YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of

LOUIS M. RABINOWITZ

STRENA VAVASORIENSIS A
NEW YEARS GIFT
FOR THE
WELSH ITINERANTS
OR A HUE AND CRY AFTER
Mr. vavasor POWELL
BY
ALEXANDER GRIFFITHS

CARDIFF
1915-

Two hundred copies privately printed for
" Cymdeithas Lien Cymru,"
by
William Lewis (Printers), Ltd., Cardiff,
March, 1915.

\^\

n .,

^c

? 2S'/S

54

PREFACE.

The book here reprinted is one of a series of controversial
pamphlets published between 1650 and 1656. The controversy
arose out of the passing of the " Act for the better Propagation and
Preaching of the Gospel in Wales " in the early part of the year
1650. Under the terms of this Act, Commissioners were appointed
who were given power to hear articles or charges brought against
the Clergy of the Church of Wales, for " any delinquency, scandal,
malignancy or non- residency " and after due process, " to amove,
discharge and eject " them. The special duty of administering the
Act was entrusted to Maj or- General Thomas Harrison, with the
aid of a commission of 70 members and 25 assessors. His chief
co-adjutor was Vavasor Powel, who took an active part in bringing
the Act into force. The proceedings of the Commissioners created
so much dissatisfaction that a petition was presented to Parliament
on the i6th March, 1651-2,* by Col. Edward Freeman and a number
of gentlemen from South Wales, calling attention to the ejection
of large numbers of clergy from their livings and the non-provision
of efficient substitutes. The Petition was referred by Parliament
to the Committee of Plundered Ministers, but the matter was
postponed from time to time, until in March, 1653, the authority
conferred on the Commissioners expired. An attempt was made
to continue the Commissioners in power, but on April ist, 1653,
this was defeated and an order made for substituting more moderate
ministers for those named in the original Act as the dispensers
of certificates to preachers.
On September 4th, 1652, Alexander Griffiths, a Welsh clergy
man issued a pamphlet entitled " Mercurius Cambro-Britannicus,
or News from Wales, touching the glorious and miraculous propaga
tion of the Gospel in those parts." In the same year he published
another pamphlet called " The Petition of the Six Counties of South
* This date is given in one pamphlet as loth March, in another as above.

VI.
Wales, etc." In both of these pamphlets an attack is made upon
Vavasor Powel, who had taken up the cudgels on behalf of the
Welsh Commissioners. A further tract was issued, probably in
1653, entitled, " Certain seasonable considerations and reasons
humbly offered against reviving the Act ... for the Better Propa
gation of the Gospel in Wales," and in January, 1654 (the date on
the copy in the British Museum is January 30th), the pamphlet
here reprinted was published. On the previous December 12th, the
Short Parliament, which had contained many members who were
sympathetic with the proceedings of the Welsh Commission 3rs, was
asked to abdicate, and on the refusal of the minority to do so, they
were turned out of the House. On December i6th, Cromwell was
installed as Protector, much to the disgust of Vavasor Powel and
his friends. On the i8th, Powel is said to have styled the Protector
as " the dissemblingest perjured villain in the world," adding
" that his reign was but short and that he should be served worse
than that great tyrant the last Lord Protector." Powel was
summoned before the Council on December 21st, but was liberated
with a caution to offend no more, and he appears to have taken
the hint, for he retired to Wales without delay. His opponent,
Alexander Griffiths, immediately saw his opportunity, and on
January 30th, issued the book here reprinted.
The " Strena Vavasoriensis " created a considerable sensation
in Wales, and its fame seems to have lingered on to the end of the
18th century, for Theophilus Jones, in his " History of the County
of Brecknock," Vol. II., p. 389, states that he had in vain endeavoured
to procure a sight of either of the pamphlets written by Griffiths,
viz., the "Mercurius Cambro-Britannicus" and the "Strena
Vavasoriensis," though one of them had been lately sold by auction
at Mr. Brand's sale for the sum of eleven pounds ! This book was
also largely utiUsed by Walker in his " Sufferings of the Clergy,"
published in 1714.
NaturaUy enough Powel's friends came to his rescue, and on
March 30th in the same year pubhshed a reply to the pamphlets

Vll.

issued by Griffiths. This is called " Vavasoris Examen et Purgamen :
or, Mr. Vavasor Powel's Impartiall Triall : who hath appealed
to God and his Country and is found Not Guilty," and it should,
in justice to Powel, be read in conjunction with the attacks made
upon him.
It appears that there were at least two issues of the " Strena
Vavasoriensis," which differ in some small details. The Title
Pages of the two agree, but there are several variations in the
tjrpe and ornaments in the remainder of the book. We reproduce
in facsimile the upper portions of page i in order to make this
clear. It will be observed that the ornament at the top of the
page differs, and that in one issue the word ' gift ' is spelt ' gifv.'
Both issues were, however, brought out by the same publisher, and
the slight distinctions between the two simply prove the existence
of two editions and that the pamphlet was popular. In spite of
what Theophilus Jones says in the extract given above, this
pamphlet is much commoner than the other pamphlets attributed
to Alexander Griffiths and than the reply issued by Vavasor's
friends. In succeeding issues we hope to reprint other Common
wealth tracts, which are scarce and important to the historian.

NEVV-YEARSGIFT FOR THE
WELCH ITINERANTS,
OraHUEandCRYafer
Uv. V AVA S 0'J{^T OW E L L,
^SMetropolftan ofthe Itinerants, and one of the
Executioners ofthe Go/pel^ by colour ofthe late ^B for
the Propagaitoa thcrcot in fraks-^
AS ALSO
A true Relation of his Birth,Courfe of Life,and DotStrincs ¦
TOGETHER WITH
A,VJndication of feveral places ofScripturewreftedand
abuicci, againft the prclcnt Govemment, and all publick Mini
fters ot this Nation.
Jiis liytnfiSun^'mChrift-Churcb Loncfori-;\Wnh an u^Miphona. there'
untoj and a lively Defcription ofhis Prefagatien.

Ra.ro antecedeatem Scelejlum
Sequitur pecle Poena claitdo.
Pro. \6. •). Anfvpci- a Foot acctrrding te his fully , lc(l he bc ivife 'tn his O'wn conceit,
<3cn. 4.14. ^ ^^all be a Fugitive and a Vagabond in the Ftirth, find it [Iinlt rome topnfi, that
rvt,y em th it findeth tne, (hall (lay >ne.
 I - -  """^r
lOTSiVQN, Printed by EL. 1654.

^JIl^^iSl»444i4i4i<i^

To the Reader.

^ader.

Ou must be pleased not to wonder that
our Cry is so loud, for we beat on a strong
Quest, and must hunt dry-foot after
Mr. V. P. who is the Subject of this
Discourse; a man that hath passed by
no Person or Profession but hath either
vilified the one, or traduced the other : His Cruelties
have been so immane, and his Cheats so frequent and
obvious, that we should undertake too great a task
to pursue them all, having with his Errors and Blas
phemies robbed God oi his Glory, Christ of his Honour,
the Scripture of her Truth, the Church of her Ministery,
and the Christian People of our Nation, of the Comfort
of Christs blessed Ordinances, every way endeavouring
to undermine the very Fabrick both of this Church
and State, so that the Hue and Cry is great. You must
not expect any Curiosity in the stile, being the Drol
leries only of his own brain, and the reiterating of
the passages of his own obscean & violent discour
ses, which may not with verity be Metamorphosed
from their first shape ; here is not a passage falsly re
lated, nor malitiously aggravated ; and though All
A 2 that

To the Reader.
that is here is True, yet AU that is true, is not here
told, for we purposely pretermit many things, that
we may reserve more in store. We found out the sent
of some part of his Doctrin in Wales, and here in London
more bitterness of his Seditions, for which he was 3
times committed to the custody of the Messengers
attending His Highness Council, and being thence
with great clemency released, he became as wild
as ActcBon (transformed into the shape of a Deer)
and knew not where to betake himself lest he
should be torn by his own dogs.
Ovid met. Quidfaciut ? Repetatne domum, et Regalia tecta,
An lateat Sylvisltimor hoc, pudor impedit illud.
He was afraid to stay here, and ashamed to re
turn home ; but being gone he is much lamented by
his brethren for betraying their trust, and more con
demned by all honest men for violating his pro
mise, in continuing (as we understand) as busie
and violent in the Country, as ever he was here, a-
gainst this present Government : whosoever plea
seth to make search after him, may soon know
him by his Characteristical marks, herein truly ex
pressed. I am sure you shall not find him idle.
Virg. Eel. Nam si non aliqud nocuisset, mortuus esset.
Let us intreat your patience in tracing his foot
steps, and the Lord preserve you from his wayes :

NEVV-YEARSGI FV
FOR
The Welch Itinerants,
Ora HUE and CRY after

Facsimile of first page of text from another issue of
Strena 'Vavasoriensis,

(I)
NEVV-YEAR.SGI FT
FOR
The Welch Itinerants,
Of.a HUE and CRY after
Mr,V JFJSOIR TOJVELL.
you will have first his Pedigree blazed, he ^ j^-^
was the Grand-child of one William Vavasor Birth.
of Newtown in Montgomeryshire, a man fresh
in our memory for his hyperbolical discourses,
so that by descent he hath not much de
generated from his Ancestors. This old man
had a Daughter named Penelope, a Lady
not altogether as Chast as Ulysses his Wife, who gained more
by the trade of Tipling than Spinning, And this Gossip was
the Mother of our young Donatus. She was married to one
Howel the poor Ale man of Knwcklas in Radnorshire, and a badger
of Oatmeal, but Non genus aut proavos- — we like Mr. Vavasor never
the worse for that. They lived long in that house of no good re
port, and the young Gentleman was no great probationer in
Christs School, by his own confession (during his Minority be
ing willing to approve of all games, were they never so wanton or
vile, for his Mother or Sisters livelyhood. But tired at length
with walking [tjheir Guests horses, and finding no great gain at such 2 Educa-
a petty Ale-house, he was elevated in his thoughts for higher pre- tion.
B fer-

3 Marri
age.

4 Course
of life.

(2)
ferment and so becarae an Hostler (I would say Groom) to
Master Isaack Thomas, an Inn-keeper and Mercer in Bishop-Castle in
Shropshire. Alas ! it was impossible that so high and generous a spirit
should be captivated to horses heels ; The hopeful! young man
continued not long in rubbing on that Trade, but began to be so
eloquent with Welcome Gentlemen, that at last, together with the
benefit of his Masters Notes, he presumed to open the Scriptures,
and being then taken up by a great Gamaliel, he was for a good
space (you may think) well Educated and Principled at his
feet. This GaUant Spark lived a while (though not purely chast, yet)
a smgle life ; but at last the strength of his Flesh prevailed over the
weaknesse of his Spirit, being then Munkie proud, he was so ta
ken with sweet and dear Mistres Quarrel, sometimes a walking
Pedlar, and seller of Hot-waters in Preisieign in Radnorshire,
wherewith he was often Comforted, that his inflamed spirit did
revive ; and her husband shortly deceasing, though his dead
Corps had not lain a fortnight in the Grave, they being sweetly en
amored the one with the other, she proves to be his Consort,
and so he Carries her as a Dear Sister about, though her little
Child, lately deprived of his Father, and now robbed of his Mo
ther, raised the Hue and Cry after them ; but wantonnesse admits
neither of delays nor intreaties.
Here is sweet Amity and Conjunction, a couple well met and
joyned together, a Walking Pedler, and an Itinerary Preacher, both
very expert in their Trades.
His Proficiency grew on, and no sooner becomes he a School
master, but takes upon him the habit of Sir John ; and lest without
Ordination (under the Episcopal Government) he might incur the
danger of suspension, borroweth of an old decayed Minister (his
neer Kinsman) his Letters of Orders, razeth out the other, and
inserts his own name, and under Colour of these Counterfeit Let
ters missive, he goes unsent, and begins to thunder out of the
Pulpits (as though he had been a fiery Spirit raised out of Hel : )
but by reason of his inconformity, and the many Errors which he
broached, his Calling was questioned, and the Orders being
well scanned, were found Spurious and Counterfeit, and he bound to

(3)
to appear at the next great Sessions to be held for that County of
Radnor, where appearing, and indicted for non-Conformity,
forging of Orders, and Siditious Doctrine, was with much adoe
reprieved from the Gallows, and very neer to undergo the danger
of a true Suspension.
The Modesty of the man was such, that with old Vulpone (having s Remo-
escaped thus narrowly) he is resolved thence-after to harras and "Ifl^^ ^"'
prey abroad, and so, for meer shame, his Country is rid of him, and
he makes his transmigration into England : but I shall passe over
with silence his great Cheating and Seducing of poor souls in Kent
and Essex, where he continued, and spread his Errors diverse years,
and sparingly discover his retum, and trading again among his own
Natives and Countrymen.
No sooner did these late troubles, and intestine Wars break forth 6 Return
in England, but as soon as Wales was reduced under the power of ^° p^opa-
the Parliament, he fled thither, not out of any affection to their gate.
Cause, but for his own designs, security, and advantage, and
was as active and vigorous as the perpetual motion of a tongue, or
the invention of a wicked brain could possible be, for the rooting
out of the Ministery, branding the Calling as Anti-Christian, and
rendring the persons by all scandalous aspersions, to become o-
dious to the people. And for the more speedy effecting thereof, he,
together with others of the same Cut, (who, if they become more Tunctua
meek and modest, may peradventure prove namelesse) promoted ?^ ^'g^t^r
,i_ . , T, . ' panes cum
the Act for Propagation of the Gospel in Wales, so really intended proximum
by the pious Care and Charity of those Members of Parliament ; "J^^^j
yet by the unworthy managing thereof by these men, it proved like " ^^"^ '
another Ephesian Image of Diana (though believed to be descen
ded from heaven) for the benefit only of this Demetrius, and his
tradesmen, the Silver Shrines taking up the whole devotion of that
worship. A true description whereof you shall (God wiUing) in the latter
end herein find to be lively delineated.
For his incouragement in the work, he had his Stipend and Sala- 7 Stipend
ry of one hundred pounds a year allowed unto him out of Prebends,
Dean and Chapters, and other Tithes, besides the vast Emolu
ments of many other Sequestred Benefices in North-Wales, which
were, and continue dayly paid unto him, and received Tickets
B 2 from

8 Great
ness and
wealth.

9 Itinera
ry way.

lo And
manner of Propa
gaiton.

(4)
from the Commissioners in South-Wales for the like Sum, besides
the wages of divers of the Itinerants and School-masters, who are
but his lourney-men and Stipendaries.
And yet this man hath the Impudency to Protest and Vow he
fore God and men (as his usual manner is in his Sermons) that he
never received a penny for his Pains and Preaching.
Thus the poor Groom is become great and wealthy, having
purchased some of the late Kings Fee-farm Rents and Lordships,
though for the most part in another mans name : And to perpetu
ate his memory (as wicked Absalom being Son-lesse reared up his
Pillar in the Kings Dale) hath built for himself a very fair and
sumptuous house in Kerry) within the County of Montgomery. We
are sure that old Howel (his Father) his Inheritance which he sold
in Knwcklas, could never have made such Purchases and Buil
dings. Being thus incouraged and warmed to the work, he rides his
Itinerary Stages throughout to some purpose, and what a rout
he and his lunto made of aU the Ministers in Wales (except
some few, who either fed them, depended upon them, or
had some Correspondence with them) we make no question
but some abler Pens wiU shortly set forth to the uttermost.
However, because he is now under File, give us leave briefly to
Limn forth the manner of their Propagations.
The great Cabal of the Itinerants instruction was to render the
Ministers persons odious, and their Calling in its very basis to be
Anti christian, and so in it self unlawfull and uselesse, and none to
be protected or Countenanced by the Civil Magistrate. Tlris
without any greater Engin was instrumental enough to batter and
eject them out of their Freeholds and Being, without any respect
either to their fidelity and ability in their Teachings, or sobriety in
their Conversations. And in what a narrow streight they were, ei
ther to be wholly deprived of aU subsistence for the maintenance of
themselves and Families, or tum Apostafaes to their Ordination, we
leave to that most ingenuous and modest Censure of a Noble Mem
ber of the House, in his Answer to a Narrative of the Cause and
manner of the Dissolution of the last Parliament.
2. Though he and the Itinerants cryed down Tithes as Mosaical
Ceremonies and Anti-Christian, yet he and they, or such as are
their

(5)
their Agents, have had the disposing of above Forty Thousand
pounds a year in Tithes, Gleabs, impropriations, Rents reserved.
and other ecclesiastical benefices and promotions, for above four
years last past in the thirteen Counties of Wales, far surmounting the
sum of One Hundred and Threescore Thousand pounds, and as yet
to our knowledge unaccounted for, and what account is given to the
State for the Tenths, since the Act of Propagation of aU ecclesia
stical promotions in Wales, we refer to the better knowledge of
that worthy Gent. Mr. Baker, Master of the first fruits Ofiice.
3. That notwithstanding all this great Revenue by them recei
ved, there are above seven hundred Parishes in the thirteen Coun
ties unsupplied with any Ministers, who (we are confident) dare
oTiDn the charge, and you may ride ten or twenty miles on the Lords
day, where there is twenty Churches, and not one door opened, and
for most of the Itinerants, they are such ignorant persons, that they
can neither read, nor understand English, nay some of them more
scandalous than any of the ejected Ministers, and aU of them in
their Principles and Doctrines destructive to Government.
But we wiU not digresse from Mr. Vavasor : The Asp receives n His
her poyson from the Viper, and what he spits, these lick up ; We ^^^^
shall give you an account of some of his base and spurious Doctrines,
that by his you may understand theirs.
Now his chief work is to preach and advance Christs Personal 12 false
Reign here on Earth, being the Antient Errour and Fopperie of °^ "°®^
the Chiliasts or Millenaries, hissed and exploded out of the Church
of Christ in the vefy Infancy thereof. And what is his end and in
tention therein, may be conspicuous and apparent (as his wild dif-
courses against the present Government under his Highness Prote
ction, have evidently discovered) to be the Destruction of the Ma
gistracy of England, as well as the Ministery of Wales.
At Welsh Pool, a Town in Mountgomery-shire, he taught. That
Christ was to reign a thousand years here upon the Earth, And that
he was to sit next unto him. Behold the intollerable pride of this
Creature to extoU himself upon the right hand of his Creator. We
should think that our Saviours reprof to Zebedees sons should cor
rect if not satisfie this Ambition ; Sobriety should have ushered
him to beseech a place at the Footstool of his Tribunal, and in Cha
rity to give some room for the poor despised Ministers, to appear
B 3 with

(6)
with him, though here as yet they found neither Comfort nor mer
cy at Mr. Vavasors hands.
At Llandetty in Brecknockshire he preached, That Christ was
already come in the flesh the second time, and that at London a Girl
of twelve years old, told her mother, that she saw him in the Cham
ber ; and said, that a Godly man related this unto him, and knew it
to be true, and they that heard him that day should shortly see him
too. And one lohn Davies his Proselyle and loumey man in Mount-
gomery shire, having received the same by Tradition from him,
told very lately to a lustice of Peace of that County, That he had seen
Christ, and was to go the next morning to see him again ; And being
demanded by the lustice, ushat manner of man he was, replyed,
that he was a little old man, with a small grey beard.
And so Mr Williams an Itinerant of Mr. Vavasors approbation,
preached in a Sermon in Monmouthshire, That Christ lesus was
such another man as old Rice Williams of Newport, one of the Com
missioners for the Propagation, and that he had a large grey beard.
Thus it seems the Tithes are their God, and the Propagators that
pay them their salaries out of the Tithes are their Christs.
At the same Town of Pool Mr. Powel openly delivered before tbe
Bailiff, and the rest of that Corporation, That let them repent, or
not Repent, both Priest and People were all damned. And did then
absolutely declare, That Christ had no Church either in England or
Wales, but what he and his associats had gathered for him. And in a
disputation with Mr. A. G. in Keington in Herefordshire, he was
driven to that pinch as to maintain, That the Nation of England
Was a Nation of Unbelievers ; And that the words of Christ in T^th.
Chap, of Matthew, concerning the tares and drag-net were contrary
to other Scriptures.
At Manavon in Mountgomery he taught. That all our Fore-fa
thers were damned, blasphemously abusing that place of Scripture to
confirm his uncharitable opinion (i Cor. 15. 18.) Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. A wretched and mali
cious Gloss, to acknowledge our fore-fathers to die in the Faith of
Christ lesus, and the glorious hope of his Resurrection, and yet
that they shall eternally perish : Whereas the Apostle in that Chap
ter by convincing Arguments confirms the Doctrine of our Resur
rection

(7)
rection by the Resurrection of Christ, which he had fully proved
both by forcible Reasons and also by Signs and Wonders, which if not
true as he had preached, then the Corinthians vainly believed
Pauls Preaching, and dying in the Faith of Christ would be ineffe
ctual unto them. If they who died therein Eternally perished.
At Baryw in the same Countie he taught, That Baptism was ne- 1 Pet. 3
ver ordained for the remission of sins, contrary to several places of ^'-^'J-- ^
Scripture, which affirms, that Baptism saves us, that it is the La- iq,
var or washing of Regeneration, which though all this be Analo
gically spoken, being the Obsignation of the thing signified by the
sign, yet in the true use thereof of the Exhibition and Perception of the
sign and thing is conjoyned. But this is Mr. Vavasors Ordinary use
to vilifie that sacred Ordinance, as he always doth by his Common
recital of that place of Scripture, In Christ lesus neither Circum- Gal. 5. 6,
cision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new Creature, ^5-
which he and aU his followers scornfully apply to the contempt of
Baptism, In which place is only meant. That the lewes called to
the Faith of Christ after their Circumcision, gain nothing by their
former Circumcision, nor the unbelieving Gentiles being called,
lose anyhing by their uncircumsion, for seeing in Christ the Cir
cumcision is spiritual, there is no need of carnal.
At Guilsfield in the same County he preached. That Christ was
not the Redeemer of the World, and being reprehended for his blas-
phemie, answered, that they should not always observe what he
said, for he that speaks much (said he) must speak some things a-
miss. And how ridiculous and obscene diverse of his passages have 13 His
been, we are very loath to deliver to chast Ears, yet we obsceni-
must beseech your Patience to these true Relations. Trefeg-
In diverse parish Churches in Mountgomary shire he delivered in iwys,
his Sermon this story. That they were many in Company travelling jy^^^ '^^""
towards London, and one of them rid on an Ambling gray horse, Machyn-
and meeting another Company, where there was a Gentleman that ''^*^^-
rid on the like colour' d pacing horse, when the one gray Horse met
the other, they stood still, and made much the one of the other,
and would not part Company ; even so the Saints of God know one
another by their paces and colours, and will not part Company the one
from the other. And

(8)
And how modest the Gentleman is, may appear by his Ob
scene expressions in a Sermon preached at Llunddynam in the same
County, where being willing to justifie a Sister, that had slip
ped, becomes her Compurgator in these words. That he called
God to witnesse. He never saw a Saint Occupie or F  a
Saint, which he explained thus in the Welch tongue, Yr ywf
yn Galow Duw yn dist, ni welais i yr'ioed Sainct yn myned ar
Sainctes. And one Richard Powell Vicar of Llanigon in Brecknockshire, one
of the Approvers in the Act for the Propagation of the Gospel, and
Itinerant in that County (receiving the same by tradition from Mr.
Vavasor) hath usuaUy delivered in his Sermons both in Hereford
shire and Brecknockshire, Conceming the manner of Christ's Spirit
entring into man, that he could not use any fitter Comparison, than,
as the seed of Man entred into the body of a Woman, so the Spirit of
Christ entred into his head. And the same Richard Powell main
tained. That God was not Creator of the world, as was proved against
him by sufficient understanding Witnesses before a worthy, and
godly Justice of the Peace of the County of Brecon. And often deli
vered in his Sermons, That the Lords Prayer is a rotten Prayer.
This man is a most scandalous, ignorant, covetous deboyst fellow,
and marched before his Parishoners and others against Sir William
Waller's forces when they were at Abergavenny, reading the Tetany
out of the Common-prayer, which he carried in his hands ; and yet
was made an Approver in the Act, and receives Tith in kind from
his three neighbouring Parishes.
Mr. Vavasor Powell, to justifie another Sister of his own Congre
gation who had willfully drowned her self in a Draw well near the
Welch Pool, delivered publickly in his Sermon there, That she was
a Saint in Heaven, and they who thought otherwise were wicked
persons, and accursed ; That she came to her end by the Motion of
the Holy Spirit, and that it hapned oftentimes when the Saints are
fiUed with the Spirit, they run into great Pools, instead of green
Meadows, and so imbracing their Saviour they make an end of their
Lives by divine providence, and there soules are Eternally saved.
Surely this Spirit possessed Mr. Vavasor both at Christ-church and
Black-friars, which brought him three times into Capt. Cumpton's
hands, one of the Messengers attending His Highnes Council. And
brought

(9)
brought (as we understand). a Gentleman of this City very lately to
stretch, unlesse his man (like Naamans servants) had been more
carefull of his Masters neck than himself. Thus the Circumcellians
of old, when they could not soUicit others, took pains with their
own throats.
We must not forget his Compassion and Charity towards men, 14 His
and especially towards the Ejected Ministers of Wales, Incom-
and their Children.
In Llanyrvil in Mountgomery shire he taught. That it were a
good deed to cut the throats of all the Old Ministers : And had it
not been for the charity of some few of the Saints (as he ter
med them) it had been performed long ago. And to a Gentleman in
Red-Castle that petitioned him for relief and maintenance for the
poor Children of the Ejected Ministers, he answered. That their
heads should be dashed against the walls as Babylonish Brats, and so
their portions should be paid.
He preacheth and inveigheth most bitterly here in London against
Tithes, but how vigorously he levies his salary in Wales, by coun
tenancing his Agents and Farmours to gather Tithes, may truly
appear by several of his false passages which are too tedious to re
late ; He pretended that the Godly party in Wales were in danger
of their lives, and that two and forty of them were slain at the hea
ring of the Ejected Ministers Sermons ; and so since the Dissoluti
on of the former Parliament, by these false and abominable surmi
ses, he obtained a Commission for the raising of Forces, wherewith
he did insultingly tyrannize over the poor Inhabitants of that Nati
on ; witnesse his insolent carriage against the last years High She
riff of the County of Mountgomery ; the taking of Mr. Owens of
Machynleth out of his house, and binding him to the Great Sessi
ons ; his seizng upon Mr. Herbert of Dolegyog without any cause
at all, which so affrighted the Gentlewoman his Wife, that she mis
carried of a Child ; besides the imprisoning of diverse of the Ejected
Ministers for discharging their duties in preaching and maintaining
the truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus.
And with these new raised Troops inforced the people to pay
their Tithes, as evidently appeareth in Mr. Ralph Kinnastons Case,
a Gentleman of very good worth and quaUty in that County whose
fields with his armed Troops he forcibly entred into, forced the
C pay-

15 His
Cruelty.

1 6 His
Oppres
sion

17 His
faitlilesse
dealing.

(to)
payments of his Tithes, contrary to former Orders, and unlesse the
mildnesse and wisdom of the Gentleman had prevented his fury,
it might have been the cause of great mischief and effusion of Blood,
but I believe a BU of indictment hath been preferred in the great
Sessions already against this Ccesar Borgias and his Myrmidons for
a Riot. If we should relate unto you his Pride, oppressions and Cruelty, it
would take up too large a volume.
He preached at Welch Pool publiquely (where finding that few
took notes of his Sermons) That they were proud fellows, and de
spisers of Gods word, affirming that if King David were then pre
sent the holy Prophet would write his Sermon : And yet contrary to
this Doctrine, at Christ Church and Blackfriers in London he feU
roughly upon an ejected Welch Minister, whom he supposed to have
taken notes of his Sermons, being jealous of his own Errors, and a-
f raid to have his seditious speeches and falshood truly displayed.
At Guilsfield aforesaid he publiquely delivered these words,
{viz.) That in respect they had not submitted themselves to the
Saints (meaning himself and his Congregation) they should be in
a short time aU destroyed with the Sword, and that the War horses
should wade up to the rains of their bridles in the blood of the said
Parishioners, and of the other Enemies of the Saints, and doub
ted not but he should live to see the same performed.
His proceedings against Mr. Hugh Lloyd in Brecknock is an evi
dent testimony of his unspeakable oppression, whom (being a Gen
tleman of good estate and quality, and sometimes a lustice of Peace
of his Countie) he arrested in that Corporation, imprisoned, and
kept in, without bail or mainprise, until he had paid him One Hundred
pounds, and this upon a bare Arrest, and none durst bail him.
And his treacherous dealings with Mr. Humphrey lones, late
BaiUff of the Town of Welch Pool (which I often mentioned) who
is a very discreet Gentleman, and of good parts and abilities, are
well worth your Observation ; He being a constant hearer of the
word, a godly man, and frequently taking both the notes of his
Sermons, and of other reverend Divines who were afterwards
ejected, denying Mr. Powell the Copies which he requested that
he might the better frame most destructive Articles against them ;
the Gentleman (perhaps) not so much out of any tendemesse to
ward

( " )
wards them, as out of his respects towards him, being unwilling
to make manifest such sad stories and Blasphemies as were there re
corded out of his own Sermons, did (as that renowned Constantine
the great dealt with the Articles against the Nicene Bishops) com
mit them to the fire, which Mr. Vavasor took in such high con
tempt, that he maliciously framed threescore Articles to be
exhibited the next great Sessions against him, But Mr. Jones be
ing as provident as himself had compiled the like, to countermine
and repel his ; Mr. Powell being certified therewith, did by the
mediation of Friends agree with the Gent, and that neither of
them should exhibite Articles against the other ; but when Satur
day the last day of the Sessions came, and the Jury being dischar
ged, Mr. Vavasor contrary to his promise and agreement, being
maliciously bent to render the Gent, more scandalous, and defa
med, before the honourable Bench and Country, produced (though
ineffectually) several witnesses against him, and amongst the rest
one of his own Congregation, a poor man of Guilsfield, living upon
the Alms of the said Parish, whom he had kept the whole week in
Town, and fed with Venison : the fellow being thus instructed and
fitted for his purpose, swore some matters of Fact against Mr. lones,
whereof he said he was Eye-witnesse, and afterwards (upon the
Gentlemans request) being demanded by the ludge, whether he
knew the man, he confessed, he did not, though the Gentleman
was present at the Bench : The Honourable ludge checked Mr.
Powell, for countenancing such wicked and unworthy proceedings,
whereby Mr. lones was vindicated in the face of the Country, and
what a faithlesse and malicious man Mr. Poivell is, we leave to the
consideration of aU honest men.
Mr. Powells Prosecution against a poor Dyer of New Town is
most fresh and notorious : This Dyer having (it is confessed) li
ved wickedly with a lewd woman in that Town, but at last repen
ting his former courses, was married to an honest woman, with
whom he cohabited very lovingly ; This Whore becomes one of
Mr. Powels Congregation, and then challengeth a former marriage
with the man : and Mr. Powell did so prosecute the Cause, that
upon the bare evidence of the wicked woman the Dyer was convi
cted, burnt in the hand, and divorced from his honest wife, though
it had been formerly proved before a Justice of the Peace that this
C 2 lewd

(12)
lewd Woman lay that night (in which she swore that she was mar
ried to the Dyer,) with another Knave. The Judge did not weU
relish Mr. Powells eamestnesse for the Dyers execution, but repro
ved him for his incivihty, and busying himself with such things as
were excentrical to his profession, and dissonant to his Calling : But
the truth is, he was herein, as he is in all other things so pragmati
cal and busie, that not one Sute in Law, or any other difference in
those parts where he itinerates, passeth his Cognizance, siding with
the one party or other.
I could teU you. How he would have undermined a poor Wid-
dow in New Town (called Widdow Rose) from her house, and
dweUing, that he might be commodiously situated as Lord in
the heart of the County, but that the goodnesse of her Landlord,
who would not consent to his wicked motions, prevented his de-
signes.
1 8 His Lastly, for his Malignancy, and seditious inciting of the
nancy & P^opk against all subordinate Magistracy here on Earth under
sedition, the King of Kings Christ Jesus, his insufferable expressions
for the supplanting and undermining thereof, is a cleer de
monstration that he is the firebrand, and incendiary of the whole
Nation. At Llandynam he publickly delivered, That he knew not who
were the Keepers of the Liberties of England, more than who were
the Church of England, but that he conceived they were neither
the Parliament, nor the Council of State, but rather the people ;
and it is his professed opinion. That Magistrates, and speciaUy
Commanders and Officers, have nothing to do, or intermeddle with
Church government. As lenkyn lohn Howel (alias, Capt. lenk:
lones) that great Clero-Mastix, or persecutor of the Clergy, who
is an Approver in the Act for the Propagation, and an Itinerant in
the County of Brecknock, and hath at present sixscore Horse, with
Men, Arms, and Ammunition, listed, and ready at his Command,
preaching at the parish of Llandetty where he Uves, upon a day set
apart by the Parliament to thank God for the great victory obtai
ned against the Scots at Dunbar, told his hearers, That successfull
Warriors were not fit to reform, nor to medle with Religion, because
they were men of bloud ; and this his doctrine he proved by the choice
which God made of Solomon to build the Temple, and by his refusal of
David

(13)
David. That was his doctrine, but not a word of the Victory, nor
any of the Victors.
What the aim of the holy man was, the declared Opinion of his
friends (who I am sure are men of the same Principles) conceming
the present Government, hath now sufficiently unfolded by their
numerous Congregatings and meetings in Wales, which requires
speedy prevention.
But Mr. Vavasors unparaUelled Raptures at Christ-Church and At Christ-
Blackfryars in London, are evident and plain testimonies hereof : ^g j^^^'
truly, no good Christian could chuse but be astonished to hear so 19 at
many sacred places of Scripture miserably wrested upon his brasen .y^ '
Anvil, for to frame his Engine to level all Magistracy and Govern- 26 Dec. at
ment down to the ground. r^'^'^'-h
We will not rake up his whole Dunghil, but onely lightly touch
what we have received by faithfull Information.
He spared not His Highness the Lord Protectors Person, or Go
vernment.'] Mr. Vavasor, Had you been a true Minister of Christ, and Pro
pagator of his Gospel, you would have leamt Christ far better. He johu j^
teacheth you, That All Power is given from above ; And the Apo- "•
stle out of Moses, That you should not speak evil of the Ruler of Gods ^^ i^^ 1 r
people. But he subject unto the higher Powers, not only for wrath, but
also for Conscience sake. You should not have Cursed, but foUow
ed St. Pauls Rule, Powred out supplications, and prayers, and have ™" ^'
given thanks for him, That under him you might lead a quiet & peace
able life, in all godlinesse and honesty. For I must tell you, if you ^
had been but in Babylon, the Prophet leremiah would have taught
you another Lesson, To pray for the peace of that City, for in the
peace thereof shall ye have peace.
But you are the Diviner spoken of by that Prophet in the 8 ver. v. 8. 9.
Who prophecy falsly to the people in the Lords name, whom he hath
not sent.
He said, That many reigned now as Kings, without the advise of
the Saints, but the Lord would bring them down again. And that this
Power was not of God, and should shortly and suddenly be destroyed ; to
prove this, he abused that place of Scripture, i Cor. 4. 8. You reigned
as Kings without us.
Had you but truly weighed the Apostles drift, and meaning, in
C 3 those

(X4)
those words, yoii would not have so wrested the words oi Gods
Spirit.
But see the lustice of God (dum vis esse prcedo, fies prcedd) while
you would smite another, you stab yourself with your own weapon
I Cor. to the very heart. Let us both examine the Text. The Apostle in
^' '°' the loth V. of the preceding Chapter speaks to some Teachers, that
Arrogated to themselves to be Pastors of Congregations, and seemed
to succeed him, planting where others laboured : yet they should not
presume after their own fancy, upon gold to superstruct hay, as you
do, in your own Inventions, Prophetical raptures, and vain Re
velations. Observe moreover, how that in the Chapter which you cited,
ver. 4. you are wished not to be wise above that which is written ;
that is, none should by his own vain discourses, as you do, adulterate
the sense of the Scriptures : For what Gifts you have, they are re-
^- 7- ceived, and it is God that makes you to differ. Then the Apostle
doth indeed speak Ironically conceming such as you are, as though
V. 8. he had said. Though you Perswade your selves, that you a,re in a
happy condition, and want nothing of spiritual gifts, extolling your
selves above the Ministers of Christ, as Kings, they being impriso
ned, despised, and ignominiously exposed to Misery and Scorn ; yet
what doth he in this, but tacitly and modestly reprove you ? as the
subsequent words will evince, I would to God ye did reign ; that is,
You think you reign, but it is only in outward shew, not truly and re
ally. Good Mr. Vavasor, what AppUcation can you make of this Text
to this present Government ?
It is a Text that hints, and touches you to the quick. It is you
that Reign as Kings, being full and rich, but the Hand-writing on
the plaster of the wall, hath now (we believe) changed your counte
nance, and troubled your thoughts. Let us intreat you to read that
Scripture, Dan. 5. 25, 26, 27. You have applied this part of Gods
word, as you did another place out of the prophecy of Isaiah as un
happily framed and fitted for your own throat as the other was,
Isa. 14.12. How art thou fallen from heaven 0 Lucifer Son of the Morning ? &c.
for thou hast said in thine heart, &c. / will ascend above the height of
the Clouds, I will be like the most high, &c.
We wiU be more modest, than to apply the Scripture according to
your exposition in the Pulpit. But

(15)
But good Mr. Vavasor, we shall apply the following verse to
your self. Thou shalt be brought down to the sides ofthe pit of your own
mistakes. The word Lucifer doth not (as you suppose, and as you explained
to your Congregation there in Christ-Church) signifie the DeviU,
Though it be true of you according to the Proverb, Thou art as
proud as Lucifer. Venus one of the Planets is called Lucifer or the
Morning-star, that brings on the dayUght, we beseech you to
confer in the Original (because you often boast of your several
Languages) the 13th of this Prophet v. 10 with lob 31, 26. And
Christ our Saviour is also caUed the Morning-star, the Day-spring,
Luc. 2. 78. 2 Pet. I. 19. Rev. 2. 28.
But we suppose scarce any of your Neoterick Expositors comment
as you do, and few of the Fathers unlesse by way of al
lusion.
The true meaning is to represent the Conspicuous estate of the
Caldean King and Empire shining as bright as the day star in the
skie. See Diodati, and the late English observation of your reading.
But you said then you would confirm that place with the like in Ti
mothy. I must teU you the Hue and Cry is almost ceased, and now
we must take it up again. You are caught, you are caught, {Virus
dum vomis ipse vores) your place in Timothy is, i Tim. 3. 6. We
must have the Patience to read the words as you delivered them,
with crying Victoria. Not a Novice, lest being lifted up with pride
he fall into the condemnation of the Devill. Your Comment was, that i Tim. 3. 6
lest he being lifted up with Pride, fall into the condemnation of
the Devil There you said, the Effect is taken for the Cause, Con
demnation for Sin.
So a Novice, and who is he ? vtotfivXov, one newly come to the
Faith, not as yet well grounded, perhaps one Newly Baptized or
newly entred into the first Elements and Principles of Divinity.
What must such a one not do ? He must not desire the Ofiice of a v. i.
Bishop. Then your Application of Lucifer in the words of Isaiah must
be this. That you who appeared as Lucifers, shining as bright as
Day Stars in the Skies (seeing you are but Novices (not Milites
Emeriti) neither well grounded (some of you not as yet Bapti- Heb. 6. 1.
zed) nor going on to Perfection, having not as yet attained the
Principles

(i6)
Principles of the Doctrine of Christ, being advanced to that high
degree that you have waxed proud, having obtained the office of
Bishops, and with Diotrephes treading under foot the Ministers of
Jesus Christ, and being fallen into the same Condemnation of the
Devil whereinto he was fallen, which was (as one very weU ob
serves) the Calumniating of his Brethren, you and your Brethren
worthily deserve the name of Lucifers in your own sense, being
such Novices by your own confirmation, and fallen into your Cu
stomary sins the Calumniating and traducing of the true Ministers
of Christ Jesus.
Esa. 14. 15 That there is no question hut you shall be brought down to the side of
the pit.
Gideon. Your Example of Gideon for the discovery of Pride by the desire
Jud. 8. 22. of Rule and Dominion over others, is altogether as impertinent as
the former Texts were, whether you aymed at Persons or Govern
ments. You said, Gideon was a good man, a great Commander, and ob
tained many victories against the Enemies of God, he had many brave
Sons, and much honoured by the people, but they came not to be Colonels
in a year. That the people of God would by all means make Gide
on King, Come rule thou over us, both thou and thy Son, and thy Sons
Son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
V. 23. But Gideon would not accept of the Government, he would not
Rule over them, neither should his Son Rule over them.
Your Example herein cannot hold, because he would not Rule,
1 therefore others should not.
Gideon did not refuse the Government because they desired him,
but because their desire was not regulated by Gods Rule ; they pre-
2 ferred the Sword of Gideon before the Sword of the Lord, but the
Sword of the Lord and the Sword of Gideon delivered them from the
hands of Midian. Gideon refused their Election and Choice, be
cause it trenched upon the Prerogative Royall of the Lord, and the
Choice of Gideon in their sense was the Rejecting of the Lord.
But Mr. Vavasor you must observe that Judges were then raised
by God in Commiseration of the Affliction of his People, in an Ex
traordinary way, by the special motion of his Spirit, fitting them
for some Particular service, and that immediatelj', and in an in
stant to be put in Execution, but not for any setled Course of Go
vernment

(17)
vemment to be continued by Succession, but as the State and Condi
tion of his people did require it, still reserving the Prerogative in
himself, which was not to be intrenched upon, untill according to
his promises a Choise and Succession should be Revealed unto them,
which in its due time was accomplished.
The aim of your Example is. That as Gideon refused to Rule,
so you would have none others, but that All should Reign as Kings,
and Rule the Nation as Saints, whose inheritance the Earth is ;
but how far herein you dishonour God, abuse the Saints, debase
and vilifie Christs Kingdom, and adulterate his blessed truth, God
in his due time may reveal unto you, and inlighten your perverse
judgement. We are assured the Lord hath, and (doubt not) doth
reign, where Kings or Protectors do rule and govern, the one be
ing not inconsistent (because subordinate) to the other. Nay we
know the Lord did promise the Israelites a King ; And to Abraham 17 ig
that Kings should comes out ofhis loyns. And it is his Ordinance, that Gen. 17
by him they shall reign, and Princes decree Justice. pj.,, 3

And his blessed Truth, contrary to your vain thoughts confinns, 15 16.
Re t5-

That Kings of the Earth, and great men, and rich men, and chief ^ ^^^'

Captains, and mighty men and bondmen, and freemen, shall con
tinue till the great day of the wrath of the Lord, which is the end of
the World.
Your Expressions conceming Gideons Sons savour more of your Gideons
wonted virulency than of truth. Son.
You said that he had many brave Sons, and were much honoured
by the People] How brave they were the Scripture doth not re
late ; but we read that he had seventie by divers wives, and Abi
melech, (who slew them aU but the youngest) by his Concubine.
They could not be as yet very valiant, as plainly appears in the dis
comfiture of the Midianites, when, lether his first-bom (being a , ,
very youth) was fearfull to draw his sword to slay Zeba and Zalman- " ' ' "
na. If Gideon had made any such to be Collonels and Commanders,
we should not have commended his judgement : But that men of
age, valour, and discretion (having hazarded their Lives and For
tunes both by Sea and Land in the Common service) should receive
such Military Titles and Commands as befits their Atchievments is
far lesse honour than they deserve, let them be whose Sows you please ;
and we wiU assure you far more congruous, than for Peter to draw
D his

(i8)
his sword, and Ministers for the Propagation, to presume to bc Collo
nels, Captains, and Commanders, whose valiant service was none o-
ther, but the rooting out of their deadly and professed enemies (the
formidable forlorn hope of the black coats) and gathering Tithes, ne
ver daring to look any other kind of enemy in the face.
But we acknowledge our selves far unworthy to vindicate any
mans honour and reputation.
When you left Gideon, you fell upon his Sons parable {Judg. 9. 9.)
Jotham's which speaks of the Trees going forth to anoint a King over them,
parable, the Olive-Tree, the Fig Tree, and the Vine-Tree found their con-
8," g, 10. dition to be so good, that they would not Reign.
II, 12, 13. But you said you would not meddle with the Bramble.]
We commend you very much therein ; for then you would have
discovered your own nature and disposition : But we will spare you that
labour, and supply where you left.
The Bramble is a most fruitless, tearing shrub ; fit for nothing, but
the stopping of Gaps, and afterwards to be burned : And by the Para
ble of this Bramble, Jotham meant, proud and ambitious men, base in
birth, wicked in life, ban-en in goodness, and cruel in nature ; If you
examine your heart, you wiU find the true Mythologie and moral of
this Parable couched in your own breast.
Conceming that place of Amos 6. 13. Have we not taken to us
Horns by our own strength ? Certainly, either your Concordance fay-
led you, or your quotations were false. For the Horns you meant,
were in the i King. 22. 11. you are the man, that with Zedekiah the
son of Chenaanah have made you Horns of Iron, per,, wading Ahab
and Jehoshaphat to war against Ramoth Gilead, that the valiant Soul
diers may consume one another. Good Sir, let me intreat you to draw
in your Horns, and when you push with them again, to think of your
old friends, and acquaintance.
Having only touched these places of Scriptures, which together with
infinite others, he wrested, and mis-applyed, we shaU proceed up
on his seditious and invective Accusations.
I He abused the Honourable Council, and caUed their Proclamation
A Libel.
2 He basely traduced, and vilified the Commanders, Officers, and
Souldiers of the Army ; nay, their wives and families escaped not
I the lash of his Tongue. And told the Sword-men in general. That the

(19)
spirit of God was departed from them ; that heretofore they had been
precious and excellent men, but that their Parks, and new houses, and
gallant Wives, had choaked them up.]
Well done, (Mr. Vavasor) you plead weU for them who spent
so much bloud for your Liberties and Protection : I am sure they de
served a better Character at your hands, if they had not fought with
more Courage than you did at Worcester, you had ere this time lost
your life, asweU as your man did then your money, by your base and
Cowardly running away, li the Spirit of the Lord had forsaken
them, the Censure was too uncharitable ; but without doubt he went
not from them to speak unto you : And we believe you had wished that i Kings
your Fee-farm Rents, Propagation-money es, New house at Kerry. 22. 24.
and a pint of Mrs. Quarrels hot wafers had first choaked up your Rai
ling, before you had thus traduced their worth.
That they had All revolted, and fallen from the Lord, and forsa- -
ken his people, who were left Fatherless ; wishing them to repent of
their perjury, against their former Declarations, Protestations, Re
monstrances, Promises, and Vowes, specially at Tripolie Heath : And
to retum.]
But Mr. Vavasor, You must consider that aU their Promises and
Vowes included Conditions, and therefore might be disobligated.
Have you never leamt that Rule ?
That the Obligation ceaseth when you have the Request or Consent
of the most part of those, for whose benefit you have obliged
your self.
If you had understood to whom their Promises had References, and
for whose benefit they were undertaken, then you had acknowledged,
that by Request or Consent, they might be (as they are) disobligated
without perjury. But you have vented here the seed of Sedition to
the height, by endeavouring to convince their Consciences as guilty of
perjury, and so to ingage the Souldiers to imbrue their hands in their
own bloud, by renting their unity, and denying their Obedience to their
superiour Officers and Commanders under the present Government
and Protection.
Could Absolom have dealt more treacherously with David his Fa
ther ? Or Nero more inhumanely, either in burning Rome, and tran
slating his wickedness upon the innocent Christians ? or in renting the
bowels of his own dear Mother ?
D 2 They

(20)
They have more cause to Cry unto you for to Repent and Return.
His Highness Chaplains, and great Vniversity-men, who have
(as he said) had Thousands a year to set up this New Government,
shaU not escape him.J Gentlemen, we know you not ; but if you had
any hand therein, we wish that your Thousands were Millions unto
you. Our Pen hath been too much dawbed in his filth, for to presume
either to vindicate your innocency, or set forth your goodness, (for
certainly, if Mr. Vavasor and his party had been suffered to go on in
their evil Designs, they had soon destroyed both Magistracy and Mi
nistery, who falsly pretending (as Saints triumphant on Earth) to
Rule infallibly by a Divine and extraordinary right, would conse
quently under that Notion claim right to possesse aU mens Properties.
as weU as Govern them, and judge none meet to publish the Gospel.
but such as were principled in their wayes.) We understand you are
ingenuous, and truly Godly Men, bred up in the Schools of the
Prophets ; God blesse your Endeavours in advancing Christ's spi
ritual Kingdom here on Earth, in reviving the dying statutes of
your Vniversities to their former vigour, that the Arts and Scien
ces Tna.y flourish again in your Schools ; And that both your Eyes may
so Recover their former Perspicuity to Continue such Seminaries
of Learning and Religion, as to furnish this distressed Nation with
golden Plants, that
 Uno avulso non deficit alter
Aureus et Ramus 

Esay. 34. One may stiU bud out of the stem of the other ; That these Sa-
^4- IS- tyres ma.'y not cry to their feUows, nor the Scritch-Owls find a place
of Rest with us ; That this great Owl may not make her nest, and
lay, and hatch, and gather her shadow among us any more : But that
your bright Suns may descrie these Glow-worms, and dispel these
Bats, that they may gather into their Caves again.
4 He cannot forget the Lawyers his ancient friends, saying. That the
ludges {those Carnal Crue) were brought in hy the Souldiers to set
up this Government] wiU nothing serve your tum but stiU to under
mine these Marble pillars of the Nation, they have been the Common
mark of your Pasquils, and invectivess' ince the Ejection of your
Countrey Ministers, that you may level the Law as weU as the Gos
pel: How often have you termed them Theeves and Pick-purses,
And that there was not past two honest Lawyers in the whole Nation, as

(21)
as you publiquely delivered in your Sermon at Llansanfred in Radnor
shire ? And do you not remember how in your Sermon, at the last
great Sessions held for the same County, when you had sufficiently
vilified their Persons and Profession, you desired them not to imitate
the Devil their Master who always at his departing made clean work
and swept aU away ? certainly you think, that they are troubled with
the same Devil, that haunted you about the Welch Pool, whereby
distracted you were for a good while Mewed up in your Chamber.
We could wish you to be as charitable towards them, as they have
been favourable towards you in your former indictments, and be
seech you to consider with your self, if you be left once again to the
Mercy of the Law. as (we believe) you wiU, Up goes Mr. Vava
sor. To conclude. He would pawn and hazard his life and his Mi
nistery, That this Power shall suddenly be destroyed : And that this
was revealed unto him, as the Dissolution of the former Parliament.]
for the pawning of your life, we think, as you have already forfeited it,
so you are now weary enough of it, and believing that God hath
numbred your Kingdom and finished it : you mould gladly become one Dan. 5 26
of Petilians Martyrs who canonized ludas for a Saint, We know
very weU, you would rather have died gloriously in this City of Lon
don, than to be ignominiously packed into your own Countty as you
were. Parliament loan handled you more roughly in Whitehall yard
at your departure. Laying hold upon your skirts with termes befitting
your spirit. That you humbly supplicated to be rescued from her
Clawes. For the pawning of your Ministery you may weU expose that to
the Broaker, which was never your own, imlesse with the Mgypti-
an whore {Potiphers wife) you pawn poor losephs garment, which
he left in her hand to preserve his own chastity, and fideUty to his
Master. But you say, That it was revealed imto you. That this Power
shaU suddenly be destroyed.] for that. We leave it to Gods gracious
Providence and determination. For it is he that putteth down one,
and setteth up another : But what manner of Prophet, and Diviner
you are, may soon appear by these strange predictions : You Prophe
sied above two years past in your Sermons in Wales, That Tithes
should no raore be paid, and above three years ago, That there
should never appear any Enemie more in the Land, And here in
D 3 White-

(22)
White-hall chapel you Prophesied with great confidence. That all
the Statues in that Garden should be shortly drawn down by
puhlique Authority ; And in aU these (you must confesse) your Spi
rit hath fowly deceived you ; but to satisfie all unbiased ludges, I
shaU end with a story of your own invention.
When you were in some part of Worcestershire where some of the
late Kings party lay in the field. You sent a Messenger, over night,
to give you intelligence of the event of the battle, and being informed
before you went to bed, that they were discomfited, you wrote a
Letter directed to your self, discovering the truth, and manner of the
fight, and delivered this Letter to your man. comraanding him to take
horse the next morning. & ride three or four miles from the place you
quartered, and to retum with speed, and deliver the Letter unto
you, as you came out of your Pulpit, being to preach there the next
morning : In your Sermon you encouraged the People, assuring them,
that it was revealed unto you that night, that the Enemie should be
destroyed : And wished them never to believe that you were a Pro
phet sent from the Lord, unlesse they should be very shortly certified
thereof, nay you hoped, before you parted from that place ; And
true it was, Your Man met you at the Church-door, and delivered
to you the Letter, being weU instructed for the particulars thereof.
I hope this wonderful prediction confirms that you have an illuminated
Spirit : but herein was the Mischance ; Your man mistaking your
own, took another Gentlemans Horse, who being much abused (by
the wretched Rider) discovered your cheat. Thus you are a foolish
Prophet, like a Fox in the Desert, you have seen a vain vision, you
have spoken lying Divinations, because you have seduced my people.
Ezech. 13. 3, 4, 7, 10.
And now, lest that according to your wonted boastings (being re
turned to your Congregated, and Listed Troops in Wales) you
should triumph that you have gloriously past throughout all your
troubles before his Highnesse and his Council ; As you thanked God
in Christ-Church, That you escaped the hands of the Court Catch-
poles (Terms little befitting The Councils Messengers, who deser
ved far better at your hands, for your Civil and Free entertainment)
We beseech them to believe your own expressions, delivered after
your first enlargement in the same Pulpit, That you were accounted
by them but a frantick, fanatick, and mad man, possessed with an evil
spirit.

(23)
spirit, and under the power of darknesse : We must confesse you were
not taken for any other kind of man ainong the ingenuous sort of peo
ple in your own Nation : And it was the great Providence of God,
that he hath been pleased by your Carriage here in London, to disco
ver to his Highnesse the Lord Protector, and the Honourable Council,
the Truth of your mad and malicious Spirit, whereby they may tru
ly understand the sad condition of those Ministers, who have been
ejected and persecuted by your means, and of the seduced people who
are over-si&ayed and mis-guided by your turbulent and cruel dispositi
on, having such influence upon all those places of Wales, where you
had any power, that there is not any one in Military. Civil, or Ec-
clesiastick Authority, or ofiice, but such as condescended to your
principles. But we know that we have long wearied you, with tracing the filth
of this sent : There is neither Parish nor place in Wales, nor in this ho
nourable City of London, but may be a Remembrancer either of his Er
rors, or Blasphemies, or Obscenities, or Cruelties, or Oppressions.
or Seditions, That we dare boldly say. He may be a true Parallel
to the grosest Hereticks of old. And future Sharks shall be but as
Apes to imitate his Villanies.
And that you may have some intermixture of his Sweet mirth with
his Sour passions, we shaU endeavour to recompense your patience
with a fast of this Harmonious Hymn sung in his Congregation at
Christ-Church, together with an Antiphona answering thereunto.
And so close up aU with a true discription of his Propagation in
Wales.

His

(24)

i8 Decemb. 1653.
His Hymn at Christ-Church.
'T' 0 Christ our King, Ut us praise sing,
Who is our Saviour dear,
Who is ouy Protector, and our Rock,
Who will come, and soon appear
To humble his, and try their hearts.
And make them clean and pure,
To set his Kingdom upon Earth,
Which ever shall endure :
His Saints shall reign -with him on Earth,
And great ones then shall bow.
The Battle, and the Battle-ax,
And men of War shall know
Thai he -will arise, and he will rule.
And their power will fall.
And Christ our great Commander, He
Shall he our General.
Hast Lord, come quickly down,
Thy Saints do wait, and pray.
And men would faign, if they knew how.
Thy Prophets kill and slay :
But they shall live, and eke stand up.
And give their Testimony
Against the Monarchs of the Earth,
That sit, and reign on high

The Antiphona thereunto.
'~V-'R€ Devil' s your King, his praise you sing
¦*¦ His Spirit leads you here,
Who is your Protector, and your Rock,
And in You doth a/ppear.
Tis he exalts, and lifts your hearts
To make you his most sure
To set his Kingdom upon Earth
Which shall not long endure :
His Saints shall reign with him in Hell,
And to him they shall bow.
The Battle, and the Battle-ax,
And men of war do know.
Though he he up, and his doth rule.
Yet his Power will fall.
Since Sathan your good Master, He
Is your great General.
The Lord will come in his due time.
His Saints for to preserve.
And all your lying Prophets slay,
Who from his Word do swerve.
His Word shall stand, his Saints shall live
To give their Testimony
Against false Teachers of the Earth,
Who strive to Reign on high.

25

A true 'Defcription of Mr. Vavafor ^oi»^
ells y and his Itinerants Tropagati'-
on in IVales^
T^/'Hat ? Propagation, and root out all,
Then if you please, her Extirpation call.
Like Lucifer, that's stil'd a Morning star,
And yet in Hel's the blackest Fiend by far ;
If then of her you'l have a true Relation,
She's the Abaddon in the Revelation,
That Apollyon, that all thing destroyes,
That Epidemick Plague that Church annoyes ;
That flaming Dragon, that did latel' assail,
To sweep the Stars down with his fiery tail ;
That Worm-wood that imbitters Sea and Springs,
And from the pit great Swarms oj Locusts brings ;
She was the Church-Granado , tore, and rents.
Religion, Faith, Works, and the Sacraments;
That Indian Herican that fiercely tears
The Spouses ship, while that to Heaven she stears.
She talks of Christ, like Cheaters in a throng
To pick mens purses sings a Godly Song;
And Herod-like feigning t'adore the Babe,
Through Church-mens sides gives him a deadly stab:
Thus Religion prov'd to be the Cloak
Vnder whose shrowd thousands of Frogs did croak,
E With

( 26,-)
With Jeroboams Priests they fill'd their hand.
And then like Pharoahs plagues infect the land :
Jerusalem and Sions glory razes,
Mounts Calves at Dan, and Bethels higher places.
Which bellow'd like an Amsterdamian BuU
Nonsence and Blasphemy whole Pulpits full.
Perhaps you'l itch to know the stock and root
From whence these Branches of Propagation shoot :
Th'are hatcht in Hel, Be'lzebuh is their Sire,
Atheism their Mother, Nurse infernal fire :
Their Offsprings are Schisms, Sects, and Heresie,
Destruction, Sacrilege, and Symony ;
Their Maid Hypocrisie, her daily dresses,
Shews oj Godliness, and such like tresses,
Which she from Sathans Wardrope stole by night.
While they do Act good Angels parts of light :
These Frogs and Locusts wait upon her train.
By sacred Ruines thinking all to gain ;
And hoping when Christs-Doves were dispossest,
Scritch-Owles, and Zim, and Jim might build their nest
They Cry'd down learned Athens, and that hght.
That did destroy their Gloe-worms in the night.
While her bright Suns did glister in the Sky
Their Bats and Owls abroad durst never fly :
The Devil at Delphos was struck dumb for fear,
Til Babilas his bones away they bear.
Great is Diana, 'tis the Silver shrines.
That made them dig so deep in Churches Mines ;
They first fool Wales, telling them a story.
That plundring God, makes most for his Glory :
No tithes, no gleabs, no offrings needeth he,
Without a Priest, All taught oj him shall be. Thus

(27)
Thus many were seduc'd with this jalse glasse,
And made to couch like Issachars Asse
To any burthen : that spake libertie,
Though in effect Souls-murthering slavery.
Former Monopolies went by retale,
The Church and Church men she vends by whole sale.
Empson and Dudleys projects were but toys,
Cranfield and Ingram only made a noise,
Micha'l Mumpesson soar'd and had a fall,
But Propagation robs our God of all.
And thus by colour of this Act of Grace,
All Rights of Church and State they did deface,
But she's expir'd; a boon me thinks you crave,
To grant her decent burial, and a grave.

Her EPITAPH.
TJEre Propagation lies, that did aspire,
Like Phaeton to set the World on fire,
Cry'd down Order, and Ministerial Call,
And thought to give this Government a fall:
She would have caus'd the Gentry jiock in Swarms,
To beg reliej like Cripples without Armes ;
And would have made the learned Lawyers plead,
From door to door (poor Souls) jor Crusts oj Bread.
Lament Itinerants ! this Trade is gone,
Take up your Tools, and Occupation ;
Silence in Churches ; you have long jorgot
Your first callings, inheritance and lot.
E2 And

(28)
And (Gentle Reader) because you shall not think that
some Itinerants who lately dyed wanted Epitaphs, we
shall intreat you to peruse one, which a dear friend be
stowed upon Mr. L. who lately dyed, and was interred in
in the City of Herejord.
In Perpetuam Magiftri L : Itinerantis
Memoriam.

t. e. ex

^*Te!dne C^ ^^ Scrmonavit vivus* sine think, sine thanko,
tintinnabu \: Mortuus in jovcam jacitur* , sine clink, sine clanko.
2 Sam. 17. 23. . And when Ahithophel saw that his coun
sel was notjollowed, he sadled his asse, and arose, and gat
him home to his house, to his City, and put his houshold
in order, and hanged himselj, and died, and was buried in
the Sepulchre oj his Father.

FINIS

CARDIFF:
WILLIAM LEWIS (printers), LTD.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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