Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A55189
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The character of a good army &c. being a few hints touching the gallantry and fidelity of an army in the late wars who gave the sole honour and glory of all their atchievments [sic] to God alone, whom they exalted daily in these self-denying expressions / written by Capt. Tho. Plunket.
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Plunket, Thomas, b. 1625.
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1690
(1690)
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Wing P2628A; ESTC R28444
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17,060
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25
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33.16 17. And that 's the strongest side where God is be they never so few Experientia docet Now for his Army And such an Army as never was the like in all the World for all Vertues I dare swear it They were always true and faithful to their Trust and as valiant upon all Adventures let the Service be never so difficult or dangerous they made nothing of it They did not say Go you and go you no but come Lads let us on on on in the Name of the Lord of Hosts And in truth they went on to a Battle yea to many Battles and Attacks as if to a Banquet and calling upon God while their Enemies were cursing and damning which is still in fashion When they went to storm any great Town or City they were not in the least concerned but fell on with such alacrity and liveliness of Mind as if they had been sure to conquer before-hand Many Cities Towns Forts and Castles they took by pure Valour with very little or no loss at all sometimes nay their very Enemies would say of them and they said true that they made but a Play and Sport of Fighting Yea the soberest of them have said of that Army That they should never beat them unless God would stand Neuter and you know what that implies They never lay still in Summer nor sneak'd into Winter-Quarters while there was an Enemy in the Field or a considerable Garrison untaken scorning to lie still and take Pay for nothing no but were often upon Service even in the deep of Winter not seeking to lengthen out the War for their own private ends but very earnest to put an end thereto which is never found in mercenary Armies who use to say If we catch the Hare this Summer we shall have none to hunt the next The Commission Officers of that Army were sober chaste temperate religious Men free from all sorts of Debaucheries kind to their Soldiers very just in paying them and as severe in punishing Misdemeanors whereby they were both beloved and feared very punctual and discreet in composing Differences between their Soldiers and Land-Lords c. there was neither Plundering Cursing Swearing Whoring Drunkenness nor any such Vices to be found amongst them Most of their Soldiers if not all of them were civiller and soberer in all their Carriages and Behavior than the Officers of other Armies a great rarity never the like seen in any Army but that alone nor I think never will be again They were exercised most commonly on Muster-days and in handling Arms they were second to no Army that ever was most of their Captains being very expert in such Matters many of them having been Members of the famous Military Company of London where they learnt the first Rudiments of War They never stood upon Numbers against an Enemy but whether few or many 't was all one to them in their greatest Attempts For as in Oral Disputes it is not Numbers but strength of Arguments that prevail against the Opponents so in Warlike Disputes it is not numbers of Men but the force of Courage and Resolution in a few that prevails against a numerous potent Enemy whereof they had many Experiences as for instance at Dunbar Fight there was but 5000 of them fought and routed almost 30000 in half an hour's time and all the way up-hill though now they and such as they are scorned and not thought worthy to be employ'd because they cannot pronounce Shibboleth Judg. 12.6 nor say Crows are white which they will never do while they continue to black as they are Verbum sat Rebus in adversis animum submittere noli In the Month of June 1657. 400â— of that Army routed 16000 near Dunkirk led by Don John of Austria and the D. of Y. while the French Horse which should have seconded them looked on and never stirred till the Spanish Army fled and then O brave then they cried Sa Sa Sa Sa for they are very valiant against a Flying Enemy Every Regiment had an able sound Preacher for their Chaplain so that every day in the Week while they lay encamped there was a Sermon or two to be heard and always thronged with Officers and Soldiers besides private Prayers in the Tents of divers Colonels and Captains among themselves and which was their practice all along And therefore I can truly say That no City or Corporation in the World could match them in all things especially for Civility and Piety Yea they conquered more with their Prayers than with their Swords I say the weight of their Faith and Prayers were heavier than the strength of their Arms in repressing their Adversaries They pray'd them down as well as fought them down Not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts Zech. 4.6 But some I know before-hand will make a mock to this or they have lost their old wont and no wonder since Clergy-men have done the like even at Scripture-Phrases and so they will at what I shall now deliver viz. In August 1650. not long before Dunbar-Fight the then Governor of Edinborough-Castle viz the Laird Dundass a sober Gentleman hearing of and also beholding and observing with his Prospective-Glass the Order and Religious Exercises of that Army as they lay encamped on a place called Penthland-Hills about a mile from the said Castle was so affected therewith that he cried out to those about him Oh! there 's no prevailing against a praying Army And for my own particular part I can and must declare that I learnt more good in that Army than ever I did in all my Life before yea many bless'd God that ever they came into it for the same Reasons for it was a Nursery of good Manners and a Seminary of Vertue and Piety in both which I am sure they transcended both the Universities for all they stile themselves the Two Great Lights of England But methinks their Lights are grown very dim of late Years or how comes it to pass that there is so much of the works of Darkness practised among them viz. Vice and Wickedness especially in the junior sort which ought to be inspected by their Seniors and would be had they the true Light of the Grace and Spirit of God within them Hundreds of Soldiers have at least been civilized only by being in that Army which before were rude Fellows as many of them confest and chiefly through the good Examples and Encouragements of their sober religious Officers In the Year 1652. that Army made a free and voluntary Collection among themselves both Officers and Soldiers towards the encouragement of Ministers to Preach the Gospel to the Natives in New-England which amounted to many Hundreds of Pounds if not some Thousands the least that any Soldier gave in our Regiment was 2 s. many of them gave 3 s. and 5 s. a man The Company wherein I was then a Lieutenant gave with their Officers 25 l. 15 s. and 6 d. By which
because it is nothing but what I know to be Truth Though I deny not but they had their failings and imperfections as well as other Christians for otherwise they would be more than Men and yet they were something more than meer men but as much as could be rationally expected from men for the Ends aforesaid was really intended by them in their several Capacities yet never was any Army in this world more hated of the world than they were and are still because they were not like the world in rioting and drunkenness in chambering and wantonness c. Rom. 13.13 yea curst them because they would not eat and drink themselves to death as they did Praesens malejudicat aetas Judicium melius posteritatis erit Although many of this Age scorn and vilifie that renowned Army yet I am persuaded their Successors will think and speak more favourably of them in whose behalf and commendation I could write much more but I should thereby offend the prejudicated Reader as I have in what hath been said already therefore I shall add but little more my self and that in the close of this Book referring you in the mean time to the perusal of the following Account and Character given of them by an eminent Minister one of the Chaplains belonging to General Fairfax in those days which he Published about the time of Oxford-Siege 1646 which is now Forty three years the last June And because it is quite lost and forgot and I having it by me in Print could not be quiet till I gave it a second Birth or once again expose it to publick view only I must supersede divers Words Sentences and several Lines therein fearing the Times will not bear them for I would be cautious in giving offence especially to those in Authority believing that it is beneath their Wisdom and Grandeur the Eminency and Sublimity of their Stations to stoop so low as to be concern'd or offended with such a harmless Nude Narrative as this is reflecting neither upon their Persons or Proceedings which hitherto have been just and honourable And as I have not writ these things without caution so shall I not mention my Rulers without Reverence at any time as occasion serves Vivant Rex Regina TETRASTICHON De Rege Lex sine Rege velut Lumen sine Sole fuisset Rex sine Lege velut Sol sine Luce foret Grex Regem primo legit Rex cum Grege Legem Condidit hinc Legem Rex regit atque Gregem And this following is the Character which the aforesaid Minister gives of that Army I Find my Heart stirred within me to testifie to the world what I know in mine own experience saith he touching the Army under the Command of that worthy and faithful General Sir Thomas Fairfax and that because I am not ignorant of the great Undervaluings Despisings and Reproachings of it by many even of those whose Blood runs warm in their Veins and who enjoy all the Comforts they have in the world through the Faithfulness Diligence Activity Labours Hunger Thirst Cold Weariness Watchings Marchings Engagements Stormings Wounds and Blood of these Men Instruments of God's own chusing and calling forth to his foot for great Services which after-ages will wonder and stand amazed at as well as at the vile Ingratitude of this Age to such Instruments as these for which God will not hold it guiltless This then for mine own part I am most confident of that there are as many Gracious and Godly Christians in that Army as in any Gatherings together of Men in all the World again Men full of Faith and the Spirit and the admirable Endowments of it More particularly there are these six things most remarkable in that despised Army 1. Their Vnity which is admirable it being more the Unity of Christians than of Men more an Unity in the Spirit than in the Flesh in the Father and Son than in themselves and this hath been one great Means of their great Successes they being all both in Counsel and Action but as one man they are knit up together as in one Bundle and so could not be broken but have broken all their Opposites Many of their Matters of greatest moment have been carried in Council with that Unity that sometimes not so much as one hath contradicted 2. Their Humility which hath been admirable as well as the former for after great and glorious Victories to the wonder of the Kingdom and of the World when mighty men did flee apace and the men of Valour ran away like Women yet I have never heard any of the worthy and godly Commanders or Officers to say I did this or that or to boast of his own Counsel or Valour or to attribute any thing to himself or any body else of what God had done but every one to say This was the Lord's own doings and it is marvellous in our eyes and it was not our own Sword or Bow but the Lord 's right hand and his Arm and the Light of his Countenance And they have been most willing to be nothing themselves that God might be all And this hath been one Means to keep them humble because though God hath been much with them yet the World hath been much against them not so much for their own sakes who were true and faithful but for God's sake in them because there is more of God among these men than among other men 3. Their Faith There are many in the Army men of great and precious Faith through which they have wrought righteousness obtained Promises c. Through this Faith they have fought Battels pursued their Enemies c. Through Faith they have entered strong Cities c. And I can truly and particularly say let them that will needs be offended stumble and fall at it that Bristol among other Places was conquered by Faith more than by Force i. e. it was conquered in their hearts before ever they stretched forth their hands against it c. Through Faith one of them chased Ten and Ten put an hundred to flight and an Hundred a Thousand And this was performed in the very Letter of it c. Many more Instances I could relate of the power of Faith in that Army but that I should thereby grieve and afflict many too much 4. The Spirit of Prayer And this the Lord hath poured forth upon many of them in great measure not only upon many of the chief Commanders but on very many of the inferiour Officers and Troopers some of whom I have by accident heard praying with that Faith and Familiarity with God that I have stood wondering at the Grace They never undertook any thing of weight but God was always sought to of them again and again and they have found God near to them in all things they have call'd upon him for yea God hath been found of them while yet they have been seeking him c 5 The special Presence of God with them I