_Direct._ VII. Especially detest all murmurings, mutinies, sidings, and rebellions. For these are to an army like violent fevers to the body, or like a fire in a city, and would make an army the greatest plague to their king and country. How many emperors, kings, and commanders have lost their dignities and lives, by the fury of mutinous, enraged soldiers! And how many kingdoms and other commonwealths have been thus overthrown, and betrayed into the enemy's hands! And how many thousands and millions of soldiers have thereby lost their lives! In your discontents and murmuring passions, you may quickly set the house on fire over your heads, and when you feel your misery repent too late. Passion may begin that which fruitless penitence must end. The leaders of mutinies may easily have many fair pretences to inflame an army into discontents: they may aggravate many seeming injuries; they may represent their commanders as odious and unworthy, by putting an ill appearance on their actions: but in the end it will appear, that it was their own advancement which they secretly aimed at, and the destruction of the present government, or the soldiers' ruin, which is like to be the effect. A mutinous army is likest hell of any thing I know among God's creatures, and next hell, there is scarce a worse place for their commanders to be in. _Direct._ VIII. Use not your power or liberty to the robbing, or oppressing, or injury of any. Though military thieves and oppressors may escape the gallows more than others, they shall come as soon to hell as any. If you plunder, and spoil, and tyrannize over the poor people, under pretence of supplying your own wants, there is a God in heaven that will hear their cries, and will avenge them speedily, though you seem to go scot-free for a time. You may take a pride in domineering over others, and making yourselves lords by violence of other men's estates, and when you see none that will question you for it, you may take that which you have most mind to. But the poor and oppressed have a just Defender, who hath a severer punishment for you than the sword or gallows! And though he take you not in the very fact, and his sentence is not presently executed, yet be certain of it, that your day is coming.