Britains Genius
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The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.
This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.
Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.
However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.
This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.
Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org
Prosopopoeia Britannica: Britons Genius, OR, Good-ANGEL, personated; Reasoning and advising, touching the Games now playing, and the Adventures now at Hazard in these Islands; and presaging, also, some future things, not unlikely to come to pass.
Discovered, by TERRAE-FILIUS (a well-known Lover of the Public-Peace ) when the begetting of National-Quarrell was first feared.
Expressed in two Lections, or Readings.
For everything, which is below the
Sun,
There is a
Time;
For some things, more then
One:
And, if this be well tim'd, the
Game
is done.
To all men,
GOD,
in
Mercy, Once
doth come:
Calls
twice,
or
thrice;
yeā,
many times,
on some:
And they who sleight his
Grace,
must feel his
doom,
Since, then, for
once
abusing
Love,
some fall;
Let it be, seriously, well-weighed, of all,
What may betide those, who, still, sleight it shall.
LONDON, Printed by Robert Austin. 1648.
To the meek ingenuous Reader.
THough much contempt is cast on
Poesie,
The
Meek,
and men of
Ingenuity,
Still, entertain her with respective ears,
When, on her proper
Errand,
she appears.
For,
Sacred-things,
and Things most pertinent
To
Mans
well being, by that
Instrument,
Have been conveyed, even in every
Nation,
(Yea, and almost, in every
Generation
)
Some
Poets
have proved
Prophets,
to foretell,
Things
Future,
many years ere they befell:
And sure, the
Latins,
to imply the same,
To
Poets,
and to
Prophets,
gave one
Name.
To
You,
therefore, this
Poem
will not seem
Unusefull, or unworthy of esteem;
Nor shall, to you, the matter be in vain,
Nor want that
End,
whereto it may pertain;
But, stir up those
Affections,
and that Care
Which may awake you, timely, to prepare
Against the sad, and
Evil day,
wherein
The
Scorners
must have payment for their sin,
For,
This,
will pass by
Them,
as doth a
Blast,
Whereof, but few take heed, till it be past,
And, leaves
Effects
behind it, which may show
What
Blast
it was, and whence that wind did blow.
To
you,
therefore, the
Author
recommends
These
musings,
as to them, among his
Friends,
Who, shall
possess the Earth,
when those who flour,
At wholesome
Counsel,
shall be rooted out.
He to your
Doome
Appeales: And if but
Three,
Who, zealous of the
Public safety
be;
Or, but
two Wisemen;
Or, but
One,
who loves
The
Peace
of GOD, these
Raptures
well approves;
He, shall be honor'd, by such
Approbations,
More, then by all the
Fools
of these three
Nations.
To the scornfully Censorious.
WHat have we here? says
pride-puffed-ignorance
More
Poetry?
yes
fool;
more, too, perchance
Then thou wilt like; and, more, for thee to jeer,
Till foaming at thy mouth, thy
Brains
appear
Through witless Choler, when thy soul shall dread,
What, thou with scornful disrespect, hast read.
But, (says a
second
) this, eight months ago
Appear'd in
Manuscript:
well, grant it so;
What is inferred? The
Author,
do not blame,
That, until now, you have not, seen the same;
For,
Truth
gets
Licence
hardly; and, the
Press
Was, then, at your disposure, not at his.
Who. (says a
third
) is he, that, in this wise,
Our
Genius
personates? A
fourth,
replies,
The
matter,
and the Phrase, their Author show:
SIRS, if ye guess right,
much good do it you.
If you, be therewith pleased, so, is he;
If not, he, therewith troubled will not be:
For, he regards not, so much, how to please,
As, how to cure the
general disease.
That, is his chiefest
aim:
to that intent,
Himself,
and
fortunes,
he hath freely spent,
As well as
time
and
words;
which, when he dies,
Will gain him, what your
malice,
yet, denies.
If, you, hereby, shall reap no benefit,
The main
obstruction,
will be want of
wit;
Or, in the wanting, rather, of his
grace;
Whose
love,
you slighted, when it offered was.
Read, if ye list; But, who composed the same,
Inquire not; for, (although to show his
Name
He never was afraid) it suits not now,
With his
design,
that he should tell it you;
Nor, can it be
material,
so you heed,
And prudently consider what ye read:
For, whom, or whatsoever, he may appear,
That, will be true, which he expresseth here.
PROSOPOPOEIA BRITANNICA.
The Contents of the first Lection
THe POET poetizeth, here,
Great Britons
GENIUS to appear;
Expostulating (
first of all
)
Some
Slips,
and
Faults
in general.
And,
tells
what of that GAME, he spake,
In which, the
public,
lies at
Stake.
Next,
shows,
how He doth move the
King,
Himself into his
Orbe
to bring;
What, will, assuredly, succeed,
Unless, he shall return with speed;
How,
and by
whom,
and likewise,
why
He hath been hindered to comply;
And, that, the
Men,
and
Hopes,
which he
Depends on, will his ruin be.
Then, are declared, some debates
Of
Prelates
temporal estates;
What ought to be believed, by
Him,
As touching their old
Claimes,
and
Them;
How much,
a Prince
obliged stands,
To keep up, such like
Deodands;
Pleads, in what
case,
a
State,
or
King,
May sell a
Dedicated-Thing;
And, makes you, by plain
reason, see
How false the
claims
of
Tyrants
be.
Then, having took some Blocks away,
Which stop the
Kings
repentance may;
Provokes thereto; and
(
though the
root
Seems bitter) warrants pleasant
fruit.
When, in his might, the
Dogstar
reigned, here,
And, when our
City,
and our
Armies,
were
Made jealous of each other, by their wiles,
Who, sought to nourish
Discord
in these
Hes;
Fill'd full of Thoughts, and sad, and sleeplesse lying
Upon my
Couch,
there, silently, surveying
With
contemplations
eyes, the sick estate
Of these three
Kingdoms,
and, their likely Fate;
My rambling
Fancie
(which was newly come,
From whence I know not) brought into the room,
A reverend Person,
who, upon him wore,
A Sea-green
mantle,
which was wrought all over
With silver wavings (well resembling those
Which curle the
Ocean,
when a strong gale blows)
And, had a Verge, or
bordering
imbost
Of Rock-work, like the
cliffs,
that guard our cost.
Rais'd with white
Sapphires,
looking over a
strand,
Bestrow'd with orient Pearls, and golden sand.
In his left hand, he seemed to bring with him
A
threefold,
but a broken
Diadem,
Each
third
whereof contained counterfeits,
Of many differing shaped
Coronets,
(Which had adorned it) most part of which
Seem'd also, broken, or defaced much;
And, not improperly, an
emblem
were
Of something, which this
Emperie
may fear.
With an heroic
look,
a Princely
pace,
And awful
presence,
entered he the place:
But, so, that
look,
and
pace,
and
presence,
had
A
shaddowing
drawn over them, which made
Appearance, of a heart displeased, and sorry;
Yet, gave it, rather, excellence and glory
To his
demeanure,
then diminishment,
Of what, beseem'd a
Person
excellent.
Not heeding me; nor seeming much to care
Who, then, was present, or, who was not there,
A turn or two, he walked; raised to the skies,
(As one admiring) his majestic eyes;
And, with hands elevated, and displayed,
Thus, like a much displeased
Friend,
he said,
SEE, SEE! how MISCHIEF, like the
Lernean Snake,
Renewesher heads, and still new life doth take!
The
fire
of WAR within our
fields
did flame,
A while ago, and, GOD'S hand quenched the same.
The
match
and
powder,
were together laid
In our chief
City;
and, he, also staid
Those probable effects, which would have shook
These
Islands,
if the project, then, had took.
As soon as that was past, another
Traine
Was closely laid, to blow up all again;
And, make these
Nations,
like the clod-borne brood
Of
Cadmus,
broachers of each others blood.
Is there no end of
madness?
but, by fits,
Must they, who should be wisest, loose their wits?
And, still be forging new
Designes
and
Gins,
To plague themselves, and others, for their
sins?
Will not, the blind,
self-seeking parties,
leave,
Snares for themselves, with their own hands to weave?
Will not the
Serpent
cease to bruise their heels,
Whom he pursues, though broken heads he feels?
Nor will the harmless
Doves,
become so wise
To know the
Birds of prey,
through their disguise,
Till they are all beguiled with fair shows,
And, quite devoured, by
Buzzard, Kites
and
Crowes?
Shall wholesome counsel, always, be withstood?
And, will you reinvolve yourselves in blood,
What ever your best friends endeavor can,
And, as it were, in spite of GOD and
man?
O GOD! what dullness hath possessed these
Nations?
When shall the
Spirit of Infatuations,
Be dispossessed, ye
Britons?
when shall
peace
Unite your hearts? when shall dissention cease,
And, we behold again within my Coast,
Those blessings, which they willfully have lost,
Who, slighted counsel, when it was in season;
And, yet, resolve not, to be ruled by
Reason?
How long! oh LORD! how long shall they neglect
The
Teachers
of a better intellect,
And, in those courses frowardly persist,
Whereby, they must arrive at
had I wist!
How long! shall that contagious
Cloud of lies
Which through the streets, almost each morning flies
On
paper wings,
with
slanders,
poison some?
To others,
instruments of death,
become?
Corrupt weak judgments? Interupt the
choice,
Of good things? drown the
Pacifying-voice
Which, to their great advantage, they might hear,
Unless
deaf Adder
-like, they stopped their care?
Or, listened to those falsehoods, which delude
The
Wisest,
and enrage the
multitude?
How long! shall men persevere to delight
In cursed words, and actions of despite?
In studying reciprocal disgraces?
In flinging dirt, into each others faces?
And, as it were, in striving, who best may
The
Devils
part, upon each other play.
How long! will you in an unhappy course,
Run from one bad extreme, into a worse?
How long! will you pretend, protest, and vow,
To be reformed, yet, nothing better grow?
How long! will you condemn what others do,
Yet, tread their paths, yea go beyond them, too,
And think it shall enough yourselves commend,
To publish, wherein others do offend?
Or punish them, whose crimes but venial be,
When
Capitall-Transgressors
may go free?
How long! will you observe the
scorners
Fate,
Yet, never mend, before it be too late?
How long! shall GOD forbear? how long! for you
Befoole the
wise,
yet fools no wiser grow?
How long! shall he keep off a
Forraigne power,
While you, at home, each other do devour,
And seek, by every new
Deliverance,
Your own
Designes,
and profits to advance?
As if the public
Mercics,
which GOD sends,
Were all vouchsafed for your private ends?
How long! will you lie underneath the stroke,
Yet, his displeasure every day provoke?
Or being frighted from what was misdone,
Commit the same fault, when the fear is gone?
How long! shall prudence preach a safer way,
Yet, you renew your dangers, day by day?
And, though you, still are told what will succeed,
Still, careless be, of taking, timely, heed?
How long! will you good
principles
with-stand,
And fortisfie with pebble stones and sand?
Or
paper works,
and
stubble-structures
frame,
When, round about you, all is in a flame?
And, at the givers of good counsel, jeer,
That others, may be fooled as you are?
How long! will ye, whilst your
blind-Harpers
play
Divisions, Jigs,
and
fancies,
dance the
Hay,
And, break each others heads, and shins, and faces,
At
Blind-man-Buffe,
(as well to your disgraces
As to your loss and smart) whilst most about you,
Both for your madness, and your follies, flout you?
And whilst thereby your adversaries gain
That, which they could not otherways obtain?
How long! will you permit,
Ambition, Pride,
Self-Love
or
Avarice
to be your
guide?
And persevere to trust, and to commit
Your being, unto some who have nor wit,
Nor grace, nor modesty? as if ye had
Forsworne
good counsel,
and a
Covenant
made
With your
Oppressors,
to resign all power
To them, who seek to prey on what is your?
And, still to prostitute your free
Elections
To strenghthen private ends, and nourish
Factions?
How long will they, on whom your Trust is placit
Put off, what should be
first,
until the
last?
How long with they irresolute appear
Whereto they should undoubtedly adhere;
And, thereby, keep, from knitting fast together,
Divided parts,
till there be strength in neither
To reunite? Or, till all tear asunder,
Like
Clouds
dispersed, by their own in-bred
Thunder?
How long shall
Knave
be Trump? and all the
Cards
Be packit, to give unmerited rewards?
Or, deal forth undeservedly, to those
Who are
best friends,
the portion of your
Foes?
And, O! how long shall such men play your
Game,
Who have betrayed, who will betray the same,
And, still promote (though better be professed)
A
Private,
or, a
Forraigne Interest?
Hear,
O ye
Islands!
hearken, and believe
Your
Genius,
who, doth see your ways, and greeve.
If you shall act, much longer, as ye do,
Your
City, Army, Priest,
and
People
too;
Your
King,
your chosen
Commons,
and your
Peers,
Your
Independents,
and your
Presbyters,
The
worst disposed,
and the
best affected;
The
faithful,
and
the man of fraud detected;
The
Friend,
the
Foe,
the
Fool,
and he that's
wise;
The
Rich,
and
he
who at his
threshold
lies;
English, Scot, Welsh,
and
Kerne,
shall all together
So jumbled be, so juggle with each other,
So stagger from their
Principles,
and Friends,
Through foolish
hopes,
false
fears,
or private ends;
The most shall be deceived, and, undone,
To make a
winning-Game
for Lookers-on.
For, these have eyes upon you; and expect,
From your increasing
Discords,
an effect
To their advantage: These, rejoice to see
How senseless of your own true peace, you be;
How frowardly you act to your own cost,
And, play for them, that
Game
which they had lost.
With serious, if sleight things I may compare,
Ye,
Britons
are now playing (as it were)
A
Game at Cards:
For, there are many faces,
Among you, like
Kings, Queens, Knaves, Tens & Aces,
Beside the
Vulgar pack;
and much strange
dealing,
Strange
shuffling,
and strange
cutting,
(worth revealing)
Is viewed, whereby the
public
hath had wrong,
(And many
private persons
) over-long.
Some, by the
Players;
others by the
Foxes,
Who have obtained the keeping of your
Boxes;
Some, by their want of skill; and some by
betting
Upon both sides; by
violence,
or
cheating,
Are like to share at last, what you to lose;
Then, laugh to scorn, your Folly in the close;
Because, you good advantages did sleight,
And, plaid your
Game
no better, when ye might.
How have ye lost, what lately you had got?
When all men saw, you had the better
lot?
Of
Hearts
and
Diamonds,
you, a while ago,
As fair
Games
had, as any hand could show:
But, some
by-standers,
who, your
cards
can view,
Are much afraid, that now ye have but few.
Of
Spades
and
Clubs,
yet (if well plaid) ye have
Enough at least, whereby your
stakes
to save.
Ye had, but of one
Queen,
a diffidence;
And, she was plaid away, a good while since:
The
Knaves
are shared so by either side,
That, little odds betwixt you is espi'd;
And, they, who yet seem
Newters,
(out of play)
At last, may serve to count upon, some way.
One
King,
alone, you have; and what to do
With him, a friend of yours could tell you too,
But that he is no
Player,
and he hath spoke,
Already, more, then many have well took.
Yet this, I will say; you cannot make your
Game,
By all the
Kings,
or
Court-Cards,
you could name,
As by well-playing him. As you dispose
Of him, so, you are like to win, or lose:
So, ye shall either gain or miss, your
ends;
So, you shall multiply your
Foes
or
Friends:
GOD, give you grace to take the safest way;
Which, (if vain hopes delude not) yet, ye may.
And, GOD, direct him, and incline him too,
So prudently to
suffer,
and to
doc,
That, he pursue no more sinister ends:
For, at this present, upon him depends
The Fortune of his
House:
And, therewithal
Shall many other, either stand, or fall,
Whose
Fates
are yet, by very few discerned
To be in his
well-doing
much concerned:
Yea, thereupon, dependeth greater things,
Then are the
Risings,
and the
Falls
of
Kings.
My Spirit, therefore, groans within my breast,
And, is with violent desires oppressed,
That,
he,
and
they,
who seem yet stupifi'd
Might wake out of their
Dreamings,
to provide,
Against those many mischiefs, which, of late,
Have menaced the ruin of this State:
And, seeing, by a near relation, I
Am more obliged then any
Stander-by,
To seek your
welfare,
and prevent your
woe,
I will give such hints of what you ought to do,
As are permitted; O! take therefore heed,
Of what, ye now shall either hear, or read:
For, without Riddles, I will plainly tell,
What
courses
ye may follow, and do well.
First, let your erring, and deluded
King,
Himself,
his
Crowns,
and
Scepters
humbly bring,
And, lay them at his feet, to whom, alone,
Belongs the
supreme Glory
of each
Throne.
For, GOD, will not be mocked: (though for a space
He winks at many, who neglect his
Grace
)
But, will on everyone, avengement take
Who, in his wickedness, doth progress make.
Let him acknowledge that
Supremacy,
And falling down, before that
Majesty,
Which is offended, ask to be forgiven
For his offense against both
earth
and
heaven.
And, that he may obtain it, let him weigh
What
Common Fame
unto his charge doth lay;
What just
occasion
he hath given, why
Things are suspected, which he may deny;
And, what his heart may justly smite him for;
Till, all his errors he doth so abhor,
That GOD may pardon them; and men may see,
His
Grace
is greater, then their
sins
can be.
That this be truly done, let him not spare
To make his
Failings,
truly, what they are,
By, seecretly, anatomizing them,
In every circumstance, 'twixt GOD and him;
For, in the world, it hath not yet been known,
That any
King
was cast out of his
Throne,
Without a
crying-sin;
Or, that God shook
A
Kingdom;
or, a
Nation
ever struck;
Or humbled any
man,
for his offense,
And re-advanced, without
Penitence:
Except, when he, in wrath did them restore,
To make their
sufferings,
and their
shame
the more.
Which, that He may prevent; let him delay
No longer, from a
penitential way:
But, make return, before he run so far,
Or, let him take good heed, when he is there,
Lest other men's
designs,
and his own
fear,
Or, such vain
hopes,
as he hath had too long,
Occasion him to fall (by stearing wrong)
On
Scylla,
or
Charybdis:
Or, lest, they
Who, seek their own advantage, him betray
By practice underhand: For, such as these
Will but prolong their own, and his Disease,
With harm to others; and exasperate
Those
humors,
which will hasten on the
Fate,
That may be feared. Thus, therefore, let him do,
Yea, do it quickly, and sincerely too.
Let him, a while, with-draw himself, apart,
(Even to the secret closet of his heart)
Excluding company; but, chiefly, them
Who, from his
Duties,
long have hindered him,
By
wicked counsels;
or, by flattery,
Caus'd him to dote upon a
Majesty
Which is not real; and have thereby,
turned
His glory into shame,
and made him scorned.
Let him, shut out all those, who show unto him,
Those
pictures of himself,
which may undo him,
And, make him, like
Narcissus,
on a Bable
To dote, till he be fooled into a
Fable.
For, some, with so much
Piety,
besaint him;
With such feigned
Excellencies
they bepaint him;
Yea, they so impudently magnify him,
And, with so much
Divinity
bely him,
As if, to
defy
him they professed;
Or, else, to
canonize
him, at the least.
And, but, that thousands know him; and, know too,
How much, men flatter Kings, (and what they do
Who Idolize them) some would half believe
He were, not only, blameless, but conceive
That, seldom such a King, or such a man,
Had reigned, or lived, since first the world began;
And, that these
Kingdoms,
have afflicted been,
Without his fault; yea, for the
people's
sin
Against his
God-head,
only: And, this course
Hath made him nothing better; but, much worse;
For,
Pharaoh
-like, it him, still more obdures,
And, every day, new
sins,
new
plagues
procures.
Let him, with prudent anger, therefore throw
Such cheating
Glasses
from him; and, those too,
Which multiply the faults by others done;
And, represent offenses, where are none,
In hope to make themselves the fairer seem,
By casting blurs, on other men's esteem:
For these
Impostors
cheat him, with false shows,
That, he to save their
Stakes,
himself may lose.
Let him take heed of their
Compliances,
Who are declined from those
Principles,
Whereby, they in mere conscience, and true zeal,
Appeared active for the
Common-Weal,
Against his
Int'rest;
and, in show are won
A
counter course,
in their
Designes,
to run,
In aid of his
desires,
with hope of those
Rewards, or Honors, which he shall propose:
For, on such giddy
Turn-coats,
all his
cost,
Time, promises,
and
favors,
will be lost,
Both to
himself
and
them;
Because those
flashes,
Are but a
smoke,
raised out of
Dust, and Ashes,
And shap'd unto a
Cloud;
which, being filled
With noisome
Air,
and, thereby, vainly swelled,
Up to a show of
something,
shall, at last,
Vanish to
nothing,
by a sudden Blast.
Let him consider, what sad desolations
His willfulness hath brought upon three Nations;
Upon
himself,
and
Children;
what great fears
And sorrows he hath heaped, now, many years,
On others too, as well as upon them,
Whose
peace,
and
weal,
he ought not to contemn:
Let him take notice, with how little sense,
Of their
Afflictions,
and of their expense
In Blood and
Treasure,
he hath passed over
Those losses which he never can recover.
And let him ponder what may more befall,
Unless the power of God, prevent it shall.
Let him observe, to what despised things,
Below the honor, not alone, of
Kings,
But, of Inferior Persons, he is brought,
By seeking that, which he in vain hath sought;
By list'ning to bad Counsel; and, by still
Pursuing those beinnings which were ill.
Let him impartially resolve in mind,
To what conditions it hath him confined;
What heights of
Glory
it hath cast him from;
To what a depth of
Troubles,
he is come;
What meanly-qualified
Groomes,
of late,
He hath been fain, disguised, to personate;
What trivial
Fellowes
he is forced to feed,
Ride, and converse with: yea, let him take heed,
From what sleight
Jockies,
and what
Scatter-wits,
He seeketh aid, and thereby nothing gets,
To further his
Designes;
nor ought, but
Lies,
Rodomantadoes,
and such
Vanities.
Nay, let him mark it once, and then again,
What beggarly
Companions
he is fain
To fawn upon; to humor, bribe, and woe,
With promises of wealth, and honor too,
To serve his ends, when thereto they can add
No more, then from a Porter may be had;
Except it, peradventure, be Returnes
Of ruin on
themselves,
and, on him scorns.
Let him examine, by himself, alone,
What he committed hath, or left undone,
For which this
Change
befalls him; And not dream
That, these afflictions have pursued him
For other men's transgressions, altogether.
And let him seriously consider, whether
There can be hearty
penitence,
or no,
For
wrongs,
without some
satisfaction
too.
Let him examine, if a
sacrifice
Of
words,
and
protestations,
may suffice
For
bloodsheds,
and those many
robberies,
Which on his
Person,
and his
Partie
lies:
Or, whether he; and his
Prerogatives
Were ever worth so many thousand lives,
As they have cost: or, whether, when to make
His last accompt, he cometh, GOD will take
So trivial an answer, as to say;
His
will,
and
pleasure,
they would not obey:
But
rebels
were, who did that power resist,
Which he doth claim, of doing what he list
As his
Vicegerent,
and, as he was taught
By those, whom he, to be true
Prophets
thought.
Let him consider, what best guards a
Throne,
And, keeps him safest, who doth sit thereon;
By whom,
Kings
reign; why they at first were made;
And, for whose sakes, authority they had:
That, he may not suppose GOD, did provide
His
Kingdom,
only, to advance his
pride;
Or, to inflict an heavy curse, upon
Whole
Nations,
by inslaving
all
to
one.
Let him consider, in what infamies
A
Tyrant
lives, in what
ancertainties,
Feares, doubts,
and
dangers:
and with what
esteem,
Content
and
peace,
he wears his
Diadem,
Who reigns, as knowing, that he had his
Crown
More, for his
people's
sake, then for his
own:
And, let him kick away those
Parasites,
Whose
Counsel
to
Oppression,
him invites;
Or, foolishly persuades him, to improve
Power, wealth,
or
pleasure,
by the loss of
love.
And, thereby, makes him labor to enjoy
That
power,
which will at last
himself
destroy.
Let him consider, soberly, if he
In honor, or in conscience, bound may be
Himself,
for
those,
to hazard, who, pretended
His
Honor,
and his
Rights,
to have befriended;
Whereas, it may, (by many a circumstance)
Be made appear, that, at their own advance,
They chiefly aimed; or, to preserve the
Lot,
Which, they had by his
Grace,
already got.
For, to prevent approaching
Beggary,
Some strength'ned him in acts of
Tyranny;
Some, to disturb the
waters,
that, in them,
They might be thriving
Fishers,
under him.
And very few (what e're they counterfeit)
To him, adhered, but, to
save,
or
get.
Or, though their
love
engaged them; yet, none
Is bound to more, then can by him be done:
Nor is it just, that,
he,
himself should lose,
Because, he wanteth power, to save all those
Who stood with him engaged: Nor, would they
Desire it, if they loved him, as they say.
Let him not trust to those
fanatic things,
Who, dote upon the
Accidents
of
Kings,
And sleight their
Essence:
For, as, hitherto
These, by their aid, did but themselves undo
Without his benefit; so shall it be
Hereaftet, till their error they can see.
There is no help in human policy,
Nor any way, but down-right honesty
To his security; or to redeem
Their happiness who have assisted him:
For every
course,
and politic
design
That, shall be drawn out, by a crooked
line,
Will but beget new mischiefs, and enforce
New projects, whose effects will still be worse;
Till spite of
power,
and
fraud, long swords,
and
daggers,
He stand enrowl'd among the
Royal-Beggers;
Or, with those
Kings,
who, from their honor fell,
Because, they slighted those, who wished them well.
Let, him not fancy, that their
seeming love,
Who Court, him, yet, will worth regarding prove,
Though, daily, more and more they shall repair
To kiss his hand; or, fill the empty air
With acclamations; or, although they may
Upon
his birth,
or
Coronation
day,
Make
Bonefires,
ring the Bells, drink healths unto him,
And such like trivial, and rude honors do him;
For, herein, these, act but a sensual part,
Delightfull to themselves, without a heart:
Some, to express their present discontent,
And dis-affection to the
Parliament:
Some, for self-ends; some out of levity;
And, many other, they well know not why,
Seem zealous of his honor, who would soon,
Repent what, they now covet should be done,
Were he restored unto them, with that mind
Whereto, as yet, he feemes to be inclined;
And, they who do this day
Hosanna
cry,
Would say, perhaps, tomorrow,
Crucify.
The
common People,
rather live by sense,
Then reason; and so quickly take offense
At present suff'rings, that they oft are pleased
To cut their own throats, that they may be eased,
And, when it shall distaste their Fantasies,
Will tread on what they did Idolatrize.
If, therefore, he would in their
love
confide,
And gain from them, Affections which will bide;
He must, protect them from receiving wrong,
In things, which to their Freedomes do belong:
Of their proprieties, he must take care;
And, that their
Persons
and their
purse
he spare,
Till he shall need them; and until they see
How for his
honor,
and their
good
'twill be.
For they will then, be forwarder to give,
Then he shall be to ask, or to receive;
And, when just cause the same occasion may,
Fling, for his sake, both goods, and lives away.
Let this be then his aim, and his intent,
When
God
shall join him with his
Parliament;
With Justice, let him round impale his
Throne,
And, set before it, like King
Solomon,
A guard of
Lions,
that, may keep away
Those
Apes, Baboons,
and
Foxes,
which assay
Thereon to make intrusions; or, devise
How to invade him, with such flatteries,
As may delude him; and, divert him from
Those
Duties,
which his
Dignity
become.
All his
Prerogatives,
likewise, let him
So mix with
equity;
so, circle them
With pious
Charmes;
and, so confine, and awe
His
Vassalls,
by
Example,
and by
Law,
That, in all times to come, nor
he,
nor
they
Who shall succeed him, find occasions may
To dim his
glory,
or his power to shake;
Or, on the Subjects right, a breach to make.
So, shall the
people
their just claims enjoy,
So, you, who do each other now destroy,
Shall in each others happiness delight,
And, raise your
Mountain
to a glorious height.
What, can he more desire, then to excel
Among those
people,
with whom all is well?
Whither can he aspire, but to possess
On earth, the chiefest earthly happiness?
And, what can he have less, then he now gains
By seeking more, then to a
King
pertains?
But, lest, what his good
Genius
would advise,
He may, by means of their deceits despise,
Who have the
Jannes
and the
Jambres
been,
By whose
enchantments,
he continues in
Obduratenesse: Let him, take special care
Of those false
Priests,
and Prophets to beware,
Who sooth him up with lies; and, make him dream,
That, by endangering his
Crown
for them
He should preserve it; and, that, to provide
Large means to feed their
gluttony
and
pride,
Is to promote GOD'S
glory;
let him not
Believe those truthlesse
vanities,
a jot.
Though some
good men,
have heretofore been fed
With
Babels
portions, and unforfeited,
Preserv'd their innocence, (with much ado)
Yet, now, those
dainties,
have corrupted so
This Generation; that, there's cause to doubt
Their
Charmes.
And, therefore, let him shut them out
From
heart,
and
ear,
(what ever formal show
Of
Sanctity,
they make in outward view)
Believing, that their chief intentions here,
Are to repair their
breaches;
or, endear,
And sweeten, to the ruin of this
Nation,
Those
Philters,
and that
cup of Fornication,
Whereby, their
Scarlet Mistress,
giddifies
All those, who listen to her Witcheries.
Let him, above all others, take good heed
Of these
deceivers;
add this to his
Creed
Concerning them; even this, that they are not
God's Prophets;
that, GOD owns not for his
lot,
What they so call; and, that, though him they raise
Above the
Moon,
with attributes of praise;
It is, but for the service of the
Dragon,
Their Lust, their great
Diana,
or their
Dagon,
That, they so Court him: yea, though they adore
The
seat
he sits on, as
divine
(or more)
And, canonize him (as it were) for
one,
Who, all his
Predecessors
had out-gone
In piety, (because, he stourly stands
To keep them with
full guts,
and
idle hands
)
Let him him not be deceived; nor think so glorious,
So honorable, or, so meritorious,
What he would do for them, (if he were able)
For,
Jezebel
did feed, at her own table,
Eight hundred Prophets; and, appeared, no doubt,
In her own way, as bounteously devout,
As he would be: yet, did her
superstition,
With other sins, occasion her perdition:
And they were but false
prophets,
whom she fed,
Who, shortly after, likewise perished.
Hypocrisy,
and
superstition,
may
Be sooner flattered by such as they,
Into
stupendions-bounties,
then you see
The best men can, by true
devotion
be:
And, this, the
Sacrifices, Altars, Groves,
Shrines, Idols, Temples,
and that Bounty proves,
Which hath been dedicated unto
men,
To Angels, and to
Devils,
now and then.
Then, let him, nor their
Praises
prize; nor fear,
Against their claims, that
covenant
to swear,
Which is established by his
Parliament,
Their mischievous encrochments to prevent:
For, though they have made captive his esteem:
Not only to their
callings,
but to them;
Nor
they,
nor
that
(once theirs) now, sold and bought,
Are so
divine,
as they would have them thought.
Yea, though these call it
sacrilege,
in those
Who, to discharge the public debts, dispose
What was of late, employed, but to feed
Bel
and the
Dragon;
and, would scruples breed
Within his conscience, making him believe,
That GOD, is robbed, if others do receive
What, lately they possessed (and have too long
Usurp'd already, to the public wrong.)
Let neither
King,
nor
people,
be afraid
Or what by these
Impostors,
hath been said,
To save their
Kitchenstuffe;
and, that their back
Hereafter, may not their
soft raiment
lack.
Let them not fearful be to sell, or buy
Those
portions,
in their great necessity,
Unless they sell, or buy them, with a mind,
To prey on others rights; or, are inclined
To have them, though they think it may be sin;
And whether
right,
or
wrong
be done therein:
For, such a man himself doth guilty make
Of
Sacrilege,
though but his own he take.
A true
Disciple,
doubtless, may enjoy
Things carnal; and whilst them he doth employ
As he is bound, none ever grudges him
Their use; nor doth him, in their use, condemn:
But, when, his own false int'rest to advance,
He shall mis-name it,
Christ's Inheritance,
Or otherwise shall mis-employ the same
Against Truths Friends, and honor of GOD's
name;
He forfeits what he had. Moreover, know,
That
Christ,
whose service they pretend unto,
Bequeath'd them no such Lordships, as they claim:
Nor
Salaries,
like those, at which they aim:
But giving them
Commission
(whom he sent
His work to do) enjoined them content
With his
allowance;
strictly charged them,
To trust to none, for wages, but to
Him:
And, to expect their Labors
hire
from
none,
(Or
anywhere
) but, where the
work
is done.
But, see, how great a difference now appears
Betwixt these
Priests,
and
Christ's
Commissioners:
So impudently they do now presume
The
Titles,
and the
Wages
to assume,
Which were forbid; so largely, they provide,
Not necessaries only, but for
pride,
For
luxury,
and for
magnificence,
Beyond the limits of a modest
Prince;
So loose are their deportments, and so vain;
Such
Ruffians
and
Buffoones
they entertain:
Of common faults, and of each crying sin,
So manifestly guilty, some have been;
So peevish are they, so uncharitable;
Amid their plenty, so inhospitable;
So ignorant, they have been otherwhile,
And their
Apostleships
do so defile;
That, to suppose,
CHRIST'S
Officers were such
As they appear, were in effect, as much
As to profess, his
Kingdom
were become
Terrestriall,
and his Court, indeed, at
Rome;
And, he who shall receive these, in the name
Of
CHRIST'S
Disciples, will receive but shame.
'It is pity, that their
Bounty,
who were Nurses
To piety, at first; and, who, their purses
So prodigally empti'd, to endow
The needy
Saints,
should so perverted grow;
And, that, men were so graceless in their use
Of
Blessings,
as to lose them by abuse.
Yet, just it was, that they who did suppose
GOD'S
bounty,
not enough; their own, should lose.
And, that,
gifts
which he gave not; and, which may
Pervert his purpose, should be took away;
(At least) when their possessors do begin,
To turn, what flowed from
virtue,
into sin.
And, how could you employ their vast wealth better,
Then, to discharge that, wherein you were debtor
By their default, who, sought to have destroyed
Your
Birth-rights,
by that wealth which they enjoyed?
Since,
Offrings
made to GOD, (and, which to own,
He doth accept) may be on men bestowne,
In times of need, when
mercy,
justly cries
To be preferred, before a
Sacrifice.
Thus, did, without reproof, the
Jewish Kings
Buy, otherwhile, with Dedicated things,
Their
Kingdoms
peace; and, purchased uncontrold,
Their Liberties, with sanctified Gold;
So, with their wealth; by whom your
wars
begun
To pay the
Soldier,
you have justly done.
But, that your King more plainly may espy
His disobligement, to the
Prelacy;
(Which comprehends those
Boutefeu's,
by whom
He,
and his
people,
are almost become
The ruin of each other) Be it known;
These, were, at first, no
creatures
of his own,
Or, of his
Predecessors;
though, they gained
A
legal Oath,
by them to be maintained,
As part of
holy Church;
and, though a while,
They sat among the
Peerage
of this
Isle.
But, they were first created, to promote
The Kingdom of the BEAST, and, to devote
Their services to him, in raising high,
In making strong, and large, his Emperie;
Or, in debasing
Kings;
and, how, they did
Performe that service, you in Stories read.
Now, when for bloody tyranny, from hence,
That
Tyrant
was expel'd, by
Providence,
These also, (if they had not been befriended)
Had into banishment, their
Chief,
attended.
But, they pretending to a
Reformation,
(Perhaps, to keep possession in this
Nation,
For their
grand Signior;
and, to bring to pass
What, now of late almost effected was,)
Obtained grace: And, proving to be fit
For their ambition, who aspire to get
An
arbitrary power,
they did arise
Almost to all their former dignities;
And grew so active, and, so wise became
In praying of the
Kings,
and their own
game,
That, here, (as plainly as in
France
) we see
There's no such
Tyrants,
as where
Prelates
be.
And, he, perhaps, did mean the self-same thing,
Who used to say,
no Bishops,
and
no King.
They were advanced, like
Jeroboams
Priests,
But to preserve usurped Interests
Upon the
people;
and to help increase
Those claims, which Tyrants covet to possess,
By falsifying
Charters
and
Commissions,
From
Sacred Writ,
to justify oppressions:
And
Jurisdictions,
to that end, they had,
To
force,
when
wit
they wanted, to
persuade.
Then, to oblige the more, and, that they might
Be like to
Jereboams
Priests, outright;
They, from the poorest, and the basest sort
Of people, rose, to highest place in
Court.
This is their
Jus Divinum,
whatsoever
Their
friends,
or they, would make themselves appear:
Which, by clear demonstration, I make good,
And, not by tales of
Tubs,
and
Robin-Hood.
Thus,
what they were;
and,
what they had to do,
And,
what at best their pride hath brought them to,
I have declared; that, your
King
no more
May cheated be by them, as heretofore:
Or, think, that
Law,
or
Conscience,
him obliges,
To keep up their usurped Privileges,
But, thereby know, that, if he shall delight
In that, which is indeed the
Royal-right;
He, their vain services, no more, will need,
And, joy, that from such
Flatt'rers
he is freed.
If any shall object, that, he hath took
An
Oath
on their behalf; that might be spoke
Aswell of
Kings,
perhaps, who took away
Old
Idol-Priesthoods:
For, 'tis likely, they
Vow'd their protection, when the policy
Of
Jereboam
raised his
Hi'rarchy
To six the
Kingdom.
But, no
Oaths
oblige,
Which in unlawful actions would engage:
And, his
Oath
is not broke by him, who took it,
When, that, which made it lawful, doth revoke it.
If it be said, those things to God were given,
Which they possessed. What then? in earth, and heaven,
God,
is the sole possessor of all things;
And, (whatsoever any
takes,
or
brings
)
Hath neither more nor less; nor doth allow
That any
place
on earth, or
portion,
now,
Of things mere earthly, should be made appear
More
holy,
or more
his,
then others are;
For, man intitling GOD, to
men's
estates,
Is, but a
Priest-cheat,
which he greatly hates.
When, you give more to GOD, then he commands,
His
Thanks
is;
Who required it at your hands?
Nor doth he those
Oblations
ever prize,
Which from a superstitious ground arise;
Nor counts, a charitable deed made void,
When gifts abused, better are employ'd.
Oh! let not then his hazards to preserve
Their temp'rall claims, be more then they deserve.
Let him not tire himself to change a boot,
Which he may wear with ease, on either foot.
Let him not, by his undue care of these
Which were the chiefest cause of his disease,
Against his own just Int'rest make him err,
By seeking their advancements to prefer
Before his own
well-being.
Let him not
Permit their formal wisdom to besot
His understanding so, that he shall scorn
This Counsel; or, continue to adjourn
Compliance with his people in those things
Which are the Cement betwixt them and
Kings;
And, will be so approved, maugre that
Which, to deceive him, they both print, and prate.
Let him not trust to their enchanting Spells,
Nor to the
brain
of their
Achitophells;
For, if faint, or false-heartedness in those
Who, for the
Public,
his attempts oppose,
Shall not for private, or, by-interest
Betray the cause and trust they have professed;
GOD, at this present time, will lower bring
The tyrannizing power of
Priest,
and
King.
Nor
King-craft, Priest-craft,
nor the policies
Of all, who preach or fight up tyrannies,
Shall long prevail, though, to support each other
All
Europes
Tyrants should unite together:
But, GOD, when they suppose to reach the tops
Of their
designs,
will frustrate all their hopes;
And, cause them to perceive, that he intends
To prosper that, whereto they are no friends.
Before that day, from all equivocations,
From all close ends, and mental Reservations,
Let
Charles,
begin a resolute retreat;
Else (MARK this) when sev'n years he shall complete
Among the
Beasts,
with
Nebuchadnezzar,
Th'event of his demurrers will appear:
And, he, who, yet a
Leadstar,
might become,
Of just
Dominion,
to all
Christendom,
Shall miss the best advantage offered, yet,
To any, King, who on his Throne did sit.
Though
clouds
rise in the
South,
and in the
North;
There is, a
Doome-conditional,
gone forth
To be
reversed,
or
stand,
as he shall, now,
His want of prudence, or, his wisdom show,
As when the Sun ascends, to run his race,
From his eclipsed honor, and disgrace,
He, now, may rise; whereas, if he pass by
The present offered
opportunity,
He may perhaps, begin the fatal
dance,
Which every King must foot, who doth advance
Himself above his
bound.
He, may, now, make
Their expectations frustrate, who, yet, take
An old
prediction,
in that sense, which he
Would be unwilling, so fulfilled should be.
For, through these Islands this
Tradition
goes,
That
He,
who made the
English Damask Rose,
Or, else some other, being curious grown,
To know the future fortune of his
Throne,
Received, in
hieroglyphick-wise
expressed,
Their
Portraitures,
who, when he was at rest,
Should in his
Kingdom,
after him succeed;
With words, in
Latin Verse,
thus Englished:
I would not, any much should trust, or fear
Such
Prophecies;
yet, when events appear
To answer unto that which was foretold,
Wise men
should make what use of them they could:
Seek how they might extract, even from the Devils
Deceits, an
antidote,
against his evils;
And, so direct their actions, that his
Charmes
And cheating
riddles,
may not do them harms.
Lo, that
prediction,
is this day fulfild;
Six,
as it was fore-typifi'd, have held
The
Scepter
of that
King;
and, now there's
none,
Who either wears the
Crown,
or fills the
Throne;
Nor, anything to furnish-out the same
Belonging to that
race,
except a
Name:
And, here shall end that
Prophesy,
unless
It further be fulfild through
willfulness.
If he, who owns that
name,
shall hearken to
Their counsel, who will tell him what to do;
That
name,
at last, much like that
stump,
may be
Which was preserved, when the
Royal-tree,
Once, representing
Nebuchadnezzar,
Was felled down. And, as he did appear
In former Glory, when he had confessed
His failings, and the
living God professed;
So, shall it be with
Charles,
if he repent;
God, will the ruin of his
House
prevent;
Restore him to his
Throne,
and make his fame
To grow the fairer, through his present shame.
But, if he shall defer, till 'tis too late,
Let him prepare for King
Belshazzar's
fate,
And, let all those, who shall to him adhere,
Expect, in his sad
dooms,
to have a share.
As
Samuel
did for
Saul,
till God did sling
That
Tyrant
off, and chose another
King;
So, shall I pray for him (with mourning too)
Till I perceive what GOD, and
he
will do.
And, therefore, touching him, I will (before
I speak to others) utter somewhat more.
By no external symptoms, can I find
That, he doth yet, begin to change his mind;
But, so, in his first
march
proceedeth on,
As if, he
wrongs
received, but, none had done.
And, whereas GOD, for penitence doth call,
Doth seem to think, there needeth none at all;
But, rather, that his
people
(if not heaven)
Should supplicate, to be of him forgiven,
For suffering, such an
Innocent
as he,
So scandalized, and so wronged to be.
Yea, and the
people
(as it is their guize)
When some
offender
at the gallows dies,
Whom they themselves brought thither (do begin,
To look more on the
straight
that he is in,
Then, on the reason of it. And as when
A
Township,
having seized guilty men,
Who had much wronged their servants, stole their goods,
Devour'd their cattle, sometime shed their bloods,
And, threatened their destruction; in a rage
They force them to the
stocks,
or to the
cage,
Or to the
Justice,
and, are like to tear
The
Rogues
in pieces, too, ere they come there:
But, when they are examined; and when they
Must, at their Parish charges them convey
Unto the
Goale;
be bound to prosecute;
Take pains, and spend some money in the suit,
That
Justice
may be done (the Land to free
From such a plague as those were like to be)
Then, if the
Rascals
whine (as they will do)
And make their moan, they fain would let them go.
Thus, fares it with the people; they complained
Against the
King,
of wrongs by him sustained,
And, of worse like to come. They saw, he drew
The
Sword
upon them, therewith to pursue
His
Usurpations;
and, they were compelled,
To arm, and to oppose him in the field;
Where, GOD, the victory bestowed on them;
And, in their own defense, they conquered him.
Then, finding, that this
Conquest
drew on charge,
And, that it further would their cost enlarge
To keep what they have got, (lest all the cost
And blood already wasted, should be lost,
And worse things follow,) they impatient grow,
And, are discouraged, and besotted so,
That, they begin to pity his estate
More then themselves; to scandalize, and hate
Even their
Deliverers;
to underprize
GOD'S
mercies,
their own
safety
to despise;
And, to behave themselves, as if they had
An inclination in them to be mad
About next
Moon
in
June:
Or, had their
Doome
In spite of their
Defenders,
to become
Perpetual
slaves:
And, this base
Generation,
(Foes to themselves, and to their own salvation)
Have so confirmed the Kings obduracy,
By their imprudence, and apostasy,
That, he, perhaps, persuades himself, there needs
No penitence for any of his deeds
Against the public Rights; and that his ends
To compass, this
vain Rout
will yield him friends.
Now, therefore, all excuses to prevent,
Though I have showed, whereof he should repent;
Informed how; and in some part, of
what;
Yet, here I will touch a little more of that,
That
He,
and
they
who think him without blame,
May somewhat now consider of the same.
Deserves it no
repentance,
to invade
Those
privileges
which his
people
had?
And those proprieties, which they enjoy'd
In their estates, unjustly, to make void,
Or, from their ancient
freedoms,
them to thrust?
Or, from their due
possessions
for his lust?
Or, maintenance for luxury and pride,
By other men's undoings, to provide?
And, then by
Proclamation,
to pretend
Some necessary, and some public end,
Which, could be manifest to no man's view,
And, which, was generally known untrue?
Was it no
sin,
by base
Monopoles,
To raise the price of most commodities?
To take away free Trades and
occupations;
To vex men with
perpetual Molestations,
By
Courts
and
Officers,
devised for naught
But, that men into bondage might be brought
To his
Prerogatives?
and by degrees
By new exactions, Services, and Fees,
Be screw'd up, (through demands, appearing small)
Till he hath got a
seeming-right
in all?
For, if that be his due, which was received;
So, is the rest, if
Priests
may be believed.
Was it no fault, deserving
penitence,
To take away the means of their defense,
From his most faithful
Subjects?
to engross
And, raise the price of
powder,
to their loss,
And their apparent danger? to
disarm
Their
persons,
who intended him no harm?
To put them under the Command of those
Who are their known
Oppressors
and their
Foes?
To make them
lend
what he never meant to
pay?
To make them
buy
what he should
give away?
To make them
give,
who had no list thereto;
To make men
sell,
what they would not
forgo?
To
act,
what may of all their dues deprive them,
And to deny them that, which should relieve them?
Deserves it not a
sigh,
that in his
Court
Prophanenesse,
and
Oppressions,
were but sport?
That,
Judges
were compel'd to wrest the
Laws?
Divines
the
Scriptures,
to maintain a
Cause
Which GOD abhors; that all
oppressions
should
Be there upheld, and
sin
be uncontrold?
That,
School-boys
not arrived at years of reason,
Should suffer death, as culpable of Treason,
For childish words; as if Kings grew afraid
Through guiltiness, of what young
Infants
said?
Deserves it not bewailing, to repair
By
fines,
unjustly raised, the
House of Prai'r?
To punish, men of merit, with disgraces,
Dismembrings, Stigmatizing of their faces,
Imprisonments, exiles, and separations
From friends, wives, children, yea, from all relations,
For things not capital; or, deemed
crimes,
By
Law;
or, blamable in better times?
Was nothing done, whereof he might repent,
When even the
speaking of a Parliament,
Was made a crime? when
Members
were confined,
For doing what by duty was enjoin'd;
When all their Privileges were so broke,
That, some should violently have been took,
Even from their
Sanctuary;
which, of old
To violate, no
Tyrant
was so bold:
And for which act, alone, this
free-born Nation,
Would quite have ruined all his
Generation,
In former times; if, they had ere obtained
So great advantages, as now are gained?
Deserves it no
repentance,
to bestow
Those
honors,
which to
virtue
he doth owe,
On vicious men? Or, such as had no worth
But, wealth and arrogance, to set them forth?
Or, could be instruments to help undo
Their honest neighbors, and the
Kingdom
too?
Is it no wrong, to set such
Rascalls,
over
Their well
known betters,
that they may uncover,
And
rise,
and
bow,
before them; who, are fitter
To lacky by their horse, Caroch, or Litter?
Or, rather to be baffled, kicked and scorned,
Then, with a
Coronet
to be adorned?
Was nothing purposed, fit to be repented,
When that
Design
was first of all invented,
Which, to promote, (and, thereby to enforce)
He sent, both for
Commanders,
and for
Horse,
To
Germany?
And, was there nothing plotted,
When on our Seas that
Spanish Navy
sloted,
Which anchor'd in the
Downes?
Is there no
tear,
Or
sign
due, for those things which acted were
Concerning
Rochell;
whereof, to this day,
The
Protestants
of
France
complain, and say,
It cannot be, but, that both GOD, and
Man
Will vengeance bring, for what they suffered then?
Is there no need of
penitential prayers,
For innovating of the
Scotch-affairs?
For doing, and undoing? For complying,
And failing off? For granting, and denying?
For all those falsifyings which fore-went
The
first,
the
second,
and this
Parliament?
For all those
injuries,
which have been since?
For all the acts of fraud, and violence,
Committed in these
Islands,
since this
War,
By
him,
and
those,
which of his
party
are?
For all these, is there no compunction due,
Which, he before the world, is bound to show?
No cause, can he discover of
contrition,
For that
Idolatry,
and
Superstition,
Which daily multiplied in these
Lands
By his connivance, or by his commands?
And, by the vain hopes, fear, or fraud of those
Whose piety consists in mimick shows?
And, since there is a
Statute,
in this
Isle
Which treasonable makes, to reconcile
This
people
unto
Rome;
did it appear
No fault, to tolerate an
Agent
here,
Or
Nuntio
from the
Pope,
to innovate
In matters of
Religion,
and the
State?
Is there not cause enough he should repent
(Though no cause else were found) that, he hath spent
So many years before he doth begin
That
penitence,
which brings
forgiveness
in?
That he adventured so many falls,
Neglected and with-stood so many calls?
Made outward shows, of sorrow and remorse,
Yet, was no whit the better, if not worse?
That, in his heart, he still prepares for
War,
When all his
words
for
peace,
and
Treaties
are?
That, GOD'S long sufferings, and th' indulgencies
Of his wronged
people,
he doth still despise?
And, that, although he now is in a chain,
His former hopes, and purposes remain?
If he repent not, may he not at last,
Be made repent it, when the time is past?
That, he is so unwise, as to provoke
Those men so far, by whom his power is broke,
As by apparent signs, to let them see
His aims to compass their destruction be?
And, how, for that intent still means are tried,
All
parties,
from each other to divide,
And from themselves? Moreover, may he not
Find reason to repent, what, by the
Scot
He hath endeavor'd to effect his ends?
What by the
City, Army,
and his
Friends
In either
House?
yea by the people too,
That, he may make all
Parties
help undo
Themselves, and him, whose
fall
till he repent,
No
power,
shall be so powerful to prevent.
For, though they thriv'd a while, both he, and they
Whom he corrupteth, shall descend
one way;
And, GOD this Kingdom shall in order set,
By,
men
and
means,
not thought upon, as yet.
More might be said; much more, to let him see
What causes, of
repentance
there may be;
Which I had rather he himself should find,
(And, seriously consider in his mind)
Then hear them from another; and, but that
The
Common-Voice,
these faults enumerate,
I, had not mentioned them: nor, shall these prove
A blemish to him, if all this may move
His heart to
Penitence:
For, then I will say
Enough, to take all guiltiness away;
And make him cleaner, then he was that
morn,
In which it was first said, that
he was borne.
And, GOD, so bless my hopes, as I intend
All this, to bring his troubles to an end;
And in this manner do it, that
past evils,
Nor
future sins,
nor spite of
men,
or
Devils,
May power obtain, to
stop him,
or to
fling him
From that estate, whereto, I wish to bring him.
The
way,
by me designed (I confess)
To be a
path,
full of uneasinesse
To
flesh and blood;
and, not without much terror,
At first to those, who lived in ways of
error.
It is not so with violets bestrow'd,
With
pinks
and roses, as the
path way
showed
By his deluding
Prelates;
but, I will say,
This, confidently, 'tis the
safest way,
And easiest I could find, for one who had
Such long and obstinate
by-wand'rings
made;
And, I unwilling am, he should begin
A
course,
which he might lose his labor in;
As those do, who close up a fest'ring wound
With
healing salves,
whilst filth in them is found.
My
course
may harsh appear, and full of dangers,
To them, who to such practices are strangers;
Yet, I dare warrantize, (for I can tell)
It leads to
heaven,
although it lies by
hell:
And that it will at last, be well approved,
Of those, who him for his own sake have loved.
But, lest, the
Maxims,
which
Court-breeding
gives
To
Kings,
and zeal to their
Prerogatives,
May steell his conscience; and, still, make him dream
That, all his
Kingdoms,
and
all things in them,
Are his by
right:
And, that, if it be so,
All those
endeavourings
conducing to
The keeping of that
Right,
may, then be done:
And, lest he thence infer, he wrongeth none,
On whom, he maketh
war,
with an intent,
Incroachments on his
Kingship,
to prevent;
But, that, they, rather, who have him with-stood,
Have down upon their own heads, drawn their blood.
To take the frothy vanity of that
Conceit
away; thus, I expostulate:
If
Kings
have such a
right; how,
was it gained?
From
whom,
was that
Prerogative
obtained?
For, sure, what ever
Parasites
may please
To feign;
Kings
are not
Ab Origines;
But had
beginnings,
like to other men,
Who rise, and fall; are borne, and die agen;
And, came to their
preferments,
either by
GOD's gift, or
man's,
or else by
Victory.
'Twere blasphemy, to say, that God bestowed
That
power
upon them, which to be allowed
They now contend: and, they from
hell
did fetch
Their
text,
or
comment,
who such doctrine preach.
It cannot be, that God, who, is
Perfection;
Goodness
it self; the
Essence of Affection;
And,
Fountain,
out of which
free mercy
goes,
Throughout the whole
creation,
and or'e-flows:
It cannot be, that from among those
creatures,
(Which are in all things, of the self same natures)
He should not only, one or two, advance
Above the rest, but by his Ordinance
Declare it, likewise, to be right and just,
In them (even merely to fulfill their lust)
To take from others, when it pleases them,
Child, honor, goods, life, liberty and limb;
Or, practice cruelties upon them: No,
It neither can be, neither is it so:
For, in his Word he tells, what
Kings
should do;
There makes description of such
Tyrants
too,
As those, for which their suit his
People
made,
When, in his wrath, a
King
bestowed he had;
Because, they longed for that vain
Gallantry,
Which they among the
Nations,
did espy.
He, sharply threatens
Kings,
who tyrannize,
Or use their power, in an insulting wise;
And says, he gave them their
Prerogatives,
That, men should under them, lead quiet lives;
That
Swords
they have, to execute the
Law;
Defend the
just; ungodly
men to awe;
And, so to reign, that no
good man
might fear
The
port
they carry, or the Sword they bear.
Whence then, obtained they that exorbitant
Dominion,
whereof, now so much they vaunt?
Did first the
people,
give them such a power
And set them up, of purpose to devour,
Vex, and enslave them? That were to conceive
A
madness,
which no wise men will believe;
Nor many fools, their folly so betray,
As thus to think; much less, the same to say:
And, doubtless hitherto, no
Nation
had
So little reason, as to grow so mad.
Did they then raise themselves, unto their height?
Where got they
power,
to conquer such a
right?
If others helped them, whither did they run,
To keep themselves free, when that deed was done?
It seemeth likely, they would stay to share,
Their
portions,
where they so victorious were;
And did not sure, intend to set up
one,
By whom, they would themselves be trod upon.
Nor, could those
valiant men,
become so base,
To leave behind them, an
enslaved-race,
By takeing such
conditions,
as are now,
Impos'd on many
Kingdoms,
which you know.
Or, if a
Nation,
might be fooled so much,
Who knows, this
Peoples
lot, to have been such?
What ancient
History,
or what
record
Thereof, a testimonial doth afford?
If none, how do your
British Tyrants
claim
What they usurp; and that whereat they aim?
If, they obtained it by
deceiving trust,
Which is most true (then, make amends they must)
And if spontaneously they do the same,
They lose with
honor,
what they got with
blame.
If they
prescription
plead, from times of yore;
Time, makes not
wrongs,
to be the less, but more.
By
Conquest,
will they claim it; know ye, then,
The
Conquerors
are conquered agen;
And, what
time,
and the
sword
away have tore,
Time,
and the
sword,
doth righteously restore:
And, that,
time
is no
bar
to rightful things;
Is for the
people,
true, as well as
Kings;
But how, their
Peoples
freedoms, goods and lives
Shall
Kings
protect, if their
Prerogatives,
Should be infring'd, or lost? there is indeed
A just
Prerogative,
that he may need
In some
Immergencies,
which both by
reason,
And, by the law of
nature
is in season,
When things which for the
Public safety
are,
Require them; and, when no
known laws
declare
What may be done. In such necessities
No
Common-Wealth,
no prudent man, denies
An
arbitrary Power,
to private men;
Much less, to
Magistrates,
and
Princes,
then.
No
Nation
is so foolish to restrain
That just
Prerogative,
and so make vain
Their own security: they will and may
Be Judge of those necessities; for they
Are most concerned in them; and if he
Whom they to guard them chose, deprived shall be
Of means to do his duty; they must bear
The blame of what ensues: for, he is clear.
Thus, I could answer to all other things,
Which are objected by usurping
Kings,
If need required; and bring them light to see,
How they by
hypocrites,
abused be;
And, say enough, were he thereto inclined,
To make your present
King,
to change his mind.
But, GOD, that only turns the hearts of
Kings,
And to himself reserves such glorious things,
As their conversions; will I hope, in time,
Produce that miracle of
grace
in him:
For, if I guess right, he would now be glad
To know, where wholesome counsel might be had;
And knows what 'tis, to want, in his distress,
Such men as dare the truth to him profess,
Without regarding carnal hopes, or fear;
Or, who displeased, or well pleased are.
There are some
Prayers
left upon record,
That, plead yet, strongly for him, to the
Lord;
And, which, by his forgot
Remembrancer,
Were offered up, for him, in his
first year,
When that, which now is truly come to pass,
By him foreseen, and justly feared was.
It may be at this present time, those
Prayers
Then sent up, for this
King,
and his affairs,
Begin to take effect; for, who doth know
What mercies from the Fount of
Grace
may slow?
Or, what for him, those,
offerings
might prepare
Which made, by
Faith,
in
Fiery Trialls
were?
Oh, if they take effect, and if he find,
Such
motions
(as are wished for) in his mind,
To spring up; let a blessed dew from heaven,
Descend, that growth unto them, may be given.
With true humility, let him begin,
To meet them kindly, and to welcome in
Those
guests,
with such respect into his heart,
As may there fix them, never to depart.
Let not a
shame,
to be repented of,
Or, their derisions, who perhaps will scoff
At such a
change,
deter from persevering;
Or, by their threats, beget in him a fearing
Of what may follow: for, it glad shall make,
And cheer his
Soul,
when all their hearts will ache.
Let him not entertain the least suspect,
His
Penitence
will want a due effect,
If it be true; or, that a
guard
or
wall,
From being manifest, restrain it shall,
When once it works: Nor let his
people
fear
To trust him, when he proves therein sincere:
For,
hearty Penitence,
is of a strain
Not like to that, which
hypocrites
do fain;
But,
moving, unresistable,
and
clear,
When, and in whomsoere, it shall appear.
Yea, thereunto, so great a
power
is given,
That,
hearts,
alone, it breaks not ope, but
heaven,
And, maketh way to reconcile agen,
The greatest sinners, both to GOD and
Men.
For, whosoere is truly penitent,
Meerely with
tongue
and
eyes,
doth not repent,
With
vows,
with
protestations,
and with
tears;
Or, with such
formal complements,
as theirs
Who keep an
outside-fast,
or clothe the back
With
vestments,
and with long
cloaks,
died black;
Or, who
make faces,
or look for a while,
So
sad,
as if it were a mortal sin, to smile:
But, wheresoere true
penitence
you see,
Like
rising up from death to life will be.
It wholly changes, and new moulds, new makes
That man, within whose heart, it rooting takes.
As well
within,
it cleanseth as
without:
And, that the truth of it, ye may not doubt,
The
sinner
from ill
habits,
it estranges;
His
words,
his
thoughts,
his
company
it changes:
His
works,
his
ways,
his
plots,
and his
designs;
Of good
intentions,
giveth certain signs;
He daily grows more fruitful, takes more care,
To be
indeed reformed,
then to
appear:
Regards not, what of others, he is thought,
So, he, unto
perfection,
may be brought;
Fears nothing more, shuns nothing more then
sin,
And, that
abhorred course
which he was in.
Forgiveth
everyone, that was his foe;
Gives
unto all men, that which he doth owe;
Shames,
neither to bewail, or to confess
To GOD or men, his former wickedness;
Nor any good advice, will disesteem,
How mean soere the
counselor
shall seem:
And, when the
King,
thus changed shall return,
Who, would desire his coming to adjourn?
When, thus a true
repentance
doth inprove him,
Who would not then, forgive, and trust, and love him?
For, when you find a
metamorphosis,
In him, so supernatural as this,
Nought formerly by him, mis-said, mis-done
Or, misconceived, shall be thought upon
To future disadvantage, though the
sin,
Hath
black,
or, of a
scarlet tincture
been.
Though, by an over-good conceit of him,
Who stood suspected, he restrained them,
Who sought to bring his fathers death to trial,
And, gave offense, by giving a denial
To
Justice,
in that
cause,
to take her course;
And, raised suspicions, too, of somewhat worse:
Yea, though he were a
sinner,
twice as bad
As he (by those, who love him least) is made;
And, had, beside the blood his
Partie
spilled,
More
sin
upon him, then the
double guilt
Of King
Mannasseh;
he, as pure should grow
By such
repentance,
as the
Mountain snow.
And, when to this
repentance
he is brought,
Who can object? or, how can it be thought,
That, in fulfilling of the
covenant
(As touching him) you shall one title want,
Of that
Branch,
which, expresseth your intent
To bring
delinquents,
to due punishment?
For, if you can conceive, what 'tis to bring
The lofty heart, and spirit of a
King,
To stoop so much, as to descend unto
What, he that's truly penitent must do;
Or, if you could believe what
self-denials,
What
inward torments,
and
what fiery trials
Are undergone, and must be passed through
By those, who truly penitential grow,
You would confess, that, nor restraint, nor
chains,
Nor
death
it self, had in them fears or pains,
So terrible, so full of grief and smart,
As those, which exercise a
contrite heart;
And, you would say (when forth this fruit he brings)
No
sinners;
no such
Penitents
as
Kings.
Oh what a blessed, what a glorious thing
It were
Great Britain,
to behold thy
King
Come back thus changed; nd with a mind to do,
That, which thy
Genius
hath advised him to!
And, that, which his own conscience cannot choose
But tell him, it were madness, to refuse!
How, would his drooping
Subjects,
then rejoice,
To bid him
welcome,
both with heart and voice!
How, would his
friends
triumph, how would his foes,
Their aims, and wicked expectations lose?
How would those
hypocrites
among you tremble,
Who did with him and all the world dissemble!
How, would their souls be comforted, who were
To him, and to the
Common good
sincere!
And by both sides oppressed, for abiding
In their first
principles;
and, for not siding
With this, or, with that
faction,
to make strong,
Themselves and other men, in doing wrong!
What hopes thereby would other
Nations
take,
That his example would some changes make
In their
oppressors?
How, would they be struck
With terrors, who have
Tyranny
mistook
For
Kingship;
and, by strained
Monarchy
Themselves infected with Lycanthropie!
How, would your noisome
Grashoppers,
and
Flies,
Frogs, Lice,
and
Caterpillars,
which arise
From their
corruptions
(fearing to delay,
Their lingering here)
hop, fly,
and
crawl
away!
How, would the BEAST then rage; the
Scarlet Whore,
Then, curse and rail; the
Devils
howl and roar;
As fearing, they their
heights
were falling from,
And, that the
Kingdom,
which they hate, were come!
But, his
conversion,
would not long adjourn
Their miseries, to whom he should return,
Unless they take more care, and, more delight
To make their
conversations
more upright,
Then heretofore; unless to meet him too,
They better shall prepare, then yet they do;
Unless they more
unite;
more wise appear,
In
resolutions;
and then, more
adhere
To that which is
resolved;
unless more jealous
They grow of
Public honor,
and more zealous
Of
Public Faith;
more clear in their
intent;
More diligent, more studious to prevent
Supplanting
wiles, more sensible of wrong,
Sustain'd by them, who to their side belong,
More careful, that their
Friends,
may firm abide;
And, that all others may be satisfied
According to just hopes; and plainly see
The common-good, their chiefest aim to be.
For, sure, the
Kings
repentance will avail
But little to their comfort, who shall fail
In such like
duties;
or in meeting him
With such
affections,
as he brings to them.
But, when all other
sinners
grace receive,
They shall with
Hypocrites,
their portion have;
And, to their shame and great vexation, then,
See those, whom they thought
worst,
the better
men.
The
British Genius,
as, if he had in
Some secret
Musing,
or
Devotion
been,
Here made a pause; and, therefore, here will we
Take breath, a little, if you pleased be.
The Contents of the second
Lection.
THe
Genius,
here, declares to them
Who exercise the
Power-supreme,
How, they, much mischief might prevent:
How, they, the
people
may content:
How, keep their
Power,
and
Cause
upright,
With honor, in their Foes despite;
And tenders, that, this may be done,
Much to be duly thought upon.
Tells, what the
people
ought to do,
To give assistance, thereunto;
Perswades, the
Nations
to agree,
Lest by themselves, they ruined be;
The
Factious-parties
doth advise,
To lay aside their vanities;
And, interweaveth, here and there,
What, others, may with profit hear.
Shewes LONDON, where her wealth doth lie;
Speaks reason, to the
Soulderie;
Minds, to what sort of
Irish,
you
Some share of
mercy,
should allow:
To
Preachers,
preacheth ways of peace,
To further
Truth
with
Righteousness:
Then drawing toward his conclusion,
Presageth
Order,
from
confusion:
Informeth, from what
Pedigree
Good
Government
derived will be;
And, when that's told you, ye shall hear
What's whisper'd, in the
Authors
ear.
THE GENIUS,
(whom observe I pray, with heed)
With raised eyes, did thus, again, proceed:
How fain would I find
words
and
exhortations,
Which, might not now, be lost upon these
Nations?
But, cause them to consider, and discern
Those things, which their
well-being
may concern?
That, all well meant endeavors for their good,
Might not be still neglected, or withstood;
And,
future ages,
wonders, what dire Fate,
This
Generation
did infatuate?
My
breath,
hath hitherto, been chiefly spent,
The
Kings
approaching ruin to prevent:
By skrewing thoughts into him which may wake him
From slumber; and, for
peace,
industrious make him.
Now, I will also, somewhat, say to them,
Who stand, in prime relation, unto him;
That, if his heart GOD change not, neither
he
May them destroy, nor they destructive be
Unto themselves. And, what, to that good end,
I shall advise, is this:
Dear friends,
atttend.
Let those high
Courts,
by whom the
Power-supreme,
Is exercised in the
name
of
him
Who now is laid aside; let those adventer
No longer, to wheel round, without a
Center:
But, six on somewhat, whereon to be steddie,
Before all catch the
Staggers,
and grow giddy.
Let that be rectifi'd, which now, disturbs
Their
nat'r all motions,
in their sev'rall
Orbs;
Lest if the
Nations
clash, they thereby crack
The wheels of
Government,
and make them break
Against each other, when there will be here,
To mend them, no well-skilled
State-Ingineere.
Reduce your wand'ring
lights;
let every
star
Within your
Firmament
keep his own
sphere;
Lest, if above their
Circles
they aspire,
Like
Phaeton,
they set the world on fire;
Or aid those
Comets,
which, already glare
Prodigiously, to breed combustions here,
Wose mischievous effects, you may in vain
Attempt, perhaps, hereafter, to restrain.
Till to the snuff they blaze; or, till they shall
To quench their thirstings, all your blood exhale.
This mischief to prevent, let every
wit,
And every
Power subordinate,
submit
To that, which is
supreme;
even unto that,
Which for the present, is predominate,
For
public safety:
And let that abide
On
Principles,
whic neither may divide
Or, wound it self; lest on it self, it draw
Contempt,
from them, who, thereof stood in awe;
And, that
contempt
so weaken them at length,
That they, with loss of
honor,
lose their
strength:
For, you have felt, (as well as heard it told)
What of
Divisions,
hath been said of old.
Your present
postures
give occasion may
To some, of doubting, whom they should obey;
How far forth, their obedience must extend;
How long they shall uncertainely attend,
The hatching of that
Government,
which must
Continue fixed; and, whereto they may trust.
Which questionings, and doubtings (though good reason
Hath made them in these
Islands,
now, in season)
Enfeeble much your
Power;
and do beget,
(Though seemingly the people do submit)
Ill consequences, which will still be worse,
Untill you settle on some certain course:
Especially, if they suspect that
power,
Intendeth not their benefit, but your.
Delay not, therefore, that which they expect:
And, till a
settlement
may take effect,
(Or, till they better know, what doth pertain
To your new
cunb,
and also to your
rein
)
With kindness manage them, and condescend
To what, may for their satisfaction tend
In all just seeming
Rights;
till they may see,
That, by your
power,
their peace preserved shall be.
And then, if your
Authority
to own,
They shall refuse; so make your courage known,
That, none may dare blaspheme, or scandalize,
Those needful
Powers,
and lawful
Dignities,
Which are above their Censures; least you farther
Their
Plots,
who have no hope, but in
disorder;
Since, better it becomes,
Wisemen
to die
In
Order,
then, to live in
Mutiny.
Mark, those among you, who, whilst they pretend
Your
Power,
and your
Proceedings,
to befriend,
Impair them, underhand, by driving on
Designs,
destructive to what should be done.
So many
Marks,
upon them do appear,
Declaring to what
Party
they adhere,
That, well they may be known: And, they to whom
These are discovered, find, what will become
Of
You,
and your
Affairs,
unless, you shall
With speed (and wisely) them, in question call.
Your greatest
Foes,
and, they who most may wrong you,
Are some, who, daily
Counsel
take among you.
Your
Adversaries,
as the
Prophet
said,
Are men of your own
Houses,
who have played
The parts of
Seeming Friends.
Of these, therefore,
Take heed, and seek to cast them out of door
Before they cast out you; Which, were they stronger,
Deferred would not be, one minute longer.
When you have purged your
Houses
(till which day
All will be spoke in vain, that I shall say)
Take my advice (for it is genuine,
And, that, whereto your
Genins
doth incline)
First, to
Debate,
and, then, to
Question,
bring
The
Government,
and what concerns the
King;
Which, being prudently resolved upon,
Will save you twenty labors, in that
One:
And, make, (if you perform, as is professed)
An easy passing thorough all the rest.
In your
Debates,
discover not that spleen
Or Virulency, wherein, may be seen,
A purpose, nor to
give,
nor
take
content;
But, so contest, that, when ye shall assent,
There may, on you, be seen the fewer scars
Of your unhappy and uncivil Wars;
And, that it may appear, your strife hath been,
Not, that your
Will,
but, that the
Truth
may win.
Yet, lest, whilst you are forced to contest,
You may destroy the noblest
Interest
By dull
Indifferency,
or want of zeal;
Look to the safety of the
Common-weal,
As to your chief
Alligance:
For, a
King
Who makes a claim although the claimed thing.
Be due) yet, if he so exacteth it,
As, that, it
public danger
may beget,
Becomes a Traitor to the
Royal Trust,
In him repos'd; and, merits to be thrust
Besides the Throne, if, therein, he persist,
To prosecute his private Interest.
When, ye are certain, what should be preferred,
From prosecuting it, be not deterred;
Or, from a stout engagement, in that Cause,
Whereto, you are obliged by the Laws
Of GOD, and
Nature:
For, a work begun
With Courage, is as good, as halfway done.
Let not the foolish fears, or superstition
Of earebor'd
slaves
(the
Foot-stools
of Ambition)
Who Idolize, and defy their
Kings,
As more then mortal, and unbounded things;
Let not these fright: But, well examine you
What, to the
People;
what, to
them,
is due,
That, so, your Friends, who see your prudency,
May be preserved from
Apostasy.
Consider, wisely, how with him, you deal,
Who, of these
Vessels,
was esteemed, erew hile
Both
Master,
and
Chief owner;
that, nor
he
Nor
you,
may ruined, or dishonor'd be,
By any practice, which may not befit
Your
Wisdom,
or your
Justice,
to permit.
Force not each other into such a
Streight,
As, that, there may from thence, be no retreit;
Or, means left, for the one
Party
to prevent
The others fall, although he should repent.
But, as, indeed, you hitherto have done,
Him, as the
Public Father
look upon.
And, though his
Parasites,
have him inrag'd
By causeless Jelousies, and far engaged
Against your
Lives,
and
Freedoms;
yet, assay
To show him, all the
Mercy,
that you may.
Ulisses
did spontaneously assent
To be inchained, that, he might prevent
The
Sirens
Charms; and, you, without just blame
Have done, (and may, yet do to him) the same
Who hath already, been by their enchanting
So charmed, that, very little now is wanting
Of his, and your destruction. By his own,
And others faults, distempered he was grown;
And thereby hath endangered, no less
His own
Safe-being,
then the
Common-Peace;
And, while destructive
Courses
he shall take,
You, are obliged to stop, and pull him back;
Though, his
Seducers,
grow inrag'd thereby,
And, term you
Traytons,
for your loyalty.
Yea, you may still restrain him, and thereto
Add more, if need require it should be so;
Till GOD, by his especial grace, hath brought him,
To shun the
Course,
which,
evil Counsel
taught him;
Or, left him so, that, willfully he shall
Without your fault, by his own
Projects,
fall.
I will not counsel, that, ought less you do
Then
Salus Populi,
constrains you to;
For, though the Sheepish
Ront,
more think upon
Things present, then, on what is past and gone;
And, seem to have, already, so forgot
Late grievances, as if they thought it not
So great a plague, to be inslav'd for aye,
As present weights to bear, though but one day,
Yea, though the most part, of the
Common rabble,
So sottish, are, and so irrationable,
That, out of fear, lest others should enslave them,
They would enslave themselves, and those that save them:
Yet, must not those, on whom the
Land
relies,
Benummed grow, with such stupidities:
For, 'tis a Symptom, of a
Sottish Nation,
To grow respectless, of
Self-preservation;
Or, fear to practice, what agrees with Reason,
Because, it hath been falsely called
Treason,
By
Parasites,
and
Priests;
who, that a
King
Might make them
something,
made him,
anything,
Which he desired to be; and, hence did rise
Abhominable
Court-Idolatries.
Yea, hence, it was, that, men first grew afraid
To think (until of late) what may be said,
And must be resolutely done, before
GOD, will, these
Isles,
to their lost
Peace
restore.
A
Realm,
that fears to call her
Trustee,
to
Account, for ought mis-done, or left to do;
Is like those
Children,
who do fear the
shows,
Which, they themselves set up to scar the
Crows:
And, they, who think you have no
rightful power
To curb his fury, who, might you devour;
May think, as well, they should not put a clog,
Or hang a chain, upon a shepherds dog,
Although, he daily bites, and kills the sheep,
Which he was, only, bred, and
•
ed, to keep.
In warlike manner, with his
Standard
reared,
The
King,
against you, in the
Field
appeared;
And, gave you (as it were) a Summons thither,
That,
he,
and
you,
might plead you
Rights
together,
By way of
Combat;
which, your
Common-Laws
Allow of, for the trial of that
Cause,
Whereof there's doubtful proof; And, wherein, none
Knows how, to judge aright, but, GOD, alone.
This
Trial,
both did stand to: By this
Trial,
The
King,
was overcome, without denial;
And did submit. What, had you then to do?
But, what you would yourselves, be done unto,
When your
Desires,
were made a
Rule,
whereby
Another, might, square out his
Charity?
Men, do not use to hunt a
Beast of prey,
To take him, and, then, let him go away.
They, who have caught a
Lyon,
you would blame
If they dis-mist him (though he seemed tame)
Unchain'd, and without
keepers;
since, that
Creature
Is known, of so untamable a Nature,
That, he will ravine, as he did before,
If, to himself, you leave him anymore.
Kings,
who without control, the Scepter sward,
As tameless are, as
Lions,
that have preyd:
Which, howsoever, you shall use, or feed them,
Will soon grow dangerous, unless you heed them;
You, therefore, must not give them leave to seize,
On ought, at will; no, not so much as
Flo
•
s,
Lest, some
Prerogative,
they thereon found:
But, you must circle them within a
Bound;
And, Laws, and Counselors provide, whereby
You may their
Wills,
and
Judgments,
rectify:
And, then, when they by general consents,
So furnished, be, they may be Instruments
Of
Honor, Peace,
and
Plenty.
And, take this
From me, who know best, what, most fitting is
For this
Isles
constitution; That th'increase
Of
Wealth,
and
Honor; Settlement of Peace,
And
Freedom from Oppressions,
(whatsoever
Some dream) shall never be enjoyed here,
In any Government, so perfectly,
As, by a regulated
Monarchy.
Shall I advise you to a Treaty, than?
No: It is not now, as when the
War
began.
Before the
Trial,
your
Trustees,
did well
To treat for
Peace;
because, they could not tell
What might succeed; and, thought it safer, far,
To take some
wrong,
then seek redress by
War.
But, now, for them to
Treat,
were to admit
That, GOD, had past no
Trial
for them, yet.
And, those, who thereto would persuade them, now,
I shall not for their
wisest Friends
allow,
If Friends: For, that, not only of their
prizes
Defeats the
Conquerors,
but, equalizes
Them, likewise, with the Conquer'd; and, makes void,
What, should by right of
Conquest,
be injoyd.
When he, whose ancient
Birth-right
was quite lost,
Hath by expense of labor, time, and cost,
A lawful repossession of it sought,
And, at the
Law,
his suit to Trial brought;
Obtained a
Verdict, Judgment, Execution,
And, full possession, without Diminution,
What, for a
Friend,
I pray were such a one?
Who should persuade this man, when all were done,
To wave his lawful right, so dearly bought,
To treat with him, who his undoing sought?
And, uncompel'd, refer unto debate,
What, he should leave, or take, of that Estate?
And, what were that man, but, a
Groll,
at best,
Who, re-adventured, thus, his Interest?
Nor honester, nor wiser, much, are they
Who, now, into a
Treaty
would betray
The
Parliament.
For, what hath yet been done,
If they must
Treat,
again, for what is won?
Why, did they make good meaning men to fight
And lose their lives, to win for them, a
Right,
Which they must get by
Treaty?
Why, is he
A
Prisoner,
if a
King
as yet, he be
That's capable of
Treating?
Or, of more
Then you shall seem obliged to restore,
In mere
humanity?
Or, by that band,
Whereby, as
Christians,
you obliged stand,
Upon his true
Repentance?
And, upon
Security,
like fault, shall not be done?
But, if no
Treaty,
be allowed, how then
Shall
you,
and
he,
be reconciled agen?
By such a
Course,
as will be generous;
And, for our
Genius
to advise; Even thus:
Like honorable
Victors,
offer him
Terms honorable,
if he merit them,
By true
Repentance
(For, it will be more
Then can be justly offered him before)
Lest, you, at last, may be requited ill,
If
Power
he get, before he change his
Will.
When, you perceive, that, GOD in him hath wrought
That
mind,
whereto you wish he should be brought,
Give him
Conditions,
freely, such, as may
Full well become a
King,
whom, to obey,
Acknowledg, and submit to, 'twil beseem
Those
Nations,
who, a good repute esteem.
Give him, that
Kingly-Liberty,
which will
Confine him, from all power of
doing ill;
And, him enable, too, for everything,
Pertaining to the Office of a
King:
Which, to declare; and, to consider how
It shall secured be, I, leave to you;
Whom they concern, and, who know how, to make
Your own
Conditions,
if, good heed you take.
But, many are supposed, to be inclined
To some new
Government,
by them designed,
In whose erection, and establishment,
They could receive a great deal more content
Then in well regulating, what they had:
And, some of these, it may be are so mad,
(And so uncharitable) as, in heart
To pray, that GOD would rather, quite, depart
Both from this
King,
and all his
Generation,
Then, frustrate them, or, their vain Expectation.
If, there be any such, far, be you from
Their evil
mind;
Let not their
secret
come
Into your
Souls:
And, though GOD should permit
His willfulness, a little longer, yet;
Pronounce your Judgments, warily, on him,
Lest, in his
Person,
you, yourselves condemn.
And, since, 'tis possible, that, from
your sin,
His Faylings,
and
your Plagues,
might first begin,
(As, once did, from the
Peoples,
an offense
In
David,
which brought on a pestilence)
Consider, 'twil make easy your own
Doom,
If, toward him, affected you become,
As
Children
ought to be, whose
Father
hath
Attempted their destruction, in his wrath.
Yea, careful be, you do not so employ
Your power, to cure the
Head,
that, you destroy
Both
Head
and
Body;
and, to ease the pains
Of
Head-ache,
that, you knock not out your
Brains.
That,
Limb,
which, may be cured, cut not away:
Those
Vessels,
which with
water,
cleanse ye may
Purge not with
Fire;
For, GOD, shall give an end
By his own
Power,
to what, you cannot mend;
And, neither
he,
nor
you,
shall rise to stand,
But, by advancing
Justice,
in the Land.
Excuse me, if ('twixt what concerns the
King,
And these
Republics
) with some staggering,
I seem to Counsel you; One while persuading,
That, you oppose with stoutness, his invading
Your
Freedoms,
and
Proprieties;
Then, straight
Plead (as it were) that, Grace obtain he might;
Herein, I say, excuse me: For, it fares
With me, as with King
David,
in his Wars,
With
Absalom;
Against whom, to prevail,
He was content; yet, did his death bewail.
Loth was he, by a
Foc,
to be out-braved;
Griev'd was he, that, a
Son
might not be saved;
And,
him,
whom he had sent to overthrow him,
He did beseech, that,
Mercy,
he would show him.
The same I do for him: Oh, let him have it
If he be qualified to receive it:
But, if he still persist, as he begun,
Then, do, as GOD shall move you; I,
have done.
Done,
as concerning
him:
But, much I find
Concerning,
you,
and others, yet, behind;
Which must be spoken, for the
Reformation,
And,
Wellfare,
of this present
Generation:
Or, else, (if otherwise it shall succeed)
That,
Future-Ages
may take better heed.
For, know, unless ye speedily begin
To change the present
Posture,
you are in;
That, you, who, at this day have
Power
to give
Conditions,
to your
King;
shall, to receive
Conditions,
very glad, ere long, become:
Yea, and to buy them, also, with a sum.
That, this may be prevented, break the
snare,
Wherewith, at this time, you ensnarled are.
When, you have anything to act, which may
Encrease the
Public suffrance,
by delay;
Consume not precious howrs, like those who dally,
In their Affairs, with
Can We? May we? Shall we?
Till they, whom you obliged, are to cherish;
Through want of
Justice,
and
Subsistence,
perish.
Or, else, till they, who, yet, are knit together
So fall away, from you, and from each other;
That, what you might effect, this present day,
Hereafter, you
nor can, nor shall, nor may.
For, think not, that, the
Generalitie,
Can long continue in prosperity,
Whilst, you neglect
particulars:
Or, that
You can accomplish, what is aimed at,
If you, leave off, to act by rules of
Reason,
Or, linger out, your works beyond their
season.
Take, likewise, heed, that, when ye shall propose
The way of
Peace,
lest, there may be of those,
Amongst you, who, desire, that course should find,
Obstructions, whereunto, you seem inclinde:
Or, who, for secret ends, occasions give,
That, their
demands,
denial may receive;
For, GOD, so hateth double heartedness,
That, he will favor no such practices.
Then, be as heedful, if you shall exceed
Set-bounds,
by some inevitable need,
Compelling it; that, when the
straight
is past,
Your selves into a
Legal Course,
you cast:
For, while a
Town
is burning, that, you see
May, then, be done; which, after, may not be.
Do, as you would be done to:
Give not those
Who are your
Friends,
occasion to be Foes:
As you would be Forgiven, those forgive,
In whom, a true Repentance you perceive:
Not all Offenders; For, sure, no offense
Is pardonable without penitence,
Since,
Mercy
deigned to
Impenitents
Is cruelty, to wronged
Innocents.
Reward,
as well as
punish:
For, by that
You cherish
Virtue;
Fortifie the
State,
And, shall gain more, then by the pence you spare,
Though, many, of this
Thrift,
unheedfull are.
Against all Enemies, make your defense
By
prudence,
join'd with Dove-like
Innocence,
Keep firm to your first
principles;
For, he
That standeth fixed; though weak he seems to be
Gets strength; and will by
standing still,
outgo
That man, who always wanders too, and fro.
Be constant then; Affect vain hopes no more:
Do
Justice,
and show
mercy
to the poor.
Respect not
Persons;
but, judge every cause
According to right
Conscience,
and the
Laws;
Remembering,
GOD,
all that, to judgment brings,
Whether, they sit with
Commoners,
or
Kings.
Know, he marks all men's walkings; and, believe
Such measure, as ye mere ye shall receive;
So, as ye answer, poor men's prayers, now,
So, GOD will answer, and so prosper you.
Make good, the
Gifts
and
Favors
you bestow;
As well, in deed, be righteous, as in show:
Break not, your promises to any one
(Especially, to men, for you undone)
And, do not let your
left-hand,
them deprive,
Of that, which, with your
right-hand,
you did give:
Nor them repay with scandals, or neglect
Who have deserved, not your least, respect:
For, privy to such practices, I am
Both, to the grief of many, and your shame.
When, any one of those free
Commoners,
Whom you do represent, traduced appears,
Within your
Houses,
where, he cannot make
Reply thereto: (And, whereof he must take
No notice, when thereof he shall be told)
Let his Traducers sharply be controlled.
Or, called upon, to prove what they have said:
That,
Innocence
may not be betrayd,
By Impudent
Detractors;
yea, and do
That, wrong, as privileged thereunto.
For, what is more Injurious, then disgrace
Inflicted, in so eminent a place?
In presence of the
Kingdom,
as it were,
And, whereby, ere a man can be aware,
He may be wronged, and wounded mortally,
And, never know, by
whom,
or
how,
or
why.
Let none aspire, to be a
Grandee,
thought,
Till he his
Greatness,
worthily hath bought
By
prudent Honesty;
Tri'd Faithfulness,
And such like Grandour; nay, let none possess
Repute by these, one minute longer, then,
The
Public-Rights,
and those of
private-men,
Are, thereby, not infring'd: For, 'tis a wrong
To all men, unto whom there doth belong
Equality,
to bring in such a
Cheat
Among you, as, a
Lesser,
and a
Great,
Or, make
Estates,
or
Titles
pass for more
Then Cyphers do, within the
Counsel-door.
And, doubtless, he unworthily, there, sits
Whom, false opinion of his Fellows wits
Inslaves in Judgment: and, whose
Ignorance
Deceived, by a smooth-tongu'd
Arrogance,
Them, doth advance, to an undue esteem;
And (which the more absurd doth make it seem)
Superiority,
ascribes unto them
For that, in which, at home, their wives out-do them.
It is a shame, to hear it should be said,
(yet, said it is, and done, as well as said)
That, if
this man,
or
that;
If
He,
or
He,
To make the
Motion,
can procured be;
Or, in the Cause, to speak: Or, but to heed
The same with favor, it will surely speed:
And, that, if it concerns, or may displease
But, any one, that is a Friend to these
Great
Hogen Mogens;
then, the Suitor loses
His cost, and labor, what means ere he uses.
Yea, though he hath two hundred friends, among
Your
Members,
who, cry shame upon the wrong.
Nay, be not angry that I tell you so,
For, he that speaks it, speaks what he doth know,
It is this Islands
Genius
(who doth see,
What all your works, and inclinations be)
Who saith it: And, for him, your Conscience too,
Shall witness, true, what he hath said you do.
And, I beseech you, to consider, whether
This, were the end, of calling you together.
The
Shiers,
and
Burroughs,
by whom, they were chose
For
Deputies,
did verily suppose,
By their great words at home, their clothes, and faces,
That, these, much better, would have filled their places;
And, not have proved such, of whom, they may
(As you abusively of Tailors, say)
Aver, that
nine of them,
makes but
One man:
For, twice so many, hardly, make way can
By one
Grandee,
sometimes, and not be thrust
From executing, faithfully, his trust:
And, therefore, you must speedily provide
That, this abuse, be fully rectifi'd.
I know, there be among you, those, who burn
With zeal to
Justice;
and who truly mourn,
For those who suffer, (and, that, GOD will keep
These safe; and make them sing, when others weep.)
I know, with what Compassion, they pass by
Their daily Suitors, who upon them cry:
And with what yearning bowels, they bewail,
That they for due relief, cannot prevail:
I know, with what vexations, they are pained,
When
Public Prayers,
cannot be obtained:
I know their
Love,
their
Patience,
and their
care
With what great strivings, exerciz'd they are:
What Diligence they practice, in their
Calling,
To keep the
House,
which they are in, from falling,
Whilst, many
seeming-Laborers
among them,
By
false-work,
or by
Undermining,
wrong them,
And, GOD, I know, will them reward at last
Though for a while, a bitter cup they taste.
But, there ae others, slyly shuffled in
Among you, who both shame and grief have been
To you, and to your friends: Therefore, lest these
By sitting near you, bring you that disease
Which hath polluted them; And, lest thereby
They bring, not only, lasting infamy
Upon this
Parliament,
but likewise break it;
And, by that Rupture, an occasion make it
Of Ruins (without hope of Reparation)
To all, the
rights
and
Freedomes,
of this
Nation:
And, that, if these things happen, you that are
Excusable, the better may prepare,
Against the Mischiefs, threatened; I am bold
To tell you, what misdoings I behold,
What dangers I may fear, what scandals grow,
By former failings; and, what wise men know
Will surely follow: whereof since, 'tis but need,
That more be said, therewith, I thus proceed.
With grief; I speak it, (and, I speak the same
Not to asperse, but to prevent the blame
And mischief, that may follow) you, have lost
Your power, your honor, and yourselves almost;
And (though, undoubtedly, you do perceive it)
Proceed, as if you meant not to believe it;
Or, were asleep: But, I intend to wake you;
Or, speak those words, which will to pieces shake you.
Oh
hear, hear, hear!
and, let not wholesome
words
Be spent in vain: Nay, let not fire and Swords,
Dearth, Pestilence,
and
Blood,
speak, every day,
In dreadful
Dialects,
that rouse they may
Your sleepy
Spirits;
yet, seem, still, unheard,
Or passed over, without due regard,
Till, you be trod to dirt, in your own Gore;
Or, in the
Grave,
where you can hear no more.
For
Love,
for
Shame,
for
Fear;
for some respect,
Awake, in time, out of your dull neglect
Of
Public Safety;
and, from dreaming on,
In
private projects,
till you are undone.
Hark!
how, the
Beams
of your own Houses cry
Against you!
hark! hark!
how the souls that lie
In those
Oppressions,
which you should redress
Roar out, and groan for sorrow, in distress;
Hark:
how your
Consciences
(though, you contemn,
Their clamours, and in secret smother them)
Call out, to tell you, what sad dooms attend
Your present being, or your latter end,
If you awak not, quickly, to prevent
The shames and mischiefs which are Imminent.
Now, I perceive you are awake: for, Lo,
You angry seem, that I have rubbed you so.
But, ere you show your wrath, a little, pause;
About you look: see, if there be not cause
Of this my seeming boldness. Come, arise,
Wipe out the Rheum, and spedom, from your eyes.
Walk forth into the
Hall
at
Westminster;
Take special notice, what, is talked there.
Walk to the
City,
then, and these you meet
At
Church,
or on the
Change,
or in the
Street,
Or at the
Tavern,
and in all those places,
Mark well; and, what is said to your disgraces.
Mark, how they sleight you, and, how few there are
Who, can with patience, either speak or hear
A word in your defense: And, having weighed
What you shall find, excuse, what I have said.
Whence, do their many
Imprecations
come,
And many
Cursed Speakings?
Flow, they from
No cause at all? No question, if they do,
Their
Curses,
and their
Imprecations,
too,
Will fall upon themselves. If, from just cause
They do proceed; Look, lest, it vengeance draws.
For, GOD, will Judge between you. If, both give
Occasion of offense, both shall receive
The recompense deserved; and,
you,
and
they,
If you repent not, shall be swept away.
To
Error,
therefore, do not
Fury
add:
With him, that seeks to cure you, be not mad:
But, in yourselves, examine patiently
What is amiss, and, then, what remedy
You may apply. And, I will seek to charm
The
People,
that, mean while, they do no harm.
Consider, what vast
sums
have been brought in;
How, issu'd out, and wasted, they have been:
How partially, your payments, have been made;
How little, this man; how much, that man had;
How, you to some, make full, and speedy pay,
When others, who, deserve as well as they,
Must turn
Informers,
ere they can be paid;
And, peradventure, when, they long have plaid
That hateful
part,
with loss of time, and cost,
Shall add more damages, to what they lost,
By losing former
Friends,
and getting
Foes:
Which, all their lifetime, they shall never lose.
Herewith, sometime, let it be thought upon,
How many of your
Friends,
have been undone
By
Votes,
and
Orders,
made for their relief,
Which did but more increase their cost and grief,
By making them, from year to year, attend,
For, that, which in one week, might have an end;
By suffering, your own
Warrants,
to be slighted:
Your own
Authority,
to be despited;
And, to the loss of labor, time, and cost,
One
Order,
by another to be crossed,
And, that, to be, by
Ordinance
made void,
Which, by your
Gift,
they
seized, possessed, enjoyed.
Yea, and, not without recompense, alone,
But, without seeming sense, that wrong was done:
As if it were no mattet, so you made
A show of
recompense,
though none they had:
Or, as if whatsoever you pleased to do,
Must pass for
Justice,
though it be not so.
GOD'S WILL, essential Justice is indeed:
But, that yours is so, it is not my
creed.
When others have transgressed, do not enjoin
The guiltless
Common-wealth,
to pay a Fine,
To recompense those
Parties,
which were grieved;
For, that will hardly, Justice be believed.
When hungry
suitors,
ask for fish, or bread,
With
stones,
or
scorpions,
let them not be fed;
Nor make them wait, ere you an answer give,
As if each
Person,
had
three lives,
to live;
Or, had been borne, no other thing to do,
But, wait on you, and loose their labor too.
Draw not more suitors, to you in one year,
Then you are able, in twice six, to hear;
Lest, you displease them, whom ye may content,
And cause a mischief, which ye might prevent.
But take wise
Jethro's
Counsel, for the ease,
Both of yourselves, & those whom you should please.
Yea, tire not out yourselves, and others too,
By taking on you more then you can do.
Lest, when attendance, much expense and trouble,
Hath made the loss, and suffrance more then double,
They grow impatient; and you come to taste
The fruit of their impatiency at last.
Give Order, how to cure those imperfections,
Which have been, heretofore, in your
Elections,
Lest,
Members
may among you be emploid,
By whom the
Public-Body,
be destroid.
Let not the
Father,
there beget the son,
Though, this in
Bodies Natural,
be done.
Let none among you, be admitted in,
By
Marriage,
or, being
near of kin:
Or, (to the
Kingdames
just dissatisfaction)
For being of this
Sect,
or of that
Faction;
As, if among you, some to purchase, meant
Inheritances in the
Parliament:
And, others aimed by
Parties,
to endeavor
The keeping up
Divisions,
there, forever.
Let it be so no more, if you can Order,
That, such an injury proceed no further;
But, let the
Burroughs,
and the
Shires
be free
To make their choice, (as they inclined shall be)
According to their customs, till it may
Be better done, by some new lawful way:
That, when for
Trust-breach,
any blamed are,
Their
choosers,
in that blame, a part may bear,
If they hereafter, for their private ends,
For fear, or love, shall choose their
Foes,
or
Friends;
Their
Land-Lord's, Kinsmen, Lawyers;
or, whom ever
They shall not think, will faithfully endeavor,
To serve his GOD, the
People,
and the
King,
With single heart, in every lawful thing.
Consider, how in giving a reward,
The
person,
more then
merit,
you regard.
How often that hath been for private ends,
Procur'd; and, with relation unto friends.
How
Offices,
and
Places
are bestowne;
How, some have two or three; and others, none,
Who, better merit four, if there were any
Who could be capable of half so many:
And, would ye well observed, that this is done,
As if ye feared, as if ye cared for none;
Nor, how, the people, who upon you cry
For bread, observe your partiality,
In giving that to one, who hath no need,
Which would a thousand Starvelings, clothe and feed.
Refuse no just
complaints;
that, men may see
You sensible of their oppressions be:
Yet, to yourselves assume not any
cause,
Which is determinable by the Laws,
In other
Courts;
unless they prove corrupt;
Or, till some difficulty interrupt
The course of
Justice
there: And, so provide,
To try in course, what is before you tried,
That you undo not, e're their cause have end,
Those, who with
Proofes,
and
Counsel,
must attend.
The sad Petition, which the poor man brings,
Sleight not, nor make them but mere pocketings,
Till they are quite worn out, or quite forgot,
Unless perchance your store supplies you not
With tinder for Tobacco; and, so brings
To memory again, such trivial things.
More mind your promises, of doing right
To grieved men, when you thereto have might,
And, let them see, that your devoiur you do,
As far, as God enables you thereto.
Consider, how you
Legacies
bestow
Before you pay those debts, which yet ye owe;
Even debts, for which the
Public-Faith
doth lie
At
Pawn;
and, is dishonored thereby:
Debts,
for which, your poor Creditors have lain
In prison, till, their Freedomes to obtain,
They sold their Freeholds, when they had no more
To live on; and, had sold their goods before.
Debts,
which they lent you in your greatest fear;
And borrowed for you, when distrest you were.
Yea,
Debts,
which they who sent, then lent you too
Their lives, the public services to do;
And, could have lost them, with more joy them they
Now live to see, by seeing of this day.
How easily, to some do you afford,
Beliefe to their avail, on their bare word!
When, in the self-same case you are not moved,
To do the like for others, who have proved
What they aver'd by vouchers; no, not when
It hath been proved, by Oaths of honest men.
Consider, how, to some you do allow
Their dues with
interest,
who well enough
May respite it; and, yet the same deny
To him, who felt extreme necessity
By loosing part; by lending of the rest;
By borrowing more, for you, on interest,
Now four years due; and, which before he shall
In likelihood, be paid; will eat up all.
And, let it be considered, if it may,
What tis, to take his liberty away,
To fine him; to permit that through the land,
He, for conspiracy, defam'd should stand;
And, suffer much more by their impudence
Who misinform'd you, of his innocence,
And all for naught, but, for informing you
What, he was told; what, he believed was true;
What, he produced his author for, with proof
Of
Part,
and circumstances too enough,
To make all probable; yea, more, for what
His
Covenant,
obliged him to relate;
And, what his first
Relator
did aver,
And will do, still, in each particular.
Should I propose, here, as considerable,
So many things, to you as I were able,
I should as tedious in the same become,
As, many times,
Committees,
are to some.
I will therefore sum up all, in wishing you
Of those things which you know, to make reveiw,
And see, if these come short, in anything,
Of those, who heretofore misled the
King;
Or, if their falsehoods, or misinformations,
Were greater causes, of his abberrations;
Or, more dishonor to his
Government;
Then, these have been unto this
Parliament,
Whose Pride, Ambition, Malice, Arrogance,
Whose Avarice, Self-love, and Ignorance,
Whose Insolence, or Cowardice, of late,
Have caused so many to abominate
Them,
and their
courses;
and nigh turned all,
Even all things, both
Divine,
and
Temporal,
Into a
Chaos.
'It is not, as is deemed,
(And, as perhaps, it hath to many seemed)
'It is not the
City,
which hath lately made
Those tumults, and those uproars you have had.
'It is not the
Army,
whence your
mutinies,
New plots,
and
new divisions,
do arise;
And, whereby, mischiefs daily do increase
To cause a new adjournment of your Peace;
The
Parl'aments
dishonor; separations
Between the late united
British Nations;
And, (if it may be possible) to bring
The
people
of both
Kingdoms,
and the
King,
Into a further hatred, of each other.
It is not your
Dissenting-parties:
neither,
Those whom ye call
Malignants;
who were able
So weak to make you; so dishonorable;
And, in so bad a plight, as you are in,
If your own
Members,
had not faulty been:
Nor had your
City,
or the
Army
moved,
In any course, which might not be approved,
If they had felt no influence upon them,
From higher Powers, which thereunto had won them,
Nor had so many men, right well-affected,
(And by whose purse, and power, you were protected)
Been drawn into misactings, and mistakings,
(Which falsely are misconstrued forsakings
Of their first love) but, that the
policies
Of some among you, drew before their eyes
Those
mists;
and practiced those
juggling sleights,
Which kept the safest course, out of their sights.
And, what that was, or what that yet, may be,
Few, have discovered, by ought I can see;
But, were it known, you could not rectify
Those things among you, which are now awry,
Till you reform yourselves; for, well ye know,
Foul
springs
above, make filthy
streams
below.
But, why should I complain of you so much?
Alas! you were at first, begotten such;
The
Fathers
of your
being,
in this
Nation,
Were an unsound, corrupted
Generation;
And, did beget a
Representative,
As like themselves, as ever, man alive
Begot a child: with
members,
crooked, lame,
Blind, deaf, and dumb, into the world you came,
And, such, they have continued ever since:
Theirs therefore, is the
Fault;
theirs the offense.
You, that are lawful
Members,
have enough:
Been plagu'd, and troubled with such rotten stuff:
And, rather should be pitied and aided,
In helping you, to purge them, then upbraibed,
With their defects. I therefore, have appeared,
That, you, of those
obstructions,
may be cleared
Which interrupt; and, that, whilst there is time,
You may regain your honor, lost by them:
That, I might likewise, help bring back unto you
The people's hearts, and make them firm unto you,
By showing them their errors, and, how, they
To late lost happiness, may find their way:
And, having found it, how they may persevere
By GOD's assistance, in good ways, forever.
My purpose therefore, in what follows now,
Is jointly, to prefer to
them
and
you,
Some things considerable, that may lend
Assistance unto that, which I intend.
If, good effects this takes, your cares, and fears,
Are likely to be shortened many years:
For, know, GOD,
promises,
and
threats,
are all
Contingencies,
and but
conditional:
If you continue mad, the plagues will last:
If you repent, they quickly will be past:
Let envy one contribute thereunto
A true endeavor, his own part to do:
In what I am borne for, I will do my best:
And, when that's done, GOD, shall perform the rest.
The restauration of this
Parliament,
To their due reputation; to prevent
The bondage of the
People;
and to bring
All things to right, betwixt you, and your
King,
Is that, wherein, I have with good intention,
Imploid, long time, the best of my invention;
Yet, there appears no likelihood to me,
Of saving any
one,
of all the
three,
From hazard, or from plagues, that linger shall,
But, by a reconciling of them all.
And, I conceive it will deserve more thank;
To play the
Artist,
then the
Mountebank;
Who leaves the course, that's natural, and sure;
To raise his credit, by a desp'rate cure.
He, that, by way of
Chemistry
would act,
And, her
Three Principles,
hope to compact
Into
one Body;
ere he compass shall
His end, must first, prepare each
Minerall
Secundum Artem,
taking that away,
Which hinder their incorporation may;
And, adding that, which doth unite their natures:
So, he that would this
Trinity
of creatures
Make up again, in
one,
must do the same,
And, now, about that
royal work
I am;
Which, if I keep a rightly tempred
fire,
Will bring forth that production I desire.
With
Salt
of true sincerity, and
reason,
Your hearts, and understandings, I would season;
With
Sulphur
of true
Magnanimity,
Or
Courage;
with the perfect
Mercury
Of Christian
Prudence,
I would temperate,
And, so essentially incorporate
These, throughout all your
Faculties,
that none
Should hinder that, which I am driving on;
And, therefore, have prejected a conclusion
Wherein, I will first begin with an Infusion;
Oh, lend me but some water from your eyes,
Wherewith to make it; and it shall suffice.
Lament, Lament
your errors, and begin
To see, what great
distractions
you are in.
Of those
Precipitations,
take more heed,
Whereto you now are hasting on with speed;
Observe how busily in self-destroying,
And, raising works, against a free enjoying
Of your own
Peace
you are. Consider on
Your purposes; and that which you have done;
And mark, if either those things you pursue,
Or, yet intend, are like to profit you,
Whilst every man, (though better be professed)
Aimes, but at his own single interest.
By most among you, that is least intended,
Which he in outward seeming, hath befriended.
By making show, of things that should be done,
For public profit, you so carry on,
Your private interest, that very few
The general advantages pursue:
Yea,
King, Priest, People, Commoner
and
Peer,
So willfully, to their own claims adhere,
That, they will much endanger all together;
And, prove like fire, and fuel to each other,
If, GOD, prevent not, by a
self-denying;
And, by a more considerate complying.
Give heed to those
Predictions,
which foretold
Upon good grounds, what, now, ye do behold
To be fullfil'd; and, which, behold ye may
To be fulfilling on you, every day;
And, think not, though you
them,
or
him
disdain
Who spake them, that, they were foretold in vain.
Mark how all
Parties,
and all
Factions,
run
Those courses, wherein, others were undone,
Whom they impeached, and condemned, too,
But some few mouths before, for doing so,
Remember, and consider, since this
War
Did first begin, how many changes are
To be observed: How inconsiderable
The means, and Persons were, who did enable
Your weakened
Parties;
and oft gave them life
When they were stooping, almost, past releef;
And, think it possible, there may befall
Another
change,
when you seem sure of all;
Because, you neither credit what is told;
Nor heedful are, of that which you behold.
Remember and consider, what fair hopes
(When an assurance, almost, crowned their tops,)
Have unto
nothing
vanished: what brave shows
Of
Martial fortitude,
against your foes;
Of zealous faithfulness unto the
State,
And piety to GOD, have failed of late;
And left benighted, an
ascending Fame
Before 'twas noon, within a Cloud of shame.
And think how possible, it may be, yet,
To see new
storms,
before the sun be set:
For, that which hath been, you again may see,
As long, as in the selfsame
round,
you be.
Remember, and consider, in what fear,
You have been in: what things then vowed were;
What
Holiness,
you seemed to pretend;
What
cause,
you then protested to befriend;
What
Warnings,
and what
caveats
have been given,
By judgments, mercies; yea, by men, and heaven:
What private, and what public
fasting days,
What times of giving solemn
thanks,
and praise,
Have celebrated been, without that fruit
Which either with
Humility,
may suit,
Or, with true
Gratitude:
and when you see
How full of filthnesse, your best works be,
Think, what your worst may prove; and, what event
Will follow them, unless you shall repent.
When, these things you have thought upon, then mind
Whereto, your
promises,
have you designed,
What fearful
Imprecations,
you have made;
What wonderful
protections,
you have had;
What witnesses there are, of what you do;
What foreign foes; what foes domestic too,
Expect advantage: And, such things, as these
When you have thought on, with due seriousness,
Think, also, what may thereupon redouud,
If, falsehood in your hearts, be likewise found;
And, when you have provoked GOD, and
men,
What plagues, and horrors, will surprise you, then.
Remember, and consider, with what lyings,
What perjuries, what falsehoods and complyings
With wicked men and means, you have assaid
To perfect those
Designes,
which you have laid;
How, every
Faction,
takes delight to jeer
At their own shame, and, to relate and hear
With merriment, each others wickedness,
And, what the scurrill
Pamphleters
express,
To their reproach, when they should rather mourn,
Then impudently laugh themselves to scorn.
Believe it, till
Authority
prescribes
A mulct for liars (chiefly
lying Scribes
)
And takes more notice of that slighted sin,
Which one prime cause of all your strifes have been,
Peace will not settle; for, when one war's done,
Another, by a lie, may be begun.
Weigh, and consider, of what Tyrannies,
Of what profaneness, of what blasphemies,
Of how much malice, and of what black crimes,
You have been guilty, (even in these sad times)
On either side. And, when you well have thought
On these things; think likewise, how much you ought
To grieve, and to repent, that, GOD might spare
Those threatened judgments, which deserved are;
For, 'tis mere madness, to expect his grace,
Or look for
Peace,
so long, as in the face
Of men, and Angels, you persist in evils,
As if you thought, there were nor GOD, nor Devils.
Think, and consider, with a serious thought,
To what a giddy posture all is brought:
In what confusion, your affairs you see,
In what amazements, now, the wisest be;
In what a fear, the valiant, and the strong,
Now are, or will be, ere it shall be long;
How manifold, your sub-divisions are;
What symptoms of destruction do appear;
How impudently still, you palliate
The falsehoods of those Members of the
State,
And, of those
Agents,
who abuse their trust;
How all things, out of order, they do thrust,
Through want of Justice; how, they daily sad
Men's hearts; and how, when they have made them mad,
They punish them, because, they could not use
Those
wits,
which their oppressions made them lose.
Mark, and consider, with what shamelesnesse,
Your
Holy Flatt'rers,
do bepaint and dress
Their Patrons in the
Prliament,
as though
It were not possible, they should misdo:
How others, make the
Army,
at the least,
S.
Michael,
and his
Angels;
how, the rest,
So impudently do extol the King,
As if he were a Saint, in everything,
And, needed no repentance, for ought done,
In former time, or since this
War
begun:
And, while such danbings are, consider you,
If penitence be likely to ensue,
Or willfulness; and, therewith mind I pray,
Which of the two are Traitors, either they
Who, mind a misled
King,
or
Parl'ament,
Of those things which destruction may prevent;
Or, they, who fawn, and flatter them to hell,
By calling evil doings, doing well:
They, who by
Justice
would uphold the
Throne;
Or, they, who praise men for what pulls it down.
When these things are considered, then to mend
What is amiss, your best endeavors bend.
Let all those carnal
policies,
by which
The world your understandings doth bewitch,
Be laid aside: Let those Designes, wherein
'It is evidently seen, that you have been
Without success; be quite by you abjured:
Yea, since experience often hath assured
That, those effects, which you have had thereby,
Did still exasperate, and multiply
Your fears, and griefs; mind, what experience shows,
And, trust no more, such broken reeds as those.
To no
Dissenting-party
be unjust;
Nor falsify so much, the
Common-trust,
As by your private mutual promises,
To barter for your own advantages;
Or, in your
Treaties,
at the public cost,
To seek yourselves, till you, and all is lost:
But, still in your proceedings, let pure
Truth
Preserved be, both in your heart, and mouth;
So, GOD, who marketh what you act and say,
Will help to guide you, out of your dark way;
Advance that
Kingdom,
whereto you pretend;
And, make your greatest enemy, your friend:
Yea, make among you,
Truth,
and
Peace
prevail
Though
King
and
Parliament,
your hopes may fail.
Eschew
Hypocrisy;
take heed of
Pride,
And, of what thing soever may divide
The people, th' Army, or the
Parliament;
And them into those
new Divisions
rent,
Which at this present are of many feared;
And, for which,
Engines
are in secret reared.
But, chiefly at this time, think not in vain,
On that State-Principle,
Divide, and Reign.
For, at this Juncture, thereupon depends
Your welfare; and your Adversaries ends.
Whatever, therefore, shall be now advised
By others, let not this note be despised;
Take heed of an
Adjournment,
till you see
The
Kingdoms
in a better posture be;
Lest, when you are divided from each other,
You lose the means to meet again together,
By some contrivance; and, by somewhat done,
Which at this present day you think not on.
Though all are much to blame, let all provide
Their best expedients, to amend, or hide
Those failings in each other, which will spread
No further, by their being covered.
Forgive, (as much as may be) one another;
That love may knit your scattered force together:
Lest, on a sudden, some prevailing power,
Not yet appearing, all at once devour.
Let neither
Parliament,
nor
People
spare
To keep themselves in arms, as yet they are:
For, though the burden, grievous may be thought,
Your safety will not be so dearly bought,
As your destruction may. Let now, likewise
All
Powers,
all
Councils,
and
Authorities,
Use every prudent way, and means, whereby
The people may not fear a
Tyranny;
Nor feel a
present weight,
which may appear
A greater
Burthen,
then the thing they fear.
But, use all cautions, to impose it so,
That, such as lay it, may help bear it too;
So, shall the people know, 'tis laid on them,
For their own safety; and, but for a time.
And, that, the threefold
Cable
be not broke,
Which holds your Anchor; let all care be took,
That,
City, Shires,
and
Army,
yield and give
(As to their
Bulworke,
and
Preservative,
Next under GOD) unto this
Parl'ament
Respect, obedience, and each complement
Of duty, which may re-enable them,
To vindicate their honor, and esteem,
From those obliquities, now thereon thrown
By others, and some
Members
of it own:
Yea, though some part thereof, hath been to blame,
(As all Terrestrialls are) know; that, their shame
And sufferings, will be yours; know, that the fault
Is your, that many of their
Members
halt:
Know, that, their Foes, who seek to aggravate
Their crimes to you, have done it out of hate
To them, and you; and, not with an intent,
That, you should less be grieved, or they repent:
But, that, you should be mad, and make them room,
Into their places back again to come,
And double your
Oppressions;
which, the while
With tears they pity, like the
Crocodile
Yea, know; that, if you in this storm, forsake
This Vessel, (though it bruized be, and leak)
Your Fortunes, will be therewith shipwrecked found,
If that sink, you shall certainly be drowned.
For, in this torn, and ancient
Vessel,
lies
That, which must free you from the slaveries
You have been in; and, keep you likewise, free
From those, in which, you are afraid to be.
Herein, are all your
stores,
for war and peace,
Of safety, honor; and, of Trades increase:
And, therefore join with courage; use your pow'rs,
Wit, wealth, and, every faculty of yours,
To stop the leaks, which it hath lately sprung,
To keep it tite, and make it fair and strong.
Oh, all you, who have therein
fraught,
or
share,
Whether, ye
Masters, Captains, Pilots
are,
Cape-Masters, Soldiers, Sailers, Passengers,
Or, (as all some way are)
Adventurers;
Consider, I beseech you, what a loss
There would befall, if some new
storm
should toss
This
Vessel
on the
Rocks:
Or, if there should
Some Traitors, in her Cabines, or her hold,
Lie closely, unsuspected, or unseen,
And blow up all her Decks, and
Magazeene,
By some concealed train; or, spring a
Leake
About the
keel,
whilst you unwisely seek,
(With quarrelling) for veils, or private shares,
Amongst the desperatest Mutineers.
The
slaves,
your pris'ners, and among the rest,
Your
Malecontents,
it may be, will suggest
That, your
Commanders,
and your
Pilots
may
Make prizes of you; and, take all away
By
Abitrary Power:
For, there are some
Who (hoping, if you jealous would become,
It would effect their ends) have whisperings,
Among their other mischief-breeding things,
To this effect; that, if you make them strong,
They will improve that strength, unto your wrong,
And, fail your trust, But, dream not; think not so,
Nor, err you, from your duties, though they do.
What change in them soever, might be wrought;
What e're they do, yet do you what you ought.
Keep to your
Principles,
though they may range;
Saile by the same
Card;
though the winds do change;
And, that you may not fear what will ensue,
Look back, a little, and things past review.
When, lately, by an
Arbitrary might
You were oppressed, and in so great a
straight,
That you perceived no means yourselves to free,
From your oppressions; nor ought like to be,
Whereby, to scape from thrall you should be able;
(Without attempts, then deemed treasonable)
Loe then, even at that time; and, when your
King
A double Chaine on you, assay'd to bring,
And thought, together in one teame to yoke,
His
Oxen,
and his
Asses;
then GOD broke
The Royal snare: and, wonderfully wrought.
For your
deliverance,
to pass he brought
By what was never called to that intent;
By that, which never more to call he meant;
Even by a
Parliament:
to which he gave
A power to be, whilst
being
it would have;
With Privileges, which by
Power-divine,
Were made destructive, to his own
design:
For,
lawful power
it got, and just occasion,
To arm against a tyrannous invasion;
And, your estates, and freedoms were defended
By that, which for a mischief, was intended.
So, if this
Parl'ament
degenerate
From what it should be, and from what of late,
You thought it was; and, shall employ that
power
Which was from you received; and which is your,
To raise themselves, upon a public wrong;
GOD, them will break, when they appear most strong;
Cause those, whom they depend on, to deceive them;
Of all their expectations, quite bereave them;
And by some lawful way, which yet appears
To no man's eye, preserve you from your fears.
For, every tyrannizing power shall clash
Against each other, and to pieces dash,
All those, and their designs, who shall comply
With any instruments of
Tyranny;
That passage may be made, to raise up that
Which, is the strength and honor of a State.
If yet, your former doubtings be not past,
But that th' aspersions, which on them are cast,
Whom GOD for your
deliverers
hath chose,
Hath shook you from your confidence in those;
Or if defects, which may be found in them,
Do either urge, or tempt you to contemn
Such
instruments;
and in your hearts to say,
Can these men save us?
Mindful be, I pray,
What persons, to your aid, GOD, first did call;
By what sleight means, he hath effected all
Your conquests. Yea, by what contrary things:
His
works,
he, often to perfection brings.
Consider, how this
Army
was despised
And scorned, when it first was modelliz'd:
How, likely, were they, whom you first did gather
To be your
guard,
to be your
ruin,
rather
Then to defend you? how, did they protest,
And rage, when they against their wills were pressed?
With how much weakness was that work begun?
And, yet, thereby what wonders hath GOD done?
How, hath he added unto your prevailings,
By them, though they their errors had, and failings?
How, hath he humbled you by their great pride,
Whose seeming virtues, you have glorified?
That, you may see a
power
so excellent,
Knowes how to work with any
instrument:
That, you may find there are some things despised.
Which have deserved, better to be prized;
That you may learn, in weak means, not to fear;
Nor trust too much, in those that mighty are;
That, you may know, if your own ways be straight,
You may be safe, though others go not right;
And, though you will not know it; they who live
By faith, the truth of these things do perceive;
And, would in GOD, find out a place to dwell,
Though, there were neither
heaven, earth,
nor
hell.
Then
credit
must be kept, their
power
obeyed,
On whom your
Trust,
and
Guandianship
is laid;
And, from that duty, none can be excused,
Though some among them, have that trust abused:
For, as he is a
man,
that hath a soul,
Although his body, be with Ulcers fowl,
Maim'd, blind and deaf; and, may from you thereby,
Claime all the duties of your charity:
So, though the
Body Representative,
May wounds, and many blemishes receive;
Yet, therein, is the
soul
of
Government:
And, therefore, all you whom they represent,
Obedience owe thereto, in everything;
Excepting an obedience that may bring
Those public hazards, which are so apparent,
That in themselves, they bring a sealed Warrant
Of disobligement: And, in those things too,
So must you then proceed, in what ye do,
That, your own consciences may truly say,
Obedience,
only, made you disobey:
And, that, the world may see, by your
proceed,
That GOD, and
justice,
have approved the deed.
Though cracked, your
Bulwork
be, and faulty grown;
This is no time, to sleight, or pull it down:
But, to repair it rather, lest you leave
Your selves unguarded, and a blow receive.
This is no time to shake the
Reputation
Of those, who are your only preservation;
But, rather, to uphold it, by removing
The
scandalous;
by cherishing, approving,
And, strength'ning those, among them, by whose
wit,
And
honesty,
they have a
being
yet.
Informe them better, who are much abused,
(By false opinions, into them infused)
And, thereupon your
Supreme Court
defame;
As doing, arbitrarily, the same,
Which, was denied lawful in the King:
For, they should know, that even the self-same thing
May be both just, and unjust: He, doth take
Unlawfully, your goods, a prize to make,
To satisfy his lust, or, to destroy
Those Freedomes, and those Rights, you should enjoy:
They, take a portion, from you, orderly,
(And thereto forced by necessity)
To save your privileges; and, prevent
The loss of all, by that, which they have spent.
Their actions, are not bounded, in that
Law,
Whereby, men out of
Parl'ament,
should draw
The Line of their proceedings; But, by that
Which is the first foundation of a
State:
By that
Supreme Law,
whereby power they had,
To make or change the Laws, already made;
And, for the
Public-safety,
to provide:
By that Law, they must act; and, are not ti'd
To any other, when, necessity
Shall, for the weal of your
Community,
The contrary require: For, otherwise,
They meet in vain, about those remedies,
Which are desired; and, do but time employ
To mar the benefit, they would enjoy;
And, strengthen
Tyrants,
in their usurpations
Upon the Rights and Freedomes, of the
Nations.
Let no men therefore say, when they shall vary
From former
Laws,
their
Acts
are arbitrary,
Injuriously; since, your experience sees,
That strong necessity, at sometimes frees,
Even private persons from adhering to,
The Letter of the
Law,
in what they do,
The managing of
Public Interests,
In th'
Agents
reputation, much consists.
'It is
Reputation,
makes a
Kingdom
strong,
And rich; and keeps it from affronts, and wrong.
'It is that which maketh
Laws:
For, neither
wit
Nor human
Power,
are able to forget
That
Privilege;
because, if
Power
should make them
A
greater Power,
by right of
Power,
would break them.
If
Wit,
and
Reason,
would a
Law
devise,
There are so many, seeming to be wise,
That they would make such over-long debates,
And work so variously, in sev'rall pates,
That, if to
make a Law,
some should agree,
By others, it would straight
repealed
be.
And, if more
Settlement,
were not obtained,
By
Reputation,
then, there can be gained
By
Power,
and
Wit,
or
Reason;
you, would never
Agree; but, fight, or else,
debate
forever.
Take therefore, of their
good repute,
a care,
On whose repute, your
Safeties
built are:
For, when that once is lost, it proveth not
A Jewell, which may easily be got;
Nor, is there any
precious stone,
yet known
That gives a fairer luster to a
Crown.
With
Reputation,
may a
single man
Do more sometime, then twenty thousands can.
A
Cities
uproars, sooner it restrains,
Then all their
Scarlet Gownes,
and
Golden Chaines:
And dares make stand, the people's rage to stay,
When
Wit,
and
Wealth,
and
Titles
run away:
Yea, calms them sooner; and scapes better too,
Then
honesty,
and
innocence
do.
I know not anything that can so soon,
Bring universal
Discords
into tune:
Nor, know I ought, that's in itself, so vain,
And empty, which doth so much power obtain
In human actions; and, there is not now,
A
Nation,
whom it more concerns then you,
(Consid'ring, what your present postures are)
To keep your
Senates
reputation clear.
For, should I show your postures in a glass,
No Puppet-play, that ere devised was,
Came near it; neither did you ever see
An
Antick,
like that show, which there would be:
Such fruit less hopes, such fears, such mimick actions,
Such turnings, windings, sidings, such distractions,
Were never represented, on the Stage
Of any
Common-wealth,
in any Age.
There you should view a thousand contradictions,
A thousand fancies, fooleries, and fictions,
Repeated, personated, sworn, believed;
And, men, accordingly, made glad or grieved;
And, acting that in their false joy, and sorrow,
Which they must backward act again tomorrow.
From
Ireland,
this man bringeth heavy news;
From
Scotland,
that man little better shows;
One tells what
Plots,
are in the
City
laid:
Another, of the
Army,
what is said.
A third, with an affrighted look, doth bring
A tale of some
designment,
with the King,
By
Scots,
and by
Malignants;
and, then stands
As if he had new purchased Bishops Lands.
A fourth is much dismayed by some tales
Of risings in the
Counties,
and in
Wales;
As if he feared a sudden separation
From somewhat, which he holds by
Sequestration.
A fifth hath heard from
Holland,
or from
France,
He knows not what, yet falls into a trance,
As if his conscience knew of somewhat done,
Which he then wisht, had never been begun.
Another shows, another way, his folly,
And looks as sadly, and as melancholy,
As if he were surprised with a dread
Of losing some great
place,
or, of his head.
And, at the turning of the wind or tide,
Upon some pleasing news on toother side,
Starts up, as they do, when a
Piper
plays,
Who, have been bitten by
Tarantula's.
You, would not, thus, with every novel noise
Be filled with Panick fears, and gannick joys;
Or, moved be, with ought, which others did,
If you, your own affairs, would better heed.
This, would not be, were men imploid about
Internal
things, as on those things
without;
Nor, would they be so giddily affrighted,
With things
abroad,
if things at
home
be righted.
He, that his way, with soberness doth go,
Dreads not the furious marching of a foe.
He, who takes care to keep his
conscience
clear,
Shakes not, when
evil tidings
he doth hear.
He, that endeavors warrantable things,
Feares not the power of
Senators
or
Kings;
Nor, should you ever need to fear a jot
What by the
Welch,
or
Irish, French,
or
Scot
Could be designed or done; or, what the
King
With all his party, to effect could bring;
Nor, what an open, or a secret foe,
By power, or by his policy, could do,
Either within these Islands, or abroad,
If you repose true confidence in GOD;
And, give him, but sincere, and contrite hearts
To join, with him, in acting of your parts:
No, though your slips, and Ignorances were
As many, and as great, as now they are.
Let all the sev'rall
Nations
of these Isles,
Who, lived in love, and Amity, ere whiles,
Unite again, and seek each others peace;
That, their increasing strifes, and plauges may cease.
Let, our
Welch-Britons,
(who their actions square
By those things, which they but suspect, or hear)
Recover, so much, of their human reason,
As teaches them, a difference 'twixt
Treason,
And
Laws of Nature;
that it may make place,
To bring them nearer; to the
law of Grace.
That, so, they may not, still,
believe,
and
do,
Both by implicit Faith, and reason, too:
For, when they truly know what doth belong
Unto themselves, and, their own right and wrong,
They, will the sooner, be informed, then,
What duties do belong to other men;
And, grow more wise, by this
Epitomie
Of
Laws divine,
and true
morality;
Do, as ye would be done to,
then, all they
Who pore upon their
Law books,
every day;
And, would be thought experienced, in all
Laws
Cannon, Civil,
and
Municipall.
If this advice they follow, they shall dwell
In safety on their hills, and live as well
Among their valleys and their Glins, in
Wales,
As on the fruitful'st Southerne Downes, and Dales:
Then let them practice it; and not call to them,
A wasting
desolation,
to undo them.
Let them not woo, uncivil
civil wars,
To clime up to their Mountains, Rocks and skars:
For, if they find them rich, they'll leave them poor;
If needy, they will make them need the more;
They bring, the worst, into a worse estate;
And crash the
Bones,
where they can suck no
fat.
Let your
Scotch-Britons,
so insist upon
Their interest, that, nothing may be done,
Against their
Brethren's
rights; and, so preserve
Their
Leauges,
that willfully, they do not swerve
From any
Branch
thereof; and, let them so
Observe the
Covenant,
as men that know
The
letter
of it, or, a
circumstance,
Is not to be pursued to th'advance,
Or any
sense
or
practice,
which may lame
The
essence,
and intentions of the same.
For, if they make the
letter
to extend
Beyond the true intention, and the end
Of what was covenanted; and, so weaken
That Interest for which the same was taken;
They are
deceivers,
and worse hypocrites
Then were of old, the cunning
Gibeonites.
Let, therefore, that stout
Nation
well advise
Among themselves, wherein the diff'rence lies
Betwixt the
Kingdoms;
lest, perhaps, it draws
A mischief on both
Nations,
without cause;
And, bring on those engagements, which may lose
The love, the peace, the honor, and those dues
Which now are claimed; &, make them lose their blood,
And Country too, as far as it is good.
Let them not think, that their accommodation,
The profit, or advantage of one
Nation,
Prefer'd should be, in anything at all,
Before these
Islands
weal, in general.
Let them seek nothing, but what
Justice
may
Allow them; lest she take both that away,
On which they seized; and, therewith, all the rest,
Which, formerly, was lawfully possessed.
For,
Justice
more secures, and more enriches
Then
policy,
although that more bewitches:
And, neither wealth, nor honor, can be lost,
By
honesty;
though sometime she be crossed.
That
Nation
have done well, to think upon
The bringing of the
King
back to his
Throne;
If from right
Principles
the motion came:
But, on them it would bring perpetual shame,
If they recalled him, without penitence
Of those faults, for which they first drove him thence.
For, that they quarrel'd with him first, none doubt;
And, they were with the last, who pulled him out.
That people is too wise; to call him home,
Ere he shall truly penitent become;
And by some satisfying expiations,
Hath perfectly secured both the
Nations:
For, if he bring the same heart back, they know,
He will, as soon as he shall able grow,
Avenge himself on them, as upon those,
Who were the first, from whom his troubles rose.
Let them not give their friends just cause to lay
That to their charge, which Foes of them do say,
Their
Brethren's
portion, let them not envy,
Or, look upon it with an evil eye;
Nor, let our
English
haughtily, despise
Their
Northern Brethren's
kind compliances;
Or, sleight their friendship; or, (puffed up with pride)
Their want of superfluities, deride:
But, by how much more GOD, hath seemed to bless,
Their
Clymate,
with a greater fruitfulness,
So much the more, respectively, let them
Be careful, that they no way do contemn
Their Lot; lest GOD, for that in gratitude,
Justly permit some other to incrude
On their inheritance; and, make them glad
To seek worse habitations, then they had.
Yea, let both
Nations
strive with all their mights,
To fortify each other in their Rights;
And be assured, that which of them soever
Shall first to break their late sworn
League
endeavor,
Shall both be ruined; and, if both make void
Their solemn
Vowes,
then both shall be destroyed.
Let both remember well, that
Covenant,
Which they have sworn; and, how much yet they want
Of perfecting their Vowes to
God,
and
Man;
That they may keep them better, if they can.
Know; you have entered into leauge together,
Not to ensnare, but, to secure each other:
And, that your
Treaties,
were not to get more
From one or toother, then they had before,
But, that, thereby, they stronger might be made,
Against him, who, did all their rights invade.
Know, that your
Covenant
was not contrived,
That
Christian
liberty should be deprived:
Or, make that for a
Jus divinum
go,
Which neither was, nor can be proved so.
Or, to compel men to
renounce, admit;
Or, to accord, as
those,
or
these,
thought fit;
(Or, as the best
reformed Churches
had it)
Ought further then GGDS word authentic made it.
It is not possible that any
Nation
Should make a
vow,
upon consideration,
To pin their
Faith
upon another's sleeve;
Things to profess, which they cannot believe;
To practice, what their consciences abhor,
And what they find, no lawful warrant for;
But, sure their meaning was, men should assay
To get the truths perfection if they may,
Till otherwise, they find it; to adhere
To those as truths, which truths to them appear;
That, from compulsion, all men should be free,
Where
doubtings
are, till they decided be;
And, that, their
vow
enjoined none to do,
More, then their
power,
and
place,
obliged him too.
Let both remember, that, they vowed have
The
Person
of the
King,
from harm to save;
His honor to preserve (and what belongs
To him, of right) from violence, and wrongs:
But, this remember, too, that, when you made
This
vow,
you likewise, resolutions had,
That, therein, his protection should extend.
No further, then you thereby might defend
The
Kingdoms
privileges, and maintain
Those rights, which to the
people
appertain:
For, else, you shall betray your greatest trust,
And, prove but hypocritically just.
Remember, you have vowed to endeavor
To bring to public trial, whomsoever
You shall discover, either to divide
The
Kingdoms,
or, to make the
people
side
In factions; and, that, you have vowed to strive
(As you are able) that, they may receive
Due punishment: And, mark, if you have been
As faithful, as you promised therein.
Halt not 'twixt two opinions, as ye do;
If
Baal
be to be served, let it be so.
Either, you have a power, or you have none:
If none; why act ye, still, as ye have done?
Either your
King,
or
you,
deserveth blame:
If you have traitors been, repent the same;
Acknowledge it; submit, implore for grace;
And let him take again, his
power
and
place.
If he, as much demerit, as you say;
Do not your trust, and your own lives betray;
But, quit yourselves like men, and do your best
To vindicate their cause, who are oppressed.
If both be faulty, then, let both amend;
Lest, both be quite destoyed in the end.
If, you have drove the nail unto the head,
There clinch it; let no more be done, or said:
For, why should this brave
Island
be destroid,
That in the mean time, some should be imploid
Thereby to raise themselves? and, to prepare
Well-feather'd nests, perhaps, some otherwhere?
Those evil Counsellers, which late appeared
To be about the
King,
may now be feared
To be among yourselves; and, they of whom
The
King,
was made most fearful to become,
Have now compli'd with him; and, justly may
King, People, Scotch,
and
English,
if they weigh
What hath been done, shake hands, and well agree;
For, they are all, as like, as like can be.
Come, come, repent together, and forgive;
For there's no other means, in peace to live;
And, when you are forgiving, let all share
A part of
Mercy,
who repentant are.
Let, our seduced
Irish,
who, among
The rest, are yet involved in the throng.
Of murth'rous Rebells; but have guiltless been
Of their inhumane, and loud crying sin,
Find some Gate open, whereby they might gain
An entrance, your forgivnesse to obtain;
(Upon repentance, and on evidence,
Produced, differencing their offense:)
For, some of them assisted, to their might,
Their
brethren,
in their terrified flight,
Against destroiers; and in secret stood
Betwixt them, and the seekers of their blood.
Some of them, then, so far forth as they durst,
Releev'd them in their hunger, and their thirst;
Cover'd their nakedness; and them convei'd
(From those, by whom they should have been betrayed)
To
Towns,
and
Ports,
wherein they might avoid
That rage, whereby they had been else destroid.
If these, withdraw themselves, and back recede
From them, whose hands in blood were deeply died,
Receive them unto mercy; that, you may
By justice, therewith mixed, take away
That
Kingdoms
guilt; and, put a difference
Betwixt the
smaller,
and the
great offense,
That, they, whom other men did hurry on,
Against their wills, to be with them, undone,
May find a passage, out of that distress,
Which they are in, by others wickedness;
And, that
repentance,
may not be without
A comfortable hope of some good fruit,
To every
sinner,
when he shall endeavor
A
reformation,
at what time soever.
By this course, you shall make the freer pass,
For your own selves, unto the
Throne of grace:
By this
course,
you shall greatly weaken those
Who, are your willful unrepentant foes;
And, strengthen much their hands, who have been true
To GOD, unto their
Country,
and to you.
It may be, too, fullfil'd shall be, thereby,
That ancient well known
Irish Prophecy,
By which, unto that
Nation,
'twas foretold,
That, there would come a time, wherein they should
Weep ore your English Graves:
For some, no doubt,
Already, tears of pity have pow'rd out;
Even when they saw the cruel butcheries
Of guiltless
Englishmen,
before their eyes?
And, now, shall ore their Graves, for their offense
Shed tears again, through hearty penitence.
Let those dissenting
Parties,
and those
Factions
Which, long have multiplied your
Distractions,
Leave of those many
names
of
separations,
Of scorn, and disesteem, which in these
Nations
Do now abound; and wherewith you provoke
Each other; and, whereby the peace is broke,
And malice nourished: for they prolong
Your
discords,
by a still-renewing wrong.
Let, not all those, who termed, of late, have been
Malignants,
find that
name,
still set between
Themselves, and others, when they have assaid
To make amends, and their redemption paid.
For, by that
Bar,
you keep the
Breach
unclosed
'Twixt them, whose quarrels might else be composed.
For such of them, as only were misled
In judgment, have not thereby forfeited
Their honesty; as all those men have done
Who willfully, and knowingly went on.
Nor, half so much as those, who have compli'd
With both sides; or, been false to either side.
Yet, trust them not with
power,
till you have tried
Their truth; and, till your
Peace
is fortifi'd.
Let
Innocents,
defend their reputations,
As freely, as
Knaves
make their accusations.
Good turns vouchsafe, to honest men sometime,
As willingly, as you do mischieve them:
For, to undo a man, you soon give ear;
Have tongues to speak, and leisure time to hear,
Within an hours warning; but, before
You hear him for his good, a year, and more,
Yea, sometimes three, four, five, consumed be,
Yet, neither end, nor hope of end, hath he.
Let those who for your
service,
fit are known,
Both by abilities, and courage shown;
Those, who for you, their lives have hazarded;
Contributed, and lent their children's bread;
For your sakes, brought themselves, and families
From plenty, to extreme necessities,
(Through want of that respect, which you should show them,
Till you have means to pay them what you owe them.
Let those, not like old shoes, be hurled by,
As if they were not worth your memory,
Or fit for nothing; when malignant
Jacks,
Who laugh, and jeer at you behind your backs,
Can fill so many places; and grow rich,
Whilst better men, lie starving in a ditch.
If spent your
Treasure
be, then let them share
In your
Employments,
till you abler are
To pay them what is due; So, you shall ease them:
So, you, with hope of better, shall well please them:
So, you, in life, and health, may them sustain,
Till you have need of honest men again:
For, when their
Country
wants help, these, are they
Who will not fail her, though them fail she may.
Take these last words among you, where they fall;
And, as occasion, make them useful shall:
For, your
confusion
so confoundeth me,
That want of method, may excused be,
Where all is well intended; and, where naught
Is more, then may be profitably taught,
Let those among you, who desire to plead
For
Christian Liberty,
take serious heed
They make not passages, which may let in
Licentiousness,
and
Liberty of sin.
Let them not seek to rarify
Devotion,
To nothing, but an
incorporall notion;
Lest, if no place for
shadows,
they allow,
They never come their
substances
to know:
Lest, if too far away, from
Forms
they fly,
They fall into some fowl
deformity;
Or, lest, when they think purest
light
to see,
They blinded by an over-weening be.
And,
you,
who think, that by a
Law-Divine,
There is, one outward
form
of
Discipline,
To be observed of all men; and, but one
That can be lawful; which, by you alone,
Is now in practice: somewhat bear I pray,
With such, as cannot yet, approve your
way
To be infallible; or, give consent
To make essential, what's indifferent.
When you possess the
Wheat,
brawl not for
Darnell,
Fight not for shells, when you enjoy the Kernell.
If to the true
Foundation
they adhere,
Against their
buildings,
be not too severe;
For, if the
Structures
they erect thereon,
Be
Gold,
and
Silver,
they have wisely done:
If
Straw,
and
Stubble,
theirs will be the loss;
The
Fiery-trial,
will consume the dross;
And, they themselves, (though from perdition free)
Will in themselves, enough afflicted be.
With love and kindness, seek to bring them in,
Who, by miss-teaching, have deluded been:
With patience, and long-suffering, wait upon
Your
Brethren,
as on you, your GOD hath done;
And, if their errors be but imperfections,
And not of malice, let your good affections
Be exercised thereby; and, then perchance
Your
Charity,
shall cure their ignorance,
And, sooner win them, then your indignation,
Severitie, or bitter provocation.
Compulsion often forms an
Hypocrite,
But never makes the
will,
or
heart
upright:
And he, that would not vain conclusions try,
The
consciences
of men to rectify,
Must act, by somewhat which is more divine,
Then
torments,
or a
Formal Discipline.
Speak not in
Tempests,
when vou would reform;
GOD, oftener comes in
Calmes,
then in a
Storm.
Ill words,
corrupt
good manners;
and, there flows
From jeerings, brawlings, from your brawlings, blows;
And, many times, the woundings of your swords,
Break not the
peace,
so much as bitter words.
Provide therefore, as wisely as you may
To take provoking speeches quite away;
Especially among those, who pretend
The Cause of GOD, and goodness to befriend:
For, they, who cannot their sharp
tongues
restrain,
Professe, and talk of
Piety,
in vain.
Yea, they, who are
Truths
Champions with their (tongues,
And want true love, have done the greatest wrongs.
Let not your
Supreme City
over-swell
That
Mediocrity,
which heeded well,
Would more secure her safety, more enlarge
Her honor, and diminish more her charge.
Though she be great, let her not seek to awe
Those, who, to her, and all the rest give law.
Though she be rich, let her not trust unto
Her riches; lest at last, they her undo.
Though she be strong, let her not boast therein;
For, some, by their own strength, have ruined been.
Though she be wise, let her not think to fool
Her
Tutors,
and to set them new to school:
But, let her
motions,
be in her own
sphere,
According as her own occasions are;
Let her advance her
tradings,
without wrong
To
privileges,
which to all belong:
Endeavor, by continual watchfulness,
Both how, she may prevent, and how suppress
Sedition, routs, and tumults: for these be
The bane of Cities: and I do foresee,
(Unless, prevented, by good taking heed)
That thence a mischief, may to you proceed,
Whereby, you more may suffer, in one hour,
Then in an whole year, by a
Martial power.
Return to your first love, and be not jealous
Of those, who mean you well, nor over-zealous
In prosecuting, or believing, all,
Which your pretended Lovers counsel shall.
Contribute that proportion of due aid,
For,
public safety,
which on you is laid,
According to the Portion of the blessing,
Which is thereby; preserved, in your possessing,
With prayers, and obedience, them assist,
Who stand up for the common Interest,
And take good heed, lest those who shall pretend
Your benefit, may drive some other end;
And, overthrow the
common peace,
and
you,
By those proceedings, which they now pursue.
You have done well, and bravely; loose not then
Your thanks, and your deserved praise, agen.
Your, of the
Soldiery;
Men of the Sword,
Receive you Orders too, and take a word
Of good advice: for much it will concern
The
public weal,
that you your duties learn.
Neglect not
discipline,
thereto adhere;
And, therein, always rather be severe
Then too remiss: for, when an Army shall
Into disorder and confusion fall;
Destruction to it self, it will become:
And, of all enemies, most perilsome
To
public safety.
And, 'tis better far
(Whether it be in time of peace, or war)
To suffer, by obedience to good
order;
Then due redress, by
mutiny,
to further.
Remember, that, you were not armed or paid,
To do your own work, but for public aid:
And, that, you to your Officers are bound,
No further, then while faithful they are found
To those, who have entrusted them; and, that
If they oppress, there's means to regulate
What is amiss; and, power that may restrain
Their insolencies, if you shall complain.
Think not yourselves their
creatures,
as some name you:
For such an attribute doth much defame you.
There is in them no power of
creation,
By
dignity,
by
place,
or by
Relation,
Whereby they any creatures can produce,
But sons, and daughters, or fleas, worms, and lice;
And these, are (properly) but generated,
Or, else, by their corruption propagated.
Delay not public peace, by private hate;
Each others noble actions emulate;
Out-vie, but them envy not; neither cross
Each other, to your countries further loss.
Upon your foes, there's honor to be got
Sufficient, with your friends then, quarrel not.
Seek not, to be avenged, for that offense,
Upon the
public,
which your
innocence
By private hands hath suffered; measure not
Your merit, by the
conquests,
you have got;
But, by that worth, which truly is your own,
And, in your heart lies, to the world unknown
Judge not of
worth,
by actions, and events,
(Which fame, it may be, falsely represents)
But, by those
Principles,
and real worth
Whereby the heart is rouz'd and carried forth
To noble undertakings: Fame that's won
By having gained the lot of leading on
Your
English Mastives,
(on whose side befell
A victory, whose author none can tell)
Is but of small esteem; for, when confusion
Hath brought their skirmishes unto conclusion,
He, many times, who merited but shame,
Of all that victory, shall bear the name;
And, then, opinion every day doth add
Advantages, till he at last is made
So arrogant, that he begins to dream
Himself to be, what, some have fanci'd him;
And, so to act, that they whom he deceived;
Shall soon find, what of him should be believed.
Be none of these, for, you have lately seen,
How, such
false fires
extinguished have been;
And, when with glory, to ascend they think,
How, quickly, they descend, in smoke, and stink.
Fall not from that, which you have well begun;
But, persevere, until the work be done.
An
instrument,
you are, but, nor the
tongue,
Nor
eye,
to whom, direction doth belong:
Therefore assume it not; but keep them free
By true obedience, who your keepers be.
And, be assured, that, if you shall comply
With any, to advance a
tyranny
Of any kind; or, up to raise, thereby,
Licentiousness, instead of Liberty:
GOD shall let loose a
spirit;
which will soon
Un-nerve your
Powres;
make it night at noon;
Destroy you with a fillip, all together;
Puffe you away, like th'atoms of a feather.
And you, who (if you arrogate it not
Unworthily) are
Stewards,
for the Lot
Of GOD's
Anointed;
hear a word or two,
To mind ye, what ye know ye ought to do.
You see, to what confusion all is brought
By those men, who themselves have only sought:
And, what destruction will succeed thereon,
If in divided paths you still go on.
You know, what means, and what advantages
You have, to keep out, or to fetch in
peace:
And, I acknowledge, some of you have walked
The way of
peace,
as well as thereof talked:
And,
trumpet
-like, have raised your
voices
high,
To wake these
Nations
from their
Lethargy.
Let all do so; and jointly undertake
To help repair the
Breach
they helped to make;
And not contend for that which neither
was,
Nor
is,
nor ever can be brought to pass.
Make not those things infallible to be,
In which so many millions disagree:
Make not those things
Essentialls
to appear,
Which in themselves but
Circumstantialls
are:
And, bear with them (since they the woe must bide)
Who give offenses, that you may be tried.
Your
Temporalities,
claim by your
Law,
To be your due; and labor not to draw
Conclusions for yourselves, from inferences,
Which make not warrantable your pretences:
For, all your claims, by Ceremonial dues,
Or Customs, appertaining to the
Jews,
Availe you nothing; but enfeeble rather,
Those Arguments, which from their
Rights
you gather.
You may as well reduce them back again
To
sacrifices,
and to entertain
All other
services,
now
obsolete,
As, get some things, which you have hope to get;
And, whereto you the
People
would enjoin
By
human Law,
as due by
Law divine:
Which, what they are; and how from doubts to clear them,
You shall be told, when you are fit to hear them.
From bitter words, and sharp invectives cease;
Invoke for
grace,
and then provoke to
peace.
From all your Pulpits banish all partaking
In
Factions;
and in weak'ning or strong making
This or that
Party:
and, pull not in, all
Those things, which into controversy fall,
(Or into question) within cognizance
Of your own
jurisdiction,
to advance
Your int'rest: For, all things which can be thought,
May, by that rule, within your power be brought:
And, by that means, you may recover more
Then hath been, here usurped heretofore.
Preach Faith, Repentance, Charity, and what
May true belief, and good life propagate.
Be humble, keep more closely to your charge;
And ramble not about so much at large,
To fetch in fleeces, out of others flocks,
But, be contented with your proper stocks;
Lest, as befell of late, and heretofore,
Insteed of greater gain, your loss be more.
I more might add; but, you already know it,
Oh therefore, in your practice, also, show it.
You, hear, what I have said, ye
British Nations,
To further the desired reparations
Of these distracted
Kingdoms;
and to bring
Your
King
to
you,
and you unto your
King,
If
you,
and
he,
the curing will abide;
And, for that
Blessing,
now grow qualified:
Or, if not both, that one of you, at least
With
Peace
and safety may again be blest:
And live to praise GOD, that you forth are brought
From that snare, wherewith willfulness is caught.
I have not here deceived you with fair shows
From old
Records,
whose credit no man knows.
From temporary
Acts,
worm-eaten found;
(Of which, none knows the reason, or the ground)
I bring not
Presidents,
that do belong
To things in
Fact,
which whether right or wrong,
Were thereby done, there is no certainty.
You see, I use no kind of Sophistry;
Nor do attempt, conclusions here to draw
From cheating quirks, or quiddities of
Law:
From abstruse
Principles, Authorities,
Unknowne; or, wherein little credit lies:
From ought, too
Magisterial
for the season;
From fraudfull, or adulterated reason;
But merely, from such
grounds,
and such
positions,
As yield results, without all just suspicions.
From
nature, common practice,
and those things,
Whose clear light means of apprehension brings
To most capacities; and, (which may best
Improve them) they, in language are expressed
So plainly; that all those throughout the Land,
(Even Children) that can read, may understand.
And since, men wand'ring in a wood by night,
When they shall through a Glade, behold some light,
Take thereby courage, to walk cheerily on,
In hope, their fears, and toils, are nearly gone;
I will from a
Cloud,
flash out a little gleame
Of
Lightning;
and, disclose a little beam,
Whereby on you a glimmering, shall be cast,
Of what you may attain to, at the last:
For, I will show you, by what
Pedigree
That
Government,
to you derived shall be
Which will, at last, these
British Islands
bless
With inward
Peace,
and outward happiness.
It was of late, a brief
Presage
of his,
Who, oft, hath truth foretold: And, it is this.
When, here, a
Scot
shall think his Throne to set,
Above the
Circle
of a
British King;
He shall a datelesse
Parliament
beget,
From whence a dreadful
Armed brood
shall spring.
That
offspring
shall beget a wild
confusion;
Confusion,
shall an
Anarchy
beget;
That
Anarchy
shall bring forth in conclusion,
A
Creature,
which you have no
name
for, yet:
That
Creature,
shall conceive a sickly
State,
Which will an
Aristocracy
produce:
The
many headed Beast,
not liking that,
To raise
Democracy,
shall rather choose.
And, then
Democracies
production shall
A
Moon-calf
be; which some a
Mole
do call.
A false Conception of imperfect nature,
And, of a shapelesse, and a brutish feature.
All these
Descents,
shall live, and reign together;
So acting for a while, that few shall know
Which of them gets the
Sov'raigntie;
or whether
There be among them, a
Supreme,
or no.
When they with jars and janglings have defaced
Your
triple-building,
and themselves nigh worn,
Into contempt; they, of one cup shall taste;
And, into their first
elements
return:
Five
of them, shall subdue the other
five;
And, then those
five,
shall by a doubtful strife,
Each others death so happily centrive,
That, they shall
die,
to
live
a better life:
And, out of their
corruption,
rise there shall
A true
Supreme,
acknowledged by all.
In which the
power
of all the
five
shall be
With
Unity
made visible in
three.
Prince, People, Parl'ament,
with
Priests
and
Peers,
Shall be, a while, your emulous
Grandees;
Make a confused
Pentarchie,
some years,
And, leave off their distinct claims, by degrees:
And, then, shall
Righteousness
ascend the
Throne;
Then,
love,
and
truth,
and
peace
re-enter shall:
Then,
faith,
and
reason,
shall agree in
one;
And, all the
Virtues
to their counsel call.
Then, timely out of all these shall arise,
That
Kingdom,
and that happy
Government,
Which is the scope of all those
Prophecies,
That
future Truths
obscurely represent:
But how this will be done, few men shall see;
For, wrought in
clouds
and
darkness,
it will be,
And, ere it comes to pass, in public view,
Most of these following signs will first ensue.
A
King,
shall willingly himself unking;
And, thereby grow far greater then before.
The
Priests,
their
Priesthood,
to contempt shall bring.
And
Piety
shall thereby thrive the more.
A
Parliament,
it self shall overthrow;
And thereby, shall a better
being
gain;
The
Peers,
by setting of themselves below,
A more ennobling honor shall obtain:
The
people
for a time shall be inslav'd;
And, that shall make them for the future free.
By
private loss,
the
public
shall be saved;
An
Army
shall by yielding
Victor
be:
The
Cities
wealth, her poverty shall cause:
The
Laws corruption,
shall reform the
Laws:
And,
Bullocks,
of the largest Northern breed,
Shall fatted be, where now scarce
sheep
can feed.
You may perhaps, deride what's here recited,
As, heretofore you other
Truths
have slighted.
But, part of this
Presage
you have beheld,
Already in obscurity, fulfilled:
The rest shall in the time appointed come;
And, sooner, then will pleasing be to some.
The last
nine
signs, or symptoms, of the
ten,
Which must precede it, shall appear to men
Of all conditions: But, our
Author
saith,
The
first,
is but in
hope,
not yet in
Faith;
And may be, or not be; for, so, or so,
That King shall have his
lot,
as he shall do.
If all his
sins,
he heartily repent,
God, will remit, even all his
punishment;
And, him, unto his
Kingdoms,
back restore,
With greater honor, then he had before.
If he remain impenitent, like
Saul,
God, from the Throne, shall cast both him, and all
His whole
Descent;
and, leave him not a man
To sill it, though he had a
Jonathan.
If
Ahab
-like, his
mourning
hath respects
To temporary losses and effects;
Like
Ahab's,
then, it therewithal shall carry,
Some benefit, which is but temporary.
A
real penitence,
though somewhat late,
The rigor of his
doom
may much abate;
By leaving him a
part
of what he had,
When he a forfeiture of all hath made:
Or else, by rooting out those, who in sin
With him, have actually partakers been;
And, planting in their steads, a
Branch
of his,
Whose
Innocency
no way questioned is.
For, this hath oft, with good success been done]
In Ages past; not, in this
Isle
alone,
But, in most other
Kingdoms:
And, if you
Will in GOD's
Chronicles,
but take a view,
Of his proceedings; you, in them will see,
For what it is, that
Princes
changed be:
Why some lose but a part; why some lose all;
Why, for a time; why, some forever fall:
Why, some shall but for
three descents
remain;
And, how they might have had a longer reign:
When
war,
when
pestilence,
when
dearth,
will come
Upon a land; when GOD will take it from
That land again; and, how, they may foreknow,
When, he will bring a
total overthrow.
They, who have learned to contemplate aright
Those old
records,
may gain a true foresight
Of many things, whereby to regulate
Enormities, both in the
Church,
and
State;
Things to
themselves
pertaining; to their friends,
Their
Foes,
their
Policies,
their
Fates,
their
ends:
And, if this were not so; what, are to you,
The
stories
of the
Kingdoms
of the
Jew,
Or of their
friends,
and
foes,
more useful than
Those, which concern the realms of
Powhatan?
Or, so available, as those relations,
Which memorize the deeds of your own nations?
But all this is but words; there must be deeds,
Ere to perfection anything proceeds:
You must not everlastingly be stating
The
Question;
or, be seven years more debating:
For, ere that time, things will too late be done;
Which many fear, will come to pass too soon.
Expect you, some
third persons,
should between
The
King
and you, at this time intervene
To make atonement? Pray, who should they be?
Who, wisheth you so well? who, doth not see,
That, all, 'twixt
whom,
and
you,
there be relations,
Them qualifying for such mediations,
May get more, by your
woe,
then by your
weal?
Who knows not, how with
Friends
most
Friends
now deal?
And, who perceives not, that those
Mediators
Have interests, and, many weighty matters,
Pertaining to themselves, which they'll begin
On such a fair occasion, to hedge in?
And, whereby paradventure they may bring
Great disadvantages, upon the
King,
Or, on the
Kingdoms:
and perhaps on both,
Which to endanger,
wisemen
would be loath?
What then can be effected? or by whom,
May your desires, now feiseable become?
Since, there is no way open for access,
Nor any means admitted for address?
The
Parliament,
conceives it self abused,
In that, their offers have been oft refused;
And, seems resolved, that they will never more
Send Messages in vain, as heretofore:
And though the
King,
were now as penitent,
As
David
and
Manasseh,
with intent,
Unfainedly to satisfy, and do
What ever justice doth oblige him to;
What ever, you in reason could require,
To answer, at the full your own desire;
Or, whatsoever
affections mortifi'd,
A
contrite heart,
or
conscience rectifi'd,
Should urge him to: yet, now, there is no way,
Whereby, this, may be manifest, you say.
Despair not
friends:
mind what I said before;
True
penitence,
will find, or make a door:
Though, it be treason voted, now to bring
Or, carry Message, to or from the
King:
Although his
person
be retained in ward;
Attended always, with an armed
Guard:
Although strong walls, have round enclosed him:
Though rocks, far stronger, have surrounded them;
Yea, though the raging, and the roaring seas,
Have also, like a
mote,
encircled these:
Through all these difficulties, I could find
Conveyances, if thereto he had mind,
To publish his
repentance;
and prevail,
If to perform his part, he should not fail.
Yea, find him means, without an obligation
To any
party,
or to any
Nation,
Or any, but himself; to make his peace,
With honor: and his
Kingdoms
to possess.
Now, let him neither heed, nor hearken to
What other men do say, or what they do;
For, whatsoever they shall act, or prattle,
(Will be to him, but, fruitless tittle tattle)
But, let him sit down, by himself alone;
And, set down (as, he reads, it hath been done
By King
Manasseh
) most unfain'd confessions
Of all his known offenses, and transgressions;
Acknowledge GOD's just dealing in afflicting;
His
Providence,
and
mercy,
in correcting
So like a
Father;
and, for his attending
So long time, for
repentance
and amending.
Let him express a resolute intent,
To leave to GOD's dispose, the government
Which he hath mannag'd ill; and to resign
Himself,
and
his,
to
providence divine,
With full assurance, of obtaining place,
In his free love, and all-sufficient grace.
This done; let him,
subscribe
the same, and spread it,
Before the LORD; let him with such
tears
read it,
As may declare, it was his
act
and
deed:
Then, seal it, with a
Heart, which much doth bleed;
And, with a
Lion rampant,
so reversed,
That, none may fear, his rage or bloody thirst.
Upon which
acts,
by means of your relation,
And, by that
spirit of communication,
Whereby, most secret actions, are made known,
(When to good purposes they may be shown)
Even at that point of time, they, who have been
His
opposites,
will feel, some creeping in,
First,
hopes;
then
Good opinions;
and, at last,
That which will blot out all
Offences
past;
And make them kill their
fat calf;
dance and sing;
That they, have found again their long lost
King.
Oh, that I could behold that happy day
Of penitence; and, that behold I may
Both
Parliament,
and
People
meet therein
So truly; that, their unrepentant sin
May not, when God hath re-inthroned him,
Prolong their woes, or bring new plagues on them.
But, who am I, that, either
you,
or
he,
Should on my word rely, or take from me
Those things which I have said? know, I am that
Which is your GENIUS called. If, you ask what
A GENIUS is, I will define the same,
According to the
nature,
and the
name.
So called it is, because, it doth incline
With an affection truly Genuine,
To draw to good, and to withdraw from ill,
Those
Persons,
both in
action
and in
will,
To whom it doth relate; and from disgraces,
And spoil, to keep such
Persons,
and such
places.
A GENIUS, is an incorporeal creature,
Consisting of an intellectual nature;
Which at the self-same time, a
being
had,
With that, for whose
well being
it was made.
And, may be called, that
Angel,
which designeth,
Adviseth, moveth, draweth, and inclineth
To happiness; and, naturally restraineth
From harm, that creature, whereto it pertaineth:
And, this am I to you. Then, have a care,
My counsels now, with good respect to hear:
For, they, to whom their GENIUS represents,
That, which to saftey tends, and harm prevents;
If, then, they shall his good advice neglect,
And, pass it by, with willful disrespect;
They shall deservedly, be left to those
Ill Angels,
whose direction, they have chose:
And, what will then succeed, they shall perceive
When 'tis too late, their evil choice to leave.
Then looking back, he fixed his eyes on me,
And, said; my
Secretary
thou shalt be
To Register, and publish to these
Nations,
What counsels, warnings, and what exhortations
God
hath vouchsafed them; that what ere betide,
His
Grace,
or
Justice
may be glorified.
This being said, my FANCY rose, and drew
A Curtain; wherewith, quite beyond my view,
This
apparition
vanished. And, I took
My
pen,
to put in writing, what was spoke,
And publish it to others, that it may
Prevent (if possible) your
evil day:
For, till
amendment,
or
destruction
come,
The
Beasts
would preach, should men continue dumb:
Yea, what their
Genius,
now to them doth speak,
If they should sleight it,
stones
would silence break,
To rouse them from their
slumbers;
or, to tell
Succeeding-Ages,
how and why they fell.
When all was vanished; and, I left alone,
Intending, what was willed to be done,
A
fear
surprised me; and, a shuddring took me,
Which with a long continuing trembling struck me;
And my weak heart began to be afraid,
To do what I resolved; and, thus it said.
Observ'st thou not the madness of this
Nation,
The rage and fury of this
Generation?
And, how like
Swine,
before whom Pearls are thrown,
They tread the givers of good counsel down,
And, tear them into pieces, by their scorns;
Because, they then expected
Barley-corns?
For, ten to one, even some in whose defense,
These
truths
are spoke, will want intelligence
To understand them so; and foolishly
Charge thee, with standring that
Authority
Which thou dost honor; and, which (as this day
Things go) can saved be no other way.
Hast thou, nigh forty years been vext and greoved,
By this dull
Generation,
unreleeved?
And having for it, ventured thy life,
Undone thy little children, and thy wife,
Left them nor house, nor lands, nor clothes, nor bread,
Nor ought wherewith they may be comforted,
(In that contagious sickness, which this day,
Hath driven all thy comforters away)
Yea, spent all in their service; and, wilt thou
Having obtained
words
and
paper
now,
Which promise restauration, hazard all
Those hopes, by that, which hereby may befall?
Hast thou full five years
•
oil'd and tired been
To struggle from the mischiefs thou wert in;
With much-much difficulty, got at last,
Acknowledgements, of what forborne thou hast?
And, probability, that thou perchance
Mayest get one half, by giving, for advance
The other moiety? And, meanest thou
To lose it all again, by doing now
What this
Illusion
doth entice thee to?
And everlastingly thyself undo?
For nothing spoken for the public good,
Will to thy benefit be understood,
By such as hate thee: And, thou well dost know
That thou mayest more be mischiev'd by one Foe
(
Who to the
public
faithfulness pretends
)
Then benefited by a hundred friends.
Take heed of this
temptation;
thou hast done
Thy share this way. Now, let the world alone:
Provide for thine own safety and thine ease:
As others do, write those things that may please:
And thou shalt then be freed from those disgraces,
That thou hast suffered: there will then, be places
For thee, as well as others: and thou then
Shalt favor'd be, as much as other men.
Thy peace is made already; not a tongue
Doth move against thee; And, thou shalt ere long
Of all thy dues be fully repossest,
If thou wilt let the world do what she list.
When thus, my own corruptions from within me,
Had spoke, from my good purposes to win me;
Another
Voice,
as coming from behind me,
Thus whispered: SON of EARTH, give ear & mind me.
Resist thou that suggestion; let it be
But as a
Serpent on a stone,
to thee,
Which finds no entrance: For, it is the seed
Of that old
Serpent,
whereof to take heed
Thou hast good cause; since, if his head prevail
To enter, he will slip in to the tail.
And, thou a poor flea-biting to avoid,
Mayest with the stings of Vipers be destroyed.
Fear not those
Bug-bears
wherewith fools are frighted;
Nor prize those toys wherewith such are delighted;
Fear not the cruel Tyrants of the times;
Nor taste their dainties, lest thou act their crimes.
Fear not thy Family shall be unfed;
For, he that gave them mouths, will give them bread.
He that already hath
five years
maintained thee,
(
Since thou hadst naught left likely to maintain thee
Five months)
and kept thee all that while aflaot
In
storms,
though thou hadst neither
Oar
nor
boat;
He can as well preserve thee now, as then,
With nothing: therefore, seek to him agen.
Think not thyself alone, or without friends;
For, thousands favor what thy Muse intends:
The well-affected
Members
of each
House,
Yea, all among them, who are generous,
Will favor thy endeavors; and, be glad,
That, in these times, an
English-man
they had,
Whom neither hopes, nor fears, could make afraid
To speak, what he thought pertinently said
For public safety; whatsoever he lost:
Or, whose design soere was thereby crossed.
He, that in times past, did secure thee from
Thy foes; will do the same in time to come:
For, that thou mayest believe he will do so,
Already
five successions,
in a row
He hath destroyed; who, causlessely had sought
Thy ruin. Some, of them, (who, lately brought
A mischief on themselves) now rooted be
From dwelling, where they persecuted thee:
The
sixth
is also ripening to be sent
To follow them, unless they shall repent.
They, whom thou fear'st, if thou shalt constant be
In good resolves, will be afraid of thee;
For, GOD shall put the fear of thee on those
Who to thy
principles,
and
ways,
are Foes;
Or else, at least, they shall still slumber on;
And, let thee speak in vain, as they have done.
Discourage not thyself, as if thy pain
In these endeavors would be quite in vain;
For, GOD will make thy weary Pilgrimage
Bring some advantage to this present age,
Or to the next. To this
work
thou wert borne;
And, when thou to thy
Fathers
dost return,
It shall not grieve thee, that thou hast bestowne,
More time for
public good,
then for thine own.
Thy
Faculties
were not conferred on thee
For no Employment; nor imployd to be
In flattering
fools:
nor, as at first it was,
To praise the
fading beauties
of a face:
Or, play with those
affections,
which infuse
The vain expressions, that pollute a
Muse;
But, to provoke to
virtue:
to deter
From vice, all
chaste affections
to prefer;
GOD'S Judgments to declare; his righteousness
To magnify; his mercies to confess:
And, whilst thou to this purpose art employ'd,
Fear not to be undone, or be destroyed:
For, by
undoing,
thou shalt be
new-made;
By thy
destruction,
safety shall be had:
And, if this
Generation
shall pursue
Thy love with hatred; or with-hold thy due;
It shall be
one addition
to their
doom,
To be the scorn of every Age to come.
This reconfirm'd my
Spirit;
and I found
My heart with fearless courage, to abound.
With resolutions, I was fortifi'd;
And, throwing all my own affairs aside,
Which most concerned me; I, to write begun
What I had heard: and, now, the work is done,
My Conscience is discharged; my heart is eased;
And, therein come what will, I shall be pleased.
Terrae Filius.
To the Parliaments.
IT is not
fear,
in me; nor it is shame,
Which makes me, at this time, conceal my
name:
But, humble modesty, and consciousness,
Of that known frailty, and unworthiness,
Wherewith my
Person,
outwardly is clothed,
Oft, makes myself, even of myself so loath'd,
That (not without good reason) I suspect
My purposes, may find the less effect,
If, ere you taste the fruit, I let you know,
In whose poor Garden, GOD, hath made it grow.
For, many times, the best wine pleaseth not,
Unless, we like the
Drawer,
and the
Pot.
A homebred
Simples
virtue, few will own;
A
Doctor
seems best skilled, that is unknown:
Yea, miracles, by
Christ,
were seldom done,
Where, he reputed was, but
Josephs
son.
How ere it please, or may be understood,
I dare aver, my purposes were good;
And, that, hereby, you have advantages
To do your
selves
an
honor,
if you please.
Therewith, you
profit,
likewise, may receive,
If, thereunto, but those respects you give,
Which are, in equity, to those things due,
That will both
profit,
and much
honor
you.
GOD'S
will be done:
and, if your
will
agree
With his, then, let your
will
be done on me.
Aliquid ex improviso.
THe
Author
will not, now, this
Poem
send
Unto the
King;
because it may offend.
But, if to give it, he had lawful way,
He down would kneel; and, thus would humbly say.
Dear Sir,
be pleased to peruse this
Book,
With undistempred heart, and gracious look;
And, though some
Passages,
may harsh appear,
Read out with patience, what is written here:
For, as with you, and your
affairs
it stands,
My due allegiance, strictly me commands,
That, I should plainly deal, and boldly do,
What, my well meaning heart did prompt me to
And I have hope, you shall receive by me,
A wholesome
Pill,
although it bitter be.
I could not flatter, when you were at height:
Nor would I to your
sufferings,
add the weight
Of half a grain, (to purchase my own health,
Though I were sick) for all your former wealth.
So tender am I, and so much afraid,
To lay on more, where GOD enough hath laid;
Till I may be assured, that you contemn
His mercies; and proceed, in spite of him.
And, I, had now been pleased, with words more calm,
To have expressed my mind; and with soft
balm,
To have anointed you; but that thereby,
Some (who, it may be, have an evil eye)
Might find occasion to obstruct that cure,
Which, by this course, may speedy be, and sure.
Your wisdom finds my meaning, if your heart
Hath any sympathizing with my art;
And, I shall soon perceive it, when I know
What countenance you hereupon bestow.
If I discover not an operation,
According to my honest expectation,
I shall desist. But, if respect you give
To my intent, in this sharp
Corrosive;
I shall endeavor, to provide a
dos,
That may close up your wounds, repair your loss;
And, give you good assurance, in the end,
That, he who seemed your
foe,
hath been your
friend:
Yea dares be so; if you dare be your own,
Though, ten times more affliction, pressed you down;
And act for you, as far as he is able,
His part, of
Mouse
and
Lion,
in the Fable;
Though both his foes, and yours stood looking on him,
And, threatened all the spite that could be done him:
For, with a
Thief,
that Penitent shall be,
A
Crucifying,
undergo would he,
Much rather, then enjoy his preservation,
With
Barabbas,
by public acclamation.
Quae nocent, docent;
BUT,
Ex nihilo nihil fit.
FINIS.
Faults escaped.
SOme faults, have been committed by the
Printer;
Some, have escaped the
Author,
peradventure:
The first, correct yourselves, as you shall find them;
The last, pass by, as if you did not mind them,
Forgiving, as of him, you are forgiven;
So, we shall all be friends, and reck'nings even.
Errata.
Pag. 49. lin. 12. read Square out. lin. 32. r. furnished be. p. 52. l. 2. read could receive, l. 8. read them of, p. 53. l. 8. read grieved, p. 54. l. 12. read, they seem. p. 55. l. 9. read all men, p. 57. l. 3. read 'It is I, (this. l. 27. read yearning p. 59. l. 24. read those, p. 61. l. 6. read 'tis not, p. 67. 5. let every. p. 68. l. 7. projected, p. 80. l. 6. read beget. p. 84. l. 3. of any sense.