THE LEAVES OF THE TREE OF LIFE For the healing of THE NATIONS Opening all the wounds of this Kingdome and of every party and applying a remedy to them By which we come to a right understanding between King and Parliament A universal agreement and peace on all sides and the Kingdom restored and setled upon a sure and unmoveable Foundation By the Light GOD shining upon WILLIAM SEDGWICK Doe you not know that the Saints shall Judge the World LONDON Printed by H. for Giles Calvert at the black spread-Eagle at the West end of Pauls 1648. THE PREFACE TO THE WHOLE KINGDOME REad and wonder I know thou wilt to see the Lord so soon upon English ground you are surprized taken fast asleep Awake stand up T is the Lord he is come to save us he was with us upholding our former prosperity and we knew it not he is now with us fighting against our worldly state in such a dark cloud as we are more ignorant of him he will now unvail himself and you shall see him in open face of love and Salvation and say This is the Lord. While you are under him in the World you will finde his feet as fine brasse burning in a furnance His steps will be hard to break you in peeces fiery to consume you yet fine holy and just suffer that and he will take you up into his armes and binde you to himselfe with a golden girdle of love and shew you a face as bright as the Sun shinning in his strength giving you rich love life and light he is severe that will astonish but mercifull that will comfort he is very low in the bottome of your sinnes and miseries there the flesh will despise him but your wants will rejoyce in him and say such a high Priest we need but exalted very high in the largnesse of lovingkindnesse sure that will please you and the evil one only can be troubled at it England it is thy Shepherd the Porter will and must open to him and the Sheep will hear his voice while he calleth them by their names they will follow him and he will lead them out of their misery and he goeth before them In every way of suffering and deliverance he is first sure you will not follow a stranger but flee from him he saith All that went before me are theeves and robbers they are hirelings and come for wages they come not but to steal to kill and to destroy so have all done yet They are hirelings and the sheep are not theirs But I am the good Shepherd I lay down my life for the Sheep I am come that they might have life after their death and that they might have it more abundantly then ever they had it J will seek that which is lost and bring again that which was driven away and will binde up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick and J will feed them in a good pasture upon the high mountains shall their fold be c. I know the narrownes of mans heart will say who hath heard such a thing Who hath seen such things Shall the earth bring forth in one day shall a Nation be born at once Will Christ appear in the earth or if in the earth in a whole Nation what Christ under the sinnes of the Kingdome his blood shed in a Nation a Saviour of the Earth and this in so short a season all at once To this I only answer My thoughts are not as your thoughts nor my waies as your waies but as far as heaven is above earth so far are my waies above your waies saith the Lord This I doe rejoyce in and so wilt thou that heer is light to be seen and eyes to see with that he can open and enlarge the mindes of men and bring them out of prison and make them able to receive the truth This is truth light to shew this truth in eyes to receve it and love to rejoyce in it Wee have no enemy but the devil and he will make all the resistance he can poor weak man may doubt fear c. but Satan will blaspheme rage and say t is impossible t is blasphemy t is against God against man But thou enemy thy discovery is thy ruine thou shalt not speake a word against this Lord but it shall be manifest t is thou a murderer a lyer a destroyer that hath no portion in this thing and therefore wouldest destroy that that will destroy thee and deliver the Kingdome out of thy destroying hands thou art cast down thy Kingdom of darknes is broken by the light of the day of God thou shalt prevail no longer in this Kingdome O Leviathan we now can draw thee out with a hook and thy tongue with a cord thou shalt now make supplications to us and speak soft words to us we now take thee for a servant play with thee as with a bird and our companions shall make a banquet of thee c. Therefore depart thou as smoak before the presence of the Lord. Heer is one that hath the Keys of David that can enter into the Kingdome bring forth the prisoners judge them and save them from Satans cruelty and wrath These are the Leaves not the fruit of the Tree of life the cure is upon the Nation in general that is the subject in hand not men in their particular and personal estate that is yet to come This is Elijah who comes before the great and dreadfull day of the Lord to turne the heart of the Fathers to the Children and the heart of the Children to their Fathers lest J come and smite the earth with a curse The Lord in the spirit of Elijah the dawning of the day upon the top of the mountain washing and cleansing the outward skin of the Nation to prepare for further and greater glory and to remove the present curse of hell and wrath that is devouring of you I have no more to say to you but stand still and patiently hear your doom from the Throne of God advancing it self in WILLIAM SEDGWICK THE LEAVES OF THE TREE of LIFE For the healing of the NATION Chap. I. Shewing the happy and flourishing condition in which the Kingdome of England once stood and the ground of it THE Earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof the world and all that dwelss therein For he hath founded it upon the Seas c. The divine goodnes delights to bring forth it selfe in the whole creation and upon all things stamps his own likenes Especially the heavenly man takes pleasure to bring forth a brief Epitome of himself in his image man The families of Heaven have ingraven their likenes upon the Families of the Earth The new Jerusalem the City of God bestowes her shape and beauty upon these Cities But the highest glory of God in his Kingdome is drawn forth in the Kingdomes of this world and therefore they are above all The Kingdomes of our Lord and
it in infirmity and weaknesse T was the true light shining in darknesse but the darknesse comprehended it not We knew not our own filicity God was nigh to us the Kingdome of God in all his glory was in the mid'st of us and we were not aware of it The Lord did Reign amongst the Children of men and they knew it not while he was present they set him of a distance and would not receive their own life but in enmity did cover the face of God the majesty and Kingdome of God and gloried in their poor shadow T was a beautifull but earthly vessel raised up for a time a temporary greatnes a corruptible Crowne that we have seen standing and flourishing in prosperity but its period of happinesse is come and you shall now see it in its declining diseased corrupt estate end falling Chap. II. Shewing the Kingdome of England in its corrupt and declining estate YOu have seen the fair inside of England now you shall see the filthy outside of it The holy God took it into conjunction and felowship now casts it off into rejection and reprobation In the first his glory shin'd in this its abominable wickednesse and wofull ruine appear This Heavenly glory being in love with the earthly shadow of it self desires to approach nearer unto it and to dwell with it in a more intire and perfect union and to swallow it up into it self that it might no longer subsist out of him but be found in him But as God approaches this earth fled from his brightnes being a fraid to be swallowed into its own Life and being weake and jealous of the great love of God chose rather to continue its old form and its earthly happinesse The goodlines and majesty of God was cloathed and hid in this worldly Kingdome as a treasure in an earthen vessel T was his pleasure to break the vessel to rend and tear the old garment that he might come forth and cloath that with his glory that cloathed him with its basenes But the Pot-sherd did strive with his Maker and would not yeeld or offer up it self to God but doated upon it selfe and its own beauty Therefore God threw it off into a dark and inordinate idolizing it self to a worldly and satanicall seperation from God and love of it self making it self the substance and God the shadow and so grew to an earnest minding of its present happines and threw off God into a strangenesse and distance not to be conversed with in this world but referd him to another making those two which God hath made one Hence grew in the whole Nation King and People in all parts an eagar love of worldly things and as God threatens to take it down that he might set up the heavenly so much the more earnestly did they cleave to it and fall further and further from God and more and more laboured to load themselves with thick clay and so the whole Kingdome in opposition to the divine will are in ambition and covetuousnesse set to advance their worldly state heer is the fatall breach betwixt God and man twixt Heaven and England This breach is made by the Devil the wicked one the God of this World by which the Kingdome is become Satans and divided from God And being thus cut off from its head and life God it cannot but fall into divisions The Spirit of God fayling the band of union it must quickly be in distraction There was a destroying in the whole but it first appeared twixt head and body Thus. All parts finding their foundation fayling and some disease and disturbance in the body each begin to stickle for it self and its own interest as distinct from the other The King having a misgiving that his greatnes did not increase but rather sinck thirsts after more absolutenesse thinks it a debasing to his Royalty to have any in conduction with him as good be no King as to be in dependance upon others and so growes weary of the Parliament The People finding their liberty and priviledge sinking too begin to be jealous of their Prince and accounting him a Tyrant afraid they were going into slavery finding an obstruction in the body that favour did not flow so freely from the head as it use to doe disdaining to be kept at a distance from Government and the affaires of States growing impatient of the Princes waies censure his actions and to have a longing itch after government Drawing thus severall waies there growes of head and members two factions The Count and Royall and episcopall party and the Country People and puritan party These two grow from jealousies and discontents to malignity one against another to watch for advantages one against the other and to seek the advancing themselves and the ruining of each other labouring all that the could to rob each other and to pull and snatch from each other to strengthen themselves and so growing to a deadly enmity and when the body meet in a Parliament and so head that party they are strongly divided and the whole Kingdome being shaken and broken fall to peeces according to the working of their severall and various principles To the King goes men of honour as the Nobility and Gentry much whose honour is predominate over their reason and Religion The Episcopall patty being Monarchicall growing out of the root of the King and paternall much the Fathers of the Church men of implissit Faith whose conscience is much regulated by their superiours men that are high and great admirers of Kinglinesse taken much with that Ordinance of a King And a vast number of loose men men of no Religion but the King To the Parliament men who of a lower state and exercising their own reasons in Religion zealous and wel-affected People men of industry and labour that love freedome and to be somthing themselves Men whose consciences are their owne and so strict in them Cities Corporations Bodies and men that highly honour the Parliament men zealous for generall and common Good And by the accesse of these Parties to each other they are strengthened in their opposition of each other and fitted for their mutuall ruine Chap. III. Shewing the Kings Errors The Kingdome being divided into two parties the King first carries away The Golden ball of Government who though taken off and seperated from his true Basis The King of Kings yet is assisted by a mighty Angell by whose help he rules awhile alone and with more good and lesse evill then those that succeed In which hee appeares in High and masculine vertue as a Father mighty severe and terrible The great and undoubted Image of God living in a supremacy beyond and above all questons honoured with fear and devotion But alas being alone he soon declines his good Angel leaves him and so not able long to manage the Scepter But oppressed with his owne guilt and the curse of GOD quickly is forced to resigne it to others It hath been the Kings
her Ghost into the Armies bosome and leaves the Army Executor of her wil dies into the People and al dying together and tumbled into one grave of confusion By this death there is a perfect Remission of sinne here is a true Act of oblivion on all sides a blotting out of transgressions Hath the King transgrest hee lyes in the dust for it he is in your own bowels devoured by you if you accuse him you accuse your selves look upon him now as pierced by you and you can't think of his sins but of your own shame with self-piercing self-wounding hearts Neither can the King remember the Parliaments injuries but he must in those thoughts be oppressed they are in him and if he should think of revenge he must be revenged upon himself death wholly overcomes and spoiles revenge and leaves it nothing at all to feed upon Or if any party do look back they see all these mutuall violences in the Divine wisdome and goodnesse the sting of them being taken away with pleasure and content and glory in these marks not of hatred but love glory in the Crosse and rejoyce in your mutuall sufferings together and one for another all bitterness and envy being slain thereby Every one as now in the accuser you see your own good and your adversaries weaknesse and sin so shall you by this change of death see all the evill as your own and be able to beare it every one accusing himself and acquitting others so that the greatest enmity will be against your selves or any thing that makes a division and nothing remaining to be hated but enmity or hatred it selfe There cannot a thought of strife or enmity arise now but it must appear in blood in the blood of Kings Queenes Princes Parliaments enmity being slaine at first look you do see death in it and so abhorre to change a word with it look upon it as a murtherer and immediatly fly from it into each others bosomes Here is away too to pay all debts to cancell all obligations on both sides in this pit of death must all be swallowed up Debts are forgiven a dead man Here is a death of the Old man The old Quarel the old termes of enmity the old man and his lusts The lustings of the KINGS party after honour greatnesse preferment the Parliament after places Bishops Lands c. the Armies lustings after arreares the lusts of envy malice tyranny oppression coveteousnes desiring each others goods the fuell of this flame in all is buried Thus as before our remedies were our diseases so now our diseases our miseries become our remedy in saving we lost now in losing we save Our gain was losse and our losse is become gain through the riches of the wisdome and mercy of the Lord our GOD Now we must say we had perisht if we had not perisht Chap. XV. Of the compleat cure of the Nation shewing it in its Raised state and parrticularly the King NOw through the tender mercy of our God doth the day sparing from on high visit us To give light to them that sit in darknes in the shadow of death to guid our feet in the way of peace The bright day of Englands Redemption is come the sweet morning of our Resurrection A rise let us go from this pit of misery Let us wrap up all our grave cloaths of shame sin and sorrow and leave them with their Father the destroyer in this dark night of hell and death The Lord saith it and in the power of the Lord we doe break open Iron gates of death and let goe these poor prisoners of hope and before we goe we will spoile the spoyler trample Satan under foot laugh and mock at thy power ruine thy Kingdom of darknes take away from thee thy power to vex wholly destroy thy destruction Oh thou enemy destruction is come to a perpetuall end We smite thee upon the cheek-bone thou canst bite no more Now we lead captivity captive we were under thee now thou thy selfe art a prisoner and a servant thou hast not hurt us but done us good in destroying us thy curses are turned to blessings to our infinite advantage Thou thy self shall be under the burden of divine wrath We are escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler your snare is broken and we are delivered and thou fallest into the pit thou diggest for others by thy wounding us wee are healed thou hast bruised our heel but we have broak thy head thy whole design of Englands ruine and thy plots are discovered and turned against thy selfe upon thee and thy wrath as a foot-stoole doe we ascend into the blessed throne of God We lock thee up in chaines of darknesse and throw thee under the earth get thee hence and all thy darknesse with thee that keeps Englishmen from seeing God in one another take with thee all thy bitternesse rage madnesse oppression tyranny all thy lies and falshood thy false Oaths and breach of Covenant all thy disorder and confusion thy mischievous plots and all thy scorne and reproach and all thy false accusing Father to Son and Son to Father c. Thy rayling and revilings blasphemies with every thing that is cursed and goe headlong into the deep Sea of thy perdition we wil live in heavenly peace love and righteousnesse in the light and glory of our own God Shake thy self from thy dust captive daughter this cloud of dust that darkens thee from divisions emptinesse barrennesse vanity instability and ascend into the light majesty union and strength of God England is become the Kingdome of the Lord and of his Christ God reigns in her she is become a holy Nation a heavenly Kingdome God is in her and none else The tabernacle of God is with men he now takes his great reign upon earth he is come he is come to judge the People righteously and to govern the Nation upon Earth The majesty of the Trinity dwelling before in weaknes that is sowed dyed it s raised in power before in flesh now in Spirit before covered and vailed hiding himselfe now in open and naked face We are now a new creature a new Kingdome of righteousnesse living in the immediate brightnesse of the face of God God is with us with all his host of power and goodnesse mercy and wisdome to establish us in peace and justice there is nothing amongst us but God who is exalted alone and saith I am and there is none besides me and hath taken the Kingdome into himself and every thing is what it is in the glory of God now indeed the soyl is the Lambs he is English Earth The people the Lords and shall be filled with the excellency of God in himself The Lord is King God himself reigns God is upon his throne and saith openly to the whole Kingdome I am your King you are my People I le rule you with a pure golden Scepter of righteousnesse and peace you shall submit to me and
in glory and all pleasant and usefull one to another And in union with the State or Kingdome You were divided you kept them from medling with Spirituall things and they in requitall and revenge excluded you from Civill things you both in your dark and worldly state made lawes against each other The heavenly or spirituall men must not medle with earthly affaires they defile them nor earthly men act in heavenly or spirituall Thus were you cruell and unkinde to your selves and to each other one setting up an Heaven without an earth the other an earth without a heaven These in the Lord are married together in perfect union the same Lord being by the same spirit King and Priest and administring his Church and Kingdome together they are joynd in the King and must run down in fellowship together into the lower parts Now truth springs out of the earth You shall have God and Christ in the truth of the Spirit springing up in all your civill affaires in all your Lawes Statutes customes nothing else but heavenly truth and all your businesse civill and naturall shall be holy to the Lord blessed Ordinances of Heaven you shall be in all of them in the light of God and minister in Gods presence Vpon the horse bridles upon the pots upon all things written holinesse to the Lord And righteousnesse shall look down from Heaven Heaven shall shine forth to you righteous lawes You shall see the same things done in Heaven that are done in the earth looking in each others face and answering one another heer in THIS world earth will be no burden to Heaven being new and Heaven no trouble to earth no stranger when shee shewes her face and looks out she is the same thing and both joyning together salvation springs forth of them the Earth by her fellowship with Heaven brings forth good fruit peace righteousnesse and justice for the Land and the Earth without Heaven brings forth nothing but cold dead Lawes and Heaven without Earth but airy phansies both in conjunction make a compleat happinesse Now shall we meet together all Sorts in a generall assembly in the light of Heaven as golden candlesticks The holy one walkes in the midest of us emptying the golden Oyle by golden pipes from his golden self into his golden vessels his ministers And in this holy assembly sitting in the light of God all things shall be manifest to us wee shall see the whole forme of the house of God all the doors windows and pillars of it nothing of its statutes and ordinances shall be hid from us no error shal go undiscovered unrefuted all that have gon astray shall be brought back the ignorant shall be instructed the opposing and dissenting convinced and the obstinate rejected and cast out such a harmony and consent of hearts and mindes in this love and light must needs bring forth blessed fruit What ever is true in any religion we shall owne what is false we shall judge The darkness of Popery shall fall before our light we shall undermine the Kingdome of darknesse and set up truth in that beauty and majesty as shall gain all hearts upon such firme pillars as none can move her Wee feare not Papists nor all their strength we shall need no Lawes against them but The Law of the Spirit of life which wee know will over-come them The Gates of our Heavenly Jerusalem shall be open night and day let who will come in or go out No Vncleane thing shall enter into us But all the KINGS of the Earth all the wisdome state pompe and glory of Rome and all the World must bring their glory to this City this New Jerusalem And all the Nations upon Earth that shall be saved shall walke in the light of it Chap. XX. Of the restoration of the Army Levellers and City of London THE Army is but a particular part and that temporary and occasionall and is by this bright shining of the Sun of Righteousnes meltted into a generall peace and unity but lying under a particular condemnation it shall receive a particular discharge And we know thy imployment is so irksome and unpleasant to thee To be the kingdomes Gaoler to keep war in and peace out or to stand in the way to the Tree of life with a flaming sword to keep men from the injoyment of their liberty KING peace though thou art commanded to it by God these things being yet forbidden the people yet thou wilt be glad to be released from it that thou and all other may come into the Paradise of God and feed together upon the fruit of Divine peace and love There is under thy assuming power over the Kingdome King and Parliament and all and in thy maintaining thy Military power above and against the Civill in thy seeking thy owne subsisting and attempting to bee the Kingdomes Lord and restorer The Lord cloathing himself with zeal as with a garment incompassing himself about with flames of fire A Man of War a Lord of Hosts Casting away his Fatherly Government because of the Nations rebellion in all parts against himselfe and ruling us with a Rod of Iron God marching before us out of Egypts slavery into a Wildernesse turning us from a Civil Government into a Wildernesse and incamping in the midest of us and administering Laws to us as at sinai in thundering and lightning clouds and darknensse so terrible that makes all tremble A yoke that neither we nor our Fathers are able to beare And so we see Gods severity under mans iniquities And because it is the Lords Rod we kisse the Rod and love you for it Death is proper for this administration The Lord our Husband the Law dies wee were bound to honour you so long as you lived in the power and goodnes of God The whole Kingdome bowed before you while you led us safely through the Wildernes But Moses cannot bring us into Canaan but must only have a view of it and dye at mount Nebo This power is weak through the flesh and cannot do it if you contend now to effect any thing it is but the Devil striving for the body of Moses you are labouring to set up an honourable carcasse or to call back life into a dead body Christ did come into it and hath offered it up in his owne body and naild this power fast to the Tree you are dead fixt to the tree of shame by the curse with your Lord and by death you shall over come more then ever you overcame by life submitting to death your wils reasons lusts your seeking a worldly Kingdome your desire of lording it over others by force of armes with all your projects are slaine and all enmity in you against others and others against you Death hath disbanded you easd you of your hellish and wrathfull imployment Reconciled you to all and all to you brought you from being Turkish Janisaries to bee English men You are disolved into a body of love into GOD
from his Father favour for himself and his people he comes with boldnesse to take what he asks and saies I will and the power that Saints have in Christ to command God in prayer In thy siding with the Parliament against the King and thy free powring forth thy self for her We see the excessive love of Christ to his Church who is ravisht with love and for her forgets all things else In thy ingrossing the riches of the Kingdome into thee thou art a shadow of Christ who treasures up wealth and riches of glory in the City of God for us But thy glory is gon thy true life the beautifull presence of God hath left thee and thou art burning in flames of wrath jealousies envies divisions thou art wasted into a sceleton thy trade obstructed by Sea and Land thy People filled with rage thy bowels pained with fierce contests of parties pulling various waies quite restlesse an unquiet Sea in continuall agitation The Lord dyes in thee the LORDS delight thou wert his Spouse thy glory and greatnesse it was the LORDS he suffers in thy suffering and is covered in thy ashes lyes under the burthen of all thy wants is pierced with the necessities of the poor And thou art in the dust of confusion a ruinous heap the seat and place of vexation lying in a thick cloud of darknesse But his fire purifies thee in these flames thou losest thy filthy pride coveteousnesse malice revenge c. Thou shalt not perish utterly The voice of God is heard in thee to revive thee thou shalt be built again Thy foundations shall be all of precious stones c. The glory of God shall shine in thee thou art now the City of God a Righteous City this is thy name The Lord is there The Lord displaies his glory in the midest of thee The new Jerusalem indeed in truth in Spirit in perfect union with GOD a heaven and so in union amongst your selves Peace within thy wals and plentiousnes in thy palaces a City at unity in it self there shall not be the least found of discord in thee Thy nature is love light and holines The City of the great King made happy by the presence of the King and all the state and honour of the Kingdome Now open thy armes of Divine love and take into thy imbraces the glory of England Kings Princes Nobility Gentry Ministry Judges Lawyers with all the wisdom justice power and excellency of heaven and earth let all flock together in one God one Christ one Spirit one City and thousands of thousands of Saints and Angels dwelling in thee Nothing shal be heard in thee but mirth and joy in the Lord our God praises of the Great King Open thy gates thy everlasting doors that the King of glory the Lord of Hosts with all his host of Princly powers may enter in And all the riches of the World shal flow into thee in thy trade naturally and abundantly the wealth of both Indies and all parts shal seek unto thee and offer up it selfe to satisfy thee thou shalt be crownd with blessings all contents and pleasures shal continually run dawn thy streets and all in the sight and face of the holy God in the pure River of life Chap. XXI Of the admirable fullnesse and compleatnesse of this restoration satisfying all interests ALL the works of God are perfect found out of all them that take pleasure therein The greatest and highest are reserved for us in this later and great day of God wherein it pleaseth the LORD to appear in his fullest and most excellent glory this of Englands salvation is a sweet bud of it a little taste of that infinite Majesty that is now breaking forth in the glorious appearing of God In this businesse the Lord satisfieth his own Interest who is Alpha and Omega the first and the last and this is the rock of our pleasure that thou art pleased and satisfied Thou reignest thou art King this is thy due all power and dominion is thine t is thy right to have all all are thine for thee they were created and made King Parliament Lords Commons Ministers People all sorts all sides all parties are the Lords and thou wilt reign over and in all from Sea to Sea from one end of the Earth to the other as lightening shining from East to West so is thy Kingdom and thy glory is now due to thee that thou shouldest appear not in weaknesse to serve men but in thy great Majesty in thy highest honour thou must now shew forth plainly thy self in thy utmost most enlarged goodnesse power wisdom Nothing now will serve thee but to be ALL IN ALL To be All thou art in Heaven in all the Earth to bring forth all thy riches to fill every creature all glory in all things Thou art all in Earth as well as all in Heaven all in King in Parliament in People there is nothing but thy self in these thou art Bishops Presbyters Independents all these and all in these all Majesty power glory justice in the King and all the same in the Parliament and all that too in the People thou art all the labour strength riches freedome in the People all this in the Parliament all the same in the King all night and all lownesse Thou art all wisdom Authority Government in Bishops all care zeal labour in Presbyters all love union absolutenesse in Independents and all these in every one thou art the same in all ALL IN ALL All in darknesse all in light all in weaknesse all in strength all that every part is all the wholl is all the wholl in every part and all Heaven all Glory all peace all quietnesse all love all goodnesse in all these parts and wholl Lesse then this generall and near union and mariage will not satisfie thee being thy self satisfied thou doest satisfy all and being pleased thou pleasest all thy content contents every one because thou art all art content it self in all Thou hast shaken all Nations and the desire of all Nations is come We have been shaken into peeces and every peece shaken out of all order and peace Thou art good that thou doest but shake only rends that thou mayest make way for thy selfe to enter and for all to enter with thee into every part What we desire we have we can desire nothing but the Lord nothing is desirable but the Lord the Lord we have and in the Lord wee meet with every desirable thing the desire satisfied which if a tree of life God was our desire which is now interpreted being brought forth into performance and enjoyment God the bottom and top the desire and desired meeting in one Spirit and Kingdome GOD the root in our desires grown up into the fruit attainment The interest of this whole Kingdome in this restoration is satisfied and that consists in First PEACE a sure Peace a well grounded Peace here you have the richest jewell of peace that heaven hath
with God God with him drink of this health freely and the whole Kingdome shall PLEDGE be bound to fill it again and drink down this heavenly liquor of the Majesty of God in the King into them and the whole people shall say and see it performed GOD SAVE THE KING The King is saved in God and God the salvation of the king This restoration fully satisfies the Parliaments Interest gives her high PRIVILEDGES She is called to an honourable state to live in the Lord Christ to sit with Christ in heavenly places to be one with the Son the body of God to be Jerusalem above the mother of us all and therefore FREE free with God and in God with the King freedome to enter into his heart and bosome to lye there continually The king shall greatly desire thy beauty Thou now hast POWER as well as liberty to make Righteous Lawes in perfect Righteousnesse that shall stand for ever such a King and such a Parliament as we have long beg'd to agree together in just things and in both we shall reap the fruit of our prayers which though they were sowed in weaknesse and now seem dead and rotting in the earth yet shall rise in power The great Interest of the Parliament the COVENANT is here fully satisfied The end that we looked upon HAVING THE GLORY OF GOD IN OUR EYES that glory is now manifest God in glory All Popery c. rooted out and the root of it Satan a thorow and perfect REFORMATION God once formed the Kingdome after himself in his owne likenesse in which it corrupted he hath taken down the old forme and sets up a new reformes us in State and Church now we shall have doctrin and disciplin according to the WORD OF GOD the true and eternall Word the Word it self brought forth and according to the example of the BEST REFORMED CHURCH The generall assembly in heaven c. We have the KING in honour the KINGDOMES heavenly and earthly UNITED and a strong bond that will binde these three and all the Kingdomes of the earth in one life law and peace By this THE POWER OF GODLINES is set up Godlines likenesse of God in Spirit in Power or God himselfe all things else being but a forme We have here PROPRIETY God our own God we restored to him and hee to us his own Vineyard Every one shall enjoy what he hath in peace and coveteousnesse the root of oppression destroyed every one shall have enough every one shall bee satisfied have so much as hee hath ability to beare and others shall freely part with that which hath been burthensome to them selves none have more then they want and all that they want all in such a condition place office as they are fit for as they are capable of Every one having a minde to his condition and a condition to his minde every one by Divine wisdome so disposed as he shall rest in it and not move after others there being no discontent but in hel which is in perpetuall motion after every thing and attains to nothing THE LORD SHALL BE ONE AND HIS NAME ONE in both Kingdomes There is now but one LORD all gathered into Christ hee is LORD indeed and his name written upon every thing in Church and State nothing but the Lord spoken and done amongst us in heaven and earth in England and Scotland The Spirit of the Lord running through these Kingdomes and through all persons in it ruling over all in and by himself the whole shall be called by this Name The Lord and so not only one man but one Lord there being nothing but the glory and righteousnesse of the Lord amongst us This is that which we have desired and attempted to set up THE KINGDOME OF CHRIST THE REIGN OE THE SAINTS The holy God holy Christ holy Spirit with holy men and Angels Reigning together This rich LO RD filling all Magistracy with justice all People with love our Ministry with truth our hearts with heavenly joy all our Laws with life and light our Cities with unity and wealth our Villages with plenty our Families with content our Persons with happinesse our King especially with honour glory safety ease of heart clearness of understanding a sweet injoyment of his Queen and Children the Parliament LORDS and COMMONS with perfect agreement majesty goodnesse love of the King and peoples prosperity This is a true PERSONAL TREATY wherein King and Parliament and all the people are together one person one body living in one Spirit Thus the Lord is Englands desire and Englands joy him we sought for him we finde God gives us all that we desir'd and more then we could ask or think of and that too in a more excellent way then we could imagine T is the Lords doing and t is marvellous in our eies T is the day of the Lord we will rejoyce and be glad in it T is thy self O God Englands life and soul and England is thy delight thy first-borne of all the Nations of the earth T is thy self out saviour and salvation T is thy justice hath took vengeance upon our inventions and saved in that vengeance T is thy power triumphing in our weaknesse thy mercy rejoyces in our deliverance thy wisdome shines forth that brings light out of darknesse turnes mourning into rejoycing makes our Tragedy end in a Comedy a seasonable deliverance now when all miseries and destructions are met together in our bowels a cleare Sun to break forth of a suddain out of such blackensse of darknesse as covered us Thou hast carried us through death to life yea through thy own death to thy own life T is by blood wee are saved by the blood of Christ Thou hast done all things well thy workes are all excellent and perfect Let the People praise thee O God yea let all the People praise THEE FINIS Poscript THese are the Leaves of the tree of Life that will give a new life to this Nation and will heale all her deadly maladies but the leaves not the fruit yet effectuall It 's written here weakely it shall be mighty in operation imperfectly expressed now but fully and accurately will it write forth it self in action T is death to resist them The rebellious do dwell in a dry land in hel Particular persons may be confounded the Nation is the Lords and shall be recovered hee that opposeth all the evils of the Kingdome shall gather into his heart and hee shall bee the common shore into which the Nation shall empty forth all ber plagues wrath and destruction leave the Kingdome and dwell there thou shalt cease tormenting the Nation and torment them that resist You see the Leaves I know you desire the Fruit that is indeeed the life of all you shall speedily injoy it all the glory and happinesse of this Nation beer expressed and of all the Nations of the earth and heaven too shall in its highest perfection dwell in every particular soul This and every peece of it and more ten thousand times then this shall in the purest and fullest glory of Father Son and Spirit Grown every Saint and fill his soul body relations calling businesse recreation and all with the Righteousnesse and Light of Heaven and the Face of God Errata Page 2. line 21. for were read weare p. 16. l. 25. for Mame r. Name p. 45. l. 2. for see their r. see their p. 55. l. 16. for Mation r. Nation l. 22. for them selves and families r. himself and family p. 57. for Chap. 11. r. Chap. 13. p. 81. l. last for a second r. as a second p. 82. l. 29. for dody r. body p. 88. 13. for stall r. shall The Contents CHAPTER I. SHewing the happy and flourishing condition in which the kingdome of England once stood and the ground of it pag. 1. CHAP. II. Shewing the kingdome of England in its corrupt and declining estate pag. 6. CHAP. III. Shewing the kings errours pag. 10 CHAP. V. Shewing the Parliaments errours pag. 18 CHAP. VI. Shewing the judgement upon the Parliament pag. 26 CHAP. VII Shewing the sinne and punishment of the People of both partyes pag. 29 CHAP. VIII Shewing the wickdnesse of the Ministery or Clergy and their judgement pag. 32 CHAP. IX Shewing the iniquity of the Army and its judgement pag. 39 CHAP. X. Shewing the state of the Levellers pag. 45 CHAP. XI Shewing the judgment of the City of London pag. 47 CHAP. XII Shewing the irrecoverablenesse of Englands ruine by humane wayes pag. 50 CHAP. XIII Shewing the method of God in curing the Nation viz. first to take our sinne upon himself pag. 57 CHAP. XIV Of the second thing in saving of the Nation The death of Christ and our fellowship in it pag. 62 CHAP. XV. Of the compleat cure of the Nation shewing it in its raised state and particularly the king pag. 69 CHAP. XVI Of the Parliament in its raised estate pag. 74 CHAP. XVII Of the perfect union betwixt king and Parliament and by them with his People in this new and raised estate pag. 76 CHAP XVIII Of the cure of the people of the Land by this death and resurrection pag. 87 CHAP. XIX The restoration of the Ministrie by Christs bearing their sin and by his death and resurrection pag. 90 CHAP. XX. Of the restoration of the Army Levellers and City of London pag. 97 CHAP. XXI Of the admirable fulnesse of this restoration satisfying all Interests FINIS
given the swaying of the great affaires of your Kingdome to private and inferiour persons who have brought forth instead of Noble and Righteous Lawes a brood of low jugling tricks a rabble of Monopolies Pattents and such brats True thou hast exactly served thy personal relations a loving Husband a tender Father a constant Friend but hast been short in thy Office as a Prince the greatnesse of a KINGS heart hath been shrunke up and withered into the nature of a private man And thy private and Domesticall state hath drowned thy Publike and Royall As thou hast been defective in love and faithfullnesse so in sufficiency and ability of a Head Thou hast not dwelt with her as a man of knoweldge There hath been in the Nation many high and strong workings of spirit towards a greater perfection in Religion and Justice which though mingled with many unholsome vaporus and clog'd with great weaknesse might by an able head have been digested the evill being purged out into good spirits advantagious for the further grouth and increase of the body These are spilt and for want of wisdome to manage them the Kingdome spilt with them This Nation was of a fruitfull and teeming constitution apt to bring forth gallant and noble increase of light knowledge government great improvement in vertue which you in weaknesse of fear and jealousy laboured to stifle and in a superstitious opinion of former times confine this age to their example And being shy and not understanding the waies of God have left the body to her self or to other persons whence ariseth this hideous and misshapen birth in Church and Common wealth This universall disorder and confusion which the wisdome only of the Head and Father of the family can or could prevent I le but adde this one When thou hadst provoaked thy Parliament into a distemper by thy mis-government and estrangeing thy self from her then un-naturally un-Kingly irrationally un-christianly to forsake her betake your selfe to force an act so full of folly revenge so unbelieving so unlike God as along time durst not look up would not bee confest This cropt the sweet flower of Englands peace broke that great vein from whence such streames of bloud have flowed In sum The majesty justice mercy and goodnes of the great God hath not been held forth in thy Government but hid and buried in thee their appearing visibly in thee nothing but the weaknes inconstancy injustice and oppression of vile man Your evils have been great and so are your Judgements you are fallen into a deep pit of misery the chief offender and the chief sufferer great now in nothing but in losse and affliction You have slain the Kingly glory or the true glory of a King and therefore your Authority and dominion must needs die you have laboured to save an earthly greatnesse against Heavens displeasure the onely way to have it ruin'd to expose it to a multitude of stroakes of warth You have divided your self from your People your Parliament and so they become of a help a plague to you and are by others rent and detained from you You Idolized your Wife and friends and are therefore seperated from them Blasted and accursed in all your attempts Your Kingdome is full of miseries and you the Center of them all and must bear in all and for all Become the shame of the World by horrid confusion and distraction Deprived of all power of dominion Thy Revenue and dignity shared by others The majesty of thy Government like a Potters vessell dasht in peeces into Committees c. Thy Mame wounded yea buried under foul and black oblique become the scorne of Pampletters Thy Prerogatives and the highest priviledges of the Crown banded and tossed about the Kingdome in the mouthes and hands of common men When thou hadst left the Lord thy stabillity see what a race of misery thou hast run When thou didst leave the Parliament and wentest into the North Thy Sun set and another rose in England From that time its a dark night with majesty Kinglinesse is laid upon a sick bed and those Nobles gentlemen like blazing torches attending upon you All your waies then were weak faint sick-snatches at a Crown unnaturall and violent striving after a fading glory while your Kingdome lay wallowing in its own bloud At last the Lamp wants Oyle and Majesty dies and gives up the Ghost when you left your Regalia your Seal Crown Councel c. at Oxford now you indeed put of the state of a King and in the condition of a private person wander as a spirit in the Ayre till at last found in the North Apud inferos thrown amongst those leane hungry hagges the Scots who greedily devour this sweet morsel a King and in their ambitious and covetous lusts prey upon him Forced amongst those that he had little before proclaimed traytors and enemies to his Crown and dignity and were devils in his thoughts to him heer he is for a while tormented mockt with the title of a King but indeed a Captive nipt scurged and lasht with their rebukes tempted to blaspheme God in his own Royaltlty and at last valued at lesse then his quoin sold for mony into another hell He is resigned up into other hands Commissioners of the Parliament where he is again to be squeesd and wrackt by Propositions to give up the heart of Regall power ground tween the Milsiones of both Nations not admitted to come to his Parliament but Holdenby thrust into a corner while others frolick in his Dominion Now hurried into another hell snatched out of this as too honorable and taken away by agitators and common souldiers They must have their turn to vex this peece of misery They that had often chased him pursued him with death he must be their prey and be carried about as Army baggage They now will have the moulding of him and will cut out a new garnent of Royalty to cover his nakedness But t is shrunk in the making and they have disposed of the cloth to their own turnes Poor wretch frighted from hence by a new and strange fiend to Regallity Levellers and after another Pilgrimage he arrives at the Isle of Wight where he is again Imprisoned Labouring to please his masters studying how to content all parties and seeking favour and relief of all not forbearing being in great torment to ask the Levellers a drop of water to coole his tongue At last the pit shuts her mouth upon him in the Parliaments Votes to make no more addresses to him which is confirmed by the power of the Army and so forever rejected as an abominable thing never to be medled with Chap. V. Shewing the Parliaments errors WHen the King had involved himselfe in difficulties and weary of toyling to extaicate himselfe hee seeks at length to lay down his head in the lap of the Parliament and to seek help of his owne Spouse to compose the disorders of his Family And the
in waies of justice courage industry love mercy they were favoured with admirable mirable successe relieving the Kingdome from war And while they were contented with their state the condition of servants to the Parliament they shined in honour and reputation though malignd and envied while their masters daily impaired I hey shine in the eyes of the Nation and were the peoples hopes yea an Idol upon whom many had placed their confidence of a worldly deliverance When the Parliament or a party of them in ingratitude and malice against the favours God bestowed on them would have them disbanded as standing in the way of some malicious designe They united imboldned and strengthened by their just and honest intentions refuse and so grew to be a body of their owne independant and to stand upon their owne bottom For a while they appeare in this forme very faire and cleare Proposing honest and generall good fixing upon just and good things and obtaine by the assistance of their good Angell successe against their adversaries But alas How short lived is thy goodnesse A very morning dew that presently passes Thou hast only the power to propose and offer good but none to performe or a scourge to others a sickle to cut down the withered King Parliament but no power to build up when thou didst begin a new frame thy folly self-love in-justice worldlines quickly appeares and thou art left and forsaken in the same pit of darknes with others Thy Iniquities and Judgements are First Thou wast ignorant of the presence of the Lord of Hosts with thee and of that extraordinary power that guided thee thou didst talk of it but falsly and didst not simply and absolutly follow the LORD and walk in his power but didst mingled God and Baall do things haltingly and imperfectly in base fear respect and stooping to men and declining the noble high actings of the Spirit of God didst consult with flesh and bloud with sense and reason worldly customes and wayes which disabled thee to bring forth any excellent or honourable thing Thou durst not trust in GOD alone but deceitfully turnd away from him to thy own sense and reason Thou weart weak and unable to manage the affaires of state in this storme in which it is but being called to it hast in thy insufficiency brought it to another and worse wrack Thou undertookest a work beyond thy power and losest thy self and the Kingdome by it When the Nation lay at thy door begging for reliefe and thou hadst an opportunity to restore it a prize in thy hand and knewest it not But didest stifle and by unbeliefe and carnall policie smother the wisdome and power of the Lord in thee and not suffer him to come forth for the Nations salvation but bring forth thy own foolish waies to the Nations farther ruine When thou begun thy work through fear of the Kings party whom thou hadst conquered and brought to thy feet thou didst weakly and without judgement take up the King in his filthy curse and as a peece of a ruind wall to strengthen your selves and when you had fouly promised you as fouly brake with him and so become guilty of all his iniquity in taking him un-washt and of his unjust sufferings in leaving of him When you had broken the Parliament trampled upon it defiled its authority besmeared it with your disobedience dishonoured it inslaved it by force you then in hope to secure your selves by it in confidence in it set up this broken Idol againe in all its masse of folly and weaknesse injustice and oppression without giving any satisfaction to God or man You in opposition to the Spirit of the Lord that is pulling down worldly power set them up patch and bodge them together in a confused and broken way and set your selves to heal the breaches that God makes and so stand in the way of Divine displeasure to be consumed by it And now imploy your Army which God set to pull down unjust and corrupt powers in which you did prevaile to uphold and maintaine those powers no whit better in which you cannot prevaile your Army is now the girdle of strength that holds together the ungodly and oppressing power of Parliament or the fence and wall to keep out the vengeance of God from coming farther in upon men and it is so far from keeping it out that it keeps vengeance in or upholds them in a state of wrath You when you were lifted up begun to please your selves to admire and blesse the Army to magnify your selves as the Kingdomes Lords and conqerors to make your Army intyre to conceive a necessity of continuing an Army to get preferments in it to bethinke your selves of living richly in it of recovering your Pay and arreares And upon these grounds to continue the Army upon the Kingdome with taxes and free-quarter the greatest oppression that England or any other Nation ever bore so that now you are the last and heaviest of the Nations burthens that promised to save and deliver and turne the greatest Tyrants lose all the good you have done set up a forcible Government turne warre into a trade England into a Campe perpetuate desteruction and provoak new commotions You have at last deceived all parties promised much but done nothing broken your word frustrated all expectations of good from you become a broken reed which while men leand upon runne into their hands and so become of a remedy a great disease You judgement is the same with your Mother the Parliament and with all Power upholding it selfe and maintaining it selfe in enmity to God Accursed of God your standing is in the darknesse of Satan and the World The King in the pit the Parliament the pit it self of confusion and you shut the mouth of it the Porters of this Nationall hell to keep them in torment that are there to conjure downe those keep them in torment that are there to conjure downe those spirits that would come forth by these risings and to set bounds to this Sea of confusion that it do not over-flow The rock against which these proud waves dash themselves in peeces the walls to contain and instruments to inflict evill on the People against which they continually fome and fret or the fetters and shakels of the Nation in prison under you the chaine in which the mad Kingdome is bound and tied for their folly and rage you are to inflict more evill on them and because they will not bear what is laid on them patiently you are to lay on more and as you lay plagues on them so you receive some blowes from them And so are sunke from that great favour to be the Kingdomes hope a saviour to be a jaylor vexing and being vexed able to keepe men in misery but in no way at all to deliver them And to this are you tied and bound A way of peace and quietnesse hath been set before you that way of peace you have not known but being
insnared and caught in this net of trouble you are ingaged by honour self-preservation c. to go on in this hellish trade You are in darknesse and know not which way to goe having got a course of fighting you go on to fight for you know not who nor what Not for the Parliament you know if ever they have opportunity they will remember your war against them and make it Treason and if you had the same opportunity you would doe as much for them again as you have done master them So your cause is lost and you only fight because you are an Army because fighting is your businesse All that you did in your greatest undertaking against the Parliament and City is blasted and undone Members restored to the House the Tower in the same hands it was which writes vanity upon your proceedings and shewes what foolish builders you were that when you had power in your hand instead of doing good too and for all you minded nothing but your own and your friends advancement having indeed not the generall nature of the whole but the affection of a party and faction Your waies are not now paved with love and sweetnesse as heer to fore but full of briers and thornes your work hard and knotty meeting with a fierce bloody inraged Enemy sharpned and provoaked against you by a sense of their own and the Kingdomes ruine harsh and angry weather True you have subsistance still but not in honour peace greatnesse but in war in vexation and that increasing so fast upon you as threatens your overthrow or at least shew you so much worke to doe that you must go on butchering men as long as you live for as fast as one party is crusht another rises that tels you the spirit of the Nation is against you and that oppressing power upheld by you so that you must fall under their fury or the Nation be consumed by you either you must give way to their rage which you can't or continue to be the scourge of the Kingdome still a wretched life This Woolfe you have by the ears in this dark and black path you walk in If you think you are well because you live because you are not come to nothing you know not to be an Army or to be in the cnodition of private persons would be your mercy but you are ingaged to bee in dishonour in warre shame tormentors and being tormented Chap. X. Shewing the state of the Levellers THe Levellers are men that are justly sensible of the miscariage of all that are gon before them see c their corruption how they have swarved and declined c that 's not heard but in applying a remedy they are as much mistaken as any His excellencies is not great assisted he is by a discerning Angell that discovers the falshood injustice and wicked waies of others and opens this truth more then any how all power and authority ascends out of the People or descends from the People making in a kinde them the chiefe But alas this Angell is low and weak that speakes and writes in a corner but come forth into action he cannot but sinkes under the fall of the Kingdome and his own mistake Thy errors are these Thou canst not bear the Kingdomes suffering under the hand of God nor thy owne but in a carnall love of this worldly state seekest to uphold it against the justice of God and so fallest into the same evil of thy Fathers self-love and preservation in enmity to the LORD To save thy self that the over-flowing scourge may not come nigh thee thou makest a Covenant with hell and an Agreement with death the Agreement of the People who are turned by the Divine justice into a hel and death Thou art ignorant of that wisdome of God that only can save the Nation and having gathered some scraps of earthly knowledge from others thy proud heart is lifted up and thou conceivest highly of thy self as if thou art able to save the Kingdome and so presumest upon that which thou art not called unto T is true The King is by the People and the People are the originall of power but this is an imperfect peece and take it alone it is very destructive The King is of the People so is Man by the Woman yet the Woman must not shake off her yoke of subjection For as the Man is by the Woman so the Woman is of the Man and for the Man so the People are taken out of the King and are for the King as well as the KING by the People KING and Parliament are in relation to the people as Christ to David He is the root and of-spring of David Davids Son yet Davids Root and David in spirit calls him Lord. So is power in King or Parliament the root and ofspring of the People The King is Son to the People and Father too and so in spirit is called Lord. While you take one part in darknesse and leave the other you confound and disorder the whole In your actings to set up a worldly power now you are of the earth earthly The Nation ground to powder or dust dust thou art and to dust c. the Serpents meat You confess no Father acknowledge none above you and therefore art Terroe-filius or filius populi Son of the Earth or Son of the People The base Son of the Parliament begotten in her Adultery growing out of her principles The people must not be left without a remedy to save themselves c. Self-saviours your cry is the People all power is disolved and the people must judge T is according to your wish the people in divers parts do take the power and above all would mine you their greatest indignation is against you so you runne from God to hell for help T is your portion to suffer in the common calamity and to be as mad men striving with your fetters as a Bull in a net toyling your selves or agitators not resting quietly in the grave of publicke misery waiting for a resurrection but disturbed agitated dust in a whirlewinde of divine wrath Chap. XI Shewing the Judgement of the City of London LONDON the chief and Mother City of this Nation hath been the place of residence of the great glory of England the house that gives entertainment to the head the King and body the Parliament and these florishing together in peace and righteousnesse The Heaven wherein these dwell and chiefly shine forth themselves The habitation of these Majesties in which they are comprehended That is inriched by them with honour state greatnesse and doth again supply and inrich them with plenty of cloaths food c. And thou hast held up thy head high in these times and been mightily preserved by a great Angell in thy many dangers Thy evils of sinne and punishment are besides the common guilt and plagues of the Nation Thou art wholly ignorant of thy heavenly originall thy true foundation upon which thou
the mutuall health and welfare of each other The KING it he could ruine the Parliament should but destroy his own body himself in another his own flesh and the Parliament in destroying the KING destroy themselves in their head The Parliament have conquered the King but have gotten onely this by it to be a confused head-lesse heap and put off their naturall head to put on another to be headed by an Army a faction and if the King should doe as much and conquer the Parliament he would be unhappy in it and he would be the head not of a body but a confused rabble not a King indeed but a friend his party would Levell with him and expect to be Kings with him he would be in as great a confusion without a Parliament as the Parliament without the King As they are broken divided set in enmity and malignancy one against another so are the parts disordered The head the King laid in the bottom the Parliament upon him the Army hath been and when occasion serves can be uppermost The Kingdome stands upon his head The Parliament came forth of the King and Army forth of Parliament now the King can't come forth but it must bee from the Parliament as the Parliament comes forth of the Army Divided and subdivided broken into King and Parliament Parliament and Army Army and City City and Parliament England and Scotland Scotland their divisions Ireland divided from both and subdivided amongst themselves But the destroyer hath most shewed his cunning in our divisions so perfectly and artificially are we intangled and perplext in distractions as there is no escaping The KINGS party divided and some fallen in with the Scotch and Presbyterian which they perfectly hate and yet are joyned to them Others rather chuse to sit stil or have better love to the Independent interest ther 's another conjunction in dislike dis-junction The Parliament is divided some look back to the KING others had rather stand against him both jealous of him yet forced to looke towards him The Presbyterian joyning part to the Cavaliers and part to the Independent and both hating those they joyne too The City falling to peeces too Thus doth God shake the Nations jumbles their principles together scatters them as dried bones that none knows whether to go to joyne The King is shut up in his pit in his prison under the Army and Parliament he must make his way through their blood to come to the Crown and when he hath done that he must again ruine those by whom he riseth the Scots and when he hath done that he is yet but miserable and is worse then where he is The Parliament must goe through the Kings party to their end by the Army and when they have done that they must ruine the Army and Independent intolerable to them and then they arrive but at confusion The Army must destroy the Kings party first and then the Parliament and at last it gains nothing but to be a wretched nothing The City must ruine the Kings party or else wo be to them and the Independent too or else they can have no settlement and then the Parliament and they may have leasure to fight alone Hambletons Scots have the English Nation wholly to destroy before they can come to his end both Army Parliament and KING and their own Nation at home And what then Then there will be roome to fight with the Irish so that wee are involved in destruction shut up under severall locks and bolts and to get out of one is but to be out of a lesse into a greater or larger hell Therefore its impossible to recover your selves by force you may wrastle and tug with your fates and weary your selves with toyling but by all you will but sink your selves deeper and by your false hipocritical and unnaturall conjunctions of heterogeneous bodies make new matter of difference and increase your own misery Neither can a Treaty compose you in the condition in which you are you are in death and under the curse and all your actions are and shall be accursed The Nation is not only broken but as dried bones have lost their marrow of Vnion their spirit of Love it hath neither flesh of softnesse and gentlenesse nor sinews of agreement Neither doth there appeare that wisdome and skill to binde up these breaches King lost disabled Nobles scattered weake inconsiderable things Commons distracted hurried after their vaine imaginations Of all the sonnes that the kingdome hath brought forth there is none to guide her to take her by the hand to lead her out of this pit The end of Treating at best is but to settle the Kingdome in its former worldly estate T is looking back to Aegypt we are in the wildernesse and must on to Canaan It were woefull if wee should lose the fruit of all our blood and misery that we have suffered and only be where we were which will quickly fall back into the condition we are now in No the Divine purpose is of some higher favour to us and short of it we must not sit down Besides This Treaty is not voluntary but forced not open and plaine but false each seeking to catch advantages and in darknesse and jealousie fearfull and unblieving which will blast them sin and iniquity unpardoned the wrath of God still flaming against the Nation unquenchable by all the art of man that will render all humane attempts vaine and fruitlesse Heer lies England as Sodom burning in the displeasure of God in Civil bloody warres in madnesse and folly The Majesty and honour of the Mation confounded and lost in the KING the liberty and justice of it in the Parliament the power and might of it in the Armies the religion and truth of it in the Church the wealth and trade in the City the fruits of the earth by warre and unseasonable weather and ALL in the losse of Gods favour Heer is the Kings curses of his people and imprecations of judgements upon themselves and families brought forth to the life That mad party that cry Dam me and Ram me that drink healths to the confusion of the Parliament t is done you live to see it The other side that have Covenanted the exterpation of Episcopacy root and branch t is finished fully The Parliament and the KING their root or the Laws of the Land out of which they grew the Nation her self the Church all rooted out And all sects and schismes Presbytery it self for one pul'd up by the rootes Your fears have brought forth the thing you feard is upon you The removing of the Candlestick the losse of the Gospell The whole Kingdome is left in Hideous darknesse And the glory of it is gon from you That persecution feared by Independents is come Satan the destroyer is upon you wasting killing imprisoning all true glory light righteousnesse peace And the answer of your many prayers for destruction upon the enemies of Christ your selves and
In the Parliament Now is manifest the Son of GOD made flesh and dwelling amongst us Thou art here our Lord incompassed about with infirmities in abundance of weaknesse in temptations feares distresses in so poor a body as thou art not known to them they deny thee kill thee and know not what they do In this forme Thou comest to thy own and thy own receive the not Thou art in them speaking in such dark parables in such confused and un-understood wayes with such a rabble of oppressing Publicans Harlots and sinners about thee that thou art judged a Devil and to mention thee here is blasphemy to all men T is the cry of King and People Away with him away with him he is not worthy to live thou art here loaded with iniquity made sin indeed In the Parliaments assuming the power of the King his Prerogative his revenue we hear the Lord say All that the Father hath hath he given unto me All power in Heaven and in Earth The King is with us we have his power c. Christ saies in this dark poor forme The Father and I am one the Father is me the words that I speak are his and the works that I do He gives me to do them I come from the Father Thus the Son goes forth for a while appeares amongst men and the Father conceals himselfe and is not seen but in the Son and the Son challenging the honour name and power of the Father In the Parliaments undertaking the work of reformation and failing in it We now see the Lord in flesh coming amongst us and entering into The Temple and over turning the mony changers turning out those buiers and sellers those worldly Episcopall party that turn'd religion into a trade and worship into meer gaine and preferment prophesying anew forme a Kingdome but at last lost in it saying I have laboured in vaine I have spent my strength for nought and suffering under this accusation that he would destroy the Templets c. yea the Kingdome too And so the Romans come in and take away both our Place and Nation That he was a rebel to Caesar so crucified in shame betrayed sold and his Disciples leaving of him doubting his word saying We thought he would at this time have Redeemed Israel Our Lord is here in weaknesse failing in his attempts marred in his vizage more then any man so that all turne away their faces from him In the oppressing and confused Government of the Parliament We now see our LORD come not to send peace but a sword to set Father against Son and Son against Father c. Setting two against three and three against two requiring us to leave Father and Mother Houses and Lands for his Name threatning to undoe us and to strip us of all bringing of us to nothing wasting and spoiling the riches of the Nation so disolving of us that we must be borne again new-moulded in a baptisme of bloud In the Parliaments endeavour to preserve the Kingdome to uphold and maintain the freedome of it wee see the love of Christ to the World and his desire of saving it we hear him say Oh England England how often would I have gathered thee c. In the zeal and rage of both parties against each other we see darkly come forth the wrath of God against his enemies God fighting with those that fight against him the fiercenesse of the vengeance of Heaven against his adversaries cursing them raining snares and fire and brimstone upon them Thus doth the holy God dwell with and under the roofe of sinfull man Thou that knowest no sin art made sin Thou livest in those fleshly formes Thou sendest forth spirit and they are created And then doth blow upon them and they dye and wither lose their goodnesse and beauty and are tossed about as vanity as chaffe in the wind That thou mightest destroy them thou commest into the likenesse of sinfull flesh that thou migtest consume sin in the flesh appearest in flesh and so against it and under it that thou mayest at last save it And unfoldest the brightness of thy face and glory to be in perfect and undefiled purity in and under the vilenesse and basenesse of the creatures Chap. XIIII Of the second thing in saving of the Nation The Death of Christ and our fellowship in it AS God bears our sinnes so he suffers under them and we suffer in and with him and thereby is iniquity taken away T is by blood that we have remission of sinne God dwelt in the Kingdom The power of the King it was Gods God was in that majesty and dominion God was in the right and freedome of the Parliament in the peace and happinesse of the Nation in the wealth and honour of the City in the power and strength of the Army in the glory and order of the Church And God suffers in the death of all these he suffers with us loses in our losses not our blood alone but his is shed not our goods onely wasted but the Lords his they are and were and God is in union with them and suffers in them The Lord is made a curse for us our sin hath brought this curse upon God This is a sacrifice well pleasing unto God sufficient for ever to take away iniquity and to appease divine justice Though destruction should for ever wast England it would never be satisfyed but feeding upon the glory of God eating so deep into Englands sides as to reach the heart of God t is time for it to say I have enough let anger cease it doth feed upon God himself Cease to trample upon the head of King Charles God is there thou tramples upon God in him Cease to confound our Parliament Christ is there Cease to destroy the Nation t is a holy and heavenly Nation Now we are reconciled to God we were divided by death now one in death or God so loves us and is so neer to us as to suffer with us and for us our friend indeed that hath layd down his life for us The glorious love of our God is triumphing with us in and over death God is in our misery insulting over it O death I le be thy plague c. and so makes death sweet to us thou art now a lovely bed wherein our Lord and we being uncloathed of life lie down together death rends the vail and takes us into a naked enjoyment of GOD because wee could not live together our earthly in Gods heavenly Kingdome therefore must we die together we die because we have left God and he comes and dyes with us will not live without us but comes into the grave to us so that he might deliver us thence Thou destroying Angell proceed no farther The blood of God cries peace and you English mad to destroy cease crucifying the Lord of glory every wound you make Pierces the heart of God every sad and grieved spirit afflicts God every stone of scorne or
receive law honour justice and protection from my selfe you shall now see the beauty sweetnesse and goodness of my government I le be a King to and in every one of you And I le reign over you in and by King Charles I will take him out of the prison of Satans darknesse out of the pit of the world from all his vilenesse of lusts of oppression coveteousnesse folly fiercnesse wrath and from all his shame and dishonour from his evill counsellers wicked spirits that have seduced him to evil into my bosome and turne his heart as a river of water It shal no longer be mudded with evill counsellers nor with pride coveteousnesse cruelty but run in a pure stream of Divine justice and goodnesse and so largely and plentifully that it shall flow forth freely upon you Righteousnesse shall run down your streets A fountain of honour as wel as justice that shal give reall true not titular honour to his People that shal stream forth Majesty and greatnesse as freely into the whole Nation as the Sun doth beames he shall freely communicate Royalty that it shal be every ones and every one shal live in the view and enjoyment of it and fully satisfied with it it being truly his own A King enlarged with the largenesse of God that comprehends all his People as the sands on the Sea shore and is an Ocean of goodnesse and righteousnesse to cover those sands whose Armes of love can at Once imbrace the whole Kingdome every party and person that carries every English man in his bosome That impartially wil communicate favour to every one according to his true worth and ability to receive it of large wisdome fil'd with the wisdome of God of quick and piercing understanding to execute judgement in all causes one living in the light of GOD shin'd upon with the Majesty of God that he shal not be deceiv'd by flatterers but shal scatter all such mists from before the Throne that of all places wicked men and wicked things shal fly from the Court and presence of the King Of such tendernes that he shall really bear the burthens of all his subjects and every mans trouble shal make him restlesse that cannot be fully content til he hath fully satisfied all the wants of his People That is all mildnesse and gentlenesse to his own People as a Father and terrible only to your adversaries whose indignation is bent continually against the enemies of his People and his childrens peace a Lion to them but a Lambe a Shepherd to you A Prince Mighty with the Mightinesse of God able to do you good mighty in word and deed able to save you and to destroy them that hate you A King that hath no joy or delight but the good and prosperity of his People T is your happynesse only that is his Crowne that knows no glory but a loyall and loving People that is King only to make you happy and your happinesse is his Kingdome or health and prosperity in the People grows up into a lively flower of glory a King or breaths out it selfe in his Majesty So the KING is the breath of our nostrils That is indeed a King Anointed by God by and in the grace of God that is covered over with Divine grace that is nothing but what God is and hath all the Kinglines of God shining in him With whom and in whom you shal nakedly see the face of Divine justice and in whom the glory of God doth take pleasure to shew it self and not as another from him but in perfect Vnion in truth and righteousnesse where there is nothing to seperate nor part the earthly from the heavenly King but the earthly is in agreement in covenant with the heavenly living together in the same Spirit The heavenly God being intire himself and the King intire himself yet both but one in true marriage and conjunction for ever a bond and covenant that never shall be broken the King in God God in the King The King is what God is and God is what the King is neither alone God all in him he all in God He that opposeth one opposth both hee that loveth one loveth both exclude one you exclude both deny one you deny both disobey one you disobey both This is heaven and earth married together in harmony and agreement and the King that once appeared an Image of God a shadow in which he was weak and which he hath dyed to and the evill and corrupt part left in the grave hee is raised up in the very substance in Vnion in Spirit in Truth in Eternall fellowship with GOD. Chap. XVI Of the Parliament in its Raised estate ALL things are made new a new King and a new Parliament a new Head and a new Body a Heavenly body a Host of Divine excellencies in which all the perfections of the Son of GOD shines An assembly or body of Christ The fullnes of him who fills all in all not only a company of weak men But this is thy new name The LORD is there GOD is with us Christ in glory in Majesty Highly exalted Thou in whom are hid The treasures of wisdome thou sittest in Councell to draw forth excellent Laws for us and to rule in the midst of us One chosen out of the People in which meet in one the life spirit and wisdome of heaven The LORD is here challenging the Kingdome to be his here is gathered the heads of the Tribes a congregation of the first borne the chief and choisest Saints and Angels collected and imbodied into one Son of God The LORDS Christ he saith I am here your flesh and blood one of you I 'le provide and constitute wholsome Laws for you in this Parliament And this Parliament taken out of all its filth and guilt out of all its madnesse and disfraction folly and confusion out of the hands of the envious man that divides destroies from under cursed darknesse violence and oppression from the Peoples woe and curse I 'le wash it and cleanse it and fill it with Majesty and goodnesse make it a mountain of holinesse a City of Righteousnesse Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Thou shalt no longer sit in darknesse Thy Sun shall go down no more thou shalt not stumble nor fall for want of light thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory The Sun of righteousnesse is Risen in thee with healing under his wings Thou now art Divine justice A habitation of justice where justice it selfe shal delight to dwell No unclean thing shall be found in thee living alwaies in the righteousnesse of Christ thou shalt be seperated from sinners blamelesse live in a hight of righteousnesse above accusation The Lord Our Righteousnesse The Saviour of the People thy walls shall be called salvation and thy gates praise sending forth saving health
you lye downe in the Eternall By this your arreares are paid you are nothing you are dead and you can require nothing you and your demands are fallen to the ground your service is dead and nothing is due to it but to be buried and all your miscarriages in forgetfulnesse Who do you require arreares of The Kingdome is dead the sword reignes and therefore the Kingdome is free if you will be paid take blood want spoile confusion ruin that 's all that is left of the Kingdome pay your selves of that Do you expect it of the Parliament That is dead too Poor Parliament you have eat it up your selves in greedines of pay you tore her bowels out and you can have no more But all anger is past there remaines nothing but love you are dead and live with Christ come forth of your graves stand up in the resurrection of Christ in union and fellowship with Christ The Lords host now the Lord is in you and you pitch your tents about the Lord and are the arme of God stretched out for his owne defence and for the punishing of transgressors living in the strength and Spirit of the Lord and now mighty and powerfull to execute Divine pleasure Now you are under the Captain of our salvation and at once interested in the salvation of the Nation and of Christ our Saviour Now we can pay you arreares you never stuck upon arreares till you sunk into the earth into poor earthly mindes rise you again into spirit you will count it your honour to help England freely Mony and a Saviour cannot subsist together That Spirit of Christ that once acted in you to let goe the prisoners Englands freedome and justice without price or reward that spirit shall revive in you and then you will scorne to be mercenary I know you disdaine to keep Englands woundes open to suck her blood you have hazarded your lives for justice and freedome and can't now insist upon pay you are worthy your selves and have the worth of all with you if you desire pay enter with us into Cānaan and you shall have Vinyards that you planted not wels that you diged not A land flowing with milk and hony such mercies and blessings as you could not expect The Lord is Judge he will audite your accompts and pay all that he owes you Religion flourishing in the purity of it peace and righteousnesse as Rivers and Seas the sweet holy unmolested enjoyment of your own families and estates in the presence under the government of the most high You shall now subsist in our bowels be disolved into the Church and Kingdome which is the beloved of Christ Terrible as an Army with banners terrible to the world and the God of the world to the prince of darknesse and so wee shall disband you into spirit and power the whole Nation shall be Souldiers able to draw the sword of the Spirit against all forrain power amongst our selves wars shall cease from the earth you must beat your swords into plowshares and spiers into pruming hooks to your honest trades again there will need no Iron or steely wrath but to plow up your own hearts and to cut down enemies within your own brests all our Townes and Cities are garisoned with a heavenly host and we have salvation for our wals and bulwarks we shall lye down in peace and none make in afraid while we need force we shall use you but not in civil wars you must be removed and only imployed in service against strangers if you delight to sit down by the still streames of Englands peace and feed in our green pastures of eternall love you shall if your valour makes you desirous of military actions we shall finde enemies abroad to imploy your swords against and when you under take such expeditions the Lord shall goe with you you shall have Angels spirits that shall make you invincible where ever you goe The Levellers grew out of the Army and are again shrunk into the Army and therefore we will now joyne you to the Army being mingled together In your endeavour to impose your Democracy your popular Government upon the Kingdome over-throwing and overturning all powers into the People we hear the voice of one crying in the Wildernes England is become a Wildernesse all flesh grasse all power is corrupt the Spirit of the Lord hath blowne upon it and its withered This is John Baptist that exalts the valies and brings down the hils he brings all into the waters the People God is in these Levellers casting the Mountains into the depths of the Seas plunging all into a confused People not suffering one stone to lye upon another Thy place is to be in the Wildernesse and not to come into the City to expire and dye speedily to decrease that he that comes after may increase Thou art beheaded thy devices are fallen to the ground a mushrome thou wert little and art nothing What went you out to see A reed shaken with the wined growing out of the mire of the Nation or a man clothed with soft rayment People got into Kings houses In this state thou art vanisht lost and raised in the Spirit of Christ the divine and eternall love of God and in this Kingdome there is a perfect Levell The People the originall of the Parliament and King by a free giving up themselves and and their estates to the Parliament and King are in the King and Parliament and fully pertake of the royalty and power of both and are leveld with it The People give honour and glory to the King and so higher then hee or he their Subject He that gives is greater then he that receives heer all the people are one with that spirit that is kingly that Anointing that makes Christ King and so called mine Anointed living all in the liberty of that spirit that makes Kings and are most perfectly content in the Kings greatnesse being that which themselves constitute making it themselves they live in it and enjoy it And the King is levelled to the people by his sufferings or humiliations and by his love taking in every Subject to himself humbling of himself to be but the Kingdoms Servant and wearing his Crown only for the happinesse and good of the people living together and brought into one body head and member The eternall love is the Leveller Divine Charity that lifts not up it selfe but is lifted up and being lifted up drawes all after it I rejoyce in the healing thy breaches oh London thou honourable City Thy iniquities have been great there is a righteous one under them that will carry them without the City as a scape Goat into the wildernesse we see the Lord in thee in thy greatest filth in thy violent enforcing powers above thee to thy own minde in constraining the Parliament to thy will by bold petitions urged with tumults we see darkened and shadowed the intercession of the Son of God who with violence wrests
seven times have passed over you you shal returne to your Throne and true Majesty shall be given to you and your Nobles and Kingdomes shall honour you all shall freely bow to you and you shall command and Reign againe to the terrour of your adversaries and joy of your friends now the prison doors stand open to you and you shall returne to your Royall Parliament and City after seaven yeares banishment We have now a King in whom we can confide as in God now the LORD lives in him t is impiety and wickednesse to have a thought of distrust concerning him the sure justice and righteousnesse of God inhabits in the Throne as its proper place We have a King according to our own hearts hee lives in our hearts arises out of our hearts and our hearts give him his dominion hee hath all we have and hath not too much because he hath us too and nothing but what we freely give one higher by the head then all the People having the wisdome of the whole in him of the largest understanding and therefore King because he doth in true worth excell any in the Nation and is of all men fittest to reign fitted by his great suffering and Gods fulnesse dwelling in him This is the QVEENS interest she may return to the King there is no fear now she cannot hurt either Parliament or Religion both being in such a condition as cannot be hurt besides living in this light of all she shall most love the Parliament it being the same with her self the Kings Consort and she being the same with it concurring together in severall wayes to help and honour the King if she should attempt any thing against it it would be against the King and her self The Parliament administring about the affairs of the kingdom that the King may enjoy his Queen and Family with greatest plenty honour ease and pleasure and the Queen administring in the domesticall affairs of the King about his Person that the king may enjoy his Parliament and people in greatest content and freedom The Parliament in businesse of State a Queen lying in the bosome of the king and the Queen in private and personall affairs a Parliament and so Parliament and Queen interested joynd in one interest And for her religion we are now so far from being afraid of it that we rejoyce in it and in her great interest in the Papacie For as the Papists had by her designs upon us so now the streame being turned we shall by her design upon them and over-runne the whole Papacie with light and truth she shall be the doore by which we shall enter into all the riches and honours of the Papacie and without injury to them we shal spoyle them of all their glory or rather bring a glorious fire amongst them that shall out-shine theirs and burn up theirs into it self The PRINCE his Interest is here satisfied he is indeed one with the Parliament they he are brethren descended both from the loyns of the king and are one in various forms each being the glory of the king the staffe of his age Christened at the same Font the Spirit of Christ both the hope and joy of England both being the glory of the King propagated unto eternity a never failing off-spring and flourishing in the vigour and youthfulnesse of the Son of God both interested into Christ or the interest of Christ and so of each other The LORDS who have lost their Nobility sunck in disgrace scattered and almost buried in dishonour by this shall be restored not to airy empty Titles but to true Nobility The Lord doth appear Lord of Lords your Lord owning Lordlinesse and filling of it with himself as well as king of kings and as he sets a Crown of pure gold upon the head of the King so Coronets of pure Gold upon yours you shall shine as stars in this Firmament in wisdome holinesse justice and goodnesse and be in affinity to the King that head ennobled with heavenly Majesty fit to be about the Throne and advanced to be the shoulders and brest of the Nation next the head The Kings party are here fully satisfied to see their King restored to the honour and greatnesse of his Ancestors his Progenitors which is into the glory of God the great king the Kings true Father They that contend for KNOWNE LAWES by this the Laws are known by God brought out of the dust of the earth in which they were trampled upon and restored into the brightnesse and life of God And now we shall see the whole body of the English Lawes interpreted and opened to us by the wisdome of God and all drawn forth into life and power by the Spirit of God as we see the fundament all Law of King and Parliament written in the face of God and Christ by the Spirit You shall have Religion in the OLD WAY in the good old way DIVINE SERVICE wherein every part of it shall be irradiated with the Beams of Divinity and in every thing you shall see the Face of God and have fellowship with the Divine Nature Religion shall be adorned with Solemnity State Pomp Glory Ease Musick all Heavenly and Earthly together such as may allure and please the mindes of men and there shall be nothing harsh or rude in it yea rudenesse it self shal have its comlinesse You shall have your sports pleasures we will sing together in the hight of Zion young men maids daunce together without offence or iniquity all in the innocency holinesse and joy of God your whole life a course of pleasure all things yea labour and pains shall be recreations God recreating all things or making all things new they shall be sweet and delightfull you shall have your Holy-dayes yea your whole life shall be spent in holy-daies a continuall rest the great Jubile You the more civil and solid of that party that sincke into a retired condition in these tempestuous times that lie quietly and patiently in your graves of your owne and the Kindomes sufferings your resurrection is come and you shall revive and in a new spirit act for and in the prosperity of the Nation And you mad Lads shall SWEARE Now the Lord lives in truth righteousnesse and judgement and know him present with you sweare by the eternall God the Spirit filling every oath with truth you shall curse your enemy the Devil with all plagues to the pit of hell and so dam him and ram him in that he shal no more come forth to trouble you you shall eate and drink freely and forget your selves and your sorrow and in it be filled with the Spirit of the Lord be raisd into high mirth and jollity drink so freely of this new wine of the kingdome till you are drunk out of your own wits into the Princely Spirit of God and then ever speak and act things of love worth bravery and excellency This is the KINGS HEALTH his saving health his union