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<NAME>Emma Leeson Huber</NAME>
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<P>Confu&s;ion Confounded: OR, A firm way of SETTLEMENT &s;ettled and CONFIRMED. WHEREIN Is Con&s;idered the REASONS of the Re&s;ignation of the late PARLAMENT, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A Lord Protector.</P>
<Q>Qui <HI>[Augu&s;tus]</HI> cuncta di&s;cordiis civilibus fe&s;&s;a, no|mine principis &s;ub imperium accepit.</Q>
<BIBL>Tacit.</BIBL>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>Henry Hills,</HI> and are to be &s;old at his hou&s;e at the &s;ign of <HI>Sir John Old-Ca&s;tle</HI> in <HI>Py-Corner,</HI> 1654.</P>
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<HEAD>Con&s;iderations upon the Re&s;ignation of the late PARLAMENT, AND E&s;tabli&s;hing of the pre&s;ent Form of <HI>Government</HI> BY A <HI>LORD PROTECTOR &amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_THe former Parlament, as it was the <HI>birth</HI> of abundance of <HI>pangs</HI> and <HI>throws</HI> of State, &s;o it &s;at down in &s;uch a time, and was guided by &s;uch a &s;pirit, and encountred &s;uch accidents, that it was ea&s;ie to fore&s;ee that Providence had de|&s;igned them to &s;omewhat extraor|dinary; And indeed it proved no o|therwi&s;e, for the &s;ece&s;&s;ion of the <HI>King</HI> brought them upon extremi|ty of Coun&s;el, and in the ma|nagement of the unhappy war, there wanted not either prudence or
<PB N="2" REF="3">
animo&s;ity, which God was plea&s;ed to &s;mile on with happy &s;ucce&s;s, and giving in the &s;trength of the Nation into their hands, to put them al&s;o in a capacity of &s;etling our Liberty upon &s;o right a foun|dation, that it &s;hould not ea&s;ily again be &s;haken. But as it hap|pens in all things humane, to be corruptible, &s;o it fell out in this great <HI>Body,</HI> (and all Governments may well be &s;aid to be artificial men) that though it ro&s;e as a Gyant in the morning, and ran its race &s;wiftly before noon, yet &s;itting long after, it grew <HI>Chatharrick</HI> and lazy, nay di&s;ea&s;ed and trouble&s;ome. Hence had it &s;o many gri|pings in its own bowels, two or three <HI>Phlebotomies</HI> were ineffectu|al, and the la&s;t extremity and refuge was taken, which cau&s;ed at length the di&s;&s;olution of this a&s;&s;embly, which if you will either con&s;ider for the &s;trange mutations within it &s;elf, the grand enter|pri&s;es that it happily undertook, the wonderful alterations it hath brought in the&s;e Nations, (not to mention what influences it may have over all Europe) a man may truly &s;ay it was one of the mo&s;t famous, fortunate, wi&s;e A&s;&s;emblies, amid&s;t &s;o many difficulties and perplexities, as ever was.</P>
<P>Their di&s;&s;olution as it afforded much rea&s;on of thought to the &s;peculative, regret to tho&s;e related to that Power, and a kind of a bitter joy to the remnant of the malignant party, &s;o it proceeded from &s;uch rea&s;ons as might certainly in the &s;afety and rea&s;on of State ju&s;tifie the action. For indeed though God was plea&s;ed to own their Coun&s;els, &s;o far as to produce many glorious events from them, yet their power at length like a &s;tanding water growing cor|rupt&punc; and they declining from their primitive vigour and purity, and withall growing di&s;ta&s;teful to the people, who began to perceive with regret that they were unwilling to deliver up their Powers, as they had declared, and was expected, there was an inevitable nece&s;&s;ity of doing &s;omewhat for the publick &s;afety. Adde to this, that the <HI>Bill</HI> which they had prepared, was circum&s;tantiated &s;o as gave but very little hopes of bettering the people by that provi&s;ion, and the greatne&s;s of Liberty that was left in Election, could a&s;&s;ure us of nothing el&s;e but hot confu&s;ion, and a de&s;perate revival of oppre&s;&s;ed factions.</P>
<P>But the&s;e things were upon that occa&s;ion more fully handled by &s;everal pens, who &s;ufficiently cleared the nece&s;&s;ity and ju&s;tice of that great alteration, which as it nece&s;&s;arily brought the Power imme|diately into the hands of the Lord General and the Army, (in whom
<PB N="3" REF="3">
it was effectively before) &s;o it put them to a con&s;iderable debate whither the exerci&s;e of this Power &s;hould be transferred. They &s;aw that the people (things &s;o &s;tanding) were ab&s;olutely uncapable of that Power which was naturally theirs, and that it had been but to put a &s;word into a mad-mans hand. They were not willing to change the form of a Commonwealth which they had bought with &s;o much blood, and therefore after the fulle&s;t debate, it was re&s;olved to di&s;po&s;e the Power into the hands of &s;uch &s;ufficient men, and that for a time, as might with godline&s;s, hone&s;ty and ability, di&s;charge the Supreme tru&s;t, heal the di&s;tempers of the Nation, amend the errors of their Predece&s;&s;ors, and &s;ettle the Peace of the Nation upon &s;uch a Ba&s;e as &s;hould not be &s;haken.</P>
<P>This number of men meeting together, and being commi&s;&s;iona|ted from the Lord General, after a great many <HI>(&s;i famae creditur)</HI> incon&s;iderable debates, voted them&s;elves a <HI>Parliament,</HI> and &s;o declared them&s;elves, and began to act accordingly. But it was &s;oon &s;een that tho&s;e great expectations that brought them thither would prove abortive: For <HI>Divi&s;ion,</HI> which is the murthere&s;s of Councils, appeared very briskly in their very dawn, and there was a party headed, whom nothing could plea&s;e, but the wilde&s;t and mo&s;t extravagant deva&s;tations po&s;&s;ible. The main pretence was Religion, or according to <HI>their</HI> odd and fanatick Notions, the &s;etting up of the Kingdome of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> a con&s;ideration which, though it found acceptation with &s;ome grave and &s;ober Inquirers, yet mu&s;t needs be of &s;o different a nature from that which is ex|pected from the&s;e men, that there cannot be two things more di&s;agreeing. To &s;ay nothing, that they not agreeing in the grounds of the notion, or the wanner of it, would certainly in their con&s;equences arrive at the greate&s;t <HI>A&s;ustacies,</HI> that it were impo&s;&s;ible for the Chri&s;tian Magi&s;trate to &s;upport his &s;word in the mid&s;t of &s;uch confu&s;ion; Not to mention that &s;uch <HI>notions</HI> as the&s;e, proceeding from ill made brains, and di&s;turbed fancies, &s;trongly tinctured with an hypocondriack melancholy, not bringing any a&s;&s;urance out of the word, or any other &s;ign that they proceed from the Spirit of light, if they become once Magi&s;terial, oblige us to quit our <HI>Di&s;cour&s;e,</HI> our natural <HI>rea&s;on,</HI> our <HI>experiences</HI> drawn even from common &s;en&s;e, the means God hath ordained to direct us in civil matters, and to follow tho&s;e <HI>Wills-with-Wi&s;ps,</HI> or <HI>ignes fatui</HI> of <HI>revelation</HI> and pretended <HI>&s;pirit.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="4" REF="4">From hence I believe it ro&s;e (though I cannot but conceive abundance of con&s;ciencious and di&s;creet men joined with them upon other grounds) that they voted none capable of place, who was not <HI>Godly,</HI> a word of that latitude, that it &s;ignifies all <HI>things to all men,</HI> different religions having brought men into &s;uch a high di&s;temper, that men do now accu&s;tome them&s;elves to reckon it according to what them&s;elves judge and opinion, not according to the conver&s;ation and practice of another; So it was ea&s;ily perceiv|able, that tho&s;e Gentlemen that were &s;o forward in it, were not without de&s;ign to &s;eclude &s;uch other as were not of their Cloath. But if we con&s;ider this a little more &s;trictly, we &s;hall find that it was neither <HI>Politick,</HI> nor indeed <HI>Rational.</HI> Not <HI>Politick,</HI> &s;ince all States of the world choo&s;e &s;uch Mini&s;ters as are the mo&s;t fit, though many times of different per&s;wa&s;ions, provided alwaies they had not &s;ome outward &s;candal, and were qualified with &s;uch abilities as became their employments. For it is not every raw and untutored head that is fit to &s;erve in the affairs of a State; Nay in ordinary bu&s;ine&s;s of life, when we want any thing nece&s;&s;ary, we re&s;ort not to any Trade&s;men, for that they are of &s;uch or &s;uch an opinion, or &s;o or &s;o more pragmatical than their Neighbours, but we go where we may find things more convenient and cheap for our purpo&s;e. Not <HI>Rational,</HI> &s;ince it forces the partyes <HI>&s;uing</HI> to a &s;trange piece of immode&s;t <HI>hypocri&s;y,</HI> to de&s;ire a man to certify of their godline&s;s when it may be their own hearts &s;ting them and tell them the contrary; and ingage the party <HI>certifying</HI> to a &s;trange pre&s;umption, to give te&s;timony of a mans heart, which is the &s;eat and root of godline&s;s, and of a mans actions (and that po&s;itively, whereas all Laws do onely admit te&s;timonies of that nature, nega|tively) whereas many of the mo&s;t horrid Crimes may be committed in the dark, and tis the nature of guilt to avoid as much as &s;he can the eyes of men. But we &s;hall have occa&s;ion to &s;peak more of this hereafter, and that upon occa&s;ion of a &s;ubject that relates more to it.</P>
<P>This con&s;ideration was of &s;uch importance and influence, that it &s;eeemed the matrix of many other con&s;ultations, which were very eccentrical to the publick welfare. The <HI>Law</HI> was looked on as a noi&s;ome ruinous building, not capable of repair or alteration, but fit to be pulled down to the very ground. <HI>Propriety</HI> was &s;truck at, nay which is matter of &s;ad wonder, upon the account of <HI>Je&s;us
<PB N="5" REF="4">
Chri&s;t,</HI> the <HI>Mini&s;try</HI> was to be demoli&s;hed &amp;c. All which gathering &s;trength and heat in debate, as the &s;tirring of the wind increa&s;es the fire, it came to &s;uch a pa&s;s, that without a wild confu&s;ion and deva&s;tation, &s;uch Coun&s;els were not permitted to proceed. And therefore &s;ince they were ready to pull down the very rafters of our Peace and Liberty, and &s;eemed not much to care what they &s;et up in &s;tead thereof, Tho&s;e Members whom greater &s;obriety and pru|dence re&s;trained within &s;uch due limits as became &s;ober Patriots, thoughr it not fit to mingle any more with them, but rather to re&s;ign the Power into the hands from whence they had received it, and by &s;uch retirement elude &s;uch wild and pernicious Coun&s;els.</P>
<P>Therefore when they had upon Saturday <HI>Decem.</HI> 10. before, pa&s;t a Vote, which &s;truck at the very root of the Mini&s;try, they rai&s;ed not &s;mall apprehen&s;ions, that the con&s;equences thereof might have proved very pernicious.</P>
<P>Now the bu&s;ine&s;s, to put the Reader in mind, &s;tood thus. The Committee for Tythes after a long debate agreed upon a report of &s;everal branches, which they pre&s;ented to the Hou&s;e, the fir&s;t whereof was, That &s;everal Commi&s;&s;ioners &s;hould ride through the Nation, in &s;ix circuits, and joining with other Commi&s;&s;ioners in the &s;everal Counties, &s;hould eject all prophane, &s;candalous, or in&s;ufficient Mini&s;ters, and place able and fit men in their Rooms. This becau&s;e it intended to uphold the Mini&s;try, and that all was not to be laid wa&s;t, and the poor &s;ouls be either forced again&s;t their light, to deny their Ordination, or el&s;e with their wives and families be forced to poverty and famine, &s;o that in a little time we &s;hould not have &s;een the face of Chri&s;tianity among us, pa&s;t in the Negative, which with other circum&s;tances occa&s;ioned &s;o much trouble, as we have mentioned before, to the wi&s;e&s;t and able&s;t men, that they the Monday after declared the incapacity in which they were in to accompli&s;h tho&s;e great ends for which they were brought together, And therefore they were re&s;olved to return their Powers, which with a joint con&s;ent of the major part, ari&s;ing with the Speaker, without any force or compul&s;ion they did, &amp; &s;o repairing to White-hall, they re&s;igned their Authority into the hands that gave it.</P>
<P>There were indeed a &s;mall number (under 40. which was the <HI>Quorum)</HI> who indeed had the zeal, re&s;olution or indi&s;cretion (I cannot tell well what to call it) to remain in the Hou&s;e, and refu&s;ed to depart. What their ends of &s;taying there were I know not, they
<PB N="6" REF="5" MS="y">
pretended it was <HI>to &s;eek the Lord,</HI> others, that looked neerer into their actions than they had a mind to be &s;een, &s;ay it was to rai&s;e up a faction, for otherwi&s;e they would not have taken it &s;o ill, that Col. <HI>Goff</HI> &s;hould de&s;ire them to be gone, for why &s;hould they not depart when their A&s;&s;emblie was by re&s;ignation, di&s;&s;olved &s;ince they were but a degree above a Conventicle, and that place famous for the entertainment of &s;o many venerable A&s;&s;emblies, was not &s;o fit for them as Mr. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> hou&s;e, where mo&s;t of their maginations were formed and &s;haped?</P>
<P>Now becau&s;e what we have &s;aid is general, and in manner meerly narrative, we &s;hall de&s;cend to tho&s;e particulars which the Author of the <HI>Narrative</HI> quotes from the mouth of an Honourable Member, as his Rea&s;ons for Re&s;igning, as al&s;o take a view of the Glo&s;&s;es the <HI>Narrator</HI> puts upon them, with this Remark at the fir&s;t, <HI>that all intere&s;ts are taken in, but the de&s;pi&s;ed ones of Christ,</HI> which ought not to be let pa&s;s, in regard that this pretence is fundamental with them, and therefore would be a little &s;haken.</P>
<P>How precious every &s;oul is to Chri&s;t that by Faith and true Re|pentance lays hold of him, all mu&s;t needs imagine that know what he became and &s;uffered for us; Now to become <HI>Christs</HI> is to be|come humble, patient, meek, long-&s;uffering, not to ingage in vain wrangling and ab&s;tru&s;e theories, which the &s;oul only gnaws upon, not feeds on, or hot bickering about opinions, either new or indif|ferent <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="2 letters"> the e&s;&s;ence of Religion, but in a hearty love and acqui|e&s;cence of our Saviour, a &s;tedfa&s;t endeavour to do good to all men, practi&s;e integrity in our vocations, and a due &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to the higher powers. Who&s;oever practi&s;e otherwi&s;e, though they <HI>pro|phe&s;y,</HI> though they <HI>&s;peak with the tongues of men and Angels,</HI> they cannot be &s;aid to be of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Now for the&s;e men that boa&s;t them&s;elves &s;o much of this glorious title (a title that a&s;&s;ures all peace here, and felicity hereafter) though it were grand uncharity for to &s;ay they had not ab&s;olute rea&s;on to pretend &s;o much to that precious cognizance, in regard there may be many good and pious &s;ouls among them purely mi&s;led, yet that their waies ought not to be clo&s;ed with, and that they &s;eem not per|&s;on fit to be tru&s;ted with the reigns of any Government, and that very probably they build upon the &s;ands, may partly appear out of the&s;e following particulars.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="7" REF="5">1. That &s;trange principle of theirs in in&s;i&s;ting for a <HI>Liberty of Con&s;cience</HI> for them&s;elves, and yet by this Liberty of Con&s;cience under&s;tanding and endeavouring &s;uch a one as will not leave any other per&s;wa&s;ion but them&s;elves to their own freedome. This may evidently appear by their common di&s;cour&s;es at <HI>Black Fryers,</HI> by their pulling down of <HI>Antichri&s;t, Forms, Orders, Ordinances</HI> of <HI>Man,</HI> and &s;etting up the Kingdome of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> which is in plain terms the plucking up of all <HI>Eccle&s;iastical</HI> and <HI>Civil</HI> policy, &s;aying all wa&s;te that they might enter and devour at plea&s;ure; and it is to be &s;uppo&s;ed that the&s;e men that have &s;o much hardie&s;&s;e as to make enmity and dete&s;tation to all kind of Forms, if they could depo&s;e them, mu&s;t needs &s;et up their own, which being &s;uch a <HI>Tohu Yahbohu,</HI> what an advantagious alteration it would be, it is ea&s;y for any man to judge.</P>
<P N="2">2. For tho&s;e <HI>Chymaerical</HI> di&s;cour&s;es of the <HI>fift Monarchy,</HI> that they as <HI>Saints</HI> &s;hould inherit the Earth; that the Kingdome of Chri&s;t &s;hould be &s;et up, and all earthly power be broken to pieces like a Potters ve&s;&s;el, is &s;uch a Tenent, as cannot con&s;i&s;t with the very being of a civil Magi&s;trate. But as it makes them Tyrants, Op|pre&s;&s;ors, Robbers, &amp;c. &s;o it gives a fair pretence &amp; colour to any tu|mult what&s;oever, when the ulcer is grown ripe enough and fit to break. The pa&s;&s;ages at <HI>Munster</HI> are too known to need here par|ticular mention, we &s;hall only note this, that as they are extreme|ly pa&s;&s;ionate after <HI>Novelties</HI> and <HI>Curio&s;ities,</HI> &s;o being of the &s;hor|te&s;t &s;ight, and the coar&s;e&s;t ta&s;t, they the &s;oone&s;t embrace them be they never &s;o ill-favoured, but e&s;pecially matters of <HI>Religion,</HI> which though fal&s;e, yet aided with a little impo&s;ture, carry a certain dazling awe and &s;plendour with them, that the people who are ea&s;ily fired with harangues even in common bu&s;ine&s;&s;es, enflamed once in matters of Religion, break out like a violent conflagration and de&s;troy all before them, but e&s;pecially, how dangerous it may be not only to the Magi&s;trate, but the very peace and being of a people, when the&s;e <HI>principles,</HI> not only &s;implY oblige their <HI>Con|&s;ciences,</HI> to enjoy their own opinion, though it were to undergo per&s;ecution, but their con&s;ciences enforce them to &s;eek after tyran|ny and domination over the other, as an effect, reward or privilege of their belief.</P>
<P N="3">3. Though by their own axioms they quit the u&s;e of
<PB N="8" REF="6">
<HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> which is the natural <HI>light</HI> of the world, &s;et up in a mans mind, yet they make them&s;elves <HI>infallible</HI> and peremptory, and con&s;equen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ly impo&s;e an ob&s;ervance upon whatever they &s;ay, be it never &s;o infirm, or un&s;olid; which how de&s;tructive it would be not only to all <HI>di&s;cour&s;e,</HI> but <HI>order</HI> life, is too evident to be de|mon&s;trated. Hence come the&s;e &s;trange &s;peeches of <HI>hearing the word of the Lord,</HI> of <HI>Vi&s;ions,</HI> of the <HI>Lord &s;peaking within them,</HI> &amp;c. when many times notwith&s;tanding their pretences, the things they utter &s;eem to abhor from common &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P N="4">4. Their common hate and dete&s;tation to the per&s;ons of all men of other belief, excluding them not only from all places of <HI>Tru&s;t</HI> and <HI>Honour,</HI> but as much as in them lies from the very be|nefits of life, which what a &s;weet and Chri&s;tian meekne&s;s it &s;hews, is apparent; &s;o that it is ea&s;y to judge what rea&s;on they have to cry out for the pulling down of <HI>Antichrist,</HI> &s;ince nothing in the world can be more <HI>Antichristian</HI> than to force the con&s;ciences and beings of other men under their own &s;way and domination.</P>
<P N="5">5. By drawing all <HI>Politick</HI> debates into matter of <HI>Con&s;ci|ence,</HI> that is confounding them with matters of Divinity, they not only rai&s;e up an in&s;upportable&punc; <HI>Tyranny</HI> upon all <HI>Experience</HI> and good <HI>Induction,</HI> but by this means nece&s;&s;arily hedge in all bu|&s;ine&s;s to them and their partizans, for they will tell you he is only fit to judge or <HI>rule</HI> that hath the <HI>Spirit,</HI> and they will only judge him to have the Spirit, who is a &s;ure <HI>A&s;&s;ertor</HI> of their <HI>Faction,</HI> and upon the next turn, you will have, That every <HI>Civil</HI> debate &s;hall be turned into a <HI>Religious,</HI> the <HI>Statute Book</HI> (the long experience and caution of our wi&s;e Ance&s;tors) &s;hall be thrown out of doors, and men &s;hall come into a Senate to con&s;ult of <HI>Politick Emergencies</HI> with <HI>Bibles</HI> in their hands; Not but that I e&s;teem the reading of that ine&s;timable Book, but that I believe God left it with us, ra|ther to teach us the way to <HI>Heaven,</HI> than for any in&s;truction of <HI>Government</HI> to particular <HI>Common-wealths,</HI> which differing in <HI>Form</HI> and <HI>Temper</HI> from <HI>Judaea,</HI> can never be fa&s;hioned to tho&s;e <HI>Customes,</HI> Government being only &s;acred as Government, not <HI>in concreto,</HI> as this or that Government.</P>
<P>This is a &s;mall part of what might have been ob&s;erved of them ever &s;ince their fir&s;t ri&s;e; but becau&s;e my bu&s;ine&s;s concerns only the latter actions of &s;ome men, and it is a <HI>Topick</HI> of another <HI>pro|fe&s;&s;ion,</HI>
<PB N="9" REF="6">
and that I could not attend tho&s;e admirable Lectures at <HI>Blacks friers,</HI> nor get any perfect account thereof, and for that I would be loath to deliver here any thing I doubted, for certain, I &s;hall at the pre&s;ent di&s;mi&s;s it, &s;aying onely this, That <HI>ambitious</HI> and <HI>&s;editious</HI> men never think they &s;pread their nets fairlyer than when their pretences are very high and promi&s;ing, and yet they them&s;elves pretend to be &s;ufferers in the attempt. Hence it is, the <HI>Narrator</HI> calls them the <HI>de&s;pi&s;ed ones of Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>We have touched at a few rea&s;ons why the&s;e <HI>de&s;pi&s;ed ones of Christ,</HI> (as they call them&s;elves) were not, nor ought not to be taken in, and yet that the <HI>de&s;pi&s;ers of Christ</HI> were taken, which the <HI>Narrator</HI> &s;o po&s;itively denies, we &s;hall have occa&s;ion to in&s;i&s;t on in its proper place.</P>
<P>For his exclu&s;ive in&s;tances, that they were not taken in, the&s;e Gentlemen would be acquainted, that every <HI>Re-publick,</HI> that is to &s;ay, the Supreme Power in any Government, ought in all <HI>judge|ments</HI> and <HI>rewards</HI> to be blind and inflexible, not onely in deci|ding matters between man and man, but al&s;o in returning to its own immediate &s;ubjects or Officers &s;uch dues or claims as they are ju&s;tly engaged for, and this with the &s;ame ea&s;ine&s;s that a pri|vate man would do that is able, or &s;hould otherwi&s;e be compelled unto it. For bring once a di&s;tru&s;t between the Commonwealth and the people, (and di&s;tru&s;ts in the&s;e ca&s;es are occa&s;ioned by non-per|formance of promi&s;es) you at once enfeeble their hands, and make their pur&s;es, unle&s;s it be by compul&s;ion, un&s;erviceable to you; whereas a gentle way of impo&s;ition, performance of promi&s;es, or e|qual gratification, makes every private Counter a part of the pub|lick Trea&s;ury. And indeed this is a duty incumbent upon every Commonwealth, who&s;e main intere&s;t is meerly to do ju&s;tice; for though her &s;pleen by this means may not &s;well &s;o mightily, yet the whole body is in better health, fitter for exerci&s;e and a longer life. And certain it is, that God Almighty &s;eems to ble&s;s moral Ju&s;tice in &s;everal Nations with large felicity and duration. This thought St. <HI>Austine</HI> once had about the continuation of <HI>Rome,</HI> and whether it al&s;o may not take with the <HI>Turks</HI> at this day, is too nice for my &s;crutiny.</P>
<P>Secondly, if the Commonwealth ought to be &s;o rigorous to its &s;elf in di&s;charging it &s;elf not onely to Foreiners of all Compacts and
<PB N="9" REF="7">
Debts, how much more tender ought it to be in pre&s;erving to its own &s;ubjects that which is ju&s;tly theirs? For whether it be as was &s;aid of old, that man was <HI>naturally</HI> &s;ociable, or as a learned <HI>Mo|dern</HI> hath &s;aid, that he is <HI>compelled</HI> into <HI>Society</HI> meerly for the advantages and nece&s;&s;ities of life, certain it is, that admit any man without protection of what he at pre&s;eut enjoies, (unle&s;s it come to to be determined by Law, which is but the regulation of the force of a Country) and either his next or &s;tronge&s;t neighbour, if not pu|ni&s;hable, &s;hall di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;s him, and con&s;equently there &s;hall be no|thing but warr and confu&s;ion in that place. Now if men in the &s;tate of Nature find Propriety a thing &s;o &s;acred, &s;o u&s;eful, what &s;hall we think of Commonwealths, who&s;e great de&s;ign it is to bet|ter men, that is to &s;ay, to lead them to that civil happine&s;s jointly, which they could not arrive at &s;ingly? how ought they to be care|ful in this point? for it the wi&s;e&s;t States have been &s;o careful, that e|ven in Taxes (which are nece&s;&s;ary to be paied for the due pre&s;erva|tion of the whole) &s;uch a due Modetation hath been u&s;ed, as that no more &s;hould i&s;&s;ue out of the pur&s;e of the &s;ubject than &s;hould meerly conduce to that End; and <HI>Rome</HI> it &s;elf, after the conque&s;t of <HI>Per&s;eus</HI> by <HI>Paulus Aemilius,</HI> out of the Trea&s;ury then gotten freed the people for many years, as not thinking fit the Publick &s;hould command a private pur&s;e without eminent nece&s;&s;ity and danger; It holds <HI>&agrave; fortiori,</HI> that taking away particular proprieties is matter of more inju&s;tice and un&s;afety in a Politique Body.</P>
<P>Thirdly, how unfitting is it for a Common wealth, without any con&s;ideration or other provi&s;ion at all, to di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;s any per&s;ons of their particular lively-hood, whether it be by office or profe&s;&s;ion, and that without any provi&s;ion at all made for the &s;etting up &s;omewhat el&s;e in the &s;tead thereof, or to &s;ay better, reforming of the old?</P>
<P>Certainly a mans <HI>office</HI> or <HI>profe&s;&s;ion,</HI> (provided alwayes it con|&s;i&s;ts with the publick welfare, and be not oppre&s;&s;ive to the people) is as much propriety as any other what&s;oever.</P>
<P>Having promi&s;ed thus much, I &s;hall now de&s;cend to the particu|lar in&s;tances of the <HI>Narrator,</HI> which when we have peru&s;ed, we &s;hall confront with &s;omewhat nece&s;&s;ary to be mentioned about the late change.</P>
<P>As to the <HI>Souldiery,</HI> who&s;e pay they would have &s;topt, by hin|dring the pa&s;&s;ing of the <HI>Bill</HI> for <HI>A&s;&s;e&s;sments,</HI> the <HI>Narrator</HI> &s;aies <HI>it
<PB N="10" REF="7">
was moved indeed</HI> (nay it was highly urged) <HI>in order to the abate|ment of the Tax, and in regard of their great e&s;tates and little hazard and pains, that the chief Officers would &s;erve the Commonwealth freely as the Parliament did.</HI> But that this was a meer de&s;ign to di&s;unite the <HI>Army,</HI> and break them in pieces, and make them odious to the people by Free-quarter, may ea&s;ily appear by their endeavours and di&s;cour&s;es of changing Commanders in the Army, or to &s;ay more properly, advancing men of their own prin|ciples, which how dangerous it is to the very being of the three Nations, cannot but be acknowledged, when it is con&s;idered what a number of Enemies we have to deal with, and that our protection under God lies in their hands, which by this means would be weakned. But as it happens in all civil debate, that &s;ly and ambi|tious factions di&s;cover not the main at fir&s;t, but endeavour to creep in by in&s;inuations and plau&s;ible pretences, &s;o the&s;e people would under the pretence of inequality of Taxes ab&s;olutely &s;top the Bill, whereas reformation (if any &s;uch needed) might be made in conve|nient time, and the Souldier not be forced at the pre&s;ent to &s;tarve, plunder, or disband. As to what they object, of the &s;mall pains, and great E&s;tates gotten by Commanders, (though &s;ome have not gotten &s;o great E&s;tates as they might have done, as may be in&s;tanced, were it without offence) it &s;eems they are very apt to forget the hazards and toyles that the&s;e men have undergone for that pay, and that even in the mid&s;t of their perils and action how little they re|ceived or pur&s;ed, and now when the Lord hath honoured them with Triumphs, they mu&s;t in a manner be laid a&s;ide, and debar|red of their pay, which hath put on (a man would think) the na|ture of a reward now, rather than an entertainment. Some &s;ha|dow of rea&s;on indeed there had been for this motion, if they had trifled and delayed a warr as is commonly &s;een beyond Seas, and was at fir&s;t practi&s;ed by their Predece&s;&s;ors here in <HI>England,</HI> the better to &s;alve their own avarice, and to keep their employments a foot. But they behaved them&s;elves otherwi&s;e, their courages &s;ur|mounted the difficulties and rigours of the colde&s;t winters, and in mid&s;t of the bittere&s;t fro&s;ts and &s;harpe&s;t tempe&s;ts they were &s;een, be&s;ieging, skirmi&s;hing, pur&s;uing and doing all tho&s;e actions which might be expected in a campagne, &s;o that their victories were thick, and the fury of the warres in our bowels &s;oon blown over. Their
<PB N="12" REF="8">
memorable things in <HI>Scotland</HI> and <HI>Ireland</HI> are &s;uch, as they have done more than our Monarchs could do in many Centuries of years, and yet the&s;e men, after all the&s;e merits, notwith&s;tanding their pay at the pre&s;ent is reduced to the lowe&s;t it rea&s;onably can, and holds no proportion with the rates e&s;tabli&s;hed abroad, that which re|mains mu&s;t be taken from them; But it &s;eems the Gentlemen that made that objection concerning their great e&s;tates, did not look upon that part of the wallet which hanged behind their backs, for rhere were many members there, who had e&s;tates very different from what they had had 15. years &s;ince, and not a few of them had either one or more offices that might well amount to the pay of a Collonel. But the&s;e men that are Moles when they are to con&s;ider them&s;elves, &s;ee as &s;harp as Eagles when they come to &s;urvey others. But perhaps they may have &s;omewhat of the nature of the Cocka|trice, and coming to be made &s;ee their own vi&s;ages, abhorre them and bur&s;t.</P>
<P>We have &s;een how well the Narrator hath acquitted him&s;elf of the fir&s;t particular, we &s;hall come now to his &s;econd, which is the taking up of the Cavaliers Intere&s;t in the Ca&s;e of Sir <HI>John Sto|wel,</HI> which is very di&s;ingenuou&s;ly and maliciou&s;ly interpreted to be a complyance with that party. For Sir <HI>Johns</HI> part, though he were an eager, and &s;evere pur&s;uer of the Kings Intere&s;t, yet if we &s;hall look upon his &s;innes and torments, they will not be found very di&s;proportionable. He hath been &s;everal times brought to the Bar for his life, and he lay many years in pri&s;on, he hath lo&s;t the profit of a very fair e&s;tate for many years together, though he were comprized in the Articles of <HI>Exceter,</HI> (upon which the <HI>High Court of Justice</HI> would not take away his life) and ought to have been permitted to compound, which he did al&s;o endeavour, but could never obtain. Certainly there were &s;ome <HI>Ahabs</HI> at that time, that had a mind to his Vineyard, for otherwi&s;e he could never have found &s;uch &s;trange and di&s;honourable oppo&s;ition. Nay even at la&s;t, when the <HI>Court of Articles</HI> whom the Parliament made in a manner Judges of them&s;elves (as to relieve in particular ca&s;es, where there might be occa&s;ion by the rigour of &s;ome general Act) af|ter hearing the full and large debate of the whole matter, adjudged him within the benefit of the &s;aid Articles, the &s;ame party in the Hou&s;e prevailed to &s;u&s;pend the proceedings of that Court. But that
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Parlament di&s;&s;olving, and the Court proceeding according to their duty, the late Parlament made an Act to confirm their Purcha&s;es, and that out of a very &s;trange rea&s;on, <HI>viz.</HI> that the former Parla|ment had ordered a &s;top, and they did it but to quiet the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion to a &s;ort of Godly Purcha&s;ers, whereas they &s;hould have bethought them&s;elves, that if the former Parlament had done an Act of inju|&s;tice, it was their duty and profe&s;&s;ion to rever&s;e it, not to confirm it. Nor indeed can a Parlament, though a Supreme unlimitted Court, enact any thing again&s;t right Rea&s;on, or common Ju&s;tice, but it is <HI>ip&s;o facto</HI> void, they being tru&s;ted with the peoples &s;afety, not with their ruin. Nor is that re&s;titution <HI>in &s;pecie</HI> or value any thing; for what Ju&s;tice can there be to take away an E&s;tate due unto a man, and give him another not half &s;o good and commodi|ous, or not half &s;o much worth? Ju&s;tice is rigorous and extreme, and will be fully &s;atisfied, or el&s;e &s;he is not &s;atisfied at all; And though in her puni&s;hments &s;he may &s;ometimes turn to injury, yet in di&s;tribution &s;he loves to be full and exact.</P>
<P>There can be doubtle&s;s no one thing makes either a better way for conque&s;t in winning a people, not for &s;ecuring of it by pre&s;er|ving their affections, nothing that makes a Commander more ho|nourable, more a&s;&s;ures and &s;ecretly ble&s;&s;es the Souldier, than a faithful and an inviolate keeping of promi&s;e with an enemy. This is it indeed that gives reputation to Armies, &amp; makes them flouri&s;h, while the hearts of the others tremble. This is that indeed, which as it is the ligament of humane amity, &s;o it is the bridle and re&s;traint of their enmity, le&s;t it turn into rage and be&s;tiality. This all Na|tions, from the mo&s;t civil, to the mo&s;t barbarous, have with all religion ob&s;erved; judgements and plagues upon the breach of it are frequent in all Hi&s;tory, and yet we that profe&s;s the high prin|ciples of Chri&s;tianity, mu&s;t do things, no body knows why, which mo&s;t <HI>Turks</HI> would &s;corn and dete&s;t. If States will be awanting to perform the faith of their Armies, they mu&s;t either expect to be &s;erved by faithle&s;s men, (for what hone&s;t man will promi&s;e that which he &s;hall not be in &s;ome hopes to perform?) or el&s;e breed &s;corn and de&s;pair in their enemies, who having men accounted fal&s;e to deal with, will account it their greate&s;t &s;afety to expect none at their hands, and thence choo&s;e rather to endure de&s;perate and ob|&s;tinate &s;ieges, which how dangerous and fatal they have been to
<PB N="13" REF="9">
many thriving warres, cannot and need not be here exemplified.</P>
<P>Thirdly, <HI>for the removall of the Chancery, and total altera|tion of the Law, &amp;c.</HI> Whether this were not ground enough (had there been none el&s;e) may be judged from a &s;hort con&s;ideration of the Nature of our Laws (as they now &s;tand) and a due remem|brance of what happine&s;s and &s;ecurity our Predece&s;&s;ors enjoyed under them. The Law of <HI>England</HI> (as it now &s;tands) is either Statute Law, Common Law, or Cu&s;tome, Statute Law is but the edict of the Supreme Magi&s;trate, commanding or forbidding this or that thing; This relates either to the Government of the State in general, preventing or redre&s;&s;ing particular crimes, or making &s;uch due redre&s;&s;es, as cannot be made by the ordinary con&s;titution of Government. The Common Law is <HI>recta ratio,</HI> in the determinati|on of <HI>Justum</HI> between parties, holy and inviolable as the Laws of Nature and Rea&s;on, and though running in a municipal chanel, yet as old and venerable as Rea&s;on it &s;elf, which it is, onely redu|ced to practice, and as unalterable, &s;ince Rea&s;on, under never &s;o many &s;hapes, is &s;till the &s;ame; though in &s;ome circum&s;tances and proceedings there may be ju&s;t cau&s;e of alteration. Cu&s;tome is the particular u&s;age in &s;uch a Liberty, place or manner, different, not contrary from either, &s;ubordinate to both; How the&s;e men may contemplate a better e&s;tabli&s;hment, is a matter which as yet I &s;ee not any &s;earch &s;atisfied with, and till they produce a better, I &s;hall <HI>acquie&s;ce</HI> in not rai&s;ing objections again&s;t what I &s;ee not how I can rationally object. But under this Law (the forms whereof have altered according to the Con&s;titutions of the &s;everal Governments) have we flouri&s;hed ever &s;ince we have been a people, and &s;ome men of grea|ter abilities and lei&s;ure have &s;o amply made it appear, as well to its con&s;titution, u&s;e and end, that I &s;hall not interpo&s;e with tho&s;e ex|cellent men, but refer to their own mouths.</P>
<P>Now &s;ince it is the weakne&s;s, or incapacity of men, that they can provide no Law again&s;t all emergences and contingences, and that the wickedne&s;s of humane nature is too &s;ubtil for the mo&s;t cautious and &s;evere&s;t preventive Ju&s;tice, there will follow a nece&s;&s;i|ty in ca&s;e of frauds, concealments, &s;urpri&s;es, cheats, and the other effects of vulgar wickedne&s;s, to appeal to the con&s;cience of the Commonwealth.</P>
<P>Hence is it, that in &s;everal particular ca&s;es there is occa&s;ion of
<PB N="14" REF="9">
relief, yet &s;uch, as by onely mitigating the rigour of the po&s;itive Law, may relieve the &s;ubject, without making a general Law, for otherwi&s;e, Laws would become innumerable. And if we complain of the number of Laws at pre&s;ent, and tho&s;e made upon general re&s;ultances, we &s;hould certainly find them in&s;ufferable, if they once came to be formed out of particular ca&s;es. Now this con|&s;cience of the Commonwealth (as I may call it) being as it were depo&s;ited with the Great Seal in the Chancery, is not onely that which relieves and benefits the &s;everity and rigour of the Common Law, but is indeed the womb of all our Laws and Proceedings. which mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily &s;top and &s;u&s;pend, upon the taking away of that High Court. Not but in the practice of the Court (which be|ing a Court of Equity, cannot be &s;o &s;trictly bound up as the Com|mon Law) there may happen very many delaies and foul practices; but it is a very great error in men to argue from the abu&s;e of a thing, again&s;t the being and con&s;titution of the thing it &s;elf; as if a man ought to be murthered, becau&s;e he hath a di&s;ea&s;e, and &s;hould be put out of pain. But the con&s;titution of the Court, (though &s;ome|what as to exce&s;s of Fees, and corruption of practice might be reme|died) is &s;uch, as without an invaluable damage to the greate&s;t part of the &s;ubjects, cannot be altered, and &s;ome of late have &s;o large|ly and particularly con&s;idered, that I &s;hall &s;ay no more of it in this place.</P>
<P>For the profe&s;&s;ion or the Law, however it now become to be looked a &s;quint at, yet it is that which hath been, not onely highly reverenced by our own Ance&s;tors, but was the common road of advancement and honour in <HI>Greece</HI> and <HI>Rome.</HI> And if we ob&s;erve, in this Nation the Profe&s;&s;ors of it have found Gods ble&s;&s;ing very e|minently fall down upon them. How many great and noble fami|lies are there that flouri&s;h to this day, nay very few of them, as hath been ob&s;erved by a great man, have dyed without children or in|te&s;tate? Nor indeed wants there not &s;ome rea&s;on of it; for being commonly the choice&s;t men, culled out of the Gentry, brought up under the be&s;t education, ariving at the capacity of their profe&s;&s;ion, with long time, &s;tudy, charge and experience, 'tis no wonder, if becoming the able&s;t men for the &s;ervice of their Country, wealth and advancement wait on them; and what an equitable thing it is, for to di&s;poyl a man of his Profe&s;&s;ion, when he hath &s;pent his
<PB N="16" REF="10">
portion or fortune (the &s;tudy of the Law being &s;o chargeable and &s;o tedious, for I dare &s;ay, it co&s;ts mo&s;t men 1000l. before they receive 10 s.) and what a di&s;couragement it will be to all worthy education, may be judged by any man, that calls his Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on, not his Humour, into Coun&s;el.</P>
<P>Fourthly, the fourth is about matters of Pre&s;entations, which that party had voted a way from their Proprietors. This the &s;o|ber party of the Hou&s;e, not unju&s;tly apprehended to be a dangerous a&s;&s;ault upon Propriety it &s;elf, and therefore gave it as one of their inducements of re&s;igning their Power. This &s;aies the Narrator, <HI>takes in the corrupt Gentry, and is a fair bait for per&s;ons of all &s;orts.</HI> We have &s;aid before how much it concerns the Common|wealth as a party to do ju&s;tice to all men, not onely by &s;atisfying her own engagements, but in pre&s;erving to every man what he is already po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of. Now if Advow&s;ons be not matter of right, I know not what is, and if he to whom ju&s;tice is to be done be not to be looked upon whether he be good or bad, hone&s;t or corrupt, but whether his claim to &s;uch or &s;uch a thing be equitable or no, I &s;ee no rea&s;on, why the Gentry, for being &s;ugge&s;ted onely to be corrupt, &s;hould be deprived of that which is &s;o ju&s;tly theirs. Tis true indeed, that as was prudently profered, it were not ami&s;s to &s;et up &s;ome way, where by there might be a &s;crutiny made into the qualities and fitne&s;s of the per&s;ons pre&s;ented, but in&s;tead of an accidental inconvenience, to run upon a po&s;itive and ab&s;olute mi&s;|chief, is me thinks but a &s;trange way of caution. For &s;uppo&s;e Pre&s;entations of private per&s;ons were taken away, either the Church doors mu&s;t be &s;hut up, or el&s;e it mu&s;t devolve into &s;ome higher Pow|er, which is more inconvenient than the former. For men of bu|&s;ine&s;s &s;et at di&s;tance cannot &s;o particularly look into the lives and humours of men, But receiving only &s;ome &s;lender Certificates, or the report of &s;ome trivial examination, pa&s;s it for the mo&s;t part, <HI>(pro forma)</HI> upon him who hath the fir&s;t intelligence, the be&s;t hor&s;e, or &s;ure&s;t friends. Whereas men of the Country have neerer occa&s;ions of Trial and in&s;pection, and for the mo&s;t part, even for their own Intere&s;t, choo&s;e the able&s;t men, which the others cannot be &s;o careful of, or are not &s;o much concerned in. I rather mention this, for that it hath been ob&s;erved by a grave per&s;on, that even the Univer&s;ities, between whom by the Statute of <HI>Jac.</HI> the Pre&s;en|tations
<PB N="17" REF="10">
of all Papi&s;ts are divided, Pre&s;ent for the mo&s;t part very ha&s;tily and unadvi&s;edly, without either con&s;idering their own right, or the value of the Per&s;on; Nay not &s;eldome, preferre the mo&s;t ig|norant and droni&s;h fellows on purpo&s;e to be rid of them. But this was but a limb of the main de&s;ign, and here they dealt like the Fox in the fable, that fir&s;t de&s;ired to put his foot in, that he might indeed afterwards bring in his head and his whole body. For if the right of Pre&s;entations had once been taken away, the next bu&s;ine&s;s we &s;hould have heard on, would have been Impropriations, then all other Tythes, and after that con&s;equently the Mini&s;try, and for ought any man knows, private E&s;tates; How dangerous the&s;e men are, may by this ea&s;ily be &s;een, and what fine Conclu&s;ion will follow &s;uch Propo&s;itions of theirs if they were but &s;uffered to run on. So that the Narrator hath little rea&s;on to &s;ay, that this is to take in the corrupt Gentry, and that tis a bait for all &s;orts, when, as we &s;aid before, tis a preventive piece of Ju&s;tice, and per&s;ons of all &s;orts in|deed may come in time to be mi&s;erably concerned in con&s;ultations &s;o heady and dangerous.</P>
<P>For the bu&s;ine&s;s of Tythes, which have gained this Po&s;t, had been the next they had taken, though I cannot for my part vote with them who &s;ay they are <HI>Jure Divino,</HI> yet as to the <HI>Jus hu|manum,</HI> and the propriety of them, that great Ornament of our Nation, Mr. <HI>Selden,</HI> &s;ome years &s;ince, and &s;ome learned Gentle|ment of the long robe, who had occa&s;ion to argue it before a Com|mitte for that purpo&s;e, have &s;o demon&s;trated, that he mu&s;t either be very unintelligent or pervicatious, that remains un&s;atisfied. And therefore what a confu&s;ion it would bring to dive&s;t Proprietors of what was legally their either by di&s;cent or purcha&s;e, and how it is more Antichri&s;tian to pay tythes, when once e&s;tabli&s;hed by Law, than to pay a Fee-farm, I &s;ee not, and what a pre&s;ent way it were to &s;ilence the whole Mini&s;try a &s;hort experience would teach. Nor is it le&s;s &s;trange that de&s;igns aiming at &s;o much confu&s;&s;ion &s;hould be &s;o cunningly and orderly laid.</P>
<P>Fiftly, for the Vote of the Mini&s;ters, which we have touched at before, It is that which they &s;eemed mo&s;t to &s;tand on. That <HI>it was thought a way to e&s;tabli&s;h a national Parochial Mini&s;try, con&s;i&s;t|ing of Popi&s;h names of</HI> Par&s;ons, Vicars <HI>and</HI> Curates, <HI>and al&s;o that oppre&s;&s;ive burden of Tythes, that it looked rather like making up
<PB N="18" REF="11">
a breach in the Kingdome of Anti-christ, than pulling it down.</HI> By this you clearly &s;ee,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that all form of Mini&s;try is here damned as Antichri&s;tian.</P>
<P>Secondly, upon the&s;e grounds, the Mini&s;try mu&s;t be di&s;&s;olved.</P>
<P>Thirdly, here is a breach m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">de for all men, never &s;o unfit or uncapable, to undertake that great and weighty work; for if they pretend but <HI>to be anointed for the work of the Mini&s;try,</HI> (the Narrator bringing no touch-&s;tone) they mu&s;t be received.</P>
<P>Fourthly, there will ari&s;e innumerable contradiction, quarrels without end, and Religion &s;hall peri&s;h by her own Divi&s;ions. For my part, as I hold con&s;cience too &s;acred a part, (being as a man may &s;ay, Deputy-Judge within us) to receive any force, &s;o, in &s;ome particular Truths, when they are violently apparent, it cannot without repugnancy and reluctancy di&s;obey; nor do I know any that neerer concerns her, than obedience to the Civil Magi&s;trate, in matters purely Civil. Now whereas there are two Calls to the Mini&s;try, the Call and touch of the Spirit within, and the admi&s;|&s;ion from without, though it cannot be &s;aid that every man of the &s;econd qualification is of the fir&s;t, yet in regard that mens faiths are &s;een by their works and lives, and that for orders &s;ake, the abilities of every man for imployment &s;hould be examined, it is but nece&s;&s;ary and convenient, that there &s;hould be an outward and vi&s;ible way of calling and admitting unto the Mini&s;try. For Unifor|mity, (which in the main, though not in circum&s;tantials, ought as neer as could be to be pre&s;erved) hereby &s;tands not in &s;o much danger, and Peace and Di&s;cipline the better flouri&s;h. Not that any man will &s;ay, a man is the more a Mini&s;ter for the Impo&s;ition of hands, but that it is meerly a Civil &s;anction and admi&s;&s;ion for or|ders &s;ake. And therefore, it is a wonder, why the&s;e men &s;hould &s;cruple &s;o much at the&s;e names of Par&s;ons, Vicars and Curats, when they are impo&s;ed meetly by the Municipal Laws of the Country, and relate not to the per&s;on, but to the maintenance of the man, all the&s;e three being one Mini&s;ter &s;everally endowed. If this de|&s;ign could have come to pa&s;s, the good men of the Univer&s;ities might have &s;hut up their &s;tudy-doors, and have gone to plow, for the next bu&s;ine&s;s we &s;hould have heard of, &s;hould have been, the words Ma&s;ter, Warden, Principal, Pre&s;ident, Provo&s;ts, &amp;c. had been al&s;o Antichri&s;tian, and the Univer&s;ities, as part of that King|dome,
<PB N="19" REF="11">
be pulled down, learning which is the root of Civility root|ed up from among&s;t, and Gotthi&s;h Barbari&s;m and Tyranny &s;uffered to over-ma&s;ter us, and all this under that horrible pretence of that pure divine and ineffable Spirit to which men would entitle their own particular humours and imaginations, a cour&s;e &s;o horrid in it &s;elf that I cannot but &s;hrink at it, &s;o uncertain that there is no rely|ance on it, &s;o dangerous, that it may introduce all confu&s;ion that mankind is capable of. Not but that I believe that God to his be|loved ones frequently &s;heds the rayes of that heavenly Sun, but then they work &s;weetly and &s;trongly and in order, and bring forth effects quite contrary to tho&s;e as mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily follow &s;uch preten&s;ions as we have touched at, the&s;e being onely mutual flames between God and the &s;oul, whereas in Civil things, he leaves us to circum|&s;tances, &s;en&s;e, experience, and the judgement of our rea&s;on.</P>
<P>For that which the <HI>Narrator profe&s;&s;es of the &s;incerity of their Hearts, and the building up of</HI> Sion, I have not much to &s;ay, if by <HI>Sion,</HI> he mean the fift Monarchy which we have mentioned be|fore; and for the &s;incerity of a mans intentions, when his actions mu&s;t needs centre clearly contrary, is a bu&s;ine&s;s that I under&s;tand not. Nor can I much agree with him in his la&s;t ob&s;ervation, <HI>That the difference never began to appear &s;o effectually in the Hou&s;e, as it did upon &s;eeking the Lord, and bringing Bibles in their hands.</HI> What their intentions were I know not, and for the bu&s;ine&s;s it &s;elf &s;hall not much di&s;pute it, but only &s;ay thus much, that if the&s;e were preten&s;ions the better to carry on their de&s;igns, and to engage &s;ome of the more incon&s;iderate, there was Hypocri&s;ie enough in it; If they were really intended, it &s;eemed they were an&s;wered but with very unlikely returns; what or whether any members were convinced by &s;uch means or no, I cannot tell, nor li&s;t to enquire. For &s;ince they are reduced to their fir&s;t matter, I am very willing to &s;hake hands with them and bid them farewel.</P>
<P>They being thus di&s;&s;olved, and con&s;equently the Commonwealth left without tuition, the Power being ab&s;olutely and vi&s;ibly in the Army, and the condition of the Nation being &s;uch, as that it was neither timely nor convenient to call a Parliament, it was moved to the Lord General both by &s;everal good men, intere&s;ted in the Nation, and Officers of the Army, to a&s;&s;ume the protection of the three Nations. This burden for the good of them was he willing
<PB N="20" REF="12">
to undertake, hath received and may it pro&s;per. So that now the Government is e&s;tabli&s;hed in a <HI>Lord Protector</HI> and <HI>Triennial Par|liaments,</HI> as may appear by <HI>a form of Government,</HI> &amp;c. and will in all probability with the mercy of God, conduce to the e&s;ta|bli&s;hment of the quiet and pro&s;perity of this people. But becau&s;e &s;ome men may be un&s;atisfied with the pre&s;ent con&s;titution, and ei|ther out of &s;pleen and ignorance make objections again&s;t it, I &s;hall before I take leave of the Reader, fix onely a remark or two; for to &s;ay all things, and an&s;wer all objections, mu&s;t be the work of a vo|lume and a pen more able.</P>
<P>Let us then con&s;ider how impolitick and dangerous a thing it is for to have a Supreme Legi&s;lative Power alwayes &s;itting, and exerci&s;ing it &s;elf. For &s;uch great A&s;&s;emblies, like high Medi|cines, &s;hould be u&s;ed very &s;eldome, or but upon great extremity, otherwi&s;e they lo&s;e not onely their vertue and vigour; but grow dan|gerous and contemptible. Be&s;ides, A&s;&s;emblies of this nature are on|ly to make Laws, not to execute them, for being unlimited, they are not &s;o fit to judge as inferiour Courts; nor is it rea&s;on to take away without evident nece&s;&s;ity from any man, the benefit of the Laws already e&s;tabli&s;hed. It is to be added, that the ends of their Calling being principally two, the making of Laws, and im|po&s;ition of Taxes, it is impo&s;&s;ible to imagine any Nation can be &s;o con&s;tantly and perpetually vicious or ill-&s;etled, as to need a perpe|tual making of Laws, or &s;o wealthy as to be able continually to be Cajol'd into Taxes. Neither is it impo&s;&s;ible, that men coming to know one another, may make factions; nay, do many exorbitan|cies to keep their Power in exerci&s;e.</P>
<P>The Government of a Nation may without force or noi&s;e be ea|ly transferred from hand to hand, and the Publick Peace &s;till pre|&s;erved, whereas if the force of a Nation come once to be divi|ded within it &s;elf, there follows no &s;mall danger, if not ab&s;olute ruin to the whole. And therefore 'tis more prudence in any Citi|zen to comply with &s;uch changes and variations, than by endeavouring the re-e&s;tabli&s;hment of the old, or &s;etting up of a third to tear the body of the Nation in pieces, by intere&s;ting the &s;word in &s;uch dangerous divi&s;ions.</P>
<P>And if a Swallow fall not to the ground without the will of the great <HI>Jehovah,</HI> we may well &s;ay, that the mutations of <HI>Com|monwealths</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="12">
(which are of &s;o va&s;t and large concernment to man|kind) mu&s;t have much more of his particular will in it, which when he declares by vi&s;ible &s;ucce&s;&s;es, revolutions above the reach of man, and the effects which could not have been produced by any humane Power, it were a &s;trange &s;tubborne&s;s not to comply with them, &s;ince, as his will is &s;ecret to him&s;elf, and above the &s;earch of man, &s;o his Power is &s;uch, that he, who is in his hands, as clay in the hands of the Potter, is not able to &s;tand before him. For he &s;aid very truly that uttered this, <HI>In &s;e &s;puit, qui &s;puit adver&s;us Olympum.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
