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<DATE>2010-04-02</DATE>
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<NAME>Pip Willcox</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE Lord General MONK
<HI>CONTAINING</HI> The in&s;trumental Cau&s;es of the ruine of Go|vernments and Common-wealths, with an Adverti&s;ement of our pre&s;ent danger by a forrein Inva&s;ion.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>May it plea&s;e your Exccellency,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THE true affection and high Honour I have for you among&s;t other your Countrey men, that de&s;ire your chiefe&s;t good, and re|joyce with you in the late happy &s;ucce&s;s God hath magnified you with before his people, gives me this confidence for a humble addre&s;s in tho&s;e papers, which were printed la&s;t year, <HI>January</HI> 1658. they being a few &s;udden Notes drawn up at
<PB N="2" REF="2">that time upon conference with &s;ome
<HI>London</HI> Divines, to give timely warning of the great Di&s;plea&s;ure of God that hang over our heads; and had our friends then in place and power con&s;idered of them, and advi&s;ed with godly faithfull Mini&s;ters, what to do in a ca&s;e of this importance, ruine had not come upon them &s;o inevitably and &s;uddenly. For your Excellency knows well, what great alternations of Government, and turning of things up&s;ide down, have been within the &s;pace of this la&s;t year in the land, very terrible in our eyes. The&s;e papers will acquaint your Excellency what great danger the Church of God &amp; this State is in at this time, which every days experience more and more confirms the truth of: and &s;ince the impre&s;&s;ion of the&s;e papers Dr.
<HI>Reynolds</HI> hath lately put &s;orth a Sermon of his upon the &s;ame Subject <HI>of Church-De|&s;ertion,</HI> who&s;e Judgement in the ca&s;e is much to be reve|renced.</P>
<P>I do humbly beg your Chri&s;tian peru&s;al of them, and if God &s;hall make your Excellency in&s;trumental to &s;o high and noble a work, as the advancement of the Go&s;pel, true Religion, and the pure Wor&s;hip of God is (which is &s;o ba&s;ely oppre&s;t in our dayes) you will be very happy; for God will &s;urely honout tho&s;e that honour him: and you, and this people &s;hall find, that nothing doth promote the Peace, Plenty, Security, and flouri&s;hing e&s;tate of the Land, then Zeal and Forwardne&s;s to ha&s;ten the work of Gods hou&s;e, which he calls for. So &s;ayes God by his Prophet
<HI>Hag|gai,</HI> when he called the people to the building of the Tem|ple,
<HI>In this place will I give Peace,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hag. 2.9.</NOTE>
<HI>&s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts,</HI> that is, upon this work of building my hou&s;e, and &s;et|ting up my pure wor&s;hip: you &s;hall find, I will give you peac and e&s;tabli&s;hment, and not otherwi&s;e. I will add a lit|tle to what I have &s;aid upon the ca&s;e, with your Ho|nours good leave, to evince the great hazard we are in, if it be not in&s;tantly prevented. Common-wealths and Na|tions are brought to ruine by two &s;orts of cau&s;es, &s;ome in|trin&s;ecal, &s;ome extrin&s;ecal. As all the works of nature are ruined in like &s;ort, either by cau&s;es that are within them, or that are without them. So we &s;ee a hou&s;e falls either by the <PB N="3" REF="2">rottenne&s;s of the plates and timber-work that decay within, or by high windes, or fire that a&s;&s;ault it from without: In like manner it is with States and Governments in this world, they come to ruine by means of di&s;tempers in their own bowels, or by the force of forrein Invaders. We have wofull experience of the one, God grant we find not at length the mi&s;chief of the other.</P>
<P>Internal active cau&s;es of the ruine of Governments, are,</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Sedition</HI> among&s;t the great ones &s;triving for ma&s;tery, or con&s;piring again&s;t tho&s;e that have the Rule.</P>
<P>A &s;econd is <HI>Tumults</HI> of the di&s;contented multitude, grieved with the burthen of heavy Taxes, lo&s;s of Trade, and cruell Oppre&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P>A third is a phanatick <HI>&s;pirit,</HI> or ignorant impetuous zeal in factions of Religion, which hath in many ages proved pernicious to Church and Common-wealth.</P>
<P>A fourth is <HI>Civil Wars,</HI> as &s;aith the Lord by the Prophet <HI>Haggai, I will &s;hake the heavens and the earth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hag. 2.22.</NOTE> <HI>and I will o|verthrow the Throne of Kingdomes, and I will de&s;troy the &s;trength of the Kingdomes of the heathen, and I will over|throw the Chariots, and tho&s;e that ride in them and the hor&s;es, and their Riders &s;hall come down, every one by the &s;word of his bro|ther.</HI> And again, the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah, Through the wrath of the Lord of Ho&s;ts is the land darkened, and the people &s;hall be as the fuel of the fire, no man &s;hall &s;pare his brother.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a.
9.19, 20, 21</NOTE> <HI>And he &s;hall &s;natch on the right hand and be hungry, and he &s;hall eat on the left hand, and they &s;hall not be &s;atisfied: they &s;hall eat every man the fle&s;h of his own arm;</HI> Mana&s;&s;eh Ephraim, <HI>and</HI> Ephraim Man&s;&s;eh: <HI>and they to|gether &s;hall be again&s;h</HI> Judah: <HI>for all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is &s;tretched out &s;till.</HI></P>
<P>By the&s;e cruel Tallons God in Judgement pulls down Governors and people, when both are wicked, corrupt and rebellious again&s;t God, provoking him to do Ju&s;tice upon them to their confu&s;ion.</P>
<P>My Lord, you have &s;een with your eyes in the&s;e few late years of ours, how bu&s;ie the&s;e In&s;tuments have been in <PB N="4" REF="3">this Nation to bring it to a general ruine: God hath called you forth now at a time when the la&s;t &s;cene is abroad, the la&s;t blowes of divine vengeance are ready to batter all in peeces, though the generality dream not of their dan|ger: for it is Gods u&s;ual cour&s;e, upon the impenitency of a Nation, to go from one heavy Judgement to another till he hath utterly de&s;troyed all, by giving up his people into captivity, and bringing upon them Forrein Nations to devour them: and this is the other extrin&s;ecal cau&s;e of the ruine of Nations.</P>
<P>When forrein Nations are through Gods ju&s;t Judgement called in upon them, then comes utter ruine.</P>
<P>Now whether our danger after all our former Calamities be &s;uch, let your Excellency draw up the conjecture from the&s;e Progno&s;ticks.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, When God greatens our adver&s;aries, and makes them more potent then afore: For when our enemies have malice enough and power enough to do us mi&s;chief, then have we cau&s;e to fear them, for God hath &s;trengthned them again&s;t us, as he &s;trengthned the <HI>A&s;&s;yrian</HI> again&s;t
<HI>I&s;|rael,</HI> I&s;a. 10.56.</P>
<P>And now hath not <HI>Rome</HI> made her &s;elf &s;tronge enough to the work, by the a&s;&s;ociation of tho&s;e two Crowns of <HI>France</HI> and
<HI>Spain,</HI> and combination of all popi&s;h Princes? What think we, is the &s;ecret drift of that Conclave and bloody-&s;laughter-hou&s;e (as we have found it) but to u&s;e the Ar|mies of tho&s;e Princes to overturn the reformed Churches, e&s;pecially this of <HI>England?</HI> there was a time when they had will to hurt us but no power, in the Armado and Pow|der-plot, but now alas they have too much both Will and Power, as the letters of Forrein Agents forewarn us.</P>
<P>A &s;econd ground of conjecture is from our implacable dome&s;tick Conte&s;ts, which have continued now the&s;e 20. years, and it hath been the u&s;ual conclu&s;ion of the wi&s;e&s;t States-men, That when a people are wearied with home-bred long Conte&s;ts, then a Forreiner may break in with good &s;ucce&s;s and carry all; as <HI>Malvezzi</HI> ob&s;erves well of
<HI>Greece,</HI> that when it was wearied with civil di&s;&s;entions, then For|reiners u&s;ually made it a prey.</P>
<PB N="5" REF="3">
<P>May not our danger be concluded from hence al&s;o? e&s;pe|cially if we con&s;ider a third ground for the conjecture.</P>
<P>And that is, when Forreiners carry before them a pretence or title for their ju&s;t inva&s;ion.</P>
<P>Such was the policy of <HI>Amurath</HI> going to de&s;troy the King of the <HI>Tartars,</HI> he took with him <HI>I&s;lan</HI> brother of that King in the head of his Army, and by his pre&s;ence the people of the Country more ea&s;ily &s;ubmitted to the Con|queror. The like policy u&s;ed
<HI>Achi&s;h</HI> King of <HI>Gath,</HI> when he purpo&s;ed to carry up
<HI>David</HI> in his Army again&s;t his Countrey-men. I need not &s;ay the ca&s;e is much a like now, its ea&s;ie to draw up the re&s;emblance, if God over-rule not matters, and &s;ecure us and our Religion; as he did for
<HI>I&s;rael,</HI> preventing <HI>David</HI> from comming up with the Armies of the Phili&s;tines, lea&s;t he &s;hould have a&s;&s;i&s;ted the uncircumci&s;ed again&s;t the Church and people of God, and in pur&s;uance of his own private intere&s;t mi&s;erably have wa&s;ted his own Country: which no doubt &s;o good a Prince abhor'd in his heart, choo&s;ing rather to wait patiently upon God for a cleer peaceable Call, then to wade to the throne in the blood of Gods precious people.</P>
<P>A fourth conjecture is from the multitudes of di&s;content|ed &s;pirits in the Land ready to imbrace a Forreiner, as the <HI>Tarentines</HI> imbraced <HI>Pyrrus,</HI> and the ten Tribes <HI>Jeroboam</HI> with his Calves from <HI>Egypt,</HI> in hope of ea&s;e of their Taxes. The good Lord pre&s;erve his Go&s;pel and true Religion among&s;t us, and choo&s;e &s;uch Governors for us as may be men after his own heart as faithfull <HI>David</HI> was.</P>
<P>A fith ground of conjecture is from neighbour Pre&s;idents; When God has let out the wolves upon the neighbour flocks of <HI>France,</HI> and
<HI>Poland,</HI> and <HI>Germany,</HI> yea and <HI>Ireland,</HI> do we think all &s;ecure with us?</P>
<P>A &s;ixth is from the Impenitency of this Nation, their rejection of God, and meet applications to him in great fa&s;ting and prayer, and true humiliation and Reformation, that we might obtain his Coun&s;el and Protection. For when a people &s;tand it out with God to the utmo&s;t, what is more
<PB N="6" REF="4">likely then that God will de&s;troy them to the utmo&s;t? I will not per&s;ume to enlarge further but to beg our Excellency &s;pee|dily to con&s;ider what is to be done for your &s;elf and for your Country, confident of your faithfulne&s;&s;e and tender care, things being &s;o far gon as that it is almo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible to pre|vent the common ruine: and the Lord God direct your heart thereunto, with Courage, Zeal, and re&s;olution again&s;t all dif|ficulties, which u&s;e to accompany men of high place. Build upon the rock not upon the &s;and, for a hou&s;e built upon the &s;and, cannot out&s;tand the Tempe&s;t. How vaine were <HI>I&s;raels</HI> &s;hifts in this kind as the prophet <HI>I&s;ayah</HI> notes, <HI>chap.</HI>
22? where we may &s;ee a fit pre&s;ident for our ca&s;e: When a for|reine inva&s;ion was at hand, they opened their Armories and magazins, &amp; prepared like wi&s;e men for the &s;ieg; and when they &s;aw the breaches of the Citie of <HI>David,</HI> that they were many, they repaired their bulwarkes, &s;coured the trenches, built their Pallizadoes; gathered about the City the waters of the lower poole both for defence, and u&s;e of water in the &s;ieg; they numbred the hou&s;es of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to &s;ee which might be fortified, and tho&s;e hou&s;es that were upon the walles they brake downe to make the city more impregnable. What fault was there in all this? none at all, but they left out that one thing that was more nece&s;&s;ary then all the&s;e, as God tels them, <HI>But ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof, &s;aith the Lord, neither had re&s;pect to him that fa&s;hioned it long ago, and in that day did the Lord God of Ho&s;ts call to weeping and to mourning, and to baldne&s;s and to girding with Sackcloth,</HI> (this was of more con&s;equence then fortifying and prepa|ring for the war, and they had a Call from heaven to it by the danger that was approaching) <HI>yet behold joy and gladne&s;s, &s;laying Oxen, and killing &s;heep, eating fle&s;h, and drinking wine; Let us eat and drink for to morrow we &s;hall die.</HI></P>
<P>Oh de&s;perat impenitency! What doth God conclude hereupon?
<HI>Surely this iniquity &s;hall not be purged from you till ye die, &s;aith the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI> Heer's now the like ca&s;e; this people are banning one again&s;t another, they tru&s;t to their wodden walls, and filling up of the hou&s;e, and li&s;ting of Regiments (for its lawfull to u&s;e the means) but in this day of <PB N="7" REF="4">&s;o great danger the Lord called for our chri&s;tian Armoury, mighty prayers and tears powerfull humiliation and fa&s;ting, and e&s;pecially true and unfeigned Repentance, and turning from tho&s;e crying &s;ins, that call in trouble upon us, and will irre&s;i&s;tibly and &s;peedily ruine all: but where's this to be found? dull &s;otti&s;h &s;tupid men! Surely, my Lord, I can tell you for a certain what will become of &s;uch a people: Death, and ru|ine, and confu&s;ion is at their gates: for its an infallible Note of wicked Rulers, and a wicked people, whom God will de|&s;troy, that they ca&s;t off fear and re&s;train prayer before God.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob 15.4, 20, add 34.</NOTE></P>
<P>Go to therefore quickly, and <HI>gather your &s;elves together, yea gather together, O Nation, not de&s;ired,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;.
53.1. add 5.</NOTE> <HI>before the decree bring forth, before the day pa&s;s as the chaff, bafore the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lords anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his Judgement, &s;eek Righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;eek meekne&s;s: it may be ye &s;hall be hid in the day of the Lords an|ger.</HI></P>
<CLOSER>I re&s;t, <SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your Excellencies In all humble Chri&s;tian Ob|&s;ervance and faithfulne&s;s. <HI>JOHN MA&V;DIT.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
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