LONDONS Desire and Direction TO ALL Her dear, and to some of her discontented CHILDREN, Never more endangering their Mothers and their own Peace, then by the desire thereof upon unsound Grounds.  
Laid down in some Reasons, counsels, and Cautions given to the Subscribers, and the many thousands willing to Subscribe;  
If the pretence for Peace were answered by their Expression in their Petition for Accommodation.  
London, Printed for T. I. 1642.   

Londons desire and Direction, to all Her dear, and to some of her discontented CHILDREN.  
I Am not ignorant, my dear Children, either of your fears or dangers; nor will I diminish the causes of your complaint, nor prejudge your ends aimed at in your present Petition; Onely out of my duty to God and you, I cannot but charge and challenge you all that seem to be the children of Peace, that you first hear, and will but first weigh your own wishes in an equal balance.  
And to that end that you take into consideration the queries following:  
1. Whether all my Children that desire my Peace, whereby I have so long continued both honourable and happy, whether they or I may wish any Peace safely with ma●, which may create a War from heaven against us.  
2. Whether these my now discontented sons whose weal I wish as my own, and most of whose aims and ends I cannot condemn further, then they suffer themse●ves to be lead out of the way of truth, in seeking peace by some of their angry brethren, whose end● to plain meanings, are yet secret and undiscerned, whether I say this motion is likely( as things now stand) to produce peace for them and me.  
3. Whether the chief actors herein have shewed themselves zealous for truth as well as peace, and why they express not the promoting of one as well as the other, and whether they endanger not both if they divide them.  
4. Whether if this Motion were granted in full, it may not be the ground of a fearful design upon both Church, Common-wealth, City, Country, Parliament, which you would not destroy sure, and people which we hope desire under any pretence whatsoever to bring into bondage, will not you then use words, whereby the clearness of your desires ought to be expressed, in an active and a patient way, jointly rather to wait upon God a little, until he open the door of hope, then by bursting in sunder the wards of love, pull that house about your ears, which you pretend to hold up; you blame others for want of love to you, and will you needs be as guilty as they? and though you do not all meet in one center of Truth, may you not at last by your wisdom and patience, who say you are the Elder brother, may not you meet, I say, in the large circumference of love, with your younger, perhaps weaker Brethren as you conceive, when they are brought to a hoped moderation: O then my dear Sons, correct, or else carry not on a business so cloudy which is like to produce so great a storm; and wherein you will, you must, you cannot but be advised by the Reasons following:  
1. First, your motive part, and your petitionary part at first view have no agreement for you, with Law, Religion, and Property may be looked on; To what end? That you may move without either consideration; or once naming of any of them in the petitionary part, you may have Peace on any terms whatsoever,( For I have forgot both Grammar and logic, if this Negative not to harken to War upon any pretence whatsoever, be not in sense to desire Peace upon any terms whatsoever.)  
2. Its more then my good King your Master ever desired, who ever hath offered both Law, Religion, and Liberty, the main way and means of his present strength; And which I doubt not but he will perform, if you hereby make not the distance wider, in heightening the terms of Reconciliation, and occasion both scorn and harm to your and our Masters own work. The Parliament, which as it is one of those higher powers ordained of God by the King, so it must needs be against God; consider the King, Kingdom, your Prorestation, and your own Liberty, to infringe the power thereof, or weaken the same, for as we love the body politic, and would not maim it by defacing the head; so we must honour the the head, not make the body all head; he in wisdom sure hath desired enough, and will you in folly be so officious as to desire more; mistake not my dear sons the Corasive for the balm, Oh! make not your wound incurable, wider under colour of healing it.  
3. Its more then the Parliament( pardon my boldness) can do, without breach of trust reposed in them, to grant you Peace upon any ●ermes whatsoever; and will you desire that on purpose intending to be denied what you know they must not grant, that you may raise that discontent which may tear out mine & your flourishing Mothers bowels; do some Petition for war to your troubles? And will you Petition for Peace to their grief? are extremes so dangerous to me? and can they be so delightsome to you? O my dear Children moderate your contentions, and pitty those bowels, the womb wherein you live, do not all my sons desire my Peace on good grounds, and would you wish it upon bad to my dishonour as well as your own undoing? Shall twins struggle in my womb, Oh why am I thus.  
4. look, Oh look upon the unwearied pains of that honourable house, who to satisfy some members of that body, have condescended so far, and laboured so much in this business of accommodation already, and ended in nothing else, but their satisfaction to Vote the more freely for proceeding in this cause, when they saw all their desire care & pains frustrated in making up our breaches, and that in fine it did appear that the clandestine counsel of those unkind Cavaliers must needs over-rule the general and public counsel of the Kingdom, and must not have peace upon terms that are either safe or honourable. Alas how shall they renounce their own Votes my sons for your sakes, and undo and deny all their own proceedings which this Negative doth and may insinuate, or if they would, how have or do you labour in lieu thereof to defend and preserve them, who in this way they are in, are yourselves, with whom you sink and swim, are freemen or bondslaves; what have you, or do you offer for the defence of your Religion, Law and Liberty, them and yourselves, in case terms bot● safe and honourable be refused, and that for his sake who commands you to cast your bread upon the waters, &c.  
5. How will any of you my discontented children make it to appear to any of your plain meaning brethren, whom you have drawn into this motion, that there is no intention to raise strife hereby amongst you, and that it is not the fruit of their brains who first advised our good King to leave his Houses of Parliament, to breed a fraction amongst all my sons; who if you be cemented together in love and unity, well know, you can never by them be mastered; but by that old Machavilian rule; divide, and rule: I am confident that your peace and my crown of rejoicing, shall never be thrown down to the ground till you foresake the truth; have hands in one anothers misery, and be the means of your own ruin.  
6. Lastly, let me ask any of you my peace-speaking children; do you mean in that phrase peace without truth, Law, Religion and liberty; I cannot think so ill of those I have so long nursed: why, O why then was it not expressed? so as either you may cease in love, not force; or else all join, and freely concur with you in this motion: and that in case this Petition take no effect, that you may assure your Brethren of concurring with you in the common cause of God, and this Kingdom, without my help unable at this sad time to help itself. And if once our unneighbourly too cruel Cavaliers shall perceive, and the Kingdom find your union, your pretended fears and dangers will soon be at an end, and both King and Kingdom, City, and Country, made strong and happy in love and peace one with another.  
Do not, O do not startle at that Ordinance, as unwilling to lend that to the Kingdom upon the public Faith, which you would not deny a private Friend upon his own word; give not the world occasion to say that this fair pretence of peace doth proceed from so foul a ground as your covetousness, anger, or fear of having the same put in execution, for your own and the common safety. Let not revenge upon any seeming to offend you, cause you to raise a party to strengthen yourselves in your way, you may like our great Master in his way, raise a party to make me miserable, but not yourselves happy; if you could, O be not willing to do what you can to my dishonour, perhaps to your own destruction: What if you suffer them a little, who you call Sectaries, to try them by moderate Laws, and the reins of love, in their displeasure who have been so angered they may be too hasty, too rash; let them neither be presently ruined by fire from heaven, nor unkindly ranckt with Papists if they be in the other extreme, they may see your error, Papists will not, they may hold the head, Papists do not; they have no King, killing bloody principles to drive our dear sovereign into a too long too willing banishment; help us to drive them out of, not destroy them i● their errors, who are brethren though weak, and may be willing through Gods mercy in due time to see it.  
I have done, onely thus much must I give in charge to you and all my sons of peace, take heed of running with the multitude on either hand to do evil, you that are come forth to help the Lord; if you have done well, be not weary, look not back, faint not in the way, you that have done nothing, look not to escape, unless justice may be the companion of peace, and you be secured of what you have, which will not be easy, whilst our royal Master is not his own, & both I & you made so unhappy by his absence; all you sons of peace that have subscribed, be you informed in seeking peace, you that have not subscribed, be you advised in desiring peace ever in such a way, and upon such terms as may make both King and People honourable and happy; And let us seek study and pray for the peace of our Jerusalem, that the God of peace may give us peace here, and everlasting peace hereafter.  
FINIS.