What Peace to the wicked? OR, An Expostulatorie Answer TO A Derisorie Question, Lately made CONCERNING PEACE.
BY A Free-man, though a Prisoner.
The AUTHOR spares his Name; not, that he dares not To let you know it; but, because he cares not. ⟨George Withers⟩
⟨Aug: 3 d London⟩ Printed in the Yeer 1646.
An Expostulatorie Answer to a Derisorie Question lately made concerning PEACE.
ONe, who hath, seldome, in his daies,
From
Fools, or
Knaves, had love or praise;
And, who, throughout this
Isle, is knowne,
With cheerfulnesse, to have bestowne
His
Wit, Paines, Person and
Estate,
The
Publike-Rights to vindicate,
Along imprisonment hath had,
For calling of a
Spade, a
Spade;
Which (if a
Court-Card) might have been
Next to the
King, except the
Queen.
As
He, in his confinement lay,
Some asked him, the other day,
When he suppos'd this
Warre should end,
Or what successes would attend
Our hopes of
Peace: which
Question, tho
From
Levity it seem'd to flow,
Or,
scoffingly, to be exprest,
Receiv'd this
Answer, not in jest.
Why ask ye when this
Warre will cease?
Or, when this
Kingdome shall have PEACE?
As if you thought, I could fore-shew
What things hereafter would ensue:
Or, as if when the
Truth were told,
You value, or believe it could;
Who, nor esteem, nor use have made
Of those
Fore-warnings you have had?
They that will know what shall
succeed,
Must of
Things-past take serious heed;
And, gleane
Instructions, whilst they may,
From Actions of the
present-Day:
For,
past, and
present Time declares,
What, for the
Future, GOD prepares;
And, till
these quicken their fore-sights,
Men sit in darknesse, till he smites.
If to this
Question, you would know
An
Answer, which the
Truth shall show,
And, not (with
Ahab-like-Desires)
Wish all your
Prophets would be liers;
Then, ask your
Consciences, and they
Will tell, what things expect you may:
For, let my
Troubles never cease,
If ever some have other
Peace
Then what their
Consciences fore-see,
Though KING and PARLIAMENT agree
But, lest the
Conscience may be sear'd;
Or, lest
Delusions have appear'd,
Which promise
Peace, when she is fled,
(And
Vengeance hangeth over-head)
Ask your own
Feares, and
humane-Reason▪
What they conjecture of the
season:
Ask them, what signe it is of
Peace,
When
wickednesse doth more increase;
What may be hop'd for of that
Nation,
That sleights her
dayes of Visitation;
That mendeth not for
words, nor
blowes▪
That, in
reforming, worser growes;
That suffers
them who serve Her best,
To be most wronged, and opprest;
And, on her
Face, all tokens hath
Of
desolation, and of
wrath.
When this is well inquired out,
If still you shall remaine in doubt,
What we may seem fore-doom'd unto;
Let me perswade you thus to do.
Get
information, when the KING
Intends a
Palinode to sing;
When he will their
ill-counsells leave,
Who are
deceived, and
deceive:
What setled
peace we can devise,
Whilst
Irelands-blood for vengeance cries:
Whilst they, who sought to have begot
A Schisme betwixt
Ʋs, and the
Scot,
Have
Trust, or
Power: or, els, whilst they
Escape unblam'd, who scandals lay
Upon that
Army, by whose hand
GOD, hath from
Thrall, redeem'd this
Land;
Both to the grief, and shame, of them,
VVho, their
beginnings did contemne.
Or, whilst the person of the PRINCE,
(VVhich traiterously was sent from hence)
Is kept in
France, to have some fine
New-foolish-mischievous Designe
Rais'd thereupon; for, who can tell,
But, that, he there so long may dwell,
As, his due birth-right to recover,
And, bring his
Peasant-Subjects over,
To help perswade with us, that we
VVould, here, be slaves, as, there, they be.
Now, if this be the plot, I feare,
It will be long, ere
Peace be here.
VVhat
Peace can we expect, whilst they
Who spoiled us, not onely may
Finde
mercy, (which we could allow)
But, so imperious, also grow,
As, to reproach us to our Faces,
Ev'n in our
priviledged-Places?
Who, once, thought better
fruits would come
By that which we have parted from:
But mark the end; and judge what
Peace
VVill follow, when your friends decrease;
VVhen more
Malignants are return'd;
VVhen they who love the
State, are scorn'd;
And some, who serv'd it, heretofore,
Are growne as
mad, as they are
poore.
If, yet, you cannot well discerne,
VVhen
Peace will back again returne,
Get knowledge, with all speed ye may,
VVhat game
Malignants have to play;
How farre they have, as yet, to run
In that wild
Course, too soone begun;
VVhen they are like to call to minde
VVhat lies
before them, and
behinde;
VVhat
future-plot it may advance,
To let so many passe to
France,
On their bare
words, who carelesse are
Of what they either
say, or
sweare:
VVhat can be hoped-for, of those
VVho are, irrationally, Foes:
VVith
safety, what we can propound,
VVhere, little, save
deceit, is found:
Or, what good
Harvest can be mowne,
VVhere, onely,
mischiefe hath been sowne:
And, when these things are truly weigh'd,
You'l
thinke as much as may be
said.
If not; then, next, inquire, how long
Divisions will be rais'd among
The
Lords and
Commons; and, when we
Shall finde both
Houses so agree,
That, to the publike detriment,
Nor
House, nor
Member shall dissent,
Or be united; but, insist
Upon the
common-interest;
And,
Priviledge, nor
Custome, straine,
An
Innovation to maintaine,
VVherby they may
invade each other,
Or,
separate from one another:
For, you have heard what lot betides
A
House, or
Kingdom, that divides;
And know, what's likely to succeed,
Till our
Peace-makers are agreed.
If, wast,
Jerusalem was made,
VVho, therein, but three
factions, had;
This
Island, how may we deplore,
VVherein are
three times three, and more!
Some, with the
Parliament partake;
Some, for the
King a
party make,
As he is
King: And, some, that,
He
A
Tyrant might become to be:
Some, would a
Popular-estate;
Some,
Aristocracie create:
Some, are a
faction, for the
Pope;
Some, to maintain the
Prelates hope;
Some, for the
Presbyterians vote;
Some,
Independency promote,
Some, strive for
this, and some for
that,
Some, neither know, nor care for what,
So
Wars go on, and get they may
Free-quarter, Plunder, and their
Pay.
Some, fight their
Liberties to save;
Some, that they others might
inslave;
Some, for
Religion, and for CHRIST;
Some, that, they may do what they
list;
Some, for the
Common-wealths availe;
Some, for
themselves, with tooth, and naile;
And, they that have the
basest end,
As fairly, as the
best, pretend;
Not caring, whether their desire
Obtained be, by
sword, or
fire;
By
truth or
lies, with
love or
hate;
By
treachery, or
faire debate.
This is our
posture; and, whilst we
So
foolish, false, and
factious be,
(Or whilst affaires continue thus)
Who knowes what will become of us?
Or, when the
man, who these lines pen'd,
Shall find
good usage, or a
friend?
Ask those who now of
peace do dream,
Who, shall procure the same, for them,
If many are become their foes,
Whom they to be their Champions chose:
If these our substance have bestown,
To make
new fortunes, of their own;
If they the
publike wrongs encrease,
To gain themselves a
private peace;
If yet, the
people doubtings have,
What to refuse, or what to crave;
If they unsetled, yet, abide,
And constant unto neither side;
If, scarcely, they resolved are,
Whether, they would have
peace, or
warre;
Or, whether re-admit they shall
Charles to be King, or none at all;
For, doubtlesse, if these matters go
As honest men much fear they do,
A
wise man needs not break his brain
To search what
peace we shall obtain;
Since, whilst thus blind, and mad we be,
What will ensue, a
foole may see.
Ask of our
Lords, that, were the
skreen
Which, anciently, did stand between
The
King, and
Commons, what th'intaile
Of
titles, without
power, availe
To such an use; And, how the
shade
Of what their
Predecessors had
Shall find sufficiencie to do,
What, oft, the
substance reach'd not to:
And, having weigh'd
what they are now;
What they have been; what
they may grow,
And, what
we feare, till fixt they are,
As honourably, in their
spheare,
As heretofore: Or, till the
State
Shall all her
spheares anew create,
And place them so, that, neither
Orb
Each others motion shall disturb;
Think, what we justly may expect
Those clashings will, at last effect,
Which now
obstructive are; and may
Destructive prove, another day;
If some
new mischief should begin
Without our
circle, or within,
Before the feinds appeas'd are grown,
Which, we have almost conjur'd down:
For, by consid'ring things like these,
You may conjecture, if you please,
(Without a new
Prognostication)
What will befall this
Generation.
Yet, least presumptions may arise
(To foole you with false hopes and lies)
Observe the
Commons, if, of them,
None serve two Masters at a time:
Nay, search if none among them be
Who, servants are, this day, to
three,
And false to all: Observe, of those
Whom we for
publike-service chose,
How many fail'd the
Common-trust;
How vile some are, and how unjust:
How perilous, and hard a taske▪
It is, those
Members to unmaske
That, in affection, are unsound;
How much more hard when they are found
To cut them off: what mean effect
The
faithfull party must expect
Concerning
peace, while such as they
The cunning
Ambodexters play;
And what small hope there is of rest,
While we have
Cancers in our breast.
Ask them, who sit to take Accounts,
To what their two years paine amounts;
Or, what the
Common-wealth it betters,
When they have found who are her
debters;
If, when their guiltinesse is known,
And published throughout the town,
A
cheating-Sharke may raile at
them
Who justly have convicted
him;
Yea, be employed as before,
Where he may cheat the
State of more;
And be as confident, as tho
He merited by doing so.
Aske, if they have not power to call
Aswell the
great ones, as the
small,
To give accompt; Those, whom we heare
Cum Privil
[...]gio (as it were)
Have plunder'd, at an easie rate,
Coyne, Jewells, Houshold-stuffe and
Plate;
And if you find they have not leave
To question all men who deceive
The
Publike-Trust, know, we are yet,
For
Peace with Righteousnesse, unfit.
Then search, if you have eyes to see
Paths, that so blind, so crooked be,
What courses those
Committees take
Which, every where, such rumblings make.
Marke seriously, if they appeare
Such, as the people say they are;
So false, so proud, so insolent,
So carelesse whom they discontent;
So scandalous unto the State,
In prosecuting private hate;
So bold, from
Equity to varie,
By
courses meerly
Arbitrarie;
And if you finde them to be such,
You need not then to question much
What will befall this harrowed Land,
VVhile these Authorized shall stand.
Then, mark what favours now some have
Who sought these Kingdomes to inslave;
How well-befriended, some appeare,
Who
Neuters were, and worse now are;
How, some exposed be to scorne
Who, of this warre, the heat have borne;
What scandalls are of them devis'd;
How their deserts are under-priz'd:
And, having heedfully survey'd
How
good, with
evill, is repay'd;
Mind well the
Doctrine, and the
use,
And think, what these things may produce.
Enquire, moreover, how you find
To
workes of mercy, men inclin'd;
How, their poor wives and children fare,
Who for their
Countre
[...] slaughter'd are;
How,
honest causes are preferr'd;
How speedily your
suits are heard;
How
Offices conferred be;
And if some have not two, or three,
Who for the
publike, neither
spent,
Nor
gave, nor
hazzarded, nor
lent,
Ought worth regard, whilst they have none,
Who in your service, were undone.
Observe, how equally men share
Those
Pensions which allowed are:
How little
Best-deservers get;
How many of them, nere a whit;
How conscionably, and, how well,
Rewards, and
Punishments, we deal,
Which are the
Pillars, whereon stand
The
Peace, and
Honour of the
Land.
Observe, if when we spend a day
In
praises, or to
fast, and
pray,
If
preaching tend not more to strife.
Then to
sound-Doctrine, or
good-life;
If more we seeke not to fulfill
Our sev'rall
humours, and our
will,
Then to performe a
Thank-oblation,
Or,
duties of Humiliation;
Or, if the worship we professe
Be not an out-side holinesse,
No deeper rooted then the tongue;
Forc'd fruit, that fades as soon as sprung:
For, as it proveth, when you see
These things to tryall brought shall be,
You may without much failing, ghesse,
What likelihoods we have of
Peace.
Then, if you be not some of
those
Who slight what other men propose,
How probable soere it seem,
(Unlesse it may advantage them,
Or propagate the private ends,
Of their Confederates, and Friends)
An
eare, and
eye, pray somtime have ye
Upon our
Armies, and the
Navie:
An
eye, securely to behold;
An
care to heare what hath been told,
Of some, who much intrusted were
With
Arms, and with
provisions there;
Or, had
Commissions to array,
To
furnish, fortifie, or
pay
Ships, Forts, or
men: And, those in chief,
Employ'd for
Irelands first relief,
And our first
Armies; Ev'n, when all
Did lye at stake, and seem to call
For faithfull, stout, and honest men:
Observe, how they discharged, then,
The trust repos'd; how, some were made
Commanders; pay, and titles had;
But scarce a man: how, others, now,
Have us'd the
Common-wealth, and
you:
And, if in any, you shall find
Ʋeceit, in this accursed kind,
Forgive them not; yea, when at last
Acts of Oblivion, shall be past
For open foes; no grace provide
For men untrue to their owne side,
Least, as our
Peace, they have deferr'd,
They marre it, likewise, afterward:
But, as occasions offered be,
Mind them, although you mind not me:
For, where, in favour, such are found
When
peace is made, 'twill not be sound.
Enquire, (if you can tell of whom
To make inquirie) what's become
Of all the publike
Protestations,
Ingag'd for private Reparations;
What, of that
Vow, which did expresse
A
mutuall-aid, in all distresse;
What of the
self-denying-Vote,
Which goodly hopes in us begot;
What of those
Orders, whereupon
Some trusted, till they were undone;
What of the
publike-Faith, in which
We thought our selves exceeding rich,
Though all were lost, so that remain'd
Inviolated, and unstain'd:
Inquire (I say) throughout the
Land,
In what condition these now stand;
For, when of these you have obtain'd
That certainty, which may be gain'd,
It will, undoubtedly, appeare
What we may either hope or feare.
Inquire yet further, (least you may
Expect, perhaps, a
Sunshine-day,
And meet a storme) in what good mind
That sort of people you shall find
Yeleep'd the
Clergie: For, the
Stem
Of all our mischiefs was in
Them.
Their faction, avarice, and pride,
Did, first of all, this
Isle divide.
From them, at first, the
Firebrand came
That set this
Empire in a flame;
When 'twas nigh quench'd again, they blew
Those coals, which did the fires renew,
They did the Nations re-ingage;
The peoples vexed minds inrage,
By fained showes, and false pretences,
Abusing tender consciences.
The course, by them, at first, begun
Is, to this day, continued on:
And, therefore, take this
Truth from me,
For, you shall find it true to be:
That, till you see
these more estrang'd
From what they were; their
posture chang'd;
Yea, till they better their
condition;
Confine themselves to their
Commission;
Leave off to jangle, fool, and fiddle
With what they should not intermeddle;
And, be as pious, and as wise
As they are outwardly precise;
(And, as those few among them are,
For whose sakes God abates the
war)
Nor
King, nor
Peers, nor
Commons neither,
Nor these united altogether,
Shall able be that
Peace to make
Which their contentions will not shake
Make one
inquirie more, to see,
And search, what most of those men be,
On whose endeavours you depend
To bring your troubles to an end▪
Mark, how their
Duties they attend
In
private, how their time they spend;
VVhat
company they most frequent;
VVhat
matters give them best content;
VVhat conscience of their debts they make;
What wrongs they do; what bribes they take;
What by their neighbours they were thought
Til they obtained what they sought;
And, to what purpose they employ,
The power, and places, they enjoy.
Then cast an eye upon the
Rabble;
And, taking view (if you be able)
Of all together, great and small,
Mark well the
Tantamount of all.
Mark, if we be not like an Hoast
That's routed when the battell's lost;
And, if we deale not
gifts, and
blowes,
Like
madmen, both to friends and foes:
Mark, how those
hypocrites, that here
Promoters of the
truth appeare,
VValk in their
masking-suits abroad,
As if they thought, to cozen God,
As they do men▪ Mark too, that
crew,
VVhich is prophane in open view,
How boldly, and how daringly
(Ev'n when Gods thunderbolts do fly)
They do offend; and, whether we
May not to those, compared be,
VVho, sawing are those planks asunder,
VVhereon they stand, when Hell is under.
VVhen these
inquiries you have made,
To see what light may thence be had;
And when you know, as well as I,
Those hindrances, and reasons, why
That VOICE of
Peace, yet goes not on,
VVhich this time
twelve moneth was begun;
And, shall observe, with due regard,
VVhat hath been formerly declar'd;
I will disclose a great deal more,
Then I have told you heretofore:
But, not till then: yet, least you may
Despaire, or faint, before that day;
I will deliver, ere I go,
A comfortable word or two.
There may be PEACE, ere long, though y
[...]
We nor know how, nor merit it:
For, GOD oft shewes great
mercies, where
The greatest of all
sinners are;
And if
self-seekers be descri'd,
Before this
Isle they more divide;
If
Factions, VVrongs, and
Discontent
Indanger not this Parliament;
And, if the
Faithfull-Members can
But cast out from them now and than
A
trouble-house: And, timely swage
The vexed
peoples rising rage;
Offer, three more, such
peace-oblations
As that was of th'EXAMINATIONS;
And out of
Counties, Towns, and
Cities,
One
Hecatombe of their
Committees;
And, by their prudence, worke it so,
That
honest men esteem'd may grow;
That,
Priest and
People, down may lay
Their works of
stubble, and of
hay,
Their
names, and
terms, of SEPARATION▪
And meekly seeke the preservation
Of TRƲTH, in LOVE; if, in one yeare,
Peace be not firmely setled here;
My
loanes, and
losses, yet unpaid,
(With my
Arrears, three years delay'd)
Ile forfeit wholly to the
State;
And, live still, as I've done of late,
By swallowing
wrongs, by empty
Aire,
And,
patience, kept, through
faith, and
prayer,
Thus, to the
Question made, you have
That
Answer, which our
Prisoner gave▪
VVho, other
Tales will tell, if He
Much longer, shall imprison'd be.
A
Spaniel beaten, at your foot will lie:
An
English-Mastive, at your face will flie.
Take this, and consider of it, till more comes.