The Earl of Essex his speech, at the delivering the following petition to His Most Sacred Majesty, Jan. 25, 80 [i.e. 1681] Essex, Arthur Capel, Earl of, 1631-1683. 1681 Approx. 9 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2007-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A38646 Wing E3304 ESTC R31446 11982919 ocm 11982919 51897 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. A38646) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 51897) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1008:15) The Earl of Essex his speech, at the delivering the following petition to His Most Sacred Majesty, Jan. 25, 80 [i.e. 1681] Essex, Arthur Capel, Earl of, 1631-1683. 2 p. Printed for Benj. Harris ..., London : 1681. Caption title. Imprint from colophon. Includes also the petition against holding the Parliament at Oxford, signed: Monmouth, Kent, Hunting [and 13 others]. Reproduction of original in the Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1660-1688. 2006-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-11 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-12 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2006-12 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion The EARL of Essex his SPEECH , at the Delivering the following Petition to His most Sacred Majesty , Jan. 25. 80. May it please Your Majesty , THe Lords here present , together with divers other Peers of the Realm , taking notice that by your late Proclamation , your Majesty has declared an intention of calling a Parliament , at Oxford ; and observing from History and Records how unfortunate many such assemblies have bin , when called at a Place remote from the Capital City ; as particularly the Congress in Henry the Seconds time at Clarindon ; Three several Parliaments at Oxford in Henry the thirds time ; and at Coventry in Henry the Sixths time ; With divers others which have proved very fatal to those Kings , and have been followed with great mischief on the whole Kingdom : and considering the present posture of affairs , the many jealousies and discontents , which are amongst the People , we have great cause to apprehend that the consequences of the sitting of a Parliament now at Oxford may be as fatal to your Majesty and the Nation , as those others mentioned have bin to the then Reigning Kings ; and therefore we do conceive that we cannot answer it to God , to your Majesty , or to the People , If we , being Peers of the Realm , should not on so Important an Occasion humbly offer our advice to your Majesty ; that if possible . Your Majesty may be prevailed with , to alter this ( as we apprehend ) unseasonable Resolution . The Grounds and Reasons of our Opinion , are contained in this our Petition , which We humbly Present to Your Majesty . To the KING 's most Excellent Majesty . The Humble Petition and Advice of the Lords under-named , PEERS of the REALM . Humbly Sheweth , THat whereas Your Majesty hath been pleased , by divers Speeches , and Messages to Your Houses of Parliament , rightly to represent to them the Dangers that Threatned Your Majesties Person , and the whole Kingdom , from the Mischievous , and wicked Plots of the Papists , and the suddain Growth of a Forreign-Power , unto which , no Stop or Remedy could be Provided , unless it were by Parliament , and an Union of Your Majesties Protestant Subjects , in one Mind , and one Interest . And the Lord Chancellor , in Pursuance of Your Majesties Commands , having more at large Demonstrated the said Dangers to be as great , as we in the midst of our Fears could Imagine them : And so pressing , that our Liberties , Religion , Lives , and the whole Kingdom would be certainly Lost , if a speedy Provision were not made against them . And your Majesty , on the 21. of April , 1679 , Having called unto your Council , many Honorable and Worthy Persons , and declared to them and the whole Kingdom , That being sensible of the evil Effects of a single Ministry , or private Advice , or Forreign Committee , for the General Direction of your Affaires ; Your Majesty would for the Future Refer all things unto that Council , and by the constant Advice of them , together with the frequent use of your great Council , the Parliament , Your Majesty was hereafter Resolved to Govern the Kingdoms ; We began to hope we should see an end of our Miseryes . But to our Unspeakable Grief and Sorrow , we soon found our Expectations Frustrated . The Parliament , then subsisting , was Prorogued and Dissolved before it could perfect what was intended for our Relief and Security : and though another was thereupon called , yet by many Prorogations it was put off , till the 21. of Octob. past ; and notwithstanding your Majesty was then again pleased to acknowledge , that neither Your Person , nor Your Kingdom could be safe , till the matter of the Plot was gone thorow , It was unexpectedly Prorogued on the 10th . of this Month , before any sufficient Order could be taken therein : All their Just and Pious Endeavors to save the Nation were overthrown ; the good Bills they had been Industriously preparing to Unite all Your Majesties Protestant Subjects brought to nought ; The discovery of the Irish Plot stifled ; The witnesses that came in frequently more fully to declare that , both of England and Ireland , discouraged ▪ Those Forreign Kingdoms and States , who by a happy conjunction ▪ with us might give a Check to the French Powers , Disheartned , even to such a Despair of their own Security against the growing greatness of that Monarch , As we fear may induce them to take new Resolutions , and perhaps such as may be fatal to us : The Strength and Courage of our Enemyes both at Home and Abroad increased ▪ And our selves left in the utmost danger of seeing our Countrey brought into utter Desolation . In these Extremities , we had nothing under God to Comfort us , but the Hopes ▪ that Your Majesty ( being touched with the Groans of Your Perishing People ) would have suffered Your Parliament to Meet at the Day unto which it was Prorogued : and that no further Interruption should have been given to their Proceedings , in order to their Saving of the Nation . But that failed us too ; so then we heard that Your Majesty , by the private Suggestion of some Wicked Persons , Favourers of Popery , Promoters of French Designs , and Enemies to Your M●jesty and the Kingdom ( without the Advice , and as we have good Reason to believe , against the Opinion , even of Your Privy-Councel ) had been prevailed with to Dissolve it , & to call another to Meet at Oxford , where neither Lords nor Commons can be in Safety ; but will be dayly exposed to the Swords of the Papists , and their Adherents of whom too many are crept into Your Majesties Guards . The Liberty of speaking according to their Consciences , will be thereby Destroyed , and the Validity of all their Acts , and Proceedings consisting in it , left Disputable . The Straitness of the Place , no way admits of such a concourse of Persons , as now follows every Parliament ; the Witnesses which are necessary to give Evidence against the Popish Lords ; such Judges , or others whom the Commons have Impeached , or had Resolved to Impeach , can neither bear the Charge of going thither , nor trust themselves under the Protection of a Parliament , that is it self Evidently under the Power of Guards and Souldiers . The Premises considered , We Your Majesties Petitioners , out of a Just Abhorrence of such a dangerous and pernicious Council ( which the Authors have not dared to avow ) and the direful Apprehensions of the Calamities & Miseries , that may ensue thereupon ; do make it our most Humble Prayer , and Advice , That the Parliament may not Sit at a Place , where it will not be able to Act with that Freedom ▪ which is necessary ; and especially , to Give unto their Acts and Proceedings , that Authority which they ought to have amongst the People , and have ever had , unless Impaired by some Awe upon them , ( of which there wants not Precedents ) and that Your Majesty would be graciously pleased , to Order It to Sit at Westminster , ( it being the usual Place , and where they may Consult and Act with Safety and Freedom ) And Your Petitioners shall ever Pray , &c. Monmouth , Kent , Huntington , Bedford , Salisbury , Clara , Standford , Essex ▪ Shaftsbury , Mordant , Evers , Paget , Grey , Herbert , Howard , Delamer . London , Printed for Benj. Harris ▪ at the Stationers-Arms , in the Piazza under the Royal-Exchange , 1681.