An Alarm to War, Title page – Dedication
VOXBELLI, OR, AN ALARVM TO VVARRE.
LONDON, Printed by H.L. for Nathanael Newbery. 1626.
To the Right Honourable, Sir Horatio Veere, Knight, Baron of Tilbury, &c. all bleſſings wiſhed, that concerne this life, and that which is to come.
Right Honourable;
I Am not ignorant, that great is the miſchiefe and miſery of warre; than which (asaforeign. Maxim. Tyrius. Diſſert. 14. p. 143. one ſaith) nothing amongſt humane occurrences is more ſorrowfull, leſſe pleaſant: bTheat. Mund p. 85.Beaſts, in their kinde, having more reſt, & pleaſure than they whoſe life is led in warfare. For whereas the beaſt ſleeps the night in its cave & den, the Souldier takes his reſt at the ſigne of the Moone,c2. Cor. 11.27. in watchings often, in faſtings often; ſubject to the violence of all Martiall ſtormes, uncertain what the event and ſucceſſe will be: whoſe office is, upon the Trumpets ſound, eyther mortem ferre, or inferre, to ſlay or bee ſlaine; and neyther of both, without ſome prejudice. If he fals, his wife, his children, his kindred, his countrey have the loſſe of him: if he conquers, his riſing is the ruine of others; his riches the ſpoyle of others, his joy the mourning of others: inſomuch, that hee may cry out as Marcus Aurelius did (when after many victories, hee received his Triumph in Rome): When I ſaw the poore captives in iron chaines, deſolate Widowes bereaved of their husbands, diſconſolate Orphans deprived of their parents, a great deale of treaſure gotten by force, & thought upon the number of thoſe that were dead; albeit I outwardly triumphed, yet inwardly lamented, and wept teares of bloud. In times of war, Countryes are waſted, Cities diſpoyled, Temples profaned, Religion deſpiſed, equity ſuppreſſed, humanity defaced; & what cruelty, what impiety not notoriouſly practiſed? All this conſidered, I may (poſsibly) be cenſured by criticall carpers, for ſetting pen to paper on ſuch a ſubject, and eſpecially for inciting to ſo bloudy a buſineſſe. But (the call being not mine but the Lords) I ſhall the more willingly beare the burthen of any undeſerved blame, if what I have written may prevaile to provoke them whom it concernes, to a readineſſe to ſuccour the diſtreſſed Church in forreine parts. If it be demanded what hath emboldened me to crave your Honours patronage for theſe few papers; I can anſwer, nothing, but partly your love to Chriſt his cauſe, as you are a Beleever; and partly your place in Gods field, as a warlike Commander. If the Author be thought preſumptuous, notwithſtanding theſe motives, cenſure his boldneſſe at your pleaſure; but I beſeech you be pleaſed to ſhelter the Matter (not needleſſe for theſe times) from the worlds diſpleaſure: ſo ſhall you engage him to be a ſuitor to the Throne of Grace, for your Honours proſperity in warre and peace, who is
Your Hon: ready to be commanded in the Lord, THO: BARNES.
ƲOX BELLI.
IT is a ſaying of one of the Fathers, in a written diſcourſe to one of his friends;aFacito aliquid operis, ut te ſemper diabolus inveniat occupatum. Hieron ad Ruſt. Monach. Be alwaies doing ſomething, that Satan may never finde thee doing nothing. The ſlothfull perſon doth the wiſeman ſend to the ſilly Piſmyre, to learne her wayesbProv. 6.6.. The Apoſtle charged the Theſſalonian Church, that hee that would not labour ſhould not eate c2. Theſ. 3.10.. And our Saviour himſelfe pronounceth that ſervant bleſſed, whom when his Maſter commeth, he ſhall find doing dLuke 12.43.. All this, to give us to underſtand, thateNider Fornic. l. 1. c. 1. p. 9. idleneſſe is permitted to none: emploiment (thefHieron. ad Ruſt. Monach. Devills diſquieter) is required of*Nid. ſupr. all. For the ſluggard takes no care but togLeo Ser. 5. in Epiph. pamper his belly; makes his life odious,hSen. Epi. 19. and beaſtly,iBernard. diſableth nature to doe its duetiekCaſſian. l. 10., defileth his ſoule with a world of iniquitieslSenec. Epiſt. 19., diſeaſeth his body with abundance of maladies, and expoſethmProſp Aqui. de vit. contempl. both to eternall miſery, in an utter excluſion from Gods bleſſed preſence in his Kingdome of glory. Now, becauſe not to bee well exerciſed is to bee ill exerciſed nChryſoſt. de virt. & vitio., and the doing of that which is naught, is as bad, if not worſe, as the doing of nothing: Therefore the maine object of our exerciſe, muſt be Gods buſineſſe. Now, in as much as the Lord hath many and differing workes for man to doe; workes of peace, (he being the God of Peace o2. Theſ. 3.16.:) workes of bloud, (he being a man of Warre pIſa 42.13.) neither of theſe muſt bee omitted, when need requireth, and occaſion ſerves for the doing of them. Which thing the Prophet Ieremy taking into due conſideration, (being alſo a Propheticall Diviner of Moabs deſtruction,) could not but earneſtly incite to this work of the Lord, of not withholding the ſword from bloud. Hee was not ignorant that peace is aqDion. Chryſ. orat. 40. p. 244. better, yea a bleſſeder rSyneſ. orat. de regn. p 14.thing than war; and thatſBaſil. Seleuc. orat. 23. p. 207. for one armie of men to come bandied like enemies against another, is (as an Ancient once ſpake) both grievous and cruell: In which reſpect, Bleſſed are the Peace-makers, (our Saviours texttMatth. 5.9.,) would (to our ſeeming) a great deale more fitly have dropped from his pen. But it ſeemes, he knew withall, that a lawfull warre is to bee preferred before an unlawfull peace; and that warre with Moab, would be as well Iſraels peace, as the Chaldees victory: (vforeign. Ariſt. de Repub. l. 8. c. 15. Propter pacem bellum paratur. Syneſ. orat. de Reg. p. 14. peace andxEst enim belli finis victoria. Plutarch. Scipio. in vitis to 3. lat. edit. in 4. p. 465. victory being the ends of warre.) For which reaſon, this good man, Gods Pen-man, muſt be borne with, though he writes a Text in red letters, having the ſword for his pen, bloud for his inke, the curſe for his ſtile.