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A84751 Foure speeches delivered in Guild-Hall on Friday the sixth of October, 1643. At a common-hall, vpon occasion of desiring the assistance of our brethren of Scotland in this warre. / Viz. the [brace] 1. by Mr. Solicitor. 2. by Mr. Edmund Calamy. 3. by Mr. Jeremiah Burroughes. 4. by Mr. Obadiah Sedgewick. Published according to order. Gardiner, Thomas, Sir, 1591-1652.; Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.; Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.; Sedgwick, Obadiah, 1600?-1658. 1646 (1646) Wing F1671; Thomason E338_1; ESTC R200837 38,460 48

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remember in this Ordinance of Parliament you call it Advance money It is called an Ordinance to advance money towards the maintaining of the Parliaments forces and truly it is the highest advance of money to make money an instrument to advance my Religion the Lord give you hearts to beleeve this You shall have the Faiths of both Kingdoms ingaged in this Cause the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England and surely the Publique Faith of Scotland will secure the Publique Faith of England I speak now of secondary causes through Gods blessing I am informed by the Commissioners of Scotland that the Nation of Scotland are now taking the Covenant that wee took the last Lord● day in this City And you know that a Scotch Covenanter is a terrible thing you know what mighty things they did by their last Covenant you know that the name of a Covenanter the very name of it did doe wonders And I am assured by them that there is not one person in the Kingdom of Scotland that is not a Covenanter and there shall not one abide among them that will not take this Covenant and there shall not one of those 21000 that are to come over in this Cause not one of them shall come that will not take this Covenant but they must take this Covenant before they come O that the consideration of these things might work up your hearts to a high degree of Charity to a superlative degree and that the Lord would make you more active and more liberall in this great Cause For my part I speak it in the name of my self and in the name of these 〈◊〉 Ministers wee will not only speak to perswade you to contribute but every one of us that God hath given any estate to wee will all to our utmost power wee will not only say it● but v●●ite wee will not only speak to you to lend but every one of us as wee have already lent so wee will lend to our utmost power and blesse God that wee have it to lend for indeed it is now a time of action and not of speaking only because it is an extraordinary businesse therefore here is an extraordinary appearance of so many Ministers to encourage you in this Cause that you may see how reall the godly Ministery in England is unto this Cause The Gospel it is called a Pearl of price by our Saviour Christ and I hope all you Merchants will part with your goodly pearls to buy this pearl of price You Tradesmen the Gospel is called a Treasure hid in the field so our Saviour Christ calls it I hope you will bee willing to part with your earthly treasures to preserve this blessed treasure that is hid in the field you have parted with some goodly pearls already I hope you will part with your other goodly pearls There is an excellent Story of one Nonlu● a Roman Senator that had a pearl that hee did prize above his life and when Anthony the Triumvir one that was then in great power when hee sent to N●nius to have the pearl hee would not send it him and hee told him that if hee would banish him hee would bee willingly banished so hee might save his pearl if hee would take away his life hee would dye with his pearl hee did not regard his Countrey so hee might have his pearl hee regarded nothing so hee might have his pearl but hee would not part with his pearl what ever hee parted withall This pearl it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you have professed in this City and I hope you have professed it with power and certainly you have the name of those that have professed the Gospel in the greatest purity of any under heaven This pearl is this Gospel I hope you will part with all willingly and cheerfully rather than part with the Gospel though you goe to prison carry the Gospel with you nay though you lose your lives ●t shall bee with the Gospel and for the Gospel I hope so There is one Argument more and then I have done and that is from the inveterate hatred they have at Oxford against the City of London and against you for your good because you have been so well-affected to this Cause Gentlemen I beseech you give mee leave that am no Statesman not acquainted with the affaires of policy yet give mee leave to put you in minde of this that surely the plundering Army at Oxford conceive that they shall finde a great treasure here in the City though many pretend they have no money Though certainly you have done well and lent much yet the plundering Army give out that if they get possession of the City they shall finde a treasury to bee able to pay all they have been at And if ever you should bee driven which God forbid to make your peace it would cost you twenty times as much then to procure your peace and such a peace it may bee that would bee rather a Warre than a Peace and a death better than that peace which now you may have for a very little a most happy Peace There is a famous story of Zelimus Emperour of Constantinople that after hee had taken Aegypt hee found a great deal of treasure there and the Souldiers came to him and asked him what shall wee doe with the Citizens of Aegypt for wee have found a great treasure among them and wee have taken their Riches O saith hee hang them all up for they are too rich to bee made slaves and this was all the thanks they had for the riches they were spoyled of And it may be● though some of you that stand neute●● or some of you that are dis-affected to the Cause of the Parliament may think that if the Lord for our sins should give up this City unto the Army that is with the King you may think that you shall escape yet bee assured that youngoods will bee Roundheads though you bee not your goods will bee Gybalins though you bee Gwel●s as 〈…〉 is Certainly there will bee no distinction in the plundering of your goods between you and others and therefore let mee beseech you that as the Lord hath made you instruments to doe a great deal of good already for indeed you are the preservers of our Religion and you are the preservers of our Parliament by your liberality and by your former contributions and by your assistance and the Lord hath made you mighty instruments of our good let mee beseech you that you would persevere and now wee are come to the Sheat Anchor wee are now come to the last cast I beseech you you would persevere and hold out and O that my words might adde somewhat to help forward this contribution It hath pleased God to make mee a setled Ministery in this City and I have now been here almost five yeers in this City and though I had never done any good in my place I should now think it a great
they are to continue three moneths and ten dayes in your Service after they come into your Kingdome after the payment of this 100000 l. so that there is full three moneths and ten dayes for these Counties to lie open to the repayment of this Mony for those three moneths they are to be without pay These are the principall things that wee have yet thought upon for the dis-ingaging of us that wee tender to you there are divers others which the Committee hath taken into consideration which they see as much or more certainty in than in any of these that hath been propounded If it were no more than the Publique Faith of both Kingdoms as long as the Kingdoms subsist or the Cause thrives in the hands of one or other this must bee dis-ingaged so that at best it is but a Loan and must bee paid if the Cause survive truely if it doe not survive it being our Religion I know not what reason wee have 〈◊〉 desire to survive it and if wee lose it I am sure wee lose all Truly Gentlemen thus I have but one word more to say The Cause it is Gods if it bee not so let us repent that ever wee medled with it It is the Cause of our Countrey if it bee not so let us now say wee repent and leave it It is the Cause of these three Kingdomes England Ireland and Scotland it is the Cause of Christendom for if this Cause be carryed against us certainly the Protestant Cause throughout all Europe will fare the worse for it this is the Cause this we all know to be the Cause It hath pleased Almighty God out of his Providence to call even us poor creatures to be the managers of this great cause of his we have undertaken it we have formerly by our Protestations engaged our selves to the maintaining of it wee have all of us both Parliament City and all well-affected Subjects of this Kingdom wee have put our shoulders to it wee have of late manifested to God and all the world that wee doe not repent of what wee have done wee have entred into a Solemn League and Covenant I think the solemnest that ever was seen in this Kingdom Gentlemen thus let our cheerfulnesse in this service shew that wee have taken that Covenant and doe affect this businesse with our whole hearts I have done Pray God give his blessing Mr. Edmond Calamy his speech in Guild-hall on Friday the sixt of October 1643. Gentlemen YOU have heard a worthy Gentleman of the House of Commons it is desired by this grave and Reverend Assembly of Ministers that three of the Ministers of this Assembly should likewise speak unto you concerning this great businesse and notwithstanding my indisposition of body being required by them though that Gentleman of the House of Commons hath spoken so abundantly to the purpose yet notwithstanding I am here come to speak something the rather to declare my willingnesse to appear in this Cause that is every way so just and every way so honest and so good that I may truly say as the Martyr did that if I had as many lives as I have haires on my head I would bee willing to sacrifice all these lives in this Cause You know the story of Craesus that though hee never spake in his life yet when hee saw his Father ready to bee killed it untyed the strings of his tongue and then hee cryed out that they would not kill his Father you are not ignorant that England and Ireland lye a dying and though I never appeared in this place yet I blesse God that hath given mee that health this day to speak something in this Cause for the reviving of the dying condition of England and Ireland It is such a Cause as is able to make a very Infant eloquent and a dumb man to speak that never spake in all his life The matter I am desired to speak to is concerning the Contribution to perswade you to bee liberall towards the bringing in of the Scots to help us in this our great necessity The truth is it is a great shame that England should stand in need of another Nation to help it to preserve its Religion and Liberties That England that hath been enriched with the Gospel of Peace and the peace of the Gospel for so many yeers that England that hath been blessed with so many rare Ministers of God so many precious and powerfull servants that have preached the Word of God in season and out of season that England that hath professed the Gospel with so much power and purity that England should stand in need of the help of their Brethren of Scotland for to preserve that Gospel that they have professed so many yeers I confesse to mee it seems a very strange Prodigie and a strange wonder but it hath pleased Almighty God for the sins of England for our great unthankfulnesse and for our unthankfulnesse under these means and for the great blood-guiltinesse and Idolatry and Superstition of this Nation it hath pleased God to suffer a great part of the Kingdom to bee blinded especially those parts where the Word of God hath not been preached in a powerfull manner and there are many in the Kingdom that will not bee perswaded that there is an intention to bring in Popery and to bring in Slavery Many of them I say think that though the Popish Army should prevaile and the plundering Army should prevaile yet they think all would goe well with Religion and with their Liberties I say it hath pleased God to suffer abundance in the Kingdom to bee blinded with this opinion out of a just judgement to punish us for our unthankfulnesse and for our ingratitude and this is the reason that so many men stand Neuters and that so many are Malignants and disaffected to this great Cause in so much that I am concluded under this that there is little probability to finish this Cause without the comming in of the Scots as you heard so worthily by that Member of the House of Commons The sons of Zerviah are grown so strong what through our fearfulnesse what through our covetousnesse what through our malignity that there is little hope I say to finish this great Cause or to bring it to a desired peace without the help of another Nation and by the assistance of God by the help of another Nation it may be done These are two mighty two omnipotent Arguments to prevaile with you to contribute your utmost aide and assistance to that Cause since it cannot speedily bee done without their help by Gods blessing it may speedily be don by their help What would the Kings party doe if they could engage another Nation to their help 21000. if they could engage them to our ruine what would they not doe How much more should wee be willing to contribute our greatest help to engage a Nation that indeed is part of our own Nation within the same Island
peace that may bring a massacre with it a French peace if you would have such a peace it may be had easily but if you would have a peace that may continue the Gospel among you and may bring in a Reformation such as all the godly in the Kingdome doe desire I am concluded under this and am confident that such a peace cannot bee had without contribution towards the bringing in of the Scots and that is the reason for the promoting of this peace this blessed peace that we have appeared here this day and me thinks Gentlemen the very sight of these worthy Divines me thinkes so many Divines so many Orators so many silent Orators to plead with you to bee willing to engage your selves to the utmost to help forward the Nation of Scotland to come to our help And likewise I would put you in mind of the 10 of Numbers there you shal read that there were two silver Trumpets and as there were Priests appointed for the convocation of their Assemblies so there were Priests to sound the silver Trumpets to proclaime the Warre And likewise in the 20. of Deuteronomy you shall finde there that when the children of Israel would goe out to Warre the sonnes of Levi one of the Priests was to make a speech to encourage them And certainly if this were the way of God in the Old Testament certainly much more in such a Cause as this in which Cause Religion is so intwin'd and indeed so interlac'd that Religion and this Cause they are like Hippocrates his twins they must live and die together And Gentlemen if Religion were not concerned in this Cause and mightily concerned and if Religion did not live and die with it we had not appeared this day And I hope this will be a sufficient answer unto this Objection But there is another Objection which I will answer and then briefly give leave to my other Reverend Brethren that likewise are prepared to speake here The great Objection of all is this that the City is already exhausted and so much Money hath been lent already that there is no hope of lending any more this is the grand Objection But truly Gentlemen for my part this is one of the chiefe Arguments I have to perswade you to lend a little more because you have lent so much give me leave to put you in minde of that Story in the 2 Kings 13. the Story of King Joash that came to visit the Prophet Elisha when he was ready to breath out his last the Prophet Elisha gives him a bow and arrows and bids him shoot hee shootes and bids him smite hee smites the ground thrice and then he ceased the Prophet was exceeding angry with him and tells him you should have smote the ground 5 or 6 times and then you should have utterly consumed the Assyrians whereas now you shall smite them but three times Give me leave to apply this Gentlemen you have smote the ground thrice you have lent once twice and thrice indeed you have been the fame of England and the Repairers of England and the Ornaments of England you have lent much but let mee tell you you must smite the ground 5 or 6 times if ever you look to consume the Assyrians if ever you look to bring this Warre to a happy Peace that your posterities may rejoyce in this Peace you must shoot one arrow more and then through Gods blessing you may utterly consume these Enemies that you and your posterity may rejoyce in a happy peace It is a famous story of Johannes Eleemozinarius that when hee had given even almost all hee had to the poore his friends were exceeding angry with him and told him hee had undone himself what was his answer O saith hee I have not yet shed my blood for Jesus Christ Jesus Christ hee emptied himself of his Divinity to make us rich hee became poore and shed his blood for you You have not yet made your selves so poore as Jesus Christ was that had no house to lodge in and he did all this for your sakes You have not yet shed your blood for the Cause of Christ Wee read that Moses was willing to bee blotted out of the book of life for the Cause of God and wee read of Paul that hee was willing to bee accursed for the people of Israels sake And will you not bee willing to venture your earthly provisions for so good a Cause as this is which I say England was never engaged in the like Religion hath produced all the wealth you have all your wealth is but the childe of Religion wee have a saying Religio peperit divitias divitiae devoravunt matrem Religion hath begot wealth and the Daughter hath devoured the Mother ●●lia devoravit matrem but give mee leave and I hope through Gods blessing you will invert this saying Religion hath got you all the wealth you have you Gentlemen and I hope the Daughter now will preserve the Mother I hope Riches will preserve Religion and not destroy Religion A famous example of Polan●● Noli●●● that when hee had given all that hee had away and being asked why hee would give so much to the poor hee gave this answer V● levi●● ascenderem s●alam Ja●c●i that I might the easier get up Jacobs ladder And let mee assure you in the word of a Minister the contributing to this Cause for Gods sake and for the glory of God and for the peace of the Gospel I say will bee a means to make you the sooner ascend up Jacobs Ladder not for the giving of the money but for the evidence of your Faith through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ by your giving of the money And certainly that man will never get up Jacobs Ladder that hath the ●ust of his money to ●●ar witnesse against him at the day of Judgement especially at such a time as this Give mee leave to put you in minde of one other story and that is of one Bernardinu● 〈◊〉 that was so liberall to the poore that every penny that hee gave to the poore hee would call it a holy penny and a happy penny and hee would blesse God that hee had that penny to 〈◊〉 indeed hee was a Papist and his ordinary speech was O happy penny that hath purchased immortality to mee indeed this speech was not good for it is not our money that doth purchase heaven that is an evidence of the truth of our Faith that layes hold upon Christ for salvation But let mee tell you if ever Gentlemen you might use this speech O happy penny you may use it now Happy money that will purchase my Gospel happy money that will purchase Religion and purchase a Reformation to my posterity O happy money and blessed bee God that I have it to lend And I count it the greatest opportunity that ever God did offer to the godly of this Kingdom to give them some money to lend to this Cause And I
of it it is in your power now either to save us or to undoe us and shall this be let fall now out of love of Mony shall I say Let the Mony of those men perish with them No I came not hither to threaten but to perswade consider that the mercies that you have from Christ cost Christ more then money they cost Christ his deare heart bloud Who is it that raised your estates more then others have not many of you come hither low as Jacob with your staffe to this City and now behold these bands this estate who knows but that you are raised for such a time as this Have not you engaged your selves many times in prayer to God when first you entred into Covenant to God did not you give up all your estate then to God to bee employed in his Service God cals for his due at this time from you Oftentimes upon your sick beds and death beds in your apprehension of death that they would have been death beds you have then given up all again to God and vowed that if God did raise you up you would live to his service you would employ your strength in his Service God calls for all those vows you have now an opportunity to fulfill all those vowes And seeing providence hath cast it so that a Reverend Assembly of Divines hath appointed us to speake thus unto you give us leave to speak in the name of God unto you and to call upon you in the name of God for the fulfilling of all the vows that you have made upon your sick beds to give up your selves and your estates for the service of the Lord And know that if you shall keep your estates otherwise then God would have you it will be to you as the Manna was to the Israelites they kept it longer than they should and there was wormes in it 〈◊〉 that was preserved no longer than Gods time was sweet but that that was kept afterwards it had wormes breeding in it Your estates you have now you must not think will alwayes bee so sweet as they have been unto you if you preserve them longer than God would have you there will wormes breed in them yea the curse of God will bee in them Have not you s●nt up many prayers to God for this great Cause that God would blesse it I appeal to you then you have engaged your selves to Heaven by all your prayers therfore I beseech and intreat you now by all the prayers you have made as before by your vowes by all the prayers you have made upon your Fasting dayes that God would preserve his Cause that you would now doe as much as in you lies to maintain his Cause otherwise how doe you trifle with the great God and mock him in your prayers that you seek to him to maintain it and when there is an opportunity in your hands you will not doe wh●t lies in you It may bee you will say w●e have done much already Wee acknowledge it and blessed bee God for it but know the Cause is a great Cause and it is a great God that you doe for Philo Judaeus tells us it was enough among some heathenish people but to say to them Libertas agitur the businesse is your Liberty that is afoot enough to venture their estates and lives It is not Liberty alone but Religion as you have heard But because some may perhaps cast such a scruple into your mindes a● we have heard of it That what warrant have wee to take up Armes to maintain Religion that is not at present to bee discussed but only this to satisfie and stop all their mouths with one word Thus farre none can deny it but it is lawfull to take up armes to maintain that civill right wee have to our Religion and this wee doe For wee have not onely a right to our Religion by the Law of God but wee have a Civill right to this our Religion that other Christians have not had and therefore there can bee no scruple in this to retard you in such a work as this you have done much but a gratious heart will ever think what hee hath done for God it is but poore and low That example is famous of David that had done so much for preparing the Temple of God in the 1 of Chronicles 22. 14. It was 1000000 talents of silver and 1000 talents of gold which some compute a matter of 33 Cart loads of silver allowing 20000 livre. to every Cart load and 70 millions of French Crowns of gold this David had done preparing but for the house of the Lord and yet hee saith that out of his poverty hee had done all this all this was but a poor and low thing for him to doe in comparison of the great God why have you done more then this therefore seeing it is for the high God you have done it look upon what you have done but as low and still goe on in the work of the Lord You have done much and so have the adversaries too Wee would have you to weigh this that the adversary hath been at as much charge as you have been as bountifull and free as you have been in the 46 of Isaiah 6. Wee read that the Idolaters did lavish out their gold upon their Idols yea they lavished their gold out of their bagges Certainly our adversary hath felt the burthen of this and hath been at the charge of it as much as you You have done much but yet you have not gone in a good work so farre as a Herod hath done Josephus in his 15 Book of Antiquities and about the 12 Chapter tells us of Herod the King that in the time of scarcity hee sold away all his moveables all the plate that was served to his table and fetched corn from Aegypt and bought it for the poor and cloathed them yea and gave seed corn to the Assyrians his neighbours Why now in this our Kingdom wee may see much Plate still at many Noble mens tables yea at many Gentlemens tables a great deal of Plate reserved they have not sold all their moveables and Plate to give away it is but a proportion of their estates and but to lend upon so good security And take this one consideration further your having done much is a mighty preparation to make your doing now to bee formidable to your adversaries for what is the hope of your adversary but that you are drawn dry They triumph in this and they tell the world that there must bee such petty wayes to seek to the City to get petty summes of money and all is even gone and therefore wee shall have them to bee a prey ere long but when they shall see that after so much hath been expended here that you have such free spirits and to come out still abundantly with further treasure this will more daunt their hearts this 100000 livre. will daunt their hearts more than 2000000 li.