person and I am glad I have done with it I may say of my commending him being a great person as Paul said of his commending himself 2 Cor. 12.11 I am become a fool in glorying ye have compelled me It looks foolishly and uncomely to me and it may be to others more but I have been compell'd to it to testifie the truth against mens ignorance and malice For the Title given him Captain General of all the Forces in England Scotland and Ireland I am not offended at it for though some may think His Highness is degraded by it from Protector to General yet he that will look beyond that vail of discontent that for the present covers your faces and will look into the more inward reason of your mindes in retaining this Title of General will not be much troubled at it though he be very zealous of His Highness honor That which I think either is or should be your intent in it is this if you consider First That the Forces and Armies in England Scotland and Ireland are the sole and proper interest of the godly party being at first rais'd and since mantain'd for the safety of good people their spirits have most freely and lively acted in them and been the chief strength of them so that the Forces are theirs or rather they are vertually and truly the Forces of England Scotland and Ireland and that in distinction from and opposition to all other people of the Nation of which the honest party may say as Jacob said of Reuben Gen. 49.3 Reuben thou art my first-born the beginning of my strength This military Power is the first-born the beginning of strength that God hath given his people in the earth Secondly I suppose you may consider that this Power of the Militia you now have or are is as Jacob said of Reuben The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power The absolutest and perfectest power in the earth having the substance of all Government in it it gives both reason and being of all Government Safety the name also whence all Governments are called Powers and the Sword in scripture and that which makes it very suitable to this season that having the Forces in our hands we have our Lives and Liberties secured and so may quietly wait for more light and are free to dispose of our selves according to the best light and understanding that shall be brought forth amongst us which is no small mercy if we had hearts to improve it to be once free from all the yokes that were upon our necks by the blinde and malignant Constitutions of the Nations and set free to follow the best light God shall shine forth to us Thirdly You have reason to consider that as all former Powers are dissolv'd viz. The Power of King and Parliament by their irreconcileable Breaches and continued Wars so this Title of Captain General of all the Forces of England Scotland and Ireland doth not onely extinguish the three distinct Kingdoms and their Governments and subject them to these Forces but lays waste the pales whereby they were formerly divided and turns them all into one Militia under the command of one General for the Command of the Forces of all three Kingdoms is both a greater Power and of another kinde and must needs swallow up the three particular Governments into it self which is a large field that we are brought into that now the General of these Forces hath an unlimited Power to enlarge his Militia to take in all honest men if he please and to give them what pay he judges reasonable and in order to it to raise what money he pleases in the three Nations to restrain and secure what persons he suspects to be Disturbers of his Army and Command to inflict what punishment he pleases upon his enemies to make what Constitutions he will for the securing these Forces and to repeal all Laws that are against their Safety and Quiet These things are natural and essential to a General in and with his Army which will be accounted absurd for either King or Protector of England to do so royal and absolute Authority in the hands of an honest General intrusted for and in fellowship with the whole Party in a capacity distinct from the Nations is a thing worth remembring Fourthly You cannot but consider that the General hath been the chief Instrument of getting the sword into the hands of honest men You cannot but remember how industrious he was to have an honest Regiment then an honest Army at least under honest Officers how he sent for honest men from all parts of the Nation and imployed and encouraged them and this favor he shewed to honest men as honest men without partiality when he had gathered them together pleaded their Cause against their enemies You know how constantly the Work prosper'd in their hands under his Conduct and how they have been kept in union and in order and discipline by his Wisdom and Government so that if the honest people of the three Nations have obtain'd an outward and visible Power in the earth and to be above their enemies safe and secure the General is the immediate Patron and Father of it it being first conceived and since brought forth and cherish'd principally as by an instrument by his Counsel and Conduct and if he that gave life to this Body should not uphold and preserve it it would in all probability fall into division and confusion therefore you have reason to challenge him to be General of all the Forces they consisting by him and we in and by them Fifthly This his Authority is so bright and unquestionable that none can deny it nor you or any honest man a snare in it This Title Captain General of all the Forces and so of all the Armies of honest men in the three Nations it hath been the product of Providence after our many years wars openly declared and seal'd to by the Lord in all parts of the three Nations therefore if you had but united your selves to it and taken in the interest and relation of all honest men which is your and their due and must be implied though not express'd it is then I think the honorablest Title in the world a mercy beyond all we could expect had we eyes to see it and hearts to make a sober use of it I judge these very fundamental Considerations First The union of all honest men to the Armies as their own Secondly The excellency and freedom of Military power Thirdly That the Forces of the three Nations being united under one General are a Power larger and greater than their former civil and divided States and fully comprehends them in it self Fourthly That the General is the Natural Father of this power Fifthly And all this the workmanship of Providence justified by Success in the face of all the world which put together would make a good Ground for us to unite and stand upon The reason why you
prevail you may come forth to convince them and save us whereas in that blinde way in which you are you can do nothing but wound provoke build up Wrath harden and strengthen Sin amongst us As it is not my intent to condemn you so not to justifie them that you condemn The whole world cryes out against them I have not Love enough to wipe off all that is charg'd upon them they must therefore patiently bear their Reproach till God bring sorth their Righteousness I fear they are guilty it may be of more than you can accuse them of but certainly not of all you accuse them of It s a small thing to be judg'd of man If they have Innocency at home 't will make them think so Man judges by appearance God searches the heart They are upon their Tryal and will in time shew what is in them All that I desire for them is That they may not be disturb'd in their Work which is To Protect as in Peace and Safety till God bring forth some more excellent Glory amongst us They are a People that profess the Name of God and have appealâ—d to him and do daily 'T is much my minde That they might stand against Mans violence and that God would be pleas'd to judge their Cause himself To his Justice and Mercy let us leave them Friends Bear with me I am offended at them with you and at you with them and most of all at my self I 〈◊〉 â—â—stifie my self in what I do but am in fear lest while I â—â—â—â—rpose I may be guilty of greater Folly than either of you As I cannot justifie my self so can I not condemn my self as guilty of any known Evil in it for that Fear of the Lord that makes me doubt all my Actions makes me likewise careful to avoid Evil. What I offer to you is the frame of my Spirit concerning publick Transactions and the Observations that I have made upon things while I have been a Spectator Thus far I may commend them to you That what I administer to you if you can receive it will be more profitable and pleasant to you than that Spirit in which you act All that I desire of you is but that you would lay aside Wrath malice c. which darken the minde and that you would with Meekness admit them to a friendly and ingenuous Consideration If these Animadversions may but a little ease your troubled Spirits temper and alay your Anger 't will be an ease to you and a pleasure to Your unknown Friend The LETTER and PAPER inclosed Subscribed by certain Gentlemen and others in WALES and sent to His Highness viz. A WORD FOR GOD OR A Testimony on Truths behalf from several Churches and divers hundreds of Christians in Wales and some sew adjacent against Wickedness in High places With a Letter to the Lord General CROMWEL Both first presented to his own hands and now published for further Information Job 36.1 Suffer me a little and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on Gods behalf Isa 43.8 9. Fear ye not neither be afraid have not I told thee from that time and have declared it ye are then my witnesses Is there a God besides me Yea there is no God I know not any They that make a graven image are all of them vanity and their delectable things shall not profit and they are their own witnesses they see not nor know that they may be ashamed To OLIVER CROMWEL Captain General of all the Forces in England Scotland and Ireland SIR Forasmuch as you have caused great searchings of heart and Divisions among many of Gods people by a sudden strange and unexpected Alteration of Government and other Actions to the great astonishment of those who knew your former publick Resolutions and Declarations considering also how contrary to foregoing Acts and Engagements you have taken upon you a Power by which you are utterly disenabled and if there were in you a heart to prosecate the good things covenanted and contended for with so many great hazards and the effusion of so much precious blood and by reason whereof you are become justly suspected in your Ends in time past and Actions for future to very many of those of whose Affections and faithful Services you have injoyed no small share in all the difficult Passages and Enterprizes of the late War These things considered by us as we know they are by many Churches and Saints and there being a deep sence upon our Spirits of the Odium under which the Name of Christ his Cause People and Ways do lie as it were buried as also of the exceeding Contempt which the wonderful and excellent Operations of God are brought into even those eminent Wonders which the Nations have been Spectators and Witnesses of and wherein your hands have been partly ingaged in We cannot after much serious consideration and seeking of the Lord many of us both together and apart but present to your hands the ensuing Testimony which however you may look thereon is no more than Necessity exacts from us for the clearing of our own souls from guilt and discharging of our duty to God and Men. Therefore we earnestly wish you to peruse and weigh it as in the sight of God with a calm and Christian-like Spirit and harden not your neck against the Truth as you will answer it to the great Judge before whose impartial Tribunal you as well as we shall be very shortly cited to give an account of things done in the body whether good or evil where the true Motives and Ends of all your Actions will be evident where no Apologie will be accepted of for your slighting and blaspheming of the Spirit of God nor for the hard measure you give his people by Reproaches Imprisonments and other Oppressions and where Pride Luxury Lasciviousness and Changing of Principles and forsaking the good ways of Justice and Holiness will not have the smalleft rag of pretence to hide them from the eyes of the Judge Which things whatsoever you say for your self are even at present to be read in your forehead and have produced most sad effects every where Especially 1 in filling of the Saints hearts and faces with an inexpressible grief and shame and 2 the stopping at least the strong current of their prayers which was once for you if not the turning thereof directly against you To these we might adde 3 the hardning of wicked men yea the refreshing and justifying of them in their evil doings and speakings against the Gospel Name and Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ And lastly Gods signal withdrawing from you and your Designs Oh that then you would lie down in the dust and acknowledge your Iniquity and return unto the Lord by unfeigned Repentance doing your first work and that you would make haste to do so lest Gods fury break forth like fire upon you and there be no quenching of it This would rejoyce us much as being real
Well-wishers to your Souls everlasting Happiness though we must with equal Pity and Detestation Declare against your Designs and Way A WORD for GOD. THe wise God that teacheth the fowls of Heaven to know their appointed times who directs his peoples work in Truth hath we hope Ier. 8.7 directed us after a long time of silence and carnest seeking the Lord to express and declare what we sinde in our consciences touching the transaction of this season and though some may think as we our selves have been tempted to think That this is a time wherein the prudent should hold his peace it being such an evil time that men are made Offenders yea Traytors for Words yet considring how the Lords Remembrancers should not keep silence Ier. 20.9 and fearing that if we should altogether hold our peace at such a time as this as Mordecai said to Hester Deliverance would come another way Isa 62.6 and we could expect no share in the inlargement of Gods people or safety in the day of trouble Hest 4.14 Withal sinding how Self would prompt us like Issachar to see that rest is good and outward prosperity pleasant Gen. 49. â—5 and how the same temptations which we sinde and fear many of our dear Brethren to be under have set upon some of us as to have mens persons in admiration because of advantage and by good words fair speeches and promises to be deceived and drawn away in simplicity Inde 16 especially by the example of some eminent in en like Peter insomuch that many Barnaba's are carried away with their dissimulation Rom. 16 18. and aswel Ministers as Military men willing to serve the King for his work and wages 2 Sam. 15.7 However seeing every man must give an accompt unto God for himself we have examined what particular duty was incumbent upon us Gal. 2.13 and how in faithfulness towards God and meekness towards Men 2 Chron 4.23 we should perform the same Moreover considering how the Saints did formerly bear their testimony not loving their lives unto the death and by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony did overcome Rom. 14.12 and how God did heretofore stir up some of his people both in England and Scotland to bear witness to the Truth and ways of God Rev. 12 7. against the ways and wickedness of Men as a Forlorn-hope though they were in comparison but a few Numb 14.6 7 8 9. like Joshua and Caleb two of twelve or li the two Witnesses a small yet suffcient number Observing also That there are present Truths and every work being beautiful in its season Rev. 11 3. as in the begining of the late Wars was the witnessing against the Book of Common Prayer Surplice Cross in Baptism 2 Pet. 1 12. and other Ceremonies being Superstitious things imposed by the Bishops and against Ship-Money Monopolies c Civil things imposed formerly by the King All which were afterwards declared protested and covenanted against which Protestation and Covenant are fresh in the memories and pressing the Consciences of some of us even unto this day besides the Engagement and the several Acts of Parliament made against Monarchy or Kingly Government All which now seem to be forgotten or neglected And those that spake or writ in defence of such things as the Parliament Army and the Godly people in the three Nations approved asserted and purchased at a dear rate are now accounted Fanatick Fools Disturbers of Civil State and Intermedlers in things that concern them not under which notion many suffer Imprisonment and other tryals as Evil-doers from those men who now build what they did once destroy and justifie what they did once condemn Aug. 1. 1650. p. 11 12 Witness their own Writings particularly The Declaratio of the Officers and Soldiers of the English Army whereof the Lord Cromwel was General The words whereof are as followeth We are perswaded in our Consciences That the late King and His Monarchy was one of the ten Horns of the Beast spoken of Rev. 17.13 c. And that we were called forth by the Lord to be instrumental to bring about that which was our continual prayer unto God viz. The destruction of Antichrist and the deliverance of his Church and people And upon this single accompt we ingaged not knowing the deep Policies of worldly States-men and have ever since hazarded our lives in the high places of the field where we have seen many wonders of the Lord against all the Opposers of the work of Iesus Christ whom we have all along seen going with us and making our way plain before us And having these things singly in our eye namely The destruction of Antichrist The advancement of the Kingdom of Christ The deliverance of his Church and the establishment thereof in the use of his Ordinances in Purity according to his Word and the just Civil Liberties of English mem These with many other expressions both in the Declaration and several other Papers of the Army Letters of the General cited both in the Declaration of the Members of several Churches and Petitions of the three Colonels Sanders Okey Allured besides several other Papers which might be instanced in which we leave to all unbyassed men to consider and compare with actions done by the sarne men since that time But in pursuance of our duty to God our fellow Members and Countrey-men as we are Christians having a right to the things of Christ and as we are men having a right to our Native Priviledges We do Declare our real Apprehensions and Consciences which to the great grief of some of us we have so long concealed waiting if God might by his providence alter our mindes I. That the Sins and present condition of this Nation holds paralel in many things with the old Israelites after the mighty wonders of God shewed unto them in their great deliverance out of Egypt For instance Psal 106.13 They and we have soon forgot God our Savior and the great works which he did we have not set our hearts aright and our Spirits have not been stedfast with God but have gone back and dealt treacherously Psa 78.9.10 and turned aside like a deceitful Bowe and not trusting to his salvation have provoked the Lord to anger with our invention Ps 106.28 29. so that men have dominion over our bodies and over our cattel at their pleasure 〈…〉 37. And we are in great distress for this is a day of trouble and of blasphemy for the children are come to the birth and there is not strength to bring forth II. That blessed Cause and those noble Principles propounded and prosecuted by the old Parliament and the Good people of this Nation in the maintaining of which God did miraculously appear are now altogether laid aside and lost and another Cause and Interest quite contrary as we conceive espoused and maintained for then the Advancement of
not to destroy but to save But poor Israel that needs so many Rods needs some Pity too ver 17. Him that escapeth the Sword of Hazael shall Iehu stay and him that escapeth the Sword of Iehu shall Elisha slay Slain and slain yet at last he that saves slays most slays himself to slay Self Death and Enmity Yet saith God ver 18. I have left me seven thousand in Israel the knees that have not bowed unto Baal c. A compleat number a sufficient Army to carry on his work These are reserv'd to me kept by God in secret whose hearts were inwardly and truly reserv'd to the Lord so safe that they could not depart from him Now in all this it appears That this Man of God was in a dark Spirit for the present in a high discontent for he thought he had been f r God but was not Those things wherein he had been exercis'd he over-valued them and his Ministry with them for God was not in them but in the still voice He was much out also concerning Israel he thought they had been utterly lost no good lest amongst them but was seven thousand short in his measure Lest you think I have misrepresented this Case of Elijah you shall see it censured in the Gospel Rom. 11.1 Hath G d cast away his people God forbid Some that measure things by their own private and separated Spirit think he hath but God forbid that there should be no more Mercy nor Patience in God than there is in the best of men ver 2. Wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias how he makes intercession against Israel saying ver 3. Lord they have killed thy Prophets digged down thy Altars and I am left alone He though a Prophet was in a great error in stead of interceding for he intercedes against Israel it mindes me of a Clause in this Letter The strong current of their Prayers which was once for you the turning thereof against you But this is not Prophet-like 't is rather like the worst malignant Spirit like the Accuser And observe That such declaring against Israels sin is plain interceding against them 't is indeed to be instant and earnest for their destruction This I desire the Subscribers to mark And this Judgment made upon some evil actions and outward appearance by man darkned with passion was very far from God and the Election of his Grace A humane and Legal Spirit under a Covenant of Works provok'd into Enmity is the nature of this Spirit and so Paul brings it in here whatever it pretended to be zeal for God yet 't was against God himself and against the liberty of his Election and the Freeness of his Grace I 'll but apply the words of the Apostle ver 5. Even so then at this time also c. It may be you will deny the Application of Elijahs Case to yours and will not admit your Adversaries to be Israel and I may also deny you to minister in the Holiness Power Truth and Evidence that Elijah ministred in Therefore I chuse rather to wave the paralel onely let this Case of Elijah be consider'd absolutely by it self and it doth sufficiently evince these Conclusions I 'T is very common for humane Passion to intrude it self into Gods service yea 't is very ambitious of being his Attorney to speak for God and while he seems to advance God 't is to prefer it self For who would not be on his side where he may Spoil Plunder Revenge freely II. If God be but angry a little he will not want some to help it forward he needs not now the Devil nor Egypt or Babylon to minister Wrath he may finde enough Ministers or Prophets in Israel will sue for the imployment specially if it be against Iob he will sinde Religious Friends that will handle him cruelly enough III. That if Man be imployed in any Ministry wherein there seems to be any light or power as coming from God he is apt to magnifie it above measure and to account of it as God himself to expect the same Honor and Subjection that is due to the Lord though it be but a Whiffler one that goes before to make way for him IV. If this Ministry obtain not and his way be refus'd he is apt to be highly displeas'd and be foolishly angry beyond all reason though all the works of man are to vanish and to give place to that which is perfect yet man commonly is so angry that he will not out-live his Ministry V. But foolishly adhering to his Ministry though it be of Sin and Condemnation when God repents of his anger as ordinarily he doth he over-eagerly ingaging himself is left behinde and so lost in it Fleshly Zeal is of a very slight and combustible nature and if it get into the fire of Gods anger against Sin rarely comes off but over-acting in it is commonly scorch'd and burnt up by it and so may happily get to Heaven in a fiery chariot as Elijah did but is altogether unfit for any saving or healing work When Mans Enmity and Passion hath gotten into Gods Name and Cause if God should not withhold Spirit and Power from it and render it vain it would make mad work destroy all but themselves and therfore there is a necessity of turning it home upon it self that it may hurt none but it self which is a good and just end of it These things well consider'd might make men afraid to intermeddle with Divine displeasure against others Sins in which men are ordinarily so busie as if there were no other Religion But sure there is a more excellent way When God was very angry and justly with Israel Exod. 32.10 Let me alone says he to Moses that my wrath may wax hot against them this was a good Spirit to interpose and to offer to be blotted out of the book of God ver 32. rather than God should destroy his people Thus Christ doth for us all he is willing to become a sinner with us and there suffer the displeasure of God as the worst of sinners rather than suffer the wrath of God to break forth upon us If he should take part with God against sinners what would become of you If he be an Advocate for God and his Justice and not for Transgressors alas how miserable were we all This might a little incline mens hearts and bend them towards thoughts of Love Pity and interceding for others though transgressors You superscribe your Letter To Oliver Cromwel Captain General of all the Forces of England Scotland and Ireland This Title is a fair one and so different from that which is ordinarily given him that it cannot escape my Animadversions and it contains in it the head of the Quarrel Whether Captain General of the Forces of England Scotland and Ireland or Protector of the Commonwealth of England c. If we could finde one the true nature and inward reason of both these we might clear your understandings
and so in time compose the difference I shall a little consider the Person and then his Place or Title 'T is better dealing with Things than Persons they are so nice and curious that a man can hardly handle them without offending especially if they be Great ones for there is a double temptation attends one in it 1. To Flattery to please the Court and 2. Of Detraction to please the People However this Person the Protector being the chief subject of the Letter and Paper I cannot avoid speaking my Apprehensions of him and being sensible of some ingenuity and equality of minde in it I shall do it without Apologie I shall onely give you my Observation of his Original what he was before these times and then what share he hath had in these late publick Transactions I. First this great Man is risen from a very low and an afflicted condition one that hath suffer'd very great troubles of soul lying a long time under sore terrors and temptations and at the same time in a very low condition for outward things in this School of Afflictions he was kept till he had learned the Lesson of the Cross till his Will was broken into Submission to the Will of God c. Religion that is thus laid into the soul with the hammer and fire is ordinarily more solid more useful than what comes in onely by Light into the Understanding I have had opportunity to measure as well as I was able most men that have appear'd in any eminency in these times and have always observ'd his Spirit as to the active or practical part of Religion as through as full as sound and as hearty in it as any yea more it may be what I have now to say is but my Fancy but take it amongst other things That the time of his extreme suffering was when this Cause of Religion in which we are now ingaged was at its lowest ebb and that when he came forth into comfort of Spirit and inlargement of estate Religion began then to spring forth into an interest divided from the Kingdom and Nation though it was low yet it began to look abroad and to seek either a new state here or in other Regions and so he suffer'd and rose or sprung forth with this cause as if he had one life with it II. Secondly His maner of appearing in publike Imployment hath been visible to all publike work seem'd to be exceeding natural to him his soul was one with it which made him act with more vigor than other men and so constant and steddy to it as not to be discouraged by difficulties nor taken off either by offence or by opinions of other ways as many eminent men have been a main pillar of the strength of it in all its changes I must be excused if I tell my thoughts of him I am the freer in it because they have continued with me in a long time of offence and prejudice concerning him There hath to me appear'd in him a singular spirit of Brightness Clearness Largeness and Self-denial of care for and love to the cause of Religion and honest men as much above other men as Saul was higher than the people in stature of body for which I did conclude before ever he had any Command in Chief that if ever this Cause did succeed he would be the Head of it He had an honesty an integrity a nobleness in him which did attract and unite honest men to him a love and loveliness in which affections of good people did concenter and a largeness to receive and comprehend all honest men of differing judgements and this He did by the vertue and dignity of his Minde long before he had the advantage of Supream Command to do it which was a proof to me that his inward worth not any outward accident hath given him his preeminence To his great industry faithfulness and wisdom in business he hath been always attended with a singular blessing of Success in all his Affairs and that constant both in the Field and Council and often times in some great works the Word and Arm of the Lord hath been reveal'd to him and with him according to the maner of Gods speaking to his people in these days by giving in to the heart some Scriptures with great power and spirit whereby his Faith hath been strengthned to attempt great things As he hath been often guided by the word of the Lord in his great Undertakings so I do think and have particular reason to believe that in that which is so much offensive to men viz. The breaking of Civil and Worldly Powers he hath had the same Authority and Word of Command Consider now such a person rising from great afflictions from whence he comes sanctified by grace called forth into pablique action and therein appearing in largeness integrity and courage assisted with the presence and blessing of God guided and strengthned by the arm and word of the Lord which above all sets the clearest stamp of Majesty upon a man according to the words of Christ John 10.35 If he called them gods to whom the word of the Lord came These things together are certainly a foundation yea the substance of greater and truer Honor than these last Ages have had experience of Yet he hath no reason at all to be proud nor we much reason to boast of him for though these are excellent things yet they have been shadowed and sullied with very great weakness that doth much eclipse their lustre for besides the dirt that malice cast upon him and the pollution contracted from the nature of his work which hath been destroying work and so impure besides these I say there is personal weakness rash passions sudden ingaging for and as sudden turning from things which shews want of fore-sight incontinency and inconstancy of minde some violent strains and leaps which have stretch'd conscience and credit large promising to oblige parties and persons and too short performance to give satisfaction which shew a minde not standing firmly upon its own basis of truth but carried off into looser ways of policy And though the tottering state of things may seem to excuse it yet certainly such actings so disproportionable to the truth and faithfulness of God do more shake him and with him the publique peace than any thing in the world But notwithstanding these or if not these what ever other weakness may cleave to him I must prefer Oliver Cromwel in querpo with the stamp of God upon him before Oliver Protector and all His train of Greatness and that His naked person with what God hath done in him and by him hath really more dignity majesty upon it than if he had with his Protectorship fetch'd from Westminster all the Honors and Titles of all the kings of England and therefore I think what ever may be fancied the Subscribers have done him no real injury in writing To Oliver Cromwel I have done with the
refuse the common Title of Protector is I suppose this That as General he stood in a special relation to honest men as divided from their enemies and all others in an Army where you expect a more open friendly and ingenious converse with him You think he hath by being Protector of the Commonwealth of England Scotland and Ireland levell'd this Distinction and brought you into the common condition of the Nation and now every man hath as much share in him as you or we your discontent is jealousie lest your Lord General should forsake the wife of his youth the honest people of the Nation his sister his spouse in the morning of her beauty and commit adultery with that rotten harlot Old worldly Power and Greatness And that he should seem to desert you and that general and unlimited Power that he had with you and you with him and this won and worn in the face of the three Nations and take up a limited Power a broken clipt Title maim'd and imperfect and that a Mushrom a thing that rises in a night none knows from whence that he should carry his and your conquering Sword and hang it up amongst the Monuments in Westminster and fetch out of the old Records or the Lawyers pates a ceremonial empty thing without spirit or vigor and therewith wrap up and invelope himself from the converse and enjoyment of his own body and spouse Now in this I confess I would a little indulge your jealousie though it be mixed with an unseemly rage yet I hope there is love at the bottom and a sense that His Highness hath devested himself of too much of that Greatness and Power which he had and which is necessary to uphold us and our cause in that state into which he hath brought us But withal let us consider it is an error that deserves pity it may be he intended it as an act of humility not of disloyalty that he considered himself as a private person not as a General intrusted with all the Honor won by honest men in these wars and if he hath wasted his strength and might by it he will quickly feel the want of it and will be ready to entertain a loving invitation back again and if in stead of suing a Divorce your Letter and Paper had been a loving Challenge and Claim of your right to him it might for ought I know have had a very excellent effect Meeting with these two considerable Questions in your Title I could not but give them as serious a Consideration as I was able in hope it may help to clear our Work for the future I shall now hasten to your Letter ANIMADVERSIONS UPON ALETTER sent to His HIGHNES BY Certain GENTLEMEN and others in WALES IN the begining of your Letter you speak of A Sudden Strange and Vnexpected alteration of Government c. to the great astonishment c. I doubt 't is the vapors that do arise from your own passion that do occasion this great astonishment in you for let a man but with a little Reason view our late publick Transactions and Change of Government will be no strange thing to him From the begining of these times we have been little but Changes we have chang'd from three States to two from King Lords and Commons to Lords and Commons for a while they govern'd us and then we turn'd from two to one the Commons onely without King and Lords And this hath been turn'd purg'd dress'd broken and patch'd up again divers times and ways these are great changes of Government but a greater yet followâ—d When the Remnant of the old Parliament was taken away that wherein the Authority of the King in Calling and the Liberty of the People in Chusing met in one Constitution And the then General and his Council private persons exercise the Authority of the King and Liberty of the People and meerly out of their own wills create a Parliament Now all Civil Power is changed into Military and that triumphing in the highest Absoluteness as if the Sword were the onely Lord of the world the Alpha and Omega of Government as if it gave the King his Majesty and the People their Freedom and could challenge them when it pleas'd yet this change did not so much astonish you for some of you were Members of this Parliament Neither had you reason to be offended at this because by this change your way had an opportunity to put in its Claim to Power this was the Vertical point The next change was rather downward again into an Instrument which sets up One as Supreme and a Parliament chosen by the People this is not altogether so strange to England as the former Now which of these you mean I know not to complain of the former change from the long Parliament to the little Parliament is against your own Interest and to complain of a change from a Parliament impos'd to a Parliament chosen is against the Interest of the People I will not trouble you to resolve which of these changes doth affect you most Many are offended at the taking away the old Parliament and that Cause you seem to undertake whether it be really your Interest I 'll not determine I shall onely give you and others that are unsatisfied with that act my thoughts concerning it That long Parliament deserves to be mention'd with much Honor by all Honest men in the Nation that did adhere to it for that it had in it many sound and worthy men and was a long time a Bulwark that kept off Slavery and Destruction from breaking in upon us in many a hard brunt and desperate assult yet the removing of them at that time might be no injury to them or us I. That Parliament as they then stood was no Legal Constitution nor had they Right to the Government by our Laws What Right had they to take away the Life and Office of a King by whose Authority they were made a Parliament Or what Right had they to take away the House of Lords a Constitution Ancienter than themselves When this was done what just Power had they to constitute themselves a Common-wealth There was no act of the people that either made them so or gave them power to make themselves so they had no such power inherent in themselves neither could they ever manifest any such stamp of Majesty set upon them by God and his providence Now if the Parliament did assume the Government without any Rule or Authority and impose It and Themselves upon the People and so upon the Army what Law is broken in pulling down that which stands not by Law II. That Government such a Constitution as it had was from the Army the Army urg'd them to do justice upon the King which they neither could nor durst do themselves For they and eveny Rational man must confess that were it not for the Strength Honor and Success of the Army that which we call Parliament Government and
obedient to that word which is differently dispenc'd to them as you are to what is manifest to you and you cannot but in reason conclude that those that you oppose are bound in duty to God and man to keep the peace against all opposers whatsoever and if you are not sunk into and cover'd over with your own Religion as some are their spirits being inferior to the Religion they profess and so are master'd by it and not suffered to behold any thing but the glory of it if it be not so with you you may see the same things in which you now come forth in those you oppose and that own'd and testified to by Gods providence in giving them a compleat victory over their enemies there the same things that you now plead have after long-sufferings and sore trials attain'd more than we lookt for and indeed as much as the world can afford liberty and power to secure it why then should not you rather quietly enjoy and improve together that great Mercy obtain'd by your and their praying and earnest seeking of God rather than begin a new and strange Contention 'twixt prayer and prayer zeal and zeal for this strife if it should go on would be most black and unchristian and doth threaten the utter defacing of the honor Religion hath gotten in the earth a miserable overthrowing of that liberty and safety we have and the rooting out of Religion it self II. Secondly Having shew'd us your Commission from Conscience Duty and Faithfulness to God c. In the next place you in stead of propounding your Grievances or manifesting when the Difference began and wherein it now consists or desiring satisfaction as brethren you hasten to declare an irreconcilable Enmity in the highest nature and chuse your ground to fight upon which is no worse than heaven for which you quote Rev. 12.7 in the margin And there was war in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and the Dragon fought and his angels and being ingaged in the same quarrel upon the same ground you expect the same success considering say you they loved not their lives unto death and by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony did overcome Thus have you leap'd into heaven and entred your selves soldiers under Michael with his angels I am unwilling to think or say how unlike you are to the Lamb the Captain or to such fellow-soldiers I confess you are gotten out of my reach I tremble to deal with men that will but say they are members of that Army therefore if you intend to secure your Cause and selves by this high advance you have your end as to me I shall not dispute it with you you may stay there till the sense of your passions and weakness help you to understand the Revelations and your selves better But for the other Regiments that you are associated to and speak of that were stir'd up in England and Scotland to bear witness c. against the Book of Common-prayer Surplice c. and against Ship-money Monopolies c. I may be a little bolder being things within my own knowledge and sphere If I should be too free with them you would not be offended if I should be too plain with you they would not be offended because you are how ever listed here together at a great distance in your opinions and affections In sum you put your selves in the place of Michaâ—l and his angels and the Protector and them that joyn with him in the place of the Dragon and his angels you are the heirs of the Saints and of the honest old Puritan-party the witnesses and they succeed the King and his party Egypt Babylon Antichrist c. and by this devise First you clothe your selves with heaven purity truth and Christ his Cause a blessed state unerring and undoubtedly successful and them with wickedness falshood idolatry a state of certain destruction II. Secondly You conclude the cause hath been heard you have given in your witness they are condemn'd there 's nothing left but execution you may now fall on without any question they will as surely fall before you as the Dragon fell before Michael or as the Kings party fell before the Parliament-party III. Thirdly This is your posture an irreconcileable Enmity declar'd no possibility of repenting in them or you no way in the world left for healing or agreement but desparately bound to fight it out for this difference is not 'twixt brethren nor between Israel back-slidden and Israel abiding stedfast nor between the seed of the bond-woman and the seed of the free-woman nor between true Christians and hypocrites nor between men enlightned and men yet in darkness unconvinc'd for all these may live in civil peace together upon the same earth but a strife 'twixt Michael and the Dragon 'twixt obstinate and reprobated sinners and blessed elected saints where one party must be saved in heaven and the other must to hell IV. And fourthly this onely upon a similitude and that made onely in enmity which uses to put the highest stamp of wickedness upon enemies and assume any glory to it self that he may by it be an excellent Destroyer This made comparison and the consequent wrath is without any real difference either in your spirits or work for this I may affirm that in the habits or qualities of your mindes to God or in the work of God upon you or your work for God you differ not that is setting aside knaves and hypocrites on both sides which I believe stir up enmity make the difference 'tween you they are not Babylon nor you Zion they not the seed of the serpent and you of Christ nor the contrary We intend not to meddle with the great Judgement of God but with your present standing in which no indifferent man can have any shew of reason to judge one party wicked the other godly or that it is the work and design of one to set up Christ the other to set up Antichrist but both of you are brethren children of the same Father servants of the same Lord of the same repentance and faith exercised in the same duties with the same spirit laboring to advance the same Religion and Liberty in the Nation onely being in darkness and under offence you understand not wherein you either agree or differ but the difference is onely in circumstances of tune and maner of doing things and in outward condition some have more some less of the fallen parties honor and riches some are habited with outward greatness others have their lot in lowness and sufferings some disguised with the outward palace of the king others disguised with the prison of old sufferers these with some petty differences in temper and natural disposition some sudden and hot others heavier and cooler some simpler others wiser these little things have set up the standard of defiance And besides these I know no real difference between you and them except it be