COme, come, Mrs. Hampton though you are a great Courtier in the eye, and I but a small spot in the face of the Sea, yet I am verily perswaded that I am thought worthy be­fore your selfe to teeme and bring forth the sweete and long expected Babe of Peace; Tis not the statelynesse of a Court, or the greatnesse of a City that the Authour and finisher of Peace lookes upon, the meaner place is more acceptable; Bethlem (where the King of peace himselfe was born) was thought worthier thē Jerusalem that City, to bring forth him that (by his suffrings) made peace for the whole world, and why not the Isle of Wight before thee, or Mrs. Ʋxbridge ei­ther; yea or London the Parliaments Midwife.

I have in my Cabinet an ancient Prophesie no lesse then 500. yeares old, which I believe will now be fulfilled, to the joy of all true English hearts, that love Peace, truth, unity, and concord, the Father and Mother of all other blessings whatsoever; and this Prophesie runs thus:

O Mrs. Wight be not too confident, this child may yet prove abortive: Alas, I feare thou must suffer many bitter pangs before thou art yet delivered of Peace; I know my Royall Master has suffred many base affronts, bitter griefs, and dire laments in thee; was he not betrayd and decoyd in­to thee, when he took his flight from me, by that Apostate Cromwell? was he not in thee kept close Prisoner, debarred of the society of all his friends and servants, taunted, and uncivilly used by wicked Hamond his cursed Jaylor? and he [Page 4]according to his bounden duty warranted by the Law of God, the Law of nature, and the Law of the Land, namely noble Burley making but signe of resistance to rescue His Majesty from all his misery, was suddenly by these wild Ca­nibals devoured, hangd, drawn, and quartred for his Alege­ance to his King? did not Rolfe (think you) that waited 4 lōg houres with a Pistoll to take away his life, deserve a small gratuity of 200. l. for his so doing? did not Dowcet and Os­burne deserve to be imprisoned for revealing the same, and the other revarded for acting the same? O Hammon remem­ber Mordecai, fear and tremble, for the like preferment will one day fall to thee as it did to thy Namesake, when it shall be read in the Chronicles of the Kings of England, that thou setst on that villain Rolfe to murder his Master, and didst so­licite thy Masters so often for him to be so well rewarded for so foule and wicked an intention; and that wicked villaine Serjant Wilde, that condemned and murdred Noble Burley (for doing his duty according to Law) must release Rolfe for doing so abhorred an act against law, religiō reason or con­science; Mrs. Wight you know all this to be true, do you not?

I but Mrs. Hampton, truth is not to be spoke at all times; these are bugs words against the Parliament; have a care they stop not your mouth with a little Independent mercy, for that will spoile your blabbing for ever after; you know how they use to deale with Malignants, and being an old Courtier, and of so ancient a house as you are, you must needs be voted a Malignant and so an enemy to the Kingdome and Parliament, and then, &c.

Were the Parliament as mad as the swine possessed with the Divell, that they were running headlong to their owne confusion; might not a man adventure to stop them, or perswade them (though to no purpose?) plaine Troath feares no colours, had they as many and as changeable at the Rainbow, and their garments were dyed with scarlet goar of innocents till they had made this Island a generall Sepulchre; it should not fright me, I'de tell them on't, and that home too; I say they are Tyrants, and inhumane Re­bels, that have wronged the most vertuous King that ever [Page 5]Raigned in Christendome, have divided him from his owne Wife, driven him from his Princely Children, imprisoned, defamed, reproached, scandalized, renounced, writ and spoke all manner of evill against him, murdred his Nobility, killed his Gentry, robbed the Commonalty, and enriched themselves by the ruines of other men, that now they are fat­ted in mischiefe; and tumble and lye blowing and gloaring in the wealth of the Kingdome; whilest Trading is decay­ed, the People are impoverished, beggery increased, many a Member of Christ stawed, others lie groaning, some in goales others in Hospitals, some Parents amidst their families keeping time in weeping with their children who want one morsell of bread to sustaine their lives; the Mother sit­ting to suckle her tender Infant with an empty breast, and a more sorowfull heart listning for the dying groanes of her starved childe, and yet this will not move these Miscreants to the the least pitty or compassion.

Indeed Mrs. Hampton I believe most of your sad story to be true; but if the King and Parliament agree, there will no doubt be a way thought on to encrease Trade, that the poore may be set on work and all things may be well.

Alas Mrs. Wight, you are deceived; for admit that the King and Parliament should agree, what will the Army doe?

Agree to, or be hanged; were they agreed, wee should doe with the Army well enough.

But in the meane time they will deale with him, and us to; to what end thinke you tooke they his Ma­jesty away from Holdenby, without the authority of Par­liament? was it to bring him to his Parliament, or send him to them to be murdered by Rolfe? to what end did they make so many professions and ingagements for his Maje­sties just Rights in generall, both at Newmarket, and S ^r. Al­banes, as may appeare by their voted and revoted Proposalls; was it for his good? Yes, because the Parliament had pro­tested to make him great and glorious; therefore they would send him to heaven quickly to be great and glorious there; for I am perswaded, and so are more beside I, that [Page 6]they would never have sent him to thee Mrs. Wight, but to have him murdered; what thinke you meanes the 4000. horse that are now upon their march under Ingolsby to thee, Mrs. Wight, is it to bring him to his Parliament? yes I war­rant you, the cleane contrary way; what meant the Indepen­dents Petition, but to be seconded by the Army? What meanes their placing Committees of Independents in all Counties, Castles, and places of strength, but to subdue all to themselves? To tell you true Mrs. Wight, they meane to governe by the power of the sword, and care not a pin for King or Parliament either; alas they are against both, and will fight against both before this Treaty goe forward, or a­ny peace should be concluded: Doe you thinke that they meane to give over their trade, viz. cutting of throats, and murdering their brethren? No, no, blood is the sweetest liquor they can taste, and stole goods that are plundred and robbed from their fellow Subjects, is the only staffe of their life; if they disband they lose all: Fairfax and Cromwell intend to share the Kingdome between them; if not both the Kingdomes; Tom must be King of England, and Noll King of Scotland; thinke you we shall not be well gover­ned then? They will be mercifull King; Sir Charles Lu­cas and Sir George Lifle felt their mercy, and so I feare shall we ere long; for the seaven deadly sins are now the Armies best companions, lust, luxury, and excesse, vanity, pride, and prodigality; envy, contention, unnaturall divisions, oppres­sion, fraud, and violence, are to be of their privy counsell; oathes, blasphemies, and prophanations, must be their Chap­laines; envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitablenesse shall be their counsellours of estate; English blood shall be their wine, the caske your bodies, which they will pierce with their swords, your goods shall be their prey, your wives shall be their lawndresses, and cookes, chambermates, and the like, your sons and daughters their slaves, your cat­tle at their command; besides you shall pay for rods by sub­sidies to whip and afflict your selves; and in this manner shall you labour and worke for them so long as you live; is not heere a thorow Reformation indeed? Is not heere a [Page 7]Kingdome well governed, when you must be slaves to the veriest slaves in a Kingdome? Then when it is too late, and the rod is upon you, you will cry cut with anguish of heart; O that we had knowne the day of our visitation, but now 'tis hid from our eyes; O that we had but knowne obedience to so good a King as King Charles, we had not now been slaves to these Rogues, and scums of mankinde? O that wee had been wise in time, but now tyranny, wrath, anguish, and destruction hath seized upon us; we murmured at shipmo­ney before, but now wee are ship wracked of all wee have; we thought our happinesse misery then; but now our mise­ry is our happinesse indeed, and who may we thanke, but our owne obstinancy and disobedience? for which sin we are now forced to obey those that sometime were our inferi­ours: What a case are we now in, when our lives, liberties, and estates lye all under the command of the sword of a treacherous and revolting Army?

Mrs. Hampton, I believe thou speakest all out of envy, because my Governour is an Independent, and I my selfe am commanded by the Army; I professe I thinke the Army meanes well to the King, for all this and will for their advantage close againe with him, and ruine the Parliament.

No, no, never thinke that; they will have no King but Christ forsooth, and he must raigne in their rotten consciences, and their rotten consciences must raigne over you; for the Parliament they intend to breake up that, and chuse Representatives by their owne power, without the Kings Writ, that shall be all Independent, which shall be the upholders, preservers, maintainers, setlers, and establishers of the Kingdome; they meane to have a Parliament that that they can rule, this is too unruly for them; then for the liberty of the Subject, when Sir Thomas and his copartner Crumwell shall be the Kingdomes Stewards, and dispose of all as they shall thinke fit, the honour and priviledge of Par­liament must needs be well backed and maintained then; when they shall act or doe nothing but by the order of the Army.

Uxbridge. But stay a while Mrs. Hampton, what will [Page 5]you say, if London and the whole Kingdome rise in armes to quell this tyrannicall Army, what will you say then?

Then they will prevent all this; but they are so besotted and bewitched to their owne ruine, that they had rather live slaves, then resist the Army, there is danger in that, and danger they love not, and Religion and they are upon shaking hands and parting.

Uxbridge. But if the King signes to what he swore to main­taine at his Coronation, how doth he preserve his honour, or a good Conscience; or what will he be the better?

If he breakes his Oath in signing to the Presbyterian Religion; farewell Conscience; for the Militia tis in the hands of the Army, and they willl scourge him with his own Rod; but if he looseth his Honour and a good Conscience (as God forbid) and granteth all things they ask, which to prevent more effusion of innocent blood he will do, he must remaine but the outside, the picture and signe of a King, to the Parliament them­selves, and signe or signe not be ruined by the Army too: Had ever King two such Masters, if he pleaseth the Parliament then he disp [...]easeth the Ar­my, and if he sides with the Army then he displeaseth the Parliament; and betweene two Thieves he is crucified, either of them traetyrously in­forcing, or craftily perswading His Majesty; for avoiding the devou­ring Gulph Charibdis, to dash himselfe against the sharpe Rock of death-threatning Seylla, according to that old verse, never more truly verified then now.