inviolable shall that power rule us and you that we choose so to doe No this would hazard the Refined Interest I le warrant you What then shall all the old Friends of the Parliament that are no more Turn coats then your selves and have served the State as well as your selves shall these in every County City and considerable Burrough choose their Trustees for the Supreme Authority No there hath been a great Apostasie and Back-sliding honest men shall be chosen who are true to the Cause who are fit to be Kings and Priests and to reign for ever and ever such as have the Spirit and these will know what Israel ought to doe and will make good Laws and Statutes and execute judgement in the Gate these will hate the Whore and burn her flesh with fire Is this the Refined Interest what such another Gimcrack as that little Mungrel thing that Voted it self a Parliament any thing in the world that will keep our Faction in heart that will carry on our design this is the Refined Interest whether it be honest or whether it be just it matters not many men extol that Junto to this day though the very Con stitution of it stinketh in the Nostrils of every considerate man as tending utterly to cheat us of our Choice And what do not men magnifie now adayes that will but say as they say Beshrew that Christian policy that would ride over our Rights and priviledges under pretence of a Refined Interest Those that will forget to be Men will not long remember to be Christians They that will dash the Second Table of the Law to pieces will hardly keep the First Table as they ought Will you rob us of our Rights and kill us by Famine and decay of Trade Surely we must all be Souldiers ere long and then we shall get a Vote among you Will ye kill will you steal and say Ye are delivered to work all these abominations No you are out all this while We will be honester then you think for we will have Parliaments still chosen by the people But it cannot be safe for the Godly unless we choose a Select number of faithful men Faithful to the GOOD OLD CAVSE that shall be a â—heck to the Parliament an Influencing Senate as Mr. Stubs hath it who hath written a Book on purpose to prove Sir Henry Vane no Jesuite Sure Mr. Stubs did not find this in Mr. Harringtons model which he admires as if it were a pattern out of the Mount No certainly Mr. Harrington hath more Wisedom and more Honesty His Senate is only to give light he doth not propound a Senate to be the Interest of the Comman-wealth to secure the Honest party nor yet an Influencing Senate to be chosen by a few men that call themselves the Godly party But to be chosen by the people as the other House These two Senates are as contrary as White to Black And if Mr Harringtons Model came out of the Mount I wonder from whence from what Manuscript this Library-keepers Noddle did bring our his If there must be a Senate surely none better certainly none can be honest and just but that which the people choose as Mr Harrington saith Pray why should the Army choose Are there not as Honest men as themselves in every part of the Nation What I 'le warrant the major part is the worser part therefore they must not be trusted But the Council of Officers I wonder indeed how the major part of the Council of Officers can take themselves to be honest who first declared against A Single Person Then routed the Parliament Then set up a Mock Parliament then pulled it down Then made their General Protector for life then made him to beget a Protector Then broke this Government Then suffered the Parliament to sit again Now have broke them again What comes next That which they will break again ere long One can hardly give a worse Character of Men Meddle not with them that are given to change And must these choose us an Influencing Senate It is like to be well done Well and when all is done carry on your Refined Interest as well as you can your Mock-parliament or Severty Elders would never agree some would see further into Mi stons then others and had a more Glorious Cause to carry on then the rest and then this would be the Refined Interest there would be no end till we fall all to Errant popery Yea you Senate and your Parliament would agree like Cats and Dogs they would never unite where then is your Design Have you no Guts in your Brains Why do you rage and imagine a vain thing As sure as you live nothing but honest and righteous things will be a Foundation for us to bottom upon if we mean to stand against the Winds and Waves that are like to beat against our House He is no Designer now that will not be Honest Nothing but Honesty and a publick heart can carry us with credit and safety through these Discriminating times Never were such days of Triall in England They may go to School again that have Machiavil by heart there hath been and is another Game going in England then these Gamesters are aware of He must have been purely honest and not much pre-possessed that hath not gravelled himself in these last twenty years Ye have many Flatterers but few reall Friends Glad my heart and do Righteous things you that are Honest Ye cannot wipe your month and say What evil have we done now Ye cannot have such a Face of Brasse such a Whores Forehead Repent repent Deny us not our just Rights let Righteousness take place so shall you repair the Breach you have made upon us so shall we be established for God established the Just And let us by no means talk deceitfully for God To say no more It is the most ruinous the most dangerous and destructive action that ever was taken to task Parliament broken Nation unsetled Friends discontented no body but blames you Laws and Liberties all a going the Sword Rampant the Nation undone your Enemies more numerous and mighty the Common Interest of the Nation in jeopardy your Good Old Cause at stake nay your own Throats ready to be cut as if you were going like an Oxe to the slaughter or a Fool to the correction of the stocks like a Bird snared in an evil Net like a Bird that hasteth to the net and knoweth not that it is for his life What say Friends and Foes The Army would not refer the Nation unto the eare of this Parliament that were as one should say Flesh of their Flesh and Bone of their Bone surely no Parliament will ever doe good upon them since this could not If any other Parliament crosse them then they must turn out for Malignants With this word in their cars What shall we be Governed by them we Conquered but the other day Are there no English spirits in the Nation
they also set on foot in divers other Regiments If this became faithful servants I wonder who are Masters but for the honesty of the matter they thus combined to effect to instance only in one particular No Officer must be displaced but by a Council of Officers What is the mystery of this iniquity why all must turn out that will be faithful to the interest of the Nation and the trust reposed in them they would pack their Officers to their own mindes shuffle and cut both verily then if they should Petition in a peaceable way as they call it a priviledge not to be debarred the meanest Englishman I wonder what Supreme Authority durst say them Nay this is a thousand times worse providence then to grant them a General and to give him power to place and displace at pleasure worse providence for the Nation I am sure we might possibly finde one honest man in England whom we might trust if it could not otherwise be avoided but how to make a whole Councel of Officers honest most of whom have sprouted up from no very generous principles this is next of kin to an impossibility What a Corporation of the Army what the Army the Representative of England Must your General as of late be the Archon or Sole Legislatour your Council of Officers our Senate and your small Officers the people of England out upon it this is too bad in all conscience why not a Corporation of the Navy too as much reason every jot What the Supreme authority of England that pay you your wages that can put in and out at their pleasure and it is reason they should the Lords Keepers of the Great Seale the Judges of the Land the greatest Officers of State yea and Besides whom none can give you Commissions but they are Rogues Robbers as bad as any High-way-men and worse who take upon them to act and have no Commission from them it is the case of some among you T is a Combination and a Conspiracy among you to make a GENERAL and give him Commission and then he to give you Commissions or to set up any number of men as Supreme but such as the good people of the Land chuse and then to take Commissions from them this is Idolatry to fall down and worship the work of our own hands and to cry aha we are warmed aha we are warmed What not the Supreme Authority be able to remove a Lieutenant an Ensign a Serjeant a Corporal But by your leave most omnipotent Councel of Officers 't is true it is dangerous trusting a General with this Power he may turn all to his own interest which most commonly accords but little with that of the Nation you have had wonderful experience of this already but the Parliament whose interest is the interest of the Nation and can be no other that their noses should come under the girdle of an Army Oh sad contrivance What was it the Good Old Cause that the Parliament must have the Militia and not the King was it then reason they should command the Sword who carried the Purse and carried the interest of the Nation among them and poor King must he suffer death â—or standing upon his terms with them And now when the Parliament is by Your selves declared the Supreme Authority of England now they must touch none of your anoiyted now they must not so much as remove one single Officer of your Army but through the meditation of your grace and favour could the Pa liament say Amen to this part of your Petition and Representation and not betray the Nation and their trust and make themselves the scorn and hatred of the Nation and future Parliaments Yea could they understand this private Combination to force this unreasonable desire and proceed with lesse tokens of their displeasure and not give the Nation a jealousie that they would betray them And is this the reason why you hugge these 9 powder-plotters to effect this most horrid hellish mischief I can imagine nothing so like the truth of the Design if there be any design in it as this well should this be effected for you that you should give Law to England pray what will be the design of it to what end I pray to bewray your deep insight into the afrairs of State To gain your selves Honour and Renown for your rare Conduct of the State no I fear shame would be your promotion you would have little better successe then you have had you may joult your Jobernouls together long enough before you can hammer out a Settlement for us no body thinks that saying true of you I am wiser then all my Teachers Where will be the Design if when you have run your selves out of Winde and out of your Wits too you shall be reduced to the like exigency as of late and be forced to bewayl your Blindness and Apostasie again I say what is become of the Design then And it is not in reason to foresee how you can manage the Chariot of the State long but all must run into disorder your Sin yea and your undertaking will be a burden a punnishment greater then you can bear Very considerate men think you can hardly carry it a Moon Oh shallow oh incogitant oh pitiful oh foolish Army who hath bewitched you you did run well who hindred you will you now altogether run in vain will you lose the things you have wrought will you sell the righteous for nought Our Lawes Liberties our Good Old Cause for lesse then a pair of Shoos Will you harm us and do your selves no good Oh peevish oh wilful Are ye Children are ye Fools are ye Mad Do you discover your Gallantry by grapling with Impossibilities For shame men for shame give over Oh but you mistake us all this while our Design is To carry on the Refined Interest the Spirit of the Cause Good good is this the businesse what is this new thing nothing you may make spâ—rt withal a Refined Interest the spirit of the cause hard words what is the English on 't I wonder whether Sir Henry Vane hath opened these abstruse terms to your understanding you apprehend things more nimbly then it seems then honest old English-spirited Sir Arthur Haslerigâ—e that most highly deserving patriot I think it will be hard to understand the thing you drive at by the terms you dresse it in you will teach us to speak English after a new cut certainly such an Interest was never till now phrased a Refined one The Refined Interest saith Mr. Harrington is that which carries so much reason in it and so much the Interest of the Nation that it being once understood and we in possession of it needs not a Mercenary Army to keep it up Is your Interest refined in this notion you so much bless your selves in what course will you take for the carrying on the spirit of the cause the Refined Interest what will you preserve our choice
A PARLIAMENTER'S PETITION TO THE ARMY The present Supreme Authority OF ENGLAND High and Mighty Masters IT hath been in every bodies mouth The Parliament were your drudges that you were twice or thrice about to discard them since they sat last No doubt they spake it most of them as they would have it Well you have broken this Parliament yea you have broken your selves and us too yee have turned all topsie turvie 'T is true of you These are they that have turned the world upside down you have made England Scotland Ireland a Chaos without-form and void and I doubt your Omnipotency will never speak the word for such a creation as any honest man shall say when he hath looked upon it that it is very good You may pardon me since you have put all out of Order if you have disordered my thoughts so that I observe no method when all is without any method among us I tell you this action is the most faithless senslesse bootlesse ruinous action that ever appeared upon the Stage of the world the most false hearted and traitorous the most ridiculous and insignificant the most rash and fruitlesse the most dangerous and destructive adventure that ever men took in hand Oh my soul enter not thou into their secrets nor let any honest men say a confederacy with them let them associate themselves they shall be broken to pieces God will find them out in due time I beseech you what do you mean are ye Christians and yet will not be men to passe by all former Obligations did you not the other day bewail your Apostasie that you had wandred from your GOOD OLD CAVSE did you not tell us You took shame to your selves and remembred from whence you were fallen and repented and would do your first workes and therefore finding that God blessed you all along till you forced the Long Parliament but after that made you labour as in the fire and no good came of all your after actions therefore you assured them that now they should sit freely and you would strengthen their hands and be their servants Is not all this truth in these very words or to this effect and much more if I had leasure to repeat but it is fresh in every bodies mouths and minds though you have forgot it and are you not past shame now must we bewail your Apostacy now as fearing since you are fallen away after being enlightned it will be hard to restore you again to repentance especially since ye have tasted of the powers of this world But besides this did you not every Mothers child of you Officers did you nor take your Commissions from the Parliament one by one promise your obedience Yes that most faithful and gifted Brother Colonel Packer promised when he received his Commission at Mr. Speakers hands that he would not only promise them to be faithful and obedient but they should see by his actions that he would be a true servant to them and the Common-wealth Yea Lambert himself was the greatest stickler for the Parliament God forgive him for what ends I know not and yet these men Act like as they had given the Parliaments Commissions and trurn them out whom they just now promised so seriously to obey a Turk a Heathen would have scorned this falshood and basenesse What not 〈◊〉 faithful to our trust O faithlesse and perverse Generation Add to this that flattering and insinuating Petition and Representations but the other day wherein they so sadly bemoan themselves that the Parliament should so sharpely rebuke their humble servants their faithful servants that meant nothing but to petition in a peaceable manner where they artificially conceal their intentions for a General only desire that Fleetwoods Commission may be renewed other things they Petition for we understand what your Petitioning signifies some to insinuate into the favour of the Militia others to secure the Government of the Nation in the hands of the Officers of the Army it is so in the effect and the most Saint-like promise all to be well-meaning then to be servants to the Parliament and the most sweet expressions imaginable But we have tryed them that say they are Saints they are the faithful Servants of the Common-wealth but are not and have sound them Lyars Who Lambert put the Northern Brigade to petition for a General no such matter he perswaded them good man all he could against it yes I 'le warrant you And yet the Fift Monarcky-men the Mad ones of them think now Christs Kingdom goes on amain and flock down in Shoals to Walling ford-house to make way for Christs coming who may be coming for ought that I know as he saith When the Son of Man comes shall be find faith upon the earth Upon my word these were fit to live and raign with Christ a thousand years who cannot keep Faith an hundred dayes Let me say with the Psalmist Help Lord for the Godly man ceaseth for the faithful fail among the Children of men they speak vanity every one with his neighbour with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak 'T is a most senselesse ridiculous and insignificant action you pleasure your Enemies and make your selves and us the whole Nation a scorn a derision and a Proverb in the earth I formerly have been dealing with a Malignant Impostor whose whole businesse was nothing else but to make you break the Parliament to serve his designs for I tell you they fear their Wisdome more then your Power Are the Cavaliers your friends are ye bewitched to believe them and to slight your old true friends I thought I needed not to say much to answer that treacherous Cavalier it was enough to tell you whose was the plot to preswade you to break the Parliament ye are cheated into a belief of his imposture Ah me are ye not proud of your wisdome Whose is this Invention who put you upon this exploit Oh sad Will you please your enemies and grieve your friends Know him or them that put you upon this gross piece of folly and avoid them We that put you upon calling back this Parliament and encouraged you in the day of your straights and told every body we met how honest the Army would be now they understood themselves that they would stand by the Parliament while they did settle the Nation upon the foundations of righteousnesse and truth We even we are laughed to scorn and I must speak to you in the words of Joab ye have shamed this day the faces of all your servants that have saved your lives that have saved your credits which should be as dear as life and that have appeared for you in the day of your distresse in that you love your Enemies and bate your friends for you have declared this day that you regard neither Princes nor Servants for this day I perceive that it pleaseth you well though all we dye so Absalom live We know not how to
look any body in the face though we thought we had done well when we appeared for you against your enemies But every one of us get away be stealth as people that are ashamed steal away when they flee in Batell Not only so but you have made your selves the most absolute Changelings in the world It is a Proverb beyond Seas to expresse any uncertainty thus As certain as England Our Agent Lockhart is laughed at when he comes to treat with the Spanish Favourite What a peace with you who are your Masters you have as many Masters as Moons Goe make peace among your selves and then talk of peace with us Ambassadors here in England know not who to make their Addresses to and have said what shall we treat we know not who to trust to You will have new Masters within this Six Weeks and then we must begin again This is greatly for your honor 't is your interposing hath begot all these changes still as we have beene setling you have broke us to pieces this is all your wit you mend the matters wisely if we will have any Government to hold better heads then yours must consult it I am loth to think 't is your design to unsettle us if it be God help your heads you will seel the smart of it in time as well as we you are good Souldiers but bad statesmen professing your selves wise ye are become fools Be not wise over-much nor take too much upon you ye have miscaryed over and over will you be doing again I dread the consequence of this hair-brain'd Action and there are such fools in the World thought they should be brayed in a Mortar yet their folly will not depart Well but the Parliament must out why what evill have they done for which of all their good works do you stone them Have they not gone through good report and evil report for the good of the Nation Was not their hand in all that was done for the asserting the Nations Birth-rights and where they not carefully providing for us when you first turned them out to say They intended to perpetuate themselves that so they * might Colour their Vsurpation and Tyranny Out of your own mouths I judge you you evil servants remember your Declaration wherein you bewailed your Apostasie Did they not return to their duties again to serve the publike if possible and forget all your former abuses And did they not set themseves seriously to work for the Nations welfare and did they not do as much as men could doe that found things in so much distraction to reduce us to better Orders Yea verily they did as much as mâ—rtal men could doe Yea did they not discountenance some men more then there was absolute necessity of to give you content yea did they not get you a whole Years Tax to be paid in Three Months and a Three Moneths Taxe to be paid in Three Weeks and all to keep fair with you and to pay you your due Did they not prepare an Act for one hundred thousand pounds per mensem to immediately levyed for you and Ordered to sell every thing almost to pay you your Arrears and thereby drew an odium upon themselves more then ever any other Parliament would doe since you first turned them out And yet though men grumbled at these Charges yet generally hoped the Parliament would make amends by doing good things for them Yea did not the Parliament give them new Commissions whom the Protector had cashiered without respâ—ct of persons if they were judged Faithful as Lambert his own self though a worthy member of Parlament gave good reason to the contrary all without respect to their opinions dealing their respect without partiality hoping hereby to oblige their affections yea did they not encourage all that did the Nation service and share their Rewards without distinction to all that deserved it to Duckenfield and Creed who deserve a thousand times more the reward of a Rope for their late Treason then a Chain of Gold for their Cheshire Service Oh ungrateful unthankful Monsters of Mankind could it be believed so much disingenuity should be harboured in English breasts Nay I pray heartily had you any reason to mistrust the Par iament no more then I have to mistrust my own heart Have they not been enbarqued all along in the common cause with us is it not as much their interest as yours to consult the security of the Nation and all that have been the Parliaments Friends Yea is not their life bound up in your life They could not design to ruine the Army but they must ruine themselves You were and are as necessary by your Forces to defend us as their Councel to give forth such Orders as may make us happy being so defended and enable us to maintain you as our Guards When as through want of good advice if the Commonwealth sink as undoubtedly it must without better Counsellors ye may go and defend Jamaica here will be no use of you Certainly the Parliament cannot be without you he is besides himself that thinks they can they could no more settle a Commonwealth without your Arms then you can without their Heads neither could they secure themselves but they must secure you nor make any Lawes that should be bad for you but they must be bad for themselves which every body thinks they would be as careful in as they could and no body doubts but they could consult as well as any company of men that ever were in England Yea and say I said so Y u must call them back again if ever you make any work of it against the Norman Race Go your way then think upon it What have you done certainly the most barbarous savage and inhumane action that ever was done it seems you neither fear God nor reverence man the most brutish childish wilful headlong giddy Undertaking that ever was put in practise And Wo aye wo indeed to the Nation whose Prince is a Childe and no lesse wo to that Commonwealth whose Rulers are Children Yet more t is the most bootlesse rash and fruitlesse Enterprise that ever was introduced by men that could pretend to a design Good now What benefit did you propound to your selves or the State Do you propound no end of your actions do you not think before hand what you shall speak or do But do you in that very same hour whatever is upon your Spirits I doubt if you have not thought of it before hand it will hardly be given you so suddenly how to answer me aright What do you overturn overturn overturn and take no care for the Nation nor your selves what we shall eat or whether we shall drink or whether we shall have any cloathes to our backs Is this Heathenish Sure our Lord never taught you this Lesson to understand him after this â—ate Do you say to us Be filled be warmed be cloathed Will this do the work Do you design the