Englands remonstrance to their King wherein is declared the humble desire of His Majesties loyall and faithfull subjects within the kingdome of England, to the Kings Most Excellent Majestie, now resident in the Isle of Wight : containing the very sense of all the true hearted of the kingdom, touching His Majesties royall person ... Englands petition to their King. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A38428 of text R18648 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing E3039). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 15 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A38428 Wing E3039 ESTC R18648 12283326 ocm 12283326 58794 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A38428) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 58794) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 183:10) Englands remonstrance to their King wherein is declared the humble desire of His Majesties loyall and faithfull subjects within the kingdome of England, to the Kings Most Excellent Majestie, now resident in the Isle of Wight : containing the very sense of all the true hearted of the kingdom, touching His Majesties royall person ... Englands petition to their King. Charles I, King of England, 1600-1649. [2], 6 p. : port. Printed for G. Horton, and are to be sold at the Royall Exchange in Cornhill, [London] : 1648. Place of publication from Wing. Also published as: Englands petition to their King, (1643), and Englands petition to King Charles, (1648). Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Charles I, 1625-1649. A38428 R18648 (Wing E3039). civilwar no Englands remonstrance to their King wherein is declared, the humble desire of His Majesties loyall and faithfull subjects within the kingdom [no entry] 1648 2780 15 0 0 0 0 0 54 D The rate of 54 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the D category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-10 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-04 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2006-04 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion ENGLANDS REMONSTRANCE TO THEIR KING Wherein is declared , the humble Desires of His Majesties loyall and faithfull Subjects within the Kingdome of England , To the Kings most Excellent Majestie , now resident in the Isle of Wight . Containing the very sense of all the true , hearted of the Kingdom , touching His Majesties Royall Person ; but because the way to the Kings eare is stopt , is now sent to London , and published for generall satisfaction of the whole KINGDOME . CR Printed for G. Horton , and are to be sold at the Royall Exchange in Cornhill . MDCXLVIII . To the Kings most Excellent Majesty . The humble Remonstrance of your distressed , and almost destroyed Subjects of your Kingdom of England . Dread Soveraigne , ITs a double grief to our soules , that we should be constrained to beg for our lives at your hands , who are bound by the Law of God and Nature , and by your Oath , to preserve them , and that we should be forced to entreat you to spare our estates , liberties , & bloud , whose honour and strength depends so much upon these our enjoyments : But extremity prevaileth , and drives us to you , and c●steth us here prostrate at the feet of your Majesty : And let not your Majesty be offended , if we speak more plainly then usually becometh us ; for necessity hath no law : It is for our lives and more , and therefore blame us not to speak ; our friends , our wives , our children , our wants , our dangers , our country , our bloud , do all pierce our ears and hearts with their dayly and dolefull cryes : Oh that our requests could find as quick accesse to yours . Surely ! its impossible your Majesty should be ignorant of the dolefull conditions your two Kingdoms are in ; Doe you not know th●t our houses have beene plundered , and the fruit of our long labours taken from us ; that men who have heretofore relieved hundreds of the poor , have not left them a bed to ly on , food to sustaine them , or a house to put their heads in ? And the poore they were wont to relieve , are forced to become souldiers that they may rob us by authority . Know you not how many thousand distressed soules cry to God day and night , in their anguish and m●sery , while they see you the Father of their Countrey , having no compassion on them ? Oh! where is now your Majesties ancient clemency ? You were wont if we lost our estates by Pyrats , or but a house by fire , to grant Your gracious Letters Patents for our relief ; but now the souldiery rob us of all , and hav burnt our houses to the ground , & this not only for obtaining victory in heat of fight , but upon deliberation afterwards . Know you not how our bloud is spilt and the dead bodies of your subjects yea many of your Nobles scat●ered as dung on the face of the Earth ? Have not your eyes seen it , and your eares heard the groanes of the wounded gaspe for life ? Is all this nothing in your eyes ? To whom should your people go but to your Majesty in this our distresse ? We have tryed all other known means , and professe in the sight of God , we know none but your Majesty , under God , that can deliver us , without more bloud and desolation ; and the world knows it is in your hands , you may do it if you will ; and doe it easily , and do it with encrease of your honour , safety and happinesse . What if it were to part with something of your right , yet should not your Majesty do it to save the life of your people , srow whom , and for whose goo , You first received it ? Dread Soveraign , We beseech you consider , what hath your Parliament and People done , that deserves all this from You ? Is it because your Parl. relieved us from oppressing Courts , and illegall taxations ? Was it not with your own consent ? and is it not your glory to be King of a rich and free people ? Is it because they prosecute Delinquents ? Why , to what ends are your Courts of Justice else ? and are not they your chiefest Court ? And can those be friends to you , and worth the defending , that are enemies to your Kingdoms ? For your Forts and Navy , are they not yours for your Kingdoms good ? And is not your Parliament , the Kingdom Representative ? We know your Majesty cannot mannage them in your owne person , but by your Ministers , and those chosen by Councell ; and can You or the Kingdom possible judge any more able , impartial , and faithfull to advi●e you in this then your Parliament ? They medled not with it , till absolute necessity constrained ; till they saw Ireland in rebellion , the Rebels threatni●g England , the same spirits as malignant and active at home , and their own lives and the Kingdome in present apparent jeopardy , and your Majesties consent to their Bill denyed . We cannot possibly conceive what your Parliament can do now to remedy any of these miseries ; they humbly seek your consent in vaine ; the offenders legally proceeded against are defended from them , yea those that your Majesty hath proclaimed such ; that is denied them which is yeelded to every the lowest court of Iustice they desire nothing more then your presence and concurrence ; and we know if humble Petitions or loyall affections would procure it there would not have been so long a distance . Neither is there any visible means left , but either give up our states ▪ Liberties and Religion to the dispose of your two-long tryed secret Councel , and make your Majesties meere will the onely Law and so betray their Countrey , and the trust committed to them ; ( which God forbid ) or else defend us by the sword . And for us your people , what have we done that we are made a common spoile ? Would your Majesty desire us perfidiously to betr●y them whom we have trusted ; and desert them that have been so faithfull to us ? and to kill them whom we have chosen to save us ? and destroy those who are our selves representatively ? Then should we be the disgrace of the Engl●sh Nation , the reproach of our posterity , the very shame of nature , and should presently expect some strange judgement of God , according to the strangenesse of our offence . It s true , we were forced to take , Antidotum contra Caesarem or rather to save our throats from the violence of desperate persons about You ; But we beseech you call not this bearing Arms against you , it may be against your wil , but if her ofore your followers were more respective of your royall authority established by Law , more truely tender of your person then we ; then let not God prosper our proceedings , but cause us to fall before them , and give us up into their hands . We are fallen upon by the cruell , and because we would not dye quietly & without resistance , we are accused as traytors and enemies to your Majesty . We beseech your Majesty , consider in the presence of God , if your own Father and King had run upon you with his drawn sword whether would you have suffered death without resistance , or have taken the sword pro tompore ou● of his hand ; & yet neither be a verse to his honour & person , or his propriety in his weapon . Doth not nature teach us the preservation of our soules ? will not the eye wink without deliberation ? and the smallest worm turne back if you tread on it ? And beside nature , we have frequent presidents in sacred Writ , for even more then defensive resistance of Transcendent Monarchy , 1 Sam. 14.44 , 45. But if all this were nothing , yet we know your Majesty hath passed and Act for the continuance of this Parliament : and sure that Act must needs mean a Parliament with its power and authority , and not the meer name and carkasse of a Parliament ; It s not only that they shall stay together in London , and doe nothing , or no more then another Cour● ; but that they continue your chief Councel , your chief Court , and have sole legislative power , which are your Parliaments peculiar properties . And if your Majesty hath enacted the continuance of a real Parliament in its power , who seeth not that you have thereby joyned with them your Royall Authority , though not your person . Doth not your Majesty in your Expresses oft Mention your selfe a part of the Parliament ? and that the Head without which the Body cannot live ? and is the Parliament valid without your authority ? Therefore , if your Majesty have formerly withdrawne from them your Royal Authority , then you have broke your own Laws ; which we dare not judge after so many solemn Protestations to maintain and rule by the known Laws . Wherefore , we hope your Majesty must needs discerne that wee fought not against you , but for your known establisht Authority in Parliament . And we hope your Majesty will not deny them to be your entire Parliament ; for is the Act recalled whereby they were established ? If not , how can they cease to be your Parliament ? neither let the fault be laid on part of them ; for we all know the major part hath the Authority of the whole ; and if it were the minor part , why did not , or doth the major over-vote them . And we beseech your Majesty , blame us not to think our Religion and all lyes at the stake while we look back by what a train Popery had been almost brought upon us by that party , and see them still the chief in favour and when so many Papists English and forreign have been in Arms against us , and know no one Papist in the Land that is not zealous in the cause . Wonder not , Dread Soveraign , if we hardly believe that those who would so cruelly have destroyed us , should be most zealous in fighting for the Protestant Religion . Blame us not , we beseech you , to fear , while we see no contradiction appear to Mounsieur de Chesne his book , sold openly for many yeers , not in Paris onely , but in London , and read at Court , which records your Maj. Letter to the Pope , promising to venter Crown , and all to unite us to Rome again . Dread Soveraign many Princes have gone astray through strength of temptation , and after have been happy in repenting and returning ; Oh that the Lord would make it your case , and glorifie his mercy on you and us , in making knowne to you the thing concerning our peace , and not his justice in hardning you to destruction : that it may never be read in our Chronicle by the Generations to come , that England had a Prince who lived and dyed in seeking the desolation of his people , and the Church of God . Your Majesty knoweth there is a King and a Judge above you ; before whom You must very shortly stand and give account of your Government ; We desire you in the presence of that God , to think , and think seriously , and think again how sad it will be , to have all this bloud charged on your soule ; Can your Maj. think of this when you are dying ? Can those Councellours that have set you on then bring you as safely off ? Your Maj. may despise wha● we say , an● judge us your enemies because we tell you the truth , & speak as dying men in the sorrow of our soules ; but you cannot so put by divine justice , or quiet conscience at the last : As true as the Lord liveth , your Maj. will one day know that Blasphemers and Flatterers are not your friends ; but plain dealers , who do assure you , the ways you have taken , tend to the utter ruine and destruction of your Kingdome . And can your heart endure , or can your hands be strong in the day the Lord will reckon with you for his people committed to your charge ? O think of the low condition your Majesty is now in , how your friends have left and forsaken you ; and in stead of commanding three Kingdoms , confin'd to a petty Island . Suppose you now heard the bloud of your people already spilt , crying in your ears , & saw the many thousands yet living a life worse then death , lying in their sorrows at your feet , crying for pitty , help , O King help , or we lose our liberties , laws , lives and Religion ; help , that you● Self and Royall Posterity be not Princes of an impoverished desolate Nation : helpe as ever you would have God help you in the day of death and judgment , when your Self shall cry for help and pitty ; helpe , that deliverance come not some other way , while you and your Fathers house are destroyed . The Lord God of our hopes , who hath for our sins most justly afflicted us in You , give Your Majesty a discerning eye , a holy and tender heart , to yeeld to the Desires of your distressed Subjects , To return to and concur with your Parliament , that God and Man may forget your mistakings , and you may be the blessed●st Prince that ever reigned in our Land , the terrour of your reall enemies , the joy of your people , and the glory of posterity ; Such shall be the dayly and hearty prayers of Your Majesties loyall ( however esteemed ) Subjects , &c. POSTCRIPT . GOod Friend , We would have you know this Remonstrance was intended only for his Majesties view , but because plain dealing is seldome well taken , and his Majesty so guarded from the requests of his Subjests , we are therefore forced to submit it to your common view , and to turn it out , in hope his Majesty may light of one Copy , and seriously read it , and lay to heart the distresse of the miserable : if you censure it as the work of some few discontented persons , Know you it is the sense of the North and North west of England , and if you will promise us freedome , and hopes of successe , wee 'l soon return it you with the hands of 1000000. If you condemn us for speaking too plainly , know that misery makes men forget good manners , and dying men use not complements ; We are in the case of the Lepers , If we sit still we perish ; therefore , we will move in the way of hope , and go in to the King , though it be not according to law , and if we perish we perish . Yet know , we will come far short of the plainnesse of better persons and times , 2 Sam. 12.7 . 1 King. 18.18 . &c. &c. &c. Febr. 16. 1647. Imprimatur , GILBERT MABBOT . FINIS .