The LETTER Torn in Pieces: OR, A Full Confutation OF Ludlow's Suggestions, THAT King Charles I. WAS An Enemy to the STATE: By the Author of Two Papers formerly Published, Viz.  

The Vindication of the Honour of King Charles the First.  
And the Earnest Call to the People of England, etc.   
In which There is a Clear Vindication of His MAJESTY'S Carriage towards the CHURCH.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Prov. 10. 7.  
Licenced, Sept. 29. 1692. Edmund Bohun.  
LONDON, Printed by T. J. and are to be Sold by Nich. Hooper, in Amen Corner near Stationer's-Hall. 1692.   


1.  
NO doubt but HELL is more Enraged  
Against Saints in HEAVEN, then when they're here:  
Hence 'tis that LVDLOW's Pen's Engaged  
To Blot Great Charles' His Character.   

2.  
Such Painted Crimes on Him to Place  
Doth to His Lasting Glory Add:  
True Goodness Shines with greater Grace  
By the Enmity of All that's Bad.   

3.  
A REGICIDE must needs Hate KINGS:  
But all his Fury's Spent in Vain:  
His Conscience has a Thousand Stings,  
His Soul's still full of Rage and Pain.   

4.  
Go, Fiend Incarnate, do thy worst,  
Fill all the Earth with thy Dire Name,  
Let All Men see that thou art Cursed,  
Thy HELLISH MALICE to Proclaim.   
Anno DOM. 1691.   

THE LETTER Torn in PIECES, etc.  
WHatsoever Errors, or Miscarriages in Government, Our Gracious Sovereign K C. the First had been Guilty of (either through ill Advice, or the Common Frailty of all Mankind) most evident it is that he made full satisfaction for them in Granting the Petition of Right: And as to those Fears, and Jealousies, which were raised against Him after the Granting of that Petition, as if he Designed to Act Contrary to the Laws of the Land, so that he could not undertake to justify His Actions to His own Parliament, and to all the World, as agreeable to His Just and Honourable Professions, to prevent all Appearance of Reason for such Fears and Jealousies, he bound himself by a Law not to Dissolve the then Present Parliament as long as they desired to Continue; upon which Act His Majesty Reflects thus in His 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
By this Act of highest Confidence, I hoped for ever to shut out, and lock the Door, upon all present Jealousies, and Future Mistakes; I confess I did not thereby intent to shut myself our of Doors, as some Men have now requited me.  
True, It was an Act unparallelled by any of my Predecessors; yet cannot in Reason admit any worse Interpretation than this, of an Extreme Confidence I had, that my Subjects would not make ill use of an Act, by which I declared so much to trust them as to deny Myself in so high a point of My Prerogative. Sure it had argued a very short sight of things, and Extreme Fatuiry of Mind in Me, so far to bind My own Hands at their Request, if I had shortly meant to have used a Sword against them.  
To thee, O my God, do I still Appeal whose All-Discerning Justice sees through all the Disguises of men's Pretensions, and Deceitful Darknesses of their Hearts.  
Let thy Grace Teach me wisely to enjoy as well the frustrating, as the fulfilings of my best hopes, and most 〈◊〉 desires.  
Thus have they Requited me Evil for Good, and Hatred for my goodwill towards them. O Lord, be thou my Pilot in this dark and dangerous Storm, etc.  
All Men but such as are Blinded by the Darkness of HELLISH Malice may clearly Perceive that this Most Christian Prince, by the Excess of His Desires to satisfy the utmost Doubts, and suppress the Fears of any of His Subjects, did so Strengthen the Hands of the Traitorous and Sediticus, that they Acted so Subtly and Vigorously upon a Pretence of the Authority of Parliament, that within a few Years they got their KING into their Power, and Murdered Him (to the Regret even of divers both of the Lords and Commons, who continued Sitting till they were Excluded by the ARMY:) And so in the sight of all the World, they Subverted the whole Government both of Church and State. I shall here Recite the Relation of some of their Unparallelled Enormities, and most Prodigious Outrage which was Published by a Person that had a full View of them, In the Mystery of the Two Juntoes, Presbyterians, and Independents, P. 3. We find these words: There hath been given away to Members openly (besides innumerable private cheats mutually connived at) at least 300000 l. in Money, besides Rich Offices, Employments in Money, Committees, Sequestrations, and other Advantages. Such as have gone beyond the Authority given by Parliament, and Sequestered Men unjustly, and so withheld their goods under pretence thereof; and such as have Levied Taxes Three or Four Times over, are quit from private Actions, and the Benefit of Law, and Justice taken from the Oppressed to secure Country Committees and Sequestrators, and others (not Prerogative, but Legislative) Thiefs, contrary to Magna Charta, which says, (Nulli negabimus, nulli differemus justitiam, aut rectum) We will deny, nor defer Justice, and Right to no Man. Oh, Prodigious Acts, and of greater Tyranny than any King ever durst Adventure upon! P. 6. How frequently the Country Committees Act contrary to the Laws of the Land— How they ordinarily turn well-affected Men out of their Freeholds, and Goods, Imprison, and beat their Persons, without any known Charge, Accuser, or Witness against them; nay, Murder them, as in the Case of Dr. Raleigh, Killed in Prison at Wells by the Committees Marshal; and the poor Men Murdered at Bridge-Water, whose Bloods were shed like the Blood of a Dog, and no real Prosecution thereof.— How they Excluded all other Magistracy, Engrossing to themselves the Power of Sheriffs, Justices of Peace, Churchwardens, etc. in an Arbitrary way; keeping Troops of Horse upon Pay and Free Quarters, for their Guard, like the Thirty Tyrants of Athens; and if any but speak of calling them to give an Account, they presently Vote him a Delinquent, and Sequester him.  
The History of Independency, P. 46. Anthony Nichols was Arrested upon the way into Cornwall by the Army, and dispightfully used, and when the General was inclined to free him, Cromwell told him he was a Traitor to the Army, You see now upon whom they meant to fix the People's Allegiance, for where no Allegiance is Due, there can be no Treason. P. 47. The Speaker pulled a Letter out of his Pocket from the General, and General Council of the Army; it was accompanied with a Remonstrance of Villainous Language and Threats against those Members that Sat (while the Two Speakers were with the Army; calling them Pretended Members, charging them (in General) with Treason, Treachery, a Breach of Trust; and protested if they shall presume to stir before they have cleared themselves, that they did not give their Assent to such and such Votes, they should sit at their peril, and he would take them as Prisoners of War and try them at a Council of War. What King of England ever offered so great a Violence to the Fundamental Privileges of Parliament, as to deny them the Liberty of Voting I and No freely? Certainly, the little Finger of a Jack Cade, or a Watt Tyler, is far heavier than the Loins of any King. P. 66. In the Third Year of KING CHARLES', the Lords and Commons in their Petition of Right (when not above 2000, or 3000 Soldiers were Thinly Quartered upon the People but for a Month or Two, Complained thereof to His Majesty, as a great Grievance, contrary to the Laws, and Customs of the Realm, and humbly Prayed as their Right and Liberty, according to the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom, that he would remove them, and that his People might not be so burdened in times to come; which His Majesty Graciously Granted. Yet now we are Ten Thousand times more oppressed with them, and if these Quarterers offer Violence, or Villainous usage to any man in his House, or Family; or commit Murder, or Felony, they are Protected against the Laws, and Justice of the Land, and Triable only by a Council of War at the Headquarters, where a Man can neither obtain Justice, nor seek it with safety— Tho' the King's Oversights must be Tragically published to the World, yet the Heinous Crimes of the Godly must lie hid under the Mask of Religion: P. 91. You now make all that is or can be near and dear to the People, liable to the Passions of Three Committee Men to Judge and Execute, according to their Discretion without Law, or so much as a formality thereof.  
The Second Part of the History of Independency. P. 23. It is not all the 〈…〉 the Thousandth Part of them, but a few Covetous Ambitious Men, that desire to bring the King to Capital Punishment, and Subvert our Fundamen all Government. P. 34. One day an Officer of the Army having taken some Members going to the House, and secured them in the Tobacco Room, under Guard; the Speaker not being able to muster enough to make a House, was fain to send to the said Officer, to lend him his said Prisoners to make up a free Parliament, P. 35. They Garrisoned Black Friars, and St. Paul's, Reforming it from the Church of God to a Den of Thiefs, Stable of Horses, and Brothel of Whores. P. 56 The Commons Resolved to rid their Hands of a KING and LORDS together.  
And now Reader, I shall most earnestly entreat thee to Consider whether LUDLOW, and His Complices, or KING CHARLES' the First, offered greater Violence to the LAWS of this Kingdom; yea whether the Distemper which the Body Politic Laboured under by reason of the Miscarriages of the King in His Government, were not as Inconsiderable, in Comparison of what it suffered by the Outrages of the Prevailing Rebels, as a very Tolerable Ague of short continuance would be in a Man's Body, in Comparison of the PLAGUE. I think it necessary I should take particular Notice of LUDLOW's Attempt to expose the Memory of this Blessed Prince to the Odium of the Populace, by telling them that he did lend Eight Ships to the French King to Fight against the Miserable Protestants of Rochel, Letter P. 10. I shall not undertake to Explain the Intrigues of that Affair, the Lending of those Ships, but this. I shall Affirm that most certainly it was not done out of any Ill Will to the French Protestants; and that the King was so far from being an Enemy to those Protestants, that he was their Great Friend, and most Charitable Assistant: Which I shall here prove by the Testimony of those Protestants themselves, in a Letter to His Majesty, in the Supplement to the CABALA; P. 204.  
The Protestants of France to CHARLES King of Great Britain.  
SIR,  
THe Knowledge, and Resentment, which it hath pleased your Majesty to take of the Misery of the afflicted Churches of France, hath given us the boldness to awaken Your Compassion in such measure as our Calamities are Aggravated by the unmerciful Rigour of our Persecutors; and as the present Storm doth Threaten near at hand the Total Ruin and Lamentable Destruction of that which the Mercy of God had yet kept entire unto us, since the Desolation of Rochel: And as we have adored with Humility the Judgement in this bad Success (which we impute only to his Wrath justly kindled against us for our Sins) so our silence could be thought no less than Ingratitude, if we had not at the beginning of our Assembly resolved the most Humble and Affectionate acknowledgement, which we now render to your Majesty, for the Great Succour which you have sent us, Interesting yourself so far in the grief of our Oppression, and in the means of our Deliverance.  
P. 208. The Duke of Rohan to His Majesty of Great Britain; 12 of March. 1628.  
THe greatest Support which God hath raised unto them, is the Succour our Churches have, and do look to receive, from Your Majesty.  
In the same Book P. 232 I find a Council Table Order against hearing Mass at Ambassadors Houses; March 10. 1629.  
At this Sitting, the Lord Viscount Dorchester Declared, That His Majesty being informed of bold and open repair made to several places, and especially to the Houses of Foreign Ambassadors, for the hearing of Mass, which the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom do expressly forbid his Subjects to frequent: And considering in His Princely Wisdom, both the Public Scandals, and dangerous Consequence thereof, is resolved to take present Order for the stopping of this evil before it spread itself any farther: And for this purpose has Commanded me to acquaint the Board with his Pleasure in that behalf, etc. By this and a multitude of other Passages in the Reign of this Blessed Prince, it is manifest how far He was from being a Papist, tho' to Persons of that Persuasion, He often showed his Christian Lenity and Royal Compassion. His own words are most Efficacious to convince the most stubborn of his Enemies of the sincerity of His RELIGION, which was always accompanied with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory, so that in all his Conflicts, He was more than Conqueror. His Expressions are so Genuine and Unaffected, so Lively and Vigorous, that any man who understands them must needs be sensible, that they are the True and Lively PORTRAITURE of his Conceptions. I shall therefore recite some more of them upon the many Jealousies raised, and Scandals cast upon the King, to stir up the People against Him.  
I will not justify beyond humane errors and frailties myself, or my Counselors; they might be subject to some miscarriages, yet such as were far more repairable, than those Enormous extravagancies, wherewith some men have now, even wildred, and almost quite lost both Church and State.  
No men were more willing to complain, than I was to redress what I saw in reason was either done, or advised amiss; and this I thought I had done, even beyond the expectation of moderate Men; who were sorry to see Me prone even to injure Myself, out of a Zeal to relieve My Subjects.  
Time will best inform My Subjects, that those are the best preservers of their true Liberty, who allow themselves the least Licentiousness against, or beyond the Laws.  
They will feel it at last to their cost, that it is impossible those men should be really tender of their Fellow-Subjects Liberties, who have the hardiness to use their King with so severe restraints; against all Laws, both Divine, and Humane.  
For Mine Honour I am well assured, that as Mine Innocency is clear before God, in point of any Calamities they object; so My Reputation shall like the Sun (after Owls and Bats have had their freedom in the Night, and darker times) rise and recover itself to such a degree of Splendour, as those feral Birds shall be grieved to behold, and unable to bear. For never were any Princes more glorious than those whom God hath suffered to be tried in the Furnace of Afflictions, by their Injurious Subjects. Nor shall their black vails be able to hide the shineing of My Face, while God gives Me a heart frequently and humbly to converse with him, from whom alone are all the Traditions of true Glory and Majesty.  
Thou, O Lord, knowest My Reproach and my Dishonour, My Adversaries are all before thee.  
My Soul is among Lions, even them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, their tongue a sharp sword.  
Mine Enemies Reproach Me all the day long, and those that are mad against Me, are sworn together.  
O my God, how long shall the sons of men turn my glory into shame? how long shall they love vanity, and seek after lies?  
Teach me David's patience, and Hezekiak's devotion, that I may look to thy mercy through man's malice, and see thy justice in their sin.  
Though they curse, do thou bless, and I shall be blessed, and made a blessing to my People.  
To them He shall be a Blessing indeed, in this and in all future Ages, who shall have the Grace to Imitate the Example of His Virtues, by a sincere and constant dependence upon the Divine Wisdom, Power and Goodness, Loving in Sincerity the worst of their Enemies, and rejoicing in the greatest of their Sufferings.  
FINIS.