The tired Petitioner, TO His noble Friends, who are Members of the honorable House of Commons.
SIRS, if this
Paper
find you (who, to me
Are not so fully known, as you should be)
It comes to move, that, my
Petitions
may
Obtaine your Answer without more delay;
Lest by
Attendance
(as my Neighbors do)
With my
Estate,
I lose my
Patience
too.
For, I have waited, and endured so long,
That, no
Result
can do me greater wrong
Then lingering hopes; And, were I quite undone,
I, possibly, another course might run
To be repaired again, ere I obtain
That Benefit, which I, had hope to gain:
Or, else, might find some other likely way
To fit me for the part I have to play.
Some say my
Friends
are moe then I do know:
And, I am hopeful that it may be so;
For, if kind language, and much complement
Are signs thereof; nor
Christendom,
nor
Kent
Knowes any man who may himself apply
Unto your
House,
with better hopes then I:
But, if by
real-deeds,
it must be known
What
Friends
I have, their
number
small is grown:
Or, else, their
Power
attaineth not unto
Those Friendly Offices they wish to do;
And, peradventure, they obstructed be
In their endeavors, by defects in me.
It may be 'tis observed, I want
Relations,
Gifts-qualifying,
or those
Commendations
That should advance my
Suites
; and, which do make
Those active, who, men's
Causes
undertake;
And I half think it so: For, e're this day,
Some one or other had, else, gotten way
For my Petitions; or appeared able
To make my
suites
and
me
considerable;
Since, others, who have neither
lost,
nor
spent,
Nor for the
Public,
hazarded or lent
Life, Limb,
or
money
; (yea, though they, before,
Had profitable places) meet with more
Success then I; and, daily can be heard
With expedition, and with good regard.
But, (whatsoever the other causes are
Why thus it comes to pass) this, doth appear,
That, they who now are my
Competitors,
Have so o'rematched my
Solicitors,
That, if I speed, your
House,
will prove, to me,
A better
Friend
then
Individuals
be.
I find, that, many who, a while ago,
Appear'd for me, do now (
Gradatim
) grow
Elsewhere engaged. I find, that, they begin
To reckon, how the
place
hath valued been;
And, to expostulate, and to admire
How, I, to an
Employment
dared aspire
Of
Trust
or
Worth
; who, am dispoil'd of that,
Which (in their judgment) should secure the
State
:
As if, a known
unblamed-Conversation
Were no
Security
; or, out of fashion:
As if, my
portion,
in the
public
hand,
Might not, as well, for
good-assurance
stand,
As if it were in mine: Or, as if he
Who, for his
Country,
prodigal could be
Of all he had, deserved not to be thought
As trusty, as they are, who, never, ought
Adventur'd; nor had ought, but what they got
By gaining
Trust,
where they deserved it not.
If all were weighed, admire they rather may
That, I my pains dare venture in a way
Wherein, I have so often sought in vain,
Those things, which unto me, of right, pertain.
They might admire, that I, who have not been
A
Servant,
nor, am known to be, of kin
To
Peer
or
Commoner
; nor have the skill
To make a
Partie
; nor, thereto, a
Will
:
That, I who follow
Suites,
as if I thought,
That Justice, should be neither sold nor bought,
Or got by importunities; save, where
The
Judge
doth neither GOD, nor
Mortal
fear:
That, I, should ever hope to compass that,
Which any other thinks worth aiming at;
Since, cause, perhaps enough, is found, why none
Thus minded, should presume to think upon
A
Place of profit
; and, conceive to get
His hopes, by
merit, honesty,
or
wit
:
For, I do find that, in this
undertaking
Great rubs are made (and many other making)
So troublesome to pass, that, I am tired:
And, had I but that competence acquired,
Which I have lost; this life, I would not live,
For all, the
King
and
Parliament
could give.
One, of your
Order,
told me, at your door
Since my
last-suite
was tendered (and, before
He had perused it) that, I deserved
No
Favor
: (Oh! how strangely have I swerved!)
But, as, I to his face, made answer, then,
So, now, I say, (and I will sayit agen)
Let me receive but
Justice,
and I will wave
All
human-Mercy
; and, yet hope to have
A happier condition by the same
Then that, whereto, I now exposed am.
Another of them tells me, that, in vain,
I seek, what I make suit for, in the
main,
Whilst I am in
Confinement
: As if, you
Could but one
Blessing,
at one time, allow.
Or else, as if, because I now have had
(Like one, of whom the slight'st account is made)
Nine Months
Restraint
(and, thereby am become
A
Bond-man,
without either
formal-doom
Or,
Breach of Law,
) I, therefore, must expect,
My chief desire, will find the less effect:
Which seems to me, as if a man should say,
The more he
owes,
the less he means to
pay.
A third man intimates; because, he sees
I wear not, yet
Sheeps-leather,
or
Welch-freeze
;
(But, by GOD'S blessing, hitherto have borne
My usual
Port,
to put aside the scorn
Of
Knaves
and
Fools
) that I am not undone
Sufficiently, to be so thought upon
As I desire: But, such as these prolong
The public Judgments, and our private wrong,
Through want of real feeling what we bear
Whose
plaints
they pocket, and whose cries they hear
Without regard: For, when we most are grieved,
So little of our sufferings is believed,
As if men had nor heart nor power to think,
That ought we ayl'e, till we be dead and stink.
A fifth, doth much persuade me to forbear
My present
Suite
; because he seems to fear
My late
bold-numbers
have incenst so many,
That, I shall hardly find regard from any,
When I expect it: which, to be believed,
(Where I have hope with grace to be received)
Is so abominable; that, I trust
To find their
General-Conclusions
just,
(Though I in
person, goods,
and
reputation,
Have lately suffered by misinformation:)
For (thought I otherwise) I would disdain
To them, for
Grace
or
Justice
to complain;
Though I were plunged, into a worse condition,
Then seems approaching, by my last Petition.
I cannot fear that they who
true-men
be,
Will for
true-speaking
be displeased with me,
But, rather, by vouchsafing what I crave
Be glad the Kingdom may occasion have
To see their Justice, by repairing him,
Who gave himself, to be undone for them:
For them, who buy less honor, at the price,
Then may be purchased by this device.
But, hitherto, my hopes, do not succeed
According to my sufferings, and my need.
Two
Monthes,
upon
one
Suite, I have bestowne;
Upon a former, thrice three
Monthes,
and
one
;
Upon
another,
four times three, and nine;
Yet, still, some other
Cause
out-justles mine:
And, even by favors hitherto obtained,
More Mischiefes, then Advantages, are gained;
Because, in th'execution, they have wanted
That influence, whereby they first were granted.
This, with uncrazed patience I can bear,
So long as my desires delayed appear,
By those affairs, which profitable be
Unto the
Public,
though they hinder me;
Since, whilst that thrives, I cannot be bereft
Of all my hopes, nor comfortless be left,
But, if I still perceive my Suites delayed,
Or crossed, for
Private-ends
; I am afraid
My
Greevances,
will make my
Plaints
outroare
The
Cries,
of all the Women at your door.
Preserve I would, according to my might,
My
Private-Freedomes,
with our
Public-Right
;
And, Wise-men will consider, that, unless
They heed, sometime, a single-man's distress,
(At least in his extremes) that, one by one,
The
Generality
may be undone;
And, that, a bruise upon the smallest-toe
May cause the bodies total overthrow.
In me (although my sufferings are despised)
The
Common-Greevance,
is epitomis'd;
And, as, this day, the
Kingdoms
Cause doth lie
Distrest between two
Factions,
so do I;
For, what some would have granted for my sake,
Is crossed, for
their sakes,
who the motion make;
And, that man, by no party groweth strong,
Who sides not with it, both in
Right,
and
Wrong.
In all things which, undoubtedly appear,
Unto my Conscience, I, to both adhere;
And, do from neither, purposely dissent,
To make a Schism, or nourish discontent.
I have in both, professed
Foes
and
Friends
;
In both, I have some hopes, on both, some ends;
But, without all designments upon either,
Save, how I may unite them, both together,
In such a Posture, as may free this Land
From those distructions, that seem near at hand;
And, woo them to be just, in every Action,
Without respect to
Friend,
to
Foe
or
Faction.
Who e're, among you, shall thus minded be,
Whether he seem to love or malice me,
Whether he be of the one to'there side,
Whether my Suites be
granted
or denide,
By his endeavourings; it shall not wrest
My thoughts, for any private interest,
To murmur at him; so, he will befriend
My Suite so much, to bring it to an end:
That, from your Labyrinths, I may retire;
And, be again at leisure to inquire
What will become of Me; and, what of Them,
Who take the
Courses,
which I most contemn.
For, to retreat, and gotten ground to yield,
Is, otherwhile, the means to win a field;
And, he that would turn Floods another way,
Must dig his
Draine,
before he builds his Bay.
Heu; Temporum, praevaricati Mores!
Quis, delegabit
Misero
favores?
Quis, auscultabit
Populi
Clamores?
Vel, quis pensabit
Pauperum
Dolores?
Nemo, fert Opem,
viro perituro;
Sic
ERAT, EST,
ac
ERIT
in futuro
;
Vt olim, tamen, in haec Verba juro,
Nec Habeo, nec Careo, nec Curo.
Nec Habeo,
quod visus sum habere
;
Nec Careo,
quod multi caruêre,
Nec Curo,
quamvis devoratus fere
;
Nam, Deo Vero, spem repono, vere.
Which is in English to this effect.
Oh! how corrupt this
Age
in manners grows!
Who, to the
Miserable,
mercy shows?
Who, on the
Peoples
cries, an ear bestows?
Or, who compassionates the
Poor-man's
woes?
To succor the Distressed, none appear;
Thus 'twas, thus 'tis; and thus I am like to fare:
Yet, as of old, this
Motto,
still, I bear;
I neither have, nor want, nor do I care.
I have not,
what I had a while ago;
I want not,
that, which many others do;
Nor care I,
though I quite neglected grow;
For, I in GOD confide, and will do so.
A Post-script.
He, that hath
Money
to procure his ends,
Needs neither strain his
wits,
nor tire his
Friends.
He, that hath
Friends,
his matters to contrive,
May (though he hath nor Wit, nor Money) live.
He, that hath
Wit,
and wants the former two,
May live more richly, then he seems to do.
He, that hath
two
of these, und wants but one,
Can neither happy be, nor quite undone▪
He, that hath all of
these,
might be a
King,
If he could wish, to be so poor a thing:
And, he that is deprived of all the
three,
May be an
English-man,
for ought I see.
FINIS