Echos from the Sixth Trumpet, Part 23
What Peace to the Wicked. Imprinted 1646.
THis is an Expoſtulatory Anſwer to a Deriſory Queſtion concerning Peace; and here is with little omiſſion inſerted, becauſe it was ſo long ago Imprinted, that it cannot be eaſily procured.
One who hath ſeldom in theſe dayes,
From Fool or Knave got love or praiſe,
(And who by many men is known
With chearfulneſs to have beſtown
His Wit, Pains, Perſon and Eſtate,
The Common Right to vindicate)
A long Impriſonment hath had
For calling of a Spade a Spade,
Which (if a Court-Card) might have been
Next to the King, except the Queen.
While he in that Confinement lay,
One asked him the other day,
When he ſuppos'd this War ſhould end,
And what ſucceſſes would attend
Our hopes of Peace: Which Queſtion tho
From Levity it ſeem'd to flow,
(Or ſcoffingly to be expreſt)
Receiv'd this Anſwer not in jeſt.
Why ask ye when this War will ceaſe,
And when this Kingdom ſhall have Peace,
As if you thought I could foreſhew
All that hereafter ſhall enſue?
Or as if when the Truth were told,
You value or believe it could,
Who nor eſteem nor uſe have made
Of thoſe Fore-warnings which you had?
They who will know what ſhall ſucceed,
Muſt of things paſt take ſerious heed;
And glean Inſtructions whilſt they may,
From actions of the preſent day:
For, paſt and preſent time declares
What for the future GOD prepares;
And, till theſe quicken their fore-ſights,
Men ſit in darkneſs till he ſmites.
If to this Queſtion you would know
An Anſwer which for Truth may go,
(And not with …hab-like Deſires)
Wiſh all your Prophets may be Lyars:
Then ask your Conſciences, and they
Will tell what things expect you may;
For, let my Troubles never ceaſe,
If ever you have other Peace
Then what your Conſcience might foreſee,
Though King and Parliament agree.
But leſt the Conſcience may be ſear'd,
Or leſt Deluſions have appear'd,
Which promiſe Peace when ſhe is fled,
(And Vengeance hanging over head)
Ask your own Fears and Human Reaſon,
What they conjecture of the ſeaſon.
Ask them what ſign it is of Peace,
When Wickedneſs doth more encreaſe?
What may be hop'd for, of that Nation
That ſlights her day of Viſitation;
That mendeth not for words or blows,
That in Reforming, worſer grows;
That ſuffers them who ſerve her beſt,
To be moſt wronged and oppreſt;
And on them ev'ry Token hath
Of Deſolation, and of Wrath?
What Peace can we expect, whilſt they
Who ſpoiled us, not onelyonly may
Find Mercy (which we could allow)
But, ſo imperious alſo grow,
As to reproach them to their faces,
(Ev'n in their Priviledged places)
Who once thought better Fruits would come
From that which they had parted from?
What likelihood is there that Peace
Will follow, when your Friends decreaſe,
And they who ſerv'd you heretofore,
Shall be as mad as they are poor?
If yet you cannot well diſcern
When Peace will back again return;
Get knowledge timely, if you may,
What Game you are about to play;
How far you have as yet to run
That Wild-Gooſe-Chaſe of late begun:
What can be hoped for of thoſe
Who are irrationally Foes:
What you in ſafety can propound,
Where little ſave Deceit is found:
Or, what good Harveſt can be mown,
Where miſchief onelyonly hath been ſown:
For, when theſe things are truly weigh'd,
What will ſucceed, needs not be ſaid.
Get knowledg, if ye can, how long
Diviſions will be rais'd among
The Lords and Commons; and when we
Shall find both Houſes to agree,
That to the Publike detriment,
Nor Houſe nor Member ſhall diſſent,
Or be united, but inſiſt
Upon the Common Intereſt:
For, you have heard what Lot betides
A Houſe or Kingdom that divides:
And know what's likely to ſucceed,
Till our Peace-makers are agreed.
If waſte Jeruſalem was made,
Who therein but Three Factions had:
This Iſland how may we deplore,
Wherein are Three times three, and more?
Some with the Parliament partake;
Some for the King a Party make:
Some would a Popular Eſtate:
Some Ariſtocracy create:
Some are a Faction for the Pope:
Some to maintain the Prelates hope:
Some for the Presbyterians vote:
Some Independency promote:
Some ſtrive for this, and ſome for that:
Some neither know, nor care not what,
So War goes on, and get they may
Free-Quarter, Plunder, and their Pay.
Some fight their Liberties to ſave;
Some, that they others may enſlave.
Some for Religion, and for Chriſt,
Some that they may do what they liſt:
Some for the Commonwealths avail,
Some for Themſelves with tooth and nail;
And they who have the baſeſt end,
As fairly as the beſt pretend:
Not caring whether their deſire
Obtained be by Sword or Fire,
By Truth or Lyes, with Love or Hate,
By Treachery, or fair Debate:
This is our Poſture; and whilſt we
So fooliſh, falſe, and factious be;
Or, whilſt it ſhall continue thus,
Who knows what will become of us?
Ask thoſe who now of Peace do dream,
Who ſhall procure the ſame for them,
Since many are become their Foes,
Whom they to be their Champions choſe;
Since they our Subſtance have beſtown,
To make new Fortunes of their own;
And Publike Injuries encreaſe,
To gain themſelves a private Peace.
Yea, ſince the People doubtings have
What to refuſe, or what to crave,
Do ſtill irreſolute abide,
Long conſtant unto neither ſide;
Not in themſelves reſolved are,
Whether they would have Peace or War,
Or whether readmit they ſhall
Charles to be King, or not at all;
For, doubtleſs if thus matters go,
(As many now much fear they do)
A wiſe man needs not break his brain,
To ſearch what Peace we ſhall obtain,
Since whilſt thus blind and mad we be,
What will enſue, a Fool may ſee.
Yet leſt you may be fooled more,
Then either now, or heretofore,
Obſerve the Commons, if of them
None ſerve two Maſters at a time;
Nay, whether none among them be,
Who Servants are this day to Three,
And falſe to all; obſerve of thoſe
Whom we for Publike ſervice choſe,
How many fail the Peoples Truſt,
To private perſons how unjuſt
They are; how little good effect
The King or People can expect,
Concerning Peace, while ſuch as they
The Cunning Ambodexters play.
Ask them who ſit to take Accounts,
To what their two years pains amounts?
Or, what the Commonwealth it betters,
When they have found who are her debtors;
If when their falſhood ſhall be known,
(And publiſhed throughout the Town)
A Cheating Shark may outface them
Who juſtly have convicted him,
And be employed as before,
Or elſe where he may cheat us more.
Ask if they have not pow'r to call
As well the great Thieves, as the ſmall,
To give accompt; thoſe whom we hear
Cumprivilegio, as it were,
Have plundered at an eaſie rate,
Coin, Jewels, Houſhold-ſtuff and Plate:
And if you find they have not leave
To queſtion all men who deceive
The Publike Truſt; know we are yet
For Peace with Righteouſneſs unfit.
Then mark what Favours many have,
Who ſought this Nation to enſlave;
How ſome expoſed are to ſcorn,
Who of this War the brunt have born;
And having heedfully ſurvay'd
How Good with Evil is repay'd,
Mind well the Doctrine, and the Vſe,
And what that may at laſt produce.
Enquire moreover how you find
To works of Mercy men enclin'd;
How honeſt Cauſes are prefer'd,
How griev'd Petitioners are heard;
How Offices conferred be;
Whether ſome have not two or three,
Who for the Publike neither ſpent,
Nor gave, nor hazarded, nor lent,
When many better men had none,
Who in your ſervice were undone.
Obſerve thoſe Penſions how you ſhare,
Which for Relief allotted are;
How little beſt deſervers get,
How many of them not a whit;
How often ill, how ſeldom well
Rewards and Puniſhments you deal;
Which are the Pillars whereon ſtand
The Peace and Honour of the Land.
Obſerve, if when we ſpend a day
In praiſes, or to faſt and pray,
If more Hypocriſie therein,
Then true Devotion, hath not bin…:
If Preaching tend not more to ſtrife,
Then to ſound Doctrine, or good Life:
If more we ſeek not to fulfil
Our ſenſual humours, and our will,
Then to perform a Thank-oblation,
Or duties of Humiliation;
Or if the Worſhip we profeſs,
Be not an Outſide Holineſs,
No deeper rooted then the tongue,
Or fruits that fade as ſoon as ſprung:
For, as it proveth when you ſee
Theſe things to tryal brought ſhall be,
You may without much failing gueſs
What likelihood there is of Peace.
An ear, an eye ſometimes too have ye
Upon the Army and the Navy;
An eye ſeverely to behold,
An ear to hear what hath been told
Of ſome who much entruſted were,
With Stores, Arms, and Proviſions there;
Or had Commiſſions to Array,
To furniſh, fortifie and pay
Ships, Forts or Men; and thoſe in chief,
Employ'd for Ireland's firſt relief,
And your firſt Armies; (ev'n when all
Did lye at ſtake, and ſeem to call
For faithful, ſtout and honeſt men)
Obſerve how they diſcharged then
The Truſt repos'd; how ſome were made
Commanders, Pay and Titles had,
But ſcarce a Man: How others now
Defraud the Publike; and if you
(As Fame reports) among them find
Deceit in this accurſed kind,
Excuſe not them; yea, though at laſt,
Acts of Oblivion ſhould be paſt
For open Foes, no Grace provide
For men untrue to their own ſide;
Leſt, as your Peace they have defer'd,
They marr it likewiſe afterward:
For, where employed ſuch are found
When Peace is made, 'twill not be ſound.
Enquire (if you can tell of whom
To make Enquiry) what's become
Of all the Publike Proteſtations,
Engag'd for private Reparations;
What of that Vow which did profeſs
A mutual Aid in all diſtreſs:
What of the ſelf-denying Vote,
Which goodly Hopes in us begot:
What of thoſe Orders whereupon
Some truſted till they were undone.
What of the Publike Faith, in which
We thought our ſelves exceeding rich,
Though all were loſt, ſo that remain'd
Inviolated, and unſtain'd.
Enquire (I ſay) throughout the Land,
In what condition theſe now ſtand;
For, when of theſe you have obtain'd
That Certainty which may be gain'd,
It will undoubtedly appear
What we may either hope or fear.
Enquire yet further (leſt you may
Expect perhaps a Sun-ſhine day,
And meet a Storm) in what good mind
That ſort of People you ſhall find,
Ycleep'd the Clergy; for the ſtem
Of our late Troubles, was in them.
Their Factions, Avarice and Pride,
Did firſt of all theſe Iſles divide:
From them at firſt, the Fire-brands came,
That ſet this Empire in a flame:
When 'twas nigh quench'd again, they blew
Thoſe coals which did the flame renew.
The Nations they did re-engage,
The Peoples vexed minds enrage,
By feigned Wiles, and falſe pretences,
Abuſing tender Conſciences:
The Courſe long ſince by them begun,
Is to this day continued on:
And therefore take this Truth for me,
(For you ſhall find it Truth to be)
That till you ſee theſe much eſtrang'd
From what they are, their poſture ehang'd,
Till they ſhall better their Conditions,
Confine… themſelves to their Commiſſions,
Leave off to jangle, fool and fiddle
With what they ſhould not intermeddle,
And be as pious, and as wiſe,
As they are outwardly preciſe,
(Or, as thoſe few among them are,
For whoſe ſakes GOD abates this War)
Nor King, nor Peers, the Commons neither,
Nor theſe united altogether,
Shall able be that Peace to make,
Which their Contentions will not ſhake.
Make one Enquiry more to ſee
And ſearch what moſt of thoſe men be
On whoſe Endeavours you depend,
To bring our troubles to an end.
Mark how their Duties they attend
In private, how their time they ſpend:
What Company they moſt frequent,
What matters give them beſt content:
What by their neighbors they were thought,
Till they obtained what they ſought;
And to what purpoſe they employ
The Pow'r and Places they enjoy.
Then caſt an eye upon the Rabble,
And, taking view (if you be able)
Of all together, great and ſmall,
Mark well the Tantamount of all.
Mark if we be not like an Hoaſt
That's routed when the Battel's loſt.
And if we deal not gifts and blows,
Like mad men, both to Friends and Foes.
Mark how thoſe Hypocrites, who here
Promoters of the Truth appear,
Walk in their Masking Suits abroad,
As if they thought to cozen GOD
As they do men; mark too, that Crew,
Which is prophane in open view,
How blindly, and how daringly
(Ev'n where GOD's Thunderbolts do flye)
They ſtill offend; and whether we
May not to them compared be,
Who ſawing are thoſe Planks aſunder,
Whereon they ſtand, when Hell is under.
When theſe Enquiries you have made,
To ſee what light may thence be had;
And, when you know as well as I,
Thoſe hind'rances, and Reaſons why
That Voice of Peace yet goes not on
Which this time twelve Months was begun;
And, ſhall obſerve with due regard,
Whath hath been ſince done, and declar'd;
It will diſcloſe a great deal more,
Then I have told you heretofore:
But not till then. Yet leſt ſome may
Deſpair or faint before that day,
I will deliver, ere you go,
A comfortable word or two.
"There may be Peace at laſt, though yet
"We nor know how, nor merit it:
"For GOD oft ſhews great Mercies where
"The greateſt of all Sinners are.
"And, if Self-ſeekers be diſcri'de,
"Before this Iſle they more divide;
"If Factions, wrongs, and diſcontent,
"Endanger not this Parliament;
"And if the Faithful Members can
"But caſt out from them now and then
"A Trouble-houſe, and timely ſwage
"The vexed Peoples riſing rage,
"By offring out of their Committees
"(What reign in Counties, Towns and Cities)
"But two or three ſuch Peace-oblations,
"As that was of th' EXAMINATIONS,
"And by their Prudence act it ſo
"That honeſty more priz'd may grow;
"That Prieſt and People down may lay
"The works of Stubble and of Hay,
"Their Names and Terms of Separation,
"And meekly ſeek the preſervation
"Of Truth in Love: Then in one year
"If Peace be not eſtabliſh'd here,
"My Loans and Loſſes yet unpaid,
"With my Arrears three years delai'd,
"I'le forfeit wholly to the State,
"And live ſtill as I do of late,
"By ſwallowing wrongs and empty Air,
"And Patience kept through faith and pray'r.
Thus to the Queſtion made▪ you have
That Anſwer which your Priſ'ner gave,
Who other News will tell, if he
Much longer ſhall a Pris'ner be.
Your Spaniels beaten, at your feet will lie,
Your Engliſh Maſtives at your face will flie.
Remember that alſo.