The Canterburians Self-Conviction, Preface
THE PREFACE.
IT is fallen out much beſide our expectation,Wee did expect nothing leſſe then warre. that the ſtorme of warre ſhould now againe begin to blow, when we did eſteem that the mercy of GOD and juſtice of our Prince had ſetled our Land in a firme peace for many generations, at leaſt for many daies & ever, while ſome appearance of provocation ſhould have ariſen from us, for the kindling of the wrath of our enraged enemies, whoſe furie, though we know well, not to be quite extinguiſhed, yet we did ſurely think it would not breake forth in haſte in any publick and open flame, til ſome new matter had been furniſhed, or ſome probable colour of a new quarrell could have beene alleadged againſt us.
When we have ſcattered that cloud of calumnies,We have committed nothing that can bee pretended with any goodly colour for the breach of the late pac…fication. which by their tongues and pens they had ſpread abroad of our rebellion, & many other odious crimes, when by our frequent ſupplications, informations, remonſtrances, declarations, and other writs, wee have cleared aboundantly the juſtice of our cauſe, the innocencie of our proceedings to all the ingenuous minde of the Yle, and to ſo many of our neighbour nations, as have beene deſirous to cognoſce of our affaires, when our gracious and juſt Prince, in the very heat of his wrath, raiſed alone by their mis-informations, even while armes were in his hand, hath beene moved with the unanimous conſent of all his Engliſh Counſell of all his Commanders, and whole armie, to acknowledge us good and loyall Subjects; And after a full hearing of our cauſe in his Campe, to profeſſe his ſatisfaction, to pronounce us free of thoſe crimes which before were falſely blazed of us, to ſend us all home in peace, with the tokens of his favour, with the heartie embracement of …hat armie, which came againſt us for our ruine: When we in a generall Aſſembly of our Church, with the knowledge and full conſent of his Majeſties high Commiſſioner & whole Counſell have juſtified our oppoſition to the innovation of our Religion and Lawes by the Prela…es, our excommunication of them therefore, the renewing of our Covenant, and all the reſt of our Eccleſiaſt…call proceedings, when our States in Parliament were going on in a ſweet harmonie, to confirme the weakneſſes, & ſet right the diſorders of our Eſtate, & that no farther then clear equitie, reaſon, law, yea the very words of the pacificatorie Edict did permit, whē our whole people were minding nothing but quietneſſe, having caſt their neckes under the feet of our reconciled king, put all their Caſtles & Canons in his hand, without any ſecuritie, but the royall Word, and received heartily all thoſe fugitives, who had taken armes in the Prelates cauſe againſt their Countrie, having no other minde but to ſit down with joy, & g…e about our own long neglected buſineſſe; praiſing God and bleſſing the King. The martiall mindes among us, panting for languor to be imployed over ſea, for the honour of the Crowne; in ſpending their bloud againſt the inſolent enemies of his Majeſties houſe: While theſe are our only thoughts; It was more then marveilous to us, that firſt the dumbe and obſcure whiſperings, and at once the loud blaſts, the open threats of a new more terrible and cruell warre then before ſhould come to our eares, that our Caſtles ſhould be filled with ſtrāgers, be provided with extra ordinarie victuals and munition, as againſt a preſent aſſault, or long ſiege: Many of our Nobles tempted to leave our cauſe; numbers of aſſayes made to breake the unitie of all our Eſtates; and at laſt our Parliament commanded to ariſe, the Commiſſioners thereof, after a long and weariſome journey to Court, for the clearing of ſome ſurmiſed miſtakes about moods and formes of proceedings, refuſed preſence; a Parliament in England indicted (as the rumour goeth) to perſwade that Nation, our deareſt neighbours, with whom our cauſe is common, to imploy their meanes and armes againſt us, that ſo our old nationall and immortall warres may be renewed to make ſport to Prelates, & a bridge for the Spainyard or French to come over Sea, and ſit downe maſters of the whole Yle, when both Nations by mutuall wounds are diſabled for defence againſt the force of an enemie, ſo potent as either France or Spaine are this day of them ſelves without the aſſiſtance which too like ſhall bee made them by the Papiſts of the Yle, and many more, who will not faile to joyne for their owne ends with any apparent victory.
Wee admire how it is poſſible that inteſtine armes without any neceſſity ſhould be takē up at this ſeaſon,Compaſſion hope, and all reaſon call now for peace at home, that at laſt we may gett ſome order of our enemies abroad. when all the Forces the whole Yle can ſpare, are moſt earneſtly called for, by the tears of his Ma. only ſiſter, by the bloud & long deſolation of her moſt miſerable Subjects, by the captivitie and baniſhment of all her hopefull Children, Prince Charles, lying dayly under the hazard of the French hang man at Paris, & Prince Robert of the Auſtrian at Vienne, the reſt of that royall bloud, lying ſo many yeares with their Mother, baniſhed in a ſtrange Countrie: Pietie would command us to put up all our homeward quarrels, though they were both great and manie, let be to forge any, where none reall can be found; Yea, hope would allure us to try now, if ever, our Armes on thoſe ſpitefull Nations, the hereditary enemies of our Religion and of our Yle, when God hath made them contemptible by the cleare ſucceſſe hee giveth dayly to every one that riſeth againſt them: Banier with a wing of the Swed…ſh Armie, dwelling in ſpite of the Emperour all this yeare in the heart of his Countries, a part of Weymers forces with a litle help frō France triumphing on the Rhene, for all that Baviere, Culen, the Emperour, or Spainiard can doe againſt them: That very great and ſtrong Armado all utterly cruſhed in our eyes by the Hollanders alone, without the aſſiſtance of any. The very French, not the beſt ſea men, having lately beaten oftener then once the Spaniſh navies in the Mediterrian. Shall we alone ſit ſtill for ever? ſhal we ſend alwayes nought but baſe contemptible & derided Supplications to theſe intractable Princes? ſhall we feed our ſelves ſtill with their ſcornfull promiſes, which ſo oft wee have found to our great diſgrace moſt falſe? yea, rather then to beate them, by that aboundance of power which we have, if God will give us an heart to imploy it, rather then to pull downe thoſe tyrants, who have ſhed rivers of Proteſtants bloud, who hath lōg tred on the perſons of our neareſt friends, and in them, on our honour; Is it now meet we ſhould chooſe to goe kill one another alone for the bearing up of Prelates tailes, and that of Prelates as unworthie of reſpect as any that ever wore a Mytre. Let our kindred, let our friends, let all the Proteſtant churches periſh, let our own lives & eſtates run never ſo evident an hazard, yet the Prelates pride muſt be borne up, their furious deſire of revenge muſt be ſatiate; all their Mandamus in theſe dominions muſt be execute with greater ſeveritie and rigour then thoſe of their brethren are this day in Italy or Spaine, or thoſe of their grand-father at Rome.
To us ſurely it is a ſtrange Paradox, that a Parliament of England,The Canterburian faction deſerveth not ſo well of England that armes in their favour ought to be taken againſt Scotland. ſo wiſe, grave, equitable a Court, as in all bygone times it hath ever proven, ſhould bee thought in danger at any time, let be now to be induced by any allurement, by any terrour, to ſubmitt themſelves as Varlets and Pages to the execution of the luſts, the furies and outragious counſels of Canturberrie and his dependars, for they know much better then we, that the maine greevances both of their Church and State, have no other originall, no other fountaine on earth but thoſe men. Who other but they have keept our moſt gracous Prince at a diſtance from the Countrie almoſt ever ſince he came to the Crowne? For whoſe cauſe have Parliaments theſe many yeares beene hindred to meet, and when they hauehave met, beene quickly raiſed, to the unſpeakable grief and prejudice of the whole land, and of all our friends abroad. By whoſe connivence is it that the idolatrous Chappels of both the Queenes in the moſt conſpicuous places of the Court are ſo gorgeous and much frequented? Whoſe tollerance is it that at London three Maſſe-prieſts are to bee found for one Miniſter, that three hundreth of them reſide in the cittie in ordinat, and ſix thouſand at leaſt in the countrie. If yee truſt the Jeſuites Catalogue to Rome? Whence comes their immunitie from the Lawes, who have ſett up Cloyſters for Monks & Nuns, let bee houſes for open Maſſes in divers cities of the Kings dominions? Why is our correſpondence with the Pope no more ſecret, but our Agents avowedly ſent to Rome, & his Holineſſe Nuntioes received here in ſtate, and that ſuch ones as in publick writs have lately defamed with unſpeakable reproaches the perſon and birth of that moſt ſacred Queene Elizabeth. Such actions, or at leaſt long permiſſion of ſuch abominations doe they flow from any other but his Grace, the head & heart of the Cabbine Counſell. Did any other but hee & his creatures, his legs and armes hinder alwaies our effectual alliance with the Sweeds & French, when their armies did moſt flouriſh in Germanie for the relief of the oppreſſed Churches. Why was that poore Prince the king of Boheme to his dying day keept from any conſiderable help from Britaine? How was theſe young Princes the other yeare permitted to take the fields with ſo ſmall forces, that a very meane power of a ſilly commander beat them both, tooke the one captive, and put the other in his flight to an evident hazard of his life. Who moved that innocent Prince after his eſcape to take ſo ſtrange a counſell as the world now ſpeake off, and when he was engadged, who did betray both his purpoſe and perſon to the French king, could any without the Cabbine underſtand the convey of ſuch matters, and within that Cabbine does any come without his Graces permiſſion? Is not that man the evident author of all the Scotiſh broyles? Are not his Letters extant, his holy hands interlynings of the Scotiſh ſervice to bee ſeene, his other writtes alſo are in our hands, making manifeſt that the beginning and continuance of that curſed worke hath no ſpring without his braine.
When the King himſelfe after ripe advertiſement and all about him both Engliſh and Scots had returned in peace, who incontinent did change the face of the Court, and revive that fire, which in the heart of the Prince and all his good Subjects was once cloſſe dead.
That a Parliament of England will not onelyonly let ſuch a man & his complices goe free,Wee offer to inſtruct by the writ… of our partie their unſupportable crimes. but to ſerve his humour, will bee content to ingadge their lives and eſtates for the overthrow & inſlaving of us their beſt neighbours, that over our carkaſes a path-way may be made for Biſhops now, and at once for the Pope and Spaniard, …o …red on the neck both of their bodies and ſouls, we can̄ …t beleeve. Yet if any ſuch things ſhould be prop…unded (for what dare not effronted impudence attempt) we would require that ſage Senat before they paſſe any bloudy ſentence of war againſt us, to conſider a little the quality of that party for whoſe cauſe they take arms, we offer to inſtruct to the ful ſatisfaction of the whole world of free & imprejudicat mindes, not by flying reports, not by probable likelihoods, not by the ſentences of the graveſt & moſt ſolemne judicatories of this land, our two laſt generall aſſemblies & late parliam: who at far greater length & with more mature adviſement did cognoſce of thoſe cauſes then ever any aſſembly or parlia: among us ſince the firſt foundation of our Church & kingdom did reſolve upon any matter whatſoever; All thoſe means of probation we ſhall ſet aſide and take us alone to the mouth of our very adverſaries. If by their own teſtimonie we make it evident that beſide bookes, ceremonies, and Biſhops which make the proper & particular quarrel of this nationall Kirk againſt them, they are guilty of groſſe Arminianiſme, plaine popery, and of ſetting up of barbarous tyrannie, which is the common quarrell of the Kirk of England of all the reformed Kirks, and of all men who delite not to live & dye in the fetters of ſlavery. If we demonſtrate, not ſo much by their preachings and practiſes amongſt us, as by their maximes, printed with priviledge among your ſelvs, which to this day, though oft preſſed thereto, they have never recanted. If wee ſhew that yet ſtill they ſtifly avow all the articles of Arminius, a number of the groſſeſt abominations of popery, ſpecially the authoritie of the Sea of Rome, that they urge concluſiōs that will force you without any reluctance, ſo much as by a verball proteſtation, not onelyonly to give way unto any iniquitie whatſoever, either in Kirk or State whereto they can get ſtollen the pretext of the kings name, but alſo to lay down your neck under the yoke of the king of Spaine, if once he had any ſitting in this Yle, without any further reſiſtance, though in your Church by force that Tyrant ſhould ſet up the latine Maſſe in place of the Bible, and in your State, for your Magna-Charta and acts of Parliament, the Lawes of Caſtile, though in your eyes he ſhould deſtroy the whole race of the royall familie, though the remainder of the Nobilitie and Gentrie in the Land ſhould be ſent over by him, ſome to worke in fetters in his Mines of Peru, others in chayns to row all their dayes in his gallayes in the Mediterrane, for all theſe or any other imaginable acts of tyrannie that could eſcape the wicked head of any mad Nero, of any monſtrous Caligula; theſe men doe openly take upon them to perſwade that no kinde of reſiſtance for defence can bee made by the whole States of a Land, though ſitting in Parliament, with a moſt harmonious conſent, no more then the Jewes might have done againſt Nabuchadnezar, or the Chriſtians of old againſt the Pagane Emperours, or the Greeke Church this day againſt the grand Signieur in Conſtantinople, that all our forbeares both Engliſh and Scots in their manifold bickerings againſt the miſleaders of their Prince; againſt the tyrannizing factions of Court, were ever Traitours and Rebels, and ought to have looſed their head and Lands for their preſumption to defend their Liberties, againſt the intollerable inſolencies of a pack of runnigate Villanes for their boldneſſe, to faſten the tottering Crowne upon the head of their Kings, all ſuch Services of our Anteceſſours to King and Countrie, were treacherous inſurrections.
If for all theſe their crimes I make ſpeake before you no other witneſſes then our owne tongue,Armes needleſſe taken in ſo evill a cauſe, can not but end in an untimeous repentance. I truſt they ſhall not remaine in your mindes the leaſt ſhaddow of any ſcruple, to beleeve my allegations, nor in your wills the leaſt inclination to joyne with the Counſells of ſo polluted and ſelf-convicted perſons.
And if to men whoſe open profeſſion in their printed Bookes, let be ſecret practiſes leads to ſo wicked ends, ſo farre contrarie to the glorie of God, to the honour and ſafetie of our King, to the well of us all, whether in Soule, Body, Eſtate, Children, or any thing that is deare to us, yee would lead your armes againſt us; we beleeve the Lord of Hoſts, the righteous judge would be oppoſite to you, and make hundreds of your men in ſo evill a cauſe flee before ten of ours. Or, if it were the profound and unſearchable pleaſure of the God of Armies, to make you for a time a ſcourge to beate us, for our manifold tranſgreſſions; yet when ye had obtained all the Prelates intentions, when wee for our others ſins were tred under your feete, wee would for all that hope to die with great comfort and courage, as defenders of the truth of God, of the Liberties and Lawes of our Countrie, of the true, good, and honour of the Crown and Royall Familie; All which as we take it, one of the moſt wicked and unnaturall faction that ever this Iſle did breed, are manifeſtly oppugning; yet certainly, we could not but leave in our Teſtament to you our unjuſt oppreſſors the legacie of an untimous repentance; for when ye have killed thouſands of us, & baniſhed the reſt out of the iſle, when on the back of our departure, your ſweete Foſters the Biſhops have brought the Pope upon you and your Children; or when a French & Spaniſh invaſion doth threaten you with a ſlaviſh conqueſh; Wil ye not then all, & above all our gracious Prince regrate, that Hee hath beene ſo evill adviſed, as to have put ſo many of his brave Subjects to the cruell ſword, who were very able and moſt willing to have done him noble ſervice againſt theſe forraine uſurpers? Would not at ſuch a time, that is too likely to be at hand, if our Prelates adviſes now be followed, both his Majeſtie, and all of you who ſhall remaine in life, bee moſt earneſt recallers; not onelyonly of your owne Countrie-men, (many thouſands whereof ye know have lately by Epiſcopall tyrannie beene caſt out from their homes, as farre as to the worlds end, among the ſavadge Americans,) but alſo the reliques of our ruine from their baniſhment, with as great diligence as in time of Fergus the ſecond, the inhabitants of this Land did recall our anceſtors, when by the fraud & force of a wicked faction they were the moſt part killed; and the reſt ſent over ſea in baniſhment.
It were better by much, before the remeedileſſe ſtroke be given, to be well adviſed, then out of time to ſigh, when the millions of loſt lives, when the happineſſe of our true Religion, when the liberties of both the nations, once throwen away by our owne hands, can not againe be recovered.
To the end therefore that ſuch lamentable inconveniences may be eſhewed,In this nick of time very poore wittes without preſumption may venture to ſpeake to Parliaments. and your Honours the more animate to deny your power to thoſe, who now poſſiblie may crave to have it abuſed againſt us, without cauſe, beſide numbers of preſſing reaſons, wherewith I doubt not every wiſe man amongſt you is come well enough inſtructed by his owne conſiderations, and which I truſt ſhall be further preſented in plentie by theſe of our Nation, who have ever beene at the head of our affaires, whom God hath ſtill enabled to cleare the juſtice and neceſſitie of all our proceedings hitherto, to the mindes of all, ſave our infatuat adverſaries, whom ſuperſtition and rage hath blinded. If it might be your Honours pleaſure, when all the reſt hath ended, I could wiſh, that even unto me a little audience were given, my zeale to the truth of God, to the peace of this Iſle, to the honour of our deare & gracious Soveraigne, imboldneth me to offer even my little myte of information. This is a period of time, when the obſtinate ſilence of thoſe who are moſt obliged by their places and guifts to ſpeake, muſt open the mouth of ſundrie, who are not by much ſo able; verie babes, yea ſtones muſt finde a tongue, when Phariſees deny their teſtimonie to Chriſt: Dumbe men will gett words when a Father, when a King, let be a whole Kingdome, by the wickedneſſe of a few is putt in extreame perrill of ruine; An Aſſe will finde language when the devouring Sword of an Angell is drawne againſt the Maſter; Nothing more common then the ſpeaches of very Oxen, before any calamity of the Common-wealth; The cl…iking of Geeſe did at a time preſerve the Capitoll; Amicla was loſt by too much ſilence; The neglect of the voice of a Damoſell, the contempt of Caſſandraes warning, the caſting of her in bands, for her true but unpleaſant Speach, did bring the Troyane Horſe within the walls, and with it the quick ruine both of the Cittie and Kingdome.
I hope then that the greatneſſe of my undertaking may purchaſe mee a little audience;An offer deſerving a little audience. For I offer to make you all ſee with your own eyes, and heare with your owne eares the Canterburians to declare by their owne tongues, and write downe under their owne hands their cleare mindes, to bring into our Church Arminianiſme, and compleet Poperie, and in our State a ſlaverie no leſſe then Turkiſh.
If ye finde that I prove my offer, I truſt I may bee confident of your wiſedomes, that though Cicero himſelfe, & with him Demoſthenes as a ſecond, & Orpheus with the enchantments of his tongue and harp, as a third marrow, ſhould come to perſwade, yet that none of you ſhall ever be moved by all their oratorie, to eſpouſe the quarrels of ſo unhappie men.
If I faile in my faire undertaking, let me be condemned of temeritie, and no houre of your leaſure be ever againe imployed, in taking notice of any more of my complaints; But till my vanity be found, I wil expect aſſuredly from your Honours one hearing, if it were but to waken many an able wit, & nimble pen, in that your venerable Houſe of Convocation; Numbers there, if they would ſpeake their knowledge, could tell other tales then ever I heard in an out-corner of the Iſle, far from the ſecrets of State, and all poſſibilitie of intelligence, how many affaires in the world doe goe.
It is one of the wonders of the world, how many of the Engliſh DivinesThe ſilence of the Engliſh Divines is prodigious. can at this time be ſo dumbe, who could well, if they pleaſed, paint out before your eyes with a Sun-beame all the crimes I ſpeake off in that head & members.
It is ſtrange that the pilloring of ſome few, that the ſlitting of Bastwick… and Burtowns noſe, the burning of Prinnes cheeke, the cutting of Lightouns eares, the ſcourging of Lilburne through the cittie, the cloſe keeping of Lincolne, and the murthering of others by famine, cold, vermine, ſtinke, and other miſeries in the caves and vaults of the Biſhops houſes of inquiſition, ſhould binde up the mouths of all the reſt of the Learned. England wont not in the dayes of hotteſt perſecution, in the very Marian times, to bee ſo ſcant of faithfull witneſſes to the truth of Chriſt, wee can not now conjecture what is become of that Zeale to the true Religion, which wee are perſwaded lyes in the heart of many thouſands in that gracious kirk; we truſt indeed that this long lurking, and too too long ſilence of the Saints there, ſhall breake out at once in ſome hundreths of trumpets and lampes, ſhining and ſhouting, to the joy of all reformed Churches, againſt the camp of theſe enemies to God, and the King; that quickly it may be ſo, behold I here firſt upon all hazards doe breake my pitcher, doe hold out my Lampe, and blow my trumpet before the Commiſſioners of the whole Kingdom, offering to convince that prevalent faction by their owne mouth, of Arminianiſme, Poperie, and Tyrannie.