One warning more unto England before she gives up the ghost and be buried in the pit of darkness to awaken the inhabitants thereof out of their deep sleep, to see themselves what misery is coming upon them through their degeneration and horrible ingratitude, that the people therein may be let without excuse in the day of the Lord / by him that pities thee in this languishing state, F.H. Howgill, Francis, 1618-1669. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A44803 of text R6654 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing H3176). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 36 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A44803 Wing H3176 ESTC R6654 13506190 ocm 13506190 99801 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A44803) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 99801) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 791:15) One warning more unto England before she gives up the ghost and be buried in the pit of darkness to awaken the inhabitants thereof out of their deep sleep, to see themselves what misery is coming upon them through their degeneration and horrible ingratitude, that the people therein may be let without excuse in the day of the Lord / by him that pities thee in this languishing state, F.H. Howgill, Francis, 1618-1669. 16 p. Printed for Thomas Simmons ..., London : 1660. Written by Francis Howgil. Cf. BM. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. eng Society of Friends -- England. Regeneration (Theology) -- Early works to 1800. A44803 R6654 (Wing H3176). civilwar no One warning more unto England before she give up the ghost, and be buried in the pit of darkness. To awaken the inhabitants thereof out of t Howgill, Francis 1660 7277 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 B The rate of 1 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the B category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2004-12 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-02 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-03 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2005-03 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion ONE Warning more UNTO ENGLAND Before she give up the Ghost , and be Buried in the Pit of Darkness . To awaken the Inhabitants thereof out of their deep Sleep , to see themselves what Misery is coming upon them through their Degeneration and horrible Ingratitude , that the People therein may be left without excuse in the day of the Lord . By him that pities thee in this languishing state . F. H. London , Printed for Thomas Simmons at the sign of the Bull and Mouth near Aldersgate , 1660. OH England ! Is thy dry Land all become Sea ? Is not thy Mountains from whence thou hast look'd for help , cast all into the Waters , and floats up and down , and is driven up and down , and carried about with every Tempest , insomuch that hardly any dry Land appears anywhere in thee , but all like raging Waves , and like boisterous Floods which hath no bounds , but over-flows all the Banks , which fills all with slime , and mire , and dirt : Oh Nation , whither art thou posting ! and after what dost thou so hastily pursue ? Hast thou chosen Madness for thy Crown , and Folly for thy Diadem ? Hast thou fixed thy eye upon the Land of Darkness , that thou so hastily runs ? Art thou become benummed , and altogether past feeling ? Hath not the Lord intended good unto thee , but thou rejects it ? Did not the Lord break off the bonds from thy neck , and take the burdens from off thy shoulders , that thou might have been a Free People , that thy People might have been a free People , that thou might have served the Lord God in truth and Righteousness , and might have been established by his Free Spirit , that Righteousness might have run down the Land as a stream , and Equity as a river , that Violence might have been done away , and the heavy Yoak removed , that so the Nation might have rejoyced in Gods saving health , which he was about to shower down as a mighty Rain , that the Land might have been refreshed , and that the People thereof might have rested under the Almighty shadow of the Lord , that every one might have eat the fruit of his labours with joy , and have been satisfied therewith , and every Precept of man have been taken off the Conscience ; and that yoak which hath limitted the Lord would the Lord have broken , that so his People might have rejoyced in him , and in his saving health . But Oh Nation , how art thou betrayed ! the treacherous dealers hath dealt treacherously with thee , and have robbed thee of thy Glory , and of thy Crown ; and no art thou like to be Crowned with Infamy and Reproach , and to be as a hissing-stock , as a Proverb and a by-word to all the Nations , who will rejoyce in thy Calamity , and be glad at thy destruction ; and because the love and Mercy of God was manifest in thee more then to any Nation of late besides , therefore the Nations were angry at thee ; but now seeing thy base ingratitude and unthankfulness , for all the kindness of the Lord unto thee , which thou hast wonderfully abused , which hath been a cause which hath provoked the Lord against thee , because thou hast chosen the way of death rather then life , and chosen darkness rather then light ; and therefore art thou hurled and tossed in all this Sea of Confusion ; and what will the Nations say who are round about thee , Is not this the Nation from whence light did shine forth , that 's now filled with darkness ? Is not this the Nation which was strong and mighty , that 's now become feeble ? Is not this the Nation , the fame of whose Righteousness was spread far , that 's now filled with Violence and Cruelty ? Is not this the Nation , which made the Nations and Isles about it to tremble , whose hands is become so weak that they cannot help themselves ? Is not this the Nation whose sound and fame for liberty as men in the Nation , and as Christians without being imposed upon , which the Lord was bringing to a perfect freedom , who now are putting the yoak of Bondage upon the Inhabitants necks , and laying heavie burdens upon the necks of the Righteous , and are imposing things upon the Consciences of his People , whom God would have set free ? Oh this causeth the Name of the Lord which hath appeared in thee , to be dishonored , and the noble acts which the Lord hath done in thee to be vilified : Oh England , what shall I compare thee unto , thy state is sad ! Oh what might I do to make thee sensible thereof ! thou art as a Ship in the midst of the raging Sea , whose Mast is lost , whose Tacklings is broken , and the Men all dead , and nothing left but a bare Hull ready to be blown with every gust of Wind upon every Rock , and art like wholly to be Split , never more to be builded up : It may truly be said of thee as it was once of Israel , when they had revolted from the Lord God , and followed after the imaginations of their own hearts ; the head is sick , and the whole heart is faint , and every member which should move in the body is become feeble and benummed ; thy breach is great , who can heal thee ? or who can bind thee up ? What is there no Balm in England ? is there no Physitian there to heal the breaches and wounds of this People ? What , not one wise man among all her Rulers , are they all like wild Bulls in a Net , fit to be taken and destroyed ? not one Interpreter amongst all her Prophets which can discover the Disease ; not one Physition that can apply a healing Medicine to these grievous Wounds ! What not one leaf of the Tree of life amongst you all , by which the Nations are healed ? not a healing Spirit amongst ten thousands of England ; Oh sad and deplorable is thy state , for all is out of order , and it may truly be said of her Rulers , of her Priests , and her Prophets , and of her People , as it was said of Israel when they had forsaken the Lord , and blindness happened to them through their unbelief , A People laden with sin and iniquity , they are all gone out of the way , there 's not one that doth good , no not one , a seed of evil-doers , a treacherous Generation , a false-hearted people , who eats up iniquity as men eate bread , and drink it up as Oxen Water : Oh Nation consider , thou art upon thy languishing bed , and thy eyes is almost closed , and thy ears stoped , and thy understanding besotted , all thy Vitals is decaying , the Characters and Symptoms of death is upon thee , the form of thy Countinance is changed , the flower of thy Beauty is passing away ; old Age and decrepedness is coming upon thee , all thy Joynts are growing feeble ; what wilt thou do now in a day of Adversity ? Whether wilt thou go in the day of Calamity which is approaching , the Grave is opened to receive thee , and thy Enemies stands ready to bury thee in silence , that thee and all thy Glory may be trampled upon , and that thy memorial may die and rot , and thy Renown be shut up in the pit of Oblivion ; the Fellers stands ready to cut thee down as an abominable branch , and to cast thee into the fire to consume thee , and to make a final end of thee , and to destroy all thy pleasant things : the Lord is grieved for thee , and the Spirits of his People is made sad , for they feel the weight of iniquity , and the load of transgression which will sink the Nation if it be not turned from ; but the Lord will ease him of his Enemies , and avenge him of his Adversaries , and will sweep away the refuge of lyes and the lovers of them into the pit of destruction ; and the day hastens when they that exalt themselves high even upon pinacles , shall be brought low , and many hills hath God made one with the plain , and many more yet shall be made a plain , that the Glory of the Lord , and his Interest may be exalted . Oh England , Consider thy former dayes , and call to mind the years past , and consider in what state thou wast twenty years ago , and what complaints filled every corner of the land by reason of the heavie yoaks which was laid upon the People , by reason of many wicked Lawes which was made by men of corrupt minds , in the years of the former Kings , not only upon the Estates of men , but also upon their Persons and Consciences , and the Cry of many innocent people was great , and reached through the Clouds ; for Princes , and Kings , and Nobles was grown to that height in Arrogancy , and Pride , and Usurpation , so that they claimed all Power as to be in themselves , and the Courtiers being in the same nature with them , and climbing up the stairs of Ambition till they attained to the seat of Violence , cried up the King above all Law , and whom he would kill might be killed , and whom he would save might be saved ; so that neither Life , Person , or Estate of any man could be exempted : so that by the Oppression of the former Kings , and also later , even the last , was very great , and was soar'd up so high , without all limit or bounds , as though all People in the Nation had been made as for their Vassals and Slaves , which thing was very grievous to the Lord , and also to the people of the Nation ; and they came to see that that Power and Authority was but usurped , or taken on without any just Title or Right as from God , or from the free People of this Nation ; and likewise what deceit was used in the Execution of all Lawes , that if any man was wronged , and did Appeal unto any Law for Redress , their Remedy proved worse then the Disease ; so that the Cry of the Oppression on every hand was very great . Again , What Innovations and Impositions was made upon tender Consciences by those Apostate Bishops , which the very Land groaned with the burden thereof , who were but a stem sprung from that corrupt Root of Rome ; and most of their Worship , Cannons and Constitutions they had from thence ; and what intrusion and Popish-stuff was ushered in daily upon the People in this Nation , which they groaned under , and compelling and forcing about the Superstitious Rites and Ceremonies , and foolish Fopperies which they brought in as Religious Matters ; and what lazy Droans they upheld , Reading a piece of the old Masse-Book in English , and calling it Divine Service , and judged them Hereticks who opposed all this mudy dark stuff , which the people was vexed with , and their Souls grieved , and the Lord grieved and vext , insomuch that the Lord heard the Cry of the Oppressed , and did appear in his power and strength in many people to bear Witness against the aforesaid Evils which was growing upon the Nation , which tended to bondage and thraidom , both as concerning mens Persons and Estates , and also their Consciences ; which bondage they were weary of , which yoaks the Lord brake , and gave a total overthrow both of the one , and of the other ; and many upright in heart did rejoyce , and with unwearied pains did Travel thorow a Sea of Troubles , not minding the present difficulty , but rather eying the end , Freedom and Liberty ; and many pretious men ventered their lives , and lost their Blood , and consumed their Estates , and offered willingly of their Substance in the time of need , that they might accomplish the aforesaid end , Liberty and Freedom as men , according to the equal just Law of God , and Freedom as Christians , without being imposed upon either by Men or Laws , which was a Prize which the Lord did intend should be put into the Nations hand , as a recompence for their former Sufferings , in which all the upright would have been satisfied ; and therefore they who have been Obstructors and Hinderers of this thing , hath the greater sin and load upon their backs , which hath sunk many of them . But alas , when the Obstructions was taken out of the way , and the Common Enemy suppressed with their whole Strength , Covetousness did get up , and Pride in the hearts of the Rulers , and them in Authority , in the hearts of the Souldery , especially the Officers of the Armie , most of which God had raised from a mean Estate to great Dignitie ; You forgat the Lord , and did divide the spoil amongst you , and so became full and fat , and then kick'd against the Lord , and neglected his Service to pursue that which God had put into your hands ; but getting into Places of Honour , became as bad , if not worse , then many that was cast out before you , and then laboured to set up your own Interests and not the Interest of the Nation , and to set up a Form of Religion , and another deceitful Image , and not the Interest of Christ Jesus , for he could have no room among you : It grievès my heart , and vexes the Spirit of the Lord God in me , to consider what tenderness , and fervency , and love there was in former years to the appearance of Gods truth , life and light ; and now it s become the chief Object of your scorn , and the whole bent is to turn Christs Interest out of the Nation , and to destroy the Sheep of his pasture whom he hath Redeemed with his most pretious Blood , to lay your sins before you , and your transgressions in your sight , that you may see what you have done . Oh people of England ! Was it only a Form of Government , or such and such a Government in Name that ye pursued after ? or was it not the Thing it self , Freedom it self , Liberty it self , Righteousness itself , that the heavie Yoak might be done away , which as to any of the last I do not say but they might have done it , if they had stood in Gods fear , and in his Counsel , for it is not this or that Title , or Form of Government , which is only Essential to the well-being of a People or a Nation ; you have had tryal of many Names , and what do you enjoy yet that which you look'd for ? Oh nay , you are defrauded , you are cheated , you are robbed and spoiled of that which the Lord God did intend you by treacherous and false-hearted men , whose words hath been smoother then Oyl , and their hearts full of rottenness , and through fair pretences of Liberty and Freedom , and Sanctity and Holiness , People have been led up and down like Horses , and tossed up and down like a Tenis-ball . Or was it a Form of Religion which might be set up by this or that Party , that tender People did seek after , so as to be bound to this or that Form by an outward Law , by compelling and forcing ? Was it not Reformation according to the Scriptures which was spoken of , and intended by the upright-hearted ? and behold how have we been Cheated here ! Was this the Liberty of Conscience that was pursued after , to set up Popish Tithes , which no true Christian can Pay for Conscience sake ; Or to set up a Company of Men to be Teachers to learn seven Years the Art of Speaking , to borrow their words from Homer or Aristotle , and Heathen Authors ; or to rake up a company of Errors decreed at Cha'cedon , Neece , Latren or Trent , for Articles of Faith , or to get words from Astrologers and Southsayers , and mingle this with the Scripture , and call them The Gospel , and to have set Wages by a Law given unto them , and to have Traditions of Men brought in for the Ordinances of God ; such as the Baptizing of Infants , which Glaudius Espencius , a Popish Bishop confessed that this was to be believed by Tradition , for it could not be proved by Scripture , that such a Company I say as these should be forced upon the Nation as Godly Ministers , and their invented Worship to be acknowledged as Divine , and to maintain the old Masse-Houses , and Pay Clerks Wages which the Scriptures makes no mention of , and all this must go in the Nane of Pure Reformation according to Scripture ; & to gather Money from house to house to buy bread & wine , & then a Priest to patter a few words over it , & then say its Consecrated , and call it a Sacrament ; and that Priests should have Money for Marrying of People , and for Baptizing of Infants , or for Burials , or to pay for the Ground in which the Dead is buried ; this was reprehended and Condemned by the Council of Trent in the height of Popery in the year , 1547. and many such bad Impositions is daily holden up , and they that holds them up must be accounted as Godly Ministers ; and many more things of this Nature are continued , which is so far against the Consciences of many whom God hath enlightened , so that they are a great offence : Oh this is quite contrary to that which was intended , and that which is the worst of all , many of these things are forc'd upon the People by a Law . And now Oh Heads of the Nation , how do you think to be believed , or who can trust you any more ? Obligations , Covenants , Oaths and Promises all broken and falsified ; and as soon as the Common Enemy was subdued and brought under , when you had time to have prosecuted the aforesaid things Declared for , purchased at a dear rate , through much expence , and bloodshed , and suffering , you let most of all their corrupt Laws stand , many of which is good for nothing but fire ; and it became as hard ( if not harder ) to obtain any Right by Appealing to the Law , or Judges thereof , then it was before ; and the vast Lands and Revenues of your Enemies you divided amongst you , and sold it at inconsiderable Values , and giving great and large sums to a company of Dreamers and blind Watchmen , and so wasted that which might have well maintained an Army in the Nation for many years , as though the work and the lives of many pretious men , and the shedding of the blood of thousands had been only to purchase Wages for the greedy Priests and Hirelings who can never have enough , and so all the pretious Treasure which became a booty and a prey for you , is exhausted and gone , and greater Pressures upon people then was before , and now the Nation more in poverty and need then ever , and the people more in thral'd in bondage then ever ; And Queen Maries Act for guarding Jesuites and the Masse , stands yet in your Law Books , as though it were a heavenly Oracle , and yet you cry out of Popery ; and so when your hearts was not right with the Lord , he set you one against another , and you came to be divided amongst your selves , and set up and pull down , and Ordain and Repeal , and so brittle and changable , that none did lean upon you but he was hurt by you ; and yet every Party crying like Absolom , Oh that I were a Judge in the Gate , how righteously would I do ! And so every Party have stoln away the hearts of people after them for a while , and at last betrayed them ; and thus every one hath been seeking his own Interest , and not the Lords , till the Lord hath left you , and the line of Confusion is stretched forth over you , and you bring forth the stones of Emptiness ; And every Party when he is got up into the Seat of Government , seeks Vengeance on him that hath Opposed him , and blowes the sparks which sets all of a flame , and only for Self , and Honour , and Exaltation , and Interest ; and thus have you led People up and down like Animals till they are weary ; and saith , It was better with us in Egypt , though in hard servitude , then to have Yoaks multiplied upon us , and cannot see when they will cease : Oh how unstable are you in your minds , and runs like a swift stream till you be lost and know not how to return ; And Flattery and Deceit , that must go under the name of Civility ; and one while calling this his Highness , and the other his Excellency , and the next Month proclaim him Tyrant and Traytor ; And so if the wills of a Party be but crossed or opposed , though honoured a Week afore for good Service , and Applauded , and in a moment then proclaim him Traytor , and so betrayes one another , and are treacherous one to another , and in rage would eat up one another : Are you like to help the Nation , and Decree one Week , and throw down next Week , and so runs to and fro like drunken men ; and how are you like to do any thing that 's good ? The Lord hath tryed most sorts of men , especially the great Ones , and the Heads of the People , and they are become just all dross , and little or no Vertue is found in them at all ; and so is the Nation like to be established in Freedom , while Policy , Craft , and Treachery , and Wrath are the chiefest Instruments in the Work ? but the day of many is past , wherein they might have done good to the Nation , and to the people of the Lord therein ; but their Sun is gone down , and their day is done , and night come upon them . And Oh People ! Will nothing satisfie you but Egypt again , that you run so fast that way , that you have forgotten all Gods wondrous Works in this Land ? Will nothing but the Iron Furnice satisfie you , and the heavie yoak of Bondage , which in former years you complained of ? Are you grown altogether insensible of the things that belongs unto your peace , that you lust after that which will destroy you , and inthrall you for ever ? You have had many Warnings from the Lord , and your State hath been clearly declared unto you , but have lost all Fervency and Zeal , you are become dry , dead , careless , and secure , and now would be content to make a Covenant with Death , and shake hands with Deceit upon any terms , if so be that your Wills were satisfied ; and the heart of unbelief being got up in you , and a departing from the living God , you seek Peace and Settlement in another thing where you are never like to be established : What stands your Hopes upon the sandy Foundation of unstable men ? Have you not sufficiently yet tryed all that , that it hath proved as a broken Reed , and as a Bubble which passeth away ? Oh is it not high time to look upon the Lord , and to eye him ; have not men of high Degree proved a lye , and men of a low Degree proved vanity ? Have you not look'd long enough for Salvation from the Mountains of the Earth , and are they not all melted and hurled into the Sea ? Are they like to Deliver you , who cannot Deliver themselves ? Are they like to settle you , who are unsettled themselves ? Are they like to bring Peace unto you , who knows not the way thereof ? Are they like to put an End to Wars and Strife , who are in the Variance , Strife , and War against the Spirit of the Lord in themselves , and against one another ? Every one striving that his heady-Mind may be satisfied : Is that it which is like to make the Nation Free , when that which tends to true Freedom is counted by them Bondage ? Hath not this and the other Party promised great Things , and have they not all laboured in vain , and spent their strength for nought ? And is not the Nation farther off from Establishment in Righteousness , then it was sixteen years ago ? And is not more Hypocrisie and Deceit abounding and increasing , who uses good words for a Cloak of malitiousness , and fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the Simple ? And hath not many been deceived here ? And are they not all become broken Bowes in which there 's no strength ? Oh what brittleness , giddiness , and madness , and instability among the People , just carried about as a Tempest , blown up and down with every Wind ? And Oh how doth People feed upon Wind , and the Aiery breath of Corrupt men , which vanishes away as smoak , which hath wrought no Deliverance at all , but rather led farther and farther into slavery ? Oh what is your Spirits so heightned in ? And what is it in which you so greatly rejoyce ? Is it not in that which the Lord God hath blasted , blown upon , and its withered ? Your Rejoycing is not good , and it stirs up the wrong part in People , to rejoyce in vanity , and to take pleasure in folly : What have you made Captains , and are turning back again into Egypt ? Do you love Pharoahs Power so well , and the wise mens Counsels so well , and were it not just with the Lord to let you go back into perpetual Slavery , and chuse your delusion , seeing you make your necks as an Iron Sinew , and are so stout-hearted against the Lord , if you never attain unto that which God intended unto you , blame not the Lord ; for you have made your selves unworthy thereof , by neglecting the Counsel of the Almighty , and dispising them with whom the Counsel of the Lord is ; and therefore its just to bring one Bramble after another to Rule over you , and one Bryar after another to scratch , and rend , and tear you ; many hath born your burden long , and have been prest with your transgressions , and the Souls of the Righteous have been vexed from year to year to see you dispise the loving kindness of the Lord , and the tender Offers of Mercy ; but the burden at last must come upon your own shoulders , which will bow you down ; and then shall you see the Lord would have healed you , but you would not ; the Lord would have healed your breaches , but you would not because the way did not suit with your peevish , pettish , crooked minds , and therefore you are like to be bowed down under that which you have Chosen , as Asses under a burden ; and you will suffer your Eyes to be put out by the uncircumcised , and hath given your strength to the Beast , and now must you grind as Sampson at a Mill ; and they that exercise Rule over you , will make sport with you . Be awakned out of your deep sleep , and shake the Spirit of Slumber off you , that so you may come to see the State that you have plung'd your selves into , and the little Inch of Time which is yet left you , prize it , and wait to feel the Witness of God arise in you above that rashness and wilfulness which doth so easily beset you ; and eye the Lord God , and look for Salvation from him , for else neither Person , Family , nor Nation is like to be Established ; Have you not run far enough ? Are you not yet weary ? Have you obtained any thing by looking after men but breach upon breach , and one vexation after another , the line of Confusion being stretched out over all , and stones of emptiness brought forth , which is never like to do good , or to be a good Foundation to build upon ; for Salvation must be brought to a Nation by a People that is saved by the Lord , who hath the eternal God for their Rock and Refuge , who hath the Lord for their God and King ; for they know how to Rule in Righteousness , who have denied themselves , and all self-Interests : Take but a view of your Leaders , and see in what they have denied themselves , or their own Interest ; and that Person or Man can never be for the general Good of all People , neither for the Common Freedom of the Nation who seeks himself ; and they that know not the Judgment of the Lord against evil in themselves , is never like to Judge Righteously among the People , but will turn it backward , and let Equity fall in the Streets , and the Poor and the Needy suffer , and will let the yoak of Bondage lie upon their Necks whom God hath made Free , and count the Proud happy , and they that work wickedness they will set them up : Oh the Lord is grieved , and his Spirit is vexed this divers years at these things , and therefore hath he poured Contempt upon the Mighty , and is bringing a Consumption upon all the Honourable of the Earth , and will make them all as burned Mountains ; and while your eyes are upon them for help , your expectations shall be frustrated , and your Hope shall be as the giving up of the Ghost : And this is the Word of Truth unto you all , which shall not pass away unfulfilled . And thou false and treacherous Ministery of this Nation , who only hath the power of the carnal Sword to hold thee up , & were made and Constituted to be a Ministery by a Carnal Commandment of man , you have been the Chief Incendiaries of much of these Comotions , Stirs , Uproars and Broils , War and Strife ; how have you twined , and turned , and wheeled about like Weather-Cocks , and flattered every Horn of the Beast which exalted it self , though but for a little season , and like as your Fore-fathers did in former years , so have you done in the later years , flattered and set up every thing and Image , which though there was nothing in it at all , no life nor breath , you have cried it up for the higher Power while it stood and would work your drudgery and satisfie your Interest ; and if it went not on as you would have it , then you have cried it down , & them that you counted the higher Power , and have said , It hath been by Gods appointment ; the next Week , Usurpers and Traytors , and countinancers of Error and Blasphemy , and hath kindled a fire among People , & set them up in a rage one against another ; and when your Deceit was like to go down , then cried Religion was despised , and the Gospel was like to fall and to be extinguished : Come , let us Reason together a little ; Is Reading Old Writers ( whom you call Heathen ) seven years , and other later Popish Writers , and Aristotles Philosophy , any part of the Gospel ? and to frame up a Speech about Religion , out of your old Comentaries which have been made in the night of Ignorance , and to mix Scripture with them , is this the Gospel ? and to get a Patent from a Protector , a Parliament , or a Committee to Preach at such a place , is this like Gospel ? may be a Great Seal at it , and then stay whether the People would have you or no , and force Maintenance from them , and plead your Letters Patent for your lawful Call , like an Indulgence from the Pope , and to claim all the tithes of a Parish , and all Oblations , Obventions , Mortuaries ; Is this like the Gospel , or like the best Reformed Churches which you talk on in that you call your Covenant , and to set up the old Mass-houses , baptized Bells , Hour-glasses , Clerks to say Amen , Church-wardens , is this like the Reformed Churches ? and to gather Money from House to House to buy Bread and Wine , and then mut●er a few words over it , and give it to People on the mid-day like a Dinner , and call this the Lords Supper , or a Sacrament ; and to Baptize Infants , and get Money for Registering a Name , and call this an Ordinance of God ; is this like the Reformed Churches in the Primitive times ? and to take Money for Marrying of People , is this Gospel like , to Preach over the dead , and observe other Cerimonies like the Popes Exequies , is this like the best reformed Churches ? Nay , which of all the reformed Churches ( so called ) who are broken off from Popery in something , have not denyed Tithes ? Is there any Ministers among all the Protestants in Europe , but they have wholly relinquished Tithes as to be no Gospel maintenance , as Germany & the Easteren Countries , France , Geneva & Switserland , and many others , yet these treacherous Priests of England boast of the Purity of Doctrine , Worship and Discipline beyond all , and these must go under the name of Godly learned Ministry , if this be godly , what is ungodly ? If this be learned , what is ignorance ? and to stay at a Village 20. or 30. years if there be gain enough , if this be laboriousnesse , what is idleness ? and what havock and spoil have you made within this 20. years in this Land , more then the corrupted Bishops did before ? Oh , what havock have you made , and spoyl of mens Estates in this Nation within these few years , which was called years of liberty , if the Chronicles were searched amongst all the Protestants in Europe , the like paralel could not be found , neither hath there been the like wickednes acted ; many dyed in Prison for denying your insatiable desires ; and because you demand things contrary to the best reformed Churches , which you say you press after , you must deny all the things before mentioned , before any judicious man will believe ; and therefore it is in vain for you to cover your selves with a cloak of hypocrisie , for God hath opened an eye in thousands , that you will never be able to blind , though you stir up smoak , and dirt , and dust , and fogs , and mists of ignorance that darkens the Air , yet they will see through it , and by the breath of his mouth in whom they have believed , it will all be scattered , but however it is just with the Lord to let loose upon your backs the old Prelates and Bishops to be tormenters of you , and make you drudges and slaves as you were formerly , and it is just with the Lord to let the Dragons power over you all again , and to bring a scourge upon you , and the people who have hearkened to your lies & deceipt , that the helper and they that are holpen may fall together , that the blind & they that have chosen the blind for a leader , may both fall into the Ditch together , into the Pit that they may never rise again . Yet know this Oh Nation , and the Inhabitants therein , there is a People in thee which is pretious , and so accounted of the Lord , that hath not joyned to your back-sliding , but have kept their Integrity and their first Love , neither have they joyned to your Brittlnesse , and Instability ; neither have they sought themselves , but the good of the Nation , and all the People therein ; and though they have had many provocations as from the Cruel and mercilesse Cruelty of self-seeking men , yet they have born and suffered , knowing vengeance belongs unto the Lord , who in his day will recompence fury upon his Adversaries , and scatters them as the Wind scatters Clouds , and so are in peace and quietness under the shadow of him who hath brought them forth with a mighty hand and out-stretched arm , notwithstanding all Opposition ; which hath been very great , even by all Parties and Interests hitherto , and little or no regard hath been had to this People ; but they have been as for a prey and for a spoyl unto all , and unreasonable men have plowed long furrows upon their backs , and they have had no helper in the Earth : But on the contrary , every one hath lent his hand to bow them down , and tread upon them as Ashes under the soals of their feet , and yet no evil to lay to their Charge , but false surmises and receiving the false Representations of Corrupt men , whose hearts have gain said any appearance of good that ever appeared , if it crossed their ignorant corrupt mind ; What hath this People come to harm thee Oh Nation , that thou makest them thy Butt to shoot at , and they are become the Object of your scorn and dirision ? What have they Plotted or Contrived Rebellion ? Have they gone out upon their Enemies and sought Vengeance against them as every Party hath done else besides , except it s become a crime to speak the Truth , & bear witness against the Hypocrisie and Deceit of treacherous men , and to lay their iniquities before them , that they may see and be ashamed , and turn from their evil which hath provoked the Lord to Anger ; and because of their rejection of Gods Counsel , they cannot be Established : And for the sake of this Remnant , he will confound and overthrow on the right hand , and on the left , all that rise up against them , though they should never open their mouths as to plead their Innocency ; yet the Lord will , and condemne them that rise up against them , and plead the Cry of the Oppressed that Cry unto him day and night . which the Lord hath heard and considered , and is come down , and hath begun his Work though man doth not see it , and hath poured forth a Spirit of Confusion upon them who hath ill-will to the Lambs of Christs Fold ; and who shall act any thing further , as to think to root out the heritage of God , their Counsel shall be turned back-ward , and their Enterprize Cursed ; For God he hath determined to lay the rop-stone with shouting , and that which he is building he will finish ; and of a truth this is the Family which he hath Chosen , which his love is unto , and his power amongst , and their Adversaries will God rebuke for their sake . Therefore Oh Nation Consider and take this One Warning more , that thou proceed not further to thy hurt , and repent when it is too late . THE END .