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to you, I wish you had taken very serious consideration of. If it be news, I wish I had acquainted you with it sooner. And yet if any man will ask me why I did it not, the reason is given already: Because I did make it my business to give you no interruption.

There be some trees that will not grow under the shadow of other rees: There be some that choose,-a man may say so by way of alu ion, -to thrive under the shadow of other trees. I will tell you what hath thriven,-1 will not say what you have cherished, under your shadow; that were too hard. Instead of Peace and Settlement,-instead of mercy and truth being brought together, and righteousness and peace kissing each other, by 'your' reconciling the Honest People of these Nations, and settling the woful distempers that are amongst us; which had been glorious things and worthy of Christians to have proposed,—— weeds and nettles, briars and thorns have thriven under your shadow ! Dissettlement and division, discontent and dissatisfaction; together with real dangers to the whole,-have been more multiplied within these five months of your sitting, than in some years before! Foundations have also been laid for the future renewing of the Troubles of these · Nations by all the enemies of them abroad and at home. Let not these words seem too sharp: for they are true as any mathematical demonstrations are, or can be. I say the enemies of the peace of these Nations abroad and at home, the discontented humors throughout these Nations, which products' I think no man will grudge to call by that name, of briars and thorns,—they have nourished themselves under your shadow! [Old Parliament looks still more uneasy.]

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And that I may clearly be understood: They have taken their opportunities from your sitting, and from the hopes they had, which with easy conjecture they might take up and conclude that there would be no Settlement; and they have framed their designs, preparing for the execution of them accordingly. Now whether,--which appertains not to me to judge of, on their behalf-they had any occasion ministered for this, and from whence they had it, I list not to make any scrutiny or search. But I will say this: I think they had it not from me. I am sure they had not 'from me.' From whence they had, is not my business now to discourse: but that they had, is obvious to every man's sense. What preparations they have made, to be executed in such a season as

of, nor indeed, it seems, upon any Somewhat ;-and this was one you may, without much interpretation,' be blamed for doing nothing upon." 'Government' means Instrument of Government: the time expressed' therein is Five Months,--now, by my way of calculating it, expired. Which may account for the enbarrassed iteration of the phrase, on his Highness's part.

they thought fit to take their opportunity from: that I know, not as men know things by conjecture, but by certain demonstrable knowledge. That they have been for some time past furnishing themselves with arms; nothing doubting but they should have a day for it; and verily believing that, whatsoever their former disappointments were, they should have more done for them by and from our own divisions, than they were able to do for themselves. I desire to be understood That in all I Lave to say of this subject, you will take it that I have no reservation in my mind,—as I have not,-to mingle things of guess and suspicion with things of fact; but 'that' the things I am telling of are fact; things of evident demonstration.

These weeds, briars and thorns,—they have been preparing, and have brougnt their designs to some maturity, by the advantages given to them, as aforesaid, from your sitting and proceedings. [“ Hum-m-m!"] But by the Waking Eye that watched over that Cause that God will bless, they have been, and yet are, disappointed. [Yea!] And having mentioned that Cause, I say, that slighted Cause,-let me speak a few words in behalf thereof; though it may seem too long a digression Whosoever despiseth it, and will say, It is non Causa pro Causa, ‘a Cause without a Cause,'-the All-searching Eye before mentioned will find out that man; and will judge him, as one that regardeth not the works of God nor the operations of His hands! [Moderns look astonished.] For which God hath threatened that He will cast men down, and not build them up. That man who,' because he can dispute, will tell us he knew not when the Cause began, nor where it is: but modelleth it according to his own intellect: and submits not to the Appearances of God in the World; and therefore lifts up his heel against God, and mocketh at all His providences; laughing at the observations, made up not without reason and the Scriptures, and by the quickening and teaching Spirit which gives life to these other;-calling such observations "enthusiasms;" such men, I say, no wonder if they "stumble, and fall backwards, and be broken, and snared and taken,"* by the things of which they are so wilfully and maliciously ignorant! The Scriptures say, "The Rod has a voice, and He will make Himself known by the judgments which He executed." And do we not think He will, and does, by the providences and mercy and kindness which He hath for His People and their just liberties: "whom He loves as the apple of His eye?" Doth He not by them manifest Himself? And is He not thereby also seer giving kingdoms for them, "giving men for them, and people for their

* Isaiah, xxviii, 13. A text that had made a great impression upon Oli. ver: see Letter to the General Assembly, antea, i., 448.

lives"-As it is in Isaiah Forty-third ?* Is not this as fair a lecture and as clear speaking, as anything our dark reason, left to the letter of the Scriptures, can collect from them? By this voice has God spoken loud on behalf of His People, by judging their enemies in the late War, and restoring them a liberty to worship with the freedom of their estates and persons when they do so. And thus we have found the Cause of God by the works of God; which are the testimony of God. Upon which rock whosoever splits shall suffer shipwreck. But it is your glory, and it is mine, if I have any in the world concerning the Interest of those that have an interest in a better world, it is my glory that I know a Cause which yet we have not lost: but do hope we shall take a little pleasure rather to lose our lives than lose! [Hah!] But you will excuse this long digression.

I say unto you, Whilst you have been in the midst of these Transactions, that Party, that Cavalier Party have been designing and preparing to put this Nation in blood again, with a witness. But because I am confident there are none of that sort here, therefore I shall say the less to that. Only this I must tell you: They have been making great preparations of arms; and I do believe it will be made evident to you that they have raked out many thousands of arms, even all that this City could afford, for divers months last past. But it will be said, " May we not arm ourselves for the defence of our houses? Will anybody find fault for that?" Not for that. But the reason for their doing so hath been as explicit, and under as clear proof, as the fact of doing so, For which I hope, by the justice of the land, some will, in the face of the Nation, answer it with their lives: and then the business will be pretty well out of doubt.-Banks of money have been framing, for these and other such like uses. Letters have been issued with Privy-seals, to as great Persons as most are in the Nation, for the advance of money,which 'Letters' have been discovered to us by the Persons themselves. Commissions for regiments of horse and foot, and command of castles, have been likewise given from Charles Stuart, since your sitting. And what the general insolences of that Party have been, the Honest People have been sensible of, and can very well testify.

It hath not only been thus. But as in a quinsy or pleurisy, where the humor fixeth in one part, give it scope, all 'disease' will gather to that place, to the hazarding of the whole: and it is natural to do so till it destroy life in that person on whomsoever this, befals. So likewise will these diseases take accidental causes of aggravation of their distemper. And this was that which I did assert, That they have taken acci

* Isaiah, xliii., 3, 4: Another prophecy of awful moment to his Highness: see Speech I., P. 49.

dental causes for the growing and increasing of those distempers,as much as would have been in the natural body if timely remedy were not app.ied. And indeed things were come to that pass,-in respect of which I shall give you a particular account,—that no mortal physician, if the Great Physician had not stepped in, could have cured the distemper. Shall I lay this upon your account, or my own? I am sure I can lay it upon God's account: That if He had not stepped in, the discase had been mortal and destructive !

And what is all this? What are these new diseases that have gathered to this point?' Truly I must needs still say: "A company of men like briars and thorns;" and worse, if worse can be. Of another sort than those before mentioned to you. These also have been and yet are endeavoring to put us into blood and into confusion; more desperate and dangerous confusion than England ever yet saw. [Anabaptist Levellers!] And I must say, as when Gideon commanded his son to fall upon Zeba and Zalmunna, and slay them, they thought it more noble to die by the hand of a man than of a stripling,-which shows there is some contentment in the hand by which a man falls: so it is some satisfaction if a Commonwealth must perish, that it perish by men, and not by the hands of persons differing little from beasts! That if it must needs suffer, it should rather suffer from rich men than from poor men, who, as Solomon says, "when they oppress, leave nothing behind them, but are as a sweeping rain." Now such as these also are grown up under your shadow. But it will be asked, What have they done? I hope, though they pretend "Commonwealth's Interest," they have had no encouragement from you; but have, as in the former case, rather taken it than that you have administered any cause unto them for so doing. Any cause' from delays, from hopes that this Parliament would not settle, from Pamphlets mentioning strange Votes and Resolves of yours; which I hope did abuse you! But thus you see that, whatever the grounds were, these have been the effects. And thus I have laid these things before vou; and you and others will be easily able to judge how far you are concerned.

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"What these men have done?" They also have labored to pervert, where they could, and as they could, the Honest-meaning People of the Nation. They have labored to engage some in the Army :-and I doubt that not only they, but some others also, very well known to you, have helped to this work of debauching and dividing the Army. They have, they have! [Overton, Allen and Company, your Highness?] I would be loath to say Who, Where, and How; much more loath to say they were any of your number. But I can say: Endeavors have been 'made' to put the Army into a distemper, and to feed that which is the worst humor

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in the Army. Which though it was not a mastering humor, yet these took advantage from delay of the Settlement, and the practices before mentioned, and the stopping of the pay of the Army, to run us into Freequarter, and to bring us into the inconveniences most to be feared and avoided. What if I am able to make it appear in fact, That some amongst you have run into the City of London, to persuade to Petitions and Addresses to you for reversing your own Votes that you have passed? Whether these practices were in favor of your Liberties, or tended to beget hopes of Peace and Settlement from you; and whether debauching the Army in England, as is before expressed, and starving it, and putting it upon Free-quarter, and occasioning and necessitating the greatest part thereof in Scotland to march into England, leaving the remainder thereof to have their throats cut there; and kindling for the rest a fire in our own bosoms, were for the advantage of affairs here, let the world judge!

This I tell you also: That the correspondence held with the Interest of the Cavaliers, by that Party of men called Levellers, who call themselves Commonwealth's-men, 'is in our hands.' Whose Declarations were framed to that purpose, and ready to be published at the time of their 'projected' common Rising: whereof, 'I say,' we are possessed; and for which we have the confession of themselves now in custody; who con fess also they built their hopes upon the assurance they had of the Parliament's not agreeing to a Settlement:--whether these humors have not nourished themselves under your boughs, is the subject of my present discourse; and I think I shall say not amiss, if I affirm it to be so. [His Highness looks animated!] And I must say it again, That that which hath been their advantage, thus to raise disturbance, hath been by the loss of those golden opportunities which God had put into your hands for Settlement. Judge you whether these things were thus, or not, when you first sat down. I am sure things were not thus! There was a very great peace and sedateness throughout these Nations; and great expectations of a happy Settlement. Which I remembered to you at the beginning in my Speech; and hoped you would have entered on your business as you found it. [“Hum-m' We had a Constitution to make !"]

There was a Government already' in the possession of the People,I say a Government in the possession of the People, for many months. It hath now been exercised near Fifteen Months: and if it were needful that I should tell you how it came into their possession, and how willingly they received it; how all Law and Justice were distributed from it, in every respect, as to life, liberty and estate; how it was owned by God, as being the dispensation of His providence after Twelve Years War; and sealed and witnessed unto by the People,-I should but repeat what I said in my last Speech unto you in this place: and therefore I forbear

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