WHom God has chosen to be his Anointed, and for whose Preservation Won­ders and Miracles were done to that degree, as to joy the Faith­ful, and confound the Incredulous; It was for this that God touched the heart of a Woman, and made her become ano­ther Judeth to pass through the Assyrians Camp, at the same time that Bethulia was besieged, to the end she might deli­ver the Kingdom and People from the fury of the Enemy; Judeth deliver'd Be­thulia and her distressed People by carry­ing away the dead Head of the Assyrians General; And this delivers the People of three Kingdoms from the Slavery and Tyranny of Usurpers, by bravely carry­ing away the living Head of these Three Kingdoms. It was for This that se cou­ragiously look'd Death in the Face, and expos'd her Life and Fortune to the worst of Fates. It was for This that Gold was to Peasants of no other value than Dirt, when it was only to be purchased by delivering up the Innocent into the hands of the Guilty. But that which makes it the more remarkable and wor­thy of admiration, is, That God should make use of such Instruments to effect Your Preservation, as have now lately been Accused, Condemned and Sacrifi­ced, for attempting to destroy You, whom (with the hazard of their Lives) they had formerly preserved. Nay, for this it was, that even the Romish Priests themselves were instrumental.

Sir, God took You out of the hands of your Enemies, at a time when all the world despair'd of seeing You seated on any other Throne than that on which Your Royal Father acted the last Scene of a Horrid and Bloudy Tragedy. Who can repeat the buying and selling of a King, the best that ever People had, and this by his own Vassals? his being ac­cused by them? his being betrayed by them? his being judged by them? his being condemned by them? and his be­ing murdered by them in the Face of Heaven and the whole World? Who (I say) can repeat these things without Horrour and Execration?

God miraculously delivered You out of the hands of a barbarous people, who sought you for no other end than to de­stroy You; but he mercifully with-held the blow which all the world believ'd was inevitably falling on You; for there was no one could avert it but God alone; And he did it, that we might one day see you seated on the Throne of Glory. 'Tis true, he with-held You from Us for some time; but it was that You might return the more glorious and welcome, and to make Us sensible of the ill was done in banishing Him from us whom God had appointed to Rule and Govern us.

I believe there are few alive now who liv'd then, who have forgotten the Ca­lamity this Kingdom groaned under at that time, and the sad Catastrophe attended Your absence.

It was a sad thing to see your 3 King­doms governed by the Murderers of your Royal Father; to see Mechanicks seated in the Throne of Princes, and the giddy-headed Mobile to Lord it over the Nobi­lity; Coblers and Bricklayers turn Prea­chers, whilst the Bishops have their Roc­kets pull'd over their ears, and the best of the Clergy turn'd out of their Benefi­ces; at the same time their Wives and Children going a begging; to hear no­thing but Sedition and Treason daily prea­ched out of the Pulpits; to see the Roy­al Party dance attendance every day to a [Page 2]damn'd Committee, made up of a Com­pany of formal prick-ear'd Raskals, who had no other Religion than [...]y sinister ways to monopolize [...]he Riches of the Na­tion, whilst honest men turn'd Bank­rupts; to see those men who had serv'd the King your Father with their Bloud and Fortunes, by these Governours Ba­nished, Imprisoned and Tortured, and for no other Crime than because they had the honesty to be Loyal; to see the best of these men forced to buy their own Estates three or four times over of these Villains, who had seiz'd them as their own, whilst others of the meaner sort had not Bread to put in their Heads.

But God was pleased at his proper time to commiserate our Sufferings, by out-doing his former Prodigies which were acted in your Preservation, in re­storing You to a People who lived with no other hope than despair of ever seeing You seated upon the Imperial Throne of Great Britain. Sir, 'tis undoubted Your Restauration was decreed by Heaven, and to confirm which, God (as it were with his own hand) led You into Your Kingdoms, that there You might be made Sacred, and have your Temples incircled with a Crown; and then it was he consigned a Scepter into Your Sacred hand, with which at the same time he commanded You to Rule, and Govern your People in the strict observance of Justice and Equity; and after that per­fect Model which he himself hath left you, in his Sacred and Divine Laws, and not according to those exorbitant Laws the ignorant Rabble, and their Abettors would prescribe you.

What joy was it at that time to all true English hearts to see You Return in Triumph from your long Exile? to see You not only received into your King­doms, but into the hearts of Your People; who looked upon You as no other than the Angel of Peace sent by the living God to comfort an afflicted People and to redeem them from Slavery? It was then that we were all big with hopes no longer to see our Laws (which are the best in the world) trampled under foot by Tyran­nical Ʋsurpers: It was then that we gave our selves the assurance that we should see Justice, and Mercy equally poysed in one Ballance, and neither to out-weigh each other, It was then that we expected to see Impiety banished out of your Kingdoms, as an Imposture, and Virtue rais'd to that Throne it deserves, that is, to be seated on the right hand of Kings: And then it was that we believ'd that Loyalty should nobly be rewarded for their Fidelity and past Sufferings; and the Disloyal Traytor punished, and for ever banished from the Influence of your Bounty; the performance of which had establish'd to Your People a Kingdom of Peace, and we should have seen a Golden Age to flourish.

But, Sir, there are some men who are bold, and take leave to say, You have not poised the Ballance equal, and your Clemency and Mercy have infinitely out-weighed the Scale of Justice; That you have mis-placed your Bounty; And (they now begin to fear) You have done that you said you never would; Sacrificed your Friends to please your Enemies; And this they say hath alienated your Friends, and made their Loyal hearts grow cold, and freeze; And bold Mouths spit their Allegiance out. This hath so far prevailed upon your Enemies, as to per­swade them that their former ill-doings were well done, which makes them bold to act them over again. Sir, such are their proceedings, that You appear no longer now as a King to govern the People, but as a Pupil to be governed by them. This makes us fear you have delivered your Royal Scepter into their hands; And if so, you have made your Self and Friends one Sacrifice to the Fury and Malice of your Enemies; So that we have nothing now in prospect, but the Old Tragedy act­ed over again; where we behold a Stage filled with Rapine, Sword, Fire, Blond and Massacres; with the Desolation and Overthrow of three Kingdoms.

Dread Sovereign, You are the Object on which all our eyes are fixed; You are the Center in which the hopes and de­sires of all Loyal hearts are lodged. Now is the time to make your self a King, and us a happy people or never. If You put on an unshaken Resolution. You will en­courage and strengthen Your Friends to [Page 3]stand by you to the last; which we are resolved to do, if you force us not from you; And this will not a little tame the Insolency of those bad men who brand all those who stand up for your Rights and Prerogatives with that scandalous Name Papist. All those honest Gentlemen who had a desire to serve their Country, by being Parliament-men, because they opposed the Rump Faction, they and all their Friends were Papists, rank bare­fac'd Papists. If these men can make us Papists at this rate, we shall have Pope­ry among us before we know where we are; and really I think we have no great reason to be so much afraid on't; for 'tis come to that, that you shall not hea [...] of an honest Cavalier, nay scarce an honest man but presently he is a Papist.

Sir, you have been silent too long, there­fore since You have given us your Roy­al word, That our Laws shall be Your Rule and Measure, by which You are resolved to Govern, let us hear you roar like the King of Lion [...], when next you meet your Par­liament; cry ha! to them, and ha! again, till (like your Predecessor H. VIII.) you make them tremble. Sir, remember you are as well King of France as England; therefore let not the French King be a greater Monarch than your self: At least for a time shew yourself as absolute over your people as he is, and since that Law is Your Measure, like him tell them sic volo, sic jubeo, and take off the head of that man who shall dare to open his Lips to contradict it; And be assured that this way of Governing shall gain you more Friends in one day, than all your complyance to the unreasonable demands of your Parliament shall gain you in an age.

Be pleased to take from the Commons that old Theme Religion, or else you must never expect any business to be done by them, either for the good of your self, or your Kingdom. If we must have a Change or Reformation in our spiritual Govern­ment, let it be done by spiritual men, the Bishops, and such who understand what Religion is: But for such men whose con­versation is chiefly among Dogs & Horses, Women and Wine, to be perpetually ma­king new Reformations in Religion, is the most preposterous thing in the world.

What a monstrous thing it is to see the Tail pretend to more Wisdom and Un­derstanding in Government than the Head! We have too sadly experienced what it is to live under this dam'd Rump Government; therefore, for Heavens sake, Sir, let us have no more on't.

Sir, as God was pleas'd to perform won­ders at your Preservation and Restaura­tion, so hath he done no less all the time of your Government: For (setting aside the precipice into which your Father fell, and in it was irrecoverably lost, which still lies open [...]fore the Gates of your Palace, so that 'tis not possible for You to enter in, or out, but you must necessarily remem­ber your Fathers sad Fate. The Peal that these men daily ring in your ears, which was your Fathers Knell:) setting aside, I say, these things: Heaven and Earth have conspired daily to alarm you, and bid you arm your self against the Trea­cheries and damn'd Conspiracies, which are hourly acting against your Life and Government.

Sir, the first thing you are to do is to know your Enemies, and then to arm your self against them: You cannot have forgotten those men by whom your Roy­al Father fell, and pursued you to Ba­nishment; These are the men, Sir, who strike so boldly at your Crown, therefore beware your Head: You cannot there­fore perswade your self that the Murde­rers of the Father can ever love the Son. But least your Majesty should mi­stake these men, and think them to be your Friends, our famous Salamancha Doctor hath unmask'd them unto you; For he says, (and what he says with us is Gospel) That they are Papists in Ma­squerade, disguised in the Habit and Man­ners of the Godly Brethren. So that 'tis to be hop'd your Majesty will trust none of them, nor any thing that looks like this kind of Cattle. We humbly therefore beg that the next Parliament you will take aview of your House of Commons, that You may know the Members of which it is compos'd; and if there be any of these disguis'd Papists there, that they may be turn'd out; that is not a place for them; for the Law says, No Pa­pist shall Sit in the House. If therfore [Page 4]there be any there who had their hands imbrewed in your Fathers bloud, they are disguised Papists, they must out also. If there be any there who have un­sheath'd their Swords against their law­ful Sovereign, and appeared in open Re­bellion against him, they are the same, they must out too; for they are all Papists in Masquerade. Or if there be any of the Sons of these men, they are the same Flesh and Bloud, and they'l prove themselves no Bastards i'l warrant you; they have suck'd in their Fathers Disloyalty and bloudy Nature with their Mill which 'tis to be feared they will never disgest so long as they have an hour to live; there­fore These must out too. And when the House is thus purg'd of these kind of Cat­tel, we may hope to see good times again, and not till then; For believe it, Sir, they are are so glutted with the Spoils and Sweet of their last Rebellion, that they will now be Caesars or nothing; which Heaven and your endeavours must pre­vent.

I could wish with all my soul that what the Prophet Is [...]iah spoke of the Counsel­lors of King Pharaoh may not truly be verified in the people of this Nation. God hath sent among them a spirit of giddiness, and made them reel up and down in all their actions like drunken men.

Sir, great and terrible are the menaces which God thunders out by the mouth of holy Job, against those who wander from the true way of Justice. God (says he) suffereth these wise Counsellors to fall into the hazards of senselss men. God maketh the Judges stupid, taketh away the Sword and Belt from Kings to ingirt their Reins with a Cord; God maketh the Priests to appear Infamous, supplanteth the Principal of the people, changeth the Lips of Truth-speakers, taketh away the Doctrine of Old men, and powreth out Contempt upon Princes, Job 12.

But that these things may not fall upon this Kingdom, and that they may be time­ly prevented, be pleas'd, Great Sir, to hear the Coursel that a great Statesman gave to the Governours of the Empire; and it is this:

Ʋse the matters so that Judges of Pro­vinces may be very careful in the observance of Laws, that Tribunals spare not to thun­der out Sentences against ill Manners, but especially against False Witnesses and Per­jurers; That Thieves may fear the Gates of your Palace; That the Adulterer may tremble before a chast Officer; That the Forgerer may feel horrour at the voice of a He­rauld; And that all Crimes may be bani­shed from our Teritory; That no man op­press the poor; That the Persecutors be ap­prehended and pursued as disturbers of the [...]ublick repose: You shall make a general peace when you have beaten down the Au­thors of mischiefs which are committed: Let Captains contain their Souldiers in all manner of Discipline in such sort that the Labourer, the Merchant, the Sailer, and Artificer, may understand Arms are not made but for their defence. I will not like­wise that my nearest Allies be pardoned in any case of Justice, since I have taken the Commonwealth into my charge, I have di­spoyled my proper Interests, I wish well to mine, but in the generality.

Sir, when we shall behold these things practiced within your Dominions, we shall conclude that all these prodigies which have been done in your Preserva­tion and Restauration were performed by Heaven for no other end than that you should be that darling Prince to make your Kingdoms flourish, and Us a happy people; which we all promise our selves, and that we shall see you the greatest of Monarchs. It was to Princes that the Angel in the Apocalypse speaks these words: He who shall overcome and keep my works unto the end, I will give him power over Nations, and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron; and as the Vessel of the Potter they shall be broken.