The Great Eclipse of the Sun, OR, CHARLES HIS WAIN Overclouded, ●y the evil Influences of the Moon, the malignancy of Ill-aspected Planets, and the Constellations of Retrograde and Irregular Stars. otherwise, Great CHARLES, our Gracious KING, Eclipsed ●y the destructive persuasions of His Queen, by the pernicious aspects of his Cabinet Counsel, and by the subtle insinuations of the Popish Faction, Priests, Jesuits and others. As also from the firing of Towns, the shedding of Innocent Blood, and the Cries of his Subjects.   depiction of Charles I's suppression of his subjects 
Thy Subject's blood!  
with fire and sword,  
Cries Vengeance Lord.  
Conscience that checks th' poor man for his sin,  
Hear plays the Ghost, and tells our misled KING,  
That firing houses, and his Subjects slaughter,  
Have so Eclipsed him, he'll scarce shine hereafter:  
For when by Fire and Sword Kings bloody prove,  
They lose at once their Light, and Subjects love.  
Printed according to Order, by G. B. August. 30. 1644.   

The great Eclipse of the Sun. OR Charles his Wain.  
THe Commonwealth may most fitly be compared to the Glo●… of the Heavens. The King is the Sun, the Parliament are t●… bright Stars; Malignant Counselors to the King, are the ev●… aspected Planets, such as Bristol, Cottington, Lord Keep●… Littleton, Digby, Jermyn, and others, whereby the King h●… been Eclipsed, and hath lost that Light which should rend●… him Glorious in the eyes of his People, and brought hims●… to the lowest degree of respect amongst his Subjects; A●… whereas the King should have been a Sun, shining by examp●… and maintaining the Light of the Gospel, he hath suffered it from the beginning of 〈◊〉 Reign, to be extinguished and put out; we should have had no Gospel, nor any Fai●… but what the King and the Bishops would have forced upon us; This Plot was handsomely carried on by the Bishop of Canterbury, and had not our Brethren of Scotland be●… true, Popery had spread itself over this Kingdom, and long since we had been 〈◊〉 Papists and slaves to the King and his Prerogative. For the King was eclipsed by t●… Queen, and she persuaded him that Darkness was Light, and that it was better to be 〈◊〉 Papist, then a Protestant, the Bishops affirmed as much, and the Learned Divin●… Preached good Roman Doctrine at Court, and cringed and bowed in the pulpit, flatte●… the King, prayed for the Queen, and so got advancement to be prebend's and Dea●… of great Cathedral Churches. The Judges put out the Light of the Kings understa●…sting, by telling him, That he had an unbounded Prerogative; The Court Politicians informed him that Monopolies and Taxes would make his Subjects obedient, that such mil●… beginnings of slavery would make the people fit and apt for subjection, and that t●… Counsel-table would be a terror to those that were stubborn, and the High Comm●sion Court and Star-chamber would serve to Fine, and punish offenders. The light 〈◊〉 the King's understanding being thus Eclipsed, and the eyes of the Protestant Rel●… being put out, we must have groap'd out the way to heaven through Catholic blindness, without any light at all, unless it were the Wax Candles burning on the Altar, 〈◊〉 the Light of Meriting by giving Alms; and the Bishops told the King, it was true Re●…gion to pray unto the Lady Mary, and be ruled by his little Queen Mary, for this was ●…dolatry, but the way to increase his Royal Offspring, and Progeny, whereupon 〈◊〉 King being in full Conjunction with this Popish Planet, the Queen, he was totally ●…lipsed by her Counsel, who under the Royal Curtains, persuaded him to advance 〈◊〉 Plots of the Catholics, under the colour of maintaining the Protestant Religion. Or●…nary women, can in the Night time persuade their husbands to give them new Gowns 〈◊〉 Petticoats, and make them grant their desire; and could not Catholic Queen Mary ●…ink ye) by her night discourses, incline the King to Popery? and make him believe 〈◊〉 he had no true obedient Subjects, but Catholics, that there was no salvation out of 〈◊〉 Church of Rome, that his Majesty's Predecessors of famous memory were Catholics, 〈◊〉 the Universities desired the advancement of Popery, all their Colleges being built 〈◊〉 Papists, that it was no disparagement for his Majesty to acknowledge the Suprema●… of the Pope, while the Roundheads would take away his Prerogative, and therefore 〈◊〉 Majesty should protect the Papists, and they would defend his Right, and pray for 〈◊〉 as their supreme Governor next under the Pope. The Queen having thus read a ●…taine Lecture to the King, he began to be full of Fears and Jealousies, and to look 〈◊〉 a discontented brow upon his Parliament, and came with a swaggering crew of ●…mmy-Cavaliers to the House of Commons, to take away the five Members, which ●…le Act, being in vain attempted, his Majesty was persuaded, that his Person was 〈◊〉 danger by the coming to Court of a swarming multitude (as he called them) of un●… factious Brownists, Anabaptists, and Roundheads, and so forsaking the Parliament, he ●…ed down from London to York, thinking by his presence to gain the Love of his ●…thern Subjects, that is, The Catholics and Delinquents in those parts, and so fell 〈◊〉 with his Parliament and people, & would not Love them, that were sick of Love for 〈◊〉, but in his Wain, or Chariot (like Phaethon) down he went, with his Evil Coun●…ors, that governed his affections, made him set England on fire, and engage is in the ●…mbustion of a civil war; then he began to set on foot the illegal Commission of Ar●…, and to get a Guard about him, as big as an Army, while his Majesty made fine ●…eeches to the Mayor of York, and to the Gentry and Yeomen in that County, endea●…ring to make the Parliament odious, and crying out for assistance against the Parlia●…nt, that would induce an Alteration of Government, and would all be Kings. The ●…bitious Clergy, preached very earnestly for the King; and contributed very largely to ●…e the King an Army, to maintain his Right, and the Protestant Religion, but indeed to ●…hold the Usurping Bishops, who were then ready with Lucifer, to fall down even as 〈◊〉 as Hell.  
The Sun of Majesty, being thus Eclipsed by Error, by Evil Counsel, and by the ●…rs of Papists and Delinquents; has summonned by Proclamation, all the Malignants 〈◊〉 assist him in raising a speedy war against the Parliament, advising them, that as they ●…dred Monarchy, and the true Protestant Religion, they should endeavour, under the ●…our of a Guard, to raise him a great Army.  
Hereupon the Malignants began to move forward in a posture of war against the Parliament, the Gentry sided with his Majesty, and the common people were compelled or led on by a blind affection to the Crown.  
The Bishops began also to bustle up themselves, and to stand for the King an● Queen, they remembered that Kings and Queens had ever been indulgent father's an● nursing mothers to the Roman Church, that unless they had a King to support their Lubberly Lordships, they could not be King in their own Diocese over the rest of the Clergy; and besides the Parliament had voted them out of the House, and therefore the● would with St. Paul's sword fight for the Pope; Bishop Williams sometimes Chancellor of England, got himself Arms, with a Sword and Gauntlet, to kill Roundheads; he● saw his Bishopric was not long lived, and he would not live to see it taken from him▪ he had rather be killed or hanged, which he deserved and his other fellow Bishops, rather than be outed and cast out of his Diocese and fat Bishopric; with these fat Bul●… that were silent enough in their Pulpits) all the Malcontents joined, and all Proiecto●… that by Monopolies had made England mourn in foul linen, not for her sins, but fo● want of soap, and some that had heard of William the Conqerour, would have Kin● Charles be a Conqueror of his own subjects; but it had been better for him that he● had Conquered himself, Conquered his own passion, subdued his affection to Poperi●… and subjected himself to reason, and come home unto his Parliament, then to be carrie● on by evil counsellors to shed the blood of his subjects, giving Commission to Prin●… Rupert to butcher and kill his subjects, and fire their houses; and all because they wou●… not be slaves, or put on fetters being born unto freedom; but would rather have the Ki●… see his errors, and acknowledge what others see and know, and have felt by the rage 〈◊〉 the King's sword: O therefore let the King incline his Royal heart unto his people, an● if he will be written valiant to posterity, let him I say, Conquer himself, and return fro● Rebels and Traitors that possess him. It is the eye of Justice which they eat, and h●… Sword which they fear: But the King hath in this a Prerogative, that he must only 〈◊〉 tried in Foro Conscientiae, in the Court of his own Conscience, and no doubt but Mer●… may weigh down his sins, if he would yet put an end to these bloody Wars, and 〈◊〉 friends with his Parliament and people; then he would shine again in glory, but now 〈◊〉 the case stands all the love and obedience showed him by his subjects by the hazard 〈◊〉 their lives, to regain his Royal person, and to preserve their Liberties and Religion, a●… not at all regarded, and having lost the light of Reason, the light of Religion, and Moral humanity, he doth yet endeavour by the help of the Cavaliers, to cut a passage wi●… the sword for the Romish religion to enter into England; yet it must march in upon t●… legs of the Protestant Religion, bear the same colours with it, and with Armies in t●… West, and Armies in the North all must be wasted and consumed, and all the Protestan●… killed, and then the King and the Bishops and the Cavaleirs will alone maintain the Protestant Religion, and then there would be a strange new Government, if King Charl●… could subdue his subjects and bring them to slavery, he might be well called and stile● William the Conqueror; for he would have his will preferred above Law, and as it is 〈◊〉 France, we should not have a bed, a dish, nay a spoon, or a stool to sit upon, but it mig●… 〈◊〉 taken from us for the King's use, the Cavaleirs do show you how it should be in Eng●…nd, they plunder and take away all they can find, the goods of the Roundheads are ●…eir own, they have the King's Commission for it, and if they will not yield they will ●…ke them smoke for it, setting fire to the town, and though the King be Eclipsed and 〈◊〉 seen in these actions, yet he cannot walk nor ride so invisible but his hand hath been ●…en in these plundering firing Commissions, Signed with C. R. whereby we may see, ●…at R. which stands for the King is to be much blamed; for what the Cavaleirs do, may ●e said to be done by the King, if the King's affections were not cruelly bend, the Cava●eirs actions would not be so bloody nor inhuman; but they know that all his Protestations to maintain the Protestant Religion were but compliment, and that now he is so darkened in true glory, that we had need to pray he may recover the light of his Sceprer, ●…d the love of his subjects, and therefore they will fight it out; desperate diseases must ●ave desperate cures, and the King will pawn his Crown (if he could get it from Westminster) to maintain the Mitre, and now fight Dog fight Bear, fight Cavaleir and fight Round-head, you have barked long enough at one another, and now the King will have you fight it out, though you fight him out of his Kingdom, and make him and his Ca●…leirs fly down Westward, as if his Majesty had done some mischief, he knows the roundheads will make severe constructions of his proceed, and that his will first ●…rried him from his Parliament; but there's a thing called Conscience that doth follow ●fter the King and his Cavaleirs, faster than our Armies can do, it doth bring in a Cata●…gue of crimes, and will twitch the King by the heart and give him shrewd Items, it is worse than Hamlets Ghost; for it will haunt him every where, and cry unto him, O King ●…pect revenge for the blood of thy subjects. Who hath wasted, undone, and ruinated ●…e most famous Kingdom of England? who hath fired the Towns, plundered, killed, and destroyed his own subjects? who hath given Commission for it? who hath broke his word ●nd his promises made in so many Declarations? who sent for the Irish rebels to come ●ver to kill the Protestants, and who in all this war hath endeavoured nothing but the ●…intaining of Popery and his own Prerogative, I fear Conscience doth tell his Maie●…y it was King Charles; who hath for three years together and upward maintained an un●…turall war against his Parliament and people? Conscience replies, King Charles? who ●…nt into Spain to learn the Protestant religion, then returned and married a Catholic Queen? who hath been a chief party in mischief against the Protestants? who hearkened 〈◊〉 Queen Mary's counsel, and believed it more than God's word, and was angry and ●…ught with his subjects, and another's day hanged up fourteen Clothiers, was nor the King ●…en present?  
Did he not come with an Army from York, which was all composed of Malignants ●nd Delinquents that fled from the Parliament, and of Papists, though His Majesty promised their horses should have Protestant Riders, there were (as I said before) first ●…e Bishops, or the Bishop's Malignant money, which was sent into pay Soldiers that ●…ould fight under the Pope's Banner; and the lack-Latine Priests and Clergy contributed largely to the King's Army, fearing that for their ignorance and scandalous lives, they should be thrust out of their Viccarages and Parsonages, and that the Parliament would put Religious Ministers in their places. The young flashing Gentry that ha●… spent their father Patrimony, in whoring and dicing, these would stake their fortune● with the King, in hope to get estates and be Knighted for cutting the Protestants throat●▪ The country people would have their old ways, their old fashions, and their old Religion, their old Homilies, which were better than Round-head Sermons, they woul● have Feasts and Rushbearings in the North, and Saint days, and give Cakes for a●… Christian Souls on All-Soules day, and being Ingram people, half Papists and halfa Atheists, they would stand for the King and the old Common prayer Book, as for th● Gospel and the Parliament, they knew not what they were, but they were persuaded i● their country consciences, they ought to honour and obey the King.  
And thus with an Army of Malignant Nobility, Clergy, Gentry and Common people, the King came to Kenton-field, and in some hour's space made the ground look re● with the blood of his Subjects, is it for this he now hides his face from us, is he ashamed that so many of his Subjects lives should be lost in one Field, I find no such matter i● the Story, the King from this Field gets into the West, there to rest himself after he ha● done so good a day's work in butchering his Subjects at Kenton field, where many thousands fell on both sides, as Sacrifices to his Prerogative.  
But the King being now in the West, most of the Malignants coming in unto him, h● had (as he thought) an invincible Army, and therefore he was resolved now with a●… cruelty to proceed against the Roundheads, and the Cavaliers proceeded in plundering and firing of Towns, and killing all Roundheads; for it was his Majesty's pleasure they should so do; Alas what needs the King hid himself from the sight of his Parliament, and his other Subjects, he fights but to maintain his will as a law, or a thin● above the law called Prerogative: Can Majesty shine glorious without cruelty? Le● Subjects hate their King, so they fear him, a few evil Counselors can protect hi● from all danger, and hath he not an Army for a guard? It is then nothing but Conscience, this troublesome thing Conscience, that will be telling His Majesty of his faults and in despite of Digby, Cottington, and Jermin, will take the King alone, and charge the King with many cruel actions, that it hath reigned blood all his reign, that though the Pope and all the Devils in hell should encourage him in this bloody war, yet it i● unnatural in the sight of God and man, that there is a Hell and Doomsday, and Damnation, as well for Kings, as poor Subjects, that when His Majesty after a happy raign● should end his days in a good old age, and with the love and honour of his Subject's b● laid into his grave, what can he expect who hath murdered so many of His Subjects, an● laid them in their Graves: But alas King, fly not from this Conscience, hid not thyself, do not fly from place to place before the Lord General's Army: Losing gamesters will change their places to change their luck, sick men will change their chambers to change their diseases: But thou, O King, that wert wont to cure the King's evil in thy Subjects, art now made a King of evil consequence and destruction to thy Kingdom, by the influence of evil Counsellors, the beams of Mercy, Piety, Religion▪ Obedience to the Laws, Omnipotency in goodness, not badness, Will conformable 〈◊〉 Gods Will, and thy Justice which should impale thy Brow, are took away from thee 〈◊〉 the Cavaliers; so that thou dost not see, or if see, not pity thy distressed Subjects, ●…d as long as thou art thus affected, thus darkened in thy Royal Attributes, and wilt be only a King of Rebels and Cavaleirs, thou shalt be like unto Noah's Dove, not in innocency, but in flying from placs to place, and shalt not find a place to rest thy foot in, as ●…ng as this Deluge of blood doth overflow thy Kingdom.  
But what a saucy fellow is this Conscience? Canst thou not meddle with thy match, ●…d tell poor men only of their offences? Me thinks thou shouldst have little desire 〈◊〉 follow the King's camp, when thou wert formerly whipped out of his Court, and out 〈◊〉 all the Courts of Justice; for hadst thou continued in this Kingdom, the Pope and 〈◊〉 Majesty, and his Bishops could never have brought about their own ends: but when ●…ou and Religion were banished both together, than the Bishops began to laugh in their ●…awne sleeves, than they thought to have altered the Case, and to alter the Table, altar ●…eir Posture Preaching and Lordly titles, the little Bishop should have been a great ●…rdinall, and the other Bishops should have governed the Church more Roman, according to the Roman fashion, and it should have been dressed and tricked up with the ●…ages of St. Anthony, St. Francis, St. Patrick, St. John of Jerusalem, St. Dominick, ●…d the Lady Marie; then Crosses, should have b●en new builded and painted over, ●…re should have been little Preaching, unless they were Sermons of Liberty and freedom of sports upon the Sabbath-day. And the little Levites the small Lights of the Gospel, should have walked in cloaks down to their shoes like Jesuits, being in the ●niversities Jesuited in heart as well as habit, the Star-chamber should then have cen●…r'd Religious men to have their ears cut and clipped, as some were that suffered for thy ●…ke; because Conscience would not permit them to see Popery and blindness brought ●…o this land, to see the light of the Gospel Eclipsed and blown out by the Devil and ●…e Bishops; but Conscience what hast thou to do with Kings? may not they be flat●…r'd that they are Gods; but that thou must tell them they are but men? and that if they ●…verne not their Subjects according to the known Laws of the Land, and do allow ●…eir Subjects their Rights and Liberties, seeking not to alter but maintain their Religion, they are no better then wilful bloody Tyrants. Is this thy blunt way of speaking ●…to Kings? Well as long as thou takest this course, and dost lay before the King his ●…e, his errors, his spilling of blood, with a long Catalogue of private sins, never ●…agine that thou shalt rise in his favour, or be made a Bishop; for there was never any ●…eat Courtier, Bishop, Lord-Keeper, or any eminent Statesman that was created Lord-●onscience, Bishop-Conscience, Lord-Keeper-Conscience; for as soon as they were ●…vanced to these dignities they had no Conscience at all, but would take bribes in the ●…y of golden thanks, for giving unjust judgement to the overthrow of the best causes.  
Is it not a fault in thee Conscience that the King cannot rest in his chamber, but thou ●…st make him see strange Dreams and Visions, as the battle at Kenton-field, where so ●…ch blood was spilt for the King; for this the King doth hid himself, is ashamed, and eclipsed from the sight of his Subjects.  
Why dost thou tell him of his Commission of Array, arming his Subjects to kill 〈◊〉 another? This is an old Story, must thou Conscience revive these matters in the Ki●… remembrance, and thereby seek to Eclipse his fame and glory.  
Cannot the Cavaleirs plunder the Kingdom all over, and fire Townes cum privile●… and show the King's hand, giving them Commission for it? but thou Conscience 〈◊〉 make the King's heart ache for it, and tell him this is the way to be counted a Tyrant, 〈◊〉 to be Eclipsed in the love of his Subjects.  
Must not his Majesty favour Delinquent Lords: but thou Conscience must tell 〈◊〉 they are evil Counselors, and that he hath almost undone Himself and his Poster●… by being ruled by these Malignants, who know if the wars should cease, the block 〈◊〉 expect them, or the gallows, and therefore they will fight to defend the King from 〈◊〉 Enemies, which indeed are themselves, and the King must fight against his Subjects' 〈◊〉 keep them from the hands of Justice, and by this the fame and renown of King Cha●… is Eclipsed.  
Cannot the King suffer the Irish to kill so many thousand Protestants, and the●… make a Cessation of Arms with them, and to call them his Catholic subjects, and af●…ward to send for them by ten thousands at a time to aid him in this unnatural war; 〈◊〉 Conscience must tell the King that this is contrary to his Protestations of maintain●… the Protestant Religion, when indeed this war was Bellum Papale, the Pope's war, and 〈◊〉 setting up of Popery was always intended: doth not this cruelty, this false dealing, 〈◊〉 bringing over and sending for Irish Rebels, Eclipse the glory of his Majesty?  
Conscience seems thus to reply, I fear neither King nor Subject; The King I tell 〈◊〉 true is in a great Eclipse of light and love of his people, I have shaked him up soun●… and told him that he mocked the people with a smooth pretence of the maintaining 〈◊〉 Protestant Religion, that to defend Delinquents he should not lay his Crown at sta●… for if he should lose that, he could not stake again, that the die of war was uncert●… that in this war nothing was certain to his Majesty but loss, loss of his credit, and p●…haps the loss of his Kingdoms, that it was his father's glory to write this for his Mo●… Beati Pacifici: But his Motto will in succeeding Ages be writ in Characters of blo●… thus, Maledicti Belligeri, Cursed are the war-makers, That all the blood which 〈◊〉 been spilt will be laid unto his Majesty's charge: But the King is Eclipsed still, F●… by the Queen in chamber Conjunction with her, and now since by Malignant Coun●…lers, he hath (with grief be it written) no Light, no Reason, no Religion left, but a●… Eclipsed, and there is nothing but God and his own conscience that can discover 〈◊〉 him that great Eclipse of Light which he now suffers in the West, the causes whe●… have been here largely declared, and the King proved to be in a great Eclipse.  
FINIS.