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A69922
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The answer of both Hovses of Parliament to His Majesties message of the 12 of November with His Majesties reply thereunto.; His Majesties declaration to all his loving subjects, of his true intentions in advancing lately to Brainceford
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England and Wales. Parliament.; England and Wales. Sovereign (1625-1649 : Charles I)
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1642
(1642)
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Wing E1221; ESTC R224452
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6,437
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17
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HIS MAJESTIES DECLARATION To all His loving SUBjECTS OF HIS TRVE INTENTIONS in advancing lately to BRAINCEFORD Printed by his MAIESTIES Command AT OXFORD By LEONARD LICHFIELD Printer to the Vniversity 1642. HIS MAjESTIES DECLARATION To all his loving Subjects of His true Intentions in advancing lately to BRINCEFORD THough Our Reputation be most deare to Us and especially in those cases wherein the truth of Our most solemne Professions and by consequence of Our Christianitie is questioned yet it is not onely for the Vindicaton of that and to cleare Our selfe from such Aspersions but withall to preserve Our Subjects in their just Esteeme of and Duty to Us and from being engaged into Crimes and Dangers by those malicious reports so spightfully fram'd and cunningly spread against Us concerning Our late advancing to Brainceford That Wee have resolv'd to publish this Our following Declaration AT Colebrooke on Friday the eleventh of November Weâ— received a Petition from both Our Houses of Parliament by the Earle of Northumberland the Earle of Pembroke and Montgomery the Lord Wenman Master Perpoint and Sir Iohn Hippisly And indeed We were well pleased to see it so much liker to a Petition then the other Papers Wee had often of late received under that name and return'd to it the next day so gracious an Answer that Wee assure Our selves could not but be very satisfactory to all that were truely lovers of Peace The copies of both doe here follow To the Kings most Excellent Majesty The humble Petition of the Lords and Commons now assembled in PARLIAMENT WE Your Majesties most loyall Subjects the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled being affected with a deep and pierceing sence of the miseries of this Kingdome and of the dangers to Your Majesties Person as the present Affaires now stand and much quickned therein with the sad consideration of the great effusion of Blood at the late Battell and of the losse of so many eminent persons And farther weighing the Addition of Losse miserie and danger to Your Majestie and Your Kingdome which must ensue if both Armies should againe joyne in another Battell as without Gods especiall Blessing and Your Majesties concurrence with Your Houses of Parliament will not probably be avoided We cannot but believe that a sutable Impression of tendernesse and Compassion is wrought in your Majesties Royall Heart being Your selfe an eye-witnesse of the bloody and sorrowfull destruction of so many of your Subjects And that Your Majestie doth apprehend what diminution of Your owne Power and Greatnesse will follow and that all Your Kingdomes will thereby be so weakned as to become subject to the Attempts of any ill-affected to this State In all which respects we assure our selves that Your Majestie will bee inclined graciously to accept this our humble Petition that the misery and desolation of this Kingdome may be speedily removed and prevented for the effecting whereof we most humbly beseech Your Majesty to appoint some convenient place not farre from the City of London where your Majesty will be pleased to reside untill Committees of both Houses of Parliament may attend your Majestie with some Propositions for the removeall of these bloody Distempers and Distractions and setling the State of the Kingdome in such a manner as may conduce to the Preservation of Gods true Religion your Majesties Honour Safety and Prosperity and to the Peace Comfort and Security of all your People His MAIESTIES Answer to the aforesaid Petition WEe take God to witnesse how deepely Wee are affected with the miseries of this Kingdome which heretofore Wee have stroven as much as in Us lay to prevent It being sufficiently knowne to all the World That as Wee were not the first that tooke up Armes so Wee have shewed Our readinesse of Composing all things in a faire way by Our severall offers of Treaty and shall bee glad now at length to find any such Inclinations in others The same tendernesse to avoyd the Destruction of Our Subjects whom Wee know to bee Our greatest strength which would alwayes make Our greatest Victories bitter to Us shall make Us willingly hearken to such Propositions whereby these bloudy distempers may bee stopped and the great distractions of this Kingdome setled to Gods glory Our Honour and the welfare and flourishing of Our People And to that end shall reside at Our owne Castle at Windfore if the Forces there shall bee removed till Committees may have time to attend Us with the same which to prevent the Inconveniences that will intervene Wee wish may bee hastned and shall bee ready there or if that bee refused Vs at any place where Wee shall bee to receive such Propositions as aforesaid from both our Houses of Parliament Doe you your Duty Wee will not bee wanting to Ours God of his mercy give a Blessing BVt the same night after the Messengers were gone certaine Information was brought unto Vs That the same day the Earle of Essex had drawne his forces with great store of Ordinance out of London towards us upon which a Councell of Warre being present and Wee having there considered upon debate Our present Condition That being already almost surrounded by his forces some at Windsore some at Kingston and some at Acton If Wee suffered the Remainder to possesse Brainceford Wee should bee totally hemm'd in and Our Army deprived of all convenience of either moving or subsisting Yet how necessary soever it appear'd Wee could not obtaine Our owne Consent to advance towards Brainceford and either prepossesse it or dispossesse them of it till Wee had satisfied Our selves that it was as lawfull as necessary and fully weighed all that not onely reason but malice it selfe which Wee knew to bee very watchfull upon Our Actions could object against it Wee consider'd first that it could not reasonably bee esteem'd an Aversion from Peace and an Intention to interrupt the Treaty then in expectation Since on the other side Wee had cause to beleeve by the former rejection of Our offers of Treaty when Wee were suppos'd to bee in no condition of strength That if Wee would not thus preserve Our Selves from being so encompass'd as to come into their Powers the very possibility of a Treaty would immediately vanish Wee considered next that much lesse could it bee interpreted any Breach of Faith since willingnesse to receive Propositions of Treaty was never held to amount to a suspension of Armes Since otherwise Wee must because mention of a Treaty had beene once made by the same Logick have beene bound not to hinder them to encompasse Vs on all parts to Colebrooke Townes end Since no word to that purpose of any suspension was in Our Answer Nay since in that by wishing their Propositions might bee hastned to prevent the Inconveniences which would intervene Wee implyed that by this Armes were not suspended And since their owne Votes of proceeding vigorously notwithstanding the Petition and their owne actions in sending after their Messengers great store of forces with
Ordinance so neere to Vs having before girt Vs in on all other parts and sent men and Ordnance to Kingston after the safe Conduct asked of Vs implied the same Being resolved upon these Reasons That this advancing was necessary and just Wee were not yet satisfied till Wee had endeavoured the same day though the interruptions of shooting stopt up the way till the next to satisfie Our Parliament and People of the same and that Peace was still Our desire Wee to that end directed a Message by Iohn White Esquire which was so received that his danger of being put to death for bringing it and imprisonment of him and the Trumpetter that went with him in the Gatehouse shew'd that the very Law of Nations was by some no more consider'd then all other Lawes had beene before A Copy of which Message hereafter followes to shew how little temptation the matter of that gave them for such an usage His MAIESTIES Message of the 12. of November WHereas the last night being the 11. of November after the departure of the Committee of both Our Houses with Our gracious Answer to their Petition Wee received certaine Information having till then heard nothing of it either from the Houses Committer or otherwise That the Lord of Essex had drawne his forces out of London towards Vs which hath necessitated Our sudden Resolution to march with Our forces to Brainceford Wee have thought hereby fit to signifie to both Our Houses of Parliament That Wee are no lesse desirous of the Peace of the Kingdome Then Wee exprest in Our aforesaid Answer The Propositions for which Wee shall willingly receive where ever Wee are And desire if it may bee to receive them at Brainceford this night or early to morrow morning That all possible speed may be made in so good a worke and all inconveniences otherwise likely to intervene may bee avoyded ANd to justifie yet further that Our Intention was no other then was here profest as soone as Wee were informed that the Earle of Essex his forces were departed from Kingston before any apparance or notice of further forces from London Our end of not being inclosed being obtained Wee gave orders to quit Brainceford and to march away and possesse that place Wee cannot but make one Argument more of the truth of Our Profession that this was all Our end and that Wee had not the least thought by so advancing to surprise and lack London which the malignant party would infuse into that Our Citty And that is That probably God Almighty would not have given such a Blessing to Our Iourney as to have assisted Vs so both by Land and Water as with lesse then a third part of Our foot and with the losse but of tenne men to beat two of their best Regiments out of both Braincefords for all the great advantage of their workes in them to kill him who commanded in chiefe and kill and drowne many others to take five hundred Prisoners more Armes eleven Colours and good store of Ammunition fifteene Peeces of Ordinance whereof Wee sunke most that Wee brought not away and then unfought with and unoffered at neerer then by Ordinance to march away notwithstanding the great disadvantage of Our Forces by the difficulties of the Passages if Hee who is the searcher of all hearts and truth it selfe had not knowne the truth of Our Professions and the Innocence of Our Heart And how farre Wee were from deserving those horrid Accusations of falsehood and Treachery cast so point blanke upon Our owne Person That it would amaze any man to see them suffered to bee printed in Our Citty of London if any thing of that kind could bee a wonder after so many of the same and how really they desire Accommodation who upon this have Voted they will have none These Our Reasons for this Action this Our satisfaction sent for it and this Blessing of God's upon it will We doubt not cleere Vs to all indifferent persons both of the Iesuiticall Counsels and personall Treachery to which some have presumed so impudently to impute it And God so blesse Our future Actions as Wee have delivered the truth of this THE ANSWER OF BOTH HOVSES OF PARLIAMENT To his MAJESTIES Message of the 12. of November WITH HIS MAIESTIES Reply thereunto Printed by His MAIESTIES Command AT OXFORD BY LEONARD LICHâ—IELD Printer to the Vniversity 1642. The Answer of both Houses of Parliament to his MAIESTIES Message of the 12. of November TO Your Majesties Message of the 12. of this Month of November Wee the Lords and Commons in Parliament doe make this humble Answer That this Message was not delivered to us till Monday the 14. Wee thought it a strange Introduction to Peace that Your Majesty should send Your Army to beat us out of our Quarters at Brainceford and then appoint that place to receive our Propositions which yet it plainely appeares Your Majesty intended not to receive till You had first tried whether you could breake through the Army raised for Defence of this Kingdome and Parliament and take the Citty being unprovided and secure in expectation of a faire Treaty made to secure the Citty If herein Your Majesty had prevailed after You had destroyed the Army and mastered the Citty it is easie to imagine what a miserable Peace Wee should have had and whether those Courses bee sutable to the Expressions Your Majesty is pleased to make in Your Answer to our Petition of Your Earnestnesse to avoyd any further Effusion of bloud let God and the World judge As for our Proceedings they havein all things beene answerable to our Professions wee gave directions to the Earle of Essex to draw the Army under his Command out of the Citty and Suburbs before wee sent any Message to Your Majesty So that part of it was inquartered at Brainceford before the Committee returned with Your Answer And immediately upon the Receipt thereof that very Morning Order was taken that the Souldiers should Exercise no Act of hostility against any of Your Majesties People Wee sent a letter by Sir Peter Killigrew to know Your Majesties pleasure whether You intended the like forbearance of hostility But the fury of Your Souldiers thirsting after bloud and spoile prevented the delivery of the letter For comming upon Saturday in his way towards Your Majesty as farre as Brainceford hee found them in sight there and could passe no further God who sees our Innocency and that wee have no Aymes but at his Glory and the publique good will wee hope free Your Majesty from those destructive Counsels who labour to maintaine their owne power by bloud and rapine and blesse our Endeavours who seeke nothing but to procure and establish the Honour Peace and Safety of Your Majesty and Kingdomes upon the sure foundation of Religion and Justice To the Answer of both Houses of Parliament to His MAIESTIES Message of the 12. of November His MAIESTIE makes this Reply THat His Message of the 12. though not