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<DATE>2011-01-06</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<HEAD>A SHORT DECLARATION OF THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND, <HI>For Information and Satisfaction to their Brethren of ENGLAND, concerning the pre&s;ent Expedition into</HI> ENGLAND.</HEAD>
<P>_ALthough we have rea&s;on to beleeve that the bloody and barbarous attempts of the Papi&s;ts and their Faction, both in <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Ire|land,</HI> and the manifold oppre&s;sions and mi&s;eries endured by tho&s;e that &s;tand well affected to the Prote&s;tant Religion, and their Coun|treys Libertie, have made way in the hearts of men for the ready entertainment of a&s;&s;i&s;tance from their Brethren, who&s;e earne&s;t de&s;ire it is, and who&s;e utmo&s;t endeavour it &s;hall be, to pre&s;erve and re&s;tore both unto them: Yet knowing how indu&s;trious the malice of the Devil and his In&s;truments are, in rai&s;ing Prejudices, and fomenting Jealou&s;ies betwixt them who&s;e hearts and mindes ought to be one, becau&s;e their happine&s;&s;e is the &s;ame, and particularly betwixt us and our Brethren of <HI>England,</HI> that by dividing us from each other, they might de&s;troy us both: And that this our &s;econd Expedition into <HI>England</HI> (which we doubt not but God will ble&s;&s;e, to the advan|tage of that Nation, as he did our fir&s;t, to the happine&s;&s;e of our own) in &s;tead of wonder and oppo&s;ition, may finde the cheerfull con|currence of all tho&s;e who together with us de&s;ire, The Pre&s;ervation and Reformation of Religion; The honour and happine&s;&s;e of the King; The Peace and Liberty of the Kingdoms: We thought fit to premit this &s;hort, but free and ingenuous Declaration, of our Grounds and Intentions in this our pre&s;ent undertaking, that &s;o we may meet with none but &s;uch as we may either finde peaceable or leave inexcu&s;able.</P>
<P>Whereas therefore the greate&s;t que&s;tions that are like to ari&s;e in this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e may be reduced to the&s;e three particulars, <HI>viz. The ju&s;tne&s;&s;e of our Cau&s;e: The lawfulne&s;&s;e of our calling thereto:</HI> And <HI>The faithfulne&s;&s;e of our carriages therein;</HI> We &s;hall hereby endeavour to give &s;atisfaction in them all, and doubt not to do it, unle&s;&s;e there remain &s;ome who&s;e inveterate malice hath produced in them a re&s;olution to be un&s;atisfied.</P>
<P>As for the cau&s;e and ground of this undertaking, we are not ignorant with how much earne&s;tne&s;&s;e the &s;onnes of &s;lander and perdition (who&s;e cu&s;tome is to tra|duce tho&s;e proceedings which they know not how to di&s;appoint) do endeavour to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the hearts of our Brethren, that we are coming to fi&s;h in the troubled waters of <HI>England,</HI> to &s;eek and take our own advantages in the mid&s;t of your nece&s;&s;ities. But &s;uffer not your eares, much le&s;&s;e your hearts, to be open to any &s;uch delu&s;ions, whereof we tru&s;t your eyes &s;hall &s;hortly witne&s;&s;e the fal&s;hood: For as hereafter we doubt not to appeal to our carriages and your con&s;ciences, be&s;ides your late experience of our Religious ob&s;ervance of our former Declarations of this kinde; &s;o in the mean time give us leave to appeal to the great &s;earcher of hearts, who knows; That had not the love of Chri&s;t, requiring Chri&s;tians to bear one anothers burden; and the Law of nature, challenging our utmo&s;t care and endeavour, for the prevention of our own danger and ruine, which an ordinary under&s;tanding will ea&s;ily &s;ee to be wrapped up in our neighbours; And our dutie, and de&s;ire of re&s;cuing the King from the dangers wherein he is involved, by the company and pernicious Coun&s;ell of tho&s;e who are enemies to Religion, his Maje&s;ties happine&s;&s;e, and Peace of his Dominions; Called and compelled us to this Service, we could, with far more content and &s;atisfaction to our &s;elves, have enjoyed with quietne&s;&s;e our <HI>dry mor&s;ell, then entred into your hou&s;es full of &s;acrifices with &s;trife:</HI> Which yet &s;ince we are required and nece&s;&s;itated to, by that ju&s;t Calling, hereafter to be mentioned, <HI>We profe&s;&s;e before God and the World,</HI> that our hearts and thoughts are clean and free from any other Intentions then tho&s;e expre&s;&s;ed in our &s;olemne League and Covenant, in which we are confederate with <HI>England, viz.</HI> The Pre&s;ervation and Reformation of Religion; The Honour and Happine&s;&s;e of the King; and, The Peace and Liberties of the Kingdoms. All which we now apprehend to be deeply endangered, by the Councels and Confederacies of Papi&s;ts, Prelats, Malignants, and their adherents, &s;o prevalent in <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Ireland:</HI> And we &s;hall no otherwi&s;e de&s;ire a ble&s;&s;ing upon our endeavours, then as they &s;hall be di|rected to the con&s;ervation and e&s;tabli&s;hment thereof.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e it is not &s;ufficient to be ingaged in a good Cau&s;e, unle&s;&s;e by a good calling, we do hereby further declare, That though the in&s;eparable intere&s;ts of both Nations in <GAP DESC="blank" EXTENT="1 span"> Religion and Liberties, which having the &s;ame common Enemies, mu&s;t look to &s;tand and fall together, might have given us &s;ufficient war|rant to have endeavoured the prevention of our own ruine, by pre&s;erving our Friends and Brethren from de&s;truction: yet that we might be the more fully and for|mally obliged to this Chri&s;tian dutie and &s;ervice, and &s;o the mouth of &s;lander and malice be &s;topped, God hath &s;o ordered things in his wi&s;e and ju&s;t Providence, that the Parliament of <HI>England,</HI> who (be&s;ide their intere&s;t in the Pre&s;ervation and Reformation of Religion, and the defence of the Lawes and Liberties of the Kingdom, to which our help is required) have a particular obligation upon this nation, (As we have formerly declared in our Intentions publi&s;hed before our la&s;t Expedition) for refu&s;ing to countenance or maintain a War again&s;t us, in the yeere 1640. have thought fit by their Commi&s;&s;ioners, enabled to that effect, to de&s;ire a firme Union with us, and this ju&s;t and nece&s;&s;ary a&s;&s;i&s;tance from us.</P>
<P>And whereas it is too obvious an Objection, That the Kings command or con&s;ent being no ingredient, our Calling is thereby rendred deficient: We an&s;wer, That though, through the injury of mi&s;chievous Councels, both his Per&s;on and per&s;onall Commands are withheld from us: Yet his Honour, his Happine&s;&s;e, his Po&s;te|rity, his great Councell, and the welfare of his Kingdoms, Call importunately to us for this timely interpo&s;ing. So that unle&s;&s;e we can (which God forbid) blot out of our thoughts the &s;en&s;e of Pietie and Religion toward God, of Honour and Duty toward our Soveraigne, and of Gratitude toward the Parliament and King|dom of <HI>England,</HI> we can in no wi&s;e re&s;i&s;t our pre&s;ent Call to this undertaking.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, for what concerns the manner of the pur&s;uance of this ju&s;t Cau&s;e and lawfull Calling: Although the many fru&s;trate Petitions and Remon&s;trances from both Kingdoms pre&s;ented to his Maje&s;tie, have left us onely this way, which yet is not intended again&s;t his Maje&s;ties Per&s;on, nor any of his good Subjects, but tho&s;e Enemies of the King and Kingdoms, with whom no other means can prevaile: Yet we &s;hall diligently endeavour &s;o to order the affairs of our Armie, that all In&s;olencies, Rapines, Plunderings, and tho&s;e other calamities that u&s;ually attend upon War, may be prevented. And herein as with no &s;mall content to our &s;elves, &s;o with no le&s;&s;e &s;atisfaction to you, are we able to refer you to the experience of our former Expedition (when our own nece&s;&s;ities drove us into <HI>England,</HI> as now yours do call us) to Conlider how little damage was occa&s;ioned by our means, how little di&s;order was committed by us in any place where we came: and we here|by promi&s;e the like care and diligence &s;hall be renewed, and if po&s;&s;ible doubled to that effect.</P>
<P>And that we may not be looked on with the prejudice of Strangers, which we hope the firm Union of this mutuall Covenant will wear out, There is a Com|mittee of your own Nation, the mo&s;t of which are Parliament men, &s;uch to whom you have committed the tru&s;t and care of your Religion, Lawes, and Liberties, joyned with us, without who&s;e concurrence nothing that concerns you is to be tran&s;acted. And to free you of all unju&s;t &s;u&s;pition, which if your minds are not ready to conceive, yet the malicious mouthes of our adver&s;aries and yours are ready to &s;ugge&s;t, That notwith&s;tanding this Declaration, we have &s;ome &s;ini&s;ter and &s;ecret ends which may prove prejudiciall to your Rights and happine&s;&s;e: <HI>Be it hereby made known</HI> unto you, that we have freely ingaged our &s;elves, by an Article of the late Treatie betwixt the Nations, to give the publike Faith of the Kingdom of <HI>Scotland</HI> unto the Kingdom of <HI>England,</HI> That neither our entrance into nor continuance in that Kingdom, &s;hall be made u&s;e of to any other ends then are expre&s;&s;ed in the Covenant, and that Treatie &s;ub&s;cribed by the Commi&s;&s;ioners o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> both Kingdoms, which we are re&s;olved, to the honour of God and of this nation, to keep inviolate.</P>
<P>And as our Friends and Brethren may look for actions conform to the expre&s;&s;ions of this Declaration, &s;o mu&s;t the Malignants and implacable oppo&s;ers of the ends declared in our Covenant, expect nothing but an impartiall and vigorous pro&s;ecution of the &s;ame: in which, if any evil befall them, we are confident that the judgement of wi&s;e and indifferent men will reduce it to them&s;elves, as the wilfull authours thereof.</P>
<P>And finally we declare (again&s;t all fal&s;e and artificiall relations) that we are &s;o far from de&s;iring harm or lo&s;&s;e to any of our Brethren of <HI>England,</HI> that our &s;in|cere and reall Intentions are not to adde fuell, nor bring oyl, but water to extingui&s;h the&s;e lamentable combu&s;tions and fires, which we have with &s;o much dutie and love laboured to quench: That our taking of Arms is not to make Wars (if we be not nece&s;&s;itated) but to obtain a better grounded and a more durable Peace, for enjoying of our Religion and Liberties in all the three Kingdoms: and that the wicked (who are the unworthy authours of all our troubles) being removed from our King, a right under&s;tanding may be e&s;tabli&s;hed betwixt his Maje&s;tie and his people. And as we have &s;olemnly &s;worn to protect and defend all who &s;hall enter in, and adhere to this Covenant: So do we certainly expect, that all our Brethren in <HI>England</HI> who are zealous for the true Prote&s;tant Religion, loyall to the King, and faithfull for their Countrey, will joyn and concurre with us in the mo&s;t noble and ju&s;t wayes of procuring the&s;e ju&s;t de&s;ires: which being obtained, we &s;hall be mo&s;t willing and ready to return to our native Countrey, e&s;teeming it our greate&s;t happine&s;&s;e, that Truth with Peace may be e&s;tabli&s;hed in all His Maje&s;ties Dominions.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Arch. Primero&s;e.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<P>Printed at <HI>Edinburgh</HI> by <HI>Evan Tyler,</HI> Printer to the Kings mo&s;t Excellent Maje&s;tie. 1643.</P>
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