Worthies in it their Enemies should prevaile over them to their and this whole Kingdomes further weltering in blood must not their and the rest of the blood of this Kingdome be charged upon your score When as if you had but sat still and not in gaged against them as you were by many bonds never to be cancellod obliged to doe there had not beene in all probalitie at this time any Enemies to Peace or thirsters after Blood that durst to have showne themselves so throughout the whole Nation And therefore what will God say or doe unto you when he comes to make inquisition for blood to avenge it This is the bloody Countie that had Peace layd at their feet and trampled on it that had Peace brought home to their doores and not onely shut it out but called to bloodie Warre to enter in that had many thousands of their fellow Brethren and Neighbours that would have ventured their lives to have preserved them in Peace and they chose rather to lose many of their owne lives to take away some of theirs They loved not Peace therefore it shall be farre from them they delighted in Warre therefore shall it cleave close to them and they thirsted for blood therefore shall they be drunke with their owne blood Doe not thinke that I speake more in Gods Name then I have warrant from Gods Word for though ye have bin too long used so and abused by such lying Prophets Search the Scriptures and observe from thence what God speakes of the shedding of blood and you 'l find that I speak very sparingly as having regard to your infirmities For there God tells you That shedding of blood is one of those crying sinnes which makes a land to mourne and every one that dwelleth therein to languish Hos. 4. v. 2. 3. That blood defileth the landâ— and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein or there can be no expiation for the Land but by the blood of him that shed it and that If a people would have God to dwell among them they must not so defile the land which they inhabit Numb. 35. v. 33. 34. That the shedding of innocent blood is such a sinne that of all other horrid sinnes the Lord will not pardon 2 King 24. v. 4. And therefore no satisâ—action was to be taken for the life of a murtherer which was guiltie of death but he was to be surely put to death Numb. 35. v. 31. with a multitude of other sayings on that subject that are to be trembled at by the Rebellious Subjects of this Kingdome 'T is true if a man killed any person unawares there were Cities of refuge appointed by God for such a one to flye unto from the avenger of blood but Oh my poore Countrey-men what Cities of refuge can ye fancie to your selves who wilfully murther your brethren And what lesse can the King say of you then this or to this effect The Countie of Suffolke 't is the most Rebellious Countie of all my Dominions For when one of my Kingdomes moved not against me when a second rose up for me and when the third Petitioned for me from almost all parts and tooke up Armes for me in most parts they of Suffolke neither Petitioned for me nor moved for me but rose up against me and when Rebellion was expiring its last poysonous breath they hazarded their owne lives to prolong its life and to preserve the lives of those Rebells that seeke nothing more then to take away mine When thousands of my Loyall Subjects were indeavouring to fetch me out of my Cruell Bondage and Imprisonment then they helpt to besiege and imprison to kill murther those very Subjects and when others with them were making what haste they could to set my Crowne againe firme on my head and to restore me againe to those Rights Honours and Comforts which I was wont to injoy they did what they could to throw my Crowne back againe to the ground and to keepe mine Honour still in the dust and me from all hopes of enjoying any Rights or externall Comforts here in this life Thus have they indeavoured to continue and adde to my Miseries who have therefore indured such Miseries in such Extremities because I would not yeeld to the delivering up of them amongst others to extreme Slavery and Tyranny Thus have they not onely fought against me without a cause but for the love that I had unto them they take now my contrarie part and have rewarded me evill for good and hatred for my good will But I give my selfe unto Prayer Stirre up thy selfe and awake to my judgement even unto my Cause my God and my Lord Judge me O Lord according to thy righteousnesse and let them not rejoyce over me Let them not say in their hearts Ah so would we have it Let them not say We have swallowed him up Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoyce at my hurt Let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnifie themselves against me Let them shout for joy and be glad that favour my righteous Cause yea let them say continually Let the Lord be magnified which hath pleasure in the prosperitie of his servant and my tongue shall speake of thy righteousnesse and of thy prayse all the day long Amen Amen But what then will all the other Counties of England say of you O bewitched besotted Countie of Suffolke They that had lived in peace and plentie all these times when in the most Counties of this Kingdomes like those Territories spoken of by Azariah 2 Chron. 15. there was no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the Countries and Countries was destroyed of Countrey Citie of Citie and that might still have enjoyed those mercies themselves and have bin the happie instruments of restoring the like mercies to their Brethren in other afflicted distressed Counties They even they have pulled Warre and all the miseries and calamities that attend it upon themselves and have prolonged and increased the afflictions and distresses of other Counties They who were formerly honoured with that Eulogie of being alwayes forward in promoting the Gospel and had now an oportunitie offered them of being the preservers and deliverers of the Gospel from such blasphemous hereticall Antichristian reproachers opposers and impugners thereof as scarce any Nation since the promulgation of the Gospel were ever invested with the like They and few others but they at that time have joyned in a Confederacie with those reproachers opposers and impugners of the Gospel against those who indeavoured with their lives and estates the vindicating and re-establishing of it They that had bin informed beyond further questioning and assured beyond all doubting of the horrid Plots Conspiracies and resolved Designes of that Armie called the Parliaments and their abettors against the Libertie and Life of their Religion
besides out of the North and that great destruction Lift up your eyes saith the Prophet unto them of Judah and behold them that come from the North What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee for thou hast taught them to be Captaines and chiefe over thee Shall not sorrowes take thee as a woman in travaile Jerem. 13. v. 20. 21. The same may I say to you word for word and every one of you if you will may see cause enough why I should say so 'T is often threatned in Scripture as an aggravation of judgements That God will give up such or such a people into the hands of strangers And it must be confessed That 't is most just with God to give you up into the hands of strangers who have so unworthily deserted your owne King and fellow Subjects and the justice of God will be somewhat the more remarkable in his giving you up to those Northerne strangers of all others because they were they whom ye your selves formerly called in and contributed so liberally to their comming in to your assistance against your King though ye pretended to them that it was to fight for him And therefore now it must needs be the more observable justice both in God and them that they should come in of themselves to the assistance of the same King and his faithfull Subjects against you that deserted him and them so shamefully and have thereby discovered your former hypocrisie other iniquitie so notoriously And let me further tell you That if those Strangers should not avenge the King and Kingdoms wrongs sufficiently 't is to be believed some other Strangers more fierce bloudy cruell shal do it For remember I beseech you that famous and pertinent Story of Gods dealing with the men of Judah when they deserted their King though the most wicked of Kings Ahaz by name because he was brought low and made a confederacie with those two tayles of those smoaking fire-brands Rezin and Pekah For that very cause as God by his Prophet gives the Reason Isa. 8. did the Lord threaten to bring up upon the men of Judah the King of Assyria and all his hosts called there his glory compared to the waters of an over-flowing river strong and many and that he and they should passe thorow Iudah and should over-flow and goe over and reach even to the neck c. which was all accordingly done as you may finde by comparing Isa. chap. 7. and 8. with 2 Chron. chap. 28. and 32. And do but observe further how God Isa. 8. from v. 9. to v. 16. scornes and mocks at the men of Iudah's associating themselves and joyning their forces with others against their owne King and how earnestly he calls upon his Prophet not to walke in the way of that people himselfe and to instruct others not to joyn in confederacie with them nor to feare their feare nor be afraid which is the principall cause of such Rebellious Confederacies but to sanctifie the Lord of Hosts and to let him be their feare c. promising them safetie that shall avoyd such a Confederacie threatning ruine to such Confederates and to those that joyn with them So spake did the Lord then and he is the same Lord still changeth not and they that commit the like fins may justly fear the like punishmens And now answer to that question which God by the same Prophet though in another chapter propounds unto you unto you my lamented Countrey-men who have joyned in a Confederacie with those who as the Prophet describes them with a woe to them prefixed Isa. 10. decree unrighteous decrees and that write grievousnesse which they have prescribed to turn aside the needy from judgement and to take away the right from the poore c. that widowes may be their prey that they may rob the fatherlesse What will ye do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which shall come from far to whom will ye flee for help and where will you leave your glory Will you flee to the Army for succout Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme especially such men and such flesh that are themselves so neer a curse But ye shall not need to flee to them for they will flee to you or come to you and will be the first that will helpe to devoure you For if the Army should swallow up Colchester which God of his merey keepe them from and so Essex be wholly worsted where must they give themselves and their Horses the next bait but in the well-stored houses and faire pastures of Suffolke And who must recruit their consumed army with more men but they who have furnished them with so many Give the Devill or any of his Imps but a little that gives them power over all that ye have and now that they have gotten you into the same way with them they 'l find allurements enough to draw you on or fears enough to frighten you on or force enough to drive you on as far as they please Then if other Counties rise up against them joyn with the Northern Army which private as well as publike interest will perswade them to unlesse God should give them up to a reprobate sense as he hath done some of you Suffolke must then be the Stage of War at least Suffolke-men must be the chiefe Actors on that Stage and to be sure the most desperate parts of that Tragedie will be put upon them as hath bin alreadie practised though when ought of spoyle chanceth to fall to their lots which is but a ciâ—rsed lot God knows like that of Achans wedge the lots shall be so ordered That the old Souldiers that have born the heat of the day will like the Lyon in the Fable challenge the prey as their due and that by many Lyon-like arguments as the poore beasts have lately found to their griefe Thus like the broken staffe of reed Egypt to Israel the Army if thou leanest on it will be the first that will gall and pierce thee and who can expect other then that the treacherous dealer should deale treacherously and the spoyler spoyle which the Prophet calls a grievous vision If any of you shall complaine thereof who will not be ready to return you answer in the Prophet Jeremiahs words Hast thou not procured this unto thy selfe Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickednesse because it is better because it reacheth unto thine heart Jerem. 2 17. 4. 18. Nay wiâ—l not your own hearts return this answer to your selves And how then will ye be ashamed of your trust and expectation and of those lying Prophets and other Seducers that incited you thereto Neither will it be any ease to you at all to say Wee were perswaded and drawn on by such and such for those such are such as ye will blush to name It being no small
committed they shall not be mentioned unto him They do best that doe avoyd the committing any thing worthy of shame but when any such thing is committed the next best is to acknowledge it and to be ashamed of it to the abhorring of it and themselves for it And where God hath any love to any people he will never leave them when they have committed 〈◊〉 â—…orious sins till he have brought them to an humble acknowledgement of them and to a true loathing of themselves for them and that is an act of his mercy by how many judgements soever it be effected as the longer that men hold off from it the more and the more severe judgements does God inflict till he have brought them to it as is easily collected from that twentieth of Ezech. and other scriptures But then there is another acknowledgement and shame of sinne which God brings upon men by way of vengeance which though the former be terrible enough is yet more terrible as having confusion alwayes attending it and there is no way for the avoiding either but a voluntary acknowledging of sin and taking the shame thereof to themselves before God scourge them to it or confound them by it T is a saying very often repeated in sacred writ in the closes of Gods denunâ—iations of judgements and 't is to be trembled at wheresoever 't is so mentioned Then shall they know c. or And they shall know c. Happy are they that know those things before they are so made to know them In the first place then be forewarned of the putting off the acknowledging your sinnes till God force you thereto by his judgements least whiles a foolish feare of shame fained to your selves by such an acknowledgement scare you from it and a terrible shame and confusion of faces caused by God for want of such an acknowledgement seize upon you to your unspeakable torment Oh but will too many reply would you have us now to acknowledge our selves guilty of Rebellion and of the Blood which hath been shea in the prosecution thereof and of all those other horrid crimes that have accompanied the same We have long since again and again charged those crimes upon the adverse party upon the King himself and all those that have taken part with him And if we should now take them upon our selves how would all â—enjeer at us and they of the other party insult over its Nay what would become of us and ours and all that we have Surely therefore now t is our best course to stand upon our own justication and to go on as hitherto we have done or else we are out in a miserable condition Thus when the Devil and Devilish men have tempted and seduced any to commit any foule notorious wickednesse the next thing they endeavour is to draw or carry them on therein as farre and as deep as possibly they can and if the sâ—ouced doe but begin to consider what they have done and how farre they have gone and so think of breaking off and returning from their wickednes then feare shame and dispaire are presently represented unto them to scare and hurry them on or at least to keep and â—â—sten them where they are When Zedâ—kiah King of Judah had disobeyed Gods word by the Prophet Jeremiah and began upon after thoughts to listen to what that Prophet had advised him presently feare and shame were presented to his fancy and by them was he scared off from hearkening to the Prophets counsaile And when all the people of Judah were admonished by the same Prophet to break off their Idolatry and their other iniquities and to return to the Lord and doe their duty and had so much told them to that purpose that they had nothing to say for themselves then despaire furnished them with this desperate answer There is no hope say they but we will â—â—lk after our own devices and we will every one doe the imagination of his evill heart But to answer more particularly to each part of this objection That many have charged both this Rebellion and all the blood that hath been spilt in the pursuance thereof upon the King and those faithfull subjects of his that adhered to him is too well known and t is pretty well known that this way of shifting off sinne from themselves to others is of all the many other wayes the most impudent and detestable I hat others perswaded them tempted them incited them scared them or forced them to commit such and such sins have been frequent excuses that we read of in severall sacred and other stories but this shifting off sin wholly from themselves when they know themselves fouly guilty and charging it upon others whom they known to be in that respect most innocent is never practised but by men of brazen faces Adamantine foreheads black tongues and blacker hearts And if God will bee a swift witnesse against any then surely against such as doe not onely bear false witnesse against but condemn the innocent and if he will plead the cause of any or execute judgement for them so as to being them forth to the light that they may behold his righteousnesse and others theirs then without all peradventure he will doe it for them that are so palpably and unjustly slandered and accused and have so just and cleare cause of appealing to his Justice for it But why â—tay I so long upon a recrimination so foolish and ridiculous as well as false and odious I dare appeale to the Consciences of them themselves that have so charged it as cauterised as they are for the unjustnesse of the charge If the Rebellion and Blood guiltinesse of this Nation I joyn them together because they that are guilty of the Rebellion are without all further dispute guilty of all the blood that hath been shed in it can be charged upon the King and his loyall Subjects why have not the other party all this while put it upon that issue and when they had the King as to our unspeakable griefe they have and the most of his loyall Subjects in their power why did they not legally charge them therewith and urge the Lawes and indite them I mean the Subjects though they blush not to talke of inditing the King himselfe by those laws and so proceed to tryall against them according to the laws of the Land the true and onely rules whereby Rebellion and Murther is to be tryed and judged here in this Nation Was it their mercy Why then have they waved that way of trying and judging those particular Persons of the Kings party upon whom they have exercised their power to the height of cruelty and proceeded against them onelyby Votes and Ordinances or by illegall Judges and unwarrantable Juries and other unheard of proces Or to bring the answer yet closer If the Rebellion and Blood guiltinesse of this Nation be to be charged upon the King and his loyall Subjects