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<DATE>2-7-08</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE ARMIES DUTIE; OR, FAITHFULL ADVICE to the Souldiers: GIVEN In two Letters written by &s;everall hone&s;t men, unto the Lord FLEETWOOD Lieutenant-Generall of the ARMIE, and now Publi&s;hed for the In&s;truction of the whole Armie, and the good People of this Common-wealth.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed, and are to be &s;old in <HI>Popes-head</HI> Alley, S. <HI>Pauls</HI> Church-yard, and <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI> Hall, 1659.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<P>_REader, Whoever thou art, 'tis fit thou &s;hould know that the fol|lowing Letters were &s;ent to the Lord <HI>Fleetwood,</HI> and read by him before the calling of the late Parliament, but were not intended to be publi&s;hed, becau&s;e tho&s;e that wrote them, hoped that this ad|vice would have been followed, and they &s;o much wi&s;hed the Lord <HI>Fleetvvoods</HI> Ho|nor, that they de&s;ired the good he &s;hould do might appear to be from the impul&s;e of his own mind, but now finding that our Country hath langui&s;hed &s;o many months &s;ince, and &s;eeing the di&s;traction and con|fu&s;ion, that his neglect hath now brought upon us, and finding the general Coun&s;el of Officers, to have expre&s;&s;ed their &s;en&s;e of our dangers and impending ruine; and to have interpo&s;ed in the di&s;&s;olving the Parliament: when they found by experi|ence,
<PB REF="3">
that a &s;ettlement would not be made by them, we thought fit to make the&s;e Letters publick, hoping that it may in &s;ome mea&s;ure quicken up the Lord <HI>Fleetvvood</HI> him&s;elf, upon a &s;econd reading of them, and al&s;o tho&s;e Officers that are now concerned by the utmo&s;t perill of their lives, to procure a &s;ettlement of that common freedome, which hath co&s;t &s;o much bloud and trea&s;ure, we have only to reque&s;t your reading the&s;e Letters, with re&s;pect to the &s;ea&s;on wherein they were written, and without prejudice upon your minds, and the Lord: Cau&s;e you to under&s;tand and do the things that belong to our Countreys Peace and Welfare.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>H. M.</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>H. N.</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>I. L.</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>I. W.</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>I. I.</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>S. M.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="5" REF="3">
<OPENER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_YOu have long been the object of many good mens pity and prayers, who have judged in charity that the temptations of your late Fathers Court have been too mighty for you. But now you are be|come the object of their prayers and great expectations; hi|therto they thought you unable to prevent the wickedne&s;&s;e and apo&s;tacy which you have often &s;eemed to mourn for in &s;ecret. But now the chief military power derived from any lawfull authority being fallen upon you, and all &s;uch Officers and Souldiers in the Army as have any &s;en&s;e of ju&s;tice and ho|ne&s;ty in their u&s;e of arms, being ready to be commanded by you, and to rejoyce in their return to their fir&s;t principles. They believe that God hath made your way plain before you to vindicate the profe&s;&s;ion of Religion from the black re|proaches that re&s;t upon it, to re&s;tore the peoples liberties, the Armies honour, and price of their bloud. And therefore they hope and pray that the Lord may &s;ay effectually to you upon this opportunity: <HI>Be thou &s;trong and of a good courage in this my work, and I will be with thee.</HI> But if you &s;hould now &s;it &s;till, they think as <HI>Mordecai</HI> &s;aid to <HI>E&s;ther that deliverance and enlarge|ment shall ari&s;e to the people from another; but you and your fathers hou&s;e shall be de&s;troyed.</HI> Now my Lord, do not imagine us either vain Enthu&s;ia&s;ts or bu&s;ie bodies that thus mind you, what is expected from you. We are &s;uch as engaged with you in the war again&s;t the late King, and do believe that you and we mu&s;t render an account to the dreadfull God of the ju&s;tice and &s;in|cerity of our intentions therein, and our &s;ouls are deeply affli|cted to behold our righteous ends perverted, the bloud of our friends &s;hed in the quarrell, trampled upon, the binding pow|er of tru&s;ts, promi&s;es, and oaths, &s;lighted, and the &s;ame (if not wor&s;e) principles of Arbitrary power, Tyranny, and oppre&s;&s;i|on exerci&s;ed, a&s;&s;erted, and maintained, again&s;t which we have &s;o earne&s;tly contended with a prodigall expence of our bloud and e&s;tates; and our hearts are wounded to hear our old cau&s;e
<PB N="6" REF="4">
now made a mock and by&punc;word by our enemies, and to &s;ee &s;uch a black brand of infamy &s;et upon all the Parliaments ad|herents, as if they had been all the vile&s;t hypocrites, who made pretences of Religion, and faithfulne&s;&s;e to their Countries Laws and Liberties, to be only a cloak for the blacke&s;t wick|edne&s;&s;e, as if none of them had ever intended any more, then by force and fraud to fat up them&s;elves upon the bloud and ruines of other families. But your Lord&s;hip knows, that the Kings inva&s;ion of our properties and liberties, by taxes, ille|gall impri&s;onments, and oppo&s;ition of the Parliament in their &s;upreme tru&s;t of ordering the Militia for the peoples &s;afety, did nece&s;&s;itate us to defend it by arms, as our native right, that the tru&s;t of the peoples &s;afety and welfare, their &s;trength, and pur&s;es, was only in the hands of their &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Parlia|ments, and that they ought to be governed only by the Laws: And their con&s;ciences, per&s;ons, or e&s;tates, to be at no mans will or mercy; And doubtle&s;&s;e the defence of the&s;e Liberties is e&s;&s;entially nece&s;&s;ary to the well being of any Nation, and to the being of publick morall righteou&s;ne&s;s among&s;t men. And your Lord&s;hip knows that all the &s;ucce&s;&s;es and victories have been owned, as from the wonderfull appearance of God for his people in this hone&s;t cau&s;e, and that you cau&s;ed the exer|ci&s;e of the chief Magi&s;tracie in <HI>England</HI> by a &s;ingle per&s;on to be aboli&s;h'd, becau&s;e it was dangerous to this righteous cau&s;e, as well as u&s;ele&s;&s;e and burden&s;ome. Now my Lord, let us ap|peal to your con&s;cience whether we ought not to expect tho&s;e things we do, we are unwilling le&s;t it &s;hould wound too deep to make a compari&s;on between the principles of Tyrannie and oppre&s;&s;ion that were attempted to be practi&s;ed by the late King, and were declared by you to be begotten by the bla&s;|phemous arrogance of Tyrants upon their &s;ervile para&s;ites, and tho&s;e that have been practi&s;ed &amp; avowed &s;ince God gave us victorie in the defence of our Liberties (and though we confe&s;&s;e the greate&s;t number of hone&s;t men have hitherto lea&s;t &s;marted under them, yet they will infallibly have the greate&s;t weight of them upon their backs hereafter, &s;hould tho&s;e prin|ciples get root among&s;t us, they being the only likely men to
<PB N="7" REF="4">
de&s;troy them, and however, inju&s;tice again&s;t Enemie ought to be abhorred by righteous Men.) But let us tell your Lord&s;hip that it is the &s;ecret &s;igh of every hone&s;t heart: Oh that God would now take away the reproach from this Peo|ple, and their eyes are much upon you in it, and &s;houd you &s;light our eyes and expectations in this ca&s;e, a&s;&s;uredlie the blood of our friends &s;hed in the Cau&s;e, will crie aloud for vengeance again&s;t you.</P>
<P>We have better thoughts of your Lord&s;hip, then that you &s;hould &s;eek to &s;helter your &s;elf in your omi&s;&s;ion of &s;o great a Dutie, or in your proceeding in the evils begun under tho&s;e vain &s;ubterfuges which have been u&s;ed of late: Oh be not deceived with pretences of Providences of God, leading you from your old Cau&s;e into things not to be ju&s;tified by the morall Lawes. The holie God directs his People only into the paths of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, that is &s;uch Actions as agree with his Lawes, 1, <HI>Iohn</HI> 3. 7, 8, 10. <HI>He that doth not Righteou&s;ne&s;s is not of God,</HI> His Providences and his Lawes al|alwaies &s;peak the &s;ame things, neither let any man deceive you with pretence of nece&s;&s;itie that con&s;trains you to de&s;ert your old Principles for the People of Gods &s;ake and to ad|vance Chri&s;ts Kingdome; For 'tis not po&s;&s;ible there &s;hould be nece&s;&s;itie to tran&s;gre&s;&s;e a Divine naturall Law that is Eter|nall, there may be ca&s;es of extream inevitable nece&s;&s;itie, that may di&s;oblige a man from &s;ome Divine po&s;itive Lawes, be|cau&s;e a Superior that is a Divine, naturall Law may oblige him in that ca&s;e; Therefore in everie ca&s;e of highe&s;t nece|&s;&s;ities, the immutable Lawes of Nature ought to be Guides and Commanders of what is to be done: And if your Lord|&s;hip can make your Actions or Omi&s;&s;ions con&s;i&s;t with tho&s;e, neither God nor his People will blame you. And in &s;o doing onelie, you can advance Chri&s;ts Kingdome: For then is he exalted when &s;upream Reverence, and ab&s;olute &s;ubjection is given to his Fathers Lawes in the deniall of our &s;elves in all Countermands and Temptations, and when the &s;word of the Spirit is u&s;ed to increa&s;e the number of &s;uch Subjects: For this Scepter, Throne and Wars are of and in Righteou&s;ne&s;s.</P>
<P><PB N="8" REF="5">
Therefore, we be&s;eech your Lord&s;hip without he&s;itation or delay, pur&s;ue the exaltation of Chri&s;t and his Kingdom, in following in &s;implicity and integrity of heart after tho&s;e righteous ends you propo&s;ed and declared in the late warre, and unto which you have obliged your &s;elf by all the &s;acred Bonds of humane &s;ocietie: be not affrighted with &s;ome Para|&s;ites, bugbears of Confu&s;ion, if you &s;hake the <HI>Diana,</HI> by which they hope to &s;ub&s;i&s;t, fear not a&s;&s;i&s;tance from every hone&s;t heart in <HI>England,</HI> and though &s;ome pretenders to hone&s;ty, may out of cowardi&s;e, or ambition, or covetou&s;ne&s;s, cry, ther's a Beare and a Lion in the way, yet even they &s;hall run after you when they &s;ee you forward in your way; And to avoid de|layes, let us be&s;eech your Lord&s;hip fir&s;t to examine your con|&s;cience pre&s;ently what you can an&s;wer to the blood of any poor Saint &s;hed, that cries in your ears to &s;ettle that Libertie and Ju&s;tice in his Countrie for which he &s;hed his blood under your command.</P>
<P>Secondly, what you can an&s;wer to the blood of Thou&s;ands of the enemies, which are e&s;teemed by God as murdered by you if the Iu&s;tifick cau&s;e of the war be not effectually pro&s;e|cuted. Will not their blood crie to God, and &s;ay, Lord, this <HI>Fleetwood</HI> killed us upon pretence that we &s;hould have de|&s;troied the Liberties of the People of God, in impo&s;ing Ar|bitrarie power upon them, which we did ignorantlie? And he hath done the &s;ame thing, and made or &s;uffered more hea|vie Yokes to be impo&s;ed; Pray remember it, The Scripture &s;aith, <HI>Thinke&s;t thou O Man, that judge&s;t another, and doest the &s;ame things thy &s;elfe, that thou shalt e&s;cape the iudgement of God,</HI> Rev. 1. 3, 4.</P>
<P>Thirdly, We be&s;eech you to examine what Cau&s;e you now maintain with con&s;tant expence of blood, and the Peo|ples E&s;tates, and how you can give an account to God for it. Remember what are the cau&s;es for which God alloweth mens blood to be &s;hed without blood-guiltine&s;&s;e in him that cau&s;eth it; and trie whether that be one, to make a Nation greater &s;laves to <HI>Iohn</HI> a <HI>Styles</HI> and his Confederates, then they would have been to <HI>Iohn</HI> a <HI>Nokes.</HI> But we praie your Lord|&s;hip if it be po&s;&s;ible that anie pretence can be found for it,
<PB N="9" REF="5">
&s;tate a ju&s;tifick Cau&s;e of your pre&s;ent po&s;ture of Arms, that thou|&s;ands of tender con&s;ciences may be &s;atisfied how to pray for you in any of your pre&s;ent de&s;ignes, if God &s;hould not honour you in the work which they now expect from You.</P>
<P><HI>Now My Lord,</HI> if we would plead with you by worldly Argu|ments or motives, that concern your &s;elf, it were ea&s;ie to evince, that &s;afetie, honour, and greatne&s;s to your &s;elf, and familie, can be certainlie compa&s;&s;ed by no other means, then by returning to the Principles from whence you are fallen, your daily tenors that now attend you and your Coun&s;ells, would &s;oon vani&s;h, you might have above three&s;core thou&s;and men of hone&s;t princi|ples that would take them&s;elves concern'd to be in armes at an houres warning to a&s;&s;i&s;t you, and this without &s;econd charge, and an armie of praiers 2. times as great, indeed who would or could hurt you, if you were a naked &s;incere follower of that which is good. We appeal to your con&s;cience, whether you do not believ that your late Father was more &s;afe with a Foot-boy onelie fol|lowing him in the &s;treets when he was believed to intend that good that your Lord&s;hip may if you plea&s;e effect, then he was afterwards (when he was believed to intend his own ambition) invironed with Guards, and enclo&s;ed with locks, and bolts with|out number; Indeed the onelie meanes of &s;afetie for &s;uch as will exerci&s;e great power over a people to the &s;ubjection of their li|berties, is a mercenarie Armie. And if that con&s;i&s;ts of &s;ome of the &s;ame people, their intere&s;t will change as often as they get e&s;tates that are of more value then their pay, and then they will be readie to con&s;pire with any of the people to provide libertie and &s;ecuri|tie of their e&s;tate for their children, and then the power of the Tirants &s;hake, And of how manie &s;laughters of the Kings of I&s;|raell do we read by their own &s;ervice; &amp; if mercenarie &s;trangers be intended to be Guards for Rulers in England, our Ance&s;tors taught us the way, when they were not &s;o well in&s;tructed in their libertie to ridd our &s;elves of them in a night, But if your own per&s;on could be &s;ecure for a while; what will be the portion of your familie, if th eir per&s;ons and e&s;tates be left to the mercie of him that gets uppermo&s;t, And if you expect greatne&s;&s;e or honor, con&s;ider who&s;e names are delivered to us from former ages with reverence, and e&s;teem, and who have been mo&s;t admired, hono|red,
<PB N="10" REF="6">
and obeyed, by their countrey and people: Can a <HI>Diony|&s;ius</HI> compare, command or fain with a <HI>Tymoleon;</HI> was ever great <HI>Cyrus</HI> or <HI>Alexander</HI> obeyed like the poor young Fi&s;her-boy <HI>Ma&s;si|nello</HI> in <HI>Naples,</HI> whil'&s;t the people imagin'd he &s;ought a &s;ettlement of their libertie? But we &s;uppo&s;e the &s;en&s;e and remembrance of your dutie to God and his people, &s;hould be of greater weight in your Lord&s;hips heart then all the conceits of the earth, &amp; there|fore we al&s;o forbear to mind you of the improbabilitie of &s;etling this Nation according to the rules of pollicie, upon anie other ba|&s;is then their libertie; the lands &amp; intere&s;ts of this Nation being &s;o di&s;per&s;ed &amp; with &s;o much equalitie, that who&s;oever &s;hall attempt to invade our liberties will not find an intere&s;t able to overbal|lance the peoples intere&s;t, and therefore cannot long maintain a Dominion over them; But we forbear to mention this Capital po|litick con&s;ideration to your Lord&s;hip at pre&s;ent, onlie let us beg your &s;erious con&s;ideration how much the honor of the profe&s;&s;ion of the Go&s;pel is concerned in what we move your Lord&s;hip to, &amp; expect from you; And that you would &s;ay to your &s;elf, is it not better that I &amp; mine peri&s;h, then that a publick &s;candal be brought upon Go&s;pel profe&s;&s;ion by my inju&s;tice &amp; treacherie to my Coun|trie under a &s;hew of holine&s;s; &amp; if we &s;hall ob&s;erve by your Lord|&s;hips actions from henceforth that there are &s;ome apearances, that God hath begun to imprint upon your heart the &s;en&s;e of your publick dutie, and that he will put that honor &amp; greatne&s;s upon you to be the re&s;torer of his peoples liberties in this Nation, we &s;hall then think our &s;elves obliged to write again to your Lord|&s;hip or wait upon you to &s;trengthen your hands; In the interim, we &s;hall praie without cea&s;ing, that wi&s;dom, courage and &s;trength may be given you from the Father of all mercies, and that out of his fulne&s;s you may be in all things prepared for the accompli&s;h|ing his own work of righteou&s;ne&s;s; And if in judgement to this Nation your heart &s;hould be hardned by the&s;e poor lines, your Lord&s;hip will be left more inexcu&s;able, and however &s;ome &s;atis|faction in the di&s;charge of your duties will ari&s;e to the Con&s;ci|ces of</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your Lordships<LB>
Mo&s;t affectionate humble &s;ervants<LB>
So far as you follow Chri&s;t&mdash;</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="11" REF="6">
<OPENER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>WE pre&s;umed lately to mind your Lord&s;hip of your pre|&s;ent oportunity, and mo&s;t important duty, and our &s;ouls wi&s;h that the the &s;ecrets of your thoughts upon it were revealed, that our hearts and prayers might be towards you, and for you accordingly we mu&s;t tell your Lord&s;hip that you have &s;ince wounded the hearts of many precious Saints, by conducting your Armie officers, in an action of &s;uch gro&s;s hypocri&s;ie, and palpable flattery, as that addre&s;&s;e you made to your new Protector, we have rea&s;on to believe that it had been impo&s;&s;ible for your Lord&s;hip to have &s;aid privately to an hone&s;t man without blu&s;hing, what you have &s;aid there to the world under your hand, and if your Lord&s;hip will remem|ber (with God in your eye) what is &s;aid of your father, and your brother in it, and of an unknown connexion between his per&s;on and your cau&s;e, which a l&s;o you cannot now, and as now (&s;tate to your own con&s;cience as ju&s;t,) we are confident your heart will &s;mite you, and if your own heart condemn you, God is greater then your heart, and mu&s;t much more condemn you. Truly my Lord, we were much &s;tartled in our hopes from you, and praiers for you, (and we hear the &s;ame of others) when we &s;aw that addre&s;&s;e, yet our remembrance of your &s;ecret expre&s;&s;ions even with tears, of your &s;en&s;e of the Armies back&s;lidings, and your earne&s;t intreaties of us to pray for you, together with the great re&s;pect we have, for your Lord&s;hip hath inclined us &s;trongly to the be&s;t thoughts of you, &s;ometimes &s;aying one to another, &s;urely he had not read our letter before his Addre&s;&s;e, yet we have been &s;o &s;tumbled, that we had troubled your Lord&s;hip no farther in this kind, if God had not &s;o placed the intere&s;t of his cau&s;e and people upon our &s;pirits, that we are re&s;tle&s;&s;e within our &s;elves, untill we have &s;aid &s;o much, as may be either effectuall upon your heart, or at lea&s;t di&s;charge our con&s;ciences, and leave you in|excu&s;able. If therefore the Lord hath made us his remem|brancers to you, and revived his fear in your heart, while&s;t you con&s;idered what we &s;ent you, we have rea&s;on to conclude
<PB N="12" REF="7">
that you are come to the&s;e re&s;olves in your owne brea&s;t, viz. 1. That the peoples arms of this nation have been committed to your charge in your &s;everall capacities, as a &s;teward of that high tru&s;t for them, to imploy them for their benefit, in pre|&s;erving their rights and freedome, and that you mu&s;t give an account to the eternall God of that &s;teward&s;hip.</P>
<P N="2">2. That you are under all po&s;&s;ible &s;acred and indi&s;pen&s;able obligations to be faithfull in your tru&s;t.</P>
<P N="3">3. That the cau&s;e for which you were tru&s;ted was to de|fend and maintain the peoples right to make laws for them|&s;elves, and thereby provide for their own welfare and &s;afety, by &s;uch per&s;ons as they &s;hould chu&s;e, and that without the negative controule of the King, and al&s;o to defend the free|dome of their con&s;ciences, per&s;ons, and e&s;tates, in being over the only government of their own laws, without &s;ubjection to the will or mercie of any man.</P>
<P>And we &s;uppo&s;e you may al&s;o conclude that you have now power and oportunitie ca&s;t upon you to &s;ecure this libertie unto Gods people, according to humane prudence beyond the reach of wicked men, and that if you &s;hould hide your ta|lent of power, in the napkins of fear, cowardi&s;e, ambition, or &s;elf-intere&s;t, you will be condemned from the mouth of your own con&s;cience, for an unprofitable and unfaithfull &s;ervant.</P>
<P>Now if God hath enabled your Lord&s;hip thus to con&s;ider, with a pure under&s;tanding, and with integritie of heart thus to re&s;olve, we know you are continually &s;aying within your &s;elf, men and brethren what &s;hall I doe, to &s;hew my faithful|ne&s;&s;e to the cau&s;e of God, and the people, and to vindicate my po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion from &s;candall; and in hopes that God hath thus di&s;|po&s;ed your heart, we &s;hall endeavour to inquire into your particular dutie.</P>
<P>And in our &s;earch we may a&s;&s;ert this generall maxime, as an infallible pillar to guide you in your pre&s;ent dutie to your generation, <HI>viz.</HI> that the peoples liberties cannot be la&s;tingly &s;ecured to them by any other means, then an in&s;titution of &s;en&s;e, wi&s;e order or method, wherein the people may make and execute their own laws, and u&s;e their own arms and &s;trength,
<PB N="13" REF="7">
for the common good of the whole &s;ocietie. This may direct all your Lord&s;hips thoughts and debates, about a &s;ettlement, and keep in your eieperpetually the white mark wherein all your de&s;ignes and contrivances of publick concernment, ought to centre; this may prepare you, to pa&s;&s;e a quick &s;en|tence upon all the ambitious propo&s;als of your Court-para|&s;ites, this may cut off all tho&s;e Court debates, about impowe|ring a Prince, to check and controul the people by his nega|tive, in their making their laws. It ought to be no que&s;tion, whither the people &s;hould make their own laws, God him&s;elf having re&s;olved it, the very point being the &s;ingle point whereupon you joyned Battell at fir&s;t with the King, you de|fending that the Parliaments Ordinance for the <HI>Malitia,</HI> was a Law without the Kings con&s;ent, and he denying it to be of any force, and affirming tho&s;e Traitors, that obeied that, and not his <HI>Commi&s;sions of Array</HI> (this by the Kings Confe&s;&s;ion was the fir&s;t quarrel) this libertie then being their bloud, cannot be taken from them, but by the highe&s;t robberie and con|tempt of Obligations to God and Man. Therefore your Lord|&s;hips dutie is no more then to contrive the be&s;t, mo&s;t prudent form, and order, wherein the people may injoy their own, with the lea&s;t hazard of being preyed upon by Tirants, or being di&s;quieted by their own ignorant di&s;orders and confu&s;ions: Your dutie to the people, is like to that of a Guardian to an Heir, Not to give them an E&s;tate, but to &s;et down rules, how it &s;hall be ordered for them, and they put in quiet Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it, to their mo&s;t advantage and &s;ecuritie, and this dutie is the more incumbant upon you, becau&s;e you have broken, and trampled to pieces, beyond repair all tho&s;e old Chri&s;tian forms, wherein they formerly injoyed their liberties, though with continuall Di&s;putes, and &s;ubject to daily injuries and oppre&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P>Now before we propo&s;e to your Lord&s;hip any Form or Or|der to be &s;ettled, it is fit that we di&s;cover to you the Er|rours and incon&s;i&s;tencies, of your pre&s;ent practices, and ap|pearing de&s;ign, both in them&s;elves, and in relation to the peo|ples liberties.</P>
<P><PB N="14" REF="8">
Fir&s;t, it's a grand errour in the foundation, if you imagine it po&s;&s;ible to &s;ecure libertie or ju&s;tice to the people, onelie by advancing good men to power over them, and tru&s;ting to the grace in their hearts, to rule in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, good men upon the &s;ingle account of mortalitie, can be no la&s;ting bottom, whereupon to &s;ettle liberty and ju&s;tice. It's beyond the wi&s;|dome of man, to contrive an infallible provi&s;ion, in the pre|&s;ent age that the ruling power in the &s;ucceeding age, &s;hall fall onelie into good mens hands, but what age ever produced men of &s;uch enlightned pure minds? that of them&s;elves could di&s;cern right at all times, without the lea&s;t cloud of their pri|vate intere&s;t upon their under&s;tandings, and al&s;o pur&s;ue &s;uch dictates of their minds, without interruptions by corrupt af|fections; we mention this, not as if our Souls did not wi&s;h, that all powers were ve&s;ted in the be&s;t of men, but becau&s;e we know that every man is vanitie, and a Lie; and yet we believe, it is often whi&s;pered in your eares, by &s;ome weak well meaning men, that hone&s;t mens liberty would then be &s;ecure, and they &s;atisfied, if they could &s;ee good men put into power, &s;aying we &s;hould then need no lawes, for they would be a law to them|&s;elves, having Gods law in their hearts, but tho&s;e that thus by con&s;equence beg advancement, know not what they ask, &s;carce intending to be the peoples lords and to rule them as their &s;laves, which is nece&s;&s;arily employed in the arbitrarie power they ask; neither do they apprehend, what horrid impietie it is, for any man in England now to erect, and exerci&s;e an arbi|trarie power, they &s;ee not the bla&s;phemous arrogancy of &s;uch as rule without lawes, being indeed, an attempt to erect their throne, in it's kind, higher then Almightie Gods, who rules and judges onelie according to his lawes, without which there is neither ju&s;tice, nor inju&s;tice in things humane, or divine, there|fore the peoples &s;ecurity of libertie, and ju&s;tice, mu&s;t be foun|ded upon excellent lawes, or con&s;titutions, for the continued order, from generation to generation, wherein the people &s;hall chu&s;e their own lawes and magi&s;trates, and if good men in power, will in &s;implicitie and integritie joyn heads, hearts, and hands to e&s;tabli&s;h &s;uch an order, or forme of Govern|ment, they will be worthilie e&s;teemed the founders, though
<PB N="15" REF="8">
not the foundation of our Liberties.</P>
<P>Secondlie, 'tis a gro&s;&s;e mi&s;take, to think that the &s;e|curing the peoples Liberties, and the creating of a Sove|raign Prince over them, (under what&s;oever title) can con|&s;i&s;t together, we mean &s;uch a Prince or Potentate, the tenure of who&s;e power, &s;hall not be upon the people, and who &s;hall not be &s;ubject, and accomptable to the Lawes of this Commonwealth, doubtle&s;&s;e the people may not be free, where there &s;hall be a chief Magi&s;trate, who&s;e de&s;erved real honour and greatne&s;&s;e, may ju&s;tly make him di&s;dain to look down upon the Throne of the greate&s;t Mo|narch, yet if he &s;hares in the Soveraigntie, he &s;ubverts Liber|tie and the foundation of his own glorie: the very e&s;&s;ence or formall rea&s;on of a Nations freedom, con&s;i&s;ts in the peoples making their own Lawes and Magi&s;trates, and therefore it is a contradiction to &s;ay, we are free under a Prince controling our Lawes in their Creation, or Execution, and impo&s;ing his Officers upon us at his will and the con&s;equence of that pra|ctice, even in our late Kings, hath cau&s;ed all our pre&s;ent bloudie ruines, his Officers being naturally inclined, and re&s;olved to &s;erve their Creator, to the &s;ubver&s;ion of our Lawes and Liberties; be&s;ides, if a Prince be inve&s;ted with the lea&s;t Punctilio of the Soveraigntie, it is exceeding vain to imagine, that he &s;hould not naturally a&s;pire to the top of it: every thing having an innate de&s;ire of its owne per|fection, and there being no other vi&s;ible meanes to pre&s;erve from the peoples reach, that part which hee hath, but the de&s;truction of their Libertie, you may as well &s;uppo&s;e, fire not to a&s;cend, as &s;uch a Prince not to be wi&s;hing and a&s;piring to be an ab&s;olute Lord, if he had neither ambition, nor pride in him&s;elf, nor in his appen|dixes, his Court Para&s;ites, yet the unavoydable reciprocall fear, in the people, and &s;uch a Prince, lea&s;t each &s;hould di&s;poil the other of his &s;hare of Soveraigntie, will compell the Prince to provide for his own &s;ecuritie, and do your Lord&s;hip think he will believe him&s;elf &s;afe, untill he hath &s;et him&s;elf above the peoples reach, and brought them to depend upon his
<PB N="16" REF="9">
will? It may be he that you would create Prince with a &s;mall &s;hare of Soveraginty, would at fir&s;t thinke his power great, yet in continuance he would e&s;teem it &s;mal, men naturally reaching beyond what they have attained; Liberty therefore and Principalitie, are incompatible, and can never la&s;t to|gether: It &s;eems &s;trange to a People, that they &s;hould be free, and yet &s;erve, and be impo&s;ed upon it's &s;trange to a Prince, that he &s;hould be chief Lord and not command; The meane of Libertie, is the Mother of Murder, and Ty|rannie; any Freedome from Princes Commands being in|tollerable to them, they by Violence take it away, or at|tempt it, and that forceth a Violent bruti&s;h Tyrany, in|&s;tead of Government, We need not look farre for an in&s;tance of this, the bloud and &s;ufferings of our Ance&s;tours, and our own Age, witne&s;&s;e it, hath not our Princes and Ance|&s;tours been alwayes &s;trugling for four hundred yeares, and thou&s;ands peri&s;hed in it, that are known, be&s;ides the ruine of many Worthies which no Hi&s;tory dur&s;t mention, unle&s;&s;e with Infamie, to plea&s;e the Tyrants, And your Lord&s;hip hath &s;een, with what an Earth-quake, Libertie &s;ubverted Principalitie, when it found Opportunitie. Therefore, if you wi&s;h us, and our Po&s;terities no greater good then onely Quiet, it behooveth you to make us wholly Free, or whol|ly Slaves.</P>
<P>Thirdly, It is no &s;mall fayler of fore&s;ight, that you may imagine it fea&s;ible in this Nation, at this time, to e&s;tabli&s;h a Principalitie, or Monarchie, of any probable continu|ance, unle&s;&s;e you can de&s;troy all pre&s;ent Reall Properties and ve&s;t all, or mo&s;t of the Lands of <HI>ENGLAND,</HI> in your Monarch. Every Princes Power of Command mu&s;t a|ri&s;e either from a voluntarie Submi&s;&s;ion, and willing|ne&s;&s;e of a People to &s;erve him, as their Lord, or from a Violent Compul&s;ion, of them to be &s;ubject to Him, and both tho&s;e are founded upon an inequalitie, between him and them, either reall or apparent. A Peoples willingne&s;&s;e to &s;erve a Prince (if any &s;uch be) ari&s;eth from their apprehen&s;ion
<PB N="17" REF="9">
of &s;ome great inequality and di&s;propor<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ion between him and them, either in vertue, intere&s;t, or power. The two fir&s;t are proper to a Prince in his native countrey&punc; or one that hath dominion over only a &s;overeign Prince&punc; who may be thought powerfull to one people, the la&s;t may be proper to protect a people, and that may be cho&s;en a s the lea&s;t of &s;ome impudent mi&s;chiefs; but if any people ever were, or &s;hall be voluntarily &s;ubject to a Prince, upon their high opinion of his unequall tran&s;cendent vertue, that related only to his per&s;on, and never was or can be a &s;olid foundation for an hereditary Mo|narchy, but an unequall intere&s;t in the lands, may be, and is the common cau&s;e, either of a voluntary or con&s;trained &s;ubjection: no man &s;erves for nought, 'tis the need that people have of the Lords in|tere&s;t, that procures him &s;ervants, and enables him to compell &s;ubje|ction: &s;o <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> that new moulded the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Monarchy, devi|&s;ed a way for the King to get all the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions into his hands, that &s;o the people might &s;erve <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> which was a nece&s;&s;ary con&s;e|quence. 'Tis evident that the relation of ma&s;ters and &s;ervants would &s;oon be bani&s;hed the world, if all mens intere&s;ts, vertues&punc; and &s;trength were equall, and much &s;ooner would the names of princes and &s;ub|jects be for ever razed out of memory; &s;urely then (my Lord) 'tis beyond di&s;pu e that if you intend to &s;ettle a Monarchy over us, it mu&s;t be by violence, for it cannot enter into your heart, to imagine, that you &s;hall find a man, who&s;e glorious vertues &s;hall be as a Sun among&s;t the &s;tars compared with all the vertues in this nation, and tho&s;e al&s;o to be &s;urely intailed upon his heirs, neither can your Lord|&s;hip pretend, to find any family, who&s;e intere&s;t in the lands is now &s;o unequall, to the bulk of the people, that the nation &s;hould be in|duced by their intere&s;t to &s;erve them.</P>
<P>Now that a compul&s;ive &s;ubjection to a Monarchy, mu&s;t be the product of an unequall power, is as good as written with a Sun|beam, he that forceth mu&s;t be &s;tronger then-he that is forced, and 'tis as evident&punc; that &s;uch a power is the only naturall fruit of an une|quall intere&s;t in the lands, upon which the bea&s;t of force mu&s;t graze, that bears the Monarch power to force a nation, cannot be inherent in a &s;ingle per&s;on, and multitudes of hands, neither can nor will &s;erve him to &s;ubj<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ct a nation, unle&s;&s;e they be h<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">red, (Chri&s;t him&s;elf &s;ays no man goes to warfare at his own charge) and nothing can af|ford
<PB N="18" REF="10">
the con&s;tant growing hire of the Princes own, but his intere&s;t in the lands, and if he put the hirelings to rob and pilfer for their own <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ire, upon the fruits of the lands, which the people e&s;teem their own, (that is by taxes) the ba&s;is and root of the power, by which the forces live, hath not an appearance to be in the Monarch, nor do his forces &s;eem to have a nece&s;&s;ary dependance upon him, but may as well rob for them&s;elves, and at be&s;t, they mu&s;t remain a fluctuating body without root, the Monarch not being able to plant them upon his lands with condit<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ons of &s;ervice; and therefore they will be e|&s;teemed of the land owners, only as the common thieves, who&s;e hands are again&s;t every man, and ought to have every mans hand a|gain&s;t them, and the robbery being in &s;uch a ca&s;e, to be renewed con|tinually upon the land-owners, and the wound alwaies &s;marting, 'tis of more con&s;tant danger, to &s;ubvert the Monarch, then it were for him to cut the throats of ten thou&s;and land-owners at once, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the lands, to plant his forces upon, as their &s;tanding-quar|ters upon their ma&s;ters own lands, either for their lives, or during his plea&s;ure. Surely (my Lord) it's not to be denied, that a Mo|narch in his dome&s;tick dominions, hath no greater rooted continuing power over a nation, then he hath an intere&s;t in the lands, &s;urmount|ing in value, the intere&s;t of the whole people, as that intere&s;t grows, by murders, oppre&s;&s;ion, and the other common artifices of Princes, (unle&s;&s;e the wrath of God interpo&s;eth) &s;o doth his power root, and flouri&s;h, all other &s;eeming power of a Monarch, hangs as the igno|rant u&s;e to &s;ay, by Geometry, and is without bottome; 'tis a tree who&s;e root is dead, and may be kept up a little while by dead props that decays with it. 'Tis like an armies foraging into an enemies countrey&punc; and plundering, not being able to gain the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of a town, ca&s;tle, or hou&s;e there, as a root of power over it. Indeed, no form of dome&s;tick government can be e&s;tabli&s;ht to be of duration, in a nation, chiefly living upon their lands, if property in the land do not accompany the Empire, that is, if that order which governs (be it one man, or the few, or the people) do not po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e a greater &s;hare of the land of that countrey, then the re&s;t of the people that are governed; and therefore where the Admini&s;tration is mo&s;t po|pular; &s;ervants, and all &s;uch as have no e&s;tates are reckoned to have no &s;hare, or voices in the government. And we conceive, thatt the
<PB N="19" REF="10">
founders of governments, have either framed their models, accord|ing to the ballance of property, which they found among&s;t the peo|ple, or el&s;e have divided the property, and reduced it to their form. And your Lord&s;hip may remember when God him&s;elf formed the people of I&s;rael, by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hand, into a free Common-wealth, there was not only a &s;uitable divi&s;ion of the lands at the fir&s;t, but a perpe|tuall law of Jubilee, to prevent alienation of lands, and the growth of any to &s;uch unequall intere&s;t, as his power might be dangerous to the government, and when that people rejected Gods form of their Common wealth for a Monarch, he foretold them, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 8. 11. 17. that the fir&s;t work of their King would be to alter the modell of property in the lands, &s;ettled by God and take away the be&s;t of their fields, vineyards, and olive-yards, and give them to his &s;ervants, for &s;trengthening him&s;elf, and &s;o they &s;hould become his &s;ervants. And if we &s;hould not trouble your Lord&s;hip too much, we would &s;hew from Hi&s;tory, that all the la&s;ting Monarchies that ever were in the world, have been built upon this foundation, of po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing the great|e&s;t intere&s;t in their countreys lands, either immediately, or by their Peers and their powers, being the naturall re&s;ult of that, they have had their births, decays, and deaths together. Some kingdomes we &s;ay have been founded upon the Monarchs immediate intere&s;t, or property in the lands, as many ancient <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> Kings, and the <HI>Turk,</HI> with other <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> Princes at this day, who are &s;ole proprietors or Landlords of the whole Territories where they reign, and the peo|ple their tenants at will, or at be&s;t for life, upon conditions of &s;ervice in war, proportionable to the value af their farms, whereby the <HI>Turk</HI> keeps an ab&s;olute power over his &s;ubject by their dependance upon his will for their bread, and with his own proper revenue is able al|&s;o to maintain an army of &s;trangers to &s;trengthen the other tie, he hath upon his va&s;&s;alls, and upon this root of his property, (to the eye of humane rea&s;on) his power has grown to that mon&s;trous height Others kingdomes have been built upon the property in the lands, which the Monarchs, Peers, have had joyntly with and under him: &s;o were the&s;e <HI>We&s;tern</HI> dominions after their conque&s;t by the <HI>Northern</HI> people, who divided a land, when conquered, into &s;o many parcels, as they had great Officers, leaving the choice of the be&s;t and large&s;t &s;hare to their Prince or leader, he becoming their King, and the
<PB N="20" REF="11">
chief Officers, holding their large &s;hares on him by &s;ome &s;mall ac|knowledgements, became his Dukes, Counts, and Earls; and the common &s;ouldiers (who came indeed to &s;eek a countrey to inhabit) holding together with the poor natives &s;ome &s;mall parcels of land un|der tho&s;e g eat-men upon &s;uch conditions as made them wholly de|pendant upon their Landlords, and thus the&s;e Dukes and Earls pay|ing homage and fealty and &s;mall acknowledgements to the Prince, became princes in their own divi&s;ions, and thus the intere&s;t of the King and his Peers over-weighed the properties of all other the Inha|bitants, whereupon the power of our ancient Monarchy was foun|ded, and the Kings chief Officers were the tenants and va&s;&s;alls of his Peers, to whom he &s;ent upon occa&s;ion of trouble forreign or dome|&s;tick to leavy arms, who gathered their va&s;&s;alls together, and either a&s;&s;i&s;ted the King, or fought again&s;t him as they l<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ked the quarrell, their &s;ouldiers never daring to di&s;pute their Lords commands know|ing no immediate Lord but them.</P>
<P>Thus was the Kings power le&s;&s;e or greater, as he agreed with his Peers they having been able (as your Lord &s;hip knows) to make and unmake Kings of <HI>England</HI> as they plea&s;ed, and if their propertie in the lands had &s;o remained, nothing could have &s;haken the Monarchs power, if he had kept an union with them, but the inferiour people grew by degrees to better their tenures, and to make &s;ome of their e|&s;tates hereditary upon ea&s;ie fines at every change, as our coppy-hol|ders of inheritance and &s;ome to have their e&s;tates their own free hold, and in fine they came to aboli&s;h in <HI>England</HI> the tenures of va&s;&s;ailage &amp; vill<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">uinage, which is yet in practice among&s;t our neigh-bour natio~s, (who&s;e Monarchies &s;tand by &s;o much the &s;tronger) and the people ha|ving got a better intere&s;t in the lands, &s;oon obtained &s;ome &s;hare in the government they were then thought fit to be &s;ummoned to the natio|nal meetings then called Gamont, &s;ince a Parliament, to con&s;ider what way to &s;upply their King with money, which was to come only from their pur&s;es and properties (the nobles then (as now in <HI>France)</HI> pay|iny no Tax or Tollage) and the &s;en&s;e they had of their own proper|ties in the lands made them &s;oon after challenge it as their right, that their King could take no tax, toll, or tollage, unle&s;&s;e they were plea|&s;ed to give it him in their Parliaments, and then the peoples yoakes, growing more ea&s;y, their wealth increa&s;ed, and lands being common|ly
<PB N="21" REF="11">
&s;uffered to be alienated, the multitude became the purcha&s;ers, and &s;ome bought off their &s;erviccs that &s;till remained due to their Lords, and others bought their Lords lands, who proved prodigalls, and as occa&s;ion was offered, the Churches lands, and this together with &s;ome Kings endeavours to abate the power of their Peers in their Countreys, reduced the Engli&s;h Peerage to an empty name, the greate&s;t quantity of the lands, and with tho&s;e, the power being fallen into the Commons hands, before the Warr, who being then &s;en&s;ible, they neither depended upon the King nor his Peers for their Bread, conceived them&s;elves obliged to &s;erve none but God, and therefore ought not to be commanded, or to have lawes impo&s;ed upon them by the King or his Peers, judging it the right of a people, who&s;e pro|perty rendred them free, and independent to chu&s;e their own lawes and Magi&s;trates, being intended onely for the pre&s;ervation of their own properties and liberties; and thus did our Hou&s;e of Commons gradually grow to that power which in latter time proved formi|dable to the Kings, there wanting nothing to the de&s;tructon of the Throne, who&s;e pillars were broken, but an occa&s;ion for the people to feel the power they had, &amp; this was the naturall cau&s;e of our late Kings projecting to have brought <HI>German</HI> Hor&s;e, or an <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Army into England, a mercenary Army being the la&s;t refuge of a Mo|narch, deve&s;ted of his Nobility, (though that al&s;o will prove but a violent dead prop, and &s;oon rotten, unle&s;&s;e he can &s;uddainly rea&s;|&s;ume a greater property, &amp; give them root by an intere&s;t in the lands upon conditions of &s;erving him) And this was the cau&s;e of the Kings rai&s;ing his Guard at <HI>York,</HI> and leaving the VVarre; being the la&s;t means to &s;upport his power; therefore we may &s;ay, that the dying pangs of a Monarchial power in England, cau&s;ed our VVarrs, as his violent &s;tranglings for life, much rather, then that the VVarre cau|&s;ed the de&s;truction of Monarchiall power; the Parliaments Army did indeed prevent a po&s;&s;ibility of the re&s;urrection of that power, by a forcible changing the property in the lands, and &s;o reviving a new Monarchy; but the old was dead by a kind of natural de&s;oluti|on before the Parlament voted it u&s;ele&s;&s;e, burden&s;ome, and dange|rous; for &s;urely 'tis neither of the three, where, and &s;o long as it's &s;ingle property in the lands, or in union wlth his Nobility, makes the people live upon him and them, though 'tis mo&s;t certainly all the
<PB N="22" REF="12">
three, where it mu&s;t be fed upon the peoples properties; like the Snake in the Ru&s;tick's hou&s;e, till it be able to oppre&s;&s;e them.</P>
<P>My Lord, wee hope it will be clear to your Lord&s;hip, that En|gland is now become an unnatural &s;oyl for a Monarch. The Gover|nor of the World by various providences hath &s;o divided the land a|mong&s;t the bulk of the people, that they can live of them&s;elves with|out &s;erving, and it is prepo&s;terous to impo&s;e a Monarch upon us, as to make a law, that the weaker &s;hall alwaies binde the &s;tronger; we believe it no le&s;s impo&s;&s;ible to e&s;tabli&s;h a la&s;ting Monarch in En|gland without alteration of the intere&s;t, the multitude hath in the lands, and naturall power, then it were to &s;ettle a firm la&s;ting free State, or Commonwealth in the Turki&s;h Territories, &s;uffering the <HI>Ottoman</HI> to Family to remain the &s;ole Landlord of the Territories, as now he is; and we &s;uppo&s;e, that obvious objection, that England hath been a Monarchy for many hundred years, is clearly an&s;wered, from what we have &s;aid, if you will take us as conquered, as much by your Army, as by the <HI>Normans,</HI> and think to &s;ettle a Monarchy like theirs, in a new line; you &s;ee the Materialls, for your building and theirs, are of a different form, and can never make a like buil|ding; England then yielded earth to the Conqueror, by va&s;t Earl|domes, and Baronies, for the plantation of his new Potentates, and a few confi&s;cations or forfeitures made his own and his creatures in|tere&s;t in the lands to exceed all the re&s;t; be&s;ides, the temper of the people, to whom any property in the land was left, was much diffe|rent from that you now finde, they being then bred to learn, and know no better; now being bred in &s;ome liberty, and the conti|nuall claim of the whole. Neither can your Lord&s;hip with rea&s;on hope to prop up a new Monarchy, by an Army of Natives, to be paid by Taxes, if you con&s;ider how &s;oon their E&s;tates of inheritance and naturall love to po&s;terity, with their independency upon the Monarch, a di&s;gu&s;t of the univer&s;all Odium, they mu&s;t live under by extorting Taxes, will make them e&s;pou&s;e the nationall intere&s;t as their own, as did the forreign plants of the <HI>Normans,</HI> when rooted in lands of in|heritance, &s;o that no &s;ort of Armes, to be maintained by a meet Tax, can long &s;upport a Monarch, becau&s;e the very Tax, if nothing el&s;e, create's and maintain's him Enemies that have roots in his domi|nions,
<PB N="23" REF="12">
when his friends have none: we could now &s;hew your Lord|&s;hip invincible difficulties (as our Ca&s;e is) to found a Monarchy though you &s;hould confi&s;cate to your &s;elves mo&s;t of the peoples ends, to make your land property over weigh al the re&s;t but we believe the confi&s;cation of a people, that have never fought again&s;t you, but who&s;e armes you have borne, to be an act &s;o unnaturall and &s;o full of blackne&s;&s;e and horrour, that it can never be admit|ted room in your thoughts, and therefore we &s;hall &s;ay nothing of it.</P>
<P>Fourhly, but my Lord thereis a fourth mi&s;take that de&s;erves the fir&s;t place in the file of Errors, that is, to conceive it po&s;&s;ible to &s;ettle your Brother <HI>Richard</HI> and his heirs as our Prince, to &s;hare in the Sovereign power, if the wounds of Monarchiall power in England, were not mortall, doubtle&s;&s;e his art and experience renders not him to be a Surgeon fit for the cure; it was poverty and famine that &s;hot his deadly arrow into the heart of our Monarchy, and no plai&s;ter can heal it, but Mammon to make it &s;elf new friends, and do your Lord|&s;hip judge his e&s;tate and property &s;ufficient to make him friends e|nough to compell this Nation to &s;ubjection? what can a prudent man fancy as a foundation of his Empire? wherein is the equality be|tween him and the people, even in your opinion, or the dictates of the pre&s;ent Armies con&s;cience? it was &s;aid in the la&s;t Parlament fre|quently, that he was a &s;tranger to the people of God, unknown to the Army, having never actually drawn &s;word, and one that was never ob&s;erved to have had any affection for the Parlaments Cau&s;e; if your Lord&s;hip plea&s;e to con&s;ider it, you will finde &s;uch di&s;advanta|ges attends your Brother, in his a&s;piring to the Throne, as would ren|der his &s;ettlement very doubtfull, if the ba&s;is for Monarchy &s;tood firm in England; We pray your Lord&s;hip think of the primary of his Education, the tenderne&s;s of his years, the meanene&s;&s;e of hisnatu|ral Authority, the &s;lenderne&s;s of his reputation as &s;oldier, or Coun&s;el|ler, and above all, the hatred and contempt the people hath conceived him; either of which, is &s;ufficient to ruine a &s;ettled Prince; and adde unto the&s;e, the claime and pretence he &s;ets up, by pretending to be our Prince, for <HI>Charles Stewart</HI> again&s;t him&s;elfe: (who&s;e inte|re&s;t and friends forreign and dome&s;tique may at the lea&s;t be put in the ballance with your Brothers) which gives life to a growing root of a civill Warr; and adde farther, your rendring all knowing
<PB N="24" REF="13">
con&s;cientious men de&s;perate of their liberty bought with their bloud, &amp; then remember the feeble intere&s;t and repute of his Lords, who in &s;tead of &s;upporting his Throne, as their predece&s;&s;ours did their Princes have need to be &s;upported by it. And once more adde, that his onely hope and refuge being an army for Gods a&s;&s;i&s;tance in &s;uch de&s;ignes, ought not to be expected) that tho&s;e are natives, not his &s;ervants, nor obliged to any dependance upon him, who mu&s;t again&s;t their tru&s;t and oarhs, fight again&s;t their own countrey, and their own intere&s;t, (which is to tran&s;mit to po&s;terity their e&s;tates in &s;ecurity and fr<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="2 letters">dome) and that all their pay mu&s;t be extorted from the people (wherein their relations are concerned) by taxes and col|lages, and that your Brother mu&s;t have the greate&s;t &s;hare of them to &s;ub&s;i&s;t upon in his pomp, and that many of tho&s;e think their own merit and value equall to your Brothers, and may not be full proof again&s;t ambition, and that they will not di&s;cern what aid he contri|butes to the paying of the taxes, whereof he &s;pends &s;o much; nor what need have they of him. Then your Lord&s;hip will pa&s;&s;e a deli|berate re&s;olve, whether it be probable to &s;ettle your Brother as your Monarch, e&s;pecially if your Lord&s;hip remember w th what diffi|culty fear and danger your father was &s;upported for three or foure years only under mo&s;t of the contrary advantages, and above all his pretence to army and people (believed by many) that he abhorred the thoughts of the reviving the old Monarchy, and intended to pro|cure a &s;ettlement of true liberty.</P>
<P>Now my Lord, when we think upon the&s;e things, and the work you are called to, 'tis evident to us that God hath hedged up all the by-waies from your duty with thorns, or rather &s;eas and mountains of difficulties, and made the path of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e plain and ea&s;y. 'Tis your duty to re&s;tore the people to their liberty, and lay &s;olid foundations of common right and ju&s;tice among&s;t them, and in the natural cour&s;e and order of things, it appears almo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible to make them &s;laves. Oh then give glory to God, vindicate the pro|fe&s;&s;ion of religion, and make your own name as &s;weet odours to all generations in doing your duty, as a freewill-offering, chearfully and &s;peedily, lea&s;t your own nece&s;&s;ities, and the peoples confu&s;ions &s;hould extort it from you. Your only bu&s;ine&s;&s;e then my Lord) is to &s;ettle the order for the continuall &s;ucce&s;&s;ive a&s;&s;emblies of the people, to
<PB N="25" REF="13">
make their own laws and Magi&s;trates, all pre&s;ent forms being broken by you, and an ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity upon you, to ap|point what &s;hall be next, though you would return back to that imperfect form of Parliaments that's now become un&s;uita|ble for us as a free people. For it is e&s;&s;entially nece&s;&s;ary to the &s;ecuritie of freedome, that the &s;ame a&s;&s;emblie &s;hould never have the debating and finally re&s;olving power in them, lea&s;t it &s;uddenly degenerates into an Oligarchie or Tyrannie of &s;ome few, that a&s;&s;embly being in &s;uch a ca&s;e able to perpetuate them&s;elves. Of this the providence of God hath given as an experiment in the long Parliament, who exerci&s;ing both the debating and determining power, were &s;trongly tempted to have made them&s;elves perpetually legi&s;lators, and what el&s;e they plea&s;e, and to have governed according to their private intere&s;ts, which if it had taken effect, would have as much de|&s;troyed the common intere&s;t and common right, vertue and liberty, as the &s;ame power exerci&s;ed by a &s;ingle per&s;on, who doth al&s;o naturally make his whole government, centre in his particular intere&s;t. Therefore the order that hath alwaies been in effect among&s;t free people, (although with &s;ome variation of names and circum&s;tances) hath been this: They have ran|ked them&s;elves into three orders, the people, the Senate, and the Magi&s;trate, whereby they have made them&s;elves partakers of all the benefit of the naturall Democracy, Ari&s;tocracy, and Monarchy; that is, they have had the good effects of all the excellent endowments for rule and order, which God hath di&s;|pen&s;ed to any of their people, and by the wi&s;e di&s;tribution of the power among&s;t them, with controuls to every of their cor|rupt affections, unto which they were prone, they have pre|vented the mi&s;chiefs apt to en&s;ue, when the governing power happened to be placed &s;olely in any of the three. By the peo|ple is to be under&s;tood, (in large populous places where the body of the people is too large to meet) the popular a&s;&s;embly cho&s;en by the body of the people of intere&s;ts and e&s;tates, who have right of &s;ufferage among&s;t us. This Coun&s;ell or A&s;&s;em|bly ought to be numerous, as one thou&s;and or more, and
<PB N="26" REF="14">
their function ought to be, to give their affirmative or ne|gative to all laws, matters of peace, warre, and leveys of mo|ney, and that without debate, or arguing, which would bring in confu&s;ion in &s;o great an a&s;&s;embly. Therefore the matters ought always to be propo&s;ed by the Senate, a con|venient time before, that the popular a&s;&s;embly may be ful|ly advi&s;ed of them, before their meeting, and then they are to be &s;ummoned to meet, by one of their own choice for that purpo&s;e: and therefore they ought to re&s;ide near the chief Citie, for the time of their power, which may be for two or three years, one third going out of Office every year the A&s;&s;embly being filled by a new choice, and this is called the Power of the Common wealth; The Senate is the wi&s;e|dom and Authoritie of the Common-wealth, which is a &s;elect Company, not very numerous, cho&s;en by the whole People at the &s;ame time and in the &s;ame manner with the popular Councell, and to continue for the &s;ame &s;pace, with the &s;ame changes and recruits: The Office of this Councell, is to ma|nage affairs of Peace and Warrs, when the people hath De|creed it, and to prepare all Lawes and Decrees, ready for their Sufferage, to command the Forces by Sea and Land, accord|ing to &s;uch Lawes and Orders as &s;hall be either Fundamental to the Government, (for there ought to be an In&s;trument of Government) or made from time to time by the Senate, and the people. So that the Senate is to debate and propo&s;e, and the people to Decree and re&s;olve all Lawes going in the name of both of the&s;e Deputies, both Senate and People ought to have moderate Sallaries allowed them, to prevent corruption, and in &s;ome recompence for the neglect of their private af|fairs, tho&s;e of the popular A&s;&s;embly may have fourty &s;hillings <HI>per</HI> week, &amp; tho&s;e of the Senate may have five hundred pound <HI>per annum,</HI> their pains, care, and expence, being to be probably much greater, regard being al&s;o had to their qualitie, now if it &s;hould not be provided in the foundation, that the Popu|lar A&s;&s;embly &s;hould not a&s;&s;ume the debate, it would come to an Anarchie; but <HI>Athens,</HI> which peri&s;hed by that means: and if the Senate &s;hould take upon them the re&s;ult, it would &s;oon be an Oligarchy, (or Tyranny of a few) For they might
<PB N="27" REF="14">
with a Vote perpetuate them&s;elves, and govern the Nation according to their private intere&s;t; but both Coun&s;els can never agree to perpetuate them&s;elves, for the popular A&s;&s;em|blies Office, being not of profit, but burden, and being ac|pable when out of that Office, to be cho&s;en into the Senate, which is of more profit and authoritie, it would be again&s;t their intere&s;t, which is the mo&s;t certain Bond upon Mankind) to perpetuate them&s;elves, and the yearly change of a third in each Councels, bringing the whole number by Succe&s;&s;ive Changes, &s;o &s;uddenly into their private Capacities, to en|joy the Good, or &s;uffer the harmes of what is done by the Councell, in an equalitie with the whole people, it is of natu|rall impul&s;e, that the whole Government, &s;hould be onely ac|cording to the publicke rea&s;on and intere&s;t, and cannot be imagined to deviate from the proper ends of Government, neither can any Brazen-wall, be &s;o firm and la&s;ting, again&s;t the private Intere&s;t and Pretence of <HI>Charles Stuart,</HI> as the moulding the people into the&s;e Orders, there being no dan|ger, that the Senate and people &s;hould agree to de-throne them&s;elves, to be yoaked by a Monarch: And we may &s;afe|ly &s;ay, that no people formed into the&s;e Orders, if their number held any neer proportion to lie under Monarchie, were ever yet &s;ubdued by a Monarch, from the beginning of the World, untill this Day, unle&s;&s;e they were fir&s;t broken in pieces by them&s;elves, through &s;ome inequalitie in the Con&s;titution of their Orders, but mightie Monarchs have been often led Captives by &s;uch people.</P>
<P>The third Order, is the Magi&s;tracy, wherein &s;ome are Chiefe, &s;ome &s;ubordinate, &s;ome Senatorian, &s;ome Popu|lar, and are cho&s;en accordingly, being all changeable, at certain times, and wholly &s;ubject to the Lawes and Or|der of the Common-wealth. And the Office of the&s;e, is to execute impartially all the Lawes made as is before ex|pre&s;&s;ed. It is po&s;&s;ible it may con&s;i&s;t with the Common Intere&s;t, to have one chiefe Magi&s;trate, in whom the Title &amp; Honour of the Common-wealth, may re&s;ide in publicke Solemnities and addre&s;&s;es; So that no publick Action bee
<PB N="28" REF="15">
left to his di&s;cretion, We &s;hall not mention the Excellent Order of Armes, that is the Con&s;equence of Ca&s;ting a Peo|ple into this Forme, whereby they &s;ub&s;i&s;t, and become in|vincible by their own Armies, not by Mercinaries. We onely mention the fir&s;t Forme, wherein the Foundation of Libertie to a people ought to be laid, that is by E&s;tabli&s;hing the Popular A&s;&s;embly, the Senate, and the Magi&s;tracy; the&s;e are E&s;&s;entiall unto true Libertie, the Super&s;tructures have differed among&s;t &s;everall free People, according to divers ac|cidents, We &s;hall not pre&s;ume &s;o well of our &s;elves as to offer any Direction to your Lord&s;hip in them: but if God &s;hall prepare your heart for &s;uch a Worke of Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Honour, we &s;hall readily throw in our Mite of Advice to your Trea&s;ury.</P>
<P>My Lord, We have now not onely Cleared it to be your Lord&s;hips Duetie, to make us free, but &s;hewed wherein the Foundation of our Libertie mu&s;t be laid, and the ground is digged to your hand, the Lands being &s;o di&s;tributed, that no one Man, or &s;mall number of Men can over-power the whole People, by their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, If we thought it need|full to quicken your Affections to your Duetie, we could tell you from Rea&s;on and Experience how &s;trangely &s;uch a &s;et|tlement of Libertie would transforme the manners of the people; Luxurie would Change into Temperance, Haughti|ne&s;&s;e and Envie into Meekne&s;&s;e, and mutuall Love and E|mulation of Goodne&s;&s;e, &s;ervilitie aud ba&s;ene&s;&s;e of minde, into Noblene&s;&s;e and Genero&s;itie. Who would not follow Vertue for the Love? When neither alliance, flattery or any Vice, could make great, but a Generall Sentence from Popular A&s;&s;emblies of Worth and Goodne&s;&s;e, we might tell you it would wa&s;h foure Garments from the &s;taines of bloud, and the Armies honour from the black reproach that now covers it, and above all the profe&s;&s;ion of religion from &s;candall and infamy; this would &s;hew that you had nobler ends then yet the world believes to be in Chri|&s;tians: If ambition pricks in your brea&s;t, for your &s;elf or your
<PB N="29" REF="15">
brother; in thus doing you may &s;et him upon a Throne more noble, lofty, and commanding, then ever the <HI>Stuarts</HI> po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed or de&s;igned. His free conjunction with your Lord&s;hip in this work may give him merit of greatne&s;&s;e in the &s;ouls of tho&s;e that now di&s;dain him, you may make your &s;words &s;hine with a radiant glory beyond tho&s;e of <HI>Alexander</HI> and <HI>Cae&s;ar,</HI> who&s;e ho|nour was only the &s;ame with that of the Plague and Pe&s;tilence to de&s;troy mankind, yours may re&s;tore liberty to England, and propagate it to mankind. And what &s;hould hinder your Lord&s;hip, &s;urely you can fear no re&s;i&s;tance in giving the peo|ple their right, when you feared none in many de&s;tructive at|tempts to their right &amp; freedomes, be&s;ides you have an Army who&s;e intere&s;ts, con&s;ciences, ingagements, yea their very pa&s;&s;i|ons and affections lead them this way, and in doing this you may extingui&s;h all fears, and &s;ecure again&s;t all plots, and make all knowing men your voluntary va&s;&s;alls in thankfulne&s;&s;e for their liberty. But if your private intere&s;t &s;hould blind your Lord&s;hips eies, and lead you out of the paths of mercie, righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e and peace, to hew out a bloudy way to empire a|gain&s;t the naturall cour&s;e of things. We believe it will not be long before oppre&s;&s;ion and confu&s;ion, the con&s;equences of &s;uch violent actings wil extort that from you, which with lit|tle more trouble then to moddle the elections for a Parlia|ment (as they ought) you might give us above to your eternal honour. So wi&s;hing the God of mercy and peace to direct you, we remain</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE> 
<SIGNED>Your affectionate &s;ervants in Chri&s;t.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
