A Caveat to the Cavaliers: OR AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST Mistaken Cordials: Dedicated to the Author of A CORDIAL FOR THE CAVALIERS. Sic Vos non Vobis, etc.— LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in Ivy-lane 1661. A CAVEAT TO THE CAVALIERS, etc. Sir, THat Love which Covers many Faults, may be allowed to Commit some; they say a man may be killed with Kindness, but we all know, he may with Physic, unless a strict account be taken both of the Quality of the Disease, and of the Temper of the Patient. Give me leave then to tell you Sir, that tho' I do not rank myself among those Worthy and Deserving Gentlemen, to whom your Cordial is particularly directed, yet you may find me among the Poor Cavaliers, to whom your Loyal Charity appears to extend: and (with great Honour to your Care) I must be free to acquaint you, that if the Party be not either Chameleons, or Book-worms, (to live upon Air, or Paper) your Cordial will not do their Business. It troubles me exceedingly, that You, and I, united by a Common Sense, and Tie of Duty, should so far differ about the manner of expressing it, as to descent in Print: yet since we both proceed upon one honest bottom, a Zeal to serve his Majesty, and his Friends, we may without Dishonour to that Noble end, or the least injury to our selves, debate the several ways, and means that lead to't. I said, we May, I might have said, we Must, we Ought to do it: for (as the case stands) if either his Majesty mistake his Friends, or They the King; If Honest men either mistake their Enemies, or one another, the least weight on the wrong side, Hazards the main, and Casts the Balance: I come now (tho' unwillingly) to examine your Cordial, which I shall take in Sections, as it lies, with due Respect to your Person, and exact Justice to your Meaning. A CORDIAL FOR THE CAVALIERS. Worthy, and Deserving Gentlemen, 1. IN the Affairs and Traverses of this life, it is a true rule, (and 'tis a comfortable one) That He who dischargeth a good Conscience, hath enough of his Own wherewith to reward Himself, though he receive no compensation from any where else. The World knows, and Envy itself doth acknowledge, That in the late Confusions, (which were of that length that might have shaken the firmest Spirits in their Loyalty) you have discharged a Good Conscience three ways, towards your Creator, towards your Country, and towards your King; your Religion bound you to the One, Nature to the Other, and your Allegiance to the Third; And although many of you have not yet received what you expected for the two last, yet touching the first whereunto the other also conduce) you are sure to have such a Reward one day, that will not only be above all Merit, but beyond all Imagination in the Kingdom of Eternity. 1. The Cordial (Sir) of a Good Conscience, we carry in our Bosoms, for we have not stood out a Twenty years' persecution, to Blood, Beggary, and Bondage, we knew not why. Nor are we Fainting yet, wherefore this Drop of Comfort might have been saved. Should the same Fate, call us to do the same Part over again, (as things look scurvily) we would as cheerfully lay down our Rags and Carcases to serve his Majesty in Being, at the same rate, as we have Hazarded, and wasted them: First, to Defend the Murdered Father; and then, to Restore his Royal and Banished Successor. This we would do, upon a single and changeless Principle of Loyalty, and Honour, without the aid of Borrowed CORDIALS. And yet we thank you for supplying us even with what we did not want. Your next care is to divert us by the Rewards of the next World, from attending our Disappointments in This. It is a Christian Care, and we acknowledge it, though possibly our Misfortunes might have brought us to That thought, without the help of a Monitor. Thus far as Christians: You are now pleased to cheer us up as Patriots and Subjects. 2. Add hereunto that I hold your Condition to be far from being desperate, but that you may receive Rewards, at least some Consideration from the other Two, viz. from your King and Country; for the present Parliament, which represents your whole Country, being composed of so many Wise, and well weighed Gentlemen (whereof divers have been Co-sufferers with you) will, as it is well hoped, out of a sense thereof, have such reflections upon your Sufferings and Services, both Active and Passive, that they will enable his Majesty, whom the Law styles, The Fountain of Honour and Bounty, and whereof indeed no other Power should partake with Him, I say it may well be hoped, that this Parliament, before their Recess, will put his Majesty in a Capacity, and Humbly Advise Him, if not to Reward you, yet to Relieve your present wants in such a measure, that the Steed may not starve while the Grass grows. 2. I think it would as well have suited the quality of our Pretences, if what you call Reward had been styled Bounty, or Benevelence: for the best Actions of a Private person, toward a Public good, are no further meritorious than by Imputation. As to the major part of the Two houses, we are as sensible of their Affections, as of our own Distresses: but so Discreet withal, as not to hope for Matters Impossible, nor to ask things unreasonable: and That's our Choice; unless we much mistake the present state of this impoverished and exhausted Nation. But Much, Little, or Nothing, our Duty is still the same, and our Resolves to Die as Loyal as we have Lived; without gaping after Diego's Legacies, and building Castles in the Air, to entertain our wavering or shrinking Spirits. From the Two Houses, your next motion is to the King. 3. You know well that the King hath been among us but a little more than the compass of one year, And his Grandfather Henry the Great of France, was above seven years (which is an Age in our Law) before He could requite those who stuck to Him not much above twenty months in making Him Master of the Flowerdeluces; You know the vast debts his Majesty hath paid both by Sea and Land, which yet were not his own, nor his Kingdoms, but of that accursed usurping Commonwealth, which exhausted more of the Public Treasure, than all the Kings of this Land, since Gold and Silver were first coined in it; You know He is so shortened, that He hath not yet provided bread for all of his own House; He is in such a Condition, that He cannot give his Royal Aunt that treatment which might be expected; He hath not wherewith to go his Progress: Consider what vast expenses his Fleets at Sea, his Lifeguard, with other Garrisons do stand Him in; As also what debts He drew upon Himself so many years beyond the Seas, for his necessary subsistence, etc. 3. So far are we from comprehending either the Need or Reason of this Argument, we dare scarce ask the meaning of it; or make appear how little it concerns us. Can it be Thought that Worthy and Deserving Gentlemen (such as you style the Cavaliers) would press upon the King's Necessities? Truly These Hints sound little less than Accusations. Allow us we beseech you to know something of Court-affairs although we have no Places there: and to discern the Bias of the Season as well as you can tell it us. We can very well recount how long his Majesty hath been in England; and we have read when Henry the Great of France, appointed Pensions for lame Soldiers, Paid his old Debts, and passed an Edict for the Squeezing of Public Sponges. We know our Share likewise of the King's straits, (and which is more, the Reasons of them) but what's all this to Us? We do not Importune his Majesty, nor Charge him. Is it to say, that our Relief must be the work of Time; and to preach Patience to us? Truly 'twere hard we should not yet have learned That Lesson of all others which we have now been Twenty years in practising. But I shall wait upon you Forward. 4. Now, whereas some object he hath rewarded Roundheads, Truly I believe if a Catalogue were made of those upon whom he hath conferred Honour or Office since his Return, there will be found above twenty Cavaliers for one of any other upon whom he hath set any marks of Favour. 'Tis true, albeit he came not in by the Presbyterian, yet he could not have come in without Him so peaceably, Though some allege that what the Presbyterian did, was not as much out of a Love to the King, as out of a Hatred be boar to the Independent, who may be said to have used the Presbyterian as the Fox useth to deal with the Badger, who having found out his Chamber in the Earth, he so berayeth it, that the Badger comes thither no more, and so the Fox makes himself master of the hole. 4. By your kind leave Sir, Count again, and I'm afraid you'll find a Dozen of Larks, and a Capon, instead of a Dozen of Capons, and a Lark. We are not yet so Insolent as to Confine, and Question the King's Bounties; we do in truth complain, and grieve, to see a Faction packed by some whom his Majesty entrusts, out of the rankest of his Enemies; and to see divers persons recommended to the King's Favour, and unknown receive it too, whose Foulness casts a Blot upon the Honour. Concerning the supposed Antipathy betwixt the wrangling Presbyter, and Independent: All comes to this; they are Two Ravenous Beasts, that agree well enough to devour Beefs and Muttons, and prey upon the Innocent. So soon as the Object of their Common Appetite is spent, they fall to worry one another, yet in the heat of all their Fury, cast but a Sheep betwixt them, (a Cavalier) they shall Part, Reconcile, Fall on, and share the Quarry. Now to your next Exception. 5. Whereas some except against his Majesty's lenity, and Indulgence, let Them know that Mercy is the inseparable Inmate of a magnanimous breast, and that the noblest way of Revenge is to forget, and scorn injuries; I have read in Story, that one thing which made Lewis the eight of France most famous, was a Speech which dropped from Him, when being advised by some of his Counsel to punish such and such as were professed Enemies unto Him, while He was Duke of Orleans, He answered, That the King of France doth not use to revenge the Injuries of the Duke of Orleans; No more (with most humble submission be it spoken) doth King Charles resent much the wrongs that were done to CHARLES STUART. 5. This is to enter further than becomes us into the Actions of our Sovereign. We do not blame the King's Indulgence, but rather adore that Divine Sweetness of his Nature; yet we detest those wretches that abuse it, and we affirm, that Misplaced Mercy was his Father's Ruin. To say that the Snake killed the man that gave it Life, and warmed it in his Bosom, reflects upon the Serpent, not the Charity. Nor by your Favour Sir, is the Exercise of Mercy, a Virtue, in all Cases: Suppose Six Persons ready to perish for want of Bread; Three of them, Murderers, and my Enemies; the other Three my Honest Friends: I can relieve but Half, which Three shall I save? Or if I be uncertain how my stock will hold out, with which shall I begin? In this case, were not Mercy to the Guilty, Cruelty to the Innocent? Love your Enemies, is not Hate your Friends: A will to save All, is indeed a Princely Virtue, but he that makes the Experiment, shall most Infallibly destroy the best. As your Discourse of Mercy (to my thinking) needs a Distinction, so has your Application of it, one too much. King Charles distinguished from Charles Stuart? All was King Charles, Father and Son; without the Interruption of a moment: nor were the wrongs done to Charles Stuart, but to King Charles. 6. Therefore, Noble Cavaliers, possess your Souls with Patience, We have a most gracious King who is in the Meridian of his years, and will live to reward all in time. In the confused medley of mundane affairs, the Proverb often is verified, Some have the hap, but some stick still in the gap, Some have the fortune of preferment, some not, and 'twill be so to the world's end. The Author hereof though during the many years that he was in prison for his loyalty, had 3. sworn over his head in an Office of Credit that he should have had de jure, yet it nothing discomposeth him, being more than in hope of a compensation some other way. 6. Why Noble Sir, (at your Request) we will possess our Souls with Patience. We know the King, and our own Duty, and we shall rather serve him, without Flattering, then Flatter, without serving him. We never hacknyed out ourselves for Wages, or Reward; and sure that distance from whence your care descends to overlook us, makes us appear Less than effectually we Are. You treat us in a Phrase, better applied to stop a Bawling Mutiny, than to compose a Generous Passion. If we are sad, 'tis not so much because we are Poor; nor has our Grief any disloyal mixture. But will you know what troubles us? We find the Court dangerously thronged with Parasites: Knaves represented to the King, for Honest men, and Honest men for Villains: a watch upon his majesty's Ear, to keep out better Enformation: seditious Ministers protected, and encouraged: Libels against the Authority, and Person of the King, dispersed even by his Majesty's sworn Servants; and to Discover Treason, is of a consequence (in some respects) more hazardous, than to commit it. These are our Grievances, and to find the Reverence of Government invaded by the pretending, but mistaken Preservers of it. Let any man tell Titon (a Stationer in Fleetstreet, and now of the Royal Train) of his True Pourtraicture of the Kings of England, printed in 1650. where the whole Line of the Stuarts is branded for Spurious:— his Sacred Majesty now living, stung with the most exquisite, and piercing point of Rhetoric and Malice:—— The late King handled worse than common modesty would treat his Murderers:— Let a Man mention this, I say, and his mouth's stopped with the Act of Indemnity: although this very Person hath of Late published a Pamphlet, of near equivalence to This, against our Gracious, and abused Sovereign. Are we obliged by the Act of Oblivion, to quit our Nature, and our Reason with our Passions:— to such a Loss of Memory, as utterly defaces the very Images of things Past, and robs us of the benefit of our dear-bought experience? We have our Private Causes of Disquiet too, but Patience is your advice, and without more ado, we'll take it: especially encouraged by the Precedent you set before us, your Patient self. And yet if your Composure proceed from your Compensation, (as the Cohaerence renders it) your Instance does not reach Us. We do not envy you the Glory of your Sufferings, and yet we do not need your Pattern to proceed by. We have among ourselves Sir, divers that would more willingly Repeat the very Losses and Hazards themselves then the Story of them: and for that modest Reason, the Words of Some, weigh down the Actions of Others. You proceed, and conclude Thus, 7. And as we have a Gracious, so have we a Glorious King, the most Glorious that ever wore these three Crowns, For all the eyes of Christendom are fixed upon Him with a kind of astonishment and admiration; and not only of Christendom, but of all the World besides, for 'tis written that the Great Turk should say, If he were to change his Religion, he would fall to Worship the God of King Charles of England, who hath done such miracles for him, such miracles that no story can parallel: And certainly, God Almighty must needs love Him for whom he doth miracles: which that his Divine Majesty may continue to do, are the incessant Prayers of 20 Julii 1661. J. H. 7. We do not understand the Phrase of the Court: A Gracious Prince we have, no doubt, as ever Lived: but how so Glorious, if so oppressed as you have rendered him, we do not comprehend. Great, as he is Good we wish him, and let That suffice. Love is the best Praise, and the best Language of the Soul is Action. Till we are called to That, our Prayer shall be, that all the ENEMIES of the last King, may prove the FRIENDS of this. R. L. But where's the Cordial all this while? you pretend to comfort people under Corporal necessities, by telling them, they have a Gracious Prince, and a Good Cause; you bid them not Despair, for it is possible they may receive their Reward— when the Public shall have nothing else to do with their money. (that is, at Last.) Words will not feed the Hungry; nor Speculations cloth the Naked. This is no more than what we might have heard from a Good Old wife in a Chimny-Corner. Have a good Heart; God's all-sufficient. This may Relieve the Mind, but not the Body. Your Fourth and Fifth Sections are spent in the Defence of what we do not Oppose, and not without Mistake, even in the ground of your Plea. The King may give his Honours and Rewards;- Pardon, or Punish, where, and as he pleases, (that is, he may forgive such faults as God allows him to dispense with.) but still, your Twenty to One, is more odds than the proportion will bear. The learned Bishop Sanderson, concerning Oaths, tells us, That an Error in the substance of the thing, which was the proper cause of the Oath, renders the Promise Invalid, and the Obligation void. (Lect. 4. Sect. 13.) Upon which Equity, it may be a question, whether his Majesty be bound, or not, to make good all those Grants, which by Deceit, about the substance of the Thing, have been obtained from him; the proper cause whereof was his persuasion of their Loyalty, to whom he passed such Grants. Under this Notion have been Dignified some Persons, with whose Character I shall not foul my Paper, further than Thus: Those blessings which his Sacred Majesty meant to shed upon his Friends, fell upon his Enemies; The VOICE was jacob's, but the HANDS are ESAU'S. Upon the Main, your Paper bears the Name of a Cordial, without the Effect of it; and such is our Condition, that it is equally dangerous either to fasten upon false Comforts, or neglect True ones. What the King Does, or Is; what Hopes of Profit or Reward; is not one jote material to our business. The Rule of Loyalty is the same, whatever may be the humour of the Prince▪ and he that makes Profit the Reason of his Virtue, will, when that Reason is gone; think it likewise an Excuse of his wickedness. Our best part is to behave ourselves with Clearness and Prudence; and honourably to Bear what we cannot honestly avoid: without mincing or palliating the Worst, or Looking into the Stars for Better. We have an Uncertainty of Events, before us; of Decree, above us; of Counsels, and Design, about us; a Light, and Guide within us: and, if there be no new thing under the Sun; the Future is Behind us. Be it our Care then to discover,— what Dangers threaten us; from whence; which we may struggle with; which not: how, fairly to shun all; and by the square of Honesty and Reason, mend a bad Game: All which may be effected; by procuring that his Majesty may neither mistake his Friends; nor the People his Majesty: together with a waryness, not to rely upon our Enemies, nor to Divide among our selves. These Four hints duly observed secure us; (without a Miracle) as on the Contrary, we fall into Disorder and Confusion. The First, and grand Expedient, is— I. That his Majesty may rightly understand his People. A Failing in this point would prove a Mischief without Remedy, or Comfort: one of the saddest Judgements can befall a Prince or Nation. It gives Authority to a general Ruin: puts Loyalty out of countenance; and it makes Faith and Honour cheap and ridiculous. As the Mistake is Mortal, so 'tis not easy to distinguish betwixt Truths and Appearances; especially for a Prince so long unwonted, and so much a Stranger to his People. men's Hearts are not read in their Faces; and we live in an age, where commonly the Blackest Souls wear the clearest Foreheads; and Confidence supplies the place of Merit: Let us not wonder then at benefits misplaced, but rather labour to prevent, by better Information, so many dangerous, tho' well-meaning disappointments: for his Majesty hath no other means of knowing his People, than either faithful Notice, or long Observation; and Delay kills us. This is not yet to impose upon his Majesty's Free grace; or intercept the Course, and Influence of his Royal Goodness, We are, with Reverence, to believe that where he knows the Person he Prefers, or Saves, he knows likewise the Reason of his Bounty or Mercy: and we are not to pry into forbidden secrets. But where we find the King a Stranger either to the Action or the Person; we may with fairness enough humbly acquaint his Majesty, that such and such Decimatours, or High-courts-of-iustice-man sit now upon the Bench: what such Ministers were; such and such Officers of the Army: These Privy-Chambermen: Those something else.— In fine, what hinders us to present his Majesty frankly with a view into what people's hands, Offices of Trust, Credit, and Profit, are generally committed throughout the Nation? when the King shall see, how much beside his Royal expectation things are carried: a Design set on Foot by the Confederates against his Father; (for these Agreements are not the work of Chance) the Cropp of one Rebellion to become the Seed of another, and his gracious Act of Pardon to his Enemies, rendered (so much as in them lies) a Condemnation of Himself, and Friends: his Princely Wisdom will proceed according to the motions of his own good Pleasure, and There we are to acquiesce, without presuming to Advise, or Direct, unless our Lord and Master will have it so; for having declared the matter of Fact, the judgement and the Process rests in his Majesty. By these means may the King assure himself against an open Combination; the danger of having his Person seized by his Authority; which tho' a great, is not the only hazard our blessed Sovereign lies exposed to. (Whom in his boundless mercy God deliver from all Conspiracies.) There are Four sorts of people, which, beyond doubt, his Majesty will have a care of: 1. His unconverted Enemies. 2. His temporising Friends. 3. A corrupt Clergy. And 4. A riotous Commonalty. The method of Sedition, is first to expose a Prince to Contempt; and by Degrees to Hatred; The Former of which proceeds very often from too much Lenity, Humility, or Patience, toward Persons apt to abuse it. The Latter; from the change of ancient Laws, and Customs,— Personal Cruelties,— Profusion of the Public Treasure, and the Raising of some few Families upon a General Ruin. Which Favourites are still the Forwardest in any dangerous Revolt, against their Maker. For whosoever Asks and Gets more than befits a Prince to Give him; as in the Obtaining of it he preferred his Own Good to his Masters, so shall he in the Keeping of it; and join his Interests with the stronger Party. Concerning Unconverted Enemies, enough is said already; and for the other Three sorts of People abovementioned, the very Naming of them should suffice, but that the Order of this Discourse will have it otherwise. A word then touching the King's Temporising Temporising Friends. Friends, who tho' less Numerous, possess yet greater Advantages, in regard of Confidence, and Security, than such whose Actions Common Reason cannot but look upon with an Eye of Jealousy. The Other, design an Open Force upon the Crown; These undermine it; and in their several Stations closely serve the Thriving Interest. But These, his Majesty may give himself the best account of, and doubtless does, sees all their doublings; and will, when time serves, make a seasonable use of his Discoveries. His Wisdom knows how to distinguish a Person that solicits him against his Conscience, Honour, or Reason; from one that Loves him. He that excites a Prince to transgress a Public Law, Evil Counselors. unless to save the Authority of Law itself, is an Enemy. He that desires a Prince, by stopping the mouths of some Few Beggars, to make Many; is an Enemy. He that persuades a Prince to advance mean persons; is an Enemy. He that advises a Prince to leave Old Friends for New, to reward Treason, and let Loyalty go a Begging; is an Enemy. In Fine: he that presses a Prince to any action of general Inconvenience, does his endeavour to divide him from the hearts of his people. Those that would make him Cheap, go other ways to work: and when a Prince is neither Loved, nor Feared, he's in an ill Condition. He that disputes the Mandates of his Prince: neglects his Proclamations: behaves himself Rudely, or talks scurrilously in his Presence,— lessens the Reverence of Majesty. In the Third place, comes a Corrupted Clergy, none A Corrupted Clergy. of the least Plagues to a Civil Government, wherever the Corruption lies, whether in Doctrine, or in Manners: The One, casting a Scandal upon Religion it self; the Other, seducing the People from the Right. And this may be observed, the worse▪ 'Cause commonly carries the best outside; and by excessive shows of Holiness, takes off the People's thoughts from observing the little Truth and substance of it. On the Other side; some Scandals to the Character there are, that are more careful how they Teach, than how they Live; as if a little Knowledge, and a Good Cause, would bear out an Enormity of Manners. That side that Drinks less, takes it out in Treason: which is, beyond controversy, the excellency of Wickedness; for Lucifer himself was but a Traitor. In Fine, the Clergy is in his Majesty's eye, whose Care, and Prudence will easily discern, and purge (though never so small) the unhappy mixture. The Fourth, and last Member of This Division, is a Riotous Commonalty: which with great ease may be obliged, and cannot without great hazard be neglected. The King may need in this particular, some more The Commonalty to be obliged. express Information, concerning the several Interests of several places; and the Different Humours of the People. But let one General serve for all: the Prince that Pinches their Bellies, loses their Hearts. Sir Francis Bacon▪ in his Essay of Seditions, tells us, That the multiplying of Nobility, and other degrees of Quality, in an over-degree of proportion to the Common people, doth speedily bring a state to Necessity: which becomes yet more dangerous, where it happens that the Ancient Nobility is shrunk into Nothing, and the New Nobility are to be raised out of nothing: For There, beside an universal Hatred toward those that are enriched out of the Common-stock, there is also a strong and powerful Pity toward those that are cast down, who under the Temptations of Great Indignities, and Fair Occasions, must be exceeding Honest, not to be Troublesome. To conclude; Those discontents must needs be dreadful, where Want, Disgrace, Revenge, Number, and Conduct, meet to promote a Common mischief, and only Passive Christianity to keep the Peace. Although we have been larger then becomes us possibly, in the Discourse of public Enemies, and Dangers, it remains yet that we say something concerning his Majesty's Friends: That is, Those of his Friends, of whom we have said nothing among his Enemies. we'll take a view, First, of their Bulk: Next, of The King's Old Friends more numerous than his New. their Quality: because it is the common business of the Popular Faction, to cry themselves up for the Loyal and Numerous Party: and to disparage those that are so. The Number of the Non-conformists, is no ill Calculation of the others strength: for (except Romanists) the King, and the Church have certainly the same Friends, and for the most part, the same Enemies. Upon that Reckoning will arise the odds of at least Thirty for One throughout the Nation. Even in Covent Garden, a Parish of the Geneva stamp, the odds was little less, betwixt the late Petitioners for the Common Prayer, and the Opposers of it. But in the General Declarations before the Kings Return, and the Appearance afterward to receive him, the Dis-proportion was yet greater, and more evident. What was the Reason, that the Godly Legions after they were baffled by the Independents, would never yet join frankly with the Royalists, but upon all occasions left them still in the Lurch? Save only This: They were afraid of being Over numbered, and so enforced to do his Majesty's business, when they intended but their Own. In brief, they'll make a shift to crowd half a Dozen Churches here about the Town, and they show All. Come to the test of Loyalty, 'tis more unequal. More Loyal. Their Faith, at best, is but of late date, doubtful continuance, and suspected credit: (For, one essential of Repentance, is Restitution) But we live in an age of Miracles. 'Tis a strange thing, that in the same instant, all those that had been Twenty years against the King, should become his Friends, and those that had been as long for him, should become his Enemies. He that would take a just account of the Other side, let him begin with the first War, and see how much Noble, and Loyal Blood was spilt before the devout Traitors reached the Kings;— How many Honourable, and Wealthy Families were brought to Beggary;— How many Poisoned, and dispatched in Gaols, and for no other Crime, but that they loved his Majesty. Look forward now, and see if the Survivours of that execrable Tragedy, proved not as faithful afterwards to the Son, as they had been to the Father. Was ever any Tyranny more severe? any Conquest more Absolute, any Attempt more Difficult? Yet Poor, and Disarmed as they were;— Death, and almost Impossibilities before them,— no Friends to Second them,— no Reward to Encourage them;— Did they not still pursue the Royal Cause,— This Prince his Right and Title; when these gay Gentlemen, were quiet Looker's on, that now persuade his Majesty They did the Business. Nor was it Rashness, or Despair, that Pricked them on, but Duty, and Honour; for if they would Then have been Villeins, 'tis possible they might Now have passed for Honest men. When they could Act no longer, they served the King by Suffering, and their Bloods filled up the measure of their Enemy's wickedness, by Dying, Ripening that Vengeance, which Living they could not execute. These are Truths, and the whole Nation can bear witness of them. What can those People mean then, but Mischief to the King, whose business 'tis further to ruin those, that are already undone for Serving him? God grant his Majesty may not mistake his Friends. However, II. God forbid that we should mistake his Majesty. IN this particular, our Duty is short, and Open. Were all the Ills we suffer, (joined with as many more as we have hitherto endured) imposed upon us by the direct Will, and Order of the King.— If he should say, Hang half my Friends for their Fidelity, and Starve the rest for Gaping when they are Hungry:— We ought to take all This, but as a sad Occasion of greater Honour; a sharper Trial of our Faith: or at the worst, as an unkind requital of our Love, but no discharge of Duty. The Authority of Princes is Divine; and their Commission makes their Persons sacred. If They transgress, 'tis against God, (whose Officers and Deputies they are) not against Us. If We transgress, 'tis both against God, and Them;— a double Disobedience. This is not yet to say, that we are bound to thrust our Necks into the Noose, and offer up ourselves as willing Sacrifices, to appease the Spirit of Rage and Cruelty. No, we may fairly shun the Mischief, (unless a greater come in Competition) but not oppose the Power. That Subject is guilty of his Master's Blood, that sees the Person of his Prince in danger, and does not interpose to save him; though he be sure to Die, himself, even by the hand of him whom he Preserves. Nor is it enough for Subjects, to keep a Guard upon their Actions, unless they set a Watch likewise before the Doors of their Lips; their Tongues, must be Tied, as well as their Hands; Nay, and the very Boiling of their Thoughts must be suppressed. We that are thus instructed in the Grounds, and Terms of Duty, even toward the worst of Kings, cannot mistake ourselves sure toward the Contrary; and become doubly Guilty; First, by imputing our Misfortunes to a wrong Cause; and then, by an undutiful and simple menage of them. There is a Gulf betwixt his Majesty and Us: and, as yet, Darkness is upon the face of the Deep; One does not clearly understand the Other. His Majesty is told indeed of a Loose, Beggarly, Profane, Misunderstandings fomented betwixt the King and his Party. Tippling sort of People, that call themselves Cavaliers: against whom, under that appearance, came forth his Majesty's Proclamation; by Some, intended as a Stab and Scandal to the Royal Party, but in the King himself, an Act of Piety, and Prudence. Some that in probability occasioned That, should have done well to have got one Clause inserted, against Those that deny the King's Authority to be above that of the Two Houses. On the Other side; We are not less perplexed about our Sovereign; all Means are used to Create, Quicken, and Foment Misunderstandings. The Last was Our King, the Godly Party tells us, but This is Theirs; and the Presbyterian must be now the White Boy, which looks as if 'twere so indeed, if we compare Conditions, and search no further than the Outside of the Differenee. He that sees Cromwell's, Brad▪ shaws, St. john's his Creatures, nay and the meanest of them, laden with Offices, and Honours, may give himself a second Thought to understand the meaning of it: especially considering how many thousands of Loyal Subjects are ready to Perish, for want of that, which in great superfluity is scattered among scarce so many single persons of the other side. These Incongruities may trouble us, but to impute them to the King, were to commit a sin against Duty and Reason. So far is his Majesty from Allowing or Directing them, they are kept as much as possibly, from his bare Knowledge: The Plot is laid against Him, and as they did before, they do but now remove his Friends, to make way to his Person. The Reason why we are not Relieved, is This, we put our Business into wrong hands, and apply to the Causes of our mischief for the Remedy of it. If we look close to the matter, we shall perceive that many of the King's Favours were Extorted; Some Surreptitiously obtained; Others, Abused and Misapplyed by second hands, that were entrusted to dispose of them better. But Finally, Those which the King himself bestowed, were given by the unquestionable Prerogative of his own Freedom, the Grounds whereof, in Part we know, and in the Whole we Reverence. There are another sort also of cold Comforters, that tell us, 'tis not Time yet. This, to a company of wretches that can stay no longer than they can Fast, yields little satisfaction. Are we such Owls, as not to see the Sun at Noon? 'Tis time Enough for some that tell us these fine things, (even before the King's Revenue is settled) to beg their Forty, Fifty, nay their Hundred Thousand Pound a man, and when the Nation shall be drawn so low, that every Tax runs Blood; 'tis then Prognosticated, that something shall be done for us: That is, the Honour shall be ours, to finish the undoing of the Nation, and furnish Argument for another War. This consequence looks not much wide, but to prevent the worst, rather let us Resolve to suffer any thing for his Majesty, then cause him to suffer in the Least for us. Having hitherto discoursed the high Necessity of a right understanding betwixt King and People: Our next concern is, III. Not to mistake our Enemies. To prevent mistakes; by Our Enemies, we intent only the Kings. IT was a Jolly saying betwixt Jest and Earnest, of a Presbyterian to a Cavalier, You told us We were Rebels once, but we'll make You so now, before we have done with you, and That's one part of their Design. If they can neither Sink, nor Scatter us, then to Transport us into undutiful distempers, by (that which makes the Wise man, Mad) Oppression. Rather than fail, they shall Vote Loyalty, Rebellion, and charge the Author of this plain▪ and honest Pamphlet, with Treason. But other Treason than Adherence to the King, the Law, Conscience, Honour, and Reason, they shall never bring us to. They do wisely therefore to give the main Attaque, where we are Weakest, and to attempt first upon our Necessities, for they know our Honesty will hold out longer than our Fortunes. By this Course, they purpose to lessen both our Credit, and Number, for Poverty is a fair step toward Contempt, and they think want will drive men any whither to seek their Bread. They are not Ignorant of the Likelihood of (what they more than Covet) a Foreign War, from whence (how fatal soever it prove to the Public) they may pretend to reap these two Advantages. First, they may pack their Gang with more Security at home, when the People's eyes are all abroad: Secondly, they forecast to have the Quarrel fought by the Hands of Cavaliers, which is no other than to commit that Business to be dispatched by Foreigners, which they cannot so conveniently do themselves. That it will come to this, may rationally appear from the Constitution of those Missions already designed. When by the Fate of War, or that of Extreme Need, some are Destroyed, the Rest Dispersed of the King's Party, and the designing Faction yet entire: who is not Prophet enough to foresee the event? This, This is the Reward, his Majesty's new Friends have prepared for his old Ones. But Forewarned, Forearmed. Let not a drowsy, mopish Charity betray us into another Opinion: Are They Converted? where's the Peccavi, and the Thirty Pieces of Silver: the Confession, and the Restitution? where's the Inseparable Companion of Repentance, a Godly Sorrow; a Detestation, not only of the Sin itself, but even of all their Complicates, in so egregious a Wickedness? Their Knots and their Dependencies are still the same they were. They are too jovial to be Penitent. In snmm; if they are Penitent, where are the Signs, or Fruits of their Conversion? If not, they are Dangerous. What do we see more now than we did in 1641? Or in effect was not the Gospell-Prologue to the Death of the Late King, the very Air of what we hear at present? But that we may not be thought to babble, let the whole Puritan Conclave lay their Heads together, and bring their Party off; or if they do not, let them acknowledge that for once a Cavalier was in the right on't. If the People of whom we treat, be not Penitent, the King cannot be safe in their hands: If they be Penitent, then are we to seek for a Religion: If they were never in the wrong, then they'll use this King as they did his Father. TO pass over those properties of Repentance, whereof God, and their own Souls are the only Judges, namely, Contrition and Conversion to God. we'll look a little what the Church says concerning the Other two, to wit, Confession and Satisfaction. Amesius says, that a Public Confession of Public Lib. 4 de Consc. cap. 15. Sins is necessary, to avoid the Contagion of a Scandalous example. Preston in his Sermon upon judas Repentance reckons Confession a part of Repentance; and so does Calvin in his Harmony upon the Evangelists. But Musculus upon Matt. 27. 3. most expressly. Ad veram Resipiscentiam pertinet peccati Confessio; non ea tantum quae deo fit, said & quae hominibus, quorum id interest, etc.— Confession, (says he) is requisite to true Repentance, not only That to God, but to Men also; (such as are concerned in it) that is, to Those against whom the offence was committed, and to such as to whom occasion was thereby given of offending. Judas his sin was against Christ; but in Betraying the Innocent Blood, he ministered occasion to the Priests and Elders of Sinning, by giving them the means of Taking and Condemning him, for a sum of money:— so he confessed as well before the Priests and Elders, as to God. I have sinned (saith judas) in Betraying Innocent blood. He does not say, (Peccastis) YE have sinned in CONDEMNING Innocent blood, but he complains that HE HIMSELF had sinned in DELIVERING it up. Now concerning Satisfaction. Non Remittetur Peccatum nisi Restituatur ablatum: says St. Augustine. No Restitution, no Remission. Non-Restitution is Damnation; and Restitution is the way to Salvation, (says Stock of Repentance, p. 102.) and again: If it be a sin to Take, it is a sin to Keep. (Ibid. p. 92.) Non est vera Poenitentia, ubi non Redditur quod malè fuerat ablatum, (says Marlorat upon Matth.) Perkins, Dike, Calvin, all the world agree upon the Necessity of Restitution. In fine, Non-Restitution is Theft. If it be objected; well, but such and such are Poorer than they were, others have gotten Nothing, and the rest are Pardoned. The Casuists tell us, that whosoever Commands, Directs, Favours, or Abets any unjust Action, the consequence whereof is Damage to another:— That Person is bound to Restitution. But we might answer, that much was spent of what they took from the Cavaliers, to bear up against the Independents. As to the Act of Indemnity: That saves them from the Law, but in Foro Conscientiae 'tis no acquittal: It discharges the Penalty, but not the Crime, only an effectual Repentance can do that, which cannot be admitted without Restitution. 'Tis not an Act of State, that can dissolve a Tie of Conscience: that were to argue, as if a Parliament could forgive Sins. At the last day, when Inquisition shall be made for Blood, Theft, Oppression, etc.— We dare appeal to the Sworn Patrons of the Cause, Smectymnuus themselves: what will an Act of Indemnity avail, in Plea before the Great Tribunal? So many Parents made Childless by Thy Sword; so many Children Fatherless; the Blood of so many thousand Loyal Subjects spilt like water, Common, and Noble, and at last the KINGS: and all this in a Cause where every Thought, Word, Action of Agreement was a Murder. Why shouldest not thou be Damned? Lord (says he) MURDERS are Pardoned by the Act of INDEMNITY. So many Plunders, Robberies, Sequestrations, Decimations, Confiscations:— to the undoing of many thousand rich Families, and twenty times as many of the poorer sort, that depended upon them:— What Sorrow, Acknowledgement, Reparation, for all these Injuries? what token of Repentance? why therefore shouldst not thou be Damned? He pleads the Indemnity too. So many Grave Divines poisoned in Winchester house: so many honest men of all sorts and qualities, destroyed by all varieties of misery: Smothered, Famished, sold for Slaves because they would not fight against their Prince, nor swear against their Consciences. Why should not ye that did all this, be Damned? The Act of Indemnity still. Go to your Rabbi Busies now, your three-piled goodly Levites, that when ye did all This, called you a Holy Covenanting People: bid them look over their whole stock of Shifts and Popular Distinctions, and show ye the least shadow of a Comfort. Which if they do, they must overthrow this Assertion. Without REPENTANCE, there can be no SALVATION; and without RESTITUTION, no REPENTANCE. If it be so, this were a Theme much fitter for a Pulpit-Zeal, than Lawn Sleeves, or the Cross in Baptism: but in this point our Gospel Ministers are as mute as Fishes, which manifestly shows the Core of the Faction. How can these people sleep with all this weight upon their Consciences, unless by virtue of One of these Two Causes? The Former, a Reprobated, and unfeeling hardness: the Other, a good opinion of their first Engagement. he One way, they are our Enemies upon a Principle of judgement: and the other way, upon a score of boundless, faithless wickedness. The use we are to make of All, is only to look to ourselves, and to commit nothing to Hazard, that may be secured by Prudence. Which cautionary Prudence, must not yet carry us beyond the line of Duty: For tho' as Christians, they are not absolved by the Act of Indemnity; yet as Subjects, We are Obliged by it, nor shall we start an Inch from the Literal strictness of it. It is an Act of Free, and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion, granted upon such Reasons, and Conditions, with such Prouisoes and Limitations as are therein expressed; extending from january 1. 1637. to june 24. 1660. As it is a Pardon, we complain not; Nor do we pretend any Legal Right to what we have Lost, in questioning their Conscientious Right to what they have Taken. If They will do what they ought not to do;— Keep it;— We shall however do what we ought to do;— Sat down with Submission and Patience, so that the Indemnity is safe too. Nor do we at all entrench upon it as an Act of Oblivion: which forbids the MALICIOUS Revival of past differences; and directs to the burying of all Seeds of Future Discords, and Remembrance of the Former, etc.— If the same things are now done over again by the same Party, where lies the MALICE of saying, Have a care of the same hand again? This is a hint of Caution, not of Animosity: a means to Prevent Mischief, not to 'Cause it. Nor do We charge Particulars: for beyond doubt, there are True Converts; & divers, that even in the Counsels of the King's Enemies, did his Majesty service. We profess further, that we have no Unkindness for such as have not showed themselves against us, since they received their Pardon: but touching the Rest, we are at Liberty to speak our Thoughts. Let us not be too Credulous then, and gape after empty Hopes that will deceive us. We never Lost any thing by suspecting them; we never gained by Trusting them. In short, He that will do his Prince and Country a good Office, let him but get a List of the Instruments, and Officers they have put upon us, (whereof the King knows nothing) and present it— to his Majesty. There will need no other proof of their Combination. Only one word now, FOUR That we divide not among ourselves. UNder this notion, (OUR SELVES) we understand, all persons that are well-affected to the established Government: which must expect to be dealt with by the Factious Rest, variously, according to the Reason of the Design, and the Humour of the Party to be wrought upon. It will require not only Constancy, but Skill, so to demean ourselves, as to scape Oversights, and yet not dash upon Distemper: for we are to encounter, both artificial Flatteries, and sharp Provocations; and so in danger to miscarry, either upon Facility or Passion. Some are 〈◊〉 sighted; and Those they startle into Fears and jealousies; concerning Religion, Privileges, the Fundamental Laws, etc. Matters which being little understood, and much esteemed, are of great effect with the Common people. Not to be over-strict; Some they Seduce, Others they Corrupt; and betwixt such as want either Brains, or Honesty, they make up their Party. Machiavelli, and Experience are two great Masters; and they have learned from Both, that to Destroy a Prince, the surest way is to begin with the generality of the People, whom if they can but once possess with an Opinion, that the King designs upon the Freedom of their Estates, and Consciences, the work's half done. To which end, they themselves contrive, necessitate, nay and Impose, (tho' privily) those very Grievances, whereof they likewise prove the first Complainers: charging upon his Majesty, what was done only by their own Procurement, and for Their Benefit. They handle the Rabble as they do Elephants, they dig the Pit Themselves, and when they have entrapped them, Another must be employed to strike, and to enrage the Beast; They forsooth out of Zeal, and Pity to the poor Creature, Interpose; take the Elephant's part, and by appearing to remove the Injuries they Caused, Winn, and Reclaim the Beast. But in the end, the Elephant serves Them, not They the Elephant. Let us a little observe, how they have already strewed the way to their Design. With Reverence to the Authority of the Act of Indemnity, and with submission to the Force, and Reason of it: we'll begin There; and understand it as a mixture of Mercy, and Expedience, granted on their behalf whose Lives, and Fortunes were forfeited to the Law. This Act makes them Masters, in effect, of the Booty of Three Nations: (bating Crown, and Church-Lands) and all they have gotten by a Griping Rebellion, and Usurpation of almost twenty years' Continuance, they may now call their Own; those People that Contested to preserve the Law, being, by these Penitents, abandoned to the Comfort of an irreparable, but an Honourable ruin. To what they had gotten before, let us add the Debt they left in Arriere both at Sea, and Land; together with what they have begged since, in Money, Land, and Office. Truly all this put together, one would think might satisfy a Reasonable sort of People. Now to look a little the other way. The King cannot but have contracted great Debts, his Active Friends are Beggared: and Those whose Inclinations were but suspected Loyal, have smarted sufficiently for it. Come to the Generality; ye shall not find quick Money enough to keep Commerce alive, all wanting, and complaining. Now let us Rationally consider, Whither does this Condition of the Public tend; and whence does it proceed? The King's Debts must be Paid, his Revenue settled, his Guards maintained; and beyond all This, (in common view, a Foreign war inevitable. (The Relief of his Majesty's Friends, is a thing but by the By; that goes for nothing.) All this is necessary to be done; but Where, How, Whence, (without a Mine) who can imagine? A General Imposition will hardly furnish it, the Treasure of the Nation being drawn into so few hands, and They too have the wit to keep it close, for divers reasons; as well to conceal their prodigious, and most unconscionable Gettings, as to secure their Aftergame; which they are provident enough to expect. To raise these Necessary and Large Sums, if common, and formal ways will not suffice, Others less acceptable must be thought upon. So that upon the whole, either his Majesty cannot be supplied, even in those Exigencies which most concern the Honour, and the Safety of the Nation: or else the Generality must suffer exceedingly by the Pressure; to which some further trouble may possibly arise even from the manner of Imposing it. When Discontents come to this Ripeness, then is the time for the Old Patriots to put in again, and mourn over the Oppressed. They shall show the People what is against Magna Charta, and the Petition of Right, the Law of the Land, and the Liberty of the Subject. Then shall they with all Dutiful Reverence humbly declare to his Sacred Majesty that it is their Ancient and Undoubted RIGHT, & c. In short, Great Payments will certainly cause Great Disquiets; and there are those will take advantage of them. This is the Clear and natural tendency of Affairs; and it behoves us to provide and Arm ourselves against the Malice of it: which may be done, by a sober Enquirie into the Grounds, and Causes;— by whose Contrivance and Design, the Public lies reduced to this Extreme Necessity. The War occasioned our Destruction: but who occasioned the War? we'll only answer for ourselves: that the Cavaliers 'Cause was as good as the King's Title to the Crown. Briefly, Those that have robbed the Public to Enrich themselves, are the Cause why the Public is not able to Support itself: Forfeited Estates would have set All clear, without taking in either the Army Officers, or the Converted Cavaliers into the Reckoning. Nay more, they might have been left yet better than they began, for they have been no ill Husbands of their Pillage. But so was the State of the Nation represented to his Majesty, and such was his Royal Goodness, that he thought fit to remit all; and 'tis our Duty not to murmur at it: only let us not forget, when it comes to the Question, by what hand we perish. To conclude, their Designs are frivolous, if we ourselves do not assist them, either by Crediting against our Reason, or by joining with them against our Duty. These are our Open and Known Adversaries, (if we can see or know any thing) but there's another sort, which only time must unmasque, and against whom, this Caution (for the present) shall suffice. Vaenalis hominum vita est; & licitatores capitum nostrorum publicè regnant. (Euphormio.) FINIS. ERRATUM. Page the 6th. read Capons, for Larks, etc.