Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A40777
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The Faithfull souldier, or, The Speech of a common souldier concerning his arreares and putting the King to death
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1649
(1649)
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Wing F287; ESTC R29801
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3,825
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10
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The Faithfull Souldier OR THE SPEECH OF A COMMON SOULDIER CONCERNING His ARREARES AND Putting the KING to death Printed in the Yeare 1649. THE FAITHFVL SOVLDIER OR The Speech of a Common Souldier concerning his Arrears c. Fellow Souldiers HEare me a word or two I have somewhat to say which concernes every man of us We heare they intend to put the KING to death they know Fellow-Souldiers it is in our power to save His life for if we think fit to have Him live neither Councell nor Commissioners will dare to touch Him And as our case yet stands I think we are stark mad if we suffer Him to die for as yet they have not paid us our Arrears and perhaps never will when the KING is once dead they promised to pay us this day and that day but now they confesse that indeed they dare not give us our Arrears for they say If we Souldiers once had all our money we would soon disband and goe home to our friends Is this faire dealing by this Rule we must never have it for they can alwayes say they dare not trust us this makes them give us now and then a pittance which scarce keeps life and soule tegether but for our Arreares which are as truly ours as the cloathes upon our backs we may wait long enough For if the KING be put to death there will be such weeping such cursing and raging all England will cry out and say O ye bloudy Souldiers have ye murthered our KING Ye took Oathes and Covenants to defend His Person and now have ye cut His Throat Truly Fellow-souldiers we are arrant fooles to make the world hate us for killing the KING and yet we not be one penny the better for it If we see cause we can any time hereafter take away his life when we have our Arrears and things are better setled but if now we shed his bloud we can never make him alive againe Therefore before we doe that which can never be undone let us Souldiers make our best use of it let us declare that untill they pay us all our Arrears they shall not put the KING to death let us doe this and on my life it will bring in every penny of our money you shall see they will strive who shall first pay us those that are so hot to have the KING'S bloud will pay us rather than let Him live and those who are His friends will give us any thing rather than let Him die my Landlord told me that if we Souldiers would save the KING'S life which we can easily doe the KING'S Friends would pay us all our Arreares and give us two hundred thousand pounds as a gratuity besides He bid us name our Summe and it should be paid us downe upon the nayle And why fellow Souldiers should we refuse this now is the time for when the KING is dead they will not give us two pence we know the Scots would not part with the KING untill they had their two hundred thousand pounds and are not our Arreares as due as theirs nay when the Parliament got the KING they would have kept Him had not we resolutely fetcht Him from Holdenby yet while they had Him they grew so high that they offer'd to Disband us without paying all Arreares Then we got the KING and while we used Him civilly all England was for us who then but the Army the KING and the Army were in every mans mouth but as soone as we clapt Him in Carisbrooke-Castle and suffer'd none to make Addresses to Him then all the Kingdome cried out upon the Army each County began to rise upon us you know what worke we had in Wales Kent Essex twenty thousand Scots powring in upon us who if they had but the twentieth part of our English courrage we had found a hard taske of it So ye see the KING still is all in all who ever got the KING had the hearts of the People in all our Quarters and where-ever we March'd ye heard the People still calling for their KING if they hate us and fought with us for keeping Him in Prison how will they rage when they see us cut His throat thinke ye that then they will pay us our Arreares I say fellow Souldiers we are all starke mad if we let the KING die till we have our money But perhaps some will say that the Councell of Warre doth not hinder our Arreares that they are Officers and would be as glad of their money as we would I confesse indeed some Officers would for some are in the same case with us us but the Chief Commanders the Grandees are of another mind they have all at command Sequestrations Offices Parliament and all Lieutenant Generall Cromwell hath many thousand pounds a yeare of the Earle of Worcester's Estate They can pay themselves but when will they pay us They make the Parliament Vote what they please nay fellow Souldiers when we tooke the money from Weavers-hall the Councell of Warre refused to let Us have it but Voted forsooth to send it to the Navie he that Writes the OCCURRENCES saies so in print And the other day They and the House Voted two hundred thousand pounds more for the Navie they know the Sea-men can pay themselves they have Ships in their power as we now have the KING in our power and should we serve them as the Sea-men serv'd them perhaps then we might have our Arreares But if at any time we aske for money Master Poters is hired to stop our mouthes that Fellow hath cosen'd us I know not how often and by my consent when next he comes let us clap him neck and heeles he said they would pay us as soone as we came to London but here we have waited two months longer yet no Arreares then they told us that the Parliament was full of Rotten Members and the House must be purg'd e're we could be paid I thinke we gave it a sufficient Purge we Imprison'd and drove away so many Members that we have not left above fifty or threescore not a Member sits now but such as our Councell of Warre approv'd of and both They and our Councell have sate seven Weeks yet no Arreares Alas fellow Souldiers these are all tricks meere Tricks they can never want such excuses as these and if now we let them take the KING and put him to death we may go whistle for our Arreares But suppose now we had our Arreares which we are not like if we lose this opportunity are we the better for this Kings death When He is gone either we must have another King or a new kinde of Government and this new Government will be either a Parliament or a Committee or many Kings at once For Parliaments and Cōmittees we know how they have used us they Voted and gather'd up wealth for themselves but let us bleed and storve sink or swim all was one to them And for many Kings at once they say