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<DATE>06-11-08</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<PB N="7" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A Letter from a Scholler in Oxford&s;hire to his
Uncle a Merchant in Broad-&s;treet, upon occa&s;ion
of a Booke intituled, A moderate, and mo&s;t proper Reply to a Declara|tion,
Printed and publi&s;hed under His Maje&s;ties Name, <DATE>Decemb. 8.</DATE>
intended again&s;t an Ordinance of Parliament, for a&s;&s;e&s;sing, &amp;c.
&s;ent to the Pre&s;&s;e by the Merchant, who
confe&s;&s;eth him&s;elf conver|ted
by it.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_I Received your Letter, and the two Books you &s;ent mee on Saturday la&s;t by
the la&s;t Carrier, and have ever &s;ince imployed my thoughts and be&s;t Rea|&s;on
upon them, and in &s;umming up to my &s;elfe the whole &s;tate of the Ca&s;e;
which is truly the &s;ubject matter of this di&s;pute. You know, Sir, what obli|gations
I have to you for your care and expence in my education, and for
recommending mee into &s;o pious and honourable a Family, and therefore
would not willingly di&s;&s;ent from you in an Opinion, to which (to my &s;orrow) I find you &s;o
much wedded; But &s;ince you require from me to try to per&s;wade my Father (whom you call
Malignant) to make him&s;elf a good Example in the City, by freely bringing in the twentieth
part of his e&s;tate, before the A&s;&s;e&s;&s;ors fetch it; and to per&s;wade, and enable mee to per&s;wade
him to it, you inclo&s;ed the Kings Declaration again&s;t the Ordinance for that Payment, and
an An&s;wer (as you are plea&s;ed to call it, a mo&s;t cleer and convincing one) to that Declaration.
I &s;uppo&s;e you will &s;ooner excu&s;e me for giving you my Rea&s;ons, why I cannot obey you, then
for a &s;ilent &s;ullen di&s;obedience. And I differ from you with the more confidence, becau&s;e it
&s;eems by your Letter that I have the Authority of a Father for mee, though I have that of an
Uncle again&s;t me. Truly Sir, I am &s;o much &s;atisfied with the Kings Declaration, and &s;o little
with the Reply, That I cannot but thinke that the two Hou&s;es did purpo&s;ely avoid replying
them&s;elves, and turn'd it over to another, as finding their &s;ide too weak to be mayntained,
and thinking it le&s;&s;e di&s;honourable to be confuted by Proxy. And that the mo&s;t proper Reply
to &s;uch Declarations is to forbid the Printing and publi&s;hing under paine of Plundering and
Impri&s;onment. And indeed, if all that hath beene written on both &s;ides had beene &s;uffered
freely, and indifferently (as was required by Ju&s;tice, and de&s;ired by the King) to have beene
communicated to, and examined by the People (to whom the Hou&s;e of Commons had fir&s;t
(and without any pre&s;ident) in that way begun to appeal) tho&s;e Paper-bullets (as hee calls
them) would have killed this War in the wombe, and the &s;ame People who have beene now
&s;educed into Rebellion, would have kept their Seducers to their. Loyalty, whether they would
or no.</P>
<P><PB N="8" REF="2">
I &s;hall now come to the Reply it &s;elfe, in an&s;wer to which, if I &s;hall &s;peake of things that
you may conceive me a &s;tranger to, I &s;hall de&s;ire you to remember how indu&s;trious a curio&s;i|ty,
I have ever had to informe my &s;elfe fully in all the Que&s;tions of the Times, how carefully
I &s;tudied the Que&s;tions of Arminiani&s;me, the point of Ship-money, and the di&s;putes about
Altar and Table, and then you will not wonder, if in a que&s;tion which concerned as well the
&s;ub&s;i&s;tence, as the Salvation of all the Subjects of this Kingdom, I have not beene lazie to
&s;atisfie my &s;elf, as well in Right as in Fact; of which though the latter (by rea&s;on of my
condition) was harder to me, yet what with my Intere&s;t in the Gentleman of the Hou&s;e of
Commons who was my Pupill in <HI>Oxford:</HI> What with my acquaintance with &s;ome <HI>Exeter</HI>
Colledge-men, Chaplains to &s;ome of the Kings Regiments (men ever till now rather e&s;tee|med
Puritans, then Popi&s;hly affected) and by being often, pre&s;ent by their means, where &s;ome
di&s;creet Officers of the Kings have often met; I am confident, I am &s;o well inform'd that what
I &s;hall &s;ay is come to mee by very good Conduit pipes, though I had it not from the Spring|head.</P>
<P>Mee thinks, if the Authour of this Reply had intended, that his moderation &s;hould have
reacht any farther then the Title of his Book he would not in the very fir&s;t lines have confuted
his Title, and &s;poken &s;o &s;cornfully of a Declaration under His Maje&s;ties Name, as hee doth
in the Phra&s;e of the Pen, that drops this Declaration, and &s;o fal&s;ly and maliciou&s;ly as to &s;ay,
It is fellow to the Tongue which cuts like a &s;harpe Ra&s;our; to &s;ay, that Malignity was the
Whet&s;tone, and that it cares not though it mangle Truth and goodne&s;&s;e: For &s;uppo&s;e, that
his implicit belief in &s;ome Vote of the Hou&s;e of Commons, as when to free Sir <HI>Henry Lud|low</HI>
for &s;aying in that Hou&s;e upon the reading of a Declaration &s;ent from the King enclo&s;ed
in a Letter &s;igned and &s;ealed by His own Royall Hand and Signet, That hee that made that
Declaration de&s;erv'd not to be King of <HI>England;</HI> they Voted as if pretending to In&s;piration,
that that Declaration was not the Kings (for you know I was pre&s;ent when this was related
to you the &s;ame night at Supper by a Parliament man.) Suppo&s;e, I &s;ay, this confidence in
&s;ome &s;uch new Vote upon this occa&s;ion, &s;hould have per&s;waded him, that the King did not
wholly endite it Him&s;elfe; yet &s;ince He vi&s;ibly did allow of, and &s;end it, I wonder He &s;hould
not conceive it to be as much His, as this very Ordinance is the Act of both Hou&s;es; Since it
is more evident that the Hou&s;es did not write this, then that the King writ not the other, and
that being drawn up by their Command, and publi&s;hed by their Authority (as the other is by
the Kings) is all that can make it theirs; And yet I believe a Per&s;on that were brought to the
Bar for u&s;ing the &s;ame words of their Ordinance, would not be excu&s;ed from breach of Pri|viledge,
by an&s;wering that not the Hou&s;es, but &s;ome Committee, or particular Member of
them was the Author of it.</P>
<P>Next the King objects the totall de&s;truction of the Liberty and Propriety of all His Sub|jects
by the impri&s;onment of their per&s;ons without cau&s;e, and di&s;po&s;ing of their E&s;tates with|out
Law: and the Reply acknowledges as much as the Declaration objects, by that full and
&s;ufficient An&s;wer. What have the&s;e men to doe to talke of fundamentall Laws? It were well
he would have it moved that an Ordinance be made, that the Laws &s;hould no more be &s;po|ken
of; for doing as they doe, they can get little advantage by &s;uch di&s;cour&s;es; el&s;e, that the
King who is &s;worne to protect the Law &s;hould alone not have leave no name it, were a very
hard ca&s;e. But perhaps the Replyer may defend him&s;elf by &s;aying he imitates onely the Style
of the P&s;almes, why doe the wicked take my Law in their mouth? and follows only the u|&s;uall
Style of all their Sermons, who what&s;oever is &s;aid of wicked Kings and Per&s;ons, a&s;&s;ume
<PB N="9" REF="2">
Authority to take it for granted as applyable to the Per&s;on of our gracious Prince, and of all
tho&s;e who venture their Lives to a&s;&s;i&s;t and defend Him: for to defend him&s;elfe hee may well
accu&s;e his Friends, I am &s;ure, to defend his Friends, he is no other way able to doe it then by
recrimination upon his Enemies, and for that runs up as high as Loans, Knighthood, and
Ship-mony. His memory is very good concerning tho&s;e grievances, but very ill to forget by
who&s;e iu&s;t and gracious concurrence we have been ca&s;ed both of them, and even of the feare
of the like for the future; and &s;ure, if any known Authors or Mini&s;ters of tho&s;e Calamities,
remayn &s;till about His Maje&s;ty to frame His Declarations, it hath been by their negligence,
not by His Maje&s;ties oppo&s;all of their Remove and Puni&s;hment. And it is not &s;o &s;trange
that His Maje&s;ty upon information, how grievous tho&s;e pre&s;&s;ures were to His Subjects, op|po&s;es
the introducing of the &s;ame illegalities, and mi&s;eries under no other colour then of new
names &amp; hath learned Law enough this Parliament to know that the pretence of nece&s;&s;ity &amp;
<HI>Propterea quod Regnum no&s;trum periclitatur,</HI> is no &s;ufficient cau&s;e of levying money, either by
Writ or Ordinance; As that this Author will talke of &s;uch pa&s;t faults, when there was no|thing
then &s;uffered by the Subject, which hath not upon the &s;ame Pretences, but with
le&s;&s;e colour, beene &s;ince acted and exceeded by tho&s;e, who were called together to ea&s;e
them from the like &s;ufferings. But alas, they onely take away mens e&s;tates in the de|fence
of their Proprietie, and impri&s;on their per&s;ons in defence of their liberty, and
I believe will &s;hortly hang them up to &s;ave their lives (as they already &s;hoot at the King in
his own defence) for he &s;ays, the Parliament (and by that throughout he means both Hou&s;es)
hath power not onely of liberty and impri&s;onment, but of life and death. Nor are wee like
to &s;tay here, for he &s;aith, that the Hou&s;e of Commons alone is tru&s;ted with all the e&s;tates of
the Commons of <HI>England,</HI> and con&s;equently may &s;hortly &s;ave the Lords a labour of joyning
with them in di&s;po&s;ing of the e&s;tates of Commoners. And if they &s;hall after pretend (as by
the &s;ame Right they may) to a power over the lives of the Commoners too, a Member of
&s;uch a Hou&s;e in a perpetuall Parliament may get more Revenue and Mayntenance by His
Place, then ever any Penman of his Maje&s;ties Declarations will do by His. The truth is, the
King and Lords both are as much tru&s;ted with the E&s;tates of all the Commons of <HI>England,</HI> as
the Hou&s;e of Commons is; neither it without them, nor they without it can di&s;po&s;e of them:
and what&s;oever Rights the King hath in Him by the Law, as the choice of Coun&s;ellours and
Officers, of Commanders of Forts and Ca&s;tles, and of the <HI>Militia</HI> of the Kingdom, and the
like; with them He is tru&s;ted by the whole Nation, and neither one nor both Hou&s;es have
any more &s;uperiority over that Tru&s;t, then he hath over any Tru&s;t committed to them. Hee
repre&s;ents the people too in what the Law hath left to Him, nor doe they repre&s;ent them in
any thing which the Law hath not tru&s;ted to them. But unle&s;&s;e &s;uch Ordinances be made,
the War cannot be mayntained. I wonder not, that this Argument &s;hould appeare a good
one in their Army which lives by War, bus I wonder, it &s;hould be &s;u&s;pected likely to prevail
upon the City, which can as little &s;ub&s;i&s;t without Trade, as Trade can continue without
Peace, and which by this War hath been &s;o much already diverted, that many yeeres will
&s;carce return it into the former channell. I wonder the Citizens do not con&s;ider, that by this
War their charge increa&s;es, while&s;t their gettings dimini&s;h: That their Train-bands are al|ready
&s;u&s;pected (and perhaps will &s;hortly be di&s;arm'd and plundered too) and the City awed
by <HI>Red-coats.</HI> That for this War the twentieth part of their e&s;tates is voted away, and A&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ors
mo&s;t of one Faction appointed, who may call nineteene parts the twentieth; That they
are (under that terrour) impri&s;oned, upon grounds upon which no man &s;hould be impri&s;o|n<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">d&punc;
<PB N="10" REF="3">
and impri&s;oned by per&s;ons who ought to impri&s;on no body; (for &s;uppo&s;e both Hou&s;es
had an Arbitrary power over their goods and liberties, they never claimed any till now by
Ordinance, or otherwi&s;e, to transfer that power to a Committee; which yet is daily acted
by them without reporting to the Hou&s;es) and this &s;lavery is onely evaded by &s;aying, it
is thus farre a voluntary &s;lavery, that they may free their per&s;ons if they will by vo|luntary
Contribution, and that it is done to fright them from a perpetuall &s;lavery:
And truly, the Kings, Attourney had no great invention, if hee could not have found the
&s;ame An&s;wer to ju&s;tifie all the Impri&s;onments for Ship-money, Knighting-money, Coat
and Conduct-money, &amp;c. to have been both voluntary and nece&s;&s;ary.</P>
<P>Nor is this rea&s;on of mayntaining the War any better as to the leg<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ll, then as to the pruden|tiall
part. The King (who hath power of making War and Peace, which both Hou&s;es, how
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">ll and free &s;oever they are, have not) in never &s;o ju&s;t and nece&s;&s;ary a War hath no legall
power to leavy money to mayntain it, without con&s;ent in Parliament. But this War for
which this Ordinance is made, is not onely as illegall as the Ordinance it &s;elf, (I can make
no greater expre&s;&s;ion) but it is as ungrounded as it is illegall. They fir&s;t make a nece&s;&s;ity,
that they may make a War; and then root up liberty and property, that they may continue
it: Schi&s;me, Pride, Faction, and Ambition, were the onely grounds; Feares and Jealou&s;ies
were the onely pretences; and Mi&s;ery, Slavery, and De&s;olation, are the onely effects, of that
which now to petition again&s;t is become a crime.</P>
<P>And if I make this appeare to you, I doubt not, Sir, but you will then confe&s;&s;e, that not
onely the&s;e illegall proceedings of theirs are not ju&s;tified by the War, but that even the ille|gall
pre&s;&s;ures to which they have nece&s;&s;itated the King; (what Taxe &s;oever He can have
laid upon <HI>Oxford&s;hire,</HI> or my Lord of <HI>Newca&s;tle</HI> upon <HI>Yorke&s;hire,</HI> or Sir <HI>Ralph Hopton</HI>
upon the We&s;t) are to be imputed to the beginners of this Warre; and that both
the plundring of Ma&s;ter <HI>Speaker</HI> of his Wine and his Battelaxe, and the plundering of
<HI>Braineford,</HI> (which though it were done to a Towne taken by a&s;&s;ault, yet for want of other
in&s;tances is twice repeated) and the danger of <HI>London</HI> (which hee &s;ayes was as neare to the
&s;tate of <HI>Braineford,</HI> as <HI>Braineford</HI> is to <HI>London</HI>) is to be charg'd upon the &s;ame &s;core. Let us
con&s;ider the beginning of the&s;e di&s;tractions. When with &s;o much difficulty, by &s;o few voyces,
that unexampled Declaration of the hou&s;e of Commons had been &s;pread among the people,
which incited them again&s;t the e&s;tabli&s;ht Lawes, and again&s;t the hou&s;e of Lords, which
would not alter what was e&s;tabli&s;ht&punc; And when the people, giving credit to their information,
that there was no hope of happine&s;&s;e for them without their concurrence, had (to the di&s;ho|nour
of Parliaments, and with the breach of the highe&s;t priviledges of that mo&s;t honourable
Court) come downe in Tumults to make them concurre; and by affronting and injuring
&s;ome of the Members of both hou&s;es, &s;o awed the re&s;t, that the Army, if it had really beene
brought up to <HI>London,</HI> could have done no more (though a meere di&s;cour&s;e concerning that
was voted to be Trea&s;on.) When all the&s;e Tumults (of which I &s;peake the more knowingly,
becau&s;e I was then by accident in the court of Reque&s;ts when the Rabble came up, and heard,
no Bi&s;hops, no Bi&s;hops, cryed with that animo&s;ity and violence, that it rings &s;till in my eares;
and &s;aw Sir <HI>John Strangewayes</HI> threatned as their enemy; and one (I think they called him Ma|&s;ter
<HI>Killigrew</HI>) laid hands on, and &s;o much feare in the faces of &s;ome other Members, that I be|leeve
they hardly knew what they voted in a weeke after, and the next day &s;aw <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI>
Abby a&s;&s;aulted by the &s;ame Rabble) when the&s;e Tumults were not onely not puni&s;ht,
nor the Authors enquired after nor &s;o much as the complaints of the particular Members
<PB N="11" REF="3">
con&s;idered, but the Lords were twice refu&s;ed to be joyn'd with in a Declaration again&s;t the
like for the future, And this Rabble commended and &s;tiled their friends by the mo&s;t eminent
Members in that Hou&s;e: When Ju&s;tice <HI>Long</HI> was committed by the Hou&s;e of Commons for
obeying a writ &s;ent by direction of the Lords Hou&s;e, and &s;ending a watch to guard them, and
the Sheriffe forbid by the &s;ame Hou&s;e to proceed legally again&s;t a Riot in <HI>Southwarke,</HI> When
this countenance to Riots, and di&s;countenance of Law had made Tumults ordinary and fami|liar
even at the Gates of <HI>White-hall</HI> and occa&s;ioned that accu&s;ation of the Lord <HI>Kimbolion;</HI> and
the five Members which hath been &s;ince five hundred times repeated as the principall ground
of Jealou&s;ie, (though they were accu&s;ed in &s;o legall a manner, as had beene formerly accep|ted
by the Hou&s;e of Peeres in the Earle of <HI>Bri&s;tols</HI> Ca&s;e: and though the King offered them &s;o
much &s;atisfaction for it, that any private Chri&s;tian that &s;hould refu&s;e to receive it from his
equall, were in no ca&s;e to receive the communion.) Who ever after that &s;aw the great Lea|vies
of armed men in <HI>London,</HI> and the multitudes of people every day flocking to them from
&s;everall Countries, and the low condition the King then was in, removing from place to
place, without the convenience of ordinary Accommodation, (&s;ome of His &s;ervants leaving
Him, and others refu&s;ing to attend him) could not beleeve that He could then give them &s;uch
a Terror, as no le&s;&s;e then all the Ca&s;tles and Forts of the Kingdome, and the &s;ole di&s;po&s;all of
the whole <HI>Militia</HI> could give them &s;ecurity enough again&s;t Him, who had not with, or neare
Him, money enough to pay a man, nor powder enough to kill a bird; and could never have
arrived at &s;uch a condition, as to be able to rai&s;e an Army, if the violence which hath beene
&s;ince offered Him had not a&s;i&s;ted Him. Nor were the Lords then &s;o affraid of the King, or
yet &s;o afraid of the people, as to demand &s;o unrea&s;onable &s;ecurity; &s;o that the Hou&s;e of Com|mons
having twice in vaine attempted their con&s;ent, were faine to aske it of His Maje&s;tie
alone. But when after the u&s;uall <HI>Satellites</HI> came up to them with a Petition, &s;econded and
countenanc't by the Hou&s;e of Commons, demanding tho&s;e Lords names who refu&s;ed to joyne;
This Eloquence prevailed, or rather this <HI>Militia</HI> made the other pa&s;&s;e; and in a few dayes
(the King granting mo&s;t, but not all they askt) the Lords (who were unwilling to put the peo|ple
to the trouble of comm<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ng again) joyned in Declaring (and were as good as their words)
that if the King would not con&s;ent, they would put the <HI>Militia</HI> in execution without Him.
Thus illegally was that Ordinance pa&s;t both Hou&s;es, which would have been mo&s;t illegall,
however it had pa&s;t. Thus was the Kings highe&s;t Right, His Negative voyce, and in the high|e&s;t
point (which alone enabled Him to defend the re&s;t) forced from him. Thus was <HI>England</HI>
put in Armes without his con&s;ent, who&s;e Commi&s;&s;ion onely could legally warrant the lea&s;t
A&s;&s;embly in that kinde&punc; and a few Officers by his command in a peaceable manner, atten|ding
him at <HI>King&s;tone</HI> for his &s;ecurity, was voted leavying of warre again&s;t him&s;elfe; and
this was the fir&s;t beginning of this nece&s;&s;ary warre, which now mu&s;t make all things lawfull
in order to that nece&s;&s;ity: While&s;t the King pre&s;&s;es &s;till his Me&s;&s;age of the 20. of <HI>January,</HI> that
he may but know what they would have, and is not thought worthy of an An&s;wer. But to
ju&s;tifie their actions by their feares, Armies are daily threatned from beyond-Sea, (though
they have laine wind-bound ever &s;ince) becau&s;e all the world &s;aw he had nothing in <HI>Eng|land</HI>
he could fright them with; but &s;till the lower he was, the higher they grew; and the
more they contemne him, the more they feare him: Nothing that he can doe will &s;atisfie
them; Nothing that he can &s;ay &s;hall &s;atisfie the people, for they &s;hall not be &s;uffered to &s;ee
it. Care is taken by order to the &s;everall Burge&s;&s;es, That all the Townes of <HI>England</HI> mu&s;t
<PB N="12" REF="4">
hear of his comming to the hou&s;e of Co~mons; and that in a manner in which he did no te<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">me.
But his &s;orrow that he hath by this brok any Priviledge, his offers of &s;atisfaction for it, and his
Re&s;olution both to ob&s;erve &amp; defend them all for the future; If this be printed and offered to be
publi&s;ht, his Secretary mu&s;t be que&s;tioned for &s;ending it to the Sheriffs by his Maje&s;ties Com|mand,
and the Sheriffs forbid to publi&s;h it according to the Kings own Warrant, and &s;ent for
as Delinquents if they do. Would he have my Lord of <HI>Newca&s;tle</HI> command his Town? he mu&s;t
not. Would he not have Sir <HI>Iohn Hotham</HI> command it? he mu&s;t. Dares he not come to <HI>London?</HI>
He mu&s;t. Would he be wayted on in the Countrey by his meniall &s;ervants? he mu&s;t not. Will
he not choo&s;e &s;uch Officers and Coun&s;ellors as they will name, and di&s;place &s;uch evill Coun|&s;ellors
as they cannot name? Then the prevalency of the Malignant Party is cryed out upon;
his not encountring Colonell <HI>Burges</HI> and Captaine <HI>Venne</HI> in the head of their <HI>Mermidens,</HI> is
called de&s;erting his Parliament: The Rebellion of <HI>Ireland</HI> (which he had di&s;armed him&s;elfe
to re&s;i&s;t) is laid to his charge, and his offer to venture his Royall Per&s;on again&s;t the Rebels
there, is voted to be an encouragement to that Rebellion. If he deny or delay any thing they
aske, though never &s;o much in his power to grant or deny, a new Vote pa&s;&s;es upon the Ad|vi&s;ers,
of being enemies to the State; and (having once found that Word to have great in|fluence
upon the people) what&s;oever he &s;ayes or does, he cannot but breake their Priviledges;
and what&s;oever they &s;ay or doe, they cannot breake his. And indeed their ob&s;erving no Rule
at all in their Votes, and the peoples readine&s;&s;e to ob&s;erve all their Votes as a Rule, had &s;o
hared him and all his &s;ervants, that I had rather be not onely Ma&s;ter <HI>Pym</HI> or Ma&s;ter <HI>Hamp|den,</HI>
but Ma&s;ter <HI>Cromwell</HI> or Ma&s;ter <HI>Pury,</HI> then King of <HI>England, Scotland, France</HI> and <HI>Jre|land,</HI>
in &s;o &s;ad and di&s;tracted a condition. And I wonder not, when they asked him his
Crowne in the Nineteene Propo&s;itions, that they thought they had made him weary enough
of it, to part with it for asking. Still the <HI>Militia</HI> is every where pre&s;s't and Sir <HI>Iohn Hotham</HI>
having before pretended to keepe <HI>Hull</HI> for the King, now keepes the King out of <HI>Hull,</HI> though
he offered to enter but with twenty &s;ervants; he is ju&s;tified in it by the hou&s;es, and the hou&s;es
&s;lander them&s;elves that they may ju&s;tifie him, and acknowledge a direction they never gave.
Upon this he takes to him&s;elfe a much &s;maller Guard then they had daily kept together ma|ny
moneths at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter,</HI> This is voted an intention to leavy Warre again&s;t his Parlia|ment,
and the Sheriffes are ordered to &s;uppre&s;&s;e it. All this while (to prepare the people to
&s;uffer any wrong to be offered the King) the Pre&s;&s;es and the Pulpits (the two &s;eed-plots of
this Warre) had &s;warmed daily with &s;landerous Invectives again&s;t his Maje&s;tie: (be&s;ides
Declarations of a &s;trange nature.) And if any grave pious Mini&s;ter did write, preach, &s;peake,
or almo&s;t thinke for the King, he was accu&s;ed by the factious part of his Pari&s;h before the
Committee for &s;candalous Mini&s;ters, and their meere receiving and countenancing of &s;uch
an Accu&s;ation, (though their lei&s;ure would not admit him to cleare him&s;elfe before them)
was enough to bla&s;t him with the people.</P>
<P>After this, all that could be taken of the Kings, or any of His Friends, Armes, Goods, Ships,
any thing is good prize; and (as if the Maxime were inverted, and He now could re|ceive
no wrong, who was wont He could doe none) they proceed really again&s;t Him (though
in pure civility they pas't no &s;uch Vote upon Him) as an enemy to the State. And at la&s;t, ha|ving
protected all Delinquents again&s;t Him and the known Law, and voted all Delinquents
who had refu&s;ed to become &s;o by &s;ubmitting to their illegall commands: Though the King
had for His Guard onely one Regiment of the <HI>Yorke&s;hire</HI> Trained-bands, and one Troope of
<PB N="13" REF="4">
Hor&s;e, Voluntiers, of the Gentlemen of that Country, And though the King never pro|tected
any man, till Sir <HI>John Hotham</HI> was denyed to be brought to a legall tryall; yet an
Army is voted to be rai&s;ed to defend them from the King and His Cavaliers, and to
fetch up his Maje&s;ty and His fellow Delinquents. Yet to this Vote his Maje&s;tie oppo&s;es one|ly
His owne Declaration, and that of the Lords with Him, (who &s;aw be&s;t what was done
towards it, being upon the place) that he had no &s;uch intention as was pretended; and till
contributions were rai&s;ed to rai&s;e men, He de&s;ired no contribution to be prepared by His
friends for him; and till they had leavyed men, and mu&s;tered them in &s;ome number, He gave
not out &s;o much as one Commi&s;&s;ion to leavie a man; But then (not thinking it needfull to
&s;tay till my Lord of <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI> &s;hould come and take Him <HI>En Cuerpo,</HI> that hee might &s;atisfie the
world how defen&s;ive the Warre was on His part) He grants out Commi&s;&s;ions, but then
grant not any to any Papi&s;ts; and takes all po&s;&s;ible care, and gives all po&s;&s;ible Orders, that
they entertaine no Souldiers of that Religion; yet the&s;e men (who well may couple Peace
and Truth together, for their actions and words have a long time &s;hewed that they love them
alike) charge him to the people in daily Declarations with rai&s;ing an Army of Papi&s;ts a|gain&s;t
the Parliament; which makes it the le&s;&s;e &s;trange, if his Maje&s;tie &s;ince confented to
have the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of &s;ome Papi&s;ts, (for they are not &s;o many as you thinke for) &s;ince Hee
&s;aw that without their a&s;&s;i&s;tance He could not avoyd all the &s;candall, which having it could
produce, e&s;pecially &s;ince He &s;aw many of that Religion were entertained in their Army;
(having taken at <HI>Edge-hill</HI> &s;everall <HI>Wallons, Engli&s;h,</HI> and <HI>Iri&s;h,</HI> of that Religion, who confe&s;&s;e
of many more:) And &s;ince He &s;aw a great part of the re&s;t to con&s;i&s;t of another kinde of Re|cu&s;ants,
which by the Law of this Kingdome not onely ought not to be armed in it, but not
toremaine in it at all. Well, his Maje&s;tie is come to <HI>N<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">tt<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ngham,</HI> and though He was confi|dent
the Commi&s;&s;ions Hee had &s;ent forth, would time<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">y enough bring him in a &s;ufficient&punc; Ar|my
to beate theirs; (as the event hath &s;ince &s;hewed) yet preferring Peace even before Vi|ctory
it &s;elfe, Hee &s;ent twice to de&s;ire it (I had almo&s;t &s;aid to petition for it) from both
Hou&s;es: How it was received all the world knowes. After this he meets them, Hee fights
with them, hee beats them, (of which the &s;uffering their Ordnance to be taken away next
morning before their faces, the quitting <HI>Banbury</HI> which they-came to relieve, and marching to
<HI>London</HI> them&s;elves in &s;tead of bringing the King up thither, was &s;o g<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">e<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">t a proofe, as farre out|weighs
the &s;ingle a&s;&s;ertion of my Lord <HI>Wharton,</HI> or my Lord <HI>Brooke</HI> to the contrary.) Hee is
&s;till con&s;tant to his Principles, and (though after a Victory) gives a quite other kinde of An|&s;wer
to their Petition at <HI>Colebrooke,</HI> then they had done to his Me&s;&s;age from <HI>Nottingham.</HI>
VYhile&s;t the Committee was with Him there, part of their Army marcheth out of <HI>London;</HI>
That Hee might not be inclo&s;ed on all &s;ides, hee marches to prepo&s;&s;e&s;&s;e <HI>Brain<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ford,</HI> (but at
the in&s;tant &s;ends word of His march, and the rea&s;on of it to the Hou&s;es) He found them there,
he beats them out; And if His intention had been to have marcht on and &s;acked <HI>London,</HI>
what altered that intention? Could He thinke him&s;elfe &s;o much weaker by the lo&s;&s;e of ten
men, or them &s;o much &s;tronger by the lo&s;&s;e of two of their be&s;t Regiments, be&s;ides their lo&s;&s;e
by water, as for that rea&s;on to change his minde? No: A&s;&s;oone as He found <HI>King&s;tone</HI> quit|ted
behind Him before any approach or notice of any Forces of theirs, hee gives orders to
march away. Hee againe and againe repeats his de&s;ire of Peace, which is &s;o farre from being
accepted, that the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Petitioners are threatned, hurt, and impri&s;oned, for de&s;iring it too,
and a <HI>Scots</HI> Army is invited to continue the VVarre. But I hope our brethren will remember
that tho&s;e again&s;t whom they are called, have paid and are to pay them more of the brotherly
<PB N="14" REF="5">
a&s;&s;i&s;tance then tho&s;e that call them; and the&s;e men will finde them&s;elves as much de received in
their hopes of their owne forraigne Forces, as they were in their feare of the Kings, and that
the <HI>Scots</HI> will &s;tay till the <HI>Danes</HI> come.</P>
<P>To &s;umme up this point, If to take away by force all the others ju&s;t Rights, be to begin the
VVarre, his Maje&s;tie is not the Aggre&s;&s;or: If to have a Guard fir&s;t be the beginning of the
VVarre, (as the Replyer pretends) certainly this Warre began at <HI>London,</HI> and not at <HI>Yorke;</HI>
the fir&s;t being rai&s;ed by the power of a Committee, upon &s;ome thing (which after came to no|thing)
fetcht as farre off as <HI>Edenburgh:</HI> If the rai&s;ing men fir&s;t by Commi&s;&s;ions were to be|gin
it, it was begun there too: If the denying of Delinquents to be legally tryed were to be|gin
it, <HI>London</HI> was the place, and Sir <HI>Iohn Hotham</HI> the per on, where and for whom it was fir&s;t
begun: If the eagerne&s;&s;e of continuing can &s;hew who begun it, does not this Aver&s;ion from
Peace declare &s;ufficiently that they begun the VVarre, who now &s;o carefully nur&s;e their owne
childe? And I &s;uppo&s;e no indifferent per&s;on can thinke the&s;e vi&s;ible Arguments confuted by
the Replyers wonder, and his onely Arguments in the Reply to the contrary; which are a tale
of a Papi&s;t in <HI>Yorke,</HI> that &s;hould &s;ay, <HI>Let the &s;word try it;</HI> (when it were little to any other
purpo&s;e whether a Papi&s;t had &s;aid &s;o, then to &s;hew by the Kings backwardne&s;&s;e to follow this
Coun&s;ell, that the Coun&s;els of Papi&s;ts were more prevalent with the Parliament; then with
Him;) And of Sir <HI>Francis Wortley</HI>'s drawing his &s;word, and &s;aying, <HI>VVho is for the King?</HI>
VVhen it is well knowne at <HI>Yorke,</HI> that this was not &s;aid at all by him: and that what was
&s;aid and done, was to a very Different end: But indeed upon &s;uch an information upon hear|&s;ay,
(which Mr <HI>Ru&s;hworth</HI> brought from <HI>Yorke</HI> in &s;hort hand) Sir <HI>Francis</HI> was likely to have
been accu&s;ed of high Trea&s;on, but it being put off for that time, the truth was di&s;covered, the
Relater was a&s;hamed, and Sir <HI>Francis Wortley</HI> never further accu&s;ed for it.</P>
<P>Yet as little as he can &s;ay to prove the War begun on the Kings part, and as much as is &s;aid
to prove the contrary, he hath the face to compare the Kings making Warre upon his Parlia|ment
to <HI>Sauls</HI> hunting of <HI>David,</HI> and that, as if the ca&s;e were &s;o exactly the &s;ame, that no|thing
but not having heard of the Bible could make us not know it. You took, I thank you Sir,
very early care, that I &s;hould not be unacquainted with the Booke he &s;peakes of, and I won|der
not (knowing it &s;o well as I doe) that he &s;hould be better able to ju&s;tifie this Rebellion
(though this ca&s;e too differs wholly from that there quoted) out of <HI>Bodine,</HI> then out of the
Bible. A Popi&s;h Author is fitte&s;t to ju&s;tifie, that which hath been rai&s;ed out of Popi&s;h Prin|ciples.
But to returne to <HI>David;</HI> had he ever given <HI>Saul</HI> any cau&s;e to feare him by &s;preading
Declarations, or rai&s;ing and encouraging <HI>Tumults,</HI> again&s;t him and the e&s;tabli&s;hed Lawes?
Had he nothing to make him apprehend <HI>Saul,</HI> but meere feares and Jealou&s;ies? Did <HI>Saul</HI> at|tempt
him with an Impeachment, or with a Javelin? And did hee ever offer after to quit him
by a Bill? Did <HI>David</HI> upon his Apprehen&s;ion &s;eize the Citadell in <HI>Ieru&s;alem</HI> and keep <HI>Saul</HI>
out with armed men? Did he &s;eize his Armes, Goods, and Ships, and then ju&s;tifie the &s;ei&s;ure
by &s;aying, Hee tooke from him not the Property, but the mi&s;chiefe? or fly into a remote Cave
for &s;ecurity? Did he invade <HI>Sauls</HI> Priviledges, and deny him a Negative voyce? Did he pre|tend
to command the <HI>Militia</HI> of all <HI>I&s;rael</HI> without <HI>Sauls</HI> con&s;ent? Did he ever demand from
him &s;uch nineteene Propo&s;itions, as the onely way to compo&s;e differences betweene
them? Did hee rai&s;e an Armie to fetch tho&s;e Evill Coun&s;ellours from about <HI>Saul</HI> who had
per&s;waded him to &s;eeke his life? Did hee pur&s;ue him with it, and give him battaile, and
then charge the malignant Party about him, for going about to de&s;troy him, by bringing him
<PB N="15" REF="5">
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">etweene the two Armies, and &s;o into the danger of that De&s;truction? Or did l<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">|
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">eart &s;mite him for cutting but the lapp of his Garment? Did <HI>David</HI> ever reject &s;uch
me&s;&s;ages from <HI>Saul</HI> as that of the 20 of <HI>Ianuary,</HI> and tho&s;e from <HI>Nottingham?</HI> Or did he
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1+ letters">er impri&s;on any of his followers for de&s;iring an accommodation? Certainly who ever
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">ath read that &s;tory and &s;eene this, will finde a wide difference betweene what the <HI>King</HI>
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">id, and what was done to him; and <HI>Sauls</HI> provocations of <HI>David,</HI> and <HI>Davids</HI> returns
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">owards <HI>Saul.</HI> And who ever had waited on the <HI>King</HI> this la&s;t yeare from place to place
would ea&s;ily conclude, whether he or the Parliament were hunted mo&s;t like the Par|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">ridge.</P>
<P>Yet, Sir: I charge not the Parliament with this. The replier thinks not &s;o well of, and
wi&s;hes not &s;o well to that honourable A&s;&s;embly, as I doe: Nothing offends me more in
the pre&s;ent Actions of the remaining part of the Parliament, then that by them they fur|ni&s;h
tho&s;e who wi&s;h Parliaments but ill, with Arguments to infu&s;e into Princes an il O|pinion
of Parliaments, and furni&s;h Princes with principles which with more pretence
may be applied by them to the De&s;truction of their Subjects. Parliaments are indeed
the Root of our propriety, and their genuine Priviledges are the Roote of Parliaments.
But the Parliament con&s;i&s;ts of three e&s;tates, and for any two to deny the third his ju&s;t
Rights and Priviledges, and for one, or both, or a part of both or either, a Committee,
to u&s;urpe the rights and Priviledges which belong onely to the whole three, is the way
to root up both priviledges, Property, Parliaments, and all; and to make the People more
weary of their Phy&s;itians, then they were before of their di&s;ea&s;es. Who knowes not that
the Hou&s;e of commons con&s;i&s;ts of neere five hundred Members, and that u&s;ually foure|&s;core
is now counted a full Hou&s;e, and that of at any time they make one hundred and for|ty
(as for a rare in&s;tance, the replier tels us of once or twice, and that onely by report)
it is when the military Members are &s;ent for up from the Army to pay their gratitude to
their new profe&s;&s;ion by oppo&s;ing of Peace? And that many of tho&s;e, who are pre&s;ent
do not beleeve them&s;elves &s;ecured by their Army, though they are too much frighted to
dare to complaine of feare? And can it be thought that &s;o many per&s;ons of Honour, tru&s;t|ed
by their country, would be ab&s;ent from the &s;ervice of it, if they thought the worke now
in hand &s;o nece&s;&s;ary to the publique defence of Religion, Lawes, Liberty, Property, and
Parliaments, and that the highe&s;t &s;ervice they could doe them were to countenance the
pre&s;ent cau&s;e with a full Hou&s;e, as they mu&s;t do, if they were of the &s;ame opinions with
the remaining Partie? and on the other &s;ide, if they be confe&s;&s;ed to be of contrary opinions
can it be thought, that &s;o many as are able to make up a major part (for that is mo&s;t true
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1+ letters">ill as to the hou&s;e of commons, though they have put out a great number, becau&s;e their
con&s;cience bound them either to defend their King, or not to a&s;&s;i&s;t again&s;t him, and it
is evidently true as to the Hou&s;e of Lords) would not have cho&s;en rather to have &s;tayed
and hindered this warre, or yet to come up and compo&s;e it, by over voting the re&s;t, if
they had not knowne, or did not know, that then and now, the tumults, and the Red|coats
had and will have the ca&s;ting voyce in all &s;uch Debates? And if the exam|ple
of Sir <HI>Sydney Mountague,</HI> by &s;o much as the Replyer confe&s;&s;eth, did not &s;hew
them, that if they came not at all at a time, any &s;ingle men that &s;hould refu&s;e to &s;weare to
a&s;&s;i&s;t them, in that which already by &s;everal Oaths they are bound to re&s;i&s;t, and bei<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">g askt
their rea&s;on, &s;hould &s;ay that which their ab&s;ence hath expre&s;t, beleive the &s;tatute of 25
<HI>Edw:</HI> 3. before &s;ome late ordinances, and call a Spade a Spade, and Trea&s;on Trea&s;on, they
&s;hould but chang their places in the Hou&s;e for one in the Tower; &s;ince my Lord <HI>Kimbol|ton</HI>
<PB N="16" REF="6">
him&s;elfe upon &s;uch an occa&s;ion could not &s;ave his uncle, though hee could his Father.
And indeed who ever ob&s;erves the differences betwixt the Actions of the Hou&s;es, will
finde &s;omething to have interceded be&s;ides time, and that either they are not compo&s;ed of
the &s;ame men, or the &s;ame men have not the &s;ame freedome. In a fortnights &s;pace the
Lords Hou&s;e twice denied to aske the <HI>Militia</HI> of the King, and declared that they would
put it in execution without Him. In two months time the Lords Hou&s;e de&s;ired the Hou&s;e
of Commons to joyne with them in a Declara<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ion again&s;t tumults (with rea&s;ons expre&s;|&s;ing
a great &s;ence how &s;candalous it would be even to the pa&s;t Lawes made by this Parli|ament,
if &s;uch meetings were not &s;uppre&s;t) and joyned with the Hou&s;e of Commons in a
Declaration to His Maje&s;ty denying that there had been any tumults, and ju&s;tifying tho&s;e
meetings which they had called &s;o before, When His Maje&s;ty was going into <HI>Scotland&punc;</HI> it
is well knowne that the principall rea&s;on upon which both Hou&s;es pre&s;&s;ed his &s;tay, or to
have a <HI>Cu&s;tos Regni</HI> in his ab&s;ence, was that without His authority concurring, mony
could not be rai&s;ed <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">n that time of extreme nece&s;&s;ity: and yet it &s;eems they have now di&s;|covered,
that His ab&s;ence From, is a de&s;ertion of His Parliament; and that This and nece&s;|&s;ity
enables them by the fundamentall Lawes to impo&s;e levyes, and other Lawes upon his
Subjects, without his con&s;ent, and contrary to his command: and that the ca&s;e is now the
&s;ame as in the minority of a King, though even then Sir <HI>Simon Dewes</HI> him&s;elfe cannot
produce one record, that ever &s;uch levie was made by both Hou&s;es alone, without the
concurrence of the Royall a&s;&s;ent by &s;ome Protectour. It is well known by the many long
debates about it without prevailing, what little hopes at fir&s;t appeared in the Hou&s;e of
Commons, that the Bill again&s;t Bi&s;ho<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">s Roote and Branch, &s;hould pa&s;&s;e in that Hou&s;e;
that a clau&s;e to that purpo&s;e was da&s;ht even out of their fir&s;t Remon&s;trance, when the ap|peare
not to have beene in any humour of complying beyond their ordinary inclinations&punc;
and how impo&s;&s;ible it appeared for a long time after, that &s;uch a Bill &s;hould ever pa&s;&s;e in
the Hou&s;e of Peeres, not &s;ix Lords then appearing of that minde, and yet &s;ince a Declarati|on
is pa&s;t, and a Bill is pa&s;&s;ing both Hou&s;es to that purpo&s;e. They pa&s;t a Bill upon my
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> of <HI>Strafford,</HI> of which the principall ground was, that he had &s;aid, that the King having
endeavored to have the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of his Parliament in great nece&s;&s;ity, and for the defence
of Him&s;elfe and Kingdome, and being de&s;erted by them, was ab&s;olved from all the rules
of governement: and yet &s;ince (as if his Iudges had beene his Succe&s;&s;ours, and had cut off
his head onely to take out his princi<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">les) they upon the &s;ame pretences have ab&s;olved
them&s;elvs from all rules of obedience, and onely differ in not u&s;ing the power they claim
with the limitation he gave, that is <HI>Cand<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">de &amp; Ca<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">te.</HI> Nor is this onely &s;ince an actuall
Warre (though that being begun by them is no excu&s;e) but when all was quiet, and no
dangers but from fears, Mr. <HI>Hothams</HI> Letter (in an&s;wer to a complaint he expected from
the inhabitants of <HI>Hull</HI> for &s;ome violent and illegall actions) was read and not reproved
in the Hou&s;e of Commons, &s;aying, that he hoped, &s;ince what hee did was in order to their
commands, they would not &s;tand upon the form<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">lities of Law and Lawyers.</P>
<P>Sir, it is true, tho&s;e formalities are now wholly laid by, but till we &s;hall returne to them,
and by them to &s;ome knowne Rule, we &s;hall have a mo&s;t mi&s;erable form of Government.
If we fight yet another yeare in this Kingdome, by that time this Kingdome will not bee
worth the fighting for; And when tho&s;e armies which &s;hall have impoveri&s;hed you by
their <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span">y, &s;hall have kept the land from being tilled by their te<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">rour (for the Countryman
will not &s;ow what he cannot hope quietly to reap) as omnipotent as an ordinance is, it
will not be able to forbid a famine, and to &s;ecure you from &s;tarving by the authority of
<PB N="17" REF="6">
both Hou&s;es: you may yet &s;ecure your &s;elves if you plea&s;e; make but good your Prote&s;tati|on;
let <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ot <HI>London</HI> help to undoe it &s;elfe, and the Country, and the thing is done. Defend
the Religion e&s;tabli&s;hed Suffer not Alderman <HI>Pen<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ington</HI> (&s;o known a Browni&s;t and de|&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;er
of the Common-Prayer that the Replyer hath done his be&s;t to prove him none,
when he hath been able to name one time in which hee could bring him&s;elfe to endure to
be pre&s;ent at &s;ome twenty lines of it in the Hou&s;e of Commons, as good an argument as he
is a Major) to encourage <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">rabble of the &s;ame opinion whom I will name, when he names
that new Truth which he would have joyned to our Peace) to &s;uppre&s;&s;e That, and the Act
of Parliament that appoints it Defend your Liberties, and &s;uffer not a clo&s;e Committee
(for your la&s;t jour<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">all tells us, that &s;uch an excluding Committee there is, and that they
commit men by their owne orders as Col<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">onell <HI>Bro<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">e</HI> for one, whether that be the &s;ame
with the Committee for examinations is not much materiall, which by the cour&s;e of
Parliament can have no other cour&s;e derived to it, then to con&s;ider and report; to impri&s;on
you by no Rule, but that of their di&s;cretions (which is more then they from whom they
have their power have right to do) or &s;uffer an Order o<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Hou&s;e of Commons to &s;top
<HI>Habeas Corpu&s;&s;es,</HI> the Birth-right of every &s;ubject. Defend your Propriety, and &s;uffer not
the twentieth (for as much they will call the twentieth) part of your e&s;tates to bee taken
from you, by &s;o in&s;ufficient Authority, upon &s;o invalid &s;ecurity, for &s;o rebellious an end, as
are an ordinance, publike Faith, and this pre&s;ent War. Defend the Privi<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">edges of Parlia+ment,
and His Maje&s;ties honour and rights, and joyne not to take away His Maje&s;ties ne|gative
voyce, by &s;ubmitting to that authority, to exclude him as no part of the publike; by
accepting of that &s;ecurity, to include him among the publike enemies, by contributing
(beyond your abilities, and contrary to your Duties) to a Warre again&s;t him. Let not your
mony and plate be turned into the price of the bloud of your fellow Subjects. Suffer not
a few men to &s;et a whole Kingdome on fire to roa&s;t their owne egges by it; at lea<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="2 letters">, become
not you the incendiaries, by mini&s;tring fuell to this publike fire, which el&s;e mu&s;t in&s;tantly
goe out of it &s;elfe; and give the King but what is his, and that you may keep what is your
own. Who can &s;ecure you, that his Maje&s;ty may not prevail by force? And if he do (after
&s;o many de&s;ires of peace, and proffers of pardon) who can &s;ecure you from an offended P.
and a victorious army, that your Citizens &s;hall not be de&s;troyed, and your City a&s;hes? Who
can &s;ecure you (who believe His Maie&s;ties Prote&s;tations no better) that if he come once
aga<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ne to governe by the helpe of an army, that he may not be tempted to govern alwaies
by one, and learn of you to declare nece&s;&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e, and rule according to tho&s;e principles, which
you have taught Hi<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter"> to be lawfull by the fundamentall Lawes in times of Nece&s;&s;ity, and
acce<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">t of no &s;ecurity from future rebellions, but &s;uch as &s;hall leave us none from future op|pre&s;&s;ions?
Who can &s;ecure you, th<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">t if the Papi&s;ts &s;hall have a&s;&s;i&s;ted Him in the actuall re|coverie
of his Crowne by force, in &s;o great an exigent, (and in &s;o great numbers, as you
would have us thinke they doe) that his gratitude to them may not be a temptation, to en|cline
Him to &s;uch favours towards, and tru&s;t in them, as may in time be more prejudiciall
to us and our Religion, then Hee may either di&s;cover or &s;u&s;pect? But who can give you
hope if the Rebells prevaile, that the clo&s;e Committee will bee ever content to be private
men againe. That the Parliament &s;hall not be everla&s;ting, and their nece&s;&s;ity, and your pre&s;|&s;ures
as eve<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">la&s;ting a<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Parliament; and that you &s;hall not &s;uffer more under the Tyran|ny
of many th<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">n any one (how wittie and indu&s;trious &s;oever in it) can inflict upon you?
be<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">des the perp<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">tuall danger of warre from abroad (from the potent allies to the Crown
who for the generall intere&s;t of Princes, and hope of particular advantages, will bee al|wayes
<PB N="18" REF="7">
 ready to a&s;&s;i&s;t the di&s;contented partie here in the recoverie of the iu&s;t Rights of it
for the King and his Po&s;teritie) and of Schi&s;mes and Factions at home, and many other e|vills
not to be particularly fore&s;eene, which will undoubtedly ari&s;e from the totall altera|tion
both of Church and State: whereas if &s;uch moderate and equall propo&s;itions &s;hall be
offered, as may and ought to produce a Peace, either they will be excepted, or refu&s;ed. If
they be refu&s;ed, your cau&s;e will be mended, and your Power increa&s;ed: if they be accep|ted,
the Armies will be disbanded, poore <HI>Magna Charta</HI> (which hath of late beene &s;o
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">u<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ht betweene two &s;uppo&s;ed Nece&s;&s;ities) will be againe in credit and e&s;timation, and
will be pre&s;erved in it by Trienniall Parliaments; and the people having now &s;o full a &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">nce
of their Liberties. and His Maie&s;ty having &s;uch experience, how much it endangers the
Prerogati<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e to encroach upon tho&s;e Liberties, and being re&s;tored to that &s;weetne&s;&s;e of
honour and quiet, which no rea&s;onable man thus warned, will endanger, and quit, for a
po&s;&s;ible encrea&s;e of unnece&s;&s;ary power, there wil be little cau&s;e to fear any &s;laverie for the
future, and the King will have no more temptation or meanes, then I hope he hath will
to oppre&s;&s;e us. Then the Papi&s;ts (when Peace hath re&s;etled the Lawes) will be di&s;armed
by tho&s;e Lawes to &s;ecure us from them for the pre&s;ent, and the Law (of which His Maie|&s;ty
hath &s;hewed him&s;elfe &s;o de&s;irous) for the education of their children in the Prote&s;tant
Religion, will (when it is pa&s;t) &s;ecure us from them for the future: and then the Govern|ment
of both Church and State being new &s;etled in the old way, the King may againe
be honoured, the Parliament againe re&s;pected, Ireland regained, and this Kingdome hap|py,
Which. God of his mercy grant. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Sir,</HI><LB>
<HI>I confe&s;&s;e, I have been tran&s;ported into an unu&s;uall &s;tile, and le&s;&s;e remembred to whom, then
again&s;t whom I writ this. But I be&s;eech you pardon me for it, &s;ince it is my affection to you, and
de&s;ire to di&s;engage &s;o good a man from &s;o ill a cau&s;e, that hath &s;o tran&s;ported me. Nor would I
have hazarded your di&s;plea&s;ure, and the lo&s;&s;e I may &s;ustaine by it, if I had not been far more
concern'd to &s;ave your &s;oule, then to inherit your estate. And &s;o Sir, be&s;eeching you to com|mond
my duty to my Aunt, and God to have you both in his h<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ly protection, I remaine</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your mo&s;t affectionate
and dutifull Nephew.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="account">
<PB N="19" REF="7">
<HEAD>A briefe Relation of the great Victory obtained by
Sir RALPH HOPTON neare Bodmin, in the County of
Cornwall, <DATE>Ianua<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">y 19. Anno Dom. 1642.</DATE></HEAD>
<P>_AMong&s;t tho&s;e fortunate &s;ucce&s;&s;es, wherewith Almighty God hath crowned
His Maje&s;ties de&s;ignes, for the redem<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">tion of his Church and State, from
that calamitous condition, in which they have been plunged of late by
&s;ome factious &s;pirits, there is not any more remarka<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">le, then that which
hath b<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">fallen Him in the <HI>Westerne</HI> parts. For if we looke upon the <HI>Theatre</HI>
where this prize was played, it is a country mo&s;t remot<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter"> from the power and pre&s;ence of
His Maje&s;ty, and therefore le&s;&s;e provided of &s;uch help<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">s by which the &s;ub<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ects might re|ceive
encouragement in their faith and <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">oyalty. Next look we on the principa<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">l Actor, and
we &s;hall finde he was a &s;tranger to the place, a man of no al<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">iance nor dependance th<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">re,
and &s;o by con&s;equence of little power and e&s;timation among&s;t that p<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ople. In each regard
we mu&s;t acknowledge his &s;ucce&s;&s;e, or rather His Maje&s;ties by him, to be more then ordi|nary;
and that there is a &s;peciall providence which guides His Maie&s;ties affaires, even there
where humane rea&s;on could conceive lea&s;t hopes. We will not recap<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">tulate the &s;torie of
his carriage there &s;ince the fir&s;t beginning, when he was forced to flye to <HI>Cornwall</HI> for his
life and &s;afety like one abandoned to all extremities <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">f ill fortune; nor make a generall
mu&s;ter of th<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e happy accidents which gave him credit and authority among&s;t the na|tives
of that Countrey, The&s;e have a long time been the &s;ubiects of our tongues and pens.
The Argument of this relation &s;hall be <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">hat notable and &s;ignall victory, which hee obtai|ned
again&s;t the <HI>Rebels</HI> not far from <HI>Bodmin,</HI> that being as the late&s;t, &s;o the greate&s;t evi|dence
of Gods ble&s;&s;ing on him and his affections and fidelity to Gods anointed.</P>
<P>How after his retreate from Exeter he was pur&s;ued almo&s;t to the edge of Cornwall by
the Rebels forces, and with what courage and felicity he made tho&s;e flye before him, who
had followed after him, hath formerly been imparted to the Court by letters of unque&s;tio|ned
credit, and from the Court communicated to the re&s;t of the Kingdome. His purpo&s;e
was to re&s;t and refre&s;h his &s;ouldiers till the &s;pring came on: and would have &s;ate downe
quietly til then, if the unquiet nature of the Rebels, or rather their unlucky de&s;tinies would
have given him leave. But they forgetting with what ill &s;ucce&s;&s;e they had in vain attemp|ted
to cut him off in his march through <HI>Devon&s;hire,</HI> gathered their &s;cattered troops toge|ther,
which they encrea&s;ed by the acce&s;&s;ion of new forces; &s;ome from the Garri&s;on at
<HI>Plymmouth,</HI> &s;ome from other places til they had made them&s;elvs &s;o &s;trong, as to adventure
once more on their owne de&s;truction. In the meane time, hee &s;eeing how the clouds did
begin to gather, and that &s;ome terible &s;torme was like to fall upon him from the hills of
<HI>Devon&s;hire,</HI> thought it not fit to &s;tay at <HI>Lance&s;ton</HI> or <HI>Salta&s;h,</HI> Townes on the very e<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">e of
<HI>Cornewall,</HI> and therefore more in danger of the threatned tempe&s;t, but retreated towards
<HI>Bodmin,</HI> being more in the middle of the County; and con&s;equently farre more l<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">kely to
afford him &s;helter, then the other, places. The fury of the &s;torme might breake in &s;o
long a cour&s;e; if not, he &s;hould be better fitted to with&s;tand the violence.</P>
<P><PB N="20" REF="8">
Two things there were which gave him &s;ome apparent hopes, not onely that he
might be able to make re&s;i&s;tance, but pre&s;ume of victory. The one was, that the <HI>Rebels</HI>
as they marched through the Country, committed &s;uch intollerable out rages and rapines,
th<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ll the people of tho&s;e parts who were fit for Armes, came freely to him, and offered
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">m their <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ble&s;t &s;ervice, that by his conduct and command they might reprive them&s;elves
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> deaths as did daily threaten them. There is a <HI>London</HI> Pamphlet which
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span"> la&s;t weeke, <HI>The Kingdomes Int<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">lligence,</HI> I &s;uppo&s;e they call it; wherein it is a<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span">d <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> certain, (and who is of &s;o little faith as to thinke the contrary) that the <HI>Cor|<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span"></HI>
men being weary of <HI>Hoptons</HI> government, had craved the Earle of <HI>Stamford</HI> to pro|<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="4 letters">
them again&s;t his Forces; and that the Earle con&s;enting to their ju&s;t de&s;ires, had &s;o
di&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;&s;ed the man both by Land and by Sea, that there was no po&s;&s;iblity for him to e&s;|cape.
if he &s;hould attempt it. How impudent a tale this is, need not hee<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e be told? It is
enough to &s;ay it came from <HI>London,</HI> where there is coyning every day of the&s;e fooli&s;h
<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">tions, though of nothing el&s;e. But loo&s;ers mu&s;t have leave to talke, there's a proverbe
for it. The other of tho&s;e happy accidents, which advanced his hopes, was that while&s;t
he provided for the entertainment of &s;uch trouble&s;ome gue&s;ts, a fleete of forty &s;aile of &s;hips
were driven by weather and good fortune within the Ordinance and command of
<HI>Pend<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">nnis</HI> Ca&s;tle, then and before that long, in his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion. The&s;e &s;hips being bound
for <HI>London,</HI> and the two Hou&s;es of <HI>Parliament,</HI> he &s;tayed and &s;eized on, and tooke their
lading into the Ca&s;tle: in which he found &s;ome &s;tore of Armes: and &s;uch a liberall &s;tocke
of ready mony, as did not only &s;erve to pay his Souldiers the <HI>Arrears</HI> then doe, but encou|rage
them to &s;tand &s;toutly to him, by giving them a fort-nights pay before hand, to their
content. There was no need to bid his Soldiers <HI>work<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> out their owne &s;afety, when once
they were a&s;&s;ured of &s;o good a <HI>Pay-ma&s;ter;</HI> or to per&s;wade his men to &s;tand bravely to it,
when they perceived they &s;hould not &s;ell their lives for nothing. The victory mu&s;t need<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">
be cleare, and eminent, when not God onely, but his enemies did contribute towards it.</P>
<P>Tue&s;day the 17. of this Month was that luckie day in which the lading of the&s;e &s;hips
was brought in by Sir <HI>N. Slaning</HI> and the &s;oldiers satisfied. And the next day, Colonell
<HI>Ru<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">hen</HI> who hither to had kept a garri&s;on in <HI>Plimmouth,</HI> by the appointment and com|mand
of the two Hou&s;es of <HI>Parliament,</HI> drew up his forces towards <HI>L<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;tithell,</HI> ten miles
from <HI>Bodmin:</HI> and thence, as if he had waited a convenient time to ruine both him&s;elfe &amp;
all his followers, he &s;ent a challenge to Sir <HI>Ralph Hopton</HI> to meet him the next day being
thur&s;day, and to commit the point which was then in difference unto the i&s;&s;ue of a bat|taile.
The place de&s;igned for this great triall, was in the middle way betwixt <HI>Le&s;tithell</HI> &amp; 
<HI>Bodwin,</HI> where they might meet on equall termes, and &s;o fight it out. Sir <HI>Ralph</HI> who
knew his owne advantages, did willingly accept of the invitation&punc; and very early on
Thur&s;day morning marched unto the place, where he expected the approach of his daring
enemies on a little hill upon the brow whereof he had planted &s;ix good peice of Ordi|nance,
and by advantage of the ground had &s;o hid his men, that tho&s;e who did appeare
were not held con&s;iderable. What his whole number was is not yet made knowne. The
Army of the enemy con&s;i&s;ted of 4000 men, conducted by a man much &s;poken of for his
abilities in the art of war, and one thought him&s;elfe much wronged in that he had &s;o
weake an adver&s;ary to encounter with. For thinking the Kings Army to be all in &s;ight
he fooled him&s;elfe into a fal&s;e conceit of an ea&s;ie victory; and ranne &s;o fa&s;t upon the &s;p<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3 letters">
on the hopes therof, that unawares he came within the reach of <HI>Hoptons</HI> C<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">he p<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">|ed
&s;o fa&s;t upon him with all care and diligence, that he retreated with more ha&s;t then he
came upon him:</P>
<P><PB N="22" REF="8">
<HI>Sir Ralph</HI> perceiving their retreat, fell furiou&s;ly upon their hor&s;e, which he charged in
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="3 letters">reate, and routed them with little labour, b<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ing before di&s;ordered by the Cannon.</P>
<P>By this time <HI>Ruthens</HI> foot were got into a lane which they were to pa&s;&s;e, the hor&s;e
comming after in the rear: who were &s;o clo&s;ely followed by the conquering army, that
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="2 letters">ey had no other way to &s;ave them&s;elves, then by riding over their owne men, whom
they killed mo&s;t mi&s;erably. Sir <HI>Ralph</HI> pur&s;uing his good fortune, not onely drave them
to, but out of <HI>Le&s;tithell,</HI> and there took all their carriages and money, and a thou&s;and
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="2 letters">mes, which they had throwne away as heavie lu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">gage, unu&s;efull unto tho&s;e who re|&s;olved
to flye and tru&s;t unto their legs, &s;ince their hands failed them. It is mo&s;t credibly
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="2 letters">ported, that the <HI>Rebels</HI> lo&s;t three parts of their armie, of which 200 only were taken
pri&s;oner; the re&s;t being killed either in the battell, or the cha&s;e. And of the Pri&s;oners
tho&s;e of &s;peciall note were Sir <HI>Shel&s;on Colmadam</HI> (the Knight of the hard name as they
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e to call him) one of the <HI>Pophams,</HI> together with <HI>Sirode</HI> of <HI>Strete,</HI> and <HI>Pine</HI> of <HI>Somer|<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="3 letters">&s;hire;</HI>
which two his Maje&s;tie hath excepted (among&s;t others) out of his generall
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="3 letters">don for that County: and as he hath attached them without a Sergeant, &s;o he may
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">arrantably proceed again&s;t them without breach of priviledge. Some other Gentlemen
of qualitie were then taken al&s;o, who&s;e names as yet are not come unto us: and it is
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="2 letters">id that <HI>Ruthen</HI> was him&s;elfe either killed, or taken: but this is built upon report on|ly,
and not yet &s;ignified by letters.</P>
<P>Whether the Earle of <HI>Stamford</HI> were there in per&s;on, is not yet a&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">red: but &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">re it is
that he was pre&s;ent there in his power and forces; the certainty whereof appeares by
&s;ome particulars&punc; which are the&s;e that follow. For upon friday, being the morrow af|ter
this famous victory, newes came to <HI>Exeter,</HI> that the Earle of <HI>Stamford</HI> had lo&s;t
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">500 foot, 300 of his hor&s;e, and 3 pieces of Ordnance, requiring &s;ome &s;upplies from
thence with all &s;peed that might be; and the next day there was an hundred foot &s;ent
towards him, as part of tho&s;e &s;upplies which he had required from t<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">at City, which
though they were many as the Towne could po&s;&s;ibly provide in &s;o &s;hort a warning
mo&s;t of the<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">r men being gone before in pur&s;uit of Sir <HI>Ralph Hopton,</HI> when he re<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">re<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ted
from that City:) yet were not many enough; as the ca&s;e then &s;tood, to be a gu<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">rd unto
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="2 letters">s p<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">r&s;on in that de&s;perate exigent. And it was generally &s;aid, that &s;ome of tho<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e his
<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="2 letters">de, and &s;acrilegious Souldiers, who had &s;o more then barbarou&s;ly demeaned th<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">m|&s;elves
in the Church of <HI>Taun<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">on,</HI> were the fir&s;t men that were cut off in the day of battell
wherein tis pitty that they were no better followed, by him who &s;hould have puni&s;hed
&s;uch a misbehaviour. The &s;tory is, that upon Thur&s;d<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">y, being <HI>Twelfth Eve,</HI> the Earle
of <HI>Stamfords</HI> Chaplain, a vitious and &s;ed<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="bleedthrough" EXTENT="1 letter">t<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="bleedthrough" EXTENT="2 letters">u<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="bleedthrough" EXTENT="1 letter"> fellow preached a Sermon like him&s;elf in
the Church of <HI>Taunton,</HI> which was no &s;ooner done, (as he, and &s;uch a<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">, he have mo&s;t
excellent ar<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">s to inflame the p<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ople) but pre&s;ently the &s;ouldiers <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">u<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span">ed into the <HI>Chancell,</HI>
where they brake downe an <HI>Organ</HI> which the <HI>Pari&s;h</HI> had &s;et up of late, at no le&s;&s;e charges
then the &s;umme of 400l. That done they went next to the <HI>Reading pew,</HI> where they
found the book of Common Prayer: which though they &s;pared, I know not upon what
notion, yet they thought fit to purge the &s;ame of &s;ome unnece&s;&s;ary prayers, tho&s;e name|ly
for the King, the Queene, the royall I&s;&s;ue, and the Bi&s;hops, We &s;ee by this what <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">
that greeves them, and that they will not be content with defacing Churches, or de|&s;troying
Bi&s;hops, as long as there is King or Queene to controll their in&s;olencies, and
any of the Royall i&s;&s;ue, left to revenge tho&s;e injuries, which with &s;uch bold pretence<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">
are committed again&s;t &s;acred Maje&s;tie. But this is &s;omewhat from my purp<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e, I rather
<PB N="22" REF="9">
&s;hould have noted Gods mo&s;t righteous judgement, in bringing tho&s;e unchri&s;tian &s;acrile|gious
wretches to &s;uch a &s;peedy execution, and ha&s;tning them to their de&s;truction, when
in all likeliehood they tooke mo&s;t delight in &s;uch a &s;pecial peece of &s;ervice.</P>
<P>But to go on, the newes of this defeat fell very heavy on all tho&s;e, who either have
their hands or hearts in this Rebellion. One writes from <HI>Exeter,</HI> unto a zealous Mini&s;t|er
in <HI>Somer&s;et&s;hire,</HI> in the&s;e words that follow: <Q>There is very &s;ad newes come hither&punc;
God hath not ble&s;t us in this expedition into <HI>Cornwall,</HI> mo&s;t o<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter"> our forces are cutt of<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="in gutter" EXTENT="1 letter">
There are &s;ome <HI>Achans</HI> among&s;t us not yet di&s;covered. We de&s;ire you would double
your prayers for us; there never was more need. Farewell.</Q> Never was truth more ful|ly
&s;poken, where it was le&s;&s;e me<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">nt. There are indeed to many <HI>Achans;</HI> he &s;aith true in
that, (for <HI>Achans</HI> &s;inne wee know was the &s;inne of <HI>Sacriledge</HI>) and tho&s;e not yet &s;o per|fectly
di&s;covered, as it is wi&s;hed they were. Till they be rooted out there is no peace for
<HI>I&s;rael.</HI> Another writes from <HI>Dorche&s;ter</HI> to a friend in <HI>London,</HI> <Q>That a po&s;te came from
<HI>Exeter</HI> thither with a letter to Sir <HI>Walter Earle,</HI> bringing intelligence that Sir <HI>Ralph
Hopton</HI> had cut off 1500 of the Parliament Forces, and tooke many pri&s;oners, which
had put that towne into great &s;adne&s;&s;e,</Q> I mu&s;t needs &s;ay the gentleman to whom this
letter came, was mo&s;t fitly cho&s;en, to be the man that &s;hould receive the fir&s;t intelligence
of that heavy accident. Hee may new &s;et him&s;elfe on worke in finding out &s;ome nota|ble
peece of trea&s;on again&s;t Colonell <HI>Ruthen,</HI> and the Earle of <HI>Stamford,</HI> whereby they
came to be defeated by &s;o weake an enemy: having &s;o fine a faculty in di&s;c<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">v<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ring of
trea&s;ons which never were intended again&s;t the State. Seriou&s;ly to conclude this bu&s;ines,
although it be not known at how deare a price, His Maje&s;ties Army bought &s;o great a vic|tory,
yet it is hoped that it was purcha&s;ed at an ea&s;ie rate, becau&s;e there is no mention in
tho&s;e letters which came from <HI>Exeter</HI> and <HI>Dorche&s;ter,</HI> or tho&s;e di&s;patched unto the Court
of any lo&s;&s;e that did befall them: Not that wee thinke &s;o great a victory could be obtai|ned
again&s;t an Army of the <HI>Rebels,</HI> but with expence and lo&s;&s;e of &s;ome faithfull <HI>Subjectis</HI>
but that the lo&s;&s;e was incon&s;iderable both for the number and quality of tho&s;e happy &s;oules
who gladly &s;acrificed their lives for their King and Country. The like &s;ucce&s;&s;e God &s;end
His Maje&s;tie in His enterpri&s;es, til the&s;e di&s;turbers of his peace be all rooted out. And
that no hand be left to hold a &s;word again&s;t HIM.</P>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
