A DIALOGUE between the DEVIL & Prince RUPERT, Written at the Leaguer before Chester upon rupert's coming to relieve the said City.  
Published, that those that now are, or hereafter shall engage, as Caterers, for the same master, might by this general debenter be the better assured to receive all their Arrears both old and new.  
Written by E. B.  
London, Printed for T. B.   

The Devil and Prince Rupert; OR Prince RUPERT the Devil's Caterer, for the insatiable gulf or belly of hell; his invitement thereof after Breakfast and Dinner, now at last to Supper; with the Devils Answers and his Replies, as followeth.  

GApe hungry Hell, thou'lt ne'er be satisfied,  
Thy belly's bottomless and wondrous wide,  
Else it could ne'er contain so much at onst;  
I therefore think it was made for the nonst:  
Thou hadst a Breakfast dressed thee at Edghill,  
One would have thought thou there hadst eat thy fill.  
Likewise I catered and prepared again  
At York a Dinner of five thousand men:  
And now again I have a multitude  
Of brutish, swinish, wicked, base and rude,  
They'll soon be fat and fitted for the slaughter,  
I give such breadth for plunder and for pasture,  
And mean to dress and fit them all for supper,  
But then let cater who that will for Rupert.   

The Devils Answer to his Cater Rupert.  
Well Rupert, well, but wilt thou serve us so?  
Wilt thou disband thyself, and from us go,  
When, well thou knowest, we stand in greatest need,  
And want of men my hungry belly t' feed?  
Know therefore then, if thus thou from us go,  
Thou shalt be paid with endless, easless woe:  
If ere thou cease to rob, and wrong, and spoil,  
Thou shalt thyself be rob, wronged, foiled:  
Or cease thy murder, and thy treachery,  
And some man shall betray and butcher thee:  
For so from God above they have commission,  
Papists themselves will do't by his permission:  
Though thou dares trust them; yet if thou them leave,  
Of life and honour they will thee bereave:  
And deal far worse with thee, than any other,  
By how much deeper thou art sworn their brother:  
Then think not thou, at least, to serve us so,  
Lest it procure thy present endless woe:  
For Hell mouth gapes, for thee as well as others,  
Nay for thee rather, thou and I are brothers.  
Be therefore wife, and serve me out thy time,  
And all the Papists shall with thee combine;  
Yea all the Atheists sure will take thy part,  
And guard thy life, and never from the start:  
So shalt thou scape from Hell, as long as they,  
And when thou comes, receive thy double pay.   

Prince rupert's Reply.  
My pay, says Rupert, what now dost thou mean,  
Thou damned Devil? when did I complain  
For want of pay? I am a Volunteer  
Thou never heard, I want of pay did fear:  
I serve for love of thee, and just thy cause,  
And therefore look I should have thy applause;  
And that the Papists should not from me sever,  
But that we might approach thy Court together,  
And there be entertained with royal honours,  
That have for Antichrist displayed our Banners:  
Papists and Atheists, all the damned rabble,  
I'll bring them home as soon as I am able.  
Let's therefore know what desperate royal honours  
Thou wilt afford according to thy manners,  
When we approach thy presence and thy palace,  
By sword or famine, pestilence or gallows:  
And if I like thy devilish damned honours,  
I'll serve my time, and still display thy banners.   

The Devils Answer to his Caterer Rupert, for his fuller satisfaction in his proud humour.  
Well Rupert, hearken, sigh thou art so stout,  
I'll tell thee truth, and put thee out of doubt;  
These are my Royal, Courtly, Kingly Honours,  
To all that constantly display my Banners.  
When first they enter my infernal palace  
By Sword or Famine, Pestilence or Gallows,  
Yea thus it is, and thou shalt find it so,  
Though both to thine, and mine eternal wo.   

Lucifer or Belzebubs welcome to his new guests or inmates, at their first entrance, or dragging of them down, to his infernal palace, amongst his roughhewn Courtiers, as followeth.  
Oh brave infernals, welcome now to me,  
It doth me much rejoice, you here to see:  
Who hath you held thus long? Why have you stayed,  
As though you should not have your wages paid?  
Why are you grown so fearful to approach  
My utmost palace? sent I not a coach  
To fetch you in, and t' show youare welcome Friends?  
Come in, come in, I'll make you all amends;  
You need not doubt, you shall not want your pay,  
I'll give you interest double for your stay:  
What you have lost in time, I'll paid in measure  
For all your pains and care, with hellish treasure:  
I am not poor nor sore of hellish coin,  
My Subjects do what ever I enjoin.  
I need not budge, nor call a Parliament  
To furnish me with coin for my intent.  
I can maintain my Soldiers all with pay,  
And lodge them warm in Winter, night or day:  
I have both choice and store of gold and coin,  
Of wine and beer; you need not to purloyn:  
I can and will requite and retribute  
Your pains and minds with what thereto doth suit.  
You shall not want a mite of your deserts,  
Your just proportions, nor your equal parts:  
He that hath earned more, shall more receive,  
He that hath earned less, the less shall have.  
He that with zeal and valour hath employed,  
And spent his strength and wits, and hath annoyed  
And hurt them most, that have my cause withstood,  
I will with zeal requite him and his brood.  
He shall drink deep of mixed and hellish wine  
Flaming in cups of zeal and fury fine;  
As Captain chief, he shall have brave attendants,  
Such whom he liked, that were his dependants.  
These shall enclose and compass him about,  
Clothed with fire, and fury on a rout,  
Whereby they shall increase, not quench his flame,  
But heap on wood and brimstone to the same;  
Each one as faggots shall about him stand,  
He in the midst, and all at my command.  
There shall the fire, yea breath and wrath of God  
Seize or, and burn, as on a heap of wood.  
There shall they cry and yell with hideous noise,  
At which my highness laughing, shall rejoice:  
Though I must with them be tormented then,  
Yet needs I must rejoice, to torture them.  
For had I not been wickedly disposed,  
I never had in this my pit been closed.   

Prince rupert's desperate Reply, as followeth.  
Oh wicked, damned, desperate, cursed Devil,  
Canst thou rejoice, to know our case so evil?  
And dost not shame, to tell it us before,  
What we and thou must bide for evermore.  
Nay, what both thou, and we, with all our power,  
Can neither help, nor mitigate an hour:  
And is it true, that thou wilt then rejoice,  
To hear our cries, and yelling hideous noise;  
Though thou thyself must be tormented too,  
Together with us, as is justly due.  
Yea though thou wast the first that led us wide,  
And made us break that Law that should us guide  
To Heaven-ward, and keep us back from Hell,  
Where thou, for doing so, must ever dwell;  
And yet thou canst rejoice, that thou and we  
Must there for evermore tormented be.  
What good can that do thee to see us broil  
In hellish flames, who knows it was thy guile  
That brought us thither, and for which thou must  
Be more tormented, and more deeply cursed:  
Yea thou that knows this to be just and true,  
And that it is no more but what is due,  
That thou and we, look how much more we sin,  
So much more torment we augment and win,  
And heap on faggots to increase our flame,  
Else they that writ the Scripture are to blame;  
And yet thou still canst instigate to sin,  
And put us on, vainglory but to win,  
And make us toil and moil, yea sweat and chafe,  
To heap up wrath against the day of wrath:  
Thou damned Devil, thou art worse than I,  
I never could have dealt so ill with thee:  
Though yet it may be thou herein but lies,  
There's no such matters, Heaven and Hell are toys.  
I never yet regarded such reports,  
But chose to follow honour, wealth, and sports  
Whiles this life lasts, and then let come what will,  
God hath they say decreed both good and ill:  
Whatever hath been, is, or shall be done  
Against both God the Father and the Son:  
Why then should I relinquish all my pleasure,  
My way to honour, yea, to wealth and treasure,  
And go about to serve and worship God,  
Which never yet methinks with honour stood,  
In sight of men to humble so myself,  
They would but think me some baseminded elf:  
Besides, I should but play the Hypocrite,  
If I should seem therein to take delight,  
By making show of holiness within,  
When well I know my heart is fraught with sin:  
Yea, God and man would call me hypocrite,  
Unless my heart therein did take delight:  
For that which is within would sometimes out,  
I should appear so devilish proud and stout,  
That all would know I were not so indeed,  
Nor would such shows stand me in any steed,  
Unless I first of all could cleanse my heart,  
And from my sins and wickedness departed,  
God would not hear my prayer, nor accord  
To what I do in act or speak in word:  
And this I know I cannot frame to do,  
It's therefore vain to set myself thereto,  
For love of sin hath so possessed my heart,  
That I can never freely with it part:  
Then come what will, I must seclude all care,  
It spoils my honour, pleasure, dainty fair;  
And all my worldly hopes it swallows up,  
When I but think of drinking such a cup  
As thou hast told me of, thou damned Devil,  
Come let's to th' wine, I'll drink no cup so evil.  
Do thou thy worst, I'll scape thy gaping mouth,  
I can retire East, West, yea North and South;  
I shall make sure before I battle give  
To pass and repass, 'cause I mean to live:  
Gape therefore hell, and let me see thy mouth,  
I know not where to find it North or South:  
But gape, I come, I'll bring them up amain,  
And drive them headlong to eternal pain:  
For what care I, the blame shall light on thee,  
And on themselves because they cannot see,  
But flunder down, and fall into thy mouth,  
Because they will not part from sins of youth;  
But are grown  in God-damning ways,  
And neither care what God nor Scripture says;  
And as for me, I cannot blame them much,  
Lest of my own sins they give me some touch:  
And how should I find fault and blame them for  
What I in heart do love, or not abhor,  
For they and I, and I and they together  
Are ripe for ruin, reap when God sends weather,  
And spare not me, so thou mayst reap us all;  
Gape wide enough for horse, and man, and all:  
I'll troop them up with full carrier together;  
I'll either choke thee or thy breath I'll smother.   

The Answer of the Devil and the insatiable gulf  
Well, desperate wicked RUPERT, spare not me,  
I much rejoice thy desperate mind to see:  
For thou and I, and many thousand others  
Were long since desperate, therein we are brothers:  
However yet I am your proper father,  
You are my sons and heirs, come all together,  
You shall be welcome, come on when you please;  
Throng in amain, you shall not me displease:  
I much rejoice in hopes of such a supper,  
Yet if the Roundheads do, I'll spare Prince RUPERT:  
For were it not for thee, as I am told,  
I could not get my mouth full scarce for gold:  
But desperate RUPERT thou dost threat to choke me,  
I would I had my mouth full, Rupert look thee,  
It's two miles wide, as 'twas at York i'th' battle,  
Fill it and take't thee, thou proves desperate metal.   
FINIS,  
April 1. 1645.   


Upon the Princes coming down for Cheshire,  
Discovered, overheard, disclosed by me,  
Whose name and surname begins with E and B,  
But cause some think my name I dare not show,  
It's Ellis Bradshaw, tell Prince RUPERT so.