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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
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<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A Copy of a Letter from an Officer of the Army in <HI>Jreland,</HI> to his Highne&s;s the Lord Protector, concerning his changing of the Government.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I Do not at all doubt but that your Highne&s;s will wonder to receive a letter, and of this length, from &s;o mean a per&s;on; but when you &s;hall be plea&s;ed to weigh that, no man who is not too mean to be calumniated, can be too incon&s;iderable to de|fend him&s;elf; I make no que&s;tion but you will think this boldne&s;s a nece&s;&s;itie, and &s;o pardon it: It is now neer five years &s;ince I left <HI>England</HI> in your Companie, and under your Command, ever &s;ince which time I have con&s;tantlie re&s;ided with my charge here, one bare moneth excepted, for which &s;pace I had leave to di|&s;patch &s;ome affairs in <HI>England.</HI> Now for that my Superiours here do refu&s;e at pre&s;ent to give me permi&s;&s;ion to wait upon your Highne&s;s in per&s;on, as al&s;o that I have &s;mall hopes otherwi&s;e, that your many weightie imployments can ever admit me to be heard by you at large, I have pre&s;umed to write the&s;e
<PB N="2" REF="2">
few lines, be&s;eeching you to beleeve the contents of them, as proceeding from an unfaigned heart, and to take a mea&s;ure of me and my principles from hence, and not from &s;uch Clande&s;tine re|ports as may po&s;&s;ibly be Ju&s;till'd into your Eares, by tho&s;e that are my Enemies, and will be yours, when they &s;hall have pre|vailed with you, <HI>to di&s;grace tho&s;e that have bin old&s;ervants to the cau&s;e of libertie, and to your per&s;on,</HI> and to put your &s;elfe wholly at their mercy and di&s;cretion, who&s;e deep policy hath made them de&s;ert their country for this la&s;t five years, dureing which time they have been little le&s;&s;e then Martyrs to <HI>Charles Steward,</HI> and his intere&s;t: My Lord, I cannot an&s;wer to the&s;e objections again&s;t me, for which I am traduced to your Highne&s;s, becau&s;e I yet never heard them in particular, nor is there any charge again&s;t me that yet I can learn news of, only a rumor &s;peaks me di&s;affected to your pre&s;ent power, and &s;o not fit to be tru&s;ted any longer, to give an&s;wer to this, it would be nece&s;&s;ary to under&s;tand <HI>the drift of this government we are now under</HI> which I prote&s;t I cannot, I mean, whether we are in the way to a glorious <HI>Commonwealth for which we have ingaged,</HI> &amp; to which the great power which you are Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of, may make us much neerer, if you plea&s;e, or upon a tran&s;ition, thinking <HI>the ca&s;e of our liberty de&s;perate,</HI> from a free &s;tate, to a la&s;ting <HI>&s;etled Monarchy,</HI> when it &s;hall appear to be the latter, I &s;hall not at all conceale my di&s;affection, nor de&s;ire to re|taine my imployment, that may give me a relation to that <HI>govern|ment,</HI> to expo&s;e which my life hath been &s;o often hazarded, and my hand and my heart to &s;o many <HI>&s;olemn declarations again&s;t it,</HI> which together with mine own light and rea&s;on, would haunt and per&s;ecute mee, like &s;o many revenging furies, if I &s;hould dare to harbour <HI>an apo&s;tate thought of being</HI> in&s;trumentall to re|vert, <HI>as if it was nothing in the eyes of God and Good men, to imbrew two Nations in blood, to execute a great Prince, to de&s;troy &s;o many con|&s;iderable per&s;ons and families, who now all beg their bread in forrain Lands, and to take the food out of the mouthes of the poore, and their beds from under them for taxes and impo&s;itions, and all this to the in|tent to &s;upport that liberty which nature hath be&s;towed upon mankind,</HI> and then to make no more u&s;e of the mo&s;t miraculous mercies of God, and the precious blood and <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">ars of &s;o many worthy and religious Patriarks, then to make them in&s;trumentall to pull
<PB N="3" REF="2">
down a <HI>Legall Monarchy,</HI> for being &s;omwhat too tenatious of cer|taine power prejudiciall to common freedom, and at the &s;ame time to &s;et up, and introduce <HI>without form of law,</HI> ju&s;tice, or con|&s;ent (no not of the armie it &s;elfe as is &s;ugge&s;ted) an arbitaary boundle&s;&s;e power &s;olely &s;ub&s;ervant to the exorbitant wil and un|&s;upportable ambition of one &s;ingle per&s;on, and that for ever, who is to have thirty thou&s;and men, who are not to bee disbanded, nor the money for their entertainment laid or altered by <HI>Parliament,</HI> the&s;e are to be his <HI>Janizaries,</HI> and their work to in&s;lave the peo|ple in the&s;e nations, to the lu&s;ts of their grand <HI>Senior.</HI> For if hee have any forraine emergencies hee may rai&s;e more: what hard|hearted men were tho&s;e in <HI>Parliament,</HI> who thought the <HI>Earle</HI> of Stratford worthy of death, for telling <HI>the late King,</HI> he had an Ar|my in Ireland, which hee might imploy to reduce his &s;ubjects here to their obedience, and how &s;evere were the&s;e grave and learned lawyers, who judged that &s;peech trea&s;on, even at the <HI>Com|mon Law,</HI> and now thinke it none for them&s;elves, to act in &s;eats of Judicatory, execute laws, and hang men, and yet have no pow|er to authorize them therein, but what is derived from &s;uch ano|ther trick, as that <HI>Earle</HI> would have then plaid; to be &s;hort, if I &s;hould examine that paper cal<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ed the <HI>Government,</HI> I &s;hould hardly find a line <HI>in it, which is not</HI> de&s;tructive <HI>to our cau&s;e and liberty,</HI> &s;oe that it appears plainly to be a Monarchy bottomed in the &s;word, or to come neerer the right name, a Common-Wealth e&s;tabli&s;hed in a Lord Protector, and thirty Thou&s;and men, <HI>the&s;e con&s;iderati|ons my Lord, do prevaile with me, to believe that your Highne&s;s do not intend to continue this form of government upon us, but have a&s;&s;umed the power for a time, that you may be able to accompli&s;h the worke of Libertie among&s;t us,</HI> which the Parliment con&s;i&s;ting of divers Per|&s;ons, of &s;everal and different capacities, was not able to e&s;tabli&s;h, and this &s;eems more probable to me, not onely from your <HI>owne Oaths, prote&s;tations, and excellent principles again&s;t Monarchy,</HI> but even from the con&s;ideration of the tickli&s;h and &s;lipperie Po&s;ture in which al Monarchies do &s;tand, who have no foundation of their right and Government, but an armed force; how often have the P<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">eto<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ian bands, the Turki&s;h &amp; Ru&s;hian Armies proved more fatal and tyrannical to their own princes, then to their poor oppre&s;&s;ed va&s;&s;alls, and it &s;eemes to be agreeing both to divine ju&s;tice, and
<PB N="4" REF="3">
humane rea&s;on, that an armed multitude, which by the pre&s;wa&s;i|ons <HI>of one man, hath broken all the bonds of Law and con&s;cience, to &s;erve his intere&s;t, and in&s;lave their country; &s;hould when the tide of their fancy or pa&s;&s;ion turnes, thinke them&s;elves as well ab&s;olv'd and di&s;ingaged from all reverence and obedience to their owne Cap|taine.</HI></P>
<P>Since I have &s;aid thus much it will be needle&s;s to &s;peake more in prai&s;e of a free &s;tate, for that the be&s;t and mo&s;t limited <HI>Mo|narchies</HI> are but perpetuall conte&s;ts between the intere&s;t of Mankind, and that of one per&s;on, each &s;triving indu&s;triou&s;ly which &s;hall ruine and undermine the other, &amp; in that Government flat|tery and unworthy in&s;inuations are turned up Trump, without which noe man can win in &s;uch a game, which gives a plaine rea|&s;on why the mo&s;t vertuous Princes, as <HI>Marcus Aurelius, Anto|nius Pius,</HI> and others, could never make their people &s;o; the intere&s;t of their Government being wholly contrary thereunto; for if the principle of vertue and ju&s;tice &s;hould be &s;owne, and come up, they would have that growth and increa&s;e, which would in &s;hort time overtop the intere&s;t of one per&s;on, &amp; &s;o de&s;troy the &s;tate; as hath been &s;een by the experience of tho&s;e Governments which have erected them&s;elves out of the ruine of Monarchy, where the Prince hath been &s;o unadvi&s;ed, to &s;uffer his people to at|taine to riches, and &s;o get good education, for that the great concernment, <HI>or rea&s;on of &s;tate in Kings and Tyrants, is to keep man|kind poore and ignorant,</HI> which the Greeks and Romans under&s;tood well, when they &s;tiled tho&s;e nations who lived under the com|mand of one man, <HI>Barbarians,</HI> ju&s;t point blank contrary to this, are the principles and maximes of a <HI>Commonwealth,</HI> which is the nur&s;ery of vertue, valor, and indu&s;trie, where no Court whi&s;pers, no pimping projecting, or &s;uch arts, can bring advantage to tho&s;e who practi&s;e them, but onelie a publike &s;pirit expre&s;t in ju&s;t and honorable actions, mu&s;t advance and prefer per&s;ons to the high|e&s;t offices and imployments, this laies a foundation for the con|&s;tant &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of g<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">n<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">us and worthie Patriots, this makes a people rich and free, <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">pp<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">e at home, and formable abroad, and hi&s;torie, which is the be&s;t rea&s;on in this point, will plainlie &s;hew, that the wor&s;t and meane&s;t of commonwealths, have been more
<PB N="5" REF="3">
rich, powerful and populous, then the &s;ame Countrie could ever be under a Prince; I take the mo&s;t factious and corrupt e&s;tate in &s;torie; to have been that of <HI>Fl<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">rence,</HI> yet did that Common-wealth for many years together give Law to <HI>Italy,</HI> and when they had war with part of their own Territories, as <HI>Pi&s;a,</HI> and its Countrie, did for manie thou&s;and yeares maintain <HI>&s;ixty thou&s;and men,</HI> whereas the &s;ame Dominions now under a Duke, with the addition of the &s;tate of <HI>Sienna,</HI> is not able to rai&s;e or maintaine <HI>twelve thou&s;and</HI> men; for when the pre&s;ent Prince was nece&s;&s;ita|ted in the yeare one thou&s;and &s;ix hundred and fourtie three, to make an incon&s;iderable war again&s;t the Pope in companie of <HI>Parma, Modena,</HI> and the <HI>Venetian,</HI> and that for but one &s;ummer, he was reduced to &s;uch extremitie, that he hath been forc'd to &s;ell his Gallies, and whollie to neglect the Sea, and yet tho&s;e people that are left in his Dominion, are much more oppre&s;t by impo&s;itions, then in the daies of libertie; I will not &s;peak of <HI>Eng|land,</HI> becau&s;e it was never yet a Commonwealth, though it hath pa&s;t a civill war, and all other &s;ufferings which belongs to a Change, yet this mu&s;t and will be &s;aid, that all tho&s;e actions of Honour, which our <HI>Kings</HI> for &s;ix hundred years have performed, did not bring more renowne; nor &s;o much advantage to the&s;e Nations, as the atchievements of the &s;ame People when they had no <HI>Prince,</HI> and but the Name only <HI>of</HI> a <HI>free &s;tate;</HI> and if for our &s;ins it be decreed that we &s;hal never be &s;o; I dare almo&s;t prophecy that the actions of &s;ucceeding <HI>Monarchyes</HI> wil not outdo, nor perhaps not Equall the&s;e, and then Po&s;terity will have leave to thinke, that all the wi&s;edome, valor, and activity of the&s;e Nations was not re&s;iding in one &s;ingle per&s;on; but I have dwelt too long upon this, and &s;hall onlie <HI>conclude, that if all Kingdomes be neer their pe|riod and ruine, when the &s;ubjects under them grow rich, wi&s;e, and ca|pable of under&s;tanding their own good, and contrariwi&s;e, that Common-wealths do not decay, but when their people in general grow poore; and ignorant, and the riches of the Nation comes to be ingro&s;&s;ed by a few,</HI> who by that meanes can buy voices to get into command, and then bribe &s;ouldiers to uphold them in their ambitious de&s;ignes, to in&s;lave their Countrie, the povertie and abjectne&s;s of the people, making them fit for the impre&s;&s;ion; then it
<PB N="6" REF="4">
mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arilie follow, that tho&s;e in who&s;e hand and power it is to &s;ettle and e&s;tabli&s;h what form of Government they plea&s;e, ought to improve that power for erecting a <HI>Free State, or a Com|monwealth;</HI> this is the ca&s;e of your Highne&s;&s;e, who be&s;ides your oaths and tru&s;t, have this obligation more, that you know, and are per&s;waded in your con&s;cience, that this is a more excellent form then Monarchie, as you have thou&s;and of times expre&s;t your &s;elf, and particularlie in that Declaration which you compo&s;ed here, and publi&s;hed when you entered the Province of <HI>Mun|&s;ter,</HI> 1649. in which you have mo&s;t excellent and unan|&s;werable Rea&s;ons for a Popular Government, which &s;hall make mee &s;ay no more of this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e; but come to bring it to our pre&s;ent condition, becau&s;e it is Alledged (and indeed to that we owe this Change, which hath brought upon us &s;o much di&s;traction &amp; un&s;ettlement, that we were not capable being a free &s;tate, And &s;o that you by nece&s;&s;itie have been forc'd upon the&s;e Cour&s;es, to prevent confu&s;ion) I am not ignorant, that nothing is more commonly &s;aid and believed among&s;t the Vulgar, then this Error, and it is be&s;ides indu&s;triou&s;ly fomented by &s;ome &s;ubtil grandees, who knows their great Riches, titles, knavi&s;h cunnings, and &s;uch u&s;ele&s;s Qualities, will not prefer them to that dignitie and Eminencie in &s;uch a Government, as they hope to injoy under a Prince, whom they can &s;ooth and flatter, I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e, to look upon the pre&s;ent humor of the People, as they are divided into factions, &amp; animated again&s;t the Parliaments man|aging affairs, a rational man might believe, that as their pa&s;&s;ions do hinder them from &s;eeing the advantage of a Comonwealth, &s;o they would likewi&s;e hinder them from Obeying it; but tho&s;e who &s;hall con&s;ider on the one hand their punctuall Obedience, not only to all laws, but even to the&s;e ordinances, which are now called &s;o, and that undoubtedly again&s;t their Judgement, as well as their affections; and on the other &s;ide their genuine inclinations, and before this warr, when they were free from factions, and in <HI>Puris naturalibus,</HI> to freedom, which was plainely &s;eene by their joyn|ing unanimou&s;ly with the Hou&s;e of Commons, in their conte&s;t a|gain&s;t their <HI>King:</HI> I &s;ay who&s;oever &s;hall ob&s;erve that, mu&s;t needs &s;ay, that a &s;mall force joyned with Good Principle, and hone&s;t Governors, will &s;oon reduce them to their naturall di&s;po&s;ition
<PB N="7" REF="4">
and temper againe, <HI>If thirty thou&s;and men can &s;upport this Govern|ment, then ten thou&s;and might maintaine Freedome,</HI> which would quickly come to &s;ubject by it &s;elf without any force at al; which al &s;tates do, that are E&s;tabli&s;hed upon a right Ba&s;is, viz <HI>upon the natural temper and humor which the po&s;ture and condition of the people puts them into, if they be poore and low, Monarchy may &s;erve their turn, if rich, they wold look to have &s;hare, Rule &amp; magi&s;tracy them&s;elves:</HI> who&s;oever then wold, found a Government which he intends not, &s;hal &s;ubject by force (for if he do it, matters not what he makes it) might a|bove all things, ob&s;erve the&s;e accidences, which ruind the precede|ing &s;tate, for every form of Government which crumbles and fals to ruine, by the weakne&s;s of its owne pillars, mu&s;t have a new fabrick, or mend the old, one ju&s;t in the place, fir&s;t breake, if it be capable of it, and who&s;oever &s;hall looke backe into the turnes and revolutions of &s;tate; will find, that all changes in Govern|ment have been mending of old frames, or making of new ones, &amp; as Legi&s;lators or Senats, have gone to the root of nature in this, have not palliated or patched up the cure, &s;o Nations have been happie or unhappie, free or &s;laves, governed by force continu|ally, or by con&s;ent, and &s;tates durable, or &s;hort lived, is true, that our unhappine&s;s is that great alterations &s;eldom come without inte&s;tine wars, it being hard (e&s;pecially in populous and flou|ri&s;hing Cities, to bring the multitude to give &s;o great a power to one man as is nece&s;&s;ary to redre&s;s a di&s;ordered State, and for that men are generally &s;hort &s;ighted, and cannot fore&s;ee great incon|veniences till they are too late to remedy, but by force, this makes the cure oftentimes mi&s;carry, as in the ca&s;e of the <HI>Gracchi</HI> at <HI>Rome,</HI> and of <HI>Agis</HI> and <HI>Cleomenes</HI> at <HI>Sparta,</HI> in both which examples, there was an endeavour to reduce tho&s;e two excellent States, to their fir&s;t principles, but it was too late attempted, when the corruption was growne to too great a height, which if they had found, and would have been contented to erect a new form more &s;uitable to the inequalitie of mens e&s;tates at that time, they might po&s;&s;iblie have &s;ucceeded, if not to have introduced &s;o good and excellent a model as they fell from, yet one able to have prevent|ed the ruine and &s;laverie which &s;oon after befell both the&s;e peo|ple; not to make the bu&s;ine&s;s longer, I will in&s;tance in the exam|ple of our own Nation, the fir&s;t hi&s;torie of which, (it is not e|&s;teemed
<PB N="8" REF="5">
fabolous) is that we were invaded and <HI>conquered by</HI> Wil|liam <HI>the</HI> Norman, <HI>who either ruled by his own will, or made the Law rule, which he gave at his own plea&s;ure;</HI> his French Lords left po&s;te|ritie behind them, who in proce&s;s of time grew &s;o rich and pow|erful, that they did not think it fit to be governed by the di&s;creti|on of one man, but believed, they might de&s;erve and &s;hare in rules them&s;elves, for there is nothing more fundamental by na|ture, then that tho&s;e who po&s;&s;e&s;s a land will de&s;ire, and by all means attempt to govern it, which is the true rea&s;on of what was alledged before, viz. <HI>That it is again&s;t the intere&s;t of a Mo|narchy, to let his &s;ubjects grow rich;</HI> from this conte&s;t of the Lords, with &s;ucceeding Kings, began the <HI>Barons Wars,</HI> and in the clo&s;e of them our Government, by <HI>Kings, Lords,</HI> and <HI>Commons,</HI> where|in, although the Commons were named, it will be found (if we look into Records, that they had little &s;hare, except to help bear up the Lords, who&s;e Blew-coats they wore again&s;t the King) and it will likewi&s;e appear, that they were never di&s;contented at their &s;mall proportion, and the rea&s;on is the &s;ame with the for|mer, viz. that either they po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed no lands at all, or el&s;e he held them as &s;ervants to their loving Lords and Clergie, &s;o that this State was founded with great wi&s;dome, upon the verie conditi|on of the People, which had it continued the &s;ame it then was, could never have been &s;haken, but by a forraign war; but all great bodies are well politique as natural, receive great alte|ration and corruption, and though in good mixtures they com|monlie tend to decay and ruine, yet where the Cra&s;is is bad, there may be accedents which may incline to amend it, and that without the knowledg of the parties, who are the &s;ubject matter of the change, and as Wine changes it &s;elf by working, &s;o many times the natural humor of a Nation tends from the corruption of a <HI>Monarely, to the erecting of a Popular State,</HI> though whil&s;t they are in motion, they may not po&s;&s;iblie under&s;tand whether their own impul&s;e doth incline and lead them, this will prove to be the ca&s;e of <HI>England;</HI> for when <HI>Henry the Seventh</HI> had e&s;ta|bli&s;hed him&s;elf King, and &s;aw plainlie that he did owe his ac|c<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;ed to the Crown, more to the favour of tho&s;e Lords who a&s;|&s;i&s;ted him, then either to his own <HI>Sword</HI> or <HI>Title,</HI> he began to con&s;ider in how tickli&s;h a po&s;ture he &s;tood, whil&s;t it was in the
<PB N="9" REF="5">
power of any &s;mall number of Lords to &s;et up, or pull down a Soveraign at their will, and upon this contemplation he made it his whole aim and work to le&s;&s;en and deba&s;e the no|bilitie, that he might have the le&s;s to apprehend in his new|gotten royaltie, by which he laid the foundation of <HI>de&s;troying his Po&s;terity, not con&s;idering at all that the Lords could not be di|mini&s;hed, but by advancing and inriching the Commons,</HI> who&s;e de&s;ire of power mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arilie increa&s;e accordinglie, which if they could obtain, it was then obvious that they mu&s;t &s;trike not at this or that Prince, but at the verie <HI>Root of Monarchy it &s;elf,</HI> as being a thing u&s;ele&s;&s;e whollie to them, and indeed in|con&s;i&s;tent with their Government and intere&s;t: <HI>Henry the Eight</HI> continued in the &s;ame policie, and among&s;t many o|ther accidents of increa&s;ing the power of the Common-wealth, to the &s;etling the <HI>Militia</HI> in Deputie Lievtenant, it happened in his daies that religious hou&s;es being taken away, mo&s;t of the Lands and Mannours belonging to them, &s;ome for moneys, others for Donations, fell into the hands of the <HI>Commons;</HI> this was the fir&s;t time they began to bear up with the Lords, who &s;ince have been aba&s;ed and impoveri&s;hed by manie accidents, as by finding a means to cut off Intailes, whereby it came to be in the power of tho&s;e who were in pre&s;ent po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, to &s;ell their po&s;teritie and revenues, and &s;o to ruine the Lords who &s;ucceeded them, (which e&s;tates too) being mo&s;t what &s;pent in Court vices and luxurie, lo&s;t the intere&s;t of the Peers in their Countries, and made them contemptible to the whole Nation, and &s;laves to the Citi|zens, who by their prodigalities grew into great wealth, and po&s;&s;e&s;t their lands; about this time trade beyond Sea increa|&s;ed, and abu&s;es in the Law growing up, made that a wealthie profe&s;&s;ion, &s;o that incen&s;iblie foundations of great families among&s;t the Commons were laid, whil&s;t the Lords grew dai|lie to decay, and that which brought them to nothing at la&s;t, was doubtle&s;s the Scotch race of Kings, who whether by de|&s;ign, or for want of prudence, is not known, made &s;o many worthle&s;s per&s;ons Peers here, as well Scotch as Engli&s;h, and tho&s;e too for the mo&s;t part &s;o incon&s;iderable in point of e|&s;tate,
<PB N="10" REF="6">
<HI>that the people did univer&s;ally dete&s;t the Government,</HI> as we may ob&s;erve by the con&s;tant unquietne&s;s of their Repre|&s;entors in Parliament, there &s;carce having been one in the two la&s;t Kings raigns, which were not di&s;&s;olved abruptlie by them, &s;o little complying were they to his Government: Now though I am no waies ignorant that the di&s;&s;entions which happened between tho&s;e Kings and their Parliaments, had verie good ground on the peoples &s;ide, as the taking a|way grievances, and the like, yet the natural cau&s;e (and which was a long time collecting) <HI>was the height of the Commons, and the meanne&s;s of the Lords, and the King,</HI> who had by this time &s;old and given away all his revenues; and this too will appear to have been the original of the&s;e civil wars, for although the la&s;t action, which drove us into it, will ever be acknowledged to have been the <HI>Kings mi&s;government,</HI> yet as we are apt to &s;ay in Malignant fevers, that the la&s;t exce&s;&s;e we made drove us into it, though the bodie had been gathering that pe&s;tilen|tial Ma&s;s many years before; &s;o in this ca&s;e the e&s;&s;entiall and natural cau&s;e of this State di&s;ea&s;e, was much longer in col|lecting, <HI>then the Ship-money, or the Loan;</HI> and this is clear, for that the people did &s;upport much more then tho&s;e from their Prince and Landlords too, whil&s;t they were poor, and never did &s;tomack to be governed, even arbitrarilie, by tho&s;e upon whom they were nece&s;&s;arilie to depend in point of e&s;tate and &s;ub&s;i&s;tance, it being then, <HI>my Lord,</HI> &s;o clear and evident, <HI>That the riches of the people in general, is the natural cau&s;e of de&s;tructi|on to all Regal States:</HI> I de&s;ire to bring this to our pre&s;ent di&s;|cour&s;e, and will beg leave to ask your Highne&s;s leave, whe|ther the Commonaltie of <HI>England</HI> be grown poorer then they were when this was began, or rather, whether they are not become &s;o much more <HI>rich,</HI> as the <HI>Lands</HI> and <HI>Mannours</HI> of <HI>King, Bi&s;hops, Dean</HI> and <HI>Chapters,</HI> and of all the great <HI>De|linquent Lords,</HI> together with <HI>Free-farm Rents,</HI> could make them; if this be granted, it mu&s;t be then concluded, that we are farther off from a capacitie of being governed by <HI>Mo|narchy</HI> again, then when we fir&s;t began this quarrell; &s;o that you &s;ee that it is &s;o far from being true, that the Nation of <HI>England</HI> is not fit at all to be a Commonwealth, <HI>that indeed
<PB N="11" REF="6">
it is wholly impo&s;&s;ible to make it any other, without an exce&s;&s;ive force and violence;</HI> &s;o that my Lord, if your Highne&s;s &s;hall yet re&s;olve to detain from us our liberties, with which you were intru&s;ted, you will not onlie offend again&s;t your owne Oaths and Principles, again&s;t common right and ju&s;tice, but even again&s;t God and nature too, for that it will be impo&s;&s;i|ble for you <HI>to mend this frame where it fir&s;t brake,</HI> except <HI>you can take from the people their e&s;tates, and confer them upon old or new Lords,</HI> which will be hardlie &s;afe for you to attempt, it hath been my unhappine&s;s to make this di&s;cour&s;e &s;omewhat too long for a letter, but I have been forc'd to rove too far into the nature of Government in generall, before I could &s;hew the principles of a <HI>Free-State,</HI> and how neer we are to it, if you plea&s;e, &s;o neer, that the Cavaliers them&s;elves in their hatred to the Parliament, and now to your &s;elf, do fully manife&s;t, that they abhor all Superiours, and are impatient to be governed by others; and this verie humor in them, is a &s;ecret impul&s;e towards a <HI>Commonwealth,</HI> which although they do not now under&s;tand to be &s;o, yet they would &s;oon do it, if they had what they immediatelie de&s;ire, for I am fullie per|&s;waded, if their Darling <HI>Charles Stewart</HI> could be brought in by them, and all his oppo&s;ers whollie rooted out, he would not be able without a &s;tanding Armie to maintain the old Government, even among&s;t his own partie, &s;o much is the ca&s;e altered now, and &s;o &s;trong and natural the motives which draw towards <HI>Liberty.</HI> I mu&s;t confe&s;s the&s;e &s;peculati|ons were no part of the cau&s;e which induced me fir&s;t to take up armes fir&s;t for the <HI>Parliament,</HI> but did come into my thoughts &s;ince by di&s;cour&s;e, what I did originallie look at, was the ju&s;tne&s;s and hone&s;tie of the cau&s;e, the excellencie of libertie, the glorie of advancing and promoting the intere&s;t of mankind, the making my Nation more wi&s;e, valiant, hap|pie, and hone&s;t then before, as well as more free, <HI>which I cannot yet di&s;pair of whil&s;t I &s;ee you alive,</HI> who&s;e noble and unwearied endeavours to that end, can never be forgotten, when the <HI>King,</HI> the <HI>Scots,</HI> and half the <HI>Parliament</HI> combin'd again&s;t us, you could not be daunted, when your own Grandees would have per&s;waded you out of tho&s;e <HI>principles,</HI> you would not
<PB N="12" REF="7">
be circumvented, but did often &s;ay, that towards the attain|ing of a ju&s;t and upright Government, <HI>an ounce of hone&s;ty and re&s;olution, was worth a pound of &s;neaking policie:</HI> Oh let not tho&s;e men who have &s;uffered for your enemies get that upon you, by &s;oothing your ambition, which they could never doe by oppo&s;ing <HI>your rea&s;on,</HI> let not tho&s;e in&s;truments, who have de&s;erted the cau&s;e of libertie, be now made u&s;e of to de&s;troy it, and by advi&s;ing you to purge the Armic, make tho&s;e <HI>Jani|zaries,</HI> who&s;e glorie it was once, they would not acknowledg them&s;elves to be <HI>Mercenaries,</HI> put not your &s;elf upon the di&s;|cretion of tho&s;e who&s;e love is not to you, but to <HI>Monarchy,</HI> and when they &s;hall have made you a while the in&s;trument of their ambition and avarice, will in the lea&s;t adver&s;itie look back to the old line again, which they &s;carce ever yet <HI>offended,</HI> and when that &s;hall be under&s;tood by <HI>Charles Stewart</HI> and his Hectors, and that there &s;hall be nothing &s;tanding in their way hither, but <HI>your life, the antient a&s;&s;erters of libertie being laid by with &s;hame,</HI> and tho&s;e who were once outed for oppo&s;ing it, &s;tept into their places, in how hazardous and de&s;perate a condition is that life of yours like to be, which hath been hi|therto &s;o precious to all the hone&s;t partie in the&s;e Nations; Con&s;ider therefore that tho&s;e Grandees are like fire and wa|ter, good &s;ervants, but verie dangerous ma&s;ters, <HI>let them do your drudgery,</HI> but let them not &s;teer your coun&s;els, <HI>tru&s;t this Nation with their freedome, po&s;terity with your fame, and God for a reward;</HI> we know we cannot be free without your help, till we have undergone a thou&s;and confu&s;ions in the way, our fa|ctions will not &s;uffer us to agree in any thing, <HI>except you lead us</HI> into that frame which will fit us, and to make which, you may find per&s;ons enough to a&s;&s;i&s;t you, if you plea&s;e to &s;eek them; and who knows but that the wi&s;e providence of God, &s;eeing the failings of the <HI>Parliament</HI> hath permitted you to a&s;|&s;ume this great power, to that end, do not offend that God whom you have &s;o often <HI>called to witne&s;s of the integrity of your heart;</HI> Con&s;ider, that if you will not build us up that fa|brique of a <HI>Free State,</HI> you mu&s;t be the fir&s;t to lo&s;e your own libertie; do but weigh the feares and the uncertainties you will be in, whil&s;t you live, and the almo&s;t inevitable nece&s;&s;i|tie
<PB N="13" REF="7">
that <HI>your pe&s;terity</HI> mu&s;t be de&s;troyed when you are gone, as well as ours, or let this prevaile with you, at lea&s;t to make us a Commonwealth, <HI>becau&s;e you can make us nothing el&s;e;</HI> if you believe your &s;elfe not &s;afe without this power, pray con&s;ider how many plots and de&s;igns there were again&s;t you when you were our General, and how many nights &s;leep you brake then in examinations, nay remember, if during the Triall of the late King, you did not walk the &s;treets often with one &s;ervant, or without one, whereas now, new Troops and Re|giments mu&s;t be rai&s;ed, and the old recruited, and all thought too little to pre&s;erve you&punc; and yet the lives of all the hone&s;t Patriots in <HI>England</HI> were then wrapt up in yours, as much as now, and their intere&s;t more; but if yet after all rhis, that dete&s;table poy&s;on of ambition, and de&s;ire of domination, have taken &s;o far po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of you, that no Antidote can ex|pell it, and that nothing will &s;atisfie you, but to de&s;troy that libertie which you were appointed Guardian to; and to outdoe him whom you have pull'd downe and executed: I mu&s;t profe&s;&s;e to all the world, that though I &s;hall ever ac|knowledge <HI>that I owe much of my being &s;etled in the principles of freedome, which I now adhere to, to your former excellent di&s;|cour&s;es, and most excellent actions;</HI> yet that I cannot finde any thing in my con&s;cience that will per&s;wade me to change vvith you, but &s;hall vva&s;h my hands from the guilt and infamie of your vvaies, and vvithall lay dovvn my com|mands, and all other relations to your Government, that &s;o I may deliver you from the apprehen&s;ions, vvhich I believe you are in, that you cannot finde a &s;pecious pre|tence to di&s;charge me from my imployments, though the &s;e|ries of your former behaviour in that kind tovvards your friends, makes me believe you vvill be &s;oon provided of a cau&s;e to lay me by, for you have hitherto (as I may &s;o &s;ay) rid &s;o fa&s;t, that you have &s;eemed to be mounted rather upon Po&s;t|hor&s;es, then tho&s;e vvhich vvere your ovvn, leaving them &s;till at their &s;tages end, and taking fre&s;h ones; one vvhile none but <HI>Barkley Legg</HI> and <HI>A&s;hburnham</HI> mu&s;t &s;erve your turne, and the King mu&s;t either be brought in, or it mu&s;t be thought &s;o, &s;oon after, vvhen his head comes to be cut off, the Levellers mu&s;t
<PB N="14" REF="8">
when that is well over, the Presbyterian mu&s;t be Courted till the war of <HI>Scotland</HI> be ended, and their ne&s;t fired; next to this an expedient in Religion mu&s;t be thought upon, and a Committee for Propagation appointed, into which, as into the Ark, all kind of creatures mu&s;t enter, &s;oone after this Blackfriers men mu&s;t be incouraged to cry this downe, and the Parliament too, for going on too fa&s;t with it, and for not reforming the Laws, till at length they being preach'd ripe for de&s;truction, the members of Parliament mu&s;t be removed, and &s;uch hone&s;t godlie per&s;ons cho&s;en to &s;ucceed them, as may make the people forget Monarchie; but the&s;e are pre|&s;entlie ca&s;hiered too, for endeavouring to perform what they were called for, as if they had been &s;ummoned onlie to beat a Commonwealth out of the Pit, and &s;erve for a foil for the new Monarchie; next, becau&s;e we have no more varieties of fa&s;hions or in&s;truments, we mu&s;t revert to our Monarchi|cal Grandees againe, the&s;e are now the onlie wi&s;e men, for having di&s;tru&s;ted you, and fore&s;een all this, the only firme States men, for &s;ticking to their principles, the&s;e mu&s;t now be called the hone&s;t partie, whil&s;t tho&s;e who were &s;o the la&s;t year are &s;tiled factious fellowes, and to make this reli&s;h the better, there mu&s;t be &s;ought out in&s;truments of an inferiour capacitie to the Grandees, who never had any other princi|ples then fear and avarice, and who never di&s;dained to be flat|terers in any age, I mean Divines and Lawyers, whom the late fright they were in for Tythes and Reformation, hath made them now more &s;upple then formerlie; the fir&s;t of the&s;e mu&s;t now preach up tyrannie, as much as ever they have done libertie, they who once &s;aid the people, or the Saints, were the Lords Annointed, mu&s;t now recant that Doctrine, and &s;ay its the Lords Protector, and mu&s;t even pro&s;titute the <HI>Jus Divinum</HI> of their Ordination it &s;elf, to an Ordinance of your Highne&s;s, and for the latter, they mu&s;t make that ju&s;t and ho|norable in you, which they thought. Trea&s;on in the Earle of <HI>Stafford;</HI> tho&s;e who condemned Ship-money, mu&s;t cry up the monethlie Taxes in their Circuits and charges, and &s;uch who &s;crupled Councel-Table Orders formerlie, mu&s;t now &s;weare to, and judg by &s;uch Laws, as you can make a dozen in
<PB N="15" REF="8">
an hour, without the trouble of twice reading or ingro&s;&s;ing, nay, the &s;ame per&s;ons mu&s;t be a High Court, and hang men for &s;triving to oppo&s;e Monarchie to day, who ye&s;terday did the &s;ame to them who would have brought it in: <HI>But my Lord, we will have patience to expect the end, it will be that which mu&s;t give the denomination to all this, which if it terminate in libertie, will be e&s;teemed prudent policy, if in the contrary, it will have another name;</HI> but lea&s;t your Highne&s;s &s;hould think, that either my &s;elfe, or any hone&s;t man here, do place our hopes of a good i&s;&s;ue to this bu&s;ine&s;s in the next Parliament, as you call it, I will pre&s;ume to di&s;abu&s;e you in that particu|lar, and give you that which I conceive to be the judgement of the world concerning it, at well as mine: Fir&s;t, then my Lord, it is under&s;tood to be a creature of your will and pow|er, the definition of the places, the qualification of the per|&s;ons, the &s;ummons, and all other incidents belonging unto it, deriving them&s;elves wholly from you, and your a&s;&s;umed office, &s;o that if there be a flaw in the ju&s;tice of legalitie, of that which is the foundation, what can be hoped for in the &s;uper&s;tructure? it might be objected in the next place, the people having alreadie cho&s;en a Parliament, which have not received any formal, (or as it was once called) legal determi|nation, could not be in a capacitie to chu&s;e another, becau&s;e this would &s;eem to grant, that any prevailing violence might, even in that &s;en&s;e of Law, di&s;&s;olve a Parliament; but I leave this as that which comes too neer Trea&s;on; another thing which renders the whole &s;crupellous is, that your Highne&s;s &s;hould think the people fit to have a &s;hare in Government, and give Laws, and yet &s;hould make your &s;elfe &s;o far Para|mount to them at the &s;ame time, as to confine them by the In&s;trument and Indentures, what power they &s;hall delegate to their Tru&s;tees, if the original of all ju&s;t power be in the people, as we have beene taught by the Parliament, how comes there to be a Juri&s;diction &s;uperiour to theirs, which mu&s;t command them what to do with that power, and what in&s;tructions to give tho&s;e who repre&s;ent them? but if that Doctrine be not true, what need they be di&s;turbed in their harve&s;t work, to chu&s;e and &s;end needle&s;s Cyphers up to <HI>Lon|don?</HI>
<PB N="16" REF="9">
and why cannot you rather, either as you do now, make Lawes &s;till with the con&s;ent of rhe major part of &s;even men, or without it, or el&s;e take the paines, as you did latelie, to name the per&s;ons, to be &s;ummoned your &s;elf, this had &s;avour|ed of much more ingenuitie, and would have made us hope this deplorable e&s;tate we are now in, had been to la&s;t no lon|ger then till you, with the advice of wi&s;e and hone&s;t Patriots, had been able to frame a moddle of pre&s;ent freedome for us, whereas things &s;tanding thus, there are &s;ad apprehen&s;ions, that the countenance of a Parliament, and not their coun|&s;el, is &s;ought for, and that &s;pecious pretence to deceive the vulgar are more aimed at and de&s;ired, then either the pre&s;ent good of the Nation, or any de&s;igne of &s;ettlement for the fu|ture, and reallie what advantage could have been expected from the la&s;t Parliament, if the King, which called it, had in|combred it with an Indenture, that they &s;hould have power onelie to have &s;ecur'd his ends, but not to alter the Govern|ment, though he had taken them man by man, and murthered them, and doubtle&s;s this mu&s;t be a pre&s;ident for all Kings and other u&s;urped Powers, which &s;hall &s;ucceed in <HI>England,</HI> to put all their Commands, Lu&s;ts and Projects into writing, and deliver them for a le&s;&s;on to the people at their choice, till they have made their Indentures as long as <HI>Drury Hou&s;e</HI> Con|veyance, till &s;uch time as the people of tho&s;e Nations, like the Natives under the <HI>Spaniard</HI> in the <HI>Indies,</HI> &s;hall be capable of no other office or imployment, but to &s;ummon and bring in their fellows to the mines, and make them &s;laves; one ad|vantage more towards tyrannie in this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e is, that tho&s;e blocks laid in the way, will di&s;courage many wi&s;e and hone&s;t Patriots, from &s;uffering them&s;elves being elected, and &s;o the credit and reputation of this new <HI>Junto,</HI> will be as &s;mall as its Authoritie, onelie this will render them &s;omewhat more fit to &s;erve the end for which they are appointed, <HI>viz.</HI> either to confirm this power as it is, or &s;ettle the old Royaltie in your line, or el&s;e perhaps finde out &s;ome mungrell expedi|ent, by which they will &s;eem to retrench &s;ome part of this arbirrary Soveraignty, and by that means, as much as in them lies, authenticate the re&s;t; but the truth is, they do perform
<PB N="17" REF="9">
all that by &s;ummoning in; and not only &s;o, but make all the&s;e poor blind people who elect them, to &s;ubmit them&s;elves to a vo|luntary &s;lavery, by owning an authority de&s;tructive to their free|dom, <HI>for either tho&s;e they &s;end, mu&s;t not attempt to do them any &s;er|vice, or if they do, be perfidious and break their tru&s;t,</HI> &s;ince the only call they can pretend to, is the peoples choice, and even by them they are confu&s;ed by an in&s;truction to approve this Government, <HI>and &s;o undoe all that hath been building up towards our Libertie for the&s;e fourteen years:</HI> Next my Lord, becau&s;e it is Commonly reported here that your Highne&s;s intends to re&s;ign your power, entirely and ab&s;olutely into the hands of tho&s;e men when they are met, I will crave leave to &s;ay a word to that, to the end, you may perceive that there are &s;ome hone&s;t people even <HI>in Ireland</HI> who are undeceived in that point. Fir&s;t then they Conceive you may, as well and ju&s;tly Re&s;ign it to your Council, they being equally your Creatures, and then they ob&s;erve the falacie of Leaving tho&s;e men free, whom you have Cau&s;ed to be bound ere they came there, and with &s;uch Chaines as you your &s;elfe cannot loo&s;en, no more then a Foraigne <HI>Prince</HI> can Give an <HI>Emba&s;&s;ador</HI> &s;ent from hence Authority to Negotiate beyond his <HI>Commi&s;&s;ion,</HI> and tho&s;e bonds which you have Laid upon them are concerning the very E&s;&s;ence of our Liberty, <HI>viz. the Government by one Per&s;on, which you were once &s;o fully per&s;waded of</HI> that you &s;aid in your Declaration here, that you did believe that <HI>God</HI> was en|tering into a conte&s;t with <HI>Kings</HI> and <HI>Prie&s;ts,</HI> and would very &s;ud|denly open the eies of the <HI>Nations,</HI> &s;o that within few years, there &s;hould not be either left in the whole <HI>world.</HI> Cea&s;e then, my <HI>Lord,</HI> to <HI>Flatter</HI> your &s;elfe any longer with an Opinion that the well affected people of any of the&s;e Nations will think any better of <HI>your Monarchy</HI> then they now doe, when you &s;hall &s;ee|mingly have Laid it down to tho&s;e men who have no power for any thing, but to re&s;tore it to you; and who are be&s;ides a pro|duct of your own will. A Civill Army Rai&s;ed by your &s;elfe to handle the E&s;tates of your people, as the other perhaps doe their per&s;ons when they are purged and fitted to the principles of <HI>A Turki&s;h Empire,</HI> and po&s;&s;ibly you had this, this thought when you made this Modle, that becau&s;e it was probable (and it fell out
<PB N="18" REF="10">
&s;ince) that the <HI>Mo&s;t wi&s;e and hone&s;t part of the Gentlemen of England would not &s;uffer them&s;elves to be per&s;waded to come into your Council,</HI> nor own your Govenment, therefore you would make the people of that Nation your Lictors, who &s;hould &s;end you <HI>four hundred men bound hand and foot</HI> to perform your commands, and who &s;hould have power to tax, poll, and oppre&s;&s;e them, but not the lea&s;t &s;hadow of any to relieve them: And here I cannot cho&s;e but touch at one thing often alledged; and it is, that if you do rightly and duly admini&s;ter ju&s;tice, the Nation will be happy that you tooke this power, for it matters not who Governs &s;o they Govern well, for my part I wholly di&s;&s;ent from, and de|te&s;t this opinion, and do conceive it to have been invented fir&s;t by &s;ome Lawyer or other flatterer, meerly to &s;atiate their pre|&s;ent Apo&s;tacy, for if it will be granted that there is in the mo&s;t pure and incorrupt part of mankind, a natural in&s;tinct or in|clination to Liberty in Government (which is for ought I know) the only thing that di&s;tingui&s;hes them from bea&s;ts for that the creature hath no Rea&s;on, or no Religion, cannot infalli|bly be &s;aid by us as it can, that they never attempt to rule them&s;elves by Lawes but &s;uffer a Monarchy over them, to be ei|ther in the &s;tronge&s;t of them&s;elves, or in us, without ever attemp|ting to a&s;&s;ert their freedom) then it will likewi&s;e be confe&s;t that it is a vile and an unnatural Pa&s;&s;ion in us which makes us pre|fer e&s;tate, much more a little quiet or ea&s;e, before that liberty which is &s;o e&s;&s;ential to us, and for this I have the example of all tho&s;e excellent Per&s;ons and Nations whom their own hazards and adventures in this behalf have &s;tyled &s;o in the univer&s;al e&s;teem of all mankind; indeed if the contrary to this were true, it would follow as Mr. <HI>Goodwin</HI> holds, that any Per&s;on who believeth in his con&s;cience that he could govern better then o|thers do, might, nay is bound to u&s;e all means to attain to power, and acquire the Government, the con&s;equence of which will be that if any man will call his Ambition Con&s;cience, no known Laws, no Con&s;titution of E&s;tate, no Common Right, <HI>in fine</HI> nothing divine or humane ought to &s;tand in this way. I dare go yet farther and affirm that nothing can be more pernitious to
<PB N="19" REF="10">
the&s;e Nations at this pre&s;ent, then for you to govern well, for it would Palliate the a&s;&s;umed Power, and &s;o hide it from the ju&s;t indignation of this age, and prove like the guilding of poy|&s;onous pills, or Painting of Sepulchers, and be a bribing us out of our Rights and Liberties with a &s;eeming ju&s;tice, nothing but this can Iull a&s;leep &s;o many Patriots, who have been often a|wakened with Drums and Trumpets, to adventure their lives again&s;t a Tyrant; neither indeed could any other thing then the ju&s;t and happy Reign of <HI>Augu&s;tus Cae&s;ar,</HI> have given the la&s;t de|feat to the Roman liberty, or made way for tho&s;e Mon&s;ters who &s;ucceeded. You &s;ee then my Lord what a bu&s;ine&s;&s;e you have undertaken, when you have made it the intere&s;t of hone&s;t men to wi&s;h that you may commit all Exce&s;&s;es, and u&s;e more violence, break more Laws and ties, in carrying on this arbitrary Sove|raignty then you have done in the a&s;&s;uming of it. My Lord, I be&s;eech your Highne&s;&s;e to pardon the length of this Letter, which could not well have been made &s;horter, for that the in|tention thereof is to evince, fir&s;t, that to continue this pre&s;ent go|vernment upon us or any thing like it, would be mo&s;t injurious in you, not onely becau&s;e it is mo&s;t contrary to your own tru&s;t and Oathes but even again&s;t common right and ju&s;tice, and in the next place that there is no nece&s;&s;ity of a new erected Roy|alty, the nature and Condition of tho&s;e Nations being &s;o pro|portionable to a Commonwealth that we are no way fit to re|ceive any other form, but by an outward force and violence, be|&s;ides that we have &s;pent our blood and fortunes for it, and in the la&s;t place to &s;hew that we are not ea&s;ily deluded into a belief, that either the next a&s;&s;embly or any expediencies that ari&s;e from thence have any right or likelihood to mend our conditions; I &s;hall next give your Highne&s;&s;e a &s;hort account of my &s;elf, and then humbly take my leave. I took up Armes with the fir&s;t in the quarrel of the Parliament, not as a mercinary, as not having be|fore my eyes the temptation of my Ma&s;ters pay or the &s;poile of their enemies, but purely and &s;olely out of a con&s;cientious de|&s;ire to free my Nation from &s;lavery and oppre&s;&s;ion, and having confirmed my judgement in this, I did examine my zeal and re&s;o|lution, and believed it had enough of both to hazard my &s;elf,
<PB N="20" REF="11">
for &s;uch a cau&s;e; in which expectation I thank the Lord, I have not yet found my &s;elf deceived; How I have behaved my &s;elf &s;ince I came under your command, it would &s;eem vanity for me to relate, if my former and pre&s;ent u&s;age did not make it nece&s;&s;ary for me to &s;ay that for my Ju&s;tification, which I &s;hould never have &s;aid for boa&s;ting; this excu&s;e makes me bold to lay before you &s;ome of my &s;ervices, as wel as my per&s;onal di&s;couragements: your Highne&s;s may plea&s;e to Remember, (here &s;ome particulars are left out which would detect the per&s;on who wrote the letter) notwith&s;tanding all which I am yet &s;atis|fied to go on with my imployment here, and to be faithful in it, as being for the advancement of the Common Cau&s;e and again&s;t the Common Enemy, and yet if I were a&s;&s;ured that you did intend to perpetuate upon us this &s;lavery (after you had di&s;olved the Parliament, for an imputation of endeavoring to perpetuate them&s;elves) I &s;hould have many &s;cruples again&s;t &s;erving you in <HI>Scotland,</HI> whither we are very lyable to be tran&s;ported; for what Rea&s;on is there that we &s;hould not give them leaves to be Go|verned by their Native King, and whom they had received by their Parliament? and at the &s;ame time &s;eeke to impo&s;e upon them by force another Prince of our Nation, whom we had cho&s;en for them, or rather had cho&s;en him&s;elf, what can you think my Lord the ju&s;t God, who hath been u&s;ed to de&s;ide upon appeales would do in this quarrel, if they &s;hould have recour&s;e to him with faith and prayer? Alas my Lord you do not con|&s;ider how much the&s;e thoughts do weaken the hands and hearts of tho&s;e poor righteous and precious &s;ouls, who are yet left in the Army and who poure forth their tears and prayers daily before the Lord on your behalf, that you may find mercy in this day of your temptation, that &s;o they may not be traduced to have &s;lain &s;o many men as Bravoes to your de&s;ignes, and that you would make u&s;e of the Great power you are now po&s;&s;e&s;t of to &s;ettle and tran&s;mit to &s;ucceeding ages a &s;tate of La&s;ting free|dome which a &s;mall trouble and force would accompli&s;h, where|as this Government mu&s;t be eternally &s;upported by violence, no unnaturall things being permanent without it, or if this cannot be, their prayers and de&s;ires are that you would &s;ummon a free
<PB N="21" REF="11">
unlimitted Parliament (con&s;i&s;ting of &s;uch that have not for|feited their liberties) not bound or fettered by Indentures, and deve&s;ting your &s;elfe of all power and Command, you would leave the whole &s;way &amp; Government to them, and &s;wear the Army to obey them, by this means the Nation would either enjoy their liberty, or have the choice &amp; impo&s;ition of their own yoak; nor is there any Rea&s;on except you will do one of the&s;e, upon which you can excu&s;e the di&s;mi&s;&s;ion of the Parliament, for that it was within their power and de&s;ign to make Indentures in the behalf of Liberty, which would have had an unque&s;tionable Authority as well as a more Noble end, then tho&s;e you have compelled for the Contrary; If you &s;hall wholly refu&s;e all things of this kinde, and ob&s;tinately re&s;olve to goe forward in your way you now take, you will want the hands, hearts and prayers of all Gods people in the&s;e Nations; and though the principles of &s;ome of them may not give leave as private men to make you any further oppo&s;i|tion, yet they will wa&s;h their own hands, and deliver their own Souls, and be&s;eech the ju&s;t God of Heaven and earth, who hath appeared &s;o vi&s;ibly and Miraculou&s;ly for this Cau&s;e of freedom, and whom no hypocro&s;ie can deceive, no fal&s;e Oathes, nor teares prevaile upon to judge between you and the&s;e poor oppre&s;&s;ed and deluded people, but if yet you &s;hall An&s;wer their hungry expectations of Liberty; you will give Glory to God, increa&s;e to his Church, flock and Religion, which hath been grievou&s;ly di&s;honoured by tho&s;e actions, Immortall fame to your &s;elf, &s;afty to your Po&s;terity, happine&s;s to mankinde, and will have the lives of many thou&s;ands intirely at your &s;ervice and Command, and among&s;t the re&s;t that of</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Waterford <DATE><HI>this</HI> 24 Iune 1654.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>Your mo&s;t humble and mo&s;t faithful Servant R. G.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<PB N="22" REF="12">
<HEAD>POSTSCRIPT.</HEAD>
<P><HI>REader, that this letter &s;hould not be expo&s;ed to publique view &s;o long after the date thereof, I hope will not po&s;&s;e&s;s thee with any prejudice again&s;t it the hone&s;ty and rea&s;on of the tract and faithfulne&s;&s;e of the Author to that good old principle of common ju&s;tice, equity and liberty, &s;ecured in the mo&s;t noble form of government,</HI> viz. <HI>The peoples repre&s;enta|tive may commend it to thee, indeed that hath been the Axle|tree of the cau&s;e which God &s;o &s;ignally ble&s;&s;ed us in, and &s;ince it was broken (although upon pretence of going fa&s;ter on in the obtaining of our liberties) hath bla&s;ted us, wherein that &s;aying is verified</HI> Melius in via claudicare quam extra viam currere. <HI>It was the de&s;ign of the old, &s;o it is of the new Court, to e&s;trange the people from, and work them out of love with Parliaments, many hone&s;t well meaning men being too much led away with that mi&s;take. The Author mentioneth his fear of the la&s;t Repre&s;en|tative not of their judgement in, &amp; affection to the publique cau&s;e of liberty, but by rea&s;on of that re&s;triction in the inden|ture framed to &s;erve the intre&s;t of the pre&s;ent Protector. But indeed the Gentlemen de&s;erve an honourable e&s;teem from all Engli&s;h men, who though they could not do the good de&s;ired by us, and doubtle&s;&s;e intended by them, yet would not do us the evil (which a powerful party endeavoured to court and threaten them unto) in perpetuating by any act of theirs our va&s;&s;alage to the pre&s;ent Grandees, or revoke tho&s;e acts which maketh it trea&s;on for any &s;ingle per&s;on to a&s;&s;ume the &s;upream Magi&s;tracy. I &s;hall only adde this as the earne&s;tly de&s;ire of my+&s;elf and of many who are friends to the good old cau&s;e, that
<PB N="23" REF="12">
the Lord would be plea&s;ed to guide us in the attayning of a free Repre&s;entative, which may a&s;&s;ert our liberties, and &s;ecure them to po&s;terity, which will be a glorious an&s;wer to the faith, prayer, expence of blood and trea&s;ure, both of the godly and likewi&s;e of the re&s;t of the freeborn people of England who have been faithful to the common cau&s;e of ju&s;tice and liber|ty.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
