The Miseries of War

THE MISERIES OF WARR.

W Hen I consider our late lost happiness of a blessed Peace, and the heavy pressures of this present War; I find it hard to judge, which of them may be justly called our greatest affliction: but both being laid together (sure I am) harder misfortune nere befell a Nation. And yet I find a sort of Salamander spirits (in what torrid flames of cursed contention nourished, I cannot tell) that will admit of naught that sounds of Peace; but cry down all accommodation, unless their own prodigious fancies (conditions worse then War) may be the ingredients.

But let such Jncendiaries take heed least they fall into the Pit that they themselves have digged: For who may in common presumpsition be more justly charged to be the Authors, and Fomenters of War, then such as shall oppose a Peace? I have been very inquisitve to know, what may be the true ground of this unnatural War; the most, and most discreet, to whom I have propounded that Question, Ingeniously confess, they are ignorant of it: Others; that will be ignorant of nothing, and scarce rightly understand anything; will tell you the cause as readily, as if they were the Founders of it. Yet I cannot meet with any two of them that concur in the same particular, only thus far they agree in the general, that it is for the maintenance of the Protestant Religion, and the Laws of the Land.

Why, this is pretended on both sides? But if that be the quarrel, certainly the Question hath been hitherto mistaken, or at least, mis stated; for neither Law nor Religion are any ways opposite to Peace.

War and the Law are inconsistent, for the Law hath its very subsistence by Peace, whence the rule is, Inter arma silent leges, that is, The Laws are dumb in time of War; and the Prophet David tells us, that Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other. Now Righteousness in the Latin Translation is rendered Justitia, which is Justice, and every man, that understands anything, knows that Right or Justice is the fruit and ende of the Law.

And in another place you may hear the same Prophet speaking to God himself, saying, Great Peace have they that love thy Law. So you see Law and Peace still coupled together. And through the whole Scripture I find no Warring Law, but that which the Apostle Paul speaks of, saying, I see annother law in my members, warring against the Law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. And how good this warring law is, you may perceive by the Text. Now for Religion, which is only the service of God, the holy Scriptures will plentifully inform you, what relation and affinity that hath with Peace. For there you shall find God styled, the God of Peace. And again, The God of Love and Peace. Our blessed Savior is called, The Prince of Peace. In the Epistle to the Gallatians, it is said, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And the same Apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians, farther saith, I therefore the Prisoner of the Lord, beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called: with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace. And in the same Epistle, Christ's Gospel is called The Gospel of Peace. God calls his Covenant, The Covenant of Peace. Our blessed Savior in his Sermon upon the Mount, pronounces no small blessing on the Peacemaker. Blessed (saith he) are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. And the Psalmist tells us, that The Lord will bless his people with Peace. The wisest of men tell us, To the Counselors of Peace is joy. How often are we commanded in the Holy Scriptures, To have Peace one with another. To live in Peace. To be at Peace among ourselves. To pray for Peace. To love Peace. To seek Peace and ensue it.

And is God the God of Peace? and do they not fear his heavy judgments to be denounced against them, and his dreadful wr • th and indignation to be shoured down upon them, who shall presume to Preach or Petition against a Peace? Is Christ the Prince of Peace? and can they think themselves his Subjects, and desire a War? Are the fruits of the Spirit Love and Peace? and can any man think himself moved, or inspired with the Spirit, who shall live in hatred, or oppose a Peace? Sure it must be with that lying spirit that persuaded Ahab's Prophets. Is the Gospel a Gospel of Peace? Then certainly his Religion cannot be founded upon that Gospel, who shall not love and seek Peace. Is Peace a blessing? Is the Peacemaker blessed? and shall he be called the child of God? Accursed must he then be, and (it is to be feared) little better then the child of the Devil, who breathes out nothing but War.

But some of these Botefeus, seeking to varnish over their blood-thirsty desires with a pretended inclination to peace, say, they refuse it not, so as it may be accompanied with truth. It is well said, I wish it were as truly meant. He must be a man of a very easy credulity that can assent to credit it; for I dare with confidence affirm, and I believe the whole Kingdom (besides their own faction) will unanimously agree, that more lies and falcities have fallen from the pens of these kind of men, within less then these two years, then ever were committed to the Press, since Printing was invented.

Indeed, I think their desires of Peace and Truth, are equal; but let such take heed by Ananias and Saphiras judgments. And I hope this Kingdom will beware how they credit such Jesuitical gulleries, least instead of a pretended truth, we find a certain ruin; Were such men enforced to be the actors, which are the greatest sticklers for this bloody war, we had then some hopes of a happy peace, and consequently of truth, ever a better friend to peace, then war.

We were indeed too happy in our late Peace, which made us forget our God, the giver of that blessing, and thereby justly called down, his heavy vengeanee of a Civil War, for our ingratitude. We had then, a Land flowing with milk and honey; there was no complaining in our streets: but each man sitting under the shade of his own Vine, might without fear eat of his own fig tree, and drink the waters of his own cesterne. How richly habited were almost all ranks and degrees of people? In our Savior's time, those that wore soft clothing were in Kings houses: but in the time of our late peace, it was to be found almost in every pessants Cottage, silks were the ware of every ordinary person; we accounted him a very mean trades-man, that could not put his wife into a silk gown and a beaver; nay, were not the wives of many Citizens of ordinary trades, habited in as rich Satin, and bone-lace, adorned with as many orient peals, fair diamonds, and other jewels of value, as might well become a queen? and yet now paradventure would gladly part with them, to be secured sustinance for themselves and families.

How munificent were we in our buildings with stately Turrets, seeming to threaten the very clouds? many of them already left dessolate without an inhabitant, and how great pity is it to see such stately Fabrickes levelled with the ground? How did we abound in rich furniture, costly hangings, couches, bedding, and the like; massy plate, and other gallant house-hold-stuff, already become a prey to the merciless soldiers, even those that pretend to fight for us. What curious gardens, brave orchards, fair meadows, rich pastures, and fruitful corn fields, are now ruined, defaced, and unmanured? Indeed we did abound in all things that plenty could afford, or curiosity invent; we had health, wealth, pleasure, profit, now turned to sickness, penury, pain and mourning. Parents then enjoyed the dear pledges of their love, their children; children their loving parents, friends and neighbors mutually happy in each others society, so that nothing was wanting to our felicity.

But this bloody tyrant War, hath put a period to all our joys, all our happiness. Monstrum horrendum inform ingens: that huge horrible, ugly Monster. Horresco referens, I tremble to speak of it. When David had committed that great sin against the Lord in numbering the people, and as a punishment for it, was to submit to his choice of three heavy judgments, chose either Pestilence, or Famine, then that of the Sword, which he knew had no mercy. Let us (saith he) now fall into the hand of the Lord (for his mercies are great) and let me not fall into the hands of man. War is one of God's greatest Plagues, his fearefullest judgments, his heaviest scourges upon a Nation: for how ugly is the visage of it? how manifold are the miseries of it? Especially that of a civil war, as ours is in this Kingdom.

Man, created after God's own image, destroying the image of his Creator; Christian most unchristianly slaughtring his brother in Christ: nay, Protestants linckt by a nearer tie of religion, massacring those of their own Religion: the father most unnaturally ripping up the bowels of his son, and the son of the father, a brother beating out his brothers brains; kinsman against kinsman, friend against friend, most barbarously and inhumanely butchering one another: here a bullet, there a spear, or Poleax separating the soul and body in the very act of wrath and malice: the devouring Cannon heaping the mangled carcasses of horse and man together. What ghastly looks, what hideous screekes, and dismal groans, what grisly gaping wounds of dying men, besmeared with blood and dirt, do even affright and terrify the hearers and spectators, though their enemies. What out-cries, tears and sighs by new-made widows for their husbands deaths? What mournings by aged parents for their slaughtred sons? What lamentation by poor distressed children made fatherless by war? What pillaging, plundrings, rapines, murders, massacres, by the cruel, barbarous, and bloody soldier? No liberty left us of ploughing, sowing, trafficking, or trading one with the other.

That with the industrious and painful tradesman, or husbandman, hath with much labor and pains gathered together, to be the staff and comfort of their age, and to be a portion and provision for their children, in an instant becomes the prey and spoil of a few merciless men. And all these miseries usually seconded by pestilence and famine. Let us look upon the miserable condition of Samaria, besieged by the Syrians, when by reason of the war, the famine was so great, that an asses head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kabb of doves dung, for five pieces of silver. Nay women did eat their own children, as appears by a woman's complaint to the King of Israel. And she answered, this woman said unto me, give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow, so we boiled my son and did eat him, and said into her on the next day, give thy son that we may eat him, and she hath hid her son.

Let us behold the miseries of Germany, a Kingdom once as famous and flourishing as ours lately was, but hath now suffered the miseries of almost 20 years war: where many stately Towns and Cities have been burnt to the ground, women ravished even in the very Churches, and after hewn in pieces: men's ears and noses cut off, and strings put through them, to make hat-bands: holes made in the legs and arms of men, and cords drawn through them, their guts pulled out at their mouths children tost on the points of spears; and so great hath the famine been in some part thereof, that the people have been glad to eat dogs, cats, dead men, and all manner of carrion for food.

Nay let us go no further then bleeding Ireland, (which now suffers for our distraction here) and we shall find their miseries not behind those of Germany, where after they had beaten out the husbands brains, they ravished the wise, and then ripping her up being with child, cast the child into the fire: ravishing maids and women before their parents and husbands faces: driving men and women naked out of their houses into the frost and snow, where hundreds of them have perished with cold and famine, hanging some, and with most exquisite tortures, mangling, gashing, and miserably tormenting others, without all sense of humanity. And God Almighty knows how soon it may be our turns to suffer the like, or worse calamities, unless we endeavor to prevent it, by applying all our diligence, industry, and affections towards the procuring of a Peace, while it may be had. The long continued war in Germany shows us, Peace is not easy to be obtained, when a smaller Army then ours, on either side, hath been for many years together attempted to be removed, but without success. Neither doth God always bless either the greater or the better side with victory. For we have many examples in Scripture where great Armies have been overcome with smaller numbers: and our Savior himself tells you, that the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, were not sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things; nor those 18. upon whom the tower of Sh • loh fell and slue, sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem: which shows they are not always the greatest sinners, whom God suffers to perish here. Let us therefore use all possible endeavors for a peace, and for prevention of farther shedding of blood; least by lamentable experience we find ourselves included within that heavy judgment pronounced by our Savior, which is, that All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.