hands must be as neceffary as Mofes's against the Amale kites: for he pricks them on, tells them that God loves none but the valiant; but when bullets fly, himself runs firft, and then cries, all the fons of Adam are cowards! were there any Metempsychofis his foul would want a lodging; no fingle beast could fit him, being wife as a sheep and innocent as a wolf. His fole comfort is, he cannot out-fin Hugh Peters: fure as fatan hath poffeffed the affembler, fo Hugh Peters hath poffeffed fatan, and is the devil's devil: he alone would fill a whole herd of Gadarenes. He hath fucked blood ever fince he lay in the butcher's fheets; and now (like his fultan) has a fhambles in his countenance, fo crimfon and torrid you may there read how St Lawrence died, and think the three children were delivered from his face. This is St Hugh who will level the affembler, or the devil's an ass. Yoke thefe brethren, and they two couple like a Sadduce and a Pharifee, or a Turk and a Perfian, both Mahometans. But the affembler's deepeft, higheft, abomination, is his Solemn League and Covenant; whereby he ftrives to damn or beggar the whole kingdom; out-doing the devil, who only perfuades, but the affembler forces to perjury or ftarving. And this (whoever lives to obferve it) will one day fink both him and his faction: for he and his oath are fo much one, that were he half-hanged and let down again, his firft word would be covenant! covenant! But I forget, a character fhould be brief (tho' tedious length be his best character). Therefore I will give ye (what he denies the fequeftred clergy) but a fifth part ; for weigh him fingle and he has the pride of three-tyrants, the forehead of fix goalers, and the fraud of twelve brokers. Or take him in the bunch, and their whole affembly is a club of hypocrites, where fix dozen of fchifmaticks spend two hours for four fhillings a-piece. John John Audland's Letter to William Prynne. William Prynne, T HOU perpetual Scribe, Pharifee, and Hypocrite, born to the deftruction of paper, and most unchriftian effufion of ink; thou Egyptian tafk-matter of the press, and unmerciful deftroyer of goofe-quills, thou doft plunder and strip thy poor kindred naked to the fkin, to maintain thyfelf in a tyrannical and arbitrary way of fcribling against thy brethren, even the Independants and Quakers, over whom thou fetteft up thyfelf as an unrighteous judge; for a righteous judge hath an ear for both parties, and thou haft none for either. Verily, William, thou doft evil, and against the light within thee, to accufe thy brethren of that, whereof thou art more guilty thyself; for tho' they break an act of parliament, yet thou didst worse, when thou wouldst have made one thyfelf, after thou hadst engaged thy faith unto the house, that thou wouldЛt never lift up thy heel against them more: truly, thou fheweft thyfelf in this, no better than a Jew, in throwing the first stone at them, unless thou wert innocent thy felf; and all thy fundamental, municipal, common natural law, will not ferve to prove the other, who hast been judged by the laws of the land as a Pharifee, to wear a philaetery in publick, and haft had thine ears bored thro' according to the Mofaical law: and I fear thy pretended converfion to the christianity is but in order to fomething else even as the Mahometans (they fay) will not admit a Jew to turn Turk, unless he firft become a chriftian: and that is the reason why thou art fo cruel (like a renegado) to those of thine own fect; yea, even unto those in whose quarrel thou haft loft leather; for as one of thine ears was cut off for prefbytery, even fo was the other for independency. But now I fpeak of thine ears, give me leave to afk thee one question; I have heard, that those who have loft their legs, do fometimes nevertheles feel pains in their toes; and I would fain know, whether toward change of weather, thou doft not feel a kind of itching and tingling in thofe defunct parings of thine, especially when prefbytery and government are like to peep out a gain. For what else does thy railing again ft the bishops (as well as us) hold forth? but that thou art the very fame fame William Prynne, utter barrifter, that didft heretofore publish against them fo many ridiculous hat-cafes and bandboxes, in which thy works are always bound up, and are to be fold on the fouth-fide of Paul's church-yard, where thy ftationers live. Among thofe I have feen thy titlepages pafted, like mountebanks bills, in which thou doft always write reformation, law, religion, and fundamental, in capital letters, even as thofe quacks do pox and running of the reins, and both to the fame purpose, namely, to deceive the reader, and vapour of more than thou art able to perform. But, O the verbofity of thy writings! Solomon faith, in many words there is folly; and thou haft proved it true: for thou writeft perpetually in the language of a conveyance, and doft not indite, but draw ; and when thou fhalt answer for every idle word, all the bills and answers in chancery will rife up in judgment against thee. For thou useft fo many impertinent tautologies, that thy reader can neva understand what thou meaneft, unless he should take the pains to draw breviates of thy fenfelefs repetitions, which is unfufferable, and not to be endured by a free born Englishman. And this serves thee to the fame purpose that hems and hahs do thy gifted ghoftly fathers, that is, to lofe time, and put off thy commodity, namely, wafte-paper, whereof thou endeavoureft to obtain the monopoly, and thereby undo hundreds of families that live by writing lewd and profane plays; for when thou haft engrofs'd the whole commodity of wafte-paper into thine own hands, their work will be left upon theirs; and in this thou takest a more wife and rational courfe, than thou didst heretofore in writing indentures against them. For thou knowest not how to write in any other ftrain; and therefore to let thee fee how eafy it is to attain unto thy gifts, I will now fpeak unto thee a few words in thine own way. Doft thou not remember, William Prynne, when the long parliament, according to the ancient, known, fundamental, established, cuftom, practice, ufage, example of all rebels, traytors, Cades, Tylers, Straws, fet upon the prifons, goals, dungeons, cages, and took the prisoners, felons, malefactors, jayl-birds, into their protection, patronage, fafeguard, tuition, and among others, thy felf, William Prynne aforefaid, with thy brethren, companions, copemates, affociates, Burton, Baftwick, Lilborn, Poe, &c. How the faints, brethren, godly, well-affected, rode |