whosoever looks seriously upon them all, may soon see who, and what
were their Parents: For; by their Religion and Manners, and their Practices
upon each other, any one must conclude that the Turke and the
Canniball were chief in their generation.
And this appears by the bringing in the Levellers like Minc't-meat, for
the second-course, after they had eaten up the presbyters; wherein King
Nol (as I told you) spared for no cost to catch the Birds of Righteousness in
a Net at Burford; And So it Concerned him, for that his spies had given
him notice of their brave Resolution to have stood to their tackling, and
Sought it out to the last man; as they had reason (Sure) to bid high, when
so glorious a prize was set before their eyes, as the Prerogative of Saintship
over all the Purses in the Kingdom,
By Vertue Whereof it is, that Oliver hath all along carried the day against
his Enemies, and now especially at Burford; whither he came having
that day marched 40 miles, and prepared his way with many a Blessed
Troop of Angels, which so converted the Levelling-Captain of the Guard,
that he made his Old friends secure, by assuring them no Enemy was or
would be at hand; and so having bid them good-night, he and the Scouts
(being Brethren in iniquity) made a match to go and meet his Highness
and his Excellency, and so brought them on (by night) to spoyl all the
dreams and visions of victory by a Surprisall in their quarters.
The issue whereof was, that the Free-born Champions were brought
into Bondage, and used by Oliver's Israel like Egyptians, being spoyled
of their horses and arms, though most of the men made a shift to escape, not
above 200 taken, who being all turn'd into the Church, and, and, and so the
Church into a Conventicle, a Councel of War made short work with two
Cornets and two Corporals, by an absolute sentence of death upon them;
but the rest for being enemies against tithes, were sentenced to tithe their
own destruction; and for being Adversaries to churches, destined every
Tenth man to hang like Bel's in the Steeple, and ring his Highnesse and his
Excellency a sad Peale upon their departure.
But here lyes the mystery, that of the 4 Sentenced absolutely Cornet
Denne Obtained a Writ of Relief (called a Pardon) at the place of Execution;
which is much to be wondred at, considering that the Bowels of the
Saints are just and tender as their consciences, and may help to make Fiddle-strings
like Cats-guts, or rather serve like wire to make Harpsicle, to
make musick and mischief. But Denne was no sooner condemned, but he
wheeled about immediately, if he did not before; forasmuch as his canting
Recantation hath given the world cause to beleeve (what many of his old
friends say) that he was imployed among them all along, on purpose to
heighten, and then betray the businesse; it being none of Oliver's least
Arts (by Advice of his Son Henry) to hatch factions and then crush them