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<DATE>2012-10-30</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Englands Complaint: OR, A &s;harp Reproof for the Inhabitants thereof; again&s;t that now raigning Sin of REBELLION But more e&s;pecially to the Inhabi|tants of the County of SUFFOLK.</P>
<P>With a Vindication of tho&s;e Worthyes now in COLCHESTER.</P>
<P>By LIONEL GATFORD B. D. the true, but Se|que&s;tred Rector of <HI>Dinnington,</HI> in the &s;aid County.</P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ezek. 2. v. 6, 7.</HI></BIBL> And thou &s;onne of Man be not afraid of them, &amp;c.</Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Chap. 22. from ver&s;. 25. to the end.</HI></BIBL> There is a Con&s;piracie of her Prophets in the mid&s;t thereof, &amp;c.</Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Chap. 7. v. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.</HI></BIBL> The Sword is without and the Pe&s;tilence and the Famine within, &amp;c.</Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Chap. 18. v. 31.32.</HI></BIBL> Ca&s;t away from you all your tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, whereby yee have tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed, &amp;c.</Q>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Matth. 11. v. 15.</HI></BIBL> He that hath eares to heare let him heare.</Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed in the yeere 1648.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>Right worthy, wor&s;hipfull, and the re&s;t mo&s;t affectionately and intyrely beloved Country-men and Brethren.</HEAD>
<P>_HAving ever reputed that command of God, fir&s;t given in charge to the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> cap. 3. of his prophe&s;ie from ver&s;e 17. to ver&s;e 22. <HI>Son of man, I have made thee a watch|man unto the hou&s;e of I&s;rael: therefore heare the word at my mouth and give them worning from me. When I &s;ay unto the wicked, Thou &s;halt &s;urely die; and thou give&s;t him not war|ning, nor &s;peake&s;t to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to &s;ave his life; The &s;ame wicked man &s;hall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wicked|ne&s;&s;e, nor from his wicked way, he &s;hall die in his iniquitie, but thou ha&s;t delive|red thy &s;oule. Againe when a righteous man doth turn from his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and commit iniquitie, and I lay a &s;tumbling block before him, he &s;hall die; becau&s;e thou ha&s;t not given him warning, he &s;hall die in his &s;inne, and his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, which he hath done, &s;hall not be remembred; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Ne|verthele&s;&s;e, if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous &s;inne not, and he doth not &s;inne; he &s;hall &s;urely live becau&s;e he is warned;</HI> al&s;o, <HI>thou ha&s;t delivered thy &s;oul.</HI> Which command is again repeated and illu&s;trated <HI>Chap.</HI> 33. from <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 2.10 <HI>ver&s;e</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">0. Having, I &s;ay, ever reputed that command of God to be an univer&s;al, everla&s;ting rule of Prophe&s;ying, and &s;o to concerne us Prophets and Teachers in the time of the Go&s;pel, as wel as tho&s;e Prophets and Seers in the time of the Law: the frequent and &s;erious meditating thereon, &s;anctified unto mee by Gods Spirit, as it made me, ever &s;ince God honoured me with that Sacred, though now de&s;pi&s;ed, calling of a Mini&s;ter, to apply the exerci&s;ing of that cal|ling, upon all occa&s;ions &s;o requiring, as much as I could to the ob&s;erving that rule, notwith&s;tanding the known oppo&s;ition, &s;landers and reproaches, that I met with therein; &s;o of late years, &s;ince the <HI>wickedne&s;&s;e of the wicked</HI> hath &s;o &s;u|perabounded in this Nation, and the <HI>righteou&s;nes of the righteous</HI> hath &s;o decayed, and the &s;word of the Lord hath therefore wa&s;ted and devoured from one end of the land to the other: I have devored my &s;elfe in a manner wholly to that &s;er|vice, both in private and publike by &s;peaking, preaching, and other wayes of
<PB REF="3">warning, as opportunities were offered, and God inabled. And though very lately, upon the calling to minde the &s;ucce&s;&s;e that I had in &s;ome former warn|ings, (being therefore, with the Prophet <HI>Jeremiah &s;mitten by the tongue</HI> of tho&s;e whom I faithfully endeavoured to keep from being &s;mitten with the &s;word, and <HI>impri&s;oned</HI> by the&s;e who&s;e liberty from that and other judgements I earne&s;tly &s;upplicated) I had once, with the &s;ame Jeremiah, re&s;olved to have <HI>&s;poken no more in Gods name</HI> to men &s;o perver&s;e and ob&s;tinate;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jer.</HI> 20.9.</NOTE> <HI>yet his word was in mine heart as a burning fire &s;hut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I could not &s;tay:</HI> or to u&s;e Davids expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>I was</HI> for a time <HI>dumb with &s;ilence, and held my peace even from good, and my &s;orrow was &s;tirred. My heart was hot with|in mee,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;a.</HI> 39.</NOTE> <HI>while I was mu&s;ing the fire burned: then &s;pake I with my tongue;</HI> or, to come neerer to that prophet with whom I began (and all three without either boa&s;ting or fal&s;ifying) <HI>I remained,</HI> &s;ome <HI>daies,</HI> at Ezekiel did immediately be|fore he received that rule of prophe&s;ie but now named, <HI>a&s;toni&s;hed</HI> among the people, <HI>a&s;toni&s;hed</HI> at what I &s;aw and heard dayly committed by them, <HI>a&s;toni&s;hed</HI> at their impudence and hard heartedne&s;&s;e, <HI>a&s;toni&s;hed</HI> with &s;orrow and indignati|on at both,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eze.</HI> 3.15.</NOTE> and <HI>a&s;toni&s;hed</HI> with thinking what I &s;hould doe to deliver my own &s;oule from &s;uch a wicked generation; till at la&s;t, the &s;ame word that came to Ezekiel, did from him (and, I h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">pe, by the &s;ame &s;pirit, though not in the &s;ame manner that it came to him) come to my thoughts againe and againe; and then God was plea&s;ed to rou&s;e and quicken my &s;pirit, &s;o that my &s;oule could no longer re&s;t, till I had once againe <HI>delivered</HI> her from the <HI>guiltine&s;&s;e of the blood</HI> of others by <HI>telling</HI> the&s;e whom it concerned, what I apprehend from Gods word hath already pulled on them the guilt of others bloods, and will, if not &s;peedily prevented pull much more, even to the deva&s;tation and de&s;olation of this whole Nation, and to the inevitable ruine and de&s;truction of their owne &s;oules. And to whom among&s;t all that are concerned, &s;hould I rather, or can I better direct my &s;peech then to you of this County? whether I con&s;ider mine own obligati|ons, or your pre&s;ent &s;tate and condition? My obligations to this County, and to &s;ome of you in particular, are &s;uch and &s;o great, that I de&s;ire no longer to breath then while&s;t I &s;hall be willing to &s;pend my breath in the acknowledgement of your favours, and in the returning you the be&s;t thanks and, &s;ervice, that I am able, for them. And &s;uch and &s;o deplorable is your pre&s;ent &s;tate and condition, that &s;hould, I profe&s;&s;e with I&s;aiah. That, <HI>Therefore are my loynes filled with pain, pangs have taken hold upon mee, as the pangs of a woman that travelleth, I was bowed downe at the hearing of it,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;ae.</HI> 21.3.</NOTE> <HI>I was di&s;mayed at the &s;eeing of it;</HI> or &s;hould I wi&s;h with Jeremiah, <HI>That my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountaine of teares, that I might weepe day and night</HI> in the lamenting of it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ier.</HI> 9.1.</NOTE> I &s;hould profe&s;&s;e no more nor wi&s;h no other, then what your pre&s;ent &s;tate and condition require, and what I have already in &s;ome part performed for you. To you therefore, to you, my Ho|noured and dearely beloved Country-men, doe I here humbly pre&s;ent this faith|full and faire warning, and with it my &s;elf to &s;uffer or to rejoyce with you, for you, or by you, as God and you &s;hall plea&s;e, and as well be&s;eemes him, that <HI>&s;eekes you, and not yours,</HI> the <HI>Kingdom's peace,</HI> and not the <HI>favour</HI> of <HI>any</HI> in the <HI>kingdome,</HI> the <HI>honour</HI> of the <HI>Church,</HI> not any <HI>dignity</HI> in it, and <HI>Gods Glory</HI> and the <HI>re&s;tabli&s;hment of his Truth</HI> in and above them all.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Yours, as you plea&s;e to u&s;e him, or make u&s;e of him, to love, &s;erve, and pray for you,</HI> LIONEL GATFORD <HI>the true, but Se|que&s;tred Rector of</HI> Dinnington, <HI>in</HI> Suffolke.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<HEAD>A faithfull and faire warning, humbly pre&s;ented to the Knights, G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ntlemen, Clergie-men, Yeomen, and other the Inhabitants of the County of <HI>Suffolke:</HI> and may, for the greate&s;t part of it, &s;erve for a &s;ea|&s;onable Caution to the whole Kingdome.</HEAD>
<P>_AS at the fir&s;t, the &s;innes of this Nation were the originall provoking cau&s;e of Gods inflicting all tho&s;e fore judgements upon us, under which we have the&s;e late years groaned; and our not repenting of them, but adding to them, and &s;eeking other wayes of ea&s;e and reliefe, hath, in&s;tead of procuring any remedy, incre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ed our mi&s;ery, and bla&s;ted all our means and endeavours for redre&s;&s;e,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb</HI> 11</NOTE> how probable or hopefull &s;oever; in&s;omuch that, whereas we <HI>Lu&s;ted</HI> for a Parliament, as <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;ometimes <HI>did for fle&s;h,</HI> and &s;leighted all Gods other great mercies unto us, as they did even <HI>Manna</HI> it &s;elf, thinking any condition better than our own,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ib.</NOTE> unle&s;&s;e we had ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> longing, and that, if we had that, all things would go well with us: which &s;o afflicted our <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that he, like theirs of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> was e|ven weary of his burthen of governing this people alone; and was content to have others
<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">The great coun&s;ell at <HI>Yorke.</HI></NOTE> gathered unto him to take part of that burthen (would God had been plea&s;ed to have given them of his &s;pirit al&s;o) and to a&s;&s;i&s;t him in the bearing thereof: and then up|on that, our lu&s;ting was conde&s;cended unto; but, like that of <HI>I&s;|raels, while&s;t the ble&s;&s;ing</HI> &s;o de&s;ired <HI>was between our teeth</HI> ere it was chewed, by that time we had gotten a little &s;mack or ta&s;te of a Parliament, <HI>The wrath of the Lord was kindled again&s;t us,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ib.</NOTE> and the Lord &s;mote us with a very great Plague, the &s;ore&s;t that ever befell a people; For that became our plague, which was longed for as our greate&s;t ble&s;&s;ing, and <HI>that,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 69.</NOTE> <HI>which &s;hould have been for our welfare, became a trap;</HI> or, to expre&s;&s;e that terrible cur&s;e in the words of a former tran&s;lation of ours, <HI>the thing that &s;hould have been for our wealth, was unto us an occa&s;ion of falling.</HI></P>
<P>So to this pre&s;ent, 'tis the continuing in our &s;ins, and the not acknowledging of our <HI>Rebellions</HI> again&s;t <HI>God</HI> and his <HI>Vicegerent,</HI> but the ju&s;tifying of them, and &s;eeking other wayes of peace and &s;ecurity, that incen&s;e and inflames Gods indignation again&s;t us, to the continuing and multiplying of his heavy judgements upon us, and to the rendering of all a&s;&s;ayes and overtures, for the compo|&s;ing and quieting our &s;ad divi&s;ions and di&s;tractions, (the mo&s;t de|&s;tructive
<PB N="2" REF="4">judgement of all others) fruitle&s;&s;e and ineffectuall: For we know who hath &s;aid it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 28. <HI>v.</HI> 13.</NOTE> <HI>He that covereth his &s;ins &s;hall not pro|&s;per: but who &s;o confe&s;&s;eth and for&s;aketh them &s;hall have mercy:</HI> And the Scriptures is in no point more full and cleare, then in the a&s;&s;erting of that truth. That without <HI>acknowledging</HI> of &s;inne, <HI>re|penting</HI> of it, and <HI>turning from</HI> it to the Lord, there is <HI>no mercy</HI> to be expected from the Lord in the pardoning and forgiving of &s;inne, and in the removing tho&s;e judgements which he inflicts for it.</P>
<P>Yee have had &s;ome new teachers of late times (and this County at this time &s;warms with them) that have had the impudence to tell you, that Repentance is of no u&s;e to Beleevers, but that it is a derogation to the merits of Chri&s;t for any &s;uch to repent, but then withall they tell you that there is no &s;in in &s;uch, and &s;o at once de|&s;troy both Law and Go&s;pel. I &s;hall not now &s;pend time in refu|ting them; but this I dare be bold to affirm of them, (and 'tis no more then I am able to demon&s;trate) that they, which are of that opinion, are no true Beleevers; and if the mercies or judgements of God, or both, do not make them to repent and de&s;ert that opi|nion by bringing the &s;en&s;e of &s;inne home to their Con&s;ciences, or the puni&s;hment of &s;in home to their doores here in this life, 'tis to be feared, (&s;o far as one may judge of another) they le be made to &s;ee and feele their own errour and bla&s;phemy, where there will be no place or &s;pace of repentance. But &s;et tho&s;e Hereticks a&s;ide. I am confident there is never a Teacher or Preacher among&s;t you, the whole County thorow, (that is not leavened with that here&s;ie) which dares undertake to &s;hew you any other way for the making your peace with God, and &s;o for the removing of his fore judge|ments already inflicted, and the averting tho&s;e his more dreadfull plagues further threatened, then that of confe&s;&s;ing and for&s;aking your &s;ins, the undoubted originall cau&s;e of all judgements and plagues what&s;oever. And therefore if ye would not have <HI>iniqui|ty to be your ruine,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezech,</HI> 18 30.</NOTE> <HI>Repent and turn your &s;elves from all your tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions.</HI> And be intreated to deale clearely and freely with God, acknowledging not only your unthankfulne&s;&s;e for former mercies; your Pride, Luxury, unprofitablene&s;&s;e under the ordi|nance of God and contempt of them, and &s;uch other &s;ins of long continuance (whereof &s;ome have &s;o often minded you on pur|po&s;e to keep other later abominations from your thoughts) but al&s;o your <HI>Rebellion</HI> and <HI>Blood-guiltine&s;&s;e,</HI> with your <HI>Sacriledge, Perjury, Bla&s;phemy, Lyes, Robbery, Oppre&s;&s;ion, Cruelty,</HI> and what&s;oever other crimes have accompanied the &s;ame; whether ye have been actors in or contributors to tho&s;e iniquities, or whe|ther
<PB N="3" REF="4">yee have been otherwi&s;e con&s;entors to, or complyers with tho&s;e, that have acted and continued them. Take heed of that <HI>guile in &s;pirit</HI> (as <HI>David</HI> experimentally called it) in thinking to hide your &s;ins: The &s;ame <HI>David</HI> paid deare for it:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;.</HI> 32.</NOTE> for all the while that he <HI>kept &s;ilence, and would not acknowledge his &s;inne, his bones waxed old through his roaring all the day long:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ib.</NOTE> and <HI>Gods hand was heavy on him day and night, &amp;c.</HI> but no &s;ooner did he ac|knowledge it, nay, no &s;ooner had he re&s;olved upon the acknow|ledging it, but <HI>God forgave the iniquity of it:</HI> and be a&s;&s;ured that if you doe not acknowledge your iniquities to Gods glory, though to your own &s;hame; God will glorifie him&s;elfe in making you to acknowledge them to your greater &s;hame and confu&s;ion. Take then the &s;hame to your &s;elves, and <HI>give the glory to God;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 7.</NOTE> and God will take off that &s;hame againe from you, and make your ta|king &s;hame upon your &s;elves a comfort and glory to your &s;elves. For that is Gods u&s;uall dealing with men: ye know it is his pro|mi&s;e, that <HI>If we would judge our &s;elves, we &s;hould not be judged.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. <HI>v.</HI> 31.</NOTE> And that other promi&s;e to his people of old import as much con|cerning our taking &s;hame to our &s;elves. <HI>Feare not for thou &s;halt not be a&s;hamed: neither be thou confounded, for thou &s;halt not be put to &s;hame; for thou &s;halt forget the &s;hame of thy youth, &amp;c.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 54.4.</NOTE> and that promi&s;e in <HI>Ezech.</HI> puts it out of all que&s;tion. <HI>But if the wicked will turn from all his &s;innes that he hath committed, &amp;c. All his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions that he hath committed,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezeck.</HI> 18 <HI>v.</HI> 21, 22.</NOTE> <HI>they &s;hall not be mentioned unto him.</HI> They do be&s;t that doe avoyd the commit|ting any thing worthy of &s;hame: but when any &s;uch thing is com|mitted, the next be&s;t, is to acknowledge it and to be a&s;hamed of it, to the abhorring of it and them&s;elves for it. And where God hath any love to any people, he will never leave them, when they have committed any notorious &s;ins, till he have brought them to an humble acknowledgement of them,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezeck</HI> 20 43.</NOTE> and to a true <HI>loathing of them&s;elves</HI> for them: and that is an act of his mercy, by how many judgements &s;oever it be effected; as the longer that men hold off from it, the more and the more &s;evere judgements does God inflict, till he have brought them to it, as is ea&s;ily collected from that twentieth of <HI>Ezech.</HI> and other &s;criptures. But then there is another acknowledgement and &s;hame of &s;inne which God brings upon men by way of vengeance, which, though the for|mer be terrible enough, is yet more terrible, as having confu&s;ion alwayes attending it: and there is no way for the avoiding either, but a voluntary acknowledging of &s;in, and taking the &s;hame there|of to them&s;elves before God &s;courge them to it, or confound them
<PB N="4" REF="5">by it. Tis a &s;aying very often repeated in &s;acred writ in the clo&s;es of Gods denuntiations of judgements, and 'tis to be trembled at where&s;oever 'tis &s;o mentioned, <HI>Then &s;hall they know, &amp;c.</HI> or, <HI>And they &s;hall know, &amp;c.</HI> Happy are they that know tho&s;e things, before they are &s;o made to know them. In the fir&s;t place then be forewarned of the putting off the acknowledging your &s;innes till God force you thereto by his judgements, lea&s;t, whiles a fooli&s;h feare of &s;hame, fained to your &s;elves by &s;uch an acknowledgement, &s;care you from it, and a terrible &s;hame and confu&s;ion of faces cau|&s;ed by God for want of &s;uch an acknowledgement &s;eize upon you to your un&s;peakable torment.</P>
<P><HI>Oh,</HI> but, will too many reply, <HI>would you have us now to ac|knowledge our &s;elves guilty of Rebellion, and of the Blood which hath been &s;hed in the pro&s;ecution thereof, and of all tho&s;e other hor|rid crimes that have accompanied the &s;ame. We have long &s;ince again and again, charged tho&s;e crimes upon the adver&s;e party, up|on the King him&s;elf and all tho&s;e that have taken part with him: And if we &s;hould now take them upon our &s;elves: how would all men jeer at us, and they of the other party in&s;ult over us! Nay, what would become of us and ours, and all that we have! Surely, therefore now tis our be&s;t cour&s;e to &s;tand upon our own ju&s;tifica|tion, and to go on as hitherto we have done, or el&s;e we are but in a mi&s;erable condition.</HI></P>
<P>Thus when the Devil and Devili&s;h men have tempted and &s;e|duced any to commit any foule notorious wickedne&s;&s;e; the next thing they endeavour is to draw or carry them on therein as farre, and as deep, as po&s;&s;ibly they can; and if the &s;educed doe but begin to con&s;ider what they have done, and how farre they have gone, and &s;o think of breaking off, and returning from their wickednes: then feare &s;hame, and di&s;paire are pre&s;ently repre&s;en|ted unto them, to &s;care and hurry them on, or at lea&s;t to keep and ha&s;ten them where they are.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jer.</HI> 38.</NOTE> When <HI>Zedekiah</HI> King of Judan had di&s;obeyed Gods word by the Prophet <HI>Jeremiah,</HI> and began upon after thoughts to li&s;ten to what that Prophet had advi&s;ed him: pre&s;ently feare and &s;hame were pre&s;ented to his fancy, and by them was he &s;cared off from hearkening to the Prophets coun&s;aile. And when all the people of Judah were admoni&s;hed by the &s;ame Prophet to break off their Idolatry and their other iniquities, and to return to the Lord, and doe their duty; and had &s;o much told them to that purpo&s;e,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jer.</HI> 18. <HI>v.</HI> 12.</NOTE> that they had nothing to &s;ay for them&s;elves; then de&s;paire furni&s;hed them with this de&s;perate an&s;wer. <HI>There is no hope, &s;ay they; but we will walk after our own devices, and
<PB N="5" REF="5">we will every one doe the imagination of his evill heart.</HI></P>
<P>But to an&s;wer more particularly to each part of this objection. That many have charged both this Rebellion and all the blood that hath been &s;pilt in the pur&s;uance thereof upon the King and tho&s;e faithfull &s;ubjects of his, that adhered to him, is too well known; and tis pretty well known, that this way of &s;hifting off &s;inne from them&s;elves to others, is of all the many other wayes, the mo&s;t impudent and dete&s;table. That others per&s;waded them, tempted them, incited them, &s;cared them, or forced them to com|mit &s;uch and &s;uch &s;ins, have been frequent excu&s;es that we read of in &s;everall &s;acred and other &s;tories: but this &s;hifting off &s;in whol|ly from them&s;elves, when they know them&s;elves fouly guilty, and charging it upon others, whom they know to be, in that re&s;pect, mo&s;t innocent, is never practi&s;ed but by men of brazen faces, A|damantine foreheads, black tongues, and blacker hearts: And, if God will bee a <HI>&s;wift witne&s;&s;e</HI> again&s;t any, then &s;urely again&s;t &s;uch as doe not onely bear <HI>fal&s;e witne&s;&s;e</HI> again&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mala.</HI> 35.</NOTE> but <HI>condemn</HI> the inno|cent: and if he will <HI>plead the cau&s;e</HI> of any <HI>or execute judgement for them,</HI> &s;o as to bring them forth to the light,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Micah.</HI> 7. <HI>v.</HI> 9.</NOTE> that they may behold his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and others theirs; then without all peradven|ture he will doe it for them, that are &s;o palpably and unju&s;tly &s;tandered and accu&s;ed, and have &s;o ju&s;t and cleare cau&s;e of appealing to his Ju&s;tice for it. But why &s;tay I &s;o long upon a recrimination, &s;o fooli&s;h and ridiculous as well as fal&s;e and odious! I dare appeale to the Con&s;ciences of them them&s;elves, that have &s;o charged it (as cauteri&s;ed as they are) for the unju&s;tne&s;&s;e of the charge. If the Rebellion and Blood guiltine&s;&s;e of this Nation (I joyn them together; becau&s;e they, that are guilty of the Rebellion, are with|out all further di&s;pate guilty of all the blood that hath been &s;hed in it) can be charged upon the King and his loyall Subjects; why have not the other party all this while put it upon that i&s;&s;ue, and when they had the King (as to our un&s;peakable griefe they have) and the mo&s;t of his loyall Subjects in their power; why did they not legally charge them therewith, and urge the Lawes, and indite them, (I mean the Subjects, though they blu&s;h not to talke of inditing the King him&s;elfe) by tho&s;e laws, and &s;o proceed to tryall again&s;t them according to the laws of the Land, the true and onely rules, whereby Rebellion and Murther is to be tryed and judged here in this Nation! Was it their mercy? Why then have they waved that way of trying and judging tho&s;e particular Per&s;ons of the Kings party, upon whom they have exerci&s;ed their power to the height of cruelty, and proceeded again&s;t them onely
<PB N="6" REF="6">by Votes and Ordinances, or by illegall Judges and unwarrant|able Juries, and other unheard of proces! Or to bring the an|&s;wer yet clo&s;er; If the Rebellion and Blood guiltine&s;&s;e of this Na|tion be to be charged upon the King and his loyall Subjects: why doe they of the other part, that have &s;hewn &s;o much mercy to them, de&s;pair of all &s;ecurity, or at lea&s;t, di&s;tru&s;t all the &s;ecurity that can be given them, again&s;t the known e&s;tabli&s;hed Laws of this Kingdome! What need they any act of Indemnity, or Oblivion? What need they any Pardon from the King, or any &s;ecurity again&s;t him or his party? Let the King live, and the Law run in her cour&s;e, might be their wi&s;h rather then any's. But alas, their Con&s;ciences tell them, That if the King and his party &s;hould return to their own ju&s;t power and rights again, and the Laws of this Kingdome to their due force and vigor, and they &s;hould be no more mercifull to them then they have been ju&s;t to them, or then the Laws are fa|vourable to their cour&s;es; they and theirs would indeed, as they &s;ay, be but in a mi&s;erable condition. But whereas they from thence re&s;olve; That therfore &s;urely 'tis their be&s;t cour&s;e to &s;tand &s;till upon their ju&s;tification, and to go on to the la&s;t, as hitherto they have done, That is but a deceitfull as well as an impious re&s;oluti|on. Impious it is, and that &s;o hideou&s;ly impious, that I will &s;pend no more breath in declaring the impiety of it, then by telling you, that this is de&s;paire wor&s;e then <HI>Caines;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 4.</NOTE> for when he had &s;lain his brother, and God had told him of the cry of his brothers blood, and what pani&s;hment he mu&s;t &s;uffer for it, he did not re&s;olve to go on in his &s;hedding more bloods; but the guilt of that blood, which he had &s;hed, did &s;o torment him, that he was afraid <HI>that every one that &s;hould find him, would &s;hed his blood:</HI> and therefore I know not with what de&s;perate wicked re&s;olution to match this; unle&s;&s;e it be with that of Judahs, (before mentioned though in other words and from another text) when they returned this an&s;wer to the Prophet <HI>Jeremiah.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jer.</HI> 2.25</NOTE> <HI>There is no hope,</HI> No, <HI>for I have loved &s;trangers, and after them will I goe,</HI> And I may &s;ay of them that &s;o re&s;olve,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>v.</HI> 26.</NOTE> as the Prophet &s;aith of tho&s;e of Judah in the next words. <HI>As the theife is a&s;hamed when he is found, &amp;c.</HI> &s;o will they be a&s;hamed when God &s;hall, in his <HI>inqui&s;ition for blood</HI> and other iniquities,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>&s;al.</HI> 37.</NOTE> finde them out and bring them to &s;hame, <HI>they, their Kings</HI> (for they have &s;et up many Kings for one) <HI>their Prin|ces, their Prie&s;ts, their Prophets.</HI> And for the deceitfulne&s;&s;e of this re&s;olution.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o.</NOTE> Doe but re&s;t in the Lord and wait patiently for him; not <HI>fearing thy &s;elfe becau&s;e of him who pro&s;pereth in his way, becau&s;e of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pa&s;&s;e, &amp;c. and behold yet within a little while, and the wicked &s;hall not be;
<PB N="7" REF="6">Yea thou &s;halt diligently con&s;ider his place, and it &s;hall not be. And though the wicked &s;till plotteth again&s;t the ju&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ih.</NOTE> and gna&s;heth upon him with his teeth; Yet the Lord &s;hall laugh at him; for he &s;eeth that his day is comming: And that &s;word which the wicked have drawn out to &s;lay &s;uch as be of upright conver&s;ation, &s;hall enter into their own beart.</HI> But I de&s;ire to forwarn and not to forejudge: and therefore &s;uffer a word of expo&s;tulation before I return you back this objection &s;o an&s;wered as I de&s;ire it.</P>
<P>Why do any of you de&s;paire of your &s;afetie and &s;ecuritie, if you &s;hould now return to your obedience and dutie? Doe you di|&s;tru&s;t the mercy of the King? The truth is, your foule breach of Faith to him, and your high Rebellion again&s;t him have been &s;uch, as would provoke the meeke&s;t and mo&s;t mercifull Prince that ever lived, even <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elfe to exce&s;&s;ive wrath and indignation: Yea &s;o farre was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> provoked by a le&s;&s;e Rebellion then this, that he, that had &s;o often interceded with the Lord for that people, when the Lord was ready to de&s;troy them,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Num.</HI> 16</NOTE> did in the heat of that Rebellion pray again&s;t them, at lea&s;t again&s;t the ring-leaders of them. But what was &s;ometimes &s;aid of the Kings of I&s;rael in ge|nerall. <HI>That they were mercifull Kings;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Kings</HI> 20. <HI>v.</HI> 31</NOTE> is mo&s;t true of the pre|&s;ent King of <HI>England</HI> in particular. He is a mercifull King indeed, few Kings ever matcht him for that grace. It hath been made a great objection again&s;t him, that he is too mercifull; and this to be &s;ure. He hath been &s;o mercifull all the&s;e mercile&s;s times through, as well as formerly, that the pre&s;uming upon his mercy above his enemies ju&s;tice, hath &s;educed not a few, that have profe&s;&s;ed them|&s;elves to be his friends, to joyn with his enemies: and they have not been a&s;hamed to &s;ay, that they would rather hazard their lives and all that they had upon the hope of his mercy, then expo&s;e ought of theirs to the power of his adver&s;aries. And if the cen&s;ure of his reall friends indeed, as well as his pretending, be not ex|tremly out of the way; King <HI>Charles</HI> his mercy hath been occa|&s;ionally, by others abu&s;ing it, none of the lea&s;t advantages to his Enemies for their bringing him and his to &s;o much mi&s;ery: and yet for my part, though it were &s;o, I verily believe he will be no loo&s;er by it in the end, if he be not a &s;aver by it already: For the God of mercy will not, nor hath not already, let that mercy of his go unrewarded. And for mercifulne&s;&s;e hereafter. Surely the mer|cies of God to him in his mi&s;eries and afflictions, and the good which tho&s;e afflictions and mi&s;eries &s;anctified unto him, have wrought in him, will not render him le&s;&s;e mercifull then before, but rather far more, as having therein ta&s;ted &s;o much of the &s;weet fruits of his former mercifulne&s;&s;e.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="7">
<P>O mo&s;t pious and gracious Prince, how hath he oftentimes wept for griefe at the folly and madne&s;&s;e of his Subjects in the&s;e Rebellious times; and how much more would he now weep for joy, to &s;ee any of them acknowledge their folly and madne&s;&s;e, and to return to their wits and to their duties: without doubt, if that were done, they &s;hould not need to crave or beg his Pardon. He would prevent them by proclaiming it before they &s;hould aske it;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 15.</NOTE> and, like the Father of the Prodigall, repre&s;enting God the Father him&s;elfe, he would <HI>run to meet them,</HI> if he &s;aw them comming; <HI>though afar off, and weep on their necks</HI> before they could throw them&s;elves at his feet; yea and think no entertainment to deare for them, though &s;ome of his other Sonnes, that have all this while obeyed and &s;erved him, &s;hould perchance murmure at it: An, my deare Country-men, King <HI>Charles</HI> hath not left out of his prayers, that petition of be&s;eeching God to forgive him his tre&s;|pa&s;&s;es, as he forgives them that tre&s;pa&s;&s;e again&s;t him: though too many of you have ca&s;t out that whole Prayer out of your Clo&s;ets, Families and Churches; and therefore doe not yee mea&s;ure his Charity by your own uncharitablene&s;&s;e. What an injury is it to the Spirit of Grace in another, for any to think, that becau&s;e I have been &s;o wicked as to doe another &s;o great wrong, therefore that other mu&s;t needs be &s;o cruell and uncharitable, as never to forgive me that wickednes? Why? Though God did leave thee to thy &s;elf, and &s;o thou, through want of Grace, did&s;t deal mo&s;t injuriou&s;|ly and wickedly with another, yet thou can&s;t not, without injury to the Spirit of God, conclude, that therefore he will al&s;o leave that other &s;o to him&s;elfe, as that he &s;hall revenge him&s;elfe on thee. The King is <HI>the mini&s;ter of God,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 13.</NOTE> <HI>a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evill.</HI> And therefore having done that which is e|vill; yea mo&s;t abominable evill, thou ha&s;t cau&s;e to be afraid, as the Apo&s;tle there argues: But withall, as thou art there told, he is al&s;o a mini&s;ter of God to thee for thy good: and therefore, if thou would&s;t not be afraid of the power, doe that which is good, and thou &s;halt have prai&s;e of the &s;ame: <HI>Cea&s;e to doe evil,</HI> and <HI>learn to doe good;</HI> break off thy Rebellion; and return to thy Allegiance, and thou &s;halt finde that the King will be to thee, not a revenger to execute wrath upon thee for thy evill, becau&s;e that thou ha&s;t for|&s;aken, and abhorre&s;t thy &s;elf for it; but a gracious receiver of thee to mercy, becau&s;e thou art returned to thy dutie, and art re&s;olved to per&s;ervere in that dutie: for the King knows well, that <HI>mercy</HI> as well as <HI>truth,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 20. <HI>v.</HI> 28.</NOTE> <HI>pre&s;erves a King,</HI> and his <HI>throne is up holden by mercy.</HI> But &s;uppo&s;e the King were not &s;o eminently inclined to
<PB N="9" REF="7">mercy and forgivene&s;&s;e as he is. Remember what he tels you, who was a King him&s;elfe. <HI>The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 21.1.</NOTE> <HI>as the rivers of water he turneth it whither&s;oever he will:</HI> and therefore doe but you turn to the Lord and to your duty, and you need not feare, but the Lord will turne the Kings heart to you, for your good. They that de&s;paire of Gods &s;hewing them &s;o much mercy upon their repenting of their iniquity, as to turne the Kings heart to them, &s;o as to remit unto them what they have de&s;erved to &s;uffer temporally; how can they hope for &s;o much greater mercy from God, as that his <HI>own heart &s;hould be &s;o turned within him,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 11.8.</NOTE> (as the Prophets expre&s;&s;ion is) as to remit to them what they have de&s;erved to &s;uffer eternally: if they de&s;paire of Gods mercy in the le&s;&s;er degree; how can they hope for his mercy in the greater! God does, tis confe&s;&s;ed, oftentimes cha&s;ti&s;e and afflict (and &s;o make u&s;e of men as his in&s;truments for that purpo&s;e) temporally tho&s;e who&s;e &s;innes he pardones and forgives eternally. As <HI>Daniel, Job, &amp;c.</HI> But then they are not &s;uch as de&s;paire of finding mercy in a temporall deliverance, but &s;uch as hope for mercy in a delive|rance temporall, if God &s;ee it good for them, and waite in faith and patience Gods will and plea&s;ure in it. Gods mercy is infinite|ly greater then mans; and &s;o the cruelty of men may be feared, where the mercy of God is hoped for, and relied on; but that feare, where tis as it &s;hould be, does not bani&s;h the hope of deli|verance from that crueltie that is mo&s;t feared. <HI>David cho&s;e rather to fall into the hand of God becau&s;e his mercies are great, then in|to the hand of man.</HI> That is; when David had &s;inned,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 24.</NOTE> and had his choy&s;e of temporall iudgements for that &s;in offered him by God, he cho&s;e rather to have a temporall judgement of Gods more im|mediate inflicting by his owne hand, &s;uch as the plague is, then a temporall judgement inflicted by the hand of man, &s;uch as the flee|ing before enemies, and being pur&s;ued by them is: (and yet by the way when David did at any time, as he did often fall into the hand of man, he never di&s;paired of deliverance from that hand; but on the contrary patiently waited for it and confident|ly expected it) But David did not chu&s;e &s;o to fall into the hand of God, rather than the hand of man, as to adventure to doe any thing which was di&s;plea&s;ing to God, and &s;o to run the hazard of his puni&s;hing him either with temporall or eternall judgements, rather then to venture the di&s;plea&s;ing of man, and &s;o to &s;uffer what he could lay on him which is the ca&s;e of too many in the&s;e dayes. No,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 10. <HI>v.</HI> 3<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> David knew well (what I be&s;eech you all to con&s;ider) that in that &s;en&s;e, <HI>tis a fearefull thing to fall into hands of the living
<PB N="10" REF="8">God,</HI> infinitely more fearefull then to fall into the hands of the mo&s;t cruell of men.</P>
<P>To de&s;cend yet lower; for men in di&s;paire de&s;cend very low, and he that would lend them his hand to recover them, mu&s;t fol|low them clo&s;e. Let it be &s;uppo&s;ed, (as I am confident tis yet but a &s;uppo&s;ition) that the abu&s;ed mercy and clemency of the King &s;hould be turned into the extremity of rigor &amp; &s;everity, and being injured by thee beyond expre&s;&s;ion, he &s;hould execute vengeance on thee beyond moderation. Tis acknowledged, that he, that is a <HI>revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evill,</HI> may him&s;elfe doe evill, and pull Gods wrath upon him&s;elfe. By his executing wrath upon another; for he may &s;oone intermixe too much of his owne wrath with it: but if he &s;hould, thou mu&s;t willingly &s;ub|mit to the execution thereof, and leave the &s;inne of his executing it to him&s;elfe to an&s;wer for, and him to God to be called to that an&s;wer: But tis a crime to be abominated by all men, upon feare of anothers puni&s;hing thee, otherwi&s;e then thou woulde&s;t, or perhaps then he &s;hould, for thy wickedne&s;&s;e already committed, to proceed on therefore in thy wickedne&s;&s;e; and to adde to it the ju&s;t de&s;ert of greater puni&s;hment, for the preventing, as thou thinke&s;t that puni&s;hment which is too great;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 12. <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.</NOTE> <HI>&V;engeance is the Lords and he will repay</HI> &amp; <HI>necompence every one according to their deeds,</HI> if not by, one revenger or executioner of his wrath, to bee &s;ure, by another: and the &s;uffering patiently by the hand of him, whom thou ha&s;t injured, though his hand &s;hould be heavy, may not only be a quieting to thy con&s;cience in giving &s;uch &s;atisfacti|on to the per&s;on him&s;elfe wronged, and to the Law: but it may be al&s;o &s;uch an acceptable &s;atisfaction to divine Ju&s;tice it &s;elfe, through him that hath otherwi&s;e fully &s;atisfyed it, that no further &s;atisfaction &s;hall be required of thee for tho&s;e injuries; thou ha|ving made &s;uch &s;atisfaction to him unto whom thou did&s;t them. And let this &s;uffice in an&s;wer to the di&s;tru&s;t of the Kings mercy. I have but a few words to adde concerning the Kings Party, who are by divers more di&s;tru&s;ted then the King, and then I clo&s;e up this fir&s;t Con&s;ideration.</P>
<P>How the Kings loyal and faithful Subjects, who in obedience to Gods command and in con&s;cience of that duty, in fidelity to the e&s;tabli&s;hed Religion of the Church of England, &amp; in te&s;timony of that fidelity, in love to their Soveraignes &s;upereminent Graces and vertues and in gratitude to God and him for his exerci&s;ing them in his regall and Chri&s;tian government of them and this whole Kingdome for &s;o many yeares together, and (which mu&s;t not be forgotten) in the di&s;charge of the many naturall and civill bonds
<PB N="11" REF="8">of Allegiance and for the performing of tho&s;e many &s;acred and &s;olemne vowes, and oathes made to God, for the &s;trengthening tho&s;e bonds, have adheared unto and a&s;&s;i&s;ted his Maje&s;ty in the defence of the e&s;tabli&s;hed Religion, in the pre&s;ervation of his &s;a|cred per&s;on, Honour and dignity, and in the maintainance of his ju&s;t power, rights, and prerogatives, together with their own and your ju&s;t lawes, liberties and properties: How, I &s;ay, tho&s;e faithfull and loyall Subjects of the King for their adhearing to and a&s;&s;i&s;ting of their King upon the&s;e grounds, in the&s;e wayes, and to the&s;e ends, have beene reproached, &s;landered, plundered, hun|ted up and down, impri&s;oned, &s;eque&s;tred, bani&s;hed, &s;old as &s;laves and for &s;laves, &s;tarved, hanged, and otherwi&s;e murthered, their wives and children, abu&s;ed, oppre&s;&s;ed, forced to live upon the charity of others, or otherwi&s;e made weary of their lives, are things &s;o well known to your &s;elves and to the world, that, if there be any thing that makes you to doubt of the charity of the Kings Party, tis the con&s;ciou&s;ne&s;&s;e of your owne Parties unchri&s;tian, unexampled, cruel, barbarous, in-&s;ufferable, and with any, but God and them, unpardonable dealing with them and theirs. And therefore, if any of you &s;hould come into their power, and they &s;hould exerci&s;e that power upon you to their utmo&s;t of fury and vengeance; they could not deale &s;o ill with you, as you have done with them, except they &s;hould act over your owne Tragicall practi&s;es upon your &s;elves; and yet &s;till they would come farre &s;hort of you, becau&s;e they &s;hould doe, what they &s;o did, but by way of recompence where tis fir&s;t de&s;erved, and they thereunto deeply provoked, whereas you did it only in pure malice without any de&s;ert or provocation at all, more then what your owne fal&s;e feares and jealou&s;ies fained and fancied. And if they &s;hould march your crucltie as farre as they were able, and reward you according to your wayes and according to your doings, which is Gods u&s;ual way of dealing with men, when no other way will doe good on them; As it would be mo&s;t ju&s;t with God, &s;o the mo&s;t of men would be ready to ju&s;tifie them in it; and &s;o &s;hould I, if the&s;e two cautions or conditions were truly ob&s;erved; 1. If they had Gods command for it. 2. And if they could doe it without inter|mixing their own revenge with it: But becau&s;e they have no a&s;&s;u|rance of the former, and may be a&s;&s;ured, that they cannot ob&s;erve the latter (and therefore how glorious or ju&s;t &s;oever it is for God to u&s;e whom&s;oever he plea&s;e as the executioners of his vengeance upon others; yet tis but unhappy and uncomfortable for any to be made &s;uch in&s;truments and executioners) upon the&s;e and &s;uch
<PB N="12" REF="9">like rea&s;ons, I tremble to thinke of any &s;uch retaliation, and I have many other rea&s;ons to a&s;&s;ure me, that they will abhorre to pra|cti&s;e it. For how ill &s;oever you and your lying Prophets have voy|ced them, or how deeply &s;oever ye have reprobated and damned them, the Kings party have to my knowledge been better in|&s;tructed both from Chri&s;t and his Go&s;pel, and from tho&s;e di&s;|pen&s;ers thereof which you for other ends forced unto them, as al&s;o from their very &s;ufferings, which you without cau&s;e have loaded them withall. They have beene taught to <HI>recompence to no man evill for evill,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 12.17. <HI>Mat.</HI> 6.15. <HI>Mat.</HI> 18.12.</NOTE> they have beene taught, that <HI>if they forgive not men their tre&s;&s;pa&s;&s;es, neither will their father forgive them theirs.</HI> They have been taught, to <HI>forgive their brethren, not till &s;even times but till &s;eventy times &s;euen.</HI> They have been taught that how highly &s;oever their fellow &s;ervants have &s;inned again&s;t them, yet in re&s;pect of their &s;inning again&s;t their own Lord and and theirs, tis not &s;o much as the debt or dammage of an <HI>hundred pence to ten thou&s;and talents;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cap. cod.</NOTE> and therefore as they hope to be forgiven of their Lord their tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, &s;o can they from their hearts forgive their fellow &s;ervants and brethren their tre&s;pa&s;&s;es. In a word,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 5.44.</NOTE> They have beene taught to <HI>love their enemies to ble&s;&s;e tho&s;e that cur&s;e them, to doe good to tho&s;e that hate them, and to pray for tho&s;e which de&s;pitefully u&s;e them and per&s;ecute them.</HI> Thus hath their Ma&s;ter and his Mini&s;ters taught them, whil&s;t your Ma&s;ters and their and your new teachers,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jud.</HI> 5.23. <HI>Ier.</HI> 48. <HI>v.</HI> 10. <HI>Exo.</HI> 32. <HI>v.</HI> 20.</NOTE> have corrupted and perverted &s;e|verall Texts of Scripture to in-courage you in blood and crueltie; As <HI>Cur&s;e ye Meroz, Cur&s;e ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof be|cau&s;e they came not &amp;c. Cur&s;ed be he that keepeth back his &s;word from blood. Con&s;ecrate your &s;elves to day to the Lord, every man upon his &s;onne and upon his brother. Ra&s;e it, Ra&s;e it even to the foundation,</HI> or, as another tran&s;lation reade the words, <HI>Down with it downe with it even to the ground &amp;c.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;.</HI> 137.</NOTE> And <HI>happy &s;hall he be that taketh and da&s;heth thy little ones again&s;t the &s;tones.</HI> Neither have the &s;ufferings of the Kings party taught them any other le&s;&s;on. For knowing what a double ble&s;&s;ing is pronounced, and a mani|fold reward is promi&s;ed to &s;uch &s;ufferers as they have beene. As <HI>ble&s;&s;ed are they which are per&s;ecuted for righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;ake; for theins is the kingdome of heaven;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat. cap.</HI> 5. <HI>v.</HI> 10, 11, 12.</NOTE> and againe, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are yee when men &s;hall revile you and per&s;ecute you, and &s;hall &s;ay all man|ner of evill again&s;t you fal&s;ly for my &s;ake; Rejoyce and be exceed|ing glad; for great is your reward in Heaven; for &s;o per&s;ecuted</HI> they <HI>the Prophets, which were before you.</HI> They would not part from their clayme to that ble&s;&s;ing, and their intere&s;ts in that re|ward,
<PB N="13" REF="9">and &s;o loo&s;e the honour and comfort of all their &s;ufferings, by &s;eeking revenge on their revilers and per&s;ecutors, for ten thou|&s;and times more than you or your e&s;tates could advantage them. This I know to be the re&s;olution of &s;ome of that party, and I have good cau&s;e to beleeve it will be the practi&s;e of very many: for they could never have &s;uffered &s;o much and &s;o chearfully, had not the&s;e and the like principles of Grace beene in them. And therefore it may well be hoped that he that hath layde &s;uch a <HI>foun|dation</HI> in them will <HI>perfect the building;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> r. 6.</NOTE> and <HI>he that hath begun &s;o good a worke in them, will performe and &s;ini&s;h it untill the day of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> And for the re&s;t of that party, whom ye mo&s;t feare, tis wi&s;dome to feare them &s;o much as not to exa&s;perate them more. Yet thus fearre I dare undertake for them, (were my un|dertaking worthy of your notice taking) That were you in their power, as many of them have beene in yours, you &s;hould finde the mo&s;t prophane, and rude among them, le&s;&s;e cruell in their cruelties they and their fellows afore have found than many of your pretending Saints and holy ones, in tho&s;e, which they call their mercie. But the fault is your owne if you runne your &s;elves upon any &s;uch hazard; For make your peace with God, and <HI>he will make your enemies to be at peace with you:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 16.7.</NOTE> and returne to your Soveraigne, and there is none that have hazarded their lives, and lo&s;t their liberties and e&s;tates for him, their Religion, Lawes liberties and propertie, but would be ready and willing, upon a re&s;ettlement of all the&s;e without any more blood and other pub|like calamities to catch at and embrace any rea&s;onable propo&s;iti|ons and ki&s;&s;e the beautifull feete of &s;uch propounders. As there|fore yee have tryed many other waies for procuring peace, and they have all failed you, &s;o be intreated for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, who is the <HI>Prince of peace and the propitiation for our &s;innes,</HI> to make try|all of this way of acknowledging your &s;innes and for&s;aking them; which never yet failed any, and which is &s;o infallible, as that God him&s;elfe gives that as the rea&s;on of his giving over people, when their &s;innes are come to their full mea&s;ure and they ripe for ruine, <HI>to blindne&s;&s;e and heardne&s;&s;e of heart,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 6.10. <HI>Mat.</HI> 1.3.15. <HI>Act.</HI> 28.27.</NOTE> implying that if a people did turne from their &s;innes unto him he could not but heale them. <HI>Turne thou us O Lord and we &s;hall be turned.</HI> Turne thou us and we &s;hall be healed. Let that be your dayly prayer to God. <HI>Come let us returne unto the Lord. For he hath wounded and he will heale us: he hath &s;mit|ten, and he will bind us up:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ier.</HI> 31 <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 6.1.</NOTE> let that be your con&s;tant exhortation to one another, and practi&s;e your &s;elves what you &s;hall &s;o exhort
<PB N="14" REF="10">others. And the Lord heare and accept you in both.</P>
<P>Having repented of your &s;innes, and in particular of your Re|bellion, Blood guiltine&s;&s;e, and other iniquities and impieties at|tending them. The next thing that you are be&s;ought to con&s;ider, is the pre&s;ent &s;tate and condition of Religion here in this King|dome. That the Church of England in its Reformed e&s;tabli&s;hed Religion was not onely a defence and refuge, but the glory and honour of all the Reformed Churches in Chri&s;tendome cannot ju&s;tly (and therefore I hope will not) be denyed by any of tho&s;e Churches: if it &s;hould, wee are able to evince it out of the mouths of their own mo&s;t learned and eminent Preachers and Pro|fe&s;&s;ors. And had not tho&s;e unhappy div &s;ions, breaking out as they did, prevented it; the Chri&s;tian world had in all probabilitie, ere this &s;een the happy fruits thereof in the harmonious, and of them and us much de&s;ired conformity of other reformed Churches (e&s;pecially the more Ea&s;tern) as well in Di&s;cipline, as Doctrine, &s;o far as conformity in Di&s;cipline could have been conveniently ob&s;erved in &s;everall Nationall Churches. This the <HI>Tobiahs</HI> and <HI>Sanballets</HI> of the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> have known and maligned &s;o long, that their attempts again&s;t this Church and the e&s;tabli&s;hed Religion thereof have been more, and more indu&s;triou&s;ly and eagerly pro&s;ecuted, then again&s;t any Church what&s;oever: though they have not omitted any opportunitie of practi&s;ing their com|plotted de&s;ignes upon any of the Reformed Churches or the mem|bers thereof. And having tryed all the other wayes and cour&s;es that they could invent, and &s;ome of them &s;uch as, I hope, will ne|ver be forgotten of this Nation. Some few yeares before the be|ginning of this Parliament, Cardinall <HI>Richeleiu,</HI> the Politique favourite of <HI>France,</HI> and gracious &s;onne of <HI>Rome,</HI> u&s;ed all his art and skill to kindle a fire again&s;t us in <HI>Scotland:</HI> which art and skill of his pro&s;pered too much there by the unskilfulnes and impru|dence of &s;ome of our managers of Church affairs here in <HI>England.</HI> No &s;ooner was that fire kindled, but Emi&s;&s;aries of <HI>Rome</HI> were &s;ent thither to inflame it; and, the better to effect it, &s;ome of them pretended great love and affection to a new Reformation of that Kirke, even to a &s;eeming di&s;claiming and dete&s;ting of their own. About the &s;ame time there were not a few of tho&s;e Incendiaries di&s;patcht hither into <HI>England,</HI> to practi&s;e upon tho&s;e of this King|dome, that were di&s;affected to the e&s;tabli&s;hed Government of this Church, or that di&s;ta&s;ted &s;ome new rites and practi&s;es, too much favoured and countenanced by &s;ome of the Governours thereof: and &s;o far had they within a &s;hort time crept into the
<PB N="15" REF="10">favours and Coun&s;els of &s;ome leading men of each &s;ort, that this Church and State began to be much di&s;tempered; In&s;omuch that our mo&s;t Gracious and Religious Soveraign, next under Chri&s;t the prime defender of our Faith, and nur&s;ing Father of our Church and Common-weale (whom they had many other wayes a&s;&s;aulted but found impregnable) was per&s;waded, for the peace and &s;afety of both his Kingdoms, to call a Parliament, and within a while after, for the peace and &s;ecurity of all his three Kingdomes, (the third being al&s;o then inflamed) to derive unto them greater liberty of continuance, but otherwi&s;e not of any power, then ever Parliament had; and, as we finde by &s;ad and wofull experience, then they had grace to make good u&s;e of. The Je&s;uites and Je&s;ui|ted party finding this advantage, and feeling by the Pul&s;e of the chief of the di&s;affected and di&s;contented part of that great A&s;&s;em|bly, how their hearts &s;tood inclined; they applyed them&s;elves to them in all wayes and &s;ervices po&s;&s;ible: One Je&s;uite, (well known to the mo&s;t reverend and Religious the Primate of <HI>Ireland</HI> his Grace) was a con&s;tant Tabler and Coun&s;ellor to the Lord <HI>Brooks,</HI> an active, furious driver on of the mad factious peoples de&s;perate turbulencies. Others applyed them&s;elves to others, whom I forbear to name: Only one pa&s;&s;ige I mu&s;t not omit. Be|fore tho&s;e worthy members of the honourable Hou&s;es of Lords and Commons, that held firm to their duty and allegiance, were forced from their &s;tations; &s;o bold were tho&s;e Romani&s;ts grown, that an honourable member of the Hou&s;e of Commons was ear|ne&s;tly importuned by one of them, an acquaintance of his, to re|commend a Petition to the Hou&s;e in behalf of the Romi&s;h party, for the taking off all penall laws from them; which he refu&s;ing to doe, and expo&s;tulating with the Gentleman about it, as &s;u&s;pect|ing that be came to intrap him, and to render him more di&s;ta&s;tfull to the factious party, and &s;o more di&s;&s;erviceable to his King and Country; the Gentleman replyed, that he was very much mi&s;ta|ken; for that Petition would finde better acceptance in the Hou&s;e, then he thought for: And accordingly, it being &s;oon after pre&s;en|ted there by another (who may be pre&s;umed to account it an ho|nour to him to be known by &s;uch a motion) viz. <HI>Mr.</HI> MARTIN, it was &s;econded and entertained by &s;ome of the greate&s;t preten|ders of Reformation in that a&s;&s;embly, till one of courage and e|&s;teem &s;tood up and &s;aid, He was &s;orry that he had lived to &s;ee a Petition of that nature finde &s;uch favour in that place, wherein tho&s;e prudent lawes, again&s;t which it petitioned, had been upon &s;o good and ju&s;t grounds, and with &s;o much wi&s;dome and delibe|ration
<PB N="16" REF="11">framed; and thereupon it was for that time waved and laid a&s;ide. Since that how far the <HI>Je&s;uites</HI> and <HI>Je&s;uited</HI> party have pro|ceeded and &s;uceeded in their pro&s;ecuting of that de&s;igne of a to|leration, is &s;ufficiently vi&s;ible in the fruits thereof to every &s;eeing eye; But becau&s;e the greater part of men will neither &s;ee nor heare, or, if they doe, dare not &s;peak what they &s;ee or heare, how prejudiciall or de&s;tructive &s;oever it be to Religion or ought el&s;e that good is; I &s;hall in the cau&s;e of Religion adventure a little further in the di&s;covery of the de&s;ignes of tho&s;e profe&s;&s;ed enemies thereof. I have been a&s;&s;ured by a per&s;on of Honour, that the Pro|te&s;tants of <HI>France,</HI> had towards the beginning of the&s;e unnaturall and unchri&s;tian wars, re&s;olved upon a Declaration again&s;t the Par|liament and Subjects of <HI>England</HI> their taking up of Arms again&s;t their King, and had publi&s;hed it, had not the forenamed Car|dinall da&s;hed it, and underhand wrought them to too much ap|probation thereof; rendering by that one &s;ubtill act of his, the &s;aid Prote&s;tants odious to their own Soveraign for approving &s;uch Antiregal, Antimonarchicall attempts, and al&s;o advancing thereby his own de&s;igne of fomenting our de&s;tructive divi&s;ions. But to re|turn neerer home: Who, but the Je&s;uites and Je&s;uited Papi&s;ts be|gan that Rebellion in <HI>Ireland?</HI> And who but their favourors here in <HI>England</HI> drove it on to that height, by making tho&s;e Rebels de&s;perate, in &s;elling their lands and Voting them and theirs to ruine, pa&s;t all hope of mercy; by detaining the King from going thither in Per&s;on to quiet that Rebellion, when he &s;o graciou&s;ly offered it, and &s;o piou&s;ly endeavoured it; by diverting tho&s;e fair, full, free, running &s;treames of bounty and liberality flowing all this Kingdome through, towards the reliefe of the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Prote&s;tants of <HI>Ireland,</HI> into tho&s;e foule, black, bloody rivers of Warre and Rebellion, overflowing this whole Kingdome to the wa&s;ting and weakening if not to the ruining and de&s;troying of the now de&s;pi&s;ed Prote&s;tants of <HI>England:</HI> and la&s;tly, by the with|holding and delaying, all along from the fir&s;t to the la&s;t, the nece&s;|&s;ary &s;upplies of men, moneys, armes, and other provi&s;ions from that Kingdome, notwith&s;tanding the Kings often and often cal|ling upon the Hou&s;es to be mindefull thereof, and conjuring them thereto (as appears by his many Me&s;&s;ages and Declarations to that purpo&s;e) and notwith&s;tanding the loud and dolefull cryes of the Prote&s;tants of that Kingdome from the greate&s;t to the lea&s;t &s;o con|&s;tantly ecchoing in their ears. If the Je&s;uites and Je&s;uited Papi&s;ts of this Kingdome had not their hands deep in all this, and too pre|valent a power with tho&s;e, that had the power of ordering that
<PB N="17" REF="11">bu&s;ine&s;&s;e better, let any man, that knowes one hand from ano|ther, judge.</P>
<P>But to come yet nearer, tho&s;e incendiaries of Nations and per|turbers of the peace of Chri&s;tendome, are fowly belyed, by one, who&s;e brother hath been one of them the&s;e many yeares, and he him&s;elfe is now theirs, and was then litle better. If there were not in, and about the Citty of London, and in, and neere the Ar|mies, about 3 weekes or a month, before that heavy blow at Nazeby, above &s;even&s;core Je&s;uites and other Romi&s;h Prie&s;ts (known the mo&s;t of them to him) which kept corre&s;pondence diver&s;e of them and gave intelligence to them at We&s;tmin&s;ter, and &s;erved them both in keeping off a&s;&s;i&s;tance from the King, from Princes of their Religion, and in betraying the Kings coun&s;els and the re&s;olutions of his Army (which they, by their in&s;truments and favourers crowded into tho&s;e quarters, got knowledge of) to the adver&s;e party; &s;o that they could draw the kings Army in|to what part of the kingdome they plea&s;ed, and there fight them, or not fight them, as they &s;aw the advantage. In&s;omuch that a Noble Colonell of the Kings Party, and a man of good e|&s;tate and credit, being then a Pri&s;oner in the Counter in South|warke, and having there fed at his table and pre&s;erved the author of this information, that had been a pri&s;oner in the &s;ame pri&s;on, but was then by his Brothers meanes &s;et at liberty; was, about that time before mentioned, advi&s;ed upon tho&s;e grounds and &s;ome other by the &s;aid informer (and that in gratitude as he af|firmed, knowing no other way of acknowledging his bounty and liberality towards him) forthwith to make his compo&s;ition and peace with the Parliament, for that the King would without all peradventure (yet the King was at that time in as high and hope|full condition as ever he had been in from the beginning of the&s;e warres) be brought very low. Strange propheticall coun&s;aile a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> that time, had not the coun&s;elour had too &s;trong pre&s;umption to conclude from.</P>
<P>And now, to &s;peake a litle upon mine own more immediate knowledge. Travelling beyond the &s;eas in the company of a Ro|mi&s;h Prie&s;t, borne in England, and another Engli&s;h Gentlemen of the &s;ame religion; after &s;ome warme di&s;pute between us. I was told by the Prie&s;t that I need not be &s;o hot and zealous for my religion; for &s;o &s;aid he, we have now as good cardes to &s;hew for our Religion in England as you have for yours; for we perceive you are a Prote&s;tant of the e&s;tabli&s;hed Church of England; and if you, and &s;uch as you, doe ever enjoy your Religion there againe, it
<PB N="18" REF="12">mu&s;t be by a Tolleration, and &s;o &s;hall we enjoy ours. I replyed, that I hoped God would di&s;appoint them of their hopes: but &s;ince that, I found they had too much cau&s;e &s;o to pre&s;ume? for I was no &s;oo|net arrived here in <HI>England,</HI> but, being con&s;trained to attend &s;ome Parliament men at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter;</HI> I heard a Gentleman (who by his habit and di&s;cour&s;e &s;eemed one of credit and tru&s;t among the Romani&s;ts) &s;oliciting another Gentleman (who&s;e Father had been a Parliament man, but was then dead) for the a&s;&s;i&s;ting him by his friends in the promoting of a Petition for a Toleration of their Religion: and he told him, among&s;t other di&s;cour&s;e, what progre&s;&s;e he had made therein, both with &s;ome prime Comman|ders of the Army, and with divers members of the Hou&s;e of Com|mons; (who&s;e names, for the pre&s;ent I conceale) and that he had delivered three Petitions to that purpo&s;e into the hands of three of the Hou&s;e of Commons, who had undertaken the recommending them to the Hou&s;e, and promi&s;ed him their be&s;t furtherance therein: &s;o that he did not much doubt of the &s;ucce&s;&s;e, but yet &s;hould be obliged to him, if he would be plea&s;ed to contribute thereto. The party &s;olicited replied. He &s;hould doe him any &s;er|vice, and the Petition de&s;ired no more, then he apprehended to be according to the judgement of the times in point of liberty of Con&s;cience: when I heard this, and ob&s;erved how liberty of con&s;cience was every where contended for; I no longer won|dered at the cooling Cards which the Prie&s;t gave me: for I per|ceived they of his part had plaid their Cards &s;o well, that they might afforded any of us the knowledge of &s;uch a triumph: nor did I then think it &s;trange (which, but a few dayes before I ad|mired) that &s;o many Je&s;uits and other Prie&s;ts did daily flock into this Kingdome from <HI>France, Flanders,</HI> and the Countries ad|jacent, and all by the way of <HI>Holland;</HI> there having been nine or ten &s;uch newly &s;hipt at the <HI>Brill,</HI> under the &s;ame Convoy, if not in the &s;ame Ve&s;&s;ell, that Ma&s;ter <HI>Strickland</HI> the Parliaments Agent for <HI>Holland,</HI> came over in about <HI>Michaelmas</HI> la&s;t; and multitudes of them more have been there, and in other Parts of the <HI>Low Countries,</HI> pa&s;t for <HI>England</HI> within few moneths; when, God knows, many worthy Mini&s;ters of the Church of <HI>England</HI> driven beyond the Seas, choo&s;e rather to endure &s;ome hard&s;hip there among&s;t &s;trangers, then yet to adventure the hazard of wor&s;e u&s;age here in their own Country. The&s;e things, I thought it my duty to acquaint you with, as I have done others already up|on all occa&s;ions both in publike and in private: and, though perhaps they may be &s;leighted by &s;ome engaged with the Sectaries, calling
<PB N="19" REF="12">them&s;elves Prote&s;tants, or quarrelled by others, that are profe&s;&s;ed Papi&s;ts, I &s;olemnly avouch before the Almighty God of truth, that I have not fal&s;ifyed in the lea&s;t particular of what I have &s;poken up|on mine own knowledge, nor varied, &s;o far as my memory would &s;erve me, from what others, and they men of known honour and hone&s;ty, have informed me. I know well that tis a foule &s;inne to <HI>&s;peake wickedly for God, or to talke deceatfully for him,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job</HI> 13.7</NOTE> (as <HI>Job</HI> &s;ometimes intimated to his friends) and I abhor to be charged with a Romi&s;h trick my &s;elf, while&s;t I endeavour to di&s;cover &s;ome of theirs. Had divers of this Nation but that courage and &s;pirit, as to &s;peak what they know to this purpo&s;e, and but that love and zeale to the e&s;tabli&s;hed Prote&s;tant Religion, as to thinke it worthy of their adventuring that courage and &s;pirit which they have in that &s;ervice; you would finde that all this little that I have &s;aid, is &s;carce the gleanings to their harve&s;t, or an handfull to their Barns|full, for the clearing this di&s;covery of the Je&s;uits and Je&s;uited Pa|pi&s;ts, having their hands deep in all our mi&s;eries, and a de&s;perate de&s;igne upon our Religion: And let &s;uch take heed that God doe not one day require it at their hands in vengeance, for that they did it not, when he required it of them in dutie. I know there are &s;ome in this Kingdome of the Romi&s;h Religion, that have given ample and honourable te&s;timonies of their Allegiance and fidelity to their Soveraign, and of their love to their Country: for which they de&s;erve all Chri&s;tian and civill re&s;pect and honour that can be &s;hewn them (and that makes me &s;o often to u&s;e that limitation of Je&s;uites and Je&s;uited, to di&s;tingui&s;h them from &s;uch, which, as hath been often and truly &s;aid, like <HI>Samp&s;ons</HI> Foxes look contrary wayes to our furious Separati&s;ts and other Sectaries, but joyn with them in the &s;etting this Kingdome on fire.) But tis to be feared, that if Religion &s;hould come again to be conte&s;ted for betwixt the Prote&s;tants and Papi&s;ts here in <HI>England,</HI> (which God of his mer|cy forbid) the mo&s;t moderate and loyall among&s;t the Popi&s;h party, would loo&s;e no advantage that they could catch or lay hold on, for the exalting of their own Religion, and the pulling down and de|&s;troving ours: And tis certain, that &s;ince the fir&s;t Reformation of Religion in this Kingdome, they never had &s;o great advantages gi|ven them to that purpo&s;e. It was a frequent &s;aying of an ancient and knowing Dr. in <HI>Cambridge,</HI> that had very much ob&s;erved, as well as too much &s;erved the times, in alteration of Religion (and I have heard it &s;everall times cited by a mo&s;t learned and reverend Profe&s;&s;or of that Univer&s;ity in his Commencement Orations) That if ever Popery came into this Land again to have any power, it
<PB N="20" REF="13">would be by the Preci&s;ian called then the Puritan. And what an open broad way the Preci&s;ians or Puritans properly &s;o called have made for Popery to march in; or (to u&s;e the Prophet <HI>Eze|kiels</HI> expre&s;&s;ion) how they have <HI>opened the &s;ides</HI> of this Church to tho&s;e enemies of that Faction to enter and repo&s;&s;e&s;&s;e her,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezeck.</HI> 25 <HI>v.</HI> 9.</NOTE> and what arms and amunition of all &s;orts, they have furni&s;hed them with, and what ayde and encouragement of all kindes, they have given them, to make good their entrance and keep their po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ion, is very deplorable to con&s;ider, and much more deplorable, that tis not con&s;idered as it &s;hould.</P>
<P>The mo&s;t learned and acute Divines and Arti&s;ts are driven from the Schools and Colledges in both Univer&s;ities: The mo&s;t Or|thodox and con&s;cientious Pa&s;tors and Teachers are forced from their Pulpits and Pa&s;torall charges: The mo&s;t reverend and re|nowned Bi&s;hops are ca&s;t out of their Bi&s;hopricks, and Epi&s;copall power and juri&s;dictions: and all the&s;e are robbed and deprived of their lively-hoods and nece&s;&s;ary &s;ub&s;i&s;tance, (yea, many of them of their lives) and all others that &s;hall &s;ucceed them, of all hopes of any honourable encouragements: And what then may not the enemies of our Religion doe, when &s;o much is already done to their hands towards the undoing of this lately mo&s;t flouri&s;hing, but now langui&s;hing Church of <HI>England?</HI> Who &s;hall dare to take up the weapons, or venture on an encounter with the Adver&s;ary, when all our &s;tout Champions are gone, and onely Children and weaklings, with unexpert Trade&s;men and Mechanicks are left to graple with Giants and experienced warriers? Take away the encouragements, and you take away the &s;in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ws of warre: who will goe to war at their own co&s;ts; e&s;peciall, when they know where good pay and good preferment too are to be had in another &s;ervice? There are too few that &s;erve God out of pure zeale and meer con&s;cience. In the combate between the Fle&s;h and the Spirit, the Fle&s;h ought to be mortified and kept down as much as po&s;&s;ibly may be: but in all incounters, wherein the Fle&s;h is to joyn with the Spirit again&s;t a third adver&s;ary; there tis be&s;t to let the Fle&s;h have its nece&s;laries; yea, and its hone&s;t allurements and encouragements to, or el&s;e the Spirit will be but ill a&s;&s;i&s;ted and &s;erved by it. It hath been &s;everall times attempted (and the poore &s;imple Country people have been put upon it, and incited to it, with much earne&s;tne&s;&s;e and no little deceit) That all Tithes &s;hould al&s;o be taken away from the Clergie, and the Mini&s;tery be provided for by way of Pen&s;ion or Benevolence: And truely were I one of the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> or wi&s;ht well to the returning of her
<PB N="21" REF="13">power and tyranny into this Nation, I would now, after the ta|king away of Bi&s;hops lands and revenues, with the other digni|ties and honourable maintenance of the Church, mo&s;t &s;acrilegi|ou&s;ly torn from the Governours and Mini&s;ters thereof, labour and endeavour nothing more. For then to bee &s;ure none &s;hould dare to &s;peake ought in Pulpits, no, nor whi&s;per ought any where el&s;e, again&s;t any errour or here&s;ie, or again&s;t any vice or wickednes what&s;oever, that &s;hould finde any favour or countenance in his Pari&s;h, or in any of his pari&s;hioners of power and ability, for fear of being cut &s;hort in his allowance; if not for the pre&s;ent, yet at the next Se&s;&s;ion of Commi&s;&s;ioners, who would perhaps be &s;o wi&s;e of them&s;elves, as to think the ca&s;e might otherwi&s;e be &s;ome of theirs; or, to be &s;ure, that would be intimated to them, as it hath been too often &s;ugge&s;ted unto Juries in tryals for Tythes: And then doubt not, but the Popi&s;h party would be as active and &s;ub|till in &s;tealing in their leaven into every Pari&s;h, as any other here|ticks could be, and a little more able to enforce arguments for the promoting it: for the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> wants no policie, nor meanes, nor in&s;truments to improve it. And if the maintainance of the Prote&s;tant Clergie, were but as poore and contemptible, as is de&s;ired by many; the Clergie it &s;elf would &s;oon be as ba&s;e and de&s;picable, as could be wi&s;ht by any; and then, be&s;ides the peo|ples growing like their Prie&s;ts: (which;) con&s;tant ob&s;ervation hath made a Proverb, it would be no &s;mall temptation to &s;uch a Cler|gie, upon hopes and promi&s;e of recovering their old ancient hono|rable portions and revenues, to de&s;ert that Religion, which al|lows their Mini&s;ters &s;uch mi&s;erable &s;tarving pittances, and to em|brace that, which rewards theirs with &s;uch liberall, plentifull re|wards. Much more might be &s;aid to that point; but I touch it onely in relation to the de&s;igne of the Popi&s;h party, who have been and &s;till are the principall in&s;tigators to all &s;acrilegious acts and re&s;olutions in this Kingdome, and will be, without all per|adventure, the greate&s;t gainers thereby: not that they them&s;elves would practi&s;e the &s;ame, when they &s;hould come into power, but becau&s;e they know there is no more ready way for them to come into power, then by &s;uch practi&s;ces of ours which would both render the Clergie of this Kingdome contemptible to the people, and the people not a little odious to them, as al&s;o otherwi&s;e fit and prepare both for their working them into what they &s;hall plea&s;e. To tell you that a prodigious rabble of damnable here&s;ies and per|nicious errours are crept, or rather brought with full &s;ayles at mid-day, into this mi&s;erably di&s;tracted Kingdome, and that mul|titudes are daily bred and hatcht up within, were but to tell you
<PB N="22" REF="14">your own dreames; the true fathers and mothers of diver&s;e of that &s;purious i&s;&s;ue.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jude v.</HI> 9.</NOTE> <HI>(Filthy dreamers, that defile the fle&s;h, de&s;pi&s;e Do|minions, and speake evill of dignities)</HI> But who have been the principall factors for the bringing in, and the cheife brokers for the venting of tho&s;e from other parts, as al&s;o the chief fo|m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nters of the&s;e &s;tarted up here at home? why, who but the Je&s;uites and their complices? who have for that purpo&s;e tran&s;|formed them&s;elves like their great ma&s;ter into all &s;hapes, and be|come <HI>Anabapti&s;ts</HI> to the <HI>Anabapti&s;ts, Antinomians</HI> to the <HI>Anti|nomians, Famili&s;ts</HI> to the <HI>Famili&s;ts,</HI> and all things to all men, that they might deceive the more. And no more probable way of making pro&s;elytes to them&s;elves then this. For the mo&s;t of that numberle&s;&s;e number, that have been poy&s;oned, or tainted with tho&s;e here&s;ies and errours, are either &s;uch, as have no principles of Religion at all in them, but are (like tho&s;e Saint <HI>Jude</HI> &s;peaks of) <HI>clouds without water carried about with windes,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iude. v.</HI> 12.</NOTE> <HI>even eve|ry winde of doctrine by the &s;leight of man, and cunning crafti|ne&s;&s;e,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.14.</NOTE> <HI>whereby they lye in wait to deceive:</HI> and &s;uch are as fit to be carryed about by the winde of Popery, as of any other doctrin; or el&s;e they are &s;uch, as have in them already good &s;tore of Popi&s;h principles properly &s;o called; how odious &s;o ever for the pre&s;ent the name of popi&s;h or papi&s;ts be, or &s;eems to be unto them: and of the&s;e there are a va&s;t number, as will ea&s;ily appeare to any under&s;tanding man, that &s;hall but compare the frequent tenets or po&s;itions held and a&s;&s;erted in the&s;e times, with the known principles of Popery, truly &s;o called. The <HI>Gangraena</HI> (a booke written by Mr <HI>Edwards,</HI> and &s;o intituled) will furri&s;h any man with enough, and yet he leaves out &s;ome Principle ones: as THAT TIS LAWFULL FOR THE SUBJECTS TO TAKE UP ARMES AGAINST THEIR SOVERAIGN; <HI>That Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Courts are independent on the Civill; That officious lying and equivocating is ju&s;tifiable,</HI> with many others. Now how ea&s;ie will it be for the Serpent, when he hath thus gotten in a part of his body, to winde in all the re&s;t? and how hard will it be, when &s;uch poy&s;on and infection hath dif|fu&s;ed it &s;elfe through &s;o many parts of the body, to purge it out againe? Men are too prone of them&s;elves, through their pride, &s;elfe-love, and perver&s;ene&s;&s;e, to defend their own errours to their utmo&s;t; and will oftentimes deny many known truths, ra|ther then be brought to acknowledge one received errour; yea, will &s;ooner part from tho&s;e remains of truth, that are in them, then part from &s;ome errours taken up by them: what then will &s;uch men doe, when they &s;hall be backt and encouraged therein
<PB N="23" REF="14">by &s;o powerfull and &s;ubtill a party, as the Romi&s;h is? Be&s;ides, if the Popi&s;h party &s;hould gaine no more pro&s;elytes, (as who &s;ees not, that they gaine more in one moneth, then they did for|merly in &s;even years; and have gained more in the&s;e &s;ix or &s;even years la&s;t pa&s;t, then they had done in all tho&s;e other years pa&s;t &s;ince the Reformation) yet if they can, by their broaching of, and by their inviting and inciting to here&s;ies and errours, bring but our Church to confu&s;ion; they hope to triumph and in&s;ult upon our ruines,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lam.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> 18.</NOTE> like tho&s;e <HI>Foxes upon the de&s;olate mountaine of Zion:</HI> And, if any Church be rai&s;ed out of the rubbi&s;h and ruines of ours, or any Religion be generated out of the corru|ption of ours, they pre&s;ume, and not without cau&s;e, that it will be theirs. And that they expect &s;ome &s;uch day, may be many wayes collected; and particularly, from their &s;paring ingage|ments for the King in all his di&s;tre&s;&s;e, either by their Per&s;ons or E&s;tates (excepting onely &s;ome few loyall and noble &s;pirited ones, that were (to their honour be it acknowledged) as liberall of their Bloods and E&s;tates as Subjects could be) as al&s;o from their pre&s;ent forbearing to appear for him. To all which, I mu&s;t con|fe&s;&s;e, they have been well incouraged, for the mo&s;t of them have enjoyed more of their E&s;tates, and made ea&s;ier Compo&s;itions for them, then the mo&s;t known Orthodox Prote&s;tants have. And here by the way, I cannot but recall to your memories, &s;ome let|ters &s;ent down to &s;ome of you from &s;ome members cho&s;en for this County, in an&s;wer to &s;ome of yours, concerning the recei|ving of contribution from Popi&s;h Recu&s;ants, upon the Propo|&s;itions for Hor&s;es, Money, or Plate, at the beginning of the&s;e wars. In which letters you were told, as &s;ome of you have con|fe&s;&s;ed That it was the &s;en&s;e of the Hou&s;e, that contribution &s;hould be received from Popi&s;h Recu&s;ants; provided, that it were &s;uch as might witne&s;&s;e their affection to the cau&s;e, and not argue onely a de&s;ire to &s;ave them&s;elves, or to that effect. And whether they did then contribute with you or not to the ray&s;ing of that cur&s;ed warre; to be &s;ure (except, as I &s;aid but now, &s;ome few of them) they have, from that time to this, contributed very little to the King for his defence again&s;t it: And I be&s;eech God, that that war &s;econded by this may contribute no more to the ter|rible de&s;ignes of &s;ome of that party; though there need no other contribution to the exalting of the Throne of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.</NOTE> then the <HI>&s;ending of a people &s;trong delu&s;ion that they &s;hould believe a Lie:</HI> &amp; there needs nothing to be &s;aid for the demon&s;trating how fouly and gro&s;ly we of this Nation have been &s;o deluded, and are con|tented
<PB N="24" REF="15">if not de&s;irous &s;till &s;o to be. I remember well, and &s;hall do while&s;t I have breath, what I heard fall from the mouth of that Apo&s;tolicall, (I wi&s;h I might not in that particular &s;ay,) that Pro|pheticall Preacher, the matchle&s;&s;e Primate of <HI>Ireland,</HI> (matchle&s;&s;e for the Graces of God in him, as well as for that Grace of Pri|macy conferred on him) in one of his con&s;tant Lords day Sermons in <HI>Oxford. I feare not,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>tho&s;e Feltmakers, Weavers, Coblers, &amp;c. that are ri&s;en up among&s;t us, &s;owers of Sedition and broachers of Here&s;ies and Errours: but tho&s;e with whom I feare, we &s;hall have the &s;tronge&s;t &s;truggling, are tho&s;e Giant-like Je&s;uits, trained up men of warre from their youth: the&s;e, the&s;e are they whom we have all cau&s;e to feare; as tho&s;e, with whom wee &s;hall have the la&s;t and &s;ore&s;t pull for our Religion</HI> God grant it prove not &s;o: But if we go on in the rending and tearing out one anothers thoats; and the Hereticks and Schi&s;maticks go on in their rending and tearing the very bowels of our Church, who can expect le&s;&s;e? Who is there that hath read or heard of Chri&s;ts way in planting and propagating of his Go&s;pell of truth, and in acquainting men with the my&s;teries of Godline&s;&s;e; and of the way in Antichri&s;t in planting and propagating his Doctrine of lyes, and in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing men with the my&s;tery of iniquity; that can expect from Sects of Here&s;ie and Schi&s;me, &s;own by the enemy in the furrows of mens hearts, filled with malice and all un|charitablene&s;&s;e, and watered with the bloods of &s;o many thou|&s;ands of their fellow Chri&s;tians, any other Harve&s;t then of Popery and Antichri&s;tiani&s;me?</P>
<P>Be ye then &s;upplicated, (O all yee that have any love unto, or care of, the pre&s;ervation of the true Prote&s;tant Religion) to take the &s;ad deplorable condition thereof into your mo&s;t &s;erious con&s;i|deration, and &s;peedily to apply your &s;elves with all your art and skill, and with all your might and power, to the re&s;i&s;ting and countermining of its openly profe&s;&s;ed and &s;ecretly con&s;piring ene|mies, and to the ayding and a&s;&s;i&s;ting of its known, and by the&s;e late per&s;ecutions and temptations throughly tryed friends. Think &s;oberly and &s;adly with your &s;elves (God's clean&s;ing your thoughts from all &s;elfe-favour and brother-prejudice being fir&s;t implored) whether they, to whom in the beginnings of the&s;e mi&s;eries you fir&s;t adhered, and who then made you &s;o many faire and large promi&s;es, and tooke &s;ome &s;olemne Prote&s;tations, Vows and Oathes in the pre&s;ence of God, to Defend and Maintaine the true E&s;tabli&s;hed PROTESTANT RELIGION, have made good tho&s;e promi&s;es, Prote&s;tations, Vows and Oaths, yea or no.</P>
<PB N="25" REF="15">
<P>If they have, what meanes the <HI>lowing</HI> and <HI>bellowing</HI> of &s;uch herds of notorious abominable Hereticks of all &s;orts, and the <HI>bleating</HI> and <HI>bawling</HI> of &s;uch flocks of furious Schi&s;maticks of all cuts in every corner of this Kingdome? Yea, what meane tho&s;e favourable excu&s;es, and defen&s;ive Apologies publi&s;hed to the Kingdome in one of the late Declarations in an&s;wer to the Scots, that complained thereof? What meanes al&s;o their &s;up|pre&s;&s;ing and &s;ilencing of all, or the mo&s;t of the known, religi|ous, Orthodox, Prote&s;tant Preachers throughout the Kingdome, &s;eque&s;tering their livings, and clapping them up into Pri&s;ons, and then &s;etting up Antinomian, Anabapti&s;ticall, Socinian, Je|&s;uiticall, and other notoriou&s;ly hereticall Teachers and lying Prophets in their roomes? What meanes the bla&s;ting of the e|&s;tabli&s;hed Doctrine of the Church of England, as being corrupt and erroneous, &s;uch as needs Reformation? What meanes the bla&s;pheming the Lords Prayer, and Apo&s;tles Creed commonly &s;o called, and rejecting them from being publikely u&s;ed in anie Congregations? And what meanes the ca&s;ting out and con|demning the whole Book of Common-Prayer, and Admini&s;tra|tion of the Sacraments, which had &s;o often and &s;o long been found and made u&s;e of, as one of our &s;tronge&s;t out-workes and fortifications again&s;t Popery and other Here&s;ies, as well as an incomparable and unparallelled rule and forme of publike Wor&s;hip and Devotion? In a word, what meanes the entertain|ing of Petitions for the Toleration of Popery, forbearing only the granting them their reque&s;ts, till the people be a little bet|ter prepared by that Doctrine of Liberty of Con&s;cience? Be|thinke your &s;elves al&s;o, whether they, to whom ye now give up your &s;elves to &s;erve with your lives and e&s;tates, and joyne with in all their rebellions and bloodie enterprizes, have not &s;ufficiently declared their di&s;affection unto, yea and their ha|tred and dete&s;tation of the true Prote&s;tant Religion. What meane el&s;e their retaining only &s;uch Chaplains among&s;t them, as hold far more principles of the Popi&s;h Religion then Prote|&s;tant, and have expre&s;&s;ely renounced the e&s;tabli&s;hed Prote&s;tant Religion of the Church of England? Or why doe they, like tho&s;e Rebells again&s;t the hou&s;e of <HI>David, make to them&s;eves both high places to wor&s;hip in, and Prie&s;ts of the lowe&s;t of the people, to mini&s;ter unto them?</HI> And why do they proclaime the liberty of being of any Religion, or of no Religion at all, rather then of the e&s;tabli&s;hed Religion of our Church? If there be anie &s;o &s;tupid as to thinke that the leading-men either at We&s;tmin&s;ter,
<PB N="26" REF="16">or in the Army, or their active adherents, are at the pre&s;ent men of other affections and re&s;olutions, more then what the pre&s;ent oppo&s;itions and their want of power to with&s;tand them, and to cru&s;h the oppo&s;ers to pieces, do con&s;traine them to di&s;&s;emble; I &s;hall admire their &s;tupidity, and lament their weakne&s;&s;e, unle&s;&s;e they can produce &s;ome better evidence of their retracting their former errors, of their repenting of their former iniquities, and of their returning to their God, and to their duties, then their own bare words, &s;o often broken and contradicted by their actions. And yet which of you can &s;hew &s;o much as the Armies words for any good intended by them ei|ther to this Church or Common wealth, or &s;o much as to you of this County, that have hazarded your honours, e&s;tates, lives and fortunes?</P>
<P>And for the promi&s;e of tho&s;e at We&s;tmin&s;ter, call but to mind the &s;ucce&s;&s;e of that Petition of the Mini&s;ters of this Coun|ty and of E&s;&s;ex, pre&s;ented to both Hou&s;es in the&s;e dolefull termes.</P>
<P><HI>That your &s;olemne League and Covenant, your great and glori|ous victories, the expectation of the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas, the longing de&s;ires of our Brethren of Scotland, the Humble Pe|titions of the Reverend A&s;&s;embly and the great City of the King|dome, the pre&s;&s;ing mi&s;eries of the Orthodox and well affected Mi|ni&s;ters and people in the Country, (here is a</HI> Letanie of conjurations indeed, enough to conjure any that would come within com|pa&s;&s;e of any figure) <HI>cry aloud to your Honours for the &s;ettlement of Church-Government according to the word.</HI> Then followes. <HI>For the want of this it is Right Honourable, that the name of the mo&s;t high God is bla&s;phemed, his precious Truths corrupted, his Word de|&s;pi&s;ed, his Mini&s;ters di&s;couraged, his Ordinances vilified. Hence it is that Schi&s;m, Here&s;ie, Ignorance, Prophane&s;&s;e, and Athei&s;me flow in upon us, Seducers multiply, grow daring and in&s;olent, pernicious bookes poy&s;on many &s;oules, Piety and Learning decay apace, verie manie Congregations lie wa&s;t without Pa&s;tors, the Sacrament of Bapti&s;m by many neglected, and by many reiterated, the Lords Supper generally di&s;u&s;ed, or exceedingly prophaned, confu&s;ion and ruine threatning us in all our quarters.</HI></P>
<P><HI>In all Humility therefore, &amp;c. we out of con&s;cience and in tender regard to the glory of God and the &s;alvation of our peo|ple, be&s;eech your Honours, that a form of Church Government, according to the Word of God and the example of the be&s;t
<PB N="27" REF="16">formed Churches, may with all po&s;&s;ible &s;peed be perfected and confirmed by your civill &s;anction, that Schi&s;maticks, Here|ticks, Seducing Teachers, and &s;oule-&s;ubverting bookes be ef|fectually &s;uppre&s;&s;ed, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>And what was their an&s;wer? The Lords they an&s;wered like Lords, profe&s;&s;ing much joy at the zeale and care of the Mini&s;ters of tho&s;e Counties for the preventing the further increa&s;e of He|re&s;ie, &amp; Prophanene&s;&s;e, &amp;c. They de&s;ire them to continue in their indeavours therin, &amp; &s;ay they will not be wanting to give them al incouragement, &amp;c. they a&s;&s;ure them that they wil improve their power for &s;uppre&s;&s;ing of Error, Here&s;ie, &s;educing Teachers, and &s;oul-&s;ubverting books, &amp; likewi&s;e for the &s;etling of Church-Go|vernment according to the Word of God, &amp;c. Here was a Lord|ly an&s;wer, but that they had not con&s;ulted the Hou&s;e of Com|mons; for they return another, and indeed their common an|&s;wer, viz. That the mo&s;t of the particular de&s;ires of their Petition were then under con&s;ideration, and they hope will be brought to a &s;ettlement &s;peedily, &amp;c. O the miraculous care and diligence of that Hou&s;e! There was &s;carce ever any Petition, for redre&s;&s;e or reliefe in any things pre&s;ented unto them, but they were ju&s;t then in Con&s;ideration of them, and hoped that they would be &s;peedily ordered as they de&s;ired, only through &s;ome intervening ob&s;tructions they could not do as they would. But how came it to pa&s;&s;e that the Commons had mo&s;t of tho&s;e particulars under their con&s;ideration, and had proceeded &s;o far in them as to hope for a &s;peedie &s;ettlement therein, and yet the Lords knew of no &s;uch thing, at lea&s;t for got it quite in their an&s;wer? Well but let that pa&s;&s;e: How much of all the&s;e faire promi&s;es hath been per|formed either by the one Hou&s;e or the other from that time to this? Why &s;o nothing but the ju&s;t contrarie, that everie a|bomination complained of in that Petition is increa&s;ed to that height, and hath received that countenance from &s;ome of the Pe|titioned (as well as &s;ome of the Petitioners) that though each of them de&s;erve a particular &s;ad complaint (in a &s;harp Petition) yet 'tis thought but vain for any to petition or complain to them of them all. And do but remember what &s;ucce&s;&s;e all other Petitions &s;ince that from other Counties, either for Religion, or King, or Lawes, or ought el&s;e that good is, have found at their hands, and hope for reliefe or redre&s;&s;e from them if you can.</P>
<P>Examine throughly in the la&s;t place, whether tho&s;e men both of the Clergie and Laity, which have been &s;ince the&s;e unhappie divi&s;ions, reviled, &s;landered and perfecuted under the names of
<PB N="28" REF="17">Popi&s;h and Popi&s;hly-affected per&s;ons, have not in former times been to their power verie manie of them, as zealous propug|ners of the Prote&s;tant Religion, and as earne&s;t oppo&s;ers of Po|perie and Super&s;tition, and what&s;oever &s;eemed to incline that way, as anie men what&s;oever, yea above anie of tho&s;e whom ye now mo&s;t adore: as al&s;o, whether they have not, all the&s;e &s;ad times through, to the eternall honour of their Religion, as well as of them&s;elves, both in their owne and in other Nations (as manie of them of note as have been forced abroad) held firm to their fir&s;t faith, and to each principle thereof, notwith&s;tan|ding all temptations of poverty and want attending that their con&s;tancy, and all allurements of large &s;upplies and honoura|ble imployment and preferment, if they would de&s;ert or di&s;|&s;emble it; whiles they, whom ye have cried up, magnified and idolized as the great Pillars and &s;upporters of the Prote&s;tant Religion, have both in former times failed like &s;taves of <HI>reed,</HI> and fal&s;ified like <HI>broken bowes,</HI> and now in the&s;e times have &s;huf|fled and &s;hifted not only from po&s;t to pillar, but from &s;eeming to be pillars in one profe&s;&s;ion, to &s;eeming and being anie thing, that might &s;erve the times in another, even to their owne ever|la&s;ting &s;hame, and to the reproach of that Religion which they have pretended.</P>
<P>Put the&s;e and all tho&s;e other particulars mentioned in this &s;econd con&s;ideration together, and then judge whether it be not high time for all tho&s;e that are true Prote&s;tants indeed (accor|ding to that di&s;tinctive name &s;o long u&s;ed) to look to their Re|ligion, and to them&s;elves, lea&s;t otherwi&s;e they be &s;uddenly chea|ted of it, or at lea&s;t of the happy and long injoyed freedome of profe&s;&s;ing and exerci&s;ing it, and that by tho&s;e that pretended and &s;o &s;eemed for a while, to be mo&s;t devoted to it, and lea&s;t Popery &s;o much objected, and &s;o fal&s;ly charged upon tho&s;e that lea&s;t de&s;erved it, be within a while obtruded on them by tho&s;e who have &s;ugge&s;ted tho&s;e objections and forged tho&s;e accu&s;a|tions, as the &s;tales and cries whereby to draw men within com|pa&s;&s;e of their nets and &s;nares, there being no &s;uch ready way to catch and in&s;nare any creatures, as by imitating their cries and calls, and by &s;etting &s;ome of their owne kind, or &s;omethings verie like them for &s;tales. You cannot but remember who it was (for <HI>his blood is yet fre&s;h in &s;ome of your skirts</HI>) that told you when he was on the Scaffold,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ier.</HI> 2.34.</NOTE> that it was part of his Prayer, that the tumultuous people of this Nation might not be like tho&s;e Phari&s;ees and their followers, who pretending a feare of the
<PB N="29" REF="17"><HI>Romans coming and taking away their place and Nation,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iohn</HI> 11.48</NOTE> when there was no &s;uch cau&s;e, only they made u&s;e of that &s;ugge&s;tion to further their mi&s;chievous de&s;igne of murthering the inno|cent, had at la&s;t the Romans brought upon them indeed, and were utterly ruined by them. The factious tumultuous people of this Nation have in all other things the mo&s;t re&s;embled the phari&s;ees, that ever did any people. God of his mercy grant, that they do not al&s;o re&s;emble them in this.</P>
<P N="3">3. Next to the con&s;ideration of the dangerous and deplorable condition of Religion here in this Kingdome, be plea&s;ed (as many of you as have any &s;park of Religion in you) timely to con&s;ider the &s;tate and condition of your King. I forbeare the a&s;&s;aying any de&s;cription of his condition, becau&s;e 'tis &s;o well knowne, and &s;o far beyond the being comprehen&s;ible in a de|&s;cription by the be&s;t of Arti&s;ts: as I likewi&s;e ab&s;taine from all Epithetes, or Periphra&s;es to &s;et it out by, or to &s;et mens pa&s;&s;ions on worke to condole it, the condition of our King being a|bove all &s;ympathie of pa&s;&s;ion, even of his mo&s;t loving and com|pa&s;&s;ionate Subjects, as well as expre&s;&s;ion of language of the mo&s;t fluent and pa&s;&s;ionate of Orators. I have heard it obje|cted again&s;t a reverend and deare brother-&s;ufferer in the&s;e times, (though without any ju&s;t cau&s;e alledged) that he a&s;cends too high when he compares &s;o many of our Kings &s;ufferings with &s;ome of our Saviours, which I am a&s;&s;ured he did, neither with the lea&s;t intent of flattering his Maje&s;tie, (then in no con|dition to be flattered) nor without all due feare of approaching neer the verge of Bla&s;phemy, then, and ever &s;o much abhorred by him, but on the other &s;ide, with all due honour to our ble&s;|&s;ed Saviours &s;ufferings, and with no &s;mall comfort to the King and to all that &s;uffered with them, that his &s;ufferings were and are &s;o conformable to them, and he him&s;elfe therein to his and our Saviours image. And although I &s;leight the objection,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> 3.10. <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.29.</NOTE> yet I &s;hall avoid the occa&s;ion of having any &s;uch throwne in my way: and becau&s;e I may not without &s;ome &s;candall taken, make u&s;e of any &s;uch compari&s;on, I &s;hall not compare them at all with anie other &s;ufferings, there being none other that ever I have read or heard of, that do in all re&s;pects match them. Take them therefore in their bare narration, thus.</P>
<P><HI>Charles</HI> King of Great Britaine, the fir&s;t of that name, the only &s;urviving Son and the immediate &s;ucce&s;&s;our to his royall Father King <HI>James,</HI> to whom this whole Kingdome by their Repre&s;entatives in Parliament, after a large commemoration
<PB N="30" REF="18">of the ine&s;timable and un&s;peakable benefits (as they truly called them) powred upon this Nation by his becoming our King,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Jacob.</HI> 1.</NOTE> and after great and high expre&s;&s;ions of joy, and rejoying at the &s;ame, not forgetting their thanks to Almighty God for that ble&s;&s;ing, as al&s;o after a mode&s;t repetition of that their Soveraignes per|&s;onall gifts and graces, and the a&s;&s;ured fruits and effects thereof, which they had ta&s;ted in that little time of his Government, together with an humble and hearty profe&s;&s;ion of con&s;tant faith, obedience, and loyalty to his Maje&s;ty, and to his Royall Progeny, made this acknowledgement and promi&s;e in the&s;e ve|ry words.</P>
<P><HI>We therefore your mo&s;t humble and loyall Subjects, the Lords Spirituall and Temporall, and the Commons in this pre&s;ent Parliament a&s;&s;embled, do from the bottome of our hearts yeeld to the diuine Maje&s;ty all humble thanks and prai&s;es, not onely for the &s;aid un&s;peakable and ine&s;timable benefits and ble&s;&s;ings be|fore mentioned, but al&s;o that he hath further inriched your High|ne&s;&s;e with a mo&s;t Royall Progenie of mo&s;t rare and excellent gifts and forwardne&s;&s;e; and in his goodne&s;&s;e is like to increa&s;e the hap|py number of them. And in mo&s;t humble and lowly manner, do be&s;eech your mo&s;t excellent Maje&s;ty, that (as a memoriall to all po&s;terities, among&s;t the Records of your high Court of Parlia|ment for euer to endure, of our Loyalty, obedience, and hearty and humble affection) it may be publi&s;hed and declared in this high Court of Parliament, and enacted by authority of the &s;aute; that we (being bounden thereunto both by the Lawes of God, and man) doe recognize and acknowledge (and thereby expre&s;&s;e our un&s;peakable joyes) that immediately upon the di&s;&s;olution and decea&s;e of ELIZABETH late Qu&eacute;en of England, the Imperiall Crowne of the Realme of England, and of all the Kingdomes, Dominions; &amp; Rights belonging to the &s;ame, did by Inherent birthright, and lawfull and undoubted &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, de&s;cend and come to your mo&s;t excellent Maje&s;ty, as being lineally, ju&s;t|ly and lawfully, next and &s;ole Heire of the Blood Royall of this Realme, as is afore&s;aid: And that by the goodne&s;&s;e of Almighty God, &amp; lawfull Right of De&s;cent, under one Imperiall Crown, your Maje&s;ty is of the Realmes and Kingdomes of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, the mo&s;t potent and mighty King; and by Gods goodne&s;&s;e, more able to protect and gouerne us your louing Subjects in all peace and plenty, then any of your noble Progenitors. And thereunto we mo&s;t humbly and faith|fully &s;ubmit and oblige our &s;elues, our Heires and Po&s;terities for euer, untill the la&s;t drop of our bloods be &s;pent: And do be&s;eech your Maje&s;ty to accept the &s;ame, as the fir&s;t fruits in this high Court of Parliament, of our loyalty and faith to your Maje&s;ty, and your Royall Progeny and Po&s;terity for euer.</HI></P>
<PB N="31" REF="18">
<P>O the &s;hamele&s;&s;e degeneration and fal&s;ification of the&s;e times!</P>
<P>CHARLES, to whom his Subjects, each one for him&s;elf, and in particular every Member of the Hou&s;e of Commons, when he was admitted a Member of that Hou&s;e, &s;olemnly &s;ware,</P>
<P><HI>That he did te&s;tifie and declare in his con&s;cience, that he the Kings Highne&s;&s;e is the onely &s;upreme Gouernour of this Realm, and of all other his Highne&s;&s;e Dominions and Countries, as well in all Spirituall or Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall things or Cau&s;es, as Tempo|rall, &amp;c. And that he would beare Faith and true Allegiance to the Kings Highne&s;&s;e, his Heires and lawfull Succe&s;&s;ors, and to his power a&s;&s;i&s;t &amp; defend all Iuri&s;dictions, Priuiledges, Prehemi|nences &amp; Authorities granted or belonging to the Kings Highnes His Heires and Succe&s;&s;ors, &amp;c.</HI> as followes in the Oath of Su|premacy, as al&s;o againe in the Oath of Allegiance, <HI>That he would beare Faith and true Allegiance to His Maje&s;ty, his Heires and Surce&s;&s;ors, and him and them would defend, to the uttermo&s;t of his power, again&s;t all con&s;piracies and attempts what&s;oeuer, which &s;hould be made again&s;t his or their Per&s;ons, their Crowne and Dignity, by rea&s;on or colour of any &s;entence of Excommunication or Depriuation made or granted by the Pope, &amp;c. or otherwi&s;e, and would do his be&s;t endeauour to di&s;clo&s;e and make known unto His Maje&s;ty, his Heires and Succe&s;&s;ors, all Trea&s;ons and traiterous con&s;piracies, which he &s;hould know or heare of to be again&s;t him, or any of them.</HI></P>
<P>Oh the damnable perjury of the&s;e times!</P>
<P>CHARLES, <HI>who&s;e Per&s;on, Honour, and E&s;tate the &s;ame Mem|bers</HI> of the Hou&s;e of Commons did, on May 3. 1641. <HI>in the pre|&s;ence of Almighty God promi&s;e, vow, and prote&s;t to maintain and de|fond, as far as lawfully they might, with their Lives, Power, and E&s;tates, according to their allegiance;</HI> and that they would <HI>ac|cording to their Power, and as far as lawfully they might, oppo&s;e, and by all good waies and meanes indeavonr to bring to condigne puni&s;hment all &s;uch, as &s;hould either by force, practi&s;e, coun&s;ell, plots, con&s;piracies or otherwi&s;e, do any thing to the contrarie, &amp;c.</HI> Which Prote&s;tation was afterwards recommended by the Vote of the Hou&s;e July 30. 1641. to be taken by everie per&s;on well affected in Religion, and to the good of the Common-wealth, and was accordingly taken by the mo&s;t of the Kingdome.</P>
<P>Oh the multiplied perjurie and the &s;acrilegious breaking of Vowes, Promi&s;es and Prote&s;tations perperated in the&s;e times!</P>
<P>CHARLES who&s;e <HI>Supremacy</HI> and power <HI>over all Per&s;ons</HI> and in <HI>all cau&s;es within his Dominions,</HI> the Subjects of this Kingdome have &s;o many yeares acknowledged unto God in their praiers,
<PB N="32" REF="19">in their Publike Liturgie, and in their praiers before their Ser|mons; and for whom they have pretended to beg &s;o manie mer|cies and ble&s;&s;ings, and to returne to God &s;uch hearty and &s;o|lemne thanks and prai&s;e.</P>
<P>Oh the abominable juggling with God, and mocking of him, and lying to him, di&s;covered in the&s;e times.</P>
<P>CHARLES the <HI>Defender</HI> of our <HI>Faith,</HI> the Protector and Pa|tron of our Religion, the Nur&s;ing father of our Church and Common-weale,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lam</HI> 4.20.</NOTE> <HI>the light of our eyes, the breath of our No&s;trills; of whom we &s;aid</HI> (as the people of Judah did of <HI>Jo&s;iah) under his &s;hadow wee &s;hall live;</HI> yea of whom we mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e, that we did live under his &s;hadow for manie yeares together (and might have done to this in&s;tant,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iudges</HI> 9.</NOTE> had we not run from the <HI>Olive tree</HI> to a <HI>Bramble Bu&s;h</HI>) in that peace and tranquillity, in that honour and renowne, in that abundance of wealth and plenty of all things that could render us happy, &s;ave grace to know it and be thankfull to God and him for it, that never any people enjoyed greater, if anie &s;o great.</P>
<P>Oh the fordid ingratitude of the&s;e times!</P>
<P>CHARLES, not the RELIGIOUS onely, or the JUST, or the MERCIFULL, or the CHARITABLE, or the VALIANT, or the WISE, or the TEMPERATE, or the CHAST, or the COURTEOUS, or the LO|VING, or the MEEK, or the HUMBLE, but <HI>all the&s;e,</HI> and a <HI>compendium</HI> of all other graces and virtues, and they in &s;uch &s;upereminency, as that it hath been thought an eternall honor to other Princes to de&s;erve the title of but one &s;uch to adorn their other glories, and perpetuate their memories.</P>
<P>O the prodigious wickedne&s;&s;e and impiety of the&s;e times!</P>
<P>This verie CHARLES <HI>(Be a&s;toni&s;hed O ye Heavens and &s;tand amazed all ye Nations of the earth)</HI> This verie KING CHARLES, by his <HI>owne Subjects,</HI> by his <HI>own Servants,</HI> by his <HI>own profe&s;&s;ed Friends,</HI> by his <HI>own great</HI> Coun&s;ell called by his Writ to advi&s;e with him, and authori&s;ed by his power alone to &s;it in Parliament with him, hath been driven from his great Councell, forced to flie from one part of his Kingdom to another, <HI>hunted like a Par|tridge on the mountaines,</HI> pur&s;ued with Armies, fought with in &s;undrie battailes, &s;truck at and &s;hot at with all the force and ma|lice, that hands and hearts &s;trenthened and incouraged with rage and furie, and compleatly furni&s;hed with all the bloodie in&s;tru|ments of Warre, could po&s;&s;ibly lay on, <HI>betrayed, &s;old, hurried from Pri&s;on to Pri&s;on, &s;eparated from his deare&s;t Con&s;ort and
<PB N="33" REF="19">Children, mocked, &s;eorned, contemned, railed on, libelled in Pam|phlets, Hues</HI> and <HI>Cries, Votes, Declarations, Sermons, Prayers, and robbed</HI> of all his revenues, plate, jewels and regall ornaments, de|prived of verie nece&s;&s;aries, both of food and raiment, (<HI>Gu&s;h out O teares,</HI> or break O heart, for I am not able to go on till my head or heart hath given one the other &s;ome ea&s;e:) This verie King <HI>Charles</HI> hath been at the la&s;t, after all the&s;e and many other bar|barous cruelties practi&s;ed on him, thru&s;t into clo&s;e Pri&s;on, denied the comfort of any Chaplaine, the attendance of any other &s;er|vant, and the acce&s;&s;e of anie faithfull Subject, <HI>treated wor&s;e</HI> then anie villain or murderer, <HI>a&s;&s;ayed</HI> by villaines to be <HI>murthered,</HI> and to incourage them thereunto, <HI>Votes</HI> have been pa&s;&s;ed <HI>in both Hou&s;es for no further addre&s;&s;es</HI> to be made to him, and no me&s;&s;age to be received from him but he adjudged unfit to governe. And why I be&s;eech you? why this King <HI>Charles</HI> will not break his oath &s;olemnly taken at his Coronation, he will not con&s;ent to Sacriledge; he will not yeild unto a toleration of Poperie and of all other Here&s;ies and Schi&s;ms, under the title of Libertie of Con&s;cience; he will not part from all his power of puni&s;hing tho&s;e that do wickedly, and of protecting tho&s;e that do righte|ou&s;ly: upon that pretence of &s;etling the <HI>Militia</HI> in &s;afe hands; he will not &s;uffer an Armie of 50. or 60. thou&s;and under that name <HI>Militia</HI> to be kept and quartered in this Kingdom for the oppre&s;&s;ing of him&s;elfe, his Po&s;teritie, and his Subjects; he will not grant Libertie to tho&s;e Hou&s;es to &s;it where they plea&s;e, who have alreadie &s;o ill requited his former grant of &s;itting as long as they plea&s;e, lea&s;t they and their Armie &s;hould keep hou&s;e to|gether, and when the Citie will no longer endure them, the Countrie be forced to beare them or break under them; he will not indure compeeres and copartners with him&s;elfe in his Roy|all Throne, Rights and Prerogatives, under the name of a &s;tand|ing Committee or States Commi&s;&s;ioners, he will not deliver up his Loyall Subjects and faithfull friends and &s;ervants to the mercile&s;&s;e cruelties of his and their implacable enemies: and in a word he will not betray that tru&s;t that God hath committed to him, and that his Subjects repo&s;e in him. The&s;e mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed when mens con&s;ciences are awakened, to be the principal cau&s;es &s;o far as concerns the provoking of men, why this &s;o &s;uperemi|nently Gracious King hath and doth yet &s;uffer &s;uch inexpre&s;&s;ibly grievous per&s;ecutions. And among&s;t all the&s;e cau&s;es, his not yeilding to a toleration of Poperie &amp; other Here&s;ies and Shi&s;ms,
<PB N="34" REF="20">is none of the lea&s;t provoking, as may well be thought, if the re|flecting upon the principall contrivers and continuers of his Ma|je&s;ties and this Kingdomes mi&s;eries hath that inpre&s;&s;ion in our thoughts that it ought to have: for what el&s;e can it be that &s;hould render &s;o religious and virtuous a Prince &s;o di&s;ta&s;tefull and hatefull, not only to all Hereticks and Shi&s;maticks here at home which everie one knowes; but al&s;o to all or the mo&s;t Je|&s;uites and Prie&s;ts beyond the Seas, which is &s;ufficiently known to tho&s;e men of Honour and worth that have lived among them; there being no man more di&s;ta&s;ted and hated of tho&s;e of that &s;tampe, then the per&s;ecuted King of England. And if tho&s;e King|killers can but prevaile with their fellow Je&s;uites the furious Sectaries of the&s;e times (as they have throughly prepared them for it) to take away his precious life, to be &s;ure it &s;hall be &s;ud|denly done, for no man lies long under their hatred, that they can po&s;&s;ibly remove out of the way. And what a ju&s;tification would this be to all their a&s;&s;a&s;&s;inations? what a &s;atisfaction to their de&s;ires? what a &s;taine and wound to the Prote&s;tant Re|ligion, and what an advantagious &s;ervice to the Romi&s;h? and what vengeance of vengeances mu&s;t it needs pull upon this whole Nation, that have had &s;o often and &s;o loud warnings of it, and do not (as by &s;everall oaths and manie other bonds they are obliged) hazard their owne lives to prevent it, but &s;till con|tribute towards it by a&s;&s;i&s;ting tho&s;e that contrive and complot it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chron. chap.</HI> 3 5. <HI>Lam.</HI> 4.20.</NOTE> It is recorded of <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> one of the be&s;t Kings of Judah, that being taken in the <HI>pits of the Aegyptians,</HI> (as <HI>Jeremies</HI> phra&s;e is) and &s;laine by them, both the Prophet <HI>Jeremiah</HI> lamented for him, and all Judah, even the &s;inging men and the &s;inging wo|men &s;pake of him in their lamentations for a long time after his death, and they made them an Ordinance in I&s;rael (it &s;eems the remaines of I&s;rael joyned with Judah in that mourning) for the lamenting of him: And this was &s;uch a great mourning, that the Spirit of God &s;peakes of the greatne&s;&s;e of it many yeares after.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zech.</HI> 12.11</NOTE> But &s;hould our <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> (which the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings of his mercy forbid) be &s;laine by tho&s;e Aegyptians that have him now in their pits, not onely our <HI>Jeremiahs,</HI> our great Prophets, but all the Prophets and Prophets Sons throughout this Nation, (the lying Apo&s;tatizing Prophets only excepted, that have de&s;erted their Religion upon that de&s;tructive altera|tion &s;ugge&s;ted) yea, and all the men, women, and children of the&s;e three Kingdomes that wi&s;h well to the Prote&s;tant Religi|on
<PB N="35" REF="20">and the good of the&s;e Kingdomes, would exce&s;&s;ively la|ment it unto all po&s;terities, though we have too much cau&s;e to believe that we &s;hould never obtaine an Ordinance for it from tho&s;e Ordinance-makers that now beare rule: beware then in time, and that time is very &s;hort.</P>
<P>You have had &s;uch triall of King <HI>Charles</HI> his fidelity and firmne&s;&s;e to the Prote&s;tant Religion, as never Prince gave the like; and I hope, never Prince either in this or any other Na|tion &s;hall be put to the like; for he hath had as great and as &s;trong temptations, as pro&s;perity and adver&s;ity in the height and depth of both could court or torment with, even &s;uch as would have made a <HI>Luther,</HI> or a <HI>Calvin,</HI> a <HI>Cranmer,</HI> or a <HI>Ridley,</HI> or anie other of the mo&s;t renowned confe&s;&s;ors, or Martyrs of the Reformed Religion, either to have &s;unk or &s;hrunk under them; or el&s;e would have rendered them far more glorious then their confe&s;&s;ions or &s;uffrings did or could render them, though they want for no acce&s;&s;e of Glorie on Earth or reward in Heaven. Be|ware then I &s;ay in time, for if King CHARLES &s;hould come to re&s;i&s;t unto blood, as he hath alreadie often done to the extremi|tie of hazard of it, and that Royall Religious blood of his &s;hould be &s;hed by you, that profe&s;&s;e your &s;elves to be of the &s;ame Reli|gion with him, (if of anie at all) either by your contributing money, hor&s;e, armes, per&s;onall a&s;&s;i&s;tance, or ought el&s;e, to tho&s;e that thir&s;t and hunt after his blood, and to the re&s;i&s;ting of tho&s;e that &s;eek with the expence of their own to &s;ave it, or el&s;e by their not contributing what is in your power, to the hazzard of your own lives for the pre&s;ervation of his &s;till in &s;uch known hazzard; (for they that pre&s;erve not blood from being &s;hed, when it is in their power to pre&s;erve it, are undoubtedly guiltie of &s;hedding it:) Be&s;ides the deep everla&s;ting &s;taine that you would thereby bring upon the Prote&s;tant Religion, &s;uch a guilt and horror would withall &s;eize upon your &s;oules when God &s;hould come to <HI>&s;et your &s;innes in order before your eyes</HI> (as doubtle&s;&s;e he will &s;ooner or later) that if ye did not like &s;ome Murtherers beleeve that what&s;oever ye lookt on,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 50.21</NOTE> ye behold King CHARLES his bleeding &s;ides, and what&s;oever ye eat or drank, ye ta&s;ted King CHARLES his Blood; yet would ye wi&s;h ten thou&s;and times over, that you had lo&s;t everie drop of your own bloods, and of the bloods of tho&s;e that are mo&s;t yours, that ye had but done your dutie in time for the pre&s;erving of his. Of all blood-guiltine&s;&s;e take heed of being guiltie of the blood of a
<PB N="36" REF="21">King, for as he that is guiltie of anie mans blood, is in that guil|tie of more bloods then the blood of one, (and therefore the Scripture, &s;peaking of the &s;hedding of blood, does commonly, if not con&s;tantly u&s;e a word that &s;ignifieth bloods in the plurall number) &s;o they which are guiltie of the blood of a King, are in that guiltie of the bloods of a whole Kingdom, everie Subject lo&s;ing blood in the lo&s;&s;e of his Soveraign. Yea what if I &s;hould &s;ay that they which are guiltie of the blood of their King, are to be reputed as guiltie of doing their utmo&s;t to &s;hed the blood of God (if I may &s;o &s;peak after the manner of men) or of Chri&s;t him&s;elfe? I &s;hould not need to be put to prove it, if what is mo&s;t true be but confe&s;&s;ed; namely, that Kings are Gods im|mediate vicegerents, and the mo&s;t repre&s;entative image of his Maje&s;tie,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 82.6.</NOTE> and therefore called <HI>Gods:</HI> which may be one rea&s;on if not the main one, why the &s;hedding of the bloods of the mo&s;t wicked of Kings, by anie of their own Subjects, hath been alwaies &s;o publikely and &s;everely avenged, as in &s;everall &s;tories is record|ed. But above all abhorre the thought of being guiltie of King CHARLES his blood, lea&s;t in it you prove not only guiltie of what is alreadie told you, but al&s;o of more Prote&s;tants bloods then have yet been &s;hed &s;ince the Reformation, as well as of the be&s;t that ever ran in anie veines. And to you my deare Countrie|men I adde this one &s;hort caution more. Take you heed, lea&s;t as your Ance&s;tors, the religious Prote&s;tants of this Countie, are highly honoured in the Acts and Monuments of our Church and in the Annales of our Common-weale for the di&s;charging their dutie in that height of equitie and fidelitie, as to be the prime aiders and a&s;&s;i&s;ters of Soveraigntie in the &s;etling and e&s;tabli&s;hing the la&s;t, and (for per&s;ecuting the profe&s;&s;ors of the Go&s;pell) the wor&s;t Popi&s;h Prince that ever &s;waied the Scepter of this King|dome, &s;o ye your &s;elves be eternally &s;tigmatized by all records of Church and State, for de&s;erting your dutie and becoming the abetters and maintainers of Rebells and Traitors in the depo&s;ing and murdering (for that's known to be their de&s;igne) of the la&s;t, (for &s;o 'tis re&s;olved if they can compa&s;&s;e their re&s;olutions) and the be&s;t Prote&s;tant Prince, that ever yet &s;wayed this or anie other Scepter what&s;oever. <HI>Con&s;ider what I &s;ay, and the Lord give you under&s;tanding in all things.</HI> And &s;o I pa&s;&s;e from the King to your fellow Subjects and your &s;elves, and with the con&s;ideration of the &s;everall and joynt pre&s;ent State and condition of both, I &s;hall conclude this faithfull and faire warning.</P>
<PB N="37" REF="21">
<P>As for your fellow-Subjects, I &s;hall di&s;po&s;e them (for I ab|horre the word divide) into two &s;orts: Tho&s;e in generall throughout this Kingdome, and tho&s;e in particular again&s;t whom ye now bear Armes. As for your fellow Subjects taken in the Generalitie throughout this Kingdome; if you do not know their mi&s;erable deplorable &s;tate and condition, as 'tis confe&s;&s;ed, you of this County have had the lea&s;t experimentall knowledge of the mi&s;erie of this Kingdome of any County within it, though you have contributed as much towards it as any, be plea&s;ed at your lei&s;ure to read but tho&s;e &s;ad and la|mentable de&s;criptions of the mo&s;t di&s;tre&s;&s;ed, and mo&s;t to be bewailed conditions of other people and Nations, as they are for our warning (if we had the grace to have taken it) here and there drawne ready to our hands by the finger of God in holy records; and then lay them together, and therein you may be|hold your poore fellow-&s;ubjects di&s;tre&s;&s;es and mi&s;eries, alreadie felt and further threatned, as lively repre&s;ented, as if they had been the prototypes, and the&s;e the ectypes or expre&s;&s;es, they the fir&s;t draughts and the&s;e the copies, or if you will, they the copies, after which our cur&s;t &s;chool-ma&s;ters have taught the in&s;laved &s;ubjects of this Kingdom to write, and that in their own blood; I will only point ye to &s;ome few, for your better direction in examining the re&s;t which are very numerous. <HI>I&s;aiah Chap.</HI> 3. <HI>from ver.</HI> 1. <HI>to ver,</HI> 10. <HI>and from ver.</HI> 12. <HI>to ver.</HI> 16. <HI>Chap.</HI> 9. <HI>from ver,</HI> 13. <HI>to the end. Chap.</HI> 19. <HI>ver.</HI> 2.3. <HI>Chap.</HI> 24. <HI>ver.</HI> 1.2.3. <HI>Chap.</HI> 34. <HI>ver.</HI> 2.3.5.6. <HI>Chap.</HI> 59. <HI>from ver.</HI> 2. <HI>to ver.</HI> 16. <HI>Jerem.</HI> 4. <HI>ver.</HI> 20.21.22. <HI>Chap.</HI> 4. <HI>from ver.</HI> 1. <HI>to ver.</HI> 18. <HI>and from v.</HI> 26. <HI>to the end. Chap.</HI> 6. <HI>from ver.</HI> 7. <HI>to ver</HI> 16. <HI>Ezek. Chap.</HI> 22. <HI>from ver.</HI> 4. <HI>to ver.</HI> 14. <HI>and from ver.</HI> 18. <HI>to ver.</HI> 23. <HI>and from ver.</HI> 25. <HI>to the end. Micah Chap.</HI> 2. <HI>from ver.</HI> 1. <HI>to ver.</HI> 12. <HI>and Chap.</HI> 3 <HI>throughout.</HI> I have directed you to &s;uch places as doe divers of them, record the &s;innes as well as the puni&s;hments of &s;uch and &s;uch people, becau&s;e they are the fore&s;t puni&s;hments, where any people are delivered up to commit &s;uch &s;innes, and &s;uch &s;innes are the a&s;&s;ured forerunners of the mo&s;t de&s;tructive mi&s;eries, as wel as the cau&s;es of them. And whereas I have cited but here and there a portion of Scripture, you can &s;carce turne ami&s;&s;e any where, where judgements are mentioned as inflicted or threatned, but what is &s;o mentioned, is either in part or in the whole alreadie fulfilled upon this Nation, or the fullfilling thereof within a little time, may be now ju&s;tly feared, there being &s;o little &s;igne
<PB N="38" REF="22">of repentance (the onely meanes to prevent it) to be found a|mong&s;t us.</P>
<P>And what County of this Kingdome hath ca&s;t in more to the filling up the mea&s;ure, either of this Nations iniquities or their other mi&s;eries, then you of this? And do ye think that ye &s;hall goe unpuni&s;hed? No, I pray God that you be not made to drink the very dregs of the cup of Gods <HI>fury and vengeance,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 51.17. <HI>Ezech.</HI> 23.</NOTE> and to <HI>wring</HI> or <HI>&s;uch them out</HI> as <HI>I&s;aiahs</HI> expre&s;&s;ion is: or as <HI>Ezekiet</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it, <HI>that thy &s;i&s;ters cup,</HI> (the cup of which the other parts of this Kingdome have alreadie drunk, and are now a drinking) <HI>be not given into thy hand, and thou made to drink deep and large, till thou be laughed to &s;corne and had in diri&s;ion, till thou be filled with drunkenne&s;&s;e and &s;orrow, with the cup of a&s;toni&s;hment and de&s;olation.</HI> Your late madne&s;&s;e and &s;otti&s;hne&s;&s;e in imbroyling your &s;elves in a new Warre, and in imbruing your hands in your Brethrens blood, when you might have avoided it, is a terrible &s;imptome of &s;uch drunkenne&s;&s;e.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jerem.</HI> 25.15, 16.</NOTE> And this brings me without a|ny interruption from the Con&s;ideration of the &s;tate and condi|tion of your fellow-&s;ubjects in Generall, to the con&s;ideration of tho&s;e your fellow-&s;ubjects in particular again&s;t whom ye now bear armes.</P>
<P>For Chri&s;ts &s;ake and your owne, con&s;ider well who they are, again&s;t whom yee are now ri&s;en with &s;o much and &s;o &s;trange fury and violence. Are they not &s;uch, as be&s;ides their being crea|ted after the Image of their Creator and yours, (an Argument of power &s;ufficient to deterre any that bear the &s;ame Image, from attempting ought again&s;t the blood of &s;uch, e&s;pecially if that one terrible &s;entence were but thought on.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 9.5, 6.</NOTE> AND SURE|LY THE BLOOD OF YOUR LIVES WILL I RE|QUIRE: AT THE HAND OF EVERY BEAST WILL I REQUIRE IT, AND AT THE HAND OF MAN, AT THE HAND OF EVERY MANS BROTHER WILL I REQUIRE THE LIFE OF MAN. WHOSO SHEDDETH MANS BLOOD, BY MAN SHALL HIS BLOOD BE SHED: <HI>for in the Image of God made he man.</HI>) Be&s;ides that, I &s;ay, are they not &s;uch as for whom Chri&s;t, who was the expre&s;&s;e Image of his Father, &s;hed his mo&s;t precious blood, and doe by their being Chri&s;tians, carry in them the Image of Chri&s;t? And doe you not tremble to &s;hed their blood for whom Chri&s;t &s;hed his? or can yee call your &s;elves Chri&s;tians, and yet per&s;ecute and mur|ther
<PB N="39" REF="22">tho&s;e whom Chri&s;t calls his, and that mu&s;t be acknow|ledged by your &s;elves, to be more his, then your &s;elves, if you would not mea&s;ure <HI>your &s;elves onely by your &s;elves,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10, 12. <HI>Acts</HI> 9.4. <HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 1.24.</NOTE> but by tho&s;e rules which Chri&s;t hath pre&s;cribed? why Chri&s;t accounts the <HI>per&s;pecuting</HI> and <HI>afflicting</HI> of <HI>&s;uch,</HI> as the <HI>per&s;ecuting</HI> and <HI>afflicting</HI> of <HI>him&s;elfe,</HI> and &s;o the &s;hedding of their blood will be reputed as the &s;hedding of his. To come a little neerer you, though no relation &s;hould be nearer or dearer to you, then that of Chri|&s;tian: Are they not Chri&s;tians of the &s;ame particular profe&s;&s;ion of Faith with you, at lea&s;t, &s;o many of you as call your &s;elves Prote&s;tants, and profe&s;&s;e to be of the &s;ame Faith with the e|&s;tabli&s;hed Church of England? And will ye take the Swords, Pi&s;tolls, Poynadoes, and other bloody in&s;truments out of the Je&s;uites and Je&s;uited Papi&s;ts hands, and clap them into your fellow-Prote&s;tants &s;ides, that they may hereafter with their knives cut your throats? Ye have indeed divers of you (that you might render them the more odious, and tho&s;e whom ye have ingaged again&s;t them the le&s;&s;e &s;u&s;picious, and the more bloody) rai&s;ed rumor upon rumour, lie upon lie, and &s;lander upon &s;lander, and ca&s;t them all upon them; particularly that grand cheating &s;lander, wherewith the poore people have been &s;o often fooled into blood, that the principall men a|mong them, by name the <HI>Earle</HI> of <HI>Norwich,</HI> and the <HI>Lord Ca|pell,</HI> are great Papi&s;ts; whereas the Kingdome knowes, (and &s;o do many of you that rai&s;ed and fomented that lie) that both the&s;e right honourable per&s;onages are as &s;ound, firme, re|ligious Prote&s;tants, as any in this Nation; and if you were but as farre from Poperie as they, you would both abhorre &s;o to bely them, and tremble to appeare in Armes again&s;t them. And what I &s;ay of tho&s;e two, may, I am confident, be avouched (and will be by tho&s;e that know them) of the re&s;t of tho&s;e Worthies that are with them, infinitely beyond what can be affirmed of the mo&s;t &s;elect Regiment, yea Troop that the ad|ver&s;e Army can cull out. But I &s;peake only of tho&s;e two, be|cau&s;e the people have &s;poken mo&s;t of them, and they are be&s;t knowne to mee; and indeed &s;o well knowne are they to mee, that I &s;hould have been more guilty of bearing fal&s;e witne&s;&s;e, then they of rai&s;ing &s;uch a fal&s;e report, had I not vindicated their Honours from &s;uch a notorious calumnie.
<PB N="40" REF="23">And now that they are named, &s;uffer me to interpo&s;e this one word more concerning them. If there be any thing be&s;ides their known loyaltie, that does exa&s;perate the factious &s;editious party again&s;t them, 'tis their eminent and approved firmene&s;&s;e and im|moveablene&s;&s;e in the Prote&s;tant Religion. And if they &s;hould mi&s;carry in this action (which I &s;hall with all earne&s;tne&s;&s;e and con&s;tancie, as all that wi&s;h well to this langui&s;hing Church and &s;tate ought to do, pray that they may not) the Prote&s;tants would find as great a lo&s;&s;e in them, as in any of their Peeres within the three Kingdomes. But I have &s;evered them too long from their honourable and ever to be honoured &s;ociety and fellow-Souldierie. Are they not all or the mo&s;t of them men of known, tried integrity and hone&s;ty, (and many of them your very next neighbours) and have they not &s;o proved them|&s;elves by their Declarations, Remon&s;trances, and actions? Do they not all profe&s;&s;e clearly, that they have and do ingage them|&s;elves in this pre&s;ent undertaking only for the defence and pre|&s;ervation of the e&s;tabli&s;hed Prote&s;tant Religion; for the deli|vering their Soveraigne from bondage and impri&s;onment, and from being murdered therein; for the re&s;toring of his Maje&s;ty to his lawful Government, ju&s;t rights, and throne in Parliament, for the maintenance of the known Lawes of the land, and the rights, Liberties and properties of their fellow-&s;ubjects; and for the procuring and &s;etling of a firme and happy peace in this mi|&s;erably divided and all mo&s;t utterly ruined Kingdome? would to God that the Army, which call them&s;elves the Parliaments when they plea&s;e, had declared, or would but yet declare halfe &s;o much, and give &s;uch a&s;&s;urance for the performance thereof, as tho&s;e Worthies will give; and then it might be hoped, that the&s;e unnaturall warres would &s;oone be ended; But when &s;o many of that Army have &s;o openly declared and proclaimed the contrary to all the&s;e; and &s;ome of them have been bold to &s;ay, that they fought neither for King nor Parliament; and that they had above &s;ixty thou&s;and to be at eight houres warning, to fight both again&s;t King and Parliament, and have given very ob&s;ervable earne&s;ts of their having too many in a readine&s;&s;e, by their &s;udden rai&s;ing &s;uch con&s;iderable Troopes and Regi|ments of &s;uch, and wholly &s;uch within very few daies. It is high time for all tho&s;e that would not bee gull'd, cheated, or forced out of all tho&s;e forenamed comforts,
<PB N="41" REF="23">and honours, to betake them&s;elves to their armes for their de|fence, maintainance and continuance. And what a &s;taine, &s;hame, and reproach, will it be to you of this Countie, and to your Po|&s;terities after you? That, when &s;uch men, of &s;uch knowne ho|nour and integritie, and of &s;uch approved firmne&s;&s;e and fidelity to their Religion, King, and Countrie (like tho&s;e renowned <HI>Worthies</HI> eternized by the Spirit of God to memory and imitati|on) <HI>jeoparded their lives to death in the high places of the field,</HI> for the defence and maintainance of tho&s;e very truths and rights,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Judg.</HI> 5.</NOTE> which ye your &s;elves have often &s;worne and prote&s;ted, and doe &s;till pretend and profe&s;&s;e, to defend and maintaine; and that a|gain&s;t the mo&s;t ba&s;e, perfidious, pernicious, &s;editious, trayterous, bloodie, tyrannous, profe&s;&s;ed and proclaimed Enemies thereof, yee not onely de&s;erted them, and came not out to their helpe, <HI>To the helpe of the Lord, again&s;t his</HI> and their <HI>adver&s;aries;</HI> but, ro&s;e up and came out again&s;t them, and ca&s;t in your lot with tho&s;e Adver&s;aries, that lay waite for blood, for the blood of Kings, Princes, Prie&s;ts and people,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 1.</NOTE> and <HI>lurke pri|vily for the innocent without a cau&s;e,</HI> not con&s;idering that by &s;o doing <HI>ye lay wait</HI> for your owne <HI>blood,</HI> and <HI>lurke privily for</HI> your owne <HI>lives.</HI> And &s;o my poore Countrey-men I come a little clo&s;er yet to your &s;elves, and to the con&s;ideration of your owne &s;tate and condition; and then I &s;hall commend you to Gods mercy, if by your repentance ye &s;hall render your &s;elves capable thereof.</P>
<P>How little you of this Countie have beene &s;en&s;ible of the mi&s;e|ries and di&s;tre&s;&s;es of your fellow Subjects and Brethren, and how much you have contributed to them, I leave to your owne con&s;cience to examine, and to your &s;elves, to judge your &s;elves for them. Only take the&s;e two conclu&s;ions along with you as two in&s;eparable con&s;equents of tho&s;e two premi&s;es. Fir&s;t, That mers not being &s;en&s;ible of their brethrens mi&s;eries,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Amos</HI> 6. <HI>from v.</HI> 2. <HI>to v.</HI> 12. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 22. <HI>v.</HI> 12, 13, 14. <HI>Jer.</HI> 4. <HI>v.</HI> 8, 10. u. <HI>and chap.</HI> 12. <HI>v.</HI> 11.</NOTE> and &s;o not taking warning by them, pulls &s;o much the more certaine and &s;ore judgments upon them&s;elves: they that remember not Texts of Scripture enough to that purpo&s;e, con&s;ult tho&s;e in the mar|gent. Secondly, That when God hath made u&s;e of any people to &s;courge others by, for their &s;innes and iniquities, (as he u&s;ually does of the wor&s;e, to &s;courge the better) he does con&s;tantly ca&s;t that his rod into the fire, and puni&s;h that people the more &s;evere|ly, by whom he hath &s;everely puni&s;hed others; and one princi|pall Rea&s;on thereof is, becau&s;e they, whom God makes u&s;e of as
<PB N="42" REF="24">his &s;courge to others, doe, with Gods cha&s;ti&s;ement or ven|geance for their &s;innes, con&s;tantly intermix their owne malice and other iniquities, in cha&s;ti&s;ing and taking vengeance on them. And this conclu&s;ion you have confirmed in each circum&s;tance by many remarkable and cleare examples, as one of the Bookes of the Prophets, namely, in <HI>Ezekiels</HI> Prophe&s;ie; As in Gods dealing with the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> the <HI>Moabites,</HI> and tho&s;e of <HI>Mount-Seir,</HI> the <HI>Edomites,</HI> and the <HI>Phili&s;tines, Ezek.</HI> 25. with tho&s;e of <HI>Tyrus,</HI> chap. 26. with tho&s;e of <HI>Zidon,</HI> chap. 28. with <HI>Pharoah,</HI> and all <HI>Egypt,</HI> chap. 29. and with the re&s;t of the <HI>heathen,</HI> chap. 36. All which people had beene at &s;everall times &s;courges to the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> and <HI>Judah,</HI> and are in that relation there called to an ac|count, adjuged by God to tho&s;e judgements. And though you may from the&s;e &s;ad conclu&s;ions &s;ee evidence enough of your ha&s;tning Calamities, yet there are other vi&s;ible &s;ymptomes of your approaching Mi&s;eries, which may perchance more awaken you, as crying yet &s;omewhat louder unto you, and at le&s;&s;e di|&s;tance, either to repent &s;peedily, or to expect &s;wift de&s;truction &s;ud|dainly. As fir&s;t, What thinke ye will be the inevitable con&s;e|quents of your late ingagement again&s;t tho&s;e <HI>Worthies</HI> of our <HI>David</HI> before, but never too often named, to their honour and your &s;hame, tho&s;e <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Heroes, tho&s;e Lords, Knights, Gentle|men, Yeomen, and others in renowned <HI>Colche&s;ter?</HI> the mo&s;t infe|riour of which companie carries better blood in their veines, be|cau&s;e untainted, then the proude&s;t Adver&s;arie that fights again&s;t them; and, I tru&s;t, God will pre&s;erve it as preciou&s;ly, and the Citie wherein they are. High, exceeding high alreadie is the Honour of that Citie, for being the Citie wherein <HI>Lucius, Hele|na,</HI> and <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> the fir&s;t <HI>Chri&s;tian King, Empre&s;&s;e</HI> and <HI>Empe|rour</HI> in the world, were borne; And it may plea&s;e the Lord in his mercie, notwith&s;tanding our multiplied iniquities crying &s;o loud for the contrarie, to ray&s;e its honour yet much higher, by ma|king it the Citie, wherein King <HI>Charles,</HI> the mo&s;t Religious of Chri&s;tian Kings, the E&s;tabli&s;hed Religion of the Church of <HI>Eng|land,</HI> the <HI>Helena</HI> or Empre&s;&s;e of Chri&s;tian Religion, and the In|comparable Lawes and Liberties of this Kingdome, which for e|quitie and Chri&s;tianitie de&s;erve the Crowne Imperiall of the World, &s;hall be pre&s;erved from ruine, and be re&s;tored to their pri&s;tine glory; The &s;ame Almightie God, that wrought that fir&s;t great Work in that Citie, is all-&s;ufficiently able, there, even there, to accompli&s;h this &s;econd. And we humbly be&s;eech him,
<PB N="43" REF="24">that neither their nor our &s;innes may &s;eparate betweene his ble&s;|&s;ing and their Loyall and Chri&s;tian indeavours to that purpo&s;e; and, whatever the &s;ucce&s;&s;e be, that that Citie, nor tho&s;e Wor|thies that are in it, may never want their due honour, nor his gracious protection and comforts. But &s;uppo&s;e the wor&s;t: Suppo&s;e that by your ingagement again&s;t that Citie, and tho&s;e Worthies in it, their Enemies &s;hould prevaile over them, to their and this whole Kingdomes further weltering in blood; mu&s;t not their and the re&s;t of the blood of this Kingdome be charged upon your &s;core? When as, if you had but &s;at &s;till, and not ingaged a|gain&s;t them, (as you were by many bonds, never to be cancelled, obliged to doe) there had not beene in all probalitie at this time any Enemies to Peace, or thir&s;ters after Blood, that dur&s;t to have &s;howne them&s;elves &s;o, throughout the whole Nation. And there|fore, what will God &s;ay or doe unto you, when he comes to make inqui&s;ition for blood, &amp; to avenge it? This is the bloody Coun|tie, that had Peace layd at their feet, and trampled on it; that had Peace brought home to their doores, and not onely &s;hut it out, but called to bloodie Warre to enter in; that had many thou&s;ands of their fellow Brethren and Neighbours, that would have ventured their lives to have pre&s;erved them in Peace, and they cho&s;e rather to lo&s;e many of their owne lives, to take away &s;ome of theirs. They loved not Peace, therefore it &s;hall be farre from them; they delighted in Warre, therefore &s;hall it cleave clo&s;e to them; and they thir&s;ted for blood, therefore &s;hall they be drunke with their owne blood. Doe not thinke that I &s;peake more in Gods Name, then I have warrant from Gods Word for; though ye have bin too long u&s;ed &s;o, and abu&s;ed by &s;uch lying Prophets. <HI>Search the Scriptures,</HI> and ob&s;erve from thence what God &s;peakes of the &s;hedding of blood, and you? I find that I &s;peak very &s;paringly, as having regard to your infirmities: For there God tells you, That &s;hedding of blood is one of tho&s;e crying &s;innes which makes <HI>a land to mourne, and every one that dwelleth therein to langui&s;h, Ho&s;.</HI> 4. <HI>v.</HI> 2.3. That <HI>blood defileth the land;</HI> and the <HI>land cannot be clean&s;ed of the blood</HI> that is &s;hed therein, or there can be no expiation for the Land, <HI>but by the blood of him that &s;hed it;</HI> and that, <HI>If a people would have God to dwell among them, they mu&s;t not &s;o defile the land which they inhabit, Numb.</HI> 35. <HI>v.</HI> 33.34. That the <HI>&s;hedding of innocent blood is &s;uch a &s;inne, that, of all other horrid &s;innes, the Lord will not pardon,</HI> 2 <HI>King.</HI> 24. <HI>v.</HI> 4. And therefore no &s;atisfaction was to be taken
<PB N="44" REF="25">for the life of a murtherer, which was guiltie of death, but he <HI>was to be &s;urely put to death, Numb.</HI> 35. <HI>v.</HI> 31. with a multitude of o|ther &s;ayings on that &s;ubject, that are to be trembled at by the Re|bellious Subjects of this Kingdome. 'Tis true, if a man killed any per&s;on unawares, there were <HI>Cities of refuge</HI> appointed by God for &s;uch a one to <HI>flye unto,</HI> from the <HI>avenger of blood;</HI> but Oh, my poore Countrey-men, what Cities of refuge can ye fan|cie to your &s;elves, who wilfully murther your brethren?</P>
<P>And what le&s;&s;e can the King &s;ay of you, then this, or to this effect? The Countie of <HI>Suffolke,</HI> 'tis the mo&s;t Rebellious Coun|tie of all my Dominions. For when one of my Kingdomes mo|ved not again&s;t me; when a &s;econd ro&s;e up for me; and when the third Petitioned for me from almo&s;t all parts, and tooke up Armes for me in mo&s;t parts, they of <HI>Suffolke</HI> neither Petitioned for me, nor moved for me, but ro&s;e up again&s;t me: and when Rebellion was expiring its la&s;t poy&s;onous breath, they hazarded their owne lives to prolong its life, and to pre&s;erve the lives of tho&s;e Rebells, that &s;eeke nothing more then to take away mine: When thou&s;ands of my Loyall Subjects were indeavouring to fetch me out of my Cruell Bondage and Impri&s;onment, then they helpt to be&s;iege and impri&s;on, to kill &amp; murther tho&s;e very Sub|jects; and when others with them were making what ha&s;te they could to &s;et my Crowne againe firme on my head, and to re|&s;tore me againe to tho&s;e Rights, Honours and Comforts, which I was wont to injoy, they did what they could to throw my Crowne back againe to the ground, and to keepe mine Honour &s;till in the du&s;t, and me from all hopes of enjoying any Rights or externall Comforts here in this life. Thus have they indea|voured to continue, and adde to my Mi&s;eries, who have there|fore indured &s;uch Mi&s;eries in &s;uch Extremities, becau&s;e I would not yeeld to the delivering up of them, among&s;t others, to ex|treme Slavery and Tyranny. <HI>Thus have they not onely fought a|gain&s;t me without a cau&s;e; but for the love that I had unto them, they take now my contrarie part, and have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my good will: But I give my &s;elfe unto Prayer. Stirre up thy &s;elfe, and awake to my judgement, even unto my Cau&s;e, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O Lord, according to thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and let them not rejoyce over me.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 35.</NOTE> <HI>Let them not &s;ay in their hearts, Ah, &s;o would we have it: Let them not &s;ay, We have &s;wallowed him up Let them be a&s;hamed, and brought to confu&s;ion together, that re|joyce at my hurt: Let them be clothed with &s;hame and di&s;honour, that
<PB N="45" REF="25">magnifie them&s;elves again&s;t me: Let them &s;hout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous Cau&s;e; yea, let them &s;ay continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath plea&s;ure in the prosperitie of his &s;ervant; and my tongue &s;hall &s;peake of thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and of thy pray&s;e, all the day long.</HI> Amen. Amen.</P>
<P>But what then will all the other Counties of <HI>England</HI> &s;ay of you? O bewitched be&s;otted Countie of <HI>Suffolke!</HI> They that had lived in peace and plentie all the&s;e times, when in the mo&s;t Coun|ties of this Kingdomes (like tho&s;e Territories &s;poken of by <HI>Aza|riah,</HI> 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 15.) <HI>there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in,</HI> but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the Countries, and Countries was de&s;troyed of Countrey, &amp; Citie of Citie; and that might &s;till have enjoyed tho&s;e mercies them|&s;elves, and have bin the happie in&s;truments of re&s;toring the like mercies to their Brethren, in other afflicted &amp; di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Counties: They, even they, have pulled Warre, and all the mi&s;eries and cala|mities that attend it, upon them&s;elves, and have prolonged and increa&s;ed the afflictions and di&s;tre&s;&s;es of other Counties: They, who were formerly honoured with that Eulogie of being alwayes forward in promoting the Go&s;pel,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fou. Act. and Mon.</NOTE> and had now an oportunitie of|fered them, of being the pre&s;ervers and deliverers of the Go&s;pel from &s;uch bla&s;phemous, hereticall, Antichri&s;tian reproachers, op|po&s;ers, and impugners thereof, as &s;carce any Nation, &s;ince the pro|mulgation of the Go&s;pel, were ever inve&s;ted with the like: They (and few others but they at that time) have joyned in a Confede|racie with tho&s;e reproachers, oppo&s;ers, and impugners of the Go&s;|pel, again&s;t tho&s;e who indeavoured with their lives and e&s;tates the vindicating and re-e&s;tabli&s;hing of it: They, that had bin informed, beyond further que&s;tioning, and a&s;&s;ured, beyond all doubting, of the horrid Plots, Con&s;piracies, and re&s;olved De&s;ignes of that Ar|mie, called the Parliaments, and their abettors, again&s;t the Libertie and Life of their Religion, again&s;t the Crowne and Life of their King, again&s;t the Power and Priviledges of Parliaments, again&s;t the Rights and Properties of the Subjects, again&s;t the Ju&s;tice and Equitie of the Lawes, yea, and again&s;t the very Orders &amp; Degrees of Men, and how farre they had proceeded in all the&s;e; in&s;omuch, that be&s;ides their former Oathes and Prote&s;tations taken for the oppo&s;ing of &s;uch, and bringing them to condigne puni&s;hment, they did very lately profe&s;&s;e and declare (for the generalitie of them) upon all occa&s;ions, and in all meetings, an univer&s;all abhor|ring and dete&s;ting of that very Armie, and their adherents, with
<PB N="46" REF="26">all their cur&s;ed wayes and cour&s;es: They, <HI>(O, what a bewitching &s;tupifying Devill is the Spirit of Rebellion)</HI> they have li&s;ted them&s;elves in the &s;ame Armie, fought for them, and with them, in the &s;ame encounters, run on with them in the &s;ame madne&s;&s;e, and given up them&s;elves to them, as their &s;laves and va&s;&s;als. And there|fore, <HI>O my &s;oule, come not thou into their &s;ecrets, unto their a&s;&s;embly mine honour be not thou united.</HI> Give them &s;hame for their honour, and let them that have bin &s;o fal&s;e to their owne King and King|dome, to their inexpre&s;&s;ible Dammages, if not Ruine, be removed into other Kingdomes for their hurt, to be <HI>a Reproach and a Pro|verb, a Taunt and a Cur&s;e, in all places whither they &s;hall be driven.</HI> The Lord of his mercie give you grace to prevent this &s;ad Cur&s;e from your neighbouring and other Counties, as al&s;o your Kings &s;ore di&s;plea&s;ure, and Gods heavie indignation before mentioned, and all by a &s;peedie returning to God, and your dutie, and doing tho&s;e things which belong to your peace, honour, and &s;afetie, and to the peace, honour, and &s;afetie of the per&s;ecuted Prote&s;tant Religion, your oppre&s;&s;ed King, and this otherwi&s;e peri&s;hing Kingdome.</P>
<P>I know there are very many among&s;t you, in this Countie, of very much Religion and Loyaltie, Honour and Hone&s;tie; O that God would but give you that Spirit and Courage which is requi|red in the exerci&s;ing of tho&s;e excellent indowments, and without which, tho&s;e excellencies will be of little benefit to others, or comfort to your &s;elves; nay, they will aggravate your &s;hame here, and your confu&s;ion hereafter: For your poore countrey|men will &s;ay (as many of them have alreadie &s;aid) If &s;uch and &s;uch had in due time &s;hewne them&s;elves to be what they &s;eemed, and wee thought them, wee had &s;hewne our&s;elves to have bin other then what we are now thought, and are. And you know, to whom God gives mo&s;t, of them he requires mo&s;t; and it will be le&s;&s;e tolerable, in the Day of Judgement, for tho&s;e that knew their Ma&s;ters will, and did it not, and had their Ma&s;ters favour, and made no good u&s;e of it, to his &s;ervice, then for others: therefore &s;tirre up the&s;e graces in you and improve them to your Lords be&s;t advantage. And truly, I doe not de&s;paire of many others of you, that doe now walke, or rather run, in mo&s;t de&s;perate wayes and cour&s;es: But if you &s;hall goe on, let me tell you what further Cur&s;es and Judgements doe yet threaten and hang over you; All the bloud (as I before intimated) that &s;hall be &s;hed by this your ingagement, by whom&s;oever it be &s;hed, will be ju&s;tly char|ged
<PB N="47" REF="26">upon you; and the Cryes and Cur&s;es of the Widowes and Fatherle&s;&s;e (made &s;o by your folly and madne&s;&s;e) and of the Fa|thers and Mothers made Child-le&s;&s;e, will crie loud in the eares of God again&s;t you: Woe unto that bloudie Countie, will &s;uch and &s;uch, and &s;uch a poore Widow &s;ay; for had it not bin for them, I had not bin now bere&s;t of my deare Husband, nor my poore Infants of their deare Father: Cur&s;ed be that Rebellious Coun|tie, will &s;uch and &s;uch, and &s;uch a poore Fatherle&s;&s;e Child &s;ay; for had it not bin for them, my honoured and tenderly loving Fa|ther, that had e&s;caped the Sword all the&s;e &s;ad Warres through till then, had then returned home in peace to my di&s;con&s;olate Mother and me, and wee had had peace ere this in all our bor|ders. For ever dete&s;ted be that pernicious Countie of <HI>Suffolke,</HI> will &s;uch and &s;uch, and &s;uch Parents &s;ay; for had not their Swords made us Childle&s;&s;e, wee had now enjoyed tho&s;e &s;weet Pledges of our Loves, and Comforts of our Age, which now wee are deprived of. O let not the &s;editious Countie of <HI>Suffolke,</HI> will Men, Wo|men, and Children &s;ay, be named among&s;t the other Counties of this Kingdome, but with &s;ome brand of infamie and di&s;honour; for had it not bin for them, our Swords had ere this bin turned into Sythes and Sickles, and our Speares into Rakes and Forkes, and we had bin reaping and gathering in our Corne and our Hay, and our other fruits of the earth, with joy and gladne&s;&s;e, and re|fre&s;hing and &s;olacing our &s;elves therewith in re&s;t and quietne&s;&s;e; whereas now our troubles &amp; feares are increa&s;ed, and we &s;ee little hopes of reaping ought, but the accur&s;ed fruits of their and our owne wicked doings; or if we &s;hould we have le&s;&s;e hope of en|joying it, but that others will eat it up, and devoure it: <HI>Reward thou them therefore, O Lord, as they have &s;erved us.</HI> 'Tis true none ought thus to imprecate vengeance on you, but to pray for you, which have thus de&s;pightfully u&s;ed them and theirs: but if in the bitterne&s;&s;e of their &s;oules &s;uch Cur&s;es, or Complaints to God a|gain&s;t you, &s;hall fall from them, and God &s;hall not &s;uffer them to fall to the ground, he him&s;elfe having denounced &s;uch Cur&s;es up|on &s;uch practi&s;es, and you by yours &s;o ju&s;tly de&s;erving them; poore &s;oules, what can ye plead for your &s;elves, or who will regard your plea?</P>
<P>Againe, as it is to be feared, that &s;ome will deliver ye up to God, for his avenging their &s;ufferings and wrongs on you and yours; &s;o it is not to be &s;lighted, what others may doe in pro&s;e|cuting their owne revenge on you: for how may every Countie
<PB N="48" REF="27">of this Kingdome be inraged again&s;t you, when they &s;hall &s;ee, that you thus de&s;ert them in all their endeavours and labours for Peace and Truth, and joyne with tho&s;e that are the vowed ene|mies of both? Who knowes, whether all the other Counties may not (like tho&s;e other Tribes of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> when the Tribe of <HI>Benja|min</HI> &s;truck in with tho&s;e &s;onnes of <HI>Belial,</HI> that had abu&s;ed the poore <HI>Levits</HI> Concubine, and refu&s;ed to deliver them up to Ju|&s;tice, when their Brethren demanded them, <HI>Judg.</HI> 20.) <HI>ari&s;e as one man, and come again&s;t you to battaile?</HI> And though, perhaps, like tho&s;e <HI>Benjamites,</HI> you give them a foyle or two at the fir&s;t, yet at the la&s;t, being the more incen&s;ed, <HI>&s;mite you with the edge of the Sword, as well the men of every Village, as the bea&s;t, and all that come to hand, and &s;et on fire all your habitations that they come to?</HI> The like &s;innes in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> and <HI>England,</HI> have beene often and of|ten puni&s;hed with the like puni&s;hments.</P>
<P>In the next place, thinke of the evill that is comming to you (though we hope it will be to the good, and peace, and happine&s;&s;e, of this whole Nation be&s;ides) <HI>out of the North, and that great de|&s;truction. Lift up your eyes</HI> (&s;aith the Prophet unto them of <HI>Judah) and behold them that come from the North; What wilt thou &s;ay when he &s;hall puni&s;h thee, (for thou ha&s;t taught them to be Captaines and chiefe over thee) Shall not &s;orrowes take thee as a woman in travaile? Jerem.</HI> 13. <HI>v.</HI> 20.21. The &s;ame may I &s;ay to you, word for word; and every one of you, if you will, may &s;ee cau&s;e enough why I &s;hould &s;ay &s;o. 'Tis often threatned in Scripture as an ag|gravation of judgements, That <HI>God will give up &s;uch or &s;uch a people into the hands of &s;trangers:</HI> And it mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed, That 'tis mo&s;t ju&s;t with God, to give you up into the hands of &s;tran|gers, who have &s;o unworthily de&s;erted your owne King, and fel|low Subjects: and the ju&s;tice of God will be &s;omewhat the more remarkable, in his giving you up to tho&s;e Northerne &s;trangers of all others; becau&s;e they were they, whom ye your &s;elves for|merly called in, and contributed &s;o liberally to their comming in to your a&s;&s;i&s;tance again&s;t your King, though ye pretended to them that it was to fight for him: And therefore now it mu&s;t needs be the more ob&s;ervable ju&s;tice both in God and them, that they &s;hould come in of them&s;elves to the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the &s;ame King, and his faithfull Subjects, again&s;t you, that de&s;erted him and them &s;o &s;hamefully, and have thereby di&s;covered your for|mer hypocri&s;ie. &amp; other iniquitie &s;o notoriou&s;ly. And let me fur|ther tell you, That, if tho&s;e Strangers &s;hould not avenge the King
<PB N="49" REF="27">and Kingdoms wrongs &s;ufficiently, 'tis to be believed, &s;ome other Strangers, more fierce, bloudy, &amp; cruell, &s;hal do it. For remember, I be&s;eech you, that famous and pertinent Story of Gods dealing with the men of <HI>Judah,</HI> when they de&s;erted their King, (though the mo&s;t wicked of Kings, <HI>Ahaz</HI> by name) becau&s;e he was brought low, and <HI>made a confederacie with tho&s;e two tayles of tho&s;e &s;moaking fire-brands, Rezin and Pekah. For that very cau&s;e</HI> (as God by his Prophet gives the Rea&s;on, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 8.) <HI>did the Lord threaten to bring up upon the men of Judah, the King of A&s;&s;yria, and all his ho&s;ts</HI> (called there <HI>his glory</HI>) compared to the <HI>waters of an over-flowing river, &s;trong, and many;</HI> and that he and they &s;hould <HI>pa&s;&s;e thorow Iudah, and &s;hould over-flow</HI> and <HI>goe over,</HI> and <HI>reach even to the neck, &amp;c.</HI> which was all accordingly done, as you may finde by comparing <HI>I&s;a. chap.</HI> 7. and 8. with 2 <HI>Chron. chap.</HI> 28. and 32. And do but ob&s;erve further, how God, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 8. from <HI>v.</HI> 9. to <HI>v.</HI> 16. &s;cornes and mocks at the men of <HI>Iudah's a&s;&s;ociating them&s;elves,</HI> and joyning their forces with others again&s;t their owne King; and how earne&s;tly he calls upon his Prophet, not to <HI>walke</HI> in the <HI>way of that people</HI> him&s;elfe, and to in&s;truct others not to joyn <HI>in confederacie</HI> with them, nor to <HI>feare their feare, nor be afraid,</HI> (which is the principall cau&s;e of &s;uch Rebellious Confederacies) but <HI>to &s;anctifie the Lord of Hosts, and to let him be their feare, &amp;c.</HI> promi&s;ing them &s;afetie that &s;hall avoyd &s;uch a Confederacie, &amp; threatning ruine to &s;uch Confederates, and to tho&s;e that joyn with them. So &s;pake &amp; did the Lord then, and he is the &s;ame Lord &s;till, &amp; changeth not; and they that commit the like &s;ins, may ju&s;tly fear the like puni&s;hmens. And now an&s;wer to that que&s;tion, which God by the &s;ame Prophet, though in another chapter, propounds unto you; unto you, my lamented Countrey|men, who have joyned in a Confederacie with tho&s;e, who (as the Prophet de&s;cribes them, with a <HI>woe to them prefixed, I&s;a.</HI> 10.) <HI>decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> which they have pre&s;cribed, <HI>to turn a&s;ide the needy from judgement, and to take away the right from the poore, &amp;c. that widowes may be their prey, &amp; that they may rob the fatherle&s;&s;e. What will ye do in the day of vi&s;itation, and in the de&s;olation which &s;hall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will you leave your glory?</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jer.</HI> 17. <HI>v.</HI> 5. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 5. <HI>v.</HI> 6</NOTE> Will you flee to the Army for &s;uccour? <HI>Cur&s;ed be the man that tru&s;teth in man, and ma|keth fle&s;h his arme:</HI> e&s;pecially &s;uch men, and &s;uch fle&s;h, that are them&s;elves &s;o neer a cur&s;e. But ye &s;hall not need to flee to them, for they will flee to you, or come to you, and will be the fir&s;t that will helpe to devoure you. For if the Army &s;hould &s;wallow up
<PB N="50" REF="28"><HI>Colche&s;ter,</HI> (which God of his mercy keepe them from) and &s;o <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI> be wholly wor&s;ted; where mu&s;t they give them&s;elves and their Hor&s;es the next bait, but in the well &s;tored hou&s;es and faire pa&s;tures of <HI>Suffolke?</HI> And who mu&s;t recruit their con&s;umed army with more men, but they who have furni&s;hed them with &s;o many? Give the Devill or any of his Imps but a little, &amp; that gives them power over all that ye have: and now that they have gotten you into the &s;ame way with them, they'l find allurements enough to draw you on, or fears enough to frighten you on, or force enough to drive you on, as far as they plea&s;e. Then if other Counties ri&s;e up again&s;t them, &amp; joyn with the Northern Army, which private as well as publike intere&s;t will per&s;wade them to, (unle&s;&s;e God &s;hould give them up to a reprobate &s;en&s;e, as he hath done &s;ome of you) <HI>Suffolke</HI> mu&s;t then be the Stage of War, at lea&s;t <HI>Suffolke</HI>-men mu&s;t be the chiefe Actors on that Stage; and to be &s;ure, the mo&s;t de&s;perate parts of that Tragedie will be put upon them, as hath bin alreadie practi&s;ed; though when ought of &s;poyle chanceth to fall to their lots (which is but a <HI>cur&s;ed lot</HI> God knows, like that of <HI>Achans wedge</HI>) the lots &s;hall be &s;o ordered, That the old Souldi|ers, that have born the heat of the day, will, like the Lyon in the Fable, challenge the prey as their due, and that by many Lyon-like arguments, as the poore bea&s;ts have lately found to their griefe.</P>
<P>Thus (like the <HI>broken &s;taffe of reed, Egypt to I&s;rael</HI>) the Army, if thou <HI>leane&s;t on it, will</HI> be the fir&s;t that will gall and <HI>pierce thee:</HI> and who can expect other,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 22. <HI>v.</HI> 2</NOTE> then that the <HI>treacherous dealer &s;hould deale treacherou&s;ly, and the &s;poyler &s;poyle?</HI> which the Prophet calls a <HI>grie|vous vi&s;ion.</HI> If any of you &s;hall complaine thereof, who will not be ready to return you an&s;wer in the Prophet <HI>Jeremiahs</HI> words? <HI>Ha&s;t thou not procured this unto thy &s;elfe? Thy way and thy doings have procured the&s;e things unto thee; this is thy wickedne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e it is vitter, becau&s;e it reacheth unto thine heart, Jerem.</HI> 2 17. <HI>&amp;</HI> 4.18. Nay, will not your own hearts return this an&s;wer to your &s;elves? <HI>And how then will ye be a&s;hamed of your tru&s;t and expectation, and of tho&s;e lying Prophets, and other Seducers</HI> that incited you thereto? Nei|ther will it be any ea&s;e to you at all, to &s;ay, Wee were per&s;waded and drawn on by &s;uch and &s;uch: for tho&s;e &s;uch are &s;uch, as ye will blu&s;h to name; It being no &s;mall addition to your &s;hame, that ye &s;hould &s;uffer your &s;elves to be gulled &amp; fooled by &s;uch unworthy, inferiour, ba&s;e fellowes, even tho&s;e of the <HI>lowe&s;t of the people,</HI> and <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> like to them; &s;uch as many of this Countie would former|ly have &s;corned to have &s;een in the &s;ame room with them, except
<PB N="51" REF="28">it had bin in a Shire-hou&s;e or Towne-hou&s;e, at a publike A&s;&s;i&s;e or Se&s;&s;ion; yea, &s;uch, as &s;hould they now be but pluckt and &s;tript of all that they have cheated and &s;tolne by Seque&s;trations, Collecti|ons of Exci&s;e, and other illegall Taxes, they would be the mo&s;t contemptible of Mon&s;ters.</P>
<P>Now adde to all the&s;e Judgements but one more, which me thinks I &s;hould not &s;peake of, nor any man of compa&s;&s;ion heare, without crying out with the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> once and againe; <HI>My loynes are filled with paine, pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travelleth: I was bowed downe at the hearing of it. I was di&s;mayed at the &s;eeing of it, my heart panted, fearfulne&s;&s;e affrighted me; the night of my plea&s;ure hath he turned into feare with me,</HI> chap. 21. v. 3, 4. or, as 'tis in the next chapter, <HI>v.</HI> 4. <HI>Looke away from me, I will weepe bitterly, labour not to comfort me,</HI> &amp;c. Behold, a terrible devouring Famine is ha&s;tning upon this Kingdome, &amp; this Coun|tie is mo&s;t likely to drinke deepe&s;t of that Cup of Gods furie, &s;o farre as Gods un&s;earchable Judgments can be gue&s;&s;ed at by mans &s;hallow rea&s;on and ob&s;ervation. How neere a Famine is to the doores of other Counties, is be&s;t knowne to God and them; onely this is knowne to every one, that knowes ought of Gods Word and wayes, That when God hath brought the Sword upon a peo|ple, to avenge the quarrell of his Covenant, and that people doe not repent of their tran&s;gre&s;&s;ing his Covenant, but in&s;tead thereof tran&s;gre&s;&s;e it more and more (as we have generally done in all Counties of this Kingdome, for ought that I could either &s;ee or heare) 'tis Gods u&s;uall cour&s;e then to &s;end both a Plague and a Famine too upon &s;uch a people, that they may devoure what the Sword &s;pares. So God profe&s;&s;es to doe, <HI>Levit.</HI> 26. and <HI>Deut.</HI> 28. and in &s;undry other places.</P>
<P>But for this Countie, unle&s;&s;e we &s;hut our eyes (as we have done too often) we cannot but &s;ee a &s;ore Famine already at our doores, and ready to breake in upon us &s;uddenly. The Sword we drew our &s;elves again&s;t our &s;elves, when it would have bin otherwi&s;e, in all likelyhood, quiet; and &s;ince we drew the Sword, God &s;eemes to have bent his Bow in the Clouds, as it were with the Bend to|wards us, as though, upon our forgetting our Covenant with him &s;o much, he would forget his Covenant with us &s;o farre, as to de|&s;troy us with Raine, though he never will again de&s;troy the world &s;o. Never was this Countie &s;o richly furni&s;hed with all &s;orts of Graine in their fields, and they &s;o hopefull, as they were this yeare, which makes me to feare a Famine the more; for when
<PB N="52" REF="29">God intends to bring his fore Judgements upon a people, he u&s;u|ally takes that for his time, when men lea&s;t thinke of any &s;uch thing, and when there is mo&s;t expectation to the contrarie, which renders his Judgements &s;o much the more &s;ore: as when there is mo&s;t &s;hew of peace and &s;ecuritie, then does God, if provoked, commonly bring the Sword; and &s;o, when there is mo&s;t expecta|tion of plentie and fulne&s;&s;e, that time does God make choy&s;e of to &s;end a Famine: becau&s;e, as I but now &s;aid, the Judgement is mo&s;t &s;ore, when the contrarie is mo&s;t expected; and then al&s;o is the hand of God mo&s;t &s;eene in it, and the Judgement be&s;t di&s;cer|ned to be from his hand: which are the two principall rea&s;ons that &s;ome later learned Divines have given, from S. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> and o|thers, why God &s;ent the generall Deluge in the Spring time, when all things were in their flouri&s;hing glory, and the Sea&s;on mo&s;t un|likely for &s;uch a Floud. But to returne (if this be a digre&s;&s;ion) to what I was &s;aying; Never was this Countie &s;o richly furni&s;hed with all &s;orts of Grain, and they &s;o hopefull, as they were this year, till they began to imbrue their hands in their brethrens blouds; and &s;ince that, even from that very time (if the ob&s;ervation of many more, be&s;ide my &s;elfe, doe not faile us) the Lord hath cau&s;ed it to raine upon the&s;e parts (what&s;oever it hath done upon other) in &s;uch a manner and mea&s;ure, and for &s;o many dayes to|gether, as the like hath &s;carce ever been, or at lea&s;t hath not been tran&s;mitted to us by any tradition or record that I could meet with: in&s;omuch, that the faire-promi&s;ing chearefully flouri&s;hing Corne-fields of this Countie are now likely to afford little other Harve&s;t, but what (as the Prophet &s;ometimes threatned) <HI>will be an heape in the day of griefe and de&s;perate &s;orrow.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 17.11.</NOTE> And what then will ye doe, when the Armie hath devoured that little which remaines of your old &s;tore, and con&s;umed what they can get of your new? for they will be fir&s;t &s;erved, though you &amp; all yours &s;tarve. Other Counties will be &s;o far from &s;upplying your wants, if they &s;hould be able, that they will &s;carce pittie them or you; and a command|ing Navie at Sea will hinder all foraine Kingdoms from bringing any reliefe to you, and you from &s;etching any from then. Then, perhaps, when your children &s;hall <HI>crie for bread,</HI> and ye have none to give them, <HI>and they &s;hall &s;woone away in the &s;treets,</HI> or poure out their &s;oules <HI>into their mothers bo&s;omes;</HI> when your comely Wives and Daughters, who&s;e countenances were faire and comely, &s;hall have Vi&s;ages blacker then Coales; and when ye and your &s;onnes &s;hall looke &s;o thin and ga&s;tly, that ye &s;hall not be known to tho&s;e
<PB N="53" REF="29">of your familiar acquaintance: then, perhaps, you will think, tho&s;e that dyed by your &s;words, in a better condition then you &amp; yours, that lived to peri&s;h by Famine 1 then, perhaps, you will di&s;cerne betwixt the times of having a King, and the times of <HI>having none, but every man to doe that which is right in his owne eyes:</HI> then, per|haps, tho&s;e Rulers of yours, that made you fir&s;t to crie, and at la&s;t to howle, may be as great an abhorring to you, as they are now a delight: then, perhaps, the <HI>feet of them which have preacht Peace unto you,</HI> may be again thought <HI>beautifull;</HI> whereas, for &s;ome years, their very faces have bin looked on (if deigned a Look) by divers of you as loath&s;ome and odious, and had all the dirt throwne on them that you could rake together: then, perhaps, tho&s;e Lands and Tithes of the Church, which &s;ome of you have &s;wallowed, and others gaped after, will be thought rea&s;onable, as well as ju&s;t, to be re&s;tored againe, when you feele &s;uch a &s;ore Cur&s;e upon your owne lands, and the fruits thereof, for the &s;acrilegious robbing of God and his Church of theirs: then, perhaps, tho&s;e lying Pro|phets, which beguiled and &s;educed you into Faction, Sedition, and Rebellion, and &s;o brought the Sword, Plague, and Famine upon you, will be a&s;hamed of their lying Vi&s;ions and Prophe&s;ies, and either flye the Land, or, if any of them &s;hall prophe&s;ie in it, <HI>their owne fathers and their mothers that begat them, may &s;ay unto them, ye &s;hall not live,</HI> &amp;c. as ye may reade their doome, <HI>Zech.</HI> 13. and then the true Prophets may receive &s;ome honour againe: then, per|haps, tho&s;e loyall Subjects, that are now branded with the names of Malignants, may once againe be thought worthy of better Ti|tles; and tho&s;e, now &s;tiled the well-affected, may appeare to be what they are, the mo&s;t pernicious of Rebels: Then the Saints of the&s;e times may be di&s;covered to be little better then Devils, and tho&s;e, now bla&s;ted with the epithites of Popi&s;h and Popi&s;hly af|fected, may approve them&s;elves the mo&s;t Religious Prote&s;tant Chri&s;tians: Then Peace it &s;elfe may be as amiable, and de&s;irable, as 'tis now hatefull and contemptible; and then he, that deale; thus faithfully and freely with you, in telling you of your &s;innes; and fore-warning you of the&s;e mi&s;eries, will be thought as ho|ne&s;t and con&s;cientious, as he is now deemed by &s;ome impudent and pre&s;umptuous. But my earne&s;t and con&s;tant prayer to God for you (my bewayled Countreymen) &s;hall be this; That God would be plea&s;ed in mercie &s;o to open your eyes, eares, &amp; hearts, to &s;ee, heare, and under&s;tand all tho&s;e things, and what&s;oever el&s;e belongs to your Peace and Salvation, that you may by a &s;peedle
<PB N="54" REF="30">repenting of your &s;innes, and returning to your dutie, prevent and avoid the dreadfull remaines of Gods Judgements further threatned, and get tho&s;e alreadie inflicted &s;uddenly removed.</P>
<P>Without repentance, it is impo&s;&s;ible that any thing which ye doe &s;hould be accepted; much more impo&s;&s;ible is it, that ought which ye &s;uffer, &s;hould be removed; for Gods Judgements &s;hall accompli&s;h their end for which God &s;ends them, either conver&s;i|on or confu&s;ion. A removall there may be, and often is, of this or that particular Judgement, where the &s;innes that cau&s;ed it are not repented of; but if God intend mercie to &s;uch, other Judgements or Cha&s;ti&s;ements are inflicted, and they are by them brought to repentance; or el&s;e the removall of Judgements is a &s;ore Judge|ment, and the a&s;&s;ured fore-runner of de&s;truction; as might be at large &s;hewne, if need were. What other way &s;oever therefore ye think to take, you will finde your &s;elves, as hitherto ye have, farre out of the way of obtaining what you de&s;ire and expect, if your de&s;ires and expectation be &s;uch as be&s;eeme Chri&s;tians: and if ye doe <HI>get out of one fire</HI> (as the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it) <HI>another fire &s;hall devoure you.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 15.7.</NOTE> But if ye &s;hall repent and turne to the Lord, and doe that which is ju&s;t and right;</HI> be &s;ure the Lord will both accept you and what ye doe, and forgive what ye have done ami&s;&s;e, and <HI>with-hold no good thing from you,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 7.14. <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 6.2.</NOTE> that may conduce to the healing either of you, or the Land wherein ye live; as I &s;hall be readie further to demon&s;trate to any that &s;hall require it. Be intreated therefore, my deepely afflicted, and of me mo&s;t compa&s;&s;ionately affected, Countreymen, as ye love either your Religion, your King, your Countrey, your Honour, your owne comforts, or the comforts of any of yours; your pre&s;ervation in this world, or your &s;alvation in the world to come. O be intreated to remem|ber and practi&s;e what I in the fir&s;t place recommended to you, and doe now againe, in the la&s;t place, by the bowels and mercies of Chri&s;t Je&s;us beg of you, <HI>Repent, Repent.</HI></P>
<P>And if any of you do di&s;tru&s;t or doubt of the Kings pardon and acceptance of you, or of your fellow Subjects firm and loving re|conciliation with you; If that which I have &s;aid to that purpo&s;e, doe not &s;ufficiently &s;atisfie you, be plea&s;ed to imploy me (if ye have no other &s;ervant more fit &amp; worthy, for ye have none more affectionate and faithfull) in that &s;ervice for you; and I &s;hall ei|ther lo&s;e my life in procuring of it, or re&s;ign it up willingly into your hands, to be di&s;po&s;ed of at your plea&s;ure, if I doe not bring you an ingagement under hand and Seale from all tho&s;e men of
<PB N="55" REF="30">Honour and worth, either now in <HI>Colchester,</HI> or in the Northerne Army, for their undertaking to &s;tand between you &amp; all &s;uffering for whatever is pa&s;t, either from or by the King, or any of his par|tie; and to live and dye with you, and for you, in defending you again&s;t all the malice &amp; power of his, &amp; their, and your Enemies. And be&s;ides this, if you plea&s;e to honour me with that tru&s;t, I doubt not but his Highne&s;&s;e, the Prince of great <HI>Britain,</HI> will fa|vour me with &s;o much acce&s;&s;e, as to receive by my hands any rea&s;onable Propo&s;itions for the giving you his a&s;&s;urance of medi|ation to his Royall Father, and protection, till his Royall Father can grant you what you &s;hall, for the further a&s;&s;urance of your own peace and &s;ecuritie, rea&s;onably de&s;ire; and to returne by the &s;ame, or other hands of more honour, that his a&s;&s;urance under his own hand &amp; Seale. This I pre&s;ume, not out of any favour that I have de&s;erved from his Highne&s;&s;e, but out of my knowledge and experience of his Highne&s;&s;e deep &s;en&s;e &amp; compa&s;&s;ion of this King|domes unhappie &amp; unnaturall divi&s;ions &amp; di&s;tractions, his religi|ous pronene&s;&s;e &amp; readine&s;&s;e to imbrace all oportunities of com|po&s;ing and quieting them, and his unparalell'd graciou&s;ne&s;&s;e and goodne&s;&s;e in forgetting former wrongs, and in incouraging to fu|ture duties.</P>
<P>I had much more to have written: but I feared that my enlar|ging this warning might render the time of pre&s;enting it le&s;&s;e &s;ea|&s;onable, and the particulars them&s;elves &s;o pre&s;ented le&s;&s;e accepta|ble and &s;ucce&s;&s;efull. And for that which I have written, I &s;hall be ready (through Gods inabling me) further to confirme by my Pen again&s;t all gain-&s;ayers, and, if there be cau&s;e, to &s;eale with my bloud again&s;t all oppo&s;ers. If ought of circum&s;tance hath &s;lipt from me, that &s;hall be thought by any &s;ober Chri&s;tian, either too plain or too bold, let that partie con&s;ider, that he that &s;peakes to men in a deep and almo&s;t a dead &s;leep, mu&s;t not only &s;peak plain,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 58.1.</NOTE> but <HI>cry aloud and &s;pare not, lifting up his voyce like a trumpet<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">:</HI> And he that will &s;hew a people their tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions and their &s;ins, mu&s;t call each &s;in and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion by its proper name, and doe his ut|mo&s;t to &s;et it forth in its own colours. A reprover to an impudent and rebellious generation, had need to be&s;eech God to make <HI>his face &s;trong again&s;t their faces,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 3. <HI>v,</HI> 7, 8, 9.</NOTE> and his <HI>forehead &s;trong</HI> again&s;t their <HI>foreheads.</HI> And if, that con&s;idered, there &s;hall &s;till remaine ought that may &s;eeme to any &s;uch unbe&s;eeming or uncharitable, I &s;hall upon information thereof humbly beg pardon for it both of God and that man, how meane &s;oever, whom it &s;hall offend. I know
<PB N="56" REF="31">well the danger of appearing in this manner in the&s;e times, and in the&s;e parts e&s;pecially; and I could as ea&s;ily have avoided it, having otherwi&s;e given ample te&s;timony of my dutie, and of my con&s;ci|enciou&s;ne&s;&s;e to perform it in &s;pight of oppo&s;ition. But <HI>I</HI> remem|bred, and often ruminated that complaint of God, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 13. <HI>v.</HI> 4, 5, 6, <HI>&amp;c. O I&s;rael, thy Prophets are like the Foxes in the de&s;erts; Ye have not gone up into the gaps, or breaches, neither made up the hedge for the hou&s;e of I&s;rael to &s;tand in the battell in the day of the Lord. They have &s;een vanitie, and lying divination; &s;aying, The Lord &s;aith, and the Lord hath not &s;ent them; and they have made others to hope, that they would confirme the word, &amp;c.</HI> The Fox-prophets, and the Lying-prophets, are in that complaint coupled together. And therefore, as I have alwayes abhorred Lying, and Lying-prophets, &s;o I ever thought it my dutie to dete&s;t Shifting, and playing the Fox-prophet; and rather, as I fir&s;t &s;aid, then I would be found guiltie of others bloud, by not giving them warning, I re&s;olved to hazard mine own in the giving it; thinking it an eternall &s;taine &amp; &s;hame to us the Clergy of this County, that &s;o many among&s;t us of that Calling, &s;hould ply you &s;o clo&s;e, &amp; incourage you &s;o much, to the &s;hedding of your Brethrens blood, and that not one of us &s;hould appeare to deter you from it, by &s;hewing you the infinite danger of it, and the mi&s;eries that are attending it. And now, my fairly-warned Countrey-men,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 25. <HI>Deut.</HI> 30.19</NOTE> <HI>Whether ye will heare, or whether ye will forbeare, ye &s;hall know that there hath bin a Prophet among you, who hath &s;et before you this day life and death, ble&s;&s;ing and cur&s;ing.</HI> But my prayer &s;hall be, that ye may &s;o heare what hath been told you by your unworthy, but faithfull &s;ervant, that ye may choo&s;e <HI>life,</HI> that you and your &s;eed may live; and &s;o live in obedience to your God, in con&s;tancie to your Religion e&s;tabli&s;hed, in Allegi|ance to your King, and in love to your fellow Subjects and Bre|thren; that you may out-live your Nations mi&s;eries in much peace and comfort; your names out-live you in much &s;weetne&s;&s;e and honour; and your &s;oules out-live, or live with your names in eternall bli&s;&s;e and glory. So prayes, and remaines at your com|mands and &s;ervice, &s;o farre as con&s;i&s;tent with Gods,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours, <HI>LIONEL GATFORD.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
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