of many faithful testimonies and free warnings of the servants of God; of the supplications of many synods, presbyteries, and shires; and the declaration of the General Assembly and their Commissioners to the contrary; which engagement, as it was the cause of much sin, so also of much misery and calamity unto this land, and held forth the grievousness of our sin, in complying with malignants in the greatness of our judgment, that we may be taught never to split again upon the same rock, upon which the Lord hath set so remarkable a beacon.  And, after all that is come to pass unto us, because of this our trespass, and after that grace hath been showed unto our fathers and us once and again from the Lord our God, by breaking these men’s yoke from off their and our necks, and sometimes delivering our fathers so far from their insultings, that he put them in a capacity to act for the good of religion, their own safety, and the peace and safety of the kingdoms, should they and we again break the commandment and covenant of the Lord, by joining once more with the people of these abominations, and taking unto our bosom these serpents which had formerly stung us almost unto death; this, as it would argue great madness and folly upon our part, so no doubt, if it be not avoided, will provoke the Lord against us, to consume us until there is no remnant nor escaping in the land? many times have we been warned of the sin of complying with malignants, both by faithful ministers, and fatherly corrections from the Lord;”—­yet, after all these punishments, we have again joined with the people of these abominations; the Lord is righteous, for we remain yet escaped as it is this day; behold, we are before him in our trespass, we cannot stand before him because of this.

These incendiaries, malignants, and evil instruments, made many grievous encroachments, and prevailed much in the days of our fathers—­yet not without dissent, testimonies, warnings, and declarations; but more especially in the dismal days of persecution and tyranny, they were suffered, yea, encouraged, without any significant joint testimony, not only to hinder the reformation of religion, but to overturn the whole work of reformation, to burn and bury the covenants for it, to re-establish abjured Prelacy, erect a monstrous Christ-exauctorating and church-enslaving supremacy, attempt the introduction of Popery and slavery at the gate of an anti-Christian toleration, and to persecute and destroy the godly, who durst not in conscience comply with them; and not only to divide the King from his people, or one of the kingdoms from another—­but first, to divide the bulk and body of both kingdoms, and make them pursue divided interests from the interest and cause of Christ, and then to divide the remnant of such as adhered to it amongst themselves, by indulgences and other bonds of contention, in order to get them more easily destroyed; and at length to engage the King into such a division