A PERSVASIVE LETTER EXHORTING THE NATIVES OF IRELAND TO STAND IN DEFENCE Of their Faith, King, and country, against Parliamentary intruders, their errors, and temeritie, directed to Sir. N. Th.  
With a discovery of the Tyrannicall policy and unfaithful dealings of some English Governors, adherents to the malignant party, towards their pardonned Enemies and surest friends in IRELAND.  

IHS   intricate symmetrical design with crosses  
Printed at Warerford, in the year, 1645.   

To the courteous Reader.  
THis following Letter, and discovery being first written to a Gentleman of note, was by him imparted to others, and desired by many more, to whom it may be no less needful then it was to the first, who therefore is well pleased, to have it copied, and presented to the fight and consideration of other Native gentlemen, desiring no more favour at their hands, then to peruse it with attentive eye, and serious consideration, to compare the acts of former ages to what is daily practised, and not unlike to follow, if the credulous bounty of the Natives shall yield to believe and trust to the perfidius promises of English Parliamentary usurpers, & their feigned adherents.   

dearly BELOVED,  
I have received your Letter, expressing the perplexity of your anxious mind tossed between fear and Hope: The one forced by some ill success happened since the Commotion, the other fostered by the allurements of some friends, promising both pardon and security upon your submitment. Hereupon you writ that if shane and reproach hath not given you a rub in your way; fear hath withdrawn your hand and heart from your associate catholics, and if mistrust of performance had not interrupted your design, hope of security and favour had forcedly induced thee to submit and join with our professed enemies, yet having neither utterly rejected your associate catholics, nor yielded unto the persuasions of submitment, you rest doubtful, not knowing what way to take without the advice of friends, among whom, as you have been pleased to hold me for one; I desire that( for settling of your perplexity) you may set aside those inordinate passions of fear, & hope, and with a settled mind seriously consider the cause ground & motives, whereby both parties( both the Irish with whom you join, and the English, to whom you are alured to submit) are induced to this commotion. You are not to measure the justice of your proceedings by the event of their actions, but by the equity of their cause. The Irish do stand in defence of Gods cause, their Faith, King, and country endeavouring without bloodshed to maintain the catholic faith against Sectaries; the Kings prerogative and right against the Parliament, and the liberty of their country against a swarm of most malignant supplanting invaders. On the other side, the malignant party is known to stand for heresy parliament and their proper gain: labouring with force of arms, cruel massacres unparalleled tyranny, to plant puritanism against true faith; Parliamentary presumption against their anointed King, and the covetous and pernicious intrusion of alliens against the catholic Natives both English and Irish whom these new-comming upstarts do hold to be equally worthy of an utter extinction. Consider therefore your duty to God, your loyalty to his Majesty, & the love you owe unto your native country, and the light of reason will guide you to conceive that as no fear ought to with-draw you from the defence of your faith, King and country; so no hope may suffice to cause you to adhere unto their processed enemies. Their prosperous beginning, and some ill success of ours ought not to dismay a man-like mind. The success of the like actions, is various, and never so fast fixed unto the one side, but it may step over unto the other. Are not many faire dayes ended with stormy nights? Was not great Pompey his victorious fortune, concluded with the loss of all: believe me that this prosperous beginning against truth and right can yield no better success then a final calamity: As your cross entry, may happily be crwoned with a glorious lustre. And for their threats & danger of losing your life, goods and reputation, you need not doubt of their mind, but the effect is not always answerable unto their wishes. And to cast the worst if these disasters should fall out according their threatenings, you are to consider that this corporal life is not everlasting, neither are your temporal goods of a permanent standing: the one being liable to the debt of Nature, and the other to daily changes. As you cannot therefore but know that you have received the ground of life and your means from God, and the continuance of both( under God) by his Majesties protecting hand, how can that life( which once must forsake) be better employed then in defence of Gods cause and his Majesties right? add hereunto the ease of your Country, the safety of your friends and issue from the most tyrannicall yoke of these malignant supplanting intruders, and it will appear a cause of less fear, grief and terror, to loose both life and goods for so just a cause, then to enjoy them to help the bane of Faith, King and Country. But you vade further then this present life, concerning a danger of infamy after death, because that the Parliament in England hath declared all his Majesties adherents and servitors in this present time & cause, to bee deemed and pursued as Rebels. As I may not but allow of your sensible care to maintain your good name: I cannot but wonder that any man of sense or judgement should fear infamy in this behalf: as if it were treason to serve the King and assist him in his greatest need, and loyalty forsooth to comply with the disloyal designs of a rebellious Parliament against their sovereign. Remember I pray that your allegiance is not due unto a Parliament, but unto the King, neither is Ireland a parliamentary province, but an undoubted kingdom subject to the Majesty of a gracious King, and not to the presumptuous invasions of a life-lesse Parliamentary carcase. I miscall it not, for seeing that the King is the onely head, life and breath of a Parliament-body, when the same is rebelliously severed from that head, that life and that breath, what can it be but an Acephalion or head-lesse carcase without any life of law, or right. If the fantastical spirit of this life-lesse body politic will deem the Kings servants Rebels, with more reason all men will deem them, and their complices, to be most outrageous Traytors, against God, and their sovereign. If therefore of necessity, men must be in this age esteemed Rebels, what part soever they hold, I deem it less fearful, and prejudicial to your soul, life, and famed, to be miscalled a majestical rebel, for serving the King, then to bee really a Parliamentary traitor, joining with a Crew of malignant miscreants against their sovereign.  
This much considered of your Panincke-feare, may discover your vain hope of security by protection, for the Parliament being( as it is) severed, and opposite to his Majesty hath neither lawful power to grant pardons, nor the intention to perform what might be promised in that behalf. The authority of pardoning treasonable offences, is no less essential to the power of a King, then his imperial crown and sceptre is proper to his majesty: It cannot therefore stand in the hands of the most loyal Subjects undependant from the King, much less can it be proper to disloyal, and traitorous usurpers, such as the members of this Parliament prove themselves to be, endeavouring by other enormities to bereave his majesty of his pardoning prerogative, which cannot produce the desired effect of safety and security, without the gracious influence of royal assent, wherefore as you cannot but know, that they are no Kings, bee likewise assured, that being opposite to the King, they have not the power to grant warrantable pardons. And if they had, it is not manifest, that their mind and intention is far from the performance of their promise, whereas in this very Parliament they have voted and decreed, that all such men, as well of the English, as the Irish race, as have taken arms in this cause & action, shall be ever excluded from all hope of safety, & never permitted to enjoy life or inheritance. This decree yields but could comfort unto your hopeful security promised by pardon. It is not like that these absolute votaries have reserved intention to preserve life and estate, contrary to this their parliamentary decree, and their usual practise: you are not the first that hath been deluded with faire promises of security, and pardon, which avayled them no further, then till their leisure did serve to cut them short, under pretence of some other cause, or feigned offence, whereof the examples are tragical, & many & most worthy of consideration, to know that there is as much disaster to be expected by Parliament pardons, and friendship, as any man may fear from the violence of their Sword & hatred. Be not therefore so much affrighted as that you should discretely fall from your standing, to the prejudice of so just a cause, nor so far deluded with vain hope, as to cast yourself headlong into the deceitful snares of unfaithful promises, with most certain danger of your life, loss of soul and goods, and remedy-lesse grief of  
Your ever assured friend Th. N.