Selected quad for the lemma: parliament_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
parliament_n	england_n	great_a	scotland_n	2,981	5	7.9820	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86876	The humble representation of some officers of the Army, to the Right Honourable Lieutenant General Fleetwood. November 1. 1659.	Morley, Herbert, 1616-1667.; Fleetwood, Charles, d. 1692.	1659 (1659)	Wing H3639; Thomason E1005_8; ESTC R202467	6,924	13

THE HUMBLE REPRESENTATION OF SOME Officers OF THE ARMY To the Right Honourable LIEUTENANT GENERAL FLEETWOOD November I. 1659. May it please your Lordship AS we are Englishmen and Christians as we have been imbarked from the beginning of the Wars have born our share in the burden and heat of the day are Commissioned by the Parliament as other Officers of the Army are and look upon our selves and our Families as concerned in the Weal or the Woe of the Land of our Nativity we cannot neglect any means that may prevent or be parties to any thing that may promote the destruction of this poor Nation And therefore beholding with sad and bleeding hearts the late renewed Breach made upon this Parliament the Consequents whereof will be in more then probable Conjecture not only the rendring of all the blood and Treasure shed and spent for the deliverance of poor England fruitless but also the bringing of these Nations into Blood Destruction and Confusion Than which nothing can be more advantagious to Papists and all bloody enemies to Justice and true Godliness so that we cannot with just Peace and satisfaction to our own Consciences sit down altogether in silence but as in some measure we do pour out our hearts before the Lord so we think it our Duty to present you with some of our serious Thoughts Apprehensions and Fears As also our desires that you would consider in time before the Lord what a Floodgate is opened for a Deluge of miseries to be poured down upon this Nation and how much you are concerned as you tender the honour of God the Vindication of Religion the Credit of the Gospel the Recouery of your own Reputation that now lies at stake the just satisfaction that all sober Christians and true Englishmen may challenge from you and the Relief of your native Countrey that is now sinking in her dearest concernments and cries out for help That you would before it is too late improve your utmost Interest and Power to put a stop to that destructive Cariere that the Army now is ingaged in to obviate the too great advantages that forreign and domestick enemies have now put into their hands and seasonably to hinder these new Counsels that have no Parlimentary Sanction and so must be grievous to the free born people of England in any thing they do We address our selves to you not only as being of eminent interest but because you have profest Religion and strictness of Godliness at a high rate and much tenderness of spirit Many sober Christians have had great hopes of you and we are not without confidence our selves yet we know that you are in a very great Tempration the Lord grant that your Temptation may not be seconded with a divine Desertion we are jealous over you many are at a stand what to think of you it was believed that when English Liberties were in late years so much infringed that you did rather bewail them then fully consent to what was done give us leave in faithfulness and with breakings of heart to tell you that present Actings do seem more transcendently to strike at the Liberties of the English Nation and there is none now upon the stage of Action that can pretend to the same advantages the former Protector had Let not our hopes as to you be fruitless nor our desires altogether rejected if you will not hear the cries of the condition of this poor Nation the Lord will in his time and believe it there are thousands of precious souls in England whatever some may think of them and will be found precious at the day of Christs appearing who are at this day weeping in secret places for the unwarrantableness of these undertakings and therefore let us speak this once to you enter into your Chamber yea into the Closet of your own heart come with your heart in the sight of that God whose cies are a flame of fire and whose eie-lids try the Children of men and then labour to give to England Scotland Ireland a through proof of your faithfulness humility selfe denial and publick spiritedness by timely retracting of late unjustifiable actings in violating that authority whom we have all lately owned and by whom we have lately been intrusted by Commissions The good people of this Nation have been formerly deceived by good words and fair promises Setting daies a part for seeking God in fasting when the way is not good will not hereafter blind English eyes doing things unwarrantably and then intituling God to them as they will never the more be owned by God so they will be never the more acceptable to decerning men He that doth Righteousness is righteous The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil and true Godliness cannot be without a denying of self in all ungodliness and wordly lusts They are just indeed who have opportunity and power to be unjust and yet dare not because of the fear of God they are truly faithfull who when they are tempted and provoked to be treacherous yea and have opportunity and power so to do yet will not dare not wound their Trust They have the name of God written in their hearts who stand in awe of his Precepts and dare do nothing meerly because their sword is long enough to do it and if this be according to the rule of Truth the question will be Whether the late and present actings of so many Officers of the Army be suitable yea or no The Parliament is interrupted and that by a great part of the Army and what Parliament is it not the long Parliament under whose Counsels the Army by the blessing of God hath wonne so many glorious Battles in the field both in England Scotland and Ireland That Parliament which through the Mercy of God together with the subordinate Concurrence of Land and Sea-Forces was a Terrour to Enemies both abroad and at home That Parliament which was so constantly willing and ready both to satisfie Publick Debs and contracted Arreares and to provide constant pay for the Army and Navy That Parliament whose former interruption was found to be no wayes advantagious to the Nation Have not the Affairs of England both abroad and at home been declining ever since And was not this Army brought into such a perplexed condition by an over-ruling hand of Providence that it was forced to profess before God and Man its sence of backslidings and its duty to take shame to it self even for that force it had offered to this Parliament Did not this Army acknowledge this Parliament the only visible Authority of this Nation And thereupon solemnly desire and invite them to the discharge of their remaining Trust promising all Faithfulness and assistance therein Is it not to be considered that this Parliament notwithstanding they could not but see that they must sit again under great difficulties disadvantages because the Treasure was exhausted vast debts were contracted and the Souldiery and Seamen unpaid yet being

the Ballance of Consideration as that the undoing of so many Millions of Families in these Nations shall be put to open hazard but it may be presumed that all will go well because there is such a seeming compliance we well remember that generall Subscriptions and often Addresses have in very late experience proved but a rotten prop or sandy foundation to some who have either leaned or built too much upon them we call to mind that at first that as the Warre was so it was asserted to be defensive on the Parliaments part and we do believe that when we formerly with such heat and activity did prosecute the Cavileere as the declared Enemy to English Freedomes asserted in Parliament and when we were in the dayes of our extremity amongst Garments rouled in bloud and many times expecting our entrance into eternity by some instruments of death that it was not then judged by any to be part of the good Old Cause to wrest all Power and Authority out of the hands of the peoples Representatives in Parliament and to fix it in an Army We have the rather taken upon us the liberty thus to express our moans unto your Lordship relating to these Affairs now in hand because some of us were desired which we took for a command to withdraw from the Councell of the Officers though we are Commissionated Officers by Parliamentary Authority as well as others and therefore we cannot willingly Subscribe to the freedome of those debates where any without any just allegation are secluded or suspended and then we did desire that we might not be concluded by or lookt upon as Parties to any thing which should be there concluded on We are English-men born and bred and have adventured our dearest blood with others for our freedomes and by the mercy of God the common Enemy could not withhold them from us we shall not willingly by any act of ours give them away If any of our fellow Servants will because they can by force take our freedomes from us If we have no appeal on Earth yet our eyes shall be towards him that judgeth righteously and our Prayers shall be Lord help us for thou art the helper of the oppressed We have not much further to say unto your Lordship but this we must lay before you that in what you now do you run three Nations into most desperate hazard all lies at stake and all lies a bleeding The Question now is Whether it be not more honourable upon a Christian account and safe for you and others to sound a seasonable Retreat then to March on in waies which one day will not be justified before him who is a consuming fire The Parliament of England never raised or maintained Souldiers to be Law-makers but to defend this Nation against those who were Law-breakers Let not Oh let not any who have any stirrings of Conscience justifie that in their own practice which they have fought down in others Religion and the Gospell should be and we hope will be dearer to us then our lives our Liberties and Estates which in their place we must value We know that the Lord of Heaven is he alone upon whom for the maintenance of these we must chiefly depend But according to humane consideration and as we are English Freemen and in this age have been beaten into the knowledg where our English Freedomes may be most safely lodged so we must in all humility bear our open testimony to you that we know nor can willingly own no safer meanes for the securing of all these then in the Parliament the people of England Assembled in Parliament by their Representatives we must own to be our proper Law-makers and to have Legislative power and to have power Legally to levy Taxes upon the People We must own it that the Militia and standing Forces of England Scotland and Ireland ought to be subordinate to and to be disposed by commands of Parliament and of such Powers as are delegated by Parliament And therefore again it is the earnest desire of our hearts to your Lordship that you would lay Englands sad condition and the interest of Christ in the world to heart and consider the hopes of all sorts of enemies by the late sad breach and lay to heart the sad sighs tears and groans of thousands of precious souls in this Nation as also the fears of many that the glory is departing from our Israel and also consider your own danger and the danger of the Army in the wayes they now are and that you would effectually endeavour the removing of the present force upon the Parliament that they may sit in safety and without interruption for this we judg as the Army not long since have done the most likely expedient to make way for Englands settlement and therefore why should you not interpose it will be your honour that by your meanes the door be once more opened that this Parliament may take some effectuall course for as comprehensive an election of a succeed 〈◊〉 Parliament as the safety of the Cause will bear 〈◊〉 to common enemies themselves we can truly say that we wish them equall benefit with our selves under Parliamentary Lawes We only desire That provision may be made that the Parliament and well affected of the Nation may not be at the Enemies mercy In this our address to you We have desired in faithfullness to bear our testimony and when we have done we must leave all to the dispose of Him that rules all the world and lay it before your serious and retired consideration We remain Your Lordships most humble Servants This Letter was signed by these Officers Col. Herbert Morley Col. Thomas Sanders Col. John Okey Col. Mathew Alured Col. Henry Markham John Streater Comptroller of the Ordnance Liut Col. William Farley Major Arthur Evelyn Major Nathaniel Barton FINIS