THis Alarum-Bell, I have sent to be rung in the ears of all true Christians, whereby it may arowse them from the dead sleep of sin & security: & to beware of Gods Iudg­ments, which he threatens against all ob­stinate, presumptuous, & stiff-necked peo­ple: behold friends, I would not have you thinke, that I will take upon me to Pro­phesie or Prognosticate any thing in this Booke, but what is warranted me by the Scriptures. That little Talent that the Lord hath lent me, I would not hide it, but willingly so lay it out, that y ^e use may re­dound to the glory of God, & the good of all those that fear him: my desire is, that this my small Book, cald Englands Alarum-Bell, may be as powerfull in your eares, & work so much for your souls, to stop Gods wrath by Prayer and Repentance, as the Prea­ching of Jonah to the Ninivites, as the Lord commanded him; who at the hearing of Jonah, when he said, Yet forty dayes & Ni­niveh [Page]shall be overthrown: they fasted and mayed with such earnestnes & sincerity to y ^e Lord, that God repented him of y ^e evill that he said he would doe, & did it not: as you may read in the 3 of Jonah; You have heard lately, & do hear by the Iudgemēts & Prognostications of many mē now late­ly, of many sad things that are like to be­fall, not onely this Nation, but all Christ­endome besides; whether they will prove true or false, none but y ^e Lord knows: the stars & planets I must confes are y ^e Mes­sengers of God, & are sent as fore runners of many things, which they do dive much into, yet faile in their judgements many times: & many times I am perswaded that the Lord doth call back y ^e terrour of those signes and tokens that he sends, to make them know, that they are but men.

There is many I am perswaded, y ^e did look to sée the 29 of March last, to be a ter­rible day, as all writers did prognosticate. I must confes the Eclipse was true, both of the Moon the 15 day, & the Sun the 29, according as they had written; the Moon indéed a very sad one, & great winds rose upon her eclipse, according as M. Culpep­per writ in his Almanack; For the Sun, 't was eclipsed so much, as y ^e appearance of it was like a new Moon; 9 parts of 12 of [Page]her were darkned, or more, but y ^e splendor of that that did appear of it, was so bright and glorious, & so clear the aire was, that the day was not so terrible to behold: But the power of the Lord was admirable in this Eclipse: I would desire all you y ^t have séen this Eclipse, to consider this thing y ^e power of God over man was this, (that I may with Reverence say) He caused light out of darknesse: for the splendor of y ^e part of the Sun that was not eclipsed was so glorious, that it gave a luster on earth frō the dark heavens; which if the Lord had suffered the clouds to have covered y ^e part of the Sun that was not eclipsed, w ^t such clouds & darknesse that was in the morn­ing before she was eclipsed, it would have bin then (I think) a dismall day to look on indéed; & then perhaps more glory would have bin given to some men on earth, then to God above, and afterwards would have bin so extolled for their prognostications by so many silly people in these times, y ^t they would have took their Almanacks for Scripture, & have looked more in them, thē in y ^e Bible. They writ very largely of the effects that will follow; what the effects will be the Lord knows: & if they do know by y ^e stars & planets, that the Lord doth in­tend those things that they writ on; yet [Page]let this my Alarum-Bell sound so much cō ­fort in y ^e ears of all true Christians, that if we wil but truly & with a sincere heart repent us of our sins, & leave them, y ^e Lord will repent him of the evill that hée pre­tended, & leave punishing: you shall find in the 13 of Hosea the 9 & 10 ver. the comfor­table words of y ^e Lord which he spare to his people after he had aflicted thē; saith he, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thy selfe, but in me is thy help; I will be thy King, where is any other that may save thee in all thy Cities? by this you may sée the Lord hath no de­light to the destruction of a nation or peo­ple. I desire you likewise, y ^t the brightnes of the Lords mercy in this eclipse of the Sun, may not be a means to harden your hearts, as I am afraid it doth too many in this Land, that makes a laughing at it, & thinks, because it was not so dismal a day as it was spoke of by y ^e Astrologers, y ^t God sent those signs & tokens in vain: I desire you to be carefull what you do, & scoffe not at the wonders of the Lord, for though he lightened the glory of the Sun, in the e­clipse; without repentance, he will darken the glory of this Nation, & we may féele y ^e effects. Remēber what the Lord saith by the mouth of his Prophet, Isaiah, cap. 5.12 They regard not the workes of the Lord, nei­ther [Page]consider the oppression of his hands; ther­fore my people are gone to Captivity, because they have no knowledge. I look upon this e­clipse in my opinion in two several ways, that it is a fore-runner both of Mercy & Iudgement. First, I take it as the Lords mercy, that he shews these signs in heavē to forewarn us on earth of his judgments to come, & that all his people may prepare to méet him by repentance, before the day of his wrath comes upon us. Next, I looke upon it as his judgments, which he threa­tens by it; for the Lord may say by us as he did by y ^e Children of Israel, Amos 3.2. You onely have I knowne, of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities": For truly I think, no Na­tion under the Sun hath the Lord done more thē for us, & yet no nation hath pro­voked him as we have done. Look again in the 4. of Amos, 9, 10, 11. verses I have sent amongst you the Pestilence, after the māner of Egypt; your young men have I slaine with the Sword, and have taken away your Horses; and I have made the stink of your Corps to come up in your nostrills; ye: have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have overthrowne some of you, as I overthrew Sodome and Go­morrah, & you were as fire-brands pluckt out of the burning, yet have you [...] returned unto [Page]me, saith the Lord: therefore thus will I doe with thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

I thinke if we rightly understand these words, the Lord may say as much to Eng­land as he did to Israel, & we may apply it to our selves: therefore I conclude this matter concerning the Eclipses; & desire you to take notice of this, that when God shews wonders in the heavens above, and signs in y ^e earth below, 'tis high time to look about us, & not to be as they were in the time of Noah, for, They were eating & drin­king, & marrying, & giving in marriage, til the flood came upō thē all. But if you wil take my advice, look upon thē as they are men; & though God hath endued them with more knowledge then other men; Yet all the wis­dome of this world is but foolishnes, in regard of the knowledge & wisdome of God above. Now give me leave to ring this my Ala­rum-Bell once more to this sinfull Nation, & to shew you in this Booke, by the help of God & the Scriptures, the reason & cause y ^t the Lord hath to enter into a controver­sie with us; & truly I think there is none that hears or reads this Book, that hath y ^e fear of God before their eyes, but will ac­knowledg this Alarum-Bell hath iust cause to be rung lou [...] in the ears of all this Na­tion, [Page]to tel England of her sins, y ^t by prayer we may stand in the gap, to kéepe out the Iudgements of God which is like to bée poured out upon this Land.

I refer the consideration of this Book to any Christian, that hath any féeling of the grace of God in them. Was sin ever at a greater height then it is now at this time in our Land? and the more God strives to humble us by his judgments & afflictions, y ^e more do we presume in sin: what sins is there in y ^e Scriptures to be pronounc'd a­gainst, but we are guilty of? what Nation under y ^e sun doth more abound in iniquity thē we do, & especially now of late times? and briefly, these foure sins which I shall name, are like four Load-stones, to draw down y ^e heavy wrath of God upon us; that is, Pride, Coveteousnes, Blasphemy, and Drūkēnes; & indéed Pride & Coveteousnes are ring-leaders of most sins under y ^e sun: Pride was one of the chief sins of Sodom. Look in Ezek. 16.49. what y ^e Lord saith to Samaria. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; Pride, fulnes of Bread, & abun­dance of idlenesse was in her, & in her daugh­ters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And at vers. 50. And they were haughty, & cōmitted abomination before me; therefore I took thē away as I saw good. [Page]May not the Lord say so to our Nation? did you ever sée or hear, that pride was e­ver grown to y ^e height in Town & City, as 'tis now? nay, there are some that are so pust up with the pride of heart, that they will pine the'r Carkasse inwardly. What fashiō [...] is there invented every day, to ful­fil y ^e pride of this nation? & we do as 'twere almost tell God to his face, that y ^e more he séeks to humble us by his judgmēts which he hath sent amongst us, the more we pre­sūptuously séek to exalt our selves, by our pride & ambition: but remember what the Lord saith, He wil pull down the proud and lofty, and exalt the humble and meeke.

Covetousnesse is a sin that is linkt with Pride, for neither of them both hath any Charity in them: y ^e poore may lie & starve in y ^e stréets, rather thē pride or covetous­nes wil either cloth their nakednes, or fill their bellies: no, no, they will rather eat up the poore (as y ^e Lord saith) rather thē féed them. But look to it, thou that hast corn, & wine, & riches; you are but stewards for y ^e poor, & where y ^e Lord gives much, much he requires, either tēporal or spiritula: thou must give an account one day, how y ^u hast spent that talent that God hath lent thée; without you use it the beteer, he will say, Depart, I know you not; I was a hungry, and [Page]you gave me no meat; I was thirstie, and you gave me no drinke; I was a stranger, and you took me not in; naked, & you cloathed me not; sick, and in Prison, and you visited me not: Mat. 25.42, 43. I think you understand, he meant his poore Members on earth; how many poore souls in these times are ready to starve, & where is the pity or charity y ^t is shew'd unto them? Did not Job say, The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh, blessed be his Name. And knowst thou, O man, what ere thou be, how soone the Lord may take thy wealth from thée, or thée from it? doe not be fed with y ^e fancies of these times; that it is a relique of Popery to give alms or be charitable; no, if thou hast faith & no good works, it is a dead faith: all thy gold & riches cannot buy thée one dram of Re­pentance, nor procure one blast of breath, more then y ^e Lord (out of his mercy) doth bestow upon thée: thou mayst covet riches here on earth, but thou canst not covet life; thou mayst covet, but it is in vaine.

The Scriptures are fulfilled in these our times, & indéed looke in Mat. 24. & read it, & you shall find all things fulfilled, only y ^e calling of the Jews, & we know not how soon that may be. Our Saviour saith, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of ma­ny shall grow cold: & indéed so it doth now, [Page]for there is little Love or Charity to be found amongst us; look what y ^e Lord saith by the mouth of his Prophet Hosea, Chap. 4.1, 2. Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye Chil­dren of Israel; for the Lord hath a Controver­fie with the Inhabitants of the Land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the Land. By swearing, & lying, kil­ling, & stealing, & committing adultery, they break out, & blood toucheth blood: there fore shal the Land mourn, & every one that dwel­leth therein shall languish. We may apply this to our selves, if we consider Prophe­sie: if y ^e Lord will not hold him guiltle; that taketh his Name in vaine; How will he hold him guiltlesse, y ^t takes a glory in swear­ing, as many do in these times, who boast in their oaths, & scarce ever think of God but whē they swear by his name, whether it be false or true? look in Zechariah 5.3, 4. you shall sée what the Lord sent against y ^t Théefe & the Swearer, for the Lord joyn & them both together; for the Swearer robs God of his honour: & he sent out a Curse to destroy them, & it shall remaine in the midst of their house, till it had destroyed both them & it. I desire you y ^t are addicted to that sin beware, for it is such a sin that you can make no excuse for it; it brings you neither pleasure nor profit, unlesse it [Page]be the wrath of God, which he threatens against presūptuous sins: it is such a sin in this Nation (the Lord be mercifull to us) that you shall scarce walk the stréets but you shal hear little Children, y ^e scarce knows the right hand from the left, yet they can learn to swear, & their parents scarce correct them for it. The Lord may well visit the sins of the father upon y ^e Children, when you suffer your Children to take his most sacred Name in vaine.

The last sin which I have to name: for indéed 'tis not for me to number, nor to reckon all the severall sins of this Nation, for I think we exceed Sodom & Gomorrah in our wickednes; only I have toucht these four sins, as namely, Pride, Covetousnes, Blasphemy, & Drunkennes, which is the foure crying sins of this Nation: my Ala­rum-Bell rings loud in the ears of all those that loves y ^e sin of Drunkennesse: sée what y ^e Lord saith by the mouth of his Prophet Joel, 1.5. Awake ye Drunkards, and weep, & howle all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is out off from your mouth. Read y ^e Chapter, & you shall find what the Lord did doe for abusing those creatures; for in time of plenty, they made a wast: therefore y ^e Lord brought a Famine & scar­city, because of their Drunkennes & Glut­tony.

Again, look in Habakkuk 2.15, 16. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, & makest him drunk also, that thou maist look on his nakednesse. The cup of the Lord; right hand shalbe turn­ed unto thee, & shamefull spung shalbe on thy glory. Let us take héed: we have, the Lord be thanked, plenty; but by our riotousnes, & drunkennes, it is just with God to bring a scarcity. How many poor souls, in this na­tiō, would be glad of a draught of Béer to quench their thrist; when many thousands take so much, they are fain to disgorge it up again, & worst then beasts, most shame­fully abuse those creatures that God hath sent for the nourishment of man? I desire you to beware of that sin, for a man is not himself when he is in drink, he is subject to all kind of wickednes. How many dan­gerous & desperate sins hath many men fallen into when they have bin in y ^e case, and such great ones too, that hath indan­gered both soule and body.

Now, I have given you warning by my Alarum-Bell, that you may prepare your salves by flying from sin, and flying to the Lord by repētance; which if we undoubt­ly do, we néed not fear what man progno­sticates; for the Lord hath promised, At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of [Page]his sins from the bottome of his heart, he will blot out all his iniquities. But we must not delay our repētance; & take our own time, for we know not how soone the Lord will come; but let us be like wise Virgins, to be ready at all times to méet him, that we may enter into glory with him: for thus much assure your selves, there is like to be great troubles throughout all Christen­dome: for all nations are preparing for the destruction of one another. Iust as y ^e Lord speaketh shalbe in the latter dayes: There shall be great Tribulations, such as was not since the beginning of the world, Mat. 24.21. For Nation shall rise against Nation, and Kingdome against Kingdome, and there shall be Earth-quakes in divers places, and there shall be Famines, and great troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrow, Mark 13.8.

And now to conclude, desiring you to look in Amos 5.14, 16. Seeke good, and not evill, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of Hosts, shall be with you, as he hath spoken. Hate the evill, and love the go [...]d, and establish Judgements in the gate; It may be the Lord of God of Hosts wil be gracious to y ^e remnant of Joseph: For the Lord hath pro­mised he will hide his people in the day of his wrath. Then let us séek the Lord while he may be found, before the evill [Page]day cōmeth; for if we get under the pro­tection of his Wings, we néed not feer the day of Doome, nor the day of Death: nei­ther Sword, Pestilence, nor Famine shal hurt us, for the Lord will bring his peo­ple out of all their troubles.

So the last sound of this my Alarum­Bell, concludes with the swéet harmony of Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Ro­mans, Chap. 8. vers. 38, 39. Which I would desire all Christians in these sad times, to arme thēselves with the same resolution, and then assure your selves you shall bée more then Conquerors. For, I am per­swaded, saith S. Paul, That neither death, nor life, nor Angells, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other Creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.