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<DATE>2014-06-17</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140410.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B28142">
<STC T="W">P2347</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]12009248</BIBNO>
<VID>196819</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A PLAINE CASE, OR, REASONS TO CON|VINCE ANY (THAT would be hone&s;t or thrive in the World) which &s;ide to take in this pre&s;ent WARRE.</P>
<P><HI>Printed in the Years</HI> M.DC.XLIII.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>A Plaine Ca&s;e, or, Rea&s;ons &s;ufficient to convince any (that would be hone&s;t, or thrive in the World) which &s;ide to to take in this pre&s;ent Warre.</HEAD>
<P>_SInce the two Ho&s;es of Parliament will have the Sword give the Law; I make bold to &s;et downe &s;ome plaine Arguments why the people of <HI>England,</HI> &s;hould wi&s;h victory rather unto His <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> then unto the <HI>two Hou&s;es.</HI> And although our &s;upinene&s;&s;e hath beene hitherto &s;uch, as to hazard the Go|vernment of Church &amp; State (under both which we and our Ance&s;tours have been &s;o long happy) for a new, &s;o farre from being approved, as it is not yet knowne what they de&s;ire. Though this hath beene to this day not weighed by many (who looke not beyond the pre&s;ent hower) t'will concerne the people of <HI>England</HI> to con&s;ider what mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily fol|low this warre.</P>
<P N="1">1. If the <HI>two Hou&s;es</HI> overcome the King, then is the King|dome liable unto all <HI>their</HI> debts upon the <HI>publicke faith,</HI> which
<PB N="2" REF="3">amounts unto more then Three Millions; This will be the fir&s;t benefit &s;uch a victory can bring the people, to ingage them in a debt, that no man can hope to live to &s;ee &s;atisfied. But &s;uppo&s;e one battle &s;hould not overthrow the King, and this warre &s;hould la&s;t many yeares, the three millions of debts before mentioned would grow to three&s;core; and then how long will the people be paying &s;uch a debt? for 'tis not to be imagined that the King &amp; his whole po&s;terity can be rooted up without a long warre.</P>
<P N="2">2. Next I wi&s;h the people would con&s;ider, that they make them&s;elves mi&s;erable for a few mens ambitions, and avarice, who have throwne the whole Kingdome into this confu&s;ion, &s;aving their owne &s;takes by the ma&s;&s;e of mony which is well knowne the cheife factours have conveyed away. For of the three millions received by the two Hou&s;es, not <HI>one</HI> hath been disbur&s;ed in this warre, as by them&s;elves is confe&s;&s;ed, and by &s;ome of be&s;t account among&s;t them complained of.</P>
<P N="3">3. If the King pro&s;per (as tis very probable he may) having at this day three armies on foot, any of them able to encoun|ter the Earle of <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI> in the field. I &s;ay it is con&s;iderable that the Kings debts are not a third part &s;o great as the Parlia|ments, which cleerely &s;hewes their abu&s;e in tho&s;e va&s;t &s;umms appropriated to their owne particular u&s;e; which money the people have not only payed again&s;t all Law and equity, but mu&s;t be forced againe to repay as a debt of the <HI>publicke faith.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Con&s;ider that their armes, ammunition, ordnance, &s;hips, and all accomodations for warre (to the value of a million more) were taken out of the Kings &s;tores, and co&s;t them no|thing. Thus I conceive the matter of mony (by which all men &s;ub&s;i&s;t) ought to incline the people to wi&s;h victory unto the King; although they have contributed to this Warre a|gain&s;t him.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="3">
<P N="5">5. The people ought to con&s;ider that the King hath no ge|nerall quarrell to them as by his daily clemency is &s;eene, and by his generall profer of pardon unto tho&s;e people, whom he conceives only guilty of being mi&s;led.</P>
<P N="6">6. If the King hath an ab&s;olute victory, this warre is at an end, and the Kingdome happy under its ancient Lawes and Religion, which the King never thought to alter, but if the Rebels conquer, who knowes what Lawes, or what Religion they will e&s;tabli&s;h, that have de&s;troyed all Lawes, and do pro|fe&s;&s;e no Religion.</P>
<P N="7">7 'Tis to be con&s;idered very many of tho&s;e, who now a&s;&s;i&s;t the King in this warre have beene the mo&s;t zealous for the li|berty of the people and Priviledges of Parliament, and are per&s;ons of highe&s;t quality, and greate&s;t fortune, and therefore cannot be thought &s;o indi&s;creete as to be the in&s;truments to bring &s;ervitude upon them&s;elves and others.</P>
<P N="8">8 The King doth now pretend to no power, but &s;uch as is e&s;tabli&s;hed by law, &amp; maintained by con&s;tant practi&s;e; there|fore it is not probable he will endeavour to exerci&s;e any o|ther; becau&s;e he mu&s;t then evidently fal&s;ify many publicke prote&s;tations made to the contrary in divers declarations, and thereby ju&s;tifie much of that the Parliament hath &s;aid again&s;t him.</P>
<P N="9">9 The Kings intere&s;ts are of &s;uch a nature as cannot be re|&s;tored, &amp; the di&s;tractions of the Kingdome are likewi&s;e &s;uch, as cannot be cured but by the authority of a Parliament: &s;o that if the King were conqueror, he mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily re&s;ort to that way of Parliament in which he can never prejudice the intere&s;ts of the Subjects; nor advance his own, beyond their due bounds.</P>
<P N="10">10 It cannot in common prudence be imagined that the King again&s;t whom &s;o great advantage hath beene taken, for
<PB N="4" REF="4">&s;ome pretended preceedings from the law in his former government, and who hath parted with &s;o much of his owne right, to &s;atisfie all apprehen&s;ions of the like for the time to come, &s;hould againe re&s;ort to any cour&s;e &s;o de&s;tructive, and ruinous to him&s;elfe.</P>
<P N="11">11 If the Parliament had &s;ought the good of the &s;ubject and the peace and wealth of the Kingdome, why did they re|ject &s;o many gracious proffers from His Maje&s;tie to &s;ettle whatever could be de&s;ired to make a nation happy? And what King did ever do more to &s;hew how really he intended the ju&s;t &s;atisfaction of his people, by the maintenance of their Religion and lawes, then ours hath donne? and yet this Par|liament hath had power to mi&s;lead the people, from an a&s;&s;u|red happy tranquillity into this de&s;perate irreligious warre, and to requite all the great immunities granted to them by the King; with a mo&s;t pernitious rebellion again&s;t him, mak|ing the ignorant innocent people their in&s;truments to com|pa&s;&s;e their owne mo&s;t horrid de&s;igne, for now they dare avow their intentio~ to unthrone the King, &s;ubvert the monarchy, &amp; to &s;upplant the Church, by crying up their &s;everall &s;ects in all Countries near them, di&s;placing the grave, learned, Orthodox Divines, to make roome for Anabapti&s;ts, Browni&s;ts, and o|ther irreligious Sots, who they imploy to &s;educe the people, while them&s;elves &s;it like ab&s;olute monarchs of the Land, di&s;|po&s;ing of the free &s;ubjects lives, and e&s;tates at plea&s;ure, a Ty|ranny beyond the Turki&s;h Emperour; and thus inforce the King to take up armes for the pre&s;ervation of the lawes, and the intere&s;ts of the people, who therefore is not like to endea+vour the de&s;truction of what he hath now protected with &s;o much hazard to him&s;elfe, and &s;o much affection to his &s;ub|jects: for if we con&s;ider how ea&s;ily the King might have &s;ati&s;|fied the ambitions of the cheife Rebells, and by &s;uch meanes
<PB N="5" REF="4">have bought his owne de&s;ires, at a much ea&s;ier rate by then this warre; we ought to pray for his good &s;ucce&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="12">12 It is evident that no lawle&s;&s;e power, nor arbitrary go|vernment can be &s;o &s;afe, or &s;o advantagious to the King, as that power is which the lawes of this Kingdome have con|ferr'd vpon the King, and tru&s;ted the Crowne withall.</P>
<P N="13">13. If the Rebels get the victory, the people will be perpe|tually &s;ubject to an arbitrary government for the liberty of their per&s;ons, and property of their e&s;tates; then all their Or|dinances will be as lawes, and all the&s;e taxes become conti|nued on the people: for the Parliament can have no other way to maintaine what they &s;hall get by the &s;word, but by the &s;word. Let the people al&s;o con&s;ider, that this Parliament hath in the&s;e two years, more violated the lawes to the preju|dice of the people, then all the Kings &s;ince the conque&s;t have don. How blind then are the people of this Kingdome to engage them&s;elves in an endle&s;&s;e warre, &s;ubject to &s;uch a ty|ranny, as no &s;tory can paralell, who&s;e hoped victory can pro|cure them at be&s;t to be but &s;laves unto &s;laves, wilfully reject|ing the known happie&s;t government that ever nation lived under, and this proferred to them by the King without more blood. But if their hearts be hardened, and they will rather chu&s;e to have a <HI>perpetuall Parliament</HI> then their <HI>Prince,</HI> certain|ly the Plagues of a <HI>perpetuall warre</HI> will be their reward, &s;o that as long as one of the Royall blood remaines on the earth, this warre can have no end. So that in my opinion God cannot &s;end them a greater cur&s;e then their owne de&s;ires; for one vi|ctory doth in this ca&s;e but &s;ummon a new enemy to ri&s;e up a|gain&s;t them. But &s;uppo&s;e that by many conque&s;ts they could confound all the Royall line as they de&s;ire? What receipt have the&s;e Rebells to per&s;wade the free people of England to
<PB N="6" REF="5">&s;ubject them&s;elves unto the tyranny of fellow &s;ubjects? or how can they hope to devide the government among&s;t them|&s;elves &s;o as to content all that have equally contributed unto the trea&s;on? For Religion (though it be of lea&s;t con&s;ideration among&s;t them) is it yet agreed who&s;e &s;hall be e&s;tabli&s;hed<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Which of the Lords Religion &s;hall be preferr'd? or who&s;e in the Hou&s;e of Commons &s;hall prevaile? or mu&s;t we expect an Hotch potch of all mixt, all alowed, and every man have liberty to choo&s;e what his pallate dictates him, as my Lord <HI>Say</HI> wi&s;hes? Certainly the&s;e men cannot propo&s;e unto them|&s;elves peace that have lay'd a foundation onely capable to rai&s;e a continuall warre. All the&s;e things are more worthy, the con&s;ideration of the people of this land becau&s;e all this will fall on their heads for the wicked contrivers &s;it &s;pecta|tors only of the &s;tormes by them rai&s;ed, farre enough from a|ny danger.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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