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A34778
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A declaration unto the Parliament, Council of State and Army, shewing impartially the cases of the peoples tumults, madness and confusions as also eleven particulars which will perfectly cure their distempers : with the method of a commonwealth, hinted in twelve particulars, with what persons and callings are usefull therein : also shewing the benefit which comes by a common wealth rightly constituted in nine particulars and answering six objections / humbly offered to consideration by William Covel.
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Covel, William.
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1659
(1659)
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Wing C6612; ESTC R28414
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12,831
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26
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A DECLARATION Unto the PARLIAMENT Council of State and Army shewing impartially the Causes of the Peoples Tumults Madness and Confusions As also eleven Particulars which will perfectly cure their Distempers WITH The Method of a Common-wealth Hinted in Twelve Particulars With what Persons and Callings are usefull therein ALSO Shewing the benefit which comes by a Common wealth rightly constituted in nine Particulars And Answering six Objections Humbly offered to Consideration by VVILLIAM COVEL Gent. We for our selves are not by nature born Our own to seek and leave all else forlorne London Printed in the Year 1659. A Declaration with some Proposals unto the Parliament Council of State and Army and unto all others of all sorts BEholding the glory of that pure God of nature who hath wonderfully cleared my sight and quickened my benummed senses I say that blessed good nature enforceth me to declare my self at this time or else I can have no peace Blessed be the Lord the Heavenly Powers that created all things good Praise ye the Powers for ever and ever And I must speak to all without respect of persons I beholding the whole Creation to be very good and very comely in order to uses and ends for they were not created in vain I being but a little while in the School of Nature began to compare Gods Creation with mans Inventions and upon consideration I wondered not why man was so confounded so out of order and so full of complaints c. and concluded that the worlds glory is vanity and vexation and that man is the cause of his own confusion O England if thy glory be thy invention how vain and vexatious and ugly faced is thy glory I say that Good Nature is pure and is not in vain but is of and from the great Powers and is in order and method within its own Lines of Communication The voice of the Turtle is heard there and no where else But thou Oh England canst not hear the Voice in thy own inventions The trampling of Horses the noise of the Drums the clashing of Swords the noise of the Hammers the ratling of Coaches the observing of Fashions the fine things on your backs and the many projects in your heads your great gains and sometimes great losses the distractions in your families and amongst your friends hinder you from hearing the Voice Therefore my work is to shew you where you may hear it pleasantly and be delighted in it It is my Friends in Natur 's School It is Universal and Divine like God universally good You of the Universal Spirit understand me the others do not But let me ask them Will ye come into the universal divine School of Nature I mean Gods Creation that is the School But before you come let me ask you this question whatever you are you great-Ones you Kings Princes Noblemen you great-Ones in the world and you ignorant little ones also What have you that you have not recieved from that Universal Divine Store-house of good Nature How came you you Great-Ones by so much when others have so little of the glory of the world of invention Your eyes stand out with fatness you have more then you can wish for was it for you onely created It appears so by your holding it so fast But how came you Poor-Ones by your poverties and miseries you answer me and say Ever since the people did choose Kings and put their Images on Silver and Gold and with that bought and sold Ever since the people did forsake good Nature and fell to invention to build Cities and to get Charters to buy the poors labours for half the worth that they scarce have bread for them their wives and children because they have none of the Kings and Queens Images Oh how the buyers and sellers are guarded fenced with walls and defended with Lawes what cannot buyers and sellers have if that they ask for it to advance Trade Oh English hearts consider soberly Have not Kings and single Persons been very chargeable to the Nation Are not all vain things chargeable to you Are not the learned Fraternities of Lawyers the Ecclesiastical powers your Merchants your Tradsemen chargeable have they not all spongy Tongues to lick up the golden and silver Idols the people being made happy by having those Idols or miserable by not having of them How they draw the heart of man What slaves men are made to fetch Gold out of other Nations How many loose their lives before they bring it What tricks the people are fiegn to use before they can get it how they study and strain their wits and lay stumbling-blocks before their brethren Do you not see the possessors of it lift up themselves and snuff up the winde and have scornful eyes and taunting speeches for the poor but you shall see that they have a smile for their Lovers In this age the Proverb is made true Birds of a feather will flock together Behold therefore and wonder not they stand but in slippery places behold the golden and silver Idols your great Idol the mother of the little Idols behold the great Cathedrals the mothers of the little Churches Behold I say what whoredomes and fornications are committed what lyings what cheatings what blood what murders what divisions what tumults what pride what covetousness Oh how many Religions there are what brave Cloaks and Coats they are made to cover the sins of the world There are but two sorts of people the good and the bad according to your own accompt the good man must be the universal man one that lives in the Universal and Divine School whose object is good Nature The other is the narrow covetous man whose heart is set to get wealth and he lives in the worlds School which is Invention and his object is gold silver honour and the pomp of the world Behold the ugly-faced glory of the world Do but set the ugly cheating world of Invention aside and you will see that man was made to sound forth praises to his Creator and with delight to read the book of creatures Come you learned wise men from all parts of the whole world with all your skill and Learning there is a book the book of Creation for you to read all your time is too little your skill is too weak you want understanding you dare not look on the King he is so glorious he is pure nature there is pure orders pure method pure Lawes there is no confusion there is no pain or vexatious thing You universal Ones do you sing Praises to our Heavenly King Let the dark covetous men be in burnings in their own inventions with their Idols and with their worships until the matter that hinders them be consumed Before they can be universal they must be Students in the universal School of Nature which is divine and all Schools set up by man are but humane men made them Oh my dear brethren take heed how you hear and what you hear will
they please even as a Lamb before the Lions You Country people if you knew the worth of the Creation of God you would not run up and down with the Creatures as you doe and part with them for that which is your destruction and breeds in every place distractions I may say to England you are very cunning Apes you make Resemblances of all things on your Signes in your streets only you want power to give life to them they are chargeable to you they have eyes and see not legges and walk not c. Oh the Idol-makers you lying wonder-makers of the world I will stand upon the earth and turn me round about and behold more glory and true beauty in the Firmament and on the earth then all the inventing world can shew me which so tickles the Phantasies of fools your bables and babies are not fit for children They hurt them and poyson their understandings c. Let me tell you that you have wished for a Reformation and have read that Chapter the 8 of the Romans which mentions the Restauration of the Creation of God Pray you be patient rage not at me but at your own folly that you should be so cheated by your own Inventions I hope you will conclude That mans destruction is of himself and that it is true That sin shall stay the wicked man 3. Ob. But you would destroy us by spoiling our Callings and therefore we cannot bear your saying therefore we will destroy you one way or other Answ. I expect that if you can you will either publikely or privately I do here declare that I have no evil designe towards any of you neither do I know of any evil designe but would gain you from your trouble and your care and confusions which you are in and are like to come upon you 4. Ob. You spoil us of our delights and comforts we will not bear it Answ. You part with a little short comfort which in your inventions is mixt with trouble which of you can deny it that hereby you shall enjoy an eternal weight of glory here and hereafter You shew me mans works and I shew you Gods works Pray which of them affords you the best comfort 5. Ob. But you say I speak that which is true but you have Lawes to maintain you Answ. But how came you by them and if you have Laws they are but of mens making and them they may null if they please but if they will not I hope they will not say they are as good as Gods Lawes Orders Methods and Decrees are And I dare say that not any man shall be judged at the great Day by any Lawes of mens making but by the Lawes of Gods making which are the book of the Creatures and the book of Conscience It is but fit you should be acquainted and well read in these Books and it highly concerns you to take care in this point 6. Ob. You talk of a Common-wealth but what Authority have you to shew us to Act it Answ. To some that have made that Objection I Answer That the Parliament hath declared England c. to be a Common wealth and I doubt not but they will make good what they have Declared Therefore seeing that Endfield was first in the last Tumult I propose that 500 Acres of the Commons which are set out may be ordered for to act the Common-wealth on for the benefit of the poor in that Parish for although England be a Common-wealth in general yet by little Common-wealths it must appear as many Towns make one County and many Counties one Nation And I dare say in a short time you may behold a Pattern which may be fit for England and the whole world to follow The Conclusion LIft up your hearts yee Rulers and yee of our English Nation For you are designed for a General Work be not afraid and let all your enemies know both beyond the Seas and at home which are not to be valued that so long as you of the Parliament and Armie are found doing the work of Reformation that there are seven thousand and seven times seven thousands which have not bowed the knee to Baal neither will they who will stand by you I speak to you which I hope do understand me As for the others let them scoff tumultuate and rage He that made them are mightier than they one shall chase a 1000. and ten shall put ten thousand to flight I say fear not but come forth in well-doing and the God of all health and wealth be with you and lead you forth to do his works and not your own But if you neglect that duty and dis-unite the people then will make their applications for relief in these their necessary requests to such of you as shall be most propense and ready to effect their Desires These four Lawes and no more need be made I. All Tithes Delinquents Estates Innes of Court and Chancery Universities and the lands thereunto belonging to pay publick debts II. Gavel-kinde tenure to be re-established that the Eldest may not have all and the youngest be a Beggar III. Setling all Wast-lands and Commons on the poor for ever IV. That the Rich may pay according to their Estates whereby to maintein the Impotent and aged poor in Hospitals and that in every Parish an Hospital may be erected for that purpose as also Societies for youth and manufactures for those that are able to work where need shall require V. All other Laws to be Null for ever By these means we shall come to the old honest indifferent and righteous Agrarian Law which was exercised in the good-old Romane Common-wealth which is opposed by none but arbitrary King-mongers and factors for single persons in Government and such as are enemies to the pretious freedome and liberty of the people in a natural equality ordeined from the first Creation of the world My Canto on the Times COnsidering of things I then look't about Times clear forgot and almost worn quite out The people were willing in the year forty two But since by experience it hath proved their woe For faith and good works are even now forgot The peoples Teachers faithfull are not To say and to do is the Righteousness of man But to doe that without money who can It makes men honest and that wicked too For most men for that will each other undoe I was not afraid but serv'd the State eight years My name in their Musters most clearly appears Suffering hardship imprisonment and loss of my blood But if we act for Common wealth 't will be good We then fought against wickedness and all evil things Which began when the people cryed up their Kings But when the danger was past and in place was found gain I wanted not accusers to make me Heretick amain For so was I tryed by Articles which were but their Trash In Edenburgh with their pretended Zeal so rash And for their good works were so well rewarded Encreasing in Honour and wealth and are so much regarded And now to ambitious and covetous men all 's but a prey Crying Religion and Justice and that is their way What running and riding what whipping they make Each one of the other and how they mistake For to be Honourable Great Rich and Upper most Nature and their brethren must be made their post But where is their one who will regard the poor Will you still buy sell lye and paint o're the Whore Let me look but a little and see well about And I will soon find all the wickedness out Both in mine own self and also in my brother Oh! that that might be destroyed in each other To strengthen each other in any wicked thing Shall they finde rest No! nor see the face of the King Unite and strengthen thy brother and do it ever Let good be your object and gather your selves together Not with the Drum the Sword nor the battle spear For the universal Magistrate you shall not need to fear The universal divine School of Nature will you and them teach And every one there will learn for to preach And there find him truly who giveth all rest Before your inventions can though you think them best There shall they sing Praises unto their Creator Not regarding Silver or Gold or Picture-maker Therefore You of the Royal Race sing full loud and fast For You shall find Rest which is Heaven at the last FINIS