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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<P>THE PRELATICAL CAVALIER Catechized, and the Prote&s;tant Souldier incouraged. By a Mi&s;&s;ive &s;ent to King <HI>CHARLES</HI> in the name of the <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> beyond Seas.</P>
<P><HI>Wherein the&s;e three Que&s;tions are re&s;olved.</HI> Viz. Fir&s;t, how incon&s;i&s;tent a Prelaticall Government is with the true Pro|te&s;tant Religion, and with the peace and welfare of this Kingdome. Secondly, how ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary it is for King <HI>CHARLES</HI> and his A&s;&s;ociats, to entertain Peace with the <HI>Parliament</HI> at any hand, if ever he hopeth to recover or enjoy any glory or &s;plendour of his Royalty. Thirdly, which are the best means King <HI>CHARLES,</HI> &amp;c. can u&s;e for obtayning an honourable Peace for the pre&s;ent, and improving and continuing the &s;ame in time to come. Much conducing to encourage and confirme all true <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> in the truth of the Prote&s;tant Cau&s;e, e&s;pecially all Souldiers that are for <HI>King</HI> and <HI>Parliament.</HI></P>
<P>Being a Work, very u&s;efull and profitable to be read of all.</P>
<P><HI>Pre&s;ented to the Honorable Councels of</HI> Great Britain, <HI>now &s;itting in Parliament; and the re&s;t of the Kings Maje&s;ties Subjects.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>Eleazer Gilbert,</HI> a Mini&s;ter of Gods Word.</P>
<P>Printed, and publi&s;hed according to Order.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON, Printed for</HI> Robert Leyburn, <HI>and</HI> Richard Wodenothe, <HI>and are to be &s;old at the Star, under</HI> Peters <HI>Church in</HI> Cornhill, <HI>1645.</HI></P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
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<P>with brothels and whore-hou&s;es. But when did your Highnes, or any of your fol|lowers, taxe the&s;e men? For not onely di&s;pen&s;ing with, but even &s;elling and li|cen&s;ing adultery, fornication, Idolatry, perjury, &amp;c. Yea, which is as it were, the very e&s;&s;ence and &s;oule of Church Di&s;cipline; (Excommunication) for &s;o great was the corruption of your Bi&s;hops, and their Officials; that for the value of twelve pence or &s;ome other &s;uch trifling &s;umme of money, a man might either be received in, or ejected and ca&s;t out of your Hierarchicall Con&s;i&s;tory, &s;o that they have made Excommunication almo&s;t a very <HI>Chimaera,</HI> and con&s;equently have e|nervated, extenuated, or rather annihilated the whole &s;trength and power of your Church Government.</P>
<P>Furhermore, we appeal unto your Highne&s;&s;e and your A&s;&s;ociates; what ungod|ly, unju&s;t and prepo&s;terous thing it was, that the&s;e Bi&s;hops Officials, being them&s;elves but Laick men; neither Prophets, nor perhaps bred in the Schools of the Prophets; &s;hould at their own plea&s;ure, &s;ummon up from the furthe&s;t corners of your Kingdom; nay, and not onely &s;o, but puni&s;h, &s;u&s;pend, and cen&s;ure, both the per&s;ons and doctrine of your mo&s;t godly, learned, and orthodox Divines; if ei|ther them&s;elves or their Bi&s;hop had conceived the lea&s;t &s;pleen again&s;t them: may not the Proverb be well applied to &s;uch unequall and rigid Judges, <HI>Sus Miner|vam;</HI> or may not &s;uch reverend men &s;ay unto &s;uch Laick Bi&s;hops, as the <HI>Egyptian</HI> &s;aid to <HI>Mo&s;es, Who made you a Judge over us?</HI> In one word, if your Highne&s;&s;e will but with an impartiall eye: behold or &s;urvey the &s;tupendious in&s;olencie and corruption of your Bi&s;hops Courts and their Officers, the&s;e twenty yeers pa&s;t, &amp;c. you cannot but confe&s;&s;e with us, that they were and are no other then a company of covetous, temporizing Hor&s;leeches come to their Con&s;i&s;tories (not &s;o much to compo&s;e and decide differences, and to pre&s;erve peace and piety among&s;t your peo|ple; as to get mony and enrich them&s;elves by the &s;ins of the people: whereas if this charge were committed to godly and con&s;cionable Pa&s;tors and Mini&s;ters a&s;|&s;i&s;ted with the Suffrages of their Elders and Deacons (as it is in the government Presbyteriall all this corruption might be, or at the lea&s;t, the mo&s;t part prevented. Finally, that we may per&s;wade your Highne&s;&s;e, &amp;c. not onely to leave, but al&s;o to loath the paps of that inchanting Sorcere&s;s: wee will adde this one thing more, <HI>viz.</HI> the greatabu&s;e which was committed by your Bi&s;hops in their Ordination of Mini&s;ters, how contrary to the Go&s;pell? and incon&s;i&s;tent with the practice of a Prote&s;tant Church is it? that the Ordination of many Mini&s;ters &s;hould be committed to the hands and authority of one man: <HI>viz.</HI> a Bi&s;hop, and that when &s;uch ea&s;ie terms, and &s;o &s;mall a triall; that let an Artificer or Husbandman come to a Bi&s;hop or his Chaplain upon &s;ome Ordination day, provided with &s;ome per|functory Letter, or &s;uperficiall te&s;timony from a man (if but of ordinary quality)
<PB N="10" REF="3">
always provided that he hath his fees in his hand, and a black coat upon his back, and then, although hee were as fal&s;e and wicked as ever was <HI>Judas</HI> or <HI>Cain:</HI> as void of feature and good manners, as was <HI>Ther&s;ites</HI> and had no more learning then had <HI>Balaams</HI> A&s;&s;e. He &s;hall be admitted to the Mini&s;terie, quite contrary to <HI>Pauls</HI> charge to <HI>Timothy;</HI> which was not to lay hands &s;uddenly upon any man. Not that this authority of laying on of hands, or ordaining Mini&s;ters belonged to him alone: as the Prelats do alleage, for this is contrary to his own practice, when 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3. 14. He would not be admitted him&s;elf without the laying on of hands, of the company of the Elder&s;hip; but rather to dehort him from being corrupted by the example of the&s;e men, who had arrogantly a&s;&s;umed unto them&s;elves this li|berty, and as contrary is it al&s;o to the practice of <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Barnabas, Acts</HI> 13. 1. and the&s;e Deacons mentioned, <HI>Acts</HI> 6. 6. From which Pontificiall pre&s;umption, it hath come to pa&s;&s;e, that in your <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Prelacy (as from the <HI>Trojan</HI> Hor&s;e) there have i&s;&s;ued &s;o many Apo&s;tolicall Preachers, who being for their fees admitted to the Mini&s;tery by &s;ome Bi&s;hop, without any Church, &s;tipend, or maintenance, are forced (as it were) to beg their bread from doore to doore, and that not out of con&s;cience (as the Popi&s;h Mendicants) but of con&s;traint: they not having &s;o much by their calling, as will &s;upply their nece&s;&s;ary &s;u&s;tenance: or which is much wor&s;e, &s;ometimes to go beyond the Seas, and there turne Apo&s;tates, either to the <HI>Roman, Nicholaitan,</HI> or <HI>Lutheran</HI> &s;uper&s;titions, or thirdly, which is as bad, or little better then the former, or rather then they &s;hould &s;tarve, &s;ome of them doe wander to <HI>Am&s;terdam</HI> or <HI>New England,</HI> &amp; their &s;ide with &s;ome new fangled &s;chi&s;me: Good God how abominable &s;hould this be to your Highne&s;&s;e who profe&s;&s;e your &s;elfe <HI>Defender of the Faith?</HI> How di&s;honourable is it to your Nation? and how prejudiciall to the true Prote&s;tant Religion and profe&s;&s;ors thereof, who &s;hould have among&s;t them all but one God, one Faith, and one Bapti&s;me, and who &s;hould have no more Mini&s;ters among&s;t them to work at their Altars, but &s;uch as have a competent maintenance, and are able to live by the Altar: Is this the care of your right reverend Fathers to provide for their children, or hath your Highne&s;&s;e all this time, &s;uffered your &s;elfe &s;o wofully to be mi&s;led by the&s;e gho&s;tly Vultures, as to permit them &s;o &s;hamefully (as the Pope doth to him&s;elfe and his Cardinals Nephews) to ingro&s;&s;e unto them&s;elves and their &s;ymonaicall friends (neither of whom, nor perhaps any of them ever dared to adventure them&s;elves beyond the &s;eas to &s;ee the face, or learn the po&s;ture of any Chri&s;tian or Prote|&s;tant Church, or it may be hath no more learning in them then to re&s;olve the Bi&s;hop of that grand que&s;tion) who was <HI>Melchi&s;edecks</HI> father? to permit &s;uch men, them we &s;ay, &s;o &s;hamefully to ingro&s;&s;e to them&s;elves all the fatte&s;t Benefices in your Kingdoms, and that a few (perhaps forty or fifty prelaticall Prie&s;ts or
<PB N="11" REF="3">
Mini&s;ters, by their codpiece or Court Symonie, &s;hould have every one for his yearly &s;tipend 1000 or 2000 li. a year at the lea&s;t, when it may be, 5000 more godly, learned, and every way more worthy pa&s;tors, who have al&s;o a greater charge to mayntain) &s;hall not have &s;o much among&s;t them all, but are enforced, notwith&s;tanding, their a&s;&s;iduous labours, and con&s;cionable conver&s;ation, to eat the bread of car fulne&s;&s;e, and to drink the waters of affliction by mea&s;ure. That &s;uch barbarous, or rather Antichri&s;tian inequality, &s;hould not onely be tolerated, but al&s;o, with tooth and nail, &s;o eagerly be mayntained, without reformation and that by a Prote&s;tant Prince, who &s;tyleth him&s;elf, <HI>Defender of the Faith,</HI> and by his a&s;&s;ociates who pretend and profe&s;&s;e &s;o much of the Prote&s;tant Religion, is a thing we mu&s;t needs confe&s;s beyond our admiration. What &s;hould we&s;peak of your admitting Popi&s;h Prie&s;ts and &s;acrificatures unto your parochiall charges, yea, and &s;ometimes to &s;teer the helme of Chri&s;ts &s;hip among&s;t you, without any impo|&s;ition of hands, admi&s;&s;ion, or vocation, other then they received from the Roman Bi&s;hops, by whom they were ordinated &s;acrificers; to offer in their bla&s;phemous Ma&s;&s;es a Sacrifice both for quick and dead which how far it doth derogate from the all-&s;ufficiency of Chri&s;ts pa&s;&s;ion, and how far &s;uch Sacrifices and Sacrificers are different from tho&s;e in the Go&s;pel: <HI>Rom.</HI> 12. 1. which con&s;i&s;ts principally in killing and mortifying our &s;infull lu&s;ts and affections; we hope may appear ea&s;ily to any true Prote&s;tant whom God hath not given over to believe &s;trong delu&s;ions, and to hold the truth in unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e nor is there any le&s;&s;e difference be|twixt the calling of a Prie&s;t by a Popi&s;h Bi&s;hop, we &s;peake as they are devoted to the errours and bla&s;phemies of the See of <HI>Rome,</HI> as now it is unto the di&s;pen&s;a|tion and mini&s;try of the Go&s;pell, and the calling of a Prote&s;tant Mini&s;ter by a lawfull Presbyter (for ought we know then there was betwixt the calling of <HI>Annas</HI> and <HI>Caiphas,</HI> and that of <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Barnabas: Act.</HI> 13. 1. And &s;o al&s;o we could tell your Prelates of their permitting women to bapti&s;e children in ca&s;e of weakne&s;le, and if they cannot conveniently be brought to Church, as if the &s;alvation of infants did depend upon the act of Bapti&s;me and not upon the free grace of God, who according to the good plea&s;ure of his will; and in relation to the covenant he hath made with our fathers hath elected them to &s;alvation in Chri&s;t their Saviour for by the mini&s;tery of the Sacraments, Gods promi&s;es un|to us are not accompli&s;hed and fini&s;hed, but only e&s;tabli&s;hed and confirmed: here therefore is one gro&s;&s;e errour more to permit women to bapti&s;e, whom the Apo&s;tle, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2. 12. will not permit to teach or &s;peak in the congregation, nor to have any publike charge in the Church; certainly, if they may lawfully be per|mitted to mini&s;ter the one Sacrament, we know no rea&s;on why they may not as lawfully mini&s;ter the other, which we hope no &s;ound prote&s;tant will deny to
<PB N="12" REF="4">
be flat contrary to the ordinance of Chri&s;t, and a meer profanation of tho&s;e holy my&s;teries. The like al&s;o we might alleage of the Anabapti&s;ts, Browni&s;ts, and di|vers other Schi&s;matikes, that are permitted by you on both &s;ides to the great di&s;paragement of our Prote&s;tant Religion who although they were never brought up at the feet of <HI>Gamaliel,</HI> nor bred in the &s;chools of the Prophets, but meer hus|bandmen or trade&s;men, who&s;e credit wealth and wit lieth in their hands and fin|gers, yet for&s;ooth will brag of the Spirit and without any warrant or commi&s;&s;ion from Chri&s;t or his Church, will pre&s;ume to take upon them this &s;acred function, and both preach and bapti&s;e without any warrant or calling, other then their own private phanta&s;ie or &s;ome brain&s;ick enthu&s;ia&s;me. What need we &s;ay more? &s;eeing that which we have already affirmed, is abundantly &s;ufficient to di&s;cover to the world that your late Engli&s;h, Epi&s;copall Prelaticall Government, which your Highne&s;&s;e and your a&s;&s;ociats do &s;o &s;tifly maintain, hath been no other (we mean e&s;pecially in point of di&s;cipline) then a pattern of Popery, a map of Machi|avili&s;me, a rap&s;odie of Super&s;tition and a bundle of corruption, in regard where|of (for ought we know) we may as lawfully &s;ay, that of your Church and your Church government, as <HI>Buchanan</HI> your Highne&s;&s;e Fathers Schoolma&s;ter &s;pake of old <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<Q><L><HI>Totam denique quantacunque</HI> Roma <HI>e&s;t</HI></L>
<L><HI>Na&s;centom, vegetem excute &amp; florentem</HI></L>
<L><HI>Nihil invenies ni&s;i Lupercall</HI></L>
<L><HI>Lupercale, Lupos, Lupas, Lupanar.</HI></L></Q>
<P>To conclude, therefore this fir&s;t que&s;tion, and apply it to the u&s;e of your High|ne&s;&s;e, and your A&s;&s;ociates &s;eeing that your late Prelacy, as it was exerci&s;ed in <HI>England:</HI> and as it is now &s;o &s;tifly maintained by you, hath not, nor ever had any ju&s;t ground from the Word of God, nor from Chri&s;t, in&s;titution nor the pra|ctice of Gods true Church for divers hundred of yeers after Chri&s;t, untill Anti|chri&s;t began to &s;hoot out his horns. And for as much al&s;o as the true and &s;olid peace and pro&s;perity of a people, and their welfare al&s;o in re&s;pect of politicall go|vernment depends much, if not altogether, upon the right and orthodex govern|ment of the Church, con&s;i&s;ting in &s;oundne&s;&s;e of doctrine, and integrity of di&s;ci|pline. It is high time for your Highne&s;&s;e, (&s;eeing that yoy Hierarchy can hold no water, is not like to hold water) although with the Papi&s;t you &s;hould plead never &s;o much antiquity for it (for as your own Hierarchicall Civilians will con|fe&s;&s;e) <HI>Quod non valet ab initio, tractu temporis non convale&s;cit.)</HI> To bethink your &s;elf of &s;ome more &s;ound, lawfull, and warrantable way of governing your people in matters of Religion which is grounded; not to much upon mens inventions and Pontificiall Canons, as upon the In&s;titution and written Word of God, and
<PB N="13" REF="4">
of his Son Chri&s;t, who&s;e Go&s;pel and Ordinance, doth not onely ble&s;&s;e and &s;ancti|fie but authorize and qualifie all humane actions, and that as well under the Go|&s;pel, as under the Law: for why &s;hould we think, that Almighty God &s;hould be le&s;&s;e carefull of the Government of his Church under the New Te&s;tament, then he was in the time of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or that he &s;hould then leave, or now under the Go|&s;pel allow all things in his Church; nay, any thing to be managed by the will and determination of &s;ubordinate Officers and Magi&s;trates, without any ground (ex|plicit or implyed) from him&s;elf, whereas we know, that (not onely <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> under the old Te&s;tament was &s;o &s;hie to do any thing) in the government of Gods peo|ple of his own head. and without a &s;peciall direction and commandement from God: that he would not admit unto the Pa&s;&s;eover, one that at a Funerall had touched the corps of a dead man: before he had asked coun&s;ell of God, as you may &s;ee, <HI>Numb.</HI> 9. 6, 7, 8 ver&s;es, and in <HI>Exod.</HI> 25. 40. hee is expre&s;ly charged by <HI>God not to make the Tabernacle after any other fa&s;hion then was &s;hewed him in the mountain;</HI> but al&s;o Chri&s;t him&s;elf, who was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> prototype; whom God in the 18 of <HI>Deuteronomy</HI> 15. did promi&s;e <HI>to rai&s;e up as a Prophet like unto Mo&s;es,</HI> (although much more excellent) for <HI>Mo&s;es as a &s;ervant, but Chri&s;t as a &s;onne, Heb.</HI> 3. 5, 6. <HI>Did dispo&s;e and regulate his little flock according to the will of his Father; not according to the will of man, nor according to his owne will as he was man: but according to the will of his Father;</HI> for as him&s;elf witne&s;|&s;eth, <HI>John</HI> 5. 30. <HI>He came not to &s;eeke his own will, but the will of his heavenly Father:</HI> and this kinde of government revealed in his Go&s;pel without all que&s;ti|on he will continue and have among&s;t all his cho&s;en people to be continued un|till his &s;econd comming who&s;e voice all Chri&s;tians but e&s;pecially, all Prote&s;tants, or reformed Chri&s;tians mu&s;t obey, unle&s;&s;e they will deny Chri&s;t to be their Pro|phet or derogate from the worthine&s;le of his propheticall office; one principall part whereof was not only to reveal unto his people his Fathers will concerning their redemption, but al&s;o to govern and rule them in the performance and exe|cution of that will unto the end of the world: wherefore to draw the frame and authenticalne&s;&s;e of a Church government, from any other pattern then from Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, is no other then to deny both the Propheticall and Re|gall office of the Sonne of God; who if he be a King over his people, why &s;hould he not be able both to pre&s;cribe laws unto them, and al&s;o guide and rule them according to the&s;e Laws &s;o far as may conduce to his owngory and their hap|pine&s;&s;e: Surely they that draw the frame and government of an Evangelicall Church under the Go&s;pel, from any other authority, or build the &s;ame too much upon the placets and inventions of men who are not onely vain, but vanity it &s;elfe, nor &s;ubject to deceive, but al&s;o to be deceived, doe but take their marks by
<PB N="14" REF="5">
the moon, build their hou&s;e upon the &s;and. preferring <HI>Eleazer</HI> the &s;ervant to <HI>I&s;a|ac</HI> the &s;onne, and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the me&s;&s;enger, unto Chri&s;t the ma&s;ter and Judge of all the earth. In a word to &s;ay that Chri&s;t is not as carefull of his Chri&s;tian Church under the Go&s;pel as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was of the Church of the Jews; and that he hath not in his Go&s;pel pre&s;cribed, what kind of Magi&s;trates, Mini&s;ters; and Officers hee would have, and by what Laws he would have them to be governed, were to make him more negligent of his people then was <HI>Numa</HI> of the Romans, <HI>Solon</HI> of the Lydians or <HI>Lycurgus</HI> of the Lacedemonians; all which (although Hea|thens did pre&s;cribe whol&s;ome Laws unto their Common-wealth) which &s;o much as to thinke of the Lord Je&s;us (in whom were hiden all trea&s;ures of wi&s;dome and knowledge) were mo&s;t damnable and bla&s;phemous. So much of the fir&s;t Que|&s;tion, <HI>viz.</HI> How incon&s;i&s;tent your late Church government was with the Go&s;pel, and how far it hath been of late years in your Kingdoms abu&s;ed.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="question">
<HEAD>The &s;econd Que&s;tion.</HEAD>
<P>HOw incon&s;i&s;tent this kind of Church government is unto your Highne&s;s &s;afety and pro&s;perity of the Republick: and con&s;equently what a prepo|&s;terous thing it is to continue the &s;ame in the&s;e Kingdoms?</P>
<P>This Que&s;tion is ea&s;ily re&s;olved, if you will &s;uffer your judgment with|out partiality: but to reflect upon the&s;e three Objects, <HI>viz.</HI> Fir&s;t, the di&s;po&s;ition and affections of your own Subjects. Secondly, the reputation and expectation of Prote&s;tant Princes and Profe&s;&s;ors among&s;t us beyond the Seas. Thirdly, the con|dition and nature of the true Prote&s;tant Religion, and Prote&s;tant Profe&s;&s;ors e&s;ta|bli&s;hed and regulated by a Presbytery; which, without all peradventure of all Chri&s;tian profe&s;&s;ions this day in the World, is that which is mo&s;t &s;ound and or|thodox in it &s;elf: as being mo&s;t free from corruption, and mo&s;t &s;afe for a true Pro|te&s;tant Prince which undertaketh to mayntain (not a Prote&s;tant Religion, for &s;o do the Kings of <HI>Poland, Sweden,</HI> and <HI>Denmark,</HI> although corrupted with the <HI>Roman</HI> and <HI>Lutheran</HI> Super&s;titions) but the Prote&s;tant Religion, which onely is mo&s;t con&s;onant with the doctrine and practice of Chir&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, and mo&s;t agreeable to that pattern of whol&s;ome doctrine expre&s;&s;ed in the Go&s;pel, the patronage whereof no Prince can deny that is a true Prote&s;tant unle&s;&s;e it be &s;uch a Prince that affecteth tyranny; and would make under the cloak of Relgion (not the Word of God and welfare of his people; but worldly policy and private re|&s;pects,) to be rule of his government.</P>
<P><PB N="15" REF="5">
Fir&s;t then, May it plea&s;e your Highne&s;&s;e and Confederates, to ca&s;t your eyes up|on the people (we mean not &s;uch people, whom malice, corruption, or covetou&s;nes, (without any re&s;pect to the Word of God, or a good con&s;cience) have drawne to your &s;ide) but the mayn body of the two of your be&s;t Kingdoms of <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Scotland,</HI> for the mo&s;t and be&s;t part, how exa&s;peratly and uncontrolable are they &s;et again&s;t this way: mayntayning it for a maxime (as your A&s;&s;ociates doe) <HI>No Bi&s;hop, no King,</HI> &s;o they <HI>(No Bi&s;hops, no Popery:)</HI> where by the word Bi&s;hop, they do not under&s;tand any of <HI>Pauls</HI> Bi&s;hops mentioned in the Epi&s;tle to <HI>Timo|thy</HI> and <HI>Titus,</HI> for &s;uch Bi&s;hops as the&s;e they &s;eek for, and their Petition unto your Highne&s;&s;e is; <HI>Da nobis tales Timothaeos, &amp; nos eos cib abimus auro, &amp; potabimus bal&s;amo;</HI> Such Bi&s;hops as the&s;e may be well con&s;i&s;tent with the Presbyteriall Government, and by the prayers and &s;uffrages of &s;uch Bi&s;hops (before ever hee medled with a Hierarchy) your Royall Father King <HI>James</HI> did enjoy many peace|able and happy days which (if it had plea&s;ed our Great Land-lord) might have been continued unto your Highne&s;&s;e and your po&s;terity, and which (wee be&s;eech the Almighty, mangre the unhappine&s;&s;e of your pre&s;ent di&s;tempers,) may be con|tinued unto you and yours (as long as the Sun and Moon endureth.) But by a Bi|&s;hop, your people for the mo&s;t part, under&s;tand a domineering, temporizing and &s;elf-&s;eeking prelate; where by the word Bi&s;hop or prelate, they doe not &s;o much conceive one particular office, or individuall per&s;on of one Clergy man, but col|lectively, all his &s;ubordinate Officers A&s;&s;i&s;tants, and Attendants; &s;uch as Deans, Archdeacons, Prebends Surrogates, Chancelours, Commi&s;&s;aries, Regi&s;ters, Proctors, Apparitors, Chaunters, Chori&s;ters, Canons, Pety-Canons Vergers, and all their Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Courts, Laws Canons, Orders, Innovations and Ce|remonies which although they were in them&s;elves never &s;o indifferent, decent, or commendable yet the Commons for the mo&s;t part of both the&s;e Kingdomes are per&s;waded, and hold it for&punc; Maxim irrefragible, that dictates &s;uch a Bi&s;hop (we &s;ay not &s;uch a Prines, mayntaining or approving &s;uch per&s;ons or things) is no o|ther then a relike of popery; a limbe of Antichri&s;t: a Wenne upon the face, or a Boyle upon the ble&s;t of a true Prote&s;tant Reformed Church. Nay, there be ma|ny thou&s;ands of Husbandmen, Artificers and Trade&s;men; be&s;ides people of grea|ter quality (if we be not much mi&s;informed) within your I&s;land, whom (if wee &s;hould goe about to per&s;wade of the lawfulne&s;&s;e of &s;uch a Bi&s;hop but in je&s;t) they would be ready to cut our throats in earne&s;t &s;o rigidly are they &s;et again&s;t this kinde of Prelacie: the Hierarchy, that the very name of a Bi&s;hop, is to an ordi|nary <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> or <HI>Scoti&s;h</HI> countrey man as the King of <HI>Spain</HI> is to a Hollander: for as the one taketh it for an argument &s;omuch hone&s;ty to rail again&s;t the Spani&s;h King, &s;o doth the other hold this to be a &s;peciall marke of a good Prote&s;tant to
<PB N="16" REF="6">
condemne and cry down Epi&s;copacy, the very name of a Bi&s;hop they hate wor&s;e then a young Court Lady doth old age, or a Jew Images.</P>
<P>Seeing therefore your people (for the mo&s;t part are thus di&s;po&s;ed) it is the du|ty of a wi&s;e Prince, being <HI>Pater patriae,</HI> to comply to their de&s;ires; your greate&s;t &s;trength con&s;i&s;ting in their affections, and their affections being &s;o brittle as a Cry|&s;tall gla&s;&s;e, which being once broken can hardly be &s;ouldred together again: yea, although that which they de&s;ire &s;hould be unrea&s;onable, yet (if the common &s;tream be very &s;trong; a di&s;creet Prince can have no better policy then to row with the tyde (although he &s;hould be forced, through the violence of the weather, to land at the wrong &s;tairs) it is but a little going on foot (if he cannot have a Coach or Sedan) that will bring him to his right Harbour. Nor can the foregoing or quit|ting the Prelacy Hierarchy, detract any thing (if you con&s;ider rightly from the &s;tature of your magnificence. For why, may not a Moderator (in a government presbyteriall) be as &s;afe and honourable unto your Highne&s;&s;e, and as well endowed by your Highne&s;&s;e bounty; as any prelate under the government Hierarchicall; your Highne&s;&s;e e&s;pecially, having therewith (which wee are &s;ure you have not now) the affections and con&s;ent of your people. Neither can it any ways be di&s;honourable to admit of this change at the reque&s;t of the Commons, &s;eeing you have the pre&s;ident of divers wi&s;e and mighty Potentates for the &s;ame; who rather then they would admit of warre to come within the channell of their Dominions, upon any terms; did think it no di&s;paragement to &s;ub&s;cribe unto their peoples demands; although &s;ometimes ab&s;urd and ridiculous: Witne&s;&s;e <HI>Lewes</HI> the Eleventh, and <HI>Henry</HI> the Seventh; then which all <HI>England</HI> and <HI>France;</HI> cannot point forth two of more profound judgment, and better ver&s;t in the my&s;tery of government, who in ca&s;es of controver&s;ie with their &s;ubjects, were the fir&s;t propounders and &s;eekers of peace; and by their &s;oft complyance, did dint the bullets of their peoples fury; and &s;o by this means, when the &s;torme was over, and bu&s;ine&s;&s;e came to be debated upon the great Carpet; did in a &s;hort time, and by degrees become Ma&s;ters of their own ends, and their &s;ub|jects affections: Yea, which is yet more, Suppo&s;e that your Great Coun&s;ell would comply with your Highne&s;&s;e to continue this Hierarchy, (which as we un|der&s;tand they will yet hardly do) yet &s;hall not ever your Highne&s;&s;e or your po&s;te|rity have any &s;etled peace in your Dominions, unle&s;&s;e you aboli&s;h the &s;ame: The people wil &s;til once in twenty or thirty yeers run into their old byas, Epi&s;copacy (as it hath been there among&s;t you exerci&s;ed) being in their con&s;truction (as is afore|&s;aid) no other then a wound or gangreen upon the bre&s;t of the Engli&s;h Church in which wound, &s;o long as there remayneth any corruption, &s;o long there will be pain: and &s;o long as there is pain, the patient will complain, the humour therefore
<PB N="17" REF="6">
mu&s;t be purged, and the wound before it be &s;ewed up, well clen&s;ed, le&s;t it bur&s;t out again, or if it be a gangreen, the part that is fe&s;tered mu&s;t be cut off:</P>
<Q><L>&mdash;Immedicabile vulnus,</L>
<L>En&s;e recidendum ne pars &s;ynceratrahatur.</L></Q>
<P>For if it be let alone, the whole body will be thereby endamaged &s;o long as the cau&s;e remayns, &s;o long will the effect be continued; &s;o long as your Highne&s;&s;e doth mayntain and patronize Epi&s;copacie, &s;o long will your people murmur and grudge at your government. As therefore you tender the health of the Common-wealth, and as you de&s;ire the &s;etled peace of this Kingdome; <HI>venienti occurrite morbo:</HI> purge out this old leven, cleer the bre&s;t, and heal the heart of your politicall body, and that &s;o &s;ea&s;onably and &s;peedily, that your mi&s;eries come not to a greater heighth; for,</P>
<Q><L>&mdash;Sero medicina paratur,</L>
<L>Cum mala per longas invaluere moras.</L></Q>
<P>If your di&s;po&s;ition to jarring turn once into a &s;etled habit of warring (without the rich mercy of God.) there will be norhing wanting to make your calamities irrecoverable.</P>
<P>Furthermore let your Highne&s;&s;e and your Confederates (if you be as you pro|fe&s;&s;e your &s;elves to be true Prote&s;tants, duly con&s;ider what a great improvement this will be to the Prote&s;tant Religion; if you will abandon this kind of govern|ment, and e&s;tabli&s;h throughout all your Dominions the government Presbyteriall; what a great heartning and encouragement to all forreigne Prote&s;tant Princes and profe&s;&s;ors throughout <HI>Europe,</HI> who do wor&s;hip God in &s;pirit and truth &amp; are re&s;olved to maintain their Religion in the &s;ame purity it was in the Apo&s;tlestime, and many yeers after, untill pride, ambition and corruption began to &s;way: What joyfull news (we &s;ay) will this be to them? that your Highne&s;&s;e and A&s;&s;ociates have re&s;olved to put to your helping hands towards the curtaling of the Popes horns, and that you have given &s;uch a blow to the <HI>Roman</HI> Antichri&s;t, as that you have not only (within your Dominions) cutoff the head and members (that is, the Prelaticall Bi&s;hops and their Court-keepers, but al&s;o demoli&s;hed and defaced the very Images, and repre&s;entations of that Babyloni&s;h Mon&s;ter; yea, that you have not onely ca&s;hiered and di&s;carced all open profe&s;&s;ors of popery (&s;uch as were Je&s;uits, Prie&s;ts, and others their Di&s;ciples and Emi&s;&s;aries; but al&s;o all Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|call Dignities, Orders, Canons, Courts and Conditions of men, which did any ways concern or relli&s;h a popi&s;h Hierarchie. For certainly (&s;ay what you will) their is no Religion in the world next to the <HI>Mu&s;covites,</HI> (except the <HI>Lutherans)</HI> who yet in their Prelacy and Church Di&s;cipline, are not &s;o corrupt and extrava|gant) which doth more punctually re&s;emble the government of the <HI>Roman</HI> Church,
<PB N="18" REF="7">
then doth the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Hierarchie in &s;o much that &s;ince the beginning of your late inte&s;tine broyls in <HI>Great Britain,</HI> the Je&s;uits have not failed to &s;tirre up and in|cen&s;e the King and Parliament of <HI>Poland,</HI> either to bani&s;h and exterminate all your Highne&s;&s;e Subjects and Countrymen out of their Kingdome, or el&s;e to vex and charge them yeerly with &s;uch grievous and unaccu&s;tomed taxations, as that now they can hardly gain livelihood among&s;t them (notwith&s;tanding their labo|rious endevours, good de&s;ert, and great &s;ervices which they have done for them) and why is all this for&s;ooth, but becau&s;e they will not be of their own Kings re|ligion; which they take for granted (to be <HI>Roman Catholick)</HI> el&s;e why did the Je&s;uits of the City of <HI>Vilna,</HI> (wherein is the chief Tribunall and Univer&s;itie of the great Dukedome of <HI>Lithuania)</HI> in <HI>Anno</HI> 1641. upon their Saint <HI>Ignatius</HI> day (at which time the Je&s;uits do u&s;e to keep a &s;olemne Fea&s;t, for the honour of their Patron and Founder: with great joy and acclamations, &s;inging of Anthems, drinking of Healths and &s;hooting off divers great peeces of Ordnance which they had planted upon the top of a hill clo&s;e by the City) congratulate and give thanks to God for the happy conver&s;ion of the King of <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, for we will &s;peak no more of this &s;econd Que&s;tion, doth your High|nes and A&s;&s;ociates think, that the Presbyteriall government (if you &s;hould for&s;ake the other) will be prejudiciall to Monarchy? Surely, how&s;oever your Prelates have &s;candalized and &s;poken ill of that way, calling the followers and profe&s;&s;ours thereof, and that in an ill &s;ence, and that by way of obloquy; Puritans: yet (if our ob&s;ervation fail not in mo&s;t parts of Chri&s;tendome (which &s;ome of us have &s;urveyed; and &s;o have few or none of your Engli&s;h Prelats, or Dirgy-men: For as we under&s;tand, they are none of the greate&s;t Travellers, they think this qualitie no ways &s;utable to their <HI>grandeur,</HI> and therefore leave it to Seamen, or others of a meaner condition: and &s;o receive all things willingly (which they are to know or &s;peak of, of other Nations) at the &s;econd hand. Shewing them&s;elves hereby more carefull and vigilant for the bodies, then for the &s;ouls of men: if our ob&s;ervation (we &s;ay) fail not; you &s;hall find that in all the World there is no Religion to a So|vereigne, that de&s;ires to make him&s;elf ab&s;olute, and would have a continued per|manence of his Monarchy) even to &s;uch a Prince, we &s;ay again: that there is no Religion under Heaven &s;o competent and agreeable as a Prote&s;tant Presbytery; in &s;o much that we cannot but wonder; that a Prince profe&s;&s;ing Religion onely for policies &s;ake: &s;hould &s;uffer any other to be within his Dominions. For let a Pro|te&s;tant King (we mean one that rules over a people of that profe&s;&s;ion) be never &s;o notoriou&s;ly wicked in his per&s;on, and enormious in his government: let him &s;tamp vice with his example, and make it currant by being his, let him remove the an|cient bound-marks of lawfull Sovereignty, and every day make more yokes and
<PB N="19" REF="7">
new &s;courges for his poore people: let him take reward and puni&s;hment out of the hands of Ju&s;tice, and di&s;tribute them without any re&s;pect to right or wrong: in a word, let him &s;o exceed in mi&s;chief, ruine and oppre&s;&s;ion, as that <HI>Nero</HI> being compared with him may be held to be a very Father of the people. Finally when he hath done all that he can to procure hate and contempt yet &s;hall hee not for all this have occa&s;ion to feare &s;uch a people, but may boldly go in and out to his &s;ports, without either a publick guard or privy coat; nor need hee take the le&s;&s;e drinke when he goeth to bed, or the more thought when he ri&s;eth: but may without the lea&s;t &s;u&s;picion of a Je&s;uited <HI>Raviliac,</HI> &s;olace him&s;elfe in his bedchamber; or el&s;e|where, more &s;ecurely then the Grand <HI>Signeor</HI> can do in his Seraglio.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="question">
<HEAD><HI>The third Que&s;tion,</HI> which is this, <HI>viz.</HI></HEAD>
<P>HOw much it concerneth your Highne&s;&s;e and your Confederates at any <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="2 letters">nd and upon any conditions: not onely to embrace peace with your Great Coun&s;ell (if it be offered) but al&s;o eagerly to pur&s;ue and &s;eek after <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;uch things as may concern the &s;ame (if the Lord hath not given you over to believe &s;trong delu&s;ions, and pa&s;&s;ed the &s;ame &s;entence again&s;t you and your Kingdoms as he did once again&s;t <HI>Bel&s;hazzer, Daniel</HI> 5. 25. <HI>Mene, Mene, Tekell Uphan&s;in:</HI> that is (in our con&s;truction and as wee probably conetjecture by the ways which you have taken) to weigh you in a ballance, with your Father, Queen <HI>Ela&s;abet,</HI> of ever ble&s;&s;ed memory and divers other good and glorious Kings of <HI>England,</HI> and f<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="2 letters">e finde you too light, then to number you: that is, to abate the number of your Kingdoms and fini&s;h the glory and &s;plendour of your Mo|narchy. For who is he that hath but half an eye, and doth not perceive this cour&s;e of war if it be not both throughly and &s;peedily diverted) to be altogether fatal and de&s;tructive unto your Highne&s;&s;e but e&s;pecially in the&s;e four re&s;pects, <HI>viz.</HI> Fir&s;t in re&s;pect of your Kingdoms. Secondly in re&s;pect of the Prote&s;tant Religion, if you be, as you profe&s;&s;e a lover of it. Thirdly, in re&s;pect of your Si&s;ter and Nephews; who in all likelihood can never be re&s;tored, &s;o well into their rights as by the pro&s;peri|ty and &s;ucce&s;&s;e of the Prote&s;tant cau&s;e: and fourthly, in re&s;pect of the duty which by the Law of God, you owe unto your Subjects. Fir&s;t, in re&s;pect of your Kingdoms which by this cour&s;e are almo&s;t already con&s;umed as by a raging fire, which con&s;umeth the hou&s;es or <HI>Millo</HI> and <HI>Sechem,</HI> and the Cedars of Lybanon, <HI>Judg</HI> 9, 15. <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">o for by war (as one hou&s;e &s;etteth another on fire one Kingdome de|&s;troyeth another. This means therefore to allay your di&s;contentment being too
<PB N="20" REF="8">
rigid and de&s;tructive, ought both &s;ea&s;onably and &s;peedily to be prevented, left your Kingdoms being hereby depopulated the Revenues of <HI>Great Britain;</HI> prove as &s;mall unto your Highnes as are this day the Rents of <HI>Pomerland,</HI> unto the Duke of <HI>Pru&s;&s;ia,</HI> which within the&s;e twenty yeers and le&s;&s;e; might <HI>pro tanto,</HI> have vied happine&s;&s;e, with any part of your three Kingdoms: and yet they were con&s;umed by &s;trangers in a publike war, by an open and known enemy the wound reached no further then the fle&s;h &amp; therefore the more curable: but you have &s;truck your &s;elf into the bowels, it is a private, as it were; an inte&s;tine and civill War: which you have fomented and con&s;equently, the more ominous, execrable and incurable, <HI>For if a Kingdome be divided again&s;t it &s;elfe, how can it &s;tand?</HI> and if you thus bite and devoure one another how can you cho&s;e but be de&s;troyed one of another? If then war con&s;idered ab&s;olutely, and in it &s;elfe be &s;o rigid and exigent, that it &s;hould never be undertaken, but in ca&s;e of extremity (as a man &s;hould never let bloud but in ca&s;e of nece&s;&s;ity. How much more to be abhorred is that Civill war, wherin all things are mi&s;erable? For it is not an open enemy that you fight again&s;t, but even your own familiar friends; it is not a Turke, the common enemy of the Go&s;pel; nor a Spaniard the known enemy of <HI>England:</HI> but your owne Brethren and Countreymen; who doe profe&s;&s;e with you to have all one God for their Fa|ther, one Chri&s;t for their Redeemer, one truth for their Religion, one CHARLES for their King, and one <HI>Great Britain</HI> for their Countrey: and yet alas, how doth <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh</HI> advance again&s;t <HI>Ephraim, Ephraim</HI> again&s;t <HI>Mana&s;&s;es;</HI> King a|gain&s;t Subject, County again&s;t County, Father again&s;t Son, and Son again&s;t Fa|ther; and that in &s;uch bitterne&s;&s;e and eagerne&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, that one is become a cur&s;e to another blowing the Trumpet of <HI>Sheba</HI> one again&s;t another; and &s;aying one of another; They have no part with us of God nor in the inheritance of Chri&s;t Je&s;us; every one to his Tents &ocirc; I&s;rael &s;o that, while as both of you &s;eem to &s;trive about one Religion; there is in effect betwixt you both as much as no Religi|on&punc; Religion it &s;elf is almo&s;t lo&s;t through the quarrels and que&s;tions for Religion: it faring with her as it did with the woman in <HI>Plutarch,</HI> who having many Suit|ors (when every one could not have her to him&s;elf, they cut her in pieces, that &s;o none might have her. For certainly (if our information fail not, there be almo&s;t as many fal&s;e brethren, and profe&s;&s;ors of the one &s;ide) as there be abettors of the Prelacy, and Papacy on the other; yea, and as ob&s;tructive and obnoxious to the Prote&s;tant Cau&s;e though both of them be eq<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ally enemies to peace: being not onely contentious but lovers of content on: However we conceive the &s;eparating Schi&s;maticks to be the mo&s;t dangerous they being &s;o wedded to their own phan|ta&s;ies and onthu&s;ia&s;mes, that what&s;oever opinion they once lay hold on (let it be never &s;o contrary to the analogie of faith, or the rules of charity in the communi|on
<PB N="21" REF="8">
of Saints) the&s;emen we&s;ay, are &s;o zealou&s;ly confident in their way, that they had rather there &s;hould be no Prote&s;tant Religion at all in the world, then that o|pinion or phanta&s;ie which they have conceived of it, &s;hould not prevail, <HI>atque hinc illae lachrymae:</HI> From hence your Kingdoms have received a double blow, one from your profe&s;&s;ed Friends, another from your profe&s;&s;ing enemies, whom becau&s;e, <HI>nec verit ati nec paci cedere norunt:</HI> they neither can, nor know how to give way to a true Prote&s;tant peac<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">; we will leave to them&s;elves, and proceed unto the &s;e|cond motive which &s;hould incline your Highne&s;&s;e and your confederates to peace. And this is the re&s;pect you &s;hould have to the Proce&s;tant Religion: where by a Prote&s;tant Religion we under&s;tand, not a profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tianity which is re|formed onely an part, &s;uch as is that of the <HI>Lutherans,</HI> and your late Hierarchie in <HI>England,</HI> which though (as is afore&s;aid) it was purged by the care of godly and orthodox Princes from the here&s;ies of the Romane Church (in matters and points of doctrine yet did it in matters of di&s;cipline retain diver&s;e exorbitant &s;canda|lous and corrupt cu&s;toms; and &s;uper&s;titious ceremonies, which made the Engli&s;h Church (although not the &s;ame) yet to re&s;emble, and be too too like that, which is mayntained by the Roman Antichri&s;t) but by the Prote&s;tant Religion we un|der&s;tand &s;uch a profe&s;&s;ion of chri&s;tianity as is reformed in both the&s;e (&s;o far as the excellencie, perfection and purity of a militant Church may &s;ub&s;i&s;t withall) with|out any exce&s;&s;ive or corrupt mixture of humane inventions or &s;uper&s;titious cu&s;tomes and ceremonies either in doctrine or di&s;cipline (&s;uch as we believe your &s;elf will confe&s;&s;e (if you know any thing of a presbyterian government) to be this day among&s;t all Europian Chri&s;tians mo&s;t candidly and incorruptible mayntained and practi&s;ed by the Presbyterian Prote&s;tants.</P>
<P>This is that Religion which is in every godly and decent re&s;pect, mo&s;t con&s;i|&s;tent with the truth and purity of the Go&s;pell and which ought to be mayntained, pre&s;erved and cheri&s;hed by Prote&s;iant Princes and States with as much eager|ne&s;&s;e and indu&s;try as the Je&s;uiticall Pentificians have to mayntain their Romi&s;h Idoll which an all probability can never be done by war, e&s;pecially by &s;uch a war as that is which is abetted by your Highne&s;&s;e and Confederates; for hereby (if we be not much deceived) you doe what you can to encourage and hearten the Papi&s;ts again&s;t the Prote&s;tants and proclaim (as it were with open mouth to the wide world) that you are turned Apo&s;tates from the Prote&s;tant Religion: For what greate cau&s;e or occa&s;ion can your Highnes and your a&s;&s;ociates give unto the Papi&s;t to work the finall overthrow and ruine of the Prote&s;tant Churches and States, then to entertain and harbour prejudicate and inreconcilable affections a|gain&s;t your Prote&s;tant Subjects and brethren: this is all they &s;eek for <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="2 letters">fer if your <HI>Italie, Gallico, Ha&s;pamol<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ed Au&s;trian</HI> Papi&s;ts can have but &s;uch a &s;trong
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foundation to build upon (as the di&s;tance and e&s;trangement of Prote&s;tant Spirits, either oppo&s;ed or alienated one from another in points of Religion, then are they per&s;waded (and &s;o in all humane rea&s;on they may well be) that neither their Coun&s;els nor intentions can neither fundamentally nor e&s;&s;entially concur, and con&s;cquently no confederation nor conjenction in real endeavours, will ever be brought to any &s;etled purpo&s;e or period, either in <HI>Great Britain,</HI> or el&s;where.</P>
<P>And to this purpo&s;e, wee cannot admire enough of your Highne&s;&s;e, and your Great Councell, that you &s;hould take &s;o &s;hall notice of the Spani&s;h King, and the German Emperour, who are &s;o fa&s;t vying &s;takes with the French King which of them &s;hould &s;oone&s;t by this means engro&s;&s;e unto them&s;elves the European States, and erect a Catholike Chri&s;tian Monarchie, to which purpo&s;e, they omit no way or means to make the Prote&s;tant Princes and States fall by the eares together, and keep their Hou&s;es and Territoires in perpetuall divi&s;ion. To omit <HI>Germany,</HI> and other places, where we have not been &s;o well accuainted: wee appeal to the verdict of your own Countrymen, Merchants that travell into <HI>Denmarke, Swe|den, Poland, Ru&s;&s;ia,</HI> among&s;t almo&s;t an innumerable multitude of <HI>Lutheran</HI> Pro|te&s;tants, who (if they under&s;tand, or have taken notice of the practice or preach|ing of the&s;e <HI>Luther</HI> Prie&s;ts and Mini&s;ters, cannot but acknowledge and te&s;tifie how carefully and indu&s;triou&s;ly the Je&s;uits (e&s;pecially in <HI>Poland</HI> and <HI>Pru&s;&s;ia,)</HI> doe foment and hire uncon&s;cionable Divines to mayntain pretences of a fundamentall difference in Religion betwixt us and them: which in truth and &s;ub&s;tance is but all one giving unto the <HI>Lutherans</HI> many promi&s;es and priviledges, which they will not &s;o much as profer unto the Evangelick Prote&s;tants that &s;eparation being made between the <HI>Lutheran</HI> Prote&s;tant and the Reformed Evangelick Prote&s;tant, the occa&s;ion of Di&s;putes envy &s;trife, rayling and evill <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="2 letters">mi&s;ing might never be wanting among&s;t them; and that as well for temporall and worldly, as for hea|venly and &s;pirituall re&s;pects.</P>
<P>The third motive to induce your Highne&s;&s;e unto peace, is the Obligation which God and Nature hath laid upon you, to mayntain the Rights of your Si&s;ter and Nephews, who&s;e parents, if they had been either Papi&s;ts or Neuterals, might have this day been &s;itting in their Ca&s;tle or <HI>Wittenbergh.</HI> For although ambition, was the cau&s;e pretended; yet who knoweth not that knoweth any thing? that their Religion was the cau&s;e intended. For had they complyed &s;o much as &s;ome other Princes do that beare the name of Prote&s;tants (with the Spani&s;h King, and the <HI>Germane</HI> Emperour) neither had their Confederates &s;o mi&s;erably flinched from them us they did, nor they liad been &s;o rigidly and cruelly ejected out of their own inheritante us they were. But becau&s;e Gods judgments are un&s;earchable, and his ways pa&s;t finding out; for, who knoweth Gods mind? or who hath
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been his Coun&s;ellor? and al&s;o becau&s;e no man can di&s;cerne Gods love and hatred in this re&s;pect by this event of any temporall occurrence, all things falling out to all to them that &s;weare, as to them that fear an oath, we will neither think the wor&s;e of them, becau&s;e of their pre&s;ent afflictions nor the better of their enemies, be|cau&s;e of their atchieved victories. The Almighty hath his own fulne&s;&s;e of time, for the managing and di&s;po&s;ing all important pa&s;&s;ages under the Sunne, but e&s;pe|cially for &s;uch as doe more immediately concerne his own glory and the good of his Church; and although he hath &s;uffered the Roman Antichri&s;t and his Catho|lick children, for the&s;e thirty or forty years pa&s;t, to ride over the bellies, plow, and make long furrows upon the backs of the&s;e and &s;ome other Prote&s;tant Princes, <HI>P&s;al</HI> 129. 3. yet as God is ju&s;t, and his Go&s;pel true, the feet of all the enemies of Prote&s;tant Religion &s;hall &s;lide in due time: <HI>Yet a little while, and he that &s;hall come will come, and will not tarry,</HI> Deut. 32. 35. For when, <HI>That &s;even-headed and ten-horned mon&s;ter, having cau&s;ed the Kings of the earth to commit forni|cation with her, Rev.</HI> 18. 3. and &s;tirred them up by policie and machiavili&s;me <HI>to fight again&s;t the Lamb, Revel.</HI> 17. 14. &s;o &s;oon as &s;hee &s;hall be fully drunk with the blood of the Saints, and of the Martyrs of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and al&s;o hath made the&s;e Kings drunken with the wine of the wrath of her fornication; in a word, when &s;hee hath for a long time &s;itten upon that &s;epticolled Citie like a Queen; &s;aying, and domineering over it, <HI>I am no widdow, and &s;hall &s;ee no mourning:</HI> then &s;hall there come upon her a &s;odain alarm, as there did upon <HI>Sam&s;on, Up Sam&s;on, the Phili&s;tims are upon thee:</HI> Up Romi&s;h <HI>Babylon,</HI> for all thy &s;trength and cunning, a Lambe &s;hal overcome thee, and the&s;e Kings which thou ca&s;t been &s;o much in love with, and have been &s;o much in love with thee, they &s;hall &s;tand afar off becau&s;e of thy torment; &s;aying, alas Alas for that great City, for in one houre is thy judge|ment come.</P>
<P>If therefore your Highne&s;&s;e and your Confederates have not already given your names to this Bea&s;t: and if you be not yet drunke with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. For the Lords &s;ake, come out of her let not your &s;ouls come in|to her coun&s;els, neither be ye joyned with her A&s;&s;emblies, le&s;t partaking of her truelty you partake al&s;o of her plagues: For as the Lambe overcommeth and de|&s;troyeth all &s;uch as oppo&s;e and contradict him in the truth and purity of his wor|&s;hip; &s;o doth he in his appointed time, honour, crown, and ble&s;&s;e all that in &s;ynce|rity and &s;implicity of heart joyne with him for the mayntenance of the purity and truth of his Ordinances, of which number are (not onely the&s;e noble Princes) &s;o many of them as have declined that broad way, and embraced this narrow way; one that leads to the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but al&s;o the mayn body of <HI>Great Britain, England</HI> and <HI>Scotland,</HI> which have mutually and interchangeably <HI>Hungary,</HI>
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ingaged them&s;elves (be&s;ides a con&s;iderable number of Reformed Prote&s;tants beyond the Seas; yea, and the <HI>Luther an</HI> Prote&s;tants al|&s;o <NOTE PLACE="marg">Tran&s;ilvania, France, Ireland.</NOTE> in <HI>Denmarke, Sweden, Germany, Pru&s;&s;ia,</HI> &amp;c. be&s;ides the prote|&s;tants of the <HI>Greek</HI> Church, inhabiting the Territories of <HI>Mu&s;|covia,</HI> white <HI>Ru&s;&s;ia</HI> in <HI>Poland,</HI> and other places, who are almo&s;t allequally enga|ged with us towards the curtaling of the horns of the Romi&s;h Bi&s;hop: all which (as we conceive) if there were any firme complyance betwixt you and your Great Coun&s;ell of State, might here be brought ea&s;ily to reconciliable minds towards us, to joyne with us in one common cau&s;e, for the abandoning and aboli&s;hing all Antichri&s;tian and and unlimited Juri&s;diction from the prote&s;tant Churches throughout <HI>Europe.</HI> So that in all places and Dominions of Chri&s;tendome, there may be but one Shepherd, and one &s;heepfold, every &s;everall Kingdome and Pro|vince thereof (through the annuall and mutuall corre&s;pondence of their Princes and States; and the &s;trength of a generall Councell, by their authority &s;ea&s;onably convocated, being per&s;waded and throughly informed in the truth of all e&s;&s;entiall points that may any ways concerne our &s;alvation, and finally, all that profe&s;&s;e the name of Chri&s;t may be brought to con&s;ent together to keep the unity of the Spi|rit in the bond of peace, that there may be but one Faith, one Lord, and one Bapti&s;ine, one Father in us all, through us all, and for us all, and then, what an ea&s;ie thing it were for a Chri&s;tian King, that is, <HI>Defender of the Faith</HI> Inot onely to enlarge his Dominions, but al&s;o to improve his ju&s;t &s;plendour and priviledges both for him&s;elf and for all that he hath relation to throughout the known world, we leave to the cen&s;ure of the indifferent reader.</P>
<P>But if wilfulne&s;&s;e and prejudicacie have &s;o much prepo&s;e&s;&s;ed you, and your a&s;&s;ociates, that you will not thinke of any other or better way to prevent your own and your Kin&s;mens ruine, then that which you have now in hand: Wee have no more to &s;ay to you but what <HI>Mordecay</HI> &s;aid to <HI>E&s;ter, E&s;ter.</HI> 4. 13. <HI>Deli|verance will be brought another way:</HI> For as God is true, you will finde this cer|tain that &s;o many of your kindred, and other Prote&s;tant Princes and States that doe ju&s;tly &s;uffer for the cau&s;e of Religion if they per&s;evere unto the end) God will exalt and rai&s;e them by the &s;ame Religion and work their deliverance by no o|ther means then by the &s;ame whereby they have &s;uffered.</P>
<P>The fourth and la&s;t motive, which we &s;hall mention at this time, is the duty, which by the Law of God you owe to your people, which is to &s;hew your chief|e&s;t care, and u&s;e your be&s;t means, for the pre&s;ervation of their lives and liberties, e&s;pecially, &s;eeing they are all members of that politicall body whereof your High|ne&s;&s;e pro&s;e&s;&s;eth your &s;elfe to be the head, and &s;eeing al&s;o that in them, <HI>viz.</HI> in then good affections, health and welfare, doth con&s;i&s;t (as <HI>Sam&s;ons</HI> did in his locks)
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your great &s;trength and livelihood. For if there be a &s;ympathy and fellow-feeling, in the body naturall, in &s;o much as when the foot is trod upon, or any other mem|ber hurt, the head will complain, as if the injury were done unto it and &s;o like|wi&s;e in the true Church of Chri&s;t, or body my&s;ticall (as the Apo&s;tle emplyeth when he biddeth <HI>us rejoyce with them that rejoyce, and weep with them that weep:</HI> Rom. 12. 15. <HI>And be like affectioned one towards another.</HI> And again, <HI>Who is weak and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?</HI> if (wee &s;ay) there is &s;uch a &s;ympathy in the my&s;ticall and naturall body, why &s;hould not the &s;ame be al&s;o in the body politicall? if therefore any, or many members of the body of <HI>Great Britain.</HI> be di&s;ea&s;ed or di&s;tempered through malignant humours, which may perhaps, not onely work ob&s;tructions in the pipes of government, but al&s;o make the head complain, and cry out for pain; yet are not the&s;e members (by war or any other means of this nature to be cut off from the head, unle&s;&s;e they prove &s;o poy&s;oned putrified, and gangrened; that they are de&s;tructive to the whole body. But God be thanked Sir, the humours of your people are not yet &s;o de&s;perate, but that if your Highne&s;&s;e (like a good Phi&s;ician) will vouch&s;afe in love to vi&s;it them, feel their pul&s;es, and apply unto them a do&s;is or potion &s;utable to their di&s;tempers, they may be ea&s;ily, both cured and qualified: but as for the medicine which you have applyed to them hither-tils, (if we be not much mi&s;taken; the ingredients thereof have been too &s;harp, and if you give them any more of it, you are like to marre all.) For there be &s;ome humours and di&s;ea&s;es that are &s;ooner expelled and cured by lenatives then by cora&s;ives by gentle potionsr then by &s;harp purgations: and &s;uch are the&s;e of the Inhabitants of <HI>Great Britain,</HI> both <HI>Scots</HI> and <HI>Engli&s;h;</HI> but e&s;pecially the <HI>Scots,</HI> whom I cannot more fitly compare then to a Cannon bul|let, which is dinted and quelled with the lea&s;t &s;oftne&s;&s;e, and is never &s;o rigid and piercing, then when it is mo&s;t re&s;i&s;ted would you therefore have the peoples &s;ore healed? why then, Sir, correct your phy&s;ick, this plai&s;ter of war is too cora&s;ive; <HI>Bellona</HI> &s;hould be a Kings <HI>ultimum refugium,</HI> his la&s;t, becau&s;e his wor&s;t refuge; Be therefore per&s;waded by us, that who&s;oever did fir&s;t per&s;wade your Highne&s;&s;e to this cour&s;e, had as good advi&s;ed you to tread upon a thorn, or put your hand in|to a Wa&s;ps ne&s;t. For when you conceived, White Hall to be on fire, they did what they could to adde fuell to the flames, and ca&s;t on faggots when your hou&s;e was burning, making the rent greater, and the wound deeper; and con&s;equently the re|medy wor&s;e then the di&s;ea&s;e. As therefore your Highne&s;&s;e doth tender your own Honour and &s;afety, welfare of your Children, and Friends, and pro&s;perity of your people (if it be po&s;&s;ible) and as much as you can divert from them this cour&s;e of war. Remember that God will require the life of a man at the Hands of his bro|ther, and if of a brother; much more of a father. <HI>Gen.</HI> 9. 5 For a King is the nur&s;ing Father of Gods people; take from hence-forth a preci&s;e account of the
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death of your meane&s;t &s;ubject; and let his bloud and life be precious unto you. Seeing that <HI>homo quilibet, e&s;t pars communitatis:</HI> every particular per&s;on is part of the whole State; a Subject of one Kingdom, and <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ari&s;tot. Ethic. lib.</HI> 5.</NOTE> member of one politicall body; <HI>If therefore one member &s;uffer, let all the members</HI> (e&s;pecially your Highne&s;&s;e the head of all) <HI>&s;uffer with it.</HI> 1 <HI>Cor,</HI> 12. 26. Otherwi&s;e it is a dangerous &s;ymptome that the body of the&s;e Kingdoms is pal|&s;ie-&s;tricken, or at the lea&s;t &s;ome Lethargy or mortall &s;ickne&s;&s;e is approching, to it, which rendreth it both in&s;en&s;ible and incurable.</P>
<P>The fourth and la&s;t que&s;tion is, what is the be&s;t means or which may be the chiefe&s;t preparatives for your Highne&s;&s;e and your A&s;&s;ociates to obtaine an honou|rable and la&s;ting peace.</P>
<P>We &s;hall in this point al&s;o endevour to give you &s;atisfaction if either you will follow our advice, or receive the &s;ame without partiality or prejudice. And fir&s;t, we &s;ay, that the be&s;t way to a firme and honourable peace is by the work of righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>For the work of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is peace, and the effect thereof ioy and a&s;&s;urance for ever:</HI> as the Prophet &s;peaketh, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 32, 17. Where by the work of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, wee doe not &s;o much under&s;tand that imputed righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, which is truly and properly inherent in him, but &s;o made our by faith, that God doth accept of us as righteous for his &s;ake, as if this righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e were properly and truly inherent in our &s;elves, which is called <HI>the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of faith, Rom.</HI> 1. 17. and <HI>the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Kingdome of God, Matth.</HI> 6. 33. nor by this work of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e doe wee under&s;tand altogether thut actuall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e which is to be performed by us: whereby we &s;hew the truth of our faith, by the works of piety, charity, humility &amp;c. (although the words may admit either of the&s;e without prejudice) but by the work of righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e we conceive principally, an habituall di&s;po&s;ition and inclination, both to practi&s;e and affect things that are good and righteous: in a word wee mean no otherwi&s;e then that your Highne&s;&s;e would withdraw and alienate your affections from unju&s;t and unrighteous per&s;ons. Offices and Officers, who have the&s;e many yeers pa&s;t mayntained, and &s;till hope to mayntaine them&s;elves by the ruine of the Church and Common-wealth, who (like &s;o many Syrens) have &s;o long and &s;o mi|&s;erably inveighled you; and by their <HI>Circean</HI> inchantments, moved you to pre&s;&s;e that prerogative (which the Almighty gave you for the pre&s;ervation and welfare of the people) and that both in Church and State Affairs; &s;o much and &s;o far as that whereas it &s;hould have been as a Diamond in your Crowne, to honour and adorn you, they have made it by their Sophi&s;ticall and Machiavilick in&s;inuations, as a prick in your &s;ide, or a thorn in your foot, to hurt and mi&s;chief you.</P>
<P>May it therefore plea&s;e your Highne&s;&s;e, to let this be the fir&s;t preparative to an honourable and happy peace, even to withdaw your Royall per&s;on and favour
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from the contagious company of &s;uch flattering Sycophants; that from hence-forth you may not onely profe&s;&s;e, but practice that part of the Royall Motto; <HI>Salus Populi, &s;uprema Lex:</HI> And to this purpo&s;e, becau&s;e your Great Coun&s;ell of State are now about a work of Reformation, let not your Highne&s;&s;e fail to comply with them in the &s;ame, then which you &s;hall finde nothing more plea&s;ing to God, and profitable to your &s;elf, and that in the&s;e two things, <HI>viz.</HI> Fir&s;t, in contenting your &s;elf with &s;uch a competency of Royall Priviledges, Revenues, and Prerogative, as may be mo&s;t con&s;i&s;tent with the truth and purity of that Religion which you pro|fe&s;&s;e; manners of the Country, and affections of your Subjects, &s;hewing rather a royall and Chri&s;tian moderation, then an imperious and in&s;atiable ambition: and (&s;o you may enjoy it peaceably and comfortably) thinke your &s;elf-&s;ufficiently en|riched, although you have no more for the pre&s;ent then what is &s;hared out for you by the providence of God, and love of the people; yea, although it were much le&s;&s;e (e&s;pecially, <HI>rebus &s;ic &s;tantibus,</HI> then was left you by your royall Progenitours. For what greater happine&s;&s;e can come to a King then contentment, who is never more excellent and commendable, then when his affections are mo&s;t moderated; and what contentment can your Highne&s;&s;e want (when, if complying to the com|plexion and di&s;po&s;ition of your politicall body) you continue to be the head of &s;uch a wi&s;e, noble, and godly Nation; to &s;way the Scepters of three almo&s;t Angelick Kingdoms in one City, whereof there is to be found more wealth, lu&s;tre, beauty: Prudence Temperance, Ju&s;tice, Valour; and finally, all the delights of the &s;onnes of men: then the Emperour of <HI>Mu&s;covia,</HI> and divers others great Potentates can command within the Circumference of their va&s;t Dominions. Happy therefore is that Prince, who knowing that he cannot have all contenteth him&s;elf with a part, even with &s;uch a part as he may quietly and honourably po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e with the &s;uffrages of his people; for if the greedy appetite be not &s;atiated, a poore &s;hepherd &s;hall finde more hearts ca&s;e in a beggars cottage then a great Emperour (if ambitious) in a Princely Palace. Let Kings therefore con&s;ider, that the more they abound with worldly wealth: the more doe abound their cares, for when goods increa&s;e, they are increa&s;ed that eat them; and the be&s;t way for a King to be rich is to know when he hath enough: and not to improve his revenues through pilling and pol|ling his Subjects by &s;ordid and unnece&s;&s;ary Taxations and Monopolies, for here|by hee doth not &s;trengthen his Crowne, but bewray his tyranny, nor increa&s;e his honour; but call in que&s;tion that love which he oweth to his people.</P>
<P>O what great grief it is to loyall and loving Subjects, to &s;ee their Sovereigne un|doe him&s;elf, for the enriching a company of unworthy, temporizing, and &s;elf-&s;eek|ing Para&s;ites? Who perhaps (if his back &s;hould be at the wall) would turn their backs upon him, and like a &s;hadow, follow him no longer then the Sun &s;hineth,
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or if he &s;hould &s;tand in need of their coun&s;ell, could give him none better then that of <HI>Achitophel.</HI> That any Prince &s;hould thus mi&s;tarry, is grievous and lamen|table; but for &s;uch a King as your Highne&s;&s;e &s;hould be who have &s;o often &s;mar|ted through the Machiavillick impo&s;tures of the <HI>Roman</HI> Antichri&s;t and his Abet|tors; for &s;uch kind of men: expo&s;e your&s;elf, your po&s;terity and Crowns to &s;uch extream exigencies. <HI>Quis talia fando, temp<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ret &agrave; lachermis?</HI></P>
<P><HI>Be wi&s;e therefore, ye Kings, and be learned, yee Judges of the earth be carefull as to have the wicked removed,</HI> &s;o al&s;o to have your de&s;ires moderated &s;eek no more then is enough either for your &s;elves or others: for then certainly you &s;hall finde in your Thro<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">e more cares then comforts, and in your Crowns, more thorns then Diamonds <HI>for he that loveth &s;ilver &s;hall never be &s;atisfied with &s;ilver, nor he that loveth abundance with increa&s;e:</HI> as wealth cannot fill mans heart &s;o cannot grace his pur&s;e: naturall de&s;ires are finite but the de&s;ires of the &s;oul are infinite, which when they are not watched but let goe loo&s;e roving up and down, and not com|po&s;ed and limited according to the rules of godline&s;&s;e have brought men even Kings and Princes into infinite labyrinths and anxieties: witne&s;&s;e that in&s;atiable conquerour, who&s;e unlimited ambition the Poet thus bemoneth:</P>
<Q><L>Unus Pellaeo Juveni non &s;ufficit orbis</L>
<L>Ae&s;tuat infoelix angu&s;to limite mundi.</L></Q>
<P>And many al&s;o of the <HI>Roman Cae&s;ars,</HI> who&s;e time wee may read in their in&s;atiable affections and who&s;e coverou&s;ne&s;&s;e hath brought their Titles and Diadems unto their uttermo&s;t period, of whom we may almo&s;t &s;ay, <HI>etiam perire animae</HI> that little of them that is left is peri&s;hed: in a word, therefore, happy is the man be he King or Subject, that delighteth more in piety then in pelfe, in heavenly goodne&s;&s;e then in worldly goods.</P>
<Q><L>&mdash;Cui paternum</L>
<L>Splendet in men&s;a tenui &s;alinum</L>
<L>Nec leves &s;omnos timor, aut cupido</L>
<L>&mdash;Sordidus aufort:</L></Q>
<P>Secondly, for the obtaining an honourable and la&s;ting peace, and performing this work of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, your Highne&s;&s;e mu&s;t look well to the rightne&s;&s;e of Religion <HI>viz.</HI> that the Religion which you e&s;tabli&s;h be made choice of not ac|cording as to the eye it &s;eemeth gaye&s;t, but as it is mo&s;t free from, and mo&s;t con|trary to all corruption of mans life and manners, &s;uch as is grounded, not upon mens invention, but divine direction: That your Highne&s;&s;e give way to &s;uch a kinde of divine wor&s;hip as is not according to the nature and will of man but according to the will of God who being a Spirit loveth be&s;t to be wor&s;hiped in &s;pirit and truth, and not in or by any painted or graven images, outward pomps,
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gaudie cloaths or &s;uper&s;titious repre&s;entations of any thing that is in heaven a|bove or in earth beneath, &s;uch as all fal&s;e Religions abound withall, and where|by hereticall and Idolatrous Prie&s;ts, delude and dazle the eyes of &s;imple people, who are naturally inclined to affect that &s;oone&s;t which to the eye &s;eemeth gaye&s;t, making them believe that the&s;e dumb &s;hews and pictures, are lay mens books, in the mean time hiding from them the power of Chri&s;t in the work of the mini&s;try.</P>
<P>And &s;eeing there is no difference between your Highne&s;&s;e and us in points of doctrine (the word of God being preached by us both in as great purity and or|thodoxne&s;&s;e as can be con&s;i&s;tent with a militant Church) our reque&s;t unto your Highne&s;&s;e is (as you tender either your own or our peace, to admit with us the &s;ame reformation and purity in matters of di&s;cipline, as is implyed in the premi&s;es for certainly Sir &s;olong as the di&s;cipline of your Church remaineth unpurged, the members and profe&s;&s;ors thereof can never properly be &s;aid to be of the true Pro|te&s;tant Religion: well they may be called Prote&s;tants, and &s;aid to be of a Prote|&s;tant Religion, <HI>viz.</HI> comparatively as they have relation to <HI>Eutherans</HI> or <HI>Nicho|luitans,</HI> or &s;ome other &s;ect of <HI>Prote&s;tani&s;me</HI> but to be Prote&s;tants indeed, that is, true Prote&s;tants, of the true reformed Prote&s;tant Religion they cannot becau&s;e their Religion is reformed onely in part. <HI>viz.</HI> in matter of doctrine, the di&s;cipline remaining and being retained in the &s;ame corruption and &s;uper&s;tition as they re|ceived it from the Roman Church: whereas the true Prote&s;tant Religion exerci|&s;ed in the Presbyteriall government is equally reformed as well in di&s;cipline as in doctrine, depencing ab&s;olutely upon the word of God, without any exce&s;&s;ive or &s;candalous mixture (other then accords with Chri&s;tian &s;implicity decencie, and charity) of humane inventions, or &s;uper&s;titious innovations: But if you Highne&s;&s;e will needs maintain &s;ome di&s;parity among&s;t Mini&s;ters, preferring &s;ome before o|thers, who in re&s;pect of their eminent parts, may &s;eem to de&s;erve better we will not di&s;commend it providing that your Highne&s;&s;e remember well your Fathers Councell in his <HI>Ba&s;ilicon Doron, pag</HI> 44. <HI>viz.</HI> &s;o to charge and change them with &s;uch bonds as may pre&s;erve them from creeping into corruption.</P>
<P>A third mean to procure an honourable and la&s;ting peace is to unite the people, as well as the Countreys of <HI>England,</HI> and <HI>Scotland,</HI> (which can never be effected by your Highne&s;&s;e &s;o long as you &s;tand in oppo&s;ition to the Parliament; But and if you can be &s;o happy as to come in then we conceive it may ea&s;ily be wrought in this manner; <HI>viz.</HI> Fir&s;t, by making an univer&s;all act of oblivion in both Parlia|ments for all Nationall quarrels and deadly feuds, which have been a prohibition from all, which in time to come may acrew betwixt the natives of either King|dome by rea&s;on of any occurrence or pa&s;&s;age of preceding or future times. Se|condly, by aboli&s;hing the re&s;pective names of Engli&s;h or Scoti&s;h men; which
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(in re&s;pect of the great controver&s;ies and differences, which have been between the two Kingdoms) doe &s;till continue names of prejudice, to the great exa&s;perating of the affections of both &s;ides, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing them with rigid and implacable mindes, one again&s;t another, upon the lea&s;t and mo&s;t &s;lender occa&s;ionall di&s;ta&s;tes, and that all the inhabitants of this one I&s;land may be called by one name, of Ea&s;t, We&s;t South or North Britains; with &s;ome aditionall title of the Shire or County, prefixed for di&s;inction &s;ake. Thirdly, by engaging an equall number of both Kingdoms in their fellow&s;hip at armes, in &s;ome publick and fortunate lawfull war, beyond the Seas, where their honour and danger may be equally divided, and no jealou&s;ies, nor contention ari&s;e among&s;t them, but of wel doing, certainly, one vi|ctory obtained by the &s;ound valour of the Scots and Engli&s;h, (where&s;oever it be, &s;o it be not at home, let it be in <HI>Bohemia, France, Spain,</HI> or where your great Councell will think fiting) will make a &s;tronger and more indi&s;&s;oluble knot of union both between them and your Highne&s;&s;e, and among&s;t them&s;elves then ever your Highne&s;&s;e could make by choo&s;ing your Minions alternatively out of each Nation, or by making Scotch men Lords of <HI>England;</HI> Engli&s;h men Lords of <HI>Scotland;</HI> or yet by mixture of marriage, for although marriage may make two per&s;ons one, yet can it not make two people to be one; certainly, all the&s;e are too weak ingrediences to compound a love-potion for them that were wont to thir&s;t after one anothers blood, it mu&s;t be &s;omething more energeticall and vertuous that mu&s;t qualifie and chain the different humors of the&s;e two Nations; and make them forget who&s;e fortune it was to be envied, and who&s;e to be contemned in times pa&s;t; and to &s;peak ingenuou&s;ly: never had King a fairer oportunity to effect this, as your Highne&s;&s;e hath now, all the Kingdoms in Chri&s;tendome almo&s;t be|ing now by the ears together, e&s;pecially if in this your day, your Highne&s;&s;e would <HI>re&s;ipi&s;cere,</HI> and come to your &s;elf, and &s;o much tender your own health and welfare, as to apply unto your almo&s;t gangreen, and incurable wounds, a &s;alving play&s;ter of Parliamentary Union.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
