THE WONDER OF A kingdom, Dedicated to the junto at Westminster. Rascal Reformers, snowy devils, Behold the period of your evils Draws nigh, ere yet the dogged star Cease to inflame the Hemisphere You shall taste vengeance, and be sent To hell for ample punishment: Your blue-capped Brethren swear they'll be The whips shall yerk your treachery; Your Navie's gone, your credit's lost, Those are your foes, once lend you most Your Sumpter horses of the city, Cry Pox take this damned State-Committee: Your Army moulders, and from all Points of the compass comes your fall. O strange! the Ballad-makers dare To say, you Slaves and Traitors are, The Fates are just that made you thus Even to the rustics odious: Hobnails and clouted shoes 'tis you Are the brave boys, the feat must do; To your enraged fury we Leave Treason and Disloyalty. Printed in the year. 1648. The wonder of a kingdom. HArk! how loud the citizen's murmur! how rigidly the countries complain! how deeply the Seamen threaten! how resolutely the Scots resolve! how wretchedly Fairfax and his Saints bemoan themselves! and how desperately the Junto at Westminster engage, blaspheming their God, and cursing their King! what denotes all this? This shows great Charles not broken by his fall, Nor must be hurried to his funeral Without resistance, since the people's eyes Are fixed all upon his second rise, That conscience is not banished, law'gone post, That yet Astraea harbours in our coast; That the Egyptian States no Goshen have No patent for to shield them from the grave, But must wade to their Babel deep in blood, Which from each quarter swells into a flood: No passage for them to the Holy Land, Because the Red Sea does divided stand, If they would fly, the Sea must be their tomb And bury them in Amphitrites womb; Providence irresistible hath decreed They shall scape water on the Land to bleed; This shows the fumes of bold ambition Makes their souls reel and dash against a stone, The Rocks of Charles his greatness splits the Knaves, They sink, as if in the Agaean weaves: This shows the city-ass on whom doth ride, The two most cursed copartners, reason and pride, Is tired with eating thistles and would fain Feed at the royal Manger once again. This shows the Seamen now will steer aright, And that the Saints 'gainst Colchester that fight, Of storms and tempests have their bellies full, Since Lucas sported with a fiery Bull. This shows the junto are assigned to fall, And dogs shall celebrate their funeral; This uncouth change, but happy Fate to see, May well the wonder of a kingdom be. Those shallow Sciolists, who like Materia prima, comprehend in their minds all variety of impressions, willingly part with their Ideas; those Nomalists who taught we erred except we went astray, now preach there can be no tranquillity without Order and Discipline: those that had their hands chiefly in the setting up of the Dagon of Presbytery, now put to their whole strength to break it to pieces on the threshold of Ashod: those that were for a Parliament without a King, are now on fire to have a King without a Parliament; those that worshipped Democracy, now adore Monarchy; those that tore and rent the book of Common Prayer, now grow weary of praying, Ex tempore; those that termed the Surplice the Whore of Babylon's smock, now esteem it as the emblem of purity: those that would fly from a maypole adorned with Garlands as from the droppings of an Alder-tree, now censure their own folly for condemning such indifferent objects; those that taxed David of heresy for extolling the music of the Church, now confess the Organs yield a heavenly melody, and inspire the mind with celestial Rhapsodies, those that formerly esteemed it no less than the highest Superstition, to kneel when they received the Sacrament of the Lord's Body, now will not deny, but there ought to be reverence given, as well external as internal: those that divulged it for horrible sin to bow at the name of their dear Saviour, now will acknowledge, that is no more than is requisite: those that before preached it impiety to sign Infants with the seal of the cross, and were of opinion that they might baptize them themselves, even in their Chimney-corners, now cry out, that the cross is the Christians Badge, and that they have incurred the pains of hell for their horrid profanation of that holy Sacrament, as even at this present, A Weaver in London, whose name I shall not divulge, because I hope the man (if desperation do not too much get the upperhand) may yet be a faithful and conformable member of the Church: this man a fiery Zealor of the anabaptistical Sect, of great reverence and esteem amongst them as one of their prime Prophets, whether out of a desire of glory, and to be of singular estimation amongst those of his fraternity, or whether the devil (which is most probbable) forced him forwards to do an act which might confirm those erring Sectaries in their erroneous principles, and so to noose them yet faster: however it was, this fellow one night having invited at least 12. or 14. of those of his own tribe, whom he thought were the most simple, and would the soonest be deluded with a fallacy, to a supper, which they celebrated in an upper room, after all his guests were all seated, and began to fall to their meat, suddenly he begun to be in a wonderful ecstasy, he writhed his face, rolled his eyes, foamed at mouth, and seemed to be as one transported beyond himself to the great terror & amazement of his simple friends whom he beckoned with hands (seeming) not able to speak signifying they should kneel down to prayers the credulous coxcombs did so, trembling so extremely that their knees knocked one against another, suddenly beneath them they heard a rumbling terrible noise and withal many fatal shrieks and dreadful groans which almost put them beside their w●ts, (as since they have confessed) their hair stood an end on their heads and they looked each minute to be swallowed, the noise still continued, when the Weaver seemed a little to recover himself, after a while returning to his wanted temper he began to speak comfortably to his aguish brethren, exhorting them not to be daunted, this knowing, that none could come to any evil beneath his roof, he having no less than an whole legion of angels to wait upon him, and therefore he desired them to sit still (if it were possible) untroubled, au● he would presently make a discovery according as God had revealed un- to him: all which his comfortable sayings very little or nothing abated the fear of his quivering brethren, than he proceeded to read a chapter, which he told them was of sufficient efficacy to quell the fury of devils and Serpents, after that he gave out a psalm, requesting them to sing after him, which alas they were altogether unable to do, their jaws being almost torn in sunder by the hand of fear, at last after a most solemn invocation he stooped down, & in the name of God made inquiry, what Spirit or angel of darkness it was; that caused that terrible tumult, after which words the noise and yellings greatly increased, and then on the sudden quite taken away, the murmuring sound of a drum was heard, the Weaver still plying his demands, received this answer. That the shade or Ghost of John Reinolds, that worthy man of God was come beneath his roof, where he met with great opposition by divers damned souls, who enclosed him about with yelling noise whom he had now dissipated, they being the souls of such and such (naming the party) who had been greatly opposite against their way, and he was sent to tell him, that there was a great persecution shortly to be expected, against which he ought to arm himself, as also to advertise the whole Society, that it was the pleasure of the Lord that they should fight for the maintenance of their religion, which was signified by that drum, the noise whereof he heard; after this was said, the spirit departed; the Weaver turning him about to his guests, began to say unto them, brethren, you all see how acceptable my services are in the eyes of the Lord, that he is pleased to signify his mind so largely unto me, all which you may declare unto our brethren, as you shall have occasion? And so after some other talk the man departed home, and the next day they declared the wondrous things that had been and heard, which was occasioned thus, the Waver bound one of his Servants, by an oath of secrecy never to reveal (though since he hath broke it) the stratagem, and with many gifts and fair promises hired him to place himself at that hour of the night between the boards, and the sealing, taking with him a cat whose legs he had tied together with sharp pricks between, who upon his pulling of a string made a strange and horrid noise, with extremity of pain &c. Upon the rumor of this miraculous Revelation, the Weaver grew greatly to be esteemed of amongst those of his Society, till on a time his man betrayed the secret, which yet those pestilent Sectaries seek to hide for their credit sake, this fellow lately confessed of his own accord, that he hath baptised many children by the fire side, for which his conscience now so much upbraids him, that he remains distraught, crying out he is damned, he is damned, and must go to hell for ever and ever; I hope the Reader will pardon this large digression, it being so pertinent to our discourse: I say this fellow finds how wretchedly he hath fooled himself even unto the brink of hell, and I hope he may yet live to be a penitent convert; but to our matter, 'tis very strange and wonderful to see how of late men's minds are come about, like mill horses; they have gone round this seven years, and are now arrived at the same station where first they set out. How fast at first the Hydra Multitude, Who neither are with wit, or sense endued; Run to their ruin, but let that fault die, And ever perish in a lethargy: How are the Junto madded for to see Their soon regained love to loyalty! This very thing strikes to their hearts more fear Than thunder in the trembling Indians ear: The people see their error, they not theirs, Since peace and loyalty are their equal fears; And to speak truth, having primarily placed the cause in God's Almighty & excellent providence, the Rebels have brought these calamities upon their perjured pates by their own greedy desire of Dominion, by their palpable treachery to his Majesty, and by their trampling upon, and squeezing the purses both of Peers and people to enrich their own paivate coffers, they could not be contented to keep their King in prison, contrary to all Laws both divine and human, except they also murdered him, they could not be contented to thrust out all those their fellow-Members, that refused to join with them in their treasonable, perfidious, disloyal, bloody barbarous and unparalleled undertakings, unless they also sequestered their estates to a penny, exposing them to all manner of wants and miseries, yea sometimes to such penury, that they have been compelled to beg their means of life, they esteemed it not sufficient to draw in the people by a State-trick, to gull them into rebellion by fair and specious pretences, & buzzing in their ears false & needless jealousies, to the involving of them in a long & bloody war, unless they also put bits in their mouths, & saddles on their backs, & getting astride upon them to ride them to death, they could not be contented to have abrogated all Law and equity, all judgement & justice, unless they also introducted all manner of illegal Impositions corrupted all Courts of judicature, perverted the course of Justice, & left the people (in case of never so grievous an outrage) without hope of any redress, till the resurrection. It would astonish a man almost beyond belief, to cogitate from what an height those bloody Rebels are fall'n within the space almost of a month, in so little a time to forfeit what they had got together for the space of 7. years with infinite expense of blood and coin, is very strange & remarkable; yea such a metamorphosis as could not have been wrought by any human power, without God's immediate providence, those that were Masters of a kingdom some days since, are now great in nothing but their fears; the Navies revolted (as they call it) or rather returned to the Allegiance they owe unto their King, that they sink not in that sea of blood in which they swam to their hopes, during the long and cruel war, now have quite deserted them and wait but an opportunity to show their teeth, the generallity of the kingdom, who for many years looked upon them as Gods, now behold them as devils, their brethren who have all along, kept a fair correspondency with them, and jointly prosecuted the war, now are come against them with their swords in their hands, resolving to take vengeance upon them as perfiddious traitors, and traitorous miscreants, the reasons and grounds of this wonderful change are these. First, when they (being puffed up with pride and overweening thoughts) imagined all was their own by sea, as well as by land, would needs new model the navy, put forth and put in whom they listed, issuing out all orders and signing all their mandates in their own name (a villainy never attempted by any but them, not so much as naming his majesty's Person or Power, the Master's captains and mariners of Ships took it in extreme dungeon now perceiving their intents were in all things to make themselves a free state, first they murmured in private after they took sides, and lastly openly declared themselves against the treachery of the rebels, turned the Skippers boy Rainsbro●ugh their mock admiral on shore set sail for Holand to proffer their service to their true Admiral the Duke of York, protesting to live and die for his Majesty, in which condition they now remain at present. Secondly, the Citizens of London having a long season like fools and Knaves hazarded their lives and drained their Estates, for defending and usurped greatness perceiving now at last that they have but nourished Serpents in their bosoms who value them no longer than they may prey upon them, and have left them in the lurch without performance o● the least thing they romised, leaving them open to the outrages of a plundering bloody Sectarian Army, they resolve no longer to be the protectors of such villainies, but to repent of what they have done restrain their aid for the future, and to pull down the aspiring nimrod's, from the top of their greatness. With them the kingdom do combine, And all the elements do join: Brave citizens stand firm and we Will soon restore his majesty. Shall Colchester alone win praise, And shall not London share the bays? Join hands and hearts, to pluck down those, Are both the Kings, and kingdom's foes; And let the after Ages tell We sank these traitors into hell. Even when with pride their souls did reel Even when they grasped fortunes wheel; Sink traitors sink, for in your fall, Our pressures have their funeral. FINIS.