Scots gape after this gude Land who with those of other Nations must be Satisfied out of the Purses of our own whilst those that are their Leaders will be gratified with this that and the other Mans Lands and possessions And that this Insinuation is no Fiction but well grounded upon Precedents out of our owne Histories in the Practices of our Kings may appear by the Proceedings of the Conquerer who being forced to extraordinary Courses to satisfie his forein Soldiery made bold so frequently with the Estates of his Subjects that the great Lords of the Kingdom fearing it would come to their Turns at last to part with their Possesions by way of prevention fled out of the Land some into Scotland some into Denmarke and other Parts to trie if by aide from abroad they might recover Themselves and their Fortunes again at home But by this means they hapned to lose all so much the sooner for miscarrying in the Designe their Estates were possess'd and their Offices supplied by the Norman Favorites Thus also King Stephen himself being a Foreiner and relying most upon forein Arms to preserve him in possession was constrained to take the same Course for the satisfaction of his forein Auxiliaries which consisted most of Flemings and Picards whom he especially trusted in his greatest Actions neglecting and oppressing the English Thus did Henry the third also in his wars with the Barons against whom bringing in Foreiners He for reward invested them with others Lands and Honors and laid heavy Impositions besides upon the whole Kingdom to make Them Satisfaction And in those variations of Fortune between the two Houses of Yorke and Lancaster as often as either of Them had occasion to make use of forein Arms to assert their Titles the Estates of the Adverse Party and the Purses of the People were sure to goe to wrack for the Pay of the Soldiery From hence then it appears that if the Prince put himselfe in possession by Arms we shall be so far that way from any ease of our burthens that they will be doubled and trebled yea and tenfolded upon us Lastly The Prince's Confederation with the Scots and our English Presbyters were there no other Reason might be enough to terrifie any ingeniously minded People from giving their assistance be they Royalists or not For if the Kirke be able to bind the Prince to hard Conditions and prove like the Sons of Zeruiah too strong for him so that his Interest bow to theirs then in stead of a Regall which is more tolerable we must all stoop to the intolerable yoke of a Presbyterian Tyranny that will prove a plague upon the Consciences Bodies and Purses of this free Nation The Scots by this means will effect their Designe upon us by stretching their Covenant-union to an equality of Interest with us in our owne Affairs And the English-Grandees of that Party will seat themselves again in the House and exclude all others or else a New Parliament shall be called of Persons of their owne Faction so that if they should carry the day all the Comfort we shall have by casting off the present Governers will be only that we shall have these furious Jockies for our Riders Things perhaps shall be in the old Statu quo as they were when the late King was at Holdenby whose Son must then lay his Scepter at the Foot-stole of the Kirke or else they will restore him by leisure as they did his Father into the exercise of Royalty By which means we should be brought again as far as ever we were from a condition of Settlement and the Common-wealth reduced to Ashes by endlesse Cumbustions On the other Side put case the Prince have the better end of the Staffe of the Presbyters they relying upon his Courtesie as well as the rest of the People then in case he carry the day They and All are at his mercy and no Bar will be in the way to hinder him from an Ascent unto an unlimited Power So that you plainly see this present Combination of Royallists and Presbyters which soever of them be most prevalent must of necessity put the Nation in hazard between Scylla and Charybdis that we cannot chuse but fall into one of the pernicious Gulphs either of Presbyterian or Monarchicall Tyranny All these Particulars being seriously considered how Improbable it is in the first place that the Prince should goe on with Successe in his Designe and then what miserable Inconveniences must needs follow such a Successe in case he prevaile not only to the Prejudice of any one Party but of All I may undeniably conclude that all mistaken Royallists as well as others who live now under the Protection of the present Government are concerned out of necessity and in respect to their owne well-being and benefit to wish well thereunto rather than prosecute the private Interest of a single Family and of a few Fugitives its Dependants to the hazard of their owne Families with the Peace and happinesse of their native Country CHAP. II. Concerning the Scots I Am sorry I must waste Paper upon this Nation but seeing They make Themselves Considerable by being troublesome it will not be amisse to sound the Depth of their present Design which that I may the better doe give me leave to trace them in their Encroachments from the first to the last upon the English Nation Not to mention those of elder date let us begin with King James who being a native Scot out of love to his Country-men or rather to himselfe that he might keep them quiet by stopping their mouths with the sweet morsels of England was pleased to admit many of them into his Court then into his Councell and to be partakers of Honours and Offices equall to the best of our English His Son the late King knowing danger might come of discontent out of the Northern Corner followed the same Course that his Father tooke to oblige Them holding them in Pension giving accesse to all Beggars with such faire Entertainment that most of Them staid here and none returned empty This heaping of Favors upon Some stirred up the Appetites and Emulation of others who seeing themselves neglected and not like to share in any of these Enjoyments by the Favor of the King bethought them of an other way to make Themselves as considerable as the rest of their Country-men and gain an Interest with the English Seeing they could not thrive with the Court They would trie what They could doe without it Hereupon being men of Power in their owne Country They became most Zealous Assertors of the Presbyterian Discipline against the Episcopall by which means they gained the Friendship of all the Religious Party in England then persecuted by the Bishops who were at Court the only Favourites Hereupon these Leaders of the Scotish Presbyterians beginning to grow active and forward in establishing their own Form at home and also to propagate it abroad by encouraging their Friends gave
are borne into the world with soules so Cities have a Fate or Genius given them at the first founding of their Walls and this Fate is so sure and inevitable that no reason or wit of man can conquer it but it directs all things to the appointed end Now that you may understand what Fate is Minucius Felix calls it Quod de unoquoque nostrum fatus est Deus that which God hath spoken or determined concerning every man It is saith Seneca that Providence which pulls downe one Kingdome or Government and sets up another nor is this done leisurely and by degrees but it hurles the powers of the world on a sudden from the highest pinnacle of glory to nothing Hence it is saith the same Author almost in the language of Scripture that a Kingdom is translated from one family to another the Causes whereof are lockt up in the Cabinet of the Deity though Holy Writ hath left the main cause of such Changes upon record viz. the wickednesse and injustice of Rulers It is the weight of Sinne which causeth those fatall Circumvolutions in the vast frame of the world all things being as changeable as the Moon and in a perpetuall Flux and Reflux like the Tides that follow her Motion so that what hath been is that which shall be and there is no new thing under the Sun It was the weight of Sin which sunk the old world in a Deluge and hath been the occasion no doubt of all succeeding alterations by permission of Divine Providence who leaves the men of the world to the fulfilling of their lusts that he may accomplish his own Fatalities or Degrees by an execution of vengeance Hence it comes to passe that the best established and mightiest Governments of the world have been but temporary witnesse the foure great Monarchies the Assyrian the Persian the Grecian and the Roman and the time or age of a Government hath by some been reputed * for the most part 500. years As for example the Assyrian Empire lasted 520. years till it was ruined by the Medos and Persians The Athenian from their first King Cecrops to Codrus the last continued 490. years and then it was translated to a populan Government The Lacedemonian Common-wealth flourished much about the same number of yeares from the time of their Founder Lyâ—urgus to the dayes of Alexander the Great under whom it fell The Roman was governed by Consuls about 500. years too from the expulsion of their Kings till it was reduced again into a Monarchy by Augustus After Augustus it stood in this Form about 500. years more under Emperors till Valentinian the last Emperor of the West was slain at Rome at which time the Empire was rent in pieces The Vandals under the conduct of Gensericus possessed Themselves first of France then of Spain at length of Africk and in Italy of Rome it self The Scots and English shook off the imperiall yoke in Britain The Burgundians and Franks seized part of France The Gothes another part of it and part of Italy the Country of Aquitain with the seats of the ancient Cantabrians and Celliberians in Spain whilst the Lombards laid hold on Gallia Cisalpina By which means the Emperors had no certain power in the West after the time of Valentinian so that relinquishing Rome the old Imperiall City they erected an Exarchate at Ravenna which was soon destroyed likewise by the Lombards Now though 500. years be reputed the usuall period of Governments yet some have not atteined above half the number As the Persian Monarchy which from Cyrus the first to Darius the last florished no longer then about 230. years The Grecian having completed 250. after many struglings and bloudy bickerings betwixt the Competitors was divided into the severall Kindomes of Macedonia Syria Pontus and Egypt The * Kingly government of the Romans was abolished near the one hundred and fiftieth year after its Institution The Lombards domineered in Italy 240. years till they were subdued by Charlemain and their last King Desiderius banished with his wife and children But this is not all I can tell you of many Royall Families and famous Governments that have had their fatall periods in a very short revolution of time not exceeding 100. years As in the one hundreth year after the Empire of Augustus the Roman government came into the hands of Princes that were strangers as Nerva Trajan Adrian by nation Spaniards In the yeer of our Lord 280. Artaxerxes erected a new Kingdom of the Persians out of the ruines of the Parthians In the year 300. the Roman Empire was committed to the tutelage of Princes Christian as Constantius and Constantine the Great Anno Domini 400. divers new Kingdoms were raised out of the Ashes of the Empire inflamed by Divisions viz. in Italy France Spain Africk Asla and England Anno 500. the Western part of the Roman Empire was extinct untill the time of Charlemain and swallowed up at Constantinople in the Grecian I could reckon up many more of these short-liv'd Governments But this may suffice to shew that sooner or later they all have their fatall Periods their Crownes are laid in the dust and their Glories buried in the Grave of Oblivion No wonder then if our English Monarchy having arrived to almost 600. years since the Conquest should now according to the common Fate of all other Governments resigne up her Interest to some other Power Family or Form The late Commotions and Contests betwixt King and Parliament were as so many sharp Fits and feaverish distempers which by a kind of Antiperistasis are ever most violent in old age upon the approaching Instants of dissolution The Corruption of the old Form hath proved the generation of another which is already setled in a way visible and most substantiall before all the world so that 't is not to be doubted but in despight of * opposition it will have a reason of continuance as others have had according to the proportion of time allotted by Divine Providence And this I am the more apt to believe in regard of its confirmation by a continued Series of many signal Victories and Successes to the envie of all opposers and amazement of the world Besides I suppose it cannot be exemplified in History that ever Kings were suddenly re-admitted after they had been once expelled out of a Nation If any one case of this kind may be produced there are a hundred to the contrary So that if it be considered likewise how the Worm works in many parts of Europe to cast off the Regall yoke especially in France Scotland Ireland and other places it must needs be as much madnesse to strive against the stream for the upholding of a power cast down by the Almighty as it were for the old Sons of Earth to heap up Mountains against heaven And when all is done *
we shall find it but labour in vain that we have but fortified Castles in the aire against fatall Necessity to maintain a phant'sie of pretended Loyalty the consequence whereof will be that at length in coole Blood we may have leisure to consider how foolishly we have hazarded our lives and fortunes and sacrificed the lives of others with the common good and peace of the Nation for the satisfying of an opinionated humor CAP. II. That the Power of the Sword is and ever hath been the Foundation of all Titles to Government TO cleare this we need do no more but take a review of those Governments mentioned in the former Chapter in their Rise and Revolutions The World after the Flood in time grew more populous more exceeding vitious being inclined to rapine ambition c. so that the Pater familiar way of Government being insufficient to correct those grand enormities there was need of some one more potent then the rest that might restraine them by force Upon which Ground it was that Nimrod first of all men complotted a new and arbitrary way of Government backing it with Power by a party of his owne that those Crimes which could not be cured by Perswasion might be cut off by Compulsion and that by a power seated in his own Sword and Will he might oppose the wilfulnesse of others But he afterwards abusing this power by stretching his own will too far over other men's wills to the prejudice of their wel-being and oppression of the Church became the first Tyrant in the world and therefore was called a mighty hunter as having used his power to no other end but to lay the Foundations of Idolatry and Tyranny Thus you see the power of the Sword to be the original of the first Monarchy and indeed the first Politicall Form of Government that ever was for the maintenance whereof he fortified himself in the lofty Tower of Babel the beginning of the Babylonian or Assyrian Government which last name it took under Ninus and from him continued in a Succession of 36. Kings down to Sardanapalus who was overcome in Battel by a conspiracy of his Captaâ—ns among whom Arbaces the Governor of Media being chief reigned in his stead by his Sword translated the Title into his own Family from the Assyrians to the Medes with whom it continued in a Succession of 9. Princes till the Sword made King Astyages give a Surrender to Cyrus the Persian the last of whose Successors Darius yeelded it up upon the same Termes to Alexander the Great who erected the grand Monarchy of the Grâ—cians King Philip the Father of this Alexander was confined at first within the narrow compasse of Macedonia too narrow for his ambition and therefore by fomenting quarrels betwixt the Thebans Phocians Lacedemonians and Athenians he found means to undermine them one after another and by his Sword made way for a Title through those petty Common-weals to the Monarchy of Greece which being improved the same way by his Son to the Dominion of the whole World was lost again to the Romans by King Perseus the last of the Macedonians all whose Glories with those of his Predecessors served in the end only to aggravate his misfortunes and magnifie the triumphs of a Roman Consul But the Title to that of Macedonia and the other Provinces had been lost from the Family of Alexander above 150. years before it being immediately upon his death bandied by the great men of his Army and his Mother Wives and Children slain by Cassander who with Antigonus Seleucus and Ptolomie having by Conquest rid their hands of all other Competitors shared the Empire between themselves Cassander reigning in Macedonia Antigonus in Asia Seleucus in Syria and Ptolomie in Egypt all whose Successors successively resigned their Titles as did Perseus the last Successor of Cassander to the Sword of the Romans If we look to the Originall of the Romans we find Romulus and his Successors founding a Kingdom upon the ruins of their Kindred Friends and Neighbors Next the Kingly Title gained by the Sword and Subtilty was the same way derived to divers of the 7 Kings and at length extinguish'd in Tarquin by the Sword of the Senate wherewith they drave and kept him out of his Dominions and made a Title to those also of other Nations so far that in the end they entituled themselves Lords of the whole Earth and so continued till Caesar wresting the sword out of their hands became Master both of it and them Most of the Successors of Caesar likewise made way by the sword to the Imperiall Chaire as Augustus by the ruine of Lepidus and Conquest of Anthony Claudius Nero and most of the rest by policy murther and the Favor of the Soldiery At length the Sword divided the Empire into East and West and in the same manner likewise each of them suffered many titular subdivisions till new Titles were raised in the West by the Sword of the Gothes and Vandals in the East by the Turks and Saracens If this be not obvious enough out of profane Histories take a view of those in Holy Writ where you shall find the sword the onely disposer and dispenser of Titles to Common-weals and Kingdomes We find Jacob on his death-bed bequeathing one Portion to Joseph above the rest of his brethren and that was a Parcell which he took out of the hand of the Amorite with his Sword and with his Bow unto which Parcell the Scripture mentions not any Title that Jacob had but by his Sword And as for the Title which his posterity had unto the Land of Canaan though it were allotted them by divine promise and dispensation yet as to the eye of the world they were to lay claime and take possession by the Power of the Sword and so accordingly they received commission to ratifie their Title by a Conquest of the Canaanites after which Jure gentium it became for ever unquestionable In the History of the Kings of Israel we read that most of their Titles have been founded upon powerfull usurpation such was that of Ieroboam who though the Kingdome were designed to him by a Declaration from heaven in the mouth of the Prophet erred notwithstanding in his over-speedy invading the Soveraignty by force and that Act of his is branded with the black Character of Rebellion Yet being thus gotten into the Throne God would not suffer him to be disturbed saying the Thing was from him that is by his permission And so he that was a Traytor in rebellion being once invested by a meer permissive Act of Providence came to have a positive Right to the prejudice of him that was his Soveraigne and to the exercise of Jurisdiction over those that had been of late his Fellow-Subjects After Jeroboam reigned his Son Nadab who was conquered and slaine in Battell at Gibbethon by Baasha who with his Sword setled the Crown upon his owne
head which was worn afterward by his Sonne Elab till he likewise was slain and the Crown by force of Arms usurped by Zimri from whom also it was snatched in the same manner by Omri who died peaceably and left the Succession to his son Ahab without the least scruple all this while on the Peoples part in point of submission and obedience to these usurped Powers Adde to these Usurpations that of Nebuchadnezzar over the holy City which he took by force of Armes and carried away many of the Jewes with their King Jehoiakim into Captivity to Babylon an Action as full of Injustice and Cruelty as most that we read of yet Nebuchadnezzar being once in possession by Conquest his Title became right and good as may appear by the Report given concerning Zedekiah the Successor of Jehoiakim of whom it is said that he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar which implies an investiture of right in Nebuchadnezzar by the Sword or els that Resistance of Zedekiah could not be called Rebellion To come a little nearer and give you a sight of this Truth in Moderne practises it will be very convenient a little to examine the Rights and Titles of present Princes to their severall Principalities within Christendome whom if we trace up to their Originalls we shall find to have no other dependance then upon the sword What pretence had Ferdinand the Spaniard to seize upon the Kingdome of Navarre but onely to satisfie the spleen of Pope Julius 2d and his owne Ambition against the French for which cause to make his way the easier he set upon John Albret unawares and forced him with his Queen and Children quite out of his Dominions which he afterward held in possession and brought the people under his Allegance In the same manner Philip the second with an Army under the Command of the Duke of Alva set upon Don Antonio King of Portugall and after he had subdued the Kingdome laid claime to the Crown as his owne by Right which he and his Successors held till that now of late in the Reigne of Philip the fourth it was recovered againe by the Sword of Don John of Braganzâ—â— Fair Titles to the Succession were pretended on both sides but if either have the better this way it must be Don John as being descended from Edward a third Sonne whereas the Spaniard descends from Elizabeth the youngest Daughter of Emanuel King of Portugall Yet it seems possession hath hitherto been held the best Title and the Portugalls having of late outed the Spaniard made bold to stop his mouth with this Answer That his Predecessor Philip 2d had no Right to the Crowne it being contrary to their fundamentall Lawes that any Foreiner should succeed in the Kingdome And that it was lawfull for a Kingdome oppressed by Armes by Armes againe to recover its ancient liberty which is enough to shew that the Spaniard neither had nor hath any Title beside his Sword to lay claim to the Kingdom of Portugall That Arragon was fairly annexed to the Crown of Castile by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella cannot be denied yet it is notorious to all the world that the Spaniard hath since this union usurped much more in Arragon by Force then his Predecessors injoyed before by Right and dealt no otherwise with that Kingdome then if it were his by Conquest exercising an absolute Tyranny therein as well as other his Dominions To this end he abolished the ancient and most excellent Constitution of that eminent Office called the Justice of Arragon whereto some one person was chosen by the Vote of the People who in most Cases had a Power to controll the King This was so great an Eye-sore to Philip the second that as Petrus Matthaeus saith he number'd these among the most glorious of his Actions That he had lessened the power of the Arragonians deprived them of their greatest Priviledges and demolished that grand Office called the Justice the Bulwark of their Liberty So that what Title the Spaniard now hath to tyrannize in Arragon is founded onely upon force and usurpation If we turne our eyes likewise upon his other Dominions in America and those here in Europe as Sicily Naples Milain Flanders c. his Title stands in all upon the same Termes viz. a possession by the power of the sword And this is just as much Right as his Kinsman the Emperour had to lay claim to the Kingdome of Bohemia and afterward to seize upon the Palatinate Bohemia being an Elective Kingdome that had power of themselves to choose whom they pleased for King and so made choice of the Prince Elector Frederick whom the Emperor made bold to drive out of that and his own Countrey by Force of Arms because he accepted of the Election And not onely so but after Frederick was dead prosecuted the warre to the prejudice of his Heire the present Pr. Elector whom he hath constrained to quit his dignity of the first Electorship and resigne it with the best part of his Dominions upon hard Termes to the Duke of Bavaria so that what Title the Emperour hath to Bohemia and the Duke to the rest is derived rather from the Sword of Mars than the Scepter of Iove by right of Succession This Act of violence against the Prince Elector gave an Alarm to the other Protestant Princes of Germany to defend their Estates by Armes from the Incroachments of the Emperour and therefore to avoid the inconveniences of emulation between themselves they made choice of the Swede to be their Chief who moved partly by the Common Interest of Religion but especially for severall injuries done him by the Emperour as may be read in that King's Manifesto undertook the warre and with his Sword hath carved out a Title to many fair Countries and Priviledges within the Empire What Title have the Swisses the Hollanders Geneva c. to their Liberty but the sword On the other side what Title have the Medices to domineer over the free States of Florence and Siena to the utter ruine of their Liberties but only force whereby Cosmus introducing an absolute Tyranny under the name of Duke made himselfe more than a King and in emulation of the Muscovite glorified his Successors with the Stile of Great Dukes of Tuscany How the Pope's Temporal power which was once so small in Italy came to be thus considerable is easily known if we take an Accompt of the Actions of Alexander the sixth who of all the Popes that ever were shewed what a Pope was able to doe with Money and Armes and having a mind to make his Sonne Caesar Borgia a Prince in Italy he taught him how to make use of the French Forces to build himselfe a Fortune in Romania upon the ruine of the Barons of that Country And though the Pope's intent thereby was not to inlarge the Church-Dominions but to make his Son great yet after his Sons
such an Alarm to the Bishops that they to crosse the Designe fell foule upon all of the Opinion here in England and not onely so but pressed the King to establish an Episcopall Vniformity in both Kingdoms even in Scotland as well as England The forcing of this upon the Scots was a Cause of the Commotions in that Kingdom whereupon a war ensued betwixt the King and Them through the instigation of the Bishops which was soon ended to the Advantage of the Scots in Money and Credit and to the dishonor of the King and the Episcopall Party This happy Successe wrought a very reverend opinion of them in the hearts of the well-affected Party in England who stood for the purity of Religion and a liberty of Conscience against Episcopall power and Innovations as also for the Lawes and Liberties of the Nation invaded by the Prerogative And for redresse of these things the King was necessitated to call a Parliament who not obtaining such Reliefe of Grievances as they expected by reason of a Corrupt Councell of Bishops and others about the King which alienated him from his great Councell the Parliament and afterward caused Him to breake out into a warre against Them were constrained likewise to take Armes in defence of our Liberties Hereupon recourse was had to the Scots for their assistance who having the same Enemies at Court and being equally involved in the same common Danger it was supposed they were concerned in Reason to joyn with the Parliament without any Dispute or Scruple But They considering now was the Time to make their Markets if ever and their owne interest as much English as might be came not off so roundly as was hoped but fell to bartering like Hucksters and no Bargaine would be forsooth without a Covenant They would not joyn except They might be in a manner all one with us and this Vnion must be sealed with that solemn League and Covenant What their meaning was therein we shall know by and by by taking a view of their Actions ever since which are the most sure Interpreters Yet even at that time some men had their eyes in their heads and many Objections were made at divers Expressions in the Covenant and many Desires for explanation of some Articles more fully But the Scots standing stiffe upon their owne Terms and no Conjunction like to be obtained without the Covenant and the necessity of the Parliaments Affairs admitting no delay we were glad to take it as it was offered without further question or Demurrer It was no sooner taken here at London but immediately every one began to make his Advantage through the multitude and ambiguity of Expressions and by it to promote his severall Interest as if it had been made to engage unto a particular Party not to unite two Nations in a common Interest But above all the Scots having had the honor of this Invention conceived themselves much injured by any that denyed them the Prerogative of making an Interpretation and in matter of Religion urged their owne Discipline as the only Patern to Reform the Church by and their Plea had been fair enough out of the Covenant could they have proved it to be according to the word of God which Clause was most luckily inserted Notwithstanding all the Reasons to the Contrary the Scotish Module was still pressed The Scot was willing to ride and having as he thought the English-man fast bridled with a Covenant he began to switch and spur The Throne of the Kirke was the Stalking-horse to catch geese and if that could have been setled then there had been no denying Them whatsoever they would ask They would have seated themselves surely in this fat Soile There would have been no removing them out of our Councels whereof the necessity of our Affaires had made them Members and Partakers For had the Kirk-Interest been once confirmed among us then by vertue of that Authority which they use to controll the Civill power the Parliament must have been subservient to all their ends And since it would have concerned the English Clergy to make their Party strong and maintein Correspondencies for their owne preservation to have gratified their Scotish Founders in all their Desires the Scots might easily have translated the Covenant-union to as good as an absolute Nationall union by gaining a Joynt-Interest with us in our Affairs for ever and consequently in all the Profits great Offices Councels and Concernments of this Nation Now whether this were their Designe or not in the Covenant ab origine I shall not determine but let it be judged by their insolent behaviour here among us after they were admitted to our Counsells and therefore in the next place I shall examine their Proceedings which most evidently represent them in their Intentions It sufficed them not after they were come in that they had an equall Power with us in publique Affairs in the Committee of both Kingdoms at Derby-house which was willingly allowed them for a time so far as concerned the Common cause of both Nations in prosecuting the war but driving a Powerfull Party in both Houses They tooke upon them to meddle with matters relating to the future Peace and Settlement of this Nation distinct from their owne and to provide for an equall Interest with us therein The first most notable Evidence of this though there had been many before was discovered at the Vxbridge-Treaty where Propositions of both Houses for Peace being presented to the King it was found the Scots had so far Provided for Themselves by their Party in the Houses That in time to come the ordering of the English Militia the Power of making War and Peace and all other Prerogatives of Government were to be administred by a proportionable number of Scots as well as English A thing so ridiculous and an Encroachment so palpable that the King Himself in one of His Answers took notice of it and said He was not so much an Enemy to the English Nation as to signe those Propositions or somewhat I am sure to this Purpose A second evidence or discovery of their Encroachments was made upon their delivering in divers Papers to the Parliament at severall times wherein they disputed their Claim and ventured their Logick upon the Letter of the Covenant to prove an Interest in disposall of matters meerly relating to our welfare which they re-inforced afterwards with new Recruits of Argument when the King came into their Army But not knowing well how to maintaine their Arguments They were contented for that time to quit Them and their King too upon such Terms as are notorious to all the world who being at length reduced under the Power of the Parliament and Army Propositions of Peace were sent to him at Hampton-Court wherein no such Provision being made for the Scotish Interest as was in those at Vxbridge their Commissioners here protested against them accused the Parliament of Breach of Covenant and complained highly in one of their
Declarations that they should be so neglected This may serve as a third evidence of their Covenant-designe of Encroachment whereto may be added one more when the King was at Carisbrooke Castle whither the Commissioners of Parliament were no sooner arived with Propositions againe but the Scots Commissioners were at hand and for the same reason protested furiously against Them By which insolent demeanors and expressions from time to time and crying up the Covenant for their defence it is clear enough what their Intentions were when they urged it upon us and that notwithstanding all the specious Pretences of brotherly Love their Designe in it hitherto hath beene onely to scrue themselves into an equall Interest with us in this Nation Having smelt out their Project thus farre give me leave to trace them on to the end as briefly as may be The Royall Party being totally suppressed and so no further occasion to make use of the Scotish Army the Parliament with some difficulty made shift to send them home into their own Kingdome But being defeated of their Aims and expectations they could not so rest having failed of their ends by pretending for Parliament they resolved next to try what they could do upon the Kings Score and so the Grandees turn'd the Tables in hope of an After-game by closing with Hamilton upon the Royall Accompt not doubting but if they gained the day this way to recompence their Travels with much more Advantage The Covenant like a nose of wax apt to be turned any way served this enterprize every jot as well as the former though the Designe were different from what it was the great ones not caring much what became of the Kirk Interest since they had agreed for the security of their owne which must needs have been very considerable if they could have redeemed the King and restored him into the condition of an absolute Monarch Therefore the Kirk seeing themselves left thus in the Lurch thundered out their Curses amaine upon that Hypocriticall Engagement as destructive to the Covenant But the Grandees being at a losse in this likewise upon Hamilton's Defeat and followed home to their owne dores by the brave English Army were glad to cry Peccavi to the Kirk and also to our English Commanders whom they dismissed with many promises of fair Carriage for the future Within a while after a new dore of hope being opened to them by the supposed Succession of the late Kings Son They to ingratiate with him proclaime him their King and here the Grandees and the Kirk joyning hands againe become friends and offer their Service for his restitution upon Terms of the Covenant which is their Plea now at this very day So that the Covenant which was pretended to be framed at first for the preservation of this Parliament and the Liberties of the People against the usurpations of regall Power is now that the Scots can serve their designe no longer that way become the Ground of their present Combination with the Prince and their Presbyterian Brethren in England for the destruction of our Liberties being resolved this way since they have failed in all the rest to trie whether they can accomplish their profane Projects through the Covenant by insinuating themselves into places of Honour Profit and Power that they may domineere in the possessions as their Pharisaicall Priests would over the Consciences of the English Thus having made way in discovering what the designe of the Scots ever hath beene and is at this Instant under the faire Covert of the Covenant certainly no man that is master of an English spirit but will abhorre the Hypocriticall pretences and Encroachments of that perfideous Nation And therefore now that all men may beware how they be drawne into an Engagement with them I shall according to my way manifest first the Improbability of their Successe and then the Inconveniences which must necessarily follow in case their designe be successefully effected First As to the Improbability of Successe consider by way of Comparison the great difference between the English and Scotish Soldiery Ours are heightned with extraordinary Pay bravely accomplished strong Horse well disciplin'd veterane Soldiers better Spirited by reason of a more generous education and to all these add the advantage of being Englishmen and the Reputation of having been so long victorious let these considerations be laid in the balance against the Scots fresh men for the main newly raised a People of farre lesse generous Soules poor in Body Pay and other Accommodations save what they have purchased by proguing here in England Judge then in reason what these are able to doe against so brave an Army that contemns and scorns Them as having beaten them with a handfull in comparison of their numbers home to their owne dores an Army that to all worldly Advantages hath hitherto had a speciall Protection from Heaven God having Sealed them for his owne by many miraculous victories and Successes to the wonder of the whole world Secondly consider that our English Army are all of a Nation Natives and unanimous especially upon the appearance of any Invaders whereas the Scotish will be made up of divers Factions Royalists and Presbyterians that com in pursuance of different ends which for the time that they continue together must needs be a cause of many Confusions and partialities of Counsells to the prejudice of their Enterprises and Proceedings a spring of perpetuall Emulations that will soone untwist the Confederacy so that in short time they must fall asunder like a Rope of Sand and the private Soldiery be disposed to entertaine thoughts of some new Engagement to the ruine of the first Thirdly We shall not only be provided for them here if they dare be so unworthy as to invade us but 't is like this Common-wealth may find work for them at home and to cure their madnesse divert the humour with Phlebotomie by way of Revulsion Fourthly It is like they will be farre from running much hazard to gain Successe unto the Designe For if they provr a little unfortunate the humour will alter one good beating will make them understand there is another way of Interest and Thriving than under the wings of Royalty It may chance to make them remember because they cannot forget how long they have lived without a King in Scotland while the Grandees and the Kirk did all and that the English have dealt more ingenuously to have no King than a Presbyterian Mock-King One Rout with this consideration puts them presently into the humour of a Republique as well as England And then they will have no more work to doe but to raise the Market and get Chap men for their King to put him off handsomly that they may pay their Army and goe home again like Scots Lastly the Scots having no just Ground of a Warre against England can hardly be prosperous in the Attempt The Covenant can be none being extinct as I have proved in the former part of
this Treatise besides I shall adde one Reason more It cannot in common sense be supposed to have been intended as an eternall obligation binding both Nations for ever or to bind the English Nation with an implicite Faith to whatsoever the Scots should expound to be righteous and necessary to be done here for ever by way of Government But it appeares intended onely for a certain time for the prosecution of certaine Ends which were common to both Nations as Affaires then stood and therefore being of a transient nature because those Ends by the alteration of Time and other Circumstances are found either not possible or inconvenient the obligation expires of it self This being the state of the Covenant neither the Scots nor any other Party can found a Warre upon it in Reason or Justice If so then having no other Ground for a Warre but Covetuousnesse Emulation and Ambition which as I shewed in the Preamble of this Chapter have been cloaked under the Covenant in all their Ingagements the hand of Heaven will assuredly be against them for their unchristian Practices as may appeare by these examples following First The Athenians carried on with Covetousnesse Emulation and a desire to possesse themselves of the Riches of the Lacedemonians were the Author of the Peloponesian Warre the consequence whereof was that it ended with the subversion of their City walls and the miserable slavery of their People The same end likewise had the Carthaginians for moving an ambitious War against the Romans by the Instigation of Hannibal as also had the Thebans for their unjust invading the Macedonians It is observable likewise how that * Babilonian Queen and Virago as Diodorus Siculus tels us being greâ—dy after the Wealth of the Indians invaded them by an unjust Warre in hope to make a Conquest but the Issue was that she was forced to flie home again most shâ—mâ—fnlly for the safety of her life Thus Xerxes invading Greece with a world of Men and Ships was in the end glad of a poor Fishing-boat to get home out of Europe to a worse destiny in Asia being slaine immediately after his Return by his Uncle Aâ—taâ—anâ—s Upon the like occasion Cyrus lost his Army and his life and to quench his Bâ—oud-thirsty humour his Head was cut off and cast into a Hogs head fill'd with Bloud by the Scythian Queen Thus likewise Mark Anthony not content with half the Empire of the World invading his Partner Octavius for the whole lost all being taken alive at mercy laid violent hands on himself to prevent the Fury of the Conquerour Thus Crassus another Roman being of the Scotch Religion a sacred hunger after Gold invaded the Parthians without cause against the advice of the Senate in which expedition he lost his Army and Life and the Parthians considering what he came for poured Molten Gold into his Mouth in Triumph and Mockery To these Examples out of profane History let me adde a few out of the Sacred You may read 2 Kings 15. how Senacherib the King of Assyria mad an impious invasive War against Hezekiah King of Judah the consequence whereof was the Confusion of his Army and Revenge followed him to his own home so close at the heels that it was executed upon him by his owne Sons while he was at his superstitious devotion in the midst of his Idols Nor have wicked Princes onely beene punished for invading the good but you may read also that the good have had ill Successe in invading the bad Thus good Josiah a most religious Prince warring without cause against Pharaoh Nicho King of Aegypt received his deaths wound at Megiddo and after his death the same King Pharaoh to right himself of the Injury done him by Josiah waged Warre and by Gods permission subduing the Land made the whole Nation Tributary and took King Jehoahaz the Sonne of Josiah and carryed him Prisoner into Aegypt Also another good King of Judah by name Amaziah provoking Jehoash a wicked King of Israel without cause to Battel was utterly Routed the City of Hierusalem taken the Walls demolished the Temple spoiled and Amaziah himself carried away Prisoner to shew how much the Lord of Hosts and God of Battell it displeased with unjust Wars that he will not prosper them though made by his own People against the wicked that are his Enemies But there is one example more which me thinks is very pertinent to our purpose and that is of Ishbosheth the Son of King Saul who laying claim to the Kingdome after his Father by prerogative of Succession made War against David who was chosen King by Gods owne appointment But to shew that Hereditary Succession is no Plea to justifie a Warre against the Powers that are ordained by him he placed marks of displeasure against all that took part with Ishbosheth so that in the end Ishbosheth had his Head strook off by some Commanders of his own Party and brought to David Now I leave this unto those that list to make the Application And withall they may doe well to consider how the Spaniard prospered in 88. in his Invasion against England how ill he hath thrived ever in his Attempts against the Hollander And as for the Scots I suppose that as it concerns them to consider the sad example of the late Hamiltonian Invasion so they and their Adherents may learn from all these together That God will never prosper them if they proceed in their unrighteous Combination Having shewn the Improbability of the Scots successe I shall in the next place discover the great Inconveniences and hazards that our Nation must needs undergoe in case it should happen First It being evident that their designe in urging the Covenant upon us hath been to insinuate themselves into an equall Interest with us in our own Nation it is to be supposed that having hitherto been defeated of their long-expected Prey they come now to prosecute it with the greater appetite And it is to be presumed they will not serve the King with the Covenant at an easier rate than they intended it should have cost the Parliament Secondly It is to be feared this so much desired Interest of theirs may if opportunities fall out right for their Turns be driven on farther by the Sword than yet we are aware of A Nationall Vnion hath been whisper'd often among them heretofore and there 's no doubt but they will bid high for it if ever they have occasion And then it must needs be a very fine world when we are confounded with a Miscelany of Scotish and English when Scots shall be Competitors with us in point of Priviledge vie wealth with us in our own Possessions Honours and Dignities and either impose new Lawes upon us or alter the Old as may make most for their Advantage Thirdly That these things may be is probable enough since their King having no other rewards to give them it is impossible he
should satisfie the Grandees and Leaders any other way than by promising large accessions of Interest with other mens Honours and Possessions even those men's perhaps that are the Moderate Sort of Transgressors For in such Cases it is usuall to stretch all Offences upon the Wrack to supply the necessities of the Conquerour and then if this happen 't is like a Scotch Covenanters stomack will allow no distinction betwixt Presbyter and Independent but may digest the estate of an English Covenanter without so much as a Scruple of Regret or Compassion Lastly it is a very great wonder since the present Stage-play of the Covenant and the Actors are brought on this side the Curtain and we know what they are through all their disguise and what they aime at That yet many of our English should be so stupid as to be led away with their Cheates and Pretences for a King and Reformation Also since it is evident that their chief Leaders and Sticklers gape onely after Profit and Preferment and according to the Custome of all Forreiners in Arms will make no difference between Friend and Foe so they may satisfie their covetous and ambitious Ends since the whole People likewise must of necessity be harased with innumerable Taxes to pay the rabble of their Souldiery certainly no true English heart can be so degenerous as to forward or countenance them in their invading this Nation Now for a Conclusion to the whole that these Particulars may appeare more solid then mere Insinuations give me leave to confirme them by many Authentick examples it being an ordinary Case in the world That * Commonwealths and Kingdomes have been oppressed often by those Foreiners that came or were invited in as Friends to give their assistance Here before I proceed let me call to minde a Story of the Hedghog in the Fable who being almost dead with Cold chanced to light upon a Foxes Kennel where asking for entertainment the Fox more compassionate than wise grants his Request But the Hedghog as soone as he recovered warmth began to bristle and prick the Fox who complaining of his unworthy carriage the Hedghog made Answer that if he found him troublesome he might leave him and seek a new Lodging I shall make no application but leave those that would entertaine the Scots as their Friends to consider whether they should finde more Courtesie from them if They had power here then the Fox did from the Hedghog or than other Nations have had from the friendly Pretences of Forain Auxiliaries Concerning this there are severall Precedents Tht Macâ—donians being invited by the Thebans to assist them against the Phocians made a shift not onely to seat themselves among the Thebans but under the conduct of King Philip made way to the Conquest of all Greece So the Persians comming as Friends to aid one party in a civill division in Caria suppressed both and deprived that Common-wealth of its liberty And the Carthaginians in the first Punick Warre received more prejudice from the Celâ—ae their Confederates and Brethren in Covenant than from the Romans their Enemies The Goths and Vandals being invited by the Emperour Theodosius for his assistance deprived him of Italy and Spain Afterward the Longbeards or Lombards being called in by Narses against the Goths seated themselves for above 200 years in that part of Italy which from them was called Lombardy A Quarrel hapning between the two Saracen Sultans of Persia and Babylon the Persian called in the Turks under the Conduct of their Captain Tangrolipix out of Scythia who seated Themselves first in a part of his Dominions In the Chronicles of Judah we read how King Ahaz invited Tilglath-pilneser King of Assyria to his Assistance against the Edomites who comming as a Friend did him exceeding prejudice and laid a Designe then for the Conquest of Hierusalem which was afterwaâ—d effected Josephus tels us likewise how that Pompey being called to assist Hircanus in the recovery of the Kingdome of Judaea out of the Hands of his yonger brother Aristobulus took occasion hereby to reduce it under the Roman obedience In the time of the Emperour Fredrick the 3. the Princes of Italy being in contention the Pope called in the Spaniard and severall other Princes to compose the Quarrel which being done a new one arose betwixt the Auxiliary Princes for the Lordship of Italy but the Spaniard drave away the rest and made bold to keep possession for himselfe Thus likewise the Spaniards being invited into Sicily and Naples to free them from the French did indeed expell the French but possessed both Kingdomes themselves On the other side a Controversie arising between Lewis and John Sforza for the Dutchie of Milain John called in the Spaniards to his Party and Lewis the French But the French driving out John and the Spaniards made themselves at that time Masters of the Duke-dome and carried their Friend Lewis away Prisoner into France Thus in old time our Ancestors the Saxons being called in by Vortigern the British King to assist him against the Invasions of the Picts and Scots turned their Arms against the Britans and driving them into Wales transmitted the possession of this Island to us their Posterity So the Scots likewise as Bodin saith being called in to the assistance of the Picts against the Britains possest themselves of the best part of that Kingdome which they hold at this day And now I would faine know of the Admirers of the Scotish Nation that if The Scots come in hither with their King upon their Shoulders and their fine Flourishes of pretended Friendship what assurance they can have that they shall not serve us the same sauce as their Ancestors did the Picts and as ours did the Britans or as others did other Nations whom they oppressed under as glorious Pretences in case They should get the power in their hands Especially since of late time They have made so many pelpable Discoveries of Encroachment upon the English Nation Seeing therefore that their Covenant-Cause appears a Cause for intrenchment upon our Nationall Interest rather than for Religion or Monarchy I may reasonably conclude that it concerns all Parties whatsoever if not for the Improbability of their Successe and the Miseries that would follow it yet out of a detestation of their Designe to abhor Them in their Invasion CHAP. III. Concerning the English Presbyterians WHence it was and for what ends Presbytery was first brought into this Nation is not here to be disputed But if we grant the Intentions of its first Fautors to be pure in the Fountain yet it appears polluted in the Streams by the Corruption of their Successors For as the primitive Pretences of it were high and glorious in the innocence of its Cradle so being grown up to a full Stature it hath after the manner of all other things that participate of worldly mixtures in time contracted so many adulterations of