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<DATE>2012-11-23</DATE>
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<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>An ANSVVER TO THE Cities Repre&s;entation Set forth by &s;ome Mini&s;ters of the Go|&s;pel, within the Province of <HI>London.</HI> Concerning The Proceedings of the ARMY. BY A Presbyterian Patriot, that hath Covenanted TO Pre&s;erve the Rights and Priviledges of Parliaments, and the Kings Maje&s;ties per|&s;on and Authority; <HI>In the pre&s;ervation,</HI> and defence of the true Religion and Liber|ties of the Kingdoms; <HI>and not otherwi&s;e.</HI></P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Acts 5.38.</HI></BIBL>
<P>If this councell or this work bee of men, it will come to nought.</P>
<BIBL><HI>Ver. 39.</HI></BIBL>
<P>But if it bee of God, yee cannot overthrow it, le&s;t happi|ly yee bee found even to fight again&s;t God.</P></Q>
<P><FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="license">
<OPENER><DATE><HI>February</HI> 7. 1648.</DATE></OPENER>
<P>Imprimatur</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Gilbert Mabbott.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT></P>
<P>LONDON Printed by <HI>Robert Ibbit&s;on,</HI> in Smithfield, neer the Queenes-head Tavern, 1649.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>AN ANSWER To the late REPRESENTATION OF THE Mini&s;ters of LONDON.</HEAD>
<P>_I De&s;ire not to make the breach wider betwixt the mini&s;try and the Army, its an ill time to have the word and the &s;word of the Lord to differ, when both &s;hould helpe him again&s;t the mighty. That which is &s;ubtilly fa&s;tned upon the Army and their Councells, to wit, that they are Je&s;uited, I wi&s;h it were not applicable to all &s;orts of oppo|&s;ers in this age, who have too little of Je&s;us and too much of the Je&s;uite in their tran&s;actions, &s;avouring too much of calumny and policy.</P>
<P>Not to take up every thing, but to touch upon tho&s;e that are of mo&s;t weight and concernment in this <HI>Repre&s;entative,</HI> which comming from a Colledge of Divines, may therefore carry credite to the di&s;crediting the good work in hand, of &s;ettling the Kingdome in &s;afety and peace, hitherto &s;o vainly promi&s;ed and contrarily indeavoured, that the hearts and hands of tho&s;e concerned in it, and by it, may be upheld, and the Kingdome no more rendered mi&s;erable, with vaine hopes, nor peace impo&s;&s;ible, which were a work worthy of a Je&s;uite indeed.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="3">
<P>The&s;e <HI>London</HI> Mini&s;ters fir&s;t relate upon what termes they would have con&s;ented to a conference, and tell us what o|pinions they would have delivered on the ca&s;e, it &s;eems what rea&s;ons &s;oever might appeare to the contrary, for a confer|ence &s;uppo&s;ed, the re&s;ult is conclu&s;ive, that the Armies <HI>cour&s;es are unwarrantable,</HI> pag. 2. <HI>again&s;t the direct rule of the word,</HI> and <HI>as they conceive, out of their &s;phere,</HI> p. 3. wherein they &s;peak as if never any thing had been or could be &s;poken in the Armies ju&s;tification, where as &s;uch rea&s;ons have been already given, and &s;uch authorities &s;hown, both humane and divin, in trea|ti&s;es to that purpo&s;e, that are not &s;atisfyingly refelled with bare affections, though from never &s;o many; nor never &s;o worthy men, who&s;e disjunctions from the Army are not of ye&s;terday, procured indeed by the Armies unadvi&s;ed en|croachments upon their calling, and &s;ome di&s;paragements ca&s;t thereupon, which were ju&s;t provocations, but not to be had in everla&s;ting remembrance, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 14.20 &s;pecially when the publicke peace is concerned in their love and union.</P>
<P>Then they reckon up the &s;everall late proceedings of the Army, again&s;t (as they &s;ay) lawfull authority, <HI>e&s;pecially by their Remon&s;trance</HI> (a &s;ober, rationall, and convincing peece, not an&s;werable by abrationall man, for I count Mr. <HI>William Sedgwicke</HI> none) <HI>impri&s;oning the King without con&s;ent of Parlia|ment</HI> (meaning the &s;ecluded Members) <HI>and the late unparaleld violence offered to the Members.</HI> Had the&s;e Divines condemned the <HI>Londoners,</HI> for impri&s;oning the Parliament (not &s;ome Members) making a pri&s;on of the Parliament Hou&s;e, and driving the Speaker &amp;c. thence; they might then with much more candor have blamed the Army now, but &s;ome may better &s;teal a hor&s;e then others looke over the hedge, if that was not a crime (as I never heard it laid to their charge) then this is no errour. <HI>Many of which Members</HI> they &s;ay, <HI>are known to be men of eminent worth and integrity, and have given ample te&s;ti|mony of their reall affections to the good of this Kingdome.</HI> It had been well they had always continued of that mind; then had they been neither impri&s;oned nor hindred, but if they be &s;o good, and beare &s;o good affection to the publicke; they will take it the le&s;&s;e ill, to be hindred from doing &s;o ill of|fices,
<PB N="3" REF="3">as to hazzard the Kingdome in the hands of the King in freedome, honour, and &s;afety, who&s;e hands they could not bind by re&s;traint. Next thing is, <HI>the Armies contriving of a new moddell of Lawes and Government, and the Repre&s;entative.</HI> Its much, &s;uch men &s;hould &s;tumble at Reformation, onely for alteration &s;ake, as if old things, becau&s;e old, were faultle&s;&s;e; whereas our Lawes are (as they are made) our greate&s;t burdens, in&s;omuch as a man had as good take wrong, as &s;eeke right, and our Government &s;erving for lit|tle other then to furni&s;h the times with newes, by doing and undoing, to&s;&s;ing the poore people between hopes and feares. Why may not alterations of Government bee as nece&s;&s;ary in State as Church: Bi&s;hops were too old to bee good, and &s;o may many things el&s;e, and therefore not for that rea&s;on to be in&s;i&s;ted on. <HI>All which practi&s;es they judge to be again&s;t Authority</HI> (&s;o are Pulpits too when they are di&s;po&s;|ed) <HI>Oathes and Covenants,</HI> though they are &s;worn ab&s;olutely to the &s;afety and liberties of Religion, and the Kingdom and to the Parliam and King, but relatively and in order to the&s;e; So that the&s;e Divines &s;hould either have forborne to cite tho&s;e words of the Covenant, as the Scots were wont to doe or have demon&s;trated how Religion and Liberty could have been pre&s;erved without taking the&s;e cour&s;es: If they think the Treaty &s;ufficient, let them &s;peak out; and &s;hew how a man of that <HI>perfidie</HI> and <HI>policy</HI> the King is off, could with &s;afety to either, have been re&s;tored to freedome, ho|nour and &s;afety, that notwith&s;tanding all bonds of Mora|lity and duty, hath from time to time thru&s;t at them, and hazzarded them, as he hath done: If we mu&s;t have yeeld|ed our &s;elves to &s;lavery and ruine, better have done it at fir&s;t then at la&s;t, we &s;hould have had more mercy then now we can look for. To let a Bear loo&s;e from the &s;take with his chaine hanging on him, &s;uch loo&s;e re&s;traint is the way to make him the more fierce; If the Army &s;hould &s;urcea&s;e, as they advi&s;e, the Members be re&s;tored, and peace &s;etled, as was voted, and the King re&s;tored, (neither Epi&s;copacy aboli&s;hed, nor Delinquents puni&s;hed) were the Covenant kept, and the Kingdome &s;ecured? The&s;e Divines would
<PB N="4" REF="4">then be un&s;atisfied with them&s;elves, when by their means, &s;uch horrid effects would follow, as would make both their ears to tingle, I would gladly know how the Army, into who&s;e hands God hath put the power of prevention, could without breach of Covenant, have &s;uffered all to goe to ru|ine (which they are &s;worn to pre&s;erve) by pre&s;erving tho&s;e things (King and Priviledges) which inavoydably con|duced thereunto, and were become incon&s;i&s;tent therewith. Be&s;ides, their owne &s;afeties, who el&s;e mu&s;t alwayes have been fighting, or &s;ure of hanging: Be&s;ides infinite hone&s;t men, who probably ere this had been crying woe worth the Parliament, if not the&s;e Divines them&s;elves, con&s;idering the party in the Kingdome, that waited for the Kings Free|dome, Honour, and Safety. Giving out, that what he gran|ted in re&s;traint, he might lawfully break at liberty.</P>
<P>In the next place, page 4. are &s;everall Scriptures cited, which are all true in a Scripture &s;en&s;e, but mi&s;applyed, like that in the fronti&s;e-peece, Prov. 24.11 <HI>If thou forbear to de|liver them that are drawn unto death, and tho&s;e that are ready to bee &s;lain.</HI> Such wre&s;tings of Scripture from Innocents to no|cents, will make Mini&s;ters in as bad a name as Lawyers.</P>
<P>After the naming of which Scriptures, they &s;ay, <HI>they are afraid of medling with tho&s;e who without any colour of legall Authority &s;hall attempt &s;uch changes.</HI> We have had too much colourable authority, under the cloake whereof hath been acted &s;o much wrong and inju&s;tice to the publike, and infinite particulars &s;o that its high time to &s;ee it native, and naked. With what co|lourable Authority did the Divines in <HI>Scotland</HI> take part with the Minor again&s;t the Major part of the Parliament there, and prote&s;t again&s;t the Acts of Parliament, but becau&s;e they &s;aw them fraudulent and de&s;tructive, notwith&s;tanding all the &s;pe|cious Declarations of the Parliament to the contrary, and wherein doe the proceedings of the Army towards our Parlia|ment differ from theirs; who&s;e &s;ervice in protecting the Mi|nor, and inabling them again&s;t the Major was in <HI>Scotland</HI> counted a vertue, and commendable, and the &s;elf-&s;ame thing in <HI>England,</HI> to the &s;elf-&s;ame purpo&s;e counted a vice and dam|nable; How Doctors differ? Put ca&s;e his Excellency the Lord <HI>Fairfax</HI> having power in his hands, &s;hould have attempted to
<PB N="5" REF="4">have &s;et up the King in freedome honour and &s;afety, and a con|&s;iderable part of his Army &s;hould have oppo&s;ed it, knowing they were rai&s;ed to a quite other end. I doubt not the&s;e Di|vines would have thought well of and commended this their oppo&s;ition to &s;uch a de&s;ign, though acted by tho&s;e under Au|thority again&s;t their chief Commander, without colour of Authority, only upon the equity of their intentions and ju&s;tne&s;s of their cau&s;e. Such is the ca&s;e of the Army towards the Par|liament, who not <HI>contrary to their tru&s;t</HI> as is after a&s;&s;erted, but in di&s;charge of their tru&s;t and <HI>ingagements</HI> have again&s;t their wills taken the&s;e cour&s;es, for though they were rai&s;ed <HI>by the Parliament, yet for the Kingdome,</HI> and its &s;afety, His Excel|lencies Commi&s;&s;ion is the Card and Compa&s;&s;e that he mu&s;t &s;ail by, and not be turned out of his cour&s;e, by every wind of Par|liamentary Doctrine, for &s;o he &s;hould not have been the &s;er|vant of the Parliament, but of this or that Faction, and wrought about at la&s;t, by turning round, to fight for tho&s;e he was Commi&s;&s;ioned to fight again&s;t, and again&s;t tho&s;e he was commi&s;&s;ioned to fight for, well knowing that tho&s;e of the Par|liament which were again&s;t the Armies rai&s;ing, were for its de&s;troying, though with the ruine of the Kingdom and re&s;to|ring of the King, which was therefore laboured as the apte&s;t means for it.</P>
<P>In the next place the&s;e Mini&s;ters compare the Act of the King in relation to the five Members, and this of the Army, in relation to the Secluded Members together, <HI>page</HI> 5. A compa|ri&s;on ill be&s;eeming the candor of &s;uch and &s;o many worthy Divines, knowing the different Actors, and their dif|ferent ends, they may as well compare the Execution <HI>Phi|nehas</HI> did, with the Murthers <HI>Joab</HI> committed, or <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his zeale, in &s;laying tho&s;e of the family of <HI>Ahab,</HI> for his own ends.</P>
<P>Next they &s;ay <HI>p.</HI> 6. <HI>both Hou&s;es of Parliament (who are joynt|ly together with the King, intru&s;ted with the &s;upream Authority of the Kingdome)</HI> an ob&s;ervable Parenthe&s;is at the latter end of a &s;even yeers war betwixt the King and Parliament, <HI>though they &s;aw cau&s;e to take up Arms again&s;t the King, yet that does not ju&s;tifie the Armie to u&s;urpe an authority over King and Parlia|ment.</HI>
<PB N="6" REF="5">If either the defence of them&s;elves or the pre&s;ervation of the Kingdome, or both, ju&s;tified the Parliament, then doe they al&s;o ju&s;tifie the Army in what they do, for they have both tho&s;e apparently on their &s;ide; the Plots and practices of the King and &s;ecluded Members being above all things to level this Army, and &s;o to make way for the Kings re&s;toration, or the Kings re&s;toration to ruine the army: The con&s;equence of which two is undi&s;putably the Kingdoms (I mean all the well-affected) de&s;truction, and if defence be allowed to a private man in behalfe of him&s;elfe, it is much more allowable to a con&s;iderable community of men, lawfully put into arms in behalf of the whole whereof they them&s;elves are a part.</P>
<P>In the next place they &s;ay <HI>page</HI> 7. <HI>the Parliament when they took up armes did not intend to dive&s;t the King of his authority, as appears by their Declarations, much le&s;&s;e to overthrow the frame of Government.</HI> The Parliaments chief intention was, according to their tru&s;t, to pre&s;erve the Lives and Liberties of the people, and that in an orderly and unaltered cour&s;e, if it were po&s;&s;i|ble, and therefore did they make &s;o many &s;upplications to the King to return to them, and rule by their advice according as he ought to doe, and accompanied them (the more to move him) with tho&s;e Declarations, all which hardned, in &s;tead of &s;oftned him towards them, and thereby thinking them to doubt their cau&s;e, and him&s;elfe to be unre&s;pon&s;ible: &s;ets up his &s;tandard and commences fir&s;t one War, proclaims them Traitors (the in&s;olente&s;t and trea&s;onable&s;t act that e|ver was committed by a King of <HI>England</HI>) yet they offer a|gain and again, to be friends upon conditions of peace and &s;afety tendred, he refu&s;es and will have no friend&s;hip but upon his own terms, &s;o ended the fir&s;t war, by a defeat of his pur|po&s;es and re&s;traint of his Per&s;on; and then began a &s;econd, after which never i&s;&s;ued out any more of tho&s;e Declarations &s;poken of, but &s;eeing him incorrigible, they re&s;olve in pur&s;u|ance of their tru&s;t and di&s;charge of their Con&s;ciences to the Publique weale, to &s;ettle the Peace of the Kingdome without him, which they &s;aw could never be &s;etled with him:</P>
<PB N="7" REF="5">
<P>In order whereunto they vote no more addre&s;&s;es, as a nece&s;|&s;ary expedient thereunto, which upon a recruit of Lords, and &s;ecluded Members was unvoted again, and all new to &s;eek, the King as bad as he was, and had been, mu&s;t be tru&s;ted, and his own tearms granted, again&s;t Covenant, and Publick-Faith, to ground a Peace upon in order to his re&s;toration, as the onely probable means to ruine the Army, by putting him into a ca|pacity to rai&s;e another again&s;t them, an attempt of that nature having been put in practice at <HI>London,</HI> but not effected for want of the King, and thus is nece&s;&s;ity brought home to our doors of doing what is done, both to the King and pre&s;ent govern|ment, by Lords, and &s;ecluded Members. The&s;e things con&s;ide|red, it &s;hews how well they by this their Repre&s;entation, doe <HI>appear for maintenance of Liberties, as they &s;ay they doe again&s;t ma|lignant de&s;ignes of an arbitrary tyrannicall power in the King, and introduction of Anarchy by private per&s;ons;</HI> but it is not enough to &s;ay &s;o, it is not wi&s;e mens parts to cry up the ends, and de|cry the means, how to &s;uppre&s;&s;e tyranny, and not Tyrants is a hard le&s;&s;on. The mo&s;t excellent Mathematicians are to &s;eeke when they goe to Sea; Theory and Practi&s;e are two things, one may better make a <HI>&V;topia,</HI> then manage a Commonwealth: Book learned men are apt to thinke it as ea&s;ie for others to do, as for them to think. But State&s;men and Souldiers know bet|ter then Students what belongs to &s;ettlement, and finde it not &s;o ea&s;ie to bring both ends together, as the&s;e Divines imagine, and therefore are forced to doe like <HI>Alexander,</HI> cut the knot when they cannot unlo&s;e it, for the peace and &s;afety of the Kingdome, mu&s;t not alwayes hang in the briars. It is to be ho|ped, that though the Hou&s;e be pulled downe, there will be pro|vi&s;ion made we &s;hall not lye out of doors, but a mean be found out betwixt Tyranny and Anarchy, and more then meer pri|vate per&s;ons to bear rule.</P>
<P>The next thing in&s;i&s;ted on, is the obligation that lyes upon us by Oath and Covenant, <HI>Pag.</HI> 8. <HI>To pre&s;erve the Rights and priviledges of Parliaments, the Kings Maje&s;ties per&s;on and authority, in the pre&s;ervation and defence of the true Religion, and liberties of the Kingdome.</HI> This la&s;t conditionall clau&s;e, <HI>In pre&s;ervation of Reli|gion
<PB N="8" REF="6">and Liberties,</HI> is made to &s;erve but as a cypher in the Cove|nant, the Scots Commi&s;&s;ioners were wont to leave it out, the better to blinde the people, and cite the preceding part with|out it: The&s;e Divines do <HI>tant', amount,</HI> for though they cite them joyntly, yet they urge the other ab&s;tractly, and as &s;uperi|our to this, never telling us how the&s;e may be provided for, in ca&s;e the other &s;hould not be granted, notwith&s;tanding the ap|parent incon&s;i&s;tency of them both. For the King (in whom the pre&s;ent Government of Lords and &s;ecluded Members are in|volved, they voting a &s;ettlement upon his non-conce&s;&s;ions, and refu&s;ing that of non-addre&s;&s;es, and bringing him to ju&s;tice; thereby to put a period to delayes) both in liberty and re&s;traint, hath twice put Religion and Liberties to &s;uch an hazard, as had not God miraculou&s;ly pre&s;erved them, they had peri&s;hed irre|coverably, and we with them in lives and e&s;tates, and no bet|ter can be expected from him, ju&s;tifying his wayes now at his Triall, at la&s;t, as at fir&s;t, labouring to confront, and not to re|lent, which is a mercy of God, that he retains his nature with|out di&s;&s;embling it, le&s;t the <HI>hypocrite &s;hould reigne, and &s;o the people be in&s;nared.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e Oaths were never intended by maker or taker again&s;t the Laws and duty of God and Nature, which indeed no oaths can violate: The rea&s;on is rendred why we &s;wore the pre&s;erva|tion of his per&s;on, to wit, to expre&s;&s;e <HI>our Loyalty,</HI> that tho&s;e wars were not undertaken upon any rebellious or per&s;onall purpo&s;es, but of nece&s;&s;ity in re&s;pect of Religion and Liberty, upon the point to be utterly &s;ubverted, and that we were ready to lay downe Armes, and receive him with tho&s;e re&s;pects be|longed to him, when&s;oever it did appear that tho&s;e might be &s;e|cured, which never did yet &s;ince tho&s;e oaths were taken, and therefore notwith&s;tanding them, the Parliament went on to fight him, to the ju&s;t hazard of his per&s;on, and now judicially to proceed again&s;t him, as not otherwi&s;e able to di&s;charge that great tru&s;t that lyes upon them, touching the wellfare of this, and &s;ucceeding generations.</P>
<P><HI>Page</HI> 9. They &s;ay, <HI>They dare not by the violation of this oath provoke the wrath of God.</HI> But put ca&s;e your advice &s;hould be
<PB N="9" REF="6">followed as to the King and Parliament priviledges, dare you thereupon affirme the oath to be kept, if Re|ligion and Liberties &s;hould &s;uffer, and the Kingdome be undone thereby, our Oath is not categoricall, but hypotheticall, &s;o that if the keeping of the one part, be the breaking of the other (for &s;o is our ca&s;e) then the que&s;tion is, which mu&s;t be kept, and which mu&s;t be broken; whether to &s;atisfie you we &s;hould keep it on the Kings part, or to &s;atisfie our own rea&s;on and con|&s;cience, we &s;hould keep it on the Commonwealths part; and if in your &s;en&s;e, it doe binde &s;o &s;trictly for the Kings pre&s;ervation: why did you &s;uffer war to be made upon him without like advice, wherein his per|&s;on might have peri&s;hed, nay did peri&s;h as to the oath, he running the like hazard with other men, without difference or di&s;tinction, &s;o that rationally in the u&s;e of means (though not actually) his per&s;on was de|&s;troyed, notwith&s;tanding the Parliament it &s;elfe had &s;worne to pre&s;erve him, and no fault found.</P>
<P>In the &s;ame Page, they dehort the Army from proceeding any further (I will not &s;ay a Je&s;uit is in it) and tell them they <HI>were once Honourable with them and others, whil&s;t they kept in Gods way, and within their &s;phere</HI> (there lay their fault indeed) <HI>but they have eclip&s;ed their own glory, &amp; brought a cloud over all their excellencies.</HI> It &s;eems the&s;e Divine thinks the Country to be &s;pirited towards the Army like the City: Indeed the Malignants and Newters thinke as hardly of them for this, as they can wi&s;h; but the godly and &s;incere (I meane tho&s;e of no faction, and without bya&s;&s;e) who in con&s;cience to God, and with publicke &s;pirits, under|tooke
<PB N="10" REF="7">this cau&s;e for Religion, Liberty, and to bring Delinquents to condigne puni&s;hment; doe ble&s;&s;e them in the Name of the Lord in this, and for this, as a deliverance equall to the fir&s;t or &s;econd Warre, and are not a little afflicted in &s;pirit to &s;ee you to bee become the rejoycing of the Cavaliers, and the lifter up of the heads of tho&s;e prophane wretches, in the day that God hath humbled them, and glorified him&s;elf upon them. God keep your own glory, and the Go&s;pell engaged in you, from being eclip&s;ed, and your excellency from being beclouded in the wayes of contradiction that you are in, neither help|ing the Lord, nor &s;trengthning them that doe. Be more &s;en&s;ible of the City &s;ins, over-looke not their faults that are under you, their defection and <HI>back|&s;liding from publicke principles, &s;etting up the wor&s;t men in the be&s;t places, pre&s;sing the Parliament with clamorous, and menacing Petitions to de&s;tructive pur|po&s;es, impri&s;oning the whole Hou&s;e in the Hou&s;e, till they had voted the King to</HI> London, <HI>and threatning wor&s;e things if they came againe, forcing away the Speaker, and the faithfulle&s;t Members, refu&s;ing to aid their hone&s;t Major Generall again&s;t the common Enemy, though as it were at Townes end, and &s;coffing tho&s;e few that did, barely looking on, and wor&s;e at the &s;iege of</HI> Col|che&s;ter. Why then beholde&s;t thou the more that is in thy brothers eye, but con&s;idere&s;t not the beame that is in thine owne eye: Are the&s;e and &s;uch like veniall in your owne Pari&s;hioners, and mortall in the Army, judge with righteous judge|ment.</P>
<PB N="11" REF="7">
<P>The Mini&s;ters goe on in the &s;ame Paragraph, and &s;ay, <HI>We feare you are opening a doore to de&s;perate and damnable Errours and Here&s;ies:</HI> Truely I doubt &s;o too, but never the more for &s;uppre&s;&s;ing the King, and &s;ecluding the Members: one thing I am confident of, that it will not be a crime to be an hone&s;t man as it was heretofore, when the King was King, and would have been &s;o, had he been &s;o againe.</P>
<P>Next they tell the Army, Pag. 10. <HI>What threat|nings are in Scripture again&s;t contemners of Magi&s;trates, and judgements denounced on the oppo&s;ers of this Ordi|nance of God.</HI></P>
<P>But they &s;hould di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt Magi&s;trates and Magi&s;tracie, the one may be di&s;obeyed, and the other not contemned, nor oppo&s;ed; the fir&s;t being the Ordinance of man, the other of God, and who are meerely men, and not Magi&s;trates in tho&s;e things wherein they prevaricate.</P>
<P>I que&s;tion whether they did greater contempt in &s;ecluding the Members, or they that owne not the remainder (out of a &s;ullen humour) for the Hou&s;e of Commons, which the Army doe with all re&s;pect, which &s;hewes them not to bee again&s;t Magi&s;tracie, though again&s;t corrupted and &s;educed Magi&s;trates, that by fal&s;ifying their tru&s;t have ju&s;tly forfeited it.</P>
<P>But for to &s;trike the greater &s;troke, they afterwards vouch the terrible examples of <HI>Corah, Dathan and Abi|ram, upon their mutiny again&s;t Mo&s;es and Aaron,</HI> compar|ing the act of the&s;e rake-hells who in ambition and en|vy again&s;t Gods faithfull Mini&s;ters and Servants, meer|ly
<PB N="12" REF="8">for their horour and preferment &s;ake, into tho&s;e offices wherein God him&s;elfe had &s;et them, and mira|culou&s;ly confirmed them, mutinied again&s;t them, not for any mi&s;carriages of inju&s;tice, or impiety in the execu|tion of tho&s;e their places, who no doubt might law|fully have oppo&s;ed <HI>Aaron,</HI> when at <HI>Horeb</HI> hee made the golden Calfe, this act I &s;ay, they compare to the Armies &s;ecluding the noxious members (as will &s;hort|ly appeare to tho&s;e without, and which hath long been known to them within the walls of the Hou&s;e of Commons) and the bringing the King to tryall in or|der to the Kingdomes &s;ettlement. It is wonderfull to &s;ee &s;o loo&s;e and unweighed a pa&s;&s;age drop from the pen of &s;o many learned Divines: But nothing is &s;trange in this age, but an <HI>Orthodox Independent,</HI> and a <HI>Presby|terian Patriot.</HI></P>
<P>Afterwards they prote&s;t again&s;t (pag. 11.) the&s;e practi&s;es of the Army <HI>in oppo&s;ing Magi|&s;trates and murthering the King</HI> (&s;o they call their bringing him to ju&s;tice) <HI>as concurrent with Je&s;uiticall Principles,</HI> it is &s;trange that Je&s;u|ites &s;hould bee of the plot again&s;t the King and Queen, they have de&s;erved better from them, and no doubt would have done had they been in power, or again&s;t the &s;ecluded Members, the be&s;t friends to Bi&s;hops next to Cavaliers in armes. Ie&s;uits are not wont to
<PB N="13" REF="8">be &s;o good Engli&s;h men as to go again&s;t the intere&s;t of Rome, nor to for&s;ake their adhe|rents, a Son and Daughter of his holine&s;&s;e to &s;trike hands with another party. But doubtle&s;&s;e there is great difference betwixt murtherous ma&s;&s;acring of Prote&s;tant Princes <HI>eo nomine,</HI> and ju&s;t araignment of Delinquent Kings before the Senate and people. Had the Army killed the King in fight, would you have abhorred it as a murtherous act, <HI>under a &s;pecious pretence?</HI> and is it more lawfull to kill him violently then judicially?</P>
<P>Then in the &s;ame page they advi&s;e the Army to con&s;ult them&s;elves (and &s;o do you your &s;elves of the affirmative) if <HI>&s;ome other party, who&s;e principles had not been concurrent with theirs, &s;hould have attempted the &s;eizeing of the Kings per&s;on,</HI> how they would have con&s;tru|ed it, and &s;o for <HI>&s;ecuring and prohibiting the Members.</HI> If the party ment by non concur|ence of principles be Cavaleri&s;h Londoners, doubtle&s;&s;e the Army would have thought ve|ry ill of it, or for any to have done it, that had done it to tho&s;e publicke ends they doe
<PB N="14" REF="9">it for, fearing whioh, therefore they did it; knowing what de&s;ire there was to &s;et him at liberty to begin the warres againe, but if any confiding men would have ea&s;ed them of this work for publick purpo&s;es, <HI>I</HI> dare an&s;wer for them, it would have been thankfully tak|en, as you &s;aw it was when they &s;o chear|fully and humbly, &s;econded the votes of &s;etl|ing peace without him, &s;eeing it could not bee done with him.</P>
<P>For &s;ecuring and inhibiting Members, o|thers have done that as well as they, I meane the Citizens when they drive the Speaker, &amp;c. from the Parliament to the Army, who in|deed re&s;tored him, without damnifying the City the worth of one gold chaine.</P>
<P>Afterwards they compare againe the King and his wicked In&s;truments, <HI>&s;ubver&s;ion of Lawes, and di&s;&s;olving Parliaments,</HI> with the Armies laudable indeavours of the peace|full &s;ettlement of the Kingdome, in its liber|ties, and the people in their Rights, extorted from them by the King, and his Creatures, as eccle&s;ia&s;ticall rights had of long time been by Bi&s;hops.</P>
<PB N="15" REF="9">
<P>What the meaning is of tho&s;e words in the 12. Page: <HI>If through Gods permi&s;&s;ion</HI> (for rea&s;ons be&s;t knowne to him|&s;elfe) you have had, or may have &s;ucce&s;&s;e in an evill way, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I under&s;tand not, I hope it neither meanes their Victories a|gain&s;t the King or Soots; and therefore they inferre <HI>Gods Provide nce is no &s;afe Rule to walke by;</HI> and to confirme it, bring the example of <HI>Davids sparing Saul when he was in his hands.</HI> Providence is no Rule to ju&s;tifie any thing that is a|gain&s;t the Rule rightly under&s;tood; for there may be a mi&s;|under&s;tanding of right Rules, according to that of Chri&s;t in behalfe of his Apo&s;tles accu&s;ed of Sabbath breaking: <HI>Have yee not heard what David did when he was an hungry,</HI> to wit lawfully, which yet was unlawfull by the Rule: So when the&s;e Divines quote <HI>Davids</HI> Example towards <HI>Saul,</HI> they &s;hould &s;tate the ca&s;e aright, not of <HI>David</HI> a private per&s;on, taking up Armes for his owne defence again&s;t <HI>Saul</HI> (marke that by the way) whom he was not to kill, that he might &s;ucceed him; upon which motive they incited him to doe it, but to &s;tay Gods time, not to &s;natch the ble&s;&s;ing like <HI>Jacob</HI> before it was ripe: I &s;ay they &s;hould not put the ca&s;e of &s;uch a <HI>David,</HI> but they &s;hould &s;uppo&s;e him in Armes by Au|thority of the Magi&s;tracy, or people again&s;t <HI>Saul,</HI> declared a Violator of his Tru&s;t, and I&s;raels ju&s;t Liberties, as the King hath been by Parliament, to &s;uppre&s;&s;e his exorbitancies, and defend them again&s;t him; this is the <HI>David</HI> that runnes pa|tallell with our Army, and the ca&s;e thus put, the que&s;tion is, what <HI>David</HI> would have done again&s;t <HI>Saul</HI> towards bringing him to ju&s;tice, it providence had favoured him? Who it &s;eemes though a private per&s;on, would forceably have defen|ded him&s;elfe (as by taking Armes appeares) if he had beene put to it by Providence, for all the promi&s;e, which notwith|&s;tanding he relied upon to the uttermo&s;t extremity; but in extremity would not have tempted God by a faith without meanes: But as I &s;ay <HI>David</HI> was not to come by the King|dome by King-killing, that would have cut God &s;hort of a|bundance of Glory, and therefore he &s;aith, <HI>The Lord forbid that I</HI> (to wit a private per&s;on, and <HI>Sauls</HI> Succe&s;&s;or) <HI>&s;hould
<PB N="16" REF="10">do this thing unto my Ma&s;ter, the Lords Anoynted;</HI> that I a &s;er|vant and &s;ubject &s;hould for mine own ends and ambition, take away the life of the King, who is anoynted and appoynted by God to Reigne out his time, notwith&s;tanding the pro|mi&s;e made to me of the Kingdome after him: Soe I may come to lo&s;e it, which if I waite Gods lei&s;ure, I &s;hall be &s;ure of in Gods good time: But where doe the&s;e Divines finde that when a wicked King of I&s;rael was by the Magi&s;trates or people for his owne wickedne&s;&s;e and publique good, taken a|way (though they al&s;o were the Lords Anoynted) that ever they were blamed for it? I am &s;ure neither for <HI>Athaliah,</HI> nor <HI>Amaziah.</HI> nor I doe not remember any el&s;e; though I know many private per&s;ons are condemned for doing &s;o for ba&s;e and unwarrantable ends.</P>
<P>And as not by Providence, &s;o nor is it &s;afe they &s;ay to be <HI>guided by impul&s;es of spirit again&s;t the Rule,</HI> to wit rightly under&s;tood; and they de&s;ire the Army to con&s;ider whether if there be upon Record any <HI>example of an impul&s;e of spirit upon multitudes of per&s;ons, putting them to act again&s;t morall Precepts:</HI> When the I&s;raelites &s;aved <HI>Jonathan</HI> again&s;t their owne Vow, and the Authority of <HI>Saul,</HI> this &s;eemes &s;ome|thing like one; but whether it will be allowed, I know not: when the Londoners told the Parliament they mu&s;t take &s;uch cour&s;es as God and Nature put into their hands: What call you this, and were they blamed for it? Then by the way upon occa&s;ion, Page 14. They tell the Army, they them&s;elves confe&s;&s;e their wayes to be <HI>irregular, and not ju&s;tifiable,</HI> wherein the Armies ingenuity is commendable, and their Cau&s;e never the wor&s;e; for a thing may be irregular, and not ju&s;tifiable by the Letter of the Law, and formallity of Rule, that yet is lawfull enough. Have yee not read in the Law, how on the Sabbath dayes the Prie&s;ts in the Temple <HI>prophane</HI> the Sabbath, and are <HI>blamele&s;&s;e?</HI> Politicks and Ju|dicialls mu&s;t yeeld to moralls, municipall Lawes to Religion and &s;afety: Order is good till it become di&s;orderly, and then <HI>corruptio optimi e&s;t pe&s;&s;ima,</HI> no &s;uch oppre&s;&s;ion as Authority corrupted and abu&s;ed, when Government is poynted at the
<PB N="17" REF="10">Governours, and not at the governed, driving &s;ini&s;ter intere&s;ts by vertue of their Offices, neither fearing God, nor hating covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e. In matters of reall publique concernment, as to Politicks, God will have mercy and not &s;acrifice, &s;afety preferred above Formes, and Lawes of Nature above tho&s;e of Art and Pollicy.</P>
<P>But then it followes, that <HI>no nece&s;&s;ity can oblige a man to &s;inne,</HI> but when by vertue of nece&s;&s;ity it becomes lawfull, then it is no &s;inne; as in the foregoing in&s;tances of <HI>Davids</HI> eating the &s;hewbread, and the Prie&s;ts prophaning the Sab|bath: nece&s;&s;ity ju&s;tified our partaking with the <HI>minor</HI> again&s;t the <HI>major</HI> in Scotland, which yet was breach of priviledge.</P>
<P>Further, Pag. 15. they &s;ay, that if <HI>a Precept of God may be di&s;penced upon a nece&s;&s;ity, yet it mu&s;t be ab&s;olute, pre&s;ent, and cleare, not doubtfull, uncertaine, and conjecturall, as that which is aledged in your ca&s;e mu&s;t needs be, it being di&s;cerned only by your &s;elves, and your owne party; it being apparent to us that there was no nece&s;&s;ity, the Parliament (till forced by you) being full and free, acting what was covenanted for.</HI> Doe they meane by <HI>ab&s;olute</HI> nece&s;&s;ity, that the Scots mu&s;t be come as far as Lanca&s;hire before we ought to beleeve they will in|vade us? or that Wales, Kent, with the adjacent parts, and the &s;hips at &s;ea mu&s;t Rebell actually, and revolt declaratively before we ought to beleeve that the King (when in re&s;traint) can do us any harme; when they &s;ay it mu&s;t be <HI>pre&s;ent,</HI> mean they it mu&s;t be Acted before it be prevented; in matters of war and bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of State, if they &s;tay for pre&s;ent and ab&s;o|lute nece&s;&s;ity, it is the way to be deprived of remedy. Though <HI>David</HI> was hungry and the Apo&s;tles, when the one eate the &s;hewbread, and the other rubbed the eares of corne, yet nei|ther of them probably was upon the point of fami&s;hing, their nece&s;&s;ity was not ab&s;olute. Shall the Army never be allowed to be wi&s;e, onely valiant, &s;till put to play after games, and God to worke miracles by our imprudence; know wee not yet what manner of men we deale with? hath not the King, and his Parliamentary complices yet made nece&s;&s;ity cleare? There are none but you and your party (as you &s;ay by
<PB N="18" REF="11">the Army) that thinks otherwi&s;e but what they meane by the Army, and their Party is as little intelligable as are the&s;e three fore&s;aid properties of nece&s;&s;ity: do they meane by party the Parliament now &s;itting, of whom this Repre|&s;entation takes no notice, or doe they meane the unbia&s;&s;ed godly and true hearted Patriots in the Land, for I thinke their party goes no further? The <HI>King</HI> and his <HI>Members,</HI> the <HI>Ca|valiers,</HI> and <HI>Londoners,</HI> being indeed no Partizans of the Ar|my, nor competent Judges of the Kingdomes nece&s;&s;ity, which is ab&s;olute enough if thereby bee meant important. The&s;e Divines them&s;elves looking with London &s;pectacles, &s;ay, <HI>they &s;aw none:</HI> its well for you you did not, and its as well that o|thers did, &s;ince youl admit of no nece&s;&s;ity to be cleere, but whats <HI>ab&s;olute</HI> and <HI>pre&s;ent,</HI> thats as much as to &s;ay you will never &s;ee till your eyes be out. I am confident had our State or Army &s;eazed on <HI>Barwicke</HI> and <HI>Carlile,</HI> and pleaded nece&s;&s;ity for it before the Cavaleers and Scots were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of them, you would have condemned it as neither <HI>ab&s;olute,</HI> nor <HI>pre&s;ent,</HI> and &s;o a cleere breach of agreement; notwith&s;tanding the o|vertures of inva&s;ion made in Scotland by preparations there|unto. Nor doubtle&s;&s;e did you &s;ee any prevaricating in the Scotch Commi&s;&s;ioners when they were in England, but thought it a meere <HI>Artifice</HI> to &s;u&s;pect them, in &s;o much as I have &s;eene a booke licen&s;ed by &mdash; that &s;aies <HI>their memory was &s;weet for their keeping Covenant,</HI> when to others they &s;tunke above ground for breaking it. Nor did you &s;ee a need of the Armies refu&s;ing to disband, it may be that's it you meane when you &s;ay this <HI>nece&s;&s;ity pleaded is contracted by their owne mi&s;carriages:</HI> if you do meane &s;o, there are not many out of London of your minde, except &s;ome that came from thence and thereabouts; for it is ab&s;olutely uncleare to others that are not of the Kings party, that the disbanding of the Ar|my is the &s;ecuring of the Kingdome. In a word, it &s;eemes you will allow no Eye of Rea&s;on, onely that of Sen&s;e.</P>
<P>They &s;ay there was no nece&s;&s;ity, the Parliament being free <HI>(till forced by the Army)</HI> and not by the Londoners, and <HI>Ac|ting what was Covenanted for;</HI> to wit, a &s;ettlement of the
<PB N="19" REF="11">Kingdomes Peace upon his Maje&s;ties noncon-ce&s;&s;ions of aboli|tion of Bi&s;hops, and bringing Delinquents to condigne pu|ni&s;hment: Then they tell the Army they <HI>engaged them&s;elves by Oath to pre&s;erve His Maje&s;tios per&s;on, and the Priviledges of Parliament;</HI> yea, and the liberties of the people too, but that's not here, and it &s;eemes is not worth regarding, compa|red with the other two; for its apparent their advice tends to break this by keeping tho&s;e &s;everall intere&s;ts at &s;uch a di&s;tance, and contrariety being impo&s;&s;ible to be pre&s;erved; the very pre|&s;ervation of the one being the de&s;truction of the other. Now &s;ay they <HI>no nece&s;&s;ity can ju&s;tifie perjury, or dispence with lawfull Oathes,</HI> and for example in&s;tanceth the <HI>judgement which befell</HI> Saul <HI>and</HI> I&s;raell <HI>for breach of Covenant with the Gibeonites:</HI> But the que&s;tion is if the Gibeonites had rai&s;ed a fir&s;t and &s;e|cond war, or taken parts and &s;hared in Councels with the Cavaleri&s;h Canaanites their enemies, what then <HI>Saul</HI> and <HI>I&s;|raell</HI> would have done, or might have done for all their Co|venant. But to &s;penke a little to the Po&s;ition it &s;elfe, That <HI>no nece&s;&s;ity can di&s;pence with Lawfull Oathes,</HI> not to in&s;i&s;t upon the forementioned Act of the I&s;raelites in &s;aving <HI>Jonathan,</HI> I an&s;wer two things. 1. That no Oath binds, when through want of fore&s;ight, by time or accident it come to cro&s;&s;e a morrall duty: as if that I am &s;worne to prove, be again&s;t my owne, or the publicks pre&s;ervation, and &s;o a violation of the Lawes of nature; nor if it prove an impediment to the <HI>proceed</HI> of ju&s;tice, and &s;o prove a violation of the Lawes of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. Nor if it prove (though Lawfull in it&s;elfe) a wrong to another, as that of <HI>Saul</HI> to <HI>Jonathan,</HI> for &s;o it is again&s;t the Law of Charity. 2. That when the Oath becomes di&s;putable, then the intent of its giving, and the occa&s;ion of its taking, is to give light in the &s;olution.</P>
<P>Now what was our intent in prote&s;ting and covenanting the pre&s;ervation of the King? Why, to te&s;tifie to the World that it was for no &s;ini&s;ter end, nor to drive no de&s;igne, that the Wars were undertaken, no lack of Loyalty, but meere ne|ce&s;&s;ity to pre&s;erve the people, and their Liberties; and there|fore was the Wars pro&s;ecuted again&s;t the King, notwith&s;tand|ing
<PB N="18" REF="12">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="19" REF="12">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="20" REF="13">the Prote&s;tation and Covenant for him, which loyalty may be and is &s;till the &s;ame in giving him up to ju&s;tice, the Impul&s;e of nece&s;&s;ity, In regard of publike &s;afety being the &s;ame, wofull experience having made it manife&s;t that he cannot <HI>be,</HI> and the Kingdome &s;afe, nor the Covenant kept in the maine, if not broken in the Branches; and &s;o of Parliament <HI>Privilidges and Authority,</HI> as wee &s;weare not the Kings &s;afety to their wrong; &s;o not their pre&s;ervation to the peoples ruine and de&s;truction; but the intent of our &s;wearing to defend them, was, that being joyntly a&s;&s;erted by the two Hou&s;es, wee would maintaine them again&s;t the King, that then was in Armes again&s;t them; but when they come to be conte&s;ted betwixt the two Hou&s;es, and the que&s;tion be, to which wee are to adhere, whether to the Commons affirmative, or the Lords negative? 1. Wee are not tyed to impo&s;&s;ibilities, wee can|not make good contradictions. 2. Wee are to con&s;ider in our judgements and con&s;ciences which is mo&s;t conducing to the ends for which tho&s;e Priviledges were granted; to wit, the promotion of publique good, and accordingly to ca&s;t the &s;cales. But 3. <HI>Caeteris paribus,</HI> the judgement of the Com|mons is to be adhered to, and preferred above the Lords, they being more, more concerned in the Kingdomes Liberties, the peoples creature, and not the Kings, a Repre&s;entative of Tru&s;tees, and to be reduced againe into a private condition; for though in the formality of Authority the Lords be above the Commons, yet in the materiall and &s;ub&s;tantiall parts, they are above the Lords</P>
<P>The next thing in&s;i&s;ted upon in this 15 Page, after an ex|hortation to the Army to <HI>recede,</HI> is &s;ome <HI>threats</HI> from Mr. <HI>Pe|ters,</HI> (not unlike his di&s;cretion) in ca&s;e <HI>they per&s;i&s;ted to &s;tirre up the people to &s;edition: For &s;o it &s;eemes,</HI> &s;ay they, <HI>our bewai|ling your &s;innes before the Lord is interpreted:</HI> It's well you be|waile their &s;innes (I hope it is not with a &s;pitefull, but a &s;pi|rituall &s;orrow) for too many of your Pari&s;hioners bewaile their &s;ucce&s;&s;es; I hope in the Lord you doe not &s;o, and yet <HI>I</HI> perceive not a like &s;pirit of jealou&s;ie in you over the &s;innes of your owne people (as over the Army;) for I call them &s;innes
<PB N="21" REF="13">becau&s;e you doe &s;o: If your cau&s;e were good your re&s;olution were commendable in that which followes, when you &s;ay, that if you mu&s;t <HI>&s;uffer, yet in the di&s;charge of your duties you will commit the keeping of your &s;oules to the Lord, as to a faith|full Creatour:</HI> But I hope the Army will be as they have been, as eminent for their meekene&s;&s;e as their valour, and con|vince their gaine&s;ayers by their owne long &s;uffering, and not your &s;uffering; and yet take heed of being the cau&s;e of other mens &s;ufferings though you are carele&s;&s;e of your owne, either by your advice to the Army to recede, who I hope will be twice advi&s;ed before they take your coun&s;ell, or by your in&s;ti|gations, which if it &s;hould happen, may more afflict you then any per&s;onall &s;ufferings of your owne: But I hope God will open your eyes, and re&s;traine the Armies hands.</P>
<P>I will end with a &s;aying of Queene <HI>Elizabeth</HI> to her Se|cretary <HI>Wal&s;ingham,</HI> when in a con&s;piracy again&s;t her, but in part di&s;covered, he advi&s;ed her for further evidence to delay the &s;eizing on the Con&s;pirators, and to let the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e leng|then out it &s;elfe: But &s;he refu&s;ed, <HI>le&s;t</HI> (as &s;he &s;ayd) <HI>in not ta|king heed of a danger when &s;he might, &s;he &s;hould &s;eeme more to tempt God then to hope in him.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="license">
<OPENER><DATE>Febr. 7. 1648.</DATE></OPENER>
<P>Imprimatur</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED> <HI>Gilbert Mabbot.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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</TEXT>
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</ETS>
