that there was neither Scot or Puritan had then any stroke in England Yet for all their disobedience and grumblings against their Liege Lord the King this peeple are exactly obedient to their new Masters of the House of Commons though they sit there but as their Servants and entitle themselfs so and also though in lieu of the small scratches which England might happily have receiv'd before all which the King had cur'd these new masters have made such deep gashes in her and given her such deadly wounds that I believe are incurable My Lord I find by my researches that there are two great Idolls in this Kingdom the greatest that ever were they are the Parliament and the Pulpit t is held High treson to speak against the one and the whole body of Religion is nailed unto the other for there is no devotion here at all but preaching which God wot is little better then prating The abuse of these two hath bin the source of all the distempers which now raign touching the latter it hath serv'd as a subvervient Engin to prop up the power and popularity of the first these malicious Pulpit-men breath out nothing thence but either sedition schisme or blasphemy poor shallow brain'd Sciolists they wold question many things in the old Testament and find Apocrypha in the New And such is the violence wherewith the minds of men and women are transported towards these Preachmen and no other part of devotion besides that in all probability they will in time take a surfet of them so that give this giddy peeple line enough ther will be no need of Catholique Arms to reduce them to the Apostolick Church they will in time pave the way to it themselves and be glad to return to Rome to find out a Religion again There was here before as I am informed a kind of a face of a Church there were some solemnities venerations and decencies us'd that a man might discover som piety in this peeple there was a publick Lyturgie that in pithy Pathetical prayers reach'd all occasions the Sacraments were administred with som reverence their Churches were kept neat and comly but this nasty race of miscreants have nothing at all of sweetnesse of piety and devotion in them 't is all turn'd to a fatuous kind of zeal after more learning as if Christianity had no sobriety consistence or end of knowledg at all These silly things to imitat the Apostles time wold have the same form of discipline to govern whole Nations as it did a chamberfull of men in the infancy of the Church they wold make the same coat serve our Savious at 30. yeers which fitted him at three 'T is incredible how many ugly sorts of heresies they daily hatch but they are most of them old ones newly furbish'd they all relate to Aerius a perfect hater of Bishops because he could not be one himself The two Sectaries which sway most are the Presbyterians and Independents the Presbyterian is a spawn of a Puritan and the Independent a spawn of the Presbyterian there 's but one hop 'twixt the first and a Iew and but half a hop 'twixt the other and an Infidell they are both opposit to Monarchy and Hierarchy and the latter wold have no Government at all but a parity and promiscuous confusion a race of creatures fit only to inhabit Hell and one of the fruits of this blessed Parlement and of these two Sectaries is that they have made more Jewes and Athiests then I think there is in all Europe besides but truly my Lord I think the judgments of Heaven were never so visible in any part of the Earth as they are now here for there is Rebell against Rebell House against House Cittie against Army Parlement against Scot but these two Sectaries I mean the Presbyterian and Independent who were the fire-brands that put this poor Iland first in a flame are now in most deadly feud one against the other though they both concur in this to destroy government And if the King had time enough to look only upon them they would quickly hang draw and destroy one another But indeed all Christian Princes shold observe the motions and successes of these two unlucky Incendiaries for if they shold ligue together again as they have often plaid fast and loose one with another and prevail here this Iland wold not terminat their designs they wold puzzle all the world besides Their Preachmen ordinarily cry out in the Pulpit ther is a great work to be done upon earth for the reforming all mankind and They are appointed by Heaven to be the chief Instruments of bringing it about They have already bin so busie abroad that with vast sommes of money they brought the Swed upon the Dane and the very Savages upon the English Cavaliers in Virginia and could they confederat with Turk or Tartar or Hell it self against them they wold do it they are monstrously puff'd up with pride that they stick not to call themselfs Conquerors and one of the chief ringleaders of them an ignorant home bred kind of Brewer was not ashamed to vant it publiquely in the Commons House that if he had but 20000. men he wold undertake to march to Constantinople and pull the Ottoman Emperour out of the Seralio Touching the other grand Idoll the Parlement 't is true that the primitive constitution of Parlement in this Iland was a wholesom piece of policy because it kept a good correspondence and clos'd all ruptures 'twixt the King and his peeple but this thing they call Parlement now may rather be term'd a cantle of one or indeed a Conventicle of Schismatiques rather than a great Counsell 't is like a kind of headless Monster or som estropiated carkas for ther is neither King nor Prelat nor scarce the seventh part of Peers and Commons no not the twelfth part fairly elected nevertheless they draw the peeple specially this City like so many stupid animalls to adore them Yet though this institution of Parlement be a wholsom thing in it self there is in my judgment a great incongruity in one particular and I believe it hath bin the cause of most distempers it is That the Burgesses are more in number than the Knights of the Shires for the Knights of the Shires are commonly Gentlemen well born and bred and vers'd in the Laws of the Land as well as forren Governments divers of them but the Burgesses of Towns are commonly Tradesmen and being bred in Corporations they are most of them inclining to Puritanism and consequently to popular Government These Burgesses exceeding the Knights in number carry all before them by plurality of Voices and so puzzle all And now that I have mentioned Corporations I must tell your Lordship that the greatest soloecism in the policy of this Kingdom is the number of them especially this monstrous City which is compos'd of nothing els but of Corporations and the greatest errors that this King specially his Father
those watery fogs and mists which are drawn up out of fennie and rotten low grounds here upon earth so in the Region of the mind the ill vapors which ascend to the brain from rotten and impostumated hearts from desperate and malâ—…-contented humorists are the causes of all civil commotions and distempers in State But they have much to answer for in the world to come though they escape it in this who for any private interest or respect whatsoever either of Promotion Vain-glory Revenge Malice or Envie will embroyl and plunge their own native Country in any publick ingagement or civil war by putting a partition-wall betwixt their soverain Prince and their fellow-subjects Truely in my opinion these may be called the worst kind of Betrayers of their Countreys But I am too far transported from satisfying your request in relating the true causes of these calamities I will now fall to work and bring you to the very source of them Ther is a pack of perverse people composed for the most part of the scummie and basest sort multiplied in England who by a kind of natural inclination are opposit so point blank to Monarchy in State and Hierarchy in Church that I doubt if they were in Heven whither 't is to be fear'd they run a great hazard ever to enter it being a rule that he who is rotten-hearted to his King can never be right-hearted to his Creaâ—…or I say if these men were in Heven they wâ—…uld go near to repine at the Monarchical power of God Almighty himself as also at the degrees of Angels and the postures of holiness in the Church triumphant They call every Crotchet of the brain tenderness of conscience forsooth which being well examined is nothing else but a meer spirit of contradiction of malice and disobedience to all higher powers which possesseth them Ther are no constitutions either Ecclesiastical or Civil can please them but they wold cast both into such and such a mould which their crack'd brains wold fain devise yet are never able to bring to any perfection They are ever labouring to bring Religion to the dock and to be new trimm'd but they wold take down her fore-Castle and scarce allow her the Kings Armes to adorn her They are great listners after any Court-news and prick up their ears when any thing is spoken of King Queen or Privie Councellour and are always ready though upon loose trust to take up any report whereby they may whisper in conventicles and corners and so traduce the Government These great Zâ—…lots use to look upon themselves most commonly through multiplying glasses which make them appear to be such huge Santons that it renders them not onely uncharitable in their opinions of others but Luciferian-like proud in their own conceit insomuch that they seem to scorn all the world besides beleeving that they are â—…he only Elect whose souls work according â—…o the motion of the Spirit that they are â—…he true Children of promise whose faces alone look towards Heven They are more pleased with some new reach or fancy that may puzzle the pericranium than a Frenchman is in some new faction in cloathing They are nearest to the nature of the Jew of any people upon earth and will converse with him sooner than with some sort of Christians And as in their pharisaicall Dispositions they symbolize with the Iew so in some of their positions they jump pat with the Iesuit for though they are both in the extremes and as contrary one to the other as the points of a diameter yet their opinions and practises are concentrique viz. to depresse regall power Both of them wold bind their Kings in Chaines and the Nobles in links of Iron They both deny all passive obedience and as the one wold have the morter of the Temple tempred with blood so the other wold beat Religion into the brain with the poleaxe Their greatest master-piece of policy is to forge counterâ—…eit news and to divulge and disperse it as far as they can to amuse the world for the advancement of their designs and strengthing their party But the Iesuit doth it more cunningly and modestly for he fetcheth his news from far so that before the falshood of it can be contrould his work is commonly done and the news forgotten But these later polititians use to raise lies hard by home so that the grosseness and palpablenesse of them is presently discovered Besides to avoid the extremes of the other these later seem to fall into flat prophanness for they may be called a kind of enemies to the very Name Crosse and Church of Christ. Touching the first They repine at any reverence to be done unto the name of Jesus though spontaneous not coercive For the second which was held from the beginning to be the badg and Banner of a Christian they cry up the Crosse to be the mark of the bâ—…ast And for the last viz. the Church they wold have it to be neither beautifull holy nor amiable which are the three main properties that God requires in his house To conclude when any comes to be season'd with this sower leaven he seems to degenerat presently from the nature and garb of a Gentleman and fals to be of a sordid and low disposition narrow hearted and close handed to be timerous cunning and jealous and far from the common freedom and sweetness of morall society and from all generous and loyal thoughts towards his King and Country These these have bin the chiefest machinators and engeneers Englands unhappy divisions who Viper-like have torn the entrailes of their own mother their dear Country But ther were other extern concurrent causes and to find them out I must look Northward for there the cloud began to condense first You know Sir the Scot's nation were ever used to have their King personally resident amongst them and though King Iames by reason of his age bounty and long breeding there with other advantages drew such extraordinary respect from them that they continued in good conformity yet since his death they have been over-heard to mutter at the remotenesse and absence of their King and that they shold become now a kind of province by reason of such a distance some of their Nobles and Gentry found not at the English Court nor at his Majesties Coronation in Edenburgh that Countenance Familiarity Benefit and Honours which haply they expected and 't is well known who he was that having been denied to be lorded David Lesley took a pet and went discontented to his country hoping that some title added to the wealth he had got abroad should have purchased him more respect These discontented parties tamperd with the mercenary preachers up and down Scotland to obtrude to the pâ—…ple what doctrines they put into their mouthes so that the pulpits every where rung of nothing but of invectives against certain obliquities and Solaecismes and I cannot tell what in government and many glances they had upon the English Church
subject The Parliament sends out clean countermands for executing the said Militia so by this clashing 'twixt the Commission of Array and the Militia the first flash of this odious unnaturall war may be said to break out The pulse of the Parliament beats yet higher they send an Admirall to the Sea the Earl of Warwick not only without but expresly against the Kings special command They had taken unto them a Military gard from the City for their protection without His Majesties consent who by the advice of the Lord Keeper and others had offered them a very strong gard of Constables and other Officers to attend them which the Law usually allows yet the raising of that gard in York-shire for the safegard of His Majesties person was interpreted to be leavying of war against the Parliament and so made a sufficient ground for them to raise an Army to appoint a Generall the Earl of Essex with whom they made publick Declarations to live and die And they assumed power to confer a new Appellation of honour upon him Excellency as if any could confer Honour but the King And this Army was to be maintain'd out of the mixt conâ—…ribution of all sorts of people so a great masse of money and plate was brought into the Guild hall the Semstresse brought in her silver Thimble the Chamber-maid her Bodkin the Cook his Spoons and the Vintner his Bowles and every one somthing to the advancement of so good a work as to wage war directly against the Sacred person of their Soverain and put the whole Countrey into a combustion Peregrin Surely it is impossible that a rationall Christian people shold grow so simple and sottish as to be so far transported without some colourable cause therfore I pray tell me what that might be Patricius The cause is made specious enough and varnished over wonderfull cunningly The people are made to believe they are in danger and a prevention of that danger is promised and by these plausible ways the understanding is wrought upon and an affection to the cause is usher'd in by aggravation of this danger as one wold draw a thred through a needles eye This huge Bugbear Danger was like a monster of many heads the two chiefest were these That ther was a plot to let in the Pope And to 〈◊〉 the civil Government into a French frame It is incredible to think how the Pulpits up and down London did ring of this by brainsick Lecturers of whom som were come from New-England others were pick'd out of purpose and sent for from their own flock in the Countrey to possesse or rather to poison the hearts of the Londoners to puzzle their intellectualls and to intoxicat their brains by their powerfull gifts It was punishable to preach of Peace or of Caesars Right but the common subject of the pulpit was either blasphemy against God disobedience against the King or incitements to sedition Good Lord what windy frothy stuff came from these fanatick brains These Phrenetici Nebulones for King Iames gives them no better Character in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who may be said to be mad out of too much ignorance not knowledg who neverthelesse are come to that height of prophaness and pride that they presume to father all their doctrines all their non-sense raptures and ravings upon the holy Spirit Nor did the Pulpit only help to kindle this fire but the Presse also did contribute much stubble What base scurrilous Pamphlets were cryed up and down the streets and dispersed in the 〈◊〉 What palpable and horrid lies were daily printed How they multiplied in every corner in such plenty that one might say tâ—…er was a superfaetation of lies which continue unto this day One while the King of Denmark was comming over from the Sound Another while the King of France had a huge Army about Calais design'd for England Another while ther was an Army of Irish Rebels comming over with the privity of the King Another while a plot was cryed up and down to burn London Another while ther were subterranean invisible troups at Ragland Castle mustered under ground in Wales and thousands of Papists armed in Lancashire and divers reports of this nature were daily blown up and though the Authors of them were worthlesse and mean futilous persons yet the reports themselves had that credit as to be entertain'd and canvas'd in the High Court of Parliament But these false rumors produc'd one politick effect and it was the end indeed for which they were dispers'd they did intimidat and fill the peoples hearts with fears and dispose of them to up roars and so to part with money Peregrin I know ther be sundry sorts of Fears ther are Conscientious Fears and ther are â—…annick Fears ther are Pusillanimous Fears and ther are Politick Fears The first sort of Fear proceeds from guilt of Conscience which turns often to Phreâ—…cy The second sort of Fear may be call'd a kind of Chymera 't is som sudden surprizall or Consternation arising from an unknown cause Pusillanimous Fear makes a mountain of a mole-hill and proceeds from poverty of spirit and want of courage and is a passion of abject and degenerous minds and may be call'd Cowardise and this Fear is always accompanied with jealousie Politick fear is a created forg'd Fear wrought in another to bring som design about And as we find the Astronomers the comparison is too good do imagin such and such shapes and circles in the Heavens as the Zodiak Equinoctiall Colures Zones and Topiques with others though ther be no such things really in nature to make their conclusions good So the Polititian doth often devise and invent false imaginary Fears to make his proceedings more plausible amongst the silly vulgar and therby to compasse his ends And as the Sun useth to appear far bigger to us in the morning then at noon when he is exalted to his Meridian and the reason the Philosophers use to give is the interposition of the vapours which are commonly in the lower Region through which we look upon him as we find a piece of silver look bigger in a bucket of water then elsewhere so the Polititian uses to cast strange mists of Fear and fogs of jealousie before the simple peoples eyes to make the danger seem bigger But truly Sir this is one of the basest kinds of policy nor can I believe ther be any such Polititians amongst the Cabalists of your Parliament who pretend to be so busie about Gods work a Glorious Reformation for you know ther is a good Text for it that God needeth not the wicked man he abominats to be beholding to liers to bring about his purposes But I pray Sir deal freely with me do you imamagin ther was a design to bring in the Massâ—… again Patricius The Masse You may say ther was a plot to bring in Mahomet as soon to bring in the Alchoran or Talmud as soon For I dare pawn my soul the King is as
vassals shold be so alienated from him upon the other that their hearts shold be so poyson'd and certainly 't is the effect of an ill spirit both the one and the other in all probability tend to the ruine of this Kingdom But now Sir because I see you are so attentive and seem to be much mov'd at this Discourse as I have discover'd unto you the general cause of our calamities which was not only a satiety but a surfet of happinesse so I will descend now to a particular cause of them it was a Northern Nation Scot that brought these cataracts of mischiefs upon us and you know the old saying Out of the North All ill comes forth Far be it from me to charge the whole Nation herewith no but onely som pernicious Instruments that had insinuated themselfs and incorporated among us and sway'd both in our Court and Counsels They had a hand in every Monopoly they had out of our Exchequer and Customs near upon 400000. Crowns in yearly Pensions viis modis yet they could not be content but they must puzzle the peace and policy of this Church and State and though they are a peeple of a differing Genius differing Laws Customs and Manners unto us yet for matter of conscience they wold bring our necks into their yoak as if they had a greater talent of reason and clearer illuminations as if they understood Scripture better and were better acquainted with God Almighty then we who brought them first from Paganisme to Christianity and also to be reformed Christians but it seems matters have little thriven with them nay the visible hand of heaven hath bin heavily upon them divers waies since they did lift their hands against their native King For notwithstanding the vast summs they had hence yet is the generality of them as beggarly as ever they were besides the Civil Sword hath rag'd ther as furiously as here and did as much execution among them Moreover the Pestilence hath bin more violent and sweeping in their chief Town Edenburgh then ever it was since they were a peeple And now lately ther 's the notablest dishonour befaln them that possibly could light upon a Nation in that 7000. of ours shold upon even ground encounter kill slay rout and utterly discomfit thrice as many of theirs though as well appointed and arm'd as men could be And truly Sir the advantages that accrue to this Nation are not a few by that exploit For of late years that Nation was cryed up abroad to be a more Martial peeple then we and to have baffled us in open field in divers traverses besides I hope a small matter will pay now their Arrerages here and elsewhere but principally I hope they will not be so busie hereafter in our Court and Counsel as they have bin formerly Another cause of our calamity is a strange race of peeple the Puritans sprung up among our selfs who were confederat with those of the North they wold make Gods House cleane and by putting out the candle of all ancient learning and knowledge they would sweep it only by the light of an Ignis fatuus but 't is visibly found that they have brought much more rubbage into it and wheras in reforming this house they shold rather find out the groat that is lost they go about to take away the mite that 's left and so put Christs Spouse to live on meer almes True it is there is a kind of zeal that burns in them and I could wish there were so much piety but this zeal burns with too much violence and presumption which is no good symptom of spirituall health it being a rule that as the naturall heat so the spirituall shold be moderat els it commonly turns to a frenzy and that is the thing which causeth such a giddinesse and distraction in their braines This proceeding from the suggestions of an ill spirit puffs them up with so much spirituall pride for the Devill is so cunning a Wrastler that he oftentimes lifts men up to give them the greater fall they think they have an inerring spirit and that their Diall must needs go tru howsoever the Sun goes they wold make the Gospell as the Caddies make the Alchoran to decide all civill temporall matters under the large notion of slander whereof they forsooth to be the Judges and so in time to hook in all things to their Classis I believe if these men were dissected when they are dead they would be a great deale of Quicksilver found in their braines Proh Superi quantum mortalia pectora coecae Noctis habent But I could pitty the giddinesse of their braines had they not so much gaul in their breasts were they not so thirsting after blood so full of poison and irreconcileable malice in so much that it may be very well thought these men are a kin to that race which sprung out of the Serpents teeth these are they which have seduced our great Counsell and led this foolish City by the nose to begin and foment this ugly War insomuch that if those numberless bodies which have perish'd in these commotions were cast into her streets and before her doores many thousand Citizens noses would bleed of pure guilt Not to hold you long these are the men who have baffled common sence blasted the beams of nature and offered violence to reason it self these are they who have infatuated most of the peeple of this Iland so that whereas in times past som call'd her the I le of Angels she may be term'd now the I le of Gulls or more properly the I le of Doggs or rather indeed â—…he I le of Wolfs there is such a true Lycanthrepy com in among us I am loth to call her the Iland of Devills though she hath bin branded so abroad To conclude Sir the glory of this Isle is quite blasted 't is tru they speak of peace but while the King speakes to them of it they make themselves ready for battle I much fear that Ixion-like we imbrace a cloud for peace out of which there will issue out Centaures and Monsters as sprung out of that cloud Touching that ancient'st holy Order whereof you see me to be I well hoped that in regard they pretended to reforme things only they wold not have quite extirpated but regulated only this Order it had bin enough to brayle our wings not to have â—…ear'd them to have lopp'd and prun'd not to have destroyed root and branch of that ancient tree which was planted by the hands of the Apostles themselfs In fine Sir we are a lost peeple 't is no other Dedalus but the high Deity of heaven can clue us out of this labyrinth of confusions can extricat us out of this maze of miseries the Philosopher saith 't is impossible for man to quadrat a Circle so 't is not in the power of man but of God alone to make a loyall Subject of a Round head Among other things that strangers report