<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2010-03-04</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Pip Willcox</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch Z100210.pdcc.</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="A90921">
<STC T="W">P3137</STC>
<STC T="T">E320_8</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99861282</BIBNO>
<VID>159021</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y"><!-- PDF PAGE 107 -->
<P>THE VINDICATION OF Colonel General POYNTZ, AGAINST The fal&s;e and malicious Slanders &s;ecretly ca&s;t forth again&s;t him; As in a Letter to a Friend of his, and a Ser|vant to the State, doth appear.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>Edward Husband,</HI> Printer to the Honorable Hou&s;e of Commons. February 3. 1645.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="2"><!-- PDF PAGE 108 -->
<PB REF="2"><!-- PDF PAGE 108 -->
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_I Received your Letter, wherein you have &s;hewn not onely love, but fidelity to your Kin&s;man, in that your freedom of advice and information, in both which I cannot &s;ay whe|ther I have the greater occa&s;ion of thanks for your goodne&s;&s;e, or &s;orrow for other mens malice, in a&s;per&s;ing him, who by an unfeigned heart and dili|gence hath &s;ought to &s;erve them. Yet me thinks when I con&s;i|der what per&s;onages of fidelity and honour have been abu&s;ed by &s;ecret Emulations, and the unworthy Scandals of weak and light &s;pirits; I begin to que&s;tion with my &s;elf, Who am I, that I &s;hould be thus troubled at this fatall vanity, and in &s;uch a time, when even the community of all things at pre&s;ent &s;eems to &s;uffer under it.</P>
<P>Indeed, were not the tyranny of envious and depraving tongues become almo&s;t univer&s;al, I had not wanted all rea&s;on for complaint; but &s;eeing the Di&s;ea&s;e is grown &s;o Epidemical, too much &s;ence thereof in me a particular per&s;on, would ren|der me not only too partial, but even ridiculous, which invites me to be as patient of the affront, as I am hopele&s;&s;e of reparati|on; That alone which &s;ticks with me, beyond the &s;trength of removal, is, That the&s;e fal&s;e whi&s;perers have in&s;inuated the&s;e palpable untruths into the ears of divers in the Parliament, this very Parliament under whom I &s;erve, from whom I have received &s;uch te&s;timonies of tru&s;t and favour, the actions of whom I do not alone honour but admire, And for whom I &s;hall with all quietne&s;&s;e and re&s;olution &s;ubmit me to the ex|treame&s;t &s;ufferings of life and fortune: When therefore I con|&s;ider my &s;elf pre&s;ented to them in &s;o rude and fal&s;e a vizard, without any pretence of merit, this I confe&s;&s;e cuts me deep, even to the very &s;oul, and compels me to &s;toop &s;o much to the importunities of truth and mine own con&s;cience, as to think it no mi&s;expence of time, to give a true an&s;wer to the particulars
<PB REF="3"><!-- PDF PAGE 109 -->of tho&s;e reproaches ca&s;t upon me.</P>
<P>I ob&s;erve the fir&s;t wedge by which the&s;e di&s;creet Engineers have &s;ought to rend me, is matter of Religion; as though I neither were religious my &s;elf, or re&s;pected it in other men; wherein, to challenge to my &s;elf perfection, were more then Phari&s;aical, yet I may take the leave not only to &s;ay, but truly to aver this, That I ever did, and tru&s;t ever &s;hall &s;incerely love and honour both Religion and religious men, and do profe&s;&s;e, that generally I have and do value hone&s;ty beyond meer abi|lities, even in my own element as a Souldier, and &s;hould ac|knowledge my &s;elf truly convicted, might but one Example be produced, of that hone&s;t man whom I have not countenan|ced and loved again&s;t all oppo&s;ition. Truly it hath been my grief, that for publique duties &s;ake as well as private helps and conveniency, I never had a Chaplein allowed me to my Re|giment, &s;ince I was honored with the &s;ervice of the Parlia|ment, although I have &s;olicited and intreated the &s;ame from eminent and worthy Members of the Hou&s;e; yet I never was (I thank God) without one, although in three moneths time be &s;carce ever re&s;ted from a march on the Sabbath day, the ne|ce&s;&s;ity of the publique Service, and the ju&s;t regards I owed to the Enemies motions and endeavours compelling me there|unto. I have given &s;o much obedience to advantage and op|portunity, that many times the exigency of Action requiring much di&s;patch, I have been cen&s;ured as ra&s;h by &s;ome who pre|tend to more Souldiery, then their Experience can make them capable of: Certainly, if any nece&s;&s;ities are to be yielded un|to, tho&s;e of a Souldier may challenge place, where the obliga|tions of life and fortune run on equal hazards, and in the action it &s;elf, I rather care to &s;erve the State then to plea&s;e mens fan|cies, wherein I may &s;ay, that had I not neglected Objections and Scruples, but been guided by the &s;afe contemplations of &s;ome, the Kings army of hor&s;e had been yet unfought withall by this under my command. I know very well how u&s;ele&s;&s;e an army is without care and providence, yet when action &s;hall be converted into &s;peculation, and to be then coun&s;elling
<PB REF="3"><!-- PDF PAGE 109 -->when we &s;hould be doing, is but indeed to undo all; For the lo&s;&s;e of time is a mi&s;take of &s;uch a nature, as many times to fail once, is to be undone for ever.</P>
<P>For the other Objection, That I am an oppre&s;&s;or of the country; This is a fal&s;hood &s;o notorious, that I call to witnes the Gentlemen of all Committees in my march from York|&s;hire throughout the greate&s;t part of England; nay I call the people them&s;elves to witne&s;&s;e, Whether ever I a&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the country for Six pence; and Whether I have not even be|fore them in the head of an army given &s;trict order to the con|trary, letting them know, my coming to them was for their pre&s;ervation, and that I was bound by my tru&s;t to &s;ee no inju|ry &s;hould be offered them; all that was de&s;ired, was no more but a nights quarter upon our march, which with abundant cheerfulne&s;&s;e and love they offered; neither knew I how to &s;pare this, unle&s;&s;e I knew how to compound with the nature of men and bea&s;ts, who mu&s;t have food for their pre&s;ent &s;ub&s;i|&s;tence: That &s;ome Offences may have been committed, I will not take upon me to deny, but yet as much again&s;t my Orders and De&s;ires as any mans living; yet when I con&s;ider the te|dious marches, accompanied with continual and hard duty, and comparing the pay with the pains of the&s;e Forces, me thinks it de&s;erves admiration as much as cen&s;ure; and how I endeavour here to prevent di&s;orders, that all armies labour un|der, and which the want of pay doth produce, I refer to the judgement and report of the Gentlemen in the&s;e parts re&s;i|ding with me.</P>
<P>There is yet a more bla&s;ting and &s;pightfull report, not &s;o weak as purely fal&s;e, which is, That I &s;hould a&s;&s;ume the Title of <HI>Excellency,</HI> on purpo&s;e to draw the Curtain of Envie upon me; this I do with all openne&s;&s;e di&s;claim and prote&s;t, I have been, am and will be, &s;o far from the vanity of &s;uch Ambition, that whenever it &s;hall plea&s;e the Parliament to command me, I will with as much faithfulne&s;&s;e as alacrity trail a Pike un|der that honored and gallant Gentleman, Sir <HI>Thomas Fairfax,</HI> where that Title meets with proportionable merit: And as
<PB REF="4"><!-- PDF PAGE 110 -->my conver&s;ation is plain and open, &s;o my Accu&s;ers &s;hall &s;ince neither my heart or actions incline to &s;o much pride, as once to own &s;o vain a Contemplation.</P>
<P>I ob&s;erve where the tongue hath once broken the limits of its own Sphere, like parralell lines it runs on for ever, el&s;e how can any man cloath him&s;elf with &s;o much and &s;o brazen im|pudence, as to report me a debaucht per&s;on, for be&s;ides that reverence I owe to God, I cannot as a Gentleman of quality, &amp; that honor the Parliament hath thought me worthy of, &s;toop to any meanne&s;&s;e that way; for if they mean by drink, I mu&s;t acknowledge the con&s;titution of my body will not allow it, as being much accu&s;tomed to another climat, that very &s;eldom or never admits it, be&s;ides my di&s;po&s;ition by nature (I wil &s;ay nothing of my continual &amp; re&s;tles imployments) doth oppo&s;e it; &amp; if they mean by women, I beleeve he that knows I have not bin in a bed the&s;e 4 months, unles in my &s;icknes at <HI>Noting|ham,</HI> would ea&s;ily excu&s;e me &s;hould I be &s;o unju&s;t to my own Innocency as not to deny it; and moreover the daily Ala|rums and re&s;tle&s;&s;e pains I undergo, may be thought a &s;uffi|cient cooling card for &s;uch folly, for all tho&s;e that know my cu&s;tome and propen&s;ion, let it be by any creature living made appear, that ever I u&s;ed the lea&s;t incivility or behaviour that might not &s;quare with the &s;trict rules of temper and ho|nour, and will acknowledge my &s;elfe guilty of what ever the malice of the&s;e people can invent again&s;t me; and here I take God to witnes who knowes my thoughts as well as acti|ons, that even herein I am as clear and innocent as any man that lives, and when the Reporter &s;halbe found out, I dare ap|peal to him to give judgment of his own fal&s;hood; for &s;eeing I am &s;eldom (I may &s;ay never alone) I mu&s;t challenge all or any u&s;ually with or about me to vindicat or accu&s;e me of this Scan|dal, which I do not more deny then &s;corn and abhor: Yet as if the&s;e were not &s;ufficient, I am like to be rackt betwixt two contrarieties, for I perceive &s;ome there are who di&s;like me, as over civil to the adver&s;e party, when as the Enemy them|&s;elves have bound their companions under &s;evere execra|tions,
<PB REF="4"><!-- PDF PAGE 110 -->never to give me quarter if they can take me; in either &s;en&s;e I &s;peak it with confidence, I never did any thing which became not a Gentleman, and a Souldier of tru&s;t. Har&s;hnes and cruelty to an enemy under mercy and power, favours as much of a mean di&s;po&s;ition, as over-much courting and faw|ning doth of lenity and ba&s;ene&s;&s;e; I hold a military lawfulnes in that which &s;uits with the honour, as well as the advantage of tho&s;e to whom I am a &s;ervant. Neverthele&s;&s;e it &s;eems my curte&s;ie runs not throughout my actions, for by &s;ome I am cen&s;ured as over &s;evere to tho&s;e under my command, whil&s;t others are plea&s;ed to throw their critici&s;mes upon my familia|rity, as proceeding from too much ea&s;ine&s;&s;e, and how a man may &s;erve the&s;e contradictory judgements, I &s;hould be glad to learn, e&s;pecially &s;eeing I am repre&s;entd to a third man in as &s;everal Colours as the Gla&s;&s;es of oppo&s;ite fancies can di&s;|cover. I &s;hall confe&s;&s;e, that being accu&s;tomed to a formal di&s;cipline &s;o long beyond Sea, I may &s;eem hard to tho&s;e who know no better; yet &s;eeing it hath plea&s;ed God to pro&s;per the Force under my guidance, I may &s;ay, that unle&s;&s;e di&s;ci|pline were &s;ometimes u&s;ed, I am too &s;en&s;ible what the i&s;&s;ue of tho&s;e actions had long &s;ince been, which hath in &s;ome mea&s;ure rendred them&s;elves acceptible.</P>
<P>There is yet one great my&s;tery more concerning me reveal|ed, which is, that I am a Papi&s;t. Of all the re&s;t I am lea&s;t troubled at this Rumor, it being in the power of &s;o many thou&s;ands to Vindicate me, who have been witne&s;&s;es of my con&s;tant Profe&s;&s;ion, which from my fir&s;t years, according to the In&s;tructions of this my Native Countrey, have been in the Reformed Prote&s;tant Religion, and accordingly have for many years been an Elder of the <HI>Dutch</HI> Church, as is very well known. Neither indeed could I devi&s;e the rea&s;on of this &s;u&s;pition, till of late I finde it to be, becau&s;e I &s;erved the Em|perour again&s;t the Duke of <HI>Saxony,</HI> and for my Service was Knighted in the Field; wherein I mu&s;t &s;ay, That Duke car|ried Him&s;elf &s;o di&s;ta&s;tful in that Quarrel to divers Prote&s;tant Princes; that were I again a meer Souldier of Fortune, and
<PB REF="5"><!-- PDF PAGE 111 -->to chu&s;e &s;ides, I &s;hould fight again&s;t &s;o much fal&s;hood as the Duke &s;hew'd in the pro&s;ecution of that Quarrel; and of what Religion the Duke of <HI>Saxony</HI> was, or whether of any, is to me as yet unrevealed, however the world might &s;tile him; for indeed his fighting was point of Intere&s;t, not Religion. In all Wars there are and will be Factions, and even in this, mine ears have heard &s;everal Conte&s;ts managed with more height and ferver then became the merits of the Argument: For mine own part, I came with an intent to fight, not to di&s;pute for the State, and &s;o the Profe&s;&s;ion of Religion be rectified, and the means of Salvation clear and open, for the forms of external Di&s;cipline; I am prepared to ob&s;erve the Directions and Commands of the Parliament, without in|tere&s;sing my &s;elf unnece&s;&s;arily in &s;uch Conte&s;tations. And however it hath plea&s;ed the fancy of the&s;e Defamers in &s;uch gro&s;&s;e untruths, thus to Scandalize an hone&s;t man; yet ac|cording to your Councel, I will go on in this Service with all cheerfulne&s;&s;e, and though I have received &s;uch di&s;cou|ragements from my very fir&s;t entring into this Command, as will hardly be equalled, yet when I ob&s;erve the judgement of the Parliament to be right towards me, I am re&s;olved to break through all difficulties to advance their Service: For as the Ju&s;tice of that Cau&s;e they maintain is a &s;ufficient &s;pur to all hone&s;t intentions, to put all to the la&s;t hazard; &s;o their particular favours and obligations to me, &s;hall force me through the&s;e petty ob&s;tructions to approve my &s;elf, what you know me, an Engli&s;h|man and a Gentleman. For my care and fidelity, the Lord look upon me according to the hone&s;ty of my intentions and poor endeavors, and di&s;|cover truth from fal&s;hood; and then I que&s;tion not but the time will come, when an hone&s;t man may be thought upon an&s;werable to his tru&s;t; and the&s;e Back biters and unprofitable Slanders receive their merits. For your love and faithfulne&s;&s;e in this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, I de&s;ire you to per&s;wade your &s;elf, there is none who &s;hall more thankfully acknowledge it upon the advantage of all occa&s;ions, then</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><HI>Stoake,</HI> <DATE>Jan. 20. 1645.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED><HI>Your a&s;&s;ured loving Kin&s;man and faith|ful Servant,</HI> Sydnham Poyntz.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
