Justice upon the Armie REMONSTRANCE OR A rebuke of that evill spirit that leads them in their Counsels and Actions With A Discovery of the contrariety and enmity in their waies to the good spirit and minde of God Dedicated To the Generall and the Councel of War By William Sedgwick But they shall proceed no further for their folly shall be manifest to all men 2 Tim. 3.9 LONDON Printed for Henry Hils and are to be sold over against S. Thomases Hospitall in Southwark and for Giles Calvert at the Black Spread-Eagle at the West end of Pauls neare Ludgate M.DC.XLIX TO His Excellency Thomas Lord Fairfax GENERALL Of the Parliaments Forces AND To the Generall Councell of Warre YoV drive furiously over the necks of King and Parliament Lawes Covenants Loyalty Priviledge and no humane thing can stand before you You are now fac'd by the majesty and light of God while you are asleepe in a darke night of earthly affaires You have appeald to God in your second Declaration but did not expect so suddaine an answer T is eternall and almighty truth that must and will prevaile if you come into it 't will save you if you turne from it you forsake your owne mercy if you oppose it you dash your selves in pieces you cannot goe from it or besides it but into the darknesse of hell The Lord is here Oâ—braiding your unbeliefe but mourning over his Jerusalem with love to your persons but with fierce anger against your practises I would you had those lively and fresh evidences of your personall and everlasting good in your owne breasts as I have your eternall state is sure t is your present wandrings that are here condemned Blindnesse hath happened to you in part and this is the time of casting you away you will have a time of being received againe you are now broken off through unbeliefe you will be graffed in againe T is your fall now you shall have a restoring you will wonder to behold so much goodnesse to your enemies and so much severity to you Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and his wares past finding out I have reproved you sharply or cuttingly its proper for you With vengeance to save you and to pull you as fire-brands out of the fire your condition requires it Gentlenesse is abusd mercy despisd you have a long time trampled upon kindnesse and obstinately refused the word of the Lord You must remember my Sermon to you at Windsor upon that Text. Overturne overturne overturne t is Scripture still and that word lives in and upon you Salt-marsh his message quickly followed it Depart from the tents of these unrighteous men he lives still And Mr Pinnels admonition from the Lord following that These and other testimonies against you have beene slighted and disobeyed your sinnes grow greater and the anger of God hotter against you your reprieve is not your salvation you are growne to a height of confidence and presumption upon your successes your necks are as iron and your brows brasse and you walke uncontroulable in your way triumphing as the onely Princes in the earth as fit to sway the Scepter of England and all nations as the onely righteous honourable people in the world the great Lords of the Land Therefore it pleases me to powre contempt upon you to be shod with scorne and indignation and so trample upon Princes as morter Except I should deale thus with you you would not be sensible of what I say being hardned against mercy and having done all you have done against love Prosperity â—â—ayes fooles and therefore the rod is sit for their backs I know my dealing is just and righteous to such as you are being as Thâ—l 3.18 19. Enemies to the Crosse of Christ seeming friends to his Gospell Ministry and Kingdome but enemies to his crosse You hate to thinke that those faire beginnings of your peace and deliverance should come to end in shame and death you cannot thinke of leaving your hopes of outward glory and lying down quietly to let the world trample upon you This you count folly Whose end is destruction Destruction you practise t is your worke t is your end you cant not see beyond it and you are hastening to it it is the center to which you tend and therefore I cannot but shew it you that you may stop your course before the pit shut her mouth upon you Whose God is their belly Your saith understanding and God is sunke into your bellies and your rule your strength your confidence is onely in sensuall and brutish things your raisd spirits into the things of God are buried in an inferior region of grosse dull carnall affaires and except I should peirce deepe your slow bellies would not finde eares Indeed you are so lost and drownd in sensible things of the world and so eager in seeking for those things your belly your carnall affections require of you that I doubt you will be deafe to what I say Whose glory is in their shame You are full of glory in your great things that you have done wonderfull things a mighty presence of God But in summe what is it You have torne a poore sinfull Kingdome in pieces You have executed wrath upon your Brethren Friends and Country-men You have laid desolate your Father the King the Parliament your Mother your owne Country this is your glory to be executioners Assyria the rod of my anger What a crowne is this Have you restrored blessed healed comforted saved any No you have but plunged the Kingdome and your selves into a pit of darknesse and confusion When the things of God are proposd to you to suffer for others to love enemies to doe good to all to blesse all you glory in your shame and say you serve the Lord in this and there be lower as wel as higher dispensations You are indeed servants of God so was Nebuchadnezzar so is the Devil and you do the work of God but t is base drudgery t is his strange worke to be instruments of his vengeance and t is a lower dispensation indeed to dispense curses not blessings to be below in hell exercisd in the wrath of God not above in heaven in the glory and love of God and for sons heires so you would be thought to take pleasure in such mean employment is vile and unworthy Who minde earthly things this is another property of yours your minds are now captiv'd to the earth deepe in the lower parts of the earth in the belly and foundations of the earth pleading the earthly cause of earthly people or digging caves and holes in the earth to secure an earthly peace to your selves It s high time to withstand you and to rebuke this destroying Angel for t is not men onely that suffer from your violence but the Lord your sword goes so deep That it peirces thorow his soule also You are gone so farre in dissolving
are fallen upon the principal and main subject of your Remonstrance to shew the evil and danger of this Personal Treaty in page 12. c. you fall directly upon this miserable inconvenience of a Personall Treaty and elsewhere miserable insnaring Treaty It seems this Treaty doth very much offend you declare so bitterly against it T is true while things are at this imperfect state it is a very easy matter to accuse or condemne any person or thing but a hard matter to justifie or save any thing that 's the worke of the devil this is the work of God I confesse this Treaty is a poor low dark thing neither party managing of it with that clearnes brightnes of love and goodnesse that I could wish that it doth not for the present give satisfaction to any side being infirm you have great advantage in appearing against it and some shew of reason for it and therefore your acting against it may doe some good to cleare it from some evill that adheres to it for this is my minde you nor none else can doe any hurt to him or them that are truly good but all things be they never so evill in themselves worke together unanimously and constantly for their good For this Treaty there is a blessing destroy it not the seed of peace is in it and it wil thrive and flourish act what you can against it you cannot destroy peace or union that 's the Lords In this darke businesse where the King and Parliament are groping together to finde a little ease and rest for themselves being wearied with the miseries of war doth the Lord come as a theefe in the night so that if both parties should designe by it to cosen the world and one another the thiese would cozen them both I meane steale away their evill lusts and sinnes and bring good out of it against the designes of men and if you would trample upon it because its low and poor and be jealous of it as dangerous and insnaring he will deceive you too and make it for your good and peace as wel as others and against your present thoughts of strife steale into your breasts and beget love and peace there also This is the robbery of this thiefe in the night to steale away evill from us and surprize us with good Your fiery contention therefore against it will be very usefull t will burne up those doubts and feares that are on either side melt each other into a closer union The root of it being the divine love all you doe against it will but quicken that principle and spur them on to a more hearty and earnest closing and while you endeavour to rende them from each other they will clapse the faster about each other and turne all their contention against you who from your present promoting of differences will be suspected to be the authors of all their strife Let us now examine the reasons you give against a Treaty pag. 14 c. You first quere and then declare that it is not just and good nor safe and so all along you insist upon these two things satis faction and security To prove the justice of it you state the interests of the Kingdome and Parliament as they have beene the matter of our quarrel In which we finde these faults First You would make your owne and the publique interest to be one they are so much different that you are faine to patch them up together often and bring in yours in a parenthesis as here pag. 14. though even the particular safety of such as have engaged for the publique is not to be neglected In this and in the rest of your discourse it appeares you conceive your selves neglected and left out in the Treaty and you do by this require your own interest to be considered and that 's very obstructive to peace for men in a distracted Kingdom to uphold a particular interest thwarting the generall peace and union the common interest of all States and with violence to enforce it to the ruine of the whole That which you offer to us is not the publique but your particular interest which indeed is not your interest neither but a rent and division an erroneous opinion For that there be a common and supreame councell that the power of making lawes chusing officers punishing offendors be in them c. It s very apparent that this is not halfe the interest of the Kingdome t is much too narrow for a rich honourable nation Generally you know the people of England desire peace setled religion establisht truth freedome of trade and this with His Majesty under their King that he may govern them according to their honest and knowne lawes that they may live in prosperity and honour For these devised things you propose the people know them not affect them lesse then know them they are invented onely to please and secure your selves and to pul downe Monarchy against which you would make your selves irreconcileable These principles are but the ax or knife to prune and cut the extravagancies of Monarchy or tyranny and if al the Kingdome were an ax or knife we were in an ill case You are but a part and alas an inconsiderable part not one of an hundred will owne what you set downe as the publique interest and a diseased part a bone started out of his place a piece of timber that is gone from the whole frame of the Kingdome which is large and consists of King Lords Commons with innumerable excellent branches growing out of these Now this were a strange cure to breake off the bones in the body to bring the whole to one dis-jointed part or to force the whole house to come after one piece that is started out is il workmanship T is a strange thing that men should place the welfare of the Kingdome in such inconsiderable things Methinks t is a wonder that men should bring forth some pedantick conceits and then magnifie them so farre as entitle them to the whole Kingdome Thus will meane and narrow spirits doe when they intrude themselves into publique affaires When souldiers men of private spirits confident of their ability and judgement in greatest matters shall produce brats of their owne braine and impose them upon the nation we shall be slaves indeed Secondly That you that are Christians that talke of the reign of Christ and of the Saints should now engage your selves to so base an interest as this is that you will espouse so poore a quarrell which in summe is to throw downe a King and Lords and set up the people That all power should be in the hands of the Parliament and that to be certaine and in the hands of a subordinate officer to call c. Will the establishing of this satisfie you for all the bloudshed estates ruin'd c is this your satisfaction should you not rather propose that all power and dominion and reigne should be given to the
when you and your friends in the House and abroad shall have your hearts ripped up to you you 'l say this is truth and this is the reason that you seek security something to uphold your tottering Kingdom Now to part with this is death to you and you call it a preposterous and self-deserting way page 27. Now consider this First you have by this wofully defil'd your cause and manifest you undertooke the warre for advantage though it may be you were such strangers to your owne hearts as not to know it But their is more evil in you then yet you understand and it will break forth in your life If the warre had been only defensive you would have rested quietly when much more is offered then we ever had Secondly that you count all your own because you have fought for it the Kingdome and glory of it is but enough to reward you for your workes that you have right to all t is yours and your parties and this makes you often expresse the Kings title by conquest indeed you would enforce him to hold by it though he never mentiond it because it s your present claim you count your selves conquerours which is a brutish thing and by it you would extinguish civility contract religion humane nature law and all the obligations of them to bring in your title force Beastly Warre That you will lose nothing but keep what you have got and would by warre and force secure what by force you have won and therefore call self-deserting all one with self-deniing or self-forsaking preposterous Now then to conclude this you are not Saints yet Saints will not seeke a Kingdome by the destruction of others nor rejoice in the evill of others either sinne or punishment not in others fall that they may rise not advance themselves by an Army composd of ungodly men not by force but love Yet t is true Saints shall reigne notwithstanding and those will prove Saints before you that you little thinke for God will provoke you by a foolish people Know too that Saints rights are secure in heaven and need not begge security of men I scorne that cause that is subject to ruine and destruction and therefore your feares and sad expressions of danger impending shewes your foundation to be upon the sands I laugh at your destruction and mocke when your feare comes You live in God stand for God and the Gospell of God and talking of ruine and destruction base is that way and accursed that is subject to such black thoughts our cause is immortall t is eternall it lives and triumphs in death is gaine in losse destruction is farre from us we know it not But sit under our owne Vine and Fig tree and none makes us afraid Another thing in danger is persons engaged the party adhering you harpe often upon this string pag. 28 29. foure or five times you thinke the King will be revenged of you for your eminent activity against him This discovers a base and poor spirit and unbecoming Christian souldiers to continue war break off peace designe the ruine of the King and his family subvert the whole government of the Kingdome to secure your owne lives and this I know is one maine reason of your present activity and others are but assum'd and pretended to cover this a Principle very destructive to a Kingdomes peace and contrary to the spirit of Christ fear a snare and the pit have taken hold of you that are forced t o continue the disturbance of a nation and all the miseries of warre upon us to save your selves Let us suppose your feares and the feares of those that are called honest men for this is a generall distemper to be demonstrations as doubtlesse to you they are and that indeed the King should picke out a dozen or twenty or more to suffer what then suppose I were one of them I account thus I have victory over death and death is swallowed up by victory and therefore cannot feare it am free from it death cannot hurt me I sport with it am above his reach I live an immortall life and cannot see death and he that hath not this freedome is a slave Secondly I have no life but truth and if truth be advanced by suffering then my life also if truth live I live if justice live I live and these cannot dye but by any mans suffering are enlarged enthroned and so I am enlarged If I or any other have a life distinct from truth it s a lye if distinct from justice its unjust Thirdly My life is a common life I live with you and in you I can confesse you and all have a right to it if you come for it take it if I had a life separated from you I would lay it downe for my brethren and I ought to do it that I might live with you and you with me and I would spoile principalities and powers by this crosse If the King should come to take it I would so freely yeild that he could not but yeild to that love that can dye for him so hold forth a true immortall power that is too strong for earthly and fleshly oppositions or if any should seeke my life I would be content to give it that I might live againe in their soules And this is the way of the Gospell to overcome Tyrants and no other way and to gaine Kingdomes indeed Fourthly I count it not an honest life that needs such force with so much misery to the Kingdome to maintaine it but on the other side I am engaged to dye for my Country and I shall more advantage the cause of liberty and religion by one single suffering that is pure then we have done by all the bloud that hath beene shed in this rude way of warre and lay a better and stronger foundation against tyranny and errour then all these warres I judge it ten times more honourable for a single person in witnessing truth to oppose the world in its power wisdome and authority standing in its full strength and that nakedly and singly then fighting many battels by army force this Is brutish common the other Christian divine holy excellent and therefore your great care of securing your selves comes from a slavish fear of death from an unwillingnesse to suffer and want of the power of godlinesse to meet the power of the world with and true and heavenly love to your Country you know not that command Eph. 5.2 Walke in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himselfe a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour If you had this perfect love it would cast out fear if your life were indeed united to God or Christ were your life or that you loved others so as you could dye for them you would not not now be to seeke for security 'T is your great fear and expressed page 38. you may be made a sacrifice That which is proposed to you by God
you if you repent not but for the present occasion t is said there they shall be Truce-breakers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against accommodation no treaty no agreement Or breakers of Covenant and then it followes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Accusers and at this you are exquisite Thirdly That Covenants being the strength of humane societies and so great bulwarks of the world degenerated or apostasied Religion is the great engine of Gods wrath appointed to breake them downe Solemne Oaths and Covenants are able to hold most mens consciences but men heightned by Religion into the forms of the spirit doing things by immediate direction from God carrying a glorious presence of God before them affirming that they are called by God to doe some speciall worke in the world these can easily mount above the highest forts of Oaths and trample them under foot presently Men that have tasted of these high things and begin to make them serviceable to worldly ends they are such cunning pick-locks that they can finde a way through all dores to come to the treasures of power and authority A people that have had a savour of heavenly things in a fleshly way turne them loose into the world and they 'l teare it up by the roots they are whetted for destructions such as are spoken of Ezek. 21.31 Brutish men skilfull to destroy such wicked spirits are now abroad that are brutish spare not the holiest nor honourablest things Kings Lords Ministers Scriptures Ordinances Oaths Covenants lay all waste and yet in the greatest brutishinesse skilfull though there be the most sensuall and beastly confusion yet they shall doe it artificially skilfully say t is for God justice religion c. and that they doe it by the power of Christ and the spirit of God in religious zeale c. and so exact that they will not be knowne from builders restorers reformers But the holy good wise mercifull spirit of the living God the Father of mercies will in his owne light condemne this uncleane spirit and drive him out of the land Having cleared your way to what you have to propose you give us your apprehensions of the remedy page 60. your first is to lay aside this evil and dangerous Treaty This is a strange remedy against civil warres to lay aside treating Then you require that the Kings demands be rejected especially that of his restitution to London This is very terrible to you that the King should recover any strength no keepe him downe as long as you can let him not rise how far is this from the power of godlines oracting in the power of God a poore pusillanimous cowardly worldly policy you dare not thinke of the King getting any power for then you know you durst not deale with him not barely in the power of God but he a prisoner and you free having an Army at your command you dare accuse him if he were in power you would shrinke out of the Kingdome whereas if you lived in the power of God you might trample upon Thrones if he were wicked pul him from his greatest glory and binde him in chains Secondly you would have that bargaining proposition laid aside and would have all justice done immediatly from the judiciall power of the Kingdome the Parliament and not by grant from the King you doe the King a courtesy in that and this being done you wish moderation and mercy not as long as there be any apprehension of fear there 's little mercy from fearful enemies mercy is in Breasts that are strong and mighty But page 62. you come to the marrow of the businesse to propound high things that sha1l reach us peace with God and quiet amongst men There was never such a mocking of God since the world stood for men that have professed Christ our peace so long as you have done should now tall from that atonement which you only talked of had not in power to offer up to God the bloud of men the bloud of men already in affliction the bloud of their enemies and that upon such principles to secure themselves to obtain and keep self-advantages 't is such a sacrifice as was never yet by the darkest heathens invented if you had covertly sought revenge upon him c. you had had some equals and examples for your fact but to doe the same thing in feare and revenge to remove an adversary and boldly impudently to bring it to God as a sacrifice to appease his displeasure and expiate sin is an unparalel'd wickednes and a project as foolishly contriv'd to quiet the people by taking away a Prince beloved of his people indeer'd to them by his sufferings whose government though ful of weaknes was far better then those that succed him a Prince strong in the affection of his Subjects and forain alliance and then when he is in a yeelding way to peace to give satisfaction to his Subjects yea when he is upon an agreement then to seeke the removal of him by death or deposure against the desires of the bodie of the Kingdome and of their representatives in Parliament upon the foul and black designs of a few unbelieving people that this should be a way to quiet the Kingdome it 's as far from policy as the other is from piety But to your Proposals first you propound That that capitall and grand author of our troubles the Person of the King may be brought to justice for the treason blood c. Two things we wil consider First Your Justice Secondly The person upon whom 't is to be administred First 'T is not justice that you desire it appears so to your blinde and deceived hearts but in the face of God it appears farre otherwise To tel you that justice must be done by law and that no law takes hold of the King will not convince you though to others it wil manifest that you that pretend to contend for the laws are the greatest violaters of them But the searcher of hearts will deale otherwise with you and shew you what 's within you and discover the falshood and injustice of your spirits First Know this for you have felt it that God hath a controversy with you that though you have done many things for him yet you are not perfect but there is some wicked thing to be purged out of you which is your glorying in that fleshly way in which you are God hath called you out of it and you have refused him and sunke down deeper into it blessing add strengthning your selves in it being unwilling to strip your selves naked of those carnal1 helps and advantages that you were engaged to or to suffer a losse of those glorious favours that you have received that you might have better but loving this present evil world and despising the Spirit of God and refusing his safety alone and to rest and live under his wings abhorring to cease acting in the flesh and to be perfected by sufferings You have by this joyned your selves
v. of this Chapter In the words of faith and good doctrine The most forward of you in religion doe depart from the chiefe and maine doctrines of Christ and neither doe nor can hold forth those mysteries God manifest in the flesh c. And from al rule of faith you doe depart by profession and practise to speak to you concerning those commands of subjection to Kings Superiours c. is literal legal you have a spirit above those commands and those concerning the worship of God you are above Ordinances c. and so falling into a state of liberty and loosenesse from al lawes Secondly You have departed from what you have believed which was the Kingdome of Christ purity of religion c. into leveling irreligious worldly principles giving heed to seducing spirits you talke of the Spirit but are led by an unclean spirit a false spirit or an erring and seducing spirit the devil and your owne lusts have carried you away from the way of Christ which is by the Crosse to ascend to glory by suffering to reigning but that way you decline and fall upon worldly contests for worldly things I wonder at your grosse deceit deceiving and being deceived did I not know your hearts are made grosse and fat that you are given up to strong delusions to believe a lye that you should pretend to be led by God in your waies and that he goes before you and yet are in such darknesse as your selves professe you see not a foot before you but attend every day for new leadings new discoveries of the minde of God into what a miserable labyrinth hath the devil led you to goe blindly and confidently after your owne imaginations which are confused darke and uncertain and cause you to attend to those motions and actings and tell you 't is the Spirit of the Lord. No no The Spirit of God is light clearnesse stability 't is that Anointing whereby we know all things from first to last he leads us in plain paths in waies of order peace goodnesse I abhorre that that blind mole that bat that dusky night-owle that halting blind thing which you follow should be cald by the name of God or the spirit of God Doctrines of Devils of wrath malice accusations disorders confusions destructions or as Mead interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of earthly humane petty Gods or Saints such are your Gods humane earthly weake Gods that have no glory majesty nor excellency in them Vers 2. Speaking lyes in hypocrisie Your justice publique interest common right are al lyes and so are all men and things of men but a lye and you speake them in hypocrisie cunningly to deceive and seeke your selves and your owne interest Having their conscience scard with a hot iron God hath set some brands and marks of favour upon you given you some victories and successe to insnare your proud hearts to sat up the flesh for its destruction This and your fiery zeale for justice for common good which is a base mettal at best iron made to breake things in pieces but these as a hot iron doe so hisse in your mindes and smoke in your eyes that you cannot heare the voice of God nor see his waies you are so obdurate upon these things Gods glorious presence with you the wonders he hath done by you things common to Alexander Caesar and many Heathens more in a greater way then ever you had them that you think it impiety malignancy c. once to question your way All the rest concernes you Forbidding to marry you forbid heaven and earth to marry forbid King and people to marry and the same spirit goes so farre in some as to deny marriage and to maintaine a community amongst men and women because In the resurrection there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage To abstaine from meats Many things you would have men abstain from Kings Lords Tithes and many other good creatures of God that your stomack cannot digest and you forbid others the use of them because you are not sanctified neither doe you see them sanctified by the eternall word and prayer You are drawing towards an end and here I shall joine issue with you pag. 69. That since the heart of man is deceitfull and corrupt above all things and most apt to answerable counsels and actings where it can hope to walk in the dark undiscernd and undistinguisht therefore you desire liberty of entring dissents Upon this ground doe I desire liberty to enter my dissent from you and upon what followes in your words In these transactions of such high moment to the publique and all honest interests and in times so apt to deceit defection and apostacy With you pag. 70. I professe That as the exigence of the case and nature of the businesse requires being of such vast importance to all publique religious and honest interest not in this Kingdom only but in neighbour nations I have dealt with al plainnes and clearnes as God hath enabled me And now to conclude we hope that in an age of so much light meer wil and resolution wil not be held forth and pursued against it But that what reason and righteousnes there is in the things we have said wil be considered and followed T is my request to you in your own words that you would not in prejudice or disdain lay these things aside but that you would setting aside your present actings of lesse importance far yea of certain danger ruin to your selvs and others you would consider what I have here proposed in love to you for your good safety the peace of the Kingdom He that being often reproved hardneth his necke shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy FINIS