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<ETS>
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<DATE>2014-07-28</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140510.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B24465">
<STC T="W">H3490</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]12152020</BIBNO>
<VID>196965</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>The humble PETITION Of the Citie OF BRISTOLL, FOR An Accommodation of Peace be|tween His Maje&s;tie, and the Ho|nourable the High Court of PARLIAMENT.</P>
<P>As it was pre&s;ented to the Kings Mo&s;t Ex|cellent Maje&s;tie, at the Court at OXFORD, by foure of the Aldermen of the &s;aid Citie; on Satur|day the &s;eventh of Januarie, with His Maje&s;ties gracious An&s;wer therunto.</P>
<P>Printed at Oxford by <HI>Leonard Lichfield.</HI> 1643.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>The Humble <HI>Petition</HI> of the Citie of <HI>Bri&s;toll</HI> to his MAjESTY for an Accom|modation of Peace betwixt him&s;elfe and PARLIAMENT.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>May it plea&s;e your &s;acred Maje&s;ty,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_The lingering calamities of this pre&s;ent <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> having with its hideous and tumultuous noy&s;e awakened the &s;leeping tongues of your Maje&s;ties loyal &s;ubj cts e&s;pecially tho&s;e of the greate&s;t and wealthie&s;t Citie of your Dominions, the honourable the City of <HI>London,</HI> to invoke your Royall a&s;&s;i&s;tance and &s;uffrage for the e&s;ta|bli&s;hing an unanimous tranquillity throughout this Realme, by which example excited (though we &s;hould have willing|ly been the formo&s;t &s;uitors for the effecting &s;o holy and ju&s;t a purpo&s;e) wee the Inhabitants of your Maje&s;ties City of <HI>Bri&s;toll,</HI> uninferiour (in loyaltie to your &s;acred Per&s;on) to no City in this Kingdome, and equall to any, except <HI>London,</HI> in this the Realme of <HI>England,</HI> for importance of trade, and
<PB N="4" REF="3"> number of Inhabitants, e&s;teemed our &s;elves in our duty to God, and abounden allegeance to your Maje&s;ty injoyned, not to be the la&s;t who &s;hould pre&s;ent your Highne&s;&s;e with the humble intimation of our grievances and zealous de&s;ires for the good of your Maje&s;tie, and the peace of your Domi|nions. May it therefore plea&s;e your &s;acred clemency and goodne&s;&s;e, &s;eriou&s;ly to ponder with what &s;uperaboundant felicity and daily ble&s;&s;ings of the Almighty, all your Maje&s;ties good &s;ubjects, and wee the Inhabitants of this City have been filled full even with plenty, during the peacefull raign of your Royall Father, of ble&s;&s;ed and famous memory, nay, during divers yeeres of your Maje&s;ties raigne (which God long continue over us) and then but with the eyes of your Royall clemency and pity be plea&s;ed to take a &s;trict &s;ur|vey of the face of things in this your Kingdome of <HI>England</HI> at this in&s;tant, and &s;urely your Maje&s;ty will finde it as full of horror and wrath as any object which can incounter hu|mane eye-&s;ight, appearing meerly the Gho&s;t of that <HI>England</HI> which it was &s;o lately; in &s;tead of the continuall and gainfull trade and commerce which all the maritime towns, in e&s;pe|ciall this City of <HI>Bri&s;toll</HI> had into forraigne parts; our Ships lie now rotting in the Harbor without any Mariners or fraught, or trade into forraigne parts, by rea&s;on of our home-bred di&s;tractions, being growne &s;o contemptible and de&s;pi&s;ed there, that our credits are of no value, wee being (through the misfortune of our nation) reputed abroad as men meer|ly undone at home; and what detriment this di&s;continuance of traffique with forraigne nations may beget and bring forth, both to your Maje&s;ties particular revenue, by decay of the emolument of cu&s;tomes, and to the Subject in gene|rall by the want of exportment and importment of commo|dities, cannot to your &s;acred wi&s;dome be unknowne: but this as the lea&s;t of all the ills which your Maje&s;ty may behold incumbring and oppre&s;&s;ing us and all your Subjects; no man injoyes his life, his wife, children, family or e&s;tate in &s;afety this day, producing effects of ruine in tho&s;e places,
<PB N="5" REF="3"> and on tho&s;e per&s;ons who in the foregoing night were rich and happy; &s;o that un&s;peakeable is our mi&s;ery, unutterable our grievances, fathers being ingaged enemies again&s;t &s;ons, and &s;ons again&s;t fathers; every good Towne and City, as this your City of <HI>Bri&s;toll,</HI> being inforced to their great and infinite expence, to maintaine garri&s;ons and courts of guards for their &s;ecurity, which takes away all &s;en&s;e of our formmer happine&s;&s;e, our &s;leeps being di&s;turbed by the &s;urley noy&s;e of Drums, we overwhelmed with an increa|&s;ing perpetuity of cares and troubles, &s;uch as no time nor hi&s;tory hath &s;carce mentioned in this Kingdome, neither in the Barons nor any other civill warres: Your Ma|je&s;ty being, at it were, divorced from tho&s;e husbands of the Common-wealth, the honourable the high Court of Parliament who have made &s;o frequent and &s;o reall ex|pre&s;&s;es of their duty and zeale to the &s;ervice and advance|ment of your Maje&s;ties affaires, onely de&s;iring that your gracious Maje&s;ty would plea&s;e to de&s;ert and give off the councells of &s;uch notorious Malignants, as for their owne &s;ini&s;ter and unworthy ends aime at the ruine of the Com|monwealth, and de&s;truction of the e&s;&s;ences of Parliament, to which are conterminated and confined the liberty and right of the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Subject. Furthermore, may it plea&s;e to take into con&s;ideration of your &s;acred Maje&s;ty, what &s;trange and uncouth di&s;tractions that have lately broken forth into the Church of <HI>England,</HI> &s;ometimes the glory of all the reformed Churches, the too much power of the Prelacie in forcing new Canons and unheard of do|ctrines upon us, &s;uch as have corro&s;ives to the hearts, and goads in the &s;ides of mo&s;t of the religious and well-af|fected per&s;ons to Church and Commonwealth in the&s;e your Maj&s;ties Dominions, which have been the immediate and efficient cau&s;es of the many di&s;&s;entions and troubles now raigning in this Realme, no oppre&s;&s;ion being &s;o forcible or oppre&s;&s;ive to mens con&s;ciences, as that which is intruded on them concerning their Beliefe and the wor&s;hip of God.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="4">
<P>In con&s;ideration of all which troubles and unhappy di&s;|&s;entions, wee your Maje&s;ties mo&s;t faithfull and humble Subjects the Inhabitants of your good and loyall City of <HI>Bri&s;toll,</HI> in all duty to your &s;acred Crowne and Dignity, implore and be&s;eech, that taking the&s;e grievances afore|&s;aid into your royall thoughts, you would vouch&s;afe us the &s;peedie&s;t meanes that may conclude the differences both in Church and Common-wealth, to devi&s;e &s;ome &s;peedy way for a reconciliation and perfect Accommoda|tion of peace betweene your gracious &s;elfe and your high Court of Parliament, which hath alwayes been the hap|pie&s;t Councell of your famous Ance&s;tors, and &s;till prompt in all obedience to &s;erve the intentions and purpo&s;es of your Maje&s;ty, and &s;o to rectifie all abu&s;es in the Church, and fini&s;h all the bleeding di&s;&s;entions of the Kingdome, that peace and happine&s;&s;e may flouri&s;h in the re&s;t of your Maje&s;ties raigne, and the ble&s;&s;ings of peace fall upon us your people, and we your humble Petitioners and obedi|ent Subjects, &s;hall as wee are ingaged in all duty, ever pray for your gracious Maje&s;ties increa&s;e of temporall felicity in this life, and eternall happine&s;&s;e in the world to come.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB N="7" REF="4">
<HEAD>His Maje&s;ties gracious An&s;wer to the Petition of the Citie of <HI>Bri&s;toll,</HI> delivered to them by my Lord <HI>Faulkland,</HI> Principall Se|cretarie of State.</HEAD>
<P>HIs Maje&s;tie hath received your Petition, and is ve|rie well plea&s;ed with this early demon&s;tration of your dutie, and accepts in verie good part your heartie ad|vices to Him; which His Maje&s;tie (as far forth, as for the pre&s;ent can be corre&s;pondent to his occa&s;ions) is re&s;olved to hearken unto, and put in practice. The many di&s;tractions that are now immergent in the&s;e his Maje&s;ties Dominions, He commanded me to let you know, that He hath as tender a &s;en&s;e and compa&s;&s;ion of the afflictions of his good Sub|jects, as they po&s;&s;ibly can have them&s;elves, that Hee hath neither fought the continuation of the&s;e di&s;&s;entions, nor will ever cheri&s;h them; but u&s;e and employ his be&s;t po&s;&s;i|bilitie and endevours, for the e&s;tabli&s;hing and recon&s;uming peace and quietne&s;&s;e among all His Maje&s;ties Subjects, that everie man may follow his vocation to his be&s;t profit, that traffique and commerce with forraine Nations may be con|tinued and promoted, and all the fruits of peace may bee multiplyed among&s;t you.</P>
<P>For the abu&s;es and innovations that have lately happened in the Church of England (to the grievance of many mens con&s;ciences) His Maje&s;tie declares, that as Hee is ignorant of the &s;aid innovations, &s;o Hee will be alwayes ready to ex|purge and take away all &s;uch innovations, being re&s;olute, as
<PB N="8" REF="5"> He is <HI>Defender of the Faith,</HI> to propugne, and maintaine no other religion, but the Orthodox e&s;tabli&s;hed Doctrine of the Church of England, which hath &s;o flouri&s;hed under the reignes of his glorious Predece&s;&s;ours. That for the in&s;olen|cie and pride of the Prelacie, His Royall Maje&s;tie never in|tended to patronize, or protect the vices of the men; but what their de&s;erts are, or have been, according to the nature of their crimes, they &s;hall &s;uffer the ju&s;tice of the Law, of which Him&s;elfe being the Fountaine and Protectour, will never be either the Dimini&s;her or Infringer. For his diffe|rence betweene Him&s;elfe and His High Court of Parlia|ment, His Maje&s;tie prote&s;ts with all integririe, that there is nothing in the world more coveted by Him, than a &s;peedy and faire attonement with that Honourable A&s;&s;embly: nor any thing that has or does more afflict, or di&s;turb his Royall temper, than that He hath been enforced to ab&s;ent Him&s;elfe &s;o long from their A&s;&s;ociation and Councels, to which Hee alwayes hath given much honour, and e&s;teemed them as the principall and &s;ecure&s;t advice, both for His owne good, and the benefit of His People. And therefore, as a finall re&s;olu|tion and determinate an&s;wer. His Maje&s;tie by me declares to you, that He will ever make it his uttermo&s;t endevour, to pre&s;erve the liberties and fortunes of all His good Subjects; and that He will be&s;tow as provident and pious an eye upon your Citie of Bri&s;toll, as upon any Citie or Towne in this Kingdome. And for a reconciliation with His High Court of Parliamet, His Maje&s;tie gives you His Royall thanks, for that loyall and faithfull advice, which His Highne&s;&s;e re|&s;olves to put in practice, with all the celeritie his occa&s;ions will permit, not doubting but ere many dayes pa&s;&s;e, to re|duce His affaires to that conformable condition, as to fini&s;h all jars and contentions betwixt Him&s;elfe and Parliament, by an happie union, that you and all his good Subjects may have their de&s;ires, by the e&s;tabli&s;hment of a con&s;tant peace in the&s;e His Dominions.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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