I Have received your Lordships Letter of the tenth of this instant, with much more trouble and sadnesse of mind then any thing you have sent me this whole ill yeare: All your Decla­rations, Votes, Ordinances, and Orders with your Generals powerfull Commission to kill and slay all good people, made not halfe that impression in mee (though I have not beene ender in letting you know what I thinke of the best of those) as your Sacred Vow and Covenant (as you call them) which with Mr. Pym's Speech at the Common-hall of the discovery of the great Plot, (I received inclosed in you Letter) hath done. Are all your humble and earnest desires and solicitations for Peace, all your Pangs and Throwes for a Reformation in Religion, delivered at last of a Sacred Vow and Covenant against both? Have you at last thought fit to tell the World that there is no possi [...]ility or hope of Peace, but by blood and desolation? Have Mr. Burroughes, and Mr. Case so perverted all [...]ts of Scripture, and Sergeant Wilde, and Mr. Glyn so confounded all Rules of Low, that your Consciences are growne so dead to the one, and your Understandings so dull to the other, that in plain English, you promise God Almighty to assist any body as kill the King, and set up new Covenants of your owne, [Page 2] point blanke against your Oathes of Allegiance and Supremacie, and publish all this to the people as the Articles of your new Creed? And yet that your Lordship should tell me that your affe­ction and duty to the King continues still the same you have pre­tended it, that you have still not only the same desire, but the same hope of peace; and that you are confident that the Anabaptists and Brownists (whom me thinkes you have sworne to defend) will shortly ship themselves for another Climate, is so strange to me that Amazement it selfe is not more confounding. You tell me of a trick your Lordships have found out, to save your harmelsse from any ob­ligation by this Oath, a Salvo to all your other Oathes Lawfully ta­ken, and those being in a Diameter contrary to this, you have upon the matter engaged your selves to nothing by this new Covenant, and so having cunningly evaded the design of the Contrivers: Oh (my Lord) can you please your selves with these shifts? Is this the Wisdome, Vigilance, Integrity, and Courage of the Highest Court of Judicature (for so the House of Peers in Parliament is) to lead the people by their Example to so solemne an Act as a Covenant with God Almighty, which at the instance you tooke it you intended should signifie nothing? Will the poor people of England, whereof it may bee too many have looked upon your example with Reve­rence, and thought many things fit or lawfull onely because you did them, when they shall finde that you have vowed in the presence of Almighty God, the searcher of all hearts, as you shall answer at the great Day, when the secrets of all hearts shall bee disclosed, that you will according to your power assist the Forces raised and continued by both Houses of Parliament, against the Forces raised by the KING; wi [...]l they (I say) thinke that your Lordship intended nothing by this Vow, but what you were obliged to by your Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacie, that is, to defend the KING, to the utmost of your po­wer, against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoever, which shall bee made against His Person, His Crowne, and Dignity, and to doe your best endeavour, to disclose, and make knowne to Him all Treasons and Conspiracies which shall be against Him, to your power to assist all Ju­risdictions, Priviledges, Preheminences and Authority belonging to Him, or united to the Imperiall Crowne of this Realme, and indeed to doe all things which by this your new sacred Vow you have for­sworn [Page 3] to doe? Will this Salvo reconcile all those contradictions? and is this subtilty the first fruirs of your Humility and Reverence of the Divine Majesty, your hearty sorrow for your owne sinnes, and the sinnes of the Nation, and your true intention to endeavour the amendment of your owne wayes? For Gods sake (my Lord) talke not of preserving the true Reformed Protestant Religion, and opposing Papists and Popery, when your Actions destroy the Elements of Christianity, and admit a latitude to your Conscience to introduce Atheisme, and Rules which the Turkes in pure naturall honesty abhorre and detest. Get your self to an opinion and avow it boldly, see what you hazard, and ply your game out above board, be a desperate Gamester, if you cannot be a skilfull one, and so be capable of advantage by good lucke; but to be couzened and cheated to serve other mens turnes, and to helpe to couzen your selfe by little shifts and evasions, makes you be hated by them you serve, despised by us, and will make you be laughed at when you are dead.

But (my Lord) admit you were indeed too hard for them by this Salvo, and by the interposition of three or foure other words (in order to the security of preservation of the true Reformed Protestant Reli­gion, &c. according to your Power and Vocation, &c.) had notably reserved a liberty to your selves of complying with your former Oathes; That Oathes were to be intercepted according to the In­tention of the Person that takes them, (which being an instrument between God and Us, and so every Covenant being to bee taken strongest against our selves, cannot be admitted) yet if another man who hath taken this Vow believes himselfe obliged by it, to the ut­most Act even against the Life of the King, hath not he reason to believe that you have bound you selfe to assist that Person in what he shall doe in pursuance of that Oath? I would I were able to make an answer for you; but admit further, that in all the promiso­ry part which containes what you will doe, or what you will not doe, that you were safe, and had enga [...]ed your selfe to doe no more or no lesse then your Duty: pray consider the positive part, what Salvo have you for that? you doe beleeve that there hath been and now is a Popish and traiterous Plot for the subversion of the true Reformed Protestant Religion, and the Liberty of the Subject, and that in pursu­ance thereof a Popish Army hath beene raised, and is now on foote in di­vers [Page 4] parts of this Kingdome: which Army you imply to bee the Ar­my raysed for the King, and therefore you promise to assist against it. Now it seemes your Lordship doth not believe the Preamble to be considerable, or any part of the Oath, for I am sure you cannot believe any Popish or Trayterous Plot to bee on this side; where the Treason is, the Law will judge, and where the Papists are will best be found in the Muster-Rolls of both Armies; you have had whole Troopes of that Profession, and no fault found with their Religion, till they have given over being Rebells: whilest they are with you, they defend the true Reformed Protestant Religion, but when they revolt to their Allegiance they are Papists, and ought to be disbanded: indeed you take the course to compell the King to doe His duty by driving them to Him for Protection, which he can­not deny to His Subjects, but you keepe them from performing their duty in assisting their Prince, by stripping and plundering, and lea­ving them naked to the World. In good faith (I ask Pardon of Di­scretion and Truth for being startled) your confident discourses of Popish Armies and Supplies from Papists made me once imagin the King might in truth receive some notable supplies from the persons of that profession, and it was not hard for mee to believe that that party which felt so much rigour and cruelty from you, and were sure to suffer an utter extirpation if you prevailed, should willingly sacri­fice all they had to that Sovereigne Power which might mercifully allay that fury, and preserve them still in the number of his Subjects; but I find there is a narrownesse, a vulgar spiritednesse, and a scan­dalou [...] par [...]imony in all Religions, even these men will have the comfort of being starved with money in their purses, for I am a [...] ­red by those who are conversant with those Accounts, that all the money His Majesty hath received from all the Papists of England, since He hath beene put to rayse and continue these Forces, is not halfe so much as is in truth due to Him by the Law, upon those mo­derate Compositions made with them: And for any assistance Hee hath by their personall service you have long ago heard (and I have reason enough to believe) that the Papists in all His Armies will not make one Regiment: how many more you have, and how many more you would be glad to have, your Lordship can better judge then I.

Well, there hath beene a treacherous and horrid Designe lately dis­covered, to surprize the Cities of London and Westminster, and God knowes what, and you doe abhorre and detest that wicked and treache­rous Designe. Tis well done, whether you know it or not: but what may this treacherous Designe be, that Mr. Pym sayes, would have destroyed the City and the Kingdome, and in their Ruines have buried Re­ligion and Liberty? Another Gunpowder Treason, like that of the Protestation against the first Remonstrance? The King hath sent a Commission (for now it is printed, all the World knowes what it is) to certaine persons to use their utmost power to suppresse those who are in Rebellion against Him, and assist those who are oppres­sed by them. Is there one Popish or popishly affected person in that Commission, or to be imployed in the whole Designe? Is there one clause in it on the behalfe of Papists, or against the Liberty of the Subiect? Indeed it may seeme strange that the King should so much consider that Apostate City, (where the rage of some, and the tamenesse of others, have made up one generall Guilt) as to of­fer them any countenance to relieve themselves: but that it should be a horrid and treacherous Designe, when you have in all the Counties of England, Commanders of your Militia and Commissi­oners even at this present to assesse, rate, and collect Money for the maintenance of your Rebellious Army, for the King to be willing to have an Army in London or Middlesex, whereby all other Armies, and that too might be speedily disbanded, will need an Orator no lesse powerfull then Mr. Pym, or his Excellency himselfe, (who in in these nice Arguments is the better Orator) to make evident to the World. Believe it (my Lord) whilest there is one honest man left in that City, there will be alwayes a Plot to reduce it to its Loyal­ty, and to destroy this wicked Rebellion: neither will that unpara­leld Act of inhumanity executed upon the two famous Citizens of Bristol (who will live gloriously in the Annals of this Nation, as the stout Champions and Martyrs of Allegiance, when the name of their Murtherer (Fienes) shall not be mentioned but with infamy) so far fright good men from their Duty, that your wilde fury will rage long uncontrould.

Another of your Propositions is, that you doe believe in your con­science, that the Forces raised by the two Houses of Parliament, are raised [Page 7] and continued for their just defence, and for the defence of the true Prote­stant Reformed Religion and Liberty of the Subject, against the forces rai­sed by the King: Does your Lordship in truth beleeve this? Take it in peeces. The two Houses of Parliament, being convened by the Kings sole Writ, to advise with Him about the great Affayres of the Kingdome, formed their Coursels with such successe, that in above fifteene Moneths, (time enough to have reformed and repayred all former mistakes and irregularities in Church and State) they never found the least nonconcurrence with them from His Maje­sty in any particular proposed for the ease or benefit of the Com­mon wealth; what was during that time done by His singular Ju­stice and excesse of Bounty is so well and particularly known to all the World, that if your Treason and Rebellion were away, there would be ingratitude enough left to make you odious to the pre­sent, and infamous to succeeding Ages. When did the first Act of your defence begin? Not till you came to Edgehill; then I must con­fesse, you were put to it: for it cannot bee denied, the King went eight Miles out of His way to finde you; from thence you tooke your stile of defensive Arms; except you will needs date them from the tenth of January, when you had been overun by the Law, if that defensive Army of the City had not been raised to rescue and pre­serve the good Lord of Kimbolton, and his five pretious Members from a legall proceeding.

In this sense you have, I confesse, beene much upon the defensive part, otherwise you never pretended ground or Argument for your taking Armes, but Feares and Jealousies, no danger of an assault from an active Enemy; except some few Papists under ground, whom your vigilancy hath kept still there. When you first voted your great Generall, and raysed your wanton Army, it was to fetch up the King to you from Yorke, not to defend your selves against him: and you cannot but know you were so farre from being in danger to be assaulted, that setting aside your acts of hostility in your Votes and Ordinances, by which you had surprised Forts, Townes, and the whole Navy, when you had a formed Army of Horse and Foot (I beleeve much greater then you have now) the King had not so many Muskets, as you had Cannon, nor so many Swords as you had Companies; and on my Conscience (I will so [Page 7] farre excuse you from intending it should come to this) if you had thought He could have got any, your Lordship and many more of your good friends, who for quietnesse sake have done much mis­chiefe, would have prevented these troubles. But why are you lesse ashamed to be couzened still then to confesse you have been so; you expressed well in your owne honest Speech, how much you have beene deceived, trust them no more that deceived you, much of that is fallen out you then foresaw, the rest will follow, it is a mi­sery to foresee, and not to prevent, at least bearing a part in doing the mischiefe which you foresee must destroy the Doers. Remem­ber you were told there was no designe against Bishops to alter the Government of the Church, you see they are now inconsistent with the Protestant Reformed Religion, and a new way must be found out of Goverment; and then as M. Martin, and M. Morly use you now, M. Case and M. Calamy will use you then, betweene both, you will be a great Lord. Remember you were promised when this Army was first raised, there should be no fighting, no Resistance, (and in truth when you saw Votes could enable you to raise Armies, who had no power, it is no wonder you beleeved they could keep the King from raising any who had Power) that the King should be brought gently up to you, and you should have what Places you pleased: There hath been fighting and resistance, the King is not yet brought up to you, & I do not find the places are like to be disposed as you desire. You were assured all possible re­gard was to the safety of the King, & you were your self required by your Protestation to promise to defend His Person, you have since been assured in what danger His Person hath been, by the assault of your Army, and you are now compelled to sweare you will assist that Army against him; When will you thinke your selfe couzened enough to abhorre these men? doe you not yet apprehend that these men every day whilst they perswade you they intend a Peace, doe somewhat to make Peace impossible? Is the imprisoning the Kings Messengers who come to move you to Peace; the accusing the Queene of high Treason for loving Her Husband, and for doing that for which the present Age must reverence and posterity will envy Her; the murthering of the two good men of Bristoll in cold blood (a murther that will call for Vengeance from God, and Ju­stice [Page 8] from the King till a full expiation) and this new sacred Vow, excellent ingredients towards a Peace? Are you awake, and doe not see those things throwne in only to make Peace impossible, but content your selfe with a Vote that your Armes are defensive, when all the distractions and all the Violence throughout the King­dome are the effects of those Arms.

The next Article of your Creed is, that these godly Forces of yours are for the defense of the true Protestant Reformed Religion; This indeed hath alwayes beene your care, and your Reputation, but give me leave to tell your Lordship I much feare you rather hate that which is not the Protestant Religion, then love that which is. I will not grieve your memory by representing to you the happy flourishing state of the Protestant Religion in this Kingdome, till your Counsells disturbed and endeavoured to de­face it. Let Vs onely consider what you have acted and what you have designed towards this defence, and to use your owne phrase of your Covenant, in order to the Security and preservation of this Religion. There is not a Godly, Learned, Orthodox Divine in England, whom you have not traduced, imprisoned, or eminent­ly reproached and discountenanced, even those whose Learning and Integrity first gave credit and reputation to your great Refor­mers; you have not only difused and suppressed that Excellent Book of Common-Prayer, (the first and glorious instance in this Kingdome of the true Reformed Protestant Religion) but scurri­lously and prophanely reviled and scoffed at it, to the scandall of Christianity; you have carried your selves with such impious and debosh behaviour in Churches and Consecrated places, commit­ting such horrid and Beastly outrages, that the Heathen themselves would tremble at the mention of them, and all this out of pure zeale to the true Reformed Protestant Religion. This you will say is done withou your Consents by the disorderly Souldiers, whom you can­not restraine. By your Lordships favour you have very pretty Votes of one or both Houses which directly encourage those Souldiers to most of this. What remedy have you provided for these disor­ders, if the King concurred with you in all you propose to your selves? You have presented Him a Bill to pull downe the whole Fabricke of Church Government, to leave Heresie, Incest, Blasphe­my, [Page 9] and Adultery, as unpunishable as any other Acts of good fel­lowship, to take away His Supremacy, and so cancell the Oath you have all taken to Him, and to take away Bishops, and so cancell the Oath He hath taken at His Coronation to defend and protect them, and have not yet so much as fancyed amongst our selves into what shape you will lick that monstrous Chaos you would pro­duce, this you leave to your Synod, of such men, as most of them no Schooles or Nurseries of Learning ever knew, men never knowne or heard of but by their Faction, Treason, and Rebellion, such who never had title or subsistance in the Church of England, till your Votes, as Patron and Ordinary, imposed them upon Parishes, and over Cures in the places of those, whose Religion was not Rebel­lion. Oh (my Lord) can you forget the excellent times in which you were borne, and the happy times in which you have since li­ved, the flourishing state of Religion here in Doctrine and Disci­pline, in the Lives and Learning of so many reverend Divines famous throughout Christendome, can you so much forget this, to beleeve these courses, the way to defend the true Reformed Protestant Religion? If you were a Protestant two yeares since, I am sure they are none whose directions you now follow; Is the countenancing and joyning with Anabaptists, and Brownists, (names as odious to you, and so mentioned by you even in your last Letter, as the Papists) to advance the Protestant Religion? But 'tis no wonder when you take your Rules of Allegiance and Fide­lity from Traitors and Rebells, that you should take your directi­ons of Religion from Hypocrites and Schismatiques. I doe not know your face better then your heart in this point, you are no more of my Lord Sayes mind in Religion, then Bishop Wren is; when you have recovered the Courage to love Truth againe, this Clause if there were nothing else in your Covenant, will take your Sleep from you, and leave you no comfort, but in the Charity of those you have indeavoured to destroy.

A word now of the Liberty of the Subject, the last pretence of your Army, and I have done. In so sad an Argument I should not be merry with you, and say, that by this Liberty of the Subject, you meane Liberty in every Subject, to doe what he list, which indeed seemes to be the proper businesse of your Army, and yet I [Page 10] would you would leave men this liberty, that you would not com­pell them to be worse then they have a minde to be, and you would be contented to absolve them from the Law, and trust them with their owne inclinations; though you pull downe the Inclosures, use no violence to hunt them from their knowne Pathes; let their owne love of Liberty lead them, without being driven by your fury: Consider the liberty of the Subject before you found out this device to defend it; How strongly was it guarded and fenced by knowne, cleare, excellent Lawes, not capable of any dammage or inconvenience, to which there was not a proper reparation and re­medy prepared: if any little breaches had been made in this Fence (for in comparison of the gappes you have since made in it in one howre, what was done in 16 yeares before was but little) with what diligence, Industry and Bounty did His Majesty comply with you to make them up, and so finished the Worke, that if you had not taken all this monstrous paines to destroy it, you Country now had beene the wonder and envy of Christendome, in Peace, and all the Ornaments of Beauty, Plenty, and Lustre which Peace de­sires to be adorned with: What pressure or violation was offered to this Liberty when you first tooke up your defensive Armes? See now to what degree you have advanced it, as it hath reference to our Goods, Estates, your Ordinances of sequestration, your weekly Assessements, and your order for the twentieth part, abundant­ly expresses your Care; as it hath reference to Our Persons, the full Gaoles in all places, and the very many Houses you have tur­ned into Gaoles for the safe keeping of Our Liberty, will bee rare Monuments to Posterity, as it concernes Our Conscience, you need no other Evidence (though you have store) then this your sacred Vow and Covenant. If this be your course to defend Liber­ty, I would you would for variety sake practise some way to de­stroy it, it may be it might prove the more Sovereigne Remedy to the Common-wealth: Tis Mr. Pyms third Observation of the evill Conscience of those who were in the late Plot, they that pretended to take Armes to defend their owne Property, obtained a Commission to violate the Property of others, they would take the Assertion of the Lawes of the Land, but assumed to them such a power, as was most contrary to that Law, to seize upon their Persons without due pro­cesse, [Page 11] to impose upon their Estates without Consent, to take away some lives by the Law Martiall; This is a Text I hope your Lord­ship will beleeve, and is so truly an instance of evill Conscience, that if His Majesty had used these words in any of His Messages or Declarations, they had beene voted at least an imputation up­on both Houses, and a Censure of their Proceedings. But Mr. Pym may Libell against you (and in earnest you will finde most of his speechs to be such) without breach of Priviledge, hee hath found out too new Conservators of our Liberty which wee never heard of till now, instead of King, Lords and Commons, The Par­liament, (that is the close Committee) the City, and the Army are the three vitall parts of the Kingdome, in which (he sayes) not only the well being, but the very life and being of it doth consist, and yet they perswade your Lordship they are willing to disband this Army. You will say these Invasions upon Liberty are the effect of these distempers, which 'tis your businesse to suppresse, which being done the Subject shall have no more cause to complaine. But, my Lord, We that live at a distance have well observed that the prin­ciples and foundations for all this mischiefe were laid, long be­fore your Mistresse Necessity was owned by you, long before your Armes were raised; all your rapines, all your Plundrings and Imprisonings are not more destructive to the Liberty of the Subject, then your Votes of the fifteenth of March, your assuming power so to declare Law, that what you said or did, was therefore Law be­cause it was yours. How many men were imprisoned and undone by you, expresly against the Law and the Petition of Right? How many Acts of Parliament suspended, and actions done by you in a Diameter, contrary to Acts of Parliament, so that in truth all your excesses since which you excuse by imputing them to your Army, and the raising that Army, are but superstructures upon the foundations you laid in your calmest and most undisturbed Government, and there is nothing that you of the moderate Party have since refused to con­sent to, which might not very well have followed from some of those propositions which even your selves have before admitted, defended, and contrived.

I have troubled your Lordship longer in this Argument then I meant, and have the vanity to believe, that your often reading this [Page 12] over, though it be no more then you knew before, may make some impression in you, do not thinke that which is in it selfe simply ill can be made good by a Vote, or that the word Parliament can give Reputation to Actions absolutely wicked in themselves: Mr. Pym tells you in this goodly Speech of his, that a Parliament is but a Carcase when the freedome of it is suppressed, that is it bee deprived of its owne Liberty, it is left without life or power to keepe the Liberty of o­thers: Alas (my Lord) though you will answer no other part of my Letter, tell mee upon your Honour, would you have taken this last Covenant, if you had had liberty to have refused it, if you had not, where is your freedome of Parliament? Can you yet look upon that Assembly with reverence? Thinke of their number, thinke of their quality, think sadly of their Actions, and you will easily find a way (and there is but one that I know) to evade your Covenant: It was unjustly, impiously, imposed upon you, rashly, unlawfully (to say no worse) taken by you, you ought no [...], you must not keep it▪ But that is not enough, winde yourselfe out of this Labyrinth with Courage and Magnanimi [...]y, and in your [...]vening doe somwhat that may redeeme the faults of the day. Consider that these men who by your Assistance prosper in their bad wayes, are doing their owne businesse, and every day make a Progresse to their owne ends. My Lord Say, since all honest men have been undoing, hath bette [...]ed his own Estate above twenty thousand pounds, besides advancing his younger sonnes to full and ample Revenues: Mr. Pym hath swet to purpose, and hath thrived so well in two years, that he is your equall at least. They who abhorre Bishops revenge themselves at your charge, and every Action that advances that Designe is more pleasant to them then life. Your great Generall hath the Sovereigne delight of opposing the King, and having his Health dranke with lowd Musicke. Pennington, Ven, Fulk, and Manwaring are from broken, beggerly, contemptible Varlets, become your fellow Peers, and no doubt when they have reconciled your Lordships and the Commons into one House, will have the negative voice, which you two have s [...]atched frō the King, deposited in their hands. That vitall part of the Kingdome, the City, will never be trusted in your Custody who have managed all the rest so ill. If any Accident should happen, Providence or Victory to defeat them, these men [Page 13] have been good and wary Husbands, and have the fortitude to love any Country equall to their owne; Is your Lordship of a constituti­on fit to mingle with these men? Is your Revenue improved, or Ex­chequer inlarged since these troubles? Is any one designe of yours satisfied by your concurrence, or can you be content to die a Peere of New-England, or the Isle of Providence? Is not your Reputati­on and interest with all good men lost, and have you one friend left whose face you knew a yeare before this Parliament? These are Melancholique considerations, but you must passe through them, and then if some Noble, at least honest resolution doe not pos­sesse you, resolve to dye the last of your name, and to leave this Character behind you, That notwithstanding all your discourse and pretence of Religion, you would have turned Turke, if the Major part of both Houses, and the stronger part of the Kingdome had required you to take a Covenant to that purpose.