I. Englands Enemies.

Some of your Enemies are so open and bare-faced, that the Darkest Night of Politick Re­serve cannot hide them from your observance; others again, are so secret, and close, that the brightest day cannot sufficiently discover them, but whoever shall come under these ensuing Characters, you may warrantably set a mark upon them, as your inveterate and sworn Ad­versaries.

1. They that would flatter you into a belief, that there is no such thing as a Design upon you, as Men, and Christians, do really Design in both these Interests to undermine you; their Policy lies in making you Secure in your selves, that you may not be Secure from themselves; could they once sing you asleep, their Work were easie to cut your Throats; could they once lift you up to the Pinacle of Presumption, they would soon throw you headlong into desperation; and when they have once mounted you above a reasonable Fear, they would sink you below all comfortable Hope.

2. Especially they whose steeled Impudence has imboldened them to Arraign the Justice of the whole Nation, in denying that horrid and devillish Plot against His Majesties Person, the Government, and Religion of the Land: It is the glory of an Artist to conceal his Art; and the Master-piece of Romish Plotters to conceal their Plots: and whilst they would deliver notori­ous Traytors from deserved Punishment, would as readily expose Loyal Subjects to that which is undeserved.

3. Since Parliaments are our Catholicon, or Ʋniversal Remedy against Ʋniversal or Catholick Maladies; you must conclude them Enemies to the Nations Life, who would remove the Phy­sicians in that Critical minute, when the Patient must either speedily recover, or immediately dye. What you are then to judge of those Evil Counsellors, who advised the Dissolution of two Parliaments in one year, when we are sure there was never a year of more Danger, nor a Parliament of more ability to prevent it, is easie to determine, but not so easie to resolve, whether the loss of that Excellent Law, for a Parliament once in three years, or the having three Parliaments in one year, was the more pernicious to England's Safety?

4. If they who reproach your Representatives, do interpretatively reproach you whom they represent, you know amongst what sort of men to discover your Enemies. Such, who in their Scurrilous Pasquils, have loaded the most Loyal, Zealous, and Wise Patriots, with Scan­dalous Language, traduced their Persons, misconstrued their Counsels, fastened odious Suspi­tions of Disloyalty upon them, being outragious against them; because they were able to re­scue an Innocent People out of their Unmerciful hands.

5. In the same rank you must place those who by subtile Artifices, and finer Sleights, ob­structed Parliamentary Proceedings: who by unseasonable and unreasonable insisting upon Un-parliamentary, Un-presidented Privileges, did hinder those excellent Bills from passing in­to Acts, which had been the Bulwarks of the Nation against Popery; who by various, and secret Methods damm'd up the Current of Justice, that it could not teach the Capital Offend­ers, who triumph in their present Immunity, and the hopes of future Indempnity.

6. Forget not to put them into the Black-bill, who being intrusted by the Nation, to repre­sent them in the former Parliament, basely sold themselves, their Votes, and You, for Annual Pensions, Gainful Offices, and can give you a reason too, why they have sold you, because they say, they first bought you: and 'tis but reasonable that they who purchased your Votes at the Election in the Countrey, should sell their own Votes in the House, and that at as dear rates as they can.

7. They whose stiffness and Pride would not yield to an accommodation amongst differing Protestants, who have begun, continued, fomented, and encreased Divisions amongst our selves, are the most effectual Friends to the Popish, and therefore Enemies to the Eng­lish Interest,; who, whilst they do obstinately persist in imposing unreasonable terms of Uni­on, [Page 3] have advanced Dis-union, weakened the hands of Friends, strengthened the hands of Ene­mies, and learn'd from Machiavel their Tutor, and the Devil their Father, to destroy effectually by dividing irreconcileably; and have laid such sinful terms of Peace, as have made Peace de­sperate, unless Dissenters could purchase a Peace with us at the dear rate of a War with God, wherein Conscience must always be in Arms, and the Soul the Seat of War.

8. Whoever have been Neutrals in this last grand Contest between the Protestant Religion and Popery, ought to be more than suspected for your Enemies: He that is not with us in extremity, is certainly against us; These only wait the good hour, when they may safely shew their Teeth, and bite, which now they hide.

9. There is none more implacably your Enemy, than that Person whose Interest it is to de­stroy you: They therefore that must neither eat nor drink, except you starve, that must go in Rags, except you go naked, are taught to fleece you, that they may keep themselves warm; I mean, as you easily know, the whole List of Pensioners, who sold you once to get Bread, and would gladly sell you once again that they may get Drink; they have be­trayed us once, and thereby proved themselves Knaves; if they be trusted, and betray us again, we shall prove our selves Fools.

10. Whoever have their Dependance upon Foreign Princes or States, are under a strong Obligation to see you ruin'd: for your own Reason will tell you, that no Foreign Power will prodigally throw away his Pistols, where he expects not an Harvest answerable to his Seed: These are those Degenerated Englishmen, who having forsaken the Interest of their Native Countrey, have sold themselves to an Outlandish Interest, that they may the better gratifie their own Ambition, and those potent Lusts which their own meaner Fortunes could not otherwise seed and satiate.

11. Lastly, They that cry up Prerogative against the true Liberty of the Subject, are Enemies both to Prerogative and Liberty, and would swell up the one to the consumption of the whole; for when all the Spirits are drawn to one part, the rest must sensibly waste, for want of their due and proper Nourishment.

II. What Design these our Enemies have upon us.

To know our Danger, and our Enemies Designs, is a good step to prevent the one, and disappoint the other: The Bird will perish without pity, that hastens to the Snare laid in her sight: let me therefore warn you of the Snare, and if you like it, put in your feet.

1. One great Design is to render Parliaments odious, and thereby useless; which they manage by representing our Representatives, as men of Factious, Seditious, Disloyal Spirits, and when they can say nothing more, turn us over to Fourty two, for a parallel: though some wise men have thought they were very imprudent in making the comparison; for if Forty Two had no other design than to secure the Protestant Religion, and our Civil Proprieties, as 'tis evident this of Seventy Nine had not, the Parallel will rather justifie That, than condemn This.

2. What Design there may be of a Standing Army, I had rather any should speak than my self; but this is sure, a more accursed Design against our Peace and Propriety could not be formed, when every lowzy Red-coat shall pluck the Bread out of our Children's Mouths, and the Cloaths off our own Backs, when they are once hunger-bitten for want of Pay; and these must be Lurdanes in every House, and the Proprietor wait upon his Tren­cher. Whether Danby had any such Design upon us, will be seen in his Trial, though we want not frequent Trials that such a Design there is.

3. That there has been a Design to Corrupt all Elections, and Debauch the Members Elected, that so a Parliament, which in its Pure and Primitive Constitution is the best of things, may by Corruption, become the worst, is too clear from those Voluminous Lists of Pensioners, which, formerly, and of late, have given us our Information.

4. Though I would not have you Suspitious, yet I would have you Cautelous, and ad­vise with your selves, whether there be not some Endeavours to make Will and Pleasure tri­umph over Right and Law? You may warrantably have a vigilant eye upon those who cry up an Absolutely Absolute Power in the Prince; That we are Vassals; That the Prince may Impose Taxes upon the Subjects, which they in Conscience are bound to obey, upon pain of Eternal Damnation: you may do well to take timely notice of this Design: Your All is at Stake, and that too great a Concern to be ventur'd upon an After-Game.

5. And your Religion seems to be in Apparent Hazard; which is more worth than all the rest; and that, for which all the rest are desirable. How difficult is it to get a Law pass, that may effectually barrout Popery, Experience has taught you: What Hopes Papists have of the Succession, you understand; and how to prevent that Blow to Religion, if the Ram­pant Jesuits should give a Blow to the Life of our present Soveraign, you cannot easily ima­gine.

6. And who knows what Danger you are in of losing your Parliaments? These frequent Dissolutions, with some prognosticate an Annihilation; and then the Nation, whose Eyes are scarce dry from their Lamentations for their Short-liv'd Parliaments, must weep, as if it were but one great Eye, for the Funeral of our Ancient Government.

III. The Means to prevent our Ʋtter Ruine.

You are now ( Dear Countreyment!) upon the Brink of the Brink of Ruine, and cannot be undone but by your own Choice: Let it not be said, when both are set before you, You have chosen Misery before Felicity.

1. Keep a tender Eye in your present Choice upon those Worthy Persons which answer­ed the Trust Reposed in them the last Parliament; and where you find your selves mista­ken (and in some you were sadly mistaken) rectifie your Errour, and let your Second-Thoughts compensate whatever Failing you were guilty of in your last Choice.

2. Be resolved (against all Temptations) to chuse no Minors: Can you judge them fit to dispose of your Liberties, Lives, Estates and Religion, who cannot legally dispose of their own Estates, or themselves? What Security can they give you, that they will not give a­way yours and you, whose Bond in the Eye of the Law will not be taken for Forty Shillings?

3. Set a black Brand upon those notorious Pensioners (now well known to all the World) who would sell their God, their King, their Countrey, for morsels of Bread: What Protecti­on do you expect from them, who cannot shew their Faces with confidence, without a Prote­ction, either in, or out of Parliament? Will you secure them within the Walls of the House of Commons, who were better secured within the Walls of the Common Gaol? Who can never pay their Debts contracted by their Prodigality, but out of your Purses; and must run you in, to get themselves out of their Mortgages?

4. Do not once think of opening your mouths for such as are not their own men; who are pre-engaged to their great Masters, and must follow their Whistle: Their Offices, Pre­ferments, Salaries, Court-employments lie so near their hearts, that they have no room for their Countrey.

5. Suspect them who by Terrour and Threats would aw you, or by Bribery, Feastings, Entertainments would allure you to prostitute your Voices for their Elections; you may be assured they would never bid so high for your Suffrages, but that they know where to make their Markets. Chuse the worthy unwilling person, before the complementing unworthy man, whose extraordinary forwardness prognosticates he seeks not your Good, but his own, separate from the Publick.

6. Let not Beggars be your Representatives; they will cut large Thongs out of your Hides, to spare their own; 'tis a pleasure to them to become Levellers, and to make you as poor as themselves: How can they judge what is expedient for the Nation to spare, whose only care it is to get a piece of Money to spend?

7. Get men of Courage, who will not be Hector'd out of their Duties by the Frowns and Scowls of men: never had you more need to pitch upon the old English Spirit, that durst be faithful and just against all Temptations. 'Tis God's own Counsel, that you Elect men after his own heart, such as fear God, and not the Faces of Great ones. Remember who they were that could never yet resist Smile or Frown, but tamely sunk below their own Convictions, and knew the evil they did, yet durst not but commit it.

8. Set your eyes, fix your hearts upon persons of as large principles as the Gospel will war­rant you. Narrow Souls that will own none but those that bear their own Image and Super­scription, will sooner raise Persecution at home, than secure us from Popery, and Invasion from abroad: The great Interest of England at this day, is, to tolerate the tolerable, to bear with the weak, to encourage the conscientious, and to restrain none but such as would restrain all besides themselves.

9. Make your Trust as easie a Burden as may be, to them you Elect. The Trust it self is Burden enough, the Charges of their Attendance great enough; and 'tis disingenuous to suf­fer them to sink in their Estates, who zealously endeavour to preserve you from sinking.

10. Lay Obligations upon those you chuse, that they labour to secure the True Protestant Religion for the future, that they examine the present Plot, pursue the Plotters, and impar­tially bring them to 'condign punishment, how high soever they look, and with whatsoever Supports they bear up their confident Faces: Let them be entreated also, when Grievances are redressed, Religion secured, the Nations Peace setled and stablished, liberally to supply the Government, to discharge Publick Debts, that there may be the most happy Closure be­tween His Sacred Majesty and His People, that ever any Age could yet boast of.

These things being humbly laid before you, I shall join with you all in wishing a Happy Success to your Elections, and a Blessed Issue upon the Unanimous Counsels of your REPRESENTATIVES.