A most Learned, Conscientious and Devout EXERCISE, OR SERMON OF Self-denial, (Preached or) Held forth the last Lordsday of April, in the year of Freedom the 1st. 1649.  
At Sir P. T's House in Lincolns-Inn-Fields.  
By Lieutenant-General Oliver Cromwell, Immediately before his going for Ireland; as it was then faithfully taken in Characters, By AARON GUERDO.  
And now published for the Benefit of the New POLONIAN ASSOCIATION, and late Famed IGNORAMUS-JURIES of this CITY.  
Humbly Dedicated to the Worthy Protestant-Hop-Merchant, and the rest of the Ignoramus- Brethren.  
LONDON: Printed in the Year of Freedom 43.   

A most Learned, Conscientious, and DEVOUT EXERCISE OR SERMON of Self-denial, Held forth by Lieutenant-General Oliver Cromwell.  Rom. 13. verse 1. Let every Soul be subject unto the Higher Powers; for there is no Power but of God: The Powers that be, are ordained of God. 
DEarly beloved Brethren and Sisters; it is true, this Text is a Malignant one; the wicked and ungodly have abused it very frequently; but (Thanks be to God) it was to their own Ruin; yet their abuse of it shall not hinder us to make a right use of it. Every thing is subject to be abused, be it never so holy and good: the men of God, the Creatures of God, all are subject to Injuries, and Abuse, The Council of State, the Parliament, the Army, the General, have been (and daily are) abused: Nay, even myself have not escaped the violence of those Seducers, whose Tongues are sharper than a Two-edged Sword; My very Face and Nose are weekly maligned and scandalised by those scribbling Mercuries, Elencticus, & Pragmaticus; insomuch, that (were it possible) they would raise a Faction in my Forehead, and make Mutiny amongst my very Teeth. 'Tis true, I have a very hot Liver, and that is the cause my Face and Nose is red; for my Courage and Valour lies in my Liver, not in my Heart, as other men's do: never any man could say my Heart was stout; indeed the General's lies there, and that's the reason his Face is pale. You all know I never was a Drunkard, although when I was at lowest I had Beer enough, (for you know I had near relation to a Beer-Brewer) and I had always Money to buy me Wine, if I pleased: so that I might have been a Drunkard if I would; yet (you know) I am a temperate sober man, else I had not been so good a Soldier. But what is it that the Malignants will not abuse, who let not to abuse themselves? I'll warrant you they would abuse our very Wives too, if they durst; and I am afraid some of them do— You know what I mean; but no more of this at present.  
My Text (you see) is Scripture, and Scripture must be believed (next to our Divine Revelation) let it be what it will; But the Malignants would interpret it One way, and we (the Saints) Another; Now, let any body judge who are to be believed, They or We; whether (Isay) those Ungodly Cavaliers, that fought to uphold Tyranny, and Antichrist; or We, that in uprightness of our Hearts, fought for Liberty, and Freedom, and for Establishing the Kingdom of King Jesus. Surely, Beloved, it is We that are in the right of it; I think none of you will deny it.  
But now I speak of Kings, the main Question is, Whether by the Higher Powers are meant Kings or Commoners? Truly (Beloved) it is a very great Question amongst those (they say) that are Learned; But I think verily they make more stir about it than needs; For, may not every body that can read observe, that Paul speaks in the plural number, the Higher Powers: now, had he meant subjection to a King, he would have said, Let every Soul be subject to the Higher Power; that is, if he meant One Man; But you see he meant more than one, for he bids us be subject to the Higher Powers; that is, the Council of State, the House of Commons, and the Army. I hope I have cleared this point; so than I will come closer to the words themselves, and show you truly and plainly (without any gaudy Rhetoric) what they signify unto us, that you be not deceived; And I tell you, this is not to be done by every Spirit, but only by such that are more than ordinarily endowed with the Spirit of discerning; I confess, there are many good Men and Women amongst you, that intent well, and speak well, and understand well; but yet cannot apprehend well all things that lurk in Scripture-language, for lack of a sufficient measure of the Spirit; They must be inwardly called thereunto, or else they are subject to Error, and Misconstructions.  
Well then, you see who are fittest to interpret; I presume you also believe God hath abundantly supplied me; I do not boast of it, but I speak it to his Glory who hath vouchsafed to take up his Lodging in so vile, contemptible, unswept, unwashed, ungarnished a Room, as is this unworthy Cottage of mine; But it was his will, and I am thankful for it.  
Now, the words of themselves are very natural; they are plain, not difficult, but prostrate themselves in a most perspicuous manner.  
For first, Beloved, by these words, Let every Soul, etc. we may understand that every one of us have Souls; whence I raise this point of Doctrine, 
* 1 Doctrine.  That it is an Ungodly, Irreligious, Profane, Idle Tenent, among the men of the world to think or say that Women have no Souls; Mark my Beloved, to think or say, etc. For there are many , that think, and will not speak what they think; and others speak, and will not think what they speak: But we are none such, dear Sisters, it is a great abuse to your Honourable Sex. And now truly I will turn to you only; for you have been our daily and Nightly Comforters, indeed lau you have: You have raised our drooping Spirits, though never so much dejected; You have got us Stomaches, when we had none, and furnished us with Flesh on all occasions; We never found you unwilling or unready to serve us on all occasions, when we were farthest from home.  
Believe it, when I lay before Pembroke-Castle, my Landlady where I quartered (who had once been a Malignant, and then but newly crept into the State of Grace;) she (I say) had a Good Soul within her, she was brimful of the Spirit, and yet was very handsome, which is strange; for seldom we find a Perfection without an Imperfection; Commonly, women that are Fair, are either False, or soul within; but to me she was neither; and yet I do not speak this to condemn Beauty; for it is of singular Comfort, and good Use; and those that be Fair, may be True and Good, as in this single instance; But this is secundum Majus & Minus, (as the Logicians cant it) some are better than other some; that's the English of the Latin; and indeed I have found great and vast difference in women.  
Then again, when I came into Yorkshire I met with Mrs. Lambert, the Espoused of that Valiant and Honourable Saint Major-General Lambert; she is, I say, a woman not very Fair, I confess, but of as large a Soul, and as full of the Spirit, as any I ever yet met with; I profess, I never knew a woman more endowed with those Heavenly Blessings of Love, Meekness, Gentleness, Patience and Long-suffering; nay, even with all things that may speak her deserving the name of a Saint, every way; yet (I say) as to her Person, she was not very Beauteous, and Comely; for she is something Foggy, and Sunburnt; which is strange, in that cold Northern Climate; But what Nature hath denied her of Ornament without, I found she had within her a Soul, a devout sweet Soul; and, God knows, I loved her for it.  
Thus we find then, both by Scripture and experience, that all of us have Souls, Men and Women; But then again, Beloved, some have good Souls, and some have bad: Mrs. Lambert hath a good Soul, and no doubt (nay I know) many of you that be here are and have good Souls within you; The Cavaliers and their Queans are the bad Souls; they serve, and are subject to bad and ungodly men; Men did I call them, rather Devils, that would devour us, and drink themselves drunk with the Blood of the Saints. By this than it is evident, who have been, and who are the good Souls.  
From whence then I raise this my second Doctrine, 
* 2 Doctrine.  (rather point of Faith) That we are not to believe nor to account any to be, or to have good Souls, but those that are of the Family of the Saints. I had almost said, Of the Family of Love, but that it is a particular Sect, something differing from ours.  
Come on then; Let every Soul.  
Quest. What shall every Soul do?  
Answ. Be subject to the Higher Powers, etc. whereby we see all Souls, good and bad, are bound to be subject. All-Souls-Colledg in Oxford must be subject to our Visitors: All-souls-day, though a Superstitious Holiday, kept by the Papists and Bishops, (those Pests of the Church, which we have lately and deservedly extirpated) must also be Subject to those uses, our Powers shall allot or appoint it to; Your Souls, Brethrens and Sisters, must be subject to persuasion, to love familiarly, and in entire Friendship, to all things that may increase and elevate the Spirit; to kindle and take fire, like tinder upon every spark, and glance of our affection; Oh! My Dear Brethren, and Sisters, Love is the fulfilling of the Law, what need we more then? Love also, covers a multitude of Sins; Then it hides all our infirmities, had we according to this rule, loved one another; these differences and Blood shed had never happened.  
Objection, But some will object and say, that there is a Lust as well as Love; and so commixed, as not to be distinguished; and many times on the consequence of the other, to the Scandal and reproach of the Saints.  
Answer, But I tell you, (Beloved) these nice and critical distinctions, are things had once like to have undone us; Lust is nothing but the desire of any thing; The Saints cannot err; (my Beloved) we desire to enjoy one another, God forbidden but that we should help and comfort each other, and lay out, and extend ourselves, as far and freely as may be, to assist each other in the free Embraces of the Spirit, the Law of Reason and Nature requires it of us.  
Question, But let us look a little further; to whom must every Soul be Subject to?  
Answer, Why to the Higher Powers. I have told you already what these Higher Powers are; they are the Council of State, the House of Commons, and the Army; and God forbidden but that all men should obey them; that is, all the people, every Soul of them, be subject to the Council of State; the Council of State, to the House of Commons; they to the Army; the Army, to the General; and the General, to ME; To Me, (I say) who have Plotted, Advised, Counselled, and Fought (all accompanied with a continual series of Success) for both You and them for these seven years, and now at last have purchased your Freedom and Liberty. Dear Brethren, and Sisters, I speak it not in ostentation, but with thankfulness and praise to him, who hath made me so useful an instrument in this work of Reformation; for, Beloved, it was I that juggled the late King into the Isle of Wight. It was I that dissolved the Treatise; It was that seized upon, and hurried him to Hurst-Castle; It was I that set Petitioning on foot throughout the Kingdom, against the personal Treaty, and for bringing the King, and other Capital Offenders to Justice; It was I that contrived (with my Son Ireton) the long Remonstrance of the Army; It was I that prescribed the erecting of the High Court of Justice, which brought the King to His Trial; In a word, it was I that (in effect) cut off His Head, and with it all the Shackles and Fetters of the Norman Slavery, and Bondage; It was I that cut off the Heads of Capel, Hamilton and Holland; It was I that surprised the Levellers of Burford, and Northamtonshire; It was I that broke their design, and cut off Thompson for example, and so dispersed and appeased the rest; By which I have healed all the late Distempers in the Army, whereby the whole Land is restored to this blessed Peace, Tranquillity and Plenty we now enjoy; And therefore (I say) I may justly (without ambition) Style myself the Auhor of all the Kingdoms present and future Happiness.  
It is true (Beloved) the General is a Stout and Valiant man, and hath great appearance of God in him; but fit to be passive than active in Affairs of State; He is fit for a Charge, than for Council; and (under the Rose) he wants Brains to do any thing of moment; but indeed, this I may say for him, he is a man that doth not seek himself; I never found him wilful, but willing to submit to better Judgements than his own. For, when Sedgwick, (that fast and lose Priest of (ovent-garden) upon the King's Trial, had writ to his Lady, to advise him to remit the Execution of that Sentence, and wholly (at least) to wash his hands of his death: He (honest man) presently acquainted me with the business, and showed me the arguments given to persuade him against it, and freely referred it to my Judgement; and the 28th. of January (being the Lordsday) at night, I went to him, at his House in Queen-street, (attended with two Troops of my own Regiment of Horse) to remove the scruples he had made upon receiving that rascally Priest's Letter, or to secure him by force, if I had any ways found him to continue averse, and would not be satisfied; But he (good man) gave me thanks for my pains, and told me I had fully resolved him. All this (Beloved) I speak in honour of the man; But truly he is too Great to be so good as we must have a General; and you know he is a Lord, and unless he be a Lord and no Gentleman, (as I believe he will not acknowledge himself) he is not for our turn. Besides, he is (you see) so easily seduced, and led away by every wind of Doctrine, by mean appearances, and shadows of reason. Truly, Beloved, I think myself and my Son Ireton may prove of greater use to the Republic than any other; and if we be but once by the acknowledgement of the people chosen Governors thereof, we question not but to answer their expectations to a Hairs breadth; which, if ever it come to pass, (for the Kingdom [Observe] cannot be ever settled upon any firm or lasting Basis or Foundation without it;) then I and my Son Ireton are the Higher Powers here meant in my Text, to whom subjection is commanded; for (as I told you before it cannot be to one single man, it must be to Two, or more; And truly if the People shall think of us, as we think of ourselves, worthy of that Trust; we shall discharge it faithfully, and study to merit it at their hands; But, mistake me not, I do not mean by merit, as the Papists do; That is to say, to deserve it at their hands, for the good works we have, or shall do; No no, we will acknowledge it all out of the free Grace and Mercy of the People: For when we have done all we can for them, we must acknowledge ourselves most unprofitable Servants.  
I thank them, they have already made me General for Ireland; and you know I am now just upon the point of going there, in great hopes of reducing those Rebellious Traitors to your obedience; But Beloved, so many of you as go along with me, must be mindful of my Text; That is, you must be in all things Subject to Me, and my Leiutenant-General; when we bid you go, you must run; when we bid you Storm, you must do it, though it be against nothing but Stone Walls; You own to us your Lives and Fortunes, your Limbs and all that you have: And that without Grumbling, for you must in all respects submit to the Higher Powers.  
In verity, this expedition against Ireland, is like to prove a very difficult thing, unless I can in policy, engage Owen Roe. If not, to join with Jones, Monk and Coot; yet to keep off at a distance with Ormond. I am Beloved, about it, and I shall do my utmost endeavours to set him and Inchiquin at variance; And yet at that very instant, will I lose no time nor opportunity to re-oblige him to the Parliament; For you all know what Inchiquin is, I have him— but I will not say how— an Act of Indemnity it is probable tied in a string of a five thousand Pound bag, may work a Miracle; for he, good man, is but misguided, he stands not upon such punctilios of Honour as Ormond doth. In truth Beloved, this Ormond is a very shrewd man, and were he not one of the Wicked, a man highly deserving (not so much for his knowledge and experience in Military Affairs; which yet may challenge some due proportion of Honour) for the diligence and faithfulness in the trust committed to, and reposed in him; Valour I will not allow him, I can only term it desperateness, and that he wants not. But remember how politicly he carried himself in the business of Dublin, after we had totally subdued the common enemy here first; how dextrously in the first place did he avoid the messages and Commands of the late King, for delivering up Dublin into our hands, (the which order we extorted from him) how shamefully did he baffle the Commissioners we sent to treat with him about the Surrender; at what distance still he kept them, urging the Captivity of the King, to excuse his obedience; and how often, and upon what sleeveless errands he sent them back, to reinforce their instructions; whilst all that while, he was underhand endeavouring to know the King's pleasure, by the hand of his own Messenger; And when he was satisfied of the realty, he trucked with us for his own Security and satisfaction; nay more, when he had stood on the receipt of some thousands, before he would be induced to surrender; you shall hear how he than serves us: For notwithstanding that I caused the Parliament, by their Letters voluntarily to assure him the full double the Sum he demanded, upon condition he would quit the King, and declare for our Interests, and that hereunto, he had returned a fine Silver Tongued response in answer to the Parliament, and to indemnify him and his Followers, for all things said or done in relation to the English and Irish Wars, and four Thousand pound to recompense for his great Charges and Losses, with this additional assurance that he should (soon after surrender) be re-invested with full Power in the said Government again, by Commission from the Parliament; Yet, no sooner was Dublin delivered to us, by virtue of the King's Letters and his Passport sent him, but he in contempt of all our fair and civil offers, Transports himself to France, abruptly waving both our Proffers and Protection.  
This, Beloved I instance not to justify him, in his Rebellions courses against the Nation, for I will use my utmost endeavours to destroy him for it: But to let you see how gloriously, though in the things that are wicked, and unjust, he appears in the eyes of the World; in being so true and firm to his Trust, on whose fidelity is not to be corrupted by Gold, nor good Preferments; and continues faithful to the very last, when in one sense it was altogether useless, nor will I let to acknowledge him to be no less formidable than faithful and sedulous.  
For certainly he hath gone very near to practise all Interests, and picked out of them a numerous Army, over whom he hath placed good Officers; Good, (said I) I don't mean thereby Godly Officers, for they are all of them Prelatical and Popishly affected; but I mean Tried Soldiers, such as will not easily turn their backs on an Enemy: These I must endeavour to oblige; and I must confess, they have also a good Strength by Sea, and a number of wilful, resolute, stout Fellows for Mariners, who are in great heart, by reason of the many and great Prizes they have taken from us: But what of all this? Shall we therefore be discouraged? God forbidden. The more numerous the Enemy is, the greater shall the Victory over them be; The more difficult the work is, the more Glory to God, and Honour to Us; The fuller their Pockets are, the worse they will fight, you know by experience. The Plunder of Leicester, gave us the Victory at Naisby; there you saw the Cavaliers chose rather to leave their King to His shifts, than shift from behind their Cloak bags. Believe it, Gentlemen, we shall (by Faith) meet with many advantages against them. R. himself (and I know who else, will do us some good, though it be but crossing of Proverbs; and if I hear but once that Culpepper or Hide is there, doubt not but all is our own. I cannot recount a Tithe of them; but this I am sure, the honest Citizens have feasted us to good purpose; for upon that occasion we had their promise to advance Money afresh for Ireland; (Same Nombre On Mensare, that is French, Beloved, the English whereof is) without Weight or Measure; verliy they are of a stiff necked Generation; An exceeding Meek, and Humble People, from being Mutinous and Factious, and indeed Beloved; It was no small work, we had to subdue the malignant Spirits of the City; Considering how audaciously once they withstood our Authority; and despised our Government, how peremptorily they petitioned for a personal Treaty; with the King, and sent their Servants into Colchester, Surry, and Kent, to enforce thereunto, how bitterly they inveyed and railed against the proceed of the Parliament and Army; how largely they contributed to bring in a Foreign Narion, towards us whilst yet, they denied us the Payment of our arrears, or to continue the necessary Taxes or Excise, for our future maintanance, who had preserved them and their Family's from the rapine and cruelty of a Barbarous Enemy, but Beloved Brethren, I mean not to rip up old matters; Let it suffice that, being warned by that mishap, you also fall not into the like Sin of Disobedience to Higher Powers; there being no Powers but of God, the Powers that be, being ordained of God.  
Objection, But it may be, some here may object and say you have clearly opened and proved that You and Your Son Ireton are the Higher Powers here appointed by God; then how shall we be secure in your absence, from the Malicious Plots and Contrivances of the Papists and Malignants on the one hand, and those underground Moles, the Presbyterians and Levellers on the other; who, all conspire, though for different, ends the ruin of the Power, especially  Lilburn, and the rest with him, in durance whose unquiet turbulent Spirits can never be quelled, but by a Commonwealth; They being so implacable and desperate.  
Answer, Truly Beloved, you do very well to make these doubts, I like these doubting Christians, provided they be not Jealous Christians, but in answer hereunto, I lay this down for a sure maxim, that God himself always protects those Powers he ordains; and he never suffers them to be fling off the Hinges; but for our Sins or Misgovernment in the same, and I think as hitherto you are all witnesses that I have done nothing yet, whereby to incur the displeasure of the Almighty.  
But more particularly, see how far my Policy hath taken care for you, and the Peace of the Nation in my absence; for suppose that Lilburn and the rest of our Factious Enemies (as God knows we have too many) should strive to alienate the hearts of the People from us, And to usurp the Rule and Dominion to themselves; If that convenient strength were not left, and one so well fitted with Policy and Courage to restrain them; I have therefore taken care that my Son Ireton shall stay amongst you, and my Noble Colonel Lambert shall go my Lieutenant General in his stead; And my Son you know, wants no Spirit, if he did, he should never have Married my Daughter; as to his Policy you have as little reason to doubt, as I of his Fidelity; the large Remonstrance renders him, I think, very clear handed and Subtle: And with him I will leave a sufficient Strength, both of Foot and Horse; Which together with the City Forces, of which we are now sure (the General also, so Popular and Valiant a man, staying here also to oversee them,) shall, you need not fear, suppress all Insurrections and Tumults whatsoever; however, I have left such directions with my Son Ireton, about Lilburn and the rest, as if ever hereafter they observe him or them, to stir up the People to Sedition, or to scribble any thing as formerly against our proceed; that he shall forthwith execute Military Justice upon them, Ad terrorem mortua ne mordent, the English is, dead men tell no tales, since neither our mercy, nor the sense they have of the uprightness of our Cause, will invite them to forbear bespattering the Innocent Robes of this Infant Estate. And now Beloved, as we must not conceal any thing from one another (ye all being my Soldiers, and with your Wives my intimate privadoes and bosom Friends) I shall make bold to acquaint your ingenuity, in instancing another doubt, with a danger at the end of it, which although it may startle you at the first sight, yet be of good courage, be faithful, and strong, it admits of any easy Solution, viz. About the Accord now on Foot, between the Scots and their new King. Truly I must confess, my designs were never till now so diverted and confounded; for I must tell you, I always reverenced that short but pithy Precept of Machiavelli, divide and reign; So long as I could keep them at odds amongst themselves, I feared not but to order them as I pleased. But now it is too true, that both the Parliament and Priests of that Kingdom, have attainted Argile of Treason, viz. For holding the hands of the Scots, until we Executed that exemplary piece of Justice upon the King; And that they therefore intent to cut his Head off, which if they do, they destroy our only Friend in that Kingdom: And the differences on Foot there, must needs expire with his death; which being once done, there will nothing be left to be done, but to vie Authority with us, and threaten us a second Invasion; for you must understand the Scots are a Warlike People, that there is nothing will make them sooner Rebel, than Plenty and Idleness; They cannot be long at Peace; If they were quiet amongst themselves, they must Invade us. Now Beloved, to preserve ourselves against them, if it should come to the pinch, we had better quit those outhouses of Ireland, and though that were burnt, it matters not, so we be secure at home; To which end I have resolved, that if they cut off the Head of Argile, or otherways disable him to prosecute our Interest there; that then I will wave the War in Ireland, and keeping the fore-door of this Nation close shut, bend all my Forces to defend the backdoor against that perfidious People; And this I perceive to be the surest way, provided I can make choice of trusty and able Men to secure the Ports and Towns, and Inland Garrisons, without revolts, or Treachery; and this will be the easier done, considering the Men and Money we have at our disposals; I tell you, one Thousand shall slay there ten Thousand, and in a short time make them a little contemptible miserable People; and at last root them out from off the face of the Earth, and possess ourselves of their Lands, for an Inheritance to us, and our Generations for ever.  
But I have strayed too far from my Text, I will now come to the remaining words of it, and so conclude.  
For there is no Power, but of God. viz. the Council of State, the House of Commons, the Council of War, and all the High-Court of Justice are of God; and the following words of my Text, give you the reason.  
For the Powers that be, are ordained of God.  
Be they just or unjust, they are all of God; and so requires your Passive, if not Active obedience; For God ordained them, as he did that Tyrannical Power of the late King, and those Belly Gods the Bishops; so he ordained us for their sins, to pluck them down, and as he hath graciously removed those wicked Powers; so he hath appointed us to preserve, cherish, comfort, and relieve the Saints, our Lot is fallen in a pleasant place, and We, now enjoy all their Lands and Estates; that We might Rule and Govern the Land, in Sincerity and Truth; by distributing Justice equally, and impartially, to every Soul according to his will; but the time is past, and my business has a General now, requires my Presence and Council; I desire therefore, Dear Brethren, and Sisters; that you daily power out your Prayers and supplications for us, and for our success against the wicked and ungodly that are risen up against us; and that you cease not to comfort one another, with Mutual Embraces and Spiritual Kisses, to delight and sweeten your passages through this vale of misery, And that you take special care to strengthen and corroberate yourselves, with all moderate use; of the Creatures, that I may find Oil in your Lamps when I return.  
Let us call upon God in Prayer.  
FINIS.