white-hall fayre, or, who buys good penniworths of barkstead the fayre proclamed. barkstead, john, d. . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing b a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing b a estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) white-hall fayre, or, who buys good penniworths of barkstead the fayre proclamed. barkstead, john, d. . p. printed for a.p., [london] : . in verse. attributed to barkstead by wing and nuc pre- imprints. imperfect: print show-through, with slight loss of print. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng roundheads -- anecdotes. -- poetry. great britain -- politics and government -- - -- poetry. a r (wing b a). civilwar no white-hall fayre: or, who buyes good penniworths of barkstead. the fayre proclamed. o yes, come all who doe intend to buy good penniworths; [no entry] d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - robyn anspach sampled and proofread - robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion white-hall fayre : or , who buyes good penniworths of barkstead . the fayre proclamed . o yes , come all who doe intend to buy good penniworths ; doe you want treachery , schisme , sedition , votes , both pro and con , doe you want bane , to kill a nation : doe you want orders , questions , proclamations , covenants , contracts , compacts , protestations . here you may furnisht be , with sives of ayre : o yes , come all then , unto white-hall-fayre . printed for a. p. . white-hall fayre , &c. spectator . here 's a faire well furnisht ? what colonel barkstead , art thou turn'd pedlar , what rarities , make thy packe looke with so full a countenance ; thou art laden with other commodities ( sure ) then thimbles , and silver spoones . pedlar . sir i intrusted am , by our high states , who are the kingdomes rulers , yea their fates , to put to sale , those paper ordinances who broke ere they were charg'd by sad mischances ; for to make money of those rotten lawes which shrunke , and durst not to support the cause . i am authoriz'd to present to view the states quodiblits , and i have a few of their strange wild projections , hard to see , to kill the king , and all his progenie . spectator . pri-thee discover some of those envi'd objects . what 's that thou art so shie to bring out , rip up the belly of thy bag , and let me take a view of all . pedlar . here is a fairing , dangerous to reveale , 't is the late counterfeited , new great seale : with which the commons ratifie their acts , and doe confirme , their treasonable facts . nor is this to be thought , a grand deceit ; for they each one , even kings do counterfeit . the kings power virtually , is in them they say , and therefore share his diadem : and though against all reason , law , and right , they keepe him prisoner , in the isle of wight . by consequence , he doth amongst them sit , if you will please sir , for to credit it . spectator . their principles are altogether paradoxes ; but prithee , what 's that hath so faire an out-side , yet is so black within . pedlar . o sir ! this able is , all hell to daunt , this is the solemne league , and covenant ; a damn'd projection , such as knox found out when hee , and andrew melvill went about for to reforme the scottish kirk , and draw all to imbrace , the presbyterian law . when the earth sweat , for to behold their acts , and hell was plow'd up , with their hellish facts . this is the gordian-knot , that once did tie two kingdomes , in a trayterous amitie . this thrust them forward , bishops to pull downe ; and after that , to ceaze on charles his crowne : while the poore commons , of this bale-full isle were forc't for to be perjur'd , and meane while expos'd to all calamity , and woe ; their persons slaine , their chattels ceaz'd on too ▪ but now the members , having gain'd their ends , they kick the scots off , once their onely friends ▪ the covenant no longer , they regard ; they fought for fame , their brethren for reward . and oliver , even by his sword hath vow'd their government , shall never , be allow'd , spectator . what 's that , that is so patch't and piec't there , with many cuts and slices in 't , as if some sword had been eating out a passage , through and through it . pedlar . this is an ordinance , o' the purest kind ; that maimed soldiers , may some succour find ; those that have lost , a joynt , an arme , a leg , must now no longer , be constrain'd to beg . they shall have a relief , the day is set , from those delinquents states , not found out yet ; their service is summ'd up , and this is all that must bee their reward , an hospitall : three-pence a day , cleane straw , contempt and scorne , this is the badge , that must their armes adorne . spectator . was any other to be expected , but that those who have ruinated others for gaine , should in the end perish themselves by want ; but what more hast thou there , prithee make a full and free discovery ? pedlar . here 's a declaration showes the members , doe repent the woes they have upon , the kingdome brought ; while they good-men , it's welfare sought : therefore to bleare the commons eyes , and for to stint their heavie cryes this doth declare ; they will appoint those men , who to put all in joint , shall heare , their heavie plaints ; redresse all grievances , that them oppresse : though no such thing , they doe intend ; or that their pressures , e're should end . spectator . enough of that , but what is that other scrowle there , thou hast bound up so surely ? pedlar . o sir , this ordinance commands the speedy sale , of bishops lands ; for since the church is quite defac't : why with revenues , is it grac't . this lovely pawne , is layd to pledge to sathan , prince of sacriledge . since now no learning's requisite but what , the spirit doth indite . since coblers , tinkers , weavers , taylors , rope-makers , chandlers , pedlars , saylors can preach , and lovely well can pray , when as the spirit bids them say . since now each dolt , although in jest , can put on black , and bee a priest ; and with his staffe in hand can trace all o're the land from place to place . and mongst the rurals pick up pence ; tearming it supreame providence . what should wee doe , with learned men ; no , let the chaos , come agen . for since no lands the church doth merit , wee all will live , upon the spirit . spectator . church lands are worth a million an acre , and yet whoseever buyes one for a pennie , will lose by the bargaine , but those sacrilegious theeves at westminster , are so flesht in wickednesse , that were it in their power , they would make sale of the golden gates of heaven , and traffick for the emeraulds and saphires that pave it , but what other conceits hast thou ? pedlar . sir , here 's an ordinance , that doth command , that all the royall partie , out of hand depart the city , and for preservation of those good members , that now rule our nation . not come , within ten furlongs of the citty lest they be snapt , by a select committee . hierusalem , the holy citty none but saints , must have their habitation in thee ; and therefore , now away prophane , and come , when you are sent for in againe . none must in london , take up their abode , but the blest round-heads , the elect of god . whom he hath blest , with a pure reformation , to trample on the ruines , of a nation . bow , bow your backs , stoope , stoope and let them ride yee cavaliers , your fate you must abide . spectator . they are immeasurally happy whose occasions will permit them , to keep out of that great but wicked city , who was the first fementer of the late rebellious warre , and will be the last that so arts the greatest for its treacherie ? but what 's that i' the black box there ? pedlar . sir , this some call , hells master-piece , the core and heart of all those ills , that went before . a vile projection , grimme , and dangerous deform'd , defunct , destructive hazordaus . the epitome , and extract of all crimes , that have these seven yeers , abus'd the times . t is call'd an ordinance , that none shall dare lest they gaine death , as those that traytors are . from their leige lord , a letter to receive or , any letter writ from him to give into their hands ; harke , harke , yee nations neere , yee tartars , who doe only demons feare . it is high treason now , for us to doe , that which the law of god injoynes us to . yea and all humane statutes , were they scand command us to obey , our kings command . ring the bells backward , now let all things jarre , as when the furious element mannag'd warre . all things goe quite contrary , blacks call'd white , white black , right is call'd wrong wrong called right . spectator . thou hast showne mee very strange ware , such as never no pedlar before thee could produce ; but is this all ? pedlar . no sir i 'ave one thing more , and this is it , and let swift fame , for aye remember it : pray shut your eyes , for that which now i shew , once forct sol back , when he the lines did view . as when thiestes banquet , stay'd his course , or joshua's prayers , did unyoake his horse . this i doe want a name for , 't is a thing some call a declaration , 'gainst the king ; taxing him for his life ; this if you buy , you have the master-piece of treachery . this , this alone , discovers their false hearts , and that they ever , acted traytors parts . since now for to support , their tottering state they 'l purchase hell , sell sinne , at any rate . they would perswade the world , the kings command did send his father , to the stygian strand . o damn'd contrivers of a nations woe , the ruiners of prince , and people too . come who buyes this , that hee may read and see what vipers our brave westminsterians bee . but now 't is night , and sol is gon , darknesse ore-spreads the horizon : all you , who to white-hall repaire pray enter , and behold the faire . for such a faire was never knowne , nor ne're will bee , when this is gone . finis . the conversion, confession, contrition, comming to himselfe, & advice, of a mis-led, ill-bred, rebellious round-head which is very fitting to be read to such as weare short haire, and long eares, or desire eares long / written by john taylor. taylor, john, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing t estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the conversion, confession, contrition, comming to himselfe, & advice, of a mis-led, ill-bred, rebellious round-head which is very fitting to be read to such as weare short haire, and long eares, or desire eares long / written by john taylor. taylor, john, - . [ ], p. s.n.], [oxford? : . a pretend biography of a perverted weaver. reproduction of original in huntington library. eng roundheads. a r (wing t ). civilwar no the conversion, confession, contrition, comming to himselfe, & advice, of a mis-led, ill-bred, rebellious round-head. which is very fitting taylor, john c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the conversion , confession , contrition , comming to himselfe , & advice , of a mis-led , ill-bred , rebellious round-head . which is very fitting to be read to such as weare short haire , and long eares , or desire eares long . written by john taylor . printed , . the conversion , confession , contrition , comming to himselfe , and advice of a misled , ill-bred , rebellious round-head . he goes farre that never turn's , but if i had not turn'd squarely and quickly from my orbicular singularity , or circular rotundity , i might corporally have turn'd round under the gallowes , and spiritually gone roundly to the devill . therefore know all you ( my seduced , abused , misled and bewitched brethren ) that though in this following discourse , i doe treat particularly or single of my selfe , yet i would have you understand , that my intention is generall too , and of as many as have been wickedly cheated by the devill or his agents , factors , and broakers , of their soules , their consciences , their loyalties , their lives , their goods , their wits , their monies , and what not ? be it knowne unto all men ( i could have said neverint vniversi , but that i loved neither latine nor vniversity ) that i was an honest weaver , and in my quondam time , or dayes of yore , i whileom dwelt in white-chappell neare , that great magazine of mischiefe , london , where i liv'd poorly , painfully , patiently , and contentedly ; neither wanting or abounding , not greedy or needy , having neither debters to pay me , or my selfe any debts to pay . thus did i spend my diebis illis in a mellifluous , dulcet , candid halcion of harmony , which continued to the expiration of a iury of almanacks , ( for so long i liv'd single , & wore batchelers buttons , till i was at the yeares or age of whipper-ginnie ) and then i was unluckily ingeminated to a reverend corpulent mid-wife ( or mad-wife ) one whose experienc'd gravity , and grave experience , did quickly asswage the fervor of my concupiscentiall cupidity , that before the consumption of one moones various perambulation , my old new bride , had so metamorphis'd my flexible pericranian , that i resolv'd to waver from a weaver , intending to cast the beame out of mine eye , which was no sooner in , but the shuttle entred into my braine , so that ( before i was aware ) my head was turn'd with a trice , as round as a top or whirligigge . for my motherly wife had at the least daughters , maydes , wives , widdowes , married , and unmarried , all breeders ( or teeming women ) the most , or greatest number of which , were exceeding zealous in sundry religions ( scarce three of them in threescore in one opinion ) all devout in diversities , and all differing in their devotions ; and from all these ( my sincere wife saphira ) had sucked so many documents and doctrines , that she could discourse and dispute of all points of religion , beyond her understanding ; all which she made me so perfect in , that i was quickly perfectly mad , and imperfectly out of my wits ; for i had as many new diseases in my mind , as a horse could have in his body ; first the wind chollick of selfe love , and ambition made me presume to seeme to know more , and interpret the scriptures more neare the originall , then all the learned and reverend bishops and doctors could doe . secondly , i was broke-winded with a round whirlewind of tautology , that i held him the rarest man that could talke longest , and beleeved the greatest lyes to be certaine truths . thirdly , i was troubled with the staggers , that betwixt the dura mater of schismaticall opinions , & the pia mater of the true protestant doctrine , there were some whimsies infus'd , which made my braines constantly inconstant , tost to and fro ( like a dogge in a blanket ) giddily from one new purified conventicle to another , and ( like a iade ) i had all paces within the circumclusion of my supernodicall noddle , i could pace , amble , trot , hand-gallop , wild-gallop , fals-gallop , tongu-gallop , to all the private meetings , holy assemblies , seditious consultations , brownisticall rebellions , anabaptisticall , fustian fopperies , zealous treasons , and most devout disobedience ; i travell'd to every contentious congregation , and edified most wickedly wheresoever i came , i was at boston , in lincolnshire , where i heard mr anderson the diligent preacher say , that the earle of essex was michaell the archangell , and that the king was the dragon , which he must tread under his feet . verily it was strange doctrine to me , and i ( like an asse ) beleeved him , for i thought that preachers should not lye , or speake blasphemy and treason in the pulpits . but since my conversion i find , that the archangell michaell and the dragon are typicall , figurative or allegoricall allusions , of christs treading downe of satan , and his triumphant victory over death and hell . it were too much for me to write , or any reader to read the numberlesse instructions that those topheticall lecturers did in too many places belch and bluster out , and all to no other end but ( their owne ends ) to draw , inforce , entice , perswade , admonish and compell by all meanes to be rebells against god and the king , to despise the church-governours government , to trample downe all law , and order , to scorne obedience , to hate loyalty , to contemne faith , truth , and honesty , to steale , robbe , plunder , wound , deflowre , ravish , imprison , fine , begger , and murther all , that durst obey god in the observing of the protestant religion , or be loyall to the king in the obedience to him , and observation of the lawes established . in a word , i quickly learn'd the art of ignorance , the mystery of iniquity , the science of villany , the society of rebellion , the vocation of treason , the function of hypocrisy , and the knavery of all trades . i had an excellent memory to forget , to forgive any injury , and i was infus'd with an admirable forgetfulnes , not to remember benefits received . me thought he was but a barren stirrell-brain'd preacher , that could not rayl at the king , abuse my suffering lord , revile the state , and call the right honourable lords , wicked councellors ; i heard one at roderhich ( or rederiffe neare london ) exhort the people on a sunday , to be valiant and couragious in the cause , that they ought not to stand in feare , or to be awed , cowed , or commanded , by the power or authority of any one man , nor should they be afraid to sheath their swords in the bowells of him and his posterity , ( whosoever he was ) without respect of persons ; and verily the man talk'd exceedingly edifying , i was taken mightily with his doctrine , and so were many more of the brethren and sisters at that time , in that sanctimonious congregation . there was at the hearing of him one taylor ( whom some doe style , intitle , nominate , and cognominate , the aquaticall , or water-poet ) he ( i say ) was so bold to say then and there , on the day aforesaid , in the place aforesaid , that the preacher aforesaid , that prated the lecture aforesaid , was worthy to be hang'd , as aforesaid , as many traitors had been aforesaid , in other princes raignes aforesaid , for lesse fault then aforesaid , for the which taylor aforesaid , for saying as aforesaid , was like to be knock'd aforeside and backside , but that he made use of his heeles , got into a boat and away , as aforesaid . thus these provoking , moving , unbenefic'd lecturers did fill me and the rest with such forcible undoing documents , that we were all mad till we were undone and begger'd ; i ran with all speed and carried that plate and mony i had to the guile-hall , where some crafty merchants , like decoy ducks , had brought in their plate first , which was heaped and piled up to make a glistering show , to draw and toll in such poor widgeons and woodcocks as my selfe , to bring our goods and mony in . and afterwards the rich decoyes did take theirs away againe , whilst we left our estates there , having no other security but the most immense , unlimitable , inimitable , universall , inexhaustible , and unvaluable publique faith . which faith i have found ( by singular deplorable experience ) to be nothing kin to the symboll of the faithful good men and true , for their faith was , and is a saving faith , but i have lost all the goods and goodnes that i had by fixing my hopes upon the rotten foundation of the faith politick and publick . besides every good faith ( or creed ) hath good articles ; but this new faith hath but two , ( which two are true both , without contradiction ) which are , give or lend with a good or an ill will , and be cheated , or begger'd like a foole ; or deny to give or lend , and be imprisoned , rifled , and undone ; upon these two maxims is this faith grounded , and will be proved authenticall by witnesses , and some of them have seald it with their bloods . it was in disputation what trade or craftsmen they were that first invented this new rare detrimentall faith ; some said they were taylors , that with the mysticall sheeres of their authority , could cut the common-wealth ( like broad-cloath ) into what shape or fashion they pleas'd , making such large shreds as may keep them and their childrens children warme till doomes day . some said they were the only skilfull fishers in the world , and that they went beyond ovid in metamorphising , for they had transform'd this kingdome into a sea , and all the goods of the kingdome were turn'd into fishes , which they catch'd with the net of their almighty power , and dispos'd of as they pleas'd , the mashes of the said net being so cunningly and strongly woven , that the huge leviathan , or the mighty whale , the overgrowne grampus , or mounting pork-pice , could not breake through , nor the small pilchard , the little sprat , or the least minnow could escape , ( for the proverbe in them was verified ) all is fish that comes to the net . but there was a third sort that said the publique faith was made by a company of dyers , that dyed nothing but false fading colours , scarce using any wood at all but logwood , and such sophisticated stuffe being their chief materialls , which would not hold colour , but staine & spotted shamefully , so that the people conceiving themselves to be gulld and consend , and the diers ( taking notice of the peoples distast ) will give over dying of false colours any more , and doe purpose shortly to dye knaves in graine . j am almost mad , frantique , lunatique , besides my selfe , out of my wits , at my wits end , or ( call it what you will ) j am not as i might , could , would , should , or ought to be , in confiding what paines , cost , and perill j have undergone , to make my selfe a beggerly thiefe , a rebell , a traitor , or any thing , but an honest man , and now too late , i find that knavery is a deare purchase , and that truth & a good conscience may be had and maintain'd at a cheaper rate then villany . it greeves me to remember how often his majesties forces have taken paines to beat me and my breathren into a little good manners ; yet i cannot chuse but rejoyce at a speech spoken by a valiant vintner at the george at queenhith , he being one of the trained-band of london , swore he would catch the king , & came purposely to newbury battell , on wednesday the of september last , for that purpose , but being well thwackd there , and ( with the nimblenes of his feet ) got home againe , he swore that he would never ( whilst he liv'd ) go any more a king catching . and thus , by the sway and command which mother midnight my wife bare over me , and the false instigations of such pulpiteers , which she ( upon the paine of her scolding sealding hot indignation ) inforc'd me to heare and beleeve , i grew to such a passe , that i held the greatest rebells to be the most worthy of places of eminency , and titles of excellency , and that they ( alone ) were the best subjects and truest christians that did most oppose the king , the law , the gospell ( and the epistles too ) without all manner & forme , as followed , for the first , it is said i should have but one god , which i find and know now to be he that brought all the israelites out of aegyptian bondage under pharaoth , and hath also delivered and redeemed all true beleevers from the eternall thraldome of our spirituall aegypt , from our slavery under sinne , death , and hell ; this god commands , we should have no other gods but him , but j ( with my associates ) instead of serving him , ( the only god ) serv'd no god at all . moreover my zeale was so hot , that because superstitious services hath above yeares agoe , been used in our churches , because romish masses , and too many idolatrous rites have been said , sung , and frequently exercised long since in our cathedralls and other churches and chappells ; therefore , because they have been abused formerly , i thought it convenient , to disgrace , deface , demolish , cast downe and ruinate all those famous fabricks , and magnificent structures , never remembring ( like a rogue as i was ) that the churches were not to blame , for the abuses committed in them , and that the holy ghost did gratiously enter and dwell in a woman , whom seven devills had formerly possest . secondly , whereas he commands no graven image , or any figure or likenes to be made and worshipped , i ( like an ignorant asse ) presently beganne to teare , spoyle , and pull downe , all ornaments , ceremonies , decent gestures , and all things whatsoever was any way laudable , or any memory either of patriarke , prophet , christ , apostle , saint , martyr , or confessor , all which we knew to be neither papisticall or superstitious , neither would any one that hath wit or grace , either pray , adore , or confide in , to , or before , any thing , but to the almighty maker of heaven and earth , and his blessed sonne our gracious redeemer . we knew the crosse in cheap-side , was a stately and sumptuous ornament to the city , and it signified to all nations of christendome , besides turkes , iewes , pagans , heathens , infidells , and atheists , might take notice by that , and all other crosses , that we were not asham'd to be christians , or to maintaine the signe or memory of our saviour crucified . thirdly , there hath no perfidious perjur'd people , that have more prophaned or taken the name of the lord in vaine , then we have done . i ( for my part ) did sweare and take the oath of allegiance , and after that i took the oath of supremacy , which oathes and vowes any reasonable man may beleeve had been sufficient , and fit to be held and kept inviolable , but ( as if those were of no validity , and that we might equivocate , juggle , and play at fast and loose with the searcher of all hearts ) i with thousands more of fooles and wicked wretches , some voluntary , and malitiously , and some upon constraint , fearfully & foolishly , took and bound our selves by oaths , vows , protestations , of combinations , associations , and contracts , quite contrary to all that we had formerly sworne , for our last swearing , were to continue rebells all the dayes of our lives . fourthly , we have in generall , or for the most of us , remembred to unsanctifie the sabboth day , that whereas the lord commanded it strictly to be observed for a day of rest , we have frequently prayed , preached and practised on that day chiefly , nothing but disturbant rebellions , treasons , commotions , seditions , and most horrible blasphemies , wherein the lord and the lords anointed , were either ridiculously , or treacherously abused , and neither the peace of god or the kingdome so much as mentioned . fiftly , whereas we are commanded to give honour to parents , or our fathers and mothers , whether they be kings , queenes , or any other spirituall or temporall fathers and magistrates , or our naturall fathers and mothers , or maisters , who should rule and governe us ; in stead of honouring them , we have trod all honour , obedience , allegiance , loyalty , respect , and duty under foot ; the subjects have fought against the soveraigne , the people have despised the magistrate , the servants have resisted against their maisters , and the sonnes have drawn their swords , and sheath'd them in the bowells of their fathers . the sixth commandement forbids doing any murther , and we have observ'd it so well , that we have , by committing most barbarous and inhumane murthers and slaughters , made this sometimes kingdome of peace , an aceldema , or field of bloud , a very golgotha of dead mens sculls , as if it were the slaughter house of the world , and shambles of butcher'd mans flesh for all the anthropophagie of man-eating canniballs . seaventhly , adultery is forbidden , and for the defence and maintenance of adultery , we have providently forbidden all power and authority that should punish it , so that we having freedome , as beasts have , have done worse then beasts would do , for some sons have made so bold with their owne mothers , that they have proved with child by them so that with incests , adulteries , rapes , deflowrings , fornications , and other veneriall postures & actions which daily passe and escape uncontrolled & unpunish'd , and as it may be conjectur'd tolerated , england is almost chang'd in that point to the isle of paphos , and if this world hold venus is like to be mother of the maydes . eightly , thou shalt not steale ; alas the breach of this commandement hath been the only prop , & supportation in maintaining this unmatchable rebellion , and all the rebells that are in it , were it not for stealing , theft , robbery , plundering , and forcible extorting , we might all go hang our selves , for if once we give over theeving , then comes peace , to which we are mortall enemies . ninthly , we should not bear false witnesse against our neighbours , and we hold none to be our neighbours that love or obey either god or the king ; therefore we hold it no sinne to traduce , slander , scandalize , belye , and falsely to testifie , accuse , and beare false wicked witnes against any honest man whosoever , and in our testimony we have been beleeved and rewarded , countenanced and defended . concerning the tenth and last commandement , which saith , thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy neighbours , be it either , house , wife , servant , cattle , r goods ; it is written that covetousnesse is the root of all evill , and had we not coveted things that were none of our owne , and with an avaritious greedy desire , raked and ransack'd that which belong'd not unto us ; then had the king still had our bounden obedience & tributary duty , then had all true subjects quietly enjoyed their owne , then had his majesty not been depriv'd of his townes , his ships , his castles , his magazines , his houses , his lands , his customes , his children , his revenue , his ammunition , his subjects , and as neare as we could , of all that was neare or deare unto him , then had these mischiefs never have been begun , this kingdom had not lain weltring in her own bloud , we had not then been involved in unspeakable misery , nor kept in this perpetuall slavery , under the abortive and usurping power of a pretended parliament-everlasting . thus have i ( with the rest of my wicked brethren ) broken all the ten commandements , but we should have broak the th too , if we had heard of it , and infringed all the lawes of god , of man , of nature , of nations , of arts and armes , and in brief of all goodnes both divine and morall ; so that to make a particular confession of all the abhorred crimes we have committed , i am perswaded that auricular confession would be wearied , and all the race of mankind would be return'd to the first matter , or nothing , of which it was made ; but i humbly and heartily desire that this my acknowledgement & contrition , may not only have remission , but also admission againe into my most wronged soveraignes grace and favour , of which happines i am in certain hope , though i doe almost despaire that too many of my malitious and stiffe brethren , though they know they have been accursed rebells , yet they will rather go on desperately with iudas ( be hang'd ) or hang themselves , then with peter , repent and weep bitterly for their apostacie . as naughty boyes , when they first practise pilfering , begin to steale pins , and proceed to poynts , and passing unreproved , fall at last to be perfitly grammard in the art of filching , theeving , and robbery , and make no scruple to commit any felony or villany , so i at first , was but drawne in like an ignorant sot , and shortly came to the degree of a malitious knave , and in a little time ( with the help of the devill ) i grew to the high calling of a rebell , and shortly after ( me thought ) treason was the only way to be secure , and the impregnable bulwark to defend me from the stroke and battry of law and iustice , for all my former notorious crimes committed , any manner of roguery , whereby the king might be injurd , was as good as cake and custard to me , and every scurvy song , rime , lecture or libell against the office and persons of bishops , courtiers , and cavaliers , was as sweet musique to me , as the fat end of a pudding , i was at a market towne , called mansfield , in the forrest of sherwood in nottinghamshire , where my brethren bravely threw , pull'd and haled downe the market crosse , and after that they spied a carved round piece of wood in the forme of a crowne , which was fairly wrought , painted and guilded , and stood for the signe of the crowne , which we ( like most violent valiant villaines ) did pluck from the signe post , and in reverence to the crowne , & duty to the king , we drag'd it through the dirt , and kick'd it about the streets ( o brave rogues ) so that the widdow hall , who was owneresse of the house , was faine to have a new signe made at her owne charge , and verily this was then , me thought , very pretty , foolish , witty , roguish pastime . indeed we were all so infused or enthusiasmed with the babilonian confusion of amsterdamnable religions and opinions , that we could never be quiet , till we had brought our selves unto the slavery of the rotter-dam'd excise ; for we had wisely considered that forraigne nations , with all their strength and policies , could never invade or overcome us , & therefore we thought it honourable to imitate aiax , for as none but aiax had the glory to kill aiax , so none but englishmen shall be famous for ruinating england , much like the pretty bird called a viper , who , as it is related by gesur , doth murther his mother by gnawing a passage out of her womb into the world . besides we were infected with the heresie of the counsellors of benadad king of syria . . king. . that god was the god of the hills , and therefore we alwayes ranne to the hills , and skulk'd in woods and hedges , ( like theeves and bandittes ) for we never durst to shew our selves against the kings forces in the plaines , nor once abide the hazzard of a faire pitchd field ; and yet for all these poor shifts and tricks , it hath alwayes been our good fortune to be beaten , and to runne away to london , and there we patchd up our rebellious cowardly disasters , with victorious lies , in pamphlets and lectures , not worth pence a piece . as concerning the four cardinall vertues ( iustice being one ) one truly said there was more iustice in hell then in the close committee , for ( said he ) in hell there are none punishd but bad men , such as are prophane atheists , schismatiques , rebells , traitors , thieves , cheators ; but these learned thebans do afflict , imprison , murder , and torment , none but good men , such as are true protestants , loyall subjects , and such as have a care and conscience to live in gods feare , that by so living they may most happily dye in his favour . and another , of our owne tribe , being demanded more mony to spin out the cause , he was so bold to tell the publican tax and toll gatherers , that they who set them on worke were more uncharitable then the devill , for which words he was brought before the tribunall of the magnificent , almighty committee , and being examined , he confest he spake the words , and would prove that the devill had more charity then they ; for the devill did first bereave or take away iobs children , before he took away his goods , but they did pill poll and take from him all his goods and livelyhood , and left him his children to be starv'd , for they had squeezd and draind him to the last drop , and left him nothing to buy bread to put in his childrens heads , and just so much is their universall charity . and whereas at the first they rebelled most gloriously , with gold and silver cursed contributions ; now they are descended to that humble degree of treason , that they make shift to botch and peece out their wicked designes , with goods and chattells , and with the sale of all manner of houshold-stuffes , from the altitude of the most stately arras or tapistery hangings , to the low descent and profundity of the cole-house , or house of office , and ( in imitation of the emperour vespatian ) who made mony by the sale or custome of vrine , so they have , out of the profit of plundered pispots and close-stooles , made a stinking stirre , all over this afflicted kingdome , insomuch that he is worthy to be accounted a witch or a cunning man , that can tell us before hand , what will be their next shift , milo the crotinian ( or creatan ) was famous for strength and a good stomack , for it is reported that he brought up a bull calfe , and every day would lift and carry the say beast , by which daily exercise and practise , he could carry him when he was grown to be a bull , and that he killd the said bull with a blow with his fist , and eat him up every bit in one day . and one nicholas wood , a great eater in kent , would eat up a hogge or a sheep of twenty shillings price at one meale , these monsters were , and are famous in memory , for having good stroakes in the mouth ▪ some are remembred for lascivious luxury , us heliogabalus , some for drinking , as alexander , some for pride as tarquin , &c. but we shall ever stand upon record for the most unmatchable renowned rebells , that ever liv'd in any age or nation , iack straw , watt tyler , iack cade , lambert simuel , perkin warbeck , and all the rabble of such fellowes never came neer us in impiety and treachery , for they did never spoyle and demolish churche and church ornaments ▪ as we have done , and it is worthy of a most regarding consideration , that his majesties forces wheresoever they have come , have not any way used any prophanation or i●reverent demeanor towards any church ▪ chappell , or house that hath been consecrated or dedicated to the service and honour of god . so that the turkes , pagans , and infidels would have shewed more civility , and lesse barbarous savage brutishnesse then we have done . i tell you plainly , and most truly certify you ( my too much wicked and misconstruing brethren ) that i was perswaded in my conscience , ( as many knaves and fooles have been ) that the king was enclined towards the romish religion , but since the eyes of my mind are open , and that i hold it a slandering unreverend and traiterous aspersion , to say or think that either queen elizabeth , or king iames of ever blessed memories , were papists , or did allow or tolerate any popish doctrine , and that now finding that my most gratious king charles , hath alwaies been , is , and will be till his earthly period , a most constant defender of the true faith , as those two his royall predecessors were , and as his inviolable oathes and protestations doe confirme , and farther as his unparalleld life and conversation justifies : for in all the towns , congregations , churches and chappels , which have been and are under his majesties command , there was never seen or heard any one masse , to be said , much lesse to be allowed or connived at . therefore i boldly doe give all those malitious , ignorant villaines the lye , which lye ( without repentance ) will sink them to their father of lies , and therefore i pray you to examine what mischiefes have been committed , by our unmannerly , base mistakes , feares and causelesse iealousies , & once more humbly returne from the common road-way , that leads to inevitable destruction , let us no more believe any capcase , candlecase , fiddlecase , prating lecturer , let us no longer be gulld with false pamphlets , and abominable lying diurnalls , who are all as full of lyes , as the writers of them are of sin , for i have seen some of those famous devisers and writers of weekly newes , that are so free and guiltlesse of shifting , that they hold a clean shirt odious , and quite out of fashion , and halfe a breech , with a doublet one sleeve hath been their only ware , eighteen pence , being a stationers price for a coppy , which presently the learned author quaffes , puffes , and pipes away in fecundious ale , and oderiferous mundungoe . i have called to mind that , ever since we began to be rebells and schismaticks , that we never gaind any good , or did any thing worthy the name of well done . but as our leaders have been mischievously malitious , and treacherous , so we have executed their damnable inventions , to ruine the protestant doctrine , our king , and our selves , and this is the sweet summe of all our detestable paines and profits . our inventions and actions have all been opposite to piety and humanity , so that if there were no other argument to prove his majesty to be godly , good , gratious , and every way a compleat unmatchable prince for his innated virtues , our disloyalty , our aversenesse , our refractory stubbornnesse , were sufficient proof of his transcendent clemency and goodnesse ; for as lyeing astronomers , when they prognosticate of a fowle day , or an unseasonable harvest , are ( or should be ) asham'd when the weather falls out faire temperate and successefull ; so we with shame , horror , and terror of consciences , may hang downe our wicked round-heads , and blush ( if we were not past grace ) when we doe but think how ungratiously , undutifully , and perfidiously , we have dealt with so gratious a soveraigne , upon no other grounds but malicious ignorance . if there were no other mark , signe or token to prove the office and dignity of bishops to be derivative from christ and the apostles , our opposition is approbation sufficient , that they have been , are , and ought to be beloved , believed , reverenced , and honoured . by which consequence it is apparent to all the world , that those godly members which his majesty hath justly excluded out of his grace and favour , whom we adore and admire , as the idolatrous israelites did the golden calfe ; if there were no other demonstration of the foulenesse of their guilt , our servile , our slavish , our execrable obaying them , and their unlawfull votes , is testimony sufficient to prove the kings exception to be reall , themselves cauterized in their crimes , and all we that have adhered unto them to be miserable , uncivill , simple , poore , abused ▪ cheated , rebellious coxcombs . as the law of god is a glasse of death , wherein men may see their sin , so is the gospell a glasse of grace , where true penit●nts may see their saviour . and as the lawes of this land are ( in their due execution ) rigorous and terrible to such whose guilty soules tells them that they are plunged in horrible treasons , whereby they have precipitated themselves into the bot●omlesse pit of despaire , and by no means will dare to look the law ●r iustice in the face , so a cleare and innocent man hath a breast that is law proofe , he can sleep soundly , and eat his meat in quiet , and if it chance that he be questioned , either by malice or information ▪ he cares not , and the severest censure he feares not , he bears his afflictions with magnanimous fortitude , and whether he live or dye , his sufferings are his glory . and were th●se almighty beggermakers , those memorable members and commanders of our miseries , cleare , & right , as they should be , then they would never feare to put themselves to a fai●e and impartiall tryall of the law , where if then they come handsomely of , their accusers will be perpetually infamous , and themselves will shine with such a burnished splendor , that shall daz'e the eyes , and amaze the soules of their enimies , and their memories shall outlast time , and dwell in glory with eternity . therefore ( my brethren ) let me advise you to hearken no more to them , they have coufened us too much already , they have made us perfect in turning markes to eighteen pence , and nobles to nine pence , and all to nothing ; yet there is hope , though your monies be gone , yet you may have a small proportion of wit left , which ( guided by grace ) may make you turne a little honest , and assure your selves that those who doe dye in this most horrid and damned rebellion , against their iust and lawfull king , they doe dye in as desperate a manner , as those that murther themselves , either by hanging , stabbing , poysoning , drowning , or any other desperate way . returne , god is gratious and mercifull , despaire not , the king is full of piety and clemency , farewell . finis . venn and his mermydons, or, the linen=draper capotted being a serious and seasonable advice to the citizens of london, occasioned by the indirect practices used in the late election of sheriffs / written by a citizen of london. citizen of london. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing v estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) venn and his mermydons, or, the linen=draper capotted being a serious and seasonable advice to the citizens of london, occasioned by the indirect practices used in the late election of sheriffs / written by a citizen of london. citizen of london. [ ], p. [s.n.], london printed : . reproduction of original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng conservatism -- england. roundheads -- controversial literature. great britain -- politics and government -- - . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - celeste ng sampled and proofread - celeste ng text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion venn and his mermydons : or , the linen-draper capotted : being a serious and seasonable advice to the citizens of london , occasioned by the indirect practices used in the late election of sheriffs . written by a citizen of london . london , printed in the year . serious and seasonable advice to the citizens of london , &c. friends and fellow-citizens . the end of these few lines is to persuade peace , which every man pretends to covet ; but the end is not attainable without the use , means , and avoiding that which is of a contrary importance . some few things are here pointed at , which have occasioned disturbance in families , hatred and animosity among neighbours , disorders in the city , oppression and violence in the nation . that such things may not happen amongst us any more , is the design of this paper , and shall be the constant and hearty prayers of the author . it behooves every good citizen to have a watchful eye toward such persons and actions as would cast scorn and contempt upon the meanest instrument of government . it is rare if any man be made desperately wicked at once . evil is propagated by degrees . hard thoughts of our superiour , are often followed with hatred , and after with sedition and rebellion , great things taking their rise from small and insensible beginnings . a cloud of the bigness of a hand , spreads the face of the heavens . thus a disobedient servant proves a bad master , and a worse citizen . if we slacken in the least the chain of our duty , the devil quickly takes advantage . some men who at first detested rebellion , have laughed and talked themselves into disobedience , for which , perhaps , being worthily punished , hath so exasperated their minds , so as nothing wanted for revenge , but an opportunity . others there be , whose great felicity lies in hearing and telling news : these are a sort of busie-bodies , and men for the most part , of small imployment , and as little discretion , that receive all they hear ( especially such things as will please their party ) without examining the probability of its being true or false ; and having heard some odd story , go ( big with it ) to the next club , where it is related with abundance of formality ; and if it be any thing relating to the government , it is ten to one but some surmise or sad descant , as bad as malice can invent , is added over and above . a ready way to introduce a disaffection toward those in authority , and prepare mens minds for disobedience and rebellion : therefore such malapert talkers , who are always finding fault , and like flies , are apt to dwell upon every sore , ought to be brow-beaten , scorned , and opposed by every honest citizen , as the bane of society , and pests of the commonwealth . let us all endeavour to live like men , and christians , and boldly reprove such as offer to put affronts and contempts upon authority : a far readier way to cure their itching malady , than by taking pleasure in their fooleries and impertinencies . let every man in his station pursue those things that make for peace . we are all members of one city , subjects of one kingdom : all embarked in the same vessel , and if that suffers shipwrack , none can promise immunity to themselves . in a word , let us fear god , honour the king , and not meddle with those that are given to change . there is also another sort of men among us , so well conceited as to think themselves fit to be sharers in the government , and are always complaining that something is amiss . men of petulant testy humours , and factious spirits , never contented , never pleased . is it not a shame to think what a foolish and ridiculous attempt was lately made to introduce an officer among us ? did they fansie the government would be trickt into a sheriff ? what was the man ? how qualified , that such sinister and undue practices were used about his election ? i believe but few men will bespeak him master of any extraordinary measure of reason , judgment or piety . as for his estate , that was granted deficient , even by his own faction , as appears by their subscriptions towards the upholding of his grandeur . certainly they have need of a bird that give a great for an owl ! what then ? why the truth is , though nothing can be more ridiculous than empty boldness , yet this mans confident and seditious speaking , which made him obnoxious to the law , hath advanced his reputation with some men to an high rate , who otherwise might have passed along unobserved . is this an office to be carried on with contribution ? is it not one of the highest places of trust in this great city ? ought not he , whoever is elected to that dignity , to be able to bear the charge without auxiliaries , as well for his own security as the cities honour ? for should he fail in that particular , he must not onely be ruined , but the office fall lame by the way . yet this man , till he saw his party confounded , offered without blushing to accept it . it is an office of that trust , as ought to be committed to the care of none but persons of known integrity , religion , and honesty , that in times of danger and disorder , may keep the peace , and not encourage sedition and tumult : one firm in his allegiance to his majesty , and a true protestant according to the church of england . what design these men had in offering their purses so freely toward setting up this puppet sheriff , god and their own hearts onely know ; but certainly it hath an ill aspect , for that during his office he must have been pensioner to the meanest trades-man of his party . some few quakers afforded him their votes , but their frugality and principles , i suppose , would hardly , allow them to club toward feasting or fine clothes . whatsoever their end was , they are not to be approved , who seek to acquire good ends by bad means ; and in this essay they shewed the popish party a new device ( though they have already more tricks than are good ) by subscriptions and cabals to introduce some of their favourites into places of honour and trust . consider the danger and inconvenience that ariseth from the multitude of pamphlets that are published every day , filled with lies and falshood , to the dishonour of god and religion : containing base and unworthy reflections upon most men of the greatest authority in the nation , not sparing at some turns ( though in cunning and canting terms ) the person and government of his sacred majesty . are not all publick actions turned into ridicule by these petty scriblers , who have hardly bread to eat , but what they receive for their weekly copy ? do we not all know that not long since poor robins intelligence was weekly published , where the author took upon him to make a laughing-stock of any person , to whom he was prompted , either by money or malice , or to fill up an empty space in his pamphlet ? and though he forbore to name the persons , yet pointed at them by such notes and characters , as they were easily known by any that were of the neighbourhood , to the great disturbance of families and breach of charity among citizens , till for abusing a person of honour , authority took occasion to chastize his insolence by stopping the press : which particulars , as to him , had been omitted , but that he , or such another , hath , and still doth take upon him to traduce and asperse the justice of the nation , in unworthy and unseemly terms , not caring whether the matter be true or false , so it will help to sell the book . it is true the lord major hath taken some care about those pamphlets , but still there remains a duty upon every private citizen that may tend much to suppressing the mischiefs thereby arising : for if in stead of reading them with delight and complacency , they and their authors were discountenanced , it would contribute much to the quiet and tranquility of the city and nation . let each man observe this decorum ; and for want of reward , those that write them would soon be compelled to turn their pens to some honester imployment . it is no small trouble to men that are peaceably disposed , to see how eagerly the multitude pursue those mischievous vanities which commonly the sharper and more satyrical they are against those in place and authority , find the most ready and approved reception , though to speak plain , it is a certain indication of a depraved constitution , when men are better pleased with things sowre and crude , than with what affords wholesom nutriment . and the youth of this city , with some others , who are but children in understanding , are as it were insensibly tainted with dislike of the government , by receiving those seeds of sedition which afterwards afford an harvest too plentiful , and upon every occasion and opportunity is ready to break forth into open rebellion against those , whom by the law of nature and religion they are bound to obey , esteem , and honour . for my own part i am as deeply sensible of the late horrid and damnable plot against the person of his sacred majesty , and the protestant religion as any man , and am verily persuaded the king himself , and those about him , are sufficiently satisfied how industriously it hath been carried on , contrived , and fomented by the romish emissaries both at home and abroad . but withall , i do profess , i think it our greatest prudence and duty to leave the prosecution of those villanous conspirators to his majesty , and those whom he is pleased to authorize for that purpose , and not for us to meddle with censuring their proceedings , either for method , place , or time , but to rest satisfied with what they shall think fit to do in the matter , lest we be found among the number of those who are heady , high-minded , and speak evil of dignities , and that would rob the king of his diadem . for what is it less , if we cry out that those who sit at the helm are either ignorant , or abettors , or favourers of such horrid designs ; in the one case we presume our selves fitter to govern than they ; and in the other , we render them , so much as in us lies , odious to all men . we all know the romanists have been busie ever since the reformation , to make us again taste of their colocinths and gourds , yet through the goodness of god , and the prudence of our governours their most secret plots have been discovered , their designs baffled , and all their attempts proved the raine of the contrivers . neither have they been yet so formidable , as to offer at any acts of open hostility , unless it can be said they made the presbyterians and independents their drudges in the late times to do their work . and if so , when ever you see them aga●● lab●●ring at the same oar , conclude they are still serving the ends of the same masters , or setting up for themselves . and here it will not be amiss to consider how things stand now , and what motives were frequently used for introducing the late unnatural war. did not the factious of those times seduce the people , by making them believe the late king , of blessed memory , was inclined to popery , or at least a favourer of it ? were not fears and jealousies the main engines used by those bloody miscreants to serve their turns ? and is there not strong presumptions that the same things are endeavoured by the same sort of men to be acted over again ? is it not daily inculcated what danger we are in from the papists , and many a dreadful story told of slavery , popery , tyranny , and arbitrary government , and god knows what ? does any man think that the magistrates are swallowed up in a supine negligence ? hath his majesty , think you , no care of us , nor of himself ? hath he not always with much fervor protested his adherence to the protestant religion ? did he not graciously offer the last parliament to sign any bill they should frame for security thereof after his decease ? is he then so zealous for its preservation after his death , and shall we imagine he will not protect us in the profession of it during his happy reign ? ( which god long continue . ) away then with these fears and jealousies which are formented by men of ambitious designs , turbulent spirits , and aspiring minds . look upon them all as tricks of the old trade . did his majesty ever do any thing that looked like betraying us into slavery ? for gods sake , sirs , consider whither we are going ; let us not be undone again by the same methods we were before . are there not some at this day that long to be fingering the crown-lands , and bishops revenues . be not ensnared with their wicked contrivances , and specious pretences ; and let not us deny that to our soveraign , which by the common suffrages of christ and his apostles was awarded to heathen emperours . but it may be said , we are yet in danger of being out-witted by the jesuites and their bloody crew , and the late plot is not yet over . it is true , we may yet be subject to some effects of their malice and fury . but we use to say , when a distemper is once discovered , it is half cured . have not we been hitherto delivered from those lions and bears ? they contrive , but god disappoints ; and if their plotting and designing , though it takes no effect , shall continually fill us with fears and jealousies , how much more should every man be filled with affrightment at the least appearance of that spirit which ruled in the hearts of those children of disobedience in the beginning of our late troubles ? shall these men still impose upon us such dreadful apprehensions of those , whose designs have hitherto been blasted , and must we be persuaded that we are out of all danger from those who have so far succeeded in their attempts , as to subvert a flourishing kingdom , and overthrow both religion and property ? perhaps if these things were well considered , we should not be so easily cajoled by them , whose great cry is for liberty , when indeed they mean nothing more than anarchy and confusion ; against popery , while they mean episcopacy ; that while we are staring at the romish wolf , we may be surprized by the northern bear. we have had of late some instances of tumultuary proposals and applications , that fell little short of the old story of venn with his mermydons , as his late majesty was pleased to express it ; which was onely an essay of the strength of that party that cast us formerly into confusion . but they were seasonably checkt both by the authority and good affections of the city , to the confusion of their hopes and designs . is not this like absalom in the gate ? is not this the way to amuse and fright men from their trade and business ? and in effect to cry , as of old , to your tents , o israel ? it is a dangerous thing to affect popularity , and to talk of papists in masquerade . but unless we had better marks whereby to distinguish those sort of men , it can onely serve as an odious term to be fixt upon whom himself and his party pleases ; and when time serves , expose them to the fury of an untutoured zeal , and to be used as malignant , delinquent and popishly affected , were of late ; which had no other effect , but sequestring the estates , and ruining the families of persons so stigmatized ; though indeed they onely were the true lovers of the protestant religion , their king , and country . we are not to account a vote of the house of commons to have the authority of a law , ( as some would have a late vote to be , ) when as ( the parliament being dissolved ) it signifies just nothing as to the matter of law , though it was an honest and excellent testimony of their zeal for the preservation of his majesties person , and the protestant religion ; for which the whole nation is bound to give them thanks , but i hope we shall never live to see a vote , no nor an ordinance neither , pass for a law ; and i believe this did not speak the sense of the house : and as little did the late out-cry speak the sense of the city , as appears in this , that there are not ten men to be found that will own the action . beside that , the faction was over-born by a majority of honest men . i have no purpose to reflect upon any mans person . my design is onely to caution my fellow-citizens , not to have a hand in any action that looks like faction and disorder , for from little sparks , many times , are kindled mighty flames : and solomon bids us , shun the appearance of evil . frailty and imperfection is justly inscribed on all things sublunary . yet if we could suppose a system of rules and laws infallible , even this could not free the government from miscarriages , it being morally impossible among such a multitude of subordinate officers ( of necessity to be used ) that all should be furnished with wisdom and integrity sufficient for discharge of their duty , so that there will always be cause of complaint , but no man can say , that such things will discharge the subjects from their duty . as to the constitution of our government , it hath been reckoned the best in the world ; and for the administration , i dare appeal to any man , whether there is not more rigour and severity , heavier taxes and impositions laid upon the people in the most flourishing christian kingdom in the world , by three parts in four , than ever we have yet met with , unless in the late times of defection . is any thing imposed upon us ( which to remedy ) will make amends for tumult and disorder , or any danger threatned , or like to befall us , that can equal the mischief and inconvenience of a civil war. consider this , fellow-citizens , and let not ambitious men purchase their advancement with the price of your bloud and treasure . they may contrive with their heads till their hearts ake , but without help of your hands , all their project will fall to the ground . i beseech you therefore stand fast in your duty to god , allegiance to the king and the government established by law. to the first you are obliged by nature and religion ; to the second , by religion and oath ; to the last , by prudence and interest . it may be said by the dissenters from the church of england , that they are willing to obey his majesty , and observe the law in all civil matters , but in ecclesiastical affairs , and episcopacy , they will not , they cannot yield obedience . my business is not to dispute the point , but to persuade to peace , and to warn you of such men as are like to disturb it . let it be considered that episcopacy hath received the same civil sanction with those laws that concern liberty and property . it is adapted into the constitution of the government . would they have his majesty abolish episcopacy by his own power ? surely this would be to exalt prerogative with a witness ; and ( as themselves would say in other cases ) contrary to magna charta . if not , let them cease their murmurs , till some parliament comes that will pull down that , and set up a better , if they can tell where to find it . i confess if any man purely out of conscience refuseth to conform , and the laws against it rigorously executed , his circumstances are hard . but is that our case ? is not every man suffered to be as good as he will ? doth not the clemency of our king admit every man to hear and preach where they please ? to follow their own pastors , and their own discipline ? and after all this , do you hear men cry out against the government , the bishops , and the clergy , men of honour and dignity in the church , persons against whom they have no exceptions , but their office and revenues , persecuting them with the most vile and unsavoury language their malice can invent . and is this out of conscience too ? can any man think he that shuns a surplice , but can easily swallow a lie , that exclaims against the common-prayer , yet is full of envy , and hatred , is uncharitable to his neighbour , and constantly replenished with scurrilous and immoral expressions against every one that treads not in his path : that this is the effect of a tender conscience . fly then the society of this sort of men , for whatsoever their specious pretences may be , their thirst is after domination and plunder . those that trampled upon the mitre overthrew the crown , monarchy and episcopacy both fell by the same hand : therefore it is not amiss to mind you once more of solomons advice , fear god , honour the king , and meddle not with those that are given to change . when you reflect upon the methods taken in the beginning of the late wars by an ill-spirited sort of men , whose delight was in disorder , and aimed at gainful fishing , if they could but once trouble the waters , that their first endeavour was to raise a dislike against the person and government of the best of kings , and how the grand engineers stirred up the citizeus and apprentices to popular tumults , whereby his majesty was invaded , and through fear and force , banished from his palaces , cities , his consort , his royal children and family , and at last himself most barbarously murthered . what contrivance , and by whom carried on ? broils raised in scotland , the better to distress his majesty , and after all this and much more , not to be mentioned without the extreamest horror and detestation ; how the actors thereof were unmasked , their persons and designs discovered , their several governments under their most politick establishment shaken to pieces as frequently as formed , and at last both the one and the other , not by humane prudence , but by the meer hand of god , destroyed and confounded . in all which mutations this city felt most constant pains and afflictions ; and the whole nation , after all the vast expence of blood and treasure , had purchased to themselves , nothing but chains and fetters . when , i say , you reflect upon these things , it must needs excite your singular care to preserve your selves from a subjection to the designs of such men , as may have hopes to lead us again into the like defection and inconvenience , and to be afraid of any thing that hath a tendency that way . finis . grand plvtoes remonstrance, or, the devill horn-mad at roundheads and brownists wherein his hellish maiestie, by advice of his great counsell, eacus, minos & radamanthus, with his beloved brethren, agdistis, beliall, incubus & succubus : is pleased to declare . how far he differs from round-head, rattle-head or prickeare : . his copulation with a holy sister : . his decre affection to romish catholikes and hate to protestants : . his oration to the rebells. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing t estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) grand plvtoes remonstrance, or, the devill horn-mad at roundheads and brownists wherein his hellish maiestie, by advice of his great counsell, eacus, minos & radamanthus, with his beloved brethren, agdistis, beliall, incubus & succubus : is pleased to declare . how far he differs from round-head, rattle-head or prickeare : . his copulation with a holy sister : . his decre affection to romish catholikes and hate to protestants : . his oration to the rebells. taylor, john, - . brathwaite, richard, ?- . [ ] p. printed for the callacuchlania, [london] : . signed at end: don antonio demanibus, secretary to his infernall majesty. attributed to richard braithwaite in the wrenn catalogue. attributed to john taylor by wing. illustrated t.p. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng roundheads. brownists. a r (wing t ). civilwar no grand plutoes remonstrance, or, the devill horn-mad at roundheads and brownists. wherein his hellish maiestie (by advice of his great counse [no entry] c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - jonathan blaney sampled and proofread - jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion grand plvtoes remonstrance , or , the devill horn-mad at roundheads and brownists . wherein his hellish maiestie ( by advice of his great counsell , eacus , minos & radamanthus , with his beloved brethren , agdistis , beliall , incubus & succubus ) is pleased to declare , . how far he differs from round-head , rattle-head , or prick-eare . . his copulation with a holy sister . . his deere affection to romish catholikes , and hate to protestants . . his oration to the rebells . printed for the 〈◊〉 , in the yeere . plutos remonstrance , or , the devill horn-mad at round-heads and brownists . i grand plvto , chiefe metropolitan in my demoniack kingdome , have by the advice of my infernall counsell , thought fit to publish this my devilish declaration , to all my welbeleved children , as well brownists as papists . his professed hate to the round-heads . . that whereas his hellish maiestie hath by some of his ill-affected and factious children , been termed round-head or brownist , as being converted by the moving spirit of a regenerate sister , and begetting of her a numerous issue of round-heads , prick-eares , brownists , &c. we therefore fearing that the said scandall might prove very dangerous to our infernall government , by the great disheartning of our obedient and well-affected chilldren the romish catholikes , in their plots and practises against their lawfull soveraigne , hath thought fit to declare , that hee never sided with , or tempted any the said brownists in any designe against his dearest children the catholikes , their church or ceremonies , but that it hath ever been our greatest care to animate both brownist as well as papist against our own and your common enemy the protestants , their church , king , and parliament , which is likely to prove the overthrow of me and my infernall kingdome . his copulation with a holy sister . . that whereas our infernall maiestie hath been thought to have had carnall copulation with one ruth incontinence , a sister in the family , be it knowne to our deere children the romanists , that though we have wished well to the said sister incontinence , and have bestowed on her some gifts of our diabolicall spirit , yet had no intention to violate our vow made to our deer spouse superstition dwelling in blind-devotion , in the parish of ignorance , in the kingdome of popery , of whom we have begotten many obedient children to effect our great designe for ireland , and are in further hope , by her yet unperfect issue , to worke some way or plot for the confusion of this present parliament , to which end wee have presented her with many tokens of our great love and favour , viz. one of the blessed virgins slippers , and many images of her son , likewise an agnus dei , made of virgins wax , that by vertue of our diabolicall coniurations , hath power to preserve from fire water , sicknesse , and the deliverance from numberlesse perills , likewise many bookes of ave-maries , imprecations and prayers to saints , also one book fairely gilt , with crucifixes on the lids , wherein is contained the price that his holinesse hath set on all sinne whatsoever , murder of kings , father or mother , rapes committed on sister , &c. wherunto is annexed a most excellent epitaph wiritten by a most reverend cardinall , and great champion for the romish church , on his most deerly beloved bitch , for whose sake , he built a new monument in his garden , on which he writ as followeth , this tombe for thee deere bitch i builded have , that worthier wert of heaven then of a grave . and for the further good of our deere sister superstition , wee have spared no paines to inspire with our diabolicall spirit of obstinacie and error , all manner of brownists , anabaptists , and many other sects , which shall the more illustrate your religion , deere romanists , and that you all drawing several wayes , may ▪ like sampsons foxes , fire the corn-fields , or church of our common enemie the protestants . his affection and care for his best-beloved sonnes the romish catholikes . . wherereas wee have expressed our deere affection to our catholike children , in tempting the said round-heads and rattle-heads to reproach and vilifie the sacred person of their lawfull king , and his ministers of iustice , and to speak all manner of opprobious language against the prophets of the highest , nay even to glory in their falls , and pu●t them up with sulphurous timpanies of preposterous zeale and mallice ; so that one of my dear daughters dwelling in sobeit , at hearing of the bishops commitment to the tower , presently caused a bonfire to be made , wherein she express'd her great ioy at their fall , and fired the same by her owne hot zeal , and afterward affirmed that her kitchin was more holy then the church , because she had a sinke in 't . and is not this deere romanists worth my labour , in tempting them to what my naturall-born-son the turk doth scorn ; to iustifie your own rebellious plots or treasons whatsoever , have not i made them make orthodox scripture apocrypha , to make your apocrypha orthodox ; say my deere popelings , do's not all this make for you , and to the furtherance of you and your actions , have not i made their common - service almost as odious as your masse-book , and for their church , ready to be flung out at the windowes . his oration to the rebells in ireland . . lastly , my deere sonnes of tumult , have i been unmindfull to bear the crosse in your victorious army , under which you have atchieved victory , to the amazemement of your enemies the protestants , in recompense of which favor , have you not drank healths to my infernall maiestie in the blood of your enemies , making their sculls your quaffing-bowls , to the glory of your religion , and the freeing of many souls out of purgatory ; hath not his holinesse given you authority so to doe . then take courage , and think not on those that have miscarried in such glorious actions , let no reward of treason trouble you , so long as his holinesse bids you on , and i your chiefe captain bid you on ; on then , regard no teares of infants , nor rapes of virgins , your reward shall be in my infernall kingdom for your iust merits in unheard of cruelties , which shall eternize you and your religion , and give full content to our infernall maiestie , who to your aide will send legions of his infernall crew to accomplish your desires on your & my enemies the protestants . vale , signed by don antonio demonibus , secretary to his infernall majestie finis . the devil turn'd round-head, or, plvto become a brownist being a just comparison how the devil is become a round-head : in what manner and how zealously, like them, he is affected with the moving of the spirit : with the holy sisters of copulation, if he would seem holy, sincere, and pure, were it with the devill himself : as also the amsterdammian definition of a familist. taylor, john, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing t estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) the devil turn'd round-head, or, plvto become a brownist being a just comparison how the devil is become a round-head : in what manner and how zealously, like them, he is affected with the moving of the spirit : with the holy sisters of copulation, if he would seem holy, sincere, and pure, were it with the devill himself : as also the amsterdammian definition of a familist. taylor, john, - . [ ] p. s.n., [london? : ?] attributed to john taylor. cf. bm. illustrated t.p. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng roundheads. great britain -- religion -- th century. a r (wing t ). civilwar no the devil turn'd round-head: or, pluto become a brownist. being a just comparison, how the devil is become a round-head? in what manner, and taylor, john a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread - tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the devil turn'd round-head : or , plvto become a brownist . being a just comparison , how the devil is become a round-head ? in what manner , and how zealously ( like them ) he is affected with the moving of the spirit . with the holy sisters desire of copulation ( if he would seem holy , sincere , and pure ) were it with the devill himself . the devil tvrn'd rovnd head , or , pluto become a brownist . demon having sufficiently viewed the epedemicall spectacles of the world , and withall perceiving men , which exceeded him in knavery , resolved himself to equiparate them in emulation . yet notwithstanding there were so many sects , that pluto himself knew not which to elect to himself , or be conformable unto . first , he began with the puritans , but they were all in preparation for beyond sea , into new plantations , especially into new-england ; that he thought most of them were safe enough under his tuition : then he proceeded on with the brownists , but some were so employed in barnes and stables , others ( the spirit moving them ) were so occupied among the holy sisters , that he likewise reputed them secure in his own custody . then thirdly , he calumniously appropinquated to the round-heads , but they also were bufied about cheap-side crosse , so that he consequently ennumerated all into his own catalogue : till at length they became so obstinate , that all the interest , which before he presumed to challenge in them , was totally oblitterated . then he palpably began to sycophantize , and in a parasiticall pretence supposed to introduce them to his own satanicall opinions . thus he began to assimulate himself unto a round-head , and ( like them ) although he could not swear , yet he could lie most damnably . he did initiate with his yea's and verily's so conformably , as if he were a perfect round-head . then he proceeded to prune his horns , but he thought that their horns were long enough and continued therefore in that apparent similitude : secondly , he began to prune his hair , and cut it so close to his skull , that it seemed like the characters of an amsterdammian print : thirdly , he began to frequent the woods , for he was sure that he should finde many of them in some hollow trees : fourthly , he followed conventicles for there he had some confidence to meet the holy brethren , and sisters together . fifthly , he denied the book of common-prayer , because he would be correspondent unto the roundheads in every particular degree . but to have a more reciprocall affinitie with them , he would exclude the bishops , and all those who were of the sacerdotall function ; as also , those who were comonly called cavaliers : he likewise desired to be in the community of the holy sisters , to the fructification of one another , and to their better edification . moreover , he conformed himself to hate all good manners , all orders , rule , orthodoxe divinitie , rule and government in the common-wealth and church , for in their opinion they were all superstition and poperie ; he denied likewise , all good works , academian learning , charitie , and the publike liturgie of the church of england , for he with them , conceived them all to be idolatry , prophanesse , and meer ceremonies . he also confined himself to the audience of the he and she lecturers , whose sanctifi'd divinity in plain sincerity is inspired from the holy spirit . he moreover cropt his hair close to his ears , that he might more easily hear the blasphemy , which proceeded from them , and he might increase a more eager appetite of concupiscence at the aspect of a younger sister : and lastly , that he might be in a perfect opposition to the cavalier . he loved the sharpnesse of the nose , because it was prone to smell out the savour of some rich saints feast : and that he might more sincerely pronounce the holy word . he refused all good works ; because he knew them to be so invisible , that they could neither be seen in this world , nor known in the world to come . thus the divell in every respect did assimulate himself to the absolute comparison of a round-head , and became so conformable in every degree unto them , that for his little faith he seemed really so to be . he seemed onely to differ in this , for he broke his horns and the round-heads grew as long as their ears . thus we may perspicuously conceive , the diffusive distraction in our church , and although schisme abounds in such a redundant superfluity ; yet we hope the parliament will judiciously consider the same , and let the disturbers of the time suffer exemplary and condign punishment , according to their demerits . finis . an honest ansvver to the late published apologie for private preaching wherein is justly refuted their mad forms of doctrine, as, preaching in a tub, teaching against the backe of a chaire, instructing at a tables end, revealing in a basket, exhorting over a buttery hatch, reforming on a bed side : with an objection to their common plea of divine inspiration, directly, without passion, proving there is but nice distinction betwixt the brownists and papists who have bin equall disturbers of the state yet in continuall controversie one against the other : with an argument against round-heads / by t. j. taylor, john, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing t estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) an honest ansvver to the late published apologie for private preaching wherein is justly refuted their mad forms of doctrine, as, preaching in a tub, teaching against the backe of a chaire, instructing at a tables end, revealing in a basket, exhorting over a buttery hatch, reforming on a bed side : with an objection to their common plea of divine inspiration, directly, without passion, proving there is but nice distinction betwixt the brownists and papists who have bin equall disturbers of the state yet in continuall controversie one against the other : with an argument against round-heads / by t. j. taylor, john, - . [ ] p. ... printed for r. wood, t. wilson, and e. christopher, [london] : july [ ] attributed to john taylor. cf. bm. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng taylor, john, - . -- apology for private preaching. roundheads. dissenters, religious -- england. a r (wing t ). civilwar no an honest ansvver to the late published apologie for private preaching. wherein, is justly refuted their mad forms of doctrine: (as.) preach taylor, john c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an honest answer to the late published apologie for private preaching . wherein , is justly refuted their mad forms of doctrine : ( as. ) preaching in a tub. teaching against the backe of a chaire . instructing at a tables end . revealing in a basket . exhorting over a buttery hatch . reforming on a bed side . with an objection to their common plea of divine inspiration , directly ( without passion ) proving there is but nice distinction betwixt the brownists and papists , who have bin equall disturbers of the state yet in continuall controversie one against the other . with an argument against round heads . levit. chap. , verse . thou shalt not round the corners of thy head , neither shalt thou marr● the tufts of thy beard . by t. j. july . . printed for r. wood , t. wilson , and e. christopher . an honest answer to the late published apologie for private preaching . to you whose ambition ( not conformity ) aimes to be the elect ) i write this answer to your late printed apology ; with the confidence of democritus i can as justly laugh at you , as hee did at the egregious crimes of the athenians , and ( since you have with serious folly and devout ignorance ) made your selves ridiculous , i hold it altogether unnecessary to write or speake of you but in the way of mirth , which if your large eares will attend , you shall have so to the purpose , that if you were wise enough , you should laugh at your selves , at least at your follies . i commend your wisdome in forsaking churches , for ( as you have wisely chose it ) a stable is fitter for you ; and ( to speake truth ) a tub is more necessary for a cobler then a pulpit , thus farre i hold with your apologie ; but , notwithstanding , if i prove you not all mad men and fooles , to maintaine the proverbe , i will give you leave to ride me ; the wisest man thinkes hee hath no knowledge , because there is so much to know : there were some hope of your reformation , if you were but wise enough to know you are fooles : first , i will prove you mad men ; i shall make fooles of you hereafter : ( and that you 'l say is impossible . ) in the first place ( according to my observation of the times ; let a fellow come amongst you with some humourous pamphlet , wherein round-heads are mentioned , though there be neither name nor trade specified , nor no mans private reputation wrong'd , without law or reason by a crew of men he knowes not , he must be beaten or kicked ( as the spirit moves you ) from the place ; and if such unlawfull violence have any relation to religion i am an heretick , all actions that tend to the maintenance of true piety are performed by order ; the elements observe their centers ; the sunne , moon , and starres keepe their direct motions , ( creatures onely by nature instructed ) but zeale in a round-head is like fire given to a granado , the strange materials in disordered flight , hazzard both friend and foe . your desires and hopefull intentions to alter the government of this glorious kingdome , with the lawes and liberties of king and subject , long since begun , advanced , confirmed and established by many pious princes , will appeare like some curious and transcendent well erected pallace , whom ignorance would race in hope to raise it better ; but beware lest whilst you are delving in the foundation , the loftie structure fall not heavie on you ; to you and none but you , whose unhallowed throats have belch'd profanenesse to the lords anointed doe i direct this language ; to you that are uncircumscribed men , yet would confine a monarch ; what order rule , edict , or act of parliament had you for your tumultuous confluence at westminster ? when men of all sorts and sizes that bore disorder in their expedition in a confused march were arm'd with hasty weapons of such various formes , as if they had newly come from the valiant robbery of some old magazine ? when as i passed by them muffled in my cloake unarmed ( fearing no danger , cause i meant none ) i heard them aske each other , whether or to what purpose they were going , which question could scarce be resolved by one amongst ten ; what was all this but madnesse , and what hath the effect of it beene but desolation ever since to all his majesties loyall and filiall fearing subjects ? but i am too serious ; i have spoke so honestly , that i feare you understand me not : i shall now begin to refute your apologie . must knowing wel-bred men whose sacred houres have beene spent with much industry in the search of holy fathers for their comments on the old and new testament , be now ( by ridiculous counsaile ) brought to heare the doctrine of an inspired cobler , because he is reported to be at the mending hand , and brings his worke to good ends : or a weaver , becaus mans life is compared to a shuttle ; or a tallow-chandler , because our lives goe out like a snuffe . then againe , is there no difference betwixt churches and tavernes , ale-houses , private chambers , stables , and such like places , is the church lesse sacred , which is made odoriferous with the perfume of prayer and penitentiall balme of sinners teares , accepted sighs and sacramentall vowes ; when our saviour said , my house is called the house of prayer , but you have made it a den of theeves : hee spoke neither of a taverne , nor an ale-house , but a temple , consecrate to his divinitie : what a ridiculous thing is it to see a fellow with a starcht face scrue his body into twenty postures , sitting in a tub , as if hee were moulding of cockle-bread , yet is as zealous in this serious folly , as if hee thought he should goe quick to heaven in elishaes chariot ; but let me tell you that know not , this word zeale doth not signifie religion , but an ardencie to any thing ; i remember two lines of my old friend , mr. tho. randolph , who sayes thus in a well-penn'd poem of his : — where heresie gets in , zeale's but a coale to kindle greater sinne . such zeale is theirs , i 'le not beleeve every man that dyes in the confirmation of his profession departeth truly religious , because i see men daily more violent in the maintenance of unjust actions , then men religious , whose patience is sufficient fortitude , and can gaine a conquest without fury . i will now answer their plea of divine inspiration . they manifest to the world , that any lay-man may be inspired by the holy ghost to preach and teach , and no man must be this sanctified temple but a trades-man ; they hold it almost impossible for a scholler , indued with coelestiall knowledge , acquainted with the sacred lives of saints , delivered to him by the pretious benefit of study , in which the arts assist him , to have the endowment of this divine inspiration , yet they are sure on 't , that they dare judge and justifie ; which rather shewes them fill'd with spirits diabolicall ; since the sacred hand of the eternall maker hath rrevocably set downe , iudge not lest you be judged ; let any honest man inform me what affinity there is with divine inspiration and these following actions : iames . . shew mee thy faith by thy workes , libelling against the king and his authority . defacing churches . disturbing divine service . making the house of god a place for ri●● . laying violent hands on preachers , and taring off their vestments . profaning the blessed sacrament of baptisme , by bringing puppets to the font to be christened . with many great ills more , too tedious to relate , because to grievous too hear ; if any man wil maintain these to be righteous actions , my reason is in a laborinth , and i shall be engaged to him for any light to lead me out of it . now i shall as well and as briefly as i can shew you the nice distinction between a papist and a brownist . . neither of them will take the oath of allegeance and supremacy , there methinks they might agree like traytors , and hang together . . they have both the trick of wresting scripture to their own use . . a fryar is cut as round as a round-head , and hath as much souse at each side of it . . if the papist set up the picturcs of s. augustine , s. bernard , s. chrisostome . the brownists wil set up st. b. st. ba. st. p. marry he will not come to auricular confession , as the papist doth ; because of an old proverb , confesse , &c. i would the land were clear of both , we might live all in peace , and in the true fear and worship of god , and observation of the kings lawes ; for to speak indifferently , they are equall disturbers of the state , and a great injury to the weak and ignorant who are so distracted betwixt them both , they know not which side to hold with : so that some are to chuse their religion , when they should be established , and confirmed in it , and able to instruct others ? i will now conclude with a comment on these lines , which are in leviticus , in the administration of the old law . levit. . . thou shalt not round the corners of thy head , neither shalt thou marr the tufts of thy beard . you may understand that have a mind to it , how contemptible a round-head was at the beginning of the world , and joyn'd with no lesse commandements then those against murther , adulterie , fornication , sorcery , incest ; and by that consequence as much to be observed ; we must needs , according to nature and reason , allow that adam in his glorious state of innocence wore his haire long and lovely ; and no question being of the great makers making , the lord saw that it was good , the very same words he expresseth upon all h●s works : this is a plain argument that god never made a round-head , but man hath made himself one , contrary to the law of god , which saith , thou shalt not round the corners of thy head &c. nature hath bin ever counted provident , not superfluous ; he that made each limbe you have , made every hair of your head , and by that sequell it is no sin to wear it ; no question but man appeared very beautifull in his long haire that god would give command he should not round it . what a strange contradiction is this age guilty of , that is so far from the observation of this law , that contrarily they conceive a man to be a ruffiian or reprobate that wears long haire . i do not ( though ) make any great apologie for long or short , for i could wish that haire might make no difference in religion , for my part hee that cuts his haire off let him cuts head off if he will , it shall not trouble me . i le only sing one short sonnet which i will title the round-heads funerall , and so conclude till further occasion . the song . to the tune of , turn again whittington . down fall those beetle-brains , who have expounded false doctrine in their tubs , and truth confounded , the glorious peace we had by them lies wounded , no men in thoughts so bad ever abounded : that i could wish they were all hang'd or drownded . we might say ther 's an end of a right round-head . finis . cornu-copia, or, roome for a ram-head wherein is described the dignity of the ram-head above the round-head or rattle-head. taylor, john, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing c t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing c wing t estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) cornu-copia, or, roome for a ram-head wherein is described the dignity of the ram-head above the round-head or rattle-head. taylor, john, - . [ ] p. printed for john reynolds, london : . attributed to john taylor by wing, charles a. stonehill, jr. illustrated t.p. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng roundheads. great britain -- religion -- th century. a r (wing c t ). civilwar no cornu-copia, or, roome for a ram-head. wherein is described the dignity of the ram-head above the round-head, or rattle-head. taylor, john a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread - tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion cornu-copia , or , roome for a ram-head . wherein is described the dignity of the ram-head above the round-head , or rattle-head . london printed for iohn reynolds , . cornv-copia or roome for a ram-head . being a dialogue betweene a man and his vvife . wife . what now husband ? are you grown horne mad ? what doe you meane to assume such a head to make your selfe ridiculous , and a laughing stocke to all the world ? and to bring shame and disgrace unto me , as if i were an unhonest woman , who have beene loyall unto you all my life , i vow i will have them off . husband . but vow you shall not , for i take more pleasure and content in them then in any thing in the world beside , esteeming them as a goodly ornament unto me above all other men , . as a testification to all the world of my innocency , . it is unto me a strong defence against all adverse power , . hornes are so serviceable and usefull that no man almost can live without them . w. but why did you attempt such a thing without my consent ? h. good wife be content , for there are very few weare horns without their wives consent . w. but you doe , and that i am sure of . h. will you take your oath of that ? w. no indeed , i am not so rash , i doe not use to sweare you know , yet this is enough to make any one sweare and curse too , especially considering that not long since your head was as round as a ball . h. but when my head was round , i could neither passe along the street nor sit in my shop without receiving a jeer from one knave or other , some calling me a troublesome fellow , some saying i was a despiser of government , others telling me i was an enemy to bishops and the discipline of our church . if i had a head full of wit , i should be called , or at least suspect me to bee either a projector , or a crafty knave : should i weare long locks , i should be esteemed a roaring boy or a swaggerer ; and all this laid upon me , though i were innocent of them all . this judgement passed upon me for my head ; but who saith so of me now ? they may well gaze at me , but judge me to be no other , but an innocent harmelesse and contented man . w. but why are horned men called more innocent and harmlesse then other men ? h. because they have no harme in them , for where hornes are there is innocency : as for example , we may see in the very animall , these whom nature hath horned , are of all other most harmelesse in themselves , and most beneficiall and serviceable to man , as sheep , oxen , goats and the like , who never offend any , and yet wondrous strong in their owne defence , as you may see in the fiercest of them all , which is the bull ; when shall you see him runne at any dogge , but passe by a thousand of them without regard or feare , but if they runne at him he with his hornes tosse them up into the aire , and causes them oftentimes to garter their legges with their owne guts . how many comely headed rammes passe by the butchers doores , against whom no dogge moveth his tongue , and if they should , his horned head is a sufficient defence to push them downe backeward . w. but what is that to men that weare hornes ? h. is there not an old proverb , that one paire of legges is worth two paire of hands ? but i say in a new proverb , that one paire of hornes is worth ten paire of legges . if the old lord keeper had had a good horned head , he needed not to have borrowed a finches wings to transport his massie body over the seas , he might have staid at home and been safe , for what vertue is there in birds feathers comparable with hornes ? what defence is there in a delinquent prelates three corner cap ? or in a popes miter ? or in a cardinalls cap ? would not one paire of hornes well planted in one innocent head bee worth all these ? who can deny it ? surely no man . sir iohn suckling with his six score troopers , was forced to fly , whereas i stay at home with my hornes in quietnesse , amongst many of the forked order , and no man envies me . moreover hornes are a great commodity both here and beyond the seas , many living comfortably thereupon , and the company of horners greater then can be knowne : i could wish that all my kinne were horned , then i might happily get something at their death , whereas now i am like to get nothing . but let mee dye when i will , if i leave my heires nothing else , i bequeath unto them my hornes . againe , hornes are of such necessary use , that the common-wealth cannot want them , being used of most sorts of people , even from our infancy to our dying day . for no sooner can children walke and talke , but they are put to their horne-booke to learne the first rudiments of all liberall sciences ; and when they grow greater , to recreate themselves with a horne top , both in schools , houses , and in the streets . in every country house where you come , you shal see the first thing the good man seeketh or enquireth for in the morning , is his horne to draw on his shooes , and for assurance of not missing it , hath it oftentimes made fast to a poste with a chaine . nay tom of bedlam is mad when he wanteth his horne . how long might the sow-gelder walke both city and country ere any one knew him from another man , except his horne proclaime him , and then all looke out . who dare stay a poste upon the high way , when once he joynes his horne to his head and windes it . it is a hanging matter . many dainty dames have i seene sewing with horne thimbles on their fingers , when they have either sold , pawned , lost or laid by their silver ones . many bakers when they are ready to set their oven , put the horne to their head to warne their customers in . how many a gallant gentleman riding a hunting both in field and forrest , hath a horne about his necke in a silke string or scarfe , which when hee hath lost his sport , windeth his horne both loud and shrill , the meaning whereof the envious dogges well know , and by nature are forced to obey , willingly , cheerfully and speedily come to their game : but first the hunts-man must set the horne to his head , or else it hath no vertue to worke this effect . for the horne and the head have a speciall relation one to the other . what round head or rattle head may then compare with the horned head ? they trouble a common-wealth , these benefit it sundry wayes , as you see . how many aged persons of all degrees , both men and women , are beholding to the horne , which they place in the midst of their faces , not farre from the place where they should grow , to hold up a paire of spectacles , when their eyes grow dim : whereby their sight is so renewed , that they can discerne the smallest atome , or mote in the sun beames ? what man or boy scorneth to carry an inkhorne in his pocket to serve him upon all needfull occasions ? some have beene so proud they would not , but have had their clerkes to carry them after them , but after this contempt they have proved delinquents , and came short of westminster . nay the drunkard himselfe often conveyes so much good liquor to his head with the horne , that he is not able to come home without the helpe of another , which is a lanthorne to keepe him from falling in the kennell , or justling every post he meets with . how many sorts of fine spoons are made of horne , with which we need not be ashamed to sup as good broth or pottage as giles calfine ever seasoned or crumb'd ? in north-holland there is a renowned city stiled by the name of horne , famous through the world for shipping , merchandise , and trading . lastly , there is in some hornes a wonderfull vertue : the harts horne hath power to expell poison , and is excellent for use in painting and liming . but who is able to expresse the vertue of the unicornes horne ; one of them being valued above a kings ransome . wife . well husband , your reasons have overcome mee ; neither i , nor any honest woman , is able to gain-say them : therefore i give my free consent unto you , to weare hornes unto your dying day . husb. i thanke you loving wife , you have now given me full content , according to my hearts desire . but yet to set forth at large the whole benefit and commodity of hornes , would bee tedious : therefore to conclude with that which hath been spoken , wishing no man to despise the horne : for the proudest hee whosoever he be , may ( by chance ) or must ( of necessity ) use or weare the horne . finis . a lecture held forth at the calves-head feast before a society of olivarians & round-heads, at the white l---n in cornhill, on the thirtieth of january, / in contempt of the martyrdom of king charles i / by dan. bergice. bergice, dan. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing b b estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a lecture held forth at the calves-head feast before a society of olivarians & round-heads, at the white l---n in cornhill, on the thirtieth of january, / in contempt of the martyrdom of king charles i / by dan. bergice. bergice, dan. p. printed for c.g., london : . reproduction of original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng roundheads -- controversial literature. great britain -- politics and government -- - . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a lecture held forth at the calves-head feast before a society of olivarians & round-heads , at the white l — n in cornhill , on the thirtieth of january , / . in contempt of the martyrdom of king charles i. by dan. bergice . london , printed for c. g. . a lecture held forth at the calves-head feast , &c. in the thirteenth spoke of a cart-wheel you shall find these words written , calves-head and bacon . this is the day ( my beloved ) on which we annually sunder our selves together , to triumph in the conquest we this day made over him that exalted himself to dethrone us the chosen of the world : and since nothing is esteem'd more fit to rub up your treacherous memories , than the representation of the thing signified . i have therefore thought fit ( my brethren ) to insist upon these words , and rattle in your ears ( even as a company of drums do at the window of a new married couple ) my most secret cogitations concerning the premises . this calves head is a hieroglifick , or secret representation of a thing , and here it represents that of its own likeness , viz. a head. now you are not ignorant , i am sure , that a thing without a head looks simply . i have sometimes been told that my discourse has had neither head nor tail ; well what then , it has had the more guts and heart , and a swinging fat carcass . but here , contrary to my former custom , i have only chose the head , as thinking it the most noble part , being fill'd with brains , my beloved ; yea these very brains being made pallatable with the vinegar of affliction , may whet the stomachs of our conscience , and beget us an appetite to , and longing after holy things ; this is the true and holy appetite , and not as some of us do , to long for a harlot , who will long for treats and mony , and at last bring you the crinkums , whether you long for them or no ; you may long to be cur'd , but you may chance to go to your long home first . . there is a vexatious longing , when new married women humbly conceive in winter , they are very subject to long for summer fruit , altogether impossible to come at , and therefore they long for it , on purpose to put their husbands to charge , and their friends to trouble : but i say let them eat nothing but calves head and bacon . . as there are longings , so there are loathings , that is , when satan has clog'd the stomach of the inward man , with fat dabs and greasie bits of pleasure and voluptuousness , that he can digest nothing that is good , but the lean calves head of meekness , eaten with the bacon of understanding , will never rise in the stomach and cause pukeings , which teeming girls are troubled with . . there is a very bad loathing when man and wife loath one anothers conversation ; nothing follows but care and distraction , sorrow and woe , trouble and torment , anguish and pain , perpetual slavery , the devil upon two sticks , the house goes out o' th' windows , and the whole family is damn'd as black as butter-milk : now my advice to such is , that they would agree civilly , be quiet for the future , and sit down lovingly like neighbors children , and make themselves merry with a calves head and bacon . . there is a loathing of all that 's good , and that is none of the best . . there is a loathing and longing joyn'd together , that is , when a man loaths to come to a meeting , and longs to go to a bawdy-house ; but my friends , satan has a great share in such a man , therefore i leave him , by him to be buffetted , not thinking him worthy to come to our feast of calves head and bacon . . when a man loaths monarchy , and longs for a common-wealth , that we may govern higgledy piggledy all over our own heads : this is that which i recommend to you . brethren , this calves-head feast , as the world calls it , is held amongst us , the chosen of israel , for a memorandum , and to congratulate each other for that blessed action in lopping off the head of charles i. after we had been long soused in the powdering-tub of affliction , when our hearts failed us , and our souls were filled with emptiness : let us rejoyce in this , that our actions are recorded , and are as a living monument to eternize our names for so brave ( tho' counted an impious ) action . i say , let us be glad in this ( even as a sea-man's wife is , when her husband is gone a two years voyage ) let us not quench the spirit , but with loud and repeated huzza's of inward praises of the renowned oliver , let us celebrate this day , let us sing old rose and burn the bellows , triumphing over our dearly beloved calves head and bacon . when i look upon the lively emblem of our sorrows this calves head , it makes me melt into rapture ( even as a bride on the marriage night ) not for any remorse of conscience which i feel dispersed from the lower deck of my soul , but for thoughts of past actions , i bless that divine fabrick oliver , who knock'd down the church like an oxe , cut the throat of monarchy like a hog , and took off the head of his prince like a calf , and at last his horns were exalted above the rest of his brethren . this i say causes my soul to rejoyce , and is a very great support to my inward man ; i suppose you are sensible that i know on which side my bread is butter'd , i can see as far into a mill-stone as another can put his finger , for what can be ill that is guided by the inward man ? something has some savor , a bit in the morning is better than nothing all day , and whoever says that calves head and bacon is not good prog , they lye beloved ; yea , they lye abominably . but what says the world of me : why truly the sons of belial have been very busie , and used my name as a cloak for , and author of preposterous holding forth ; but let that pass , i am what i am , a real lover of calves head and bacon . now my beloved , the text being short , and not consisting of many words , i shall endeavor to divide it by letters , and explain it according to art , calves head and bacon : c cromwel , a always , l loved , v very much , e extempory prayer , s such , h heavenly-mindedness , e evermore , a attended that , d diligent hero. a accordingly he , n never , d durst , b behold , a any loyal thing , c committed o on his part , n nor no bodies else . thus , my beloved , i have divided the text , which put together make a sentence , and the sentence expounded right would fill a volum , so that for ought i can see the text is very proper , and to the unlearned intricate , but to me as plain as a pike staff. from which words we may draw these inferences : . that as that holy champion lov'd extempory prayer , it infers that he abhor'd a form which should teach us to be ware of a form — a form ! did i say out upon 't , a form ! no , no , it is that rotten form that upholds a form of government contrary to our principles . . that a commonwealth is the only easie method for us sinful men , and that we should not so much as harbor a contrary thought , for it is that government which is most agreeable to calves head and bacon . government ( my friends ) should be like ignis fatuus , or will in a whisp , that is , without a head ; but then you 'll say , how should the tail be guided ? oh no matter , as we would have no head , so we would have no tail only a body , and let every man rule ; this was the method in oliver's time : tho this i say too , that a head is necessary to every thing else , i am head of this congregation of calves heads , every one of you are the heads of your families , unless your wives wear the breeches ; and it is as necessary to have a head to a bed , as to have a handle to a pipkin , which cannot be managed without . . the head is commonly answerable to the body of a thing , but what is one head to the body of a nation . this , my beloved , i know not , no nor a horse that has a bigger head than i. my beloved , a calves head is an excellent thing ; in the first place it serves for us to triumph over . . the brains whet our stomachs ; and . the meat fills them , and the bones serve our dogs for a dinner ; so that in a calves head nothing is lost but what goes away in boyling , and that makes broth too : the ears show us that we ought to hear the word with all diligence ; the eyes declare that we should discern between this and that , and see what 's what : the nose may serve to shew us , that we ought to smell where abouts we are , and follow that which is good by the scent , even as a cat does a mouse , or a blood-hound one that has rob'd a hen-roost : the tongue may tell or shew us , that we ought to bleat or roar abroad sound doctrine in the ears of the sleepy world , even as a calf does just before milking-time : the teeth shew us , that we should bite and pinch our adversaries in the bud , even as a monky does a louse , or a rigid lawyer a profuse client ; but since it is so that all lawyers be k — ves , the best council that i can give you , is to make your pudding - bag widest at the top . i have now done with the calves head and come to the bacon , as a thing inseparable from it : bacon is as much as to say hogs-flesh in a smoaky sense ; now what piece is most proper to boyl with the head of a calf , has been much disputed amongst the learned , tho i am clearly for the tail chine , that the head and tail may go together : bacon is fat , which shows us that we should thrive , and grow fat in good works , and hearing of the word : the lean may inform us , that in all our fat pleasures we should here and there mix a stripe of lean afflictions ; or as one of our learned brothers will have it , it teaches us to eat bread with fat bacon , and not like cats and dogs that always eat meat alone : the rinde of the bacon may shew us , that we should be tough and hardy in all persecutions and troubles , and defend us from violent blows of affliction by the bristles of our faith ; let us suffer our selves to be ring'd , viz. chain'd , and put into a stye with swine , that is , into a prison with vagabonds , and there fatted ( i. e. ) eat bread and water , be brought out and have our throats cut ( i. e. ) suffer even to death ; then shall we have the honor to be eaten with a calves head ( i. e. ) we shall be remember'd after death . this i speak with reference to the sire of the steward of this feast , that vessel of clay , who sate as judge , and was one of those fleet judges that condemn'd his prince to the fury of wood ( i. e. ) to loose his head on a scaffold . this very place where we yearly meet , i have sanctified to you , the sign is an emblem of the lyon of the tribe of judah , tho i never heard what colour that lyon was , yet 't is very probable it was white , as this is . think not , o beloved , that i speak this of my self , or by the instigation of the evil one , but from the dictates of the inward man , who has reveal'd these things to me , in behalf of a weak and unbelieving sister here present ; yet now i talk of a sister , methinks the outward man gets ground , and i feel him swell and grow stiff , much resembling the horn of antichrist , methinks he thrusts forth his gills and shows his nose above water . yet , my beloved , say not antichrist , for he has his share in the castoffs of the world , and not in us the chosen people ; i rather think this outward insurrection to proceed from an inward cause , heated and raised up by an holy flame of fraternal love , when my bowels yearned towards her my sister ; some advise to take a glass of tent , and a new-laid egg : now , my beloved , this i learn'd of the children of darkness , for they are grown more wise in their generation than the children of light : but after all , there is nothing like a calves head and bacon : let us beg for something above , to drop down upon this little willow ( i. e. ) our church , that in time it may grow up to be a sturdy oak , to be saw'd out into deal boards to wainscot the walls of the new-jerusalem . yet let the world do as they will , i say still that the head of a calf , and the tail-chine of a hog is good victuals . beloved , there are eight things which are an abomination to mine eyes , a surplice , a common-prayer-book , a gown and cassock , a young handsome girl without a husband , or married to an old doating fool ; an old woman married to a young man ; a sister married to one of the world , or a feast without calves head and bacon . there is likewise five things past my finding out , the way of a brother and sister in the midst of a holy flame ; the way of a constable nabbing a bully ; the way of a harlot cheating a cully ; the way of a woman when her husband is out of town ; and the way of a pick-pocket in a fair ; these things are wonderful in mine eyes . i have often compared the wicked with us , and find as much difference , as between an apple and a nut ; they are just like blind bayard , that sees no better in the light than in the dark , rambles about , and at last tumbles headlong into a deep ditch , where he is utterly lost for ever and ever : let your eyes be set towards your resting place , those sweet elizium groves , where gentle breeses of whispering gales shall lull you into extasies in the brinks of heavenly springs , where silver streams run murmuring along , tattleing in charming notes ; this is the place prepar'd for us where we shall have no more occasion for calves head and bacon . leave the world to the children of it , and steer your course after me , with weeping eyes , even as a child that cries after the nipple . i desire you to be mindful of the main chance , observe the dictates of the inward man , be satisfied with your estates and content with such things as you have , even as a cat that lyes snug in a warm ash-heap , when all the family is in bed , thinking no body harm . oh you that hear me this day , be mindful , weep , howl , and throw your snot about , and be sorry for your offences : when i consider the stubbornness of your necks , hardness of your hearts , and great unbelief , it makes me almost resolve to leave you to be buffetted by the evil one , and seek out some other flock that will obey my hallow , and will know my dog : here is the father against the son , and the son against the father ; the mother against the daughter , and she against the maid ; some for peter , some for paul , and the most for you don't know who : you are head-strong , perverse and unweily , rugged , ruffian-like , base and degenerate , ill-natur'd and cruel , hard-hearted , dubious , nay incredulous and unchristian , and for that reason i could find in my heart to leave you , for indeed what should i stay with you for ? yet now i think on 't i won't , perhaps you may grow better when you have fill'd your bellies with calves head and bacon . nevertheless endeavor to reform your selves , watch and pray , be dutiful to your superiors , affable to your inferiors ; love your neighbor's wife as you love him ; and love him as you love your self ; let all things be done in order , in ample manner , in the form of a cheese-cake ; let your words be season'd with salt and a very little pepper : i intreat this of you for my own sake , that it may not be said of me when i am gone , i shear'd your fleeces , yet left you uncur'd of the scab . i have been as concise as i could in my discourse , i shall add no more till the next year , only this , that i would have you mindful to get dinner on the table , for now my stomach serves for calves head and bacon . finis . the vindication of the seperate brethren of the spirit, against a libell, called the resolution of the rovnd-heads and against all slanderous pamphlets, since the time that symon magus tempted symon the cobler / published by h. drewrey. drewrey, h. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing d ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing d estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no or : ) the vindication of the seperate brethren of the spirit, against a libell, called the resolution of the rovnd-heads and against all slanderous pamphlets, since the time that symon magus tempted symon the cobler / published by h. drewrey. drewrey, h. [ ] p. [s.n.] london : . this item appears at reel :e. , no. as wing d , and at reel : as wing v (number cancelled in wing nd ed.). reproduction of originals in the newberry library and the thomason collection, british library. eng resolution of the round-heads. roundheads. great britain -- religion -- th century. a r (wing d ). civilwar no the vindication of the seperate brethren of the spirit, against a libell, called the resolution of the round-heads. and against all slandero drewrey, h d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the vindication of the seperate brethren of the spirit , against a libell , called the resolution of the rovnd-heads . and against all slanderous pamphlets , since the time that symon magus tempted symon the cobler . published by h. drowrey . london , printed the vindication of the round-heads . first whereas that libell begins with our head , wee therefore pronounce it a capitall libell . it then butts at our hornes which in despite of that libell shall shoot out to a greater length , and be more visible then they were , there being no contradicting since doctors commons suffred an eclipse . as for the cavalliers , our black and blew armes and sides doe confesse that deere truth , and we onely say they are a company of absoloms , and wee hope to see them hang'd in their long locks for that affront . to the shutting upon shopps , we answer , that even as when the sky falls you may catch larkes , just so when bishops goe downe we may set up againe . as for the whitebrothes , &c. they are dishes the libeller would lick his lips at , and we say , that at one of those feasts we edifie so much , and grow so strong , that the devill himselfe cannot tame us . to that point where he saith that wee hold to maintaine bishop , order , learning and unity , in the church , universityes and common-wealth , is prophanenesse , superstition , and plaine popery , though it be put upon us as a jeere , yet thus wee confirme it ; first , to maintain order is proph●nesse ; for if there were no order ( as it is amongst as ) there could be no transgression of the order , and consequently no prophanesse . secondly , learning is superstition , for thereby schollers are so furnisht with suffient arguments against us , that they dare stand stiffe upon their owne knowledge and as it were overtopps us . lastly peace and vnion is popery , for what doe the papists more boast of then their uniformity , that we may not therefore be like them , we entend as long as we may have any countenance , to set all the kingdome together by the ears , whereby we in time shall become as famous for our seperations as they , for their uniformity . as for the tearmes of roundheads and prickears , we say it is a seemly sight , and if our example could but beget that fashion , amongst the courtiers , they would look just like so many shadrach , meshach , and abednegoes , in the kings house , to the amazement nay afrightment of all forraign nations that should behold them , which some of them may easily doe , without the helpe of a barber , 't is but even pulling off a cap of haire , and the thing is done if not over done . then for our lecturers of both sexes , i pray you who is it but they that beget children dayly and hourly in our churches ? the men haild out of the world , and the women pull them in by the shirts of the flesh , and in short , time draw them emptie of carnall things , abating much of their fleshly lust , leaving them onely to the comfort of a crestfalne spirit which wee call repentance , and after that brunts over they quickly learne the mistery of conventicle , break-fasts which surely proveth cordiall and restorative , enabling them to goe through with the worke they take in hand cheerefully and powerfully . concerning the community betwixt the brethren and the sisters , surely surely no flesh is able to resist the sweet alurement of a zealous fleire when she heares a not able piece of stuffe from the impudent lecturer , or of a goodly sky-coloured gleg upwards , upon the pricking of her conscience , and the deepe-sigh of two minuits long presently after it , for these causes we wonder that the yong gentlemen of the inns of court do not convert , verily the provocatives thereunto are plump , and smoath , and yet rough enough in some places , ( but those are common places , and therefore not worth mentioning ) they are no iesebels paynted or brayded , but rather faithfull rahabs , penitent harlots . another inducement to the gentlemen might be good husbandry : for questionlesse , the commons are larger , and the payment lesser . besides , they teach the tone of the nose an artificiall way , as wel as the sisters of saint giles in ruefull earnest ▪ and we hope this will be considered . touching the woods and sawpits , they were places frequented onely in those times , when learning played the tyrant , by commission , since which extirpation ; every of our own houses are synagogues for that purpose . and for the putting out lights , some reasons may be shewed , and some not ; one cause thereof may be , for that in our prayers we should see each others yawning , gaping and staring upward , the divine rapture would be converted to a lowd laughter at one anothers ill-favoured faces , and we so prevented of that fruit , which from the exercise will otherwise arise ▪ as for other reasons they are not to be discovered to any reprobate , whose haire is longer then his eares . then the lybel wrings us by the nose , the nose is to be considered as part of the face , and is the instrument of one sence ( then 't is well you 'l say we have some sence ) but you shall finde we make other use of it then you expect , for even as the apostles did speak with tongues , so verily do we speake with noses , yea , with fiery noses , which do guide a musicall and tintinable rellish to our language ; like the hum of a bel , or the drove of a bagpipe ; but ( as the song hath it ) let symons beard alone , so let beters nose alone . for the ruffe , the dublet , and the breeches , they have their significations ▪ the ruffe sheweth how terrible we are in our choller , the doublet is the emblem of the stomacke which is spacious , and the shortnesse of the breeches , conduceth to the length of the leg , and therefore demonstrates our adversnesse to the charactor of the duck , o ducks , plaguie creatures . as for our faith , charity and good works , we linke them thus together ▪ our religion is built on faith only , and great need there is it should be strong , in respect the other graces and symptomes of heavenly mindednesse are seldome apparant in us , not need they be so , for faith applyeth it selfe to things not seen , our charity and good works were never seen nor ever shall be , for that is the common way of salvation , and dissonant from the rules of singularity ; but ours prescribeth a new way to be saved by stratagem . the length of the prayer is a qualification in the lungs , the toutologie thereof a vertigo in the braine , and the earnestnesse of the same , a habit got by practise , which seemeth to straine the interiours of the whole man , with a kind of divine witchcraft , even ravisheth the soules of the tender sisters , and filleth them with a servent desire to experience the strength of those able bodies that retain such powerfull graces . as for the robes , gestures , and utensils ecclesiastick , what is a canonical cote , but a woollen smock ; or a surplesse , but an over-wide linnen smock , and is a habite quite contrary to a plaine text , that men should not put on womens apparell , what are the ornaments of the altar , but images of gold and silver in the forme of candlesticks and embossed books , and the cringes and bowings , but sacrifices of dexterous hamstrings thereunto . as for the synod of morefields and pimlico , wee doubt not but the canons there devised , will hould good with as much successe as those last enacted a paules , especially for that the agent of them are now , &c. now truely and verily for the resolution and the reformation , it could not have been 〈…〉 ed , though the ironmonger , law●●●t of our family had draw● it ; but onely the rascally libeller put it in jearing termes ; but that may be requited when we meet him in cheapside . now for an addition of better arguments for the maintenance of this religion , take these few ; it is confirmed by the lamentable death of a godly knight , the proto-martyr of the spiritual cause , who because he is dead , our secretary ( being principall councell in this vindication ) thinks it good manners or , let him rest in peace ; but in his life time ram-ally knew him well . rome is the beast with ten hornes , we having but two hornes , are therefore no roman beasts ; those horns were empailed with crownes , which our horns rather push against . a glorious whore did ride on that beast ▪ but we are beasts our selves , and ride the whore . the jesuits are the onely roman puritans , that our singularities ought to take the right hand of theirs ▪ they are the brothers of jesus the sirname ▪ but we are the brothers of christ the proper name , which alwaies preserves the eminence of the pedigree in every great family . that this religion is meerly of the spirit , what do you say to many of us , that can reade as perfectly at the wrong end of the book , as at the right end ; or to a brown-baker that will take a sermon verbatim in charactors ( which you would take for conjuring formes , they look so ghastly ) and yet could never reade a letter of the book , or to another , that never read his accidence , and hateth latine , yet derives hebrew roots with facility ; if these be not peculiar and si●ple gifts of the spirit , then we have no good spirit in us , and the resolution is an honest libel . finis . the original of plotts, or, some seasonable reflections upon the late horrid fanatick conspiracy in a sermon preached at st. maries in dover, on sunday september , / by james brome ... brome, james, d. . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing b estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the original of plotts, or, some seasonable reflections upon the late horrid fanatick conspiracy in a sermon preached at st. maries in dover, on sunday september , / by james brome ... brome, james, d. . p. printed for samuel lee ..., london : . imperfect: faded, with print show-through and slight loss of print. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng roundheads -- controversial literature. republicanism -- england. great britain -- history -- puritan revolution, - . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - robyn anspach sampled and proofread - robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the original of plotts , or , some seasonable reflections upon the late horrid fanatick conspiracy , in a sermon preached at st. maries in dover , on sunday september , . by james brome , a. m. rector of cheriton in kent , and chaplain to his most sacred majesty . london , printed for samuel lee , at the feathers in lumbard-street , . to all the loyal gentlemen , and men worthy , of the town and port of dover . gentlemen , this plain discourse having mett with great encouragement by your serious attention to it , and favourable approbation of it , doth now presume to shelter it self under your wing , as not knowing any better asylum to have recourse to then your protection , whose exemplary integrity and loyalty , as they have endured immoveably the greatest shocks of fanatick rage and malice , so are they chiefly able to succour such persons , who are likely to fall under the same dismal fate , and to suffer persecution from the malevolent tongues of those foul-mouth'd animals , who were never acquainted with any other civility but that of railing . how farr this discourse may provoke the cholor of some men , i shall not much concern my self ; being resolved to follow the advice of the wise philosopher , not to kick against such asses whose chief talent hath been found to lye mostly in their heels , and have for a long while suffered a delirium in their upper parts . but if some of their own party speaks true , ( and 't is hard not to believe but that sometime they may doe it , ) that what was here uttered was delivered with so great modesty and little passion , that it must needs be well resented by all unprejudiced men , they are obliged rather to give me thanks , then to pick a quarrell with me for endeavouring to undelude them . and that this was chiefly the design will plainly appear throughout the whole series of it , which is to make men truely sensible of all seditious principles and practises , and to shew them what an hainous crime it is to act a ravillac's part under a true protestant disguise , or to hide a dominican dagger under a presbyterian cloak , that it was farr more adviseable to expiate the guilt of a late murdered sovereign before they enter upon a new tragaedy , and embrue their hands in the blood of his surviving sons ; and that to ruine three kingdoms twice in one age , is to render themselves the most insatiable sort of cannibals . in fine all that this discourse would put them upon is to repent of what is past from the very bottom of their hearts , and to promise to do better for the future without any mental reservations , and by their loyal practises to evince the true sincerity of their intentions : and surely this should be reputed no unfriendly office by them to reminde them of such things as are chiefly wanting in them , when 't is a most excellent and seasonable memento authoriz'd by that great apostle st. paul himself , put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers to obey magistrates . but gentlemen , least whilst i am preaching memento's to others i forget my self to you , give me leave to declare , that how plain soever the design was in preaching , the publication of this sermon is chiefly owing to that absolute power which your commands have with me , where it will be as impossible for me to resist their force , as to denye those manifold obligations so frequently devolved upon me : and if it meet with any frowns of the fanatick tribe it will be a sufficient compensation that it hath pass'd the pikes with you , whose candid and unbiass'd judgment will be able to buoy it up against the blackest aspersions : in a just deffiance to which i humbly lay it at your feet , with a due acknowledgment that i am gentlemen , your most humble and most obliged servant , james brome . the original of plotts , &c. psal . . v. . the wicked plotteth against the just , and gnasheth upon him with his teeth . it hath been truely observed in the revolutions of the world , that those persons who have been realy the most profess'd enemies to all religion , themselves have been for supplanting its true professors , and for hindring its further growth and entertainment with other men ; and this is little to be wondred at , that they who are only guided by the principles of atheism should push forward irreligion ; and endeavour to undermine all opposers of it : but for men who pretend to the height and purity of religion , at the same time to strike the greatest blow against it by their practises , is such a rank piece of hypocrisy as never any but this age could pretend to parallel . indeed 't is too too common with the pope and his cunning emissariss , to consult the interest of the triple diadem above the crowns , and make the laws of religion no further usefull and obliging then they are subservient to the designs and policies of his state-engineers ; 't is no news to hear him quarrelling with the greatest emperours and princes , and thundring out his severest bulls and anathema's against them , if they will not tamely submit to his usurpations and encroachments : to depose kings , and absolve subjects from their allegiance , to promote sedition , and cause insurrections , to set kingdoms in flames , and draw people into arms ; this is a meritorious piece of service amongst jesuites . but then for true protestants to quarrel at the pope for his bloodiness and cruelty , and yet write after his copy in the same charactars of blood , to afright people out of their senses with the hideous noise and amusement of popish massacres and conflagrations , and yet at the same time privately to ferment the nation into rebellion , and to prepare presbyterian blunderbusses to doe the same bloody execution with popish knives and daggers ; i say , to make a mighty splutter and huge outcry against popery , and yet at the same time to take the very same popish measures of ruine and destruction : this is a new way of supplanting and beating down popery , which was never known in the world , till the saints of the last edition chalk'd out the ready way for it , and prov'd by such practises as these , that their only means to become the best christians was first to commence the most flagitious and bloody villians . and that this was not true either in theory or practise , it were well for them that have of late been styled publickly , not only the briskest and tightest part of the nations friends , but even the very anti-papal guardians and saviours of it : but ( alass ) these are the demure and sober party amongst us , who have sow'd together the fig-leaves of sanctimonious pretences to cover the most horrid and execrable impietys , and under holy samuel's prophetick mantle have fobb'd of all their satanical delusions amongst the multitude . these are they , who under a design of destroying all those whom they are pleased to call baals priests , have approved themselves zealous for those of jeroboam , and by the most poisonous libells that were ever hatch'd by a brood of sanguinary conspirators , have been promoting the true interest and wellfair of the nation : these are the men who with lift up eyes and sanctified lips ; call god a thousand times to witness the integrity of their hearts , and the loyalty of their intentions , whilst upon pain and perill of another meroz-course , they were secretly calling out the people to the help of the lord ; to the help of the lord against the mighty : nay , whilst they were solemnly protesting with the most bitter asceverations , both in their pamphlets and discourses against all protestant-plotts , and associations against the government , they were even at that time more eager and hott upon the sent of it . thus whilst they were wheadling us into a good opinion of their actions , they were then at work with the most hellish contrivances , and the saints in the conventicle prou'd devils in the caball . for king and people were there appointed as sheep for the slaughter , and church and state both design'd a sacrifice to their cruelty and revenge : and what malice so implacable , what rage so inexorable as fanatick rage ? nunc cinna pius cinna & sylla , marius and catiline were men of mercy to these , maugre all their republican principles and massacres at rome ; and even turks and infidels , had these mens villanys succeeded , would have abhorr'd their very memories as the prodigies of humane nature , and a shame to all mankind . but god who sets bounds to the tempestuous waves of the sea , and saith , hither shall ye go and no further , hath put a hook into the nostrils of our republican leviathan's , and hath as yet stopp'd them in their career by discovering their conspiracy ; and though the wicked plotteth against the just , and gnasheth upon him with his teeth , yet god , who sitteth in the heavens , shall laugh him to scorn , for he seeth that his day is coming . the greek word in the septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate plotteth is more significantly rendred by the latins , contra jus & fas superstitiose observat , which implies an illegal and unlawful , or any overcurious and even superstitious observing and taking notice of , and misconstruing the actions of another to his detriment and prejudice , a prying so far into them as to be able to obviate and countermine them , and hinder them from pursuing those ends to which they were directed : so that the malicious design of the wicked against the just , which david seems to decipher , is this , that he is still making it his business privately to do the righteous man the greatest mischief , by misrepresenting his actions to the publick , by taking such malicious courses and methods against him as may render his life very dangerous and vneasy . and from the words thus explain'd , i shall branch out my discourse into three heads . first , to shew you that it hath ever been the fate of all virtuous and good men to be exposed to the malitious plots and contrivance of wicked miscreants . secondly , i shall consider from what grounds and causes such plots and contrivances doe most usually proceed . and thirdly , i shall deduce such practical conclusions as may bee sufficient to deterr men from such vile and infamous practises . first , for good and virtuous men to be exposed to the malitious plots and contrivances of those that are wicked hath ever been an hard fate which hath attended them in the world : 't is no new thing for religion to meet with opposition from such persons whose passions and interests are inconsistent with it ; christian religion , wee know , is the most rational and excellent institution that can be imagined ; it lays a great restraint upon the passions , and bridles all irregular and disorderly affections , it limits mens unbounded and extravigant desires , and puts them off from all base and unworthy projects and pursuits , it teacheth them to be just and honest , simple and open , candied and upright in all their actions , and would have them to be as innocent as doves , though it allows them likewise the wisdom of serpents ; and where these are not the visible effects of its holy doctrine and precepts , it meets with a very strange reception and entertainment in the world. for where men once give up themselves to the conduct of their passions , and indulge themselves entirely in all the common prejudice of humanity , where they sacrifice to their interest as the greatest of all deitys , and measure all religion by complying with such a party , or adhering to such a faction , or espousing such an interest ; if religion do in such cases exert its vigour and zeal to beat down such palpable irregularitys amongst such people , it shall be sure to be censured and dealt withall as an enemy , because it is resolved so fairly to tell them the truth . and hence arise evil thoughts , and false surmizes , and wrangling debates , and perverse disputings by men of corrupt minds , who turn faith into faction , and religion into rebellion , and all government must bee abolish'd that is not of their mold and all humane appointments abrogated that are not stamp'd with their mark ; and if governours will not be huff'd out of their authority by their demands , then all their actions must be immediately misrepresented to the croud , and the people must be forthwith harangu'd into mutiny and sedition , and plots and arms must be the last refuge of the saints to set up christ's kingdom in opposition to caesars . that these have been the proceedings for some years in this kingdom , i think none so great a recluse to be ignorant of at this day ; for who ever more persecuted by seditious boutefeus then our most gracious king ? what ever more harast'd by factious spirits then our apostolical church ? was not our sovereigns restauration very wonderfull and miraculous , and hath not god attested his care and protection over him ever since that time by such a series of deliverances , as might convince his enemies ( one would think ) that he is above the reach of their malice , and the very darling and favourite of heaven it self ? and yet for all this , have they not taken all advantages to stuff the pillow of his crown with thorns , and to make the throne totter , and become uneasie to his majesty ? did not an ungratefull absalom endeavour to steal away the hearts of his people from him , whilst a false and trecharous achitophel did form and marshall them into clubbs and partys against him ? did not the railing shimeis and bawling rabshakah's of the party endeavour to blast his reputation with his subjects , whilst the canting sheba's by blowing the trumpet of sedition did alarum them all into another holy warr ? and whilst they were conjuring up such hurricanes against the king , was not the church to be involv'd in the same general calamity , and both his and the churches friends doom'd to the same portion of sufferings , under which for so many years together they had once so foundly smarted ? alass , these tender-hearted and purely conscientious persons , could by no means away with the harmless rites of the church , but were preparing their swallows again for its goods and revenues , and though one poor small ceremony might by no means go down for fear of choaking them , yet a bishoprick would certainly have been a very pleasant morsell for a break-fast , for church-lands never yet came within their motion of sacrilege ; and though decimating and sequesting and plundring was out of fashion , it had been a trade which prov'd formerly so beneficiall to the saints , that they began to grow bigg with hope of renewing the monopoly . in fine dagon must down , for kingly power grew burthensom , and the lords were become useless , and the bishops dangerous , and we had nothing left amongst us but through pac'd judges , and evil counsellours , and flattering divines , buisy and designing papists and french councills ; and since the ministers of state were inexcuseable , and deserved all the fury ( as one of the hellish * agents speaks ) which must one time or other be let lose upon them ; now was the time for the true protestant flails and other new instruments of torture to flye about their bones , and take vengeance of gods , because their reputed enemies . but blessed be the lord , who hath not given us over as a prey unto their teeth , our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler , the snare is broken , and we are delivered , and our help standeth yet in the name of the lord , who hath made heaven and earth . and so from the plott it self , i shall proceed to the second thing , and consider the grounds and original of this and all other plotts and conspiracies in the world ; which i shall resolve into three general causes . and first they are occasioned by spreading dangerous positions and seditious principles amongst the multitude : for when the people are taught that they are the supream power , and all civil authority is derived originally from them , that there is a mutual compact between a prince and his subjects , and that if he perform not his duty they are dischar ged from theirs ; why , 't is only giving out that the prince hath forfeited his trust , and is accountable for the breach of that power with which he was entrusted ; and then the next thing by course follows to depose or murder him , and he falls justly too by the sword for those , which they call , his crimes and misdemeanours . again , what greater encouragement can possibly be given to conspire against a government , and contrive its utter subversion , then when men are told publickly that self preservation is such a fundamental law of nature as superseeds the obligation of all others which stand in competition with it , and that it is lawfull for their own defence , and the defence of their religion to enter into what leagues , covenants , or associations they please , even against the will and consent of the supream magistrate ? and can there be any higher incentive to rebellion in the world , then to preach amongst the rabble , that the doctrine of the gospel concerning patient suffering of injuries is not incompatible with taking up arms against our government , and that resistance of superiours is a thing very lawfull , where our rights and liberties are invaded by them ? nay once more , when rebellion grows prosperous , and conspiracies are crown'd with success , when victory flyes to the sides of oppressours , and kings are led in triumph for a spectacle to the multitude , tell the people but then , as it was taught them in the late warrs , that possession and strength give a right to govern , and success in a cause or enterprize proclaim it to be lawfull and just , and to pursue it is to comply with the will of god , because it is to follow the conduct of his providence ; and i defye any better method to instigate them afresh then this will prove , for it pusheth them forward upon new attempts , and it makes them so daring and desperate in that cause , which they believe god himself hath own'd so providentially , that they will caball and plott , and mutiny and fight against all who shall oppose them in their resolves and designs , being still flush'd with hopes of a glorious success ; and tha t god will never desert that people or that cause , for which once he did so signally interpose his mighty providence . thus where men have once suck'd in such dangerous principles as these , they scruple not to act according to those principles , and they must needs prove very pernitious in order to the undermining the peace and prosperity of that state where they are entertain'd , because they are the very bane of all obedience and loyalty , and transform men into such horrid monsters of anarchy and rebellion , as are unfit to live in any christian community , being like the plague that poisons all places with their infectious contagion ; as wee have felt by too woefull experience in these three flourishing kingdoms . secondly , nothing doth more occasion mischieveous plotts and conspiracies then needless fears and jealousies about religion and government : till but the people in plausible cant , that the king is setting up for tyranny and arbitrary government , and that he is resolved to sacrifice all their lives and liberties to his unbounded ambition and avarice ; though above twenty years experience doth fully attest the contrary ( a reign where law and justice were never stretch'd unless to mercy , and indulgence ; a reign where too easie forgiveness , and receiving his pardon'd enemies the warm ungratefull snakes too near into the bosom of majesty , and too high into his trust and honours has been the only fault in his throne ) yet this imaginary leviathan of arbitrary power shall raise such panick fears , that those very shadows and chimaera's like so many igens fatui shall mislead deluded ignorance into distraction and rebellion , whilst the great knaves trail the carrion , and the little fools hunt after , as one phraseth it wittily to this purpose . again let it be but given out though with all the incoherencys and absurditys imaginable that the pope is advancing with his holy banners into this kingdom , and is resolv'd to make a reprizal of all his lost ground amongst us ; tell them that the bishops are pensioners to his holyness , and are resolv'd to open both their churches and treasuries to readmit his sacred train ; 't is not all these mens protestations , or tests , discourses , writings and sermons can be able to undisguise the deluded rabble , or gain them any reverence from these their profess'd enemies ; but they must be hollowed out of the world with the common crye of the multitude , away with these fellows it is not fit that they should live : thus christ must suffer by the decree of the pharisees , least heathen rome prevail , and the romans come and take away both their place and nation , though the very death of christ brought in the romans to destroy them ; and the church of england must be voted down by our pharisaical dissenters , least that proving an inlet to popery the modern romanists by that means take an occasion to root them out ; when indeed the case is plain , that if ever they should again prevail to the subversion of our establish'd church , rome would pay them quickly in the very same coine , and they but hasten their own ruine , by the contrivance of ours . let not then any foolish fears or jealousys , that are conjured up , affright us out of our loyalty and obedience to our governours , for those are only the state-tools of hot-spurd bigots and incendiars , and are always used as boys doe vizors to fright every body but themselves that wear them : and though there is not the least shadow or appearance for such surmizes , and all is rank forgery which they scatter amongst the multitude ; yet because they know the temper of most english men , that they fear nothing which they see , but all things that they hear , which if unpleasing , and ungrateful doe presently set them a kicking and madding against the government ; they gratifie their foolish humours in this affair , and after they have mustered up a whole legion of publick grievances in the nation , they magnifie these very annusances with such artifices of faction , that the people are induced to believe these imaginary castles and scare-crows to be real and substantial truths , and so run into confusion and an opposition of that government , which were it not for these men they would quietly acquiesce in , and think it the greatest happiness to live quietly under , withall obedience and submission . but a third thing which makes men associate in leagnes , and plotts , and conspiracys , is an uneasiness under government , and an itching desire after new changes and alterations : though after all the mighty heats and debates amongst politicians monarchies have at last been voted for the best of governments , and one tyrant ( if so it happen ) more tolerable then thirty at athens , or a greater number in england ; yet so besotted are some bigors to common-wealth principles and practises that a solomon upon the throne shall be made impeaceable at their tribunal , and they who perhaps alphonsus like could have contriv'd the world better , had they been admitted privy-counsellors with god almighty at the creation , no doubt are so opinionative as throughly to be perswaded that they can govern the world better too then gods vice-gerents who are at the helm , might their measures be taken in the administration of government . but what are the measures which these men of policy propose ? why , if the prerogative was but little more paired , and church-government new modell'd , and squar'd more exactly to the presbyterian cut , you should perhaps have these mens witts leave off working for a while , till the next moon caus'd a new fermentation in the brain ; and when their lunacy did return , new projects must be set on foot , and down goes presbytery as too severe and tyrannical , and a jus divinum must be enstamp'd with a nemine contradicent upon independency ; till at length the moon changeth again , and then it being thought too much to monopolize true christianity to any one particular sect of men , at last comes out a toleration , and like noahs ark takes in all clean and unclean creatures within the pale of the church , till our heresies grow as numerous as the very letters of our creeds , and the church it self become realy , what julian once falsly traduced it to be , a sanctuary for all the greatest villanies , and most horrid diabolical illusions in the world. and these are the true fruits and mischiefs of unnecessary changes in government , which should make us utterly detest all abettours of them , and to dread the very thoughts of any further reformation , until they could all agree upon a better then is establish'd : for 't is the duty of reformers to provide themselves of a sure remedy before they take notice of the wound , and that chyrurgeon deserves to be punish'd who first opens the sick mans vein and then runs for things to close it : and they that would bleed the kingdom in the basilick vein , ( as in their own phrase to their eternal infamy hath been once done allready , ) and would heal the distempers of the nation without having better remedies at hand , which are more necessary and expedient then at present are applied , is such an impracticable way to cure it , as none but state-quacks , and bloody empiricks would pretend to , and are therefore to be punished as such unskillful miscreants whose proper work is not to cure but to ruine that kingdom . and now having briefly acquainted you how farr the malice of wicked men prompts them forward to commit the greatest outrages by their cursed plotts and conspiracies ; and what is the source of all such devilish machinations ; it will be requisite in the third place to deduce from thence such practical conclusions as may be sufficient to deterr men from such vile and infamous practises against either church or state. in order to which i desire it may be considered , first , that nothing is more detestable in the sight of god , then such evil projects and treacherous designments against governours : all obedience to man is for the sake of god , and they who by any contumelious act vilifie their superiours , reproach god himself who gave them their authority : if by god kings reign , and princes do decree justice , to wound their persons is to stabb god in effigy , nor can their honour be eclips'd without lessening gods too : he that quarrels with his prince quarrels with god who hath bestow'd upon him all his regalia of kingly power , and he that endeavours to undermine or betray his sovereign out of any selfish principle , or secular interest and design , was our blessed saviour now upon earth , would judas like venture his soul to betray him too , was he but sure to come to a good market for him . hence the gyants of old who warr'd against jupieter are a very true emblem of all seditions rebels ; for to raise commotions against kings is to wage warr with heaven , whose vice-gerents they are , and what greater affront can be given ? what more open violance offered to the king of kings ? to be still carping and repining at all publick administration of affairs is to question gods wisdom in the choyce of his own ministers , and in plain terms to tell him , that he is much to blame in bestowing crowns upon fools or wicked men : but methinks what luther said concerning philip melancthon who was more disquieted in his thoughts then he needed to have been concerning the confused state of things in his days , monendus est philippus desinut esse rector mundi , is very applicable to our purpose at this present time : every hot-brain'd fanatick is duly to be admonished that he would cease to take upon him the government of the world , as if he knew how to dispose of it to a better lieutenancy then the almighty ; and consequently that the brethren would once be perswaded to leave all their mutinuss and seditious practises , their raillery , and detraction , their plotts and associations against kings and all that are in authority , because god looks upon it as a contempt and a defiance given to himself , and therefore doth assure them , that as rebellion is as the sin of witch-craft . so they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation . again god is pleased to declare his utter distast and abhorrence of all such practises by the providential discoveries he so frequently makes of the greatest conspiracies in the world : and indeed there is no greater argument for the providence of god against the rankest atheists living , that he doth continually take cognizance of all affairs of sublunary beings ; nor is there any surer testimony of gods mercy and loving-kindness to the sons of men , then the great care he hath taken for the preservation of his people , and the wonderfull deliverances which in all ages of the world he hath wrought for the church , maugre all the powerfull and politick attempts of men or devils to undermine and destroy it . and if upon this account god owns any cause by making it successful , which i shew'd you before it was the doctrine of fanaticks , what may they judge of our cause now , by the success and happiness of the late discovery ? for if this argument be true , the gates and turrets of the city , who now groan under the heads and quarters of the late executed rebells , will proclaim to all the world the gratious success on our side , and that god hath visibly espous'd our cause against those antimonarchicall and anti-episcopall zealots who did oppose it ? secondly , nothing is more inconsistent with the design of true religion , and the doctrine of christianity then such vile plotts and conspiracies , which make resistance against superiours a thing lawful ; and consequently that can be no true church were such practises are allow'd of or countenanc'd by the chiefest members : now that these things have been ever justified by the fanatick fraternity is as demonstrable as to shew you where they have been look'd upon as antichristian , and i defye any one to point me out the time where ever they were yet publickly disown'd by a joynt concurrence of all their sanctified tribes . read over , if you can think it worth your while to puddle in so much filth and impiety , some of the books or sermons of calamy or baxter , owen or goodwyn , jenkyns or marshal , and of diverse others who were the heads and the very oracles of both the sectarian parties , and you will find the greatest villanies countenanc'd , the horrid'st blasphemies vented , the deepest treasons encouraged , and the most execrable murder of the late king himself justified in their pulpitts and presses , which have been the accursed fountains of all our deplorable calamities : or if you please to take an infallible antidote against them all , read over the dissenters sayings , publish'd on this very account by the true heroick atlas of our establish'd church , and you will meet there with such a farrago of wicked principles and opinions flowing all immediately from the same sink of fanaticism , as indeed is no where else to be met withall but in hell it self : for what false and horrid stories do they there tell god almighty of the king and the church , as the same incomparable author observes , and then what blasphemous commissions , in the name of the high god , do they sham upon their congregations ? they tell the people on the one hand that it is the will of god to have kings put to death , altars profan'd , temples demolish'd ; whilst they treat the dreadfull majesty of heaven on the other hand as if he himself was to come in for a share in the next crown or church-lands that fell : they bless god for successes , and pray for blessings that carry damnation along with them , imputing the motions of hell to the very breathings of the holy ghost . now all these things were not done privately in a corner , or shrouded up closely in the shades of darkness , but were publish'd boldly and openly in the face of the sun , as doctrines fit to be propagated and espoused by all true christians ; nor were these the particular sentiments only of some private men , but the approv'd opinions of all their principal teachers , some of which were assembly-men , urged with all the zeal , and inculcated to their people with all the vigour imaginable , and some of these persons are alive at this very day , and we find them men of the same kidneys still , for they have not yet retracted any of these seditious principles , nor recanted for their dangerous opinions and tenents , nor given the state any reasonable satisfaction to believe that they are sorry for what they have done , nor declared any visible reluctancy or regret for all their former misdemeanours , repentance in a fanatick being as great a miracle as conversion in a jew . now 't is impossible that men who are poison'd with such unchristian sentiments as these can ever be members of a church truly christian : and i never read of any rebells that were canoniz'd for saints by those who did believe themselves to be the best and truest protestants , till mr. baxter first placed them in his saints everlasting rest ; for christiaanity truely primitive , never own'd any such principles or persons in the world , but lays down other maxims of another stamp and nature ; it commands us love and peace , unity and obedience , and abhorrs all schisms and factions and dissensions as plagues and fire-brands ; it obligeth us to be subject to the higher powers and to obey for conscience sake , and to submit our selves to froward and cruel as well as to mild and gentle governours ; it allows us not , though surrounded with storms of persecution , to take our measures of obedience from our strength or our numbers , for the primitive christians were more in number and greater in power then their persecutors , and yet nunquam conjuratio erupit , faith the father , there never was any uprour or hurly-burly amongst them , but in reverence to their master and his example , interimi se a paucioribus quam interimere patiebantur , they rather suffered themselves to be kill'd by a smaller number then themselves are : and st. cyprian cryes out , nemo nostrum quando apprehenditur reluctatur , quamvis nimius & copiosus noster populus ; none of us when we are apprehended strive or endeavour to revenge your unjust violence , allthough our people are very many and more numerous then you are ; and tertullian gives the reason , occidi licet occidere non licet ; god hath made it lawfull for us to suffer our selves to be kill'd , but not lawfull for us to kill . and indeed the doctrine of resistance was never taught in the christian school , till the pope and his jesuites layd down plainly the text , and our true protestant scotch and english new upstart theologico-politici began to lick up the venom , and were pleas'd to raise their holy comments upon it ; and it was quite beaten out of countenance , till of late an apostate julian , allmost as bad as julian whose life he writes , did endeavour again to bring it into reputation with the mobile : sure i am that the whole life of our saviour was a confutation of such vile practises , his rebuking st. peter for rashly using the sword , was a plain discountenancing such unevangelical principles , the sufferings of all the apostles and primitive martyrs are a sufficient comment upon the doctrine of our saviour in this particular , and in short erasmus was much in the right when he lays down this for one of the greatest of truths , nulla haeresis perniciosior , &c. no heresy is more pernitious then this doctrine of resistance , the whole stream of apostolical men running quite counter to it , both in their principles and practises . so that till men learn to be more peaceable and quiet , more submissive and obedient , less mutinous and refractory , less censorious and seditious , till they leave off pleading conscience , for not doing that which a gospel-conscience tells them they are obliged to do , and never take up arms , raise any insurrections , or confederate in any private leagues or associations against their governours ; let them list themselves in what congregations , and church themselves in what assemblies , and pretend to what measures of saintshipp they please , i darr assure them ( if the gospel be true ) that they are not yet enroll'd in the catalogue of gods true saints , who never as yet held up one hand in adoration to god almighty , and with the other rebell'd against and endeavoured to murder his anointed . thirdly , nothing is more destructive to the peace and wellfare of all humane society , then such damnable plotts and conspiracies against government : with what pleasure do men enjoy all the fruits of their labour , and live with the greatest satisfaction under their vines and their figg-trees , where these common incendiaries do not set kingdoms in flames ? on the other side where these get the upper hand , what massacres and murders , what blood and rapine , what ravages and sacrilege do immediatly ensue ? no respect then to persons , no reverence to gray hairs , no tenderness for children , no piety for infants , no compassion to the most lovely and charming flowers of beautifull youth it self . the streets shall be fill'd with the dreadfull spectacle of mangled carcasses , and the skyes rent in sunder with the bitter cryes and ejaculations of poor widows and orphans , whose dearest relations have falln sacrifices to revenge and cruelty ; the rivers shall be dyed with purple gore , and the air become infected with the contagion of the slain ; the most stately cities shall be disrob'd of all their glory , and the very woods and mountains of the countrey shall want caves and receptacles for wandring exiles and pilgrims : nobility is then no barr against oppression , and birth and family do but at that time make the condition more deplorable ; nor will sacred places meet with better usage then any other , and will prove but very weak asylum's and insignificant sanctuaries to those that have been employed therein ; 't is no news then to behold the abomination of desolation standing in the most holy place , and the house of prayer made in the most literal sense a den of thieves ; and it will be less matter of wonder for a fat benefice to become a crime and witness too against its incumbent , and he to be voted unorthodox , that is worth the plundring . that this is all romance or but barely speculation i wish our late unhappy times did not fully contradict , but ( alass ) we then so dearly experienc'd the mischiefs of sedition , and what direfull consequences ensued when the rebels were in the saddle , that the least apprehension of such dismal revolutions may reasonably affect as at the greatest dread and horrour , and the burnt child may justly fear the fire a second time . fourthly , all plotters are to be reckoned the very worst sort of sinners , they are the wicked with an emphasis , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of eminency : hence the sins of rebellion and stubborness are by god himself rank'd in the same file , with those horrid and crying sins of witch-craft and idolatry ; nay , they are rather the worse of the two , because they who are guilty of them feldom or never blush for that guilt , and have any inward checks or remorse of conscience for the commission of such crimes ; they can swear without perjury , because an oath obligeth not in the imposers sense but in the takers ; they can rebell without treason , because kings being only the peoples creatures , 't is lawful to unmake what themselves created ; and they can kill without murder , because what the word cannot , the sword may lawfully do : for there is such a strange kind of bewitching infatuation in rebellion , that it many times so far imposeth upon their reason as to make them believe themselves innocent , when they are devils incarnate , or hellish agents walking in humane shapes : this was very evident in the regicides that suffered for the barberous murder of that glorious martyr charles the first , their eyes were so blinded even to the very last , that they could not see their errour , but justified what they had done with so much boldness and pertinacity , as if they had seen a vision of christ holding forth to them a crown of glory for their perseverance in their villany : and the scotch rebells were so far from being sorry for their crimes , that they cry up that rising for a very meritorious act , and canonize the chief ring-leaders at pentland-hills for martyrs : and it is to be heartily wish'd that they who lately suffered for their too apparent treasons had died with a deeper sense of them then they are apprehended to have done . again , rebellion and disobedience are much the worse sins , because ( as it hath been truely observed by a reverend and learned * divine ) they are luciferian crimes , sins which can never attend men to heaven , having brought down the angels of heaven to hell : there are some sort of sins , such as drunkenness and whoredom ( however damning ) that the devil cannot possible commit ; but envy , and malice , shism and sacrilege , hypocricy and rebellion and intoxicating pride are peculiar to him , and they are the devils sins so properly , that they are properly called devilish in men or christians where ever found : and as these of all sins are the most diabolicall , so they are the most damning , which is very evident from the terrible emphasis and force st. peter puts upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pet. . . saying of them , who despise government , that they are chiefly or more especially reserv'd by the lord unto the day of judgment to be punish'd : and certainly then it will be to great a hazard for a christian to be so fool-hardy as to venture his immortal soul in the point of resistance upon the bare assurance of mr. bridges or any of his frye , that st. pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rom. . . signifies only a temporal mulet , and not eternal damnation without repentance . let none then who know themselves guilty of these damning sins value themselves a rush the more because they can boast with the proud * pharisee , i am no extortioner , adulterer , drunkard , or the like ▪ ; for as rebellion is a sin of the highest magnitude , which erases all the common notice of duty and loyalty , and even humanity too out of the mind , so it hurries a man down to hell seared and hardned in his villany , where no doubt the preeminence of the hottest place is reserv'd for those who die in that condition without repentance . fifthly , since all such seditious practises are so abominable to god , so pernitious to church and state , and the abettours of them are of all men the most vile , wicked , and diabolical , let this be a means to perswade you cordially and sincerely to abjure and avoid all such horrid principles and projectors : now in order to this it will be requisite to take notice who these plotters are , at this time , and by what eminent characters they are signaliz'd to the world. and here we shall find gebal and ammon , and amalek with the uncircumcis'd philistines , all in a confederacy against the establish'd government ; presbyterians and independents , ana-baptists , and fifth monarchy men , all joyning issues to make the king glorious , that is in their sense a martyr as his father was ; as if the royal ghost was still haunting their conventicles , and no blood could still propitiate him but that of his own son : those who are off as different interests as opinions all engage in this , and those whose affections are as much alienated from one another ( singly considered ) as from us , all agree upon this account in an unjarring harmony : herod and pontius pilate are made friends that christ may suffer , and those who are the most bitter and implaceable enemies to one another ( when time serves ) in their principles , doctrine and government ; all unite in a league against their common enemies king and church . and ought not such men to be avoided with the greatest horrour and detestation ? or shall these any longer find favour from us , who desire only to be so kind as to cut our throats out of courtesy ? oh , let us not only shun them as we would do fire or plague , or wild or ravenous beasts , but let us pray too against theirwickedness , as holy david did in the like case . do unto them as unto the midianites : as to sisera , as to jabin at the brook of kison : which perished at en-dor : they became as dung for the earth . make their nobles like oreb , and like zeeb : yea all their princes as zebah and zalmunna : who said , let us take to our selves the house of god in possession . o my god , make them like a wheel : as the stubble before the wind. as the fire burneth a wood : and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire : so persecute them with thy tempest ; and make them afraid with thy storm . fill their faces with shame , that they may seek thy name , o lord . let them be confounded and troubled for ever : yea let them be put to shame and perish ; that men may know that thou , whose name alone is jehovah : art the most high over all the earth . but if some will not do this , because they do not imagine things so bad as they are represented , and will still brazen it out against a true protestant plott , though the treason is as apparent as if it had been wrote with a sun-beam ; should an angle come now from heaven , and attest the truth of these things , they would believe him too , to be only some misguided tory apparition ; and it is to be feared , that those who give themselves over to such invincible scruples and obstinacy , have either a hand in these proceedings or hearts that wish well to them ; and so nothing will be able to work in them better things , till publick justice brings them to open and condigne punishment . but in the last place let me reminde you to adhere immoveably to that church which remonstrats against , and utterly abhors all rebellious principles and practises : now what church that is , is conspicious to all the world by that indelible mark of loyalty which is her proper badge and honour ; i mean that truly primitive and apostolical church , the church of england as now established ; which never yet bestowed the kings supremacy on the pope , nor huff'd him out of his power to bestow it upon the people : it by no means can allow an entrenchment upon prerogative , and it as much desires that property should be secured by all honest and lawfull means : it sues for mercy of the prince , but it would not have the subject abuse it to ill purposes ; and though it doth allow them a liberty in a regular way to do that which they judge to be best for themselves , yet it by no means gives them leave to tell their prince what he must do , or to thrust themselves in as spyes upon , or judges over his actions : in fine it enjoyns us to obey him in all things that are lawful and honest , and if he commands us otherwise , it permits us not to rebell , but bids us patiently suffer for what we cannot freely comply with . this is the avow'd doctrine of over church ( for which her fame may be justly celebrated our all the christian world ) in which let us all with one consent resolve to live and dye ; for where can we be taught better , or in what communion can we hope sooner to gain heaven then in this , whose principles are so sound , whose doctrine so pure , whose rites and ceremonies are so few and decent , and whose practises are all so agreeable to the first and purest ages of christianity . which if once seriously considered would not only confirm us in this faith , and make us firm to our church , but perswade others too to enter again into the bosom of it , who have so perfidiously without any just grounds revolted from it . for why should they any longer suffer themselves to be deluded , and why should they not suspect that there may possibly be some corruptions in their churches as well as any in ours ? now that there are both in principle and practise amongst them i have undeniably demonstrated , and would they but themselves weigh both sides impartially , and without prejudice lay things to heart , they would be judges against themselves and embrace our communion : for what corruptions can be greater then those that proceed from rebellious principles and treasonable practises , which their churches still do most certainly maintain , and never did yet by any publick assembly or remonstrance disclaim or openly renounce : and why then should any be so scrupulous to hold communion with our church for fear of some imaginary corruptions , and yet cleave to such churches as are visibly more corrupt ? return then , o shulamite , return , and if there be any straglers now amongst us , let me earnestly begg of them to return to this our fold , that we may be all but one flock under one sheepherd christ jesus : for 't is now high time for men to see their errours , and if such treasons and conspiracies as these , will not satisfie their consciences that those who are the leaders and abettours of them are false teachers , and wolves in sheeps-cloathing ; heaven it self cannot work such mens conversion . but we heartily entreat you for the kings safety , whose life you all pretend so highly to value , and yet can never be secure , whilst you so nicely distinguish betwixt his person and his authority ; for the interest of these kingdoms , in whose wellfare must needs consist your happiness , and yet your mutual feers and animosities do dayly lessen and undermine ; and for the peace and comfort of your own souls , and that faith and conscience , which you lay so great a claim to , and yet so constantly shipwrack by your obstinate schifm and separation , to believe these things to be really true ▪ and to become at last sensible that by embracing these loyal principles which our church teacheth you , you will be certainly in the fairest way to promote your best and chiefest interest , that is , to do well and prosper here , and to attain far greater degrees of felicity hereafter ; whereas all other seditious tenents expose men to certain unavoidable dangers , penalties , and misfortunes in this life ; and hazard their eternal salvation in that which is to come . i shall conclude all with that of moses , deut. . . i call heaven and earth to record this day against you , that i have set before you life and death , blessing and cursing , therefore chuse life that both thou and thy seed may live. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e * plate redivivus . psal . . v. , , . prov. . v. . sam. . v. . rom. . v. . st. mat. . . * dr. pierce . * luke . v. ▪ psal . . y. , — . the prologve and epilogve to a comedie presented at the entertainment of the prince, his highnesse, by the schollars of trinity colledge in cambridge in march last, / by francis cole. cowley, abraham, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing c ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing c estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) the prologve and epilogve to a comedie presented at the entertainment of the prince, his highnesse, by the schollars of trinity colledge in cambridge in march last, / by francis cole. cowley, abraham, - . p. : ill. printed for james calvin, london : . in verse. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng roundheads -- anecdotes. great britain -- religion -- th century. a r (wing c ). civilwar no the prologve and epilogve to a comedie, presented, at the entertainment of the prince his highnesse, by the schollers of trinity colledge in cowley, abraham d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the prologve and epilogve to a comedie , presented , at the entertainment of the prince his highnesse , by the schollers of trinity colledge in march last , . by francis cole . london : printed for iames calvin , . the prologue . who sayes the times do learning disallow ? 't is false : 't was never honoured more then now . when you appear ( great prince ) the night is done , you are our morning starre ; shall be our sunne . but our scean 's london now , and by the rout we perish , if the round-heads be about . for now no ornament , the head must wear no bayes , no myter , scarce so much as hair ▪ how can a play passe safely ? when we know cheap-side crosse fals , for making but a show . our only hope is this , that ( it may be ) a play may passe , 't was made ex tempore . though other arts poor and neglected grow , they 'l admit poesie , which was ever so . but we contemn the fury of these dayes , and scorn as much their censure , as their praise . our muse ( blest sir ) doth now on you rely , 't would gladly live ; but not refuse to die . accept our hearty zeal , a thing that 's plaid ear't was a play , and acted ere t' was made : our ignorance , but our duty too we show , i would all ignorant people would do so . at other times expect our wit or art , the comedy is acted by the heart . the epilogve . the play great sir , is done , it needs must fear , though you brought all your mercies here ▪ it may offend your highnesse , we have now three hours done treason here for ought we know ; but powr your grace , can above nature give , i , can give power to make abortives live . in which if our bold wishes should be crost , 't is but the life of one poor week that 's lost : though it should fall beneath your potent scorn , scarce can it dye more quickly then t' was born ▪ the eccho . now eccho on what 's religion grounded ? round-head . whos 's its professor most considerable ? rable . how do these prove themselves to be the godly ? odly . but they in life are known to be the holy , o lye . who are these preachers men , or women-common ? common . come they from any vniversitie ? citie . do they not learning from their doctrine sever ? ever . yet they pretend that they do edifie , o fie . what do you call it then ? to fructifie : i. what church have they , and what pulpits ? pits . but now in chambers the conventickle , tickle . the godly sisters shrewdly are belyed , bellied . the godly number then will soon transcend , end . as for the temples they with zeal embrace them , race them . vvhat do they make of bishops hierarchy ? archie . are crosses , images ornament , their scandall . all . nor will they leave us any ceremonies ? monies . must even religion down for satisfaction ? faction . how stand they affected to the government civill ? evill . but to the king , they say they are most loyall , lye all . then god keep king and state , from these same men . amen . finis the great antichrist by j.v. ... vicars, john, or - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing v ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing v estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the great antichrist by j.v. ... vicars, john, or - . [ ], - p. [s.n], [london?] printed : . attributed to vicars by wing and nuc pre- imprints. marginal notes in arabic, greek, hebrew, latin, and syriac. draws theological parallels between the coming of antichrist and the rebellion of parliamentary forces in the civil war. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. includes bibliographical references. eng roundheads -- controversial literature. great britain -- history -- civil war, - . a r (wing v ). civilwar no a discovery of the rebels. by j.v. prisoner. vicars, john f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the great antichrist . tim. . , , , , . know this , that in the last dayes shall come perillous times , &c. by j. v. prisoner . printed in the yeare of our lord , . the great antichrist . tim. . , , , , . . know this , that in the last dayes shall come perillous times . . for men shall be lovers of their owne selves , covetous , boasters , proud , blasphemers , disobedient to parents , unthankfull , unholy . . without naturall affection , truce-breakers , false accusers , incontinent , fierce , despisers of those that are good . . trayterous , heady , high minded , lovers of pleasure more then lovers of god , . having a forme of godlinesse , but denying the power thereof : from such turne away . in the last dayes the scripture foretells the coming & continuance of the antichrist , a the great antichrist , the man of sin , whose members were many petite antichrists , that is , the forerunning hereticks , for in them the b mystery of iniquity wrought in saint pauls time , who said , ye know what withholdeth that he should be revaeled in his time , that is , the roman c ethnick empire , which when it was removed , then came in that antichrist . the persians succeeded the chaldeans , the grecians subdued the persians , the romans followed the grecians , and after the roman monarchy ceased in augustulus , the hesperian caesar , d the starre absynthites that fell from heaven , about the yeare . e constans the emperour gave the government of the city of rome to the pope . then was antichrist the bestia bicornis , the beast with two hornes , his f ecclesiasticall and temporall power , whereas before he had onely the spirituall power to bee universalis papa , supreame over all ; so then antichrist hath continued above a thousand yeares , by consent of the foresaid writers ; yet andreas and arethas upon the g apocalyps , with other fathers , seeme to hold that antichrist shall continue but three yeares and a halfe , which is true in a sense , for his three last yeares shall be most grievous to the persecuted saints , such h tribulation as never was , in mockings , scourging , bonds , imprisonments , warre , bloodshed , and he shall not suffer their bodies to be buryed . these are the perillous times spoken of in this text , therefore have i made so large a preface to it , wherein observe ; first , a precept to get knowledge , know this ; secondly , the subject , this in generall , but in particular it is a prophecy of the perills of the last times ; thirdly , the adjunct , in the last dayes ; fourthly , the causes , . opinions , ly . vices of men here particularized . . for the first observe in generall , knowledge is a precious thing , i the preacher was wise , and still taught the people knowledge ; all men naturally desire to know , knowledge of the ancients is commended in scripture ; david cites a proverbe of the ancients , k as saith the proverb of the ancient , l of the first that made it , wickednesse shall go forth from the wicked ; his sinne goeth forth from him m willingly , and his punishment goes after it , his ruine comes from himselfe . s. paul thrice cites the poets which were n prophets among the heathen . first , against idolatry , acts . o wee are his off-spring , therefore the godhead is not like the worke of mans hand that hath neither reason , sense , or life . secondly , against atheisme denying the immortality of the soule , cor. . let us eate and drinke for to morrow wee shall dye , be not deceived , evill communication corrupts good manners . thirdly , against lying and epicurisme , titus . p the cretians are alwayes lyers , evill beasts , slow bellyes ; three mayne articles are confirmed by humane learning , but there are in those dayes ignorant sectaries that oppose all learning , pretending inspiration by the holy ghost , as the gnostikes of old , yet it was the commendation of timothy , that of a child he knew the q holy letters ; but why should i trouble your eares with invectives against r these ? i leave them to meditate on three proverbs , s a wise man contending with a foole , whether he rage , or laugh , he hath no rest : a foole is wiser in his owne conceit , then seven men that can render a reason : bray a foole in a morter , and his foolishnesse will not depart from him . . i proceed to the subject , which is a prophecy of perillous times . this day is this scripture fulfilled in your eares , animus meminisse horret , my heart trembleth at this , and is removed out of his place , but you must know it , and therfore i must speake it ; these are the perillous times or t difficult , all men are in such straits that they know not how to deliver themselves , as israel betweene the red sea and the aegyptians ; secondly , hard times , wherein men want food to eate , and rayment to put on , all men cry out , o tempora , o mores , oh hard times , and evill conditions of men ! wee have heard of germany and ireland , and would not believe , now wee see and feele ; thirdly , cruell times , the son dishonours his father , the father riseth up against his sonne to put him to death , brother robbs and kills his brother . this civill warre in the judgment of the u heathen is the punishment of rapine and fratricidy ; fourthly , inexorable x times , they are for warre when wee petition for peace : woe to me that i dwell with them that hate peace , and breath out slaughters , whose teeth are as speares and arrowes , and their tongue a sharpe sword , lord deliver me from those foure generations of the last times , prov. . . there is a generation that curseth his father , and doth not blesse his mother , do not the martialists of these times thinke it zeale to kill father and mother in this cause ? there is a generation pure in their owne eyes , and not purged from their filthinesse ; who are these but the impure hypocrites in my text , there is a generation , how lofty are their eyes , and their eye-lids are lifted up ? are not these the proud pharisees ? there is a generation , their teeth are as swords that cry out , warre , warre , and no peace , that devoure the poore and needy by rapine and imprisonment , against reason and common rights . i come now to the causes of these evill times , which are two : first , the opinions . secondly , the vices of men , here mentioned , not reduced to the head of prophanesse , but hypocrisy ? the hypocrites reigne , and the people are insnared , iob. . antichrist is the great hypocrite , heretickes and sectaries of these times are limbes of antichrist , and make up y babel the great , which is the confusion of all sects . first , for their opinions , it is said in my text , they are lovers of themselves , of their owne wills and z opinions , for the time shall come , saith the apostle , tim. . . that men will not endure sound doctrine ; enquire out of these two epistles , and the epistle to the romans , and wee shall find what sound doctrine is . first , the doctrine of prayer for kings , tim. . . i exhort first of all that prayers be made for kings , but certaine brownists of these times will not pray for the king , but revile him in their prayers . secondly , the doctrine against a women preachers , i suffer not a woman to teach , nor to usurpe authority , but saith isay , b women rule over you . thirdly , the doctrine of obedience to c superiours ; but now servants run away from their masters without their consent , and rise up against them in the publick cause ; doe these induce sound doctrine ? fourthly , the doctrine of justification by faith , which pelagians of old , and the papists now deny . fifthly , sanctification , rom. . . which gnostikes and nicolaitans formerly , now familists and antinomians deny . sixthly , the doctrine of predestination without foresight , rom. . . which papists and arminians oppose . seventhly , the doctrine of subjection to kings , though they be heathens and tyrants , which d gnostikes of old , and now anabaptists and brownists oppose , they can live without a king , though saint paul saith , rom. . . let every soule be subject , but these men thinke they have no soules , because they would have no king in israel , that they may do that which is right in their owne eyes , iudges . ult. the christians of rome paid tribute and custome to nero and trajan tyrants , but these rob the king of his due , and yet they say pro rege ; they say kings of old were anoynted , therefore the people was subject as to gods ordinance , but now it is not so : to which i answer e with the jew , no king the sonne of a king was anoynted , except in case of division about the right , as solomon when adoniah would be king , but the kingdome came by succession , as every mans inheritance descends from his fathers . againe they say , the kings of jury made no such covenant as our kings do ; i answer with the same jew , the contrary appears in the example of ioash and iehoiada , who made a covenant betweene the king and the people , and though ioash were an apostate and a tyrant , yet the traitours and murderers of the king were cut off by his sonne that reigned after him ; the king and kings sonne will never forget to punish traytours , as appeares in the example of david f on his death bed , who forgot not shimeie's curse . moreover they say , a king is a humane creature , and therefore may be removed by man : i answer , he is an ordinance humane , that is , taken out of men , not from angells , yet by gods appointment he is supreame , g pet. . . and all inferiours are appointed by him ; but the supreame powers , as kings and emperors are h appointed of god , roman . . . the jewes had a grand councell of seventy one elders , numb. . gather to mee seventy men of the elders , and moses who was king was above them all , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} talmud sanhed . perek . . the lesser sanhedrin was of two hundred and thirty sometimes : they go not forth to warre , nor gather the councell of the tribes , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} but by the grand councell of seventy one . they judge not the king at all , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} he goeth not forth of his palace to mourne for the dead , &c. in deut. . thou shalt set a king over thee , the king then is supreame ; they ride not on his horse , nor sit on his throne to rule , yet the booke of the law is with him when he goes to warre , or sits in judgment . there were three companies of iudges in jerusalem , at the doore of the mount of the house , in the court , and in a paved chamber , where the grand councell sate of seventy , and the king , from whence was no appeale , deut. . talmud sanhed , perek . . lastly , the doctrine of indifferent things they cannot indure , no ceremonies , but their owne inventions , yet the primitive christians , though differing in ceremonies of meats and dayes , lived in mutuall charity , rom. . . . the use of this is already made by the blessed apostle , rom. . . i beseech you brethren marke them that cause divisions and i scandalls ( to make many stumble and fall ) contrary to the sound doctrine yee have received , and avoyd them , for they serve not the lord iesus , ( as they pretend ) but their owne bellyes , what care they if they can eate and drinke , and fare deliciously every day , if flockes or heards of poore mens be driven away , and they undone for ever ? and by faire words , they deceive the hearts of the simple , not of the wise , who see plainly their hypocrisie , but like absolom , they steale away the hearts of the kings well-minded subjects by lyes : but i would have you , saith saint paul , simple in evill , and wise in that which is good , to hold fast the poynts of sound doctrine forenamed , and the god of peace shall bruise satan under your feet shortly ; who is satan ? but he that will not endure sound doctrine , as is plaine by the coherence , who is all for warre and bloud ? but the god of peace shall subdue these satans , and bruise them to powder , and that shortly ; this god of peace be with you that hold fast the doctrine yee have received , and follow not such as heap to themselves teachers like waves of the sea , tossed with every wind of doctrine , and they heap up k to themselves , they have their peculiar teachers ; one of paul , another of apollo , of cephas , &c. a great presumption in these men ; david had ira the jairite for his priest , and kings and nobles have theirs , and now there must be a parity , all the vulgar sort must have their teachers , according to their owne lusts , and private humours having itching and restlesse eares , weary of hearing the truth , and therefore they turne to fables , wherein they still itch after novelties . this is the first cause of these perillous times , the opinions of men . i come now to their vices . . their selfwill in those wayes , they are lovers of their l owne wills , gen. . . like simeon and levi , they are brethren in evill , instruments of cruelty are in their habitations , or their m swords are instruments of cruelty to shed bloud under the cloake of religion , as sectaries do ; into their secret councell my soule come thou not , if my body be forced and my goods , yet in n their association my heart be thou not united , for in their wrath they killed a man , one man of ten thousand , the prince of the land ; and however this one be yet alive by miracle , yet many noble lords & gentlemen have perished , & bin taken , neither have these men rested here , but in their rage have digged down , ( not a wall ) but walls of cities , and fortified townes , and not onely o houghed oxen , but slaine them , and driven away sheepe and oxen , robbing and spoyling , and all this in their p selfwill ; these two brethren were disswaded by the other ten , but they were selfwilled , and would slay without pity ; so i am perswaded there are ten for two in this city and kingdome for peace , but when they speake thereof the two are for warre , for they are selfwilled , and delight in bloud , q and in their delight digge downe walls , and kill men and beasts , eradicate men , their wives and children , and turne them out of doores , because they are for peace , and these two , simeon and levi , will have no accomodation . cursed ( saith the old father ) be their wrath , for it is fierce , and their fury bitter in the end , and in judg. . . israel wept aloud and bitterly , alas ! a tribe is lost this day , and i am afrayd without a speedy peace , not one of ten , but all our twelve tribes will be lost ; i will ( saith the old patriarch ) divide them in jacob , and scatter them in israel , simeon had no portion , but cities scattered here and there r throughout the tribe of judah , and levi had forty eight cities out of the other tribes , that so they might never associate any more to shed bloud ▪ and what can be expected of a selfwilled association and warre , but dispersion ; the part that prevailes will root out the other with a finall s extermination of familyes , and whether will yee flye yee simeonites ? and as for levi , alas ! he is vanished already ; thus much for selfwill , which is the first of the vices that cause such perillous times . secondly covetousnesse , which is as all the rest here mentioned , a bosome sin of the hypocrites , when the pharisees heard that christ preached against the service of t mammon , and confidence in riches , they derided him , for they were covetous ; this love of money is the root of all evill , of the evill of sin , as apostacy ; of the evill of punishment , as perdition , tim. . . love of money makes children fight against parents , subjects against their soveraigne ; hope of money brings forth murders , rapine , and extortion , but thou , o man of god , u o christian , flye these things ; the romane curius refused the samnites gold , and was content with a dinner of herbes , an earthen dish , and a wooden stool , x if we have food and rayment , let us be therewith content . the third vice is pride , whose daughter is vain-glorious boasting , for their pride i shall produc● but one parable against y those that trusted in themselves that they were righteous , and what pride is like this pride , to magnify themselves , and despise others ? they thanke god they are not as other men are , extortioners , unjust , nor as the poore publican , they boast as the infidels , jewes , and pharisees ; the publican went home justified to his house rather then they : and publicanes and harlots shall enter into the kingdome of god before them . fourthly , disobedience to parents , and blasphemy , these two i joyne together ; for reviling of superiours is blasphemy , whether you take parents naturally , ( for against such they unnaturally fight ) or politickly for masters , against whom servants rise up at this time to kill them , and subjects against their soveraigne , though like z antichrist , they pretend to be for christ when they are against him ; augustus caesar was called a father and prince , and therefore they that are disobedient to their kings , are also to their b parents , or superiours , men set over them , rom. . . forecited , let every soule be subject to the higher powers , the supreame powers then were emperours , not consuls and senators , ( as the states of venice , luca , holland which were then ceased , for there were seven heads of the beast , or c seven kinds of government , wherof the two last were emperours and popes ; the five first were fallen , the sixth of emperours was in saint johns time , and in saint pauls , and to this saint paul commands subjection , tribute , and custome , except they say that saint paul prophesies in this chapter of a new government to be erected , d which is not yet , and how it shall then concerne the romanes let them shew : for the last and seventh head or king of the romanes is the papacy , to which i thinke they will professe no subjection at all , if they have any conscience of their oath ; but it is objected , these kings were tyrants , therefore no duty belongs to them ; the answer is in nebuchadnezzar , whom likewise they hold to be a tyrant , yet israel is commanded to serve him , jerem. . . i have given all these countries to nebuchadnezzar , and they shall serve him . and zedekias , because he broke his oath of subjection , was exoculated as a just recompence on his owne head . the galileans stood for liberty with judas , acts . and denyed tribute to caesar , and therefore pilate mingled their bloud with their sacrifice . fifthly , these hypocrites are unthankfull , either they deny kindnesse which they have received , or will not acknowledge it , or not requite it , they are the worst of all men that have enjoyed the gospell of peace and plenty above eighty yeares , as long as ever israel enjoyed in moses dayes , c ehuds , davids , and solomons , and yet are unthankfull , murmurers at their portion , complainers of the times , oh foolish people , and d unwise , ask thy fathers and they shall teach thee ; thy elders , and they shall declare unto thee the wonderfull reformation in this nation , the slavish invasion by water , the hellish gunpowder-treason by fire , and how god hath brought thee through fire and water , ( wherein thou couldest not live ) into a moyst place , wherein thou hast lived so many yeares in plenty , but jesurun hath waxed fat and kicked , and for ingratitude is justly with a civill warre consumed . sixthly , unholy , or e unquiet , and restlesse are the hypocrites , they are all for warre , and accuse petitioners for peace of a catilinarian conspiracy ; it is god that e creates peace , man cannot do it ; it is as hard a work as the creation , our f land is without forme and voyd , darknesse is on the face of the deepe , nothing is but confusion in our church and state , it is the spirit of the lord that moves on the face of these darke waters , saying , let there be light , and there was light , this light that god creates is peace ; secondly , this peace is a fruit , a fruit of the spirit , love , joy , g and peace , but whence comes h warre and fightings ? from the spirit of malice and envy ; thirdly , it is said a fruit of the lips of the messengers of peace . how beautifull on the mountains are the feet of those into whose lipps grace and peace is poured ; fourthly , god creates a double peace , peace , peace nationall and personall , which cannot be without truth , but there are restlesse men , whose sinnes torment their conscience , and love no peace ; the text saith , they are k the wicked , emphatically remarkable wicked men , these hypocrites revile others as wicked , when themselves are by the spirit of god styled the most wicked , that disturbe the nationall peace , and trouble our israel by killing and stealing ; they are like the troubled sea that cannot rest , raging waves of the sea , foming out their owne shame , whose waters rage continually , and cast up mire and dirt into the royall face , both by word and writing . woe to these sectaries of cain , who loved bloud and slew his brother , and was called l the first disciple of the devill ; abel was a shepheard and a man of peace , and he slew him , m because his works were righteous ; these covetous hypocrites run greedily after the error of balaam , who would have cursed & defied israel for reward , & they shal perish in the gainsaying of core , who rose up and rebelled against moses the n king , and against aharon , who was the priest of the lord , so these endure neither god , the king , or any ministers , but of the lowest of the people . to conclude with o isay , there is no peace saith my god with the wicked ; these wicked will have no peace ; for then all is lost , which they have spent in warre ; their restlesse disposition appeares in all the ensuing particulars ; they are covenant-breakers , false-accusers , traytors , heady , high minded , &c. of each a word , and so an end . seventhly , they are covenant-breakers , they have made a covenant with the king , and taken the oath of allegiance , but this oath they regard not , they have their pope to dispense with it : p achitophel made a covenant with david , but broke his covenant , and therefore is accursed in psal. . . he hath prophaned his covenant . zedechias rebelled against nebuchadnezzar the king , ( who was a tyrant also , as they say ) when he had made him sweare by god , and hardned his neck , so that the wrath of god came upon them , and there was no healing , chron. . . king solomon chargeth all subjects to obey the kings commandement , and that in respect of the oath of god , eccles. . , . but these urge the kings oath , legibus quas vulgus elegerit , but themselvs keep no oath . besides , these men make covenants with the subjects of the king , and the same day like q jesuits break the same , their jesuiticall faction , like antichristians , dispenseth with the oathes of supremacy and allegiance , and their subscription was forced , and therefore they revolt : deus bone ! is there any religion in these ? no heathen story is able to parallell their sophistication . in sam. . . there was a famine three yeares for saul and his bloudy house , because he slew the gibeonites ▪ the reason was , because of the oath of the rulers ( though r taken out of errour , ) to avoyd s the scandall of the nations , and the seeming , not reall prophanation of the name of god ; but these hypocrites are truce-breakers , and hold it lawfull so to doe . eighthly , they are without naturall affection , witnesse their zeale in killing and spoyling of fathers , sons , brethren , sisters , kindred , &c. but of this before . ninthly , they are false-accusers , in greeke t devills , in syrian hypocriticall mockers at feasts , that like the devill their father , tell lyes for morsells , psal. . . in my affliction they rejoyced , the abjects , viler then the earth , they rent me with their teeth , and ceased not , they print , preach , speake lyes against the lords anoynted ( as david was ) every day . t lord deliver him from lying lipps , and from a deceitfull tongue . tenthly , incontinent , what shall i say of their incontinency , both in the concupiscible and irascible , no penalty is now inflicted , and it is a shame to speake of the things done of them in secret . eleventhly , these hypocrites are fierce : let jehu speak for them all , come , see my zeale , saith he to jonadab , he killed the king and queene , and seventy sonnes of the royall progeny , all his kindred , and priests , u and destroyed baal out of israel ; he would have no peace , what peace as long as the whordomes of thy mother jezebel , and her witchcrafts are so many , his zeale was all for truth , ( as he said ) so the sectaryes and others are all for truth , and no peace while jezebel lives , their driving is like the driving of jehu the sonne of nimshi , x for they drive furiously , or madly , but when by warre and bloud they have obtained peace , y i wish they set not up a worse idoll , then they have put downe , as iehu their father did , baal was mars the planet , ralbag , or iupiter belus , which iehu destroyed , and set up the z calves , a farre worse idoll , and made the common people priests ; so i wish that these set not up , as they begin , the meanest of the people , and drive out the sonnes of levi as iehu did . twelfthly , they are haters of good , that is , moderate men , who are not carryed with their turbulent zeale , by which many a good ionadab is deceived , and their hatred is irreconciliable to eradication of their familyes , expulsion of their wives and children , and banishment from countrey and friends , because they cannot endure to see them , or heare of them , and this to a politicall creature is worse then death , in ioel . what have you to doe with mee , o tyre and sydon , who have taken my silver and gold , and brought them to your palaces , and the children of judah yee have sold to the grecians to remove them farre from their border : and doe not these haters of good men send their brethren farre away from their houses , lands , and friends , that they may seize on their inheritance ; but thus saith the lord to you cains , behold i will raise them from the place whither you have sent them , and returne your recompence on your owne heads , and i will sell your sonnes and your daughters to the sonnes of judah , and they shall send them to the sabeans , to a nation afar off , for jehovah hath spoken it . thirteenth , they are a traytours , fathers betraying children , and children betraying b fathers to the death , the off-spring of the wolfe and tiger , and the wild beasts their kindred , breaking the bonds of society betweene man and man , and delivering men up to magistrates and rulers , for a word , and that in secret , our saviour prophesyed of these traytors , luk. . . your fathers , and brethren , and kinsmen , and friends , shall betray you to death : do we not see this in these days of civill warre , a father will not spare his child , a child will kill his father in battaile , and if he cannot so kill him , he will betray him to death , by discovering his secrets , or by false accusation , under pretence of justice ; but the greatest traytours are such as fight against the king , and they pretend all this is for the king , c though his owne person have beene in imminent danger more then once : these are they that call darknesse light , and light darknesse , evill good , and good evill , the use of this is made by isay the prophet , say not a confederacy to whom this people shall say a confederacy , neither feare their feare , but feare d god , and meddle not with traytors that curse their god and their king , and looke upward , for as it followes , they are proud and heady , and their councells shall be carryed headlong . fourteenth , these hypocrites are hasty in all their consultations , without deliberation they pretended reformation must be done in a day , not considering the divers gradations of a reformation ; josiahs wonderfull reformation was of the continuance of three hundred yeares , the reignes of asa , iosaphat , iehoiada , iotham , hezekiah , manasseth , iosiah , and then also was * but fainedly , and not with the whole heart , and for punishment of delinquents they are too hasty ; have they never read of e david what he said of the sonnes of zerviah , ye are too hard for mee ? he would , but could not punish these two great delinquents , except he had involved his whole kingdome in a civill warre , as is now done ; lastly , they are too hasty in their hostility ; have they not read that israel f lost forty thousand in two dayes in a civill warre through too much hastinesse , and precipitancy , not consulting with the lord ? and surely in this respect , these men have cause rather of mourning then rejoycing . fifteenth , these are lovers of pleasures more then lovers of god ; whence come these warres and fightings , do they not from their lusts and pleasures that warre in their members ? their pride , ambition , popularity , avarice , for hereby their portion ( who were beggarly ) is made fat , g and their meate pleasant ; they live by warre , therefore they burne incense to their net , f and sacrifice to their dragge . they cry nothing but warre and bloud , digge they cannot , and to begge they are ashamed , therfore they resolve to kill , steale , rob , rifle , or doe any villany to satisfie their lusts , which they love more then god . sixteenth , they have a forme of godlinesse , but deny the power thereof , they have a h portraiture , picture or delineation of godlinesse , but no life at all therein ; consider the particulars , they i give almes , but it is to be seene of men , they make long prayers , but to be heard of men , they fast , but k disgrace their faces , appearing as sad when they are not : what is this but a picture of godlinesse without life ? it was never knowne from the beginning of the world , that a dead beast was offered in sacrifice to god , but the hypocrites present dead sacrifices to god . againe , in their sabbaths is a shew of godlinesse , but no life , for they say , l when will the sabbaths be gone ? and like the pharisees their viperous progenitors , abuse the letter of the sabbath against doing good ; they sit m in moses chaire to teach , and to judge others according to the law , but doe the contrary , and breake all lawes ; they make long prayers to devoure widowes houses , they enlarge their phylacteryes of the hand and head , there 's the letter , but no power ; their heads are full of mischievous devices , and their hands are full of bloud , they n are ever hearing and learning , there 's the shadow , but are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth ; there 's no power , except it be over silly women , as the apostle here saith , these hypocrites o intrude into houses , and lead captive filly women , laden with sinnes , and led about with divers lusts . this time is a plaine interpretation of this prophesie . another power they have got likewise , by the shew of godlinesse , it is against the king , like janis and jambres , the two sorcerers of egypt , that resisted moses who was p king in jesurun : these sorcerers were hypocrites , for their miracles were but glisterings , and delusions of the eyes ; the use of all this is , first , our saviour saith , q beware of the leaven of the pharisees , which is hypocrisie . hereby wee are most like the devill , who transformes himselfe into an angell of light , and hereby wee become limbes of antichrist , the first borne of the devill , who is the great hypocrite , r that hath two hornes like a lamb , but speakes like a dragon . the second use , s from such hypocrites turne away , so saith saint paul , avoid their society , for they are selfopinionated , selfwilled , greedy of money , proud , unnaturall , truce-breakers , fals-accusers , traytours , heady , fierce , unthankfull , t popular , unquiet , haters of all moderate men , lovers of lusts and pleasures , and deceiving the world by a forme of godlinesse , so that they believe rebellion to be zeale , and treason to be religion ; depart from me , yee hypocrites , yee bloudthirsly men . the lord give us grace to depart from them here , lest wee have u our part with these hypocrites hereafter in the lowest dungeon of gehenna , from which good lord deliver us by jesus christ , to whom with the father , and holy spirit , be honour and glory for ever and ever . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ioh. . . b {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . thess. . . c {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , chrysost. in thess. . . d revel. . nauclerus , e magdeburg . centurists , baronius , annal. circa . an. f revel. . g cap. . . h dan. . , . revel. . , . i eccles. . k sam. . . l {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} david . kimch. m kimchi in locum . r. solomon , r. david . ibid. n syrian in acts . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} o {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . wise men . p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . epiphan. q arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r the holy bookes . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , tim. . . s {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . pet. . t {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . syr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} grievous times . u scelus fraternae ●●ecis . remi in via remoria romae . horat. suis & ipsa roma viribus ruit . x te saepe vocantiduram , difficilis mane horat. id est , inexorabilis . y revel. . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} est confusio , à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} genes . . . z syr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a tim. . . b isay . . c tim. . . rom . d epiphan. e r. david . kimchi . f king. . . kimchi , rasi ralbag . g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , pet. . . h syr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} i {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that is , divisions to separate from the church , of {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} to breake off . chrys. theod. k tim. . , . sic arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & syr. chrys. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ralbag . in sam. . . l {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} kings . . si vobis placuerit . idem . r. david m {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} à graeco {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . r. solomo . heb. n {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} o heb. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} heb. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} est murus & bos . r. david . r. levi. r. sol. p {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} q à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} r r. david , abben ezra , ralbag . in genes . . s as in ireland . t syr. ab {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} confidit . luk. . u {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , oecum . plutarch . in curio . x tim. . y luk. . , . z {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} pro & contra . a pater atque princeps horat. b syr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} c revel. . , , . arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} seven kings of the earth . iulian . & august . lib. . de civ. dei . chrysost. in thess . d {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ios. lib. . antiq. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} syr. sic arab. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} c judg. . . d deut. . e {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} syr. à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ●exare , sam. . & david kimchi in psal. . . e {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} syr. à {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ●exare , sam. . & david kimchi in psal. . . f isay. . . & ult. rudis indigestaque moles . g galath. . h iam. . , . psal. . heb. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} isay . . kimchi . rasi chaldey . k cum he " indicativ . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} kimchi . l {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , basil. m iohn . . n deut. . o isay . ult. theoph. p chald. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} q fides non servanda haereticis . jos. . . & . r r. david . s ralbag . r. isay. t {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . syr. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} t psal. . , . chrys. u kings . , . & . . . x heb. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} y austin . ierom . z the calf was serapis the aegyptian god , and there they learned idolatry , vitulus ex vacca fulmine icta , genitus , quae rursus non parit , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a god worthy of the aegyptians saith cambyses in herodot . a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . b proles lupi . tigridisquesilvas petat , feras & inter quaerat affinem sibi . c principem occisum loqui malum fuisse , vel tyrannum dicere est . tragicus . o dictu scelus summus dominio , major exemplo fuit . pax descendit assimilis iovi aurato in ul nas imbri . d isay . . * festina lente . e ier. . . zephan . . f iudges . iames . . g {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} dan. . f habak. . . h {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . i matth. . . k {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . l amos . m iohn . &c. matth. . . luk. . matth. . , . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} rasi . r. david . n tim. . . o tim. . . p deut. . . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ralbag . abben ezra . q luk. . , . r revel. . s tim. . . t procus populi . u matth. . . the roundheads, or, the good old cause a comedy as it is acted at his royal highness the dukes theatre / by mrs. a. behn. behn, aphra, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing b ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish.this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing b estc r ocm

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early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the roundheads, or, the good old cause a comedy as it is acted at his royal highness the dukes theatre / by mrs. a. behn. behn, aphra, - . tatham, john, fl. - . rump. [ ], , [ ] p. printed for d. brown ... and h. rhodes ..., london : . "great part, both of the plot and language of this play, is borrowed from tatham's comedy called, the rump"-- baker, d.e. biog. dram. reproduction of original in huntington library.
eng roundheads -- drama. shcnothe roundheads, or the good old causebehn, aphra . b the rate of . defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - assigned for keying and markup - keyed and coded from proquest page images - sampled and proofread - text and markup reviewed and edited - batch review (qc) and xml conversion

the roundheads or , the good old cause , a comedy as it is acted at his royal highness the dukes theatre . by mrs. a. behn .

london , printed for d. brown at the black swan and bible without temple bar and benskin in st. brides church yard , and h. rhodes next door to the bear tavern neer bride lane in fleetstreet . mdclxxxii .

to the right noble henry fitz-roy , duke of grafton , earle of sutton , viscount of ipswich , baron of sudbury , knight of the most noble order of the garter , and colonell of his majesties regiment of foot guards , &c. may it please your grace .

dedications which were originally design'd , as a tribute to that reverence and just esteem we ought to pay the great and good ; are now so corrupted with flattery , that they rarely either find a reception in the world , or merit that patronage they wou'd implore . but i without fear aproch the great object being above that mean and mercenary art ; nor can i draw the lovely picture half so charming and so manly as it is ; and that author may more properly boast of a lucky hi●t , whose choice and fortune is so good , then if he had pleas'd all the different ill iudging world besides in the business of the play : for none that way , can ever hope to please all ; in an age when faction rages , and differing parties disagree in all things but coming the first day to a new play with a loyal title , and then even the sober and tender conscienc'd , throng as to a forbidden conventicle : fearing the cub of their old bear of reformation should be expos'd , to the scorn of the wicked , and dreading ( tho but the faint shadow of their own deformity ) their rebellion , murders , massacres and villanies , from upwards , should be represented for the better undeceiving and informing of the world , flock in a full assembly with a pious design to hisse and rail it as much out of countenance as they would monarchy , religion , laws , and honesty ; throwing the act of oblivion in our teeths , as if that ( whose mercy can not make them forget their old rebellion ) cou'd hinder honest truths from breaking out upon 'em in edifying plays , where the loyal hands ever out-do their venom'd hisse ; a good and happy omen , if poets maybe allowd for prophets as of old they were : and t is as easily seen at a new play how the royal interest thrives , as at a city election , how the good old cause is carried on ; as a noble peer lately said , tho' the tories have got the better of us at the play , we carried it in the city by many voyces , god be praysed !

this play , call'd , the roundheads , which i humbly lay at your graces feet , pardon the title , and heaven defend you from the bloody race , was carryed in the house nemine contra dicente , by the royal party , and under your graces ilustrious patronage is safe from any new seditious affronts abroad ; your grace alone whom heaven and nature has form'd the most adorable person in the whole creation , with all the advantages of a glorious birth , has a double right and power to defend all that aproch you for sanctuary ; your very beauty is a guard to all you daigne to make safe : for you were born for conquest every way ? even what phanatick , what peevish politition , testy with age , diseases , miscarried plots , disappointed revolutions , envious of power , of princes , and of monarchy , and mad with zeal for change and reformation , could yet be so far lost to sence of pleasure , as not to turn a rebel to revenge , the good old cause , and the patronage to plebean sedition with only looking on you , ' twoud force his meger face to blushing smiles , and make him swear he had mistook the side , curse his own party , and if possible , be reconcild to honesty again : such power have charms like yours to calm the soul , and will in spight of you plead for me to the disaffected , even when they are at wars with your birth and power . but this play for which i humbly beg your graces protection , needs it in a more peculiar manner , it having drawn down legions upon its head , for its loyalty what , to name us cryes one , t is most abominable , unheard of daring cryes another she deserves to be swing'd cryes a third ; as if t were all a libel , a scandal impossible to be provd , or that their rogueries were of so old a date their reign were past remembrance or history ; when they take such zealous care to renew it daily to our memories : and i am satisfied , that they that will justifie the best of these traytors , deserves the fate of the worst , and most manifestly declare to the world by it , they wou'd be at the old game their fore-fathers played with so good success , yet if there be any honest loyal man alied to any here nam'd , i heartily beg his pardon for any offensive truth i have spoken , and 't is a wonderful thing that amongst so numerous a flock they will not allow of one mangy sheep ; not one rogue in the whole generation of the association . ignoramus the st and the d .

but as they are , i leave e'm to your grace to iudge of e'm ; to whom i humbly present this small mirror , of the late wretched times : wherein your grace may see something of the miseries three the most glorious kingdoms of the vniverse were reduc't to ; where your royal ancestors victoriously reign'd for so many hundred years : how they were govern'd , parcell'd out , and deplorable inslav'd , and to what low , prostituted lewdness they fell at last : where the nobility and gentry were the most contemn'd and despis'd part of them , and such meane , ( and till then obscure ) villains rul'd , and tyraniz'd , that no age , nor time , or scarce a parish book makes mention or cou'd show there was any such name or family . yet these were those that impudently tug'd for empire , and prophan'd that illustrious throne and court , so due then , and possest now ( through the infinite mercies of god to this bleeding nation ) by the best of monarchs ; a monarch , who had yet the divine goodness to pardon even his worst of enemies what was past ; nay , out of his vast and god-like clemency , did more than heaven it self can do , put it out of his power by an act of oblivion , to punish the unparalell'd injuries done his sacred person , and the rest of the royal family : how great his patience has been since , i leave to all the world to judge : but heaven be prais'd , he has not yet forgot the sufferings and murders of the glorious martyr of ever blessed memory , your graces sacred grandfather , and by what arts and ways that devilish plot was layed ! and will like a skilful pilate , by the wreck of one rich vessell , learn how to shun the danger of this present . threatning and saved the rest from sinking ; the clouds already begin to disappear , and the face of things to change , thanks to heaven his majesties infinite wisdom , and the over-zeal of the ( falsly called ) true protestant party : now we may pray for the king and his royal brother , defend his cause , and assert his right , without the fear of a taste of the old sequestration call'd a fine ; guard the illustrious paire , good heaven , from h●ll●sh plots , and all the devilish matchinations of factious cruelties : and you , great sir , ( whose merits have so justly deserv'd that glorious command so lately trusted to your care , which heaven increase , and make your glad regiment armyes for our safety . may you become the great example of loyalty and obedience , and stand a firm and unmoveable pillar to monarchy , a noble bull-work to majesty ; defend the sacred cause , imploy all that youth , courage , and noble conduct which god and nature purposely has endued you with , to serve the royal intrest : you , sir , who are obliged by a double duty to love , honour , and obey his majesty , both as a father and a king ! o undissolvable knot ! o sacred vnion ! what duty , what love , what adoration can express or repay the debt we owe the first , or the alegiance due to the last , but where both meet in one , to make the tye eternal ; oh vvhat counsel , what love of power , what fancied dreams of empire , what fickle popularity can inspire the heart of man , or any noble mind , with sacreligious thoughts against it , can harbour or conceive a stubborn disobedience : oh what son can desert the cause of an indulgent parents , what subject , of such a prince , without renouncing the glory of his birth , his loyalty , and good nature .

ah royal lovely youth ! bevvare of false ambition ; wisely believe your elevated glory , ( at least ) more happy then a kings , you share their ioys , their pleasures and magnificence , without the toiles and business of a monarch , their carefull dayes and restless thoughtful nights ; know , you are blest with all that heaven can give , or you can wish ; your mind and person such , so excellent , that love knows no fault it would wish to mend , nor envy to increase ! blest with a princess of such undisputable charming beauty , as if heaven designing to take a peculiar care in all that concerns your happiness , had form'd her on purpose , to compleat it .

haile happy glorious paire ! the perfect joy and pleasure of all that look on ye , for whom all tongues and hearts have prayers and blessings ; may you out-live sedition , and see your princely race as numerous as beautifull , and those all great and loyal supporters of a long race of monarchs of this sacred line . this shall be the perpetuall wish , this the eternal prayer of

sir , your graces most humble , and most obedient servant , a. behn .
prologue , spoken by the ghost of huson ascending from hell drest as a cobler . i am the ghost of him who was a true son of the late good old cavse , ecliped , huson , rous'd by strange scandal , from th' eternal flame with noise of plotts , of wonderous birth and name whilst the sly jesuit robs us of our fame . can all their conclave , tho' with hell th' agree act mischief equal to presbittery ? look back on our success in forty one , was ever braver villanies carryed on or new ones now more hopefully begun . and shall our unsuccess our merit lose and make us quit the glory of our cause ! no , hire new villains , rogues without remorse and let no law nor conscience stop your course . let polititions order the confusion and let the saints pay pious contribution . pay those that rail , and those that can delude with scribling nonsence the loose multitude . pay well your witnesses , they may not run to the right side and tell who set 'em on pay 'em so well , that they may ne'r recant and so turn honest meerly out of want . pay juries that no formal laws may harm us let treason be secur'd by ignoramus . pay bully whig , who loyal writers bang and honest tories in effigie hang : pay those that burn the pope to please the fools and dayly pay right honourable tooles pay all the pulpit knaves that treason brew and let the zealous sisters pay 'em too ; justices , bound by oath , and obligation pay them the utmost price of their damnation not to disturb our useful congregation . nor let the learned rabble be forgot those pious hands that crown our hopeful plott . no , modern states-men cry t is lunacy to barter treason with such rogues as we . but subtiller oliver did not disdain his mightier politiques with ours to joyn . i , for all uses in a state was able cou'd mutiny , cou'd fight , hold forth , and cobble . your lazy state man , may sometimes direct but your small busie knaves the treason act.
the actors names . competitors for the crown , but lambert is general of the army . chairman of the committee of safety . commanders , and committee men . lay elder of clements parish . of the sanctified mobily . an oliverian commander , but honest , and a cavelier in his heart . a royalist , a man of honor , loves lady lambert . his friend of the same character in love with lady desbro . in love with loveless . in love with freeman . lady lamberts old woman . for redress of grievances . to lady lambert . to lady desbro .
the rovnd-heads , or the good old cause .
act. i.
scene i. the street . enter three souldiers , and corporal right . cor.

ah rogues , the world runs finely round , the bus'ness is done .

sould.

done , the town 's our own , my fine rascal .

sould.

we 'll have harlots by the belly , sirrah .

sould.

those are commodities i confess i wou'd fain be truck●ing for , but no words of that boy .

cor.

stand , who go's there ? to them a ioyner and felt-maker .

sould.

who are you for , hah ?

ioyn .

are for friend ; we are for gad and the lord fleetwood .

sould.

fleetwood , knock 'em down , fleetwood that snivelling thief ?

felt.

why friends , who are ye for ?

cor.

for ? who shou'd we be for , but lambert , noble lambert ? is this a time o' th' day to declare for fleetwood , with a pox ? indeed . i' th morning 't was a question had like to have been decided with push a pike .

sould.

dry blows wou'd ne'r a don 't , some must have sweat blood for 't , but 't is now decided .

ioyn .

decided !

sould.

yes , decided sir , without your rule for 't .

ioyn .

decided ? by whom sir ? by us the free-born subjects of england , by the honourable committee of safety , or the right reverend city ? without which sir , i humbly conceive , your declaration for lambert is illegal , and against the property of the people .

sould.

plain lambert ; here 's a sawcy dog of a joyner ; sirrah , get ye home , and mind your trade , and save the hang-man a labour .

ioyn .

look ye , friend , i fear no hang-man in christendom ; for conscience and publick good , for liberty and property , i dare as far as any man.

sould.

liberty and property , with a pox , in the mouth of a joyner ; you are a pretty fellow to settle the nation , what says my neighbour felt-maker ?

felt.

why verily , i have a high respect for my honourable lord fleetwood , he is my intimate friend , and till i find his party the weaker , i hope my zeal will be strengthened for him .

sould.

zeal for fleetwood , zeal for a halter , and that 's your due : why , what has he ever done for you ? can he lead you out to battel ? can he silence the very cannon with his eloquence alone ? can he talk or fight or

felt.

but verily he can pay those that can , and that 's as good and he can pray

sould.

let him pray , and we 'll fight , and see whose bus'ness is done first ; we are for the general , who carries charms in every syllable ; can act both the souldier and the courtier , at once expose his breast to dangers for our sakes and tell the rest of the pretending slaves a fair tale , but hang 'em sooner than trust ' em .

soul.

ay , ay , a lambert , a lambert , he has courage , fleetwood's an ass to him .

felt.

hum here 's reason neighbour . to the ioyner .

ioyn .

that 's all one , we do not act by reason .

corp.

fleetwood's a coward .

sould.

a blockhead .

sould.

a snivelling fool ; a general in the hangings , no better .

ioyn .

what think ye then of vane ?

sould.

as of a fool , that has dreamt of a new religion , and only fit to reign in that fifth monarchy he preaches so much up ; but no king in this age.

felt.

what of haslerig ?

sould.

a hangman for haslerig , i cry , no , no , one and all , a lambert , a lambert ; he is our general , our protector , our king our keiser , our even what he pleases himself .

sould.

well , if he pleases himself he pleases me .

sould.

he 's our rising sun , and we 'll adore him , for the speaker's glory 's set ,

cor.

at nought , boyes ; how the rogue look'd when his coach was stop'd ?

ioyn .

under favour , what said the speaker ?

sould.

what said he ? prethee what cou'd he say that we wou'd admit for reason ? reason and our bus'ness are two things : our will was reason and law too , and the word of command lodg'd in our hilts : cobbet and duckenfield show'd 'em cock-pit law.

cor.

he understood not souldiers dialect ; the language of the sword puzled his understanding ; the keeneness of which , was too sharp for his wit , and over-rul'd his roles therefore he very mannerly kiss'd his hand , and wheel'd about ,

sould.

to the place from whence he came ,

cor.

and e're long , to the place of execution .

. sould.

no , damn him , he 'll have his clergy .

ioy.

why is he such an infidel to love the clergy ?

cor.

for his ends : but come , le ts go drink the general 's health ; lambert ! not fleetwood , that son of a custard , always quaking .

sould.

ay , ay , lambert i say , besides , he 's a gentleman .

felt.

come , come , brother souldier , let me tell you , i fear you have a stewart in your belly .

cor.

i am sure you have a rogue in your heart , sirrah , which a man may perceive through that sanctify'd dogs face of yours ; and so get ye gone ye rascals , and delude the rabble with your canting politicks . everyone beats ' em .

felt.

nay , and you be in wrath , i 'll leave you .

ioy.

no matter sir , i 'll make you know i 'm a free-born subject , there 's law for the righteous sir , there 's law. go out .

cor.

there 's halters ye rogues ?

sould.

come lads , let 's to the tavern , and drink success to change ; i doubt not but to see 'em chop about , till it come to our great heroe again . come , to the tavern .

going out , are met by loveless and freeman who enter , and stay the corporal . cor.

i 'll follow ye comrade presently . ex. the rest of the souldiers , save ye noble collonel .

free.

how is 't corporal ?

cor.

a brave world sir , full of religion , knavery , and change ; we shall shortly see better days .

free.

i doubt it corporal ;

cor.

i 'le warrant you sir , but have you had never a billet , no present , nor love-remembrance to day , from my good lady desbro ?

free.

none , and wonder at it : hast thou not seen her page to day ?

cor.

faith sir i was imploy'd in affairs of state , by our protector that shall be , and could not call .

free.

protector that shall be ? who 's that , lambert or fleetwood , or both ?

cor.

i care not which , so it be a change ; but i mean the general ? but sir , my lady desbro is now at morning lecture here hard by , with the lady lambert .

lov.

seeking the lord for some great mischief or other .

free.

we have been there , but could get no opportunity of speaking to her , loveless , know this fellow , he 's honest and true to the heroe , though a red-coat ? i trust him with my love , and have done with my life .

lov.

love ! thou can'st never make me believe thou art earnestly in love with any one of that damn'd reformation .

free.

thou art a fool ; where i find youth and beauty , i adore , let the saint be true or false .

lov.

't is a scandal to one of us to converse with 'em ; they are all sanctify'd iilts ; and there can be neither credit nor pleasure in keeping 'em company ; and 't were enough to get the scandal of an adherer to their devilish politicks to be seen with ' em .

free.

what , their wives ?

lov.

yes , their wives . what see'st thou in 'em but hypocrisie ? make love to 'em , they answer you in scripture .

free.

ay , and lye with you in scripture too . of all whores , give me your z●alous whore ; i never heard a woman talk much of heaven , but she was much for the creature too . what do'st think i had thee to the meeting for ?

lov.

to hear a rascal hold forth for bodkins and thimbles , contribution my beloved ! to carry on the good cause , that is , roguery , rebellion , and treason , prophaning the sacred majesty of heaven , and our glorious sovereign .

free.

but were there not pretty women there ?

lov.

damn 'em for sighing , groaning hypocrites .

free.

but there was one , whom , that handsom face and shape of yours , gave more occasion for sighing , than any mortification caus'd by the cant of the lay-elder in the half hogs head ; did'st thou not mind her ?

lov.

not i , damn it i was all rage , and had'st not thou restrain'd me , i had certainly pull'd that rogue of a holder-forth by the ears from his sanctify'd tub. 'sdeath he hum'd and haw'd all my patience away , nose'd and snivel'd me to madness . heaven ! that thou should'st suffer such vermin to infect the earth , such wolves amongst thy flocks , such thieves and robbers of all laws of god and man , in thy holy temples . i rave to think to what thou' rt fall'n , poor england !

free.

but the she saint

lov.

no more , were she as fair as fancy could imagine , to see her there , wou'd make me loath the form ; she that can listen to the dull non-sence , the bantering of such a rogue , such an illiterate rascal , must be a fool , past sense of loving , free-man .

free.

thou art mistaken . but , did'st thou mind her next the pulpit ?

lov.

a plague upon the whole congregation : i minded nothing but how to fight the lord's battel with that damn'd sham parson ; whom i had a mind to beat .

free.

my lady desbro is not of that persuasion , but an errant heroick in her heart , and feigns it only to have the better occasion to serve the royal party . i knew her , and lov'd her before she married .

lov.

she may chance then to be sav'd .

free.

come , i 'll have thee bear up briskly to some one of 'em , it may redeem thy sequestration ; which , now thou see'st no hopes of compounding , puts thee out of patience .

lov.

let 'em take it , and the devil do 'em good with it : i scorn it should be said i have a foot of land in this ungrateful and accursed island ; i 'd rather beg where laws are obey'd and justice perform'd , than be powerful where rogues and base born rascals rule the rost.

free.

but suppose now , dear loveless , that one of the wives of these pageant lords should fall in love with thee , and get thy estate again , or pay thee double for 't ?

lov.

i wou'd refuse it .

free.

and this for a little dissembled love , a little drudgery

lov.

not a night by heav'n not an hour no not a single kiss , i 'd rather make love to an incubus .

free.

but suppose 't were the new protectoress her self , the fine lady lambert ?

lov.

the greatest devil of all ; damn her , dost think i 'll cuckold the ghost of old oliver ?

free.

the better ; there 's some revenge in 't ; do'st know her ?

lov.

never saw her , nor care to do .

cor.

collonel , do you command me any thing ?

free.

yes , i 'll send thee with a note let 's step into a shop and write it ; loveless stay a moment , and i 'll be with thee . ex. free and corporal .

enter l. lambert , l. desbro , gilliflowr , pages with great bibles , and footmen : love. walks sullenly , not seeing ' em . l. lamb. train carried . la. lam.

o , i 'm impatient to know his name ; ah , desbro , he betray'd all my devotion ; and when i wou'd have pray'd , heav'n knows , it was to him , and for him onely .

l. des.

what manner of man was it ?

l. lam. i want words to describe him ; not tall , nor short ; well made , and such a face love , wit , and beauty revel'd in his eyes : from whence he shot a thousand winged darts that pierc'd quite through my soul. l. des. seem'd he a gentleman ? l. lam.

a god! altho his out-side were but mean ; but he shone th'ro like lightning from a cloud , and shot more piercing rayes .

l. des.

stay'd he long ?

l. lam. no ; methought he grew displeas'd with our devotion and seem'd to contradict the parson with his angry eyes . a friend he had too with him , young and handsom , who seeing some disorder in his actions , got him away . i had almost forgot all decency , and started up to call him , but my quality and wanting something to excuse that fondness , made me decline with very much adoe . gill. heav'ns , madam , i 'll warrant they were heroicks . la. lam. heroicks ! gill. cavaliers , madam , of the royal party . l. d. they were so , i knew one of ' em . la. lam. ah desbro , do'st thou ? ah heav'ns , that they should prove heroicks ! l. d.

you might have known that by the conquest ; i never heard , e're one o' th t'other party ever gain'd a heart : and indeed , madam , 't is a just revenge , our husbands make slaves of them , and they kill all their wives . love. sees 'em , and starts .

lov.

hah , what have we here ? women faith , and handsom too i never saw a form more excellent ! whoe're they are , they seem of quality , by heav'n , i cannot take my eyes from her . pointing to la. lam.

la. lam. hah , he 's yonder , my heart begins to fail , my trembling limbs refusing to support me his eyes seem fix'd on mine too ; ah , i faint leans on desbro . gill. my ladies coach , william quickly , she faints . lov. madam , can an unfortunate stranger 's aid add any thing to the recovery of so much beauty ? bowing , and holding her . la. lam. ah , wou'd he knew how much ! aside . gill. support her , sir , till her ladiships coach comes i beseech ye . lov. not atlas bore up heaven with greater pride . la. lam. i beg your pardon , sir , for this disorder that has occasion'd you so great a trouble you seem a gentleman and consequently may need some service done you ; name the way , i shall be glad to let you see my gratitude . lov.

if there be ought in me , that merits this amazing favour from you , i owe my thanks to nature that indow'd me with something in my face that spoke my heart .

la. lam

heav'n ! how he looks and speaks to desbro , aside .

l. des.

oh , these heroicks , madam , have the most charming tongues .

la. lam.

pray come to me and ask for any of my officers , and you shall have admittance

lov.

who shall i ask for madam ? for i 'm yet ignorant to whom i owe for this great bounty .

la. lam.

not know me ! thou art indeed a stranger . i thought i 'd been so elevated above the common crowd , it had been visible to all eyes who i was .

lov. pardon my ignorance ; my soul conceives ye all that heaven can make ye , of great , of fair and excellent ; but cannot guess a name to call you by but such as wou'd displease ye my heart begins to fail , and by her vanity i fear she 's one of the new race of quality : aside . but be she devil , i must love that form. la. lam. hard fate of greatness , we so highly elevated are more expos'd to censure than the little ones , by being forc'd to speak our passions first . is my coach ready ? pag. it waits your honour . la. lam. i give you leave to visit me ask for the general 's lady , if my title be not by that time alter'd . lov. pistols and daggers to my heart 't is so . la. lam. adiew sir. ex. all but lov. who stands musing . enter freeman . free.

how now , what 's the matter with thee ?

lov.

prethee wake me freeman .

free.

wake thee !

lov. i dream ! by heav'n i dream ! nay yet the lovely phantam's in my view , oh! wake me , or i sleep to perfect madness . free. what ayl'st thou , what did'st dream of ? lov. a strange fantastick charmer , a thing just like a woman friend , it walk't and look'd with wonderous majesty , had eyes that kill'd , and graces deck'd her face ; but when she talk'd , mad as the winds she grew . chimera in the form of angel , woman ! free. who the devil meanest thou ? lov. by heav'n i know not ; but , as she vanish'd hence , she bad me come to th' general 's ! free.

why this is she i told thee ey'd thee so at the conventicle ; 't is lambert , the renown'd , the famous lady lambert mad call'st thou her ? 't is her ill acted greatness , thou mistak'st ; thou art not us'd to the pageantry of these women yet ; they all run thus mad : 't is greatness in 'em , loveless .

lov.

and is thine thus , thy lady desbro ?

free.

she 's of another cut , she marryed as most do , for interest , but what thou 't to her ?

lov. if lightening stop my way , perhaps a sober view may make me hate her . exit . both . enter lambert and whitlock . scen. a chamber . whit.

my lord , now is your time , you may be king ; fortune is yours , you 've time it self by th' fore-lock .

lam.

if i thought so , i 'd hold him fast by heaven .

whit.

if you let slip this opportunity , my lord , you are undone aunt caesar , aut nullus .

lam.

but fleetwood

whit.

hang him soft head .

lam.

true , he 's of an easie nature , yet if thou did'st but know how little wit governs this mighty universe , thou wou'dst not wonder men should set up him .

whit.

that will not recommend him at this iuncto , though he 's an excellent tool for your lordship to make use of ; and therefore , use him sir as cataline did lentulus ; drill the dull fool with hopes of empire , on , and that all tends to his advancement only : the block-head will believe the crown his own : what other hopes could make him ruine richard , a gentleman of qualities a thousand times beyond him ?

lam.

they were both too soft ; an ill commendation for a general , who should be rough as storms of war it self .

whit.

his time was short , and yours is coming on ; old oliver had his .

lam.

i hate the memory of that tyrant oliver .

whit.

so do i , now he 's dead , and serves my ends no more . i lov'd the father of the great heroick , whilst he had power to do me good : he failing , reason directed me to the party then prevailing , the fag end of the parliament : 't is true , i took the oath of allegiance , as oliver , your lordship , tony , and the rest did , without which , we could not have sat in that parliament ; but that oath was not for our advantage , and so better broke than kept .

lam.

i am of your opinion my lord.

whit.

let honesty and religion preach against it ; but how cou'd i have serv'd the commons by deserting the king ? how have show'd my self loyal to your interest , by fooling fleetwood , in the deserting of dick ; by dissolving the honest parliament , and bringing in the odious rump ? how cou'd i have flatter'd ireton , by telling him , providence brought things about , when 't was mere knavery all , and that the hand of the lord was in 't , when i knew the devil was in 't ? or indeed , how cou'd i now advise you to be king , if i had started of oaths , or prefer'd honesty or divinity before interest and the good old cause .

lam.

nay , 't is most certain , he that will live in this world , must be indu'd with the three rare qualities of dissimulation , equivocation , and mental reservation .

whit.

in which excellency , heav'n be prais'd , we out-do the iesuits .

enter la. lam. l. lamb.

i 'm glad to see you so well employ'd my lord , as in discourse with my lord whitlock he 's of our party , and has wit.

whit.

your honour graces me too much .

lam.

my lord , my lady is an absolute states-woman .

la. lam.

yes , i think things had not arriv'd to this exalted height , nor had you been in prospect of a crown , had not my politicks exceeded your meaner ambition .

lam.

i confess , i owe all my good fortune to thee .

enter page . pag.

my lord , my lord wariston , lord hewson , collonel cobbet , and collonel duckenfield desire the honour of waiting on you .

la. lam.

this has a ●ace of greatness let 'em wait a while i' th' antichamber .

lam.

my love , i wou'd have 'em come in .

la. lam.

you wou'd have 'em , you wou'd have a fools head of your own ; pray let me be judge of what their duty is , and what your glory ; i say i 'll have 'em wait .

page .

my lord fleetwood too is just alighted , shall he wait too madam ?

la. lam.

he may approach ; and d' ye hear put on your fawning looks , flatter him , and profess much friendship to him , you may betray him with the more facility .

whit.

madam , you counsel well , ex. page , re-enter with l. fleetwood .

enter lord fleetwood . lamb.

my good lord , your most submissive servant .

whit.

my gracious lord , i am your creature your slave

fleet.

i profess ingeniously , i am much ingag'd to you , my good lords ; i hope things are now in the lard's handling , and will go on well for his glory and my interest , and that all my good people of england will do things that become good christians .

whit.

doubt us not , my good lord ; the government cannot be put into abler hands , than those of your lordship ; it has hitherto been in the hard clutches of iews , infidels , and pagans .

fleet.

yea verily , abomination has been in the hands of iniquity .

lam.

but , my lord , those hands , by my good conduct , are now cut off , and our ambition is , your lordship wou'd take the government upon you .

fleet.

i profess , my lord , by ye and nay , i am asham'd of this goodness , in making me the instrument of saving grace to this nation ; 't is the great work of the lard .

la. lam.

the lard , sir , i 'll assure you the lard has the least hand in your good fortune ; i think you ought to ascribe it to the cunning and conduct of my lord here , who so timely abandon'd the interest of richard.

fleet.

ingeniously , i must own , your good lord can do much , and has done much ; but 't is our method to ascribe all to the powers above .

la. lam.

then i must tell you , your method's an ungrateful method .

lam.

peace , my love.

whit.

madam , this is the cant we must delude the rabble with .

la. lam.

then let him use it there , my lord , not amongst us , who so well understand one another .

lam.

good dear , be pacifi'd and tell me , shall the gentlemen without have admittance ?

la. lam.

they may . page goes out .

enter hewson , desbro , duckenfield , wariston , and cobbet . war.

guds benizon light on yu , my gued loords , for this days work ; madam , i kiss your white honds .

duc.

my lord , i have not been behind hand in this days turn of state.

lam.

't is confess'd , sir ; what wou'd you infer from that ?

duc.

why , i wou'd know how things go ; who shall be general , who protector , or who king next .

hews .

my friend has well translated his meaning .

la. lam.

fy , how that filthy cobler lord betrayes his function .

duc.

we 're in a chaos , a confusion , as we are .

hews .

indeed the commonwealth at present is out at heels , and wants underlaying .

cob.

and the people expect something suddenly from us .

whit.

my lords and gentlemen , we must consider a while .

war.

bread a gued there 's mickle wisdom i that sirs .

duc.

it ought to be consulted betimes , my lord , 't is a matter of moment , and ought to be consulted by the whole committee .

lam.

we design no other , my lord , for which reason , at three a clock we 'll meet at wallingford house .

duc.

nay , my lord , do but settle the affair , let 's but know who 's our head , and 't is no matter .

hew .

ay , my lord , no matter who ; i hope 't will be fleetwood , for i have the length of his foot already .

whit.

you are the leading men , gentlemen , your voices will soon settle the nation .

duc.

well , my lord , we 'll not fail at three a clock .

des.

this falls out well for me ; for i have bus'ness in smithfield , where my horses stand ; and verily , now i think on 't , the rogue the ostler has not given 'em oates to day : well , my lords , farewel ; if i come not time enough to wallingford house , keep me a place in the committee , and let my voice stand for one , no matter who .

war.

a gued mon i's warrant , and takes muckle pains for the gued o' th' nation , and the liberty o' th' mobily : the diel confound 'em aud .

lam.

come , my lord wariston , you are a wise man , what government are you for ?

war.

ene tol what ya please my gued loord . takes him aside .

lam.

what think you of a single person here in my lord fleetwood ?

war.

mary sir , and he 's a brave mon , but gen i may cooncel , tak 't for y ar sel my gued loord , an t be gued for him , 't is ene gued for ya te .

lam.

but above half the nation are for him .

war.

bread a gued , and i's for him than .

fleet.

the will of the lard be done ; and since 't is his will , i cannot withstand my fate ingeniously .

whit.

my lord wariston , a word what if lambert were the man ? takes him aside .

war.

right sir , wons and ya have spoken aud ; he 's a brave mon , a mon indeed gen i's 'ave any judgment .

whit.

so i find this property 's for any use . aside .

lam.

my lord , i perceive heaven and earth conspire to make you our prince .

fleet.

ingeniously , my lords , the weight of three kingdoms is a heavy burden for so weak parts as mine ; therefore , i will , before i appear at councel , go seek the lard in this great affair ; and , if i receive a revelation for it , i shall with all humility espouse the yoke , for the good of his people and mine : and so gad with us , the commonwealth of england .

ex. fleet. desbro , wariston , duc. cob. hus. and whit. la. lam.

poor deluded wretch , 't is not yet come to that .

lam.

no my dear , the voice will go clearly for me ; what with bribes to some , hypocrisie and pretence of religion to others , and promis'd preferments to the rest , i have engag'd 'em all .

la. lam.

and will you be a king ?

lam.

you think that 's so fine a thing but let me tell you , my love , a king 's a slave to a protector , a king 's ty'd up to a thousand rules of musty law , which we can break at pleasure ; we can rule without parliaments , at least , chuse whom we please , make 'em agree to our proposals , or set a guard upon 'em , and starve 'em till they do .

la. lam.

but their votes are the strangest things , that they must pass for laws ; you were never voted king.

lam.

no , nor care to be : the sharpest sword 's my vote , my law , my title . they voted dick should reign , where is he now ? they voted the great heroicks from the succession ; but had they arms or men , as i have , you shou'd soon see what wou'd become of their votes no my love ! 't is this must make me king. his sword.

let fleetwood and the rump go seek the lard , my empire and my trust is in my sword.
act ii.
scene i. a chamber of state. enter la. lambert , gilliflower , and women-servants . la. lam.

gilliflower , has none been here to ask for any of my people , in order to his approach to me ?

gill.

none , madam .

la. lam.

madam ! how dull thou art ! wou't never learn to give me a better title , than such an one as foolish custom bestows on every common wench ?

gill.

pardon my ignorance , madam .

la. lam.

again madam !

gill.

really , madam , i shou'd be glad to know by what other title you wou'd be distinguish'd ?

la. lam.

abominable dull ! do'st thou not know on what score my dear is gone to wallingford house ?

gill.

i cannot divine , madam .

la. lam.

heav'n help thy ignorance ! he 's gone to be made protector , fool , or at least , a king , thou creature ; and from this day i date my self her highness .

gill.

that will be very fine indeed , an 't please your highness .

la lam.

i think 't will sute better with my person and beauty than with that other woman what d' ye call her ? mrs. cromwel my shape and gat● my humour , and my youth , have something more of grandeur have they not ?

gill.

infinitely , an 't please you highness .

enter page . pag.

madam , a man without has the boldness to ask for your honour .

la. lam.

honour , fool !

gill.

her highness , blockhead .

pag.

sawcily prest in , and struck the porter for denying him entrance to your highness .

la. lam.

what kind of fellow was 't ?

pag.

a rude , rough , hectoring swash , an 't please your highness ; nay , and two or three times , gad forgive me , he swore too .

la. lam.

it must be he . aside .

pag.

his habit was something bad and cavalierish i believe 't is some poor petitioning , begging tory , who having been sequester'd , wou'd press your highness for some favour .

la. lam.

yes , it must be he ah foolish creature ! and can he hope relief , and a villanous cavalier ? out upon 'em , poor wretches you may admit him tho' , i long to hear how one of those things talk .

gill.

oh most strangely , madam , an 't please your highness , i shou'd say .

enter loveless . la. lam.

't is he , i 'll swear , gillifl●wer , these heroicks are punctual men , how now , your bus'ness with us , fellow ?

lov.

my bus'ness , madam ?

la. lam.

hast thou ever a petition to us ?

lov.

a petition , madam ? sure this put on greatness is to amuse her servants , or has she forgot that she invited me ; or indeed forgot me ? aside .

la. lam.

what art thou ?

pag.

shall we search his breeches , an 't please your highness , for pistol , or other instruments ?

la. lam.

no boy , we fear him not , they say the pow'rs above protect the persons of princes . walks away .

lov. sure she 's mad , yet she walks loose about , and she has charms even in her raving fit. la. lam. answer me . what art thou ? how shall i get my servants hence with honour ? aside . lov. a gentleman that cou'd have boasted birth and fortune too till these accursed times , which heav'n confound , racing out all nobility , all vertue , has render'd me the rubbish of the world ; whilst new rais'd rascals , canters , robbers , rebells do lord it o're the free-born , brave and noble . la. la.

you 're very confident , know you to whom you speak ? but i suppose you have lost your estate , or some such trivial thing , which makes you angry .

lov.

yes , a trivial estate of some five and twenty hundred pound a year , but i hope to see that rogue of a lord reduc'd to his cobler's stall again , or , more deserv'dly hang'd , that has it .

la. lam.

i thought 't was some such grievance but you must keep a good tongue in your head , lest you be hang'd for scandalum magnatum there 's law for ye , sir.

lov.

no matter ; then i shall be free from a damn'd commonwealth , as you are pleas'd to call it , when indeed 't is but a mungrel , mangy , mock-monarchy .

la. lam.

is it your bus'ness sir to rail ?

lov.

you rais'd the devil , madam .

pag.

madam , shall i call your highness guards , and secure the traytor ?

la. la. no ; that you may see how little i regard or fear him ; leave us all ex. all but gill. we 'll trust our person in his hands alone now sir your bus'ness ? smilingly approaches him . lov.

madam , i waited here by your commands .

la. lam.

how shall i tell him that i love him , gilliflower ?

gill.

easily , madam , tell him so in plain english. madam , 't is great ; women of your exalted height ever speak first ; you have no equals dare pretend to speak of love to you .

la. lam.

thou art i' th' right do'st know my quality , and thy own poverty ? and hast thou nothing to ask that i may grant ?

lov. sure she loves me ! and i , frail flesh and blood , cannot resist her charms ; but she 's of the damn'd party . aside . la. lam.

are all your party , sir , so proud ?

lov.

but what have i to do with religion ? is beauty the worse , or a kind wench to be refus'd for conventickling ? she lives high on the spoils of a glorious kingdom , and why may not i live upon the sins of the spoiler ? aside .

la. lam.

sir you are poor !

lov.

so is my prince ; a plague on the occasion .

la. lam.

i think you are no fool too ?

lov.

i wou'd i were , then i had been a knave , had thriv'd , and possibly by this time had been tugging for rifled crowns and kingdoms .

la. lam.

this satyr ill befits my present bus'ness with you , you want some necessaries as cloaths , and linnen too ; and 't is great pitty so proper a man shou'd want necessaries . gilliflower take my cabinet key , and fetch the purse of broad-pieces that lyes in the lower drawer ; 't is a small present , sir , but 't is an earnest of my farther service , gill. goes out , and returns with a purse .

lov.

i 'm angry , that i find one grain of generosity in this whole race of hypocrites . aside .

la. lam.

here sir , 't is only for your present use ; for cloaths three hundred pieces ; let me see you sweet

lov.

stark mad , by this good day .

la. lam.

ah gilliflower ! how prettily those cavalier things charm ; i wonder how the powers above came to give them all the wit , softness , and gallantry , whilst all the great ones of our age have the most slovenly , ungrateful , dull behaviour ; no ayr , no wit , no love , or any thing to please a lady with .

gill.

truly madam , there 's a great difference in the men ; yet heav'n at first did it's part , but the divel has since so over-done his , that what with the vizor of sanctity , which is the gadly sneere , the drawing of the face to a prodigious length , the formal language , with a certain twang through the nose , and the pious gogle , they are fitter to scare children than beget love in ladies .

lov.

you hit the character of your new saint .

la. lam.

and then their dress , gilliflower .

gill.

oh! 't is an abomination to look like a gentleman ; long hair is wicked and cavalierish , a periwig is flat popery , the disguise of the whore of babylon ; handsom cloaths , or lac'd linnen , the very tempter himself , that debauches all their wives and daughters : therefore , the diminutive band , with the hair of the reformation cut , beneath which , a pair of large sanctify'd souses appear , to declare to the world , they had hitherto escap'd the pillory , tho' deserv'd it as well as pryn.

la. lam.

have a care what you say , gilliflower .

gill.

why madam , we have no informers here .

enter page . page .

madam , here 's old noll's wife desires admittance to your hon your highness .

la. lam.

bid the poor creature wait without , i 'le do her what good i can for her husbands sake , who first infus'd politiques into me , by which i may boast i have clim'd to empire .

lov.

so , her madness runs in that vein i see . aside .

gill.

alack madam , i think she 's coming .

crom.

without . does she keep state in the divel's name , and must i wait !

la. lam.

heav'ns ! i shall be scandaliz'd by the godly , dear gilliflower , conceal my cavalier ; i wou'd not have a cavalier seen with me for all the world. step into my cabinet ex. gill. and lov.

enter la. cromwel , held back by a man. to them gilliflower . crom.

unhand me villain 't was not long since a rudeness sir like this had forfeited thy head.

la. lam.

what wou'd the woman ?

crom.

the knave , the perjur'd villain thy husband , by th' throat , thou proud , imperious baggage ; to make me wait ? who 's train thou hast been proud to bear how durst thou , after an affront like this , trust thy false face within my fingers reach ? that face , that first bewitch't the best of husbands from me , and tempted him to sin .

gill.

i beseech your highness retire , the woman 's mad .

cro. highness , in the devil's name , sure 't is not come to that ; no , i may live to see thy cuckold hang'd first , his politicks are yet too shallow , mistris . heav'ns ! did my husband make him lord for this ? raise him to honour , trusts , commands , and councels , to ruine all our royal family , betray'd young richard , who had reign'd in peace but for his perjuries and knaveries ; and now he sooths my son in law , soft fleetwood , with empty hopes of pow'r , and all the while to make himself a king : no , minion , no ; i yet may live to see thy husband's head o' th top of westminster before i see it circled in a crown . la. lam. i pity the poor creature . crom. ungrateful traytor as he is , not to look back upon his benefactors ; but he , in lieu of making just returns , reviles our family , prophanes our name , and will in time render it far more odious than ever needham made the great heroicks . la. lam. alas , it weeps , poor woman ! cro. thou ly'st , false strumpet , i scorn to shed a tear for ought that thou can'st do or say to me ; i 've too much of my husband's spirit in me . oh , my dear richard , had'st thou had a grain on 't , thou and thy mother ne'r had fall'n to this . gill. his father sure was seeking of the lard when he was got . enter la. fleetwood , her train borne . crom. where is this perjur'd slave , thy wittal lord ? dares he not shew his face , his guilty face , before the person he has thus betray'd ? l. fleet. madam , i hope you mistake my honour'd lord lambert , i believe he designs the throne for my dear lord. crom. fond girl , because he has the art of fawning , dissembling to the height , can sooth and smile , profess , and sometimes weep : no , he will betray him , as he did thy brother ; richard the fourth was thus deluded by him . no , let him swear and promise what he will , they are but steps to his own ambitious end ; and only makes the fool , thy credulous husband a silly deluded property . enter fleetwood . fleet.

my honour'd mother , i am glad to find you here , i hope we shall reconcile things between ye . verily , we shou'd live in brotherly love together ; come , ingeniously , you shall be friends , my lady mother .

cro.

curse on th' occasion of thy being a kin to me .

flee .

why , an please ye forsooth madam ?

cro. my daughter had a husband , worthy the title of my son in law : ireton ! my best of sons : he 'd wit and courage , and with his councels , rais'd our house to honours , which thy impolitick easiness pulls down : and whilst you shou'd be gaining crowns and kingdoms art poorly couzening of the world with fruitless prayers . fleet.

nay , i 'll warrant you madam , when there is any gadly mischief to be done , i am as forward as the best , but 't is good to take the lard along with us in every thing . i profess ingeniously , as i am an honest man , verily ne're stir i shall act as becomes a good christian.

cro. a good coxcombe . dost thou not see her reverend highness there , that minion now assumes that glorious title i once , and my son richard's wife enjoy'd , whilst i am call'd the night mare of the commonwealth ? but wou'd i were , i 'd so hag-ride the perjur'd slaves who took so many oaths of true allegiance to my great husband first , and then to richard who , whilst they reign'd , were most illustrious , most high and mighty princes ; whilst fawning poets write panegyricks on 'em : and yet no sooner was the wonderous heroe dead , but all his glorious titles fell to monster of mankind , murderer of piety , traytor to heav'n and goodness . flee . who calls him so ? pray take their names down : i profess ingeniously , forsooth madam , verily i 'll order 'em , as i am here i will. cro. thou , alas they scorn so poor a thing as thou . fleet. do they ingeniously ? i 'll be even with 'em , forsooth mother , as i am here i will , and there 's an end on 't . cro. i wou'd there were an end of our disgrace and shame , which is but just begun , i fear . what will become of that fair monument thy careful father did erect for thee , to la. fleetw . yet whilst he liv'd , next to thy husband ireton ? lest none shou'd do it for thee after he were dead ? the malice of proud lambert will destroy all . fleet.

i profess , madam , you mistake my good lord lambert , he 's an honest man , and fears the lard ; he tells me i am to be the man ; verily he do's , after all 's done .

cro.

yes , after all 's done , thou art the man to be pointed at .

fleet.

nay , ingeniously , i scorn the words , so i do : i know the great work of salvation to the nation is to be wrought by me , verily .

cro.

do , cant on , till heav'n drop kingdoms in thy mouth : dull , silly sot , thou ruine of our interest : thou fond , inccorrigible , easie fool.

enter page . pag.

my lord , the committee of safety waits your coming .

fleet.

why , law you now , forsooth , i profess verily , you are ingeniously the hardest of belief tell the honourable lords i'm coming : go , lady mother , go home with my wife ; and verily you 'll see things go to your wish . i must to coach.

l. fleet.

madam your humble servant . to la. lam.

fleet.

honour'd lady i kiss your hands . ex. crom. fleet. and la. fleet.

enter loveless . lov. was this the thing that is to be protector ? this little snivelling fellow rule three kingdoms ? but leave we politicks , and fall to love , who deals more joyes in one kind , happy moment than ages of dull empire can produce . la. lam. oh gods ! shall i who never yielded yet , but to him to whom three kingdoms fell a sacrifice , surrender at first parly ? lov. perhaps that lover made ye gayer presents , but cou'd not render you a heart all love , or mind embyass'd in affairs of blood. i bring no guilt to fright ye from my embraces , but all our hours shall be serene and soft . la. lam. ah , gilliflower , thy aid , or i 'm lost ; shall it be said of me in after ages when my great fame 'mongst queens shall be recorded , that i , ah heav'ns ! regardless of my countries cause , espous'd the wicked party of its enemies , the heathenish heroicks ! ah , defend me ! lov. nay by all that 's la. lam. ah hold ! do not prophane my ears with oaths or execrations , i cannot bear the sound . lov. nay , nay , by heav'n i 'll not depart your lodgings , till that soft love that playes so in your eyes give me a better proof by la. lam. oh hold , i dye , if you proceed in this abomination ! lov.

why do you force me to 't ? d' ye think to put me off with such a face such lips , such smiles such eyes and every charm you 've made me mad , and i shall swear my soul away , if disappointed now .

gill.

ah , save the gentleman's soul , i beseech ye , madam .

la. lam. i 'm much inclin'd to acts of piety leaning on him , smiling . he goes to lead her out , enter la. desbro . and you have such a power , that howe're i incommode my honour desbro here ! how unseasonably she comes ? la. des. cry mercy , madam , i 'll withdraw a while . la. lam.

ah desbro ! thou art come in the most lucky minute i was just on the point of falling as thou say'st , these heroicks have the strangest power

la. des.

i never knew a woman cou'd resist ' em .

la. lam.

no marvel then , our husbands use 'em so , betray 'em , banish 'em , sequester , murder 'em , and every way disarm ' em .

la. des.

but their eyes madam .

la. lam.

ay , their eyes desbro ; i wonder our lords shou'd take away their swords , and let 'em wear their eyes .

la. desbro .

i 'll move it to the committee of safety , madam , those weapons shou'd be taken from 'em too .

la. lam.

still they 'll have some to be reveng'd on us .

la. des.

ay , so they will ; my lord says , a cavalier is a kind of hidra , knock him o' th' head as often as you will , he has still one to peep up withall .

enter page . page .

madam , here 's mr. freeman to speak with your honour .

lov.

that 's a friend of mine madam , and 't wou'd be unnecessary he saw your highness and i together : let us withdraw

la. lam.

withdraw , why , what will desbro say ?

des.

o madam , i know your vertue and your piety too well to suspect your honour wrongfully ? 't is impossible a lady that goes to a conventicle twice a day , besides long prayers and lowd psalm-singing , shou'd do any thing with an heroick against her honour . your known sanctity preserves you from scandal . but here 's freeman puts 'em in .

enter freeman . free.

so madam you are very kind

la. des. my charming freeman , this tedious day of absence has been an age in love ! how hast thou liv'd without me ? free. like one condemn'd , sad and disconsolate , and all the while you made your husband happy . la. des. name not the beastly hypocrite , thou know'st i make no other use of him , but a dull property to advance our love. free.

and 't is but iustice , maria , he sequester'd me of my whole estate , because , he said , i took up arms in ireland , on noble ormond's side ; nay , hir'd rogues , perjur'd villains witnesses with a pox , to swear it too ; when at that time , i was but eight years old : but i 'scapt as well as all the gentry and nobility of england . to add to this , he takes my mistress too .

la. des.

you mistake , my lovely freeman ; i marryed only thy estate , the best composition i cou'd make for thee , and i will pay it back with interest too .

free.

you wou'd suspect my love then , and swear that all the adoration i pay you , were , as we do to heaven , for int'rest only .

la. des.

how you mistake my love , but do so still , so you will let me give these proofs of it . gives him gold.

free. thus like atlante , you drop gold in my pursuit to love , i may not over-take you : what 's this , to giving me one happy minute ? take back your gold , and give me currant love , the treasure of your heart , not of your purse , when shall we meet maria ? la. des.

you know my leasure hours are when my honourable lord is busied in affairs of state , or at his prayers ; from which long-winded exercise i have of late withdrawn my self : three hours by the clock he prays extempory , which is , for national and houshold blessings : for the first 't is to confound the interest of the king , that the lard wou'd deliver him , his friends , adherers and allies , wheresoever scatter'd about the face of the whole earth , into the clutches of the righteous : press 'em good lard , even as the vintager doth the grape in the wine-press , till the waters , and gliding chanels are made red with the blood of the wicked . in a tone .

free.

and grant the faithful to be mighty , and to be strong in persecution ; and more especially , ah! i beseech thee confound that malignant tory freeman that he may never rise up in judgment against thy servant , who has taken from him his estate , his sustinance , and bread ; give him grace of thy infinite mercy , to hang himself , if thy people can find no zealous witnesses to swear him to the gallows legally . ah , we have done very much for thee lard , thou shoud'st consider us thy flock , and we shou'd be as good to thee in another thing . in a tone .

la. des.

thou hit'st the zealous twang right ; sure thou hast been acquainted with some of 'em .

free.

damn 'em , no ; what honest man wou'd keep 'em company , where harmless wit and mirth 's a sin , laughing scandalous , and a merry glav , abomination .

la. des.

yes , if you drink healths my wicked brother ; otherwise , to be silently drunk , to be as abusive and satyrical as you please , upon the heroicks , is allowable for laughing , indeed 't is not so well ; but the precise sneere and grin is lawful ; no swearing indeed , but lying and dissimulation in abundance i 'll assure you , they drink as deep , and entertain themselves as well with this silent way of lewd debauchery , as you with all your wit and mirth , your healths to the royal family .

free.

nay , i confess , 't is a great pleasure to cheat the world.

la. des.

't is power , as divine hobs calls it .

free.

but what 's all this to love ? where shall we meet anon ?

la. des.

i 'll tell you , that will please you as well . your friend is within , with her highness that shall be , if the divel and her husband's politicks agree about the matter .

free.

ha , has my cautious railer manag'd matters so sleyly ?

la. des.

no , no , the matter was manag'd to his hand : you see how heav'n brings things about , for the good of your party ; this bus'ness will be worth him , at least a thousand pound a year , or two , well manag'd . but see , my ladies woman .

gill.

oh madam , my lord ! running cross the stage into her ladies chamber .

free.

death , how shall i bring my friend off ? he 'll certainly be ruin'd .

enter gill. lov. and la. lam. gill.

madam , he 's coming up .

lov.

madam , for my self i care not , but much concern'd for you .

la. lam. takes two papers out of her pock . and gives 'em to lov. and free. la. lam.

here , take these two petitions , each of you one , poor fellows you may be gone , your petitions will not be granted .

enter lambert . lam.

how now , my dear , what petitions ? friends , what 's your bus'ness ?

la. lam.

't is enough we know their business love , we are sufficient to dispatch such suters , i hope .

lam.

pardon me , my dear , i thought no harm ; but i saw you frown , and that made me concern'd .

la. lam.

frown ! ' twou'd make any body frown , to hear the impudence of gentlemen , these cavaliers ; wou'd you think it my dear , if this fellow has not the impudence to petition for the thirds of his estate again , so justly taken from him for bearing arms for the man ?

la. des.

nay , i ' am inform'd , that they , but two nights ago , in a tavern , drunk a health to the man too .

lam.

how durst you , sirrah , approach my lady with any such sawcy address , you have receiv'd our answer .

lov.

death , i 've scarce patience . aside .

free.

we knew , my lord , the influence your ladies have over you , and women are more tender and compassionate naturally , than men ; and sir , 't is hard for gentlemen to starve .

la. lam.

have you not able limbs , can ye not work

lov.

persons of our education work !

lam.

starve or beg then .

la. lam.

education , why , i 'll warrant there was that young creature they call the duke of glocester , was as well educated as any lad in the parish , and yet you see he should have been bound prentice to a handy crafts trade , but that our lords cou'd not spare money to bind him out , and so they sent him to beg beyond sea.

lov.

death , i shall do mischief : not all the joy she gave me but now , can attone for this blasphemy against the royal youth .

free.

patience well my lord , we find you are obdurate , and we 'll withdraw .

lam.

do so : and if you dare presume to trouble us any more , i 'll have you whip'd , d' e hear .

la. des.

madam , i 'll take my leave of your ladiship . ex. lov. free. & l. des.

la. lam.

my lord , 't was i that ought to threaten 'em but you 'r so forward still what makes you from the committee ?

lam.

i left some papers behind .

la. lam.

and they 'll make use of your absence to set up fleetwood king.

lam.

i 'll warrant ye my dear .

la. lam.

you 'll warrant ? you 're a fool and a coxcomb ; i see i must go my self , there will be no bus'ness done 'till i thunder 'em together : they want old oliver amongst 'em , his arbitrary nod cou'd make ye all tremble ; when he wanted power or money , he need but cock in parliament , and lay his hand upon his sword , and cry , i must have money , and had it , or kick'd ye all out a doors : and you are so mealy mouth'd , you cannot cock for a kingdom .

lam.

i 'll warrant you dear , i can do as good a thing for a kingdom .

la. lam.

you can do nothing as you shou'd do 't : you want old oliver's brains , old oliver's courage , and old oliver's counsel : ah , what a politick fellow was little sir anthony ! what a head-peice was there ! what a plaguy fellow old thurlo , and the rest : but get ye back , and return me protector at least , or never hope for peace again .

lam. my soul trouble not thy self , go in with mine , no power can equal be , and i will be a king to humour thee . exeunt .
act iii.
scene i. a council chamber , great table , chairs , and papers . enter two clarks , who lay papers in order , and door-keeper . door .

come , haste , haste , the lords are coming ; keep back there , room for the lords , room for the honourable lords : heav'n bless your worships honours .

enter lambert , fleetwood , whitlock , wariston , discoursing earnestly ; to them duckenfield , cobbet , hewson , desbro , and others ; duck takes wariston by the hand , and talks to him . war.

bread a gued gentlemen , i's serv'd the commonwealth long and faithfully ; i's turn'd and turn'd to aud interest and aud religions that turn'd up trump , and wons a me , but i's get naught but bagery by my sol ; i's noo put in for a pansion as well as rest o ya loones .

cob.

what we can serve you in my lord , you may command .

duc.

and i too my lord , when the government is new moulded .

war.

wons sirs , and i's sa moold it ; 't was ne're sa moolded sin the dam boond the head on 't .

duc.

i know there are some ambitious spirits that are for a single person ; but we 'll have hot work e're yield to that .

war.

the faud diel take 'em then for archibald ; 't is warse than monarchy .

duc.

a thousand times : have we with such industry , been pulling down kings of the royal family , to set up tyrants of our own , of mean and obscure birth ? no , if we 're for a single person , i 'm for a lawful one .

war.

wons and ya have spoken aud my lord , so am i.

duc.

but lambert has a busie , haughty spirit , and thinks to carry it ; but we 'll have no single person .

war.

nor i , ods bread ; the faud diel brest the wem of lambert , or any single person in england . i's for yare interest my gued lords . bowing .

lam.

my lord wariston , will you please to assume the chair .

enter loveless , freeman , and others with petitions . war.

ah , my gued loord , i's yare most obedient humble servant .

bowing to lam. all set . all.

hum , hum.

fleet.

my lords and gentlemen , we are here met together in the name of the lard

duc.

yea , and i hope we shall hang together as one man. a pox upon your preaching . aside .

fleet.

and hope this days great work will be for his praise and glory .

duc.

' bating long graces my lord , we are met together for the bus'ness of the nation , to settle it , and to establish a government .

fleet.

yea , verily : and i hope you will all unanimously agree , it shall be your unworthy servant .

lam.

what else my lord ?

flee .

and as thou lard has put the sword into my hand

duc.

so put it into your heart my lord , to do justice .

fleet.

amen .

duc.

i 'd rather see it there than in your hand . aside .

fleet.

for , we are , as it were , a body without a head ; or , to speak more learnedly , an animal , unanimate .

hus.

my lord , let us use , as little as we can , the language of the beast ; hard words , none of your eloquence , it savoureth of monarchy .

lam.

my lord , you must give men of quality leave to speak in a language more gentile and courtly than the ordinary sort of mankind .

hew .

my lord , i am sorry to hear there are any of quality amongst this honourable dissembly . stands up .

cob.

assembly , my lord

hews .

well , you know my meaning ; or if there be any such , i 'm sorry they shou'd own themselves of quality .

duc.

how , own themselves gentlemen ? death sir , d' ye think we were all born coblers ?

hews .

or if you were not , the more the pitty , for little england , i say . in heat .

fleet.

verily , my lords , brethren shou'd not fall out , it is a scandal to the good cause , and maketh the wicked rejoyce .

war.

wons and theys garr the loosey proverb on 't te , when loons gang together by th' luggs , gued men get their ene .

all.

he , he , he .

duc.

he calls you knaves by craft , my lords .

war.

bread a gued , tak 't among yee gentlemen , i's ment wee le .

fleet.

i profess , my lord wariston , you make my hair stand an end to hear how you swear .

war.

wons , my loord , i's sware as little as your lordship , only i's sware out , and ya swallow aud .

duc.

there 's a bone for you to pick , my lord.

all.

he , he , he .

lam.

we give my lord wariston leave to jest .

des.

but what 's this to the government all this while ? a dad i shall sit so late , i shall have no time to visit my horses , therefore proceed to the point .

hews .

ay , to the point , my lords ; the gentleman that spoke last spoke wll .

cob.

well sed brother , i see you will in time speak properly .

duc.

but to the government , my lords ? beats the table .

lam.

put 'em off o' this discourse , my lord. aside to war.

des.

my lord wariston , move it , you are speaker .

war.

the diel a me , sirs , and noo ya talk of a speaker , i's tell ye a blithe tale.

fleet.

ingeniously my lord , you are to blame to swear so .

lam.

your story , my lord.

war.

by my solmon , and there was a poor woman the other day beg'd ot'h ' carle the speaker , but he 'd give her nought unlas she 'd lat a fea rt ; wons at last a fea rt she lat , ay marry , quoth the woman , noo my rump has a speaker te .

all.

he , he , he .

duc.

but to our bus'ness

des.

bus'ness ; ay , there 's the thing , i 've a world on 't . i shou'd go and bespeak a pair of mittens and shears for my hedger and shearer , a pair of cards for my thrasher , a sythe for my mower , and a skreen-fan for my lady wife , and many other things ; my head 's full of bus'ness i cannot stay .

whit.

fy my lord , will you neglect the bus'ness o' th' day ? we meet to oblige the nation , and gratifie our friends .

des.

nay , i 'll do any thing , so i may rise time enough to see my horses at night .

lov.

damn 'em , what stuff 's here for a council-table ?

free.

where are our english spirits , that can be govern'd by such dogs as these ?

lam.

clark , read the heads of what past at our last sitting .

war.

in the first place , i must mind your lordships tol consider those that have been gued members in the commonwelth .

fleet.

we shall not be backward to gratifie any that have serv'd the commonwealth .

whit.

there 's money enough ; we have taxt the nation high .

duc.

yes , if we knew where to find it : however read .

clark

reads . to walter walton draper , six thousand nine hundred twenty nine pounds six shillings and five pence , for blacks for his highness funeral .

lam.

for the devil 's , put it down for oliver cromwel's funeral : we 'll have no records rise up in judgment for such a villain .

lov.

how the live asses kick the dead lion ? aside .

duc.

hark ye , my lords , we sit here to reward services done to the commonwealth ; let us consider whether this be a service to the commonwealth or not ?

lam.

however , we 'll give him paper for 't .

hews .

ay , let him get his money when he can .

lam.

paper 's not so dear , and the clerk's pains will be rewarded .

war.

right , my gued loord , ' sbred , that cromwel was th' faudest limmer loon that ever cam intol our country , the faud diel has tane him by th' luggs for robbing our houses and land.

fleet.

no swearing , my lord.

war.

wee l , wee l , my loord , i's larne to profess and lee as wee l as best on ya .

hews .

that may bring you profit , my lord but clerk proceed .

clerk

reads . to walter frost , treasurer of the contingencies , twenty thousand pounds : to thurloe , secretary to his highness

duc.

to old nol.

clerk

reads old nol , ten thousand pound , for unknown service done the commonwealth to mr. hutchinson treasurer of the navy , two hundred thousand pounds

war.

two hundred thousand pound ; owns what a sum's there ? marry it came from the mouth of a cannon sure .

clerk

reads . a present to the right honourable and truly vertuous lady , the lady lambert , for service done the late protector .

hews .

again say cromwel .

cler.

cromwel six thousand pound in iacobus's .

war.

' sbread , sike a sum wou'd make me honour the face of aud iemmy .

clerk.

to mr. ice six thousand pound ; to mr. loether late secretary to his high

whit.

to oliver cromwel say , can you not obey orders ?

cler.

secretary to oliver cromwel two thousand nine hundred ninety nine pounds , for intelligence and information , and piously betraying the king's liege people .

war.

haud , haud sirs , mary en ya gift se fast ya'll gif aud away fro poor archibauld iohnson .

whit.

speak for your self , my lord ; or rather my lord , do you speak for him . to lam

lam.

do you move it for him , and i 'll do as much for you anon . aside to whit.

whit.

my lord , since we are upon gratifications , let us consider the known merits of the lord wareston , a person of industrious mischiefs to the malignant party , and great integrity to us , and the commonwealth .

war.

gued faith an i's ha been a trusty trojon sirs , what say you my very gued and gracious loords ?

duc.

i scorn to let a dog go unrewarded ; and you , sir , fawn so prettily , 't is pity you shou'd miss preferment .

hews .

and so 't is ; come , come , my lords , consider he was ever our friend , and 't is but reasonable we shou'd stich up one another's broken fortunes .

duc.

nay sir , i 'm not against it .

all.

't is reason , 't is reason .

free.

damn 'em , how they lavish out the nation ?

war.

scribe , pretha read my paper

hews .

have you a pertition there !

cob.

a pitition , my lord.

hews .

pshaw , you scholards are so troublesom .

lam.

read the substance of it . to the clerk.

cler.

that your honours wou'd be pleas'd , in consideration of his services , to grant to your petitioner a considerable sum of money for his present supply .

fleet.

verily , order him two thousand pound

war.

two thousand poond ? bread a gued , and i's gif my voice for fleetwood . aside .

lam.

two thousand ; nay , my lords , let it be three .

war.

wons , i lee'd , i leed ; i's keep my voice for lambert . gueds benizon light on y ar sol , my gued lord lambert .

hews .

three thousand pound , why such a sum wou'd buy half scotland .

war.

wons , my lord , ya look but blindly on 't then : time was , a mite on 't had bought aud shoos in y ar stall , brother , tho' noo ya so abound in irish and bishops lands .

duc.

you have nick'd him there , my lord.

all.

he , he , he .

war.

scribe gang a tiny bit farther .

clerk.

and that your honours wou'd be pleas'd to confer an annual pension on him .

lam.

reason , i think ; what say you my lords of five hundred pound a year ?

all.

agreed , agreed .

war.

the diel swallow me , my lord , ya won my heart .

duc.

't is very well but out of what shall this be rais'd ?

lam.

we 'll look what malignants estates are forfeit , undispos'd of let me see who has young freeman's estate ?

des.

my lord , that fell to me .

lam.

what all the fifteen hundred pound a year ?

des.

a dad , and all little enough .

free.

the devil do him good with it .

des.

had not the lard put it into your hearts to have given me two thousand par an um out of bishops lands , and three thousand par an um out of the marquess's estate ; how shou'd i have liv'd and serv'd the common-wealth as i have done ?

free.

a plague confound his honour , he makes a hard shift to live on eight thousand pound a year , who was born and bred a hedger .

lov.

patience , friend .

lam.

i have been thinking but i 'll find out a way .

lov.

or betray some honest gentleman , on purpose to gratifie the loone .

lam.

and gentlemen , i am bound in honour and conscience to speak in behalf of my lord whitlock ; i think fit , if you agree with me , he shou'd be made constable of windsor castle , warden of the forrest , with the rents , perquisites , and profits thereto belonging , nor can your lordships confer a place of greater truth and honour in more safe hands .

duc.

i find he wou'd oblige all to his side . aside . has he not part of the duke of buckingham's estate already , with chelsey house , and several other gifts ?

lam.

he has dearly deserv'd 'em , he has serv'd our interest well and faithfully .

duc.

and he has been well paid sor't .

whit.

and so were you , sir , with several lordships , and bishops lands , you were not born to , i conceive .

duc.

i have not got it , sir , by knavish querks in law , a sword that deals out kingdoms to the brave , has cut out some small parcels of earth for me , and what of this ? stands up in a heat .

whit

i think , sir , he that talks well , and to 'th purpose , may be as useful to the commonwealth as he that fights well ; why do we keep so many else in pension that ne'r drew sword , but to talk , and rail at the malignant party ; to libel and defame 'em handsomly , with pious , useful lyes :

which pass for gospel with the common rabble , and edifie more than hugh peters's sermons ? and make fools bring more grist to th' publick mill : then sir to wrest the law to our convenience is no small , inconsiderate work ?
free. and which you may be hang'd for very shortly aside . lam. 't is granted , my lord , your merit 's infinite , we made him keeper of the great seal , 't is true , 't is honour , but no salary . duc.

ten thousand pound a year in bribes will do as well .

lam.

bribes are not so frequent now as in old noll's dayes .

hews .

well , my lord , let us be brief and tedious , as the saying as , and humour one another ; i 'm for whitlock's advance .

lam.

i move for a salary , gentlemen , scobel and other petty clerks have had a thousand a year , my lord sure merits more .

hews .

why , let him have two thousand then .

flee .

i profess ingeniously , with all my heart .

whit.

i humbly thank your lordships but , if i may be so bold to ask , from whence shall i receive it ?

lam.

out of the customs .

cob.

brotherly love ought to go along with us but , under favour , when this is gone , where shall we raise new supplies ?

lam. we 'll tax the nation high , the city higher ; they are our friends , our most obsequious slaves , our dogs , to fetch and carry , our very asses lov.

and our oxes , with the help of their wives . aside .

lam.

besides , the city's rich , and near her time , i hope , of being deliver'd .

war.

wons a gued , wad i 'd the laying o her , she shou'd be sweetly brought to bed , by my sol.

des.

the city cares for no scotch pipers , my lord.

war.

by my sol , but she has danc'd after the gued pipe of reformation , when the covenant jigg gang'd maryly round sirs .

cla.

my lords , here are some poor malignant petitioners .

lam.

oh , turn 'em out , here 's nothing for 'em ; these fellows were petitioning my lady to day i thought she had given you a satisfactory answer ?

lov.

she did indeed , my lord ; but , 't is a hard case , to take away a gentleman's estate , without convicting him of any crime .

lam.

oh sir ! we shall prove that hereafter .

lov.

but to make sure work , you 'll hang a man first , and examine his offence afterwards ; a plague upon your consciences : my friend here had a little fairer play , your villains , your witnesses in pension swore him a collonel for our glorious master , of ever blessed memory , at eight years old ; a plague upon their miracles .

fleet.

ingeniously , sirrah , you shall be pillory'd for defaming our reverend witnesses : guards take 'em to your custody both .

free.

damn it , i shall miss my assignation with lady desbro ; a pox of your unncessary prating , what shall i do ? guards take 'em away .

lam.

and now , my lords , we have finish'd the bus'ness of the day . my good lord fleetwood , i am entirely yours , and at our next sitting shall approve my self your creature .

whit.

my good lord , i am your submissive vassal .

wariston .

wons my lord , i scorn any man shou'd be mere yare vassal than archibald iohnson . to fleetwood .

ex. all. scene . a chamber . enter la. desbro . and corporal in haste . la. des.

seiz'd on , secur'd , was there no time but this ? what made him at the committee , or when there , why spoke he honest truth ? what shall i do , good corporal advise : take gold , and see if you can corrupt his guards , but they are better paid for doing mischief ; yet try , their consciences are large . gives him gold.

cor.

i 'll venture my life in so good a cause , madam . ex.

enter page . pag.

madam here 's mr. ananias gogle , the lay elder of clements parish .

la. des.

dam the sham saint ; am i now in condition to be plagu'd with his impertinent non-sense ?

pag.

oh! pray madam hear him preach a little ; 't is the purest sport .

enter ananias . ana.

peace be in this place .

la. des.

a blessed hearing ; he preaches nothing in his conventicles , but blood and slaughter . aside . what wou'd you sir , i 'm something busie now .

ana.

ah , the children of the elect have no business , but the great work of reformation ? yea verily , i say , all other business is prophane , and diabolical , and divelish ; yea , i say , these dressings , curles , and shining habilliments , which take so up your time , your precious time ; i say , they are an abomination , yea , an abomination in the sight of the righteous , and serve but as an ignis fatuus , to lead vain man astray . i say again looking now and then behind on the page .

la. des.

you are a very coxcomb .

ana.

i say again , that even i , upright i , one of the new saints , find a sort of a a a i know not what , a kind of a motion as it were a stirring up as a man may say , to wickedness ; yea , verily it corrupteth the outward man within me .

la. des.

is this your business sir , to rail against my cloaths , as if you intended to preach me into my primitive nakedness again ?

ana.

ah , the naked truth is best ; but , madam , i have a little work of grace to communicate unto you , please you to send your page away

la. des.

withdraw sure i can make my party good with one wicked elder : now sir your bus'ness . ex. page . be brief .

ana.

as brief as you please but who in the sight of so much beau ty can think of any bus'ness but the bus'ness ! ah! hide those tempting breasts , alack , how smoth and warm they are feeling 'em , and sneering .

la. des.

how now , have you forgot your function ?

ana.

nay , but i am mortal man also , and may fall seven times a day ; yea verily , i may fall seven times a day : your ladiships husband is old , and where there is a good excuse for falling , ah , there the fall-ing is excusable . and might i but fall with your ladiship , might i , i say .

la. des.

how , this from you , the head o' th' church militant ; the very pope of presbytery ?

ana.

verily , the sin lyeth in the scandal ; therefore , most of the discreet pious ladies of the age , chuse us , upright men , who make a conscien●e of a secret , the laiety being more regardless of their fame . in sober sadness , the place inviteth , the creature tempting , and the spirit very violent within me . takes and ruffles her .

l. des.

who waits there ? i 'm glad you have prov'd your self what i ever thought of all your pack of knaves .

an ,

ah , madam ! do not ruine my reputation ; there are ladies of high degree in the commonwealth , to whom we find our selves most comforting ; why might not you be one ? for , alas , we are accounted as able men in ladies chambers , as in our pulpits ; we serve both functions enter servants . hah ! her servants stands at a distance .

la. des.

shou'd i tell this , i shou'd not find belief . aside .

anan .

madam , i have another errand to your ladiship . it is the duty of my occupation to catechize the heads of every family within my diocese ; and you must answer some sew questions i shall ask in the first place , madam who made ye ?

la. des.

so , from whoring to a zealous catechism who made me ? what insolence is this , to ask me questions which every child that lisps out words can answer .

an.

't is our method , madam .

la. des.

your impudence sirrah let me examine your faith , who are so sawcy to take an account of mine who made you ? but lest you shou'd not know , i will inform you : first , heav'n made you a deform'd , ill favour'd creature , then the rascal your father made you a taylor , next , your wife made you a cuckold , and lastly , the devil has made you a doctor : and so get you gone for a fool and a knave all over .

ana.

a man of my coat affronted thus !

la. des.

it shall be worse , sirrah , my husband shall know how kind you wou'd have been to him , because your disciple and benefactor , to have begot him a babe of grace for a son and heir .

ana.

mistake not my pious meaning , most gracious lady .

la. des.

i 'll set you out in your colours : your impudent and bloody principles , your cheats , your rogueries on honest men , through their kind , deluded wives , whom you cant and goggle into a belief , 't is a great work of grace to steal , and beggar their whole families , to contribute to your gormandizing , lust , and laziness ; ye locusts of the land , preach nonsence , blasphemy , and treason , till you sweat again , that the sanctifi'd sisters my rub you down , to comfort and console the creature .

ana.

ah! am

la. des.

sirrah , be gone , and trouble me no more be gone yet stay the rogue may be of use to me amongst the heap of vice , hypocrisie , and devils that possess all your party , you may have some necessary sin ; i 've known some honest , useful villains amongst you , that will swear , profess , and lie devoutly for the good old cause .

ana.

yea verily , i hope there are many such , and i shou'd rejoyce , yea , exceedingly rejoyce , in any gadly performance to your ladiship .

la. des.

this is a pious work : you are a knave of credit , a very saint with the rascally rabble , with whom your seditious cant more prevails , your precious hum and ha , and gifted nonsence , than all the rhetorick of the learn'd or honest .

ana.

hah

la. des.

in fine , i have use of your talent at present , there 's one now in confinement of the royal party his name's freeman .

ana.

and your ladiship wou'd have him dispatch'd ; i conceive ye but wou'd you have him dispatch'd privately , or by form of law ? we 've tools for all uses , and 't is a pious work and meritorious .

la. des.

right : i wou'd indeed have him dispatch'd , and privately ; but 't is hither privately , hither , to my chamber , privately , for i have private bus'ness with him : d' ye start ? this must be done for you can pimp i 'm sure upon occasion , you 've tools for all uses ; come , resolve , or i 'll discover your bloody offer ; is your stomach so queasie it cannot digest pimping , that can swallow whoring , false oaths , sequestration , robbery , rapes , and murders daily ?

ana.

verily , you mistake my pious meaning ; it is the malignant i stick at ; the person , not the office : and in sadness , madam , it goeth against my tender conscience to do any good to one of the wicked .

la. des.

it must stretch at this time ; go haste to the guard , and demand him in my husband's name ; here 's something worth your pains having releas'd him , bring him to me , you understand me go bid him be diligent , and as you behave your self , find my favour ; for know , sir , i am as great an hypocrite as you , and know the cheats of your religion too ; and since we know one another , 't is like we shall be true .

ana.

but shou'd the man be missing , and i call'd to an account ?

la. des.

he shall be return'd in an hour ; go , get you gon , and bring him , or no more ex. ana.

for all degrees of vices , you must grant there is no rogue like your geneva saint .
act iv.
scene i. chamber , candles and lights . enter la. desbro , and freeman . la. des.

by what strange miracle , my dearest freeman , wert thou set at liberty ?

free.

on the zealous parole of rabbie ananias ; that rhetorick that can convert whole congregations of well-meaning block-heads , to errant knaves , has now mollify'd my keeper ; i 'm to be render'd back within this hour : let 's not , my dear maria , lose the precious minutes this reverend hypocrite has given us .

la. des.

oh! you are very gay , have you forgot whose prisoner you are , and that perhaps , e're many days are ended , they may hang you for high treason against the common-wealth ? they never want good throw-stitch'd witness , to do a murder lawfully .

free.

no matter ; then i shall dye with joy , maria , when i consider , that you lov'd so well to give me the last proof on 't .

la. des.

are you in earnest , freeman , and wou'd you take what honour will not suffer me to grant ?

free.

with all my heart , honour 's a poor excuse : your heart and vows ( your better part ) are mine ; you 've only lent your body out to one whom you call husband , and whom heav'n has mark'd for cuckoldom . nay , 't is an act of honest loyalty , so to revenge our cause ; whilst you were only mine , my honest love thought it a sin to press these favours from you ; 't was injuring my self as well as thee ; but now we only give and take our right .

la. des.

no more , my husband 's old .

free.

right my dear maria ; and therefore ,

la. des.

may possibly dye .

free.

he will be hang'd first .

la. des.

i hope so either of which , will do our business : unreasonable freeman , not to have patience till my husband be hang'd a li●tle .

free.

but what if destiny put the change upon us , and i be hang'd instead of desbro ?

la. des.

why then thou art not the first gallant fellow that has dy'd in the good and royal cause ; and a small taste of happiness will but turn thee off the ladder with the sadder heart .

free. hast thou the conscience , lovely as thou art , to deal out all thy beauty to a traytor ? is not this treason of the highest nature , to rob the royal party of such treasure and give it to our mortal enemies : for shame , be wise and just , and do not live a rebel to our cause ; 't is sin enough , to have society with such a wicked race . la. des.

but i am marryed to him .

free.

so much the worse , to make a league and covenant with such villains , and keep the sinful contract ; a little harmless lying and dissimulation i 'll allow thee , but to be right down honest , 't is the devil .

l. des.

this will not do ; it never shall be said i 've been so much debauch'd by conventickling to turn a sainted sinner : no , i 'm true to my allegiance still , true to my king and honour . suspect my loyalty when i lose my virtue ; a little time , i 'm sure , will give me honestly into thy arms , if thou hast bravery show it in thy love.

free.

you will o'recome , and shame me every way ; but when will this change come ? and till it do , what pawn will you give me ? i shall be happy then .

la. des.

my honour , and that happiness you long for ; and take but two months time for their redemption .

free.

how greedily i 'll seize the forfeiture !

la. des.

but what am i like to get if this change do come ?

free.

a slave , and whatever you please to make of him .

la. des.

who knows , in such a universal change , how you may alter too ?

free.

i 'll give ye bond and vows , unkind maria ; here , take my hand be it known unto all men , by these presents , that i iohn freeman of london , gent. acknowledge my self in debt to maria desbro , the sum of one heart , with an incurable wound ; one soul , destin'd hers from it's first being ; and one body , whole , sound , and in perfect health ; which i here promise to pay to the said maria , upon demand , if the aforesaid iohn freeman be not hang'd before such demand made . whereto , i set my hand , and seal it with my lips.

la. des.

and i , in consideration of such debt , do freely give unto the abovesaid iohn freeman the heart and body of the abovesaid maria desbro , with all appurtenances thereto belonging , whenever it shall please heav'n to bring my husband fairly to the gallows . in a tone .

free.

amen . kiss the book kisses her .

ana. hums without . la. des.

hah ! that 's ananias sure ; some danger 's near , the necessary rascal gives us notice of .

free.

't is so , what wou'dst thou have me do ?

la. des.

thou art undone if seen . here , step within this curtain . he goes .

enter ananias , humming , and spreading his cloak wide ; desbro behind him , puffing in a chafe . des.

ads nigs , what a change is here like to be , puff puff we have manag'd matters sweetly to let the scotch general undermine us ; puff , puff .

la. des.

what 's the matter ?

des.

nothing cockey , nothing , but that we are like to return to our first nothing .

ana.

yea verily , when our times come ; but ah , the great work of reformation is not yet fully accomplished , which must be wrought by the saints , and we cannot spare one of them until the work be finish'd .

des.

yea , yea , it is finished i doubt , puff , puff ; fye , fye , what a change is here !

ana.

patience , ah , 't is a precious virtue !

des.

patience sir ! what , when i shall lose so many fine estates which did appertain to the wicked ; and which , i trusted , had been establish'd ours ; and tell'st thou me of patience ! puff , puff . walking fast .

ana.

how lose 'em sir ? handle the matter with patience ; i hope the committee of safety , or the rump , will not do an illegal thing to one of the brethren .

des.

no , no , i have been a trusty knave to them , and so i have found them all to me : but monk ! monk ! o that ever we shou'd be such blind fools to trust an honest general !

ana.

patience sir , what of him !

des.

i just now receiv'd private intelligence , he 's coming out of scotland . with his forces . puff , puff .

ana.

why , let him come a gads name , we have those will give him a civil salute , if he mean not honourably to the commonwealth . patience sir.

des.

but if he prove the stronger , and shou'd chance to be so great a traytor to us to bring in the man the king ?

la. des.

how , the king husband ; the great heroick ?

free.

death , this woman is a sybill ? ah , noble monk !

ana.

hum the king !

des.

ah , and with the king , the bishops ; and then , where 's all our church and bishops lands ! oh! undone . puff puff .

ana.

how , bring in the king and bishops ! my righteous spirit is raised too : i say , i will excommunicate him for one of the wicked ; yea , for a prophane heroick , a malignant , a tory , a i say , we will surround him , and confound him with a mighty host ; yea , and fight the lards battel with him ; yea , we will.

des.

truckle to his pow'r . puff , puff .

ana.

nay , i say verily , nay ; for , in sadness , i will dye in my calling .

des.

so i doubt shall i which is plowing , hedging , and ditching .

ana.

yea , we have the sword of the righteous in our hand , and we will defend the mighty revenues of the church , which the lard hath given unto his people , and chosen ones i say , we will defend

des.

ah , patience , sir , ah , 't is a pious virtue

ana.

ah , it is zeal in one of us , the out-goings of the spirit .

enter page . tom.

sir , will you go down to prayers ? the chaplain waits .

des. no , no , boy , i am too serious for that exercise , i cannot now dissemble , heav'n forgive me . ana.

how , sir , not dissemble ah , then you have lost a great vertue indeed , a very great vertue ; ah , let us not give away the good old cause but , as we have hitherto maintain'd it by gadly cozenage , and pious frauds , let us persevere ah , let us persevere to the end ; let us not lose our heritage for a mess of pottage , that is , let us not lose the cause for dissimulation and hypocrisie , those two main engines that have carry'd on the great work.

des.

verily , you have prevailed , and i will go take counsel of my pillow : boy call my man to undress me i 'll to bed , for i am sick at heart . ex. tom. page .

free.

death , what shall i do now ? des. walks , she whispers ana.

la. des.

you must get my man off , or we 're undone .

ana.

madam , be comforted , heaven will bring all things about for our advantage . as des. turns .

la. des.

but he 's behind the curtains man des. turns from ' em .

ana.

ah , let providence alone s●reads his cloak wide and goes by degrees towards the bed. your pious lady , sir , is doubtful , but i will give her ample satisfaction .

des.

ah do , mr. ananias , do , for she 's a good and a vertuous lady , certo she is . goes close to the bed-post , and speaks over his shoulder .

ana.

get ye behind my cloak

la. des.

indeed sir , your counsel and assistance is very comfortable ,

ana.

we shou'd be helps meet to one another , madam .

des.

alack , good man la. des. goes to cokes her husb.

la. des.

ay , my dear , i am so much oblig'd to him , that i know not without thy thy aid , how to make him amends .

free.

so this is the first cloak of zeal i ever made use of . an. going , spreading his cloak to the door , freeman behind goes out .

des.

good lady give him this twenty pieces , a dad he worthily deserves ' em . gives her gold.

la. des.

indeed , and so he does , dear , if thou knew'st all .

what say you now , do i not improve in hypocrisie ? and shall i not in time make a precious member of your church ? to ana.

ana. verily , your ladiship is most ingenious and expert , sir , i most humbly take my leave . ex. ananias . enter tom page . page .

my lord , my lord lambert has sent in all haste for you , you must attend at his house immediately .

des.

so , he has heard the news i must away let my coach be ready ex. des.

la. des.

how unlucky was this that freeman shou'd be gone sirrah , run , and see to o'retake him , and bring him back . ex. all .

scene . a fine chamber . enter gilliflower and loveless , by dark , richly drest . lov.

where am i , gilliflower ?

gill.

in my ladies apartment , sir , she 'll be with you presently ; you need not fear betraying , sir , for i 'll assure you i 'm an heroick in my heart : my husband was a captain for his majesty of ever blessed memory , and kill'd at naseby , god be thanked , sir.

lov.

what pity 't is that thou shou'dst serve this party ?

gill.

' bating her principles , my lady has good nature enough to oblige a servant ; and truly sir , my vails were good in old oliver's dayes ; i got well by that amour , between him and my lady ; the man was lavish enough .

lov.

yes , of the nations treasure but , prithee tell me , is not thy lady mad , raving on crowns and kingdoms ?

gill.

it appears so to you , who are not us'd to the vanity of the party , but they are all so mad in their degree , and in the fit they talk of nothing else sir ; we have to morrow a hearing , as they call it .

lov.

what 's that , a conventicle ?

gill.

no , no , sir , ladies of the last edition , that present their grievances to the council of ladies , of which my lady 's chief , which grievances are laid open to the committee of safety , and so redress'd , or slighted , as they are .

lov.

that must be worth one's curiosity , cou'd one but see 't .

gill.

we admit no man , sir.

lov. 'sdeath , for so good a sight i will turn woman . i 'll act it to a hair . gill.

that wou'd be excellent .

lov.

nay , i must do 't : the novelty is rare but i 'm impatient prethee let thy lady know i wait .

gill.

she 's in affairs of state , but will be here immediately ; mean time , retire into her cabinet , i 'll send the page with lights , there you may repose , till my lady comes , on the pallat. she leads him out .

scene . a great chamber of state , and canopy . and at a table , seated lambert , fleetwood , desbro , hewson , duckingfield , wariston , cobbet ; all half drunk , with bottles and glasses on the table ; la. lam. and la. fleet. lam.

my lord wariston , you are not merry to night .

war.

wons mon , this monk sticks in my gullet , the muckle diel pull him out by th' lugs ; the faud loone will en spoyle ad our sport mon.

lam.

i thought i had enough satisfy'd all your fears ; the army 's mine , that is 't is yours , my lords , and i 'll employ it too so well for the good of the commonwealth , you shall have cause to commend both my courage and conduct : my lord wariston , will you accompany me ?

war.

ah , my gued lord , the honour is too great ! 't is not but i's dare fight my lord , but i love not the limmer loone , he has a villainous honest face an's ene ; i's kend him ence , and lik't him not ; but i's drink tol y ar gued fortune ; let it gang aboote , ene and ad sirs . all drink .

lam.

we 'll leave all discourse of bus'ness , and give our selves to mirth ; i fancy good success from this days omen .

enter gill. whispers la. lam. she rises . la. lam.

waited so long !

gill.

and grew inpatient , and please your highness ; must i go tell him you cannot see him to night .

la. lam. not for the world ; my silly politician will be busying himself in dull affairs of state ; dull in comparison of love , i mean ; i never lov'd before ; old oliver i suffer'd for my interest , and 't is some greatness , to be mistress to the best ; but this mighty pleasure comes a propo to sweeten all the heavy toyls of empire . gill. so it does , an 't please your highness . la. lam.

go , let him know i 'm coming madam , i must beg your pardon , you hear , my lord to morrow goes on this great expedition ; and , for any thing we know , may fall a glorious sacrifice to the commonwealth ; therefore , 't is meet i offer up some prayers for his safety , and all my leasure hours 'twixt this and that , will be too few . your humble servant madam . ex. la. lam.

la. fleet.

my dear , i 'll leave you too , my time of devotion is come , and heav'n will stay for no body ; where are my people , is my coach ready , or may chair .

fleet.

go in your chair my love , lest you catch cold .

la. fleet.

and light your flambeaus , i love to have my chair surrounded with flambeaus .

enter page . pag.

your chair is ready , madam . she goes out , led by fleet.

hews .

what think ye now my lords of settling the nation a little ; i find my head swim with politicks , and what ye call ums .

war.

wons , and wad ya settle the nation when we real our selves ?

hews .

who , pox shall we stand making childrens shoes all the year ? no , no , let 's begin to settle the nation , i say , and go throw stich with our work.

duc.

right , we have no head to obey ; so that if this scotch general do come , whilst we dogs fight for the bone , he runs away with it .

hews .

shaw , we shall patch up matters with the scotch general , i 'll warrant you : however , here 's to our next head. one and all. all drink .

flee .

verily sirs , this health drinking savoureth of monarchy , and is a type of malignancy .

war.

bread , my lord , no preaching o're y ar liquer , wee's now for a cup o' th' creature .

cob.

in a gadly way you may , it is lawful .

lam.

come , come , we 're dull , give us some musick come my lord , i 'll give you a song , i love musick as i do a drum , there 's life and soul in 't , call my musick .

fleet.

yea , i am for any musick , except an organ .

war.

' sbread sirs , and i's for a horn-pipe ; i 've a faud theefe here shall dance ye dance tol a horn-pipe , with any states man a ya'ad .

all.

he , he , he.

duc.

i know not what your faud theefe can do ; but , i 'll hold you a wager , collonel hewson , and collonel desbro , shall dance ye the saints jigg with any sinner of your kirk , or field conventickler .

war.

wons , and i's catch 'em at that sport , i's danc● tol 'em for a scotch poond but farst y ar song , my lord , i hope 't is body , or 't is not w●rth a feart .

all.

he , he , he.

song sung by lord lambert . a pox of the states-man that 's witty that watches and plots all the sleepless night , for seditious harangues to the whigs of the city , and piously turns a traytor in spight . let him wrack and torment his lean carrion , to bring his sham-plots about , till religion , king , bishop , and baron , for the publick good , be quite rooted out . whilst we that are no politicians , but rogues that are resolute , bare-fac'd and great , boldly head the rude rabble in open sedition , bearing all down before us in church and in state. your impudence is the best state trick , and he that by law means to rule , let his history with ours be related , tho' we prove the knaves , 't is he is the fool. war.

the diel a me , we le sung my lord , and gen aud trads fail , yas make a quaint minstrel .

all.

he , he , he.

war.

noo sirs , y ar dance ? they fling cushions at one another , and grin . musick plays . mary sirs , an this be y ar dancing , tol dance and ne're stir stap , the diel lead the donce for archibald . when they have flung cushions thus a while to the musick time , they beat each other from the table , one by one , and fall into a godly dance ; after a while , wariston rises , and dances ridiculously a while amongst them , then to the time of the tune , they take out the rest , as at the cushion dance , or in that nature . wariston being the last taken in , leads the rest . haud minstrels hade ; bread a gued , i's fatch ad ladies in lead away minstrels tol my ladies apartment . musick playing before all .

ex. dancing .
scene . flat . enter page . pag. cock.

here must i wait , to give my lady notice when my lord approaches ; the fine gentleman that is alone with her , gave me these two fine pieces of gold , and bad me buy a sword to fight for the king with-all ; and i 'm resolv'd to lay it all out in sword , not a penny in nickers , and fight for the heroicks as long as i have a limb , if they be all such fine men as this within . but hark , sure i hear some coming . ex.

flat scene draws off , discovers la. lam. on a couch , with loveless , tying a rich diamond bracelet about his arm ; a table behind with lights , on which , a velvet cushion , with a crown and scepter cover'd . lov.

this present's too magnificent : such bracelets young monarchs shou'd put on .

la. lam.

persons like me , when they make presents , sir , must do it for their glory , not considering the merit of the wearer ; yet this , my charming loveless , comes short of what i ought to pay thy worth ; comes short too of my love.

lov.

you bless me , madam

la. lam. this the great monarch of the world once ty'd about my arm , and bade me wear it , till some greater man shou'd chance to win my heart : thou art that man whom love hath rais'd above him ; whom every grace and every charm thou hast conspire to make thee mightier to my soul ; and oliver , illustrious oliver ! was yet far short of thee . lov. he was the monarch then whose spoils i triumph in . la. lam. they were design'd for trophies to the young and gay . ah , loveless ! that i cou'd reward thy youth with something that might make thee more than man , as well as give the best of women to thee rises , takes him by the hand , leads him to the table . he starts . behold this gay , this wondrous glorious thing . lov. hah a crown and scepter ! have i been all this while so near the sacred reliques of my king ! and found no awful motion in my blood , nothing that mov'd sacred devotion in me ? kneels . hail sacred emblem of great majesty , thou that hast circled more divinity than the great zodiack that surrounds the world. i ne'r was blest with sight of thee till now , but in much reverenc'd pictures rises and bows . la. lam. is 't not a lovely thing ? lov. there 's such divinity i' th very form on 't , had i been conscious i 'd been near the temple where this bright relique of the glorious martyr had been inshrin'd , ' thad spoil'd my soft devotion ! 't is sacrilege to dally where it is ; a rude , a sawcy treason to approach it with an unbended knee ; for heav's sake , madam , let us not be profane in our delights , either withdraw , or hide that glorious object . la. lam. thou art a fool , the very sight of this raises my pleasure higher , methinks i give a queen into thy arms : and where i love i cannot give enough ; softly . wou'd i cou'd set it on thy head for ever , ' twou'd not become my simple lord the thousandth part so well . goes to put it on his head , he puts it back lov. forbear , and do not play with holy things , let us retire , and love as mortals shou'd , not imitate the gods , and spoil our joyes . la. lam. lovely , and unambitious ! what hopes have i of all your promis'd constancy , whilst this , which possibly ' ere long may adorn my brow , and ought to raise me higher in your love , ought to transform you even to adoration , shall poorly make you vanish from it's lustre ; methinks the very fancy of a queen is worth a thousand mistress's of less illustrious rank . lov. what every pageant queen ? you might from thence infer i 'd fall in love with every little actress , because she acts the queen for half an hour , but then the gawdy robe is laid aside . la. lam. i 'll pardon the comparison in you . lov. i do not doubt your power of being a queen , but trust , it will not last . how truly brave wou'd your great husband be , if whilst he may , he pay'd this mighty debt to the right owner ! if whilst he has the army in his power he made a true and lawful use of it , to settle our great master in his throne ; and by an act so glorious raise his name even above the title of a king. la. lam. you love me not , that wou'd perswade me from my glory . enter gilliflower . gill.

oh , madam , the lords are all got merry , as they call it , and are all dancing hither .

la. lam.

what at their oliverian frolicks ? dear loveless , withdraw , i wou'd not give the fond believing fool a jealousie of me .

gill.

withdraw , madam , 't is impossible , he must run just into their mouthes .

la. lam.

im ' ill at these intrigues , being us'd to lovers that still came with such authority , that modestly my husband wou'd withdraw but loveless is in danger , therefore take care he be not seen .

gill.

heav'ns ! they are coming , there 's no retreat

la. lam.

lye down on the couch and cover him you with the foot-carpet , so , give me my prayer-book . he lyes down along on the couch they cover him with the carpet : la. lam. takes her book , sits down on his feet , and leans on the back of the couch reading ; gill. stands at t'other end ; they enter dancing as before . what insolence is this ? do you not hear me , you sots whom gayety and dancing do so ill become .

war.

singing . welcom , ione sanderson , welcom , welcom . goes to take her out , she strikes him . wons , madam , that 's no part o' th' dance .

la. lam.

no , but 't is part of a reward for your insolence , which possibly your head shall answer for .

lam.

pardon him , my dear , he meant no disrespect to thee .

la. lam. how dare you interrupt my devotion , sirrah ? begon with all your filthy ill-bred crew . lam. sits down on loveless . lam. my only dear , be patient ; hah ! something moves under me ! treason , treason . he rises . lov. rouls off , and turns lam. over , the rest of the men run out crying treason , treason , overthrowing the lights , putting 'em out . la. lam. treason , treason ! my lord , my lord ! lam. lights there , a plot , a popish plot , lights . she groping about finds lov. by his clothes knows him . la. lam. the crown , the crown , guard the crown ! here , take this key , the next room is my bed-chamber , secure your self a moment . ex. loveless . lights there , the crown who art thou ? takes hold of lamb. lam. 't is i. la. lam. ah , my lord , what 's the matter ? lam.

nay , my lady , i ask you what 's the matter , enter page with lights . by heaven , all is not well : hark ye , my fine she politician , who was it you had hid beneath this carpet ?

la. lam.

heav'ns ! do'st hear him , gilliflower ? sure the fellow 's mad .

gill. alack , my lord , are you out of your honourable wits ? heav'n knows , my lady was at her devotion . lam.

bawd , come , confess thy self to be one ; at her devotion , yes , with a he saint .

gill.

ah! gad forbid the saints shou'd be so wicked .

la. lam.

hark ye , thou little snivelling hypocrite , who hast no virtue but a little conduct in martial discipline ; who hast by perjuries , cheats , and pious villanies , wound thy self up into the rabbles favour , where thou may'st stand , till some more great in roguery remove thee from that height , or to the gallows , if the king return . hast thou the impudence to charge my virtue ?

lam.

i know not , madam , whether that virtue you boast were lost , or only stak't , and ready for the gamester ; but i am sure a man was hid under this carpet .

la. lam.

oh heav'ns , a man !

gill. a lord , a man ? are you sure 't was a man , my lord ? some villanous malignant , i 'll warrant . lam. it may be so . gill.

alack , the wickedness of these heroicks , to hide under carpets ; why they 'll have the impudence to hide under our petticoats shortly , if your highness take 'em not down . to la. lam.

lam.

i do believe so ; death a cuckold ; shall that black cloud shade all my rising fame ?

la. lam. cuckold ? why is that name so great a stranger to ye , or has your rising fame made ye forget how long that cloud has hung upon your brow ? 't was once the height of your ambition sir , when you were a poor sneeking slave to cromwel : then you cou'd cringe and sneere and hold the door ; and give him every opportunity had not my piety defeated your endeavours . lam. that was for glory , who wou'd not be a cuckold to be great ? if cromwel leap'd into my saddle once , i 'll step into his throne for 't : but , to be pointed at by rascals that i rule , 't is insupportable . la. lam. how got this fellow drunk ; call up my officers : who dur'st deliver him this quantity of wine ? send straight in my name , to summon all the drunken committee of safety to my presence . by heav'n i 'll show you sir yes they shall see what a fine king they 'r like to have in honest , gadly , sober , wise iack lambert . nay , i 'll do 't ; d' ye think to take away my honour thus ? i , who by my sole politicks and management , have set you up villain of villains , sirrah . away summon 'em all . to gilliflower . lam.

stay be not so rash ; who was beneath the carpet ?

la. lam.

i will not answer thee .

lam.

nor any living thing ?

la. lam.

no creature in the room , thou silly idiot , but gilliflower and i , at our devotion , praying to heav'n for your success to morrow ; and am i thus rewarded ! weeps , gill. weeps too .

lam. my soul , i cannot bear the sight of tears from these dear charming eyes . la. lam.

no matter sir , the committee shall right me .

lam.

upon my knees i ask thy pardon dear ; by all that 's good , i wou'd have sworn i 'd felt something stir beneath me , as i sat , which threw me over .

la. lam.

only your brains turn'd round with too much drinking and dancing , exercises you are not us'd to : go sleep , and settle 'em ; for i 'll not daign to bed with you to night ; retire , as ' ere you hope to have my aid in your advancement to the crown .

lam.

i 'm gone , and once more , pardon my mistake . bows , and goes out .

ex. gill. la. lam.

so , this fighting fool , so worshipp'd by the rabble , how meanly can a woman make him sneeke ; to loveless . the happy night 's our own .

enter gill. loveless . lov.

excellent creature , how i do adore thee !

la. lam.

but you , perhaps , are satisfy'd already .

lov.

never ! shou'dst thou be kind to all eternity . thou hast one vertue more , i pay thee homage for ; i heard from the alcove how great a mistress thou art in the dear mystery of jilting .

la. lam.

that 's the first lesson women learn in conventicles ; religion teaches those maxims to our sex , by this !

kings are depos'd , and commonwealths are rul'd ; by jilting all the universe is fool'd .
act v.
scene i. street . enter corporal , half drest ; with souldiers , ioyner and felt-maker . cor.

ha rogues , the city-boys are up in arms ; brave boys , all for the king now !

felt.

have a care what you say sir ; but as to the city's being in mutiny , that makes well for us : we shall fall to our old trade of plundering , something will fall to the righteous , and there is plunder enough .

corp.

you plunder sirrah , knock him down , and carry him into the guard-room , and secure him . two souldiers seize him .

sould.

they say , the committee of safety sat all night at general lambert's , about some great affair some rare change rogues !

sould.

yes , and to put off sorrow , they say , were all right reverendly drunk too .

cor.

i suppose so , there is some heavenly matter in hand ; there was treason cry'd out at the general 's last night , and the committee of no safety all ran away .

sould.

or rather reel'd away .

cor.

the ladies squeek'd , the lords fled , and all the house was up in arms.

felt.

yea , and with reason they say ; for , the pope in diguise was found under the ladies bed , and two huge jesuits as big as the tall irish-man , with blunderbusses ; having , as 't is said , a design to steal the crown now in custody of the general .

sould.

good lack , is 't possible ?

ioyn .

nay sir , 't is true , and is 't not time we look'd about us ?

cor.

a pox upon ye all , for lying knaves : secure 'em both on the guard , till farther order , and let us in to th' city-boys : hay for lumbard-street .

sould.

ay hay for lumbard-street ; there 's a shop i have mark'd out for my own already .

sould.

there 's a handsom citizens wife , that i have an eye upon , her husband 's a rich banker , i 'll take t'one with t'other .

ioy.

you are mistaken sir , that plunder is reserv'd for us , if they begin to mutiny ; that wicked city that is so weary of a commonwealth .

sould.

yes , they 'r afraid of the monster they themselves have made .

enter lov. and free. in disguise . cor.

hah , my noble collonel ; what , in disguise !

free.

we have made our escapes , and hope to see better times shortly ; the noble scotch general is come boys .

enter captain of the prentices , and a great gang with him , arm'd with staffs , swords , &c. cap.

come my lads , since you have made me captain , i 'll lead you bravely on ! i 'll dye in the cause , or bring you off with victory .

pren.

here 's a club shall do some execution ; i 'll beat out hewson's t'other eye ; i scorn to take him on the blind side .

capt.

in the first place , we must all sign a petition to my lord mayor .

pren.

petitions , we 'll have no petitions captain ; we are for club law , captain .

cap.

obey , or i leave you .

all.

obey , obey .

capt.

look ye , we 'll petition for an honest free parliament i say .

pren.

no parliament , no parliament , we have had too much of that mischief already captain .

all.

no parliament , no parliament .

capt.

farewel gentlemen , i thought i might have been heard .

free.

death sirs , you shall hear the captain out .

all.

we obey , we obey .

capt.

i say , an honest free parliament , not one pick'd and chosen by faction ; but such an one shall do our bus'ness lads , and bring in the great heroick .

all.

ay , ay , the great heroick , the great heroick !

lov.

a fine youth , and shou'd be encourag'd .

capt.

good in the next place , the noble scotch general is come , and we 'll side with him .

free.

ay , ay , all side with him .

pren.

your reason , captain , for we have acted too much without reason already .

pren.

are we sure of him , captain ?

capt.

oh , he 'll doubtless declare for the king , boyes .

all.

hay , via la roy , via la monk.

capt.

next , i hear there 's a proclamation coming out to dissolve the committee of no safety .

all.

good , good .

capt.

and i hope you are all brave enough to stand to your loyal principles with your lives and fortunes .

all.

we 'll dye for the royal interest .

capt.

in the next place , there 's another proclamation come out .

pr.

this captain is a man of rare intelligence ; but for what captain ?

capt.

why to hang us all , if we do not immediately depart to our respective vocations , how like you that , my lads ?

pr.

hum hang'd ! i 'll e'n home again .

pr.

and i too , i do not like this hanging .

. pr.

a man looks but scurvily with his neck awry .

pr.

ay , ay , we 'll home .

capt.

why now you shew what precious men you are the king wou'd be finely hope up with such rascals , that for fear of a little hanging wou'd desert his cause ; a pox upon ye all , i here discharge ye

take back your coward hands , and give me hearts , flings 'em a scroll . i scorn to fight with such mean-spirited rogues . i did but try your boasted courages .
lov.

a brave boy .

lov. and free.

we 'll dye with thee , captain

all.

oh , noble captain , we recant

pr.

we recant , dear captain , wee 'l dy , one and all .

all.

one and all , one and all .

capt.

why so , there 's some trusting to you now .

pr.

but is there such a proclamation , captain ?

capt.

there is ; but anon , when the crop-ear'd sheriff begins to read it , let every man inlarge his voice , and cry , no proclamation , no proclamation .

all.

agreed , agreed .

lov. brave noble lads , hold still your resolution , and when your leisure hours will give ye leave , drink the king's health , here 's gold for you to do so . free.

take my mite too , brave lads . gives 'em gold.

all.

hay ! viva the brave heroicks .

enter ananias gogle . ana.

hum , what have we here , a street-conventicle ! or a mutiny ? yea verily , it is a mutiny , what meaneth this appearance in hostile manner , in open street , by day-light ?

capt.

hah ! one of the sanctify'd lay elders , one of the fiends of the nation , that go about like roaring lyons , seeking whom they may devour ?

lov.

who , mr. ananias the padder .

ana.

bear witness gentlemen all , he calls me an high-way man ; thou shalt be hang'd for scandal on the brethren .

lov.

i 'll prove what i say , sirrah ; do not you rob on the high-way i' th' pulpit ? rob the sisters , and preach it lawful for them to rob their husbands ; rob men even of their consciences and honesty ; nay , rather than stand out , rob poor wenches of bodkins and thimbles .

ana.

i commit ye ; here souldiers , i charge ye in the name of of marry i know not who , in my name , and the good people of england , take 'em to safe custody .

capt.

how , lay hold of honest gentlemen ! noble cavaliers , knock him down .

all.

knock him down , knock him down .

free.

hold worthy youths ; the rascal has done me service .

ana.

pulling off his hat to 'em all . ye look like citizens , what evil spirit is entered in unto you , oh men of london ! that ye have changed your note , like birds of evil omen ; that you go astray after new lights , or rather , no lights , and commit whoredom with your fathers idols , even in the midst of the holy city , which the saints have prepared for the elect , the chosen ones .

capt.

hark ye , sirrah , leave preaching , and fall to declaring for us , or thou art mortal .

ana.

nay , i say nay , i will dye in my calling yea i will fall a sacrifice to the good old cause ; abomination ye with a mighty hand , and will destroy , demolish , and confound your idols , those heathenish malignants whom you follow , even with thunder and lightening , even as a field of corn blasted by a strong blast .

lov.

knock him down .

all.

down with dagon , down with him .

enter hewson with guards . hews .

ah rogues , have i caught ye napping ? they all surround him and his red-coats .

all.

whoop cobler , whoop cobler .

the boys , lov. and free. corp. and sould. beat off hewson and his party . an. gets a sword , and fights too .
scene changes to a chamber . enter la. lam. and gill. gill.

i 've had no time to ask your highness how you slept to night ; but that 's a needless question .

la. lam.

how mean you ? do you suspect my vertue ? do you believe loveless dares attempt any thing against my honour ? no gilliflower , he acted all things so like a gentleman , that every moment takes my heart more absolutely .

gill.

my lord departed highly satisfied .

la. lam.

she is not worthy of intrigues of love , that cannot mannage a silly husband as she pleases but gilliflower , you forget that this is council day .

gill.

no but i do not , madam , some important suitors wait already .

enter la. des. and la. fleetwood . la. lam. your servant , madam , desbro , thour' t welcom gilliflower , are all things ready in the council chamber ? we that are great must sometimes stoop to acts , that have at least some shew of charity ; we must redress the grievance of our people . la. fleet.

she speaks as she were queen , but i shall put a spoke in her rising wheel of fortune , or my lords politicks fail him scen. draws off , table with papers : chairs round it .

la. lam.

where are the ladies of the council ? how remiss they are in their attendance on us ?

la. fleet. us ! heav'ns , i can scarce indure this insolence ! we will take care to mind 'em of their duty la. lam.

we , poor creature ! how simply majesty becomes her ? they all sitting down , enter la. cromwel angrily , and takes her place ; lamb. uppermost . madam , as i take it , at our last sitting , our pleasure was that you shou'd sit no more .

crom.

your pleasure ! is that the general voice ? this is my place in spight of thee , and all thy fawning faction , and i shall keep it , when thou , perhaps , shalt be an humble suppliant here at my foot-stool .

la. lam.

i smile at thee .

crom. do , and cringe ; 't is thy bu'sness to make thee popular but 't is not that , nor thy false beauty that will serve thy ends. la. lam. rail on ; declining majesty may be excus'd , call in the women that attend for redress of grievances . ex. pag. enter page with women , and loveless dress'd as a woman . gentlewomen , what 's your business with us ? lov.

gentlewomen ? some of us are ladies .

la. lam.

ladies , in good time ; by what authority , and from whom do you derive your title of ladies ?

la. feet .

have a care how you usurp what 's not you own ?

lov.

how the devil rebukes sin ? aside .

la. des.

from whom had you your honours , women ?

lov.

from our husbands .

gill.

husbands ; who are they , and of what standing ?

lad.

of no long standing , i confess .

gill.

that 's a common grievance indeed .

la. des.

and ought to be redress'd .

la. lam.

and that shall be taken into consideration ; write it down , gilliflower , who made your husband a knight , woman ?

lov.

oliver the first , an 't please ye .

la. lam.

of horrid memory ; write that down who yours ?

la.

richard the fourth , an 't like your honour .

gill.

of sottish memory ; shall i write that down too ?

la. des.

most remarkably .

cro.

heav'ns ! can i hear this profanation of our royal family ? aside .

la. lam.

i wonder with what impudence noll and dick cou'd knightifie your husbands ? for 't is a rule in heraldry , that none can make a knight but him that is one ; 't is sancha pancha's case in don quixot .

crom. how dare you question my husband's authority ? rises in anger . who nobly won his honour in the field , not like thy sneaking lord , who gain'd his title from his wife's gay love-tricks , bartering her honour for his coronet . la. lam.

thou ly'st , my husband earn'd it with his sword , braver and juster than thy bold usurper , who waded to his glory , through a sea of royal blood.

la. des.

sure loveless has done good on her , and converted her .

la. fleet.

madam , i humbly beg you will be patient , you 'll ruine all my lord's designes else . women , proceed to your grievances , both publick and private .

lov.

i petition for a pension , my husband , deceas'd , was a constant active man , in all the late rebellion , against the man ; he plunder'd my lord capel , he betray'd his dearest friend brown bushel , who trusted his life in his hands , and several others ; plundering their wives and children even to their smocks .

la. lam.

most considerable service , and ought to be consider'd .

la.

and most remarkably , at the tryal of the late man , i spit in 's face , and betray'd the earl of holland to the parliament .

crom.

in the king's face , you mean it shew'd your zeal for the good cause .

la.

and 't was my husband that headed the rabble , to pull down gog and magog , the bishops , broke the idols in the windows , and turn'd the churches into stables and dens of thieves ; rob'd the altar of the cathedral of the twelve pieces of plate call'd the twelve apostles , turn'd eleven of 'em into money , and kept iudas for his own use at home .

la. fleet.

on my word , most wisely perform'd , note it down

la.

and my husband made libels on the man , from the first troubles to this day , defam'd and profan'd the woman and her children , printed all the man's letters to the woman with burlesque marginal notes , pull'd down the sumptuous shrines in churches , and with the golden and popish spoils adorn'd his own houses and chimney pieces .

la. lam.

we shall consider these great services .

lov.

to what a height is impudence arriv'd ? aside .

la. lam.

proceed to private grievances .

lov.

an 't please your honours , my husband prayes too much ; which both hinders his private bus'ness at home , and his publick services to the commonwealth

la. lam.

a double grievance set it down , gilliflower .

lov.

and then he rails against the whore of babylon , and all my neighbours think he call me whore.

crom.

a most unpardonable fault .

la. lam.

we 'll have that rectify'd , it will concern us .

lov.

then he never kisses me , but he sayes a long grace , which is more mortifying than inviting .

la. des.

that is the fault of all the new saints , which is the reason their wives take a pious care , as much as in them lies , to send 'em to heaven , by making 'em cuckolds .

la. fleet.

a very charitable work , and ought to be encourag'd .

loveless gives in a petition to gilliflower . gill.

the humble petition of the lady make-shift , reads , heav'ns ! madam , here is many thousand hands to 't of the distressed sex.

all.

read it .

gill.

reads . whereas there pass'd an act iune th against fornication and adultery , to the great detriment of most of the young ladies , gentlewomen , and commonalty of england , and to the utter decay of many whole families , especially when married to old men ; your petitioners most humbly beg your honours will take this great grievance into mature consideration and that the said act may be repealed .

a blessing on 'em , they shall have my hand too .

la. lam.

we acknowledge , there are many grievances in that act : but there are many conveniences too , for it ties up the villanous tongues of men from boasting our favours .

crom.

but as it layes a scandal on society 't is troublesom , society being the very life of a republick peters the first , and martin the second .

lov.

but in a free state , why shou'd not we be free ?

la. des.

why not ? we stand for the liberty and property of our sex , and will present it to the committee of safety .

lov.

secondly , we desire the heroicks , vulgarly call'd the malignants , may not be look'd on as monsters , for assuredly they are men ; and that it may not be charg'd to us as a crime to keep 'em company , for they are honest men .

l.

and some of 'em men that will stand to their principles .

la. lam.

is there no other honest men that will do as well ?

la.

good men are scarce .

la. lam.

they 're all for heroicks , sure 't is the mode to love 'em i cannot blame ' em . aside .

lov.

and that when we go to mornings and evenings lectures , to tantlings or elsewhere , and either before or after visit a private friend , it may be actionable for the wicked to scandalize us , by terming of it , ●busing the creature , when 't is harmless recreating the creature .

all.

reason , reason .

lov.

nor that any husband shou'd interupt his wife , when at her private devotion .

enter page . la. lam.

i have been too late sensible of that grievance .

gill.

and madam , i wou'd humbly pray a patent for scolding , to ease my spleen .

pag.

an please your highness , here 's a messenger arriv'd post , with letters from my lord , the general . ex. pag.

la. lam.

greater affairs oblige us to break up the council . rises , the women retire . enter page with messenger , or letters . what means this haste ? opens , and reads ' em .

crom.

hah , bless my eye-sight , she looks pale , now red again , some turn to his confusion , heav'n , i beseech thee .

la. lam. my lord 's undone ! his army has deserted him ; left him denfenceless to the enemies pow'r . ah coward traytors ! where 's that brutal courage that made ye so successful in your villanies ? has hell that taught ye valour , now abandon'd ye ? how in an instant are my glories fall'n ! crom.

ha , ha , ha , what , has your highness any cause of grief ?

gill.

call up your courage madam , do not let these things scoff you , you may be yet a queen : remember what lilly told you madam .

la. lam.

damn lilly , who with lying prophesies , has rais'd me to the hopes of majesty : a legend of his divels take him for 't .

crom.

oh , have a care of cursing , madam !

la. lam. screech-owl , away , thy voice is ominous . oh i cou'd rave ! but that it is not great ; and silent sorrow has most majesty . enter wariston , huffing . war.

wons madam , undone , undone ; our honourable committee is gone to th' diel , and the damn'd loosey rump is aud in aud ; the muckle diel set it i'solt , and his dam drink most fort .

crom.

the committee dissolv'd , whose wise work was that ? it looks like fleetwood's silly politicks .

war.

mary , and y ar ladiship 's i' th' right , 't was en the work o' th' faud loone , the diel brest his wem for't .

enter hewson , desbro , whitlock , duc. and cob. hews .

so brethren in iniquity , we have spun a fine thread , the rump's all in all now ; rules the rost , and has sent for the general with sissers and rasor .

whit.

with a sisserara , you mean.

hews .

none of your terms in law , good brother .

war.

right , but gen ya have any querks in law , mr. lyer , that will save our crags , 't will be warth a fee.

duck.

we have plaid our cards fair .

war.

is deny that ; wans sirs ya plaid 'em faul ; a fule had the shooftling of 'em , and the muckle diel himself turn'd up trump .

whit.

we are lost gentlemen , utterly lost ; who the devil wou'd have thought of a desolution ?

hews .

is there no remedy ?

duc.

death , i 'le to the scotch general ; turn but in time as many greater rogues than i have done , and 't will save my stake yet . farewel gentlemen .

des.

no remedy ?

war.

nene sirs agen the kings evel ; bread sirs , ya's ene gang tol yat stall agen : is en follow duckingfield farewel mr. leyer .

la. lam. see the vicissitudes of humane glory . these rascals , that but yesterday petition'd me with humble adoration , now scarce pay common civilities due to my sex alone . enter fleetwood . cro.

how now fool , what is 't that makes ye look so pertly ? some mighty business you have done , i 'll warrant .

fleet.

verily lady mother , you are the strangest body ; a man cannot please you . have i not finely circumvented lambert ? made the rump head , who have committed him to th' tower ; ne're stir now that i have , and i 'm the greatest man in england , as i live i am , as a man may say .

crom.

yes , till a greater come . ah fool of fools , not to fore-see the danger of that nasty rump .

la. fleet.

good madam , treat my lord with more respect .

crom. away fond fool , born with so little sense , to doat on such a wretched idiot ; it was thy fate in ireton's days , to love him , or you were foully scandall'd fleet.

you are not so well spoken of neither , ne're stir now , and you go to that . i can be king to morrow if i will.

crom.

thou ly'st , thou wo't be hang'd first ; mark that i tell thee so . i 'll prove cassandra to thee , and prophesie thy doom ; heav'n pays the traytor back with equal measure . remember how you serv'd my poor son richard. ex. crom. and page

flee .

she 's mad come , my dear , let 's leave the house of this villain that meant to have couzen'd me illegally of three kingdoms , but that i out-witted him at last . ex. fleet. la. fleet. and pag.

enter page . la. lam.

imprison'd too , i' th' tower ! what fate is mine ? leans on des.

pag.

madam , the fine heroick's come to wait on you .

la. lam.

hah , loveless ! let him not see the ruines of my greatness , which he foretold , and kindly begg'd i wou'd usurp no more . weep .

enter loveless . lov.

this news has brought me back , i love this woman ! vain as she is , in spight of all her fopperies of state bows to her , and looks sad .

la. lam. alas , i do not merit thy respect , i 'm fall'n to scorn , to pity and contempt . weeping . ah loveless , fly the wretched thy vertue is too noble to be shin'd on by any thing but rising suns alone : i 'm a declining shade . lov. by heaven , you were never great till now ! i never thought thee so much worth my love , my knee , and adoration , till this minute . kneels . i come to offer you my life , and all , the little fortune the rude heard has left me . la. lam. is there such god-like vertue in your sex ? or rather , in your party . curse on the lies and cheats of conventicles , that taught me first to think heroicks divels , blood-thirsty , lewd , tyrannick salvage monsters . but i believe 'em angels all , if all like loveless . what heavenly thing then must the master be , whose servants are divine ? enter page running . pag.

oh madam ! all the heroick-boys are up in arms , and swear they 'll have your highness , dead or alive , they have besieg'd the house .

la. lam.

heavens , the rabble ! those faithless things that us'd to crowd my coaches wheels , and stop my passage , with their officious noise and adoration .

enter freeman . free. loveless , thy aid ; the city-sparks are up ; their zealous loyalty admits no bounds . a glorious change is coming , and i 'll appear now bare fac'd . lov. madam , fear not the rabble ; retire , freeman and i can still ' em . leads her in , and bows low . free. my dear maria , i shall claim ye shortly l. d. do your worst , i 'm ready for the challenge go in . ex. lov. and free. another way .
scene . the street . enter captain and the rest . capt.

i say we 'll have the she-polititian out , she did more mischief than her husband , pittiful , dittiful lambert ; who is , thanks be praised , in the tower , to which place , lord of his mercy bring all the kings enemies .

all.

amen , amen .

enter lov. and freeman . lov.

why how now captain , what besiege the women ? no , let us lead our force to nobler enemies .

cap.

nay , noble chief , your word 's our law.

lov.

no , i resign that title to the brave scotch general , who has just now enter'd the city .

cap.

we know it , sir ; do you not observe how the crop-ear'd phanaticks trot out of town ? the rogues began their old belov'd mutiny , but 't wou'd not do .

lov.

a pox upon 'em , they went out like the snuff of a candle , stinkingly and blinkingly .

pr.

ay , ay , let 'em hang themselves , and then they are cold meat for the devil .

cap.

but noble champion , i hope we may have leave to rost the rump to night ?

lov.

with all our hearts ; here 's money to make fires

free.

and here 's for drink too 't , boyes .

all.

hey via le roy , via les heroicks ! go out hollowing .

enter ananias peeping , felt. and ioyner . ana.

so , the rabble's gone : ah , brethren ! what will this wicked world come too ?

felt.

alack , alack , to no goodness , you may be sure ; pray what 's the news ? fleet peeping out of a garret window .

fleet.

anania , anania .

ana.

who calleth ananias ? lo , here am i.

fleet.

behold , it is i , look up . how goeth tidings ?

ana.

full ill , i fear , 't is a bad omen to see your lordship so nigh heaven ; when the saints are garettifi'd .

fleet.

i am fortifying my self against the evil day .

ana.

which is come upon us like a thief in the night ; like a torrent from the mountain of waters ; or a whirl-wind from the wilderness .

flee .

why , what has the scotch general done ?

ana.

ah! he playeth the devil with the saints in the city , because they put the covenant oath unto him , he pulls up their gates , their posts and chains , and enters .

felt.

and wou'd the wicked city let him have his beastly will of her ?

ana.

nay , but she was ravished deflow'red .

ioyn .

how , ravish'd ! oh , monstrous ! was ever such a rape committed upon an innocent city ? lay her legs open to the wide world , for every knave to view her nakedness ?

felt.

ah , ah ! what dayes , what times , and what seasons are here ?

enter capt. corporal , and prentices , with faggots , hollowing . corp.

what say you now , lads , is not my prophesie truer than lillie's ? i told you the rump wou'd fall to our handling , and drinking for : the kingss proclaim'd , rogues .

cap.

ay , ay , lilly , a plague on him , he prophesied lambert shou'd be uppermost .

cor.

yes , he meant perhaps on westminster pinacle ; where 's lilly now , with all his prophecies against the royal family ?

capt.

in one of his twelve houses .

pr.

we 'll fire him out to night , boy ; come , all hands to work for the fire . exeunt all , hollowing .

fleet. ah , dismal , heavy day , a day of grief and wo , which hast bereft me of my hopes for ay , ah lard , what shall i do ? exit .
scene . a chamber . enter lov. leading la. lam. in disguise , page and gilliflower disguis'd , lov. dressing her . lov. my charmer , why these tears ? if for the fall of all thy painted glories , thou art , in the esteem of all good men , above what thou wer't then : the glorious sun is rising in our hemisphere , and i , amongst the crowd of loyal sufferers , shall share in its kindly rayes . la. lam. best of thy sex what have i left to gratifie thy goodness ? lov. you have already by your noble bounty made me a fortune , had i nothing else ; all which i render back , with all that wealth heaven and my parents left me : which , tho' unjustly now detain'd from me , will once again be mine , and then be yours . enter free. free. come , haste , the rabble gather round the house , and swear they 'll have this sorceress . lov. let me loose among 'em , their rude officious honesty must be punish'd . la. lam. oh , let me out , do not expose thy person to their mad rage , rather resign the victim . holds him . lov. resign thee ! by heaven , i think i shou'd turn rebell first . enter la. des. disguis'd , and page , with iewels in a box. la. des.

with much ado , according to thy direction , dear freeman , i have pass'd the pikes , my house being surrounded , and my husband demanded , fell down dead with fear .

free.

how , thy husband dead !

la. des.

dead as old oliver ! and much ado i got off with these jewels , the rabble swore i was one of the party , and had not the honest corporal convinc'd 'em , i had been pull'd to pieces : come , haste away , madam , we shall be rosted with the rump else .

la. lam.

adieu , dear mansion ! whose rich gilded roofs so oft put me in mind of majesty and thou my bed of state , where my soft slumbers have presented me with diadems and scepters , when waking i have stretch'd my greedy arms to grasp the vanish'd phantom ! ah , adieu ! and all my hopes of royalty adieu .

free.

and dare you put your self into my protection ? well , if you do , i doubt you 'll never be your own woman again .

la. des.

no matter , i 'm better lost than found on such occasions . exeunt .

scene , a street ; a great bonfire , with spits , and rump rosting , and the mobile about the fire , with pots , bottles , and fiddles . pren.

here , iack , a health to the king.

pren.

let it pass , lad , and next to the noble general .

pren.

ralph , baste the rump well , or ne'r hope to see a king agen .

pr.

the rump will baste it self , it has been well cram'd .

enter freeman , la. des. loveless , and la. lam. gill. pages , &c. capt.

hah , noble champion , faith sir , you must honour us so far as to drink the king's health , and the noble general 's before you go .

enter wareston , drest like a pedlar , with a box about his neck full of ballads and things . war.

will ya buy a guedly ballat or a scotch spur sirs ? a guedly ballat or a scotch spur. s'bread , is scapt hither te wee le enough , is sav'd my crag fro stretching twa inches longer than 't was borne : will ya buy a jack line to rost the rump , a new iack lambert line , or a blithe ditty , of the noble scotch general come buy my ditties .

capt.

how a ditty o' th' general ? let 's see 't , sirrah .

war.

s'bread , sirs , and here 's the guedly ballad of the general 's coming out of scotland .

capt.

here , who sings it ? we 'll all bear the bob .

wariston sings the ballad , all bearing the bob. enter ananias , crying almanacks . ana.

new almanacks , new almanacks .

cap.

hah , who have we here ? ananias holder-forth of clements parish ?

all.

ha , a traytor , a traytor .

lov.

if i be not mistaken , this blithe ballad-singer too was chair-man to the committee of safety .

capt.

is your lordship turn'd pedlar at last ?

war.

what mon i do noo ? lerd , ne mere lerd than y ar sel sir ; wons is show 'em a fair pair a heeles . goes to run away , they get him on a colt-staff , with ananias on another , fidlers playing fortune my foe round the fire .

capt.

play fortune my foe , sirrah .

enter hewson , drest like a country-fellow . cor.

who are you , sirra ? you have the mark o' th' beast .

hews .

who , aye , sir ? aye am a doncer , that come a merry making among ya

cap.

come , sirrah , your feats of activity quickly then .

he dances , which ended , they get him on a colt-staff , and cry a cobler , a cobler . all.

a cobler , a cobler .

capt.

to prison with the traytors , and then we have made a good nights work on 't .

then let 's all home , and to the powers divine , pray for the king , and all the sacred line .
finis .
epilogue spoken by lady desbro . the vizors off , and now i dare appear high for the royal cause in cavelier ; though once as true a whig as most of you , cou'd cant , and lye , preach and dissemble too ; so far you drew me in , but faith i 'le be reveng'd on you for thus debauching me , some of your pious cheats i 'le open lay , that lead your ignoramus flock astray : for since i cannot fight , i will not faile to exercise my tallent ; that 's to raile : yee race of hypocrites , whose cloak of zeal covers the knave that cants for common weale , all laws the church and state to ruine brings , and impudently set a rule on kings ruine , destroy , all 's good that you decree by your infallible presbitery . prosperous at first , in ills you grow so vain , you thought to play the old game ore again , and thus the cheat was put upon the nation , first with long parliaments , next reformation : and now you hop'd to make a new invasion , and when you can't prevaile by open force , to cunning tickling tricks you have recourse , and raise sedition forth without remorse . confound these cursed tories then they cry in a preaching tone . those fools , those pimps to monarchy ; those that exclude the saints ; yet open th' door to introduce the babylonian whore : by sacred oliver the nations mad ; beloved , 't was not so when he was head ! but then , as i have said it oft before yee , a cavelier was but a type of tory. the currs durst then not bark but all the breed is much increas'd since that good man was dead , yet then they rail'd against the good old cause , rail'd foolishly for loyalty and laws ; but when the saints had put them to a stand , we left them loyalty and took their land : yea , and the pious work of reformation rewarded was with plunder , sequestration ; thus can't the faithfull , nay , they 'r so uncivill to pray us harmless players to the devil , when this is all th' exception they can make , they damn us for our glorious masters sake . but why gainst us do you unjustly erm our small religion sure can do no harm , or if it do , since that 's the only thing we will reform , when you are true to th' king.
a full and compleat answer against the writer of a late volume set forth entituled a tale in a tub, or, a tub lecture : with a vindication of that ridiculous name called roundheads : together with some excellent verses on the defacing of cheapside crosse : also proving that it is far better to preach in a boat than in a tub / by thorny ailo ... taylor, john, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing t estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) a full and compleat answer against the writer of a late volume set forth entituled a tale in a tub, or, a tub lecture : with a vindication of that ridiculous name called roundheads : together with some excellent verses on the defacing of cheapside crosse : also proving that it is far better to preach in a boat than in a tub / by thorny ailo ... taylor, john, - . p. printed for f. cowles, t. bates and t. banks, london : . attributed to john taylor. cf. bm. woodcut illus. on t.p. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng roundheads -- poetry. cheapside cross (london, england) -- poetry. a r (wing t ). civilwar no a full and compleat answer against the writer of a late volume set forth, entituled a tale in a tub, or, a tub lecture: with a vindication o taylor, john c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a full and compleat answer against the writer of a late volume set forth , entituled a tale in a tub , or a tub-lecture : with a vindication of that ridiculous name called round-heads . together with some excellent verses on the defacing of cheap-side crosse . also proving that it is far better to preach in a boat than in a tub. by thorny ailo , annagram . london , printed for f. cowles , t. bates , and t. banks . . first , the complaint of the abused most ridiculous round-heads . come , brethren , let 's deplore our wofull state , since all we have done is almost undone : our paines and charges both betimes and late is like the battry of an eld●● gun ; we back againe unto our trade must fall , nor shall we be allow'd to preach at all . and we from sylla to charybdis cast and from chrybdis back to sylla hurld , from wrong to injurie , from griefe that 's past , to woe that 's present , we rub through the world , 'twixt hawke and buzzard , we seeme planet-struck , 'midst chance and fate , bad fortune and ill luck . 't is manifest that we have done our best , to bring all wit and learning in disgrace ; tho church and church-men we do still molest , in hope we each might have a preachers place : our zeale hath still the house of prayer deni'd , and many a barne and stable sanctifi'd . what have we not done ? we have rav'd and rail'd , vn●ail'd , revil'd , exclaim'd , and made a noyse , brake windowes downe , left nothing unassail'd , and wanting men ( to clamour ) borrowed boyes : we have most stoutly play'd the beasts like men , in hope to be all benefic'd , ( but when ? ) 't is said , that they which china dishes make , doe burie them in the earth an hundred yeares : their makers being dead , their heires doe take those dishes from the earth , and all our feares is , that doe what we can with works and wishes , our labours will be like to china dishes . for now againe the wicked 'gin to rise , and call us round-heads , and such scurvie names , and do our pure profession scandalize with libels , pamphlets , and most true exclaimes : so that we gape like pining tantalus , for all we have done is wroth seant a lowse . but why do i thus toll our griefes in meetre , prose is meeter for our capacities by halfe , hang poets and poetry , wee could never endure them , no verse is more sweet than a mans neck-verse ( if it be said in season ) and as for rhime , it is as much distastefull to us as reason , yet i would needs know by what reason wee have the name of round-heads put upon us ; me thinks our heads are no rounder than our fore-fathers : some say they call us so , because our tongues do trowle more roundly than our ancestours did , and that they did use honest square dealing , and we only professe and practise round talking or speaking . others say , that we are so termed , because wee doe cut our haire shorter than our eares ; and the reason is , because long haire hinders the sound of the word from entring into the heart : and ( truly ) it is no shame for a man to weare his owne eares . yet in the . chapter of leviticus , and the verse , we are forbid to cut round the corners of our heads , or to mar the tufts of our beards ; but those words were spoken to the iewes by moses , and all the world knowes that we are gentiles , we have nothing to doe with iewes or ceremonies , i can eat pork and pig ( which was forbidden to the iewes ) and i love a good sow or a bore next my wife and my selfe . others there be that say we are called round-heads , in regard that by our heads wee are more like globes than those that weare their haire long , and man being a little world , is by the roundnesse of the head a figure or embleme of the greater . morgan llewellin ( that grave greek author ) saith in the ninth chapter of his litigious aphorismes , that bias the philosopher was borne in an haven towne of ionia , called p●i●ne : this bias had a round running head , and hee devised ( from the mold of his head ) the first round bowles , in memorie whereof they are called bias bowles to this day ; but the world is too full of rubs now , and most heads run like bowles , contrary to the bias , that an honest man can hardly win a good game all his life time . there are some that report , that wee are called round-heads , and ovall-heads , by reason of the similitude of an egg , i mused why that comparison was , but at last i perceived , that the a●lusion was not to the ovall for me of the egg , but to the addlenesse of the braines in the head , which i hold to be very significant . there was a fellow lately did set forth a pamphlet , entituled a tale in a tub , or a tub lecture ; the speaker of it hee saith was one my heele mend sole , an inspired brownist , and a most upright translator : the house ( where it is said to be spoken ) was neere bedlam ; the time when , the of december last , and the writers name of it , is only under the two thred-bare letters of i. t. i could almost perswade my selfe , that those letters of i. t. should stand for iohn taylor the aquaticall poet , and yet mee thinks he should have preferred a boate before a tub to make a pulpit of , for a boate is more primitive to preach out of , then a tub or a kinderkin . a fishers boate once served the best preacher that ever was , for a canonicall pulpit ; but let that businesse alone , and returne to the tub. it is not impossible , but a cobler may draw or vent a firkin of smal wit out of a hogs-head , and ( verily ) me thinks it was a rare businesse , that the hogs-head did not leake when the man ran over amaine ; but it is the property and policy of a learned man to barrell up more then he can broach . there was such vertue once in tub , that a grave and wise philosopher made choise of one for his study , which tub hee valued so highly , that he would not change it for the place of alexander the great , ( or alexander of st. magnus ) and that may bee the reason that our brother ( the cobler ) made choyse of a tub , ( he that is offended at it , i wish him in cornelius his tub , and that is a pocky tub , as a french gentleman told me the other day ) but to returne to our purpose , i have read of a people inhabiting somewhere beyond the unknowne southerne world ( or terra australis incognita ) these people do once a year offer their old shooes and boots to their heathen gods , o what a mighty trade might a preaching cobler drive there being able alone of himselfe , to prepare and offer the sacrifice , and so preach the oblation sermon too , i know a worthy member fit to be an assistant to him , one that is originally a heele-maker , but now he is an inspired expounder , there are so many of us now a dayes in england , that some may bee well spared into other countryes . in the history of spayne in the city of salamanca , there dwelt a most heroicall and magnificent cobler named signior laza●illo bobadilla de tormes , this brave sparke ( at his death ) and on his deathbed called his eldest sonne to him , and after he had given his last blessing , he gave him this counsell . my son ( quoth he ) i must leave thee , thou knowest that my father ( and thy grandfather ) was a famous cordwainer in civill , thy mother a millers daughter of tolledo , they and i here live in fame and reputation , and i dye a man renowned for my art . and therefore i charge thee ( on my blessing ) that thou do thy best endeavour to retaine the dignity of the majesty of so great a family . truly , a man of such mighty spirit was too good to be a spanyard , a papist or a cobler , had he been inspired as some of our brethren are , he would have proved that simon called simon magus was at rome once , ( welfare all good tokens he brake his neck there ) but as concerning simon peter , many wise men will never beleeve that , he was there , though the papists say to the contrary and with tooth and nayle defend their furious asseverations . also he would have proved pope ione to have been both literally and mystically the arrant whore of babylon . it is devoutly acknowledged that we have had many worthy and zealous brethren that have stifly stood for the cause , ( as the sisters can testifie if they please ) as namely the reverend mr. how the cobler , the most industrious mr. walker the ironmonger , the zealous mr. greene the felt-maker , the painefull mr. spencer the stablegroome , the pavior of monmouth , the sowgelder of wallingford , the barber and baker of abingdon , and many hundreds more of true religious millers weavers , i had almost for got taylors , but that one mr. squire , a gentleman of that function at roderhith beinga double yarded man , because he hath two , but neither of them london measure , he is a mighty painestaker for us all in the true w●y of rayling downe learning , wit , order and decency , what though he faile now and then in stretching silver lace on a petticoate , that he can frugally save out of . yards compasse one yard ; i say a taylor may stretch lace and conscience , and his bill too , but all is one for that , he is a true zelot & so forth , but though these have the honour to be named in our catalogue of remembrance , yet one of our chiefe props and pillers , is ingratefully forgotten , he being a man of such a vast merit , that it is a shame hee should be buried alive ( in his fame i meane ) the first letter of his name is a brewers clarke , he is a man that hath more in him then all the world is worthy to see or know , he hath some pith or weight in him & had he but couragiously attempted the downfall of the babell crosse in cheapeside , if he had been but valiantly seconded hee would would have laid it levell with the pavement , for he feares not the hangman , and is able to keepe a quarter as big as halfe a yeare with any man . but i am afraid that our cake is but dough bak'd , ( though our zeale was warme enough to heate the oven as hot as a furnace ) for we are crost , and the crosse stands to baffle and brave us , and further an unhappy pated fellow did lately write these following verses , in the behalfe of the crosse , & disgrace of us . verses upon the defacing of cheapeside crosse , with the pictures of christ and saint peter . how ? steale the leade from cheapeside-crosse ( o base ) i 'le take my oath on 't 't is a hoavy case : some say the devill did it , and i graunt the devill is a mighty puritant . he never could endure the crosse because man ( on the crosse ) was ransomd from his claws ; but whosoe're 't was , brownist , punk or pimp : if not the devill , 't was the devils impe , what e're he may pretend , he is a grosse damb'd iew , that tortures christ upon the crosse ? i wonder why the watchmen did not scare vm , sure 't was some sleeping watch that lackt a larum and so st. peter ( whom our saviour chose ) one of his twelve apostles , had his nose , and both his armes knockt of , were was the cock that did not wake s. peter at that knock ? christ made him an apostle , now who can without his arms make him 〈…〉 some crop-eare did it in revenge i feare , because st. peter cut off malchus eare . what did the babe , what did our lady do ? poore innocents alas , they fuffered too . this shews the devils brood , like th'irish wild , will spare no man or woman , maid or child : now my opinion of the crosse is this , it is amisse to such as make 't amisse . to such as reverence it , or adore it , or say their prayers to it , or before it . such do pervert it from its proper use , and turn an ornament to an abuse . turks , infidels , moores , pagans , heathen , iewes , they know not christ , therefore no crosses use . and no true christian justly can repine , to let a crosse stand as a christian signe . knaves may deface it , fooles may worship it , all which may be for want of grace or wit , to those that wrongd the crosse this is my curse , they never may have crosses in their purse . and thus brethren you may perceive and see , how these iigmaking jeering poets , doe with their pestiferous rimes ( or verses ) support and prop up that golden-leaden nest of idols and images , but for a conclusion , if i cannot have it overthrowne , demolished , cast downe , raced , confounded , overturned , defaced , delapidated , distroyed , laid waste , ruinated , subverted , or call it what you will , ( so it bee taken away ) and the lead melted into bullets to kill irish rebels ; i say if i cannot have it so , i will wish it so , and there is an end before finis . finis . a brief dialogve between zelotopit one of the daughters of a zealous round-head, and superstition a holy fryer newly come out of france shewing the zeal of good motions of the one and the idolatry of the other : as also the passages of their holy ones when that they be in their conventicles each one condoling with his holy sister / composed by owen dogerell. dogerell, owen. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing b ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing b estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) a brief dialogve between zelotopit one of the daughters of a zealous round-head, and superstition a holy fryer newly come out of france shewing the zeal of good motions of the one and the idolatry of the other : as also the passages of their holy ones when that they be in their conventicles each one condoling with his holy sister / composed by owen dogerell. dogerell, owen. [ ] p. [s.n., london : ] year of publication from thomason coll. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng roundheads. great britain -- religion -- th century. a r (wing b ). civilwar no a brief dialogue between zelotopit one of the daughters of a zealous round-head, and superstition a holy fryer, newly come out of france. sh dogerell, owen c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - jonathan blaney sampled and proofread - jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a brief dialogve between zelotopit one of the daughters of a zealous round-head , and superstition a holy fryer , newly come out of france . shewing , the zeal of good motions of the one , and the idolatry of the other . as also , the passages of their holy ones , when that they be in their conventicles , each one condoling with his holy sister . composed by owen dogerell . london printed for john biard . a brief dialogue between zelotopit one of the daughters of a zealous round-head , and superstition a holy fryer . superstition . how now m. caco-zeal , what is the reason you came no sooner , seeing i sent for you . zeal . in truth sir , i was so busied in pulling down cheap-side crosse , and preparing my journey for amsterstam , i could make no more haste . super . what for amsterdam , i think now the spirit bloweth where it listeth ? what newes i pray you in england , you must need go that pilgrimage : hath your zeal bin so fervent that ye have set england on fire , and in a mutiny , that now it is grown to hote for you . zeal . i must confesse , that our zeal was hote , so that we set them all in an uprore : but to tell you in a truly the shepheard is smitten , and the flock is scattered , our old prophet samuell how is dead ; but i thank my god that many more are risen , but must not be allowed to pray ex tempore , no not to pray at all without a set form and order ( order say i ) i cry the lord hearty mercy for presenting that word , it is a slip in me , the lord will not suffer his best servants to fall , we use no order but in making the spirit work in order . super . after what order . zeal . not after the order of the wicked , somewhat more precise in our actions , not communicating with publicans and sinners , neither distrubuting to the poor nor any other . but cleaving close unto a holy brother neither visiting the sick ; for it is quite contrary to our discipline and form of teaching , we have scarce so much time as to get our dinners at home , nay our breakfasts , we are so early : for i must tell you the spirit moveth even at midnight , if so be i had had but a brother the last night ▪ i could have expounded to him in sincerity , for then the spirit gave me utterance . sup. are you a maid o● no ? zeal . i am sir , graced with three olive branches , these three children . super . a maid with child : it is beyond all humane reason , and the shallownesse of my brain is not able to conceive it . j am sure , j never found such a thing in all my . years study , neither have j met with any or the like miracle in all the whole cloister , formerly j have bin idle , but now will sit more close , and will search in the quintisence of a nun , if that it be to be found there . zeal . no myracle with us holy ones , for j tell you sir , it is more common with us , then the saying of our pater noster , sup. it is a myracle with us , we perhaps have as many with young as you have , but none after that are maids . zeal . but j must tell you the spirit is upon us , and very quick in operation , especially when on my beds green , for he with his wholesome destructions instructeth me in the night ▪ that before morning i begin to propogate and conceive , my self to bring forth the seed of the faithfull . sup. me think you look like a vestall , or a doded sheep , what is become of your hair , hath your holy brethren new shorn you , and now turn you to graize , and to seek for a new plantation , or was the spirit so fervent , that it hath put you into a swet , so as you have lost it all . zeal . no . sir , the nazerens were known by their long hair , and so are we by our round-heads , and the armies display an ensign in battle , that the common souldiers may know their captains and leaders : so do we in displaying , & setting forth our lave ears we are knowu to be enemies to god , and the world , but not to the flesh and the divell . super . then you will confesse your selves friends with the divell . zeal . yea sir , because the divell is new turn'd round-head , and we must follow our leader , hee is a devourer : for when we feast the hob-goblins , our elders eat poor widows out of their habitations ( as it is said they devour widowes houses . sup. what is the reason you look so pale , and intends to leave your country . zeal . i look pale , 't is true , for i am troubled with a timpany in my body , and do daily labour and travell in loop to bring forth some new doctrine and opinion , and for the leaving of my country , it ▪ is because we caunot keep our conventicles , and receive that happy be ediction after prayerr , without many disturbances and incombrances . sup. what is a conventicle , define this word , for you have past the sphear of my understanding , and as we dominicans say , you trade out of my element . zeal . o superstition , j think yov are a fryer . super . do you know my name ? zeal . not i , i professe to you . super . for certain my name is superstition , for so i was named in baptisme . zeal . out heresie , baptized ! it is not lawfull to bee baptized , until that we be . and that our names be written in the book of the faithfull . sup. but m. caco-zeal , they say the church is sick of an ague , and t is thought that if means be not made with a preservative for her health , that she will fall into a deep consumption . zeal . that 's the first news j heard of it , truly sir , for my part j never look after the church , let the church look after her self , if j can receive a benediction post ultum nonvale , i matter not ▪ for that is the height of my ambition , and the chiefest of my devotion : & again sir , we are so much busied in studying to dismember superstition , and to pull down the crosses , that we have not time to visite the sick , and comfort the comfortlesse and distressed . sup. heaven blesse me from you , if ye begin to dismember superstition : j will be gone , helpe some dear saint , o holy bonner where art thou now , save thy servant from these too much zealous hypocrites , who never say their pater noster . zeal . yea sir , for the great prophet walker an ironmonger , that good man was putting up his petitions , and in the midst of his devotion , was sent to the kings bench , and was prosecuted , that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the mouth of our holy prophet samuell , how in his last tub sermon took his ultimum vale , and leave of us all , said follow the word close , and give due benevolence to our sisters in spirit , loving your neighbors well , but their wives better , for ye shall be persecuted , but bee faithfull till the end , and keep this conventicle in remembrance of me . for verily j say unto you , my dayes are short , my time is past , i take my leave of aul and last . sup. what is a conventicle once more i crave for as yet mrs. caco-zeal you have not resolved me . zeal . it is a place compounded of confusion , which make bad premises , but a loose conclusion . super . then welcome virgin , maid , sister , and mother , to amsterdam , and to your holy brother . my leave i take , and have no great desire with round-heads zeal to set my self on fire : no new plantation i will seek to find , nor have any brains to turn with every wind . i le keep my name indeed , and turn will never , i liv'd in superstition , and so will ever . an excellent new dittie . to the tune of tom of bedlam . am i mad o noble festus , when zeale and godly knowledge , hath put me in hope to deal with the pope as well as the best in the colledge . still do i teach , hate a crosse , hate a surprice , miters , copes , and rotchets , come hear me pray , nine houres a day , and fill your heads with crotchets . in the house of pure emanuel there i had my education , where my 〈…〉 eyes , with the light of 〈◊〉 . still do i teach , &c. in the holy tongue of canaan i plac'd my onely pleasure , where i prickt my foot , with an hebrew root , that it bled beyond all measure , still do i teach , &c. i unhorst the whore of babel , with a lance of inspiration , i made her to stink and spill all her drink , in the cup of abomination . still do i teach , &c. i talk much of salvation , although i cannot clark it , yet i do say grace , in every place , though i taste but a cheese in the maaket . still do i teach , ctc. now fie on the common-prayer-book , the letanie is but a fable , i think it no scorn to have a church in a barn , and a pulpit at the end of a table . still do i teach hate a crosse , hate a surplice , miters , copes , and rotchets , come hear me pray , nine times a day , and fill your heads with crotchets . finis . ornitho-logie, or, the speech of birds also, the speech of flovvers, partly moral, partly mystical / by t. fuller ... fuller, thomas, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing s _variant estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) ornitho-logie, or, the speech of birds also, the speech of flovvers, partly moral, partly mystical / by t. fuller ... fuller, thomas, - . [ ], , p. printed for john stafford, and are to be sold at his house ..., london : . epistle dedicatory signed j.s. wing lists this under j.s. antheologia, or, the speech of flowers has separate paging. reproduction of original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng roundheads -- anecdotes. great britain -- history -- civil war, - -- anecdotes. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - jennifer kietzman sampled and proofread - jennifer kietzman text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion ornitho-logie or , the speech of birds , also , the speech of flovvers partly moral , partly mystical . by t. fuller doctor in divinity . london , printed for john stafford , and are to be sold at his house in george yard , neare fleet-bridge , . to my much honored friend , william stafford esquire , merchant of bristoll . worthy sir , in this plundering age , wherein the studies of so many have beene ransacked , and many papers intended for private solace and content●nt have bin exposed to publike view , it ●s my fortune to light on the ensuing dis●rse : it seemed to me pitty that it should ●rangled in obscurity , as conceiving might conduce something to the delight the reade● ▪ for surely no ingenuous ●rson can be so constantly serious , yea surly ●nd criticall , but to allow some intervalls refreshment not onely as lawfull but ne●sarie . let such morose , yea mischievous spirits pine themselves to walking anatomies , who brand all refection of the mind by ●udicrous intermissious to be unl●wfull , to spare an heavier censure ( which may more resent of anger ) the worst i wish them is alwaies to eate their meate without sauce , and let them try ●hether their palate will be pleased with the gust thereof . in the following discourse there is nothing presented but sweet flowers and herbs : i could wish it had been in the s●mmer time , when the heate of the sunne might have improved their fragrancie to the greatest advantage and rendred them more acceptable to the smell of the reader : being now sadly sensibl● that autumne the vsher of winter will abate of their s●e , and present them much to their loss . sure i am no bitter colloquintida appeareth in this our herball ; i meane no tart and toothed reflections on any . dull are those witts which cannot make some smile , except they make others cry , having no way to work ▪ a delight and complacency in the reader , save onely by gashing , wounding and abusing the credits of others . it is desired , that this discourse may but finde as much candidnesse as it brings , and be entertained according to his own innocency . i have heard a storie of an envious man , who had no other way to be revenged of his neighbour , who abounded with store of bee-hives , then by poysoning all the flowers in his owne garden wherein his neighbours bees tooke their constant repast , which infection caused a generall mortality in all the winged cattell of his neighbour . i hope none have so spleneticke a designe against this my harmelesse treatise , as to invenome my flowers with pestilent and unintended interpretations , as if any thing more then flowers were meant in the flowers , or as if they had so deepe a root under ground , that men must mine t● understand some concealed and profou● mysterie therein , surely this mythologie is 〈◊〉 cabinet which needeth no key to unlock it , the lid or cover lyeth open . let me i●treate you sir to put your hana into this cabinet , and after therein you finde what may please or content you , the same will be as much contentment unto your true friend , j. s. to the worshipfull , roger le strange esquire . sir , a most learned dutch writer hath maintained that birds doe speake and converse one with another : nor doth it follow , that they cannot speake , because wee cannot heare , or that they want language , because we want understanding . bee this true or false , in mythologie birds are allowed to speake , and and to teach men too . we know that a man cannot reade a wiser , nor a child a plainer booke then aesops fables . these birds now come to make their nest under the bowes and branches of your favour ; bee you pleased sir , to extend your shadow over them , and as they shal receive succour from you ; you may be assured you shall receive no hurt from them : and thus sir , i wish you all happinesse , not only to converse with birds in the lowest re●ion of the aire sometime stiled heaven , but that a better and higher place may bee reserved for your entertainement . j. s. ornitho-logie or the speech of birds . there was a grove in scicile , not far from siracu●e , whrein the greek and latin potes had made many hyperbolicall descriptions for the wits in that country , being placebound , and confined to a narrow circle of ground , sought to improve the same by their active wits ; whereby they enlarged every ditch into a river ; every pond into a lake , every grove into a forrest , every convenient hill into a ●ountain . in this notion they magnified this grove , otherwise not above twelve acres of ground , though well wooded , save that the tyrannical oaks with their constant dropping , hindred the underwoods from prospering within the compasse thereof . there was the whole nation of birds living under the shadow thereof . and the climate being indifferently moderate , and moderately middle ; wherein the east , west , north , and south of the world , wherein some kinds compounded , birds , of all climates here , made their habitations . now a bill of complaint was subscribed ( or rather signed ) with the numberlesse clawes ( instead of hands ) of birds ; containing the many insupportable grievances they had endured from the intolerable cruelty of the eagle ; who making his own lust his law , had dominered over all the winged nation . the eagle appeared in answer hereunto ; ( it being a generall meeting of all kinds of birds ) and endeavoured to justifie his proceedings , and clear himself in vain , from their accusations . the truth is , the eagle was overgrown with age , for he is generally reported the survivor of all birds : so that if one would take a lease of land on a birds life , he could not put in a more advantagious name then an eagle . but this eagle had its bill with long age so reflexed back again into his mouth , that hee was so farre from preying on another , that hee could not swallow any flesh though profered unto him . soon will the spirits fail where the belly is not fed ; in vain did his courage pretend to his wonted valour , when there was nothing within to justifie and make good the offers thereof . so that the poor eagle conquered rather with its own age then outward violence , yielded to that to which all must yield : and was forced patiently to digest all affronts offered unto him , and glad so to escape . for although some mention was made of killing him ; yet by plurality of suffrages , that vote got the mastery which onely confined him to a neighbouring wood , on condition that death without mercy should be his penalty if exceeding the bounds thereof . this done , proclamation was made three daies after that the whole species of birds should appeare for the election of a principall to command them . indeed there were many which were altogether against any government , because they might the more freely rove and range in their affections . these held that all were free by nature ; and that it was an assault on the liberty of man , and a rape offered to his naturall freedom ; that any should assume authority above another . these maintained ( what certainly was not onely a paradox , but a flat falshood ) that nature at the first creation made all the world a flat levell and champion , and that it was by the violence of the deluge or great flood , which by the partiall fall or running thereof , made the inequality , by sinking some places into humble vallies , and swelling others into aspiring mountaines . prosecuting which comparison , they maintained that all men were naturally equal ; and that it was the inundation and influx of humane tyranny which made this disparity between them . they also defended the argument , that as the world began , so it should with the golden age ; and that all ought to be restored to that primitive liberty which men had lost , partly surrendring it by their own folly and easie nature ; partly surprised into their own slavery by the cunning and craft of others that practised on their simplicity . but however that these made a great noise , the opposite party prevailed , as having most of strength and reason on their side . for where all rule , there no rule at all will be : where every man may command , in fine , none will obey , the dictates of his own reason , but be a very vassall to his passion . society cannot be twisted together where there is not a subordination and subjection one to another ; and where every one is absolute in himself , there is an impossibility of any orderly subsistence . let the maintainers of the contrary , try with themselves to make a rope of sand ; where each crum therein being independent of it self , hath no tendency to a generall agreement ; but enjoyes it self in its own intirenesse . it being now cast ( by generall suffrages ) for a commander over all , that at such a time they should meet : it was also proclaimed that all antipathy should cease between all birds during their meeting ; because being now in danger of generall ruine , for want of a head all private animosity should be broken off and drowned in a publique agreement . according to the proclamation , they all met together ; and birds of all feathers had a generall convolancy . then the estridge began , in a high commendation of himself , how he● was the biggest of all birds , and therefore the fittest to be their general , as of the greatest ability to support the weight of the massie affairs o● state. the rest of the birds gave him the hearing , untill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wren thus returned th●●r . it may s● 〈◊〉 very unproportionable combate betwe● the least and gr●atest of birds that i should once o●fer to enter the list with this giant , who frights us all with his greatnesse . but sure this wise senate never made the bulk of a body the standard whereby to measure the perfections of the mind : and therefore i may take to my selfe the confidence to examine the truth of what hee hath spoken . his greatnesse is apparent to every eye ; but as for any othereminency , it is so secret a quality , that none as yet hath discovered it ; for mine own part i conceive him ra●her beast then bird , and therefore not properly of our ●ind . i appeal to his latin●ame ●ame ; struthio-camelus ; wher●n the camell beares away the last and best part thereof . and are we put to such a straight , that we must elect an hermophrodite , a rudiment , which is a measuring case betweene beast and fowl : doth hee not more trust , unto his leggs to flee , then unto his wings to flye , and what i pray is the remarkeable vertue , which commends him to publique notice ; hath he any melodious voice whereby to charme the attentions of those that hear him : hath he any extraordinary wit , in which he appears above others of the same society . what if foolish women , as light perhaps as the feather they wear , be pleased to advance his taile above their heads . what if vainglorious captaines more known by their plumes then their performances , deck their crests with the spoil of his wings : all these amount not to argue any reall worth in him . wee live not in an age to be deluded with showes , or cheated with shadowes . it is enough that our ancestors have suffered for their ●olly herein , with their owne credulity . reall worth must ●e the attractive of our love●nd ●nd respect : which being here wanting ▪ i utterly disavow his election for our soveraign . the rest of the birds con●urred with the resolution of the wren , highly applauding it for the same ; which durst speak that which others thought ▪ they plainly saw that spirit united in a small bulk , acts most vigorously : and the contracted heat in so small a body prompted the wren to such lively expressions which bigger birds durst not utter . next stood forth the parrot , insisting largely on it's own● commendation , among the res● of his dexterous faculty , in imitating the speech of man wherein he exceeded all othe● creatures in the world . and seeing man was the soveraign o● all the creation , he conceive● himself ( which approached nex● unto him in his happy expressions ) deservedly might claim the regiment of all birds . the daw generally condemned for its loquacity , took upon him to answer the parrot . indeed hee began with great disadvantage , none expecting any thing of wi● or worth from him , because hee was so common a talker , therefore conceived his speech not worthy their attentions , when defeating their expectations , & deceiving them with a harmesse cheat , he thus proceeded . you have heard the parrot●ake ●ake a large encomium of him●elf , all which must needs bee ●rue , because you have heard his owne credit to avouch it : otherwise me thinks one might justly take the liberty to examine the ground of what hee hath spoken ; i will not insist on the aliennesse of his extraction ; we living here in syracus● whilst this parrot fetcheth hi● originall from the south o● africk , or east of asia . onel● consider with your selves ho● unfit it is for our free-born spi● rits to submit to a forrainer assure your selves , forrain air will bring in forrain inclinations , hee cannot but promot● strangers as his favourites to a places , and preferments of pr● fit and honour , and can t● be digested by such as consu● the true spirit of an ingenious birth ; for mine own part , i shall rather submit to the tyranny of our own country , then to the insulting humours of strangers ; as expecting that although one of our owne country may for a time domineere over us ; yet the sympathy of blood to those of his own land , will give a check , and at last gain a conquest of his passion , that he will return to a favourable reflection , on those who by vicinity of birth and breeding are related unto him . now whereas the parrot boasteth that hee doth so exactly imitate the speech of man , it affecteth me no whit at all with admiration thereof . i have heard of a speech of alexander , who being invited to hear a man that sung like the nightingale , answered , i scorn to bear him , for i have heard the nightingale it selfe : and who would admire at the copie , when hee hath the original , i have often heard men themselves speak , and therefore am not a whit moved to heare a parrot speak like a man ; let every thing appear in its owne shape ; men speak the language of men , birds of birds . hypocrisie is that which hath betrayed the world , to a generall de●usion , thence to destruction , when people counterfeit the tongues and tones of those from whose hearts they dissent : how many demure people hath this age brought forth , sadly and soberly dropping forth their words , with much affected deliberation ( as if all the hearers were bound thereby to believe them as solid , reserved and discreet in deeds as in their words , when they onely palliate and cloak a base and unworthy inside under the shadow and pretence of an outward fair representation . i therefore must throw my graines into the negative scale , and conceive the parrot utterly unfit for the soveraignty of birds . after many debates and disputes , pro and con , plurality of voices at last pitched on the hauke , as whose extraction was known to be honorable , valour undoubted , providence or foresight admirable , as appeared in the quicknesse of his eyes ; being a prometheus indeed , foreseeing all dangers , and his own advantages of great distance . the hauke returning his full and fair thanks unto them for their free favour , accepted of their profer , and all their meeting for the present was diminished , onely two birds commanded to stay behind , the phenix and the turtle doye , whom the hawk severally accosted , beginning with the former . sir , or mistris phoenix , saith the hawk ; for i know not in what gender to addresse my language unto you , in whom both sexes are jumbled together . i desire to be informed of you , whether that bee a truth , or a long lived common error , of the manner of your original from the ashes of your ancestor , if it be a truth , i stand ready with admiration to embrace and entertaine it : if an errour , i am resolved posterity shall no longer bee deluded therewith we live in an age of knowledge , the beames whereof have dispelled those mists of errour wherewith our forefather were cheated into the belief of many impossibilities recommended unto them by tradition , as if the gray perriwigg● of old-age should command so much veneration from us , that we should consign up our judgement to the implicite belief of any thing which former ages have related . deale therefore openly with me , and informe me the truth , whether your generation be thus by continuation of a miracle . i cannot resolve you herein , saith the phoenix , of the particulars of my extraction , which happened long before the register of my memory : sure i am there are no other of my kinde for me to couple with , which demonstrates the truth of that which is generally received : i confesse men make use of me rather for a moral and an embleme to denote those things which are rare , and seldome come to passe . thus , a court lord who will honestly pay all his debts , is accounted a phoenix : a judge who will not suffer his conscience to be robbed by a bribe secretly proffered unto him , is a phoenix : a great man who lookes straight forward to the publique good , not bound on e● ther side with his own interest is a phoenix : however assur● your selfe , that besides th● morality that may be mad● thereof , i have , as you see , real existence in nature , an● if any will take the paines t● travel into arabia to mech● he shall finde my nest in a tre● hanging there almost as artificially as doth the tombe o● mahomet bribed by an invisibl● loadstone into that miraculous posture thereof . but now , saith the hawk suppose i should seise on yo● this night for my supper , whether doe you thinke that th● losse of your life would be s● great a defect in nature , that the whole universe would fare the worse for the same ? undoubtedly it would , saith the phoenix , for this is received for an undoubted maxime amongst philosophers , that if one whole kinde or species of creatures be destroyed , the whole world would be ruined thereby : for every kinde of creatures are so essential to the well being thereof , that if any one of them be utterly destroyed , all the rest out of sympathy will decay . i conceive not , saith the hawk , that you are such a foundation stone in natures building , that the taking you away will hazard the whole architecture thereof . however , i am resolved to put it to the tryal , be it but to gaine knowledge by the experiment ▪ i know what plato saith , that those are the happiest kingdomes , wherein either their kings are philosophers , or their philosophers their kings . seeing therefore the history of nature is so necessary to an accomplished governour , i who desire all perfections in that kind , will to satisfie my curiositie make proof thereof . the phoenix pleaded for her self the benefit of a proclamation of liberty to all for three dayes to come and goe with safety ; the eagle smiling at her silly plea , informing her that such grants are to be kept no farther than they are consistent with the conveniency of those that grant them . yet for the present the phoenix was reprieved , because the hawkes stomach lately gorged , had not as yet recovered his appetite to his supper . then the hawk approached to the turtle-dove , demanding of her whether it was true or no what passeth for a common truth , that the turtle if once losing their mate , never wed more , but passe the remainder of their dolefull dayes in constant widdowhood . most true it is , saith the turtle , which i may speake by my owne sad experience ; for some three vears since , the unhappy shot of a cruel falk oner deprived me of my deare husband , since which time i have sequestred my selfe from all company , never appearing in publique till now , forced thereunto by command from authority . and surely , i conceive , all second marriages little better than excusable lust , for when once the heate of youth hath been abated in one match , none can pretend necessity of marrying againe , except it be for quenching those heates which they themselves willingly and wilfully kindle . besides , when one hath once really affected a husband , or he a wife , affections so ingrosse the whole soul , that notwithstanding his , or her death , it can never admit another to the same degree of dea●nesse . especially if their love were signed and sealed with issue , as mine was , having three of both sexes surviving ( ●end them better successe than their unhappy father ●ad ) so that in them me●hinkes i behold my husband ●till alive . she therefore that ●ath not the modesty to d●e ●he relict of one man , will charge through a whole arm● of husbands , if occasion wer● offered , before her love wil● meet with a full stoppe there of . you are too rigid and s● vere , saith the hawk , to mak● your personal temper and pr● vate practice the rule to me● sure all other by , unacquainte● with the necessities of othe● in this kinde . but to co● closer to the matter , i desi● satisfaction in another thing namely , whether you be wit● out a gall as is commonly r● ported . i know there is a twofo● knowledge , one by the fru● and the effects which schol● call à posteriore , and this is the more fallible & uncertaine , the other à priore from the causes , and this as more demonstrative may safely be relyed on , i will embrace the latter course , and to assure my selfe whether you have a gall or no , i meane to make you a living anatomie , and instantly to insect you . ocular inspection is the best direction , and i will presently pry into your intrails for my better information , to see with what curiosity nature hath contrived the things therein , and how many ●ittle engines there are to move the wheele of life within you . then beganne the eagle to dispose himselfe , for supper , intending the turtle-dove for the first course to begin with , and the phoenix ( as the finer flesh ) to close his stomack therewith . in preparation wherunto he plumed the dove of some of her upper feathers . just in the instant as he beganne his prey , who should come in , but he was little expected , and lesse welcome to the hawk than the old eagle , and we must a while dwel upon the cause and manner of his inlargement . this eagle was , as aforesaid , confined to a grove , where he was temperate against his will , as not able to feede on any fowle . nature had hung such a lock upon his bill , for the redundancie thereof was such , that hee was capable of no food , save drinke , which hee plentifully powred in ; thus for some moneths drinke was all the meate hee tooke , which served to support his life , though not to ●ncrease his strength ; yet could he not be a good fellow in his cups , as being solitary by himselfe , having none to keep him company . at last hee descryed a sharpe rock , wherein one place white in colour , more prominent than the rest , had a shining hardnesse therein ; to this the eagle applyes his bill , and never left off rubbing , grating , and whetting his beak thereon , untill at last hee quite whetted off the superfluous , yea hurtfull excrescencie of his bill , which now reduced to a moderate proportion , was as usefull to all purposes as ever before . thus enabled to get his prey in few weekes , he recruited his strength , so that what the poets tell of medea , that with her inchanted baths made her father-in-law young againe , here truly came to passe : and now the new old eagle hearing in what quarters the hawke kept his constant residence , thought on a sudden to have surprised him , had not the other discovered his approach , and made a seasonable escape , whereby both turtle and phoenix obtained their liberty , and securely returned unto their owne nests . the hawke having made an escape , posted with all speed to the lapwinge , which with some difficulty he found out , and privacie being obtained , thus kindly spake unto him . friend lapwing , i have taken notice , that you are one of the most subtilest , and politick bird in all our common-wealth ; you have the art so to cover your intentions , that they are not obvious to common eyes , when your egges or young ones be a mile at distance , you use to flutter with your winges , and fetch your rounds and circles a great way off , as if you intended to broo● that place with your wings , or as if that were the chest wherein your treasure was deposited ; this makes many people to search there for your young ones , but are frustrated of their hopes ; you have insecured them farre off ; this lawfull simulation , i conceive a commendable and necessary quality in every great person ; it is as necessary as breath to their well being : should men play all above board , and expose their actions to all spectators , folly and wisdome would bee both of a rate . no , it is the hanging of such curtaines and traverses before our deeds which keep up our reputation , and enable us for great performances . now i request you help me a little in my extremity , the renewed eagle is in pursuit of me , and my safety lyeth much at your disposall . the lapwing promised the utmost of his endeavours , and desired the hawk to proceed . see you , saith the hawk , yonder empty cage of great receipt , so that it might serve for an aviarie , for which it was first intended , though since disused , when the eagle flying this way enquireth after me , perswade him i am flowne into the cage , and leave the rest to my performance . all was acted accordingly , the eagle demanded what was become of the hawk ? the lapwing returned , here 't is , here 't is , and then hovered over the cage , fetching so many compasses thereabouts , that one might have mistaken him for some ●njurer , making his many circles with intent to raise up some spirit thereabouts : the eagle violently flyes into the cage , whose doores stood open , triumphing in his owne happinesse , that now he should be revenged on his profest enemy . instantly the hawk ( who stood behinde unseen in a place of advantage ) clapps an iron padlock on the cage , and thus insulteth over the prisoner . me thinkes , sir eagle , you make mee call to minde the condition of bajazet the great turk , whom tamberlan tooke captive , and carried him about the country , that all people might feed their gazing eyes upon him ; such a spectacle are you this day ; i have now made an owle of the eagle , turned him into the ridiculous object of laughter and contempt : tell me , doe you not want a prometheus , to feed upon his fruitfull entrails as the poets feigne , which daily increased , and afforded the poets eagle both common and festivals . sir , your life shall not bee vented out at once , but you shall dye many deaths , with long lingering torments : i will order it so that you shall feele your self to dye : there is no musick in an enemies death , which is not accompanyed with torment ; and though no outward torture shall be inflicted upon you , yet know , that thirst and hunger shall be your two executioners . now the guiltlesse blood of so many birds and innocent lambs , and hurtlesse hares shall bee required of you ; and so i leave you till to morrow , when i meane to make a new meal of you in scorn and contempt . the eagle sadly , yet stoutly auswered , my courage shall not abate with my condition , whose spirit is planted above the battery of fortune , i will never be lesse than my selfe , whatsoever befalls me . a lyon is no lesse a lyon , though in a grate ; mischance , may make me miserable , it shall not make me base , i will beare my troubles with as much chearfulnesse as i may , i defie thy spleene in triumphing over me . after the hawkes departure , the ostrich came in the place , whom the eagle saw unseen , and wishly marked his postures and motions . the ostrich fell into a strange passion , and would you know the reason thereof , it was as followeth . some three dayes since , when hee first repaired to the generall meeting of the birds , he left his egges in the sand , not covering them over , such his carelesnesse and incogitancie ; it was in a starre-light night , wherein he took a mark for the finding of his egges by such a sta●re , under the direct position whereof he then hid them , and hoped to finde them at his returne . it happened that the starre being turned about with the circumgyration of the heavens , which continue in constant motion , the ostrich lost the starre by which hee thought to find his egges , and though very neare the place wandering up and downe , and could not light upon it , which made him breake forth into this passionate complaints . i am the unfortunatest of all fowles : how will all condemne mee for an unnaturall parent , who have been thus carelesse of mine owne issue ? yet i tooke as good notice of the place as i could , all things in earth are false , and fading , and flitting away : i had thought there had been more faithfulnesse in the heavens , more assurance in the skies . let never the indians worship stars again , when they are guilty of so much deceit . how comes it to passe , that the pole-starre is so perfect a guide and direction to the mariner , that it may be tearmed the grand pilot of all shippes , by the elevation , or depression whereof , they infallibly collect in the darkest nights whereabouts they steer . i say , how comes that starre to be so true to its trust , to be so true a conductor of wandering saylors , and this prove so false to me ? and now will posterity ●and me for unnaturalnesse , who have exposed my egges to such dange● though therein all caution was used by mee to the height of my discretion . more would shee have spoken when griefe silenced her ; for as those rivers are shallow which make a noyse , whilst the deepest streames are tongue-tyed ; s● those passions which ven● themselves in words , discove● their bottome of no great depth . meane time the eagle looked through the species , or entervalls in the cage , and so excellent the sight thereof he easily discerned where th● egges lay , the o●rich being so near , that he almost crushed them with his own feet , wherefore calling the ostrich unto him , i am glad , saith he , that in my misery i have the occasion to oblige any ; i can tel● you where the treasure is tha● you seek for , and presently directed him to the same . the ostrich was not so over-joyed with its own happinesse ; but that he bethought himselfe how to returne proportionable thankes to the eagle , in order whereunto he set his bill against the iron padlock of the ●age , and according to the voraciousness of his stomack quite devoured the same . let privy councellors of nature enter into this deep discourse , how it is possible for such a solid , and substantial thing as iron is , to become food to a fowle , let them , i say , beate their braines about this question harder than iron , and if they find the true reason thereof , i shall preferre their ingenuity as stronger than the stomack of an ostrich ; meane time we will be content to rest in the vulgar report , and are satisfied to admire what we cannot understand in such cases wherein surely there are some hidden , and occult qualities , too deep for men to dive into , and these betray a surly and base disposition , which will beleeve nothing ( though authentically attested by never so many witnesses ) whereof they are unable to render the true reason , as if nature could do● nothing but what shee giv● them an account of how shee doth it . the eagle th●s restored to liber●y , returned hea●y thanks to ●he ostrich . you see , saith he , there is no living in this world without bartering and exchanging of c●tesies one to another ; he that lendeth to day may borrow to morrow , how happy would mankinde bee , if the wall of envie were pluckt downe betwixt them , and their parts so layd in common , that the wealth of one might supply the wants of another ; nature hath inriched me with a quick sight thee with a strong dige●n ▪ i have restored thy egges to thee , you have restored me to my selfe , liberty being the life of life ; and this i thought fit to testifie unto thee , though hot in the pursuit of my enemy ; first to thanke thee , then punish him : i will not bee guilty of so preposterous a soul , that my revenge shall get the speede of my gratitude . this done , the eagle in full quest of the hawke , discovereth a company of birds together , being a great party whom the peacock had assembled , with hope to intice them to choose him their chiefe ; for the hawke no where appearing , and the enlargement of the eagle being unknown , he thus endeavoured by his rhethoricall slourishes to make himself popular in their affections . i am not ignorant , that such men proclaime their own weaknesse , who are the herald of their owne praise ; it argueth a great dearth of desert , and want of worth , when one is large in his own commendation , however sometimes necessity makes it law●ull , especially when what is spoken is so generally known , that it commandeth the way to its own belief , and carrieth the credit about it , give me leave to present my person and merits to your consideration ; my bulke not so great as the ostrich like to bee a burden to it selfe , yet not so little as any way to invite neglect : a good presence is requisite in a commander , otherwise great parts crowded in a despicable person , no whit becomes one in authority . i will give you but one argument , or demonstration rather of my worth : when the gods had the free choice of all the birds which they would please to make their attendants in ordinary , and when jove made choice of the eagle , as most emperiall , juno , his consort , was pleased to elect me , to be called by the name of her bird in all passages of poetry . thus am i next to the best , and but one steppe removed from the top , even by those infallible judgements . looke , i pray , upon my traine , how it is circular , the most capable forme , and how it is distinguished with variety of colours , which appeareth as so many earthly rainebowes in my feathers . ovid hath reported , that argus his hundred eyes were turned into them . but know you , if you please to elect me to be your chiefe , that all those eyes shall daily and hourely watch & ward for your good , i will have a constant oversight of your welfare . it was conceived , that the peacock intended a longer oration , which would have wearied the assembly with the prolixity thereof , had he not casually , but happily cast down his eyes on his black legs , the ugly hew therof so abated his pride , that it put a period to his harangue before his intent , and others expectation . now as the vulture was tuning his tongue to return an answer , in cometh the eagle , and is generally received with all joyfull acclamations . now because clemencie is the badge of a generous nature , and those that have most courage have least crueltie , at the mediation of some potent birds , the eagle condescended , that the day of his re-inauguration should not be stained with blood , and therefore granted life to the hawk , but on condition , not to exceed the grove in which formerly himself was imprisoned . finis . antheologia , or the speech of flowers . there was a place in thessaly ( and i am sorry to say there was a place in thessaly , for though the place be there still , yet it is not it selfe . the bones thereof remaine , not the flesh and colour . the standards of hilles and rivers ; not the ornaments of woods , bowers , groves and banqueting-houses . these long since are defaced by the turkes , whose barbarous natures wage warre with civility it selfe , and take a delight to make a wildernesse where before their conquest they found a paradise . ) this place is some five miles in length , and though the breadth bee corrivall with the length to equallize the same , and may so seeme at the first fight ; yet it falleth short upon exact examimination , as extending but to foure miles . this place was by the poets called tempe , as the abridgement of earthly happinesse , shewing that in short hand , which the whole world presented in a larger character , no earthly pleasure was elsewhere afforded , but here it mighti be found in the heighth thereof . within this circuit of ground , there is still extant , by the rare preservation of the owner , a small scantlin of some three acres , which i might call the tempe of tempe , and re-epitomiz'd the delicacies of all the rest . it was divided into a garden , in the upper part whereof flowers did grow , in the lower , hearbs , and those of all sorts and kinds . and now in spring time earth did put on her new cloathes , though had some cun●ing herald beheld the same , he would have condemned her coate to have been of no antient bearing , it was so overcharged with variety of colours . for there was yellow marigolds , wallflowers , auriculusses , gold knobs , and abundance of other namelesse flowers , which would pose a nomenclator to call them by their distinct denominations . there was white , the dayes eye , white roses , lillyes , &c. blew , violet , irisse , red roses , pionies , &c. the whole field was vert or greene , and all colours were present save sable , as too sad and dolefull for so merry a meeting . all the children of flora being summone● there , to make their appearance at a great solemnity . nor was the lower part of the ground lesse stored with herbs , and those so various , that if gerard himselfe had bin in the place , upon the beholding thereof , he must have been forced to a re-edition of his herball , to adde the recruit of those plants , which formerly were unseen by him , or unknown unto him . in this solemn randevouz of flowers and herbs , the rose stood forth , and made an oration to this effect . it is not unknown to you , how i have the precedency of all flowers , confirmed unto me under the patent of a double sence , sight , smell . what more curious colours ? how do all diers blush when they behold my blushing , as conscious to themselves , that their art cannot imitate that tincture , which nature hath stamped upon me . smell , it is not lusciously offensive , nor dangerously faint , but comforteth with a delight , and delighteth with the comfort thereof : yea , when dead , i am more soveraigne then living : what cordials are made of my syrups ? how many corrupted lungs ( those fans of nature ) sore wasted with consumption , that they seem utterly unable any longer to cool the heat of the heart , with their ventilation , are with conserves made of my stamped leaves , restored to their former soundnesse againe : more would i say in mine own cause , but that happily i may be taxed of pride , and selfe . flattery , who speak much in mine own behalf , & therefore i leave the rest to the judgment of such as hear me , and passe from this discourse to my just complaint . there is lately a flower ( shal i call it so ? in courtesie i will tearme it so , though it deserve not the appellation ) a toolip , which hath ingrafted the love and affections of most people unto it ; and what is this toolip ? a well complexion'd stink , an ill savour wrapt up in pleasant colours : as for the use thereof in physick , no physitian hath honoured it yet with the mention , nor with a greek , or latin name , so inconsiderable hath it hitherto been accompted ; and yet this is that which filleth all gardens , hundred of pounds being given for the root thereof , whilst i the rose , am neglected and contemned , and conceived beneath the honour of noble hands , and fit only to grow in the gardens of yeomen . i trust the remainder to your apprehensions , to make out that , which grief for such undeserved injuries will not suffer me to expresse . hereat the rose wept , and the dropping of her white tears down her red cheeks , so well becomed her , that if ever sorrow was lovely , it then appeared so , which moved the beholders to much compassion , her tears speaking more then her tongue , in her own behalfe . the tool p stood up insolently , as rather challenging then craving respect f●om the common-wealth of flower● there present , & thus vaunted it selfe . i am not solicitous what to returne to the complaint of this rose , whose own demerit hath justly outed it self of that respect , which the mistaken world formerly bestowed upon it , and which mens eyes , now opened , justly reassume , and conferre on those who better deserve the same . to say that i am not more worthy then the rose , what is it , but to condemne mankind , and to arraign the most gentle and knowing among men of ignorance , for misplacing their affections : surely vegetables must not presame to mount above rationable creatures , or to think that men are not the most competent judges of the worth and valew of flowers . i confesse there is yet no known soveraign vertue in my leaves , but it is injurious to inferre that i have none , because as yet not taken notice of . if we should examine all , by their intrinsick valews , how many contemptible things in nature would take the upper-hand of those which are most valued ; by this argument a flint-stone would be better then a diamond , as containing that spark of fire therein , whence men with combustible matter may heat themselves in the coldest season : and cleer it is , that the load-stone , ( that grand pilot to the north , which findeth the way there in the darkest night ) is to be preferred before the most orient pearle in the world : but they will generally be condemned for unwise , who prize things according to this proportion . seeing therefore in stones and minerals , that those things are not most valued , which have most vertue , but that men according to their eyes and fancies raise the reputation thereof , let it not be interpreted to my disadvantage , that i am not eminently known for any cordiall operation ; perchance the discovery hereof is reserved for the next age , to find out the latent vertue which lurketh in me : and this i am confident of , that nature would never have hung out so gorgious a signe , if some guest of quality had not been lodged therein ; surely my leaves , had never been feathered with such variety of colours , ( which hath proclaimed me the king of all lillies ) had not some strange vertue , whereof the world is yet ignorant , been treasured up therein . as for the rose , let her thank her selfe , if she be sensible of any decay in esteem , i have not ambitiously affected superiority above her , nor have i fraudulently endevoured to supplant her : only i should have been wanting to my selfe , had i refused those favours from ladies , which their importunity hath pressed upon me : and may the rose remember , how she out of causelesse jealousie , maketh all hands to be her enemies that gather her ; what need is there that she should garison her selfe within her prickles ? why must she set so many thornes to lye constant perdue , that none must gather her , but such as suddenly surprize her ; and do not all that crop her , run the hazard of hurting their fingers : this is that which hath weaned the world from her love , whilst my smooth stalk exposing ladies to no such perills , hath made them by exchange to fix their removed affections upon me . at this stood up the violet , and all prepared themselves with respectfull attention , honouring the violet for the age thereof , for the prim rose alone excepted , it is seignior to all the flowers in the year , and was highly regarded for the reputation of the experience thereof that durst encounter the cold , and had past many bitter blasts , whereby it had gained much wispome , and had procured a venerable respect , both to his ●erson and counsell . the case ( saith the violet ) is not of particular concernment , but extendeth it selfe to the life and liberty of all the society of flowers ; the complaint of the rose we must all acknowledge to be just and true , and ever since i could remember , we have paid the rose a just tribute of fealty as our prime and principall . as for this toolip , it hath not been in being in our garden above these sixty years : our fathers never knew that such a flower would be , and perhaps our children may never know it ever was ; what traveller brought it hither , i know not ; they say it is of a syrian extraction , but sure there it grew wild in the open fields , and is not beheld otherwise , then a gentler sort of weed : but we may observe that allforraign vices are made vertues in this countrey , forraign drunkennesse is grecian mirth ( thence the proverb , the merry greek ) forraign pride , grecian good behaviour ; forraign lust , grecian love ; forraign lazinesse , grecian harmelessnesse ; forraign weeds , grecian flowers . my judgement therefore is , that if we do not speedily eradicate this intruder ( this toolip ) in processe of time will out us all of our just possessions , seeing no flower can pretend a cleerer title then the rose●ath ●ath ; and let us every one make the case to be his owne . the gravity of the violet so prevailed with the senate of flowers , that all concurred with his judgment herein ; and such who had not the faculty of the sluentnesse of their tongues to expresse themselves in large orations , thought that the well managing of a yea , or nay , spoke them as well wishing to the generall good , as the expressing themselves in large harrangues ; and these soberly concluded , that the toolip should be rooted out of the garden , and cast on the dunghill , as one who had justly invaded a place not due thereunto , and this accordingly was performed . whilst this was passing in the upper house of the flowers , no less were the transactions in the lower house of the herbs ; where there was a generall acclamation against wormewood , the generality condemning it , as fitter to grow in a ditch then in a garden : wormewood hardly ●eneived leave to make its own defence , pleading in this manner for its innocency . i would gladly know whom i have offended in this common-wealth of herbs , that there should be so generall a conspiracy against me ? only two things can be charged on me , commonnesse and bitternesse ; if commonnesse pass for a fault , you may arraign nature it self , and condemn the best jewel● thereof , the light of the sun , the benefit of the ayre , the community of the water , are not these staple commodities of mankind , without which no being or subsistance : if therefore it be my charity to stoop so low , as to tender my selfe to every place for the publique service , shall that for which i deserve , if not praise , i need no pardon , be charged upon me as an offence . as for my bitternesse , it is not a malitious & mischievous bitternesse to do hurt , but a helpfull & medicinall bitternesse , whereby many cures are effected . how many have surteited on honey ? how many have dig'd their gravs in a sugar-loaf ? how many diseases have bin caused by the dulcor of many luscious sweet-meats ? then am i sent for physitian to these patients , and with my brother cardus ( whom you behold with a loving eye , i speak not this to endanger him , but to defend my selfe ) restore them ( if temperate in any degree , and perswaded by their friends to tast of us ) unto their former health . i say no more , but were all my patients now my pleaders , were all those who have gained health by me , present to intercede for me , i doubt not but to be reinstated in your good opinions . true it is , i am condemned for over-hot , and too passionate in my operation ; but are not the best natures subject to this distemper ? is it not observed that the most witty are the most cholerick ? a little over-doing is pardonable , i will not say necessary in this kind , nor let me be condemned as destructive to the fight , having such good opening , and abstergent qualities , that moderately taken , especially in a vorning , i am both food and physick for a forenoon . it is strange to see how passion and selfe-interest sway in many things , more then the justice and merit of a cause ; it was verily expected that worm-wood should have been acquitted , and re-admitted a member in the society of herbs : but what will not a faction carry ; worme-woods friends were cafually absent that very day , making merry at an entertainment ; her enemies ( let not that sex be angry for making wormwood feminine ) appeared in a full body , and made so great a noise , as if some mouths had two tongues in them , and though some engaged very zealously in wormwoods defence , yet over-charged with the tyranny of number , it was carryed in the negative , that wormwood , alias absynthium , should be pluckt up root and branch from the garden , and thrown upon the dunghill , which was done accordingly , where it had the wofull society of the toolip , in this happy , that being equally miserable , they might be a comfort the one to the other , and spent many howers in mutuall recounting their severall calamities , thinking each to exceed the other in the relation thereof . let us now amidst much sadness interweave something of more mirth and pleasantnesse in the garden . there were two roses growing upon one bush , the one pale and wan with age , ready to drop off , as usefull only for a still : the other a young bud , newly loosened from its green swadling cloaths , and peeping on the rising sun , it seem'd by its orient colour to be died by the reflection therof . of these , the aged rose thus began . sister bud , learn witt by my woe , and cheaply enjoy the free and ful benefit of that purchase which cost me dear and bitter experience : once i was like your selfe , young and pretty , straitly laced in my green-girdle , not swoln to that breadth and corpulency which now you behold in me , every hand which passed by me courted me , and persons of all sorts were ambitious to gather me : how many fair fingers of curious ladies tendred themselves to remove me from the place of my abode ; but in those daies i was coy , & to tell you plainly foolish , i stood on mine own defence , summoned my life-guard about me , commanded every pickle as so many halberdeers , to stand to their armes , de●ie those that durst touch me , protested my selfe a votary of constant virginity ; frighted hereat , passengers desisted from their intentions to crop me , and left me to enjoy the sullen humour of my own reservednesse . afterwards the sun beams wrought powerfully upon me , ( especialy about noon-time ) to this my present extent , the orient colour which blushed so beautifull in me at the first , was much abated , with an overmixture of wa●ness and palemess therewith , so that the green ( or white sicknesse rather , the common pennance for over-kept virginity began to infect me , and that fragrant sent of mine , began to remit and lessen the sweetnesse thereof , and i daily decayed in my naturall perfume ; thus seeing i daily lessened in the repute of all eyes and nostrills , i began too late to repent my selfe of my former frowardnesse , and sought that my diligence by an after-game ; should recover what my folly had lost ; i pranked up my selfe to my best advantage , summoned all my sweetnesse to appear in the height thereof , recruited my decayed colour , by blushing for my own folly , and wooed every hand that passed by me , to remove me . i confesse in some sort it offers rape to a maiden modesty , if forgetting their sex , they that should be all ears , turn mouthes , they that should expect , offer ; when we women , who only should be the passive counterparts of love , and receive impression from others , boldly presume to stamp them on others , and by an inverted method of nature , turn pleaders unto men , and wooe them for their affections . for all this there is but one excuse , and that is absolute necessity which as it breaks through stone-walls , so ●o wonder if in this case it alters and transposes the sexes , making women to m●n it in case of extremity , when men are wanting to tender their affections unto them . all was but in vaine , i was entertained with scorne and neglect , the hardned hands of dayly labourers , brawned with continuall work , the bluck hands of moores , which alwaies carry night in their 〈◊〉 , sleighted and contemned me ; yea , now behold my last hope is but to deck and adom houses , and to be laid as a propertie in windowes , till at last i die in the hospitall of ●ome still , where when useless for any thing else , we are generally admitted . and now my ●ery leaves begin to leave me , and i to be deserted and forsaken of my sel● . o how happy are those roses , who are preferred in their youths ; to be warme in the hands and breasts of faire ladies , who are joyned together with other flowers of severall kinds in a posie , wh●re the generall result of sweetnesse from them all , ravisheth the smel by an intermixture of various colours , all united by their stalks within the same 〈◊〉 that bindeth them together . therefore sister bud grow wise by my folly , and know it is far greater happinesse to lose thy virginity in a good hand , then to wither on the stalk whereon thou growest : accept of thy first and best tender , lest afterwards in vaine thou courtest the reversion of fragments of that feast of love , which first was freely tendred unto thee . leave we them in their dis●ourse , and proceed to the relation of the toolip and wormwood , now in a most pitifull condition , as they were lying on the dunghill ; behold a vast gi●nt boar comes unto them ; that which hercules was said to kill , and which was accounted by some the foreman of the jury of his l●ours , was but a pygmie , or rather but a pig , in comparison of this ; and with his tusks wherewith nature had armed him to be his sword as his shoulders are his shield , he began to rend and tear the toolip and wormewood , who exclaimed unto him as followeth . sir , pitty useth alwaies to be an attendant of a generous mind , & valiant spirit , for which i have heard you much commended . cruelty is commonly observed to keep company with cowardlinesse , and base minds , to triumph in cruell actions , behold we are the objects rather of your pitty , whose ●fferings may rather render us to the commiseration of any that justly consider our case . i the too●ip by a faction of flowers , was outed of the garden , where i have as good a right and title to abide as any other : and this wormewood , notwithstanding her just and long plea , how usefull and cordiall she was , was by a conspiracy of herbs excluded the garden , and both of us ignominiously confined to this place , where we must without all hopes quickly expire : our humble request unto you is not to ●orten those few minutes of our lives which are left unto us , seeing such prejudice was done to our vitals ( when our roots were mangled by that cruel eradication ) that there is an impossibility of our long continuance : let us therefore sairly breath out our last breath , and antidate not our misery , but let us have the favour of a quiet close and conclusion . but if so be that you are af●ected with the destruction of flowers and herbs , know the pleasure and contentment therein must be far greater to root out those which are fairly flourishing in their prime , whereof pl●ty are in this garden afforded , and if it please you to follow our directions , we will make you master of a passe , which without any difficulty shall convey you into the garden , for though the same on all sides almost is either walled or paled about , yet in one place it is fenced with a hedge only , wherein , through the neglect of the gardiner , ( whose care it ought to be to secure the same ) there is a hole left in such capacity ; as will yeeld you an easie entrance thereinto : there may you glut your selfe , and satiate your soule with variety of flowers and herb● , so that an epicure might have cause to complain of the plenty thereof . the boar apprehends the motion , is sencible it was advantagious for him , and following their directions , he makes himselfe master of his owne desire . o the spitefulnesse of some natures ! how do they wreck their their anger on all persons : it was revenge for the toolip and wormwood , unlesse they had spitefully wronged the whole corporation of flowers , out of which they were ejected as uselesse and dangerous members : and now consider how these two pride themselves in their own vindicative thoughts ? how do they in their forcrunning fancy antidate the death of all herbs and flowers . what is sweeter then revenge ? how do they please themselves to see what are hot & cold in the first , second , third , and fourth degree , ( which borders on poison ) how all these different in their severall tempers , will be made friends in universall misery , and compounded in a generall destruction . little did either flowers or herbs think of the boares approaching , who were solacing themselves with merry and pleasant discourse ; and it will not be amiss to deceive time , by inserting the courtship of thrift a flower-herb , unto the marygold , thus accosting her , just as the boar entered into the garden . mistresse , of all flowers that grow on earth , give me leave to professe my fincerest affections to you : complements have so infected mens tongues ( and grown an epidemicall fault , or as others esteem it , a fashionable accomplishment ) that we know not when they speak truth , having made dissembling their language , by a constant usage thereof : but believe me mistriss my heart never entertained any other interpreter then my tongue ; and if there be a veine ( which anatomists have generally avouched , carrying intelligence from the heart to the lips ) assure your selfe that vein acts now in my discourse . i have taken signall notice of your accomplishments , and among many other rare qualities , particularly of this , your loyalty and faithfulnesse to the sun , soveraign to all vegetables , to whose warming beams , we owe our being and increase : such your love thereunto , that you attend his rising , and therewith open , and at his setting shut your windowes : true it is , that helitropium ( to turner with the sun ) hath a long time been attributed to the sun-flower , a voluminous giant like flower , of no vertue or worth as yet discovered therein , but we all know the many and soveraign vertues in your leaves , the herb generall in all pottage : nor do you as herb john stand newter , and as too many now adaies in our commonwealth do , neither good nor ill ( expecting to be acted on by the impression of the prevailent party ) and otherwise warily engage not themselves ; but you really appear soveraign and operative in your wholesome effects : the consideration hereof , and no other by reflection , hath moved me to the tender of my affections , which if it be candidly resented , as it is sincerely offered , i doubt not but it may conduce to the mutuall happinesse of us both . besides know ( though i am the unproperest person to trumpet forth my owne praise ) my name is thrift , and my nature answereth thereunto ; i doe not prodigally wast those lands in a moment , which the industry and frugality of my ancestors hath in a long time advanced ; i am no gamster to shake away with a quaking hand , what a more fixed hand did gain and acquire : i am none of those who in variety of cloaths , bury my quick e●ate as in a winding sheet ; nor am i one of those who by cheats and deceits improve my selfe on the losses of others ; no widowes have wept , no orphans have cryed for what i have offered unto them ( this is not thrift but rather felony ) nor owe i any thing to my own body ; i fear not to be arrested upon the action of my own carcaffe , as if my creditors should cunningly compact therewith , and quit scores , resigning their bill and bond unto mine own body , whilst that in requitall surrendereth all obligations for food and cloaths thereunto : nor do i undertake to buy out bonds in controversies for almost nothing , that so running a small hazard , i may gain great advantage , if my bargain therein prove successfull . no , i am plain and honest thrist , which none ever did , or will speak against , save such prodigall spend-thrifts , who in their reduced thoughts , will speak more against themselves . and now it is in your power to accept or refuse what i have offered , which is the priviledg which nature hath allotted for your feminine sex , which we men perchance may grudg and repine at , but it being past our power to amend it , we must permit our selves as well as we may to the constant custome prevailing herein . the marigold demurely hung down her head , as not over-fond of the motion , and kept silence so long as it might stand with the rule of manners , but atlast brake forth into the following return . i am tempted to have a good opinion of my selfe , to which all people are prone , and we women most of all , if we may beleeve your — of us , which herein i am affraid are too true : but sir , i conceive my selfe too wise to be deceived by your commendations of me , especially in so large a way , and on so generall an account , that other flowers not only share with me , but exceeed me therein : may not the daies-eye not only be corrivall with me ; but superior to me in that quality , wherein so much you praise me ; my vig●ancy starteth only from the suns rising , hers bears date frō the dawning of the morning , & out-runs my speed by many degrees : my vertue in portage which you so highly commend , impute it not to my modesty , but to my guiltinesse , if i cannot give it entertainment ; for how many hundred herbs which you have neglected exceed me therein . but the plain truth is , your love not me for my selfe , but for your advantage : it is gold on the arrear of my name which maketh thrift to be my suitor : how often , and how unworthily have you tendered your affections , even to penny-royall , it selfe , had she not scorned to be courted by you . but i commend the girle that she knew her own worth , though it was but a penny , yet it is a royall one , and therefore not a fit match for every base suitor , but knew how to valew her selfe , and give me leave to tell you , that matches founded on covetousnesse never succeed ▪ profit is the load-stone of your affections , wealth , the attractive of your love , money the mover of your desire ; how many hundreds have engaged themselves on these principles , and afterwards have bemoaned themselves for the same ? but oh the uncertainty of wealth ? how unable is it to expleate & satisfie the mind of man : such as cast ancho● thereat , ●eldome find fast ground , but are tossed about with the tempests of many disturbances ; these wive● for conveniency of profit and pleasure ( when there hath been no further nor higher intent ) have filled all the world with mischief and misery . know then sir , i return you a flat deniall , a deniall that vertually contains many , yea as many as ever i shall be able to pronounce : my tongue knowes no other language to you but no ; score it upon womens dissimulation ( whereof we are too guilty , and i at other times as faulty as any ) but sir , read my eyes , my face , and compound all together , and know these are the exp●essions dictated from my heart ; i shall embrace a thousand deaths sooner , then your marriage-bed . thus were they harmelessly discoursing , and feared no ill , when on a sudden they were surprized with the un●outh sight of the boare , which had entered their garden , following his prescribed directions , and armed with the corslet of his bristles , vaunted like a triumphant conqueror round about the garden , as one who would first make them suffer in their fear , before in their feeling ; how did he please himselfe in the variety of the fears ▪ of the flowers , to see how some pal● ones looked red , and some re● ones looked pale ; leaving it to philosophers to dispute and decide the different effects should proceed from the same causes ; and among all philosophers , commending the question to the stoicks , who because they pretend an antipathy , that they themselves would never be angry , never be mounted above the modell of a common usuall temper , are most competent judges , impartially to give the reason of the causes of the anger of others . and now it is strange to see the severall waies the flowers embraced to provide for their owne security ; there is no such teacher as extremity ; necessity hath found out more arts , then ever ingenuity invented : the wall-gilly flower ran up to the top of the wall of the garden , where it hath grown ever since , and will never descend till it hath good security for its own safety ; and being mounted thereon , he entertained the boar with the following discourse . thou basest and unworthiest of four-footed beasts ; thy mother the sow , passeth for the most contemptible name , that can be fixed on any she : yea , pliny reporteth , that a sow growne old , useth to feed on her owne young ; and herein i beleeve that pliny , who otherwise might be straitned for fellow-witnesses , might find such who will attest the truth of what he hath spoken . mens excrements is thy element , and what more cleanly creatures do scorn and detest , makes a feast for thee ; nothing comes amisse unto thy mouth , and we know the proverb what can make a pan-cake unto thee : now you are gotten into the garden ( shame light on that negligent gardner , whose care it was to fence the same , by whose negligence and oversight , you have gotten an entrance into this academy of flowers and herbs ) let me who am your enenie give you some counsell , and neglect it not , because it comes from my mouth . you see i am without the reach of your anger , and all your power cannot hurt me , except you be pleased to borrow wings from some bird , thereby to advantage your selfe , to reach my habitation . my counsell therefore to you is this , be not proud because you are prosperous ; who would ever have thought , that you could have entered this place , which we conceived was impregnable against any of your kind : now because you have had successe as farre above our expectations , as your deserts ; show your own moderation in the usage thereof ; to ●aster us is easie , to master your selfe is difficult . attempt therefore that which as it is most hard to performe , so will it bring most honour to you when executed ; and know , i speak not this in relation to my selfe ( sufficiently priviledged from your t●sks ) but as acted with a publique spirit , for the good of the comminalty of flowers ; and if any thing hereafter betide you , other then you expect , you will remember that i am a ●rophet , and for●●ell that which too late you will credit and bel●eve . the boar heard the words , and entertained them with a surly silence ; as conceiving himselfe to be mounted above danger , sometimes he pittied the sillinesse of the wall-flower , that pittyed him , and sometimes he vowed revenge , concluding that the stones of the wall would not afford it sufficient moisture , for its constant dwelling there , but that he should take it for an advantage , when it descended for more sustenance . it is hard to expresse the panick fear in the rest of the flowers , and especially the small prim-ro●es , begged of their mothers that they might retreat into the middle of them , which would only make them grow bigger and broader , and it would grieve a pittifull heart to hear the child plead , and the mother so often deny . the child began ; dear mother , she is but halfe a mother that doth breed and not preserve , only to bring forth , and then to expose us to worldly ●isery , less●ns your love , and doubles our sufferings : see how this tyrannicall boare threatens our instant undoing ; i desire only a sanctuary in your bosome , a retreating place into your breast , and who fitter to come into you , then she that came out of you ; whether should we return , then from whence we came , it will be but one happinesse , or one misfortune , together we shall die , or together be preserved ; only some content and comfort will be unto me , either to be happy or unhappy in your company . the broader prim-rose hearkned unto these words with a sad countenance , as ●ensible in her ●elfe , that had not the present necessity hardned her affections , she neither would nor could return a deaf ●are to ●o equall a motion . but now she rejoyned . dear child , none can be more sensible then my selfe of motherly affections , it troubles me more for me to deny thee , then for thee to be denyed ; i love thy safety where it is not necessarily included in my danger , the entertaining of thee will be my 〈◊〉 and destruction ; how many parents in this age have been undone meerly for affording house and home to such children , whose condition might be quarrel'd with as exposed to exception . i am sure of mine owne innocency , which never in the least degree have offended this boar , and therefore hope he will not offend me ; what wrong and injury you have done him is best known to your selfe ; stand therefore on your own bottome , maintain your own innocence ; for my part i am resolved not to be drowned for others hanging on me , but i will try as long as i can the strength of my own armes and leggs ; excuse me good child , it is not hatred to you , but love to my selfe , which makes me to understand my own interest . the younger prim-rose returned . mother , i must again appeal to your affections , despairing to find any other judge to father my cause ; remember i am part of your ●elfe , and have never by any undutifulnesse disobliged your affections ; i professe also mine own integrity , that i never have offended this boar , being more innocent therein then your selfe , for alas my tender years intitles me not to any correspondency with him , this is the first minute ( and may it be the last ) that ever i beheld him ; i reassume therefore my suite , supposing that your first denyall proceeded only from a de●ire to try my importunity , and give me occasion to enforce my request with the greater earnestnesse : by your motherly bowels i conjure you ( an exorcisme which ( i beleeve ) comes not within the compasse of ●uperstition ) that you tenderme in this my extremity , whose greatest ambition is to die in those armes from whence i first fetcht my originall . and then she left her tears singly to drop out the remainder , what her tongue could not expresse . the affections of parents may sometimes he s●othered , but seldome quenched , and meeting with the ●last or bellowes from the submissive mouthes of their children , it quickly bla●eth into a flame . mother and daughter are like tallies , one exactly answereth the other : the mother prim-rose could no longer resist the violence of ▪ her daughters importunity , but opens her bosome for the present reception thereof , wherein ever since it hath grown doubled unto this day ; and yet a double mischief did arise from this gemination of the print-ro●e , or inserting of the little one into the bowels thereof . first , those prim-roses ever since grow very slowly , and lag the last among all the flowers of that kind ; single prim-roses beat them out of distance , and are arrived at their m●rk a month before the other start out of their gr●en leaves : yet it will not be hard to assigne a naturall cause thereof , namely , a greater power of the sun is acquired to the production of greater flowers , small degrees of heat will suffice to give a being to single flowers , whilst double ones groaning under the weight of their own greatnesse , require a greater force of the sun-beams to quicken them , and to spurre their lazinesse , to make them appear out of their roots . but the second mischief most concernes us , which is this , all single flowers are sweeter , then those that are double ; and here we could wish that a jury of florists were impannelled , not to eat , untill such time as they were agreed in their verdict , what is the true cause thereofsome will say that single leaves of flowers , being more effectually wrought on by the sun-beams , are rarified thereby , and so all their sweetnesse and perfume the more fully extracted ; whereas double flowers who lie as it were in a lump , and heap crouded together with its own leaves , the sun-beams hath not that advantage singly to distill them , and to improve every particular leaf to the best advantage of sweetnesse : this sure i am , that the old primrose sencible of the abatement of her sweetnesse , since she was clogged with the entertainment of her daughter , halfe repenting that she had received her , returned this complaining discourse . daughter , i am sencible that that the statutes of inmates , was founded on very good and solid grounds , that many should not be multiplyed within the roof of one and the same house , finding the inconveniency thereof by lodging thee my owne daughter within my bosome ; i wil not speak how much i have lost of my grouth , the clock whereof is set back a whole month by receiving of you ; but that which most grieveth me , i perceive i am much abated in my sweetnesse ( the essence of all flowers ) and which only distinguisheth them from w●ds , seeing otherwise in colours , weeds may contest with us in brightnesse and variety . peace mother ( replyed the small prim-rose ) conceive not this to be your particular unhappinesse , which is the generall accid●nt falling out daily in common experience , namely , that the bigger and thicker people grow in their estates , the worse and lesse vertuous they are in their conversations , our age may produce millions of these instances ; i knew some tenne years since many honest men , whose converse was familiar and faire , how did they court and desire the company of their neighbours , and mutually , how was their company desired by them ? how humble were they in their carriage , loving in their expressions , and friendly in their behaviour , drawing the love and affections of all that were acquainted with them ? but since being grown wealthy , they have first learnt not to know themselves , and afterwards none of their neighbours ; the brightnesse of much gold and silver , hath with the shine and lustre thereof so perstringed and dazled their eyes , that they have forgotten those with whom they had formerly so familiar conversation ; how proudly do they walk ? how superc●liously do they look ? how disdainfully do they speak ? they will not know their own brothers and kindred , as being a kin only to themselves . indeed such who have long been gaining of wealth , and have slowly proceeded by degrees therein , whereby they have learnt to mannage their minds , are not so palpably proud as others ; but those who in an instant have been surprized with a vast estate , flowing in upon them from a fountain farre above their deserts , not being able to wield their own greatnesse , have been prest under the weight of their own estates , and have manifested that their minds never knew how to be stewards of their wealth , by forgetting themselves in the disposing thereof . i beleeve the little prim-rose would have beee longer in her discourse , had not the approach of the boar put an unexpected period thereunto , and made her break off her speech before the ending thereof . now whilst all other flowers were struck into a panick silence , only two , the violet , and the marygold continued their discourse , which was not attributed to their valour or hardinesse above other flowers , but that casually both of them grew together in the declivity of a depressed valley , so that they saw not the boar , nor were they sensible of their own misery , nor durst others remove their stations to bring them intelligence thereof . sister marigold ( said the violet ) you and i have continued these many daies in the contest which of our two colours are the most honourable and pleasing to the eye , i know what you can plead for your selfe , that your yellownesse is the livery of gold , the soveraign of most mens hearts , and esteemed the purest of all mettals ; i deny not the truth hereof : but know that as farre as the skie surpasseth that which is buried in the bowels of the earth , so farre my blew colour exceedeth yours ; what is oftner mentioned by the poets then the azure clouds ? let heraulds be made the vmpire , and i appeal to gerrard , whether the azure doth not carry it cleer above all other colours herein ; sable or black affrights the beholders with the hue thereof , and minds them of the funerall of their last friends , whom they had interred vert or green i confesse is a colour refreshing the sight , and wore commonly before the eyes of such who have had a casuall mischance therein , however , it is but the livery of novelty , a young upstart colour , as green heads , and green youth do passe in common experience . red i confesse is a noble colour , but it hath too much of bloodinesse therein , and affrighteth beholders with the memory thereof : my blew is exposed to no cavills and exceptions , wherein black and red are moderately compounded , so that i participate of the perfections of them both : the over ▪ gaudinesse of the red , which hath too much light and brightness therein , is reduced and tempered with such a mixture of black , that the red is made staved , but not sad therewith , and the black kept from over-much melancholy , with a proportionable contemperation of red therein : this is the reason that in all ages the violet or purple colour hath passed for the emblem of magistracy , and the robes of the antient roman judges alwaies died therewith . the violet scarce arived at the middle of her discourse , when the approach of the boar put it into a terrible fear , nor was their any herb or flower in the whole garden left unsurprized with fear , save only time and sage , which casually grew in an ●sland surrounded with water from the rest , and secured with a lock-bridge from the boars accesse . sage beginning , accosted time in this nature . most fragrant sister , there needs no other argument to convince thy transcendent sweetnesse , save only the appealing to the bees ( the most competent judges in this kind ) those little chymists , who through their natural alembick , distill the sweetest and usefullest of liquors , did not the commonnesse and cheapnesse thereof make it lesse valued : now these industrious bees , the emblem of a common-wealth ( or monarchy rather , if the received traditions of a master-bee be true ) make their constant diet upon the ; for though no flower comes amisse to their palates , yet are they observed to preferre thee above the rest . now sister time , faine would i be satisfied of you severall queries , which only time is able to resolve . whether or no do you think that the state of the turks wherein we live , ( whose cruelty hath destroyed faire tempe to the small remnant of these few acres ) whether i say , do you think that their strength and greatness doth encrease , stand still , or abate ? i know time that you are the mother of truth , and the finder out of all truths mysteries ; be open therefore and candid with me herein , and freely speak your mind of the case propounded . time very gravely casting down the eyes thereof to the earth ; sister sage ( said she ) had you propounded any question within the sphear or circuit of a garden , of the heat or coolnesse , drinesse or mo●sture , vertue or operation of flowers and herbs , i should not have demurred to return you a speedy answer ; but this is of that dangerous cousequence , that my own safety locks up my lips , and commands my silence therein : i know your wisdome sage , whence you have gotten your name and reputation , this is not an age to trust the neerest of our relations with such an important secresie ; what ever thoughts are concealed within the cabinet of my own bosome , shall there be preserved in their secret propertie without imparting them to any ; my confessor himselfe shall know my conscience , but not my judgement in affaires of state : let us comply with the present necessity , and lie at a close posture , knowing there be fencers even now about us , who will set upon us if our guards lye open : generall discourses are such to which i will confine my selfe : it is antiently said , that the subtill man lurks in generall . but now give me leave , for honesty it selfe , if desiring to be safe , to take sanctuary therein . let us enjoy our own happinesse , and be sensible of the favour indulged to us , that whereas all tempe is defaced , this garden still surviveth in some tolerable condition of prosperity , and we especially miled about , are fenced from forraign foes , better then the rest ; let it satisfie your soule that we peaceably possess this happinesse , and i am sorry that the lustre thereof is set forth with so true a foile , as the calamity of our neighbours . sage returned ; were i a blab of my mouth , whose secresie was ever suspected , then might you be cautious in communicating your mind unto me : but secrecy is that i can principally boast of , it being the quality for which the common-wealth of flowers chose me their privy councellor , what therefore is told me in this nature , is deposited as securely , as those treasures which formerly were laid up in the temple of safety it self ; and therefore with all modest importunity , i reassume my suit , and desire your judgment of the question , whether the turkish tyranny is likely to continue any longer ? for time i know alone can give an answer to this question . being confident ( said time ) of your fidelity , i shall expresse my selfe in that freenesse unto you , which i never as yet expressed to any mortall : i am of that hopefull opinion , that the period of this barbarous nations greatnesse begins to approach , my first reason is drawn from the vicissitude and mutability which attends all earthly things ; bodies arrived at the verticall point of their strength , decay and decline . the moon when in the fulnesse of its increasing , tendeth to a waning ; it is a pitch too high for any sublunary thing to amount unto constantly , to proceed progressively in greatnesse ; this maketh me to hope that this giant-like empire , comented with tyranny , supported , not so much with their own policy , as with the servility of such who are under them , hath seen its best daies and highest elevation . to this end , to come to more particulars , what was it which first made the turks fortunate , in so short a time to over-run all greece , but these two things ; first , the dissentions , . the dissolutenesse of your antient greeks : their dissentions are too well known , the emperor of constantinople being grown almost but titular , such the pride and potency of many peeres under him . the egean is not more stored with islands ( as i think scarce such a heap or huddle is to be found of them in all the world againe ) as greece was with severall factions , the epirots hated the achayans , the mesedans bandoned against the thracians , the dalmatians maintained deadly feud against the wallachians : thus was the conquest made easie for the turks , beholding not so much to their own valour , as to the grecian discord . next to their dissentions , their dissolutenesse did expedite their ruine ; drunkennesse was so common among them , that it was a sin to be sober , so that i may ●ay , all greece reel'd and staggered with its own intemperance when the turk assaulted it : what wonder then was it if they so quickly over-ran that famous empire , where vice and lazinesse had generally infected all conditions of people . but now you see the turks themselves have divisions and dissentions among them , their great bashaws and holy muftees have their severall factions and dissentions ; and whereas the poor greeks by the reason of their hard usage , begin now to be starved into unity and temperance , they may seem to have changed their vices with the turks , who are now grown as factious and vitious as the other were before . adde to all this that they are universally hated , and the neighbouring princes raither wait a time , then want a will to be revenged on them for their many insolencies . put all these together , and tell me if it put not a cheerfull complexion on probability , that the turkish tyranny having come to the mark of its own might , and utmost limits of its own greatnesse , will dwindle and wither away by degrees . and assure your selfe , if once it come to be but standing water , it will quickly be a low ebb with them . probably she had proceeded longer in her oration , if not interrupted with the miserable moanes and complaints of the herbs and flowers which the boar was ready to devour , when presently the sage spake unto the boar in this manner . sir , listen a little unto me , who shall make such a motion whereof your selfe shall be the judge ( how much it tendeth to your advantage ) and the deafest ears will listen to their own interest . ) i have no designe for my selfe ( whose position here invironed with with water , secureth me from your anger ) but i confesse i sympathize with the miserie of my friends and acquaintance , which in the continent of the garden are exposed to your cruelty ; what good will it do you to destroy so many flowers and herbs , which have no gust or sweetnesse at all in them for your palate ; follow my directions , and directly south-west as you stand , you shall find ( going forward therein ) a corner in the garden , overgrown with hog-weed , ( through the gardiners negligence ; ) oh what lettice will be for your lipps ; you will say that via lactea ( or the milkie way ) is truly there , so white , so sweet , so plentifull a liquor is to be distilled out of the leaves thereof , which hath gotten the name of hog-weed , because it is the principall bill of fare whereon creatures of your kind make their common repast . the boar sensible that sage spake to the purpose , followed his directions , and found the same true , when feeding himselfe almost to surfet on those delicious dainties , he swelled so great , that in his return out of the garden , the holein the fence which gave him admittance , was too small to afford him egress● out thereat ; when the gardiner coming in with a guard of dogs , so persecuted this tyrant , that killed on the place , he made satisfaction for the wrong he had done , and for the terrour wherewith he had affrighted so many innocents . i wish the reader well feasted with some of his brawn well cooked , and so take our leave both of him and the gardens . finis . sqvare-caps turned into rovnd-heads, or, the bishops vindication and the brownists conviction being a dialogue between time and opinion : shewing the folly of the one and the worthinesse of the other / by h. p. peacham, henry, ?- ? this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing p ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing p estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; :e , no ) sqvare-caps turned into rovnd-heads, or, the bishops vindication and the brownists conviction being a dialogue between time and opinion : shewing the folly of the one and the worthinesse of the other / by h. p. peacham, henry, ?- ? p. printed for i. gyles, and g. londsey, london : . illustrated t.p. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng roundheads. great britain -- religion -- th century. great britain -- history -- charles i, - . a r (wing p ). civilwar no square-caps turned into round-heads: or the bishops vindication, and the brownists conviction. being a dialogue between time, and opinion: s peacham, henry d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion sqvare-caps turned into rovnd-heads or the bishops vindication , and the brownists conviction . being a dialogue between time , and opinion : shewing the folly of the one , and the worthinesse of the other . by h. p. time . opinion . time doth opinion call unto accompt , who turnes the bishops downe and round-heads mount : vpon her lofty wheele their noddels are ; but her camelian feedeth on his aire . london , printed for i. gyles , and g. lindsey , . mvtant qvadrata rotvndis . square caps are turned into round-heads time . now tell me opinion , how long is it since you were at amsterdam , and how long have you beene in england ? opinion . ick hebbe niet cot amsterdam ghew desen three yaren . time . but you can speak english if you list . , op. ya vader ick habbeghewont in t huys van een english predicant een hyhet meester but-rush . ti. come leave your dutch and speak plain egnglish , that time may well understand you , you were borne at amsterdam were you not ? op. no verily and indeed i was born at swine drecht a dorpa neere to dordrecht in holland bordering upon zealand , but my father was an englishman borne in london , about cateatenstreete , but my mother was a dutchwoman , borne in amsterdam : of the family of the fukers . ti. but what occasion had you to come over into england , and what imployment have you had since your coming ? op. i came ( to tell you true ) to see what entertainment i could finde among my friends , when walking up and down i was taken for a vagrant and clap't into brid-well ; for some outlandish doctrine i taught and maintained . ti. there i beleive you first learned to turn the wheele . op. i did indeed , for among other worke i was forced to spin pack-thred . ti. i heard as much , for that reason ( it may be ) you are content to folow your old imployment , by turning about this wheele , an embleme of the revolution and change of these present times to see , if they may be brought to a better passe and state then they are : i am he , who is every where complaind off , as if it were long of me , they are in so bad a case as they are : alas ! i am old , and ending with the world , and desire no innovation either in church or common-wealth . op. it may be ( father ) one of your years may dote , you may want your sight to see how the world goes round , i am sure you are either blind or willingly winke at a number of abuses . ti. i want my sight to see how the world goes ? had not i my being with the first moover ? am not i primi mobilis per successionem numerus . neither do i winke at any thing , for i would amend all were it in my power . op. truly father it is generally imagined , that it is long of you , that the world is at this stay as it is at , but if it please you to be ruled by me , all abuses shall be reformd and amended . ti. opinion , i am compelled so to do against my will , since all the world is led and rul'd by opinion . op. indeed since my coming over from beyond the seas into england , i have goten so strong a partie on my side , that i shall not nay i will not be crushed or kept downe by the contrarie partie . ti. so it seems : because you uphold your round-heads , and keepe them aloft : but the square caps of the reverend bishops you cast under to the bottome . op. reverend bishops ? marry come up , bishops sir reverence ; you should say . ti. fie opinion now you speak like your self ; distractedly and out of an ignorant malice , as the rest of your faction do : who knowing themselves guilty of neither wit or learning , fiting so high and sacred a calling , barke at them as dogs doe at the moon , who envie her luster and because she being so far above them they cannot come at her op. i have heard that every five hundred years , there is a manifest change and alteration as well in church , as common-wealth : so that this change of these present times is not long of me , but foreseene and determined by the divine providence . opinion you are ( as you were ever ) out of the way and beside your byas , because god hath foreseen the wickednes and factions of these times , hath he therfore determined them , is this your amsterdam teaching ? op. yes indeed is it , and true doctrine . ti. god foresees the most horrible sins that are or shall be commited to the end of the world , does he therefore determine and make himselfe the authour of them . op why not ? t. come about with your wheel cast your round-heads below , and give the square-caps leave to take place aloft your wheele ; else as sure as my name is time , i will shortly have them above do what opinion and her partners can . op. yes ● i am weary of my task you may and i beleeve you will in the meane while i must say , as k. iames wrote upon his sumpture clothes comming after he was proclaimed king out of scotland into england ie a pris mon temps i have taken my time ; i was not thought on but despis'd both in citie and countrie till of late , now who but i both in the citie and countrie , there is hardly a shop in the ci●ie but i can there take upon trust , whatsoever i or my freinds want and they take upon trust , whatsoever they are taught by us in the pulpit be it trve or false . ti why opinion do you make no conscience amongst you of what you teach ( as you call it ? ) op. yes , as much as they do in the slae of their commodities to the unfaithfull . so i beleeve , hence it is that so many the better to cullour or cover their cheating , follow you to your coventickles , to woods , barns , moore-feild al lies and the like places , and having once gott●n the name of separatists they can command beleife , reverence , money , meate drinke , new suits of apparell , the solace of a sister and what come i pray you leave this vaine and idle discourse which is ordinarily laid to our charge among the prophane sorte your followers ( i meane ) whome the world calls time-servers windmilles and weather-cocks who with everie puffe of a great mans breath , or finger of alteration , will incline them , selves to what quarter you will ; but i pray you father time why are roundheads become more odious now in the world then square caps , all heads are round by nature , square caps with their cockscombes on the top , came from beastly base and roguish rome ; and become the head as well as hornes doe some of my followers : i was once taught these verses , when i lived with a zealous teacher . cum caput humanum fecit natura rotundum cur quadrata iuben● pilea pontifices . since nature hath made mans head round to stand , why then do bishops these square caps command ? ti. square caps upon my knowledge were long before opinion was borne , and tell your round-headed sectaries their corners are an emleme of the foure parts or quarters of the world , into which christian bishops and ministers are commanded to breach the gospell , ite praedicate ad omnes gentes &c. you know who said , then good opinion , have a good opinion of square caps ; i beleeve they never did you hurt except in the high commission , or in the spirituall court , you know about what . op. i am not fo much offended with the caps as with them that weare them , your lordly bishops who never did good in church or common-wealth . ti. never did good , opinion ? it is trve if you meane some of your own clergie , who have cast of their leather doublets and aprons and put themselves into long cassocks with grave silke girdles hanging to the knees . opinion you are but a novice , and are new come from your sliding upon the ice among marriners boyes , and upon soldiers your frozen crafts , and rivers about amsterdam and harlem , but since the parliament began : but let that passe , our bishops have done more good then you , and your abbettors will ever do so long as the world standeth . op. it may be some of them long ago have been good and done good but very few in england . ti. no ? who have built more colledges in our famous vniversities more churches , hospitalls &c. in any part of europe , then our bishops have done in england ? op. i have heard some of your bishops have pulled down colledges , and religious houses , as you call them : but i never heard of any that built them . ti. i pray you what bishop pulled down any ? yet i think i know more opinion then you doe , neither is time ignorant of any thing that hath bine done , i doe but only try you to see what you can say . o. did not your great gor-bellied cardinall wolsey pull down forty houses of religion , to found his colledge in oxford ? which he left unfinished . ti. he had finished it , if he had liv'd , and made it one of the fairest colledges of the world . but since you speak of oxford and him , let me tell you what bishops have done in oxferd and cambridge . william durham was a bish●p who endowed vniversitie colledge with large possessions , having none before . anno. dom. : walter de merton was b. of rochester , lord chancelour of england , and counseller to k. h●n . . and ed. . when he founded merton colledge . exeter coll. was founded by succeeding b. of the same see ( viz ) walter stapleton , and edmond stafford , brother to ralph earle stafford in the yeare . w. wikham b. of winchester , principall secretary to ed. . l. high treasurer and chancellour of england , builded that compleat house new coll. rich. fleming , who died b. of lincolne , also founded lincolne coll. in oxford . henry chichley b. of cant. and cardinall of st. eusebius fonuded all-soles coll. anno heny . . and it is worthy to be noted how this henry chichleys father being a very poore man dwelling at higham ferrers in northamton shire ( where this chichley was borne ) had two sonnes whome being not able to keep at home , sent them into the wide world to seek their fortune ; one of which proved arch-bishop of canterburie , and the other lord maior of london both at one time . william patten , alias de wainflet in lincolnshire , b. of winch●ster and lord chancelour , and england , founded that absolute coll : dedicated to saint marie magdalen which like euxine sea never ebbes nor flows with more fellows or schollers then the founder gave and left at the first . brasen-nose col. was also founded by a bishop one w. smith b bishop of ely . corpus christi by r richard foxe b bishop of exeter bath , and wells , durham , and winchester ( who was godfather to king henrie the eight anno . and cardinnll wolsey , whom you so vilifie and disdaine , had he liv'd , he had perfected one of the most magnificent colleges in the world , which he called cardinalles college but king henrie taking the foundation upon himselfe , called it christs church . princes i must confesse had a greater hand in the foundation of colledges in cambridge , then bishops yet these were not wanting there . peter house was grounded by hugh balsham bishop of elie itrnity-hall by william bateman bishop of norwich . iesus colledge by alcock b bishop of elie , and all these , opinion wore square caps , what say you have they beene so bad members of the common wealth as you and your fellowes would make them ? nay i can nor must not smother in silence many pious and charitable acts of bishops of our own times ; did not that good b. witgift b bishop of canturburie found a famous school and hosp●tall in croidon did not b bishop abbot the like at gilford in surrey , where he was born , and was not saint iohns in oxford so repaird and beautified by this now lord bishop of canturburie , that it seemeth to have beene new built by him , and beyond all the rest what magnificent things hath the now archbishop of york done late bishop of lincolne . op. i never heard of any thing he did . ti. no you were beyond sea , or opinion unborn , if you have not heard what a bountifull benefactor he hath beene to the church . let me tell you he much repaired and beautified the church of westminster where he is deane , he repaired with a great charge the bishop , p●llace of lincolns where he intended a goodly library , haveing laid out a great summe of money to buy books , besides provided timber , which but for his troubles hee had finished , as also a school and hospital in wales where he was bor● he builded and gave a goodly librarie to saint iohns in cambridge , and another in vvestminster ; he beautified lincolne coll. chappell in oxford , paveing it with marble , making the d●skes and seates of cedar whersoever he was parson in the countrie , hee gave annuities to the poore , he gave schollerships to w●stminster , and i beleeve schollerships and fellowships to saint iohns in cambridge , but the master-peece of his bountie i must conceale , let it suffize that you are utterly deceived in the name of a bishop , and ignorant of the good deedes they have done . opin . if it be as you say , i shall have a better conceit of them then i had ; but in the mean time i am carried , with violence in the throng i can doe no ot●er then i doe . time . well opinion , omnia tempus habent ; and my comfort is this , nullum violentum diuturnum : nothing violent lasts long . so fare you well , but be sure to keep a good tongue in your head . op. i warrant you father . finis