I Should not delight in this day of Publick Calamity come upon you, to bee uncovering your nakedneſs, did I not judge it a duty in order to lead you to the true covering, and out of all falſe ones, which in vain you hide under, in your defiled ſtate, rendring your ſelves by ſo doing but the more naked in the ſight of God and men, giving enemies more occaſion to rejoyce at you, and incourage themſelves in an evil matter againſt you, ſaying, They offend not, becauſe you not onely have, but ſtill do ſin againſt the Lord, the habitation of Juſtice, and hope of your Fathers, though they that ſay ſo, it may bee too truly, ſhall not go unpuniſht in the end.

I beſeech you therefore give mee leave, in the bowels of love and meekneſs, a little to treat with you, as an Army under theſe diſtinct conſiderations, of chief Commanders, and commanded; for ſo I ſhall ſpeak to you, both as to your ſin, and duty.

And firſt to you Commanders, you have been concerned of late years in very eminent Tranſactions in Publick Affairs in theſe Nations; have pretended to a very great knowledge, and ſtrict obſervation of the Lord, and his goings, and doings, in the midſt of us, with what hee yet intended to do further in the latter daies; and by comparing his works with his word, have often ſaid, you judge his deſign to bee the exaltation of his Son, the Lord Jeſus, and his intereſt in theſe Nations, and removing out of the way what ever hindered his going on with this work: As alſo you obſerved his Motions herein to bee gradual, cauſing his work ſmall in the beginnings, to go and grow higher and higher by degrees, and more refined as it grew, and ſo have Inſtruments been hee hath made uſe of, and when they have not had ſpirits growing up in light, life, and refinedneſs, with the work, by many ſtrange providences have been ſome on one account, ſome upon another, laid aſide; yea ſome of them beginning but a little to ſlack their pace, and draw back, have not ſtayed in that retrograde motion, till they have joyned with the moſt avowed enemies to the Bleſſed Cauſe at firſt they were ingaged in, ſo dangerous a thing is drawing back.

And while you were thus rightly obſerving the works and word of the Lord, and helpt to follow it accordingly, being little in your own eyes, and going out in a spirit of trembling, you exalted your ſelves in Iſrael, went on and proſpered; God was with you, and the ſhout of a King amongſt you, enemies feared, fled, and fell before you, and your moſt difficult waies and works were made plain, and eaſie; and though you walkt in untrodden-paths, you were carried on ſafely; enemies envying, yet dreading you; friends rejoycing, and bleſsing God for you, and you from him in his name; and though it muſt bee remembred to the praiſe of the Lord, and due abaſement of Inſtruments, you ſometimes walkt as men, eſpecially when you lean'd to your own underſtandings, and did not truſt in the Lord, as before; Particularly in 47, in your tamperings with the King, and his intereſt, which lead into thoſe Labyrinths (as you may well remember) in 48. out of which, nothing but the wiſdome of the Lord directing to ſeeking him, and conſulting your duty according to his word could extricate you, as was eminently experienc'd in that not to bee forgotten meeting at Winſor 48. ſee the memorial of it; and how the Lord lead that year, yea ſeveral years after even to Woreeſter fight, by a gracious guiding preſence of his, you cannot but remember that were wiſe obſervers of the operations of his hand: and after that fight, when you were returned in ſafety, you then alſo ſeemed to have upon your hearts, a great ſenſe of your duty, in proſecuting the work of the Lord you had been employed in, but found as you judged the Parliament unwilling to go ſo faſt, or rather hindering and obſtructing you in the ſpeed you were intended to make, upon which, ſome conteſts aroſe between you and them in that point, and you come to ſee as you ſay, a neceſſity of diſſolving them, as men not ſpirited for the further work of the Lord in that day; how clear and true the demonſtration of this neceſſity was, I take not upon mee to judge, ſince you ſo lately (how truly I dare not determine neither) call in queſtion your action aforeſaid, and call them to ſit again, ſaying, The work had not proſpered ſince their diſſolution, which might bee too true, yet the Cauſe might rather bee that greater unfittedneſs found in you that followed them, who walkt in more polluted paths, in which the work of the Lord could not proſper; and this ſeems to mee rather to bee the mind of the Lord, eſpecially when I conſider the work that Parliament, after you had called them, and they ſate again, were employed about, and upon the matter, onely proſpered in, viz. judging thoſe more groſs turnings aſide from the Lord and his work, that they found amongſt you in the Army, which when they have in ſome meaſure judged, as men not deſigned to, nor delighted in by the Lord to bee uſed much further, they do by ſtrange providential proceedings amongſt them, period themſelves, and in the doing that, alſo well-nigh hazard putting a period to the peace of theſe Nations.

But you having diſſolved them, as aforeſaid the firſt time, a little Aſſembly of men is called, not in the way, nor after the manner of the Nations, but upon a more ſelect and avowed account of men fearing God, though I doubt in their choice, the wiſdome of man was too much exerciſed; but being come together, though they had their weakneſſes as men, not to bee pleaded for, or owned, they ſeem more effectually to proſecute the true ends of Government, viz. diſcouraging the bad, countenancing the good, attempting to break and remove oppreſſive yoaks, and to aſſert the liberty of the poor people of the Lord, as well as others, on all accounts, than any before, or ſince, that I have obſerved: But theſe mercies being too great for ſo ungrateful, and ſo unworthy a people as this Nation; together with the Inſtruments weakneſs and inability to bring them forth in that glory and beauty, as God will have his works brought forth in their ſeaſon; as alſo the great Artifice uſed by the Devil, and Inſtruments amongſt themſelves, who acted Tobiah and Sanballats part, when they could not by oppoſing the work openly ſo effectually hinder it, come in and pretend, as they of old, to build with them, and thereby cauſe the work to ceaſe, and render both it and the moſt forward workmen a ſcorn and reproach amongſt the Heathen; theſe alſo are ſuddenly (on what grounds, in what manner, and for what ends becomes the Army to conſider) diſſolved; and the names of many of them, whoſe memorial in ages to come ſhall bee bleſt, were caſt out as evil for Righteouſneſs ſake, and marks † of Ignominy and Reproach put upon them before all the Nation by ſome of your ſelves or adherents, that knew what would gratifie you, and purſued that path accordingly, as your weekly Pamphleter Needham, whoſe tongue is no ſlander, uſed, (and ſtill uſes frequently for your ſervice) to do at that day; and you made it much your buſineſs to be raking into, and laying open, Cham-like, the infirmities and nakedneſs of your brethren, contrary to that counſel, or rather reproof given in a like caſe in Obadiah, from 10, to the 15. compared with 8, and 9 verſes, being a glaſs in which you may ſee your ſelves and actions; I deſire you will look into with trembling. For thy violence againſt thy Brother Jacob, ſhame ſhall cover thee, and thou ſhalt bee cut off for ever. In the day that THOU STOODEST ON THE OTHER SIDE, in the day that the ſtranger carried away captive his forces, and forreigners entred into his Gates, and caſt lots upon Jeruſalem, EVEN THOU WAST AS ONE OF THEM, but thou ſhouldeſt not have looked on the day of thy Brother, neither ſhouldeſt thou have rejoyced over the children of Judah in the day of their deſtruction: neither ſhouldeſt thou have SPOKEN PROUDLY IN THE DAY OF DISTRESSE. Thou ſhouldeſt not have entred into the gate of my people, in the day of their calamity, yea thou ſhouldeſt not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their ſubſtance in the day of their calamity, neither ſhouldeſt thou have ſtood in the croſs way, to cut off thoſe that did eſcape, neither ſhouldeſt thou have delivered up thoſe of his that did remain in the day of his diſtreſs. For the day of the Lord is neer upon all the Heathen; as thou haſt done, it ſhall bee done unto thee, thy reward ſhall return upon thine own head, Verſ. 8. Shall I not in that day, ſaith the Lord, even deſtroy the wiſe men out of Edom, and underſtanding out of the Mount of Eſau? Verſ. 9. And thy mighty men. O Teman, ſhall bee diſmayd, to the end that every one of the Mount of Eſau may bee cut off by ſlaughter.

Your next ſtep you take as a fruit, I fear of your former, was falling back again into the old exploded way of the Nation; having too neer a ſimilitude (though a far worſe ground) to their action, 1 Sam. 8.5, 7. You having now departed from that more pure path you were eminently lead to, and bleſt in while you purſued the ends of Righteouſneſs, as you acknowledge; the conſent of the good people in the three Nations, Navies, Armies, Churches flow in to you, and in hopes of what would bee brought out by you, riſe up as one man, and call you bleſſed: But a King you muſt have, as the Nations, in nature, though not in name; who alſo is made, I beleeve, in judgement, beyond his own and your intention, too much like him deſcribed, in 1 Sam. from the 11th. to the end; but you (as they) will have him in that poſture, and neer that port of King and Courtiers formerly, which being ſo annext to this neer ſimilitude, riſes with it in all its Pompal formalities, as a Ghoſt out of its grave, to bee once more adored by a company of dying declining Chriſtians, and by this means is the hearts and hopes of the prophane Cavileer, and neutral ſpirit, and their adherents incouraged, and the ſpirit of the moſt ſincere through the three Nations (except ſuch as could ſay a confederacy) bowed down and dejected: A Government framed, none knew by whom, and impoſed by you the chief Officers, and your adherents, on the three Nations, Navies, and Armies, without their conſent, unleſs fraudulently, and unfairly gotten: Addreſſes made and ſent down to bee ſigned by the Army, not time given for due conſideration or conſultation in a caſe of that kinde; or if ſome did conſider and expreſs their diſſatisfaction, they were preſently either thrown out of their places, or elſe looked on as perſons not fit to bee truſted in them; And I beſeech you conſider, was not this an evil, an high aggravated evil? conſidering its circumſtances againſt that poſitive Rule, Luk. 6.39. And as you would that men ſhould do to you, do yee alſo to them likewiſe; It alſo laies you under, like guilt to that, charged 1 Cor. 6.8. Nay, you do wrong, and defraud, and that your Brethren; As alſo againſt that Rule, 1 Theſ. 4.6. That no man go beyond, or defraud his Brother in any matter. To all which add the cryes, calls, tears, and beſeechings of ſome from all parts to you, to ponder your paths, warning you in the Name of the Lord, of the danger of your way, that it was diſpleaſing to the Lord, gratifying to enemies, and grievous to the hearts of his moſt ſincere ones in the three Nations, and yet you would not hear; no, though the Lord alſo every morning brought his judgement to light, yet you were as the unjuſt, that knew no ſhame; but you ſleight thoſe that bore witneſs for the Lord againſt you, and contemned the witneſs they bore, ſaying of and to ſome of them, they would have been quiet, had they been uppermoſt, and the cauſe of their diſſatisfaction, was onely becauſe they were not ſo, which your own conſciences could tell you was notoriouſly falſe; but at laſt you proceed to impriſon ſome, baniſh others into remote Iſlands, ſnatching and keeping others from their precious Relations, to what prejudice to ſome of them is not deſired to bee further remembred, and with all art and induſtry, by frowns, favours, profits, airy honours, indeavour to debauch others from their former profeſt principles and practices, of more integrity to God and their Country, and what woful work you have helped to make of this kind in City, Country, Churches, by your King-craft, and worſe than Biſhop-like trapannings, there is ſad cauſe to remember; and I ſhould ſpeak more, had not the Lord ſpoke ſo much; but ſurely you did not onely ſin, but made Iſrael to ſin; fulfilling that ſad word, Iſa. 9.16. For the leaders of the people cauſe them to erre, and they that are lead of them are deſtroyed; and hereby you pave a way, as it were, to the Lords anger, which diſcovered it ſelf at home and abroad, at Sea and at Land, amongſt your Councils and Forces, inſomuch as hee who you had ſet up as your Protector in name, was never leſs truly ſo to you, theſe Nations, nor himſelf, than hee was after you had ſo unduly exalted him, and cloathed him with thoſe vain empty names and titles you had given him.

But you go on, as perſons engaged, and indeavour to engage others, as faſt as you can, in the ſame ſnares with your ſelves, which the places you were in gave you great advantage to do, being chiefeſt Officers, Councillors, yea of the cloſeſt Caball ſome of you, and others of you more ſubordinate, were ready to receive impreſſions from the reſt, and communicate accordingly to thoſe under their charge; by means of which, many, if not moſt of thoſe filthy, flattering, hypocritical Addreſſes, were framed, and little leſs than impoſed on Regiments under their commands, and made as traps and ſnares frequently to catch and weed out ſuch as could not run to the ſame exceſs with you, without asking a queſtion for conſcience ſake, whereby many poor ſouls for fear of loſing their places, profits, favours, &c. contrary to their conſciences, bowed down to theſe abominations, and engaged with you (though falſly) to live and dye with that poor perſon that was then up, againſt all oppoſers, forgetting the Lord whom you in thoſe paths were oppoſing, and provoking him to his face, thereby to oppoſe you, by taking away your Protector from amongſt you, as hee ſaw good, which ſtroke, with the manner of it (in ſeveral reſpects, not thought fit to mention) taking him away on that remarkable day, the third of September, made famous formerly by the Lords eminent owning him and the Army under his command, in two ſignal Victories obtained againſt the enemies of the Lord, when hee fought his battels on his name and peoples behalf, and hee is now like Aaron of old, uncloathed and ſtript of that honour formerly put upon him, not wiſely improved by him to the ſervice of the Lord that gave it; Ah, this ſtroake ſpake much to wiſe obſervers, yea very much to you that ſurvived to look well to your next ſteps, but alaſs, God ſpeaks once, yea twice, but man regards not, you ſtill hold faſt deceit, and refuſe to return, and wax worſe and worſe deceiving, and being deceived; who could have thought that you, who were uſed to ſay Gods work grew more refined, and ſo muſt Inſtruments, that ſhould bee uſed and proſper in it: that you ſhould bee the Inſtruments to advance another poor man to his, your own, theſe Nations hurt, Gods diſhonour, and the diſ-ſervice of that bleſſed cauſe of God (by this and ſuch like means now become a by-word, and a reproach amongſt the Heathen) that you knew was ſufficiently deſtitute of the Character aforeſaid? but this you do; and the better to cover your evil herein, you cloathe him with thoſe Epithites you did, giving occaſion thereby to the poor fawning Sycophant-like ſpirited people in the Nation to ſtrive in ſin to out-ſtrip you, giving thoſe very Epithites, ſome of them, to him, that were due to God onely, viz. the man of Gods right hand, whom hee had made ſtrong for himſelf, with others too much like it; and this perſon, not to mention his merit or right, is advanced by you to a place of the chiefeſt rule and dignity in the head of three Nations, without the fair or free conſent of them, the Armies or Navies; how right this was in the ſight of God or men, judge yee.

But you proceed in your fraudulent practices, as formerly, to gain conſent, where it is not given, and are helpt herein, by ſome of the poor Prophets of the Land, who now (as of old) lead the Van in this day of Degeneracy, ſtrengthening the hands of the wicked, as well as ſaddening the hearts of the righteous, according to Ezek. 13. ſo that none returns from his wickedneſs; and that they may ſtrengthen themſelves and you in this carnal confederacy, preſent you with the names of an hundred Churches in the lump, that ſo you may not at all ſuſpect your way, having ſuch a number of thoſe who have profeſt to have given up their names to Chriſt, to approve of you therein, and as it were bleſs you in the name of the Lord; and thus you wrap it up, fulfilling that word, Jer. 5.30, 31. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the Land, the Prophets propheſe falſly, and the Priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it ſo, and what will yee do in the end thereof? And hereby you bring your ſelves by ſuch actions within the verge of that judgement, written in Prov. 24.24. Hee that ſaith to the WICKED, thou art RIGHTEOUS, him ſhall the people CURSE, NATIONS SHALL ABHOR HIM. I ſhould ſpeak much more here, but that I deſire rather to bee ſilent, the perſon concerned being gone off the ſtage, and I wiſh may keep off, leſt a worſe thing befall him, and many learn by ſuch ſudden caſtings down, as well as liftings up, to know that the Lord rules in the Kingdomes of this world, giving them to whom hee pleaſes; and whoeſer walks in pride, hee is able to abaſe, and may ſo know him, as more to know himſelf, and learn the fear of the Lord, that teaches to depart from all iniquity.

And having ſpoken thus to you Commanders, leſt the inferiour rank of men of all ſorts in the Army, ſhould think themſelves innocent, by beholding you ſo guilty, give mee leave to add a word to ſuch.