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<CHANGE>
<DATE>2007-12-04</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B071028.apex.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A85685">
<STC T="W">G195</STC>
<STC T="T">669.f.4[26]</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99869016</BIBNO>
<VID>160648</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="petition">
<PB REF="1" MS="y"><!-- PDF PAGE 2 -->
<HEAD>TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE The Knights, Citizens and Burge&s;&s;es now a&s;&s;embled in Parliament.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The humble Petition of <HI>LEWIS DE GAND,</HI> a French Nobleman, Lord of Brachey and Romecour.</HEAD>
<OPENER>HVMBLY SHEWING,</OPENER>
<P>_THat whereas &s;ince &s;ome certaine moneths, I your petitioner did for &s;ome certaine bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of mine, come over from France into England, in a &s;hip bearing the royall Engli&s;h Armes, and for greater &s;ecurity, having the Kings Letters Pattents, it is happened I know not by what mi&s;chance, that the Spani&s;h Dunkerkers not a whit re&s;pecting or God, or the King, or England, contrary to the right of Nations, did &s;et upon us in the very Engli&s;h haven, and have Robbed me your Petitioner, of all the money I had, to the value of two hundred pound Engli&s;h. And that you may the better be certi|fied of the truth of what I &s;ay, I can call to witne&s;&s;e divers Engli&s;hmen, which came over with me your petitioner in the &s;ame &s;hip, and namely Ma&s;ter <HI>George Thoma&s;on,</HI> and Ma&s;ter <HI>Io&s;uah Kirton,</HI> and Ma&s;ter <HI>Robert Martin,</HI> all three marchant book-&s;ellers, the two fir&s;t in Pauls Church-yard, the one at the &s;igne of the Ro&s;e, the other at the &s;igne of the white-hor&s;e&punc; the third in old Bayly at the &s;igne of Venice, who will without doubt, relate unto you how ignominiou&s;ly the &s;aid Dunkerkers have behaved them&s;elves even again&s;t you in this their wicked robbery.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, they have beene &s;o audacious, as if they were Lords of the Seas, yea of England it &s;elfe, to di&s;charge their artil|lery again&s;t our &s;hip, and to con&s;traine us to yeeld unto them; After that, we having let them &s;ee the Kings letters Patents, yet never the le&s;&s;e di&s;daining them, they have furiou&s;ly &s;et upon me your Petitioner with naked &s;words, and forced me to deliver them all my money, the Engli&s;h that were pre&s;ent, not a little wondring at their audacity.</P>
<P>Thirdly, they were &s;o greedy of prey, that they letted not to u&s;e the Kings naturall &s;ubjects, namely &s;ome Iri&s;hmen, as if they had beene Frenchmen.</P>
<P>Finally if I adde unto what is &s;aid, that all this hath beene committed even in the Engli&s;h haven, your &s;elves may judge how great an injury, is it redounding unto your &s;elves.</P>
<P>And if the Spani&s;h Emba&s;&s;adour here in England; or the Governours of Dunkerke (to whom often hath beene written of this matter by the &s;aid Emba&s;&s;adour, would by &s;ome way or other, have covered this their mo&s;t manife&s;t &s;hame, and not pretend Ju&s;tice in this their mo&s;t unju&s;t account, in &s;aying that they &s;hould doe again&s;t their con&s;cience, if they &s;hould pre&s;&s;e to re&s;tore unto an enemy (again&s;t the law of nature) a pri&s;e taken upon him, I your petitioner a &s;tranger would not have troubled you with this my particular bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, you having imployment enough, in &s;o many waighty affaires of your owne: But yet I your petitioner being not &s;o a &s;tranger, but that I have of late compo&s;ed a book in Latine, of the pray&s;es of the King and Kingdome, dedicated unto the Kings Maje&s;ty intituled <HI>Sol Britannicus,</HI> would not (I &s;ay) have troubled your eares with this my particular cau&s;e, except it touched the honour of all England.</P>
<P>For if you &s;uffer the Spani&s;h to commit &s;uch things, why may it not be permitted unto the French, the Portingalls, the Hollanders as many as are living in this Kingdome peaceably with the Spaniards, to have the like power upon the Spani|ards. And what hindreth us to u&s;e them here as enemies, but the Friend&s;hip that is betweene our Princes and you likewi&s;e; but the honour and reverence due unto you by us &s;trangers living in this your kingdome. All which re&s;pects &s;eeing the Spaniards have notoriou&s;ly &s;leighted, and not regarde but injuriou&s;ly violated:</P>
<P>Therefore I humbly crave at your hands, that you would be plea&s;ed either to cau&s;e the &s;aid money, which hath beene taken from me perforce in your owne &s;hip and haven, and the &s;aid &s;hip having the Kings Armes, which &s;hould to me have beene a mo&s;t &s;ure a&s;yle, to be re&s;tored unto me with all the dammages which I have &s;u&s;tained thereby, or el&s;e to give me leave, to recover it as I can upon the next Spaniard I &s;hall meet withall. And untill you have taken &s;uch an order, concerning this matter, as may well become England, I your petitioner mo&s;t humbly be&s;eech you to cau&s;e the Spaniards to provide me &s;ome meanes, whereby in the meane while I your petitioner may live.</P>
<CLOSER>And the petitioner &s;hall ever pray for your honours &amp;c.</CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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