Maxims of Pious Policy, Title page – Dedication 1
Vox Coeli, Containing Maxims OF PIOVS POLICY: WHEREIN Severall Caſes of Conſcience are briefly diſcuſſed;
As
I. In what ſubject the Supream power of a Nation doth reſide.
II. What is the extent of that power, and in what cauſes it doth appear, with the due reſtrictions and limitations thereof according to the Goſpell.
III. What obedience is due unto that power from all perſons, ſuperiour and inferiour, with other Caſes of great weight, very neceſſary to reconcile our late differences judiciouſly ſtated and impartially ballanced in the ſcale of the Sanctuary.
By ENOCH GREY Miniſt::
It is a light thing that thou ſhouldeſt be my ſervant to raiſe up the Tribes of Jacob, and to reſtore the preſerved of Iſrael, Eſay 49. 6.
They that be of thee ſhall build the old waſte places, thou ſhalt raiſe up the foundations of many Generations, and ſhalt be called the Repairer of the breach, the Reſtorer of paths to dwell in, Eſay 58. 12.
London, Printed for Tho: Williams at the Bible in Little Brittaine, 1649.
To the Supream Authority of this Nation, the Repreſentative of the People in Parliament Aſſembled.
Right Honourable,
REligion when eſtabliſhed in Power, in Purity, is the walls, and Bulwarks of a Nation; a Iſay 26. 1, 2, 3. Erek 21. 30, 31.Breach therein unrepaired, expoſeth a People to the greateſt judgments. Next Religion, Juſtice takes place, as the moſt gratefull Sacrifice to God, ſervice to a Common-wealth, cauſing the light of a Nations tranquillity to break forth gloriouſly as the Morning Sun. In reſpect hereunto, I am bold to preſent your Honours with theſe enſuing conſiderations, (moſt humbly ſubmitting them to your Honourable cenſure,) excuſing my preſumption, by my affection to Your Honours, with whoſe Eminency is conjoyned ſuch clemency, that I may truly ſpeak in the language of the Orator to Caeſar, qui apud vo… … dent dicere magnitudinem ignorant veſt… qui non audent, humanitatem. Your Honors are Prudent, (and wiſe with the Wiſdome of God) to improve your opportunities, and valiant to act with the higheſt reſolutions againſt the greateſt difficulties, (the talleſt Cedars being fallen before you) that you need not counſell ſo much as Prayers, and our God Praiſe in you, who hath honoured you to be the Repairers of our breaches, the reſtorers of Paths to dwell in. There is but one thing lacking (which I humbly beſeech your Honours to ſupply,) a ſympatheticall commiſeration of the condition, and tender ſenſe of the crying neceſſities of Poor men (as of your own,) whoſe cauſes depend upon you, that ſuch doe not ſuffer by you, who have ſuffered the utmoſt for you. Sad was his complaint who ſaid, Heu! Pereo in medio amicorum. Livius makes mention of certain Governours, cald Aequi, to whom the Romane Legates Petitioning in caſes of concernment, they received this unworthy anſwer, Se alia interim acturum, juſſit cos ad quercum dicere: to whom theſe Petitioners worthily replyed, Et haec Sacrata quercus audiat foedus a vobis violatum. For the stone out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber will anſwer in the behalf of ſuch, ſaith the Prophet. Your Honours are the moſt wiſe, and faithfull▪ Phyſitians of State, to whom ſhould the diſeaſed Paetie nt have recourſe for remedy, if not to you, by whom they expect every cure …ito, tuto, & jucunde? You want neither Power, nor will, having been accuſtomed to help the neceſſitous, when all means in other Courts be ineffectuall; and where you want opportunities to give ſeaſonable, and ſpeedy Audience to all deſiring it, you want not Authority to furniſh others fearing God with ſuch Power as to hear and determine, at leaſt to examin and report their opinions, (with humble ſubmiſſion to your Honors judgement) whereby you may comfortably further your account in the day of Chriſt, procure to your ſelves Honour and affection from the Lord and good men, with the bleſſing of the Poor and needy: Prevent thoſe Puniſhments upon your perſons, or Poſterities, the ſadconſequents of ſuch a ſinfull neglect: you remember the story of Dion, and cannot forget how often the Lord, hath alarmd you by the Souldier, (his rod upon the Iſa. 58.backs of ſuch Princes, and States who break not the yoaks of the oppreſſed,) which I hope you reſpect as a divine monition to attend this duty.
Your Honours are not ignorant of the neceſſities of times, and how prejudiciall it is to thoſe who have ſuffered and loſt much, to expend time, and means in travels, attendance, and al in vain. … the Publike ſuffers alittle, there private …uch … Goſpel, and your ſelves moſt of all, by the diſability of your friends, for them to live in bonds, who had they but Iuſtice might he free, in their minds, from cares, Bodies from reſtraint, and Purſes from want: to live in reproach, whoſe upright intentions are impeached, whoſe confidence in your Juſtice is ſhamed, as if you were to your friends a brook whoſe ſtreams are failing, ſuch inſtruments may be needed in future, whoſe by-paſt ſervices are forgotten at preſent; ſuch perſons who complain with ſilence, with patience, with expectance, deſerve in reaſon, and in reſpect audience before thoſe (who yet have gained it) who vilify your Perſons, traduce your Authority, render your Acts diſhonourable to the world, becauſe they obtain not their own ambitious ends; Oh force not the Soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Judge of all the World to whom they commit their cauſe, to doe that Juſtice which I tremble to Remember, but hope that you will piouſly conſider, to divert the ſtroke thereof: for the A…e… 8. the whole.Lord hath ſworu by the Excellency of Jacob, that for this the Land ſhall tremble, and the Inhabitants thereof ſhall mourn; that the Judgment thereof ſhall be ſodain, and unexpected, a devouring, deſolating judgment, after the greateſt hopes of happineſſe, even becauſe yee make the Poor ofthe Land to fail: that is, their hearts to fail, their lives to conſume with cares, with griefs, I ſwear by my ſelf ſaith Ier. 22. the whole.the Lord, that this Houſe ſhall became a deſolation: If you doe not deliver the ſpoiled out of the hands of the Oppreſſer, If you doe not judge the cauſe of the needy, Ier. 21. 1…, 13.in the morning, (preventing the expectance of the period.) My fury ſhall goe forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it; I am unwilling in reſpect to diſappointment to munif…ſt to the world my particular complaint and condition, theſe who knew me when reſident in the City, and who know me new, know my afflictions for, and affection unto the Publick in all viciſsitudes unto this day, and that weak ſervice which without reſpect to any recompence, I tendered to the State, Tempore Reipublicae Paroxyſmi, (in open Parliament acknowledged then to conduce to the Preſervation thereof, of the City, and the Common-wealth in apparent peril of death,) upon which I was promiſed it, as but a ſmall and reaſonable favour, Juſtice, in a cauſe that concerns my whole outward eſtate, a cauſe uncapable of finall determiniation in any other court of judicature, a cauſe having no reference to any Member of Parliament, or to any Perſon indempnified thereby for any demer it ſince this Seſſion, or to any receipts of mony out of the Publike Treaſure; A cauſe as much your Honours as mine, … Jeſus Chriſts rather then either yours or mine, … might be finiſhed in four houres time in a ſelect C… mittee if once appointed for Audience thereof, which in 8 years ſpace I never could obtain, although ſome Honorable Members have expreſſed their deep ſe…ſ… of the extremity of my oppreſſion, that prejudice which I have ſuſtained by this delay, and therefore I beleeve it impoſſible that ſo juſt a cauſe ſhould miſcarry in the hands of ſo juſt a Parliament▪ My earneſt prayer for your Honours ſhall bee that the ſplendor of this Repreſentative, may by the higheſt Acts of ſincere Reformation of Religion, of impartiall Adminiſtration of Juſtice, dazle the eyes of all Europe, that your Power and greatneſſe thereby may bee rendered formidable to all your adverſaries, Domeſtick and Forain, by Sea and Land, in England, and Ireland, that the people of theſe Nations by your Pious Prudent, Righteous, and Reſolved indeavours may be aſſured, ut Pacem ſummam obtinebimus in Patria, cum ipſo Deo, & nobis inter not, ubi nullum erit bellum nulla contradictio, which is the hearts deſire of
Your Honours in all humility devoted in the higheſt Services for the Goſpell, ENO. GREY.