Sentences , give at least a tacit consent to it , since they never question it , but study only to clear themselves of the imputation of Heresie . The other Princes who made use of the Donations of the Popes , shew as plainly that they believ'd it . The great Armies that were brought about their Standards , must have also believed it : and the people who generally deserted the Deposed Prince , notwithstanding the great vertues of some of them , and the love that Subjects naturally carry to their Princes , shew that they believed it . So that if St. James his Question , Shew me thy Faith by thy Works , be applied to this particular , the Answer will be easie . What shall I mention the frequent depositions of Charles the 1st , of Henry the 4th , of his Son Henry the 5th , of Frederick the 1st , Philip , Otho the 4th , Frederick the 2d , and Lewis the 4th in the Empire . The frequent Depositions in Sicily and Naples ; the many attempts upon France ; that terrible Bull in particular of Julius the 2d , against that good King Lewis the twelfth . By which , besides the Sentence against the King , it appears he designed the total destruction of the Nation , promising the Pardon of Sin to every one that killed one French Man ; the frequent Attempts upon England , both in Hen. the 2d , and K. John's time ; not to mention their later Bulls of Deposition against K. Henry the 8th , and Q. Elizabeth ; the many Attempts in Spain ; particularly ; the deposing the King of Navarre by P. Julius ; and the Sentences against Henry the 4th , then King of Navarre , and the Prince of Conde . All these , and a great many more , with the strange Effects that followed upon them , are so clear Proofs of the Worlds believing this Doctrine , for many Ages together , that if Men had any Remainders of shame left with them , they could not deny it . And to this day all their Writers maintain it , tho perhaps now the greatest part of the Laity know little of it ; but whenever the Tradition of the Church is laid before them , they are obliged to submit , or they fall from the Catholick Faith , the chief Branch of which is , To believe all the Traditions of the Church . And since the Church is the same in all Ages , according to their Doctrine , the Traditions of any one Age must be as good as the Traditions of any other can be , all being grounded on the same Authority . And now let all the Reasons that Arnold brings to prove , from the Churches believing Transubstantiation in any Age , that she must have always believed it , be considered , and applied with a small variation of the Terms to this Purpose ; and we shall see if they conclude not as strongly in favour of this Doctrine , as for that which he has pursued so much . How can it be imagined , says he , that a Doctrine so contrary to common Sence and Reason , could have been so universally received , if every Man had not been taught it by those who instructed him in the Faith ? Will Men easily change their Faith ? Or , tho particular Persons would prevaricate , would the whole Clergy conspire to do it ? Or would the People take it easily off their hands . These and many more Topicks of that sort may be so mustered up , and set off by a Man of Wit and Eloquence , that an ordinary Person would stare , and not know what to say . The Premises will shew , that there is need but of very little Art to change the same Plea , and fit it to this purpose , with two great advantages beyond what can be fanci'd to be in the other . The one is , that the generality of Mankind is naturally more concerned in the preservation of Temporal things , than about nice points of Speculation ; the one they see and handle every day , and are much concerned about ; the other they hear little of , and are not much touched with them . So that it is less probable there could be a change made in opinions , on which the Titles of Princes , and the Peace of Kingdoms depended , than about subtil Discourses concerning Mysteries . So that the Plea is stronger for the Tradition of deposing Kings , than for Transubstantiation . A second Difference is , That there was a continual Opposition made to the belief of Transubstantiation in all Ages , which they themselves do not deny , only they shift it off the best they can , by calling the Opposers Hereticks ; but for the deposing Doctrine , there was not one Person in the whole World , that presumed to bring it in question , from the first time it was pretended to , till those whom they call Hereticks disputed against it ; and tho some few others , who hold Communion with them , have ventured on a canvasing of that Doctrine , it is well enough known what thanks they got from Rome ; nor can they shew any one Book , licensed according to the Rules of their Church , that denies it . And thus the Plea for this Doctrine has a double Advantage beyond that for Transubstantiation . Upon the whole matter then , if Tradition be a sure Conveyance , and if we may pronounce what is truly a Tradition , either from the Opinions of Doctors , the Constitutions of Popes , the Decrees of General Councils , and the universal Consent of the whole Church for some Ages ; then the Doctrine of deposing Kings , to which all these agree , must be reckoned among Church-Traditions . There is but one other Mark that can be devised of a Tradition , which is , What the Church has taught and believed in all Ages ; but for a certain Reason , which they know very well , they will not stand to that . They know we do not refuse such Traditions , and if only such may be received , then the Worship of Images , the Prayers to Saints , the Worship in an unknown Tongue , the Belief of Transubstantiation , the Sacrifice of the Mass , the denying the Chalice to the Laity , the redeeming Souls out of Purgatory , with many other things of the like nature , will be soon taken off of the File . And indeed in this sence , the deposing Doctrine is so far from being a Tradition , that we have as undeniable Evidences , that the Church for the first six Ages knew nothing of it , but on the contrary abhorred the thoughts of it , as we have , that their Church these last six Ages has set it up : From which , among many other Reasons , we conclude , that these latter Ages have not been acted with the same Spirit , nor followed the same Doctrine , that was the Rule of the former Ages . There is more than enough said to shew , that these Doctrines are a part of their Faith ; from which they can never extricate themselves , but by confessing , either that their Church has erred , or that Tradition is no true Conveyance ; when they do either of these , they turn their Backs of Rome , and are in a fair away to come over to our Church , with which purpose I pray God inspire them . The mean while , it is no wonder , if those of that Communion , have been guilty of such horrid Plots and Rebellions every where , especially in England , since Henry the 8th's time . There was in his Reign , First a Rebellion in Lincolnshire , another greater one in the North , and some lesser ones after that . In Edward the 6th's time , there were Risings , both in the North , and in the West . But these succeeded so ill , and turned only to the ruine of their own Party , that they resolved to try secreter ways in Queen Elizabeth's time ; in whose long and blessed Reign , there scarce passed one year in which there was not some Plot against her Life . There was not Matter enough to work upon , for raising any considerable Rebellion in England : But in Ireland , there were more frequent attempts that way . It is true , the Care and Providence of God was too hard for all their Plots , how closely soever laid ; and they were turned back on themselves , not so much to the ruine of the chief Plotters ( who were wise enough to conveigh themselves out of the way ) as of many Noble Families , that were poysoned with their ill Principles . All the Blood which the State was forced to shed , lies at their door , who were continually giving fresh Provocations . And for King James ( not to mention the Conspiracies against him in Scotland , nor that Plot of Cobham and Watson , upon his first coming to this Crown ) the Gun-powder Treason was a thing that went beyond all the wicked Designs that had been ever in any Age contrived . And when his late Majesty was Embroiled in his Affairs in this Island , how did they take advantage from that Conjuncture , to break out into a most horrid Rebellion in Ireland , joyned with a Massacre of Persons of whatsoever Age , or Sex , or Condition ? Which was so far set on by Rome , that a Nuncio came publickly to direct their Councils . I will not dwell on Particulars that are sufficiently known , but only name these things , to shew , That no Reign of any of our Princes , since the Reformation , has been free from the dismal effects of these Doctrines . And for his Sacred Majesty who now Reigns , ( whom God long preserve from their Malice ) they have felt such signal marks of his Royal Clemency , that they can have no colour to complain , except it be , because they cannot bear any Office in the Nation . For what Noise soever they make , of the severe Laws yet in force , both against the Clergy and Laity of their Religion , they cannot pretend that since his Majesties happy Restauration , any Priest has died , or any Family has been ruined for their Religion . But I confess , it is enough , according to the Doctrine of their Church , to discharge them of their Allegiance , That the King is a favourer of Heresy ; and if upon this Reason they will still Plot and Conspire against his Person and Government , we have no reason to wonder at it , for they act according to their Principles . Nor have these Islands been the only Scenes , in which those Principles have produced such dismal Effects . If we look abroad and reflect on what was done in France , we shall find , they have had the same Operation there . I need not mention that perfidious and cruel Massacre , that as Thuanus tells us was so much extolled in Rome and Spain : and of which the Pope has a Memorial kept in the Hangings , at the entrance of his Chappel , to this day . The Barricadoes of Paris , the design of Deposing Henry the 3d , only because he had made Peace with the King of Navarre , and the Prince of Conde ; the whole progress of the holy League ; their taking Arms against that King , when the Duke and Cardinal of Guise were killed by his Orders , and at last his being stabbed by Clement , a Dominican Friar , are Instances beyond exception . The prosecution of the Rebellion against Henry the 4th , the attempt made upon his Person by John Chastel , which was more successful in Ravilliack's hands , shew sufficiently , That a Princes turning from that , which they call Heresie , over to their Church , does not secure him , unless he will extirpate Hereticks . For tho Henry the 4th changed his Religion , yet the favour he shewed the Protestants , in the Edict of Nantes , was a thing never to be forgiven . These things were set on and encouraged from Rome , and pleaded for by their Writers . That the holy League was authorized from Rome , that Sixtus the 5th , by his Bulls , declared the King of Navar incapable of the Succession , that he intended to have Deposed Henry the 3d , and that he rejoyced at his death , and magnified the Fact ; preferring it to Eleazar's killing the Elephant , and Judeth's killing Hollofernes , and ascribed it to a singular Providence and Disposition of the Almighty ; called it a great Miracle , and appeared vain that a Friar had done it , having been one himself , ( tho no doubt he had liked it better , if Clement had been of his own sute ) and would have had himself thought a Prophet for foretelling it , ( and so he might well do perhaps ) : and in the end concluded , That unfortunate Kings favouring Hereticks , to be the unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost : These were all so publickly done , that it were a needless labour , to go about the proving them . Franois Veronne wrote a Book , to justify both the Facts of Clement the Dominican , and Chastel , ( as well he might from the Principles of their Church ) . After all these dismal Facts , was it not time for the States of France , to think of some effectual Remedy , to prevent the like for the future ? And they judged aright , that without Condemning the Deposing Power , it could not be done : To which , as was already hinted , the Clergy made such vigorous Opposition , that it came to nothing . If these things had flowed only from the heat of some violent Spirits , the danger were not so great ; but it is the Doctrine of their Church , so Lessius ( under the name of Singletonus ) says , That if the power of Deposing lies not in the Pope , the Church must of necessity Err , which has taught it ; and to assert that , is Heretical , and a more intollerable Error , than any about the Sacrament can be . And Becanus , Confessor to Ferdinand the 2d , says , No Man doubts , but if Princes are Contumacious , the Pope may order their Lives to be taken away . What security then can there be found out from Persons , who give up their Consciences to the conduct of Men of such Principles ; and profess an Implicite Obedience and belief of all that their Church teaches and commands , which possesses all its Votaries with such cursed rage against Hereticks , that not content to adjudg them to eternal Flames in another Life , they must needs Persecute and Burn without Mercy where they have the Power in their Hands ; and Plot and Conspire , Kill and Massacre without relenting , where they have not Power to do it with any colour of Law ? Men of Honour will not be easily drawn in to such Practices . But in Conclusion , when a fit Opportunity appears , they must either forsake their Church , or concur in the most mischievous Designs , that the Masters of their Consciences will draw them into ; which I pray God make them see in good time , before they are Involved in such Snares , that Repentance will come too late to do them good , or to preserve the Nation from those Miseries that they will bring upon it . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A30379-e190 a In regiam Majest . Br. l. 6. c. 4. sect . 20 , à quocunque privato poteris interfici . In Thom. Tom. 3. Disp. 151. q 12. p. 2. b Romish Tre●sons , l. 2. cap. 4. The Life of Gerson before his Works , and Tom. 1. p. 375. Recog . in lib. 5. de Rom. Pont. e Philopater p. 106 , 107. f Greg. M. l. 2 post . Ep. 38. lib 11. Ep. 10 , 11 ▪ 12. Siquis Regum , &c. contravenire tentaverit potestatis honorisque sui dignitate careat . — in alio honore suo privetur . g Baron . ad An. 730. n. 5. h Bellar. de Trans Imperii Romani . i Dictatus l. 2. post Ep. 55. k Lib 2. Ep 5. ad Ep. France . l Liv. 8. Ep. 21. m Extra . de Major . & Obed cap. 1. n Bellar. de Pont. Rom. lib. 5. c. 151. a Cuspiman in vita Albert. p Cap. de Major . ut Obed . Exter . b In Vandal l. 8. c. 2. r Chron. Hirsaug . in vita Abb. Hartiingi . s Bar. ad Ann. 593. Num. 86. t Bar. ad An. 730. Num. 5. u In his Diverses Oevres and Recueil General des Affaires dis ▪ Clerge de France . Conc. Late . 3. Chap. 27. anno 1287. Tom 28. Conc. Later . 4. Can. 3. Tom. 28. The same Council that established Transubstantiation . Math. Paris . ad An. 1253. Conc. Lugd. Tom. 28. Conc. Const. Tom. 29. Sess. 19. Sess. 15. Sess. 17. Sess. 15. Con , Sien . Tom. 29. Con. Basil. Tom. 29. Conc. Trid. Sess. 25 c. 19. Bud. de Asse lib. 5. Diseuss . Decree . Con. Lateran . p. 46. Bec. Controv. Angl. p. 115.