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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A PLEA FOR THE PARLIAMENT, OR, CONSIDERATIONS FOR The &s;atisfaction of &s;uch, who are apt to be mi&s;-led by a Malignant Party again&s;t the <HI>PARLIAMENT,</HI> With a palpable and evident Declaration of their chiefe&s;t De&s;ignes therein.</P>
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>insignia</FIGDESC>
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<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed in the yeere, 1642.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="treatise">
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<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD><HI>A PLEA for the PARLIAMENT, OR, CONSIDERATIONS</HI> for the &s;atisfaction of &s;uch, who are apt to be mi&s;-led by a <HI>Malignant party</HI> again&s;t the <HI>PARLIAMENT,</HI> with a palpable and evident Declaration of their chiefe&s;t de&s;ignes therein.</HEAD>
<P>_FOra&s;much as it appeares, that a malignant party hath endeavoured to rai&s;e up &s;trength and to take up Armes again&s;t the <HI>Parliament,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting of the King Lords and Commons of the land, and to increa&s;e their number by many and fal&s;e reproachfull calumnies ca&s;t upon them, &s;ugge&s;ting unto people many di&s;-joynted and invalid po&s;itions to en&s;nare the minds of men, and although by the late Remon&s;trances there is &s;ufficient &s;atisfaction given to every ju|dicious and intelligent Reader; yet fora&s;much as the&s;e Remon&s;trances are many in number, and each of them relating to &s;ome particular oc|currences or other preceding, &s;ome people having &s;een them all, others but &s;ome of them, and others none at all; and for as much as many almo&s;t in all places, both in pulpits, di&s;cour&s;es, and otherwayes, (friends to the Popi&s;h party) have and do daily endeavour to &s;tir up a mo&s;t ingratefull and unworthy di&s;re&s;pect unto the <HI>Parliament,</HI> who may once learne bet|ter, when better taught by the <HI>Parliaments</HI> la&s;h. There are therefore the&s;e con&s;iderations pre&s;enting them&s;elves to every mans view, being almo&s;t nothing but what is obvious to every mans knowledge, and for the mo&s;t part evident in all the late Remon&s;trances.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that men would con&s;ider, when it plea&s;ed God after many Prayers and Petitions of the people to grant this <HI>Parliament,</HI> what were the complaints of the whole Kingdome in matters both of Church and State, and the mi&s;erable oppre&s;sions of mens con&s;ciences and properties.</P>
<P>Secondly, con&s;ider what the <HI>Parliament</HI> hath done with great difficul|ties to accommodate the de&s;ires of the people in this behalfe, in &s;uppre&s;|&s;ing the power of tyrants over mens con&s;ciences. Sin taking away all of|fen&s;ive and &s;uper&s;titious innovations in granting liberty to all pari&s;hes to choo&s;e Lecturers, in opening the mouthes of our godly Mini&s;ters, in taking away the power of oppre&s;&s;ing and tyrannicall Courts of Lordly
<PB N="4" REF="3"> Prelates in choo&s;ing a learned a&s;&s;embly of many godly and able Mini|&s;ters for the &s;ettling of mens judgements, and the healing of the many divi&s;ions and un&s;ound opinions among&s;t us in matters of Religion; and for mens properties how &s;ome delinquents this way have bin puni&s;hed, and others detected evill Mini&s;ters of Ju&s;tice (by whom righteous and ju&s;t cau&s;es have mi&s;carried to the undoing of many p<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">o<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter"> widdowes, fatherle&s;&s;e and others, are partly removed, and in a faire way of recei|ving their demerits; <HI>hip-mone<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">, <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters">t</HI> and <HI>Con<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">u<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1+ letters">-moneys <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">a<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ents</HI> almo&s;t for every thing to the daily draining and oppre&s;sing of the &s;ubject) are all taken away; and con&s;ider al&s;o whether any one thing hath beene tran&s;lated or proportion made by them, which doth not <HI>in tuitu proprio,</HI> loooke at the future peace and good of the Kingdome.</P>
<P>Thirdly con&s;ider, whether if this pre&s;ent <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">arliament</HI> &s;hould unhappily be di&s;countenanced di&s;couraged or di&s;&s;olved (which God forbid) we &s;hould ever have the like, or any; or if by vertue of the act for the <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">r<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">ani<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ll Parliament</HI> there &s;hould be another whether any man bearing good will to the Common-wealth being cho&s;en, would be encouraged there|unto and &s;o either wee &s;hould have none at all or if any, &s;uch an one which in&s;tead of a remedy &s;hould be an inlet of all mi&s;ery into the Land.</P>
<P>Fourthly, con&s;ider how Kingdomes abroad in the world are governed without <HI>Parliaments,</HI> where <HI>Voluntas regis</HI> is <HI>Lex populi,</HI> the plea&s;ure of the King is the rule of the Kingdome, and the precipitancie of this King|dome al&s;o before this <HI>Parliament,</HI> into all oppre&s;sion and mi&s;erie through the deceitfull &s;ugge&s;tions and in&s;inuations of wicked Coun&s;ell about his Maje&s;tie; and whether we are not looked upon as the envie of other kingdomes by vertue of this onely inheritance of ours.</P>
<P>Fifthly, con&s;ider into what mi&s;ery, blood and di&s;traction, wee had plunged our &s;elves two yeeres &s;ince (The two nations of <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Sc<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">tland,</HI> imbruing them&s;elves, and weltring in one anothers blood) had not the wi&s;dome of the <HI>Parliament</HI> then pre&s;ent (con&s;i&s;ting for the mo&s;t part of the &s;ame Members as this doth) denyed the levying of moneyes for the main aming of that warre which &s;hould for ever make us thank|full for and mindefull of a <HI>Parliament</HI> benefit.</P>
<P>Sixthly, con&s;ider that whereas the <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> Profe&s;sion and the &s;ub|jects liberty, is pretended in all things; what good intent either can or could here be to the one or to the other, either in tho&s;e former differen|ces between us and our brethen, the <HI>Scots,</HI> or the pre&s;ent divi&s;ions in this Kingdome when <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> and popi&s;h per&s;ons were then the chiefe Com|manders (for the mo&s;t part) in the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Armies and <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> now and Popi&s;h per&s;ons and <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> who&s;e continuall a&s;&s;ertions are wounds and blood and God damne me or heavens damne me, if wee be not reven|ged upon the&s;e round-heads (a nick-name que&s;tionle&s;&s;e, originally
<PB N="5" REF="3"> &s;prung up from &s;ome block-head, having neither wit nor rea&s;on in it) the&s;e are the maine abettors, provokers, projectors and actors in the&s;e divi&s;ions, whether the&s;e aime at the <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> Religion, whatever they call the <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> Profe&s;&s;ion except it be <HI>Poper;</HI> in all things, &s;upremacy onely excepted, or the &s;ubjects libertie, let every man of the meane&s;t capacity judge.</P>
<P>Seaventhly con&s;ider what tampering there hath beene this two or three yeares to rai&s;e up civill Warrs among&s;t us in the three Kingdoms, Fir&s;t between Us and the <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">c<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">t<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> then, that now &s;o rife in <HI>Ireland,</HI> and a|mong&s;t us divers times, as when the Army in the <HI>North</HI> was plotted to be brought up again&s;t the <HI>Parliament,</HI> and of late the bold peremptory and unparalleld contempt and reproach ca&s;t upon the Hou&s;e of Com|mons by tho&s;e unworthy Cavileers which accompanyed his Maje&s;tie to the Hou&s;e of Commons at the accu&s;ation of the five Members, their cruelly abu&s;ing cutting and mangling of the Citizens, their endeavour to rai&s;e up a party at <HI>King&s;ton</HI> upon <HI>Thames.</HI> and now al&s;o to do the like in the <HI>North,</HI> all tending to Civill Warres and mutinies among&s;t us, and whether the &s;ame &s;pirit which worketh &s;o hott in <HI>Ireland,</HI> hath no factors in <HI>Scotland,</HI> and among&s;t us in <HI>England,</HI> let all men that have the right facultie of di&s;cerning judge, and whether they that endeavour to rai&s;e up Civill Warrs in a Kingdome can ayme at the good of that Kingdome let every man that hath not lo&s;t the u&s;e of rea&s;on determine.</P>
<P>Eightly, con&s;ider what unheard of mi&s;erie, barbarous crueltie &s;avage inhumanitie is exerci&s;ed upon the poore Prote&s;tant party in <HI>Ireland,</HI> by that bloody Popi&s;h Partie and how far tho&s;e that endeavour to make a partie again&s;t the Parliament, are acted by the &s;ame de&s;ignes, let tho&s;e judge &amp; con&s;ider who either have or will read the <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Remon&s;trance, and ob&s;erve how the&s;e di&s;tractions at home (occa&s;ioned by the unhappy divi&s;ions and di&s;tance of his Maje&s;tie through wicked Coun&s;ell from his Parliament) encourage the Rebells and hinder the Prote&s;tant cau&s;e there, whereas a happy concurrence between the King and Parliament might in an ordinary way through Gods mercy have &s;ubdued tho&s;e wicked Rebells long &s;ithence</P>
<P>Ninthly con&s;ider what reproach, &s;candall and &s;corne we &s;hall bring upon our whole nation and po&s;terity for ever if we &s;hould c<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">e a Par|liament and becau&s;e they will not &s;uffer us to be made &s;laves even for their faithfulne&s;&s;e and love unto us (when happily their own particular &s;afety and per&s;onall Preferment might be better advantaged if they &s;hould de&s;ert us) if for this we &s;hould ri&s;e up again&s;t them and contend &s;trive and fight for an Iron yoak of perpetuall bondage and mi&s;erie, and whether God may not in di&s;plea&s;ure and ju&s;tice, give us up hereunto, who &s;hall &s;o lightly e&s;teeme and &s;o &s;otti&s;hly improve that opportunitie, which (long look'd for) he hath now put into our hands; and if our po|&s;terity
<PB N="6" REF="4"> will not cur&s; the time that ever it entred into our hearts &s;o to do.</P>
<P>Tenthly, con&s;ider how it can &s;tand with our <HI>Prote&s;tation,</HI> to take up Arms again&s;t the whole body of the Kingdom, repre&s;ented in the Parli|ament and the Laws of the Land, which wee are all bound by oath to &s;tand to, to the utmo&s;t of our lives, liberties and e&s;tates &amp; wherin the ho|nour and pre&s;ervation both of King and Kingdome doth con&s;i&s;t, and which of tho&s;e do breake their oath, either tho&s;e that pretending the Kings Prerogative take up Arms again&s;t the whole Kingdom repre&s;en|ted in the Parliament: or tho&s;e that &s;hall endeavour to &s;uppre&s;&s;e &s;uch a malignant party. The King him&s;elfe having alwaies prote&s;ted, that for his part (taking God to witne&s;&s;e) he de&s;ireth nothing more then the peace and pro&s;perity of Religion and Kingdom.</P>
<P>Eleventhly, con&s;ider whereas lawes and &s;tatutes are pretended, as if the Parliament &s;hould do many things illegally, even again&s;t the King with this &s;ugge&s;tion, that then its high time for the &s;ubjects to looke to their properties and liberties, whether are to be believed, what is law: ei|ther that partie that &s;hall affirme this, or that to be law and will not ap|peare to maintaine their a&s;&s;ertions (the King profe&s;&s;ing him&s;elfe to be no lawyer, and therefore his affirmations are nothing el&s;e but the mi&s;in|formations of others) or the Parliament, the makers of new, and inter|preters of the old laws, who have all the Judges and chiefe&s;t Lawyers in the Land to advi&s;e withall, taking this with us, that <HI>Salus Populi e&s;t Suprema lex?</HI> And whether both the law of the Land and the good of the &s;ubject was not pretended in all the patenti granted, as appeares in the &s;everall Proclamations for the &s;ame purpo&s;e, yea, and in all the high commi&s;&s;ion and Starre chamber Courts, (for it had been as much as a mans eares, libertie and e&s;tate had beene worth, to have affirmed the contrary) and if it were &s;o, let the whole Kingdome judge.</P>
<P>Twelfly, con&s;ider whether that all the whol&s;ome Lawes Benefits and Liberties of the &s;ubject this day have not beene the birth and fruits of <HI>Parliaments</HI> and whether the <HI>Parliament</HI> hath not alwaies been the &s;anctu|ary and refuge for all that have beene unju&s;tly oppre&s;&s;ed and abu&s;ed, and what remedy could be had by any other appeales what&s;oever, when through the wickednes of evill Mini&s;ters of Ju&s;tice, the &s;trength of a mans pur&s;e, rather then the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of his cau&s;e, hath alwaies been the <HI>b<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">num om<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">n,</HI> the certaine promi&s;ing token of good &s;ucce&s;&s;e: con&s;ider therefore, whether we &s;hall not go about to &s;top, yea to dry up all the &s;prings of our legall Priviledges, having &s;uch long and happy experiences of the benefits thereof, and whether it ever entred into the heart of any of our Predece&s;&s;ors excepting the <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> to do the lea&s;t in|jury to Parliaments.</P>
<P>Whereas it is objected again&s;t the Parliament, that they are furious, &s;editious, malicious again&s;t the King and his Royall care, that under
<PB N="6" REF="4"> other pretences of dangers of farraine and dome&s;ticke enemies, they take up Armes again&s;t the King, that they endeavour to de&s;troy the Lawes of the Land, and Religion among&s;t us: con&s;ider whether that the&s;e, and greater then the&s;e a&s;per&s;ions, were not ca&s;t upon our bre|thren, the <HI>Scots,</HI> the odious names of Traytors, Rebels, Factious. Se|ditious, &amp;c. were ca&s;t upon them, it had beene almo&s;t death for any man to have affirmed the contrary; and yet when things came legally to be debated, all proved otherwi&s;e, and his Maje&s;ty him&s;elfe did ac|knowledge the contrary; and there is no que&s;tion but (tho&s;e wicked incendiares betweene his Maje&s;tie and his <HI>Parliament,</HI> being once re|moved) there will be a cleare and mutuall apprehen&s;ion and right un|der&s;tanding betweene his Maje&s;ty and his <HI>Parliament,</HI> to the mutuall joy and comfort, both of his Maje&s;ty and his well affected Subjects in the three Kingdomes, and con&s;ider whether it is not to be doubted, that the &s;ame fire-brands of combu&s;tion among&s;t us now, be not tho&s;e that were formerly between us and our neigbour Nation, and whether they be not in the &s;ame de&s;ignes of confu&s;ion of both Nations &s;till, alter|ing onely the method; beginning in <HI>England</HI> now, with hopes to end in <HI>Scotland,</HI> whereas they formerly begun there, with purpo&s;es to end here.</P>
<P>Thirteenthly, con&s;ider, that whereas many incon&s;iderately and others maliciou&s;ly &s;ugge&s;t thus again&s;t the <HI>Parliament,</HI> that their reme|dy is wor&s;e then their di&s;ea&s;e, for they are ea&s;ed of their taxations of &s;hillings by Impo&s;itions of pounds, &s;ub&s;idie upon &s;ub&s;idie, pole-mony, monies adventured, monies lent, &amp;c. But let &s;uch con&s;ider, that the di&s;ea&s;e being mortall, the cure may be the more &s;marting, yet the more &s;alutiferous; and they are not alwayes the wor&s;t <HI>Phi&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ians</HI> that advi&s;e often <HI>phlebotomie,</HI> or <HI>blood-letting</HI> for a de&s;perate di&s;ea&s;e, the veines may fill againe, when the heart is whole, which &s;incking, the man dies, when the veines are full.</P>
<P>It is true, much hath beene done this way, but God is not behind hand with us, we have had our pennyworths for our penny already;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Witnes the Remon|&s;tra~ce of the State of the Kingdome &s;et forth by both Hou|&s;es, the 15. of <HI>Decemb.</HI> 1641. page 16.</NOTE> that which the <HI>Parliament</HI> hath done (through Gods mercies) menti|oned in the &s;econd Con&s;ideration is worth more than our co&s;ts and charges; Moreover, it is not unknowne, that the very <HI>Ship-money</HI> did co&s;t the Kingdome above two hundred thou&s;and pounds a yeere, <HI>Coat</HI> and <HI>Conduct Money,</HI> and other <HI>Millitary</HI> charges, little le&s;&s;e than that, few of the <HI>Monopolies</HI> did prejudice the Subjects above a million yeerely, the <HI>Soape</HI> a hundred thou&s;and pounds, the <HI>Wine</HI> three hundred thou&s;and pounds, the <HI>Leather</HI> could be little le&s;&s;e then both, the <HI>Salt</HI> could be no le&s;&s;e then that; all the&s;e, with many other inferiour <HI>Monopolies</HI> are taken away, and becau&s;e that with the &s;ame &s;hew of Law, Ju&s;tice and Rea|&s;on, the Subjects might have beene drained to the utmo&s;t penny that they were worth, the&s;e procuring the chiefe&s;t places and offices, who
<PB N="7" REF="5"> were mo&s;t cunning in devi&s;ing new de&s;ignes of oppre&s;&s;ing the &s;ubjects, therfore the roote of all the&s;e wrongs (which is more beneficiall then all the re&s;t) which was an arbitrary power pretended to be in his Maje&s;ty, of taxing the &s;ubject and charging their e&s;tates without con&s;ent of <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">arli|ament</HI> is now declared to be again&s;t law by both hou&s;es and likewi&s;e by an act of <HI>Parliament</HI> con&s;ider al&s;o that the&s;e pre&s;ent taxations are but for the pre&s;ent, and in a legall way and nothing &s;o great as the former: and for the recovering of poore bleeding <HI>Ireland;</HI> and the &s;aving of this &s;ha|king and &s;taggering Kingdom from ruine and de&s;truction</P>
<P>And when men have parted with &s;o much as they would once have given to be freed from the High Commi&s;&s;ion Rods, and Star|chamber la&s;h being under them, (as every man might expect to have been) for that which neither Gods nor mans Law calls &s;inne, nay when men have given as much as they would to be freed from &s;lavery, as much as the poore <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tants would give to be freed from the cruelty of tho&s;e bloodhound Papi&s;ts, nay a&s;much as their wives children, e&s;tates lives, Go&s;pell is worth (for all lies bleeding) let them then com|plaine of their hard bargaine and not before: And as for tho&s;e wicked &s;landerers of that faithfull a&s;&s;embly, who cannot indure to think that o|thers would deale more hone&s;tly then them&s;elves in the like tru&s;t, that give out as if they would convert the publique &s;tock for their per&s;onall gaine, a cleare and ju&s;t accompt being given herein to the whole King|dom, it is to be hoped, that &s;uch &s;hall be made publique examples for &s;uch publique &s;landers.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, con&s;ider whether (among&s;t others) there be not a three fold ground of the proceedings again&s;t the <HI>Parliament</HI> according to the three fold condition of the chiefe actors in the&s;e divi&s;ions, who are <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> depending Gentlemen, preferred to high places and offices, who&s;e poli|cy rather then hone&s;ty, hath been their ri&s;e hereunto, and de&s;perate Ca|viliers, who&s;e good husbandry it is to put all upon their backs and &s;hift for their bellies.</P>
<P>FIr&s;t, the <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> &s;ee now and well perceive, that the <HI>Parliament</HI> making progre&s;&s;e according to their beginnings will take away the lea&s;t hopes of ever e&s;tabli&s;hing that <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Religion here among&s;t us: yea, and take away the very ground worke of future <HI>Plots</HI> and <HI>Projects</HI> this way: and therefore it &s;tands them now upon, <HI>Summo labore</HI> with all might and maine to adventure upon any de&s;igne, (though never &s;o de&s;|perate) and to give out them&s;elves in their e&s;tates lives and livelyhoods, <HI>u&s;&abque; ad extremum,</HI> to the utmo&s;t that they can, and therefore now though <HI>Ie&s;uites,</HI> &s;hould be hang'd by the halfe dozens, they will adventure, for now or never mu&s;t the <HI>Pope</HI> up or downe in this Kingdome, and he would not willingly loo&s;e his hopes here, though a thou&s;and of his
<PB N="9" REF="5"> <HI>Ie&s;uites</HI> &s;hould hang for it, for indeed if men would receive it, that is the quarrell in the land, whether <HI>Michael</HI> or the <HI>Dragon, Chri&s;t</HI> or the Pope &s;hall get &s;afe&s;t footing in this I&s;land, and let any &s;eeing man look back upon all for|mer proceedings, and con&s;ider, who hath beene prefer|red to the highe&s;t places in the Church? what their carriage hath been therein? how the Preaching of the Word (the con|founding weapon of Antichri&s;t) hath been &s;uppre&s;t? what &s;u|per&s;titious innovations hath been introduced; who have been promoted into the chiefe&s;t places in the Vniver&s;ities, what pro|portion there hath been with the Ma&s;&s;e-hou&s;es, in candle&s;ticks; tapers, coaps, bla&s;phemous pictures of God &amp; the holy Trinity, crucifixes, cro&s;&s;es, &amp;c. fir&s;t in the Bi&s;hops Chappells, then in all the Cathedralls of the Kingdome, then by little and little in every Pari&s;h; Again, What hath been their proceedings at their Commi&s;&s;ion courts? and what their plot was in their cur&s;ed late <HI>Canons,</HI> and the <HI>Et c<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">tera</HI> Oath? and then let him give his Judgement in the point, whether Popery hath not been the marke they aymed at?</P>
<P>Secondly, for the depending Gentlemen, advanced to high places and Offices, who&s;e aims will hold proportion with that of Cardinall <HI>Wool&s;ey (for me and my King)</HI> making his Maie&s;tie but the Prie&s;t, and &s;carce paying his tithes out of all their pre|tendings, their Ma&s;ters profit, who&s;e veines are full of the blood of the Fatherle&s;&s;e and the W<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">dows, and who&s;e hou&s;es are built with the ruines of poore innocents, who regard more the ble&s;|&s;ings and favours of men, then the cur&s;es of the Almightie for the<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">r oppre&s;&s;ion and crueltie, the&s;e al&s;o know, and well per|ceive now, that if the Parliament proceed according to their beginnings, they &s;hall not only be expo&s;ed to the Ju&s;tice of their former demerits, but al&s;o loo&s;e the lea&s;t hopes of any fu|ture favour or practi&s;e, becau&s;e con&s;cious to them&s;elves of an utter impo&s;&s;ibility in them <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">o ever of becomming hone&s;t men, who from their fir&s;t beginnings of preferment, have ca&s;hiered out of their thoughts the feare of God, a good con&s;cience, and the day of Judgement; and therefore they mu&s;t either run be|yond &s;eas, betake them&s;elves to &s;ome mean condition or other, (for the Parliament they'le have none but iu&s;t men, who&s;e pro|ceedings
<PB N="10" REF="6"> in all their Mini&s;trations mu&s;t be by the rule of Ju&s;tice and a good con&s;cience, which is unto them a paradox) or el&s;e they mu&s;t give out their utmo&s;t endeavours to the rooting up of this Parliament.</P>
<P>Thirdly the Cavaleers, who&s;e lands, hou&s;es, revenues and e&s;tates are above in the Ayre; who make great brags of the dan|gerous attempts they have adventured by &s;ea and land; who&s;e greate&s;t danger of drowning hath been in an Ale-tub or Wine|tubbs, or of &s;mothering by the &s;moake of Tobacco; yet they know that it is good fi&s;hing in troubled waters, and that <HI>Eng|land</HI> is full of brave Booties, therefore they be&s;tir them&s;elves, and have &s;carce the patience to forbeare their prey till oppor|tunity &s;erves their turne, who are all for the pre&s;ent; and as for the other world, they have pa&s;t the dreadfull &s;entence again&s;t them&s;elves, which is <HI>(hore&s;co referens)</HI> God damne me; The&s;e three &s;orts are the leaders and provokers of a partie again&s;t the Parliament, and incendiaries between His Maie&s;tie and them: Let the whole world of indifferent men iudge and &s;ee, if the&s;e be not the Parties, and whether the&s;e be not their grounds, and yet the&s;e are the men looked upon, as the only Loyall Subiects, and others as Malignant unto the honour, peace and pro&s;perity of the King and his Royall race; Whereas they can give no Te&s;timony of their re&s;pects unto his Maie&s;tie, but by &s;uch cour|&s;es, practi&s;es and coun&s;ells, which alienateth affections between him and his be&s;t Subiects, wherein con&s;i&s;ts his honour and &s;trength, who are willing to give out their hearts and hands, pur&s;es and e&s;tates, prayers and teares in his behalfe; and the God of all knowledge &s;hall one day iudge and di&s;cover, who&s;e heats have been mo&s;t loyall to our dread Soveraigne, either of the one or the other.</P>
<P>As for tho&s;e Noble men who&s;e ab&s;ence from the Parliament is an encouragement unto this Malignant partie, if they come under the two fir&s;t rancks of Popi&s;h, or dependent men; there is no more to be &s;aid but this: Their gathering toge<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">her, and appearing in &s;uch cour&s;es, is a pregnant te&s;timony and iu&s;tifica|tion of what hath been &s;aid of tho&s;e two &s;orts, namely; That their de&s;igne is, <HI>Summo Conatu,</HI> to root up the Parliament lea&s;t the Parliament &s;hould root up them; but if there be any not un|der
<PB N="11" REF="6"> the&s;e rancks, certainly either their ingenuitie is to labour for pacification, and a happy making up of that Breach be|tween his Maie&s;ty and his Parliament, or el&s;e their Nobility is <HI>mero titulo,</HI> ittle Noble blood runs in their veines, and Heathens them&s;elves may throw &s;tones at them, who&s;e progenitors have been rendered famous by their heroick acts for their Coun|tries care.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="conclusion">
<HEAD>From all the&s;e Con&s;iderations, this may be well inferred.</HEAD>
<P>THat if ever wee would improve our &s;elves, for God, the King, the Kingdome, lives, lawes and liberties, our &s;elves and poore po&s;teritie, if we would not &s;ee our flouri&s;hing Ci|ties made ruinous heapes, our peace and plenty turned into blood and Famine, our deare&s;t Wives ravi&s;h'd and ript up be|fore our faces, our tender childrens braines da&s;h'd again&s;t the &s;tones, our mutuall trading turned into violence and Robbery, our &s;weet enioyments of all relations unto murders, rapes, cru|elties upon them all, If in a word we would not have the line of <HI>Germany</HI> and <HI>Ireland,</HI> to be &s;tretch'd over our good Land; If we have any love to the Go&s;pel of life and &s;alvation, that the Arke of God may not depart, and mi&s;ery come in upon us, as we would not be expo&s;ed to the power and mercies of the bloody Papi&s;ts, the badge of who&s;e Arch-leader (the Devills fir&s;t-borne) the Pope, his garments made red with the blood of the Saints, Let every man in his &s;tation &s;tudy peace and union, and endeavor all meanes of pacification, abhorring the very thoughts of ever taking up Armes again&s;t either King or Par|liament, but to the utmo&s;t of our powers, &s;etting our &s;elves a|gain&s;t the incendiaries between them both, that the peace of God, and the God of peace may &s;till rule in the mid&s;t of us, that we render not out &s;elves <HI>Ludibrium gentium,</HI> the mocking&s;tock of nations, by doing that our &s;elves, which the malice, power and policy of all our adver&s;aries abroad, and enemies at home, by all the&s;e four&s;core yeers endeavors could never effect, wher|by we &s;hall expo&s;e the poore Prote&s;tant bleeding and panting cau&s;e in <HI>Ireland</HI> to de&s;truction, and revive the hopes, yea and
<PB N="12" REF="7"> the power of out former oppre&s;&s;ors (who if they once get by againe, wil teare us in pieces, like lyons long kept from their prey) and our ruine &s;hall be unto after ages, the everla&s;ting &s;hamefull monuments of our blindnes and folly; that we &s;hould ri&s;e up like unnaturall Children, and cut the throate of our owne mother Nation; That wee &s;hould love bond<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ge rather then li|bertie, all nations Countries and peoples, Papi&s;ts, Jewes, Turks, Infidells, Devills (if I may &s;ay &s;o) will &s;port at our mi&s;ery: When God would deliver us, and hath delivered us from all their plots and projects, when in many plots they have had the neck of the whole Kingdome, as of one man, upon the brook, and as ea&s;y it had been utterly to de&s;troy it, had not the Al|mighty by a high hand of love and mercie prevented it? and &s;hall wee betray our &s;elves, then? &s;hall the cloud of blood which hath been a long time impending over our heads, be disburdened upon us, and our reeling, &s;taggering and tottering Kingdome, &s;hall fall, and fall, and none &s;hall helpe it up. It now pants for life and breath, travailing with the peace, plentie, &s;e|curitie, Religion, Lawes, liberties and comforts thereof; and tho&s;e Worthies who d<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">y by day give their utmo&s;t and unwea|ried attendance and a&s;&s;i&s;tance to further the birth, the &s;trong God &s;hall be unto them their front-guard, and rere-ward, good|ne&s;&s;e, power and mercie unto them, and their ammunition of rocks: and his di&s;plea&s;ure the certain ruin<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter"> and de&s;truction of tho&s;e, who unhappily, weakely and wickedly have brought it upon them&s;elves.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
