The AVTHORS CHARGE TO HIS ARGVS.
QVick sighted
Argus haste, Make no delay,
Like to the Lyon, greedy of his prey,
Range far and neer, in every corner spy
Where
Iustice innocent may lurk or ly:
For sure I am he's hid, and hath not been
In this our Climate
I speak by wofull experience.
scarce these seven yeers seen.
The noise of Drums, and Guns, the smell of Powder,
Or Match, our Cannon-shot, which are far louder.
Or our innumerous tearing
Ordinances,
The horsemens clatt'ring Armes, or horses Prances,
Our Thundrings, Blundrings, Plundrings
every day,
I fear have scar'd him from us quite away.
Sweet
Argus haste thee, and perform the charge
That I do give thee: Thy commission's large:
And be not absent from me many yeers,
To raise in me new Jealousies and Fears;
But take it as a branch of thy Commission,
To act thy careful part with expedition:
Continue faithful, prove as true as steel,
Constant, like him that turneth Fortunes wheel.
Remember
Iuno's bird, and never be
Deceiv'd again by any
Mercury:
Let no deluding
Musick more inchant thee,
Nor Threats, nor frowns of any greatness, daunt thee:
[Page] I do conjure thee to perform the trust
In thee repos'd, be faithful, true, and just:
Be watchful, careful, let no eie be sleeping,
But all employ'd, in every corner peeping,
Where any probability may be
That
Iustice lurks, or thou just acts may'st see.
Haste to th'
Army, to th' head-quarters hye:
Search out the
Reformadoes where they lie;
Be frequent at their quarters, learn if they
Have not conniv'd, and let h
[...]m steal away,
Who if h' ad staid, and wars been hust and left,
Their often
Plundrings had been prov'd plain theft;
Enquire amongst them if they do not know
That he was banisht th' Army long ago
Before this
Model, if he exiled, then
Why should we seem to blame these other men
For not performing what they have declared?
In
Conscience then these men may well be
And lay down Armes.
spared.But shall I tell thee
Argus the conceit
That came into my musing troubled pate?
I fear those
Members lately sent away,
Banisht
Him first, and after durst not stay.
But to thy charge, post further into th'
West,
There take what speedy course thou thinkest best
To find him out, but ere thou further go,
Take some instructions how thou maist him know;
Be not mistaken, 'tis not every he
That sits in
Iustice seat, that
just will be,
Thou seest it proved true, thou know'st how I
Have suffered in a
Court of Equity:
How I am ruin'd, and turn'd out of all,
And yet turn'd in again to bondage thrall
[Page] Bereav'd of
house, and
goods, and
remedy,
And as unjustly caus'd
in Goale
to lie.
Which maketh many think that I have spent all,
Truth is, I'm ruin'd by
unsavory Lenthal.
That
partial Iudge, who with his
Ianus face,
Relents no wrongs, blusheth at no disgrace,
Whose wills his Law, and be it right or wrong,
He'll still be taking part with them that's strong,
Who lately went to th' Army, 'tis well known,
Which was dislik'd by many of their owne:
And when Sir
Thomas printed forth his praise,
The People could not hope for better daies,
When as this
So I shall prove him.
Machiavel is so detected
For his injustice, yet is still respected,
And honour'd as the Kingdoms deerest friend,
When as his aime is nothing but self-end.
Whose actions are so vile, so fouly base,
That they do live engraven in his face.
His greatness, nor his power cannot blind them,
But all the Kingdom both remark and mind them,
Whose powerful influence flows to such a rate,
That our inferior
As Iustice
Hooker Iustice
Parker, the Sheriffe of
Middlesex, and
Klinkerd the Bayliffe of
VVestminster, but of them at large in the Spies answer.
Ministers of State
Dares not to cross, nor his injustice alter,
But rather with him by injustice falter.
Who by his power doth hope to beset free
From that injustice they bestow on me.
Argus be wise, and be not eas'ly charm'd,
Fore-warned be, as thou art now fore-arm'd,
Observe the marks that I shall give to thee,
To know true Iustice
from Partialitie.
A Rev'rend Iudge is he whom thou dost find
Thus qualifi'd in outward act and mind,
[Page] This is his wish, and in his heart 'tis treasur'd,
To have his greatness by his goodness measur'd:
He's one that doth appear to thee and me,
None other then he'd have us both to be.
And yet this is his care, his greatest fear,
Lest he prove other then he doth appear,
True Justice cannot one thing seem to be,
And yet prove other, that's hypocrisie:
And as his heart's inclin'd to give content,
So are his outward acts as innocent,
Like to his Embleme, thou shalt cleerly finde
To all respect of Persons he is blind,
His ears are open all complaints to hear,
And from bribe taking both his hands are clear
In one a tickle Ballance thou shalt spy,
To weigh all diff'rences with equity,
A two edg'd sword there doth possess the other,
To cut as well to stranger as to brother
His equal due, such is his circumspection▪
The innocent to shroud by his protection
From all abuses, but the nocent he
Doth punish with as much severity:
In fine, he gives no leave to me or you
To cozen any of his real due:
He is endow'd with vertue, and such art
That he devides to each his equal part
With innocence, without Partiality.
And if thou chancest such an one to spy,
Take
Eagles wings if thou be'st in the
West,
And bring me word, for they will speed thee best,
And as quick
Titan in his course doth hie,
So do thou quickly cut the starry skie,
[Page] If in the
East thou find'st such creatures are,
Get up betimes, haste with the morning star,
And with
Aurora's light let me have word.
This Phoenix if the Southern part afford,
Call to this welcom sight swift
Mercury,
And whilst his senses ravisht are to see
This seldom seen, strip off his swifter wing,
And poste away to me the news to bring,
By which thou shalt his cunning equalize,
When he bereav'd thee of thy hundred eyes.
If in the cold and ruder
North thou find
This
Heaven-bred creature, swiftly be inclin'd
To make thy speed, which that thou maist improve,
Go hire the wings of that swift Scottish Dove,
And soar my towring Ark, and there present me
With that, which nothing better can content me:
This Olive-branch alone is that will presse,
And give both me and all the Kingdom ease.
But ere thou com'st away, incline his heart
To stay till thy return, and not to part
From that his residence, do thou intreat him,
And in these gentle begging words bespeak him.
Sweet
Justice, thou great stranger in our Land,
By whose great power all Kingdoms firmly stand
Vnder their great Creator, thou art he
That canst annihilate our misery.
And canst restore the wrong'd to right agen,
And glad the hearts of discontented men,
Who by
Jehovah's power canst with a smile
Both King and People forthwith reconcile:
Who canst unlock the prisons, and canst see
The many poor oppressed, subjects free:
[Page] Where hundreds are enslav'd this instant houre
By tyrannie and arbytrarie power,
I do conju
[...]e thee now, as thou art true,
That hence thou part, nor bid this place adieu,
Till I but carryword, and come agen
With thousands of poor discontented men,
Who are bereav'd of all for want of thee,
And brought to slavish wo and misery.
If thou didst view our discontented land,
Longer thou couldst not thus remotely stand:
Didst thou behold thy judgment seat abused,
Thy self disgrac'd thy name profanely used,
By those that are not what they seem to be,
Surely thou wouldst no farther from us flee,
But rather haste to vindicate thy name,
And to restore thy self, thy ancient fame,
To terrifie that crue that have abus'd thee,
And thus disgracefully so long have us'd thee.
If thou with confidence these words canst say,
I am assur'd he cannot then away,
For when the
poor oppressed to him cry,
He must in
Iustice give them remedy,
Nay 'tis his kind, This makes him Iustice be,
To right the wrong'd, to set the bond-man free,
To ease the heavie burd'ned and oppressed,
And mercy shew to him that is distressed:
If he be
Iustice just, he will be be known
The onely
He the poor mans cause to own;
Else he must cease from what he seems to be,
And then he is not what he shews to thee:
Therefore if he shall seem to slight thy speech
When thou do'st press, entreat, or thus beseech,
[Page] Or else pretend some other weighty thing,
Either for People, Kingdom, or the King:
Believe him not, though he make protestations,
Vows, Covenants, and several Declarations:
Though he pretend Religions purity,
And that a very Saint he seems to be,
In observation of each Fasting-day,
Or by the Spirit though be seems to pray,
Though he be zealous to destroy the Crosse,
And blot out names of Easter, Lent, and Mass,
To banish superstitious holy-daies,
Or Christmasse.
With fingle-fangling Rosemary and Bayes,
That root and branch hath pul'd the Bishops down,
That Presbyters alone might wear the Crown,
Of government, or if the onely he
That standeth most for Independency,
And yet neglects the poor mans cry to hear,
All his religion's va
[...]n, 'tis plain and clear,
He wants the fear of God, and Charity,
And all his shews are but hypocrisie:
Believe him not what ever his pretences,
Let him not cozen nor delude thy senses.
Too many such we have, 'tis too well known,
That makes both me and thousand subjects groan,
Who hears, and sees, and knows our misery,
And can give ease, yet suffers us to lie;
Such is their sordid baseness, whose self ends,
Is how to pleasure greatnesse, and their friends
To raise to honour for the time ensuing,
Though by their Princes, and his peoples ruine.
As for my
M.
Bell Burgess of Westminster, but more of him in the Spyes answer
Trustee, he on whom I doted,
To deal for me, to greatness is devoted.
[Page] Who when I told of this my rued story,
He answer'd me, I was too peremptory
To send to him to help these my decaies,
Who gives me over, and my trust betraies.
I charge thee once again, believe not these
Who Justice slights, themselves alone to please:
And will not mercy shew, but pass them by
As those ordain'd for wo and misery.
And forthwith poste both North, and East, and South,
And as thine eies, so open wide thy mouth,
And send out Proclamations, Hue and Cry,
If any one that see him passing by
Can bring thee tydings of him, he shall see
By thousand prayers himself rewarded be,
And shall be counted as
[...]is Kingdoms friend,
Her differences and discontents to end:
The Kingdom then shall flourish, and the King
Aud People, shall enjoy their own agen:
And then the King shall into favour take him,
And as he's good, so he as great shall make him,
And crown him with an olive wreath, and then
The ruin'd Subjects all shall cry
Amen.
And thus it shall be done alone to him
That Justice brings to Kingdom, and the King.
FINIS.