A Happy Handful, Statement 2 – Notice
To the Right Honorable, our worthy and grave Senators, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Comonalty of the City of London, in Common Council aſſembled.
The humble Petition and Addreſs of divers Young Men, on the behalf of themſelves and the APPRENTICES in and about this honorable City.
Moſt humbly ſheweth,
IT hath pleaſed the good and only wiſe God, for our and the Nations crying ſins, to manifeſt his diſpleaſure for many years together againſt theſe our flouriſhing, now ſadly divided, diſtracted and almoſt ruined Nations: and yet bleſſed be God, this honorable City hitherto hath been no proportionable ſharer in the Calamities which our Brethren in other parts of theſe now miſerable Nations have ſuffered, which are now aggravated by our Diviſions, and ſuch a general decay of trading, as doth exceed the worſt of former times; all which we look upon as a moſt ſad preſage of ſome art, and diſmal judgement very near at hand, if not our ſudden ruine; together with the deſtruction and utter diſſolation both of Church and State, which will inevitably enſue as a juſt reward upon our multiplied provocations, under the moſt ſignal manifeſtations of Gods moſt gracious preſence, and the moſt engaging Mercies that ever People did enjoy (unleſſe it pleaſe our moſt gracious God whoſe Name hath been exceedingly diſhonored, by the violation of many ſacred and ſolemn Oaths) amongſt us to work our deliverance out of this contexture of dangerous miſchiefs, into which we have already wound our ſelvs: or which as the innundations of mighty Waters may ſuddenly break in upon us: and being ſadly ſenſible of the Calamities under which the three Nations groan, for want of a well-ordered and eſtabliſhed Government. We being members in the ſame pollitical Body, cannot but ſympathize with the reſt of our Brethren: and foraſmuch as our endeavours may contribute very much thereto, and the well or ill management of your talents in the diſcharge of your Truſts may now make theſe Nations happy, or elſe make them irrecoverably miſerable. We hold our ſelves obliged in conſcience to God and our Countrey, both by the Laws of God and the Land, in the behalf of our ſelves, and all good and peaceable People in the Land, and the many thouſands that know not their right hand from their left; and in the behalf of the Children unborn, who in time to come may have cauſe to bleſſe or curſe the day of their birth for your ſakes, do make this humble Addreſſe to you, as the only means under God now left us to redreſſe theſe growing miſchiefs which make us and the three Nations in theſe times of our great trouble cry unto you (as thoſe of Macedonia did in the Apoſtles Viſion) Come and help us. And we beſeech you, our moſt grave and worthy Senators, as you tender the welfare of theſe bleeding Nations, to ſtand in the wide gap of our breaches, with your Prayers, improving your Councils, and every Talent (which God hath repoſed in you) for the honour of God, and the peace of his Church, by a reall reformation, and we queſtion not but our moſt gracious God will then break through the thick Clouds of theſe black and dark providences, and return unto us our Judges as at the firſt, and our Counſelors as at the beginning, with the abundance of the bleſſings of peace, that Judgement may run down our ſtreets, and Righteouſneſs as a mighty ſtream. And we humbly deſire the two great Pillars of the Land, Magistracy and Miniſtry may be aſſerted and encouraged: in order unto which, we humbly preſent unto your grave and ſerious conſideracions.
Firſt, the Priviledges of the Goſpel which we do enjoy at this day, in the faithfull preaching and diſpenſing of Gods holy Word and Sacraments, together with the labours of ſo many of his faithfull Servants in the Miniſtry, and the liberty of theſe ſacred Ordinances, being the beſt and choiceſt of our National bleſſings; in reſpect of which, we may well ſay (with holy David) God hath not dealt ſo with any Nation: which with thankfulneſſe we deſire to ackowledge as a great mercy to this Land: And ſhould the Lord remove this Candleſtick out of its place, as we have juſt cauſe to fear he will, unleſſe we do repent) Then may we indeed complain with Phineas his Wife, the glory is departed from our Iſrael, and a dark and diſmal night of black and gloomy Ignorance, Error and Prophaneneſſe will envelope our Valley of Viſion. And to the end that this choice Bleſſing (which we account more precious than our lives) may be conveyed to Poſterity, we moſt humbly deſire the Miniſtry may be Countenanced and encouraged, the Univerſities upheld and maintained, which have nurſed many famous Preachers for Piety and Learning in this and former Ages, and your Authority uſed for the terror of evil doers, but the praiſe of them that do well.
Secondly we eſteem and aſſert, as our undoubted birth-right, the Freedom and Priviledges of our Parliaments, as being the great Charter of the people of England, which we account equally dear with our lives; in the enjoyment of which we yet hope, under God, to ſee a happy and laſting ſettlement both in Church and Scate. Therefore we moſt humbly deſire, that a new Election may be made, or elſe that thoſe worthy Gentlemen choſen to ſerve as Members in the late free Parliament, may be reſtored to their priviledges, and ſit without diſturbance or force from the Army, that they may conſider in this evil time, what England, Scotland, and Ireland ought to do, which (with ſubmiſſion to your grave judgements) we humbly conceive to be the moſt probable means under God to eſtabliſh the true Proteſtant Religion, reform the Laws, ſecure our Liberties and preſerve our lives and outward concernments, to promote Learning end encourage Vertue, whereby peace with our neighbour Nations may be renewed and eſtabliſhed, the Army ſatisfied, their Arrears paid, and Trading reſtored. In all which, moſt grave and worthy Senators, your own concernments (as well as ours) are ſo deeply engaged, that we perſwade our ſelves you will be inſtumental to further our deſires, by all peaceable and lawfull means, and we hope it will put an end to our Diviſions, which (if God in mercy prevent not) may ſoon break out into another civil War, and render us as a prey to a forreign enemy, For a Kingdom divided againſt it ſelf cannot ſtand.
Now we leave it unto you our moſt grave and worthy Senators, duly to conſider, if you part with theſe our great National Bleſſings, whether you will not diſcover a palpable breach of truſt, and leave your names for a reproach to the generations following, who will in the Ages to come riſe up and call you bleſſed, if you be carefull to preſerve them now, and convey them to Poſterity: And now we beſeech the Lord to ſtrengthen both your hearts and hands, and give you wiſdom from on high to direct you in all your Conſultations, as may be moſt for the honour of God, the peace of his Church throughout the world, and the ſettlement, ſafety and happineſſe of theſe poor Nations: And by his aſſiſtance we reſolve to ſtand by you and with you, to the utmoſt hazzard of our lives and all that is deare unto us, to promote the ſame.
Munday 5. December.
This day the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council being aſſembled, the fore-recited Pitition was preſented by ſeveral Young-men and Apprentices, in behalfe of themſelves and ſeveral thouſands which have ſubſcribed the ſame; the which being received, was ordered to be read, and thereupon a Committee choſen to conſider thereof, and to give their ſpeedy Report unto the next Court concerning the ſame.
At the ſame Court it was likewiſe Ordered, that the Lord General Fleetwood ſhould be deſired to draw off the Soldiers, unto their ſeveral Quarters; it being then alſo Ordered, that every Common Council man in his ſeveral Precinct, ſhould give notice to the Houſe-keepers within the ſame, that they ſhould keep their Servants and Apprentices at home, thereby to preſerve the peace of the City.
To his Excellency the Lord General MONCK.
The Ʋnanimous Repreſentation of the APPRENTICES and Young-men inhabiting in the City of LONDON.
Humbly ſheweth,
THat the Glory of our Nation, and the greateſt Comfort of our Lives in our Civil Intereſts, conſiſts in the Priviledges and Liberties to which we were born, and which are the undoubted Inheritance of all the free people of England, among which the grand and eſſential Priviledges which diſcriminates Free-men from Slaves, is the Intereſt which every man hath in the Legiſlative power of the Nation, by their Repreſentatives aſſembled in Parliament: without which, however we may flatter our ſelves, or be flatter'd by others, we are truly no better than Vaſſals govern'd by the will and pleaſure of thoſe who have no relation to us, or our common Intereſt.
Now how much this dear Priviledge of the People hath been aſſaulted by the open violence of ſome, and ſecret artifice of others, and to what a deplorable condition we are brought at this preſent period, when heavy Taxes are impoſing upon mens Eſtates, and new Laws upon our Perſons, without any conſent of the People had in a free Parliament, and how generally, through the ſaid diſtractions in Government, Trading is decayed, and how much we are likely to ſuffer thereby in our times and places, we cannot but remonſtrate to your Excellency, conſtrain'd through the ſenſe of our preſent ſufferings, and apprehenſions of greater, to implore your aſſiſtance, moſt humbly beſeeching your Excellency, by that ancient love you have born to your Native Countrey, zeal to our Liberties, by that great Renown you have lately gain'd in oppoſing the cruel raging of the Sword, by the common Cries of the People, and by the hopes and cheerful expectation of all England now fix'd upon you; and laſtly, by your own Perſonal Concern in the ſame common Cauſe as a free-born Engliſh man, that you would be pleaſed to uſe thoſe great advantages Divine Providence hath now put into your hands, to the ſecuring your Native Countrey from thoſe dangerous uſurpations, and preſerving us in thoſe Liberties to which we were born. That no Tax may be impoſed, nor new Law made, nor old aboliſht, but with the conſents of the People had by their Repreſentatives in Parliament, freely to be choſen without terror or limitations, and freely to ſit without any Oath or Engagement previous to their entrance, without which ſpecial Liberties the Parliament cannot in any conſtruction be eſteemed the free Aſſembly of the People; and by your Excellency's aſſerting of thoſe our undoubted Rights in your preſent advantages, you will certainly, by the bleſſing of God, and unanimous concurrence of the People, accompliſh our ends, and will thereby gain the hearts and hands of the whole Nation, and the City in particular, and purchaſe to your ſelf a Name that ſhall make every true Engliſh man call you bleſſed, and Poſterity ſhall hereafter delight to recount the famous Acts of their worthy Patriot.
This was delivered to his Excellency at S. Albans, on Thurſday Febr. 2. 1659. by perſons elected for that purpoſe, and had a very cheerfull Reception.
THE DECLARATION Of the Nobility, Gentry, Ministry, and Commonalty of the County of KENT.
Together with the City and County of Canterbury, the City of Rocheſter, and the Ports within the ſaid County.
HAving with ſadneſſe weighed the multiplied calamities wherein we are at preſent involved, how friendleſſe we are abroad, and how divided at home; the loud and heart-piercing cries of the poor, and the diſability of the better ſort to relieve them; the total decay and ſubverſion of Trade, together with the forfeiture and loſſe of the Honour and Reputation of the Nation (what is more dear to us than all theſe) the apparent hazzard of the Goſpel, through the prodigious growth of Blaſphemies, Hereſies and Schiſm, all which own their birth to the inſtability of our Governors, and the unſettlement of our Government. Laſtly, how in all theſe an univerſal ruine threatneth us, and will (if not timely prevented) doubtleſſe overwhelm us. We thought it our bounden duties, both as Chriſtians, out of tenderneſſe to our Religion; as Engliſh men, to our Countrey; and as Friends, to our ſelves and our Relations, to repreſent and publiſh to the world our juſt griefs for, and our lively reſentments of this our deplorable condition, and to ſeek all lawfull and probable means to remedy and redreſſe the ſame.
Wherefore having the leading Examples of the renowned Cities of London and Exeter, together with the Counties of the Weſt, before our eyes; and the clamors and out-cries of the People always in our ears, (whereof the one encourageth, and the other enforceth us to this our Declaration) we thought that we would not be ſilent at ſuch a time, when our ſilence would ſpeak us to be Aſſentors to our own ruine, or Abettors of ſuch proceedings as have neither Law nor Equity to ſupport them.
We therefore the Nobility, Gentry, Miniſtry, and Commonalty of the County of KENT, together with the City and County of Canterbury, the City of Rochester, and the Ports within the ſaid County, do by theſe Preſents unanimouſly declare, That our deſires are for a Full and Free Parliament, as the only probable means, under God, to lead us out of this Maze and Labyrinth of confuſions in which we are at preſent engag'd; that is, that the old ſecluded Members, ſo many of them as are ſurviving, may be re-admitted into the Houſe, and that there may be a free Election of others to ſupply the places of thoſe who are dead, without any Oath or Engagement previous to their entrance; theſe we ſhall own as the true Repreſentatives of the People; theſe we ſhall with our Lives and Fortunes, to the uttermoſt of our power, aſſiſt, and with all cheerfulneſſe ſubmit to, and acquieſce in whatſoever they ſhall Enact or Ordain.
Thus concluding, that all publick ſpirited men, and good Patriots, will with all readineſſe joyn and concur with us in a matter of ſo univerſal concernment, and that we ſhall finde oppoſition from none, but ſuch as prefer their own private Intereſts, and temporal reſpects, to their Religion, and Laws of the Land; we ſhall as bodily ſubſcribe our Names, as we do heartily declare our Deſires.
ADVERTISEMENT.
THe forward zeal of ſome wel-diſpoſed perſons, to expreſse their cordial and unanimous concurrence with their Countrey-men of the ſeveral Counties and Cities of England, having cauſed a Declaration, imperfect in a very weighty and material Clauſe thereof, to be printed and publiſhed, in the Name of the County of Kent, &c. It was thought fit that the genuine and true Copy of the ſaid Declaration ſhould be ſet forth, as it was intended to be preſented to the Speaker, and to the preſent great Arbitrator of the Nations peace and happineſſe, General MONCK; but through the miſ-informations of ſome unquiet ſpirits, (who while they may have leave to accuſe, will leave no man innocent, nor the State without trouble) the perſons of many Gentlemen are ſecured, and others threatned, by a great force march'd into the Countrey, the Preſentation was neceſſarily omitted, and the Names and ſubſcriptions not expoſed to publick view, for reaſons very obvious and evident.