Englands losse and Lamentation.
ENGLAND may justly, at this day lament, with the Prophet Ieremy, and say: How hath the Lord covered Lam. 2. 1. the daughter of Zion, with a cloud in his anger? and cast downe from Heaven to the Earth, the beauty of Israel? As if the Lord had purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion? He hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying; he made the Rampart, and the wall, to lament: He hath destroyed and broken her barres: Her King and Princes are among the Gentiles: The Law is no more. Her Prophets find no vision, The Elders sit upon the ground and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads and girded themselves with sackcloth. And for my selfe, mine eyes doe faile, with teares, my soule is troubled, because of Englands miseries. Her own sword hath destroyed her Prophets, like a destroying Lion: her young men are slaine, her Virgins are defloured, famine is entering in upon her. When children and sucklings, wil say, to their mothers where it bread? Where is drink? when they swoone as the wounded in the streets, and powre their soules into their mothers bosome.
O England, where is thy glory? Thy Freedome, Liberty, Lawers and Religion? shall thy freedome be lost, and thy hereditary liberties be taken from thee, thy just Lawes corrupted, and thy Religion adulterated, by Idolatry? and yet will you not see it? Shall thy profits be destroyed, and thy honorable men slaine by the sword; and thou not avenge it? Where is thy zeale to God? where is thy care, thy love, thy Justice, to posterity? art not thou guilty of depriving thy children, of the blessing, which God hath by thy Fathers, given thee? wilt thou not maintaine thine owne inheritance, and the rights [Page] of thy children? or wilt thou suffer those worthyest to be destroyed, that lose their lives in thy defence, and not avenge their bloud?
Is there not a Prince, and a great man fallen in Israel? fallen by upholding thee? and not onely a Prince, and a great man, but a holy just, and righteous, great man: a Pillar of the Church a supporter of the State, That right Honorable Robert Lord Brooke; rightly to be honoured to lasting posterities? He was honest, and just to all men: righteous in all his wayes, and religious in his whole life; learned in all arts: And able in all Sciences: Loyall to his King, faithfull to his Country: And valiant in his undertakings for the defence of both: to his end pittifull to his enemies, in his end happy to himselfe. And by his end terror to his enemies; whose bloud will hasten vengeance upon the actors, and causes of such cruelties.
We cannot account better of those men then sons of ' Belial, and limbs of the devil: Who at the newes of this noblemans death, called their hellish companions to the Taverns, and for joy drunke themselves drunk, and in their drunkenesse spake scandalous & railing speches against Him: God rebuke them. God and men heard and saw them.Who can but commend his parts, and honour his vertues, Morall and Divine? What man can staine his life, blemish his practise, tax his fidelity, or gainsay his stoutnesse, courage, and valour, in him as much manifested, in so little a time, as ever in any man? At his first meeting with his great Antagonist E. N. betweene Banbury, and Edge-hill, Heroick, Brooke, offered to deside the contraries quarrell, by a Lordly combat (as is knowne to those whom it then concerned,) and for his undaunted courage against the face of an Enemy in battell; Let Keinton, and Branford make report; Stratford cannot deny it, and Lichfield must confesse the same. Whose basenesse had no resistance against his valour, but cowardly treachery; And thereby have robb'd the Kingdome of a pretious Jewell, and weakened the Church, and state, of a principal pillar!
O England consider: What hast thou lost? But why doe I aske thee? thou knowest not thine owne losse; Thou art in thy stupidity: or in a slumber of carnall security, a foolish and undiscerning Nation! Thou rejectest thy friends, and imbracest thine enemies; Thou lovest pelfe, and slightest pearles, art at peace with thy destroyers, and makest War with thy preservers.
That hast lost a Noble refreshing Brooke, an unvaluable friend, a pearle of great price, a Hector better then ever Troy injoyed: an Achilles, more valiant then ever Greece possessed. A Brook? yea a Brook better then the famous river Nilus: Nilus could onely refresh the herbes, and plants of Egypt; This Brook, the lives and spirits of men.
Who ever knew him, and grieves not? who can say he loves God, religion, the King, the State, or good men, and yet mournes not [Page] for such a losse, a pillar of the Kingdome, a staffe of the War, a peere of the Parliament, a Patriarch of his Country, a sincere servant of God: and a loyall Subject to the King, and State? He, this pillar, this staffe, this Peere, this Patriarch, Gode servant, the Kings Subject; He is slaine: slaine in the Kings and his Kingdomes cause, slaine treacherously, basey, and cowardly, by an Enemy and Traytor to both.
If David, a King, lamented over Abner (though he had beene his 2 Sam. 3. 33. Enemy) how much more should we lament over this our Abner? a friend alwayes, and to the death, as faithfull as Ionathan to David; But how died this Noble Brooke, died he as a foole dieth! no; died he by the hands of his equall? no; died he in a battel by any valour of any Enemy? no; But how died he? As a man that falleth before wicked men, to fell our Noble Brooke: and all his friends weep, and lament for him.
Weepe thou, his vertuous Lady, cry yee, pretty children, (his owne pictures) weepe al yee his Souldiers, mourne yee his servants, bewaile your losse all you his Friends, Tenants, Neighbours, and Acquaintance; And you poore people (weekly relieved by his bounty) weepe and houle, yea, lament whole England, because he is not; Thou wilt know thy losse, by the want of him: (though thou prizedst not thy gaine whilest thou hadst him,) but thou canst not recover thy losse; I cannot but take up my lamentation for thee, as once the Prophet did Lam. 2. 13. &c. for Ierusalem: by way of quaere, What shall I witnesse of thee? what shall I equall to thee, that I may comfort thee? for thy breach is great like the Sea, who can heale it? Thou hast beene deluded by thy Prophets: thy seers have seene false burdens, causes of thy misery misleaders of thy King, and Princes: Thou art a derision to the Nations that have feared, and honoured thee. Thy idolatrous Enemies open Esay 57. 1. Lam. 2. 21. Ezech. 38. 21. their mouthes against thee, and say, this is the day, they looked for; we have have found it; we have seene it; Thy righteous men perish, and thou layest it not to heart, thy young, and thy old men lie on the ground, and are fallen by the sword, in the day of Gods anger; but thou regardest it not: God hath called for the sword against thee, and every mans sword is against his brother, yet thou art not humbled, to seeke thy God; though all this is upon thee for thine iniquity; And for thy sinne is this pillar taken from thee: He while he lived, lived for thee, was thy servant, to keepe thee from bondage: esteem'd thy liberty above his owne life; but thou didst not, nor hast, nor canst, requite him: his labour, love, zeale, religion, and faithfulnesse is his [Page] Crowne: He died in Gods cause, and his workes are with him.
His Ladies teares, his Childrens cries, his Souldiers weeping, his Servants mourning, his Friends bewailing, his Neighbours sorrow, his Tenants griefe, and his Acquaintance moanings; The Poores complainings, and the Kingdomes lamentations, can adde nothing to his happinesse; They may all expresse their owne unhappinesse and irrecoverable losse.
But thou Lichfield, the sinke of iniquity, cage of uncleane and wicked spirits: ungodly, prophane, and most prodidiously wicked: chiefe instrument of the Kingdomes misery! let the remembrance of thee be hatefull; and thy name blotted out from among the Townes of the Provinces. And let it not faile that some of thy inhabitants, be for ever visited with some Diseases; fall by the Sword, and want bread: 2 Sam. 3. 29Hee whom thou hast slaine, hath finished his course, rests from his labour, and his soule is for ever blessed; The cry of his bloud is gon to Heaven, to hasten vengeance upon thee, and his enemies.
And you his friends, and Souldiers, be you humbled, who (it is likely) are not guiltlesse of his death: you have too much deified his worth, and provoked God to take him from us: When good men are contemned, God taketh them away, that he may the sooner destroy a Nation, or people, as Noah, and Lot: And when good men are deified, (that is, rather looked upon as causes, then instruments) God also takes them away, because his glory is by them eclipsed, in dlivering a Nation, or people; as Moses, who died in the Mount; whose Sepulcher was never knowne to this day. And that victorious King of Sweden, who in his life time foretold the same of himself: Therfore let every man looke to his owne heart, and finde out the sinne that hath displeased God, and be humbled; and then be not discouraged by this Noble mans death, but rather get more courage, manfully to avenge his guiltlesse blood, and God will assist you; The cause is Gods, himselfe is engaged in it with you; put forth your strength, use your weapons, make your best preparations, but trust in nothing (neither men nor Armes) but in God, who is alone the God of battell, and Lord of Hosts; he will supply you with an other Ioshua, to goe before you, and will not faile you, nor forsake you. The Lord is with you while ye be with him; and if you seeke him, he will be found of you. You have double encouragement to go on with Deut. 31. 6. 2 Chro. 15 2: Psal. 20. 1. confidence in this cause; you have Gods promise, and you have experience of his gracious presence going with you in it: The Lord heare you in the day of your trouble, the God of Iacob defend you.
[Page]First, for encouragement take notice of Gods promises: he hath promised if you serve him onely, he will deliver you, 1 Sam. 7. 3. Again, He will deliver thee in six troubles, yea in seven, there shall no evill touch thee; in Famine he will deliver thee from death; and in warre from the power of the sword, Iob 22. 30. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, Jerem. 1. 8. They shall fight against thee, but shall not prevaile, for I am with thee, to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord, Ierem. 15. 20. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly, and reserve the unjust to be punished, 1 Pet. 2. 9. Gods promises of this nature are obvious in every booke of holy Scripture; yea God is delighted to deliver his people, when they truely seeke to him. See these places, Psal. 50. 15. 2 Chron. 16. 35.
Object. This Noble Lord believed the promises, and yet he saw no deliverance.
Answ. Nationall promises, (though they never faile a Nation, or people, when Gods time is come, yet) are not alwaies made good, in the same kind, to every particular man: as we see in the two first battels of the Tribes of Israel against the Tribe of Benjamin: though they went against them by commission from God, they were slaine, 40000. yet Judg. 20. the third time, when they had sought God by humiliation and prayer, they overcame all those wicked Beniamites, who refused to deliver up the men of Belial to the justice of the Law. We have also particular instances, in Moses, Ʋzza, Asa, &c. Sometime God doth it because of particular failings in men; sometimes to make way for the worke of some other part of his providence, as it was in the death of righteous Ionathan; or for the clearer manifestation of his own power and glory: yet such men faile not of their part, in such promises; but enjoy a greater good, and better promise, of which the other is but a shadow: and we have assurance, that all things worke together for the good of them Rom. 8. 28 that love God.
Object. But we see whole Kingdomes, and flourishing Churches, have been destroyed, notwithstanding these promises; as whole Iudea, Jerusalem, all the flourishing Churches of Asia, and of late Germany, the Churches of the Palatinat, Rochell, and Ireland, &c.
Answ. When whole Kingdoms consent to sinne, and associate themselves in wickednesse, then whole Kingdomes are destroyed; and when Churches set up Idolatry, and wholly forsake God, and adulterate Gods pure worship, God gives them over to be destroyed: for as God Judg. 3. 7, 8. promiseth deliverance when Idolatry is thrust out, by dislike and reformation; [Page] so he denounceth destruction and desolation where wickednesse and Idolatry is authorized: So when religion consists onely inform and outside-worship, without the love, and power of it: (as now) then God brings a people into the fire of affliction, in which, without reformation they may be consumed; but if such a Kingdome, or such a Church doe then humble themselves, and pray, and seeke Gods face, 2 Chr. 7. 14 he will be mercifull to their sinne, and will heale their Land. But the representative body of this Kingdome have not associated in wickednesse, nor is the worship of God, yet, wholly adulterated; but Idolatry opposed by that body, and many thousands besides in this Kingdome, against whom wicked men and I dolaters give counsell, and doe associat themselves to hinder the reformation they desire. Therefore, (though not for our righteousnesse, but) for the wickednesse of those men, we may, and ought, to rest with confidence upon the promise of God for our deliverance if our humiliation be good, and our desire of reformation right.
Secondly, for incouragement, take notice of the experiences of Gods gracious presence, going with us in this Parliament, as with Israel, to bring them out of their Egyptian bondage; he hath by his own hand wrought great things by them, and for them: he hath been to them a pillar of a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, to guid, and to defend them: It was no small part of providence to bring them together, and wonderfull in guiding, directing, providing, preferring, and defending of them; and no lesse wonderfull in discovering, defeating and blasting the designes of their enemies. Consider that saying of Manoahs wife to her husband, when he said they should surely die: Jud. 13. 23. If the Lord (saith she) were pleased to kill us, he would not have shewed us all these things; wicked men may prevaile for a time, but are (as the Psalmist speakes) suddenly destroyed: Psal. 64. 7.There is one righteous Judge, who will give righteous judgement: There is one mighty King, in whose hand are the hearts of all Kings, who in his due time wil save his Anoynted, and destroy his enemies, and our eyes are towards him; Prov. 21. 1.for we know not what to do, but to trust in him: If you beleeve in the Lord your God, so shall you be established; beleeve his Prophets and you shall 2 Chro. 20 12. prosper. 2 Chron. 20. 20.