Next he reproveth more particularly their delicacie Verse 4. first in Lodgings that lie upon beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches 2 Sam. 11.9 How farre doth this differ from the Lodging of mortified Vriah But Vriah slept at the doore of the Kings house with all the servants of his lord Vers 11. and went not down to his house because the Arke and Israel and Iudah abide in Tents Next Amos reproveth their delicacie in Diet both for meats and drinks and eate the lambs out of the flocke and the calves out of the midst of the stall It seems the muttons and beeves were too course and grosse for them Amos 6.6 Dan. 10.3 and they drink wine in bowles How farre is this also from the diet of Daniel I eate no pleasant bread or bread of desires neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth c Lastly for their clothing and manner of living they chaunt or quaver to the sound of the viol Amos 6.5 and invent to themselves instruments of musick like David How farre was this from the temper of Syons exiles in the Psalmist who being called to sing Psal 137.3 4. hanged their harps upon the willows with this answer How shall wee sing the Lords song in a strange land But now to parallel this text of Amos have we not too many even amongst our exiles who in respect of apparell rather weare upon their backs the foolish livery of delicate Agag 1 Sam 15. then the mortified mourning weed of their dying Country And as for the other particulars of diet lodging and other accommodations they doe come up fully to the sinne of Israel described and threatned by the Prophet Isaiah Isa 23.7 2. in the day saith he of flight and tumults of fortifications and preparing for warre even in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping to mourning and to baldnesse Verse 12 13. and to girding with sackcloth And behold joy and gladnesse slaying oxen and killing sheep eating flesh and drinking wine But what is the issue The Lord whispereth this sentence in the eare of his Prophet Verse 14. Surely this iniquitie shall not be purged from you till yee die saith the Lord God of hosts And in the next verses Shebna a sumptuous Treasurer is made an examplary proofe of the truth of that sentence Behold the Lord saith Isaiah will carry thee away with a mighty captivitie Vers 15 16 17 18. and will surely cover thee He will surely violently turn tosse thee like a ball into a large Countrie there shalt thou die c. oh read and tremble yee delicate exiles But let me speak this reproofe yet more particularly to all our delicate female exiles More particularly to women 1 Pet. 1.1 because I find the scripture especially lessoning them against this sin Thus St. Peter directing his Epistle to the elect strangers scattered thoroughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia particularly chargeth the women that were amongst them 1 Pet. 3. 1 2 3 4. that their adorning be not that outward adorning of plaiting the haire and of wearing of gold or of puting on of apparell but let it be saith he the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible There is first a negative they must avoid the curious vanities in apparell that were most fashionable in those times and places And next the affirmative they must look to the gracious habits of their minds of which no enemie could strip and plunder them and in both these the paterne proposed to them by name is Sarah if I may so call her the Patriarchesse 1 Pet 36. who willingly followed her so-journing husband up and downe in strange Countries and the benefit proposed to such women is preservation from womanish affrightments and amazements unto which that sex is too prone especially in cases of exile and banishment and are not shall not be afraid with any amazement This was a proper lesson you see for such strangers 1 Pet. 2.11 and Pilgrims as they were Now as for you beloved see then that yee take heed and beware of that great sin of many of your sex in these times who do expend so much in discovering their owne nakednesse as would suffice to cover the nakednesse of many And that you may take heed of this great offence remember the heavy threatning of Esay against the delicacy of women in such sad and breaking times Isai 3.1 2. When the Lord of Hostes doth take away the stay and the staffe The mighty man and the man of war the Judge the Prophet Verse 24. prudent and ancient c. then the delicate women may expect in stead of sweet smell a stinke and in stead of a girdle a rent and in stead of well set haire baldnesse and in stead of a stomacher a girding of sack-cloth and burning in stead of beauty So much for the delicate exiles and children of the West both Sons and Daughters 2. Covetous exiles and Secondly let me speake to all such Covetous and ambitious exiles as doe also forget the breach of their Brother Joseph The first of these namely the Covetous ones are sharply and largely reproved by St. James Iames 1.1 who writing to the twelve Tribes scattered abroad rebuketh them especially for this sin of worldlinesse Iames 4.1 2. when he saith From whence come wars and sightings or brawlings among you come they not hence even of your Lusts that war in your members What Lusts Surely the Lust of the eyes for so it followeth Yee lust and have not Ye kill and desire to have Verse 4. and cannot obtaine And againe Know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God And anon hee reproveth them which say to day To day or to morrow Verse 13. we will goe into such a City and continue there a yeere and buy and sell and get gaine Such confident Exchange-language as this doth not become the mouthes of the Tribes which are scattered abroad though it be the common sin of the dispersed Jewes in all places to this day So much for an Item to the Covetous But next Ambitious Exiles let me speake more particularly and fully to all incompassionate Ambitious exiles which doe seeke great things for themselves in evill times I will propound Baruch to be their warning-piece and his chapter to be their Lesson 'T is recorded in the prophecie of Jerem. Ier. 15. per totum 45. throughout That little chapter consisting but of five verses was penned purposely it seemes for little Baruch the son of Neriah and prophetically for all others of his spirit to the end of the world Let us therefore view it a little Ier. 45.1 Ier. 36 1 2 4 5 c. compared with let 25.1 8 9 10 11 12. The whole is chiefely Reprehensory an in it we may observe First the Time this word was
Western Forces to pray for your Militia that the God of Abraham would be a sunne and a shield to all your Catechised Souldiery for such was Abrahams that you have or shall send down but especially as a Publike and some-what Representative Minister I shall continually cry to heaven for your good successe in the all-in-all of Reformation Zech. 8.7 8 and that the Lord of hosts will save his people from the East Country and from the West Country and will bring them that they may dwell in the midst of our Jerusalem that they may be his people and hee their God in truth and in righteousnesse And let the Lord Heb. 6. â—0 which is not unrighteous never forget your worke and labour of love which yee have shewed towards his Name in that yee have minstred to the Saints and doe minister And we desire that every one of you doe shew the same diligence Verse 11. to the full assurance of our hope unto the end This is the prayer of Your Honours humble and reall Servant John Bond. Savoy Jan. 20. 1644. To all well-affected tender-hearted Christians inhabiting the famous City of London and within the Line of Communication Duely Honoured and Beloved I Have read that there growes a a Caussin Hieroglyph lib. 10. Parab 4. tree not far from Malaca whose rootes doe spread diversly abroad those of them which do run towards the East are wholsome and medicinall yea they are an antidote against poisons but such as doe spread themselves towards the West are venemous and deadly such a tree as this it hath pleased the Lord now to plant in this land and me thinks it growes upon the border betwixt the old kingdomes of the East and West Saxons that is in the most Easterly edge of Hampshire for all the Counties beyond that place Westward are over-spread with sad roots of bitterness bringing forth nothing but gall worm wood wheras the other Counties of the land on this side Eastward are safe and medicinall and these contrary dispensations of providence as they doe call upon you Amos 4.7 the children of the East to blesse that Lord which causeth it to raine mercie or judgements upon one Country and not upon another so doe they enforce and encourage us Westerne exiles to implore some healing for our Country from those wings of yours under whose feathers many of our pilgrims have already found a covering In hope and pursuance of that healing was I emboldned to offer unto you a mid-wifes place in the birth of this Treatise and that you may adventure to read it over I shall promise you that this Westerne historie is not like your creatures of a day at Westminster 't is not like your every dayes Mercurian dew of News which is dayly exhaled and evaporated that is growne stale and doubtfull by that time the sun ariseth in ' its strength but in many of these sad passages I doe but testifie what I have seen in others I have considered that Fame in these dayes hath lost her credit and therefore accordingly I have not trusted her without sufficient sureties So that the sad history of this book is but too true though I confesse not full enough Once I had thought to have added marginall instances but did forbeare partly because I conceived them not the most fit company for a sermon and partly because I found them too many and copious for a margin Pauper is est numerare pecus As for the divine matter of these sermons they do Apologize Confesse Petition Direct for the good of your most afflicted brethren By the first I hope they will undeceive such as shall read impartially and as for others which will a Non amo te Sabidi nee possum dicere quare c. not beleeve any good reports of the West because they will not I shall only answer them that they will mis-judge because they will By the second third and fourth which are the discoveries of the great evils of those most lamentable Counties c. we do call for pitie from all brethren and friends but especially from this great Citie which the Lord hath hitherto made a publike fountain of help and the very poole of Bethesda to all impotent parts and almost people of the land John 5.7 but the West hath layen longest in the porch wanting a hand to put it into the waters Surely there was a time when those five Counties did by their b Devon Kersies c Wilts Corne d Somerset Cattle e Dorset Sheep and f Cornwall Tinne afford in good measure both b clothing c bread and d flesh yea e dishes and all to this great City and such a time againe may returne but at present those Shires and the well-affected of them would faine borrow a bucket or two of help from your ocean to set their pumps a going I meane to put them into an able posture for the defence of themselves I remember 't is recorded that the g Keker in praesat ad Geegraph Queen of Castillia did sel her jewels to furnish Columbus for his discovering voyage to the West-Indies when hee had shewed his Maps though the English Courtiers saith mine Author did deride his profers and thereby the new world of America was found and gained to the Spanish Crowne Surely there is great adventure now to be made for reducing of the little Kingdome of West-England and the Londoners hitherto have been the greatest adventurers for this cause Oh read over my Maps and doe like your selves But besides that great occasion there is also another petty adventure for the West at this time required it is that you would h Eccles 11.1 cast your bread upon the waters for the present support of many Westerne exiled Pilgrims which have not onely long since laid out and left the bulke of their estates for the testimony of Iesus but have lately spent the last meal of their barrell the utmost oyle of their Cruse in these parts and now so it is that dig they cannot and to beg they are ashamed yea and almost to receive Ye shall therefore doe well if like the i 2 Tim. 1.16 17. house of Onesiphorus Ye seeke them out very diligently and find them Brethren though my selfe and some others have our k Prov. 30 8. Agurs commons our l Exod. 16.16 Omer-full for our day yet give me leave and the more freely to tell you that the Lord hath set this great City to be his Steward and Almoner for the distressed brethren and I must adde he hath given you three for one for all your free disbursements for his sake First he hath given you that ability and substance which you have laid out for 't is e Pro. 10.4.22 the blessing of God with the hand of the diligent that maketh rich f 1 Sam. 25.11 My bread and my water and my flesh was the language of Naball Next
laid against us Object 1 The Westerne folke will some say are an unworthie people Answ Beware of drawing sinfull inferences from sorrowfull premisses by concluding that such a man or people are wicked because they are wretched sinners because sufferers This was the false sophistry of Iobs three friends for which the Lord doth as it were enjoyne them penance Iob. 42.7 8. and amerceth them in the end of that book Nay this was the barbarous Malta-logick of those Islanders amongst whom St. Paul was cast ashoare at Mâ—lita And when the Barbarians saw the venemous beast hang on his hand Acts 28.4 they said among themselves No doubt this man is a murtherer whom though he hath escaped the Sea yet vengance suffereth not to live But when he shook off the beast into the fire Vers 5. they did as easily change their opinions to the other extreame and indeed none are more light and lavish in applauding then those which are most rash and severe in censuring But this fault I find may overtake the disciples themselves â—â—h 9. â— 2. When they saw a man that was blind from his birth they asked Iesus Master who did sin this man or his parents that he was born blind Christs answer telleth us that the Lord hath many other principall ends and causes for afflicting his people besides their sins as there his end was that the works of the Lord should be made manifest Vers 3. so in Iobs case he meant to set up a paterne of patience and of the reward thereof And in that of Paul he intended to honour the person and ministery of his servant in the eyes and hearts of the Barbarians Object 2 But the Objector chargeth againe telling us that Cowardise and Covetousnesse lost the West Answ I might first answer generally in the words of an * Iraset qâ—an donaâ—e vilius conslat Mart. acute Heathen that it is more cheape and easie to fall out with the distressed then to relieve their distresses But I will speake particularly to the severall charges of Cowardise and Covetousnes First to that of Cowardise I could returne many answers viz. 1. To the Charge of Cowardise 1. Who is he I pray you that is the God of the spirits of all flesh whose prerogative it is especially in war-like actions both to heighten the spirits of the faint and to flatten the courage of the mighty And when did the Lord so evidently and ordinarily exercise this his spirituall prerogative as in the present warres of his people in this Land Doubtlesse brethren it is not all Cowardise and treachery which we doe commonly call so in these times though I confesse there hath been too much of both sorts almost continually amongst us and I could wish that the extraordinary finger of God in this spirituall particular might be more observed and acknowledged 2. Secondly remember that those Westerne combustions did begin with the present generall and publike warres So that it was then the very Tyrocinium of all our Souldiery the first and suddaine shooting of Guns in earnest at which it is common even for valiant men a while to winke at the firing and to startle at the report of an Ordnance these and such-like allayes might be given But 3. Thirdly I doe answer by denying that charge of Cowardise upon that * At Minedip Hills in Sommerset about 30000. Commons appeared at once for the Parliament in the beginning against the Generallny of their Gentry In Devon at 2. several times at least 10000. each time all completely armed and paid by the same County And great forwardnes in the rest of the Counties Cornwall it selfe not excepted Country as unjust and for proof of that deniall could easily bring forth a whole cloud of publike and reall witnesses as the numerous frequent free appearances of great armies of common people upon slender summons or rather upon bare leave to appeare their willing tedious attendances at their own charges and begging permission to fall on c. And all this amidst often and heavy discouragements Some Counties going on against the streame of those which should have been their Leaders but did destroy the way of their Pathes Others had such Leaders as as would have caused them to erre Isai 9.16 yea as would have guided them as that Prophet led the blind-fold Syrians into Samaria instead of Dotham yet still the poore willing Commons leaving both the Kings high-way and their Malignant Gentry continued appearing waiting marching and fighting though in many places like sheep without a shepheard untill it hath pleased the Lord out of his secret Counsell and for our sins to give us up as a prey to the will of our enemies 2. To the Charge of Covetousnesse Secondly for answer to the charge of Covetousnesse aske of others and they shall tell you Aske the publike and private Treasurers for Ireland-subscriptions both gifts and adventures for the Parliament Propositions and for our own particular Westerne warres and fortifications all these will abundantly certifie you But as that proportionist did draw the whole stature of Hercules by the print of his foot so I could give you out of one of those five Shires best knowne to my selfe a guesse of the cordiall munificence of the whole 150000â— out of Devon Exon. Beside their sufferings If many scores of thousands have been laid out by one single County then admire the vast expences of all the five But it is still objected Object 3 Your enemies were few and contemptible at the first Alas Answ so were the enemies of the whole Kingdome at the beginning perchance fewer then ours remember the little cloud at Nottingham and by that you may see Secondly that the race is not to the swift Eccles 9.11 nor the battell to the strong but time and change happeneth to them all saith the wise Preacher especially thirdly when the Lord of Hosts createth trouble to a sinfull people and giveth commission to his revenging sword to passe through a Land beleeve it then they are not all your strength and counsell power and policy that can sheath up or keep off such an enemy But why did you lose so vast Object 4 so rich so populous a Country so easily Answ I answer First 1. doubtlesse the meritorious causes were our sins and the safest construction and best application that we Westerne exiles can make of our sufferings will be to take up that of lamenting Jeremiah Lament 3.39 Wherefore doth a living man complain It is a mercy that we are men and not beasts that we are alive this day and not fallen among the slaine a man for the punishment of his sinnes that is the Lord hath done us no wrong we doe suffer justly yea mercifully for our trespasses Let us search and try our waies and turne again to the Lord That is selfe examination and selfe-reformation Verse 40. are our most proper and profitable
spoken when Baruch had written these words in a booke at the mouth of Jeremiah in the fourth yeare of Jehoiakim the sonne of Josiah King of Judah that is so soone as Baruch had done his worke of transcribing the Roll and reading it to the people for which like enough hee expected some good piece of preferment even in that same yeare being the fourth yeare of Jehoiakim in stead of preferment hee meeteth with a Prophecie of utter desolation and seventy yeares captivity by Nebuchad-rezzar as you may find by comparing those two places There it is said This whole land shall bee a desolation and an astonishment and these nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy yeares c. This is the Time of that Chapter Next observe the Faults reproved in Baruch which were these â—er 45.3 First a dastardly sinking and despondency of mind because it seemes his rising expectation was frustrate Thou didst say Woe is me now for the Lordhath added griefe to my sorrow I fainted in my sighing and I find no rest Next a vaine ambitious selfe-seeking Verse 5. And seekest thou great things for thy selfe These faults of his are evinced to be doubly sinfull in these words Verse 4. Thus saith the Lord Behold that which I have built will I breake downe and that which I have planted I will pluck up even this whole land And therefore as if he had said Thy sinne O weake Baruch the Amanuensis or Scribe of Jeremiah is both unreasonable and unseasonable at this time What is more unreasonable than for a man to imagine that his owne Cabine can bee safe when the whole Ship is a sinking that which I have built will I breake downe Or what is more unseasonable than when the axe is laid to the root of the tree for a silly bird to begin then to build her nest upon the top branches Verse 5. or to sit hatching therein and that which I have planted will I pluck up even this whole land Nay behold further saith the Lord I will bring evill upon all flesh and therefore it will bee well and faire for thee to have thine owne life for a prey Ier 39.16 17 18. Ier. 40.1 2 c. in all places whither thou goest yea that is as much as I have given to thy Master Jeremiah and to his friend my servant Ebed-melech already And now to apply this most seasonable Chapter Alas alas How many such Baruchs little men of great expectations are there to be found even amongst Exiles in these dayes of breaking downe and plucking up Yea this sinne is too neare I feare unto some of the sonnes and servants of the Prophets There are too many Baruchs about the Ministery as there are too many Gehazies in the Common-wealth By Baruchs I meane such who having beene lately destitute Levites like Micha's Jonathan in the booke of Judges Iudg. 17 7 8 9. so that they might have said every one of them as hee I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah and I goe to sojourne where I may find a place yet after a little shelter and succour received they are not content with a subsistence but are shifting and clambring for more shekels and higher preferment like the same Jonathan to whom when the Danites suggested Iudg. 18.19 20. Is it better for thee to be a Priest unto the house of one man or that thou be a Priest unto a Tribe and a Family in Israel 'T is said thereupon The Priests heart was glad and hee went in the midst of the people These are our Baruchs our Jonathans in the Ministery But as I said there are also too many Gehazies to bee found in the Common-wealth Gehazi the servant of Elisha would needs make a hard shift in an unseasonable time â— Kin. 5.20 21. to gaine two talents of silver and two changes of garments but they cost him dear in the issue when his Master reckoned with him The conclusion is this Is it a time saith Elisha to him to receive money and to receive garments and olive-yards and vine-yards and sheep and oxen and men-servants and maid-servants Vers 26 17. The Leprosie therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed for ever And hee went out from his presence a Leper as white as snow Looke upon this Text all yee that have beene servants or of low degree but are now risen by these warres to gainfull eminent places and offices What! and are you now running after nothing but treasure and bravery Doe you make it your plot and joy to multiply shekels and change of rayment to weare variety of State-gold upon your backs when so many precious Saints doe want a little of it for their bellies If so I would but put Elisha's question unto you Is this a time thus to receive money and to receive garments Doe yee mourne in gold and scarlet for our common Mother great Britaine that lyes a dying Oh beware of entayling Gehazi's leprosie from your selves to posterity Finally there are too many even of the scattered Saints that are infected in these times with this unseasonable sinne too many there are of them that doe too well like of the places of their banishment Math. 17.4 saying as Peter in the Mount It is good for us to bee here Yea they are apt to talke of buidling tabernacles in a strange place both for themselves and for their friends not considering how soone a Cloud may over-shadow them Vers 5 8. and put an end to their imaginary Paradise But as for you Brethren who are the scattered Children of the West Jer. 35.2 c. remember your selves to bee Christian Rechabites and therefore see that yee doe Christianly imitate that mortified Family who in expectation of troublous times did propare before-hand by accustoming themselves to drinke no wine all their dayes they their wives their sonnes nor their daughters Nor to build houses to dwell in Ver. 8 9 10. neither had they vineyard nor field nor seed 1 Pet. 2.11 but dwelt in tents So my dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstaine from fleshly and from ambitious lusts which warre against the soule and remember that wee have here no continuing City Let it therefore bee our care not to build houses nor to plant vineyards in this place but still to retaine our animum revertendi our purpose to returne yea though wee are enforced for our present necessary subsistence to make some little plantation here a while yet let it bee but like that plantation of the Gardiner when hee doth set his Flowers in a Pot of earth so that they may be easily removed from place to place in change of weathers in like manner let us so plant our selves and families in these Easterne parts that wee may bee in a fit posture to be carried West-ward Pots and all so soon as the Lord shall be pleased to shine againe upon those Countries
ambitious Machivillian Saul is there to be found hating his sweet and faithfull son Ionathan for cleaving to the just and holy cause of David 1 Sam 20.30 31. the men after Gods owne heart yea he is enkindled against him railing at him and calling him perverse Rebell a remarkeable Title and telling him that he will confound himselfe and the whole family by taking this side c. This is the father against the son 2 Sam. 15 16 17 Chapters Next there is also the son against the father that is many a bushie bloody ambitious Absalom is there to be found which doth not stick to murther his owne brethren to plunder and defile his fathers house and to drive him if he be a man after Gods own heart weeping and bare-foot both from his owne habitations Filius ante diem c. and from the publike ordinances and all this to get the inheritance unto himselfe before the time this is the son against the father As for mothers and daughters c. There you might see in every County many an unnaturall massacring Athaliah 2 King 11.1 that doth not sticke to swim to her own ends through a stream of guiltlesse bloud 2 Chron. 22.10 And many an hollow complementall Orpah which doth kisse and weepe over the cause of God and those which doe travaile for it Ruth 1.14 but takes leave of them both at last But what do I straighten my selfe with instances There are and have beene revolts treacheries and false charges practised discovered and laid on in those parts by all sorts of friends and relations In Families there are Nabal-like husbands 1 Sam. 25.17 that doe hold under their wise and holy Abigails so that they cannot speake unto them for this Cause And contrariwise 2 Sam. 6.16 20. there are some Michal-like Wives too that scoffe at their Davids for their zeale in this Service Amongst Brethren Gen. 4.8 there is many a Cain rising up against his righteous brother and slaying him because his owne workes are evill and his brothers good Yea amongst Twinns there are Esaus Gen. 32.6 that doe arme themselves against their brethren and their families because God is with them Amongst Professors and professed friends there is many an Edomitish Doeg 1 Sam. 22.9 10. 1 Sam. 23.12 that ensnareth the Lords Ministers yea some Keilites whole Parishes that have betrayed their Protectors Amongst Servants and Clients many a Ziba delating his absent innocent Master 2 Sam. 16.2 3 to get his lands Many a * Sir Curson as I remember Speeds Chron. H 7. Popilius Fabricius in Histor Cicer. Mat. 26.14 2 Sam. 4.7 8. that begs a Commission to cut off the head of that Cicero which defended him yea many a Judas that selleth his Lord for silver pieces Amongst Commanders and Counsellors there hath been many a Baanah and Rechab that sold their Lords head for preferment Many a subtil Renegado that did not stick to wound himselfe like Synon that he might thereby betray others or to bee a proscribed and proclaimed Rebell amongst other men like that Knight in King Henry the seventh's time that so hee might bee admitted freely to their Councell and thereby give intelligence to the Enemy Brethren I remember that the * Hor. Apol. Niliac in Hieroglyph lib. 1. numb 66 Nichol Caussino Interprete Egyptians in their Hieroglyphicks did signifie the West by a Crocodile which is a beast that doth ensnare and so kill Passengers by his teares And I am perswaded that our West hath been the greatest Country of adventitious and some home-bred Crocodiles in the whole Kingdome So much concerning the mischiefes that did come from pretended friends who were parallel to Jobs Wife and his three miserable Comforters But Did that Wife and those Friends of Job taunt and upbraid him with heart-piercing language 2. Enemies Blasphemous Did they tempt and cut him with blasphemies Herein the poore Westerne suffering Saints can also compare For I am perswaded upon too good grounds that the blasphemous insolencies even of Pharaoh Sennacherib Rabshakeh and that Apostate Julian himselfe have been matched and equalled by the Enemies in those parts Pharaoh you know did say I know not the Lord neither will I obey his voyce to let Israel goe Sennacherib and Rabshakeh said Let not Hezekiah deceive you Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee c. and Julian was wont when he buffeted and tormented the Christians scoffingly to apply some Text of Scripture unto them as bidding them to turne the other cheeke also c. Surely many of our eares eyes and skins have heard seene and felt horresco referrens even as horrid things as these We have heard as a godly * Mr. H. P. Minister now with God said with tears as hee marched out of Exon both all the Attributes and all the Ordinances of God blasphemed over and over in one day and that not by two or three but by their whole Armies Insomuch that my selfe have wondred to heare so much Scripture and Divinity from the mouthes of divers of the illiterate ignorant and fottish common Souldiers as they have belched out in taunting blasphemies as Where are now your long sanctified prayers by the Spirit What is become of your holy Humiliations and Supplications c. But especially mee thought they did still fly in the face of our God scoffing abundantly more at him than at any yea all his servants besides as Where is your God now O yee Hypocrites Where is your holy Cause your Cause and all your hopes Now you shall see God will come downe from heaven yes by-and-by you shall see it No no farewell heaven heaven is gone your God is asleep c. Oh I am loath to beleeve mine owne eares or though I must doe it yet I am afraid to repeat with my mouth the studied blasphemies of that one day Brethren Mat. 27.26 27 28 30 c. you may looke over the harmony of the Evangelists and especially Saint Matthew and when you doe there read how the Souldiers did take Jesus when hee was to bee crucified into the common Hall gathered unto him the whole Band stripped him put on him a scarlet robe and a crowne of thornes upon his head and a reed in his hand then bowed the knee before him and mocked him saying Haile King of the Jewes then spit upon him blind-folded him and smote him on the head Mat. 26.67 68. saying Prophesie unto us thou Christ who smote thee and when hee was upon the Crosse how they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall parted his garments also how they that passed by reviled him wagging their heads saying Thou savedst others thy selfe thou canst not save Thou that destroyest the Temple if thou be the Sonne of God come down See if Elias will come and take him down c. I say it sadly when you doe read over this Chaine of amazing
blasphemies then consider remember and beleeve that this whole Series may bee paralleld by the taunts and blasphemies of the Westerne Enemies But besides these there is another kind of blasphemies by horrid Oaths and execrable Curses And in these also the Enemy is like himselfe out of measure blasphemous for I dare challenge the Records of all Nations and Generations to shew mee such affecting studying and buying of abominable direfull damning Oaths and Blasphemies as is daily practised among them Oh the anatomizing of Jesus Christ limb by limb by their horrid Swearing Oh the daring and mis-calling of the whole Trinity by their Rhetoricall new-sought new-bought Blasphemies Oh the dammings rammings and shooting into hell that is used in their Execrations Nay this is one test or touch-stone by which some of them are wont to try a suspected Round-head Sweare Dammee say they and we shall beleeve thee that thou art a friend to the King Oh my friends and is blasphemy now become the true character of loyalty then let us not be troubled if these men doe call us Rebels But this kind of hellishnesse is come to that height that the truth is I hold it not fit to speake the whole truth in this Point for there are such blasphemies amongst them as are not so much as to be named among Christians 1 Cor. 5.1 And now guesse yee Brethren in what condition are the poore Saints which are forced to entertaine those Miscreants into their houses and to bee continually within view and hearing of their Diabolicall lives and language what Mesechs thinke yee what Kedars are their owne houses unto them Is not all this a hell upon earth to a gracious soule But I must goe yet higher to other kinds of spirituall Scorpions 3. Ordinances lost to other Irons that doe enter into the soules of Gods people in those parts What thinke yee Brethren of the losse of the Arke and Ordinances 'T is a sad death to dye for want of bodily food but what thinke you of Amos his Famine not a famine of bread Amos 8.11 nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord. This soule-dearth is come upon them I beleeve above all parts of the Land besides for they doe in a most literall sense Verse 12. wander from sea to sea and from the North even to the East they doe run to and fro to seeke the word of the Lord and cannot find it but are forced to gather stubble in stead of straw the multitude of their Teachers were long since driven into corners Isai 30.20 where their eyes could not behold them and of the gleanings that stayed behind some are imprisoned and dead others condemned to dye two in Exon by their Councell of Warre so that there is scarce a conscientious preaching Pastour to be found in a whole County onely perhaps here and there is left an old complying Prophet of Bethel 1 Kâ—n. 13. 11 12 c. who if hee hath some embers of grace in the nether-most corner of his heart yet they doe lye hid under so much cold earth and policy that his Ministery is not like to warm a soule in many yeares But the multitude of their Priests in those parts are of the vilest of the people in all respects and doe send out prophanenesse over all that Country and to the servants of God they are Wolves and Butchers rather than Shepherds But now oh how beautifull would be the face yea the feet of one of the least of their old Ministers how sweet would be the weakest of those godly Sermons which perhaps wanton hearers have sometimes despised Have you ever observed Brethren an halfe-starved beggar or prisoner that picketh up a cast crust of bread in the street how hastily how heartily hee doth eat it down in a corner without wiping it Just so precious is the bread of life amongst the halfe-starved soules in those Counties if they can get but a stale fragment of some old Sermon-notes a piece a bit of a Doctrine or of an Use oh how sweetly doth it goe down upon the heart there is honey come into it for the Enemy doth martyr all the old Sermon-notes that hee can meet withall and as for new Sermons there are very few the Sanctuary is desolate the Church-doores have been shut up in divers places for many moneths together Object Yea but may some say there are many Churches still open and doubtlesse there is some food to be pickt out of those Ordinances such as they are Answ I grant it that there are many such doores open but will you know what food those places doe afford Surely 1. the people are fed with poyson in stead of nourishment not only a stone that is a stroke is given them in stead of bread but for fish they have a Scorpion death it selfe is in the Pot I mean Doctrines of Libertinisme and Superstition 2. They are fed with snares like that snare upon Mispeh Hos 5.1 and like that net which was spread upon Tabor Not onely the Lords Table is made a Snare unto them by Altaring and Worshipping of the elements there used and enjoyned but almost every other Ordinance is poysoned and made a bait unto the Receivers Shall I instance First then The solemne and extraordinary holy exercise of Prayer and Fasting is not onely denyed to the godly in private Publike Fasting in their owne families upon perist of intolerable scoffes riots imprisonments but even publike Humiliation also though it be the Lords marking Ordinance whereby hee doth marke out his mourners for preservation in evill times Goe through the midst of the City Ezek 9.4 and set a marke upon the fore-heads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof Even this choâ—ce Ordinance is denyed unto the Saints and is now utterly put downe though it were formerly set up by his Majesty himselfe with the consent of his Parliament The Enemy will not give Gods people leave to weep and mourne for his sinnes and for the sinnes of the Land Neither are those adversaries of Reâ—entance content to over-turne that setled course of humiliation â—ut which is yet worse they doe imitate Jeroboam who when â—ee had with-drawn the ten Tribes from the true God and his â—ight Ordinances did set up two Calves in stead of the Temple-â—orship and new holy-dayes in stead of the Lords owne Feasts â—eroboam ordained a Feast in the eight moneth 1 Kiâ— 12.28 29 31 32 c. on the fifteenth lay of the moneth like unto the Feast that is in Judah So these â—en in his Majesties name have set up an Anti-fast as well as an Anti-Parliament and an Anti-Covenant and consequently an Anti-God against the God of the Round-heads And all this is made as a Shiboâ—ch for the discovery and entanglement of the upright in the Land Thus the very Fastings of Gods people are turned into a Snare unto
Saviour Sir Iohn 5.7 I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool but while I am coming another steppeth down before me The text needeth no application this is the first Case But secondly in case of obtaining 2. Case and procuring the help which was petitioned for I meane when armies and treasures have been procured and sent for our reliefe yet even then the Lord hath especially blowne upon them and us sometimes by turning and over-turning our Counsels sometimes by frustrating our active endeavours I will instance but in one most remarkable disappointment You have not forgotten the time when his Excellencies army was sent for reliefe of the West we might have said of that army untill that time as much as David in his Funerall Elegy saith of valiant Saul and Ionathan 1 Sam. 1.22 From the bloud of the slains from the fat of the mighty the bow of Jonathan turned not backe and the sword of Saul returned not empty To this both Keinton and Newbury the first and second time and all other Easterne Northerne and Southerne fields can witness but when once this ever before-victorious army marched into the West then behold as if the fate of that unprosperous Country had wrought upon them the Scene is changed and we might also change our note Veâ—se â—7 as David doth afterward in that same Song How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of warre perished That Virgin Army as it was well called had never its nakednesse uncovered in any other Field or County but onely in the most Westerne Cornewall 3. Case This is the second Case But thirdly once more in case of accepting and for a time enjoying the help obtained and procured yet the West hath been the more unhappy My meaning in plaine English is this When some Armies Brigades and Parties have been sent down for our reliefe and restauration they have rather proved by accident and in event an occasion of our Countries greater miseries and bondage for upon their coming into those parts with help and promises of continuance the wel-affected have the more freely engaged themselves that is some men that had before walked so prudently yet honestly that the Enemy had no great advantage upon them did actively discover themselves others that had laine hid in woods and pits or were fled to the next Garisons came forth and brought out with them all their treasure and provision which they had hidden from the Midianites and all these you may suppose doe now take the Covenant doe draw in their friends to their Party and in a word doe imbarque both their persons and whole remainder in the present Bottome But loe upon a sudden to follow the Metaphor either the Vessell is split and so they are wrackt or the wind is turned and so the Barque drives away leaving them as that wandring Aeneas left his Dido to dispaire cry out and perish Even thus have many of our intended helpers proved unto the wel-affected of the West but as an Egyptian reed but as a piece of new cloth set upon an old garment whereby the rent hath been made worse or to speake but this once though I can hardly speake sufficiently in this point but as Gaal the sonne of Ebed proved unto the men of Shechem Let us looke sadly upon that Example It is said Judg. 9.26 27. And the men of Shechem put their confidence in him And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and trode the grapes and made merry and cursed Abimelech Why what might be the cause of this great confidence and merriment Surely Gaals boasting and his promise of protection to them Vers 28 29 40 41 44 45. And Gaal the sonne of Ebed said Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that wee should serve him And would to God this people were under my hand then would I remove Abimelech But what is the event both of his big words and their great hopes It is this in short first Gaal is worsted and so leaveth them then cometh Abimelech with his Army and fights against the City and takes it and flayeth the people that were therein and beateth down the City and soweth it with salt c. Wee have divers such Shechems in the West as thou forward Barnestaple art one witnesse And though Taunton be lately relieved blessed bee God and all that had a hand in that worke yet even since that relieving my native Chard is another sad witnesse of this truth Object But some may object Such miseries as these are the inseparable unavoydable accidents of warre Answ Yet give mee leave even in those accidents that is acts of extraordinary providence still to observe how the Lords especiall hand doth touch the West And suffer mee to say with sorrow that few other parts of the land have had so great a share in this kind of unhappy accidents aâ— those five Counties towards the setting of the Sun The last additionall aggravation of especiall Western unhappinesses Losse of Pillars Isat 3.1 2 3. Before I conclude this sad Point concerning the singular unhappinesse of the Westerne parts give mee leave to mind you but of one aggravation more namely That the hand of God hath been very heavie upon many of our excellent Westerne Leaders Hee hath pluckt away divers of our Supporters from us and hath smitten some of our Shepherds Brethren you know that dreadfull commination against the Jewes wherein the Lord threatned to take away from Jerusalem the mighty man and the man of warre the Judge and the Prophet and the prudent and the ancient the Captain of fifty and the honourable man and the Counsellor and the cunning Artificer and the eloquent Orator I know not the losses of other parts of the Land sure I am that the West hath been a deep loser in all these kinds What City what Town nay what Parish almost of eminency is there in those parts in which there is not some one or more use full man dead Some such persons have been shine by the sword others have died of the diseases of the Armies and a third sort have had their hearts broken by the Oppressors Many other men are better acquainted with divers of the Westerne Townes than my selfe and yet even out of my little knowledge I could reckon up some very eminent ones which the Lord hath taken away from every of the five Western Counties but a Dorset Câ—neri gloria sera venu one since this Parliament did begin Why should wee deny honour to the dead Why should wee neglect a powerfull meanes of humbling our owne hearts First give mee leave to remember you of our losses of Parliamentary State-pillars 1. In Parliament What a precious paire to begin at home of excellent instruments hath Devon lost Surely the b Jo. Upton Esquire one of them was no lesse than the stay and the staffe of that County and the