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Entitled 'Certain Argumts collected out of ye scriptures[,] out of ye civill Law & ye Com[m]on exhibited to ye Queens Matie by some of both houses against ye Queen of Scots', and dated 'Anno 13tio Elizabethæ [i.e. 1571]'.
in English and Latin
Bought at the Sotheby sale by W. Manning for £8.10s. Received by Brandeis in 1961 as a gift of Philip D. Sang.
The word of God che
a certaine rule for all Estates & Offices doth often & most
earnestly teach tP
Conscience safely may but also in duty towards God ought
severely & uprightly to administer justice. For this is one
of eeche
of God hath ordained Magistrates in Cot
might by Iustice & punishteee
by corruption of Nature they are inclined.
The Magistrate (as St Paul saith)e
& et
And St Peter eee
to ete
them t
If e
nishtet
kept e
right soon shal he appear unto you. For as hard Iudgment
shal they have t
patenturee
his name & authority to punish ee
of their offences & are threatned grievous punisht
do not & on ee
highest degrees both concerning Gods religion & etie
offend in Conscience before God if she do not punish her
according to ee
Consider not saith Godeeee
to regard eee
And Iesus Syrackussti
thou have et
wickedness, for if thou stand in awe of e
not but faile in giving sentence. Wherefore whether e
late Queen of Scots be Queen or Subject be stranger or
citizen be kinn or not kinn by Gods word for so great offences
she should have ette
When God by his just providence doth commit any greivous
offender into e
Minister to be punished he ought to fear e
of God if by any color he do omitt e
minis judicium est sed Dei. et maledictus est qui facit opus
Domini fraudulenter vel negligenter.
bringeth Sinners to punishtte
he shewed himself greivously displeased when such by e
color of mercy & pitty in Princes have escaped just Iudgment.
When Saul spared Agag
took from estransferd e
of Israel from him & his heirs forever.
When Achab spared Benadab e
reasonable clemency tho he were a great Prince God willed the
Prophet to say unto him Because thou hast let escape out of thine et
his life & thy people for his people. In these examples
great pretence might be made for mercy for sparing
of them & great
late Q. of Scots being a greivous offender divers ways
both before she came ino this land & afterwards, hath
been by Gods especialll & marvellous providence put into e
Queens ties
Agag & Be
Therefore it is greatly to be feared if she escape as
Benadab did under pretence of mercy & honourable deal
ings te
upon eee
shortly after.
This sentence of e
ed was spoken to edthed
Every good Prince ought by Gods commandt
even by death all such as do seek to seduce the people of
God from his true worship unto superstition and Idolatry.
For t
cotee
Daughter or etch
is as thy own Soul unto thee entice thee saying let us go and
serve
hearken unto him thy eye shal not pity him neither shalt
thou have compassion on him nor keep him secret but
cause him to be slain thine own hand shal be first upon
him to kill him &c And afterwards addeth t
shal fear to do any more such wickedness. The residue
of echt
pity are loath to have sharp punisht
perceive t
brother or sister or son or daughter or wife or freind be
he never so nigh if he seek to seduce e
from his true worship much less is an enemy or traytor
to be spared, yea & he addeth et
so sharp punishtt
to do ee
& wrought by all meanes she can to seduce e
God in this realm from true religion but it is e
of all ee
instrute
Christ in all Countries. And therefore if she have not e
punishtch
It is of all Christian hearts to be feared t
plague will light both upon et
of esame overthrow of Gods glory & truth in his Church
mercifully restored unto us in these latter dayes.
d de vita Constant.
being not his subject but his fellow Emperor for te
Licinius laboured to subvert Christian Religion. The same
Constantine is for e
Much more shal it be lawfull & honourable for etiee
religion hath sought ee
th reason
as also for ttt
ness of Iustice in great offences to give occasion by hope of
impunity of e
of David for murthering of Abner killed Amasa also. Because
A
his own sister, Absalon under hope of like impunity was emboldened
But look I pray you how greivously God punished e
Iustice of David coloured th
Children did he not suffer yea & by his just Iudgment raisd
one of his own Sons towards whom he used but excessive ten
derness & pity to rebell t
The late Scottish Q. hath heaped up all ee
tious Sons of David adultery, murder, conspiracy, treason & blas
phemies ttht
her tie as also good & faithful subjects
to fear t
her from e
unthankfull & naughty subjects.
precamur.t
our hearts do greatly fear he will do it greivously.
th reasone
he can to see to ee
over che
own times under e
neth great punishte
Especially Ezek. 33d & 34th & signifyeth t
ish either in soul or body by slackness in administrating
Iustice or by any other misgovert
blood at ech
to Prophets & Teachers, so do they not exclude but princi
pally comprehend Kings & Magistrates as Ironimus noteth
in Ezek 33d. The words of e
If eeetee
man from among them e
sin from among them but his blood will I require at e
mans hands.
And again ete and do
not look upon them therefore will I visit e
your imaginations &c. By these & such other words in many
places God signifieth if his people perish either in soul or
body by ett
pointed Rulers over them as it were shepherds and herdsmen
to keep them from danger te
people at their hands. Solomon a wise & a good Prince spared
not his own natural yea & his own elder brother Adoneus for
suspition & likelyhood of Treason & for a marriage not
purposed only but did put him to death for e
speedily without course of Iustice least by delay trouble &
danger might have ensued not only to his own person being
Prince & cheif Minister of God in ee
over che
ence he was bound to deal he wold have thought it a great
burthen to his Conscience if by es mans life
were he never so nigh a blood
arded eche
thousands of his people ch
But this woman & her greatly desired husband as she pr
have put far more heinous matters in execution wherefore
her cause standing as it doth there is no scruple in con
science to proceed thof
science for dealing too mild & contrary to order of Iustice
making eteche
danger of her tiesee
& e
th reason.etht
shall discourage & kill e
professing Gods religion & his true worship as it may well
appear in e
too much pitty & indulgence towards offenders ch
any Prince to be followed. That his trayterous son Absalon
should be slayn & when he was killed effeminately bewailed ee
rebuked by Ioeb his Counsellor Thou hast shamed this
day eche
of thy Sons &c Thou lovest those t
those tt
for thy captains & for thy servants. And now I perceive
if Absalon had lived & all we had been slayne it wold
have pleased thee well. What great inconvenience was
like to fall unto David by this doing & t
rections may be taken out of this history well considered,
for brevity sake we leave to e
and Governors. But David was so much moved thtch
to ee
plication needeth not. If David were moved thus to do for ee
private rebells how much more have we to desire God
to move etiee
glad e
damp all ee
Antechrist.
t
rable for etie
upon like occasion both King Saul in Sparing Agag King
of Amaleck & King Ahab in receiving to his mercy
King Benadab as it is in ee
menconrsam King & tt
another. But mans judgments & Gods in such cases are
divers for indeed execution of justice upon any person
whatsoever is & ever hath been accounted honourable.
Ioshua
five Kings & t
sett their feet on their necks & slay them & willed m
to be stout & not to fear to do it.
We find also in et
two wicked Queens Isabell & Athalea both inferior
in mischeif to this late Queen have been by Gods ma
gistrates executed & e
tetie
so doing should exceed e
clemency.
just also. It is said
Regeme
justiciam & misericordiam inveniet vitam
in Governt
amiable by mercy but terrible by justice also & there
fore is called
self sheweth in eth
first borne for his mercy endureth for ever. In t
Psalme eth
The destruction of Pharaoh The killing of great
& mighty Kings are called e
as indeed they were but mercy towards e
God & not towards e
Therefore as etie
so we most humbly desire her te
laps of her mercy towards Gods people & her good
Subjects in dispatching those enemies te
fusion of Gods cause among us & of this noble Realm
It may also be said t
enemy a stranger a
christ & convicted so many heynous crimes the
evident perill of so many thousands of bodies & souls
of good & faithfull subjects may justly be termed
ras
Sanguine respondet multos legimus a famulo Dei
est c
misericordiam ijs quos Deus oderet prosteterunt. Dei
offensum in opere pietatis incurrunt e contrario Phi
neas filijs
paricidio meruerunt.
The same Hierome ed
St Augustine also saith
ita est etiam crudelitas parcens.
But happily it may be t
reasons by ee
& will put in her tiest
respect our own danger & feare of perill coming to
us & not right & true Iudgtt
very unseemly & worthy sharp reproofe in ps
excite a Prince to cruelty & blood contrary to her
mercifull inclination
As touching e
great continuance of danger likely to come to us more
then to all good subjects whilst this state standeth
And ee
perill both of our Prince & Country now if our danger
be joyned the
natural Country we see not how we can be accompted
godly Bishops or faithfull subjects if in common perill
we shold not cry & give warning, or on e
how they can be thought to have true hearts towards
God & towards their Prince & their Country t
mislike th
As touching et
be instruments to incenc
elty & bloodiness neither can we think well or
Iudge tte
ters of God & Officers do term justice & right punisht
by e
shall open her tiese
Prince or Magistrate is slack in punishing e
& wicked The ꝑs
science before God to exhort him to move diligence
therein least e
required at their hands
May e
to cruelness & bloodiness ch
for his clemency shewed towards Benab
muel be justly termed cruell becasue on like cause
for Sparing eesd
with his own hands in ee
we say of e
because in ee
Prophets of Baal. Did not God approve of this his
fact with e
after three years continual drought. But to those
men I think God himself & his Angels will seeme
cruel & his justice cruelty te
mercy might be spared untill time will serve to satisfy
their own cruell hearts
St Augustine also saith
ita est etiam crudelitas parcens