A Proclamation
In the Name of the King of Kings,
To all the Inhabitants of the Isles of
Great Britain:
And especially, to those who have Hypocritically
pretended to
Justice, Mercy, Honesty
and
Religion;
(as also to them who have lived in open
Profaneness and Impiety) summoning them
to Repentance, by denouncing GOD's
Judgments,
and declaring his
Mercy,
offered in the
Everlasting Gospel.
Warrantably Proclaimed, and Preached, by
GEO. WITHER.
Though not by any
Human Ordination.
Whereto are added, some
FRAGMENTS
Of the same Authors, omitted in the first Imprinting
of the Book, Intituled,
Scraps
and
Crums;
and a few which were Collected since that Impression,
and during his Imprisonment.
LONDON,
Printed in the year, 1662.
A
PROCLAMATION
In the Name of the King of Kings,
To the Inhabitants of the Isles of Great Britain;
especially to all those who have Hypocritically
pretended to Justice, Mercy,
Honesty and Religion; as also, to them,
who live in open Profaneness and Impiety;
summoning them to Repentance, by denouncing
GOD'S Judgments; and thereto encouraging
them, by declaring his Mercy,
offered in the Everlasting Gospel.
ON the first day of the Week, the second
day of the first Moneth, in the
second Year of
revived Monarchy
in these Islands, and in the eighth
Moneth of my Confinement, for discharging my
Conscience; My
Consort
being then with me in
the house of my Imprisonment, and intending to
read some parcel of
holy Scripture
for our instruction
and refreshment; The first place presenting
itself to her view, and then read, was the
seventh Chapter of the Prophecy of
Jeremiah;
the Contents whereof, and part of the next, seemed
to my understanding, when I had heard them,
to be so pertinent to these
Nations
in this
Generation,
that I was immediately inspired with a strong
persuasion, that the effect of those words, heretofore
dictated to
Jeremiah
by the LORD,
was then spoken to me, by the Spirit of the same
GOD; and, he having given me fifty years Experience
of the Transactions between Himself and
this People, since I came to years of discretion;
and also called me to be a
Prophet
by that
Ordinary
Anointing,
whereof every true Member
of
Jesus Christ
is partaker; I thereupon thought
myself as truly obliged in Conscience, to proclaim
it to all the
Provinces, Counties, Towns,
and
Cities
of these
Islands,
as the said Prophet
Jeremiah
was to publish it in the
Gate
of the
LORD's House at
Jerusalem.
Therefore, in obedience
to that
Internal Motion,
I now declare
and apply it in the same terms, changing and
adding only the
names
and
prevarications
therein
mentioned, into those which are proper to this
Time
and
Place.
The Effect of the said Prophecy,
is this which next follows paraphrastically
expressed; and in the
Name
and
Fear
of GOD,
I thus proclaim it,
Mutatis mutandis.
JEREMIAH, the 7th Chapter, and
part of the 8th.
THe Word which came to the Prophet
Jeremiah
from the LORD,
came to me, by
the said Prophet,
saying; Stand in the
Gate of
this City, wherein the LORD
hath yet his House,
there Proclaim this Word, and
say; Hear the Word of the LORD, and ye Inhabitants
of
Great Britain,
who
pretend
to worship
the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, the LORD
of Hosts, the GOD of
Israel, and your GOD:
Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause
you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying
words, (
or, in your formal sanctity and will-worship
)
saying, The Temple of the LORD, The Temple of
the LORD, (
nor say in boast, here is only his true
reformed Church, and with us are his Ordinances)
for know,
The Temple of the LORD are these,
even they that obey his Word;
in them he dwells,
and among them is his approved Worship.
If you
amend your ways and your doings; If you thoroughly
execute Judgment between a man and his
neighbor; If you oppress not the Stranger, the
Fatherless, or the Widow, nor shed innocent Blood
in this place, nor walk after other God's in your
heart, to your hurt, (
nor worship the True GOD according,
to the superstitious Inventions of men
) then
will I cause you to dwell in this place, which I
gave unto your fathers, forever. But, behold, ye
trust in lying words, that cannot profit: Will ye
murder, commit Adultery, swear falsely, sacrifice
to false God's, and walk after such as ye
know not, and then come and stand before me in
my House,
or think in your hearts
you were delivered
from your late troubles,
to do all these abominations?
Is that House which is called by my
Name, become a Den of Robbers in your eyes?
Behold, I have seen it, saith the LORD. Consider
now my Place which was in Shiloh, where I set my
Name at the first:
Consider also the City of Jerusalem,
and my Temple therein:
heed what I did to
those places for the wickedness of my People
Israel:
For, in regard ye have done such works as
they did, saith the LORD; and, forasmuch as I
spake unto you (
as I did to them
) rising up early,
yet was not heard, not answered when I called
upon you; I will now do unto
those
Temples
upon
which ye have imposed my Name, and to that
Superstitious Worship, wherein ye trust, as I have
done to Shiloh and Jerusalem:
For I will cast you
out of my sight, as I (
long ago
) cast our Ephraim,
(
and as I lately cast out many of your brethren.
)
Therefore pray not for this people, that they may
totally
be delivered (
from the temporary visitation,
which their willful sins have, as it were, constrained
my Justice to bring upon them, lest my Mercy should
be quite contemned
) life not up thy prayer, nor
make intercession on their behalf, for I will not
hear thee
to that purpose.
Seest thou not what they do in the Cities of
these
Isles,
and in the streets of
LONDON their chief
City? (Observest thou not what Swearings and
Forswearings there are? what Dissemblings? what
Apostacies? and how few are now secure from the
Spiritual and Temporal Oppressions of this Generation?
(As they did in Jeremiah's days
) the Children
gathered wood, the fathers kindled the fire,
the women kneaded the dough to bake cakes for
the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink
oblations to other gods, that they might provoke
me to anger,
saith the LORD: (So the Children,
the Fathers, the Women, and the People of all sorts
and degrees, contribute toward their Superstitions,
according to their abilities, after the mode of these
times; and pour out their drink Oblations of cursed
healths, to those Idols which they have set up and
honor, to the provocation of GOD's wrath.
) But
do they provoke me to anger saith the
LORD?
do they not rather provoke themselves to the confusion
of their own faces?
Verily they do so:
therefore, thus saith the
LORD,
Behold, my
anger and my fury shall be poured out on this
place, upon Man and Beast, upon the trees of
the Field, upon the Fruits of the ground, and
they shall consume, as if they were burnt up with
an unquenchable fire. Thus also, saith the
LORD
of hosts, the
GOD
of
Israel; (make your
selves merry with your carnal delights, and Superstitious
vanities:
) Put your burnt-offerings to
your Sacrifices, and eat Flesh;
Add more of your
formal Thanksgivings, to your formal Humiliations;
Revive the late interrupted Traditions of men;
Please yourselves in them, and Gormundize upon the
Profits you raise out of them, until you are fat; yet
know, GOD delights not in them.
What I spake unto
your Fathers,
and unto yourselves,
in the days
wherein I brought you out
of Egypt, (out of the
bodily and ghostly servitude of that mystical Egypt,
and out of that Babylonish Captivity, whereunto you
are preparing to return
) I commanded nothing
concerning such sacrifices as you have offered,
(
nor gave I unto you any such Ordinances, as are
many of those which ye imposed as mine
) But,
this I commanded you, saying, obey my Voice,
and I will be your
GOD,
and ye shall be my
People: walk in the ways that I have commanded,
that, it may be well with you; nevertheless,
ye have not hearkened nor inclined your
ear, but walking after the evil Counsels of your
own hearts, went backward and not forward.
Ever since that day, wherein I delivered you
from your Spiritual Thraldom, and in which I would
have delivered you from your Corporeal slaveries;
I
have even from that time until this day, sent
unto you my servants the Prophets (
of all sorts,
and with various dispensations
) rising early, and
daily sending them,
as I did heretofore to my
People Israel;
yet, you hearkened not unto me, nor
Inclined your ear unto them; but, hardened your
necks, and did worse then your Fathers; (
yea,
worse then other transgressors whom I formerly destroyed,
and by whose fall, ye ought to have taken
warning
) Therefore thou shalt speak unto them
these words:
Even thou into whose heart I have
put it, to make application of what I heretofore spake by
my Prophet Jeremiah, shalt Proclaim unto them these
words, though they have not hearkened unto them;
yea,
thou shalt call
again
upon them though they
will not answer
thy expectation;
And, thus thou
shalt say unto them: This is a Nation that obeyeth
not the voice of the
LORD
their
GOD,
nor
receive Instruction,
notwithstanding the Judgments
whereby I have lately proved them many years
together; and which, in part, yet lie upon them;
for, Truth is perished, and cut off from their
mouth.
Cut off therefore, your hair;
lay aside your
Ornaments,
and cast them away;
Forbear your
Pride, your Luxury, your Oppressions, and the Trophies
of your vanities, in this time at least of penury
and Afflictions;
and take up a Lamenta
•
ion in
the high Places, wherein ye have exalted your
own Inventions:
For, the
L0RD
hath rejected
and forsaken the Generations of his wrath. The
Children and Inhabitants of
these Isles,
have
done evil in my sight, saith the
LORD.
They
have set up their abominations in my house to
pollute it,
and in those places whereupon they have
imposed my Name, instead of what I commanded.
They have built high places, wherein are committed
things as abominable as the sacrificing of
sons heretofore in
Tophet
in the valley of the son
of
Hinnom. They have set up set ways of worshipping
me, as were not commanded by me,
nor ever
entered into my heart: Therefore, the days will
come saith the
LORD;
that those Places shall
not be called by their old names, but places of
slaughter, and in them shall be Burials, until
there be not room to contain more. Then, the
Carkasses of these Nations shall be meat for the
Fowls of Heaven, and for the Beasts of the Earth,
and no man shall fright them away. Then, also,
will I cause to cease from the Cities of
Great
Britain,
and from the Streets even of her chief
City, the voice of mirth and gladness the
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voice of a cheerful Bridegroom and his Bride;
and the sound of those Musical Instruments wherein
ye are now so delighted, with all the altar'd Relicks
of Superstition.
Moreover, thus saith the
LORD,
a time will come wherein they shall take the
bones of your Kings, and the bones of your
Princes, (
as it lately befell to others
) and the bones
of your Priests (
and Prelates
) and the bones of
your Prophets
who seduced you,
and the bones of
the Inhabitants of your chief City out of their
Graves, and spread them before the Sun and
Moon, and before the Hoast of Heaven, and
before the face of those false gods whom you have
loved, served, walked after, sought and worshipped,
and they shall never be gathered together,
nor buried, but be as dung upon the face of the
Earth. And, death shall be rather chosen then
life, of all those who remain of this evil Family,
wheresoever they remain in the places whither I
have driven them, saith the
LORD
of Hosts.
Thou shalt say thus likewise unto them; Thus
saith the
LORD,
shall they fall and not rise?
Shall they cause him so to turn away from them
that he shall not return? If not, why then is this
People slidden back by a perpetual backsliding?
holding fast their deceit, and refusing to return?
I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright,
no man repenteth himself perfectly of his wickedness,
saying, what have I done? but everyone
runneth on in his course, as the Horse rusheth into
the battle.
They are more brutish than the brute
Creatures; for,
the Stork knoweth her appointed
time; the Turtle, the Crane, and the Swallow
know the time of their coming, but my People
know not the Judgment of the
Lord;
yet, they
say, We are wise, and the Law of the
LORD
is
with us; yea,
they boast as if they were the most
glorious, and best reformed Church of Christ upon
Earth.
The remainder of this Prophetical rebuke
and Invitation to Repentance, I leave to be
perused in the said prophesy of
Jeremiah,
and
applied by every Reader as
GOD
shall give
him understanding, that the Mystical
Balm of
Gilead
therein mentioned, may be timely sought
after; and that
Physician
found, by whom our
Maladies may be cured; To which purpose, I
will proceed with what I have more to say, in
order to the making you desirous and capable
of receiving benefit by that
Universal Gospel,
which the
Angel
flying through the midst of
Heaven, was to Preach to every
Nation, Kindred,
Tongue
and
People
throughout the World;
and, after a more general reception thereof
(it being that which will destroy the whole
Mystery of Iniquity,
Root and Branch) the
Angel
next immediately following, will bring tidings,
that
Babylon is fallen.
This foregoing Branch of the Prophet
Jeremiah's
Commission; being, (as it were by way of
Exemplification
)
delivered out to me upon the occasion
aforesaid, I was internally moved to publish it to
these
Nations
in this my
Generation,
as I have now
done this day; And I have performed it warrantably,
with a good Conscience, because, I
am infallibly assured, that, it was recorded for
all
Nations
and
Generations
to the end of the
World, as well as intended for the Inhabitants
of
Judah
in
Jeremiah's
days; and that it ought to
be applied to all those who are found guilty of
the same, or of the like
Prevarications;
and this
I believe, in regard he who doth nothing in vain,
would not have preserved, during so many Ages,
this Record of his Judgments, and of the particular
passages between him and his People; and
caused it to have been so dispersed throughout
the Earth, had it not concerned all
his People
in
all
Times
and
Places.
Therefore, it evidently
appearing unto me, that
GOD
moved me to apply
it to these
Nations,
I have accordingly made
Application, in this manner; conceiving it will
operate the more effectually, by being expressed
in the Prophets own powerful words & sense; and
much better heeded and regarded then in mine
only; or if it had been undertaken by my own
Premeditated Design,
though I have seen enough
to warrant the justness and necessity of making
such an Addresse upon a morral account. I have
not hereby charged upon these
Nations
any transgression
which was charged upon the Inhabitants
of
Judea
and
Jerusalem
by the Prophet
Jeremiah,
(nor any
Prevarications
resembling their sins or
to them equivalent) but, such as
GOD,
my
own
Conscience,
and
most men
know (or may know)
these
Nations
are guilty of; nor do I exclude
my
self
out of that number which needs Repentance,
but, have performed my duty faithfully without
respect or disrespect of Persons according to my
understanding. And, being conscious that it is
my duty so to do, I will now, by the Authority
of those
Credentials,
which
GOD
hath written in
my heart (and which are in part, publicly shown)
make use of them in such Immergencies and Contingencies
as occur, faithfully adding what I
believe he hath further Commissioned me to declare,
so far forth as my
Experience
and his
known
Instructions,
jointly considered, shall indubitably
warrant. And that is, at this time to send out
among you an
Exhortation
to be wary, that you
still harden not your hearts as in those former
days of
Temptation
and
Provocation,
wherein
ye provoked
GOD's
wrath: but, that you hearken
unto his
Voice
whilst the
day of Grace
lasteth.
But, alas! I am between hope and fear, it is
almost too late with many; For, they who are
worst, have so high a conceit of themselves, that
there is more hope of mere fools then of them.
They think themselves to be safe & clear-sighted,
when they are indeed, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked; they suppose they are settled upon the hill
of
Zion,
whereas, they are yet but as it were upon
the mount
Gilboa,
even in slippery places, where
they cannot long stand fast; For, we have almost
so generally indulged
Oppressions, Injustice,
and
Vanities,
that they seem to be the principal supporters
of our
Safety, Power,
and
Honor;
yea
to be essential to our
Laws
and
legal Customs,
as
also so great a part of our Revenues, & the means
of our
Subsistance,
that, we can hardly live without
them. Verily break off in due time from your
sins, and from all the occasions of transgressing;
Hear, repent
and turn speedily to the
LORD
our
GOD,
not
presuming
nor
despairing.
In the first place, I do humbly (though I might
do it Magisterially) beseech you my
dear brethren
(who seeming to be Professors of the
Gospel,
have
dissembled or Apostatized, or any way given occasion
of
Scandal
) be exemplary to others in a
signal
Repentance:
For, nor your
formal,
nor your
former
Righteousness,
will avail, if you have Apostatized
from it. Though not in respect to my
words, yet for the Honor of
GOD,
whose servants
you are thought to be, and for your own safety
sake, repent and turn to the
LORD
unfeignedly,
all ye, who have hitherto taken the
Name
of
Christ
in vain, and profaned it, by not living
the
Life of Christ
according to those Doctrines of
his, which ye have professed; nor
acting,
nor
suffering
constantly according to that
honesty,
and
Piety,
whereof ye made fair outward shows:
For, many of you have made sordid
Gain
by a
pretended
Godliness;
and like the Religious
Whore, of whom
Solomon
speaketh, have made
your
seeming holiness,
and formal
Devotions
and
Conformities,
to be Preambles and Brokers to
your
Avarice
and
uncleanness.
There have been
very great failings of late in that kind among the
best of us; so much
self-seeking, dissembling
and
Apostatizing,
that, there was little truth in our
words,
or
deeds;
and very great and severe are
those
chastisements
which
GOD
hath already laid
upon us for our transgressions, and greater are
yet to come, if we more heartily repent not. All
GOD's Judgments
afore-mentioned, and threatened
against
Judah,
by the Prophet
Jeremiah,
might
have been prevented by timely
Penitence;
and
so may those wherewith we are threatened, and
these also be quite removed, which yet continue.
But, neither our
Righteousness
in time past, from
which we have Apostatized, shall profit us; nor
shall our
sins
which we have heretofore committed
damnify us, if we reform our ways: For,
GOD
hath not only said it, but sworn it also by
his own Life,
Ezek.
33. 11, 12. &c.
As I live
saith the LORD, I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked, but rather, that he may turn from his
wickedness and live; The Righteousness of the
Righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his
Transgression, nor shall the wicked fall by his wickedness
in the day that he turneth from it: neither
the Righteousness of the Righteous shall be remembered
when he committeth Sin, without Repentance;
nor the wickedness of the wicked be mentioned, when
he forsaketh his Sin; but he shall surely live, though I
formerly said unto him, thou shalt surely die. GOD,
who will not be mocked, hath begun to execute
Judgments
at his
own House,
and we prolong and
increase them, by continuing and increasing our
Trangressions; yea, and not only by our little
awe of his
Judgments,
but by not rightly considering
his
Love,
and by defect of that
mutual
and hearty love
to each other which most essentially
denominats us to be
Christ's
Disciples; for,
we have thereby multiplied our sorrows and
Troubles, more then all our
Adversaries
could
else have done; And, though we had no other
Oppressors
or
Persecutors,
that alone is suffcient
(if it continue) to make us utterly destroy our
selves. Consider this, my dear brethren, with
what it hath already brought upon us, that ye
may speedily repent:
GOD
vouchsafe his Grace
to assist you therein, and to me
Perseverance
also, in unfeigned
Repentance
and
Amendment.
Repent likewise, all ye, who say in your hearts,
There is no GOD,
and sport away your Salvation,
by such horrible Imprecations, as
GOD damn me;
For, though you not only think, but speak and
act also, as if indeed there was no
GOD,
you will
one day find there is one, and that he hath several
ways manifested himself unto you, both openly
and in secret (by his
Judgments
and
Mercies
upon yourselves, and others for your example)
though you will not yet acknowledge it, but run
on impudently, into all manner of impiety and
profaneness, promising unto yourselves Peace,
when destruction hangs over your heads. For, as
the Prophet saith,
Jerem.
49. 12. and 25. 29.
Behold,
saith the LORD, they whose Judgment was
not to drink of the Cup, have already drunk thereof;
and
shall you go unpunished? you shall not go unpunished,
but shall surely drink it. I have begun to
bring evil upon those who are called by my Name, and
shall you utterly escape punishment? you shall not escape;
for I will bring a sword upon all the Inhabitants of the
Earth, saith the LORD.
But, I will conclude with an
Evangelical Consolation;
and that which I shall declare unto you
is an Epitome of the
Everlasting Gospel,
which
ascertaineth that
Jesus Christ
is the
Eternal Mercy
of
GOD,
and the
Redeemer of all mankind
according
to the
Covenant of Grace,
the same
today,
yesterday, and forever.
This, I am authorized
to Preach unto you by an unquestionable
Ordination
and
Commission;
For, I declare it according
to that
Original Commission,
which was given to
all who were or should be the
Ministerial Disciples
of
Jesus Christ,
thereto qualified by the
Gifts
given to men from above, though not Ordained
by men: For, I declare it not by that
Light
alone
which the
Son of GOD
potentially set up in me
when he assumed the
Human Nature,
(and wherewith
he enlightens in some degree everyone who
comes into the World, for the Salvation of his
own Soul) but, by having his
Gospel
declared and
witnessed also unto me by that
Light
in the
Lanthorn of his Word,
which ought to be a guide to
every man's feet, and the direction of all men in
their ways, left the other
Light,
being but like
that, which the
Moon
receiveth by reflection
from the
Sun,
may be darkened by the interpositions
of the
Flesh
and the
World,
or by the delusions
of the
Devil. GOD's Threatenings,
Mercies, and
Promises,
are all, or for the most part,
conditional;
and
may be,
or
may not be,
according as we demean
ourselves, when he calleth & offereth his
preventing
and assisting Grace;
wherein he is never wanting
to perform his part of the
Covenant
made with
mankind
in
Christ Jesus.
He is
longsuffering, slow
to Anger, would all men should be saved,
and
desireth
not the death of any sinner.
There is no end of his
Mercy,
unless to them only, who willfully forsake
him first (after he so sufficiently rewards the
Will
) when he saith,
Give me thy heart,
which
he may give up unto him, by virtue of the
Talent which he hath received; And, even to
them who then resist his
gracious offer,
he is not
extremely severe,
until they do (as it were) compel
his
Justice
to limit his
Compassion,
by justly
hardening them into a
final Impenitency,
that his
Mercy
may not be made contemptible, to the
disadvantage of others, by their yielding to the
Flesh,
which by his aid they might have subdued;
and by their ungratefully adhering to, and believing
his, and their greatest Enemy, rather
then trusting to his Word, who placed them in a
happy Condition;
and, when they forfeited it by
their own default, had so much compassion on
them (even whilst they were his Enemies) as to
give his only begotten and dearly beloved Son,
•
o be disgracefully Crucified to death for their
Redemption. This
Love
being well considered,
•
s so strong a Motive to
Repentance,
that, they with
whom it prevails not, will be little moved
with Preaching Everlasting Damnation in Hell
Fire.
If ye be not sensible of this unspeakable
Mercy,
nor of
Spiritual Judgments,
let the sense ye yet
have of those that be
Temporary,
and
Corporeal,
make entrance for the former into your serious
and timely consideration. Beside many other
Plagues
that now lie upon you,
GOD
hath lately
threatened to deprive us of the Fruits of the Earth
for our Trangressions; we fear a
Famine;
and it
having already begun to pinch us, we pretended
a
General Humiliation
here in
England,
that our
fear might be removed: But, what follows? we
continue still in our unrighteousness and unmercifulness,
prosecuting our former courses, rather
with more then less violence. The Oppressed
are not eased, but more oppressed. Prisoners
are not set free, to whom the Laws allow Freedom;
but, Jayls are daily replenished with new
guests, barbarously treated, Even harmless men
and women suffer merely for their
Consciences
in
relation to
GOD,
or upon misinformations and
misprisions only, unheard, and uncondemned by a
legal conviction.
Which proceedings are contrary to
the Laws of
GOD,
of
Nature,
and likewise of
these
Nations,
if they have any in force. For, if the
Complainants sad cries, which I hear (and hear of)
be as creditable, as they are lamentable, many honest
Families are (and will be) exposed to beggary, and
even rich men will probably be made beggars also.
They are shut up from their dearest
Relations;
and
they themselves being despoiled of all their livelihoods,
and of means to supply necessaries by their
labors, are destitute of all accommodations. They
are lodged worse than dogs, thronged up together
in sickness and in health, nothing left or provided
for them to feed on (except they will eat their own
flesh) but what GOD providentially conveys unto
them, by the charity of his Servants; of which charity
they are sometimes defrauded by their hard-hearted
Keepers, and that which comes to hand, is
handed-in also with much difficulty. These cruelties
are aggravated with many other oppressive concommitants,
which make them almost inexpressable
and unsufferable; yea the more unsufferable, in regard,
that during the Sessions of
Parliaments
and
Courts of Justice,
which were wont to be their ordinary
Refuge, the Oppressed can have no Relief;
and these Grievances are kept also from the King's
ear, who is their last hope next under GOD.
Let us take heed how we fall into the hands of
the living GOD, when his Wrath is kindled, lest he
utterly & suddenly consume us, as he did
Sodom
and
Gomorrah,
for showing so little mercy to others, who
have lately received such extraordinary mercies from
him. Learn by
Examples,
though ye have neglected
Precepts,
seeing what hath been heretofore, may
be so again hereafter, and in regard
Cases
that have
a resemblance, will bring down the like
Judgments.
When
Jeremiah
the Prophet was a Prisoner for discharging
his Conscience (as I, and many others are
at this day) the
Famine
so increased, that there was
no
Bread
then left in the street of the Bakers at
Jerusalem.
It will therefore concern us that we be
wary we continue not in the like sins, lest ere long,
there be little
Meal
in our Markets, and a greater
scarcity of
Bread
in the shops of our
Bakers
at
London:
For, as there are among us very great failings,
so there are very great appearances of GOD's high
displeasure; who hath more dreadful plagues ready
to execute his Commands, than
Famine, Pestilence
and raging
War,
joined all together; and he will
here inflict that whereof we are most sensible, and
those hereafter, if we repent not. Consider this all
ye who forget GOD, and return: for, he is at all
times ready to meet everyone in mercy (without
excepting any) who returns unto him by hearty repentance:
yea, he takes all opportunities whereby
he may show
Compassion,
with preservation of his
Justice;
and is so inclinable to
Mercy,
that he oft
withholds his
Judgments
from wicked persons and
places, for the sakes of a few
Righteous men
among
them, though they persecute and seek to destroy
them for whose sakes they are preserved; and
vouchsafes
temporal Blessings
(as he did to
Ahab
)
for
outside Humiliations.
He is not, as his Enemies
do scandalously report of him, a
hard Master, who
looks to reap where he sowed not, and to gather
where he strewed not;
but so just, that he will require
no more at any man's hands, but according to
what he hath given; nor punish any one for the sin
of another. There is no better means for us who are
Subjects,
to live safely
in Holiness and Righteousness
without fear,
than to adhere constantly to GOD's
Commands without dread of men, and to obey our
Superiors
in obedience to the LORD: Nor any
surer way for Kings to possess the Thrones of their
Kingdoms upon Earth, in
honor
and
safety,
without
jealousies,
than to provide, as much as in then
lieth, that GOD may possess his Throne in the
Hearts and Consciences of Men
without
Rivals;
and to endeavor to be
just,
as he is
just;
and to be
merciful,
as he is
merciful,
according to their measure:
For, whatsoever the Parasitical Flatterers of Kings
would make them believe, they may be more secure
from dangers at home & abroad, by those poor conscientious
men who are despised, than with twenty
times so many
Ruffians
and
God-damn-me's;
though
assisted also by the formal devotions, and feigned sanctity
of
superstitious worshippers,
who seem glorious
and powerful in outward appearances. I have observed,
by what Histories testify, that those great
Kings
and
Conquerors
of the world, to whom GOD
heretofore translated the Kingdoms of men, from
their former possessors (when he changed
Governors
and
Governments
) enjoyed them in
peace
and
honor,
so long, and so far forth, as they tolerated the
Servants of GOD to worship Him according to
their
Consciences,
though they themselves were
Heathens
and
false worshippers.
The Mercy of GOD leadeth to Repentance, and
extendeth
to
and
over
all his Works. This I am
warranted to proclaim by virtue of his
grand Charter,
and by his
Commissions,
heretofore issued-out
for the comfort and encouragement of every
true
penitent Believer
in the days of his
fiercest Indignation.
These are the
glad Tydings
of the
Universal
Gospel,
which caused the
Angels
to rejoice and sing
at the birth of
Jesus Christ,
this song;
Glory be to
GOD on High, On Earth peace, good will towards
men.
Let us join with that
celestial Choir
in magnifying
of this
great Mercy
which so much concerns
us; for it is our
noblest Interest,
and that which most
advanceth
GoD's Glory:
Let our Burthen to that
Song be,
Amen, Hallelujah,
Praise the LORD:
Let us be zealous in defending this
Universal Charter,
and not be seduced by those who seek to abridg
itto such a narrowness, and to such an uncertainty,
that if they should be believed, we had more cause
to howl and lament than to sing: This
Gospel
is the
sum and scope of that
Testimony,
which was, and is
given by those
two Witnesses,
the two
Olive Branches,
and
two Candlesticks,
which stand before the
God of the Earth, bearing witness against the
Beast
rising out of the bottomless-Pit, who was to war
upon them, and slay them, and leave their Bodies
(as a dead Letter) unburied three days and an half
in the Streets of the
great City,
until the Spirit of
Life from GOD should enter into them and make
them ascend up into Heaven, in the sight, and to the
amazement and vexation of their Enemies.
Therefore they, whosoever they be (though pretending
to be of GOD's
Counsel,
and to be acquainted
with his
Eternal Decrees
) shall preach
contraty hereto, and think they honor GOD by
bounding His
universal
and
infinite Mercy,
deal with
Mankind, concerning His Charter of
General Redemption,
as many among us now do concerning the
Kings late
Act of Indemnity
and
general Pardon,
pretending thereby to do him
honor,
where
••
intends
both to his
dishonor
and
disservice.
It is this
mis-understanding, and limiting the
infinite Love
of
GOD, which hath been the chief occasion of the
narrowness of men's love
to each other; and of much
of that discord and bloodshed which hath been in
the world: For, such as men make their God's to
be, such will they themselves be; in regard, as
David
saith,
They who make them are like unto them.
This I add, not impertinently, nor by the suggestion
of a
contentious spirit,
in opposition to the judgment
of others; or with an uncharitable censure of
those who do yet think otherwise; But I have thus
in my
mode
preached it, in zeal to
GOD's Truth
and
Glory;
who sees my heart, and will punish me
for it, if it proceed from any other cause. He is perfectly
merciful;
so
merciful
in his
Justice,
and so
just
in his
Mercy,
that neither of them infringes the
other; and hath left us upon record two unquestionable
exemplary Evidences,
which manifest that
his
Mercy
is sincerely intended to every true penitent,
to be his Consolation when
Judgments
are
epidemical and universal: For, though he spared
not the
old world,
but brought a general flood upon
all the ungodly, yet, he even then spared
Noah
and
his family; and when he made the Cities of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah
an example to willful transgressors,
he then also spared
Lot
who lived among them, and
whose righteous soul they had vexed with their filthy
and wicked conversation. Thus will he likewise
deal with all those, in all times, who have
an upright and contrite heart (though they have
been grievous offenders) so far forth as it shall be
for his Glory, and their eternal happiness.
Hear,
and
heed
this
Proclamation;
for it is of
GOD, who is pleased in these days to preach
Mercy
by his most contemned Servants; and cause
them otherwhile to act in such
Modes,
and by such
Dispensations,
as to the world seem ridiculous; and
as probably he did (in most men's eyes) when his
beloved Son
rode meekly through
Jerusalem,
on
the foal of an Ass, at the time wherein he first came
to take a visible possession of his
Kingdom
upon
Earth: which humble
deportment
his now pretended
General Vicar,
and the proud
Kings
of the
Earth, would have scorned upon the days of their
Inauguration.
Which the
Prelates,
though raised out
of the lowest of the people (as
Jeroboams
priests were)
and though pretending to be the successors of
Christ's
humble
Apostles,
would have disdained to be carried
in that meek manner to their
Instalments.
But
many other things appearing contemptible to flesh
and blood, will be permitted ere long to make preparation
for the coming of
King JESUS,
whom
they scoff at, who sit in the
Chair of the Scornfull.
It hath pleased GOD in this unusual manner,
to make me (though unworthy) to be his
Herald in publishing this
Proclamation;
who having
been many years your
Despised REMEMBRANCER,
liveth yet, to serve
GOD
and his
Generation;
known to the World by this Name,
Given forth at
Newgate,
one
of the most eminent Gates of
your
chief City,
in the 8. month
of my Imprisonment there.
GEO. WITHER.
Here is added, A Second Course of those
Fragments of that Beggars Feast, which
was daily made him by a good Conscience,
whilst he was Prisoner in Newgate, and
which were omitted at the Imprinting of
the Book, called, Scraps and Crums:
With some few Collected since the said
Impression.
I.
To those Friends, unto whom this Author hath been
scandalously mis-represented in private, by some
false Brethren and others.
THough hereof I have just occasion had,
I do not merely for mine own sake add
This
Crum;
but likewise here, for your avail
Insert it, lest my
Sland'rers
may prevail,
(By bringing me into your disrespect)
To make my
Cautions
take the less effect.
Give therefore heed to what I now express,
And let GOD move belief as he shall please.
As
David
said, The wrongs of
open foes
I could have born, but near my heart it goes,
When I am grossly injured by them,
Who did my
loving Friends
and
Brethren
seem,
And cannot choose (although I do sustain
Even that with patience) but thereof complain,
In hope, it may occasion give to some
Who failed in that kind, henceforth to become
So sensible of what was heretofore
Mis-done, that they will so offend no more:
For, unto them, this is the worst
design
Which I intend by this Complaint of mine.
Two sorts of men there are, with both of which
I have had to do; and (though not very much)
More than enough it seems. One sort of these,
Those
Persons
are, by whose maliciousness,
Most, who are conscientious men reputed,
Are for that cause traduced and persecuted;
And (when they thereunto shall be inclined)
A staff to beat a dog, who may not find?
'It is care to scape the venom of their tongue,
So impudent they are in doing wrong,
And brutish in their Censures: yet but few,
Except some like themselves, believe that true
Which they report; and they themselves do know,
That they asperse me with what is not so.
Of such men therefore, here complain I not;
Because, by these, I have not often got
A disadvantage, which would equaled be
With what might happen by their
praising me.
The poysnings of the other, more infect,
Because, received they are without suspect,
And, vented with a counterfeited show
Of better ends than those which they pursue.
Some of these being partners with those
sinners,
Who were of our late Troubles first beginners,
Did, with a mask of
Piety
and
Zeal
To
GOD,
the
King,
and to the
Commonweal,
Drive on their own
designs;
And (having made
Of
seeming Godliness,
a gainful Trade)
Their
opportunities
now being gone,
Of preying upon those they prey'd upon,
Would make a prey of them, whom they pretended
In times preceding, much to have befriended.
So feeds the
Pickrel,
when, he cannot find
A Roach or Dace, on fish of his own kind.
And, some of these, because I will not be
Inslav'd to that, from which I should be free,
Have (thereto moved by
Avarice
and
Pride
)
Without just cause, me lately vilifi'd
To some of my
best Friends
even unto them
Whose
Charity
supports me at this time:
And, should it be believed, might much more
Undo me, than all they who heretofore
Have been my
open Foes.
Moreover, some,
That I might wholly succourless become,
Are pleased to say, I am not so bereft
Of my Estate, but that enough is left
For my support. Wherein, if they speak right,
They render me so gross an Hypocrite,
That I deserve no Friend; And if I am
By them beli'd, then much are they to blame,
Who have, as far as in them lies, to starving
Exposed
me
and
mine,
without deserving.
But, this I fear not: for, if that supply
Shall fail, which I have had by Charity,
He, who by other hands, hath Mercy shown,
Will from henceforth relieve me by his own:
And, these are thus confuted, without feigning,
If they know ought of
mine,
that's yet remaining
Within my power; Or, but so much as may
(If ever it be mine) my Debts repay,
Save what's yet wholly lost, I give it all
To him, who thereof make discov'ry shall;
And hereby, both confirm this Gift forever;
And urge him that
Discov'ry
to endeavor
Who raised that Report; so he thereby
Shall have some profit, if it be no lie.
I do perceive, to have me quite destroyed
The
Devil
many Agents hath employ'd
In several modes; which that prevent I may,
Nought more or better have I now to
say,
Or
do,
which will avail me, but to fly
To my
Protector,
to your Charity
Who
know me,
and unto that Evidence
Which I have given of my Innocence
To you who
know me not;
in hope you will do
As in like case you would be done unto:
And that when their
malevolence
hath wrought
Till it shall purge its own corruption out,
It will abate, and some effects produce,
Which both to
them
and
me
may be of use.
If me you judge, as you would judged be,
No more needs to be said thereof by me;
Especially to him who truly knows,
Who giveth deeper wounds, than
open foes.
This
Case of mine
concerneth now and then,
Not me alone; but other honest men.
Such like
false brethren,
in all Ages were
Among the
Saints,
and such-like still there are.
Therefore these
Lines
at this time were bestowed,
As justly for their sakes, as for mine own,
Since, of what here I for myself do plead,
Some other, thus abused, may stand in need.
II.
A causual Meditation on Eaith, Hope, Fear
And Love.
TO keep me watchful, whilst my Foes
My person here shall fast inclose,
By
Meditations
I assay
To keep the dread of them away;
And whilst my
Contemplation
flew
At various
Objects,
in her view,
(Among such
Musings
as were brought
Into my mind) this came to thought.
Faith, Hope,
and
Fear,
and
Love
are that,
Which renders every man's Estate
To be exceeding
good
or
bad,
Extremely pleasureful or sad,
According as that
Object
proves,
Which he
believes, fears, hopes,
or
loves.
Make GOD the
bottom
and the
top
Of thy
Fear, Love, Belief
and
Hope,
And thou art then safe, whatsoever
Thou dost
believe, hope, love,
or
fear:
But, if the
World
their Object be,
Or, any other thing but
He,
Thou art destroyed: For, by these four,
Misplac'd, thou givest them a power
To ruin thee, who else had none
Whereby a
mischief
might be done.
If on the
World
thy
hopes
depend,
Despair
will be their latter end;
When her
fair-speakings
are
believed,
Thou wilt be certainly deceived;
If her thou
love,
she will for that
Requite thee with despiteful
hate;
And, if thou
fear
her, she'l endeavor
To make thee slave to
fears
forever.
This by
experience
I found true,
And thereof thus forewarn I you.
Affect no
Pleasure;
for 'tis vain,
And terminates at last in
pain.
Fear
not, when thou shalt be oppressed
In doing well; for, such are blest.
Trust not in
Wealth;
for, it hath wings,
And flies away like other things:
Nor
Honor;
for, it often spends
Its stock, and in
dishonor
ends.
Rely not upon
Prodigies;
For, they are partly
Truths
and
Lyes;
And,
Signs
and
Wonders
can afford
No such assurance as
GOD's Word.
Place not your trust in
Kings;
for, when
They speak like
God's,
they act like
men.
No, nor your
best Works
trust you in,
For all man's
Righteousness
is
sin.
Your
Faith, Fear, Hope,
and
Love
on none
Ground therefore, but on GOD alone;
And, when thus, you hare learned to do,
Perswade all other men thereto;
Not terminating
Meditations,
In mere
unactive speculations;
For, they but like those
flashes
are,
Which we mis-call a
shooting-Star.
Here, whilst my
Flesh
is in restraint,
Lest else my
Soul
grow dull and faint,
Her, with such thoughts I entertain,
And find them not to be in vain;
Though more I needed, I confess,
These
Musings,
when I
suffered less.
I might be safely
rich
agen,
Could I be still employed then
As I am now. But, who is able,
To thread a Needle with a Cable?
They, who in
Winter
keep at home,
In
Summer-time
abroad will come;
And, though a
Prison
seems a curse,
Our
Liberty
oft makes us worse.
We pray, when
Winds
and
Seas
do roar;
When calm, do as we did before,
Even GOD's choice
Worthies,
when releast
From
Suffrings,
foully have transgressed;
If in this, or some other kind,
They were not often
disciplined.
He, that with troubles hem'd about,
The Battels of the
LORD
had fought
Unfoil'd; as soon as he had ease,
(Neglecting such like means as these)
Did grossly fall; and so shall we,
When idle and secure we be.
Had he been musing on GOD's Law
When in her Bath, he naked saw
Uriah's Wife;
or, at that time
Composing of a
Psalm
or
Hymn,
It had secured him from that sin,
Which let a
lustful Devil
in.
LORD! that I be not so surprised,
(Though these my
Musings
are despised)
Preserve me, (whether weal or woe
Befalls me) still employed so;
Or, in what else thou please, that's tending
To keep me always from offending:
And to thy
Glory,
and to my
Salvation,
Vouchsafe to sanctify this
Meditation,
III.
To those who inquire, why this Author is now
imprisoned in Newgate?
INto this
Jail,
you ask me, why I am thrown?
But to myself that is not fully known;
Unless it may be charged as a
Crime,
For putting
Truth
and
Reason
into
Rime;
Or, giving unto some, for doing wrong,
Such Epithites as unto them belong;
Which is by very few thought
criminal,
And, by most men, to be no fault at all.
Yet, since you are my Friends, I bold will make
To give you
Counsel,
which I could not take:
Touch not a
gald Jades back,
although it be
To cure him, if you will be ruled by me;
And if your
Conscience
force you not thereto,
No notice take, when other men misdo.
For, they, who most ungodly courses run,
(And boast of what they wickedly have done)
So rage at him, who dares to reprehend
Their Actions, howsoever they offend,
That ofttimes by their power they bring on him,
Those
Penalties
which were deserved by them,
A
Whore professed,
though she would have men know
She is a
Whore,
will not be called so.
(Yea, though she could not live, were it not known
She lived by abusing of her own)
But, be so wroth with him, who so shall say,
That she will scratch his eyes out, if she may:
At least, if she can do no more, will rayl;
Or, had she power, commit him to the Jail,
And for a
Sland'rer
prosecute him there,
As justly, as they do, who keep me here.
IV.
A Hymn of Thanksgiving, for deliverance from a
dangerous and sharp Sickness, during his
Imprisonment.
LORD! they who thy Affection measure
By what thou givest into their possessings,
Of
Riches, Honors,
or of
Pleasure,
Or, of such other
temporary Blessings,
And mark how here thou deal'st with me,
May think I am despised of thee;
For, when I seemed oppressed before
With loss of
Liberty
and
Wealth,
So that I could well bear no more,
Thou thereto addedst loss of
health,
Imbitter'd and made sharp, with as much pain
As
Flesh and Blood
were able to sustain.
2.
Yet neither was thy
Love
impaired,
Whilst in that manner I afflicted was,
Nor
doubted
I, nor ought
despaired
Of thy continuing and assisting
Grace;
But, as the violence and length
Of
pain
deprived me of strength,
My
Spirit
thereby stronger grew;
Yea, so thou didst my
Faith
increase;
(So
Fortitude
and hope renew)
That
Suffrings
were not pleasureless;
Because I knew I underwent thy
Rod,
Who art as Well my
Father,
as my
GOD:
3.
I know thee not alone by
hearing,
But, also by thy
being in my heart,
And, by thy thereunto
declaring,
How just, wise, good, and merciful thou art:
Thou take'st no
pleasure
in our
pain,
Nor dost, nor ever didst coustrain
The soul of any to a path,
Which leads him from a
happy conrse;
To
Sin, Shame, Sorrow,
or to
Death,
Or, renders his condition worse.
For, that thou more delighted art to
save,
Than to
destroy,
I good assurance have.
4.
For ever, let thy
Name
be blessed;
For, when my
patience
did begin to fail,
And
pain,
a
cold-sweat
forth had pressed,
As if in me,
fire
had been mixed with
hail;
Thou in my
first Fit,
easedst me
By
means
lest
means
despised might be:
And when I was shut up alone,
Of all external helps deprived,
(Where means of
Cure
or
Ease
was none)
Then, by thy
Self
I was relieved;
That I might always confident be made
Of thy help, when no other can be had.
5.
When so extremely I was pained,
That I could hardly for one minutes space,
Endure the torment I sustained,
In any
posture,
or in any
place,
Thou hug'dst me fast asleep; and then
Gav'st Ease, I know not
how,
nor
when;
Which so amazed me, when I awakit,
That, I at first, could hardly tell
Whether, I for a
Dream
might takit,
Or, whether I were
sick
or
well;
For, in the fire I thought as soon I might
Have slept (erewhile) as in my bed that night,
6.
Therefore, to thee, for this
Compassion
I do now consecrate a
Hymn of Praise:
Be pleased, O GOD of my Salvation,
To be thus my
Physician
all my days.
Let this preserve me from the fear
Of what I may yet suffer here:
And when this
Mercy
shall be known,
Thereby assured let others be
That such
Compassion
shall be shown
To
them,
as was vouchsafed to
me,
If in thy
Truth
and
Fear
they shall abide,
And, without wavering, in thee conside.
V.
To them who say, or suppose, that a vain desire of
Fame, was this Authors principal motive, to the
Composure of what he hath written and published.
I Hear, some think (and, for their sakes am sorry
They think so) that
Ambition
of
vain glory,
Is that, which principally moves my
Pen
To dare more than the
Quills
of
wiser men;
And, that an irch for
popular Applause
Was of my
bold Reproofs
the chiefest cause.
If this be true, I am as mad as they
Who think so, and take the nearest way
To my destruction, for a
windy puff,
Which in a moment will be quite blown off,
And leave me comfortless, in that condition
Which threatens inavoidable perdition.
But, these will find their error, when they know
By trial, from what Root my Actings flow;
And that I had in what I have expressed,
A
nobler Aim,
than mere
self-Interest,
Or any outward ends, although in them,
My own well-being I shall not contemn.
I am not ignorant that whatsoever
I
actively
or
passively
endeavor,
To honor GOD, or for my
Countries
good,
May, to my damage, be misunderstood;
Nor that most men, mis-censure what I have writ
To be
Composures
without
fear
or
wit
And that, if I should be thereby undone,
(Which likely seems) I may be thought upon
With very small regard, alive or dead;
Or any way at all be mentioned,
Except by some few, who perhaps will say,
I fooled my
Liberty
and
Life
away.
But should I minded be, when I shall have
My portion among other in the
Grave,
What greater share shall I have in that
Fame,
Which after Death might memorize my
Name,
Than they, who in Oblivion lie forgot,
Where
Pen
nor
Tongue
their Actions mention not?
In my time, sixteen persons I have known
Who
did my
Christian
and my
Surname
own,
And
one
of them oft guilty proved to be
Of Crimes, imputed falsely unto me,
By those who knew us not; and he, whilst here
He lived, had in my
repute
a share:
But, after few years, none will know, among
All these, to which of us, those things belong
Which we have acted. Nay, though ten times more
I had deserved (than any heretofore,
Made memorable by a
glorious Fame
)
A
feigned person,
who no
real Name
Or
Being
ever had, save what, perchance,
Was thereunto ascribed in some
Romance,
May seem to be more honor'd by that
fiction,
Than any who attained the high'st perfection
In
Piety
or
Morals:
For, I have seen
Some
Readers,
with such
Legends
to have been
So far transported, that it them could move
More sighs and tears, compassion, honor, love,
Esteem and admiration, to confer
On those
Idea's,
than bestowed are
On
real Suff'rers,
who, did undertake
To
do
and
suffer
freely for their sake.
And what a trivial prize or purchase then
Is an esteem, or vain applause of men?
My Actings have exposed me, during life,
To hazards, losses, much reproach and Grief;
And, what shall I the better be, or worse,
When I am dead, whether men bless or curse
Speak well or ill, that I should quite destroy,
For such toys, what in life I might enjoy?
By being
silent,
I preserved from blame
Might be, and more esteemed than now I am
If I could for advantage swear and lie,
And flatter Fools and Knaves in Elegy:
Sure, he who shall observe, as I have done,
What scorns, and what despights I have undergone;
What I have
felt,
and what I do
fore-see
Will probably on Earth my
Wages
be,
Yet thinks I run these hazards for
vain Fame,
Must like wise, either think, that
mad
I am,
Or, that I have only learned in the School
Of
long Experience,
to be
more
than
Fool.
But, though most are deceived in their
Design,
And in their
thoughts,
I am not so in mine.
I know my
Work;
I likewise know that
End
Whereto it doth, or at least, ought to tend:
And, therefore hope, that till my life's conclusion,
I shall be kept from such a gross delusion.
He, that for
GOD's Cause,
or for his
Elects,
Pretends
to do,
or
suffer;
yet, expects
More honor, or ought else, than his just share
With them, who of the same
Communion
are;
Expects more than his due; Exceeds the bound
Of that
self-love
which in
true Saints
is found,
And, what he
acts,
or
suffers,
no Reward
Can merit; for, he forfeits his Reward.
All, that he shall endeavor, on that score,
When
Rich
he thinks to be, will make him
Poor;
And, by what he expected to be
famed,
He shall become contemptible and shamed.
GOD's Mind, I therefore study to fulfill,
Seeking no
Pay,
but
what,
and
when he will:
And, knowing that's my
Aim,
much care I not
What, in this world, he gives to be my Lot.
I no more value
Praises
than
Reproach;
And, whether in a
Carr,
or in a
Coach,
I ride to my last home, I little care,
So with a
quiet Conscience
I come there.
If well in life I use them, 'tis no matter,
How far asunder men my Limbs do scatter,
Or in what Public place they set my Head,
To terrify some fools, when I am dead:
For, every part of me will meet together,
When GOD shall pleased be to call me thither,
Where
CHRIST
now sits inthron'd; and whither he
Ascended to prepare a place for me.
I prize nor
Life,
nor
Death,
but, as thereby,
I, more or less, GOD's Name may glorify.
And, whilst my own heart knows this to be so,
I care not, whether 'tis believed or no
By any man, uless, that, to infuse
The like mind into him, it may conduce.
If, I have acted for a worthless
prize,
Learn by my foolishness to be more
wise,
If I have aimed to
suffer,
or to
do
For such
ends
as I should; do ye so too.
Because then, what you heretofore of me
Misdeem'd, will thenceforth your advantage be;
And, no more harm to me, than that man found,
Who had an
Vlcer
cured by a
Wound.
VI.
A Meditation, occasioned by considering the manifold
Temptations to distrust in GOD, whereby
his best Servants are otherwhile proved
and exercised.
THe best of men, some failings have; and I,
Not only many, through
Infirmity;
But, flowing also from those
Negligences,
Which very much have heightened my offenses;
Because I know, what power to me he gave,
To do those things which I neglected have:
Especially, when my Distrustfulness
Hath made me doubtful of GOD's Promises.
Who, to assure them, hath vouchsafed both
A
written Word,
and sealed it with an
Oath;
And, also
new experiments,
which may
Ascertain it, vouchsafeth every day.
David,
the most courageous Combatant
Against such-like
Temptations,
did oft want
That Confidence, which was by him professed,
And, thereby hazarded his Interest
In GOD's free Promises. By
Saul,
said he,
One time or other I destroyed shall be;
And, what was promised, had so outright
Forgotten, in his carnal panic fright,
That to GOD's
Foes
he for protection ran,
The part there acting of a
frantic man,
And of a
drivling fool;
yea, worse than so,
Dissembled then, yet scaped with much ado.
That Course, whereby he thought to be assured
Of safety, an indangerment procured
Beyond all former hazards; for, he lost
Not only Goods, Wives, and all hope almost
Of
Rescue,
but was also like to lose
His Life, and to be ston'd by some of those
(In their distemper) who inrag'd became,
To see their
Habitations
in a flame,
Their dear'st
Relations
captiv'd, and to those
Inslav'd, who were their old
malignant Foes.
In which strait, if GOD had not him befriended,
Whom he distrusted, there, his Life had ended.
There is our
Case;
for, though that many times,
Our
Fears,
our
Foes,
our
Troubles,
and our
Crimes
We have, beyond hope, been delivered from,
And promised in every time to come,
That like
deliverance;
yet, when ought fails
Which we expected, or a Foe prevails,
(For our probation) we are hurried straight
Into a causeless, and a foolish fright:
GOD's
promised Assistance
we decline,
Catch hold of any
politick Design,
Run this, and that way, to the
World,
the
Devil
For help and Counsel, or act any evil
In such a
giddy fit,
though we have
seen,
And often
felt,
what those effects have been
Which will ensue. Nay, if long time we bear
A
present suffering,
and new troubles fear,
Our
Faith
is at a stand, and we begin
Immediately to let
Despairings
in;
Make
Principle of Faith,
give way to
Reason,
And seem
Fanatic Whimsies,
out of season,
Or airy Refuges, beseeming none
In
straits,
but
mere Fools,
to depend upon.
Though in the
Saints
of old to fall off thus,
It was a Crime; 'tis greater sin in us,
By so much, as the sinning against
Grace
Doth our transgressions of the
Law
surpass:
And, neither Theft, Adultery, or Murder,
From GOD and
Penitence
will draw us further,
If we avoid it not: For, to be made
More
cautelous,
we have not only had
Examples
of old times, and seen since then,
What hath befallen many thousand men
In such
defections,
but, we likewise are
Experienc'd in our own particular
Estates
and
persons,
what will them betide,
Who in the days of
Trial
start aside,
And, by the
Gospel
are enlightened more,
Than other
Generations
heretofore.
This, makes me, in my present
troubles,
wave
Those ways, whereto I some
Temptations
have,
My person to redeem; and to prevent
The future mischiefs, that seem eminent,
This makes me scorn, to creep, or fawn, or sneak,
Or, (whatsoever I threatened hear) to speak
To an
unworthy person,
though I could
Prevail, perhaps, upon him, if I would:
For, were my
Poverty
ten times as much,
The King of
Sodom
shall not make me rich;
Nor, were I sick to death, would I implore
Those
false God's,
which most men do now adore
For
health
or
life,
though I thought they could give
That, which I most desired to receive.
This, among other
Notions
of this kind,
(Which needful are to fortify my mind
Amid my
Suffrings
) makes me muse on these
Our
common failings,
that, if GOD so please,
They may be by his
Grace,
with my
endeavor,
A means to keep me firm to him forever;
And, by declaring what
Experiment
Hath taught to me, make others confident
In sufferings for his Cause: and, not afraid
What is, or what can here on them be laid:
For, as where many
Cowards
are together,
They still beget more terrors in each other;
So men of
Courage,
more courageous grow,
When, to each other, they example show
Of
Christian Fortitude:
To which good end,
These fruits of my spare hours I intend.
VII.
Another Scrap, to them, who carp at this Author's
frequent writing.
WHy should you be displeased, and have a
loathing,
Of that which may do good, and cost you nothing?
Or, which you may pass by, without offense,
Or, giving you occasion of expense,
Unless you please? For, that which I compose,
On no man, I against his will, impose.
GOD is our Shield, our Fortress, and that Friend
On whom alone we always should depend;
Yet, he expects an
Activeness
in those,
On whom a
Christian Armor
he bestows;
And, that we put it on, when there's occasion
Of
War defensive,
or, of an
Invasion;
As also, that, we always keep it clean,
And ourselves ready, by
good discipline:
For, of their
Talents
they will be bereaved,
Who make not use of what they have received:
Yea, they will be surprised, who,
times
and
places
Neglect, wherein to exercise their
Graces,
When means is offered; since it will make room
And entrance for
Temptations
when they come,
If we are negligent in doing that,
Which to our
Perseverance
doth relate.
The
Roman Legions,
which resided here,
(When no foes to oppose them did appear)
Bestow'd their spare hours with much diligence,
In making Preparations for defense
In times of need; New Fortresses did raise,
Built Bridges, Causeys, and made easy ways
For future Marches, whereby, to and fro
In safety, they, and other men might go.
And, we must do the like, if we would be
From future dangers and
surprizals
free;
To which end, things that seem of little use
At present, may hereafter much conduce.
Our
Patience
will wear out, our
Courage
slack;
Our
Spirits
faint, and cause us to draw back
From
needful Suffrings,
unless in some measure
We daily shall improve spare time and leisure,
To fortify our hearts by
meditation,
Which is the nourishment and preservation
Of
Hope
and
Faith.
This, when my
Friends
are gone,
(Whose
Consolations
I do feast upon
Whilst they are present) if I those can void,
With whose
Impertinences
I am cloyd,
Moves me to gather up, that, into
words,
Which their and my
Experiment
affords:
Lest that be lost, which else might serve instead
Of
Cordials
at a sudden time of need.
This, moves me, when my
Foes
threat and revile,
To muster thus (as 'twere in rank and file)
My
scattered thoughts;
and then to march up close
Even to the
Vanguard
of my furioust Foes:
For, when we look
grim Terrors
in the face
Without dismay, it makes them to give place.
And, though the
Champions
of the world do laugh
To see my
weapons,
but a
Sling,
a
Staff,
And
Peble-stones
o they will prevail, when they
Shall either perish, or else run away.
This moves me (when alone) lest else the
Devil,
Or my own
Flesh
may tempt me to some evil,
(When they shall idling find me) to retire
Into my
self,
and search what
vain desire,
What
hope,
or
fear,
or
doubtings
there do lurk,
Which either may advance, or counterwork
Those
Principles
of
Grace,
which by good use
And practice, I to
habits
may reduce.
This, that those
Notions▪
may not fly away,
Which I find helpful, makes me oft employ
My leisure times, in what, it seems, hath so
Increast my
Scriblings,
that they nauceous grow
To many
Readers;
and, perhaps to some,
Who might by them advantaged become.
But I am pleased; for, that, my taste delights,
Which is disgustfull to their Appetites;
And what at this time they disrelish, may
Yield profit with delight, another day.
VIII.
An Echo from the Thunders, in the celestial Temple,
reverberating, in part, the effect of what was
uttered by their Voices.
SIx
Trumpets
have been sounded forth,
Six
Vials
poured on the Earth,
Six
Thunders
have their
Voices
spent;
Yet,
they blaspheme, who should repent,
And night and day a direful cry,
Still beating on my ears have I,
Of men oppressed between their paws,
Whose
God
is
Gain,
whose
Lusts
are
Laws;
And,
dreadful sounds
of
Vengeance
too
Are
echoed
wheresoev'r I go.
Though men are
deaf,
yet speak I must:
Hear
therefore,
lifeless forms of dust,
And
senseless things,
that ye may bear
Your Witness
to what
I declare:
For, what hereafter shall ensue
Will make deep stamps on some of you.
Woe, woe,
ere long to C. C. C.
To
P.
P. P. P. P. and P.
Like
Woe
to S. to M. and L.
For, they have made this Earth a Hell,
Wherein, unless
Christ
quickly comes,
Few
Good men
shall have resting rooms;
And little Faithfulness will here
Be found, when he shall next appear.
But
Time
hath almost wheeled that round,
Wherein the
seventh Trump
will sound.
And then shall
Righteousness
alone,
With
Power
and
Glory
fill the Throne,
That
JESUS,
who (when by his Birth
He was first visible on Earth)
Much troubled
Herod,
and with him
The City of
Jerusalem;
And is that
Universal Prince,
Of whom all
Tyrants
ever since
Have been afraid, will come ere long,
To set that
right,
which now is
wrong,
And put an end to their Oppression,
Who charge his
Subjects
with Sedition:
For, though some slighted them when they were seen,
His
Harbengers
have here already been.
IX.
A brief Reproof of them, who take pleasure in Scandalous
Invectives, whereby others are personally
defamed.
THere is a
mangie Humour
and an
Itch,
(At this day very troublesome) with which
Most men are so infected, that unless
We find a speedy cute, 'twill so increase,
And leave so few from this
Contagion
free,
That we shall all appear mere
Scabs
to be.
Now, there is nothing more delights the ear,
Than when it shall those vilified hear,
Whom they affect not, whether they are blamed
Without just cause, or worthily defam'd;
Especially, if those in ought dissent
From their
Opinions,
(Although eminent
For many
Virtues,
and with them agree
In all things, which with
Truth
essential be)
And, since our
Diffrences
did us divide,
Few men there are of note on either side,
Of good or ill desert; but (right or wrong)
They so aspersed are by
Pen
or
Tongue;
And
Truth,
if spoke, so blended is with
lies,
With
fraud,
or else with
Ambiguities,
That, if what is in
Pamphlets
published,
Should be hereafter by our
Children
read,
They'l think this
Age
(if they do credit it)
Had neither
Honor, Honesty,
nor
Wit;
So scurrilous, and so malevolent
Are their
Invectives,
and so impudent.
There are of
Truths
and
Falshoods
put together,
Such
medlies
made, without respect to either,
And misappli'd in such a barbrous wise,
Men's
Persons
or their
Cause
to scandalize,
That, whether they did wickedly, or well,
They, in their
outward Fames
are parallel;
And, frequently, by seeming to intend
That, which may their
Antagonist
befriend,
A
Foe disguiz'd,
destruction doth devise
For them, whom he pretends to patronize:
Shows make of
Peace,
where they bear no
Goodwill,
And, those to
save,
whom they intend to
kill.
This
Bitterness
and
Falsehood
multiplies
Those
Discords
and those
Animosities,
Which have thus far undone us, and this course
Will make that which is
bad,
grow daily
worse,
Until it shall exasperate this
Nation
Beyond all means of
Reconciliation;
For, till there shall as much respect be shown
To other men's
Good-names,
as to our
own,
And, we are pleased to hear
good
spoke of those
Who well deserve,
although they are our
Foes,
We
never shall be
Friends;
nor friendship merit
From any, till we qualify this
spirit.
'It is
gentle speaking
that appeaseth
Wrath;
A
bitter language,
no such virtue hath.
Yet, let none think, this means to usher-in
A
Reprehension
of reproving
Sin,
Or, that, it well beseems not any man
To render
Vice
as odious as he can:
For, no debasement can make
Wickedness
More ugly, than essentially it is.
Though
just Reproofs
have not allowed been,
Where
persons
are more aimed at, than their
sin.
Their Practice,
Justice
doth to none allow,
Who at their Neighbors, from an
unseen Bow,
Shoot poysned Arrows; and,
Bandetti
-like,
The
Passengers
from such a
Covert
strike,
That none can truly know how they are
named,
Or where those
dwell,
by whom they are defam'd.
In taxing
Vices,
let nor
Tongue
nor
Pen
Act sparingly; but spare alone the men,
(As much as possible) unless they shall
Ingage themselves, by
quarrels personal
Against the
Truth;
Then spare them only so,
That thereby
Truth
may not receive a blow.
A causeless
Scandal,
nor a
Lie
admit,
Though thereby
Truth
may some advantage get;
For,
she
or
they,
will honor lose thereby,
Who think to do her service by a
Lie.
Some
Good-men
(not a little to their shame)
I fear are this way otherwhile to blame,
As much as they
whose refuge it in Lyes,
(And care not by what means they gain their
Prize
)
For, when that an
Impostor
doth express
What some-way suiteth with what they profess;
Oft-times by that
Wile,
guilded Pills are swallowed
As wholesome, which are poysned and unhallow'd,
And, them deprive, who are deluded so,
Of
outward peace,
and
Peace of Conscience
too.
Take therefore heed of those, who by their mingling
Truths
with apparent
Falshoods,
and by jingling
Some Silver among Counters, may by shows
Of their befriending that, which they oppose,
Obtrude upon you somewhat that is evil,
Relating unto things
Divine
or
Civil;
At least, to make you hearken with content,
To what brings undeserv'd
Disparagement
On other men: For, all things baneful prove,
Wherein there's want of
Prudence, Faith,
or
Love,
X.
A Disclaim, by way of Advertisement, of a Paper,
falsely imputed to this Author.
THere are Verses printed on one side of sheet,
Intituled,
The Wheel of Time turning round to
the Good Old Cause;
which many, who know not
me, nor my
Principles,
nor my
Writings
from other
men's, have ascribed unto me, who do abhor publishing
anything without my
Name,
which may
be scandalous; especially to
individual persons,
either
by name, or by marking them out in such manner,
that the
Vices
I reprove can be justly appropriated
to them, and to no other: Neither did I ever purposely
compose ought which might endanger the
public
Peace,
or hazard the quiet of
private persons,
whereof that
Paper
is suspected. And indeed, I
conceived it at the first view, to have been the composure
of a malicious person, who thereby intended
to make those in
Authority
jealous of some
Innovation
intended by sober and
conscientious men,
who
I hope will make patient suffering their
Refuge,
in
all their
Probations.
Therefore, as soon as I had
perused it, I wrote these following
Verses
on the
backside thereof, and gave it unto a Friend, to communicate
thereby my sense thereof, to others, if he
pleased.
He, that divulgeth ought without a
Name,
Which individual persons doth defame,
Although the
Truth
he writes, deserveth blame:
Yea, he, that without
soberness
and
reason,
Speaks what is true, and speaks it out of season,
Against the Dignity of
Truth
speaks Treason.
Yet, Saints, may by
oppressions,
now and then
Be so provoked (for they are but men)
That, they may thus offend by
Tongue
or
Pen.
If it be so, let him who forth hath sent
Those
Lines,
his folly heartily repent;
For, they portend an
Evil-Consequent.
XI.
To them who object it as a fault, that this Author
hath written several Poems, since he resolved
to write no more.
I Sometimes think my work is done, and then
Resolved am to lay aside my
Pen;
Yet, when I do discover some
remain
Unfinished, I take it up again:
For, when I promise, what concerneth none
(In any manner) but myself alone,
'It is always in mine own power, to dispense
With every such
Resolve,
without offense;
Then, specially, when else, perhaps, I may
To GOD, my
self,
or
others
in some way
Infringe my
Duty,
by the prosecution
Of that unprofitable
Resolution.
For this
cause
therefore, I now think it fit,
Not only such
Resolvings
to remit,
But, also, by
these Presents,
to declare
That, whensoere a
just Cause
doth appear,
To
write,
or
speak,
or
do,
what I believe
GOD
may have honor by, or
Men
receive
A future benefit, I will assay
(Whilst I have life) to do it as I may.
This
Promise
binds me; and, I must confess,
That, if in time to come, I shall transgress
Against this
Resolution,
there's in me
No power whereby I from it can be free.
Reprove me therefore, if at any time
I break this
Promise;
for it is a crime.
XII.
Of Governors and Governments; and how we
ought to demean ourselves toward them.
ALl
Power
is of the LORD, the GOD of Heaven;
And Man hath none, but, that which he hath given:
To
raise,
pull
down,
to
change
or
innovate,
In governing a
Kingdom,
or a
State,
Belongs to Him alone; and naught to do
Have
private men,
but to submit thereto
When He a
Change
hath made, whether he hath
Vouchsafed it in
Mercy,
or in
Wrath.
Therefore, the
Persons,
or the
Government,
To change I never sought, nor had intent;
But, to submit to that, what ev'r it be,
Which
GOD
was pleased to set over me.
Both
Men
and
Forms,
if well compared together,
Do prove so like, and so unlike each other,
That oft the
Constitution
which at first
Appear'd the best, becomes at last the worst;
And, as the
Elements
do change into
Each other, so the
Governments
will do,
According to th'
Affections,
and the
Powers
Of those, who are the present
Governors.
All kinds of
Government,
in some respect,
Are but
one
and the self-same in effect,
And, when refined, will corrupt agen,
So long as actuated by mere men,
Who, overswayed by their
Lusts
and
Passions,
Are always subject to
Prevarications,
And so oft also, as the People's sin
Compels GOD's Justice to bring Changes in.
This, when the
Supreme Power
was here divided
(So, that some this way, and some that way sided)
Made many
Wise-men,
both in resolution,
As also in their ways of prosecution,
Exceeding doubtful, that a sad Result
Might follow, in a path so difficult;
I therefore, then, endeavored to adhere
To that, wherein most Justice did appear
When I had cause of doubt; and did comply
Where I saw with most visibility
That
Power
did then reside: For, so I thought
(And still believe) I was divinely taught
By
Precept
and
Examples;
and I join'd
Therein, to those, who seeming of that
mind
And
judgment,
did in show the same profess
With zeal, and with much conscienciousness.
And, some few, doubtless, acted to that end
Sincerely, which the rest did but pretend.
But, I was cozned by the greater part:
Yet, went on in simplicity of heart,
Till I so far into a snare was run,
That, back I could not go, nor further on
Without a
Mischief;
or, a breach had made
Upon that
Faith
which I engaged had.
For, few I saw pursuing anything
Concerning
GOD,
the
People,
or the
King,
With true integrity, to which-soere
Of those
three
they pretended to adhere,
With whether side soever they then closed,
Or, whatsoever they in show proposed.
I saw, that either by an open scuffling,
Or, by a politick and secret shuffling.
Both sides had so the
Knaves
and
Court-cards
laid,
That
cheating Games
were likely to be plaid,
And, that our Losses, who intended best,
Would be the losing of our
Stakes
at least.
Some, for
Religion
did pretend to fight;
Some, for the
Royal,
some for
Common-Right;
But, I perceived
Self-Interest
was that
Which principally most men aimed at;
And had not thereof a bare jealousy,
For, 'twas apparent by that Policy
With which they prosecuted their Intent.
What else by them could probably be meant,
Who juggling with both sides, to none were true,
But as their own advantage might ensue?
Who, siding with one
Party,
sent a Brother,
A Son, or else a Nephew to the other;
Who mutually did their Designs advance
With Correspondence, and with Maintenance?
With Counsels and with Treasure strengthening those
Unseen, whom they did openly oppose?
And otherwhile, by murdering their own Friends,
Made bloody passages to their
self-ends?
Thus did they, yet, some of those now appear
In better case, than we, whose Actings were
Most innocent. But, though we suffer first,
The better seeming
Game
will prove the worst.
For my part, though it cost me all I had
To keep my Conscience clear, a shift I made;
And, am as well contented with my Lot,
As they are, who have by my Losses got.
Trust rather therefore thine own Conscience, then
Upon the Counsel of sev'n wiser men:
For, in a dubious path, no
human light
So well directs us how to walk upright,
If so far forth as GOD doth means provide,
We take his
Word
and
Spirit
for our Guide.
Be faithful to the present
Government
That GOD permits, to whatsoever intent
He doth permit it, or what-ere it be;
For, (as I said) LORD of all Power is He;
And, every
Government
is good, save when
It is usurped by
unrighteous men;
And, we must bear it then, till he shall please
Who laid it on us, to vouchsafe us ease;
Because (though He permitteth it) our
Sin
Was that, yea that alone, which brought it in.
We may, and must endeavor in our places,
(According to those
Talents
and those
Graces
Which GOD bestows) to offer that which may
Help keep them in a safe and
Righteous way,
For their sakes and our own; and, without fear,
Speak to that end, what we shall know or hear,
(Though they offended be) so we apply
Our
Balm
with prudence and sobriety.
Our seeking to reform it, by a course
Not lawful, will but make it much the worse;
Whereas, if we with
patience
do attend
On GOD, he will
better,
what we cannot
mend,
Or, else, with His own hand, destroy it quite,
Even when their
Tyranny
is at the height.
These are my
Principles:
These, without fear,
Have kept me, and will keep me still, who ere
Shall govern me; and whether
Right
or
Wrong,
Be done me either
little-while,
or
long.
XIII.
A Scrap added to the former, since the sending of the
Authors Remonstrance to the house of Commons.
THough
Liberty
I have lost, with my
Estate,
Yet, as things are, I wonder not thereat;
Nor marvel that my
Poem,
for which here
I suffer, to the
World
must not appear:
For, I confess, it speaks not in a
strain,
Which
Flatt'rers
with esteem can entertain;
And they by whom I have accused been,
Would miss their Arm, were that in
Public
seen;
Occasion likewise I should not have had,
Of that advantage, which is thereby made.
But, one thing (which till now I thought not fit
To mention) I admired at, and do yet;
Even this, That, being of all else bereft,
The same
Tools
in my power should still be left,
Whereby
offense
was given, and by which
My
Vindication
will be furthered much.
It was a
Mercy,
but, sure, not of men,
That, I bereaved was not of my
Pen
When I was first restrained, and also sent,
(As many are) to
close Imprisonment;
Which, at this time had greater mischief done,
Than all that I, till now have undergone.
And this, I here express, not to outbrave
Mans fury,
but, that GOD may Glory have
By that
Assurance,
wherewith, me he arms
In
present sufferings,
against
future harms.
For that cause, in this manner, is revealed
That, which a
wiser man
would have concealed;
And, though, I somewhat over peremptory
May seem; yet, when
Truths honor,
and
GOD's Glory
Do lie at stake, I know a
servile speaking
To be a foolish and uncomely sneaking;
Not only disadvantaging the
speaker,
But, rendering also
righteous Causes
weaker.
All men to
Casualties
exposed be,
And, things befall to others, as to me;
Even unto them, who are above my
sphere,
And, were occasion of my lodging here.
When I had been above six months, debarred
Of Liberty, unpitti'd, and unheard;
Accus'd for
Libelling,
because I had
A private Recapitulation made
Of what I knew, as well by
sight
as
fame,
(And, for which, yet, unheard, confined I am)
Five Persons,
of no mean degree, were sent
To be my Fellows by Imprisonment
Within this Jail; and, at this present are
Charg'd with suspicion of no less Crimes here
Than
Theft
and
Murder;
And, there's one among
That
number,
which at this time doth belong
To that
Society,
which I am said
To have defam'd, and therefore here was laid;
Though I in private only, had declared
In genral terms, what
common fame
aver'd.
And, which now seem not so incredible
As they were thought, nor things impossible.
Yet, with unfeignedness, desire I do,
They may be guiltless found, if they be so,
And quit, without endeavoring to smother
Two
Crimes,
by perpetrating of another:
For,
guilt
to cover, and damn
Innocents,
Is not in these days without
Presidents:
And,
Presidents
(although not worth a straw)
By some are made equivalent to
Law.
Their
Youth
I greatly pity, though the Rage
Of my
Oppressors
pity not my
Age,
Nor care to what straights I may be exposed,
Whilst here, despised of all, I am enclosed.
Now they, and I, until we shall be tried
All scandalous conjectures must abide;
And, if upon the
Test,
their Act appears
Mistook;
why may not mine as well as theirs
Mistaken be?
since I more likely am
Than they, by
Prejudice
to suffer blame?
And have less outward means of
vindication,
From an unjust and causeless imputation?
But, they, and I, shall have, when our time's come,
That, which GOD hath appointed for our
Doom.
He will be
Righteous,
though men are not so;
Whatere He pleases, therefore let Him do.
We, by the
Justice,
which will then be done,
Shall know, what's likely to ensue thereon
To other men, who live in expectation
Of
Justice,
or of due Commiseration.
And, if with meekness, upon GOD we rest,
That, which threats
worst things,
will produce the
best.
They whom I have displeased, may now be merry;
For, I have scribled until I am weary:
And shall, perhaps, no more be troublesome
This way,
when what's
conceived
to
light
shall come;
But, then permit them from thenceforth, to do
What they intend, till they are
weary too.
In this
mode
I have little more to
offer,
To
say,
or
do,
but down to lie and
suffer;
Assur'd, that (if no good effects that have
Which I have writ) A
Poem
in my
Grave
Compos'd and hither sent, would be no more
Effectual, than my
Writings
heretofore.
I have expressed enough to men of
Reason,
Who know when
sober Truths
come forth in season:
Now, therefore, if GOD please, let them who shall
Desire them, take
Pen, Credit, Life,
and
all;
But let them therewith know, that they will be
So dealt withal, as they shall deal with me.
'It is now known, what
I have done,
what
I can say,
And, what
I suffer,
but not what I
may.
Qui jacet in Terrâ, non habet unde cadet.
" The World can him undo no more,
" Whom she hath quite undone before:
" But, he whom GOD shall smile upon,
" May
lose all,
yet not be
undone.
A few
Lines
more I will add: I hear some say,
This will occasion rending quite away
All
Liberties
at once, and many think,
That henceforth neither
Paper, Pen,
nor
Ink
Will be allowed me, nor a
Visitant,
Which may supply me with what I shall want:
Yea, that I may be thither sent, where none
Shall see, or hear, what must be undergone;
And, that naught can be hoped for, but
Perdition
In such a
place,
and such a
sad condition.
Yet, this I fear not: For, there is no
place
On
Earth,
or any such distressed
case,
As no Redress admits. There's not alone
For every
Grief,
a
Cure,
for everyone
In every
Country;
But,
each man
about him
Hath also that,
within
him, or
without
him,
Which known, and by GOD's aid applied, cures
All
Maladies,
and all
Distemperatures.
The greatest
Tyrants
power extends not to
All those things, which he hath a
Will to do.
Nor is there any
Misery,
or
Place
Whereby I can be shut up from
GOD's Grace.
What more I may now, or hereafter bear,
Increases not my
terror
or my
care:
Nay, so far am I from the dread of that
Which may befall in such a
sad estate;
That when I think on what the Rage of
men
Shall do at
worst;
And what GOD will do
then,
It keeps me pleased. For, to deliver me
(What ere betides) a thousand ways hath he.
He, that can make safe passage through the
seas,
And, through a
Fiery Furnace,
if He please,
Pre-apprehensions gives me, of that
Grace
Which will vouchsafed be in such a
Case.
Joseph
was long in Prison; yet GOD sent
A means to free him from Imprisonment,
In such a
mode,
that, if within our
Creed
It be, 'twill very well deserve our
heed.
The
World
can neither bring me to
dispair,
Nor me deprive of
Hope, Faith, Love,
or
Prayr;
Nor take
away,
or unto me
restore
Ought, making my
Assurance
less or more.
GOD clothes the
Lilies,
and doth
Sparrows
feed;
He can turn
Stones
to
Bread,
if there be need:
And, could I down to
Hell
by men be driven,
When I came thither, I should find it
Heaven.
The
Bugbears,
wherewithal the
World
assays
To skare me, could not in my
childish days
Affright me. I was exerciz'd in youth
(For loving
Honesty,
and writing
Truth
)
With strict
Imprisonments,
and made ere since
A
Stone
(to very many)
of offense,
Kickt to and fro, till thereat many broke
Their shins at least, yet harm I never took.
GOD hath preserved me now fifty years,
In his Work, in all troubles, wants and fears;
From
Poverty
and
Shame
in worst of times;
From mine own Follies, Vanities and Crimes;
From
Famines, Pestilences,
raging
War,
And
Tyrants,
worse than those three
Judgments
are,
Without dismay, even when it so befell,
That men in greatest power sped not so well.
In plain terms I did often represent
Their failings, to the late
Long Parliament,
Yet scapit their
fury,
though I could not scape
Their
Fraud,
nor
Partnership
in that mishap,
Which their
Improvidence
occasioned then,
Both to themselves, and many better men.
But, that will for my welfare prove at last,
As certainly, as that which in time past,
I told them would befall, is at this day
Fulfill'd upon them, every several way;
And, will continue, till their
Fiery Trial,
Hath brought men to that real
self-denial,
Which them will qualify to carry on
The Work which GOD intendeth shall be done.
I likewise did presage to
Oliver,
In bold words to his face, and without fear,
What would at last befall him: and I knew
(Though he dissembled it) what would ensue
For such plain-dealing: yea, I soon did find,
By what course my destruction was designed;
But, whilst he thought, I thought myself befriended,
GOD taught me to prevent what he intended,
That, I might suffer, as now at this time,
What gives more cause of glorifying Him.
By these
Experiments
confirmed I am,
My GOD will always be to me the same,
That he hath been, and ratify that
Truth
In my
old Age,
that I believed in
Youth,
By making that, which likely seems to double
My sorrows, to help others in their trouble,
With constancy and patience to sustain
Their
Burdens,
whilst upon them they remain.
And, peradventure, they will be so wise,
Whose Indignation, yet upon me lies,
That, when they heed what GOD for me
hath done▪
And
may do,
they'll consider so thereon,
That they who were my
Foes,
my
Friends
will be,
And save
themselves,
by their deliv'ring
me,
GOD can effect this for me, if He please:
For, He doth many stranger things than these.
But, let Him do his Will. What ere is done▪
He is my
Trust,
and, Him I will rest upon.
If such a
Famine,
as is threatened, comes,
There will be need of such like
Scraps
and
Crums.
But, these, to none can toothsome be, unless
They thirst and hunger after
Righteousness:
For, they will relish unto all men else,
Like fleshless bones, or fishless Oyster-shells:
Perhaps, to some few, they will serve instead
Of
Physical Receipts
in time of need,
If, carelessly they be not cast aside,
But, prudently and seasonably applied.
To that end, they endeavored to save them
From being lost, by whose means ye now have them.
They
Relicts
are of that
continual Feast
My
Conscience
makes me; and
probatum est
To everyone of them subscribe I may;
For I have proved them by night and day.
They are but part of
larger Meditations
(Thus worded, for my daily
Recreations
)
For whilst to write them down, I did assay,
The greatest portion of them flew away.
VERSES written by Mr. George Wither upon
three Trenchers with Oker, during his close-Imprisonment,
and carried to the Lieutenant
of the Tower by the said Prisoners Keeper.
George Wither, close Prisoner, to the Lieut.
of the Tower.
SIR, I have been a
Prisner
now six times,
For no worse faults, than
just Reproofs of Crimes.
Nigh
fifty years
acquainted with the power
Of
Jailors;
and, shall shortly know the
Tower,
To be the
best,
or else the
worst
of all
Confinements,
which did hitherto befall.
All my
defensive Arms
are took away,
Now therefore, I assume such as I may:
And, since my Lot affords no better
Tools,
A
Trencher
markit with
Oker, Lead,
or
Coals,
Shall be my
Buckler, Sword,
and
Advocate
To you, in this my much oppressed estate.
These,
long experience
taught me to provide,
When such a
strait
was likely to betide;
And, if you take them from me, you will do
More than your
Order
doth oblige you to,
Or
Charity
allows: for, I am not free
To come to you, nor will you come at me;
Though
wise,
and
good,
and
honorable men,
Have thought me worth a
visit
(now and then.)
When I was in the much despised
Jail
Of
Newgate;
some from thence were freed by
Bail,
Though charged with
Theft
&
Murder;
and I may
Expect that
Privilege
as well as they:
But,
kissing goes by favor;
and I lack
The
Silver Key,
which way thereto doth make,
And by the want whereof, I find this place
Affords not unto me, the common grace
Allow'd to
Rogues;
nor so much as a
Slave
In
Turkey,
or in
Barbary
may have:
For, they have
Bread
and
Water
at the least,
And
Place
assigned them, wherein to
rest,
Without extorting more than can be had
(Unless their Flesh could into Coyn be made)
Whereas the
Mercy
which this place affords
(In
Age
and
Sickness
) had been
naked boards,
And
stones
for
bread,
had not my Wife, by giving
What Charity bestowed to keep her living,
Prevented for a week, what was designed
To me, thence-forward, if we caanot find
Enough beforehand, weekly to bring in,
And save the stripping of me to the skin:
By which means, that
Impeachment
now intended,
May not be drawn up, till my Life is ended;
So, they will lose their labor, who assay.
To mould my
Punishment
another way:
Which I conceived, would more vexation be
To some, than all my
Suffrings
are to me,
Prisners
should gently used be, (if mild)
Not currishly oppressed and reviled:
For (though neglected) we have still a
Law,
Whereby such
Jailors
may be kept in awe.
Know,
Sir,
that much abuse to me is done;
Which is not an Abuse to me alone,
But likewise to
yourself,
and to the
nature
And
privilege
of every
human creature.
For which cause, being willing to prevent,
Both your
Dishonor,
and my
Detriment,
I
this way
have contrived to declare
My mind; and that, I my
Affronts
can bear;
Though (to my knowledge) since my name was
Wither
I was not
Villain
called, till I came hither;
Nor from ought, for preserving
healthy,
debar'd;
Though, oft my usage hath been very hard.
The
mercy
of preceding times was such,
That
Prisners
here, were not oppressed so much:
For, all
Close-Prisners,
(for what
Crime
soere
Accus'd) suppli'd with all things needful were
In their
degrees;
even a
•
the
Princes
cost:
Which
Privilege,
though now it seemeth lost,
Custom had made so legal
•
when due,
That, till of late, it was de
•
y'd to few.
And, whensoever claimed your
Predecessors,
If they denied it, we
••
thought Transgressors.
They who infring'd
〈◊〉
Custom,
first did bring
Dishonor to the
Nation,
and the
King.
Them, closely imprison, who have naught
To feed them and thereof, then take no thought)
Is worse than
killing them;
yea, such a sin
As hath by
•
nfidels
abhorred been.
Where's nothing left, there nothing can be got;
And, to oppress, because men have it not,
Is an inhumane, and a brutish evil,
That's found in none, but an
incarnate Devil.
Sir,
by profession, you a
Christian
are,
And, I hope, this mind, is from you so far,
That you all
civil usages
will daign,
So long as in your keeping▪ I remain.
A
Cat
no more can yield you, but her skin.
If
Sheep
do pay the
Fleeces
they are in,
They'l grow again, so you from
Curs
preserve them,
And shut them not so close up, that you starve them.
That which concerneth other men, and me,
This day,
another day
your case
may be:
For,
Changes
are not fixed with such a
Pin,
But, that those things may happen, which
have been.
Consider it: If
Mercy
you extend,
'Twill make a better man than I your Friend;
And much more
honor
you, than all your power,
As
Alderman, Lieutenant of the Tower,
And
Member
of the
Commons,
if severe
You prove to me, beyond what I can bear:
For, if through want, I perish in these
bands,
My
Blood
will be required at
your hands;
And, you will find, that I am owned by
Him,
Who justifieth, when
man
doth condemn.
Do as your heart inclines: If you deny me
Things needful, GOD himself will then supply me
With strength to bear it, till I shall enjoy
That
Freedom,
which no
mortal
can destroy:
And when the World hath done the worst she can,
Good men
will say, I was an
honest man,
To GOD,
Prince, Conscience,
and my
Country
true,
Whatever, on my
Trial,
shall ensue.
Yea, though with rigor I may suffer all
That's threatened, and seems likely to befall,
I do not yet perceive, which way GOD can
Be honor'd more by any
mortal man,
Than by the
Joy
and
Courage
he may give him.
When others think they most
extremely grieve him,
If I had suffered less since I begun
To serve Him; I his
Work
could not have done;
And, what I now
shall suffer,
may add more
Unto his
Honor,
than
all heretofore.
And, from that, whereto
Conscience
doth invite,
My
Punishment,
will not one man affright
Who owns my
Principles;
and shall have grace
To act them
soberly,
in his
own place.
Sir,
I have twenty times as much to say,
But, here I am compelled to make stay:
For lo, this
Trencher
will contain no more,
And,
Paper
must not come within my door.
Your Prisoner, Geo. Wither.
Hearing it reported, that the Diurnal women
cried the news of his Impeachment for Treason,
he composed this Epigram.
I Am prefer'd from
Newgate
to the
Tow'r;
And, as the
Summers heat
mends Ale that's sour,
So, here my state is mended; and what follows,
May be, for ought I yet perceive, the
Gallows.
Hark! what is that which now the woman cries,
Who, this day selleth weekly
Truths
and
Lyes?
How! an
Impeachment
against Major
Wither?
These
words,
methinks, seem not well put together.
But, let them pass, until I know the reason;
Perhaps, a kind of
whisteling of Treason
I am thought guilty of: and if some say
The Fox's
ears
are
horns,
who help it may?
These
Novels,
only please, or else affright,
Children
&
Fools,
who know not black from white,
Nor right from wrong; and quite contrary things
They'l tell next week, to what this week forth brings.
However,
Friends,
be not thereof afeard,
He that shall stand accused, must be cleared,
Or else condemned, before that any one
Can justly say, that
right
or
wrong
is done.
The
Commons
do intend to vindicate
Their Honor; and I am not grieved thereat,
For, it concerns them; and the
Reputation
Of their
House
is the Honor of the
Nation.
If that which I have writ,
seditious
be,
Or
scandalous,
'twas not so made by me:
But, rather, by some
Members of their own;
For, to all other men, it is unknown;
And was by me, composed with an intent,
Both
Scandal
and
Sedition
to prevent,
As that
Remonstrance
truly hath averd,
Which to their
Speaker
I long since preferred.
I did but part of that in
private
write,
Which genrally was
famed,
that make I might
Good use thereof: And, if that be a
crime,
I know it was not so in
former time,
Nor will be so
hereafter,
unless we
To
universal Ruin
destined be.
If their
Proceed
against me be severe,
The more my
Innocency
will appear
To prudent men; And, if I wronged
•
e,
The more
GOD
will be merciful to me
He that beneath his
Wings
hath his abidings,
Needs not to be afraid of
evil tidings,
Though they cried,
Fire & Brimstone is descending;
For,
Angels
always are on him attending.
If they, as
conscientious
be, as
wise,
Upon whom now an
Imposition
lies
To
charge me;
They, perhaps, when they have weighed
What I have
done,
with what I have
writ
and
said
In my
defense;
will to that sense incline,
Whereby the Honor of
their House,
and
mine,
May jointly be preserved, and make good use
Of that which hath been deemed an
abuse.
I know
discreet men
cannot be so mad,
To make that
worse,
which is already
bad,
Or, not to leave
one single person
free
To speak
Truth
plainly, when just cause may be.
For, they so understand, what doth belong
To
Free-men,
and to
Slaves,
to
right
and
wrong;
That, to excuse the breach of any
Laws,
I shall not need a
Favor
worth two straws,
If
Justice
may take place, (as I conceive
It will, when they my
Innocence
perceive.)
Yea, peradventure, they, who yet seem Foes,
Will be to me so friendly in the close,
That they will by their
Justice,
honor gain,
And, me into their favor entertain.
One
bitter herb
spoils not a pot of Broth,
(Though some the single taste thereof may loath)
But, makes the same perhaps much wholsomer
Than if it totally omitted were.
The
best among us,
at the best are
sinners,
And, in
true Penitence,
but
new beginners,
Who need
forgiveness:
and, GOD will bestow
Such Mercy,
as to other men we show.
'It is
•
ot the cutting-off of one man's
ears
Will stop the
Voice
which everybody hears;
Nor possible, if
Tongue
and
Life
they take
From me, to make all men afraid to speak:
Nor isit in
Whirlwinds,
which the Rocks do rend,
Whereby GOD will into men's hearts descend,
Sunshine
makes us those Robes aside to lay,
Which
furious Tempests
cannot tear away:
And, they whom
Threatenings
cannot work upon,
By
Gentleness
and
Kindness
may be won
To yield up their own
Judgments,
and their
Will,
Sometime for
good,
and otherwhile for
ill.
GOD by his Grace, preserve me from that
snare,
And then, come what come will, I nothing fear.
For, chiefest causes of the
greatest Evils,
Are these;
kind Foes, good Witches,
and
white Devils.
Ingenii Largitor Venter.
Hunger
will break
Stonewalls,
and make
Fools witty;
When others will not we ourselves must pity:
For, he that wholly doth
himself
neglect,
Cannot his
Neighbor
heartily affect,
And, if we love not those whom we have seen,
The Love of GOD in us hath not yet been.
By what
Expedient,
I shall henceforth get
A means to vent my
thoughts,
I know not yet.
My
Black-lead
took away; and worn out quite
My
Oker-pensil
is; therefore
Good-night.
All I can now do, is to sit and think,
What might be writ with
Paper, Pen
and
Ink.
GEO. WITHER,
Close-Prisoner.
FINIS.