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<DATE>2007-11-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<VID>163442</VID>
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<DIV1 TYPE="declaration">
<PB REF="1" MS="y"><!-- PDF PAGE 18 -->
<HEAD TYPE="illustration"><FIGURE>
<P>OP</P>
<FIGDESC>blazon or coat of arms</FIGDESC>
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<HEAD>A Declaration of His Highne&s;s, inviting the people of <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Wales</HI> to a day of Solemn Fa&s;ting and Humiliation.</HEAD>
<P>THat We all in the&s;e Nations have more than ordinary cau&s;e to humble Our &s;elves, and to lay Our mouths in the du&s;t in Fa&s;ting and Prayer before the Lord at this time, will undoubtedly be agreed by all.</P>
<P>Among&s;t many others let the&s;e following motives induce Us to be very &s;olemn and &s;erious in this Duty.</P>
<P N="1">I. We having made Peace with all Our Neighbour Nations, and upon righteous grounds deeply engaged in a War with the <HI>Spaniard,</HI> with whom We had no peace, but where he plea&s;ed, and from whom we could obtain none for the future, without &s;ubjecting the Lives, Liberties and E&s;tates of the People of the&s;e Nations trading thither, to the bloody Inqui&s;ition, and other Papall determinations, nor unle&s;s we would quit Our claims of &s;atisfaction for multiplied injuries done Us, in &s;hedding the innocent blood of this people, and ex|pul&s;ing them out of divers I&s;lands, of which they were ju&s;tly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, as is more at large expre&s;&s;ed in the late Declaration, holding forth the grounds and rea&s;ons of Our undertaking again&s;t them. The Lord hath been plea&s;ed in a wonderful manner to humble and rebuke Us, in that expedition to the <HI>We&s;t Indies,</HI> which although we apprehend was not in favour of the Enemy, yet gives Us ju&s;t rea|&s;on to fear, that We may have either failed in the &s;pirit and manner wherewith this bu&s;ine&s;s hath been undertaken, or that the Lord &s;ees &s;ome abomination, or accur&s;ed thing, by which he is provoked thus to appear again&s;t Us.</P>
<P N="2">II. That while&s;t the Lord has thus aba&s;ed Us (in&s;tead of humbling Our &s;elves under the mighty hand of God, and each man &s;earching and repenting of the plague and evil of his own heart, and mourning for &s;o great an affliction upon the whole Land, and more prin|cipally on the intere&s;t and profe&s;&s;ion of the Go&s;pel in all the world) &s;ome mo&s;t unnaturally rejoice, others are apt ha&s;tily to apply accor|ding to their fancies; being too forward to give a rea&s;on of the Judgements of God, which are &s;o great a deep, and particularly to a&s;&s;ign the rea&s;on of this &s;harp di&s;pen&s;ation, not con&s;idering that the Lord may for tryal as well as in judgement, exerci&s;e the faith of his people. Others imputing the cau&s;e onely to the evil of the Magi&s;trate, who profe&s;s (if there were no other provocation) even for their own &s;ins ju&s;tly to have incurred all this, and much more, and hope they can in &s;ome mea&s;ure de&s;ire to redeem the lo&s;&s;e &s;u&s;tained by this heavy &s;troke, with their lives, de&s;iring nothing more than a conviction from the Lord. And have appointed this day of Humiliation, that the Magi&s;trate, together with all &s;uch as fear the Lord, may deal impartially with their own &s;ouls, before the Lord, in a matter of &s;o great Concernment.</P>
<P N="3">III. That the People of God continue &s;till in their animo&s;ities, and improve not &s;uch &s;trokes unto Love and Union, while&s;t by the ad|vantage thereof, the common Enemy, both at home and abroad, take encouragement to hope, that the time ha&s;tneth wherein they &s;hall &s;wallow Us up; but in&s;tead thereof, &s;ome of the &s;ame faith in all things nece&s;&s;ary to &s;alvation, upon private thoughts of their own, hold up &s;till a quarrel with, and oppo&s;ition to their Brethren, about Chri&s;ts Kingdome, or rather their own under&s;tanding of the time, and manner of it, We mean tho&s;e of them, who will not give way that others wait upon the Spirit of God for light in this matter. Others &s;till differing about forms, even to the breach of the Royal Law. Others repining at the pre&s;ent begun Reformation, though having much tendency to good, both as to the comfort and &s;ecurity of the Godly, and di&s;countenance of wicked men, and wickedne&s;s; wherein through God it hath had &s;ome &s;mall effect, and al&s;o, which (which is mo&s;t &s;ad) even becau&s;e it hath had the &s;ucce&s;s to unite more good men upon the old principles of Love and Truth than any expedient the providence of God hath brought forth &s;ince the&s;e troubles.</P>
<P N="4">IV. That &s;till We murmur and are unquiet, unthankful to the Lord, weary of our Peace, making it a light thing to run again into blood; We de&s;pi&s;e Magi&s;tracy, and are become weary of the preaching of the Go&s;pel, and other Ordinances of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="5">V. Oathes, prophanene&s;s, unmercyfullne&s;s, oppre&s;&s;ion covetou&s;ne&s;s, and &s;eeking great things in &s;uch &s;haking times, not mourning when the Lord calls to it, nor being &s;en&s;ible of our condition.</P>
<P>The&s;e and many more are ju&s;t cau&s;es and provocations to us to mourn; e&s;pecially taking in this aggravation that the Lord hath done for us, yea even for his people here, above what he hath done for any people.</P>
<P N="6">VI. Adde to the&s;e the condition of the Prote&s;tant Churches abroad, the members whereof have very lately been ma&s;&s;acred in <HI>Piedmont</HI> without &s;paring age or &s;ex, are bleeding in <HI>Switzerland,</HI> divers there having been put to death for no fault, but being Prote&s;tants; the de|&s;ignes upon the whole intere&s;t by the Popi&s;h party almo&s;t in all places of <HI>Europe,</HI> and the grounds of their quarrel and per&s;ecution for Reli|gion, more clear and avowed then in many years before.</P>
<P N="7">VII. And la&s;tly, That the Lord would pardon the iniquities both of Magi&s;trate and People in the&s;e Lands, wherein the Magi&s;trate de|&s;ires fir&s;t to take &s;hame to him&s;elf and &s;ind out his provocation, as well as lay it upon others, and that the Lord would pardon our iniqui|ties and convert us unto him&s;elf, and ble&s;s our poor friends in the <HI>Indies,</HI> and go out with our Fleets, and pro&s;per our undertakings as for|merly by his own ble&s;&s;ed pre&s;ence, and unite us in love, cau&s;ing mercy and truth to meet together, and righteou&s;ne&s;s and peace to ki&s;s each other, and thereby exalt his own great name, make our Land glorious and ble&s;s his cau&s;e and people in all the world, and ha&s;ten the time of the pulling down of Antichri&s;t, and expelling out of the&s;e Lands the unclean Spirit, Is this day of &s;olemn humiliation and prayer ap|pointed to be upon <HI>Friday</HI> the 28. of <HI>March</HI> 1656.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Given at <HI>Whitehall</HI> <DATE>this 14. of <HI>March</HI> 1655.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
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<P><HI>London</HI> Printed by <HI>Henry Hills</HI> and <HI>John Feild</HI> Printers to His Highne&s;s, 1655.</P>
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