To the Right Honourable Philip Earle of Pembrock, and Montgomery, Knight of the moſt Noble Order of the Garter, and one of His Majiſties moſt Honourable Privy Counſell, &c,

THis Letter requires no Apologie, much leſſe any par­don, but may expect rather a good receprion, and thanks, when your Lordſhip hath ſeriouſly peruſed the contents, and ruminated well upon the matter it treats of, with your ſecond and third thoughts, which uſually carry with them a greater advantage of wiſedome: It concernes not your body, or temporall eſtate, but things reflecting upon the nobleſt part of you, your ſoule, which being a beame of Immortality, and a type of the Almighty, is in­comparably more precious, and rendreth all other earthly things to be but bables and tranſitory trifles. Now, the ſtrongeſt tye, the ſolemneſt engagement and ſtipulation that can be betwixt the ſoule and her Creator, is an Oath. I doe not underſtand common tumultuary raſh oaths, pro­ceeding from an ill habit, or beat of paſſion upon ſudden contingencies, for ſuch oaths bind one to nought elſe but to repentance: No, I mean ſerious and legall oaths, taken with a calm prepared ſpirit, either for the aſſerting of truth, and conviction of falſhood, or for fidelitie in the execution of ſome Office, or binding to civill obedience and Loyaltie, which is one of the eſſentiall parts of a Chriſtian. Such publick oaths legally made with the Royall aſſent of the So­veraigne from whom they receive both legalitie and life, elſe they are invalid & unwarrantable, as they are religious acts in their own nature, ſo is the taking and obſervance of them part of Gods honor, & there can be nothing more derogatory to the high Majeſty and holineſſe of his name, nothing more dangerous, deſtructive & damnable to humane ſouls then the infringment and eluding of them, or omiſſion in the perfor­mance of them. Which makes the Turks, of whom Chri­ſtians in this particular may learn a tender peece of huma­nity, to be ſo cautious, that they ſeldom or never adminiſter an oath to Greek, Jew, or any other Nation, and the reaſon is, that if the Party ſworn doth take that Oath upon hopes of ſome advantage, or for evading of danger and puniſh­ment, and afterwards reſcinds it, they think themſelves to be involved in the Perjurie, and acceſſary to his damnation: Our Civill Law hath a Canon conſonant to this, which is, Mortale peccatum eſt ei prastare juramentum, quem ſcio veri­ſimiliter violaturum; 'Tis a mortall ſin to adminiſter an Oath to him who I probably know will break it; To this may allude ano­ther wholeſome ſaying, A falſe Oath is damnable, a true Oath dangerous, none at all the ſafeſt. How much then have they to anſwer for, who of late years have fram'd ſuch for­midable coercive generall Oaths to ſerve them for engins of State to•…y battery to the Conſciences and Soules of poore men, and〈…〉the aſſent of the Soveraign, and op­poſed〈…〉to fo••er Oaths they themſelves had ta­ken: theſe kind of Oaths the City hath ſwallowed lately in groſſe, and the Country in detaile, which makes me confi­dently beleeve that if•ver that ſaying of the holy Prophet, The Land mournes for Oaths was appliable to any part of the habitable earth, it may be•o••plied to this deſperate Iſland.

But now I come to the maine of my purpoſe, and to thoſe Oaths your Lordſhip hath taken before this diſtra­cted time, which, the world knowes,•nd your conſcience can teſtifie, were divers; They were all of them Solemn, and ſome of them Sacramentall Oaths (and indeed, every So­lemn Oath among the Ancients was held a Sacrament:) They all implyed, and impoſed an indiſpenſible fidelity, Truth and loyalty from you to your Soveraigne Prince, your Liege Lord and Maſter the King: I will make ſome inſtan­ces: Your Lordſhip tooke an Oath when Knight of the Bath to love your Soveraigne above all earthly Greatures, and for His Right and dignity to live and die:

By the Oath of Supremacy you ſwear to beare faith and true allegeance to the Kings Highneſſe, and to your power to de­fend all Iuriſdictions, Privileges, Preheminences and Authori­ties belonging to His Highneſſe.

Your Lordſhip took an Oath when Privie Counſellor, to be a true and faithfull Servant unto Him, and if you knew or underſtood of anymanner of thing to be attempted, done, or ſpoken againſt His Majeſties Perſon, Honour Crown, or Dagnitie, you ſwoare to let, and withſtand the ſame to the uttermoſt of your po­wer, and either cauſe it to be revealed to Himſelfe, or to others of His Privy Counſell: The Oaths you took when Bedchamber­man, & L. Chamberlain bind you as ſtrictly to His Perſon.

Your Lordſhip may alſo call to memorie when you were inſtalled Knight of the Garter, (whereof you are now the oldeſt living except aK. of Denmarky you ſolemnly ſwore to defend the Honour, and Quarrels, the Rights and Lordſhip of your Soveraigne: Now the Record tells us that the chiefeſt ground of inſtituting that Order by that heroick Prince Edward the Third was, that he might have choice gallant men, who by Oath and Honour ſhould adhere unto him in all dangers, and difficulties, and that by way of reciproca­tion he ſhould protect and defend them; Which made Alfonſo Duke of Calabria ſo much importune Henry the Eight to inſtall him one of the Knights of the Gatter, that he might engage King Harry to protect him againſt Charles the Eighth, who threatned then the conqueſt of Naples.

How your Lordſhip hath acquitted your ſelfe of the per­formance of theſe Oaths your conſcience (that boſome re­cord) can make the beſt affidavit; Some of them oblige you to live and dye with King Charles, but what Oaths or any thing like an Oath binds you to live and die with the Houſe of Commons, as your Lordſhip often gives out you will, I am yet to learne: Unleſſe that Houſe which hath not po­wer as much as to adminiſter an Oath (much leſſe to make one) can abſolve you from your former Oaths, or haply by their omnipotence diſpence with you for the obſervance of them. Touching the Politicall capacitie of the King I feare that will be a weak plea for your Lordſhip before the Tri­bunall of heaven, and they who whiſpers ſuch Chimeras in­to your eares abuſe you in groſſe; but put caſe there were ſuch a thing as politicall capacitie diſtinct from the perſonall, which to a true rational man is one of the groſſeſt Buls that can be, yet theſe ſorementioned Oaths relate moſt of them meerly unto the Kings Perſon, the individuall Perſon of King Charles as you are His domeſtick Counſellor, and cubicular Servant.

My Lord, I take leave to tell your Lordſhip (and the Spectator ſees ſometimes more then the Gamſter) that the world extreamely marvels at you more then others, and it makes thoſe who wiſh you beſt to be transformed to won­der, that your Lordſhip ſhould be the firſt of your Race who deſerted the Crowne, which one of your Progenitors ſaid, he would ſtill follow though it were thrown upon a hedge: Had your Princely Brother been living he would have been ſooner torne by wild horſes than have banded a­gainſt it, or abandoned the King his Maſter, and fallen to ſuch groſſe Idolatry as to worſhip the Beaſt with many heads. The world alſo ſtands aſtoniſhed that you ſhould con•ede­rate to bring into the bowels of the Land, and make Elogi­ums of that hungry people which have been from all times ſo croſſe and fatall to the Engliſh Nation, and parti­cularly to your own honour: Many thouſands do wonder that your Lordſhip ſhould be brought to perſecute with ſo much animoſity and hatred that reverend Order in Gods Church which is contemporary with Chriſtianity it ſelf, and whereunto you had once deſigned, and devoted one of your deareſt Sonnes ſo ſolemnly.

My Lord, if this Monſter of Reformation (which is like an infernall Spirit clad in white, and hath a cloven head as well as feet) prevailes you ſhall find the ſame deſtiny will attend poore England, as did Bohemia which was one of the flouriſhingſt Kingdoms upon this part of the earth; The Common people there repind at the Hierarchy and riches of the Church, thereupon a Parliament was pack'd where Biſhops were demoliſh'd, what followed? The Nobles and Gentry went down next, and afterwards the Crown it ſelf, and ſo it became a popular confus'd Anarchicall State, and a Stage of bloud along time, ſo that at laſt, when this Ma­got had done working in the braines of the fooliſh people, they were glad to have recourſe to Monarchy againe after a world of calamities; though it degenerated from a ſucceſ­ſive Kingdom to an Elective. Me thinks, my Lord, under favour that thoſe notorious viſible judgements which have fallen upon theſe Refiners of reform'd Religion ſhould un­beguile your Lordſhip, and open your eyes: For the hand of heaven never appeared ſo cleerly in any humane actions: Your Lordſhip may well remember what became of the Ho•hams, and Sir Alexander Cary who were the two fatall wretches that began the War firſt, one in the North, the o­ther in the South; Your Lordſhip may be alſo pleaſed to remember what became of Brooks the Lord, and Hampden, the firſt whereof was diſpatched by a deafe & dumb man out of an ancient Church which he was battering, and that ſudden­ly alſo, for he fell ſtone dead in the twinkling of an eye; Now, one of the greateſt cavils he had againſt our Lyturgie was a clauſe of a Prayer there againſt ſudden death, beſides the fagge end of his Grace in that journey was, that if the deſign was not pleaſing to God, he might periſh in the acti­on: For the other wiſeaker he be-ſprinkled with his bloud, and received his death upon the ſame clod of earth in Buck­ingham-ſhire where he had firſt aſſembled the poore Coun­try people like ſo many Geeſe to drive them gaggling in a mutiny to London with the Proteſtation in their Caps, which hath been ſince torne in flitters, and is now grown ob­ſolet and quite out of uſe. Touching Pym & Stroud, thoſe two worthy Champions of the Vtopian cauſe, the firſt being ope­ned, his ſtomack and guts were found to be full of pellets of bloud, the other had little or no braine at all left in his skull being dead, & leſſe when he was living: For Hollis who carried the firſt ſcandalous Remonſtrance (that work of night, & the verdict of a ſtarv'd jury) to welcome the King from Scotland, and was the firſt of the five Members who were impeached by his Majeſtie, he hath been ſince, your Lordſhip knowes, the chiefe of the Eleven Members impeached by themſelves, but with this difference, that they had juſtice againſt him, though the King could get none: But now this St. Hollis with the reſt are a kind of Runnagates beyond the Seas, ſcorn'd by all mankind, and baffled every where, yea, even by the Boors of Holland, and not daring to peep in any populous Town but by owle-light.

Moreover I beleeve your Lordſhip hath good cauſe to re­member that the ſame kind of riotous Raſcals which rabled7 the King out of town, did drive away the Speaker in like manner with many of their Memb^ſps, amongſt whom your Lordſhip was fairly on his way, to ſeek ſhelter of their Jani­zaries: Your L^p muſt needs find what deadly fewds fall daily 'twixt the Presbyterian and Independent, the two fiery brands that have put this poor Iſle ſo long in combu­buſtion. But 'tis worthy your Lordſhips ſpeciall notice how your dear Brethren the Scots (whom your Lordſhip ſo highly magnified in ſome of your publike Speeches) who were at firſt brought in for Hirelings againſt the King for them, offer themſelves now to come in againſt them for the King: Your Lordſhip cannot be ignorant of the ſundry claſhes that have been 'twixt the City and their Memberſhips, and 'twixt their Memberſhips and their men of war; who have often wav'd & diſobeyd their com­mands: How this tatterdimallian Army hath reduc'd this cow'd City, the cheated Country, and their once all-com­manding Maſters to a perfect paſſe of ſlavery, to a true a­ſinin condition; They crow over all the ancient Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdome, though there be not found amongſt them all but two Knights; and 'tis well known there be hundreds of private Gentlemen in the Kingdome, the pooreſt of whom, is able to buy this whole Hoſt with the Generall himſelfe and all the Commanders: But 'tis not the firſt time, that the Kings and Nobility of England have been baffled by petty companions: I have read of Jack Straw, Wat Tyler and Ket the Tanner, with divers o­thers that did ſo, but being ſuppreſſed it tended to the ad­vantage of the King at laſt; and what a world of exam­ples are there in our ſtory, that thoſe Noblemen who ban­ded againſt the Crown, the revenge of heaven ever found them out early or late at laſt.

Theſe, with a black cloud of reciprocall judgements8 more, which have come home to theſe Reformers very dores, ſhew, that the hand of divine juſtice is in't, and the holy Prophet tels us, When Gods judgements are upon earth, then the Inhabitants ſhall learn juſtice.

Touching your Lordſhip in particular, you have not, underfavor, eſcap'd without ſome already, and I wiſh more may not follow; your Lordſhip may remember you loſt one Son at Bridgenorth, your deer Daughter at Oxford, your Son-in-law at Newbury, your Daughter-in-law at the Charter-houſe of an infamous diſeaſe, how ſickly your el­deſt Son hath been; how part of your Houſe was burnt in the country, with others which I will not now mention.

I will conclude this point with an obſervation of the moſt monſtrous number of Witches that have ſwarm'd ſince theſe Wars againſt the King, more (I dare ſay) then have been in this Iſland ſince the Devil tempted Eve; for in two Counties only there have been neer upon three hun­dred arraign'd, and eightſcore executed; what a barba­rous deviliſh office one had, under colour of examination, to torment poor ſilly women with watchings, pinchings, and other artifices to find them for Witches: How others by a new invention of villany were conniv'd at for ſeizing upon young children, and hurrying them on ſhip-board, where they were ſo transform'd that their Parents could not know them, and ſo were carried over for new ſchiſma­tical Plantations. My Lord, there is no villany that can en­ter into the imagination of man hath been left here un­committed; no crime from the higheſt Treaſon to the meaneſt Treſpaſſe but theſe Reformers are guilty of. What horrid acts of profaneneſſe have been perpetrated up and down! the Monuments of the dead have been rifled! Horſes have been watred at the Church Font, and fed up­on the holy Table! Widows, Orphans, and Hoſpitals9 have been commonly robb'd, and Gods Houſe hath been plundred more then any! with what infandous blaſphe­mies hath the Pulpits rung, one crying out, that this Par­liament was as neceſſary for our Reformation, as the comming of Chriſt was for our Redemption: Another belching out, that if God Almighty did not proſper this Cauſe, 'twere fitting he ſhould change places with the Devil: Another, that the worſt things our Saviour did, was the making of the Domini­call prayer, and ſaving the Thief upon the Croſſe. O immor­tall God, is it poſſible that England ſhould produce ſuch Monſters, or rather ſuch infernall fiends ſhap'd with hu­mane bodies! yet your Lordſhip ſides with theſe men, though they be enemies to the Croſs, to the Church, and to the very name of Jeſus Chriſt; I'le inſtance only in two who were eſteem'd the Oracles of this holy Reformation, Peters, and Saltmarſh; The firſt is known by thouſands to be an infamous, jugling and ſcandalous villain, among o­ther feats he got the Mother and Daughter with Child, as it was offerd to be publickly proved; I could ſpeak much of the other, but being dead, let it ſuffice that he died mad and deſperate. Theſe were accounted the two Apoſtles of the times.

My Lord, 'tis high time for you to recollect your ſelf, to enter into the private cloſet of your thoughts, and ſum­mon them all to counſel upon your pillow; conſider well the ſlaviſh condition your dear Countrey is in, weigh well the ſad caſe your liege Lord and Maſter is in, how He is be­reav'd of His Queen, His Children, His Servants, His Li­berty, and of every thing in which there is any comfort; obſerve well, how nevertheleſſe, God Almighty works in Him, by inſpiring Him with equality and calmneſſe of mind, with patience, prudence and conſtancy, how He makes His very croſſes to ſtoop unto Him, when His Sub­jects10 will not: Conſider the monſtrouſnes of the Propo­ſitions that are tendred Him, wherein no leſſe then Crown, Scepter, and Sword, which are things in-alienable from Ma­jeſty, are in effect demanded, nay they would not only have Him tranſmit, and reſign His very intellectuals unto them, but they would have Him make a ſacrifice of His ſoule, by forcing Him to violate that ſolemn ſacramentall Oath He took at His Coronation when He was no minor, but come to a full maturity of reaſon and judgment: make it your own caſe, my Lord, and that's the beſt way to judge of His: Think upon the multiplicity of ſolemn aſtringing Oaths your Lordſhip hath taken, moſt whereof directly and ſolely enjoyn faith and loyalty to His Perſon; oh my Lord! wrong not your ſoul ſo much, in compariſon of whom your body is but a rag of rottenneſſe.

Conſider that acts of loyalty to the Crown are the fai­reſt columns to bear up a Noblemans name to future ages, and regiſter it in the temple of immortality. Reconcile your ſelfe therfore ſpeedily unto your liege Lord & Maſter, think upon the infinite private obligations you have had both to Sire and Son: The Father kiſs'd you often, kiſſe you now the Sun leſt he be too angry; And Kings, you will find, my Lord, are like the Sun in the heavens, which may be clou­ded for a time, yet is he ſtill in his ſphear, and will break out a­gain, and ſhine as gloriouſly as ever; Let me tell your Lord­ſhip that the people begin to grow extream weary of their Phyſitians, they find the remedy to be far worſe then their former diſeaſe; nay, they ſtick not to call ſome of them meer Quackſalvers, rather then Phyſitians; Some go fur­ther, and ſay they are no more Parliament, then a Pye­powder Court at Bartholomew-fair, there being all the eſ­ſentiall parts of a true Parliament wanting in this, as fair­neſſe of elections, freedome of ſpeech, fulneſſe of Mem­bers,11 nor have they any head at all; Beſides, they have broken all the fundamentall rules and priviledges of Par­liament, and diſhonoured that high Court more then any thing elſe: They have raviſh'd Magna Charta which they are ſworn to maintain, taken away our birth-right, and tranſgreſſed all the laws of heaven and earth: Laſtly, they have moſt perjuriouſly betrayed the truſt the King repoſed in them, the truſt their Countrey repoſed in them, ſo that if reaſon and Law were now in date, by the breach of their Priviledges, and by betraying the double truſt that is put in them, they have diſſolved themſelves ipſo facto I can­not tell how many thouſand times, notwithſtanding that monſtrous grant of the Kings, that fatall Act of continu­ance; And truly my Lord, I am not to this day ſatisfied of the legality (though I am ſatisfied of the forcibleneſſe) of that Act, whether it was in His Majeſties power to paſſe it or no; for the law ever preſuppoſeth theſe clauſes in all conceſſions of Grace, in all Patents, Charters, and Grants whatſoever the King paſſeth, Salvo jure regio, ſalvo jure coronae.

To conclude, as I preſume to give your Lordſhip theſe humble cautions, & advice in particular, ſo I offer it to all other of your rank, office & orders, who have ſouls to ſave, & who by ſolemn indiſpenſable Oaths have engaged them to be true and loyall to the Perſon of King Charls. Touch­ing His politicall capacity, which fancy hath been exploded in other Parliaments (except in that mad infamous Parlia­ment where it was firſt hatched) and Acts paſſed that it ſhould be high and horrible Treaſon to ſeparate or diſtin­gniſh the Perſon of the King from His Power; I believe, as I ſaid before, this will not ſerve their turn at the dreadfull Bar of divine Juſtice in the other world: Indeed that Rule of the Pagans makes for them, Si Jusjurandum violandum12 eſt, Tyrannidis cauſa violandum eſt, If an Oath be any way frangible, 'tis frangible for a Kingdome; We find by wo­full experience that according to this maxime they have made themſelves all kings by violation of ſo many Oaths; They have monopolized the whole power and wealth of the Kingdome into their own hands; They cut, ſhuffle, deal, and turn up what trump they pleaſe, being Judges and parties in every thing.

My Lord, He who preſents theſe humble advertiſements to your Lordſhip, is one who is inclin'd to the Parliament of England in as high a degree of affection as poſſibly a free-born Subject can be; One beſides, who wiſheth your Lordſhips good, with the preſervation of your ſafety and honour more really then He whom you intruſt with your ſecreteſt affairs, or the white Jew of the Upper Houſe who have infuſed ſuch pernicious principles into you; moreo­ver, one who hath ſome drops of bloud running in his veines, which may claim kindred with your Lordſhip: And laſtly, he is One who would kiſſe your feet, in lieu of your hands, if your L^dp would be ſo ſenſible of the moſt deſperate caſe of your poor Country, as to employ the in­tereſts, the opinion and power you have to reſtore the King your Maſter by Engliſh waies, rather then a hungry for­rain people, who are like to bring nothing but deſtructi­on in the van, confuſion in the reare, and rapine in the middle, ſhould have the honour of ſo glorious a work,