The Looking Glass of the Holy War, Dedication 2
TO THE PRINCE HIS HIGHNES CHARLES, The Hope of great Brittain.
Moſt gracious Prince:
WHILST with mournful eye I often viewed the deepe and long continued diſtreſſe of your deareſt ſiſter, and of her royall Lord, it gaue me occaſion to inquire into the equitie of their cauſe, which in all impartiall judgemēt ſhal be found ſo juſt, that they and all that louelove them may appeale to God for the pleading of it: but perceiving the ſucceſſe not to anſwer the cauſe, and that ſome for want of love and ſome for want of judgement, did judge the cauſe by the events; I went, with David, into the ſanctuary whence I diſcovered the cauſes of their calamitie (notwithſtanding of the goodneſſe of the cauſe) namely the all-wiſe God to be the chiefe workman, who putteth every one into the refining pot that he appoints for his treaſurye, they and theirs, and in them eſpecially all the families of God to be the gold; Aegipt or Babilon to be the ſornace; the Amalekits to be the fewell or fire-workemen; the croaking frogges to be the bellowes; and the purging and refining of his owne people to be the worke. VponUpon this diſcovery betweene love and feare (yea out of more love then ſkill I muſt confeſſe) I undertooke the framing of this modell of the ſacred War; wherein I handle at large the particulars of the ſaid diſcovery as they doe occur in their proper places. Heerin brieflie, by way of application, I hauehave laid the particuliar paſſages of both ſides to the generall rules illuſtrated by the fitteſt examples (that my reading would affoord me) that the regularitie or obliquitie of eueryevery paſſage may appeare. I hauehave laid open (according to my ſmall ſkill) the pand…micall diſeaſes of warr, together with the remedies: by the way, I hauehave touched vponupon domeſtick affaires: and in all this courſe I hauehave made the ſacred word the loadſtone, the compaſſe, and the leſbian rule, whereby to ſquare and direct all the reſt. This I preſumed to dedicate to their Highneſſes: becauſe they are the ſpeciall parties (as the Lord ſpeaketh) that hauehave ſeene affliction by the Rod of Gods wrath: Lam. 3.but conſidering how they and theirs, Gods cauſe in their hands, and whatſoever is commended to them, ſtandeth need both of a protector and revenger; I was emboldened on the knees of my bounden duetie, and beſt affection, to intreat your grace that (according to your accuſtomed favour) you would vouchſafe to looke into this looking-glaſſe; and howſoever its vnpoliſhed ruggednes may rather be diſcovered by your compleate ſkill & Heroick experience in Armes, then its abilitie to direct ſo Princely a Director; yet that ſure word wherewith this glaſſe is ſteeled, will both be light to leade you, and ſtrength to make you victorious: and as a Trumpet, though a meane Officer, ſerveth to rouſe the courage of the greateſt Commander; ſo this ſhall rather give an Alarum to your Martiall ſpirit, thē ad to your Highnes literature, courage or ſkill. Gird on your ſword then, Gracious Sir, goe on in the Lord, and for the Lord, and proſper. Our eies are fixed towards God, and then upon you, in te unū oculi omniū converſi: you are the tree, from whoſe ſhade the Saints doe looke for ſhelter, & refreſhing, and which ſhall kill, by Antipathye, the Snakes of Babel. If your Grace would giuegive me leaue I could lay downe many motives: as firſt, Gods honor in the duſt; Religion at the ſtake; the healing of the beaſts wound, and the ſetting of Dagon againe upon the ſtumps. Secondly, it was Ioſuahs honor to deliver the craftie Gibionits (once become his confederates) from the fiue Kings, whom he put to the ſword: what honor ſhall it be to you to vindicate from diſgrace, and wrong a paragon of Princes, a tryed Iewel aboue the patience of her ſex, an onelyonly loving and a lovely Siſter, a Prince perſecuted by the wicked, and deprived of all for the maintenance of the truth; a Princely iſſue, as deare and neare to you, as Lot was to Abraham: and laſtlie, the people of God in an Aegiptian thraldome? Teares here are the beſt Orators. I will ſay no more, but as the wife of Intiphernes ſaid to Darius concerning her brother; you can never hauehave another Siſter. Thirdly, that cruell and curſed crew that hunt for their ſoules, would devoure you and yours, if opportunitie ſhould ſerve. Fourthly, it ſhal be your greateſt honour to fight Gods battles, and who knoweth but that you are the man for whom God hath reſerved that honor. Charles the great made Rome great; And may not a greater Charles raze Romes greatnes? Concerning the ruine of Rome which muſt be accompliſhed by your Princelie name, I commend to your Grace this propheſie;
Imperium, f…ſ…es; C. faſtus ſeeptra, triumphus,
Quaefuerant; penitus; C. veniente cadent.
Fifthly your late, & admirable deliverance out of the paw of the lyon, & out of the Iaw of the Beare, requireth by courſe that you ſhould encounter with Goliah. Non potuit perire tātarum lachrimarā filius. Aug: conf. Lib. 3. c. 12. Tu non inventa reperta es.Sir, God thought on you, and on vsus in you, when you thought not on your ſelfe; and bleſſed be God his name who hath made that principall good, that the ſonne of ſo many prayers could not perish. Yea, wee may truely ſay to our comfort, that you are found againe. Laſtly, your Princely reſolution and irrevocable word, hath ingaged you to the ſervice of Sions deliverance: if you ſhould leaue Sion helpleſſe (which God forbid,) it were in a manner hopeleſſe. To inlarge theſe motives to your Grace, were but to bring the gleanings of the grapes to the vintage of your literature and policie; craving therefore pardon for my boldneſſe of ſpeech & bluntneſſe of phraſe, Play my ſelfe, the ſubject, and my humble ſuite at the ſoote of your Highneſſe cenſure.
Your Highneſſe his most humblie devoted. A. L.