A MOST PITHY EXHORTATION Delivered in an Eloquent ORATION To the watery GENERATION Aboard their admiral at Gravesend.  
By the Right Reverend, Mr HUGH peter's, Doctor of the Chair for the famous university of Whitehall, and Chaplain in ordinary to the High and Mighty K. OLIVER, the first of that name, as it was took, verbatim, in short hand (when he delivered it) By Mercurius Pragmaticus.  
Printed in the Year, M.DC.XLIX.   

A MOST PITHY EXHORTATION DELIVERED In an Eloquent Oration to the watery Generation aboard their admiral at Gravesend, &c.  
My true Trouts, as ever water wet,  
I Have hungered and thirsted to lift up my voice like a Trumpet amongst you, and to pour forth my spirit upon you; for ye are all flesh, and that's frail; but I must teach your hands to war, and your fingers to fight: And that you may the better remember my words, I mean to force them in with a malin-spike, e'en just as ye splice a Cable. I understand you are very willing already to undertake this great work; and the better to encourage ye, I intend to clear your consciences of all scruples that may seem to hinder your cheerfulness in the business: Ye know, honest harb, I have been at New-England, and am not now to learn the difference between a dry Cabin, and a great storm; for my own part, I had enough o''nt: I had cast the platform of this blessed deliverance, which we now enjoy, in that sanctified soil, and could not rest till I came home to put it in practice: Our work is now in the Finishers hands by Land, and now we must pin our faiths upon your shoulders for our Sea success; it behooves you therefore to stand to your tackling, for ye are to fight against principalities and powers: That Reprobate, RUPERT (to give the Devil his due) is able to fright ye all into an auger-hole; but bear up your heads stiffly, don't ye run away like water-rats, stand to your pease-pottage lustily, there's pork enough aboard to make brewess till ye eat and split again: 'Twould make a man's teeth water to think of your good bowls of lob-lolly and fat poor-Jack upon fish-days. But enough of this ● now to come to ye, as I told ye, having cleared this point, I mean to handle the second part of my division in the same tune: Ye know we have been long oppressed with that Arch-Traitor, the King (they may thank my council, or his head had been on to plot mischief against the Saints to this day) but I think we are rid of him now, I was fain to stablish the heart, and strengthen the hand of the cowardly Executioner, or else the Fellow had melted into Malignancy, for fear of that scarecrow sentence, Touch not mine Anointed; but I hope 'tis better his head's of, then that this generation of Prophets should have had any harm. Blades, I think ye are sufficiently instructed in these state principles, I shall now come to ye in a word of commendations; I could have spoke a few Latin sentences to ye, that has all your good qualities stowed in a little room, but those was learned in the time of Egyptian bondage, only to have fitted me for a cringing Conformist; and in this time of clear light and liberty, 'tis a language as detestable, as hard to be understood: I must therefore tell ye at length, in words issuing from a meek heart, that I love a tarpauling, for these four good qualities.  
First, because they pray so fervently when they are in danger, though they swear as devoutly when the storm's over; and truly however it appears, they have the gift of the spirit in them, that they will take so much pains to pray at all.  
Secondarily, as for their Religion, so for their honest dealings; for I never knew any man complain of them without a just cause, only the Custom-house-waiters have winked at many of their pretty passages between ship and shore.  
Thirdly, for their ingenuity; for they are commonly as cunning horsons as can be, and can overreach the Devil, or a Broker, the length of a hawser.  
Fourthly, for their courage; for they'll do more mischief with one Demi-Culverin, than Cromwell can with a whole Troop of Dragoons; and one bottle of strong-waters will make a ships gang do more execution, then 100 firelocks; they'll fight with all the Turks in Christendom, if they get them once between wind and water: I know lads, you cannot choose but laugh to think what fine sport there will be betwixt you and the Prince's ships, 'twill be biscuit and beverage to you to be together by the ears with them, and then some of ye may see the wonders of the deep: I could speak nothing but 〈◊〉 and crackers, fireworks and granadoes, murderers and brass basses, Cannons and confusion to ye, to make ye in love with the thoughts of a sea-fight (such a one as I never saw, nor I hope never shall) but that I know y''ve rather have't▪ then hear on't: In the mean time, consider with yourselves, and take comfort in't, 'twill be a godlier sea-fight than that between your ancestors and the Spanish Armado. You have all the pillars of truth to support you in the Cause, and those are as strong as can be established by Act of Parliament; and I hope you have more grace than to build your faith upon any other foundation; for the Scriptures, if they be not with us, they shall not seem to be against us; for I believe your Ministers are not to learn how to stretch them home enough at sea, as well as at land. Again consider, but what store of brave purchase there will be instead of pay for you; for they say the Rebels are richly laden, and if you can but scape knocks, and come off with credit. I'll get the Moderate Intelligencer to canonize ye for brave fellows; and Harry Walker shall every Friday write your admiral's names in Hebrew, that their fames may be read backwards: For my own part, I am resolved to take half a score texts out of the volume of your victories, and preach whole pulpits full of fire and smoke against your adversaries, the wooden horse Cavaliery enough to make a Church stink as bad as Paul's doors of horse piss. For your Admirals, they are all men of valour, and love to defy danger as little as you do; only it will not be fit that they should hazard their persons in the face of a fight; but it will be more necessaay, that they go to council in the hold, whilst you bustle above Decks: They are men of as good government as an Ordinance of Parliament can make them, and I hope you'll say, that can set all things to rights; or else how could we have hit the way hither? I am confident you cannot but love them for their sakes that sent them ye, and for my sake that commend them to ye; and you know I do not use to praise honest men to their faces; they were begotten by the Army, created by the Parliament, and dubed by the right reverend Committee of Derby-house, and I think all these are able to make four sea gulls: I doubt not but they'll use ye as well as as they can find in their hearts; if ye corrupt them to run away with you, you may chance venture a neck-cracking together, if ere you be caught again. I think I have persuaded you to obey everybody that I think fit; and when you feel the fruits of my good council working, I make no question but you'll remember me when you go down into your Kingdom: Yet know in the times when superstition and tyranny raged like the raving of the waters, your consciences were chained from flying into your faces, with two inseparable links of Allegiance and Supremacy, and you groaned under the heavy weight of those oppressive burdens: Now ye are at ease, and have free liberty to swear to be true to nobody; for indeed oaths are profane, and not fit for tender consciences, that can brook any thing but obedience to their betters; a solemn engagement after the newest fashion, will best become men of your reformed tempers, and that to be done without Book; for I know good letters are too hard for your discretion, only when they are delivered to you by word of mouth, you can swallow that will stick by the ribs; for you are men of memory, or else how could so many Masters and Mates chalk out their observations for a whole voyage, without pen, ink, or paper? Pray send's news when y'are gone, whether ye sink or swim. For your wives, I hope the Army are resolved to take care that they shall not catch cold in your absence; and for your goods that you make prize on, you must consign them to your dear friends of the Admiralty, who intend to put them out at interest to increase a common stock against you come to fight with them. Now judge my Masters, if you have not a gracious Parliament, and a charitable Army that intend to make the best of you, and your wives, that they can. I shall say no more in this particular, for I suppose you have faith enough in them to be saved harmless by them: I shall only speak a word or two to the wiser sort amongst ye (which will be enough a conscience to make ye all run horn-mad to do mischief) and that's this, Be sure when you meet any of those rogues, that you tack about, and get to lee-ward of them, and then you may pepper them with small shot; I know the advantage of old, for a good device; for though I am now a freshwater Chaplain, I can spit salt-water sentences in your mouths, that will comfort your stomachs in a morning fresh and fasting, as well as a dish of burnt brandywine. For your ships, I think they are well rigged, or the Devil's in them; y'have as good beer aboard, as ever wet whistle; Colonel Pride can give ye an account of more grains and hops spent in the brewing on't, than his belly will hold. For pease to your pork, all the hogs in England cannot feed upon better; and I think you love hogs should feed as well as you: or else how would ye have pork fat enough to make your mouths ladder on both sides like a washing-boul? Your beef will be so tender within this month you may suck it with a quill, or the murrain was in't; for I am sure some of the Purvers for the Fleet went over hedge and ditch to pick and choose good Cattle, and sometimes they found the countrymen had hid them in ditches and odd corners, and there they lay as still as Loaches, for fear of being knocked o'th' head. For your bread, if there be not store of maggots in't by this time, Harry Scobel shall draw up an Ordinance to set your Baker on the pillory; for you know the sweetest biscuit will fill your mouths full of syrup, and fatten your kidneys: I think the Parliament has took as great care for your temporal food, as for your spiritual diet, or else they would ne'er have sent me hither to preach such crumbs of comfort to ye; I hope you will love them; if you cannot love them for God's sake, love them for my sake; and if you cannot fight for them for their own sakes, fight for yourselves and be hanged, so ye do good any way: I am sure ye had never more need to look about ye, for there's few enough that takes any care for ye; your own wives are resolved and ye be such Cowards never to come, they'll ne'er cry for ye, and your children will have more grace than to own ye for Fathers, without ye prove yourselves Cromwel's boys, and come off gallantly. And now madcaps steer steady, starboard, for if the ruffians chase ye out of compass, they'll make sherks meat on ye; I would have ye pick Ocum enough, as you go out, for you'll have work enough to stop leaks if e'er ye meet with your matches; and pray when ye lie in harbour, have your forecastle clear, that ye may cut cable upon any occasion, and then blow wind, run ship, one suit of sails will do more service than twenty brasse-pieces; I think you cannot say but I have balanced ye well with good docrements, and caulked ye with good counsels; and now 'tis time to turn you a drift; I have nothing more to say to ye, but charge ye to remember to pray to the Parliament to prosper your proceedings, and I'll give ye one of their last Declarations to use for a Service-Book; I hope this is Sermon enough for ye as long as ye live, if ye make a good use on't: And so fare as well as ye can, for we had as good part here, as in a worse place; I hope to see ye again, if not in a better place, yet in another world; and so I leave you, I'll have this Speech printed and sent down to ye very shortly, that ye may con it as perfect as your compass, and then I shall be with you in spirit, though I be absent in the flesh.  
Copia vera, concordans Originale.  
FINIS.