Wit and Loyalty REVIVED, In a Collection of some smart SATYRS In Verse and Prose on the late TIMES. By Mr. Abraham Cowley, Sir J. Berkenhead, and the Ingenious Author of Hudibras, etc. Victrix Causa This Placuit sed victa Poetis. LONDON Printed, for W. Davis. 1682. THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER. I Have been often tempted to admire, since the Publishing Mr. Cowley's Papers, by what fate so excellent a satire upon the Times, and so worthy the Author, as the Puritan and Papist, should escape the ingenious Publisher, when at the same time his Copy upon Brutus, and that upon the Bishop of Lincoln's enlargement from the Tower have met with the good fortune to have place there, although they are in some sort, Satyrs upon himself and so unworthy his Name, and the good Company they appear in: that considering the Loyalty of their Arguments, we might, it may be have expected them in Mr. Waller's Works rather than Mr. Cowley's; and from thence to have been purged by the Wisdom of later and more correct Editions of his Book, together with the Penegyrick to Oliver, and the Elegy on his Death, called the Storm. Both which seem, in a manner, to have inherited the Lot, no less than the Gild of the Usurper, upon whom they were made: the former, claiming the Laurel, but that it wanted abetter Title to the crown: and the latter, to have so insensibly disappeared on a sudden as if by a resembling fate, it had been snatched away in the same Storm in which the Tyrant himself was lost. Whether it were an Exeess of Modesty in Mr. Cow that condemned it as an Abortive, and so, though it had appeared formerly in Print to have no place in his Collection, but to take its fortune with the Blossoms and unripe follies of his Youth: Or whether it were an Excess of good Nature in him that sentenced it to suffer, merely as it was a satire and so looked upon as a piece of persecution, and like Draco's Laws, written in Blood, as we find the best Natures inclined to check and be angry at themselves when once the fit of Choler is over; I say whether of these were the cause of suppressing it I shall not now presume to examine. But because under the Colour of doing Justice to the Satire, I may be thought to have done Wrong to Mr. Cow, and only to have borrowed his Name; to enhance the value of what comes with it, it's own recommendation. To remove such doubts, I shall observe in its Justification, that it first c●me out in the Year 1643. what time he lay at St. John's College in Oxford, Signed with A. C. though to make the cipher plainer yet, I doubt not when the satire is dully considered, to those that can Judge aright, it will spell his entire name at length. For as the Proportions, the Posture or Design serve as never failing Marks to such as are curious to discern the masterly Hand of the inimitable Titian, or Vandike. So in the admired Pieces of our great Masters of Writing, there want not the like bold strokes and life- touches in the Style that evidently betray whose Originals they are. In so much as to convince any who are their Authors, when they discover themselves by their own Light, is altogether, as needless is to hold a Candle to the Sun. If we believe Horace in his Art of Poetry (surely in his own Art Horace is as much to be believed, as Aristotle in Philosophy) he reckons ●●t amongst the Felicities of a good Style, that it cannot be imitated when he says. Ex noto fictum Carmen sequar, ut sibi quivis. Sperat idem, sudat multum, frustraque laboret. Ausus idem— Which is finely rendered by the E. of Roscomon. Begin with Truth, then give invention scope, And if your Style be Natural and smooth, All men will try, and hope to Write as well; And (not without much pains) be undeceived. Now if this be justly esteemed a Masterpiece of Poetry, that what it delivers comes the nearest to our understanding, at the same time as it is removed the farthest from our imitation, I am very well assured, I shall be acquitted from all suspicion of cheating the world with any thing under Mr. Cowley's Name which hath no Title to it, since his Style is no less difficult to Counterfeit, than it is easy to conceive. I cannot think it any reproach to Mr. Cow for him to walk abroad into the world in good company; the other two Gentlemen being, both of them celebrated Wits, and of the Loyal party engaged, in the same interest, and active in the same Cause with himself. And it is no new thing for Wits and Cavaliers, to find out one another and associate together Indeed they were men whose Mirth was so innocent, whose Wit so regular, and whose Conversation so entertaining and agreeable as I cannot but persuade myself, that they themselves would have made choice of no other Company when they were Living, as the Reader can embrace no better, amongst the Dead. The Puritan and the Papist, a satire first published in the year 1643. by Mr. Cowley. The Character of the Assembly-man, first printed in the year 1648. by Sir J. Berkenhead. Proposals for farming out Liberty of Conscience, first published in the year 1663. by the ingenious Author of Hudibras. THE PURITAN AND THE PAPIST. A satire, By Mr. Abraham Cowley. LONDON Printed for W. Davis, 1681/2. THE PURITAN AND THE PAPIST. A satire. SO two rude Waves, by Storms together thrown, Roar at each other, Fight, and then grow One. Religion is a Circle; men contend, And Run the Round in dispute without end. Now in a Circle who go contrary, Must, at the last, meet of necessity. The Roman Cath'lique to advance the Cause Allows a Lie, and calls it Pia Fraus. The Puritan approves and does the same, Dislikes nought in it but the Latin name. He flows with his devises, and dares Lie In very deed, in truth, and verity. Paralleled in Holy Cheats. He whines, and sighs out Lies, with so much ruth, As if he grieved, 'cause he could ne'er speak truth. Lies have possessed the Press so, as their due, 'Twill scarce I fear, henceforth Print Bibles true. Lies for their next Strong Fort ha'th ' Pulpit chose, There they throng out at ' th' Preachers Mouth, and Nose. And how e'er gross, are certain to beguile The poor Book-turners of the middle Isle. Nay to th' almighty's self they have been bold To lie, and their blasphemous Minister told, They might say false to God; for if they were Beaten, he knew't not, for he was not there. But God, who their great thank fullness did see, Rewards them strait with another victory, Just such an one as Brainford; and san's doubt In Publishing False News as Legends. Will weary ere't be long their gratitude out. Not all the Legends of the Saints of old, Not vast Baronius, nor sly Surius, hold Such plenty of apparent Lies, as are In your own Author, Jo. Browne Cleric. Par. Besides what your small Poets, said or writ; Brooks, Strode, and the Baron of the Saw-pit: With many a Mental Reservation. In Mental Reservations. You'll maintain Liberty, Reserved [your own.] For th'public good the sums raised you'll disburse; Reserved, [The greater part for your own Purse.] You'll root the Cavaliers out, every man; Faith, let it be reserved here; [If ye can.] You'll make our gracious CHARLES, a Glorious King; Reserved [in Heaven,] for thither ye would bring His Royal Head; the only secure Room For Kings, where such as you, will never come. To keep th'Estates o'th'Subjects you pretend; Reserved [in your own Trunks] You will defend The Church of England, 'tis your Protestation; But that's New-England, by a small Reservation. Power of Dispensing Oaths the Papists claim; In allowing Perjuries. Case hath got leave of God to do the same. For you do hate all Swearing so, that when You've Sworn an Oath, ye break it straight again. A Curse upon you! which hurts most these Nations, Cavaliers Swearing, or your Protestations? Nay, though Oaths be by you so much abhorred, Y'allow God damn me in the Puritan Lord. They keep the Bible from Laymen, but ye Avoid this, for ye have no Laity. They, in a forraigu and, unknown Tongue pray, In an unintelligible Worship. You in an unknown Sense your prayers say: So that this difference 'twixt ye does ensue, Fools understand not them, not Wise men you. They an unprofitable zeal have got, Of Invocating Saints that hear them not. 'Twere well you did so, nought may more be feared In your fond Prayers, than that they should be heard. To them your Nonsense well enough might pass, They'd ne'er see that i'th' Divine Looking-Glass. Nay, whether you'd worship Saints is not known, For y'have as yet of your Religion none. They by goodworks think to be justified, You into the same Error deeper slide; You think by Works too justified to be, Both hold Justification by Works, the one by Good the other by Ill Works. And those ill Works; Lies, Treason, Perjury. But oh! your Faith is mighty; that hath been, As true Faith ought to be, of things unseen. At Wor'ster, Brainford and Edg-hill, we see, Only by Faith y'have got the Victory. Such is your Faith, and some such unseen way The public Faith at last your debts will pay. They hold freewill (that nought their Souls may▪ bind) As the great Privilege of all Mankind. You're here more moderate, for 'tis your intent, freewill one holds belongs to all men, the other only to Parliament men. To make't a Priv'ledg, but of Parliament. They forbid Priests to marry; you worse do, Their marriage you allow, yet punish too: For you'd make Priests so poor, that upon all Who marry, scorn and beggary must fall. They a bold power o'er sacred Scriptures take, Blot out some Clauses, and some new ones make. Your great Lord Jesuit Brookes publicly said, They agree in interlining Scriptures and Creeds, (Brooks whom too little learning hath made Mad) That to correct the Creed ye should do well, And blot out Christ's descending into Hell. Repent wild man, or you'll ne'er change, I fear, The sentence of your own descending there: Yet modestly they use the Creed, for they Would take the Lord's Prayer Root and Branch away. And wisely said a Levite of our nation, The Lord's Prayer was a Popish Innovation. Take heed, you'll grant ere long it should be said, An't be but to desire your Daily Bread. They keep the people, ignorant, and you. Keep both the people, and yourselves so too, In Implicit Faith, They blind obedienee and blind duty teach; You blind Rebellion and blind faction preach. Nor can I blame you much, that ye advance That which can only save ye, Ignorance; Though Heaven be praised, t'has oft been proved well Your Ignorance is not Invincible. Nay such bold lies to God himself ye vaunt, As if you'd fain keep him too, Ignorant. Limbus and Purgatory they believe, One believes Purgatory hereafter, & the other, erects a Purgatory here. For lesser Sinners, that is, I conceive. Malignants only; you this Trick does please, For the same Cause ye've made new Limbuses, Where we may lie imprisoned long ere we A Day of Judgement in your Courts shall see. But Pym can, like the Pope, with this dispense; And for a Bribe, deliver Souls from thence. Their Councils claim Infallibility, The Assembly of Divines as infallible as a general Council. Such must your Conventicle Synod be: And Teachers from all parts of th'Earth ye call, To make't a Council, Ecumenical. They several times appoint from Meats t'abstain; You now for the Irish Wars, a Fast ordain: And that that Kingdom might be sure to Fast, Ye take a Course to Starve them all at last. One fasts friday & Eves, the other all Sundays. Nay though ye keep no Eves, Fridays, nor Lent, Not to dress Meat on Sundays you're Content; Then you Repeat, Repeat, and Pray, and Pray; Your Teeth keep Sabbath, and Tongues, Working day. They preserve Relics; you have few or none, Both have their Relics Unless the Clo● sent to John Pym by one. Or Holl●ses Rich Widow, She who carried A Relic in her Womb, before she married. They in Succeeding Peter take a Pride; Both claim to succeed St. Peter. So do you; for your Master ye've denied. But chiefly Peter's Privilege ye choose, At your own wills to Bind and to Unloose. He was a Fisherman; you'll be so too, When nothing but your Ships are left to you. He went to Rome, to Rome you Backward Ride, (Though both your goings are by some denied.) Nor is't a Contradiction, if we say, You go to Rome the quite Contrary way; He died o'th' Cross; that death's unusual now; The Gallows is most liked, and that's for you. They love Church Music, it offends your sense, The one for Church Music the other for Singing without Music And therefore ye have sung it out from thence, Which shows, if right your mind be understood, You hate it not as Music but as Good. Your Madness makes you Sing as much as they Dance, who are bit with a Tarantula. But do not to yourselves alas appear, The most Religious Traitors that eer' were; Because your Troops Singing of Psalms do go; There's many a Traitor has marched Holborn so. Nor was't your wit this holy project bore; Tweed and the Tyne has seen those Tricks before. They of strange Miracles and Wonders tell, Both boast their Miracles. You are yourselves a kind of Miracle; Even such a Miracle as in writ divine We read o'th' Devils hurrying down the Swine. They have made Images to speak, 'tis said, You a dull Image have your Speaker made; And that your bounty in offerings might abound, Y'have to that Idol given six thousand pound, They drive out Devils they fay; here ye begin To differ, I confess; you let them in. They maintain Transubstantiation; Each hath a several Transubstantiation. You by a Contrary Philosopher's stone, To Transubstantiate Metals have the skill; And turn the Kingdom's Gold to Ir'n and Steel. I'th' Sacrament ye differ but 'tis noted, Bread must be Flesh, Wine Blood, if e'rt be voted. They make the Pope their Head, y'exalt for him Primate and Metropolitan, Master Pym; Both infallible in Cathedra. Nay White, who sits i'th' Infallible Chair, And most infallably speaks Nonsense there: Nay Cromwell, Pury, Whistler, Sir John Wray, He who does say, and say, and say, and say. Nay Lowry who does new Church-Gover'ment wish, And Prophecies, like Ionas, 'midst the Fish, Who can such various business wisely sway, Handling both Herrings and Bishops in one day. Nay all your Preachers Women, Boys, and Men, From Master Calamy to Mistress Venus, Are perfect Popes in their own Parish grown; For to outdo the story of Pope Joan: Your Women Preach too, and are like to be The Whores of Babylon, as much as She. They depose Kings by Force; by Force you'd do it, Both for deposing Kings; the one by fair means, the other by Foul. But first use fair means to persuade them to it. They dare kill Kings; and 'twixt ye here's the strife, That you dare shoot at Kings, to save their Life. And what's the difference, pray, whether he fall By the Pope's Bull, or your Ox General? Three Kingdoms thus ye strive to make your own; And like the Pope usurp a Triple Crown. Such is your Faith, such your Religion; Let's view your Manners now, and then I've done. Their Avarice Your Cov'teousness let gasping Ireland tell, Where first the Irish Lands, and next ye sell The English Blood; and raise Rebellion here, With that which should suppress, and quench it there. What mighty sums have ye squeezed out o'th' City? Enough to make 'em Poor, and something Witty. Excise, Loans, Contributions, Pole-monies, Bribes, Plunder, and such parliament Priv'ledges, Are words which you ne'er learned in Holy Writ, Till th' Spirit and your Synod mended it. Where's all the Twentieth part now which hath been Paid you by some, to forfeit the Nineteen? Where's all the Goods distrained, and Plunders passed? For you're grown wretched, pilfering knaves at last; Descend to Brass and Pewter; till of late, Like Midas, all ye touched, must needs be Plate. By what vast hopes is your Ambition fed? Their Ambition 'Tis writ in Blood and may be plainly read. You must have Places and the Kingdom sway; The King must be a Ward to your Lord Say. Your innocent Speaker to the Rolls must rise, Six thousand Pound hath made him proud and wise. Lord Privy Seal. Kimbolton for his Father's place doth call; Would be like him; would he were, Face and all. Isaac would always be Lord Mayer and so, May always be, as much as he is now. Pennington For the Five Members, they so richly thrive, That they would always be, but Members Five. Only, Pym doth his Natural right enforce, By th' Mother's side he's Master of the Horse, Most shall have Places by these popular tricks, The rest must be content with Bishoprics. For 'tis against Superstition your intent, First to root out that great Church Ornament, Money and Lands; your Swords alas are drawn, Against the Bishop, not his Cap, or Lawn. O let not such lewd Sacrilege begin, Tempted by henry's rich successful Sin. Henry the monster King of all that age; Wild in his Lust, but wilder in his Rage. Expect not you his Fate, though Hotham thrives In imitating henry's tricks for Wives Nor fewer Church's hopes than Wives to see Buried, and then their Lands his own to be. Ye boundless Tyrants, how do you outvie, Th' Athenians Thirty, Rome's Decemviry? Their Tyranny. In Rage ' Injustice ' Cruelty as far Above those men, as you in Number are. What Mist'ries of Iniquity do we see? New Prisons made to defend Liberty; Our Goods forced from us for propri'ti's sake; And all the Real Non-scence which ye make. Ship-money was unjustly ta'en, ye say; The Counterfiet grivances of the King's Reign compared with the Royal ones of their Usurpation. Unjustlier far, you take the Ships away. The High Commission, you called Tyranny, Ye did; Good God what is the High-Committy? Ye said that gifts, and bribes preferments bought, By money and blood too, they now are sought. To the Kings will the Laws men strove to draw; The Subjects will, is now become the Law. 'Twas feared a New Religion would begin; All new Religions, now are entered in. The King Delinquents to protect did strive; What Clubs, Pikes, Halberds, Lighters, saved the Five? You think the Parl'ment, like your State of Grace, What ever sins men do, they keep their Place. Invasions than were feared against the State. And Strode swore last year would be eighty-eight. viz. 1642. You bring in Foreign Aid to your designs; First those great Foreign Forces of Divines, With which Ships from America were fraught. Rather may stinking Tobacco still be brought. From thence, I say: next ye the Scots invite, Which ye term Brotherly assistance right; For England you intent with them to share: They who alas! but younger Brothers are, Must have the Monies for their Portion; The Houses and the Lands will be your Own. We thank ye for the wounds which we endure, Whilst scratches and slight pricks ye seek to cure. We thank ye for true real fears at last, Which free us from so many false ones passed. We thank ye for the Blood which fat's our Coast, As a just debt paid to great Strafford's Ghost.) We thank ye for the ills Received, and all Which yet by your good care, in time we shall. We thank ye, and our gratitude's as great As yours, when you thanked ' God for being beat. The Character of an HOLY-SISTER She that can sit three Sermons in aday, And of those three, scarce bear three Words away, She that can Rob her Husband, to repair A Budget Priest that Noses a long Prayer. She that with Lamb-black, purifies her shoes, And with half Eyes and Bible, softly goes; She that her Pockets with Lay-Gospel stuffs, And edifies her looks with little Ruffs. She that loves Sermons as she does the rest, Still standing stiff, that longest are the best. She that will Ly, yet swear, she hates a Liar, Except it be the man, that will Lie by her. She that at Christen, thirsteth for more Sack, And draws the broadest handkerchief for Cake. She that sings Psalms devoutly next the street, And beats her maid, i'th' kitchen where none see't. She that will sit in shop for five hours' space, And register the sins of all that pass. Damn at first sight, and proudly dares to say, That none can possibly be saved, but they. That hangs Religion in a naked Ear, And judge men's hearts, according to their Hair. That could afford to doubt, who wrote best sense, Moses or Dod on the Commandments. She that can sigh and cry, Queen Elizabeth, Rail at the Pope, and scratch out sudden death. And for all this can give no reason why, This is an holy sister verily. THE Assembly-man; Written by Sir John Birkenhead; in the Year 1647. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. i e. He seditiously stirs up men to fight: he'll teach others the way whereof himself is most ignorant; and persuades men to take an Oath, because himself had sworn it before. LONDON, Printed for W. Davis, Anno Dom. 1681/2. READER, THis Pamphlet was torn from me by those who say they cannot rob, because all is theirs. They found it where it slept many years forgotten; but they ' wakened it, and made false Transcripts. They Excized what they liked not; so mangled and Reformed, that 'twas no Character of an Assembler, but of themselves. A Copy of that Reformling had crept to the Press. Iseized and stopped it, unwilliug to Father other men's sins. Here therefore you have it (as 'twas first scribbled) without addition of a syllable; I wish I durst say here's nothing lopped off. But men and manners are changed, at least they say so. If yet this trifle seem born with teeth, you know whose hands were knuckle-deep in the blood of that renowned Chancellor of Oxon (Archbishop LAUD) though when they cut up that great Martyr, his two greatest Crimes were the two greatest Glories Great Britain can boast of, St. Paul's Church and the Oxford Library. Where you find no coherence, remember this Paper hath suffered Decimation: Better times have made it worse, and that's no fault of J. Berkenhead. THE Assembly-man. AN Assembler is part of the States ' Chattels: nor Priest, nor Burgess, but a Participle that shark's upon both. He was chosen, as Sir Nathaniel, because he knew least of all his Profession: not by the Votes of a Whole Diocese, but by one whole Parliament-man. He has sat four years towards a new Religion, but in the interim left none at all: as his Masters, the Commons had along Debate whether Canáles or no Candles, but all the mean while sat still in the Dark: And therefore when the Moon quits her oldLight, and has acquired no new, Astronomeres say she is in her Synods. Show me such a Picture of Judas as the Assembler, (a griping, false, Reforming Brother; rails at Waste spent upon the Anointed; persecutes most those Hands which Ordained him; brings in men with swords and staves; and all for Money from the Honourable Scribes and Pharisees:) One Touch more (a Line tied to his Namesake Elder-tree) had made him Judas, Root and Branch. This Assembly at first was a full Century; which should be reckoned as the Scholiast's Hecatomb, by their Feet, not Heads: or count them by Scores, for in things without Heads Six score go to an Hundred. They would be a New Septuagint; the Old translated Scripture out of Heberw into Greek, these turn in to four shillings a day? And and these Assemblers were begot in one day, as Herculeses fifty Bastards all in one night. Their first List was sprinkled with some names of Honour, (Dr. Sanderson, Dr. Morley-Dr. Hammond, &c,) But these were Divines; too worthy to mix with such scandalous Ministers, and would not Assemble without the Royal Call. Nay, the first List had one Archbishop, one Bishop, and an Half, (for Bishop Brownrigg was then but Elect.) But now their Assembly (as Philosophers think the World) consists of Atoms; petty small Levites, whose Parts are not perceptible. And yet these inferior postern Teachers have intoxicated England (for a man sometimes grows drunk by a Glister.) When they all meet, they show Beasts in Asrick by promiscuous coupling engender Monsters. Mr Selden visits them (as Persians use) to see wild Asses fight: when the Commons have tired him with their new Law, these brethren refresh him with their mad Gospel: They lately were graveled 'twixt Jerusalem and Jericho; they knew not the distance 'twixt those two places; one cried twenty miles, another ten, 'twas concluded seven, for this reason, that Fishwas brought from Jericho to Jerusalem market: Mr Selden smiled and said perhaps the Fish, was salt Fish and so stopped their mouths. Earl Philip goes thither to hear them spend; when he heard them toss their National, Provincial, Classical, Congregational; he swore damnably, that a pack of good Dogs made better Music: His Allusion was porper, since the Elder's Maid had a four-legged Husband. To speak truth, this Assembly is the two Houses Tiring-room where the Lords and the Commons put on their Vizards and Masques of Religion. And their Honours have so sifted the Church, that at last they have found the Bran of the Clergy. Yet such poor Church-menders must Reform and shuffle: though they find Church Government may a thousand ways be changed for the worse, but not one way for the better. These have lately published Annotations on the Bible, where their first Note (on the word CREATE) is a Libel against Kings for creating of Honours. Their Annotation on Jacob's two Kids, is, that two Kids are too much for one man's supper: but he had (say they) but one Kid and the other made Sauce. They observe upon Herod, what a Tyrant he was, to kill Infants under two years old, without giving them legal Trial, that they might speak for themselves. Commonly they follow the Geneva Margin, as those Seamen who understood not the Compass crept a long the Shore. But I hear they threaten a secoud Edition, and in the interim thrust forth a paltry Catechism, which expounds Nine Commandments, and Eleven Articles of the Creed. Of late they are much in love with Chronograms, because (if possible) they are duller than Anagrams; O how they have torn the poor Bishop's names to pick out the number 666! little dreaming that a whole Bakers dozen of their own Assembly have that beastly number in each of their Names, and that as exactly as their Solemn League and Covenant consists of 666 words. But though the Assembler's Brains are Lead, his Countenance is Brass; for he damned such as held two benefices, while himself has four or five, besides his Concubine Lecture. He is not against Pluralities, but Dualities; He says it is unlawful to have two of his own, though four of other men's; and observes how the Hebrew word for Life has no singular number. Yet it is some relief to a sequestered person to see two Assemblers snarl for his Tithes; for of all kind of Beasts none can match an Assembler but an Assembler. He never enters a Church by the Door, but clambers up through a Window of Scquestration, or steals in through Vaults and Cellars by Clandestine Contracts with an Expecting Patron. He is most sure no Law can hurt him, for Laws died in England the year before the Assembler was born. The best way to hold him, is (as our King Richard bound the King of Cyprus) in silver chains. He loves to discourse of the New Jerusalem, because her streets are of fine Gold; and yet could like London as well, were Cheapside paved with the Philosopher's stone. Nay, he would say his Prayers with Beads, if he might have a Set made of all Diamonds: This, this is it which tempts him to such mad Articles against the Loyal Clergy, whom he dresses as he would have them appear; just as the Ballad of Dr. Faustus brings forth the Devil in a Friar's weed. He accused one Minister, for saying the blessed Virgin was the Mother of God, (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as the Ancients call her.) Another he charged for a common Drunkard, whom all the Country knows has drunk nothing but Water these 26 years. But the Assembler himself can drink Widows Tears though their husbands are not dead. Sure, if Paracelsus' Doctrine were true, (that to eat creatures alive will perpetuate man's life) the Assembler were imortal, for he swallows quick Men, Wives, and Children; and devours Lives as well as Livings, as if he were born in that Pagan Province where None might marry till he had Killed twelveChristians. This makes him kneel to Lieutenant General Cromwell (as Indians to the Devil;) for he saw how Oliver first threw—, then— and can with a wink do as much for—: Like Milo in the Olympics, by practising on a Calf grew strong enough for a Bull, and could with ease give a lift to an Ass. The great Turk was sending his Ambassador, to congratulate the Assemblies Proceedings against the Christians; He Ordered them Thanks for licensing his Alcoran to be printed in English; but hearing Ottoman Cromwell had talked of marching to the Walls of Constantinople, that Embassy was stopped. The only difference 'twixt the Assembler and a Turk, is, that one plants Religion by the ●ower of the Sword, and the other by the power of the Scimitar. Nay, the greatest strife in their whole Conventicle, is who shall do worst; for they all intent to make the Church: but a Sepulchre, having not only Plundered but Anatomised all the true Clergy; whose torment is hight'ned in being destroyed by such dull instruments; as the Prophet Isaiah was sawn to pieces with a wooden Saw. The Assembler wondèrs that the King and his Friends live still in hope; he thinks them all in St. Clemens' case, drowned with an Anchor tied about his neck. He has now got power to visit the Universities; where these blinking Visitors look on eminent Scholars (as the Blindman who saw men like Trees) as Timber growing within the Root-and-Branch Ordinance. The Assembler has now lest Scholars so poor, they have scarce Rags wherewith to make Paper. A man would think the Two houses intent to transport the Universities, since they load Asses with Colledge-Revenues. For though these Assemblers made themselves Heads, they are rather Hands of Colleges, for they all are takers; and take all. And yet they are such creeping Tyrants, that Scholars are Expelled the two Universities, as the old Thracians, forced from their Country by Rats and Mice. So that Learning now is so much advanced, as Arrowsmith's Glass-eye sees more than his natural. They never admit a good scholar to a Benefice, for the Assemblies Balance is the Lake of Sodom, where Iron swims and Feathers sink. Their Divinity-Disputations are with Women or Laymen; and 'tis only on one Question (Episcopacy) where the Assembler talks all that he and his friends can say, (though his best medium to prove Presbyters more ancient than Bishops, is, that Scribes, Pharisees, Priests and Elders where before the apostles;) Yet if a Scholar or good Argument come, he flies them as much as if they were his Text. This made him curse Dr. Steward, Dr. Lancy and Dr. Hammond, and had he not had more Brass in his Face than in his Kitchen, he had hanged himself at Uxbridge, and ended with that Treaty. For he has naught of Logic, but her clutched fist, and rails at Philosophy as Beggars do at Gentlemen. He has very bad luck when he deals in philology, as one of them (and that no mean man) who in his preface to the Reader, says, that St. Paul had read Eustathius upon Homer, though the Apostle died a thousand years before Eustathius was born. The Assembers Diet is strangely different, for he dines wretchedly on dry Bread at Westminster; four Assemblers for 13 pence: But this sharpens and Whets him for supper, where he feeds gratis with his City-Landlord, to whom he brings a huge Stomach and News; for which Crammed Capons cram him. He screws into Families where is some rich Daughter or Heir; but whoever takes him into their bosom, will die like Cleopatra. When it reins he is Coached (a Classis of them together) rolling his Eyes to mark who beholds him. His shortest things are his hair and his Cloak. His hair is cut to the figure of 3; two high Cliffs run up his Temples, whose Cap of shorn hair shoots down his Forehead, with Creeks indented, where his Ears ride at Anchor. Had this false Prophet been carried with Habbakuk, the Angel had caught fast hold of his Ears, and led him as he leads his Auditory. His Eyes are part of his Tithe at Easter, which he boyles at each Sermon. He has two Mouths, his Nose is one, for he speaks through both. His hands are not in his Gloves but his Gloves in his Hands, for 'twixt sweatings that is, Sermons, he handles little else, except his dear Mammon. His Gown (I mean his Cloak) reaches but his pockets: when he rides in that mantle, with a Hood on his shoulders and a hat above both, is he not then his own Man of sin with the Triple Crown? you would swear some honest Carpenter dressed him, and made him the Tunnel of a Country Chimney. His Doublet and Hose are of dark Blue, a grain deeper than pure Coventry: but of late he's in Black, since the Loyal Clergy were persecuted into Colours. His two longest things are his Nails and his Prayer. But the cleanest thing about him is his Pulpit-Cushion, for he still beats the Dust out of it. To do him right, commonly he wears a pair of good Lungs, whereby he turns the Church into a Belfry, for his Clapper makes such a Din, you cannot hear the Cymbal for the Tinkling. If his pulpit be large he walks his Round, and speaks as from a Garrison, (his own Neck is Palizadoed with a Ruff) When he first enters his prayer before Sermon, he winks and gasps, and gasps and winks, as if he prepared to preach in another world, He seems in a slumber, then in a Dream; then rumbles a while; at last sounds forth, and then throws so much Dirt and Nonsense towards Heaven, as he durst not offer to a Member of Parliament. Now because Scripture bids him not curse the King in his thought, he does it in his Pulpit by word of mouth; though heaven strike him Dumb in the very Act, as it did Hill at Cambridge, who while he prayed; Depose Him, O Lord, who would depose us, was made the dumb Devil. This (one would think) should gargoyle his foul mouth. For his only hope why God should hear him against the King, is the Devil himself (that great Assembler) was heard against Job. His whole prayer is such an irrational Bleating, that (without a Metaphor) 'tis the Calves of his Lips: And commonly 'tis larded with fine new words, as Savingable, Muchly, Christ-Jesusnes, etc. and yet he has the face to preach against Prayer in an unknown Tongue. Sometimes he is foundered, and then there is such hideous Coughing: But that is very seldom, for he can glibly run over Nonsense, as an empty Cart trundles down a Hill. When the King girt round the Earl of Essex at Lestyth●ell, an Assembler complained that God had drawn his People into the Wilderness, and told Him, He was bound in honour to feed them; for, Lord, said he, since thou givest them no Meat, we pray thee, O Lord, to give them no Stomaches. He tore the Liturgy, because, forsooth, it shackled his Spirit, (he would be a Devil without a circle;) and now if he see the Book of Common-prayer, the fire sees it next, as sure as the Bishops were burned who compiled it. Yet he has mercy on Hopkins and Sternhold, because their Me●●ers are sung without Authority (no Statute, Canon, or Injunction at all,) only like himself, first crept into private houses, and then into Churches. Mr. Rous moved those Me●ters might be sequestered, and his own new Rhythms to enjoy the sequestration; but was refused because John Hopkins was as ancient as John Calvin; Besides, when Rous stood forth for his Trial, Robin Wisdom was found the better Poet. 'Tis true, they have a Directory, but 'tis good for nothing but Adoniram, who sold the Original for 400 l. And the Book must serve both England and Scotland as the Directory Needle points North and South. The Assembler's only ingenuity is, that he prays for an ex tempore Spirit, since his Conscience tells him he has no Learning. His prayer thus ended, he than looks round, to observe the Sex of his Congregation, and accordingly turns the Apostle's Men, Fathers, and Brethren, into Dear Brethren and Sisters. For, his usual Auditory is most-part Female; and as many Sister's flock to him, as at Paris on Saint Margaret's day, when all come to Church that are, or hope to be with child that year. He divides his Text as he did the Kingdom, makes one part fight against▪ another: or as Burges divides the Dean of Paul's House, not into parts, but Tenements, that is, so as 'twill yield most money. And properly they are Tenements; for each part must be dwelled upon, though himself comes near it but once a Quarter; and so his Text is rather let out than Divided. Yet sometimes (to show his skill in Keckerman,) he Butchers a Text, cuts it (just as the Levite did his Concubine) into many dead parts, breaking the sense and words all to pieces, and then they are not divided, but shattered like the Splinters of Don Quixot's Lance. If his Text be to the occasion, his first Dish is Apples of Gold, in Pictures of Silver; yet tells not the People what Pictures those were. HisSermon and prayer grin at each other, the one is Presbyterian, the other Independent, for he preaches up the Classes, yet prays for the Army. Let his Doctrine and Reason be what they will, his Use is still to save his Benefice and augment his Lecture. He talks much of Truth, but abhors Peace, lest it strip him as naked as Truth; and therefore hates a personal Treaty, unless with a Sister. He has a rare simpering way of expressions he calls a Married Couple Saints that enjoy the mystery; & a man Drunk, is a Brother full of the Creature. Yet at Wedding Sermons he is very familiar, & (like that Picture in the Church at Leyden) shows Adam & Eve without Figleaves. AtFunerals he gives infallibleSigns that the Party is gone to Heaven; but his chief Mark of a child of God, is to be good to God's Ministers. And hence it is he calls his Preachment Manna, fitted not to his hearers Necessity, but their palate; for 'tis to feed himself, not them. If he chance to tyre, he refreshes himself with the People's Hum, as a Collar of Bells to cheer up a Packhorse. 'Tis no wonder he'll preach, but that any will hear him, (and his constant Auditors do but show the length of their Ears;) For he is such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that to hear him makes good Scholars sick, but to read him is death. Yet though you heard him three hours he'll ask a fourth, as the Beggar at Delft craves your Charity because he eats four pound of Bread at a Meal. 'Twas from his Alarm the Watch-makers learned their infinite Skrew. His Glass and Text are equally handled, that is, once an hour: nay sometimes be sally's and never returns, and then we should leave him to the Company of Lorimers, for he must be held with Bit and Bridle. Who ever once has been at his Church can never doubt the History of Balaam. If he have got any new Tale or Expression, 'tis easier to make stones speak than him to hold his peace. He hates a Church where there is an Echo, for it Robs him of his dear Repetition, and confounds the Auditory as well as he. But of all Mortals I admire the Short-hand-men, who have the patience to write from his Mouth: had they the art to shorten it into Sense, they might write his whole Sermon on the back of their Nail. For his Invention consists in finding a way to speak nothing upon any thing; and were he in the Grand Seignior's power, he would lodge him with his Mutes; for Nothing and Nothing to purpose are all one. I wonder in conscience he can preach against Sleeping at his Opium-Sermons. He preaches indeed both in season and out of season; for he rayl's at Popery; when the Land is almost lost in Presbytery; and would cry out Fire, Fire, in Noah's Flood. Yet all this he so acts with his Hands, that in this sense too his Preaching is an Handicraft. Nor can we complain that Plays are put down while he can preach; save only his Sermons have worse sense and less truth. But he blew down the Stage and preached up the Scaffold. And very wisely, lest men should tract him, and find where he pilfers all his best Similes, (the only thing wherein he is commendable, St Paul himself having culled Sentences from Menander's Thais, though 'twas his worst, that is, unchaste Comedy.) Sometimes the Assembler will venture at the Original, and then (with the translator of Don Quixot) he mistakes Sobs and Sighs for Eggs and Collops. But commonly (for want of Greek and Latin) he learns Hebrew, and straight is illuminated; that is, mad: his Brain is broke by a Brickbat cast from the Tower of Babel. And yet this empty windy Teacher has Lectured a War quite round the Kingdom: he has found a Circulation of blood for Destruction (as famous Harvey for Preservation) of Mankind. 'Twas easy to foresee a great Mortality, when Ravens were heard in all Corporations. For, as Multitude of Frogs presage a Pestilence, so croaking Lecturers foretold an Assembly. Men come to Church, as the Great Alexander went to Sacrifice, led by Crows. You have seen a small Elder-tree grow in chinks and clefts of Church-walls, it seems rather a Weed than a Tree; which, lend it growth, makes a Rent in the Wall, and throws down the Church. Is not this the Assembler? grown from Schisms (which himself begot,) and if permitted, will make the Church but a Floor or Churchyard. Yet, for all this, he will be called Christ's Minister and Saint, as the Rebels against King John were the Army of God. Sure when they meet they cannot but smile; for the dullest amongst them needs must know that they all cheat the people; such gross, low impostors, that we die the death of the Emperor Claudius, poisoned by Mushrooms. The old Heretickshad Skill & Learning (some excuse for a Seduced Church; those were Scholars, but these Assemblers; whose very Brains (as Manichaeus' skin) are stuffed with Chaff. For they study little, & preach much, ever sick of a Diabetes: nor do they read, but weed Authors, picking up cheap & refuse Notes, that with Caligula they gather Cockle-shells, & with Domitian retire into theirStudie to catch Flies. At Fasts & Thanksgivings the Assembler is the State's Trumpet; for than he doth not preach, but is blown; proclaims News very loud, the Trumpet and his Forehead being both of one Metal. (And yet, good man, he still prays for Boldness.) He hackneys out his Voice like a Crier; and is a kind of Spiritual Agitant, receives Orders, and spreads them. In earnest the States can't want this Tool, for without him the Saints would scarce Assemble. And if the Zealots chance to fly out, they are charmed home by this Sounding Brass. There is not on earth a base Sycophant; for he ever is chewing some Vote or Ordinance; and tells the People how savoury it is; like him who licked up the Emperor's spittle and swore 'twas sweet. Would the two Houses give him Cathedral Lands, he would prove Lords and Commons to be sure Divino: but should they offer him the Selfdenying- Ordinance, he would justify the Devil and curse them to their faces, (his Brother Kirk-man did it in Scotland.) 'Tis pleasant to observe how finely they play into each others hands; Marshal procures thanks to be given to Sedgwick (for his great pains) Sedgwick obtains as much for Marshal, and so they all pimp for one another. But yet (to their great comfort be it spoken) their whole seven years' Sermons at Westminster are now to be sold in Fetter-lane and Precorner. Before a Battle the Assembler ever speaks to the Soldiers; and the holding up of his hands must be as necessary as Moses' against the Ama●ekites: For he pricks them on, tells them that God loves none but the valiant: but when Bullets fly, Himself runs first, and then cries All the sons of Adam are cowards! Were there any Metempsychosis his Soul would want a Lodging; no single Beast could fit him, being wise as a Sheep and innocent as a Wolf. His sole comfort is, he cannot outsin Hugh Peter: Sure, as Satan hath possessed the Assembler, so Hugh Peter's hath possessed Satan, and is the Devil's Devil. He alone would fill a whole Herd of Gadarens. He hath sucked Blood ever since he lay in the Butcher's Sheets: and now (like his Sultan) has a Shambles in his Countenance; so crimson and torrid, you may there read how St. Laurence died, and think the three Children were delivered from his face. This is St. Hugh, who will Level the Assembler, or the Devil's an Ass. Yoke these Brethren; and they two couple like a Sadducee and a Pharisae, on a Turk and a Persian, both mahometans. But the Assembler's deepest, highest Abomination, is his Solemn League and Covenant; whereby he strives to damn or beggar the whole Kingdom; outdoing the Devil, who only persuades, but the Assembler forces to perjury or starving And this) whoever lives to observe it) will one day sink both him and his Faction: for he and his Oath are so much one, that were he halfhanged and let down again, his first word would be Covenant! Covenant! But I forget, a Character should be brief (though tedious Length be his best Character.) Therefore I'll give ye ye (what He denies the Sequestered Clergy) but a fifth Part. For weigh him single, and he has the Pride of three Tyrants, the Forehead of six Gaolers and the Fraud of twelve Brokers. Or take him in the Bunch, and their whole Assemblyiss a Club of Hypocrites, where six dozen of Schismatik spends two hours for four shillings apiece. FINIS A Proposal humbly offered for the Farming of Liberty of Conscience. Written in the year 1663. By the Author of Hudibress. SInce nothing can be dearer unto poor Christians than Liberty, or the free exercise of their Judgements and Conscience, which hath kindled that fire in the bowels of the three Kingdoms, which all the precious blood that hath been shed, during those late Troubles, hath not been able totally to extinguish: And since many of Us, whose Names are affixed, were so profitably instrumental in those late Combustions, as appears all along in our Sermons before the Honourable House of Parliament, in the Years 1642, 43, 44, 45, 46. in exciting the good people of this Nation, to seek and maintain their Christian Liberty, against all Prelatical and Antichristian Imposition whatsoever. And considering that the Little Finger of Apostasy from our first Love, would be a greater burden upon our Tender Consciences, than the Loins of Episcopacy. We being more bound in Honour than Conscience, cannot totally desist; neither need any man fear, or so much as suspect, lest any Inconvenience or Alteration should happen in Religion, by the great diversity of Opinions, Tongues, and Languages, tolerated amongst us, unless in the great Babel of Episcopacy, that may possibly be pulled down and destroyed by this our notable Confusion; for, if the Gospel was wonderfully spread abroad by every man's speaking in his own Language, and the very Enemies thereof astonished, and miraculously wrought into a belief of it: how it is likely to be now obstructed in the free exercise of our Spiritual Gifts, with these our cloven and divided Tongues. And since many worthy persons from whom we might little expect it, but far less deserve it, out of their Goodness and Clemency, are pleased to incline to some Liberty, did not some persons, Aliens and Strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel, take up a Reproach against us, as Persons reprobated into an unpossibility of submission to Principles of Concord, Peace, and Order, in Church or State, never being able hitherto to come to any consistency amongst ourselves; The Ark of God having, for twenty years together, been exposed to byways, Streets, and worse places, for want of an Agreement amongst our own Brethren where to rest it, or how to entertain it. If this be our Case, and could we be sure of so much favour as Saul once desired of Samuel, that the Bishops would but honour us before the People, We would in a private Christian way, lay our hands upon our hearts, and acknowledge the hand of God, and the Justice thereof, in turning us out of his Vineyard, as wicked and unprofitable Servants, and to suffer the iniquity of our heels to overtake us; crying out with reverend Mr. Calamy, The Ark of God is justly departed from us; but being not yet thus assured, do hope the people will yet believe these to be only Bears skin's lapped about us by Episcopal hands: And therefore to the end that a Consistency, and Oneness of Judgement of the whole separating Brethren, and their Moderation, may be known unto all men, and that the World may know, that there is a Spirit of Rule and Government resting in us; IT is humbly proposed to the Sole Power of granting Licences and Indulgences for Liberty of Conscience, within the Kingdom of England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of Barwick, may be vested in the Persons under named for the Term of seven years, under the Farm Rend of an hundred Thousand Pounds per Annum, to Commence from the twenty fifth day of March next, under such Rates and Qualifications as are hereafter specified. The Names of the Grand Commissioners and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience; proposed on Monday, March 2. 1662. being the day of a private Fast, kept by Mr. Calamy, Mr. Baxter, and others, at Mr. Beal's house, near my Lord of Ely's Chapel in Holborn. Mr. Edmund Calamy. Mr. Titham late of Colchester. Mr. Philip Nye. Mr. Feak. Mr. Stanley of Dorchester. George Fox, Executor of the last Will and Testament of James Nailor deceased. Doctor Lazarus Seaman, Mr. del, late of Cambridge. Doctor Owen. Mr. Bryan, late of Coventry. Mr. Matthew Mead. Mr. John Coppin. Dr. Manton. Mr. Kiffen. The Executor of Mr. Venner, lately executed. Mr. Thomas Case. Mr. Reynor, late of Lincoln. Mr. Ralph Venning. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Benn, late of Dorchester. Mr. George Griffith, late of Charterhouse. The Executor of Hugh Peter, lately executed. Mr. George Newton, late of Taunton. Mr. Dan. Dyke, late of Hertfordshire. Mr. William Jenkins. Mr. Fisher, late of Kent. Doctor Thomas Goodwin. Mr. Hammond, late of Newcastle. Mr. Peter Sterry. Mr. Bridges, late of Yarmouth. Mr. Joseph Carryll. Mr. Tombs, late of Lemster. Mr. Leegh, late of Lumbard-street. Mr. Mayo, late of Kingston. Mr. Joshua Sprigg. Mr. Henry Jessey. Mr. Newcomen of Dedham in Essex. Doctor Tuckney of Cambridge. Doctor Cornelius Burges. Mr. Zachary Crofton. Doctor Holmes. Mr. John Cann. Mr. Thomas Brooks. That the Persons aforesaid may be constituted Grand Commissioners, and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, within the Kingdom of England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick, and may be empowered to set up one public Office within the City of London, and to nominate and elect a convenient number of Registers, Clerks, and other Officers: And for the more certainty of all Certificates to be granted as is hereafter appointed, the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers may form a common Seal to be known, and called by the common name of The public Seal of the Grand Commissioners and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, engraven, An Ass without Ears, Braying, with this Motto encircled, Stat pro ratione Libertas: And the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, or any twenty four of them in the said Office assembled, may, from time to time, compound and agree for Liberty of Conscience, with any Person or Persons, under such Rates and Qualifications, as are hereafter specified. That the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, or any twenty four of them, may constitute and appoint, under the Public Seal of the Office, Sub Commissioners, and other Officers, for every County within the said Kingdom, not exceeding the number of twelve for each County, whereof, seven to be a Quorum, who may compound and agree for Liberty of Conscience, with any person or persons, Select Congregations, Cities, Towns Corporate, Parishes, Hamlets, and Villages, by the great, or otherwise, within their respective Countries, not exceeding the Rates hereafter mentioned. Rates to be observed in all Compositions for Liberty of Conscience. Per Annum. A Presbyterian Minister. 500 A Ruling Elder. 400 A Deacon. 300 A Hearer, Male or Female in Fellowship to all Ordinances. 200 A Common Hearer only 100 An Independent Pastor 5 A Teaching Elder 400 A Helper in Government 300 A Deacon 300 A Hearer Male or Female in Fellowship to all Ordinances. 200 A common Hearer only 100 A Baptist admitted to the Administration of all Ordinances 500 A preaching Assistant 400 An Elder in Office 300 A Deacon 200 A Hearer in Fellowship Male or Female to all Ordinances 200 A common Hearer only 100 A Fifth Monarcher admitted to hold forth 500 An Elder under the same Administration 300 A Deacon under the same Administration 300 A Hearer Male or Female in Fellowship according to the value of his or her Estate 2 s. per l. per annum. A common Hearer male or female according to the value of his or her Estate, 12 d. per l. per annum. A speaking male Quaker 400 A speaking female Quaker 300 A common Quaker male or Female— 200 A Confessor———— 600 A Seminary of Mass-Priest at large—— 500 A private Mass-priest——— 400 A Roman Catholic in any other Order— 300 A Roman Catholic not in order Male or Female 100 An Officer under any Administration not mentioned in the Rates aforesaid, being a Native of England, such only excepted as stand Conformable to the Church of England.——— 500 A common person under any Administration not mentioned in the Rates aforesaid, being a Native of England, such only excepted as stand Conformable to the Church of England.—— 200 An Officer under any Administration whatsoever, not a Native of England, except conformable to the Church of England. 1000 A private person under any Administration whatsoever, not a Native of England, except conformable to the Church of England—— 500 Rates to be observed in compounding for Liberty of Conscience in the Particulars following, viz. FOR Liberty to assert the Pope's Supremacy 1000 For Liberty to write, speak, or preach against the Government, as they shall be inwardly moved 500 For Liberty to keep on their Hats before Magistrates, or in Courts of Judicature—— 200 For Liberty to rail publicly against the Bishops and Common-Prayer——— 100 For Liberty to refuse all manner of Oaths, of Allegiance and Supremacy, or in Cases Civil or Criminal————— 200 For Liberty to deny Tithes and other Church Duties———— 100 For Liberty to expound the Revelations, and the Book of Daniel——— 100 For liberty to disturb any Congregation after Sermon———— 0100 For Liberty to assert the Solemn League and Covenant.———— 150 For liberty to instruct youth in the short Catechism, set forth by the Assembly of Divines. 0100 That any Person or Persons gifted for any the Particulars abovesaid, may have Liberty therein, either as an Itinerate, in private or public, at the Rates abovesaid. That no person or persons be admitted to compound for Liberty of Conscience, until he, or they, have first taken, and subscribed to the Solemn Protestation following, before the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, or their Sub Commissioners respectively. I A. B. do here solemnly protest, That I judge myself still bound by the Solemn League and Covenant, by the Engagement, by private Church-Covenant, or by any other Oath which I have taken ever since the Year 1641. And that so far as with Safety to my Person and Estate I may, I will endeavour the utter Ertirpation of Episcopacy, and to the utmost of my Power, will abett and promote all Schism, Faction, and Discord, both in Church and State, according to the best form and manner, prescribed and laid open in the Sermons of many of the Grand Commissioners and Farmers, before the Parliament, appointed to be Printed, and now called the Homilies of the separated Churches. And that I will never by what Conviction of Authority soever, whether Legal or Episcopal, ever consent to the Established Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England. And I do likewise believe, That Liberty of Conscience was a mysterious, yet profitable Talon committed to the Churches, and that it may be lawfully Farmed out for Advantage and Improvement. That no person within the Kingdom of England, Dominion of Wales, or Town of Barwick, may, from, and after the twenty fifth day of March next, use or exercise any manner of Liberty of Conscience, except persons standing conformable to the Church of England; until such Person or Persons, shall first take the Solemn Protestation, and shall compound with the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, for Liberty of Conscience, nor shall he be admitted or permitted to be a Speaker or Hearer, in any Meeting or Assemblies whatsoever. That the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, may have Power to constitute, under the Public Seal of the said Office, a convenient number of Spiritual Gagers, who may have and exercise all such Powers, Privileges, and Authorities, as the Gagers for Excise of Beer and Ale, have, or aught to have and enjoy, and may, at any time, in case of Suspicion enter into any house or place, public or private, to Gage, and try the Spirits and Affections of any Person or Fersons; and by Praying, Preaching, or other good Exhortation, dissuade from Episcopacy, and the Common Prayer, the better to fit and prepare them to compound for Liberty of Conscience. That the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, may have power to fine any person or persons (not exceeding the Sum of twenty pounds for every offence, who shall, after Composition for Liberty of Conscience, and subscribing the Solemn Protestation, be present in any Church or Chappel, within the Kingdom of England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of Barwick, in the time of any part of Divine Service, unless at the Funeral of his Father, or some other like occasion, he shall either respond, be uncovered, or carry himself reverently, in the Time of Divine Service aforesaid. That the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, or any twenty four of them assembled at the Office aforesaid, may have and exercise a Jurisdiction of Appeal in all matters relating to Liberty of Conscience, within the said Kingdom of England, and shall have a conclusive power in all matters brought before them, by way of Appeal as aforesaid. That for the better Management of all such matters as shall be brought judicially before the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, by way of Appeal, the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, shall have Power to constitute and appoint Mr. Oliver St. john's, and such others as they judge fit for their said Service, to be of Standing-Councel with the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers: And the said Mr. Oliver St. john's, being so constituted and appointed under the public Seal of the said Office, shall, and may be exempted and discharged from being in any public Office, or place of Trust or Profit, for the said Term of seven Years, any thing to the contrary notwithstanding. That if any person or persons shall happen to be proceeded against in any of the Ecclesiastical Courts of the Bishops of this Kingdom, for Contumacy, for Nonconformity, for Nonpayment of Tithes, and other Church-Duties, for public Railing against the Bishops, the Common-Prayer, or the Government of the Church of England, or shall speak Opprobriously or Scandalously against the Doctrine or Discipline thereof, as Antichristian, or shall maintain any Positions or Doctrines contrary thereunto; every such person producing a Certificate from the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers under the public Seal of the said Office, that such person or persons are under Composition for Liberty of Conscience, shall actually be discharged, and all farther Proceedings stayed, Any thing to the contrary notwithstanding. That if any persons shall happen to be Indicted, or criminally proceeded against in any of his Majesty's Courts at Westminster, or elsewhere within the Kingdom of England, either for Treasonable Speeches, or Practices, for public railing at the Government, or for Scandalous words against either or both Houses of Parliament, or for transgressing any of the penal Laws and Statures of this Kingdom, Every such person or persons, producing a Certificate from the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers under the public Seal of the said Office, that such person or persons are under Composition for Liberty of Conscience; and that such words or practices were not spoken or acted malitiosè, but were only the natural and proper Effects and Product of Liberty of Conscience, shall be discharged, and all further Proceedings stayed; Any thing to the contrary notwithstanding. That the said Grand Commissioners, and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, may have Power from time to time, to ordain Pastors, Elders, and Deacons, or any other Officers, under any Administration whatsoever, by the laying on of the Public Seal of the Office: Which said Imposition of the said Public Seal being received with a Certificate, shall be as Lawful an Ordination, as if every such Person had received Imposition from the Hands of the Presbytery; any late Usage or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding. That the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers may have Power from time to time, to set apart days of Public Fast, and Humiliation, and Thanksgiving; on which days it may be lawful for any Person or Persons appointed, to officiate before the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, to stir up the People to a Holy Indignation against themselves, for having by their want of Zeal, and Brotherly Kindness one towards another, lost many Precious Enjoyments; and above all, the never-to-be-forgotten Loss of the late Power and Dominion, which, with the Expense of so much Blood and Rapine, was put into the Hands of the Saints. And to take up for a Lamentation, and great thoughts of Heart, the Divisions of Reuben, that having our Sacks full, such an Evil Spirit should be found in the midst of us, as to fall out by the way; might it have been with those that abode by the Stuff, as with those that went out to the Battle, it had not been with us as at this day. Some starting aside, like a broken Bow, in the Year 48. others continue to bear the Burden and Heat of the Day until 60, being harnessed, did then turn their Backs in the day of Battle: As was most sweetly handled at the Fast kept Yesterday, at Mr. Beale's, by Mr. Calamy, Mr. Baxter, and others. That the Twentieth day of April next, commonly called Easter Monday, be kept as a day of solemn Fasting and Humiliation, for a Blessing upon these Gospel— Undertake; and that Mr. Edmond Calamy, Mr. Peter Sterry, Doctor Lazarus Seamon, and Mr. Feake, be desired to carry on the Work of the Day in Prayer and Preaching, before the said Grand Farmers; and that the particulars following, be recommended to their Consideration in the Work of the Day. 1. To Bewail, 1. All our Court Sins. 2. Our Bishop's Sins. 3. Our Monk's Sins. 4. Our Common Prayer Sins. 2. To Divert▪ 1. Westminster Hall Judgements. 2. Our Old-Baily Judgements. 3. Our Tower-Hill Judgements. 4. Our Charing-Cross Judgements. 5. Our Tyburn Judgements. Lastly, For Deliverance from the Hand of Dun, that uncircumcifed Philistine. That the said Grand Commissioners, and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience, may have Power to build Churches and Chapels in any place, or places, except upon such Ground where Churches or Chapels do already stand, in regard of the Inconvenience of setting up Altar against Altar: And forasmuch as the Custom of reading some part of the Holy Bible before Sermon, commonly called First and Second Lessons, hath been found fruitless, That therefore the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, may have power to appoint instead thereof, the Annual reading of those Sermons preached by many of the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers, before the Parliament, upon special Occasions of Thanksgiving and Humiliation, from the Year 1641. to the Year 1648, Which said Sermons, may be called the Homilies of the Separating Churches. That the said Grand Commissioners and Farmers may have Power to require Mr. Gilbert Millington, and Mr. Luke Robinson, the lame Evangelist, to deliver up all such Articles, Orders, Books, Papers, and other Writings, as were transacted before the late Committee for Plundered Ministers; and likewise, all such as were passed and transacted before Mr. Philip Ney, and some others of the now Grand Commissioners and Farmers, and heretofore called Commissioners, or Spiritual Tryers, to the end the said Articles, Orders, Books, and other Papers, may be Printed and Published, and may be kept at the said Office upon Record for ever, and appointed to be the Book of Canons of the Separated Churches. All this being done, we may upon Scripture Grounds expect, that the Door of Hope may yet be open to Us, and our Children after us, to see the Travel of our Souls, and to set us into the Promised Land, and to reap some of those Clusters of the Grapes of Canaan, which with so much Labour and Toil of Body, and Mind were planted, especially in the Years of 1641, 42, 43, 44, 45. by many of Us, and other Precious Saints and Ministers of the Gospel, who are since fallen asleep, and have, we hope, reaped the Fruits of those Labours, the Lord having in that day put a mighty Spirit into Us, and set us as Watchmen upon the Towers of Israel, to cry mightily Curse ye Meroz, curse ye bitterly. Grant that those Heart-breaking Labours of Ours, those King-destroying Labours, those Kingdom-ruining Labours, those Gospel-scandalizing Labours, those Church-subverting Labours, those Soul-confounding Labours of Ours may never be forgotten, but may be written as with the point of a Diamond, upon the Heart of the King, upon the Hearts of the Bishops, upon the Heart of the Parliament, and upon the Hearts of all the People from Dan to Beersheba, that so in God's good time, we may receive our Reward sevenfold into our own Bosoms, and that the Generations to come, may hear and fear, and do no more so wickedly. So prays S. Butler. The Roundheads Resolution. WHereas we are, through our great Ignorance and Obstinacy grown to a most Seditious and Malignant head, and the Horns of that Head (though of a main length) not able to support our Arrogant Faction, as appears by our last being sound slashed and bastinadoed, by a mad Crew called the Cavaliers; and whereas a great part of Us have shut up our Shops, because we could no longer keep them open, which kind of shutting up, proceedeth commonly from our vast Expense in White-broths, Custards, and other Luxurious Dishes, provided for the Edification one of another. And whereas the Multitude, called True Protestants, endeavour to hold up Bishops, to maintain good Order, Discipline, and Orthodox Preaching in the Church; Learning and Arts in the Universities, and Peace in the Commonwealth; all which is nothing but Idolatry, Superstition, Profaneness, and plain Popery: And further, whereas we (who are nothing properly but Round heads and fanatics) are in most scandalous manner termed Holy Brethren, the Zealots of the Land, and which in sincerity we never were, or ever will be. And sorasmuch likewise as the profane World of True Protestants, are a stiffnecked Generation, and will not yield unto Us the Pre-eminence of Doctrine and Religion, not withstanding the many Senseless two hours of those Spiritual Trumpets of Our Faction, the Sanctified Clergy-Lecturers, or of Our more Divine Lectures of our Supreme Shee-Lecturers, whose Bowels do even earn for the getting in of the Saints unto Us, and have, as it were even a zealous lusting after Us. And forasmuch as the Religion professed by Us; in the purest and most decent, as appears by the great Love and Community betwixt the Brethren and the Sisters, the Conveniency of the Woods, Saw-pits, and Dark Places, the putting out Lights, and defying those Tapers of Iniquity, which cause us to behold our own Wicked Deeds, the goodly Bigness of the Ear, with the shortness of the Hair, which hindereth not the Sound of the Shepherd's Voice, but easily heareth him call to a great Feast, amongst the Rich Saints, the length and sharpness of the Nose, which not only smelleth the sweet Savours of the Holy Plumbroth, but also promiseth an eager Appetite to some good Work towards the Younger Sisters, the roundness of the Band, the length of the Doublet, and the shortness of the Breeches, being a habit correspondent to the Pictures of the Apostles in the Geneva Print, the mightiness of our Faith, which is able to remove a Church into a Wood, the Transparency of our Charity, that is so invisible, that neither the right hand, nor the left ever knew it, the Multitude of our Good Works, which no man living can number, the Godly Works of our tautological Prayers, and the Zeal thereof, which brings us even to Divine Consumption; whereby we look like the Prodigal Son at his return home, or the Priests in the Arras, the defying of all Fathers, Bishops, and Doctors, Conformable Persons, Canonical Robes, Ecclesiastical Gestures, and Utensils, all Learning, liberal Arts and Degrees, as the rags of Superstition, the dregs of Popery are abominable in the goggle eyes of a right Round-head; and yet this simple Innocent Profession is scorned and baffled, and by whom? But by Scholars, and such as profess Learning, which is no more necessary to Religion, than a Public Church (which verily) is but a Den of Thiefs when we are absent. All which Grievances do stand with much reason, and therefore are utterly against our tender Consciences, and never were allowed by any Synod of morefield's or Westminster. That therefore which we do now resolve to maintain, and desire have confirmed, and never to altered (till some new toy tickle us in the Pericranium, which will be very shortly) is, 1. That our Religion, Tenants, and Manors, beforementioned, be established and maintained against all Reason, Learning, Divinity, Order, Discipline, Morality, Piety, or Humanity whatsoever. 2. That the very Name of Bishops, shall be a sufficient Jury and Judge, to condemn any of them, without any further Evidence or Circumstance. 3. That if any man whatsoever, having knowledge in the Latin Tongue (being a Popish Language) shall presume to think he can save a Soul by Preaching, he be excommunicated both in this World, and in the World to come; unless it be some certain Lecturers, of whose approved Railing and Ignorance, we are well assured, and have known to stand six hours: on a Fasting Day. 4. That the Feltmaker and the Cobbler, two innocent Cuckolds may be instituted Primares and Metropolitans of the two Arch-Provinees, and the rest of the Sect preserved, according to their imbecilities of Spirit, to such Bishoprics and other Livings, as will competently serve to procure fat Poultry, sor the filling of their insatiate Stomaches, in which regard, Church-living had more need to be increased, than diminished. 5. That no man whatsoever, who bears the name of Cavalier, may be capable of making any of the Brethren a Cuckold, unless he cut his Hair, and alter his Profession; but be excluded from the Conventicles, as the King's Friend, and a Reprobate. 6. Lastiy, That there be two whole days set apart to Fast and Pray for the Confusion of all that are not thus resolved. A Caveat to the Roundheads. I Come to charge ye That slight the Clergy, And pull the Mitre from the Prelate's Head, That you will be wary, Lest you miscarry In all these factious humours you have bred; But as for Brownists we'll have none, But take them all, and hang them one by one. Your wicked Actions, Joined in Factions, Are all but aims to rob the King of his due. Then give this reason For your Treason, That you'll be ruled, if he'll be ruled by you; Then leave these factions, zealous Brother, Lest you be hanged one against another. Your Wit abounded, Gentle Round-head, When you abused the Bishops in a Ditty, When as you sanged, You must be hanged, A Timpinee of Malice made you witty, And though your hot zeal made you bold, When you are hanged, your Arse will be a cold. Then leave confounding, And expounding The Doctrine that you preach in Tubbs, You raise this Warring, And private Jarring, I doubt, in tinte, will prove the Knave of Clubbs. It's for your Lying, and not for your Oaths, You shall be hanged, and Catch shall have your clothes. FINIS.