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<DATE>2014-10-06</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140721.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B28937">
<STC T="W">R1159</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]12264304</BIBNO>
<VID>197549</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc Tv.I, pt.I, p. 160 -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="illustration">
<PB REF="1">
<P><FIGURE>
</FIGURE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE RESOLVTION Of the Women of <HI>London</HI> to the Parliament.</P>
<P>Wherein they declare their hot zeale in &s;endnig their busbands to the warres, in defence of King and Parliament, as al&s;o the procee|dlngs of the King a<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> York, with their full determination in maintaining this their Re&s;olution, to the admiration of the Reader.</P>
<P>With their de&s;ires to the Parliament that this may be printed.</P>
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>depiction of a woman admonishing her husband to go to war</FIGDESC>
<SP>
<P>Go to the wars.</P>
</SP>
<P><ADD>Aug. 26</ADD></P>
</FIGURE></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>The Re&s;olution of the women of <HI>London</HI> at a meeting in the Garden Allies in Moore Fields.</HEAD>
<P>BE it known that we the women of London, or ra|ther the women kinde, or female &s;ex, whether wives, widowes, maids, or fooli&s;h virgines, if there bee any &s;uch, of what &s;ize &s;oever we be, low or tall, or of what&s;oever con<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ition, whether rich or poore, great or &s;mall, hone&s;t or halfe hone&s;t, even from the blacke-bagge to the Oy&s;ter-wench, doe all agree, that if there &s;hould be warrs, as wee doe &s;hrewdly &s;u&s;pect it by the daily noi&s;e of Drummes, the great preparations which are made, and the powder which is continually &s;pent, to|gether with the cracking of Guns in the &s;treets, we that are wives, and are troubled with bad husbands, that will &s;pend all abroad, and then come home and u&s;e us &s;curvily, beating us out of doores, doe purpo&s;e to u&s;e our tongues in &s;uch a violent manner, that our continuall &s;colding &s;hall make them goe to the warres, and then will we in our husbands ab&s;ence, live as merrily as may be, drinke, fea&s;t, and walk abroad; and if we have a minde to it, keep and maintaine a friend, that upon occa&s;ion may doe us a plea&s;ure: let our husbands fight, they are mad-brain'd e|nough, they can fight with their poore wives, let them try now if they can fight with their enemies. As for Wi|dowes, they have no hu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">bands to lo&s;e; and &s;ome of them ate &s;o old, that <HI>Cupid</HI> is their malignant party, they can|not get husbands for love nor money, and therefore they
<PB REF="3"> are re&s;olved to marry none but Cavaliers. I would all the Cavaliers would matcht to the&s;e old Gunnes, that they might leave taking Ca&s;tles, and marry the&s;e old Crones, who during the time of the warres, are re&s;olved to &s;it &s;till in their chambers and doe nothing, not &s;o much as &s;ay their prayers, contriving onely by what means they may &s;ecure their gold from being taken away by the enemy. Maids are al&s;o re&s;olved, that the report of wars &s;hall not beat the &s;trong conceit of a hu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">band out of their minds; but if they can, they will marry, if it bee but to bring a race of Souldiers inso the world; and to the end that they may maintaine them&s;elves in a generous fa&s;hion, there being &s;uch a plenitude and plenty of maids, that one &s;poiles the others markets in the way of matrimony, &s;ome m<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ids are fully re&s;olved to expo&s;e them&s;elves and their commodities to trading, not doubting but to have three for one for every adventure, and afterward make very good wives for hungry Souldiers, at their returne from the warres. But becau&s;e we will not &s;eeme to ie&s;t in a matter of earne&s;t, therefore &s;eeing the Kings Maie&s;ty hath withdrawne him&s;elfe from his Parliament, and hath di&s;encouraged their proceedings, nay, and which is wor&s;e, hath rai&s;ed an Army to de&s;troy us all, God ble&s;&s;e us; we women mu&s;t needs de&s;cant upon the&s;e words of dange|rous con&s;equence: for we know that men are drawne a|way by &s;everall means and occa&s;ions, &s;ome by wine, &s;ome by covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and &s;ome (though we &s;ay it our &s;elves) by women; but to with-draw is a word of great impor|tance, and will affoord many ob&s;ervations we coniecture, that in this place it &s;ignifies to bee drawne by the ma|lignant party; or if the word be turned, we women know that <HI>draw with</HI> are words of doubtfull con&s;truction, &s;om|times to be drawne with temptation, as wee women are
<PB REF="3"> often drawne with faire alluring promi&s;es; or in a more particular &s;en&s;e, though &s;omewhat opprobrious to bee drawne with an affection of &s;trong drinke to pawne our petticoats, to be drawne with the love of this or that new fangle, to put our husbands to charge for the procuring thereof; to be drawne with the delights, plea&s;ures, pa|&s;times, or to be drawne with the love of any thing whe|ther fine apparrell, good wine, good cheere, gay gar|ments and pretious &s;tones, all this is to be withdrawn with the concupi&s;cence of our own de&s;ires, or to be drawn with our owne de&s;ires and concupi&s;cence; and &s;o we up|on a&s;&s;ured grounds doe conceive without the help of any Courtiers or Scollars: That the King is withdrawne by &s;ome wicked coun&s;ellors, commonly called the malig|nant party, or el&s;e drawn with the advice of &s;ome wicked coun&s;ellor. We &s;ay no more, yet &s;omthing we will &s;ay more. It follows in the nex<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> place, that the King hath withdrawne him&s;elf, which is a matter to be thought up|on: for many a man is withdrawne when hee is not him|&s;elfe, and is none of his owne man as we &s;ay, but is indeed &s;tark drunk; but the King God be thanked, is a wi&s;e, gra|cious, and temperate Prince, a Soveraigne that can reigne and rule over his owne pa&s;&s;ions, and therefore it may ve|ry well &s;eeme &s;trange, even to women of the be&s;t under|&s;tanding, that the King hath withdrawne him&s;elfe: for if the King had been withdrawn and not him&s;elfe, or him|&s;elfe had been withdrawne and not the King, it had then been very likely that the King might in time have with|drawn him&s;elfe from tho&s;e evill wicked coun&s;ellors, who have not onely withdrawne the King and him&s;elfe, but al|&s;o him&s;elfe and the King: and indeed to &s;peake plainly, the Kings owne &s;elfe.</P>
<PB REF="4">
<P>But from whom have they withdrawne the Kings own &s;elfe; for that is a point very con&s;iderable, the words im|mediatly following make it apparant from whom it is, even from his friends, from tho&s;e that &s;eek his good; and pitty it is it &s;hould be &s;o, even in a word, from his faithful loving Parliament; had the&s;e wicked coun&s;ellors with|drawne him from &s;hewing any favour to Papi&s;ts, and tho&s;e that are Popi&s;hly inclined, or withdrawne him from the Cavaliers, or withdrawne him onely from the City, whereby &s;ome women of good carriage have lived very poorly, for want of the Courtiers company; yet all this might have been born with patience, but they have withdrawne him from the Parliament, that is to &s;ay, ma|ny miles di&s;tant from the Parliament; neither was it a &s;mall iourney that he took, but they have withdrawn him from the Parliament to York; and &s;urely they were none of his friends that advi&s;ed him to ab&s;ent him&s;elfe from his Court at White-hall, from his hunting and other pa&s;times, and from us though the weake&s;t ve&s;&s;els, yet full of loyalty to his Maie&s;ty: therefore we women doe con|&s;tantly affirme, that this coun&s;ell of withdrawing the King, and the Kings &s;elfe, which aggravates the matter, was a kind of malitious trea&s;on, and the coun&s;ellors de|&s;erve, in the iudgement of all true hearted women, to be hang'd and drawne that have thus withdrawne the King and the Kings &s;elfe from his loving loyall Parliament.</P>
<P>And what hath this produced? It is mo&s;t evident, that the King having withdrawn him&s;elfe from his Parlia|ment, hath thereby di&s;couraged their proceedings: di&s;|couraged doth intimate as much as to di&s;hearten, to op|po&s;e and di&s;animate; as we women, when we are out of cloathes, are pre&s;ently di&s;ceuraged: and there is no wo|man but hath read, that when <HI>Venus</HI> and <HI>Wulcan</HI> were ta|ken
<PB REF="4"> in bed together, the Poet, as I remember, &s;aith, they were di&s;couraged. And indeed, put the ca&s;e that any wo|man, though never &s;o hone&s;t, were by her husband &s;ur|prized, and found lying with another man, would not &s;he on the &s;udden be much di&s;couraged? and her husband al|&s;o would bee &s;o much di&s;couraged, that hee would never love her afterward. But the&s;e are triviall idle matters, and therefore to proceed further, it followes, that he hath di&s;couraged them in their proceedings, that is, the Parlia|ments proceedings: for they being all members of the Parliament, therefore who&s;oever they were that have withdrawne the King from the Parliament, have thereby al&s;o di&s;couraged their proceedings, which a is &s;hrewd matter: for how can they go forward, or bring any bu&s;i|ne&s;&s;e to effect, or bring to pa&s;&s;e what hath been &s;o long expected, while they are by the malignant party, and by the King, withdrawne from the Parliament di&s;couraged, and that in their proceedings: for ba&s;hfull &s;uiters never attaine their de&s;ires, women never become good hou&s;e|wives, nor any bu&s;ines can ever be well performed, if the party that doth goe about it, bee di&s;couraged; how can then this Parliament doe that which they de&s;ired to per|forme for the good of this kingdome, if they be di&s;coura|ged in their proceedings?</P>
<P>But let's proceed a little further, &amp; then it will be mo&s;t evidently manife&s;t, that this di&s;couragement in their pro|ceedings, is nothing; but that which &s;trikes and pierces us women to the heart, is this: It is mo&s;t true, that the King hath rai&s;ed an Army to de&s;troy us all: now I pray you con&s;ider who it is hath rai&s;eth the&s;e forces, it is no <HI>Wat Tiler</HI> or <HI>Iack Straw,</HI> or any &s;uch rebellious company that in former times did ri&s;e again&s;t the King, but the King doth intend to make warre again&s;t him&s;elfe, or on tho&s;e
<PB REF="5"> that love him as wel as him&s;elfe, that is, his loving &s;ub|iects and Parliament, what follows then? why, by nece&s;|&s;ary con&s;equence, if the King make war, it mu&s;t be rai&s;ed &s;omewhere, and again&s;t &s;ome body; now this word rai|&s;ing doth import a difficulty in doing any thing with vi|olence; and &s;o we women beleeve that it will bee a hard matter for the King to rai&s;e a great Army in the North, even &s;o it is a hard matter for any woman, though of very good breeding, to rai&s;e her&s;elfe to be a Gentlewoman, or a yonger brother to rai&s;e his fortunes; but if the King ha|ving withdrawn him&s;elfe from the Parliament, hath di&s;|couraged their proceeding, and al&s;o rai&s;ed an Army to de&s;troy us, we women doe purpo&s;e to rai&s;e up our vaines, and mo&s;t heartily to cur&s;e the malignant party, who hath per&s;waded the King to rai&s;e this Army; and we women, to &s;hew our good affection to the King and Parliament, will bee ever ready to rea&s;on and wrangle in defence of them both; and if we had nine lives like a Cat, or nine Cats lives, whieh according to that computation, would be eighty one lives, we would expo&s;e them all to hazzard for the maintenance of the Kings per&s;on and honour, and the priviledge of Parliament.</P>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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</TEXT>
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