THE Plain Englishman, HIS DISCREET ADVICE, in these DISTRACTED TIMES.  
WHEREIN The Prerogative of the KING, the Privileges of the PARLIAMENT, and the present proceed of the Army, according to their just interests are justified.  
Worthy the perusal of all men.  
This is Licenced and Published according to Order.  
LONDON, Printed for William Ley, and are to be sold at his Shop near Paul's-chain. 1647.   

The plain Englishman.  
BEloved Countrymen, you must expect no rare Oratory, no fine Phrases, no exordium or declaration as the Schoolmen use; but only a piece of his mind who wisheth well to you all, being dressed in your native language, and my chiefest care is not to use glozing speeches but to draw out a thread of truth both to your own, and my good; for plainness is the best companion; and if that were more exercised, falsehood would be turned out of doors like a vagabond, and Sincerity entertained like a Prince: from deceit springs contention, but where truth keeps Court within, there will be no sad effects without. Cicero gave this commendation of truth, that it was praiseworthy, though no man praise it, and I most (worthy Countrymen) shall endeavour to narrate it, though I get a scratched face. Consider how mightily you are degenerated from your first Principles; England was formerly a Situation of strength, and an Island that hath defeated the great Armadas of foreign Nations; but when we did this we were all united as one man, loving to each other, and Peace was the fruit of this, and happy, nay, double happy is that Nation which enjoyeth it: Man is created a sociable creature, and God hath so blest him, that there is no man so barren, but he hath something wherewith all to profit others, and every man being imperfect, we ought to help one another; but we instead of friends are enemies, instead of preservers are destroyers, Seneca saith, the nearest friendship is the conjunction of the mind, truly I am of that opinion, where the judgements disagree, the love cannot be real; then sadly may we lament our Land, where scarce two men in all things agree together, he that was the wisest of all, laid down this, that a house divided cannot stand, that instance in particular reached to the general, that where there is not a concomitancy among the Governors of a Weal, it will suddenly fall like an old building, molter away like an aged garment, and as soon vanish as the rays of Titan, and now (dear Countrymen) view in what a labyrinth of confusion, in what a Chaos of trouble we now are in, the Land is spoilt, the Rulers rejected, the Subjects rebellious, and destruction the follower of these, putteth forward like an armed man, and surely it is a great judgement, that England's savators shall be its destroyers, those that were chosen for its good, shall work its ruin. It is the fault of too many Statesmen, that they respect their private interest before the public good. Anaobarsis the Philosopher said, there was no council that was good, but what proceeds from the man that disregards his own ends, and Plato commends those that keep the Commonwealth in Peace by their policy and in the time of war defend it by their magnanimity. We have had wise Senators, but as the finest cloth is incident to moths, the hard Iron torust, and the most curious glass to be broken, so the best of men are subject to mishap. Some blame the King, others the Parliament, a third the Army, in truth great ones are corrupt; But we ourselves are the cause of our own misery, from our hatred of one another springs our afflictions, and to make the Original of our distress more apparent, we give several terms of obliquy and disgrace to each other, to exasperate us all to our own ruin. Let us consider the danger we are in, and stand upon our reputation let not other Nations say of England, that we could not conquer it, but it will overcome itself. Cast your eyes about and see what an unusual Metamorphisis, a strange Catastrophe our Land's become, every one endeavours to bring destruction a though most protest against. Our civil war (which of all war is the most unnatural) hath in part depopulated our Kingdom but that storm is over, that trouble is vanquished, that judgement is dissipated, and yet Peace comes not. Argue out the reason by love, not by the Sword, with meekness, not with contention, lay aside that spirit of bitterness, and with joint consent endeavour to find out the achan's of our Commonwealth. Let not the mercy that is bestowed be repelled, let not eminent favours be slighted, the healing of a Nation despised, but when any good comes, any love is showed, let it be embraced, for it is my Petition, that differences in Religion may not breed factions in the State; for do but consider against whom our enemies were bend, not against strangers, not against an enemy, not against Tyrants, but against our Countrymen, our friends, our kinsmen, and what greater bonds, what nearer relations than these. Let not the head remain as a captive by our jars, the body as imperfect by our differences, the strength of the Kingdom be embezzled by our dissensions, but let us all in a bond of amity labour to settle that Royal Person so long wished for, in his Throne; the Philosopher in the first Book of his Politics, proves by four natural reasons, that Princes ought to command, and Subjects to obey; it is likewise commanded by God, and seeing it is instituted by one and confirmed by the other then as our duty to the first, and our obligation to the last; we are to maintain that Government: when the course of justice is stopped, it is the time for the foes of the Weal to reign, and men of bad principles will do no good voluntarily. I fear we have had too many such spirits, which makes the rent wider; yet not so wide, but if the King will come and be a nursing Father, and we shall be a happy people; so the wishes of some will be frustrated, the expectations of others satisfied, and the general content of most will be enjoyed. Yet we must allow of that saying of the wise man, In the multitude of Counsellors there is safety, experience teacheth, for our liberty would have been enthralled, tyranny would have been advanced, and oppression the share of it, were not for a Parliament; for as a great ship requires a cunning Pilot, and a young traveller a skilful guide, so doth the unwieldy body of a State stand in need of good Counsellors Soloman peerless in wisdom had his Counsellors about him, good council being much available to the Weal, and as it is the saying of one. He that useth many Counsels is not easily deceived, it is the great Organ of the Commonwealth, nay the very life thereof, but perhaps you will say of late the Council hath been bad, the Counselors have been corrupt, and the effect of these hath been naught; true it is, that standing Pools gather filth, and the finest Gold dross, and the best jewel is in danger to be spoilt, and shall we cast away those profitable things, because of their discommodities, truly he that would rather die then use water, because it gathers Mud, or refuse Gold because it catcheth dross, or deny a rich jewel, because it is subject to be lost, you will reckon him to be a Fool, and if we should refuse good Counsel; because some of the Counselors are naught, I should give you such a title, as he that thinks to catch a Hare with a Taber doth deserve, and let us not reject Authority, but strive to purge away the evil members, so will Peace come, and the Subjects have content, and the Ruler's delight. And seeing I am fallen to speak of the Government of the Kingdom, give me leave a little to speak something boldly by way of caution, to a third predominant party, viz. The Army to give them their due, they have done valiantly, behaved themselves gallantly, and have carried their business wisely, and if we should disrespect them, when they have accomplished their work, we might justly bring disgrace upon our own heads; yet I would not have them like the skittish Cow, which having given a good pail of milk, afterwards casteth it down with her heel; or like the Ostrich, which having laid her eggs, never after regards them; wisdom will make future actions suitable to former deeds, understanding men will not derogate from the thing they first aimed at, they professed their actions were for the good of the Subject, and I hope so are their intentions still, and although hypocrisy is spun with a very fine thread, yet let us live in hope beyond hope.  
True it is, we have a good head, a wise body, and a strong foot, yet here is our misery, our sore, our disease, all these are severed. Gentlemen my Conscience would give me flatly the lie, if I should not confess this, that variety of colours maketh the best show, and all the strings tuned causeth the pleasantest music, and a concordance among the Rulers makes the best government; but the reason why our Governors are disunited is, by our dissensions, our division maketh them side into parties, even to the hazard of the Land, whereas if we were united, they would be happy in our conjunction, and we blessed in their agreement; whereas now our Cities are ruined, our treasure's exhausted, our trading decayed, and those things which were the sinews of our life are cut off, those great immunities enthralled, our plentiful fields droop, our great Cities mourn, because of our rents, and even the senseless creatures that possess our Land, read a lecture to us of our following misery, and shall we be so void of reason, as not to shun that which bruits foretell us.  
And Country men, let me premise you of that heroic spirit that was in our predecessors, they were as one man against all intruders, hating the very name of a usurper, they were men that put themselves forth for their Country's service, but we act for its ruin; they purchased renown where ever they came, but we disgrace; they had the spirits of men, but we the hearts of cowards; for if there was any good in us, we could not behold our State turning our Religion, perverting, our government altering, and we the cause. And yet I cannot but confess, that in those times there was as well the Spider for poison, as the Bee for honey, and the cunning Fox as well as the innocent Dove, and men of corrupt principles as well as those worthy men I speak of; yet they were not suffered to be their masters, and if they did taste too much of Soveraigetie, yet justice did at last take hold on them, for the Nobles scorned it, the Gentry envied it, and the Commonalty hated it, and where there was so grand a conspiracy against so base a thing, doubtless it would down: But it is far different now, for the adversaries of our Land have many abetters, and Rebellion having set up her Standard, multitudes flock to it, and as if we had lost our judgements, we endeavour to maintain these that are our miseries.  
Gentlemen, be not wrath when you see the Grandees of the Kingdom questioned, when they are called to an account for their carriage, so long as they are corrupt; for till it is a pleasure to embrace thorns, or to carry hot coals in one's hand, or a stinging Serpent in ones bosom, then and not till then, can I approve of bad men; for it is they that make the mischief, that raise the trouble, that breed the distractions, and till these are taken away, you must look for no Peace.  
But shall good men be slighted because some are bad, this is that which provokes me to fury, when I see eminent men, wise men, deserving men, turned out of Office. I grant, that such things there are, but how will you remedy them, not by drawing a Sword against a party stronger than yourself; For a wise Captain and a good warrior, will never do so; but beside this, consider who you engage against, who you oppose, who you threaten destruction to; it is against a part of yourself, for this Kingdom is a body Politic, every man is a member, and can the members suffer and the body rejoice, can they be in misery and it in delight? No, surely no the welfare of every man is concerned in the whole, and we ought as fellow members to endeavour the good of all: But see moreover, how you put yourselves out of a capacity to finish that you intent, division brings nothing to perfection, danger is an attendant upon contention, and if you look about you, you shall find yourselves almost at the brink of destruction; for you are first a prey for an enemy, a prize for famine, a burden to yourselves; and lastly, immediate ruin will be your portion if you continue: and if you would amend what you think amiss, it is by an agreement a lincking of your strength together, must be the means, and oh, were but I a good Orator to persuade you for the best, or a skilful Painter to portrayt your misery, that so you might entertain the one, and avoid the other: but being illiterated in the one, and unskilful in the other, you must take me as I can best deliver myself, but this by the way, for to proceed further. Let me tell you, the black and swarthy visage of the other war makes me long for Peace; and I think it would never be more welcome than now. Mars thought Venus' most lovely when she sat by Vulcan: and Peace compared with war will be more esteemed; yet here is our disease, our sore, our affliction, that the Vein that is opened bleeds inwardly, and I fear our heart blood is almost come out which maketh us dangerous in the one, almost incurable in the other, and desperate in the third; so that we stand in need of a Godly Minister, a good Chirurgeon, and a wise Physician, and all these we have and yet help comes not; truly the reason is, because we despise, disregard, and reject them all; for Prayer here is scolding, for healing hurting, for curing wounding; so that when there will be a period of our misery none knoweth. Every one prays for Peace, wisheth for Peace, and desire Peace, and yet almost none useth the means; but if any thing is done contrary to their humour, they fly out into extremes, as if ruin did not approach fast enough, think not it is with us as with a Diamond, which lieth in the fire and is not consumed, or like the crystal which toucheth the Toad and is not poisoned, or the bird Trochilus, that liveth in the mouth of the Crocodile, and is not spoilt; for we are subject to be consumed, venomed, and destroyed, and many other inconveniences beside these; therefore let us not go about to destroy ourselves, you would reckon him a mad man that goeth to make a wound where none is, and him to be a fool, that had rather have sickness then health, and yet we are so besotted to our ruin, that we move like men void of reason.  
O let not England be branded with such folly, stigmatised with such a disgrace, as to be guilty of its own destruction. And yet a Leopard may as soon change his spots, and an Ethyopian his hue, before some man can alter their dispositions; but I hope I shall not find all such crooked Cammocks, such knotty pieces, and of such sordid natures; for though all men be made of one mettle, yet they are not cast in one mould, and though some may refuse this to their ruin, yet others may embrace for their good: and seeing I have brought you thus fare, give me leave a little to trespass upon your patience, do but consider the many Widows we have, the many Orphans, in whose very faces you may read a Petition for relief, the maimed Soldiers, whose misery echo in our ears, and O England O unhappy England is all thy help but a sigh.  
And can you behold this, and will you not seek to amend it, truly when I behold the unnaturalness that is amongst us, I cannot but think Abetto Mejere and Cissiphons' have taken up their quarters in our Dominions, and that they have a peen jar habitation in each man's spirit; for the very Heathens have a better agreement than we; and yet reckon them to be in ignorance and a veil of obscurity to be upon them, and we in our light, our new light, in our shining light, will not strive to hinder those things which in Hirogliphicks speak our ruin; for as if every one was full of Achonite we spill poison in one another's faces, all of us are contriving which way to do the most mischief. Oh! Let us not make our misery an abbysse, our troubles endless: let not our pleasures be an Adonis to bewitch us so to them; that we can cast no affectionate eye upon the public.  
Fabricius the Roman was famous because a contemner of riches, but infamy will be our lot; because we desire them to the danger of the State, our Land is a plentiful soil, which makes it worse to endure extremity, for the finest Christ all is sooner crazed then the hard Marble, the finest silk soon soiled, and the sweetest Wine turneth to the sharpest Vinegar, so that Kingdom that hath enjoyed Peace for a long time, will be soon wasted with war.  
There is not the like Land in the world as ours it, we are at variance amongst ourselves, at enmity with our Brethren, and ready to go war against our kinsmen, whereas they are united, joining together against the common adversary, Oh! let us sadly lament our Land, for every love hath its salve, every beast his cure, the Dog surfeiting eareth grass, and procures his vomit and finds remedy, the Hart being wounded, runs to the herb Dictanuns and is healed, and hath all these help and is there no Balm for England, no Colloquin ida to purge its Cho●er, hath all its Physicians given it up as desperate, doth its State's men, its Ministers, look when it will give the last gasp, its impossible two contraries can consist in one subject, light and darkness are inconsistent, fire and water are repugnart and do we think contention and Peace will link together, truly if we do, we mistake, for the Sun and Moon shall as soon stand still, and the heavens alter their course, the ebbing and flowing of the Sea cease, before these two can agree, feed not yourselves with fancies; dally not too long with edged tools, wade not too fare in the stream, for fear you cannot return, but let us all Implore the assistance of the Almighty, and then with love go to repair the breaches of our Land. Perhaps you will say, it is too late: I must confess I fear it, yet I do not despair of it.  
Physicians say so long as there is life, there is hope, though our Kingdom is dangerous, yet there is breath; and let us follow that maxim, though we are unskilful in the faculty, The Sick man knows best where his pain lies, our Misery is within ourselves; then let us make known our Grievauces by way of Petition to the KING, and the PARLIAMENT, and by way of recommendation to the ARMY; entreating the first, to Consider; the second, to Consult; the third, to Disband; that so the public Quarrel might be stated, the causes of our Afflictions found out; for now every man cries out blaming several parties, imputing the Cause to this, others to that, and yet truly is ignorant of the Cause; Thus (Gentlemen) you see in what a condition we are in by our differences, whereas if they were laid aside we might be in a better estate than before.  
Let us not therefore stand in our own light, but as free borne Englishmen pull down usurpers, and prevent that which otherwise we must expect; That justice may have his course, and every one his right, that so Peace may take its habitation in our Land, which is or at least should be the cordial wish of every true Englishman.  
Vale.  
Imprimatur, JOHN DOWNAME.  
FINIS.