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And thou hast shew'd us, how he should be chose
When Judus his Apostleship did lose.
If, I mistake thy Paterns, make them, LORD,
Such as may therewith ev'ry way accord;
And so the Kings Heart toward them dispose,
That as Matthias was, they may be chose:
For, whilst for their admittance they depend
Upon mens pleasures, they will more intend
Their services than thine: but, when they be
Elected by their Peers, and then by Thee,
As heretofore; they shall defie the BEAST,
And overthrow the Throne of Antichrist.

Let him no Pow'r usurp, wherby these may
Election have, by any other way
Than is agreeable to his intent,
By whom his Messengers at first were sent:
For, by that means, into thy Church were brought
Such Overseers, as much more have sought
To serve themselves than thee; much scandaliz'd
Thy Congregations, and made Truth despis'd.
Such, as unlike to those Apostles be
Which were ordained by thy Christ and Thee:
Their Pomp and Habit, Avarice and Pride,
Their Language, and some other marks beside,
Are Symptomes which do make it very plain,
To whom, and to what Kingdome they pertain;
And that they seek not thine; unless, Oh GOD,
Thy Holy word I havemis-understood.

I did believe the Kingdome of thy Son,
VVhich was at first in poverty begun
By him, who had all Riches at command,
VVith all things in a readiness at hand
That might at once have made his Kingdome here
More glorious than the Popedome doth appear,
VVould not have left it struggling for that glory
VVhich is completed by things transitory,
Nigh sev'nteen hundred years had they been so
Essential, as some think they are thereto.
In my simplicity, I rather thought
That hee who to advance his Kingdome sought
By Piety and Meekness, did intend
That way to glorifie it to the end
Of Carnal vanities, and should have had
Such Officers and Overseers made
As rather therewith suited, than with those
VVhose Kingdoms Satan hath at his dispose:
And that they should have had throughout all ages
The self-same Badges, Liveries and Wages
As at the first, not such as some do now
Usurp and challenge as a sacred due,
Making them seem Ambassadours to bee
Sent from the great Turk, rather than from thee.

Thus I believ'd, LORD, this, beleeve I still
To bee according to thy sacred VVill:
And thou dost know, that what I now express,
Flows from no self-ends, or maliciousness.

VVithout Compliances with such as these,
The King may reign with honour, if hee please:
And with more safety, than if they acquir'd
That whereunto they lately had aspir'd.
But, I confess, a pow'r he cannot have,
Both Soul and Body so much to inslave,
As by their help, who in these latter Ages,
Have got two Masters, and two sorts of Wages;
And, by whose aid, the Throne of Antichrist
Doth not a little, at this day, subsist.

LORD, therefore, to maintain the Pageantry
And Lusts of an exploded Prelacy,
Let not the KING expose to desolation
So many thousand persons in this Nation,
As now are like to suffer, by a Rabble
Both unto Thee and Him unserviceable.
They, who are useful Officers of thine,
According to that Antient Discipline,
Which from thy Holy Word we do derive,
And from the practice of Times Primitive,
May be provided for, without that cost
Which hath for many years on them been lost;
Without incurring needless violations
Of Contracts, or th'Ingagements of these Nations;
Without exposing many Families
To suddenly-destructive Miseries;
And without hazarding of those Events
Which to such harshness may be Consequents.

The Temp'ralties and Lordships they possest,
Belong'd not to the Calling they profest.
When first they were conferr'd, they brought perdition
To Piety, encrease to Superstition,
And Mischief to the Saints; for which they are
Ejected from them by that Ciuil War
VVhich they occasion'd; and though re-possession
They may have for a while, by thy permission,
I have a thought, that at their Restoration
(As a new laying Jericho's foundation)
Some signal thing will then bee done that shall
Declare, thou art not pleased therewithall;
Which, from thy purpose if it disagree,
Pardon this babling of my thought to thee.

That thus, Oh LORD, my heart is now inclin'd
Concerning these, to speak to thee my minde,
'Tis not because thou need'st it should bee told,
But, that hereby, some other better should
Consider what by their means may befall,
Both in things ghostly, and things corpor'al.
Thou knowest that it is not my estate,
Which is by these in hazard now of late
To bee bereft: for whether unto these,
Or unto mee, to give it thou shalt please,
I am content; since all the world is thine,
And so much as is needful, shall bee mine.
Thou likewise knowest that of none of these,
I judge the Persons, or the Consciences;
But, that I am in charity with all,
And, leave them by thy Doom to stand or fall.
The various Forms of worshipping of thee;
Within thy Church are no offence to mee;
Because there may bee possibly Salvation
Through Christ, in every Christian Dispensation,
To those, who with a conscientiousness,
Believe and practice what they do profess.
The Prelates, not thy Bishops, I oppose,
Nor Prelates, if they nought on mee impose;
For, when they less esteem Things Transitory,
They may bee instrumental to thy Glory;
And, to thy Congregations will dispence
Thy Sacred Mysteries, without offence:
When we a little more are rub'd together,
To scour away the Rust from one another.
Although the Name of Bishop doth offend,
Thy Son his Congregations did commend
To Overseers, as well as to Preachers;
(To Deacons, and to ordinary Teachers)
And doubtless, though Ambition strained further
That Discipline, a Primacie of Order
Is now so needful, that when thou hast broke
The Bile of Pride, and quite away hast took
From that Imposthumation all the Core,
Thy Church will govern'd be as heretofore.

The Prelates being grosly led aside
By their O'er-weening, Avarice and Pride,
VVould have thy Church, LAODICEA-like,
Her Glory, in External Pomp, to seek;
Their Faction onely they conceive to bee
That Holy Church, which is approv'd by thee:
Like her, shee boasteth that shee nothing needs,
That all Reformed Churches she exceeds,
And, much triumphs now, in the restitution
Of her adored Rags of Superstition:
But if their Prelacy aside they lay,
Therewith, will all their Trinkets fall away:
The Treble, Mean, the Tenor and the Base,
And Counter-tenor, to a Diapase.
Thou then shalt bring, and to this people give
The Grace, as well to love and to believe,
As hear and do; and every differing String
Shall to the Musick such a Concord bring,
That, what at present doth obstruct our Peace,
Shall to thy Praise hereafter adde increase.
This I believe, LORD, let us wait upon
Thy will with patience, till this shall bee done.

Mean-while preserve the People and the King,
From those ensnarings, which these, else, may bring
Upon the Conscience; or, lest wee by them
May bee withdrawn from thy Jerusalem,
To Babylon; Let such before our eyes
Unmasked stand, by whatsoe'r disguise
They are conceal'd: For, much I am affraid,
A Game is dealing now, which may be play'd
To thy dishonour, and Wolves forth be sent
Among thy Lambs to frustrate his intent,
Who sent Lambs among Wolves: for as of old
Wee were fore-warn'd, that some Deceivers would
Say, Here is CHRIST, and there is CHRIST, that they
Might set a false Christ up: So, at this day,
That undiscern'd the Antichrist may bee,
Some, tell us This some, tells us, That is Hee:
But, by such signal marks him thou hast shown,
That hee to many thousands is well known.
Reveal him also to this King, and shew,
How they to whom there's Double Honour due,
May with all Necessaries bee supplide,
More to th'advance of Piety than Pride:
That other Nations, by that good Example,
May joyn in building thy Essential Temple
Withsuch Materials as may not confound
The Parts thereof, or make the Whole unsound.
And cause this King a Pattern to become
Of Justice to all Kings in Christendome.

To that end I implore thy Majesty
(For thine own Honours sake which else thereby
May bee eclips'd) that hee usurp not on
The Consciences of Men, which is thy Throne;
Nor suffer any other in thy Name,
And with false Warrants to usurp the same.
For, by that Rule whereby intrude they shall
On one indifferent thing, they may bar all;
And ere they leave encroaching thereupon,
Of Christian Liberties, not leave us one.
Inslaving of the Conscience, to all evil
Sets open Gates: and only for the Devil
Or Antichrist, it maketh Proselytes,
And, doth but fill the world with Hypocrites.
Therefore, to all, who Faith in the profess,
Who keep thy Moral Law, and common Peace
Endeavour to preserve by word and deed,
Let such a Freedome bee by him decreed;
That Truth and Errour, whilst within those Lists
They keep themselves, may for their Interests,
Contend at will; and let those punish'd bee,
VVho break those Lists, as Traytors unto thee.
For, whereso'er this prudently is done,
The fall of Babylon is there begun;
And Christ will give true Judgement betwixt them
VVho yet contend, in his appointed time.

For this King's likewise, and this people's sake,
Both Him and Them, henceforth, so wary make,
That neither Vow, nor Covenant, nor Oath,
They violate: for, thou so much do'st loath
Unfaithfulness, that when thy People made
A Cov'nant, which thy prohibition had,
(Yea, notwithstanding all Conditions were
Obtain'd by fraud) a punishment severe
Thou for the wilful breach thereof, did'st bring,
Both on thy chosen People, and their King.
A Vow likewise, by Jonathan infring'd
(Unwittingly) severely was aveng'd:
And breach of Oaths in ev'ry Generation,
Hath been pursu'd by thee, with Indignation,
Though made to Infidels, and unto those
Who were as well thine, as thy peoples Foes.
Yea, though men are in durance when they make them
Thou wilt severely punish those who break them;
As by that dreadful Vengeance which appear'd,
(To make all future perjur'd Kings afear'd)
Thou brought'st on Zedekiah; and, of late,
Upon some Christians, who did violate
A Contract with the Turk. Yea, said it was
(As if thereof they were a special cause)
For Oaths, the Land doth mourn: and much I fear
That of our Mournings, they, chief causes are.

LORD, Cautious also make this King to bee
Of wronging Justice, and displeasing thee,
By his imposing Oaths, which may give cause
Of Clashings, 'twixt Divine and Humane Laws;
Or, which insnare, and rarely do produce
Effects equivalent to their abuse:
For, to impose such Oaths as may insnare,
Which, dubious in their acceptations are;
Which, Ignorant Deponents may engage
In, or to that, whereof they cannot judge,
Or which their Conscience checks at, is an end
To which thou never didst an Oath intend,
And is a wicked and a cursed Gin,
By Tyrants and by tyranny brought in.
Oh! make the King, mind and consider it;
That, fast and easie, his new Crown may fit.

If thou hast sent him hither in thy Wrath,
'Tis what our wickednesse deserved hath
So justly, that the same wee well may fear;
And that in our Corrections hee may share,
'Tis also possible, as soon as hee
Hath dealt among us what our Dole must bee:
And then, our Executioners must sup
The Dregs, at bottom of our Bitter Cup:
As also they, who with a barbarous noise
O'er us, in our Afflictions now rejoyce.
Thee, in humility, I, now therefore
With all th'affections of my heart implore,
To let with Judgments, Mercy come along,
To make our Patience and our Faith so strong,
That, Hee and Wee, our Tryals may improve,
To turn thine Indignation into Love;
And not as Wee and our late Rulers did,
Provoke thee still in anger to proceed:
Or, as they did, who, when thy Wrath on them
Was pour'd forth, did grow furious and blaspheme:
But, to avert the danger wee are in,
Joyn in repentance, as wee did in sin.

Give to the King, a Spirit fit to do
That signal Work, which thou hast cal'd him to;
And give us meeknesse to bee wrought upon
By that, which must by Thee and Him bee done:
For, such and so great our Distempers bee,
That they are curable by none but Thee,
Or those with whom Thou shalt co-operate
Our manifold Confusions to abate.
It is a Pow'r to Thee alone confinde
To make all in one Houshold, of one minde,
Much more 'tis thy peculiar, to atone
Three Nations, that, in him they may bee One.
Enable him therefore with every thing
Which to effect, thy purposes may bring.
Assist him at this time, that he may 'bide
That Test, whereby hee now is to bee tride;
Lest his Return (ere many turns about)
A worse Turn prove, than his last turning out.
From Sycophants preserve him, and from those
Who hide their Private Malice, under shows
Of Publike Ends. From ev'ry mans unjust
Pretendings, who departeth from his trust,
Protect him: for, he that was false to them
Who gave him credit, will be false to him:
Yea, he that is a Traytor to a Stranger,
If he may get Reward, and scape the Danger.
Will to betray his Country, Prince, or Friend,
One time or other, some just Cause pretend.
But, principally, LORD, preserve him from
That Self-Will, which Self-Ruine doth become
To all who cherish it, and maketh voyd
All means which to preserve him are imploy'd.

If from those Places where he lately sought
His Refuge, any Leven he hath brought,
Which working on the Frailties of his Youth
Hath sowr'd the Doctrines of thy saving Truth,
By him professed; purge it by thy Grace,
Lest it may poyson him, and all his Race.
Great have been his Temptations; great likewise
Have been their many Opportunities,
Who sought to work upon him; and if home
A Conqueror o'er all this, he is come,
It will of him, to all these Nations, be
A Testimonial sign'd and seal'd by thee:
And, to be thy CONFESSOR he will more
Deserve, then did King EDWARD heretofore.

Make him consider, that, to be a King,
Is not to be an Independent Thing;
Two ways, at least, a Relative is He;
Thou, and his People, Antecedents be:
That, for their sakes in chief, not for his own,
His dignity of Kingship, was bestown.
That, he hath no just Pow'r, but what they gave,
Or, thou permittest him in wrath to have,
To punish, when against thee they rebel;
Or else in order to their common weal.
That Ordination was for Good, not Evil,
Save when made by themselves, or by the devil,
Which, sometimes GOD permits (for many Ages)
To pay his Executioners their Wages.
This, well consid'ring, let him not intend,
Or Kingship claim, to any other end
Then thou design'st; nor practise to grow strong
By offering violence, or doing wrong;
Lest thou let loose those Mastives which will tear
Those Royal Robes, which he in peace might wear.
Those Beasts an ancient Hieroglyphick are,
Of Englishmen: By thee chain'd up they were,
When he came in; and though they then were pleas'd,
And fawn'd, they will be mad when they are teas'd,
And fly on any thing, fearless of dangers,
Or odds, especially, if teas'd by Strangers.

This to prevent, let him not now provoke them,
But rather, with a soft hand, gently stroke them;
Assure him, that no people can disgust,
Or disoblige a KING that shall be just.
Since, when a true respect to them is shown,
It makes not onely their Estates his own,
(And will inrich him more then if he could
Turn all our Mountains into Ophir-Gold)
But also builds him in their Hearts a Throne
Of Perfect LOVE, for him to rest upon.

Make him but of this minde, and I shall seem
Henceforth as worthy of his good esteem,
For those Remembrances, as they that in
His suffering have with him partakers been;
And much more to his honour it will adde,
Then if a PANEGYRICK I had made.
Make him but thus affected, LORD, to be,
And in thy Name, I'll warrant this from thee,
That, henceforth it shall more and more encrease
His honour; settle Him in perfect peace;
All present fears and jelousies remove;
End all our Quarrels in an endless Love;
Convert all that which will be found in Story
Of our late failings, to thy future glory;
And, make that useful to preserve from blame
Hereafter, that was heretofore our shame.

But, if that he and they, whom 'twill concern
Now to be just and prudent, shall not learn
What thou intend'st; but act as they have done
Who lately were ejected from the Throne;
If, yet, the King and Judges of the Land
Kiss not thy SON, and timely understand
What's threatned now, but prosecute their lust,
And be as merciless, and as unjust
As others were; I will once more be bold
To tell them what to others I have told,
Ev'n in thy Name: That, though a while they flourish,
They, and the Course they prosecute, shall perish.
And, this my Prayer (though they sleight it shall)
Will prove at last to be Prophetical
In ev'ry Branch, as well as Precatory:
But be it what shall most be for thy glory.

LORD, hear me, and vouchsafe that those Conditions
On which thou condescend'st to such Petitions,
May be perform'd, and acceptation have,
(Although they cannot merit what I crave)
For, Prayers can for no man take effect,
Who wilfully his Duty shall neglect.

In merey too, remember Me and Mine:
Increase our faith; keep close our hearts to thine,
In all our Tryals: Be not so severe
To heed the murm'rings, the distrusts or fear
Whereto we tempted are, but pardon all
Our Failings, that we stumble not to fall.
Grant, that these Prayers may as well prepare
Both me, and every one who shall them bear,
To minde our Duties, as he helps to crave
Of thee, those Mercies which I ask to have.

One word more, for my dear Relations sake,
Be pleas'd to hear: Compassion on them take:
And since by my Adventures they are left
Quite comfortless, (of every thing bereft
Whereby they may subsist) some Hearts prepare
Of them, in their Desertions, to take care:
Or, since that they are thine, vouchsafe thou rather,
To be to them a Husband, and a Father:
For, though they may hope well, they cannot know
What Spirit 'tis, from whence my actings flow;
And therefore cannot my partakers be,
In those Refreshments which I have from thee;
As well, because they see men oft bereft
Of Reason, and to their own Fancies left;
As also, for that by our separation
We are depriv'd of mutual consolation.
As for my self, I ask no more of thee,
But that Grace which will all-sufficient be.
Life is preserved with a little matter;
And, he that with course cloath, and bread and water,
Content remaineth, neither can be poor,
Nor miserable, though he has no more.

To this endeavour give some good effect;
And, so to prosecute it, me direct,
That without fruit, my pains be not bestown
Through other mens defaults, or by my own:
And, pardon it, if I, my self, have sought,
By minding my own Cause, more then I ought;
Whereof (I do confess) I am affraid
I may be guilty, by self-love o'er-swaid)
But, humbly to thy Grace, my Soul appeals,
VVhich will suffice for that, and all faults else.
For what I have done well, the praise be thine:
For what's amiss, let all the blame be mine.