way and it is visible what were a man the better for these directions would he not thinke such a guide out of his wits Especially when he shall see both wayes alike old alike beaten both vvayes to haue passengers successiuely alike frequent both wayes to be intire and singular both wayes to be called old and both wayes to be visible Thus both wayes doubtlesse he would be wilde except he had better directions And yet this is the case of the Church which some would thus marke out to the beleefe and obedience of all men But to conclude all these are no true markes but the Scripture is the true and vnfallible Euidence to bound the Church out to him that vvill be heedfull to obserue and faithfull to beleeue and humble to obay as we hope to manifest Heere then it were meete I should giue you some infallible and inseperable note of the true way hauing showne or rather pointed at the defect of these which the Church of Rome produceth But then I should offer violence both to your patience and to the Text the time not permitting so large a discourse and my Text leading me to discouer the false way with seemes right but giuing no warrant to proceede farther Only to conclude all since it is within my Commission to manifest the false way I will giue you one note a sure one whereby you may know when you are out of the right way that so you may shun error and seeke truth and ensue it till death that in the end you may finde euerlasting life Briefly Christ himselfe saith I am the way the truth and the life Ioh. 4. no man commeth to the Father but by me He is the way to walke in the truth to guide you the life wherewithall you walke And if you would finde this way hee himselfe learnes you a rule Ioh. 5. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them you thinke to haue eternall life and those are they that beare witnesse of me And he there vpbraydes the Iewes because they gaue no credit or heede to the Scriptures but preferd the traditions and doctrines of their forefathers before it Iohn 5. 46. 47. saying Had yee beleeued Moses yee would haue beleeued me for he wrote of me But if you beleeue not his writings how shall yee beleeue my words Therefore the Apostle cals all Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 3. 16 as a doctrine inspired by God to make men wise to saluation and so beleeuing himselfe and teaching others to beleeue he praiseth Timothy for being from a childe brought vp in them 2. Tim. 3. 15 and he exhorts all men to follow him as he keepes in this way and vvalkes after Christ Iesus and no otherwise For so long he is sure he goeth right and they may follow him with security Now then I do not say vvheresoeuer thou seest the Scripture set forth for a signe there Christ is vvithin there is the true way the true Church But I say wheresoeuer thou canst not see the Scripture be assured thou art out of the way for the Scripture must be euer in thy eye being that setled Land-marke by vvhich thou must try and know and to vvhich thou must reduce and bring all thy other coast-marks and sea-marks So it is that Antiquity vvhich agrees vvith the verity of the Scripture that multitude vvhich vvorship God according to the rules of the Scripture that Sucession vvhich suceeed in the truth of doctrine deliuered in the Scripture that vnity vvhich beleeues the Trinity taught in the Scripture that Catholique Church vvhich is founded vpon and vniuersally agreeth vvith the truth of the Scripture that visible congregation vvhich are seene to God and vvhich see God as he reueales himselfe in the Scripture that become notes by vvhich thou maist safely trauaile in this doubtfull vvay of mortality So that the Scripture must euer be present to make these infallible though perhaps it be not of absolute necessity that all these be euer present vvith the Scripture to make the Church true The Heathens of old burnt the books of Numa because he bewrayd therein the prophane misteries of their Idolatries The Turks at this day keepe their people in ignorance no man must see into no man must dispute or argue of their Sect. And thus our Adversaries of Rome deale vvith the Scriptures resembling heerin the Heathens Turkes vvould yet make the vvorld beleeue that they are the only Christians And lest they should seeme insanire sine ratione they haue a seeming reason why they permit not the Scriptures to be in the mother-tongue of euery Nation publiquely to be read by them lest forsooth as the Rhemists say in their preface they should hurt themselues as vvith fire or water or kniues or swords or the like And vvhy do they not put out the Sunne because it hurts the gazers eyes or why put they not out their eyes to preuent hurting especially since they mis-leade many a man to lust and vanity To argue from the abuse of things indifferent to remoue the lawfull vse of them is an abuseof sence and reason But in things of this kinde of absolute necessitie it is an intolerable and presumptuous foolery Nature cannot bee so blinde as to suffer any but naturals to beleeue this their doctrine and to vvalke in this their way Pro. 4. 18. 19. for Salomon saith The way of the wicked is as darknes they know not at what they stumble But the path of theiust is as the shining light that shineth more and more vnto the perfect day True but vvill some say All Heretickes hang out this flagge and all boast of the Scriptures how shall wee then know the true vvay from the false by that which is common to all vvayes or vvhich all vvayes at least chalenge and make shew of Obserue euen from this obiection the force and authority of the Scriptures vnder which falsehood aswell as truth seeks to shelter herselfe because falsehood by this glasse learnes to trimme herselfe vp like truth And looke as the Heathens by their Idolatries proued aswell that there vvas a God Act. 17. 23. Rom. 1. as the Iewes by their true vvorship because nature taught the most barbarous Nation to adore some Deity and rather to make a God of a Calfe a beast a bird a stone then to be a godlesse Atheist so all Heresies and falsehoods beare witnesse for the truth and authority of the Scriptures vvhilst they striue to iustifie themselues thereby knowing without the Scripture all other their arguments notes and pretences how plentifull or plausible soeuer they bee are nothing to the purpose and therefore they labour to wrest the Scripture to their fancie And could the Church of Rome by this euidence approue her present practise and doctrine I assure my selfe she would looke no farther but vvould permit euery man to reade the same at pleasure nay she would command the reading thereof vnder the paine of
vvill of the Law-maker Christ Now the Romish Sinagogue considering the Church of Christ in a threefold manner 1. First as it is Essentiall 2. Secondly as it is representatiue 3. And thirdly as it is virtuall They make the representatiue part to consist in the Ministery and this Ministery to flow from the Pope as from the head and to this part that is to the Pope they attribute that power which God hath giuen to the whole Church Now the Pope being thus invested in absolute power with an opinion of infallibility laying aside the Scriptures iudgeth without them nay against them nay iudgeth them and yet must not be chalenged of error This wee iudge vnreasonable that a Man should make his owne will the Churches lawe and iudge in his owne cause without examination And therefore wee shew Amor odium proprium commodū faciunt saepè Iudicem non congnoscere verum Aristotle lib. 1. Rhe. that man who iudgeth by his sense or reason is not sufficiently qualified for such a busines or if he were naturally so adapted yet is he vnfit to iudge in this question which wholly concernes himselfe in regard of partiality or preiudice to both which he is subiect Therefore in questions betwixt vs and the South-Church Presbiter Iohannes is an vnfit Iudge and in questions betwixt vs and the Grecians the Patriarch of Constantinople is as vnmeet and in controuersies betwixt vs and Rome the Pope is not a competent Iudge Ecclesiasticus 8. 14. Goe not to Law with a Iudge for they will iudge for him according to his honor Let vs therefore seeke a Iudge who iudgeth not by the outward apparance whose sence and reason cannot be deceiued who is neither preiudiciall not partiall who searcheth the reines and the heart for vaine is the iudgement of man to whom this way seemes right when the ends thereof are the Yssues of death And this wee shall finde in the Opposition which wee come now to handle The Opposition or Publique Iudgement 1. The end thereof or purpose pretended Wee had the way iudged before prima facie by the outward apparance by the beginning thereof and so it seemed right But heere wee finde fronti nulla fides no credit to bee giuen to the countenance but the end bewrayes the truth of euery thing The woman beheld the fruite which Sathan so farre magnified She saw the tree was good for foode and pleasant to the eyes Genes 3. 6. so she eate thereof and gaue part to the man Thus they iudged by the outward apparance by seeming and were deceiued euen then when their sense and reason were at the perfectest But after they had eaten it is sayd Their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked Genes 3. 7. And then likewise they knew that the curse of God The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Genes 2. 17 would surely light vpon them So this way seemed the right way to them to attaine knowledge happines but they found the end thereof to be the way of ignorance of darknes and of death And as with them so with all their posterity since this hath succeeded as a testimony of their hereditary sinne still to be deceiued with the seeming of things insomuch as that is true which the Poet long since sung Fallit enim vitium specie virtutis vmbra Iuven. sat 4. Cum sit triste habitu vultuque veste seuerum The face and habit of an Anchorite May be the couer of an Hypocrite Therefore all wise men iudge of things not by their shewes but substances and not by their beginnings but ends Now the end of a thing is either propositum the purpose for which a thing is done and so the end of preaching is the saluation of soules or Terminus the issue or determination of a thing as death is the end of a mans life and so it is heere properly taken A Iudge oftentimes saues a theefe because he hopes he may proue an honest man and doe good in the Common-wealth There is the first end The Iudges purpose But the Theefe proceedes in his the euery till he brings himselfe to the gallowes and that 's the extreame end the vltimum vale Of both these we intend to speake briefly though the last only be proper to this Text and the first borrowed for illustration First then remembring wee haue Religion for our subiect let vs see what it is together with the end thereof to what purpose it tends This is Christian Religion August i◠Ioannem Tract 23. cap. ◠that one God not many be worshipped because nothing makes the soule happy but only one God The infirme soule is not made happy in the participation of another soule that is happy but is happy in the participation of God nor is a holy soule happy in the participation of an Angel but if an infirme soule seekes to be happy let it seeke from thence whence a holy soule is happy For thou art not made happy by an Angel but from whence an Angel hath happinesse thou hast it also Faith with a serious feare of God Polan Syntag. is the pure and true Religion as Feare containes in it selfe a voluntary reuerence and carries with it a right worship of God such as is prescribed in the Lawe Religio dicta est eo Isidor lib. 18. Etymilog quod per eam vni soli Dco religamus animas nostras ad cultum diuinum animo seruiendi Religion then being the band or tyall whereby wee are fastned and bound to God as to the souereigne good consisteth of three twines vz. of faith of hope of loue and a threefold corde is not easily broken Now the proper or principall end of this Religion is the glory of God the subordinate end is our saluation That Religion therefore which most directly and cleerely tends to the principall end must needs effect the subordinate end most certainely and so must necessarily bee the only true and direct way to life and the other what shew soeuer it makes must needs be the way and Yssue of Death Againe the glory of God is most aduanced heere in this our way or Religion by two affections of feare and loue and by the true fruits and effects of them Now that Religion which traines a man vp to feare God and to loue God as God ought to be feared and loued giues God the truest glory and so must necessarily be the truth Lastly this feare and this loue is then most rightly generated and cherished in the soule of Man and so Gods glory most aduanced when mans nature is truly set foorth and he thereby humbled in himselfe and so taught to feare and when Gods power and mercy is so exprest as he hath beene pleased to reueale it to mans comfort That so man seeing his owne wants and misery and Gods all-sufficient power and mercy might feare and reuerence God as a good Master might loue and delight
her curse as now she forbids it vvith her Anathema Ingenuous therefore is this speech of a Fryer of her owne Math. Tilesius Iusti cap. 5. Iudeos Scripturis tanquam quibusdam cancellis circumdedit Deus ne aliorum more Paganorum euanescerent atque in adinuentionibus manuum suarum-insolescerent God did impale the Iewes with the Scriptures as with certaine bounds or abuttals lest after the manner of Pagans they should apostate and perish through the inuentions and deuises of their owne hands Cyrill ad Regin de fide Therefore saith Cyrill Necessarium nobis est Diuine sequi Literas in nullo ab earum praescripto discedere It is necessarie for vs to follow the Diuine Scriptures and to depart or vary in nothing from that which they prescribe Iren. lib. 2. cap. 59. And Irenaeus Scripturis diuinis quae certa indubitata veritas est in firma valida petra est demum suam aedificare hac varò derelicta alijs niti quibuscunque doctrinis incertam effusae arenae vnde facilis sit euersio est ruinam struere To build vpon the diuine Scriptures which is the sure and indubitable truth is to build vpon a firme and strong rocke but this being left to rely vpon any other doctrines vvhatsoeuer is to build to certaine ruine vpon fleeting sand from vvhence the ouerthrow is easie Againe Ambros lib. de parad cap. ◠In Scripturis diuinis non facilà reprehendamus aliquid quod intelligere non possumus they pursue this obiection farther saying If it should be graunted that with much study the learned might attaine the knowledge of the true vvay from the false by reading the Scriptures yet how shall the simple resolue themselues by that rule vvhen the principall questions arise from the variable exposition of Scripture I told you before that I gaue not this note as an absolute infallible marke to know the true way by though being rightly taken it is truly such a note as is formerly required Essentiall Proper Permanent and the principall things whereby vvee are distinguished and discerned from Iewes Turkes and Pagans but I brought it to discouer the false way as by a light in a darke place And though the Ideot as S. Paule cals him be not able to iudge of the Scripture yet he hath an abridgement of the Scripture that is certaine short rules drawne out by the Apostles or Apostolique Men to guide his faith by and to try the spirits and the doctrine propounded this abridgement is called the Apostles Creede Now none can bee so simple at least in these dayes except they bee beg'd or go a begging but they can vvith labor and study if they thinke the saluation of their soules vvorth the vvhile finde vvhether the doctrine taught crosseth and contradicteth either the Lords Prayer the Commandements or the Articles of our Creede all which they haue commonly by heart Yea God is often so fauorable to these poore soules vvho seeke him in true humility with a sight and acknowledgement of their owne weaknesse and vvith a hunger and thirst after righteousnes that he reueales to babes and sucklings vvhat he conceales from great Doctors and Rabbies Insomuch as though Balaam himselfe blinded by couetousnesse and the desire of gaine and glory cannot see vvhen his vvay is contrary to Gods vvay and when the Angel is ready to smite him Numb 2 32. yet Balaams Asse can see this And they are worse and more stupide then Balaams Asse that will not both see and confesse these flat contradictions opposing directly the written and reuealed vvill of God For it is easier to see flat contradictions and oppositions then things only diuerse or dissentaneous as weake eyes can discerne what stands in the light at least what stops the light To this end whereas God to his owne glory hath suffered Antichrist mightily to preuaile and to seduce many by glorious shewes of vnity and Antiquity and generall apparences and flourishes of truth it hath pleased his goodnes in that Sea Kingdome of Antichrist to leaue such open notorious markes of falsehood Abac. 〈…〉 as they which run by may reade the Emnity betwixt the serpent and the seede of the woman still continuing opposing the truth of the Scripture by doctrines directly contrary both to the outward Letter of the Text and inward meaning of the Holy Ghost And that I may instance briefely what I haue so peremptorily affirmed If they heare Christ say Mar. 6. When yee pray pray thus Our Father c. And then heare another say Nay rather when yee pray pray thus O Saint Mary Queene of heauen O Saint Michael Saint Peter Saint Paule c. they vvill know this is not as it should be and that there is flat contradiction betwixt these two speeches Thou shalt worship thy Lord thy God Mat 4. and him only shall thou serue which is the vvord of Christ and this Thou shalt not worship God only but the Saints and Angels also which is the voyce of Antichrist If thou hearest God say Exod. 20 Thou shalt make thee no grauen Image c. and hearest others say Thou shalt make Images and worship them The Images of God and Christ thou shalt adore with diuine worship the Image of the Virgin Mary and other Saincts vvith the worship that is due to the person it selfe and to this end shalt see them curtaile this commandement out of their Catechismes that by this meanes at this gap they may bring their Whore with all her abhominations in triumph into the Church as sometimes the Grecians did their horse into Troy though thou canst not perhaps well vnderstand their distinctions yet thou canst distinguish this fasehood from truth and see how this their doctrine and practise contradicteth the word of God and therefore howsoeuer it may seeme faire to be the right way to life yet it is foule play and the end thereof must needs bee the Yssues of death Againe when thou repeatest in thy Creede this Article I beleeue in Iesus Christ c. He ascended into heauen and there sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty and from thence shall come to iudge the quicke and dead c. And hearest a presumtuous Priest with blasphemous mouth say This wafer or peece of bread I will presently make the body of Iesus Christ the Sonne of God and Sauiour of the world by crossing it and vsing three or foure words ouer it Thou must needs see that this binds thee to beleeue two contrary things at once for sitting at Gods right hand being spoken to our capacity after the manner of men betokens a remaining and locall residing in heauen touching his bodily presence and comming from thence to iudgement assures thee he will not come before he come to iudge the quicke and the dead And thou maist aswell call his birth his life his death and all the rest of his actions passions in question
Pro. 28. 15 As a roaring Lyon and a ranging Beare so is a wicked Ruler ouer the poore people Yet he thought himselfe then also perhaps as vvise as before because he found himselfe as vvitty and forgot vvhat he had vvritten That into a malicious soule wisedome shall not enter nor dwell in the body that is subiect unto sinne Sap. 1. 4. 5. 6. 7. For the holy Spirit of discipline will flie deceite and remooue from thoughts that are without vnderstanding and will not abide when vnrighteousnes commeth in For wisedome is a louing Spirit and will not acquit a blasphemer of his words for God is witnesse of his reines and a true beholder of his heart and a hearer of his tongue Wherefore for this vvhen he recouered his former publique spirit he cryed peccaui and miserere vvith his father David and vvrote that booke called Ecclesiastes to bemone and manifest his owne fall and forewarne other Princes to beware of the spirit of priuacie that they may hedge in their royall wayes vvith these conscionable restrictions vvhereby they may be obayed for conscience sake by their subiects 1. First Salomon or Caesar must not rule vvithout a Lawe nor by his absolute power make any but see to the execution of those that are made It inclines therefore too much towards tyranny for a Magistrate to exercise an absolute authority vvithout limit and the Superiour who rules vvithout a Lawe or against Lawe vvalkes in no way himselfe but balks his owne high-way for a way is fenced but the champian fields are for the wild-goose-chase and corners and holes for sinister actions When as publique persons should do publique actions in publique Gen. 23. 10. in the Gates of the City in the Kings high-way Deut. 22. 15 in the eye of all For chamber-workes are suspicious and carry a shew of priuacy and parciality And so it is sayd by Liuy that Tarquinius made the name of a King odious at Rome because he ruled all Domesticu consilijs by chamber-Councell as Rehoboam in Israel and Lewes the 11 in Fraunce Thus Kings though they bee in some sort aboue the Law because they are dispeusers of it are not yet without a Lawe because they must rule themselues and others by it And thus much the crowne that a King weares testifieth which is a type of the loue and acknowledgement and consent of the people in his gouernement and lets him see that there is a verge a hoope a compasse for the heades of Kings aswell as of subiects and that wee come to manifest in the second consideration 2. Secondly Gods Lawe is Caesars verge which Caesar must neither transgresse nor suffer to bee transgrest Where God hath set no Lawe there Caesars Lawe I meane the Lawe of the Land which is the hedge to this high-way of the King must stand And this must agree with the equity of the Lawe of God from vvhence it originally takes life and strength For as where it agrees with Gods Lawe wee must obay it for conscience sake so where it contradicts or crosseth the Lawe of God the Apostle Peter giues a generall rule It is there better to obay God then man Act. 4. 19. To cleere this Thou sayest thy conscience tels thee the Religion commanded by the King or some ceremony vsed in the Church according to the Lawes established is not agreeable but contrary to the truth If thou canst manifest this by the word of God then thy Conscience tels thee right and thou art not to doe what is commanded by man though he speakes humane Lawe but yet thou art to suffer vvhat is inioyned by him so speaking with the Law or so doeing as Executor of the Lawe and both these wayes thou obayest God and Caesar too God actiuely doing vvhat he vvils and Caesar passiuely submitting thy will to Gods holy ordinance and obaying the Magistrate for conscience sake But if thy conscience tels thee this or that and cannot proue what it tels thee but by shifts and shadowes then it is not truly thy conscience at least no true but a lying conscience that so misleads thee nay rather it is thy phantasie thy imagination thy peeuish preiudiciall and froward conceit And thou art bound to resist and breake thine owne crooked and peruerse vvill aud to subiect it to the will of God who hath subiected thee to Caesar For Conscientia non est contra scientiam sed cum scientia Conscience is ioyned with knowledge that 's the ground otherwise thou setst vp an Idol in thy owne heart and worshippest it vvhilst thou obayest an erring and ignorant conscience For an Idol saith Saint Paule is nothing in the world and such is thy conscience a bug-beare a Scar-crow a Chimera of thine owne melancholly imagination or maleuolent invention And howsoeuer it may seeme right to thy selfe thy Sectators or Sect masters the Yssues thereof are the wayes of death 3. Thirdly as the Lawes of God must guide our consciences in our rellgious duties so the positiue Lawes of the Kingdome must be the high-way wherein euery one must vvalke in actiue obedience And Kings and Iudges are the dispensers and disposers of these Lawes according to reason Neither shall they need in the execution to satisfie euery priuate curious and contentious head which pretending conscience vvill disobey or to satisfie euery delinquent with arguments for then his worke were infinite but strictly and directly to open the booke and to execute the Lawe of the Land and euery liege-man is to acquiesse therein For the Iudge is or ought truly to bee Lex loquens and doth but tell vs the Lawe and shew vs the high-way in which wee must walke and if wee list not to walke in it wee must be content to suffer for our willfull folly or walke out of the vvay out of the reach of the Lawe And there is great reason for this for God hath set Kings as his Deputies to execute Iustice and Iudgement he expects it at their hands and where any euill fals out for lacke of execution the fault is the Magistrates if there be Law to preuent it of him shall the soule be required which perisheth for lacke of gouernment as the soule shal be required at the Pastors hands which perisheth for lacke of instruction in the truth Great reason is it therefore he should haue power ouer such as he must answere so strictly for that he may punish them or compell them to come in or keepe them for drawing others out of his folde So wee see Iudg. 17. Micha sets vp an Idol contrary to Gods Lawe he will haue a parlor-worship a religion by himselfe The reason of this error of knowledge and conscience is giuen there Then there was no King in Israel but euery man did what seemed good in his owne eyes So the King is to see to Religion and if Idolatry increaseth or sects or schismes arise it is counted the Kings fault if there bee a King the fault
good and learned Charges and good examples by present actions but leaue an impression for the future and looke at your returne for full obedience to your commands and orders which else are effectuall no longer with some then this my Sermon which being taken for a matter of course is perhaps â—ost by censure and science for a vvhile but scarce touched by conscience or drawne into practise by any at all though that should be the end of all hearing as it is the end of all preaching Now to conclude that both my Sermon your Lordships charge and all our actions may be to the glory of God and the good of this Common-wealth Let vs ioyne together in humble and harty manner and commend the end of this our present way of knowledge and the beginning of your great worke of Execution and practise which followes to his holy blessing and direction in faithfull and humble prayer Gratious God thou that hast giuen vs a way to walke to heauen in the way of thy commandements and vvhen vvee did not keepe that way as wee ought didst in thy mercy reueale the way of grace vnto vs in thy Gospell sending thy Sonne to be a way life and truth vnto vs. A way to vvalke in the life and strength wherewithall vvee walke and the truth wherevnto wee vvalke dispose our hearts to meditate to obserue those things that thou hast taught vs and obediently to shew our thankfulnes by labouring to practise the same in our seuerall vocations with the care of good coÌ„sciences to thy glory Lord giue vs grace to shun all wayes that seeme euill and are so or are euill though they seeme not so Let vs not be mis-led by wayes of neighborhood by imitation or example either of our predecessors deceased or otherwise absent or present nor wander in our priuate wayes from the publique rule of thy vvord and the true end of our callings in Church or Commonvvealth Especially O Lord keepe vs from abusing the Lawe for a colour of sinne as if vvee had warrant and authority to iustifie our vvickednesse and durst sinne without feare of punishment in the sight of the Sunne in the Kings high way like Robbers And since we see lack of execution of good lawes is the cause of our euil liues giue care courage to thy Iudges zeale and conscience to euery other Officer of Iustice that all may ioyn together to root vp sin to strengtheÌ„ the man of God in the wayes of God that wee may so walke with thee heere in obedience as Enoch did that as he was vvee may be heereafter translated to vvalke with thee in eternall glory through Iesus Christ our Lord and Sauiour Amen A Postscript to all Christian Readers especially to my brethren and fellow-laborers in the Ministerie and to the Freeholders YOu haue seene the high-wayes of God and the King playnely layde downe Keepe you to the word of God strictly for that is Gods high-way 2. Tim. 3. 14. 15. 16. 17. Concerning the Kings high-way that also is his reuealed will in the Lawes of the Land which although his absolute will doe not constitute as Gods vvil doth yet his consent confirmes them as the Parliament propounds them In the Parliament then which is the whole State representatiue these high-wayes are made and the fundamentall customes of our State makes euery Freeholder a way-maker in this case not binding any man before he hath bound himselfe by the Knights and Burgesses who are his Spokesmen Bee therefore wary when you heare a Parliament summoned by his Maiestie whom you choose Knights of the Shire and Burgesses of Corporations that is whom you constitute in your places to repaire or make these high-wayes of the King wherein you are bounde to walke obediently for conscience sake and remember vvhat admonitions his Maiestie hath giuen you often by Proclamation to this end especially in the first yeere of his Reigne vvhen he found fault vvith such as disabled their Counties and Corporations vsing to choose strangers according as they were directed by letters or superior Command as if they had no freedomes or wanted sufficient men of ther owne to supply those places And remember also how before this last Parliament his Maiestie hearing and beholding vvhat packing plotting and vndertaking there had beene vsed in this important businesse did command all men to forbeare writing and vnderhand solliciting for the place either on their owne behalfe or others and aduised the people to chose freely not to betray their owne liberties in the choice Better counsell you cannot haue When therefore you heare of a Parliament towards let the Ministers prepare the people and warne them of the worke in hand and let such as are Freeholders conferre together and neglecting both their Landlords or great neighbours or the Lord Liftenants themselues looke vpon the wisest stoutest and most religious persons and be carefull to choose such as haue no dependancie vpon Greatnes nor seeke change of the State Lawes and Religion nor hunt ambitiously for place honor and preferment for there is danger in these but he that is religious vvill stand for his Countries good and in choosing such you shall please God and the King and profit your selues and your posterity Finally let none amongst you bee seene idlely to sit at home whilst these things are doing in the full County as if it did not concerne you but ride runne and deale seriously herein as for your liues and liberties which depend heereupon And as you see such as are contrary minded bandy themselues together for their party to choose one of their opinion for their turne so see you doe the like that you may countervvorke them and hold the liberty you haue got and the Lord prosper you and make you of one minde as one man that the Gospell may still flourish among you that mercy and truth may meete Psal 85. righteousnes and peace may kisse each other that the Lord may giue that which is good and the Land may yeeld her increase Errata Fol. 10. lin vlt. for alterations reade altercations Fol. 73. lin 2. for villaine reade villanie FINIS