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<DATE>2010-02-06</DATE>
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<NAME>Pip Willcox</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y"><!-- PDF PAGE 122 -->
<P>An Epitomie of TYRANNY IN The I&s;land of Guernzey.</P>
<P>Sent in a LETTER TO A Per&s;on of Quality in <HI>London,</HI> Concerning The late Irregular Tran&s;actions there, in relation to a certain Deputation and Addre&s;&s;e made to <HI>Richard</HI> late Protector; With the &s;aid Addre&s;&s;e it &s;elf, Lately pre&s;ented to him by <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>William de Beauvoir</HI> the pre|tended Deputy; di&s;covering their evil and dangerous De&s;igns again&s;t the Government of a Common-Wealth.</P>
<P>Now Sea&s;onably publi&s;hed by a Lover of this <HI>Common-Wealth,</HI> and of his Native Countrey, for a warning to the faithfull now in Authority, and at the Helm of the Government of this Common-wealth, to the end to prevent, That in future the &s;aid Deputies may not be intru&s;ted of any Office or Place in the &s;aid I&s;land.</P>
<P>Printed in the Year, 1659.</P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
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<PB N="1" REF="2"><!-- PDF PAGE 123 -->
<HEAD><HI>A</HI> Letter &s;ent from the I&s;land of <HI>Guern|zey,</HI> to a Per&s;on of quality in <HI>London,</HI> concerning the late Irre|gular Tran&s;actions there, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>SInce my arrival in this I&s;land, I could not, till this pre&s;ent time, have an opportunity to an&s;wer your de&s;ires and ex|pectations in reference to the tran&s;actions of Affairs here, which now I have effected by way of &s;ome &s;mall Ve&s;&s;els, which will be ready within few hours to &s;et &s;ayl for <HI>England;</HI> by whom I would not omitt the opportunity to give you a &s;hort Nar|rative thereof, which is briefly, as followeth. A&s;&s;oon as the well-affected and hone&s;t People of this I&s;le had notice that a Parliament was called, they re&s;olved to u&s;e what diligence they could, that the A&s;&s;embly called E&s;tates of this I&s;lle might be &s;ummoned to meet in Order, to make choyce of hone&s;t and faithful Deputyes to go for <HI>Eng|land</HI> to the &s;aid Parliament, there to repre&s;ent the &s;everal grievances of the People, and endeavour to obtain redre&s;&s;e therein; as like|wi&s;e the Confirmation, Corroboration, and Augmentation of their antient Charters and Priviledges. But the People were circum|vented by the &s;urreptitious practices of their pre&s;ent pretended Bay|liff or Judge, Mr. <HI>Peter de Beauvoirs</HI> ali&agrave;s <HI>de Granges,</HI> who could not but expect that his fall would be near at hand, unle&s;&s;e he could hin|der and prevent the good and hone&s;t intentions of the People, from taking effect in their intended choyce of Deputies; e&s;pecially know|ing what a firebrand he had been among&s;t them for diver&s;e years
<PB N="2" REF="3"><!-- PDF PAGE 124 -->pa&s;t, and what fuel of di&s;cord and divi&s;ions he had kindled among&s;t them, and how, during the famous long-Parliament in the year 1649. he was for the &s;ame, and for &s;everal mi&s;demeanors and mal|ver&s;ations in the Execution of the &s;aid place of Bayliff or Judge there, complained again&s;t by &s;everal Articles exhibited; whereup|on the &s;aid Parliament in the &s;aid year, appointed (by a certain Act) &s;everal Comers to go to the &s;aid I&s;le to examine the Complaints and grievances of the People: Two of which Comers (<HI>viz. Mo&s;es Wall</HI> and <HI>Roger Frith</HI> Gen.) being returned, made their Repo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">t of the State and Condition of Affaires there, which report together with the &s;aid Articles of Charge being (upon the 3d of <HI>November</HI> 1650. by order of the then Council of State) heard and con&s;idered by a &s;elect Committee appointed by them for that purpo&s;e, before whom the &s;aid Bayliff appeared, and was heard what he could &s;ay or produce in his own defence; after which, the &s;aid Committee made their report to the Council, certifying that after a full hearing of the whole bu&s;ine&s;s of <HI>Guernzey</HI> they found the &s;aid Bayliff to be a per&s;on not fit to execute the &s;aid Office and Place, and that for the better Government and future peace of the &s;aid I&s;le, the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Peter de Beauvoir</HI> &s;hould be no more Bayliff, and that a new one &s;hould be cho&s;en in his room, to be continued onely for three years at the mo&s;t; which Report was the &s;ame day confirmed by the Council, who ordered <HI>Cornelius Holland</HI> <ABBR>E&s;q</ABBR> to pre&s;ent it to the Parliament: But the many other weighty affaires of the Common-wealth hindred the &s;aid Report from being pre&s;ented to the &s;aid Parliament before their interruption; nothing being done therein till the 29th of <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> 1653. that then it was ordered by the little Parliament, that the Jurates of <HI>Guernzey</HI> &s;hould execute the &s;aid place and office of Bailiff of that I&s;land by turns, each of them a Moneth; which order was very well re&s;ented by the People, and very much to their &s;atisfaction, peace, and tranquillity; it having been ob&s;erved, that during above two years time that the &s;aid Order was executed, all former fuell of di&s;cord and divi&s;ions in that I&s;land w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">re quenched, during which time, the &s;aid Bailiff was ob&s;er|ved to &s;et all his Engines at work, by vilifying the way practi&s;ed by vertue of the &s;aid Order, leaving no way una&s;&s;aied to watch his op|portunity to overthrow the &s;ame, and bring the old form again; which afterwards he ea&s;ily effected, making u&s;e of the change of Go|vernment,
<PB N="3" REF="3"><!-- PDF PAGE 124 -->came to <HI>England,</HI> and &s;urreptitiou&s;ly repre&s;ented to the late Protector, how that the &s;aid Order and Monethly way of offici|ating the &s;aid place of Bailiff in that I&s;le was not con&s;i&s;tent with his Government: and thereupon he plaid his game &s;o cunningly, by in|direct and &s;urreptitious practi&s;es, as by bribing of Clerks with very con&s;iderable &s;ums of mony, and al&s;o by his Hypocritical carriage, as if he had been a very pious and religious man, when as he was then, and is &s;till known to be a very great Per&s;ecutor of God's Peo|ple, having bani&s;hed &s;everall godly Mini&s;ters, and others, out of the &s;aid I&s;le, for onely differing in Judgment from him; and likewi&s;e a very covetous, ambitious, envious, factious, and turbulent per&s;on, who was, by the long Parliament, to have been outed for the &s;ame: Notwith&s;tanding all which, he, the &s;aid <HI>Peter de Beauvoir,</HI> got the &s;aid Order of Parliament to be vacated, and obtained of the &s;aid late Protector, a Patent under the great Seal, to have and execute the &s;aid Office and place of Bailiff during his life, to the great grief and di&s;|like of the People. The &s;aid <HI>Peter de Beauvoir,</HI> to prevent &s;uch a&s;|&s;embly and choice, and that tho&s;e foul and enormous Actions of his &s;hould not be made manife&s;t, not come to light, and be again com|plained of, and charged again&s;t him, before tho&s;e in authority in <HI>England;</HI> made u&s;e in Court of a fair pretence, <HI>(viz.)</HI> That one <HI>Wil|liam Beauvoir</HI> alias <HI>du Hommet</HI> his neer Kin&s;man, (and whom very lately he had cau&s;ed to be cho&s;en and put in the Seat of Judicature) was going for <HI>England,</HI> and to &s;pare the Peoples pur&s;es, he the &s;aid <HI>Wil|liam Beauvoir</HI> would at his proper co&s;ts and charges, undertake the care of getting the ancient Charters and Priviledges of this I&s;land confirmed, and moreover would get an augmentation of Licences for Wool, and that thenceforward the People &s;hould farm their &s;e|veral Tythes; and, to the end the &s;aid Bailiff might the better carry on his de&s;igne in hand, he made an additional propo&s;ition to the Court, <HI>(viz.)</HI> That in Imitation of &s;everal places in <HI>England,</HI> he thought it very fit and requi&s;ite, that an Addre&s;&s;e of the Magi&s;trates and others of this I&s;land &s;hould be made and &s;ent unto the Protect|or, to condole the death of his late Father, and congratulate him in his pre&s;ent Government: to which &s;everal propo&s;itions, the Court being demanded their Opinion, the major part of them knowing as well whereto the ends of the &s;aid Bailiff did tend, as of what ill con|&s;equence &s;uch a deputation would prove, e&s;pecially con&s;idering the
<PB N="4" REF="4"><!-- PDF PAGE 125 -->per&s;on propo&s;ed to be intru&s;ted as Deputy, <HI>(viz.)</HI> the &s;aid <HI>William de Beauvoir</HI> ali&agrave;s <HI>du Hommet,</HI> who is known to be a prophane, am|bitious, and debauched man; and one who, during the late War, was a notorious enemy again&s;t the Parliament of <HI>England,</HI> having been in Arms again&s;t them at <HI>Oxford,</HI> with his Ma&s;ter the Lord <HI>Downs,</HI> who rai&s;ed a Troop of Hor&s;e there for the late King, for which after|wards he compounded, and then went for <HI>Italy,</HI> and the &s;aid <HI>William Beauvoir</HI> with him, who at this very in&s;tant receivs an Annuity of the &s;aid Lord <HI>Downs,</HI> his &s;aid Ma&s;ter: Upon this and other weighty con|&s;iderations the major part of the &s;aid Court an&s;wered, That &s;eeing the things propo&s;ed by the &s;aid Bailiff were of general concernment to the whole I&s;land, that therefore in their opinions it was fit and requi&s;ite that the State of this I&s;land &s;hould be &s;ummoned to a&s;&s;em|ble, advi&s;e, and deliberate concerning the &s;aid propo&s;ition (as time out mind had been practi&s;ed in ca&s;es of the like nature). But the &s;aid Bailiff oppo&s;ed the &s;ame, by de&s;iring and &s;ending to the Deputy Governour not to acquie&s;ce that the &s;aid A&s;&s;embly &s;hould be &s;um|moned, for &s;everal weighty rea&s;ons that he would impart unto him; And in the interim the &s;aid Bailiff got a kind of begging Addre&s;&s;e to be drawn, and privately &s;ent (with a Deputation for him&s;elf and the &s;aid <HI>William Beauvoir</HI>) to the &s;everall Pari&s;hes of this I&s;land to get hands, which &s;ome of the People did not refu&s;e by rea&s;on of the fair pretences therein conteined; and afterwards he, the &s;aid Bailiff, cau&s;ed the &s;aid Deputation, contrary to Law, to be pa&s;&s;ed under the publique Seal of the I&s;land, which he keeps in his Cu&s;tody. All which illegal actings of the &s;aid Bayliff were effected by him again&s;t the expre&s;&s;e Order of the Deputy-Governour, or knowledge of the States of the &s;aid I&s;land; which Irregular proceedings were like to have cau&s;ed a tumult in the &s;aid I&s;land. And now he is going for <HI>Jer|&s;ey</HI> and &s;o for <HI>England</HI> in the Frigate that went thither to fetch Major Generall <HI>Overton:</HI> and his Colleague <HI>William de Beauvoir</HI> ali&aacute;s <HI>du hommet</HI> is now going in the&s;e Ve&s;&s;els after him. I do not doubt but you have &s;een them: they are re&s;olved to make u&s;e of all their Engines and Hypocri&s;ies in &s;eeming pious and Religi|ous rather then mi&s;&s;e of compa&s;&s;ing their ends; and if that failes, then they are re&s;olved to make u&s;e of money, which they have plen|ty to bribe and corrupt tho&s;e that will &s;erve them in an&s;wering their ba&s;e ends. They have boa&s;ted here openly of their friends at Court,
<PB N="5" REF="4"><!-- PDF PAGE 125 -->and what they will do for them, and for tho&s;e that joyn with them; and that when all other things and means fail, that money is the onely way to do bu&s;ine&s;s; which I do not wonder at, &s;eeing they are &s;o well ver&s;ed in receiving and giving: Co&s;t what it will, they mu&s;t effect &s;omething, or otherwi&s;e, their return hither will be Odious to tho&s;e to whom they have made &s;uch large promi&s;es. I &s;end you here inclo&s;ed a Copy of their flattering, profane, and begging Addre&s;&s;e. I wi&s;h that tho&s;e in Authority may not be enchanted and deluded by them either by their feigned piety, Religious Language, not their pre|tended affection to the Common-wealth, to which they are great Ad|ver&s;aries: no government plea&s;ing them but ab&s;olute Monarchy, (as they them&s;elves exerci&s;e over the Poor and hone&s;t People of this I&s;land, whom they can cru&s;h at plea&s;ure, by great allyance they have in the &s;eat of Judicature.) Pray communicate the&s;e lines to &s;ome of tho&s;e of your friends, that yet remain faithful to the Intere&s;t of Gods People, and to the Common-wealth, that &s;o they may not be &s;ur|prized by them; and you will do a work of merit to this poor &s;pot of ground con&s;i&s;ting of above Twenty thou&s;and &s;ouls, and ingage all the well-affected and hone&s;t among&s;t them to pray for you; and my &s;elf, who am,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Honorable Sir,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your mo&s;t Humble and Obedient Servant.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE>Guernzey I&s;land <DATE>2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">. Martii 1658.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="petition">
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<HEAD>To his mo&s;t Serene Highne&s;s, <HI>Richard Lord Protector</HI> of the Common|wealth of <HI>England, Scotland,</HI> and <HI>Ireland,</HI> and the Dominions there|unto appertaining.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The humble Reque&s;t of the Bayliff, Jurates, and Common Councill, and other well-affected Inhabitants of the I&s;land of <HI>Guernzey.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER>SHEWETH,</OPENER>
<P>THat having had a deep feeling in the general Con&s;ternation, which all well-affected per&s;ons have received by the death of his late mo&s;t renowned Highne&s;s, They have al&s;o great &s;hare in the great Exultation, which doth po&s;&s;e&s;s the Hearts of all &s;uch who make profe&s;&s;ion of Piety, and who do &s;ee your Highne&s;s Act for God and his People in his Government; and as your mo&s;t humble Suppliants have no|thing more pretious then their fidelity towards your Highne&s;s, being that which doth embolden them to pro&s;trate them&s;elves in all Humility before your Highne&s;s, Humbly &s;upplicating, That you will plea&s;e to confirm the Priviledges, Franchi&s;es, and Immunities, which they do enjoy by their Ancient Charters; and &s;eeing the Inhabitants of the &s;aid I&s;le are become very Numerous, and of above 6000 per|&s;ons who get their living by knitting of Stockings, and other Manufactures of Wooll, and that One Thou&s;and Todds of it is the lea&s;t quantity which is nece&s;&s;ary for them to keep them at work; which quantity being equally di&s;tributed among&s;t the &s;aid per&s;ons, will not amount to more than four pounds and an half for each for one whole year: We do with all Humility &s;upplicate your Highne&s;s, That it may plea&s;e your Grace to grant to the Poor Inhabitants of the &s;aid I&s;le the &s;ame favour and grace, (having already been granted to the Inhabitants of <HI>Jer&s;ey,</HI> by your High|ne&s;s mo&s;t renowned Father of happy memory) and according to the cordial affection which they bear to your Highne&s;s, and their duty to addre&s;&s;e them&s;elves with fer|vour to the Throne of Grace,</P>
<P>They pray God, that he may be plea&s;ed to continue his ble&s;&s;ing upon your Highne&s;s Per&s;on, Po&s;terity, and Government, &amp;c.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Signed in the Original.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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