you may guess at the rest Such a great and noble Donative especially for such noble and pious Ends I never read nor heard of in any Army but that No no other Armies have other and better ways to dispose of their Moneys than to such vain Phanatical ends especially their Officers for there must go tantum per mensem to the winking Whore tantum per mensem to the teeming Whore tantum per mensem to the finest Whore and many other Tantums and Items to keep the Kids abroad in Terra incognita c. O rare Faggot-mongers who in their way of Trading surpass the Brown Devil of Abbington I can take it upon my Oath that I never knew nor never heard of any Commission-Officer in Oliver's wherein I was fifteen years and before that four years in the Wars in Ireland and England that was in the least guilty of Whoredom no nor so much as suspected except Lieutenant W of our Regiment though nothing of that kind was ever proved against him being only matter of Suspicion proceeding from some joking talkative Soldiers and though this was all yet it hindred his Preferment all along for he never was Captain whâ—le Goffe and Morley were Colonels and that was till the Restitution of Charles the Second God always sides with the best though fewest in number for seeing the World loves its own Joh 15.18 19 and hates such in whom there is any thing of God and not only so but joyn hand in hand against them seeking their ruine if possible for Pares cum Paribus facile congregantur so God by a parity of Reason must needs love his own People too as he doth indeed yea many degrees above what the World can do theirs And though that little Army little comparatively was scorned despised and hated of the world and are still yet in spight of the world their Bow abode in strength and the Arms of their hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob because they sought him earnestly frequently fervently and constantly all along till they were betraid at last by trusting more in the Lord of Hosts than in their own strength valour and policy to which I was an Eye-witness many years and plus valet unus oculatus testis quam mille auriti and the Words Absque Deo nihil possumus were always in their mouths and their constant Motto and ever shall be mine for without the help of God the greatest Army in the world can do nothing though they have the best cause in the world no not against a despicable Enemy England is owing to that Army or part of them next under God for the noble and profitable Island of Jamaica c. though even such as grow rich by trading there can scarce give them one good word for their pains and loss of their Lives Monstrous Ingratitude Ingratus qui beneficium accepisse se negat quod accepit Yea Ingratus qui id dissimulat c. The Impunity of wicked bold presumptuous Soldiers in an Army must needs be highly offensive to God who will certainly require it at the hands of their Officers another day perhaps in the day of Battel who had power to punish and restrain their Vices but did not But alas How can they punish Soldiers for that whereof themselves are guilty and perhaps in a higher degree If one single Sin of one Achan brought down the wrath of God upon the whole Army of Israel and was the cause of that shameful Rout near Ai Josh 7. then surely such impudent monstrous Sinnings both for quantity and quality now perpetrated in the very face of Heaven as it were in defiance thereof and especially upon the Lord's Days and that by many thousands of Achans Young and Old Males and Females of all Degrees and Qualities in Army City Town Court and Countrey will I fear make not only a Rout but a Rent amongst us a Rending and Tearing in-pieces by some heavy stroke of the impending just Judgments of the righteous God I say the remisness of Magistrates as well as neglects of the Army-Officers not punishing but rather in a maner tolerating all sorts of iniquity will be accounted for at the great day to be sure but few of them think of that Day in earnest Yea they put the evil day far off i. e. a day of trouble and misery in this Life especially such as drink wine in Bowls but are not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph Amos 6.3 4 5 6 7 c. the poor distressed Protestants in Ireland c. And now is the time and has been for many years last past that he that departs from evil any Vice or Wickedness maketh himself a prey Isa 59.15 For the wicked still still walk on on every side and one reason of it you have in Psal 12.8 Things were not thus neither in Army City nor Countrey in the days of yore no because the Officers of the one and the Magistrates of the other had a zeal for God and a zeal against whatever was offensive to God and such a zeal now would I am sure be accounted Phanaticism by many who think themselves better Christians than any they are pleased to stile Phanaticks Yea by some in holy Orders as they call it for many of that Tribe have found fault with such kind of Austerities as they term punishing Vice lest their dear Dalilahs should be discovered and themselves exposed Mean time the perishing world lies in wickedness like a dead Dog in a Ditch but God will be known by his Judgments amongst them in a short time and which is worse they shall be turned into Hell and all that forget God Arise O Lord let not man prevail let the wicked be judged in thy sight Put them in fear O Lord that the Nations may know themselves to be but men Psal 9.16 17 18 19 20. Yea let them know that thou whose Name alone is Jehovah art the most High over all the Earth Psal 83.18 As Christ hath purchased all Good for some and some Good for all so all ought to lay out their best endeavours towards the advancement of his Cause Gospel Interest and Glory in this world according to their power And if the former of these did not in a special manner make it their main business while in the world they should walk very unworthy of such great Favours as the holy Jesus hath purchas'd for them in both worlds But certainly they are not they cannot be so brutish as to neglect or slight over so great so necessary a Duty Now if I should affirm that the chiefest Ends and Aims of the Old Army especially of such as had the chief Conduct thereof tended to the same purposes I doubt many would be very angry and perhaps be so much transported with envy as to judge it a capital crime in me for asserting it and worthy of punishment but I can I will and must affirm it come what will come
THE CHARACTER OF A GOOD ARMY c. BEING A few Hints touching the Gallantry and Fidelity of an ARMY in the Late Wars Who gave the sole Honour and Glory of all their Atchievments to God alone whom they exalted daily in these Self-denying Expressions Non nobis Domine non nobis sed Nomini tuo da Gloriam And Absque Deo nihil possumus Written by Capt. Tho. Plunket who was himself in that Army from first to last Exod. 15.3 The Lord is a Man of War Psal 24.8 The Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in Battel Dan. 2.21 He changeth the Times and the Seasons he removeth Kings and setteth up Kings Psal-33 16 There is no King saved by the multitude of an Host Not by Might not by Power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts Zech. 4.6 London Printed in the Year 169â— TO THE Sober impartial READER For to no other I wish this may come AS some may be affected with several things in this little Book so other may question the Verity of some extraordinary Passages therein condemnning them as strange Paradoxes and therefore incredible Hyperbolical if not phanatical Fancies And indeed I cannot blame them for any just scruple upon that score because some affirmations herein especially touching the wonderful Faith c. in many Officers of that Army I treat of was never read in any History whatever except the Bible nor never heard of in any Army but that since the Incarnation of Christ But there are some if not many yet alive which can testifie to the Truth of what I have written that scorn to own me in a Lie as much as I scorn to write one wittingly as I hope I do for falsum Benedictum est malum Mendacium However some will believe nothing but what comports with their own Humours for whatever they conceit to be false must be false right or wrong because they conceit it and whatever they fancy to be true must needs be true though never so false Others again can hardly believe any thing to be true but what they define should be true wherein they verifie the old Adage Quod valde volumus facile credimus what we earnestly desire we easily believe But seeing there want not such as seem to cavil at or question the Veracity of some profound mystical Matters in the Sacred Oracles themselves and will own no more of them than what their Reason is able to comprehend How much mort coarsely then must I expect to be treated that neither can nor dare pretend to Infallibility no not though I were the holiest Saint thaâ— ever breathed yet many degrees short of the lowest degree of such seraphica Separates Isa 52.11 2 Cor. 6.17 18. In the mean time 't is me thinks a very hard case that a Man must not cannot write in behalf of hiâ— old Friends and Fellow-Soldiers though most of them dead without incuring the high displeasure of some whose boundless Envy and Prejudice againsâ— brave Men can never fix a ne plus ultra Which yet can never offend an Person of a martial noble generous Spirit especially when there is nothinâ— mentioned tending to Mischief or any other Evil that I can apprehend from which my Thoughts and Intentions are as far as the Tropick of Cancer â—â— from Capricorn Facile est absentem vincere qui non repugnat April 29. 1690. The Character of a good Army c. The Introduction THat few in our Days war for Excellency or who should exceed each other in Vertue as Zenocles and Euripides are said to have done I may without breach of Charity affirm seeing the greatest Bulk of Mankind is debauched beyond all former Examples even of all that ever preceded them yea they surpass the Deeds of the Wicked Jer. 5.28 Nay there 's scarce any so good as they were Twenty or Thirty Years ago and which is yet more lamentable that the Professors of the first Rank come short of those of the second Rank in the former Times War with the Devil and our Lusts were an holy and necessary War indeed and a Victory thence emergent more glorious than all Caesar's and Alexander's Conquests But alas the Contention is not now who shall transcend in Vertue but who shall excel in Vice and from hence arise Strifes Envyings Wars and Fightings in the World Jam. 4.1 THE Wars of most Earthly Monarchs have many times no other Foundation than Pride Self-will Tyranny Usurpation and Ambition or other vain Pretences Nay some have made War out of meer Stomach Wantonness and Fulness of all Things until by Wars they have been at length made to know themselves and reduc'd to such a Mean as to keep within the bounds of Reason and Moderation And hence oame the Adage That one Sword keeps another in the Sheath and such a check I hope is now intended to impede the growing Greatness and Tyranny of that most Unchristian Nullifidian of France Illud est non solum justum sed etiam necessarium Bellum cum vi vis illata defenditur Cicero That is not only a just but necessary War when enforcing Force is defended by Force And though pure necessity and urgency of Affairs are a sufficient ground of War yet of all other that War is the most just and lawful that is warranted by the Sacred Oracles War is nothing else but a solemn Appeal to God for Justice when it cannot otherwise be had or when the Laws Liberties and Religion of a Kingdom are in danger to be overthrown either by a foreign Enemy from abroad or by a flagitious treacherous profane and potent Adversary at Home That is the most pernicious War which is founded upon meer Will and Tyranny springing from a restless mischievous Desire of ruining some and of being revenged upon others for some pretended Injustice capital Crimes unknown Provocations or other specious Pretences and upon no other Grounds and Reasons but such as these so far as I could understand hitherto proceeds the French Tyrant 'T is amazing to consider how many wicked Armies in a wicked Cause have prospered for a Time in all Ages against such as have been far more innocent more just and righteous than themselves every way both in their Practices and the Cause they fought for the Reasons whereof being wholly absconded from vulgar Capacities yea many times from the wisest Men and greatest Politicians For secret Things belong to God and those infernal Arms as I may justly stile them consideratis considerandis have been led by such Wretches as they are themselves like Head like Body like Officers like Souldiers and it is a kind of Sin to spare such Animals such Beasts of Prey when Providence offers them to be cut off yea the Prophet saith Cursed be he that keepeth back his Sword from Blood Jer. 48.10 and you know what became of King Saul for sparing Amalek I suppose the Prophet meant the Blood of bloody implacable inveterate proud Persecutors and Destroyers of God's
People as Moab was then hinted in that Chapter of Jeremiah and other Texts And also such plundering massacring murthering Miscreants as the French Dragoons and other such whether atheistical mercenary treacherous Protestants for there are such Beasts in Nature or Jesuitical Papists and such crafty wicked Foxes must in our days be attacked with great Care and Circumspection Against an Enemy in War discreet delays are commendable when Necessity and Reason require it otherwise delays are very dangerous and foolish especially when thereby a fair Opportunity is lost of doing somewhat upon or gaining some Advantage against the Adversary And this kind of Cunctation may proceed sometimes either from Treachery or Cowardize in the chief Leaders or some of them sometimes through the preposterous irregular Conduct of ignorant unexperienced Commanders sometimes again through Infatuation as a just Judgment of God for Reasons best known to himself And perhaps one Reason may be either because the chief Commander or Commanders depend solely and wholly upon their own Skill Policy Courage and Conduct for a Victory exclusive of Divine Assistance or upon the Number or Valour of their Soldiers or both yea many great Armies have been overthrown meerly upon this Account that is in trusting more to themselves than in the help of God And he tells us plainly by the Mouth of his Prophet that they are accursed which trust in the strength and numbers of Men Cursed be he that trusteth in Man and maketh Flesh his Arm c. Jer. 17.5 6 7 8. Such Commanders have been always censured either for Traitors Fools or Cowards that declined fighting the Enemy when an Opportunity joined with a probability of gaining a Victory has been offered them No valiant Commander trusting in God was ever yet in love with delays his Faith and Hope in the Lord of Hosts making him as bold as a Lyon therefore rather delights in down-right Blows than wandring in the devious Paths of intricate impracticable Policy or ranging in the untrodden uncertain Mazes of groundless ineffectual procrastinating Counsels especially when necessity and urgency of Affairs call for Celerity and Expedition I knew a great Commander in the late Wars that suffered much in his Reputation among the older and wiser sort of Captains for his dull and slow Methods against the Adversary at several Places where he had been entrapp'd and befool'd by them and though he had the good luck to escape with his Brigade without Destruction yet not without loss and shame enough sometimes And for all this to give him his due he was inferiour to none for personal Valour But because his Conduct as I said and manner of ordering Matters when near or in sight of the Enemy was so remiss cold careless heavy-headed and himself always inapprehensive of imminent Danger when there was a real Cause to be very solicitous and highly concerned and I could name where and when that was made divers old Officers say they did not care to go with him upon any Service against a potent Enemy Oliver Cromwel though a wise and wary General yet he could never away with Cunctation always impatient of delays especially when in sight of the Adversary believing and knowing by Experience that Celerity effected more than Force it self sometimes and he never failed of Victory up Hill or down Hill few or many no nor was scarcely ever foiled in his greatest and and most dangerous Undertakings having Ways and Methods of fighting peculiar to himself in many things contrary to the Courses and Counsels of other Generals whereof his strong Faith and invincible Courage were the principal As to the first it was very strange to all Men and his Army themselves that the day before the Battle at Worcester he commanded several Parties of Horse to several Bridges and Passes whither he supposed his flying Enemies would run to escape him the next day and where they were stopp'd and taken by the said Parties in Front and others in the Reer as if he had been sure of the Victory before-hand as it seems he was indeed nay he said as much to many Officers of his Army that very Morning before he began to fight And would often cry out Oh! if we had but Faith these Men would be but Bread for us meaning the Adversary Yea a day or two before Preston-Fight in Lancashire in Aug. 1648. he ordered the Lord Grey and Captain Widmerpool with their Troops to watch the Northern Roads of Cheshire and Staffordshire conjecturing the Scottish Horse would run that Way when he had routed them whereof he made no doubt though he had but 8000 against their 28000 as they themselves gave out and so it came to pass accordingly for at Vttoxater in Staffordshire the said Lord Grey met fought with and routed Duke Hamilton's Body of Horse and took himself Prisoner with many more His constant manner was before he entred upon Action first earnestly to implore the direction and help of God in Prayer with all his Officers then to deliberate and when once resolved how to proceed and what to do he fell on like a storm of Hail and clap of Thunder through thick and thin Horse and Foot though his Enemy out-numbered him never so much Yea his Charges were so fierce and furious that the Devil could not stop him as Prince Rupert and others used to say of him and which he knew and felt many times by woeful Experience so that he carried all before him and to be sure made room where-ever he came But I fear Envy will peck at me for saying this little of my renowned General yet I must say a little more of him and his Army too I must confess I ever hated and scorned to trample upon the Ashes of any valiant Man or Men be otherwise what they will yea though Enemies which rather becomes Men of base low sordid Spirits than generous Souls who scorn and abhor such dirty sneaking pitiful ways of degrading and vilifying Persons of Honour and Worth who with me will honour the Memory of a brave and noble Enemy as well as of a worthy Friend I ever loved a Soldier as a Soldier as I have been my self In the mean time take notice that I meddle not with the grounds of Quarrels nor the Cause contended for in those days When Ireland was all lost from the Parliament and in the Power of the adverse Party in the year 1649. only Dublin and London-Derry excepted yet that brave Oliver landing there only with 10000 Men did great things in few weeks and great Wonders in few months in setting all Friends and Protestants at liberty and free'd them from all fears of Enemies in a very short time Now this being only matter of History methinks none should be offended at it seeing it is nothing but the Truth And you know 't is alone with God to save by few as by many 1 Sam. 14.6 2 Chron. 14.11 For there is no King saved by the multitude of an Host Psal