Make all thy Scarlet sins as white as Snow,  
And cast thy threatened judgement on thy foe.  
But, if thou (fond thinking thou art well)  
Shalt slight this Message, which my Muse doth tell,  
And scorn her Counsel; if thou shalt not rue  
Thy former ways; but, frowardly pursue  
Thy wilful course: then, hark what I am bold,  
(In spite of all thy madness) to unfold.  
For, I will tell thy Fortune; which when they  
That are unborn, shall read, another day;  
They will believe God's mercy did infuse  
Thy Poet's breast with a Prophetic Muse.  
And know, that he this Author did prefer,  
To be from him, this Isle's Remembrancer.   

If thou I say Oh Britain shalt retain  
Thy crying sins, thou dost presume in vain,  
Of God's protection: If thou stop thine ear,  
Or burn this Roll, in which recorded are  
Thy just Inditements; it shall written be  
With new additions, deeply stamped on thee  
With such Characters, that no time shall raze  
Their fatal image, from thy scared face.  
Though haughtily thou dost thyself dispose;  
Because the Sea thy borders doth enclose.  
Although thou multiply thy inland Forces,  
And muster up large Troops of men and horses,  
Though like an Eagle thou thy wings display'st,  
And (high thyself advancing) proudly sayest,  
I sit a loft, and am so high, that none  
Can fetch me from the place I rest upon.  
Yea, though thou no advantages didst want,  
Of which the gloriest Emperies did vaunt;  
Yet, sure, thou shalt be humbled and brought low,  
Even then, perhaps, when lesse thou fearest it so.   

Till thou repent, provisions which are made  
For thy defence, or others to invade,  
Shall be in vain; and still, the greater cost  
Thou shalt bestow, the honour that is lost  
Shall be the greater; and thy wasted strength  
Be sick of a consumption at the length.  
Thy Treaties which for peace or profit be,  
Shall neither peace, nor profit bring to thee.  
Yea, all thy win shall but fuel be,  
To feed those follies that now spring in thee.  
On all thy fruits and cattles in the fields,  
On what the air, or what the water yields,  
On Prince, and People, on both weak and strong,  
On Priest and Prophet, on both old and young,  
Yea, on each person, place, and every thing,  
The plague it hath deserved God shall bring.  
A leanness shall thy fatness quite devour;  
Thy wheat shall in the place of wholesome flower,  
Yield nought but bran. Instead of grass and corn,  
Thou shalt in time of harvest reap the thorn,  
The thistle, and the briar. Of their shadows  
Thy Groves shall rob be. Thy flower Meadows  
Shall sterile wax. There shall be seldom seen  
Sheep on the Downs, or Shepherds on the green.  
Thy walks, thy gardens, and each pleasant plot,  
Shall be as those where men inhabit not.  
Thy Villages, where goodly dwellings are,  
Shall stand as if they unfrequented were.  
Thy Cities, and thy Palaces, wherein  
Most neatness and magnificence hath been,  
Shall heaps of rubbish be, and (as in those  
Demolished Abbeys, where in Daws and Crows  
Now make their nests) the Bramble and the Nettle,  
Shall in their Halls and Parlours root and settle:  
And moreover, they that now eaten trained,  
In ease, and with soft pleasures entertained;  
In stead of idle games, and wanton dances,  
Shall pracise how to handle Guns and Lances,  
And be compelled to leave their friends embraces,  
To end their lives in divers uncouth places,  
Or else, thy face, with their own blood defile,  
In hope to keep themselves and thee from spoil.   

Thy purest Rivers God shall turn to blood;  
With every lake that hath been sweet and good  
Even in thy nostrils he shall make it stink,  
For nothing shall thy people eat or drink,  
Until their own, or others blood it cost;  
Or put their lives in hazard to be lost.   

Most loathsome Frogs; that is a race impure,  
Of base condition, and of birth obscure,  
This hateful brood shall climb to crook and sing,  
Within the lodging Chambers of the King;  
Yea, there make practise of those natural notes,  
Which issue from their evil sounding throats;  
To wit, vain brags, revile, ribaldries,  
Vile slanders, and unchristian blasphemies.   

The Land shall breed a nasty Generation,  
Unworthy either of the reputation  
Or name of men; for, they as louse shall feed,  
Even on the body whence they did proceed;  
There shall moreover swarms of divers Flies,  
Engendered be in thy prosperities,  
To be a plague: and still are humming so,  
As if they meant some weighty work to do,  
When as, upon the common stock they spend;  
And naught perform of that which they pretend.   

Then shall a darkness follow, fare more black,  
Then when the light corporeal then dost lack.  
For, grossest ignorance, o' reshadowing all,  
Shall in so thick a darkness thee enthral,  
That thou a blockish people shalt be made,  
Still wand'ring on in a deceiving shade,  
Mistrusting those, that safest paths are showing,  
Most trusting them who counsel thy undoing;  
And aye tormented be with doubts and fears,  
As one that Out-cries in clerk places hears.   

Nor shall the hand of God from thee return,  
Till he hath also smote thy ' eldest borne.  
That is, till he hath take from thee quite,  
Even that whereon thou settest thy whole delight;  
And filled every house throughout thy Nation,  
With deaths unlooked for, and lamentation.   

So great shall be thy ruin, and thy shame,  
That when thy neighbouring Kingdoms hear the same,  
Their ears shall tingle. And when that day comes,  
In which thy follies most receive their dooms;  
A day of clouds, a day of gloominess.  
A day of black despair and heaviness,  
It will appear. And then thy vanities,  
Thy gold and silver, thy confedracies,  
And all those Reeds on which thou hast depended,  
Will fail thy trust, and leave thee unbefriended.   

Thy King, thy Priests, and Prophets than shall mourn,  
And peradventure feignedly return  
To beg of God to secure them: but they,  
who will not hearken to his voice to day,  
Shall cry unheeded: and he will despise  
Their Vows, their Prayers, and their Sacrifice.   

A Sea of troubles, all thy hopes shall swallow;  
As waves on waves, so plague on plague shall follow:  
And every thing, that was a blessing to thee,  
Shall turn to be a curse, and help undo thee.  
And when thy sin is fully ripe in thee,  
Thy Prince and People, then, alike shall be.  
Thou shalt have Babes to be thy Kings, or worse,  
Those Tyrants who by cruelty and force,  
Shall take away thy ancient freedoms quite,  
From all their Subjects; yea themselves delight  
In their vexations: and, all those that are  
Made slaves thereby, shall murmur, yet not dare  
To stir against them. By degrees they shall  
Deprive thee of thy Patrimonials all;  
Compel thee (as in other Lands this day)  
For thine own meat, and thine own drink to pay.  
And, at the last begin to exercise  
Upon thy Sons, all heathenish tyrannies,  
As just Prerogatives. To these intents,  
Thy Nobles shall become their instruments;  
For they who had their birth from Noble races,  
Shall (some and some) be brought into disgraces.  
From Offices they shall excluded stand,  
And all their virtuous offspring, from their Land  
Shall quite be worn: Instead of whom shall rise  
A brood advanced by impieties.  
That seek how they more great and strong may grow,  
By compassing the public overthrow.  
They shall abuse thy Kings with Tales and Lies;  
With seeming love, and servile flatteries;  
They shall persuade them they have power to make,  
Their Wills, their Law, and as they please to take  
Their people's goods, their children and their lives,  
Even by their just and due Prerogatives.  
When thus much they have made them to believe,  
Then they shall teach them practices to grieve  
Their Subjects by, and instruments become  
To help the serving up by some and some,  
Of Monarchies to Tyrannies. They shall  
Abuse Religion, Honesty, and all,  
To compass their Designs. They shall devise  
Strange Projects; and with impudence and lies,  
Proceed in settling them. They shall forget  
Those reverend usages which do befit  
The Majesty of State; and rail, and storm,  
When they pretend disorders to reform.  
In their high Counsels, and where men should have  
Kind admonitions, and reprovings grave,  
When they offend, they shall be threatened there,  
Or scoffed, or taunted, though no cause appear.   

What ever from thy people they can tear,  
Or borrow, they shall keep, as if it were  
A prize which had been taken from the foe,  
And they shall make no conscience what they do  
To prejudice Posterity. For, they  
To gain their lust, but for the present day,  
Shall with such love unto themselves endeavour,  
That (though they know it would undo for ever  
Their own posterity) it shall not make  
The Monsters any better course to take.   

Nay, God shall give them for their offences,  
To such uncomely reprobated sense:  
And blind them so, that (when the Axe they see  
Even hewing at the root of thine own tree,  
By their own handy strokes) they shall not grieve  
For their approaching fall: no, nor believe  
Their fall approacheth, nor assume that heed,  
Which might prevent; till they fall indeed.   

Mark well, oh Britain! What I now shall say,  
And do not slightly pass these words away;  
But, be assured that when God begins,  
To bring that vengeance on thee for sins,  
Which hazard will thy total overthrow,  
Thy Prophets, and thy Priests shall slily sow  
The seeds of that dissension, and sedition,  
Which time will ripen for thy said perdition.  
But, not unless the Priests thereto consent,  
for in those days shall few men innocent  
be grieved (through any quarter of the Land)  
In which thy Clergy shall not have some hand.  
If ever in thy fields (as God forbidden)  
The blood of thine own children shall be shed  
By civil discord, they shall blow thy flame,  
That will become thy ruin, and thy shame;  
And thus it will be kindled, when the times  
Are nigh at worst, and thy increasing crimes,  
Almost complete; the Devil shall begin,  
To bring strange Crotchets and Opinions in  
Among thy Teachers, which will breed disunion  
And interrupt the visible Communion  
Of thy established Church. And in the steed  
Of zealous Pastors (who Gods Flock did feed)  
There shall arise within thee, by degrees,  
A Clergy, that shall more desire to fleece  
then feed the Flock. A Clergy it shall be  
Divided in itself: and they shall thee  
Divide among them, into several factions,  
Which rend thee will, and fill thee with distractions:  
They all in outward-seeming shall pretend  
God's glory, and to have a pious end;  
But under colour of sincere devotion,  
Their study shall be temporal promotion;  
Which will among themselves strong quarrels make,  
Wherein thy other children shall partake.  
As to the Persons or the cause they stand  
Affected, even quite throughout the Land.  
One part of these will for preferment strive,  
By lifting up the King's Prerogative  
Above itself; They shall persuade him to  
Much more than Law, or Conscience bids him do;  
And say God warrants it. His holy Laws  
They shall protect; to justify their cause:  
And impudently wrest, to prove their ends,  
What God or better purposes intends.  
They shall not blush to say, that every King  
May do like Solomon in every thing,  
As if they had his warrant: and shall dare  
Ascribe to Monarches, rights that proper are  
To none but Christ; and mix their flatteries  
With no less gross and wicked blasphemies,  
Then Heathens did yea make their King believe,  
That whomsoever they oppress or grieve  
It is no wrong; nor fit for men oppressed  
To seek by their own Laws to be redressed.  
Nay further, to their wicked ends they shall  
Apply the sacred Story; or what ever,  
May seem to further their unjust endeavour  
Even what the Son of Hannah told the Jews  
Should be their scourge (because they did refuse  
The Sovereignty of God, and were so vain,  
To ask a King, which over them might reign  
As Heathen Princes did) that curse, they shall  
Affirm to be a Law Monarchical,  
Which God himself established to stand,  
Through all ages, and in every Land,  
Which is as good Divinity, as they  
Have also taught, who do not blush to say  
That Kings may have both Wives and Concubines,  
And, by that Rule whereby these great Divines  
Shall prove their Tenet, I dare undertake  
(If found it hold) that I like proof will make  
Of any Jewish Custom, and devise,  
Authority for all absurdities.  
But, false it is; for, might all Kings at pleasure  
(As by the right of Royalty) make ceasure  
Of any man's possessions: why I pray  
Did Ahab grieve, that Naboth said him nay?  
Why made he not this answer thereunto,  
(If what the Prophet said some Kings would do,  
Were justly to be done) thy Vineyard's mine,  
And, at my pleasure, Naboth, all that's thine  
Assume I may, why, like a Turkie-chicke  
Did he so foolishly grow fullen-sicke,  
And get possession by a wicked fact  
Of what might have been his by royal act?  
If such Divinity as this were true,  
The Queen should not have needed to pursue  
Poor Naboth, as she did, or so contrive  
His death; since by the King's Prerogative  
She might have got his Vineyard. Nor would God,  
Have scourged that murder with so keen a rod,  
On Ahab, had he ached but his due:  
For, he did neither plot, nor yet pursue  
The murder; nor (for aught that we can tell)  
Had knowledge of the deed of Jezabel,  
Till God revealed it by the Prophet to him.  
Nor is it said, that Naboth wrong did do him,  
Or disrespect, in that he did not yield,  
To sell, or give, or to exchange his Field.  
Now if what here is mentioned, thou dost heed,  
(Oh Britain!) in those times that shall succeed,  
It may prevent much loss, and make thee shun  
Those mischiefs, whereby Kingdoms are undone.  
But, to thy other sins, if thou shalt add  
Rebellions (as false Prophets will persuade)  
Which likely are to follow, when thou shalt  
In thy profession of Religion halt:  
Then will thy Kings and people scourge each other  
For their offences, till both fall together.  
By weakening of your powers to make them way,  
Who seek and look for that unhappy day.   

Then shall disorder ev'ry where abound,  
And neither just nor pious man be found,  
The best shall be a Briar and a Thorn,  
By whom their neighbour, shall be scratched and torn.  
Thy Princes shall to nothing condescend  
For any merit, just, or pious end;  
But either for increasing of their treasure,  
Or for accomplishing their wilful pleasure:  
And unto what they fell, or deign for meed,  
There shall be given little trust or heed:  
For, that which by their words confirm they shall  
(The Royal seals uniting there withal)  
A toy shall frustrate, and a gift shall make  
Their strickest Orders no effect to take.  
The Parents, and the Children shall despise  
And hate, and spoil each other: she that lies,  
Within her husband's bosom, shall betray him;  
They who thy people should protect, shall slay them▪  
The aged shall regarded be of none,  
The poor shall by the rich be trodden on:  
Such grievous insolences, every where  
Shall acted be; that good and bad shall fear  
In thee to dwell; and men discreet shall hate  
To be a Ruler, or a Magistrate;  
When they behold (without impenitence)  
So much injustice, and such violence.   

And when thy wickedness this height shall gain,  
To which no doubt it will ere long attain,  
If thou proceed. Then from the bow that's bend,  
(And half way drawn already) shall be sent  
A mortal arrow: and it pierce thee shall  
Quite through the head, the liver, and the gall.   

The Lord shall call; and whistle from a far,  
For those thine enemies that fiercest are,  
For those thou fearest most; and they shall from  
Their Countries, like a whi●le wind hither come  
They shall not sleep, nor stumble, nor untie  
Their garments, till within thy fields they lie.  
Sharp shall their arrows be, and strong their bow,  
Their faces shall as full of horror show,  
As doth a Lions. Like a bolt of thunder,  
Their troops of horse shall come and tread thee under  
Their iron feet. Thy foes shall eat thy bread,  
And with thy Flocks both clothed be and fed.  
Thy dwellers, they shall tarry from their own,  
To Countries which their Fathers have not known:  
And thither shall such mischiefs them pursue,  
That they who seek the pitfall, to eschew,  
Shall in a snare be taken. If they shall  
Escape the Sword, and Serpent in the wall  
To death shall sting them: yea (although they hap,  
To shun a hundred plagues) they shall not scape;  
But, with new danger still be chased about,  
Until that they are wholly rooted out.   

The Ploughman, then, shall be afraid to sow;  
Artificers, their labour shall forego;  
The Merchant man shall cross the seas no more,  
(Except to fly and seek some other shore)  
Thy ablest men shall faint, the wise ones, then,  
Shall know themselves to be but foolish men.  
And they who built and planted by oppression  
Shall leave their get to the foes possession.  
Yea, God will scourge thee, England, seven times more,  
With seven times greater Plagues than heretofore.  
Then, thy Allies their friendship shall withdraw;  
And, they that of thy greatness stood in awe,  
Shall say (in scorn) is this the valiant Nation,  
That had throughout the world such reputation,  
By Victories upon the shore? Are these  
That people that were Masters of the Seas,  
And grew so mighty? Yea, that pretty Nation,  
That not worthy of thy indignation,  
Shall mock thee too; and all thy former fame,  
Forgot shall be, or mentioned to thy shame.   

Then woe to them who darkness more have loved  
Then light: and good advice have disapproved:  
For they shall wander in a crooked path,  
Which neither light, nor end, nor comfort hath.  
And when for Guides and Counsel, they do cry,  
Not one shall pity them who passeth by.   

Then woe to them that have corrupted been,  
To justify the wicked in his sin;  
Or, for a bribe the righteous to condemn:  
For flames (as on the chaff) shall seize on them:  
Their bodies to the Dunghill shall be cast;  
Their flower shall turn to dust; their flock shall waste,  
And all the glorious titles they have worn,  
Shall but increase their infamy and scorn.   

Then woe to them that have been raised aloft  
By good men's ruins; and by laying soft  
And easy pillows under great men's Arms.  
To make them pleased in their alluring charms.  
We gather Armies, and we Fleets prepare;  
And then, both strong and safe we think we are.  
But when we look for Victories and glory,  
What follows, but events that make us sorry?  
And 'tis God's mercy that we turn our faces  
With so few losses, and no more disgraces.  
For what are most of those whom we commend  
Such actions to; and whom we forth do send  
To fight those Battles, which the Lords we call,  
But, such as neither fight for him at all?  
Whom dost thou make thy Captains, and dispose  
Such offices unto, but unto those  
(Some few excepted) who procure by friends  
Command, and pay to serve their private ends,  
These by their unrepented sins, betray  
Thy Cause, by these the honour, and the day  
Is lost: and when thou hopest that thy trouble  
Shall have an end, thy danger waxeth double.   

We feign would be at peace, but few men go  
That way, as yet, whereby it may be so.  
We have not that humility which must  
effect it: we are false and cannot trust  
Each other, no nor God with true confessions;  
Which shows that we abhor not our transgressions.  
It proves, that of our errors we in heart  
Repent not, neither purpose to departed  
From any folly. For all they that are  
Sincerely penitent, do nothing fear  
So much as their own guilt, nor seek to gain  
Aught, more than to be reconciled again.  
And they that are thus minded, never can  
Be long unreconciled to God or man.  
Believe me England, howsoever some  
Who should foresee thy plagues before they come,  
Endeavour to persuade thee that thou hast  
A hopeful time, and that the worst is passed  
Yet I dare boldly tell thee, thou hast nigh  
Worn out God's patience by impiety.  
And that unless the same we do renew  
By penitence, our folly we shall rue.  
And, if we do not more Gods will regard,  
That mischief is but for a time deferred.   

Be mindful therefore while it is to day;  
And let no good occasion slip away.  
Now rend your hearts, ye Britons, wash & rinse them  
From all corruption, from all evil cleanse them.  
Go offer up the pleasing Sacrifice  
Of Righteousness: from folly turn your eyes.  
Seek peace, and follow it with strict pursuit:  
Relieve the needy; Judgement execute;  
Refresh the weary, right the fatherless:  
The strangers and the widows wants redress:  
Give praise to God, depend with lowly faith  
On him, and what his holy Spirit saith:  
Remember what a price thy ransom cost,  
And now redeem the time that thou hast lost.  
Return, return thou (oh back sliding Nation)  
And, let thy tears prevent thy desolation:  
As yet thou mayst return: For Gods embrace  
Is open for thee, if thou hast the grace  
To give it meeting. Yet, Repentance may  
Prevent the mischiefs of that evil day  
Which here is mentioned: yet, thou mayst have peace,  
And by discreet endeavouring, increase  
Each outward grace, and every inward thing,  
Which will additions to thy comfort bring.   

Now grant us peace oh Lord! for perilous  
the times are grown, and no man fights for us  
But thou oh God Nor do we seek or crave,  
That any other Champion we may have.  
Thy Church in these Dominions, Lord preserve  
In purity, and teach us thee to serve  
In holiness and righteousness, until  
We shall the number of our days fulfil.  
Defend this Kingdom from all overthrows,  
By foreign enemies, or homebred foes.  
Our King with every grace and virtue bless,  
With thine honour, and his own, increase.  
Inflame our Nobles with more love and zeal,  
To thy true Spouse, and to this Common-weal.  
Inspire our Clergy in their sever places,  
With knowledge, and all sanctifying Graces;  
That by their lives and doctrines they may rear  
Those parts of Zion which decayed are.  
Awake these People, give them souls that may  
Believe thy Words, and thy Commands obey.   
FINIS.