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<DATE>2014-06-24</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140428.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]12152558</BIBNO>
<VID>196971</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>His Maje&s;ties SPEECH SPOKEN TO The Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonaltie of the Citie of OXFORD, and to the High Sheriffes of the Counties of OXFORD and BERKS, with di|vers Ju&s;tices of Peace in the &s;aid Counties, at a generall SUMMONS.</P>
<P>Reque&s;ting their a&s;&s;i&s;tance by con|tribution of money, plate, and hor&s;es, towards the &s;upportment of his pre&s;ent wars.</P>
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>arms of Charles I</FIGDESC>
<HEAD>C R</HEAD>
<Q><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"></Q>
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<P>Printed at Oxford by <HI>Leonard Lichfield,</HI> Printer to the Univer&s;itie. 1643.</P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
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<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>His Maje&s;ties <HI>Speech</HI> to the Maior, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the Citie of <HI>Oxford.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>M^r^. MAIOR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_IT being in this City, whereof you are under Us, the immediate Gover|nour, We &s;hould think it fit to deli|ver Our intentions to you in the fir&s;t place, but that the affaires for which We cau&s;ed both you and the&s;e wor|thy Gentlemen to be &s;ummoned, tends to one purpo&s;e and effect, and therefore in common Wee &s;hall give notice to you of Our de&s;ires, which &s;urely (&s;o good a confi|dence have We of your loyalty to Us and Our Cau&s;e) We &s;hall not be readier to propound to you then you to will be prompt to accompli&s;h. But would heaven had been plea&s;ed to have &s;o di&s;po&s;ed of the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of this Our Kingdome, that We had never had any cau&s;e to make the&s;e Propo&s;itions to you; Wee &s;hould rather then have indevoured to have augmented your e&s;tates by Our bounty, then have any wayes dimini&s;hed them by Our nece&s;&s;ity. But there is no re&s;i&s;ting
<PB N="4" REF="3"> the Divine plea&s;ure, who&s;e judgements are in&s;crutable, and who for Our offences, and the &s;ins of Our people, hath been plea&s;ed to inflict on this Our late happy Land, all the mi|&s;eries which can ari&s;e from a civill war, then which no grea|ter can be contingent to mankind&punc; for to behold brothers killing brothers, fathers their children, and children their fa|thers; to &s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> the hone&s;t and well gotten goods of divers &s;ub|&s;tantiall men of Our Kingdome taken violently from them, and by their fellow-&s;ubjects, acquain<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="5 letters"> and friends; to view hou&s;es and town&s;hips fired and plundered, certainly are &s;pectacles of as much horror and pity as can be pre&s;en|ted, to dazle, and, as it were, make men &s;icken at the eyes by reviewing &s;uch lamentable objects, and all the&s;e in this Our Kingdome are daily con&s;picuous, which is now &s;o much more wretched and unfortunate, by how much it hath been in times pa&s;t, happy and flouri&s;hing, war and tumult being the more dreadfull and oppre&s;&s;ive to Our Subjects, becau&s;e they have beene rarely, and not the&s;e many yeeres &s;eene among them, peace having &s;o long been the <HI>Genius</HI> of this I&s;land, whereas in the <HI>Low-countries</HI> and <HI>Germany,</HI> where the people are inured and habituated to military troubles, they indure them with even a naturall patience; as birds, who from the ne&s;t taken and put into Cages, &s;ing there as cheerefully as if they were at libertie; tho&s;e oppre&s;&s;ions by cu&s;tome being made tolerable to them, which to Our Subjects appeare in&s;ufferable.</P>
<P>And We may ju&s;tly prote&s;t to you, Gentlemen, We are more afflicted at the &s;ufferings of Our people, then forty for Our particular grievances, though &s;urely but few Kings of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> or any Chri&s;tian Kingdome what&s;oever hath under|gone the like di&s;graces and afflictions that Our Se<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">e hath <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">one: Fir&s;t affronted at Our owne Palace, and driven away from thence, and con&s;equently from Our Parliament which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">th given life to all the&s;e ruines) by a multitude even of the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="4 letters">e&s;t &s;ort or Our owne Subjects, &s;ince which time We have <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> Our Magazines &s;ei&s;ed on and imployed again&s;t Our
<PB N="5" REF="3"> Selfe, Our Navie detained from Us; nay, We Our &s;elfe de|nyed entrance into Our owne townes, unle&s;&s;e Wee would contract Our traine to the appointment of Our Subjects; witne&s;&s;e Sir <HI>Iohn Hothams</HI> u&s;age to Us at <HI>Hall;</HI> and be&s;ides, Wee have undergone many wants of the due appertain|ments to Maje&s;ty, both in Our hou&s;e-keeping and other wayes, being reduced to more exigents then divers private men; many of Our meniall &s;ervants refu&s;ing to give their attendance on Us, and We, in a mockery of fortune, forced to goe from place to place to beg a&s;&s;i&s;tance and reliefe from Our owne Subjects. But God in his good time will give an end to the&s;e troubles: in the <HI>interim,</HI> We mu&s;t as well as We can, provide for Our defence, and the &s;afety of tho&s;e who depend upon Us: Our Parliament and Wee cannot yet be reconciled, though for Our part We &s;hould beg no other happine&s;&s;e of heaven, no greater benefit in this life, then to have all differences attoned betwixt Us; for while&s;t we are at this variance, who&s;oever are gainers (which certainly are but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ew) We are &s;ure to be lo&s;er: Wee lo&s;e Our Roy|alty in lo&s;ing tho&s;e additaments and &s;upportments which &s;hould &s;u&s;taine it, being debarred the benefit of Our Ex|chequer revenues and cu&s;tome; Wee lo&s;e Our &s;trength in the lo&s;&s;e of our Subjects (the &s;trength of Kings) and Wee lo&s;e that which is more pretious to Us then all things el&s;e, Our peace and quiet of mind, never free from cogitati|ons of Our peoples injuries and Our owne &s;ufferings; &s;o that We are even growne old in the vigour of Our yeeres by this continuall perplexity of care and troubles, which when they will arrive to a happy conclu&s;ion puts Our augury to Judge, though no indevour of Ours &s;hall in any wi&s;e be wanting that may &s;peedily terminate the mi|&s;ery of the&s;e di&s;tractions: But in the meane time Our Par|liament hath of Us infinite advantages; they abound in money to pay their army with, while&s;t Ours are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> to maintaine them&s;elves (as it were in charitie to Our &s;er|vice)
<PB N="6" REF="4"> at their owne co&s;t and expence; the Parliament having daily brought into <HI>Guildhall</HI> for their u&s;e (as Wee are &s;urely informed) plate, money; and other con&s;ide|rable aids of hor&s;es &s;ub&s;cribed for, not onely from all parts of the populous and wealthie City of <HI>London,</HI> but al&s;o from divers of the adjoyning Counties, as <HI>Hertford, E&s;&s;ex,</HI> and &s;uch like; &s;o that they cheerefully may undertake the&s;e warrs, having &s;o long a &s;tocke of coyne to &s;up|port them.</P>
<P>A &s;ad and unhappy accident it is for Us, that Our owne Subjects &s;hould with &s;uch willingne&s;&s;e part with their e&s;tates, nay, lives again&s;t their Soveraigne: And &s;urely, &s;hould the&s;e fatall wars (which heaven avert) con|tinue long, the very money which is in the power and at the di&s;po&s;e of the Parliament would &s;u&s;taine them a|gain&s;t Us, and be a maine blow to Our Cau&s;e, We having already made what &s;hifts We can po&s;&s;ible with Our honour for the advancement of monies for the&s;e our wars, &amp; yet are We neither &s;o well furni&s;hed as Our occa&s;ions require, nor can they la&s;t long without &s;ome new &s;upplyes. The cau&s;e then why We &s;ent for you, Mr. Mayor and your Brethren, &amp; for you Gentlemed, the High Sheriffes and Ju&s;tices of this and the neighbouring Countie, was to let you have a true under&s;tanding of Our urgent nece&s;&s;ities, that by the know|ledge of them you might be excited as much as in you lyes, to endevour Our reliefe, which Wee conjecture you may effect to &s;ome proportionable quantitie of money, if you Mr. Mayor and your Brethren, will &s;ummon together all the able men and heads of your Citie, and to them plainly infer the wants of Us their Soveraigne, and induce as much as in you lyes (according to the example of the Citizens of London, for the u&s;e of the Parliament) to contribute everie man what money, plate, or hor&s;es, his abilitie can &s;pare to furni&s;h Our occa&s;ions with, yet Wee would not have you mi&s;take Us in this matter, nor lay this as an injunction upon
<PB N="7" REF="4"> your Citizens, which We only intended to intreat from them as the te&s;timony of their loves; for that were to invert and alter the &s;tate of Our meaning quite, and it would give a large cau&s;e to them, who without any rea&s;on at all, forge occa&s;ions to &s;candalize Our proceedings, to exclaime that where the King could not borrow money by faire meanes, there He took it by force, as divers have already untruly re|ported of Us; for never will We of a King, the Protectour and Defender, turne the robber and de&s;troyer of our good Subjects: No, let everie man, as the I&s;raelites in the wil|derne&s;&s;e to the building the Ark of the Te&s;tament, off<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r with a willing mind what hee plea&s;es; neither directly or indirectly, by force or threatning language, fright mens con|tribution out of them: not that Wee did ever intend to re|ceive as a gift, what Wee intend only as a loane, and will with all integritie, on our Royall word, &s;ee hone&s;tly re|paid to the uttermo&s;t farthing, and We hope our good Sub|jects here will as &s;oon take our Royall word for their &s;ecuri|tie, as they at London have done, the publike faith for tho&s;e va&s;t and almo&s;t incredible &s;ums, which have been rai&s;ed for the maintenance of the Parliaments Forces: We are confi|dent We &s;hall pay as hone&s;tly as they &s;hall ever bee paid there, though Wee are not altogether &s;o wealthy. God in his good time will re&s;tore Us to our owne, and then Wee &s;hall have meanes &s;ufficient to pay all our debts.</P>
<P>This is all, Mr. Mayor, Wee have at this pre&s;ent to &s;ay to your &s;elfe and Brethren: And what is &s;poken to the Gen|tlemen, Wee would have you conceive is uttered to you; Wee would de&s;ire you our two Sheriffes of our Counties of <HI>Oxford</HI> and <HI>Berks,</HI> and you the Ju&s;tices of Peace of our &s;aid Counties, to intimate our &s;aid reque&s;t to all the Gentlemen of abilitie, and Yeomen of our &s;aid Counties, our wants are per&s;picuous and obvious to your under&s;tandings. Nor can there be a more noble addition to the honour of your loyal|ties, than that po&s;teritie &s;hall report of you, that you relieved your King in his nece&s;&s;itie. And for our after re&s;entment
<PB N="8" REF="5"> and remembrance of your fidelitie and courte&s;ie to U<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="right margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters"> Leave that to Us, to think and determine of.</P>
<P>And la&s;t of all, Wee reque&s;t both you Ma&s;ter Mayor, an<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="right margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters"> you Gentlemen, to be as &s;peedy as you can in the pur&s;uit o<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="right margin cropped or obscured" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1+ letters"> this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e; and &s;o returne Us your an&s;wer. It will bee the la&s;t time We &s;hall trouble you in this nature. Wee verily beleeve; for Wee hope a &s;peedy reconciliation betwixt Us and our High Court of Parliament will give an <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd to the&s;e wofull di&s;tractions, in an happie peace; and then Wee &s;hall take care to repay the&s;e moneys, and provide for all our peoples well-fare.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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