Selected quad for the lemma: war_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
war_n	high_a	king_n	treason_n	3,672	5	9.5249	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75399	The ansvver of the Commons, to a petition, in the name of thousands wel-affected persons inhabiting the city of London, Westminster, borough of Southwarke, and hamlets, and places adjacent.	England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons.	1648 (1648)	Wing A3289B; Thomason E468_27; ESTC R205391	15,650	16

wealth 23. That you would not have followed the example of former tyrannous and superstitious Parliaments in making Orders Ordinances or Laws or in appointing punishments concerning opinions of things supernaturall styling some blasphemies others heresies when as you know your selves easily mistaken and that divine truths need no humane helpes to support them such proceedings having been generally invented to divide the people amongst themselves and to affright men from that liberty of discourse by which corruption and tyranny would be soon discovered 24. That you would have declared what the businesse of the Lords was and ascertaine their condition not derogating from the liberties of other men that so there might be an end of striving about the same 25. That you would have done justice upon the capitall authors and promoters of the former or late Wars many of them being under your power Considering that mercy to the wicked is cruelty to the innocent and that all your lenity doth but make them the more insolent and presumptuous 26. That you would have provided constant pay for the Army now under the Command of the Lord Generall Fairfax and given rules to all Judges and all other publique Officers throughout the Land for their Indempnity and for the saving harmelesse all that have any wayes assisted you or that have said or done any thing against the King Queen or any of His party since the beginning of this Parliament without which any of His party are in a better condition then those who have served you nothing being more frequent with them then their reviling of you and your friends The things and worthy Acts which have been done and atchived by this Army and their adherents however ingratefully suffered to be scandalized as Sectaries and men of corrupt judgements in defence of the just authority of this honourable House and of the common liberties of the Nation and in opposition to all kind of Tyrannie and oppression being so far from meeting an odious Act of Oblivion that they rather deserve a most honourable Act of perpetuall remembrance to be as a paterne of publique vertue fidelity and resolution to all posterity 27. That you would have laid to heart all the abundance of innocent blood that hath been spilt and the infinite spoile and havock that hath been made of peaceable harmlesse people by expresse Commissions from the King and seriously to have considered whether the justice of God be likely to be satisfied or his yet continuing wrath appeased by an Act of Oblivion These and the like we have long time hoped you would have minded and have made such an establishment for the generall peace and contentfull satisfaction of all sorts of people as should have been to the happinesse of all future generations and which we most earnestly desire you would set your selves speedily to effect whereby the almost dying honour of this most honourable House would be againe revived and the hearts of your Petitioners and all other wel-affected people be fresh renewed unto you the Freedome of the Nation now in perpetuall hazard would be firmely established for which you would once more be so strengthened with the love of the people that you should not need to cast your eyes any other wayes under God for your security but if all this availeth nothing God be our Guide for man sheweth us not a way for our preservation The Answer of the Commons to a Petition in the name of thousands welaffected persons c. A THis House is very well pleased with your desires of Peace and hopes that when you are satisfied the waies by you propounded for obtaining it are not conducing to that end but tending to the encrease of such meanes as may make the War endlesse and the troubles of this Kingdome infinite your right affections will follow right reason and they therefore are willing to informe you of those mistakes which were the cause of those Propositions which you have framed in order to Peace And first we cannot but take notice of what you say that you engaged on our part against the King You know we raised Armes at first and engaged such as assisted us for King and Parliament and you know both we and you tooke * May 1641. a Protestation to defend the Kings Person Honour and Estate and you know both you and we are the Kings Subjects and ought by the duty of our Allegeance to adhere to Him and defend Him and we cannot make War upon Him nor on our fellow Subjects His adherents without breach of our Allegeance All which might sufficiently informe you that we have made no avowed War against the King but against His evill Councellors and we beleeved if we should have told you that we intended to make War against the King you would not have aided us at all knowing it high Treason as you professe you doe which was the reason the engagement was for King and Parliament Next we wish that you would keepe your selves within the bounds of obedience and not presume to anticipate our Councels and prevent our proceedings as you doe by telling us what you expect our resolutions to be we are contented to receive information of your grievances from you but must not be schooled or Magistrated by you although in the beginning we gave way to some such Petitions in regard of the distempers of your minds whereby the Lords and many of our owne Members were over-awed yet this House cannot approve that such courses are agreeable to Law or Reason B Where you say that you had not engaged on the part of this House but that you judged this House the supreame authority of England is very strange to us your selves as we beleeve as well as we having according to the common duty and the Law of the Land acknowledged before God that the King is the onely Supreame Governour of this Realme over all persons and in all causes and bound our selves by Oath to defend that His Supremacy and we alwayes call our selves His Commons and His House of Commons and make Petitions to Him for His grace and favour styling Him as He is our most gratious Soveraigne and Leige Lord and the experience of all times and the opinion of all men of sound judgement Divines and Lawyers being that this Kingdome is a Monarchy and so acknowledged in many Acts of Parliament and this House was instituted by the Kings Predecessors All Townes sending Burgesses by their Grants And you know you ingaged for the Lords as well as for this House We beleeve your mention of our Supremacy is but a pretence and that you meane to assume the power you say is in the people and exclude this House as well as King and Lords It is true the Members of this House were chosen by the people of the severall Countries and Townes that sent us to represent their Petitions to the King not themselves against the King and our consent to such things as the King shall

THE ANSWER OF THE COMMONS TO A PETITION In the name of thousands wel-affected persons inhabiting the City of London Westminster Borough of Southwarke and Hamlets and places adjacent Printed in the Year 1648. To the Right Honourable the Commons of England c. SHEWETH A THat although we are as earnestly desirous of a safe and wel grounded Peace and that a finall end were put to all the troubles and miseries of the Common-wealth as any sort of men whatsoever Yet considering upon what grounds we engaged on your part in the late and present Wars and how far by our so doing we apprehend our selves concerned Give us leave before you conclude as by the Treaty in hand to acquaint you first with the ground and reason which induced us to aid you against the King and His Adherents Secondly What our Apprehensions are of this Treaty Thirdly What we expected from you and do still most earnestly desire B Be pleased therefore to understand that we had not engaged on your part but that wee judged this Honourable House to be the Supreame Authority of England as chosen by and representing the People and entrusted with absolute power for redresse of Grievances and provision for Safety and that the King was but at the most the chief publique Officer of this Kingdome and accomptable to this House the representative of the People from whom all just Authority is or ought to be derived for discharge of His Office And if we had not been confident hereof we had been desperately mad to have taken up Armes or to have been aiding and assisting in maintaining a War against Him The Laws of the Land making it expresly a crime no lesse then Treason for any to raise War against the King C But when we consider the manifold oppressions brought upon the Nation by the King His Lords and Bishops and that this Honourable House declared their deepe sence thereof and that for continuance of that power which had so opposed us it was evident the King intended to raise Forces and to make War and that if He did set up His Standard it tended to the dissolution of the Government upon this knowing the safety of the people to be above Law and that to judge thereof appertained to the Supreame Authority and not to the Supreame Magistrate and being satisfied in our Consciences that the publique safety and freedome was in imminent danger we concluded we had not only a just cause to maintaine but the Supreame Authority of the Nation to justifie defend and indempnifie us in time to come in what we should performe by direction thereof though against the knowne Law of the Land on any inferiour Authority though the highest D And as this our understanding was begotten in us by principles of right reason so were we confirmed herein by their own proceedings as by your condemning these Iudges who in the case of Ship money had declared the King to be Iudge of safety and by your d●●●ing Him to have a negative Voice in the making of Lawes where you wholly exclude the King from having any share in the Supream Authority Then by your casting the Bishops out of the House of Lords who by tradition also had been accounted an essentiall part of the Supream Authority And by your declaring to the Lords that if they would not joyne with you in sending the Militia which they long refused you would settle it without them which you could not justly have done and they had any 〈…〉 in the Supreame Authority E These things we tooke for real Demonstration that you undoubtedly knew your selves to be the Supreame Authority over weighing downe in us all other your indulgent expressions concerning the King Lords It being indeed impossible for us to beleeve that it can consist either with the safety or freedome of the Nation to be governed either by three or two Supreames especially where experience hath proved them so apt to differ in their judgements concerning Freedome or Safety that the one hath been knowne to punish what the other hath judged worthy of reward when not onely the freedome of the people is directly opposite to the Prerogatives of the King and Lords but the open enemies of the one have been declared friends by the other as the Scots were by the House of Lords F And when as most of the oppressions of the Common-wealth have in all times been brought upon the people by the King and Lords who neverthelesse would be so equall in the Supreame Authority as that there should be no redresse of grievances no provision for safety but at their pleasure For our parts we professe our selves so far from judging this to be consistent with Freedome or Safety that we know no great cause wherefore we assisted you in the late Wars but in hope to be delivered by you from so intollerable so destructive a bondage so soone as you should through Gods blessing upon the Armies raised by you be enabled G But to our exceeding griefe we have observed that no sooner God vouchsafeth you Victory and blesseth you with successe and thereby enableth you to put us and the whole Nation into an absolute condition of Freedome and Safety but according as ye have been accustomed passing by the ruine of a Nation and all the blood that hath been spilt by the King and His Party ye betake your selves to a Treaty with Him thereby puttitg Him that is but one single person and a publique Officer of the Common-wealth in competition with the whole body of the people whom ye represent not considering that it is impossible for you to erect any authority equall to your selves and declared to all the world that you will not alter the Ancient Government from that of King Lords and Commons nor once mentioning in case of difference which of them is Supreame but leaving that point which was the chiefest cause of all our publique differences disturbances Wars and miseries as uncertain as ever H In so much as we who upon these grounds have laid out our selves every way to the utmost of our abilities and all others throughout the Land Souldiers and others who have done the like in defence of our Supreame Authority and in opposition to the King cannot but deeme our selves in the most dangerous condition of all others left without all plea of Indempnity for what we have done as already many have found by losse of their lives and liberties either for things done or said against the King the Law of the Land frequently taking place and precedency against and before your Authority which we esteemed Supreame and against which no Law ought to be pleaded Nor can we possibly conceive how any that have any waies assisted you can be exempt from the guilt of murders and robbers by the present Lawes in force if you persist to disclaime the Supreame Authority though their owne conscience doe acquit them as having opposed none but manifest Tyrants Oppressors and their