A NEW PROCLAMATION: OR A WARNING PEECE AGAINST ALL Blasphemers, Ranters, Quakers, and Shakers; both Men and Women: Who goe up and down teaching, That imbracing ungodlinesse, and worldly lusts, they should live unsoberly, unrighteously, ungodly.
PSAL. 50.19.
Thou givest thy Mouth to evill, and thy Tongue frameth deceit.
LONDON, Printed for M. S. and are to be sold at the Blue Bible in Green Arbour, 1653.
A Word to the RANTERS, who goe up and down teaching men and women, that imbracing ungodliness, and worldly lusts, they should live unsoberly, unrighteously, ungodly in this present World.
O Land! how doth thy Church to ruine run,
By
Schismes broken, and by
Sects undone!
O how they swarm! no age could ever tell
A brood too monstrous for their parallell.
Freedome of
conscience! rid us from this thrall
Of spirit, and the yoke
Episcopall;
This once was all the cry, and this we see
As quickly turn'd to
fleshly liberty.
Each now will please himself, and things devise
Right in his
own, wrong in his
Makers eyes.
Things 'tis a shame to speak, things that do call
For
ruine, or
repentance generaell:
[...]
[...]
Without repentance let's expect their
fare.
Speak out ye Jewes, what losse your land befell
By suffring of
one cursed
Jezabel,
By winking at, if nor approving much
Her wicked waits; we have an
hundred such,
Who act her sins, and to encrease the tale
Have furn
[...]sh'd out and rigg'd a
thousand sail
Of new, unheard of sins, that near before
Durst venture landing on our
British shore:
Oh, that a
man unto himself dare's tie
The title of
eternall Majesty,
And say hee's God! this I a sin may call
The
Devill ne'er was chargeable withall.
Oh, that a
worme, a
man should dare t'advance
Himself above a
heavenly ordinance!
What? equall with thy
Maker? none but he
Can claim such
Independent liberty;
The
Devill himself dares not, but stoops and stands,
Riseth, and goes as
Heavens King commands.
Oh, that a man should offer to cast off
That
yoke that Christ cals
easie, make a scoffe
At Gospell precepts, and put on the face
To make a
sing-song at the means of grace!
Were such conditions to the Devils sent,
Would they reject them? sure they would repent.
Oh, that a man should
curse, swear, whore, and
cry,
'Tis a delight to
Heavens Majesty!
The
Devill durst ne'er
declaim on such a
theme,
To prove it
pure religion to
blaspheme.
Oh, that a man ii sin should take his swing,
[Page 5] And mock at judgement, say there's no such thing!
The
Devill dares not, will not this denay,
But
trembles and beleeves a
Judgement day.
Oh, that a man dares call without all fear,
Gods precepts,
bondage, and his Law
severe;
The Devill ne'er Gods Lawes durst dare to fame
Illegall, though a rebell to the same.
O wofull
England! who e're thought to see
Such
wretches born, and
monsters bred in thee!
But are there any such? Yea, such are
these
Ranters, or
Rakehels, call them which you please.
A
Ranter! what is he? one that lives in
All wickednesse, and saith he cannot sin:
Hee's one that blusheth not, but in the light
Declares his sin like to a
Sodomite.
Hee's one that saith there's neither
Heaven nor
Hell,
Prepared for a
Saint or
Infidell:
He spurnes the
Bible, and he doth deny
To
Christ his kingly Soveraignty.
His Ordinances and his Lawes so just,
He
barks at these, because they
bite his lust:
To holinesse and Gospell walking he
Equals the
Devill for an enemy.
Hee'l
swear, and
curse, and
drink, and hath the face
To boast of these as
Characters of
Grace:
When he
blasphemes the most, he dares expresse
That God doth
act him in his
wickednesse.
Hee's one that would all
civill right destroy,
And turn all to a
strange community,
With each mans interest hee'l have to doe,
His
goods, his
wife, his
maid, and
daughter too.
[Page 6] Hee's one that hath attain'd the high'st degree
In Satans
Schoole, Hels
Universitie.
Forgetting God this wretch becometh then
The
pride of
Devils, and the
shame of
men.
When he and his
fraternity do meet,
'Twould make a man amaz'd to hear them greet,
With
woulds, and
bloud, thou
devill, dog, thou
whore,
This is their language, and a deal such more:
These salutations past, they do not fail
To call for
Wine, Tobacco, Beer and
Ale;
These being the
spirits they'r
inspir'd by,
Half
drunk, half
mad, each hath his
prophesie:
A first stands up and doth relate
That he from Heaven is sent,
To cry down both in
Church and
State,
All
formes, and
government.
Pack
Ministers and
Magistrates,
We will have no
such things,
We
Ranters are
sole Potentates,
Both
Prophets, Priests, and
Kings.
There is no
sin, another cries,
This thing call'd
righteousnesse,
Is but a
trick that some devise,
Our freedome to suppresse.
Then let's be
free, in
jollitrie
Let all our time be spent;
Hee's but a
Daw, that stands in awe
Of a
Commandement.
There is no
Hell, another cries,
This is a fancy cleare;
Nor is there any place of joyes
Call'd
Heaven but what is here;
Then let's dance round and tear the ground,
And
gig it whilest we may,
We will not fear, although we hear
Tales of a judgement day.
Thus they proceed in speaking till each one
Hath told his
hellish revelation.
When these are past, then to such
pranks they fall
As if there were
indeed no
Judge at all,
No
ear to
hear, no
eye that e're discries
Their
sordid words, and foul
adulteries.
'Tis shame to tell what these both doe, and say
Not in a
secret, but an
open way.
Here's
dancing, tumbling, swearing, as there were
No
men, nor
women, but all
Devils there;
No
God, no
good, no
sin, no
hell, no
blisse,
O tremble heaven, and hell, and earth at this!
And tremble
Ranters, tremble at your state,
And see your sin before it be too late:
Naked before the Lord your folly lies,
You cannot cheat him with your
Mysteries,
Nor yet the world, for all men now conclude,
The
Atheist reigns in all your
multitude.
I. F.
FINIS.