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<DATE>2013-06-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A DECLARATION TO THE Commons of England: CONTAINING Thirteen &s;everall Rea&s;ons why the Commonalty of this Kingdom ought to take part with the Parliament again&s;t tho&s;e that indeavour the &s;ubver&s;ion thereof.</P>
<P>PUBLISHED <HI>For the Conviction of &s;uch as are apt to be mi&s;-led by a Malignant Party again&s;t the Parliament.</HI></P>
<P><FIGURE>
<HEAD>C R</HEAD>
<Q LANG="frm">HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE</Q>
<FIGDESC>English royal blazon, used a printer's device</FIGDESC>
</FIGURE></P>
<P>Printed for H. Hutton. <ADD>March 30</ADD> 1643.</P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>A Declaration to the Subjects of ENGLAND and WALES.</HEAD>
<P>FOra&s;much as it appeares, that in all places, in pulpits, di&s;cour&s;es, and otherwi&s;e, the friends to the Popi&s;h party have and do daily indeavour to &s;tir up a mo&s;t ingratefull and unworthy di&s;re&s;pect unto the Parliament, there are therefore the&s;e con&s;iderations pre&s;enting them&s;elves to every mans view, and for the mo&s;t part evident in the Parliaments own Remon&s;trances and Declarations.</P>
<P N="1">1 That men would con&s;ider, when it plea&s;ed God after many Peti|tions of the people, to grant this Parliament, what were the complaints of the whole Kingdome in matters both of Church and State, and the mi&s;erable oppre&s;&s;ions of mens con&s;ciences and properties.</P>
<P N="2">2 Con&s;ider what the Parliament hath done with great difficulties to accommodate the de&s;ires of the people in this behalf, in &s;uppre&s;&s;ing the power of tyrants over mens con&s;ciences, in taking away all &s;candalous and &s;uper&s;titious innovations, in granting liberty to all Pari&s;hes to chu&s;e Lecturers, in opening the mouths of godly Mini&s;ters, in taking away the Prelates Courts, how &s;ome delinquents have been puni&s;hed, and o|thers detected, evill Mini&s;ters of Ju&s;tice are partly removed, Ship-mo|ney, Coat and Conduct-moneys, Patents almo&s;t for every thing (to the daily draining and oppre&s;&s;ing of the &s;ubject) are all taken away; and con&s;ider al&s;o whether any one thing hath been done by them, which doth not <HI>(in tuitu proprio)</HI> look at the future peace and benefit of this Kingdome.</P>
<P N="3">3. Con&s;ider, whether if this pre&s;ent <HI>Parliament</HI> &s;hould unhappily be di&s;countenanced, di&s;couraged, or di&s;&s;olved (which God forbid) we &s;hould ever hrve the like, or any: or if by vertue of the act for the <HI>tri|enniall Parliament</HI> there &s;hould be another, whether any man bearing good will to the Common-wealth, being cho&s;en, would be encouraged thereunto, and &s;o either we &s;hould have none at all, or if any, &s;uch an one which in&s;tead of a remedy &s;hould be an in-let of all mi&s;ery into the Land.</P>
<P N="4"><PB REF="3"> 4 Con&s;ider how Kingdoms abroad in the world are governed with|out <HI>Parliaments,</HI> where <HI>Voluntas Regis</HI> is <HI>lex populi,</HI> the plea&s;ure of the King is the rule of the Kingdome, and the precipitancie of this Kingdom al&s;o before this <HI>Parliament,</HI> into all oppre&s;sion and mi&s;erie through the deceitfull &s;ugge&s;tions and in&s;inuations of wicked Coun&s;ell about his Maje&s;tie; and whether we are not looked upon, as the envie of other kingdomes by vertue of this onely inheritance of ours.</P>
<P N="5">5 Con&s;ider into what mi&s;ery, bloud and di&s;traction, we had plunged our &s;elves two yeers &s;ince, (the two nations of <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Scotland</HI> imbruing them&s;elves, and weltring in one anothers bloud) had not the wi&s;dome of the Parliament then pre&s;ent (con&s;i&s;ting for the mo&s;t part of the &s;ame Members as this doth) denyed the levying of moneys for the maintaining of that war: which &s;hould ever make us thankfull, and mindfull of a Parliaments benefit.</P>
<P N="6">6 Con&s;ider that whereas the Prote&s;tant Profe&s;&s;ion and the Subjects liberty is pretended in all things, what good intent either can or could there be to the one, or to the other, either in tho&s;e former differences between us and our brethren, the <HI>Scots,</HI> or the pre&s;ent divi&s;ions in this kingdome, when Papi&s;ts and popi&s;h per&s;ons were then the chief Com|manders (for the mo&s;t part) in the Engli&s;h Armies, and now Papi&s;ts, po|pi&s;h per&s;ons and Athei&s;ts, who&s;e continuall a&s;&s;ertions are wounds and bloud, and God damne me, or heavens damne me, if we be not reven|ged upon the&s;e Roundheads (a nick-name que&s;tionle&s;&s;e originally &s;prung up from &s;ome block-head, having neither wit nor rea&s;on in it) the&s;e are the main abettors, provokers, projectors and actors in the&s;e divi&s;ions, whether the&s;e aim at the Prote&s;tant Religion, whatever they call the Prote&s;tant profe&s;&s;ion, except it be popery in all things, &s;uprema|cy only excepted, &amp; the &s;ubiects liberty, let the meane&s;t capacity iudge.</P>
<P N="7">7 Con&s;ider what tampe ing there hath been the&s;e two or three years to rai&s;e up civill wars among&s;t us in the three Kingdoms: Fir&s;t between us and the Scots, next in <HI>Ireland,</HI> and whether the &s;ame &s;pirit that work|eth &s;o hot in <HI>Ireland,</HI> had no factors in <HI>Scotland,</HI> and among&s;t us in <HI>Eng|land,</HI> let all them that have the right faculty of di&s;cerning iudge, and whether they that indeavour to rai&s;e up civill wars in a kingdome, can aim at the good of that kingdome, let every man that hath not lo&s;t the <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e of rea&s;on determine.</P>
<P N="8"><PB REF="3"> 8 Con&s;ider what unheard of mi&s;ery, barbarous cruelty, &s;avage in|humanity is exerci&s;ed upon the poor Prote&s;tants in <HI>Ireland,</HI> by that bloudy popi&s;h party, let tho&s;e iudge and con&s;ider, who either have or will read the Iri&s;h Remon&s;trance, and ob&s;erve how the&s;e di&s;tractions at home (occa&s;ioned by the unhappy divi&s;ion and di&s;tance of His Maie&s;ty from his Parliament) incourage the rebels, and hinder the Prote&s;tant Cau&s;e there, whereas a happy concurrence between the King and Par|liament might in an ordinary way, through Gods ble&s;&s;ing, have &s;ubdu|ed tho&s;e wicked rebels long &s;ince.</P>
<P N="9">9 Con&s;ider what reproach, &s;candall and &s;corn we &s;hall bring upon our whole nation and po&s;terity for ever, if we &s;hould chu&s;e a Parliament and becau&s;e they wil not &s;uffer us to be made &s;laves, even for their faith|fulne&s;&s;e and love unto us, (when happily their own particular &s;afety, and per&s;onall preferment might be better advantaged if they &s;hould de&s;ert us) for this we &s;hould ri&s;e again&s;t them, and contend for an Iron yoake, of perpetual bondage and mi&s;ery, and whether God may not in di&s;plea|&s;ure give us up hereunto, who &s;hall &s;o lightly e&s;teeme, and &s;o fooli&s;hly improve that oportunity, which he hath put into our hands, and if our po&s;terity will not cur&s;e the time that it entred into our hearts &s;o to do.</P>
<P N="10">10. Con&s;ider how it can &s;tand with our prote&s;tation, to take up Arms again&s;t the whole Body of the Kingdome, repre&s;ented in the Parliament, and the Lawes of the Land, which we are all bound by oath to &s;tand to to the utmo&s;t of our lives, liberties, and e&s;tates, and wherein the honour and pre&s;ervation both of King &amp; Kingdome doth con&s;i&s;t, and which of tho&s;e do breake their oath, either tho&s;e that pretending the Kings pre|rogative take up Armes again&s;t the whole Kingdome repre&s;ented in the Parliament: or tho&s;e that &s;hall endeavour to &s;uppre&s;&s;e &s;uch a malignant party. The King him&s;elfe having alwaies prote&s;ted, that for his part, (taking God to witne&s;&s;e) he de&s;ireth nothing more then the peace and pro&s;perity of Religion and Kingdome.</P>
<P N="11">11. Con&s;ider whereas Lawes and Statutes are pretended, as if the Parliament &s;hould do many things illegally, even again&s;t the King, with this &s;ugge&s;tion, that then its high time for the Subjects to look to their properties and liberties, whether are to be believed what is law: ei|ther that party that &s;hall affirme this or that to be law, and will not ap|peare to maintain their a&s;&s;ertious (the King profe&s;&s;ing him&s;elfe to be no
<PB REF="4">Lawyer, many of his affirmations being the mi&s;informations of others) or the makers of new, and interpreters of the old Laws, who have all the Judges and chiefe&s;t Lawyers in the Land to advi&s;e withall, taking this with us, that <HI>Salus populi e&s;t &s;uprema lex?</HI> and whether both the Law of the Land and the good of the &s;ubject was not pretended in all the Patents granted, as appeares in the &s;everall Proclamations for the &s;ame purpo&s;e, yea, and in the high Commi&s;&s;ion and Star-chamber Courts, and if it were &s;o, let the whole kingdome judge.</P>
<P N="12">12 Con&s;ider whether all the whol&s;ome Laws, benefits and liberties of the &s;ubject this day have not been the birth &amp; fruits of Parliaments, and whether the Parliament hath not always been the Sanctuary and refuge for all that have been unju&s;tly oppre&s;&s;ed and abu&s;ed, and what remedy could be had by any other appeales what&s;oever, when through the corruption of evill Mini&s;ters of Ju&s;tice, the &s;trength of a mans pur&s;e, rather then the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of his cau&s;e, hath always been the <HI>bonum omen,</HI> the certain promi&s;ing token of good &s;ucce&s;&s;e: con&s;ider therefore whether (by de&s;erting the Parliament) we do not go about to &s;top, yea to dry up all the &s;prings of our legall Priviledges, having had &s;uch long and happy experiences of the benefits thereof, and whether it ever entred into the hearts of any of our Predece&s;&s;ours, excepting the Papi&s;ts, to do the lea&s;t injury to Parliaments.</P>
<P>Whereas it is objected again&s;t the Parliament, that (under pretence of the danger of forraign and dome&s;tick enemies) they take up arms a|gain&s;t the King, endeavour to de&s;troy the lawes of the land, and religion among&s;t us: con&s;ider whether that the&s;e, and greater then the&s;e a&s;per|&s;ions were not ca&s;t upon the Scots, &amp; no man dur&s;t affirm the contrary: and yet when things came legally to be debated, all proved other|wi&s;e, and his Maje&s;ty him&s;elfe did acknowledge the contrary,; And con&s;ider wltether it is not now to be doubted, that the &s;ame fire brands of combu&s;tion among&s;t us now, be not tho&s;e that were formerly be|tween us and our neighbour Nation, and whether they be not the &s;ame De&s;ignes of confu&s;ion of both Nations &s;till, altering the Method; be|ginning in England now, with hopes to end in Scotland, whereas they formerly begun there, with purpo&s;es to end here.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, con&s;ider whether there be not a threefold ground of the pro|ceedings again&s;t the Parliament, according to the threefold condition of the chiefe actors in the&s;e divi&s;ion, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P N="1"><PB REF="4"> 1. The Papi&s;ts perceive, that the Parliament making progre&s;&s;e accor|ding to their beginnings, will take away their hopes of enjoying their Antichri&s;tian Religion among&s;t us, therefore it &s;tands upon them now to adventure upon any de&s;igne, for now or never mu&s;t the Pope up, or down in this Kingdome, and indeed if men could conceive it, the quar|rel is, whether Michael or the Dragon, Chri&s;t or the Pope &s;hould get &s;afe&s;t footing in this Kingdome; Let any &s;eeing man looke backe, and compare the time pa&s;t, with time pre&s;ent, and let him give his judgement in this point, whether Popery hath not been the mark they aymed at.</P>
<P N="2">2. For the depending Gentlemen, the&s;e al&s;o know, that if the Parlia|ment proceed, they &s;hall not onely be expo&s;ed to the Ju&s;tice of their former demerits, but al&s;o loo&s;e the hopes of any future favour or pra|cti&s;e, being con&s;cious to them&s;elves of ever becoming hone&s;t men, who from the beginning of their preferment have ca&s;hier'd out of their hearts the feare of God, a good Con&s;cience, and the day of Judgement, there|fore they mu&s;t either run beyond the Seas, or bend their endeavours to roote up this Parliament.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Cavaliers, who&s;e Lands and e&s;tates are above in the Aire, who make great Brags of their de&s;perate attempts, when their greate&s;t dan|ger of drowning hath been in an Ale-Tub, yet they know that it is be&s;t fi&s;hing in troubled waters, and that England is full of rich Booties, and therefore they cannot forbeare their prey till oportunity &s;erves their turne, who are are all for the pre&s;ent, as for the other world, they have pa&s;&s;ed the dreadfull &s;entence of <HI>(God damne me)</HI> the&s;e three &s;orts are the leaders and provokers of a party again&s;t the Parliament.</P>
<P>As for tho&s;e noblemen who&s;e ab&s;ence from the Parliament is an in|couragement to this Malignant party, if they come under the ranks of Popi&s;h and Dependant, their practi&s;es is a pregnant te&s;timony of what hath been &s;aid of tho&s;e two &s;orts, namely that their De&s;igne is to root up the Parliament, lea&s;t the Parliament &s;hould root out them, but if they be not under the&s;e ranks, either their ingenuity is to labour to make a a pacification, and to make up the breach between his Maie&s;ty and the Parliament, or el&s;e their Nobility is <HI>mero titulo,</HI> little Noble Blood runnes in their veines, and Heathens may throw &s;tones at them, who&s;e progenitors have been rendred famous, by their Heroicke Acts for their Countries care.</P>
<PB REF="5">
<P> From all the&s;e Con&s;iderations, this may be well inferred, being nece&s;|&s;ary for our pre&s;ent ob&s;ervation.</P>
<P>That if ever we would improve our &s;elves, for God, the King, the Kingdome, lives, lawes and liberties, our &s;elves and poore Po&s;teritie, if we would not &s;ee our yet flouri&s;hing Cities made ruinous heapes, our peace and plenty turned into bloud and Famine, our deare&s;t Wives ra|vi&s;hed before our faces, our tender Childrens braines da&s;h't again&s;t the &s;tones, our mutuall trading turned into violence and robbery, our &s;weet enjoyments of all relations, unto murders, rapes, cruelties upon them <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ll, If wee have any love to the Go&s;pell of Life, that the Arke of God may not depart, and mi&s;ery come upon us, Let every man in his &s;tation &s;tudy peace; and endeavour all meanes of pacification, abhorring the very thoughts of ever taking up Arms again&s;t either King or Parliament, but to the utmo&s;t of our powers, &s;etting our &s;elves again&s;t the Incendiaries between them both, that the Peace of God, and the God of Peace may &s;till rule in the mid'&s;t of us, that we render not our &s;elves the mocking &s;tock of Nations, by doing that our &s;elves, which the politicke mallice neither of our Forraign nor Dome&s;ticke Enemies in all the&s;e foure&s;core yeares could effect, whereby wee &s;hall revive the power of our former oppre&s;&s;ors, and our ruin &s;hall be unto after ages, the everla&s;ting &s;hame|full monuments of our blindne&s;&s;e and folly, that wee &s;hould ri&s;e up like unnaturall Children, and cut the throate of our owne Mother Nation, That wee &s;hould love bondage rather then liberty, all Nations Coun|tries and People will &s;port at our mi&s;ery, if we &s;hall thus betray ou<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">+&s;elves, then &s;hall our reeling and tottering Kingdome fall, and none &s;hall lend a hand to &s;upport it, It now pants for breath, travailing with the peace, plenty, &s;ecurity, Religion, Lawes, Liberties and comforts there|of, and therefore let every man that de&s;ireth a ble&s;&s;ing on the King a<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters"> Kingdome, pray for the peace of Jeru&s;alem.</P>
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