Star Chamber Reports:
6 Charles I
Attorn. Regis versus
Leighton.; Libel against his Majesty, the Peers and Bishops.
The Defendant being a
Roman Catholick, framed and contrived a seditious Book against his Majesty, the
Peers, Bishops and Prelates of this Kingdom, Intituled (An Appeal to the
Parliament: Or, Sion's Plea against the Prelacy) and caused about five or six
hundred of them to be printed, wherein were contained these traiterous, false,
libellous and seditious Assertions and Positions following. 1. That we do not
read of greater Persecutions, higher Indignity done upon God's People in any
Nation professing the Gospel, than in this our Island. 2. He terms our Prelates
Men of Blood, and Enemies to God and the State. 3. He faith it is the main and
Master-Sin, the establishing and maintaining of Bishops within this Realm, and
that Ministers should have Voices in Councils, both deliberative and decisive.
4. That the Prelacy of our Church is Antichristian and Satanical, and the
Bishops Ravens and Pye-Maggots that prey upon the State. 5. That the Canons of
our Church made 1603 are Nonsense-Canons. 6. He condemns the religious and
devout Ceremony of Kneeling in receiving the Sacrament, alledging, that the
Suggestion of false Fears to the King by the Prelacy, and the seeking of their
own unlawful Standing brought forth that received Spawn of the Beast, Kneeling,
&c. 7. He saith the Prelates corrupt the King, forestalling his Judgment
against God and Goodness. 8. He calls our Queen the Daughter of Heth. 9. He
impiously commends him that killed the Duke of Buckingham, and encourages
others to do the like. 10. He scandals the King and Kingdom, saying, All that
pass by us spoil us, and we spoil all that rely upon us, which being too well
known, makes us odious to the World. 11. That no King may make Laws in the
House of God; for if they might, then the Scriptures should be imperfect.
Lastly, He adviseth all to consider then what a pity it is, and an indelible
dishonour it will be to the State Representative, that so ingenious and
tractable a King should be so monstrously abused by the bane of Princes, to the
undoing of himself and his Subjects; and for this he was committed to the Fleet
during Life, unless the King enlarge him; fined 10000 l. referred to the High
Commission Court to be degraded of his Ministry, and then to be whipped at the
Pillory at Westminster, and standing on the Pillory to lose one of his Ears, his
Nose slit, and his Face branded with a double S. and in like fort to be whipped
and lose his other Ear at the Pillory in Cheapside. 1
First off, one almost
has to laugh that Leighton is referred to as a “Roman Catholick.” When you read the charges against Leighton
here, it is very clear that he was anything but a Roman Catholic. The enemies of God’s people seem to always
falsely accuse them of being what those enemies themselves are. Although England was nominally Protestant
many of the ruling class was “Anglo-Catholic” in doctrine and practice and the
Puritans and other dissenters often faced horrific persecution at their
hands. I have to admit that I had to
look up the reference to Leighton calling the queen a “daughter of Heth” but
once I found it, I had to chuckle. The reference is to Genesis 27:46 where
Rebekah lamented to Isaac that she didn’t want Jacob to marry a “daughter of
Heth,” that is, a woman outside the covenant community, a woman of the culture
of the world. Charles’ wife was a French
Catholic (the movie “Cromwell” picks up on this) and hence that is the point
Leighton was making. Leighton argues for
the headship of Christ alone over His church and that the earthly king has no authority to make laws governing the church. In essence, Leighton merely promotes Reformed
Theology and the logical cultural implications that grow out of it. For his “crimes” he was tortured and
disfigured in opposition to the very biblical law the English authorities and
the king would have claimed they were upholding in punishing Leighton. For those who sympathize with King Charles I
and lament his execution, just read about the fates of Leighton and the other
Reformers like him and realize that ultimately their blood rests on Charles’
hands. For the rest of us, God grant that
we would have such boldness to be like Leighton and proclaim the kingship of
Christ over each and every aspect of life.
Christ, not man, is
King!
Dale
1 )
John Rushworth, "Star Chamber Reports: 6 Charles
I," Historical Collections of Private Passages of State: Volume 3:
1639-40, British History Online,
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=74930
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