of those Egyptian croaking Froggs the Filthy Capuchin-Fryers and Priests who lay lurking there too long like so many muzled Wolves and Tygers all these or the most of them banished and transported over-Sea from us And the Queen-Mother of France the more to free our hearts from feares and discontents happily also transported beyond Sea from us About which time also to settle our hearts with yet more solid comfort and the more firmly to consolidate our future hoped happines it pleased the Lord to put into the hearts of our most noble Parliamentary Patriots to unite and knit all the three Kingdomes of England Scotland and Ireland in-a most firme League and Conjunction of perpetuall love and amitie and of mutuall defence against all malignant Adversaries either domestick or forrein and to confirm all this by a particular act of Parliament ratified by a full consent of the King and both Houses together with an act of absolute oblivion of all exceptions and differences whatsoever formerly intervening twixt Prince and people Upon which both Armies of English and Scottish Souldiers were shortly after most happily peaceably dismissed and disbanded to the high hononr of our wonder-working God and the unexpressible joy and comfort of both Nations thus most lovingly and sweetly shaking hands of true friendship at their peaceable departure And for the farther confirmation of this our happines and due retribution of praise and glory to the Lord our God the authour of it there was an Ordinance of Parliament for a day of publick and solemn thankesgiving for this peace so happily concluded between England and Scotland which for the glorie of God and honour of our King and Worthies in Parliament I have thought fit here to insert verbatîm as it was published An Ordinance of Parliament for a day of publick thanksgiving for the peace concluded between England and Scotland VVHereas it hath pleased almightie God to give a happie close to the treatie of peace between the two Nations of England and Scotland by his wise providence defeating the evill hopes of the subtill adversaries of both Kingdomes for which great mercy it was by the Kings most excellent Majestie the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament enacted that there should be a publick thanksgiving in all the Parish-Churches of his Majesties Dominions It is now ordered and declared by the Lords and Commons in Parliament that the time for the celebration of that publick thanks to almightie God for so great and publick a blessing shall be on tuesday the 7 th of Sept. by prayers reading and preaching of the Word in all Churches and Chappels of this Kingdome whereof we require a carefull and due observance that we may joyne in giving thanks as we partake of the blessing with our brethren of Scotland who have designed the same day for that dutie According to the act of this present Parliament for confirmation of the Treatie of Pacification between the two Kingdomes of England and Scotland whereas it was desired by the Commissioners of Scotland that the loyaltie and faithfulness of his Majesties Subjects might be made known at the time of the publick thanksgiving in all places and particularly in all Parish-Churches of his Majesties Dominions Which request was graciously condescended unto by his Majestie and confirmed by the said Act. It is now ordered and commanded by both Houses of Parliament that the same be effectually done in all Parish-Churches throughout this Kingdome upon tuesday the 7 th day of Sept. next coming at the time of the publick thanksgiving by the severall and respective Ministers of each Parish-Church or by their Curates who are heerby required to reade this present Order in the Church And was not the Lord most gloriously heer seen in the Mount of admirable mercie and deliverance to England and Scotland after such a marveilous manner as never any Nation could produce the like parallell of gracious providence And may we not therefore with holy David Israels sweet singer confess we have found the Lord according to his word a sure defence for the oppressed even a refuge in time of trouble And therefore they that know thy name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that have seriously sought thee Yea he that is our God is the God of salvation and unto this God and mightie Lord belong the issues from death Heer also ere I have done with this mercie let me desire the Reader to take notice of the admirable wisdome and justice of God in thus clearing the innocencie and integritie of his children O what bitter aspersions did the Prelates Arminians and malignant partie cast on our brethren of Scotland at the first nothing but traytors and rebells could be heard out of their slanderous mouths But now see I say how Gods wisdome and justice ordered it that even those tongues that had so taunted them yea and in their pulpits too should now be forced even in the face of their Congregations to give themselves the lye That of Job being heerin most clearly ratified that The poore hath hope and iniquitie stoppeth her mouth and that also of the holy Prophet David which is full to our purpose That the King and all good men shall exceedingly rejoyce and glorie in God but the mouth of them that speake lyes shall be stopped And now also let me tell thee courteous Reader to make these mercies yet more glorious to the praise of our God that in the interim that those two Armies lay so together in the North the pestilent Spirits of the Malignant partie lay not still but were most maliciously working by their agents and instruments the Popish Lords and pernicious Prelates being also maine sticklers in all these mischievous designes to disaffect and discontent his Majesties Armie by scandalous and most false accusations and imputations on the Parliament thus to engage it for the maintenance of their most wicked designes of keeping-up the Bishops in their votes Lordly honours and functions and by force to compell the Parliament to order limit and dispose their parliamentarie proceedings in such a manner as might best concurre with the intentions of their dangerous and potent faction Now this plot of bringing the English Armie from the North Southward to London against the Parliament for the causes aforesaid having been particularly enquired into and examined both by that noble and vertuous Gentleman M r Fynes and Sir Philip Stapleton with others they made report thereof to the House of Commons about June 17. 1641. That they found that for the advancing of the said plott the Earl of Strafford had attempted his escape out of the Tower and to effect it the better had promised that worthy Gentleman Sir William Belfore then Leifetenant of the Towre 20000 li. and to marry his Sonne to his Daughter and to make it one of the greatest Matches in the Kingdome but Sir Williams loyaltie was
we are fit for mercie certainly he must never be mercifull to us But here we see and Moses confirms it farther to us that oftentimes God shews not mercie to a people because they are greater in number or better in condition or fitter for his mercie than another people but because the Lord freely loved us above or before all others ouâ— neighbour Nations round about us and that he might keep his word and promise made of old to save his people when they called on him in the day of their trouble that so they might glorifie him And most undoubtedly for this very end the Lord hath poured on his people of England within these two or three yeers an extraordinarie spirit of grace and prayer or supplication in these dayes of their distresse and great calamitie yea and notably manifested by all these fore-mentioned returns of prayer even far beyond their hopes and desires that he is a God hearing prayers and so hath encouraged his people notwithstanding their sins to come unto him and hath clearly let them see that t is not in vain to call on our God and to wait till he have mercie Hence therefore I say let us learn to admire and adore the bounteous and open-hand and enlarged bowels of love and compassion of our good God and indulgent Father who hath done all these so great and so good things for us even of his own meer mercie and free favour and because mercie pleaseth him Since then it is most true and unquestionable that God hath not so dealt with every Nation nay I may justly say not with any Nation as he hath with us of England O let us all seriously endeavour to out-strip every Nation round about 〈◊〉 Thankfulnesse and Obedience which is the second Observation I desire to make of these remarkable parliamentarie mercies to us Thankfulnes I say first to our good and gracious God who hath been the onely author and fountain of all these full and fairly over-flowing mercies to us Who hath thus blessed where the enemie hath cursed Who hath thus made the plots and devises of our adversaries the main means of their own shame and smart of their own certain ruin and destruction Yea who hath thus firmly and faithfully performed all his good word and will unto us hitherto and therefore with holy David to cry out and say Not unto us Lord not unto us but unto thy Name give all the glory for thy mercie and for thy truths sake Yea to raise and rouze-up our souls to the highest peg and pitch of holy extasies of praise and thanksgiving to our God and to break-out as the same holy David did My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise even with my glorie Awake psalterie and harp yea awake soul and heart I my self will awake right early yea and right earnestly I will praise thee O Lord among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the Nations For thy mercies are great above the heavens and thy glorie above all the earth Set up thy self therefore O our God more and more above the heavens and thy glory above all the earth And let not this our thankfulnesse be meerly a work of lip-labour but let it also yea especially produce an effectuall work of life-labour of true obedience which indeed is better than sacrifice Obedience I say to all Gods commandments universall-submission to the whole will of God Which is mainly seen in breaking-off from our sins those great blocks that stand in the way and hinder Gods good things from us accursed sin I say which locks up all the gates of Gods goodnesse and sweetnesse from us by true and cordiall repentance by hating and forsaking our closest and sâ—yliest insinuating darling sins our bosome-Dalâ—lahs which is the onely-golden-key to open the doores to lift-up the flood-gates of all Gods rich treasury of grace and over-flowing favours and mercies to us Objection But here I may demand and not impertinently I hope May we not also give thanks and due commendations to our noble and renowned Worthies in Parliament who have so cheerfully and so indefatigably spent themselves and their precious time for us and the Kingdoms good Answer Yes undoubtedly and that most duely but in the first and most and best place to the Lord our God who is the author and fountain of all our mercies and unto them in the next place as the channels or conduit-pipes by and through whom God is pleased to convey these comforts to us And as a grave godly and learned Divine of our Citie fitly observed It is not onely decent and comely to give them thanks even as we would if a Lord or great friend should send us some extraordinarie gift by his servant we would first give condign thanks to the Lord or friend that sends it and also gratifie the servant or messenger by whom t was sent with some reall expression both of our high esteem of the donor and also of our gratefull hearts to the messenger for his pains in bringing it to us So without all question it is not onely decent as I said before but due and equall that we should at least return most heartie thanks to these honourable and happie Messengers of our great Lord and gracious God who hath by them conferred upon us such and so many indelible monuments of mercies and admirable Deliverances especially when we consider I say with what invincible patience and pains what admired wisdom and untyred sweetnesse of spirit both Lords and Commons have for us and our good neglected their own lives and livelyhood their own private and personall affairs and just delights otherwise befitting such persons and personages even beyond the slender and lanck expression of my poore pen yea of the most eminent parallel of any by-past times And therefore worthie yea most worthie that we should praise and prize them and pray for them too that our God would repay into the bosomes of them and their posterity all the sweetnesse of their love and loyaltie to God their King and Countrey which we all have found and felt to our unspeakable joy and comfort Which being so as most certain so it is Ah foule shame for such as most injuriously endeavour to traduce and blemish as much as in their foule mouthes and false hearts is the most honourable name and unspotted reputation of so renowned prudent Peers and pious Patriots whose equals for pietie prudence patience and indefatigable pains for Church and State this Kingdom and Nation never since it had a being beheld Yet some I say have not blushed nor been asham'd to manifest such foule effects of black and ignominious ingratitude and therein most palpable impietie as cannot chuse but be most exceeding irksome and odious both to God and man Some saying they see little or nothing done as yet others convinc'd
beholding the evident sun-shine of the truth in the subsequent and most luculent demonstrations thereof in this Kingdom of England after a speciall manner which God hath graciously made the very Land-mark of all his rich mercies to the everlasting glory of his great Name and free grace unto us a most sinfull and undeserving Nation as we have been and that in the midst of such means and miracles of mercies which he hath conferred on us and wrought for us above all our neighbour Nations round about us Now herein my purpose is omitting many former mercies to our Land of high concernment and most worthy of everlasting and indelible thankfull remembrance as the shaking off of the Antichristian shackles and yoke of Poperie begun in the dayes of King Henry the eighth and his most blessed Son King Edward the sixth but especially in the happie halcyon-dayes of Queen Elizabeths reign of ever most blessed memorie Since whose most blessed dayes and times we have enjoyed the Gospel of peace and peace of the Gospel almost these hundred yeers and now are not onely Protestants but most blessedly begin to be reformed Protestants notwithstanding the many most nefarious and treacherous plots against her sacred person happily defeated the falsly so termed Invincible Spanish Armado in 1588 and the most exorbitant and hell-hatch't Powder-plot by those Romish traytors Garnet a grand-Jesuite and his twelve impious apostles in the yeer 1605 by heavens vigilant eye of providence timely prevented together with many private and pernicious conjurations or conspiracies not so much by force as by fraud clandestinely machinated and by Gods mercie fruitlesly attempted enough to fill up voluminous Treatises and infâ—â—itâ—ly to magnifie Gods endlesse praises all which I say here to omit my purpose and main intention is as I fore promised by the blessed assistance of Gods gracious Spirit to manifest and declare to all who vouchsafe the patient and impartiall perusall hereof all the memorable and wonder-striking Parliamentary mercies effected for and afforded unto this our English Nation mauger the malice of Hell and Rome Papists and profane Atheists Satans active and able agents with inthe space of lesse than two yeers last past 1641 and 1642. And for the better and more exact setting forth of the most illustrious lustre and glorious beautie of these incomparable parliamentarie-pledges of Gods undoubted love and free favour toward us my intention is first to shew my Reader the cloudy-Mountain of Straits into which the Lord had in his wisdom and justice brought us or rather suffered us to be drawn and driven into for our sins and transgressions and then the sweet and serene-Mountain of Mercies wherein God was most gloriously seen of his meer mercie for our most timely and happie deliverance I mean I say to let the godly Reader see the deep distresse and danger whereinto we were plunged by the nefarious and multifarious plots and projects of Jesuiticall-Priests and perfidious Prelates for I may most justly couple and link them together like Simeon and Levi brothers in iniquitie of these our late and worst times and other most disloyall atheisticallagents in these desperate designes all of them faithlesse factors for the See of Rome all of them complotting and contriving to reduce us to the accursed Romish religion yea all of them combining and confederating to work and weave our three famous and flourishing Kingdoms England Scotland and Irelands fatall and finall ruiâ—e and downfall This being done I shall endeavour by Gods assistance most punctually to promulgate and most exactly to record to posterity those even myriades of remarkable mercies conferred on us to strange amazement and deep admiration of all truly pious and faithfull Christians That thus contraries being set together in an exact Antithesis or opposition they may both appear the more apparently to the eyes and understanding of ingenuous and judicious beholders that thus I say the dangers being seriously considered and worthily weighed the mercies may the more gloriously break forth like the Suns glorious rayes and heart-cheering bright beams after a thick and black cloudie storm and heart-damping tempest and that thus I say the god y Reader ruminating and recollecting Both in his sad and serious re-cogitations may justly and ingenuously acknowledge that God was in the Mount for our Deliverance Now herein for my better and more methodicall proceeding in this renowned Storie I have resolved to make our most famous and renowned Parliamentarie-Worthies first Remonstrance wherein all our Kingdoms heavie pressures and oppressions are summarily and succinctly even to the life delineated my most worthily imitable copie and pattern to write by but in these I intend to be as concise and brief as conveniently may be because my chief ayme and resolution is â—o hasten to the copious and comfortable narration and description of our Parliamentarie-Mercies and Deliverances to the everlasting glorie and precious praise of our great and good God and that at the rare and faire sight and cordiall contemplation of them the godly Reader may break out in an extasie of holy and heavenly joy and say with holy David Truly God is good to his English Israel and to all therein of an upright heart Wherefore now to pretermit all further ambages and circumlocutions and to addresse my self seriously to the matter intended I shall first with my most worthie-Masters briefly declare the root and growth of their mischievous designes and the rice of our dangerous estate thereby Secondly the maturity and ripenesse to which the malignant partie had hatcht and cherisht it before the beginning of this Parliament Thirdly the efficacious means used for the eradicating and rooting up of this evill weed so rank-grown in the garden of the Kingdom both by the Kings royall assistance and Heavens blessing on the Parliaments great wisdom industrie and providence Fourthly the bold affronts and audacious obstructions and oppositions to interrupt and check the Parliaments fair and faithfull progresse and proceedings therein all along Fifthly and lastly the counter-checking means used to annihilate and make void those obstacles and impediments which so retarded the fair fabrick and comely structure of a happie reformation of those superfluous and rank-grown evils and of redintegrating and re-establishing the ancient honour and security of this Crown and Nation even by a Parliamentarie-power the onely remedie left under God to prop-up the tottering State to force away our over-flowing fears and to heal the mortall wounds and sores of our distressed Land Now the root and rice of all the plot was found to be a pernicious woven knot of malignant active spirits combining and confederating together for the supplanting and utter subverting of the fundamentall Laws and principles of government on which the religion and government of the Kingdom were firmly establisht And those actors and promoters were fiâ—st and principally Jesuited-Papists whose teeth had long
by prisons or exile all these I say were by those our blessed Master-builders in Parliament by their unanimous suffrages not onely voted against as a superfluous and unprofitable burthen on Gods Church but thereby also a way was made plain and wide-doores were set open for a blessed restauration and replantation of most faithfull and painfull Pastours and laborious Lecturers chosen and set up with the peoples consent and good liking and not to have dumb-dogs or soul-robbers and theeves which came not in at the doore but through the windows of the Church violently obtruded on them whereby the Gospel begins to thrive and flourish again and Sions young-converts to be graciously growing up among us in the true judgement and knowledge of Christ Jesus whereas formerly the Prelates and Pontificians durst scoffe fleer and jeer familiarly at those faithfull and painfull Lecturers and most atheistically ask in derision What kind of creatures those Lecturers were and most impiously and audaciously even in the presence of the great God of heaven vow to worm them out â—re they had done with them But our good God gave these curst cows or rather wilde buls of Bashan short horns and though they had gone-on in a great measure and done much mischief therein yet they could not do the hurt which their hearts aymed at ever blessed and praised be our good God for it And now good Reader reflect thine eyes and review these rare mercies and tell me then was not Englands God herein also seen in the Mount of Mercies by this so strange an overture and alteration of things interposed between such eminent and imminent danger of utter losse of our bright and burning Candlesticks of the Gospel and fear of stinking snuffs of ignorance errour and atheisticall profanenesse to be set up in their places and little or no hope at least itâ— humane apprehension of help by lesse than such miracles of mercies as God himself hath in these our happie dayes wrought and poured-down upon us and such indeed as none but a God could procure for us O how sweetly and suddenly hath God turned our Captivitie into admirable freedom and libertie And who can consider these things without serious and deep admiration and who can call them to remembrance without heart-ravishing ioy and delight yea who can chuse but acknowledge in his most gratefull heart the great praises of the Lord and with holy David that harmonious chanter and musicall inchanter of Israel confesse Gods infinite free favour and love to England in thus encompassing and begirting us about with sweet songs of such deliverances But yet here 's not all for our blessed parliamentarie Worthies have also given us great hope by Gods goodnesse of timely purging also the two famous Fountains of our Kingdom Oxford and Cambridge from the much myre and mud of Romish innovations which setling there also hath made their streams stink of Poperie yea I say great hopes of happily healing the once most clear-sighted but now and of long time blear-eyes of our Nation grown mightie sore with Romish-rednesse by drinking in too much of the wine-lees of poysoning Popish fopperies in so much that Truths clear sighted Servants eyes began to be mightily offended by but looking on them and not without cause for as our Saviour himself saies If the eyes be evill the whole bodie will be full of darknesse and if the light that is in a kingdom and especially which is to give light to a whole kingdom be darknesse O how great is that darknesse and such truly began to be our Kingdoms condition but now we have I say great hopes by Gods gracious assistance that our Parliament will seasonably provide a soveraign Collyrium or eye-salve some well-distilled eye-bright of Reformation to purifie the sight of these two once most glorious lights in the whole Christian world Yea these our noble Nehemiahs and grave and gracious Ezra's have taken most pious pains to see Gods Sabbaths more sincerely sanctified than of late they have been and the profane soil of trauelling Carriers Taverns Ale-houses and Tobacco-shops and other loose and irreligious Shop-keepers who heretofore mightily polluted that day most sweetly swept away any cleansed A work of great concernment and high esteem for the glorie of the Lord than which I am certain a greater a better cannot be undertaken as being the very prop and promoter of all true Religion and without the entire and sincere sanctification whereof all true religion would quickly decay and be utterly lost yea I say a Nation-upholding Christian dutie of richest valuation as having more precious promises annexed to it than any other I know of in the whole book of God and which hath more ennobled our Realm and made our Kingdom more illustrious God alone who hath so graciously upheld it among us have all the praise and glorie of it and we onely the comfort than all our reformed Neighbours about us yea such a blessed and holy duty as hath caused more mercies to fall yea flow upon our english-English-Nation than ever did on any people of the Christian world Yet our most iniurious Prelates together with their profane Pontificks have most shamelesly striven to viciate and defile this our Sabbaths precious honour the main readie and road-way to have brought the curse of God upon us and utterly to have ruinated our whole Kingdom by whose means it began in King James his dayes to receive a deep died stain by that most wicked and accursed book of tolerating vain sports and profane recreations forsooth on the Lords day which since hath been avowed and advanced more highly by them than at the first but now since in our present Soveraignes time more pertinaciously pressed and perniciously enforced on Gods dear Saints and servants in the ministerie than formerly it had been whose tender-consciences could not endure it and who being in their most just zeal for the Lords high honour therein and sincere love to true Religion transported above all fears and frowns were most egregiously abused vexed and punished for refusing to admit and read the said wicked-book in their Churches untill it most graciously pleased our good God by the blessed Parliament to prevent the most mischievous growth of this unexpressible abomination of our so holy Fathers of the Church together with the rotten rable of Pontifick-Arminians Romes Minions indeed by a particular Order from the House of Commons in Parliament for the more strict sanctification of that day which I have hereunto annexed The Order of the House of Commons for the due sanctication of the Sabbath or Lords day April 10 th 1641. IT is this day ordered by the House of Commons that the Aldermen and Citizens that serve for the Citie of London shall intimate to the Lord Maior from this Hou e that the Statutes for the due observing of the Sabbath be put in execution And it is further ordered that the like
manifested to the full as now you shall hear The time being now expired and the last day of the Parliaments adjourning from Westminster being now come Jan. the 11. 1641. being Teusday and their just jealousies and fears being many and great especially by that so late high breach of priviledges of Parliament mentioned Jan. the 4 rh and our Worthies now of necessity to return to Westminster the noble and renowned City of London most cheerfully and voluntarily proffered their best service and abilities to attend and guard them by land to the Parliament at Westminster and by Gods assistance to secure them from danger all the way by land to which purpose the City Captains had commanded their train'd-bands and Officers at armes to prepare themselves thereunto and their Musketteirs with powder and bullets and pikemen with glistering arms which was performed in a most gallant and martiall manner and thus our parliamentarie noble grave Senatours both Lords and Commons were in their coaches safely by Gods mercie conducted and attended to the Parliament by land By water also the same day the stout and couragious Ship-masters and Marriners had suddenly and most bravely made ready a great number of long-boats and such like vessels furnished with peices of Ordnance Muskets and other Sea war-like instruments their vessels also gallantly adorned with flags and streamers together with Martiall-musick Drums and Trumpets so as it was a most admirable rare sight to see and hear their carriage all along and when they came to Whitehall and the Parliament Houses and understood that the parliament-Worthies were safely there arrived O how bravely did the train'd-bands by land make their thick and quick volleys of shot eccho in the ayre and the valiant Sea-men let flie their thund'ring shot both great and small by water their trumpets sounding and their Drums beating in such a triumphant and congratulating manner as could not possibly but strike-dead with terrour amazement and vexation the hearts of the Popish prelaticall and malignant partie that either saw or heard it or heard of it but contrariwise as must needs extraordinarily exhilarate and rejoyce all the loyall and honest hearts of Gods people that beheld it or heard of it And as this was a singular testimonie of the cordiall affections of the Citie and Sea-men and highly advancing the glory of God who thus put into their hearts to expresse their faithfulnesse and thankfulnesse to God our King and the Parliament under whom and by whom we enjoy the Gospel of peace and peace of the Gospel in such rare and fair tranquillitie and serenitie above all Nations in the world And for the ratification of all this to be warrantable and legall to be done I have thought fit here to insert the Vote of the Parliament published by their authority Ian. 8 th 1641. At the Committee of the House of Commons appointed to sit in London to consider of the safety of the Kingdom and Citie of London and of vindicating the priviledges of Parliament Resolved upon the Question THat the actions of the Citizens of London or of any other person whatsoever for the defence of the Parliament or of the priviledges thereof or the preservation of the Members thereof are according to their dutie and to their late Protestation and the Laws of this Kingdom And if any person shall arrest or trouble any of them for so doing he is declared to be a publike enemie of the Common-wealth Resolved upon the Question That this Vote shall be made known to the Common-Councill of the City of London Nay yet to make the beautie and brightnesse of that foresaid Tewsdayes sunshine of comfort yet more glorious to our eyes and hearts That very same 11 th of Jan. I say being Tewsday came a numerous multitude of Buckinghamshire men both Gentleman Ministers and others of that County on hors-back in very fair and orderly manner with the Protestation in their hats and hands partly in the behalf of the most worthie Knight of their Shire in Parliament Mr Hampden but especially to petition the Parliament for the reformation of evils in Church and State the just punishment of Delinquents the timely relief of Ireland the sweet and harmonious concurrence of both Houses against all sinister obstructions and the expulsion of Prelates and Popish Lords out of the Parliament and to assure their best services and assistance to the King and Parliament on all just occasions And since which time even immediately after mightie multitudes out of Essex divers thousands out of Hartford-shire Barkshire Surrey and other Counties of the Kingdom in brief from all Shires and Counties of the whole Realm came still one after another to London to exhibite their petitions to the Parliament in the causes aforesaid from all parts swimming in one stream of affections and petitions all having one desire all I say as one man unanimously consenting in this one thing namely a serious and setled resolution to petition and pray a speedie refining and reforming of persons and things amisse among us And was not the Lord Jehovah seen in this rare Mount of Meries also Thus to knit the hearts of the people together so far distant in habitations from one another according to that faithfull promise of his mentioned by the Prophet I will give them one heart and one way saith the Lord that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their children after them And now good Reader take thankfull notice and cognizance to the everlasting praise and glorie of the Lord the onely God that hears prayers and grants gracious returns unto them in his due time that upon these confluences of unanimous desires of the Kingdom from all parts thereof the Bishops were voted against from having any intermedling with temporall affairs and dignities and so uncapable of votes in Parliament it having pleased the Lord our most wise God first to catch them in their own nooz to entangle them in their own snare whereby their persons were even by themselves first sequestred from the Parliament by Law they being fast locked up in prison in the Tower For on Febr. 5. 1641. the noble House of Commons past a Bill nemine contradicenti against their having any vote in Parliament which being sent to the renowned House of Lords those prudent Peers mended the said Bill and added that they should have no seat or place neither as well as no voice or suffrage among thm which was most gratefully entertained by the Commons with particular thanks to the Lords for their wisdom and love therein to the Common-wealth and so it past again most currently with them and being now return'd to the Lords it past clearly among them also immediately And thus on that happie fifth of February was the Church of God most mercifully freed of that pestilentiall disease wherewith it had long been infected and infested namely the Antichristian tyranny of our
in their consciences of what is already done yet extremly extenuate and under-value the same saying what have they done in so long time what is yet reformed by them that was amisse before Nay are not things say some spurious imps of Envie worse than they were before for so they count the works of reformation alreadie wrought and farther endeavours of pure ordinances in Religion right rules of justice which indeed is the main thing that vexeth them and which they extremly fear lest it cut them short of the former libertie of their base lusts This I say and much more dares black-mouth'd malignitie belch out against these our never-sufficiently to be praised and prized Heroes notwithstanding all those most admirable and amiable white-clouds of witnesses of their mightie and blessed pains and pietie as have been by me abundantly made known in all those fore-mentioned parliamentarie-mercies wherein as I have fully and fairly I think told my Readers what they have done So I could yet farther tell them what more they would have done had not the most notorious envie and malice of impious and irreligious opposers the malignant Elymasses of our times and enemies of all righteousnesse and true goodnesse mightily molested and perniciously opposed their pious purposes and religious resolutions therein As namely a full removeall of the inordinate power vexation and usurpation of Bishops the reformation of the pride and idlenesse of many others of the Clergie the casing of the peoples consciences from unnecessarie ceremonies in Gods worship the censuring and removing of unworthie and unprofitable Ministers and contrariwise the maintaining and setting-up of godly and diligent Preachers through the whole Kingdom together with many other things of great importance for the singular good of the Kingdom which long have been in proposition and agitation in Parliament which the Reader may see most particularly set forth by our Parliamentarie-Worthies themselves but which have been extremly and necessitously retarded and hindred by plots and projects of the malignant partie but which God I trust will in his own good time ripen and bring to maturity of a through reformation to the praise of his grace and wonder-working glorie The third serious consideration and observation of all these rich and rare Parliamentarie-mercies incomparable mercies and gracious deliverances of ouâ— land and Nation so deeply designed to destruction but so admirably pluckt as a brand out of the fire of confusion should most justly make us more faithfull and lesse fearfull The Prophet David made it a ground of comfort and encouragement to him to consider what God had done for his Church and children in former times We have heard saies he with our eares O God and our fathers have told us what works thou didst in their dayes and in the times of old But what a ground of comfort and heart-stablishing encouragement may it be to us who have not onely heard our fathers tell us of Gods former wonders but have visibly seen with our own eyes and found by our own present experience how our God hath with his mightie hand and stretched-out arm supplanted our enemies and blessedly begun to plant us How the Lords right hand and mightie arm and the light of his countenance because he had a favour to us hath put us into much present possession of our hearts desires and gloriously commanded great deliverances for us It was also and that most justly a strong strengthening supp rtation to loyall-hearted and royally-affectionated King David to assure himself of an undoubted conquest over that seeming unconquerable uncircumcised Philistine great Goliah namely the sweet heart-fortifying experience he had had of Gods assisting power and preservation against the paw of the Lion and the paw of the Bear And shall not these our so many and so marvellous great deliverances and so sweetly and so freshly tasting-merci s cause us to be confident that our God will deliver us also from the great Goliah-like and Philistine fears of future most dangerous designes by our most private and pernicious plotting enemies O foule shame if they should not Certainly Christian Reader experimentall faith must needs be an unmoveable an impregnable rock not to be dasht out of countenance or driven from its so fast hold by base and slavish fears but to be the more setled and confirmed in faith O saies couragious and noble Nehemiah shall such a man as I am flie for fear of any enemies So may I say to thee good Reader and to all my Christian brethren of England shall men of so many mercies so many rare pledges of farther purposed deliverances all readie put into our hands faint and be afraid Shall we damp and dead our hearts with base servile fear and slavish doubts of infidelity and thereby extremly discountenance our glorious cause and mightily encourage our insulting enemies who would gladly triumph in our pusillanimous terrours and effeminate faintings Ouâ— God forbid Let us call to remembrance and lay it sadly and seriously to our hearts for t is a most certain and undeniable truth that nothing did so cut short the children of Israel from entring into Canaan fruitfull Canaan the desire of their souls because the promised land of peace and plentie as godlesse infidelity still questioning and as it were catechising Gods power and faithfulnes O so let us take great heed that infidelitie and false-fears cut us not short of our hopes of a pure reformation the desire of our souls and of a perfect deliverance from ensuing dangers the promised heart-chearing happinesse of us and our posterity But here I desire I may not be mistaken I have not so prest this dutie of faithfull repose in God out of former happie experiments as to cast any of Gods children into a lethargi of supine securitie or improvident carelesnesse No God forbid this also For I hereby forbid not all fear but do desire we may still and over retain that godly fear which may graciously keep our hearts in such an humble posture and disposition as may preserve us from carnall securitie as may make us fear the Lord tremble at his judgements and not dare to sin against him fear thus still on Gods name and spare not for doubtlesse blessed is the man that thus fears alwayes But I hereby desire onely to beat down and keep-under that slavish f ar and cowardly fainting of spirit which I observe to be too frequent in Gods dearest children to the dishonour of our gracious and bountifull God and the wonderfull weakning and wounding of so glorious a cause as we are interessed in and blessed be our God that ever we had a part in it especially having God on our side and his sure word of promise to support us to back and bear us up in our strictest straits Wherefore my Brethren let us seriously and sincerely often check and controul such unsound and unwarrantable fears with that fair