A COPY OF A LETTER, Written to Master STEPHEN MARTIAL Minister.  
By a Gentleman a Parishoner of his, desiring satisfaction about the lawfulness of this War.  
To which is added An Answer by a wellwisher.  
May. 30th LONDON, 1643.   

SIR,  
I Had almost fallen into the common compliment, and saluted you with a profession of my sorrow, for your long indisposition to bodily health; but calling to mind your own and often instructions, that we ought in all things, wholly to submit ourselves and pleasures to that better seeing Providence, who out of his infinite wisdom works his own ends by his own means, and prosecutes his unlimited and secret will, by his own unsearchable ways; my timorous pen, guided by a trembling heart, changeth that compliment of grief● for your present visitation, into a dialect of prayer for your future happiness. Every sickness is God's Lecture, and every lecture for our Instruction, & every Instruction is a subject for our humble & serious Meditation, when heaven is our journey's end, no matter whether, our horse troth or amble, so he holds it out, it matte●s not, whether the ●un shine or the Wind blow, so our way be right; Prosperity is a pleasant road but slippery and flattered with security, is more dangerous; Adversity is less comfortable, but sweetened with pati●nc● is more safe. Sir, I have always accounted you a good horseman in respect of your self, and a trusty guide in respect of others; and my ambition h●th been to ke●p pace, at least to follow you. Both on journeys have aimed at the same end and for many miles we have both traveled the same way. But since these Nationall distractions and unnatural distempers, wherein the whole Church and State is plunged and puzzled, your confidence and my fears have led us into several paths▪ insomuch (to my great grief I fear) that one of us hath lost our way, yet give me leave to say without offence, you deviate and have lost that road which formerly your steps have trod, whereby my zealous fears still unconfident of new ways, intergreets you too bold so near a wilderness.  
You cut down styles, leap ditches, trample hedges, and force a man through other men's possessions: I keep the beaten tract, whereby our late peaceful travellers, without the smallest damage, have safely, timely and sweetly, attained their happy journey's end; you by the red Sea, pursue your obvious foes, I by the quiet banks of lordan profecute my calm designs; in brief you go the way of blood, wherein I fear your actions a little too much relish of your name, and I the name of peace. True in that bloody and cloudy time of the Law, God style himself the Lord of Hosts, you are a Minister of that Gospel, you a Steward of that peace. When the Lord of Peace expired, He left us a gracious Legacy of Peace, you are one of the executors of his last will: What is become of this Legacy? we demand, you deny it; we appeal to equity, you to the sword; He that smiteth by the sword, shall perish by the sword: Our blessed Saviour is the Prince of Peace, but where and all his subjects? Even making war, and embrueing their hands in blood. But in the blood of whom? of Pagans, Turks, Infidels? No, in the blood of Christians, nay, brethren of the same Religion, wherein all relations both Political and Economical, both Civil, Natural and Christiar, are dissolved and overwelmed: Sir, you have approved of these wars; nay, being a Chaplain to this Army, have animated our brethren in these wars: Men whose ignorance have pinned their salvation upon your warrant, and whose blood you must justify in the great account, deal truly with me, what is the occasion of these wars? the voice cryeth Reformation: Tell me, was ever Reformation made in blood? the Epidemic voice crieth truth or else no Peace: What truth is it, of Doctrine or of Discipline? If we want the Truth of Doctrine, Actum est de nostra Religione, or is it of Discipline? Must this truth be propagated by the sword, must this Truth be bought with the price of blood, and perchance with the destruction of those souls, which the Lord of Peace sufficiently died for.  
O dear, o bloody Truth, without warrant beyond precedent, did the fountain of all mercy, peace and truth require such a truth beyond all merey & peace? Did the Lord of the Sabbath dispense with the breach of a moral Law, the strict observing of his Sabbath to save the life of an Ox or an Ass? And shall we prefer the sudden abrogation of some indifferent Ceremonies, before the lives of many thousand Christians? nay, Ceremonies approved of by holy and learned men, chosen and thought worthy to depose their lives in defence of true Religion against that Church, whereof these our Ceremonies relish, Ceremonies established by that pious Prince Edward the 6, and his religious and pious Counsel in Parl. confirmed by that Illustrious and renowned Princess, the Phoenix of her time, our late Q. Elizabeth; Ratified by the late learned defender of our Faith, K. James, of blessed memory; the charge whereof (as a holy legacy) he left to our Gracious Sovereign now labouring to execute his will. Are these the Ceremonies that challenge so much blood, or is the sudden abrogation of them to be balanced with the ruin of a Kingdom? Sure the occasion of this bloody flux is neither truth of Doctrine nor of Discipline? therefore not religion. Or is the cause of this unnatural and civil commotion civil? is the King's Prerogative too large, or the Subject's Privilege too narrow? His Majesty's gracious offer is to regulate both by the known Laws of the land; And having taken a Spontaneous execration to perform it; for my part I dare not in my heart conceive such evil of the Lords anointed, as once to distrust him.  
Sir, as one that desireth, yea preferreth the glory of Almighty God above his life, and the testimony of a good Conscience above a thousand worlds, I desire you to satisfy me in these particulars. And as you shall answer it before the great Tribunal of the judge of Heaven and Earth, when you shall give account of all your flock, where of I myself am one: deal plainly, clearly and truly with me, concerning the lawfulness of this war, wherein as I shall direct my prayers to Almighty God to direct you, so I shall require you, that he would be pleased to make me capable of your directions, aiming at none other end but God's glory and my own salvation.  Vincat Veritas, 
 Evanescat Vanitas. 
FINIS.   

A Speedy Answer to the said Letter.  
SIR,  
I Know you will much wonder, by what fate it happened, that your Letter should so miscarry, as to fall into my hands, you pretend it to be written to M. Stephen Martial, and yourself a Parishoner of his; but whether true or no, I cannot tell; but I believe the contrary, for surely had your ingenuity been such, as became one of his flock, you would rather have first conferred with him privately, than to be so ambitious of the Press, as to publish such a Letter before you had acquainted him. And for my part I cannot be so ignorant to conceive, that you should expect that so worthy a Divine would so much forget his more serious employments, as to answer in public, such weak objections, which must needs disparage his worth and abilities; Yet perhaps you in your fancy much magnify your own notions, and it is possible imagine great matters of this child of your brain▪ seeing now that any thing how silly soever, if it be but barely apprehended to favour the Malignants, how it is hugged and received, though it be but an Apology for the Cavaliers, but lest you should too much glory in your own conceit, here is a sudden reply to your Letter, and if you should happen to discover your opposer, you will be as much ashamed (being so confident of your own strength) to be wrestled with by such a one, as that party will blush to be known to be in print, but leaving such compliments, I pass over your Preface, being as little to the controversy as I shall find the rest, you confess, that both your journeys aimed at the same end and for many miles you both traveled the same way: How came you to pa●t? was there any Malignant that overtook you, and whispered in your ear some Court doctrine of the unlimited power of Princes and unconfined prerogative, was there any such that carried you into another road? You te●l ●s indeed that since these National distractions and unnatural distempers wherein the whole State is plungea and puzzled, his confidence a●d you fears have lead you into several paths and one of you hath l●st his way. These distractions and unnatural distempers are confessed, but it is expected that you should rest us who were the first causers of them, or wherein M. Martial hath lost that road wherein formerly his steps did tread. I cannot take your bare affirmation, & abate your proofs in a matter of this consequence, I pray tell us, who first disturbed our peace? not to speak of the late strange innovations both in Church and State, the occasion of the difference with our brethren in Scotland, the ground of the rebellion in Ireland; all these are sufficiently known, but you think perhaps that we should have yielded our throats, and made no defence against that inundation of Arbitrary power, both in Church and State, that we should have betrayed our Parl. falsified our Oaths & Protestations, & though the Law of God and Nature, and the Law of the Kingdom likewise, do allow us to defend ourselves, yet we should have wilfully … ected all these; What think you of the Rochellers, did they lawfully defend themselves against the French K. or did K. Charles do well to aid and assist them? Yet show me where the Parl. of France gave them authority to take up arms, and yet no question they might lawfully do it. And what is all that you have said but Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur; For, who more bloody and cruel than those Malignants, You would seem to justify? who more bloody than those very men, I say those Delinquents, who have seduced his Sacred Majesty, & detain him now amongst the●● are these they, who with a Popish Army will maintain the Protestant Religion? can our Kingdom be to blinded, that after above 80 years preaching of the Gospel, we should be so seduced to believe this, & that Protestants should join with Papists to destroy Protestants, and that free borne Subjects should join with Delinquents to destroy their Laws and Liberties, and that the mere will and pleasure of the King should command obedience against the Laws of the Kingdom, doth the Parl. require any thing but the being of a Parl. and if the being of a Parl. then surely the authority and power of 〈◊〉 Parliament▪ So that the King's personal absence or refusal, cannot disannul that authority, for he is continually there in his politic capacity; these things have been sufficiently dilated upon by the learnedst and ablest Pens. You say M. Martial hath approved of this war, and he will tell you and so will as able, godly and learned Divines as any in England, that this war by authority of Parl. is lawful; read his learned Letter, a book entitled Scripture and Reason and those Answers to D. Ferne.  
When you talk of Reformation, is there not need, what our doctrine hath suffered by the erroneous expositions of the Arminians of late is sufficiently known, if you but read that learned book of M. Chenel● and how forward some were for a reconcilement with the Church of Rome, is apparent by the Venetian Ambassadors information to the State of Venice, which you may see in that little Tract entitled the Pope's Nuntio; You proceed to the Ceremonies and tell us, that they were approved of by holy and learned men, chosen & thought worthy to depose their lives, in defence of true Religion against that Church, whereof you say these Ceremonies relish, you confess then that these Ceremonies relish of the P●pish Church, but speak out, dare you say that these holy & learned men died in defence of these Ceremonies, we honour the memory of those holy Martyrs in Q. Mary's days, and though some of them did approve of the Ceremonies, yet others did not, and we can withal distinguish betwixt time and times. For that pious King Edward the 6, and his sister the virtuous Q. Eliz. their memories are precious amongst us, for the first he had but a short reign & so could not make any perfect Reformation; and for Q. Eliz. what Counsellors she was necessitated to make use of, when she came to the Crown and what power and authority the Bishopss there were in, is apparently known; K. James who succeeded her, was, it is confessed, a most learned Prince, and but read his Basilicon Doron, you shall find he was no great enemy to the Government of the Church of Scot but Bishops here did too much flatter him, yet the Archbish of Cant. was never cordially respected by him, thoughby his servile fawning on the D. of Buckingham, the K. grea● favourite, he obtained some preferment. Your demand is the K. Prerogative too large or the Sub. liberty too narrow. The Parl. ●ath not any ways lessened his Majesty's just Prerogarive, nor the Sub. desired it, and for their Priviled. they desire none but what are right; we know his Majesty hath made many gracious offers, but we know likewise, that until his Majesty forsake those all Counsellors about him, we shall see but small performance? how many Petitions hath the Parliament sent him? what disires of peace? could ever subjects be more dutiful, nay? how loath to defend themselves, and after all this, what scandalous papers come out to their defamations, I need not repeat, you know them better than my sel●; I end, desiring God Almighty to prosper that Army which stands most ready for the true Protestant Religion, the honour of the King and the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom.  Vivat Rex, 
 Floreat Parliamentum.  
FINIS.