sergeant MAJOR James Chudleigh HIS DECLARATION TO HIS countrymen.  
Printed, M. DC. XL III:   

Mr James Chudleigh his Declaration.  
Dear Countrymen.  
BEcause the scandalous reports of certain factious hot-brained Persons in the city of Exeter, have imputed God's visitation of our sins upon the Army late at Stratton, to treachery of mine: I shall beg so much of your patience, as to inform yourselves from this Paper, the true state of that affair. 'Twas not without excessive continued pains, that I had put that Tumultuous body into a serviceable posture in the field, and I appeal to any man of so much honesty and honour, as dares speak truth in the behalf of a dejected Prisoner, whether I was not always busied in the heat of the Skirmish where ever it happened to be, from the very beginning till I was totally forsaken, both by the Officers and soldiers, except those that died by me, and the battle lost some testimony, wherein was my Cane broken in my hand by a shot, my Horse shot under me, and at last a hurt in my head, whereby I lost some blood. Thus (miserable in all appearance) being absolutely destitute of any thing, but the protection of my God which never yet failed me, I charged single through a division of musketeers, till I came up close to the Officer that led them, who I took for Sir Bevill Grenvile, for his back parts were very like him, and instead of using my arms to take his life, which was then very much in my power, (though not without a certain loss of mine own, for all the soldiers presently upon the stop enclosed me round,) I yielded myself into his hands, and I found him a most gallant Gentleman, for when I had delivered my Sword, he received many blows to bear them off from me, and suppressed the rage of the soldiers towards me, with the hazard of his own life, his name is Lewis Tremaine, ensign to Sir Bevill Grenvile, to whom, being close at hand with a stand of Pikes, he led me, and I shall ever acknowledge as long as I breath in spite of the Malignity of these factious Spirits in Exeter, or such as they have corrupted by their hypocrisy in other parts of this County, that I received so much humanity and noble favour from Sir Bevill Grenvile, and the rest of the Commanders of the Cornish Army, as made that a greater grief to me to have been an Enemy to so much gallantry and virtue, then that now I was a Prisoner; nevertheless the sad estate which I conceived my Countrymen to be in, from whom it had pleased God, for reasons above my reach, thus to withdraw his favour, wounded yet deeper my bleeding heart, & so much the more, because I resented heavily the Justice of the Cause, which we had laboured to Support, being as I conceived, the just Rights of our gracious King and his Subjects, limited by the laws and the Purity of the true Protestant Religion, which the high Court of Parliament had instructed us, these Gentlemen whose hands I was thus fallen into, had endeavoured to corrupt, and I was sufficiently sensible, that those moral virtues which I saw they were endowed with, in so eminent a degree, might be companions for aught I knew (though hardly credible) of deceitful hearts; and that the justee of the quarrel on either side is not always demonstrated by the chance of war, thus relieving my perplexity with sadness, and resolving to spend my days in grief, till it should please God to put an end to the miserable Distractions of this wretched kingdom, I was visited by some of the most eminent Commanders of the Army, with whom I fell into discourse of these very points; wherein all of us agreed upon the necessity of preservation of the Law in the privilege that it gives this Nation in Parliament, as well as in the just Prerogative which it allows His royal Majesty, without which this Kingdom is necessarily subject to Arbitrary Government, & the Rights both of the King & People are vanished into an airy title. But 'twas not long till we came to this conclusion, That as evil counsels had heretofore been prevalent to the prejudice of the commonwealth, so the satisfaction given by His Majesty was exceeding great and beyond the expectation of all moderate men; That the objections against His majesty's counsel of continual endeavours at present to force the Parliament by arms, are clearly answered by His majesty's many Protestations, and for the fulfilling of those Protestations to accommodate the differences of the Kingdom, His Majesty will not stick to give any assurance that shall be thought reasonable; and likewise all the Commanders of this Army are content to put it under their hands, and to take a solemn oath as punctual and as strong as can be invented, that when soever His Majesty shall be drawn by any counsel or means whatsoever, to neglect those Protestations, that then they will totally desert the Service they are engaged in, and for the present they will be content to use the whole power, which His Majesty hath invested them with, to give a free pardon to all such in these Western Counties as will lay down arms, and be content to be governed by the known laws settled by Act of Parliament; & what assurance soever shall be demanded on His majesty's behalf for the settling of a Religious, Honourable, and a firm Peace they are ready to give. Now whether this Inclination towards the Peace and Justice of this kingdom hath possessed these Gentlemen from the beginning of the war, or whether by the continued dispute of the difference by which the kingdom is divided, the matter is now so anotomised? as that the quintessence of truth extract from partiality to either side, is eminently perspicuous, or else whether the blood shed betwixt these two Counties by misunderstandings one of another, which cannot but move all Christian hearts to a Compassionate beseeching of the Almighty God to sheathe his sword, hath had stronger operation upon the hearts and Consciences of these noble Gentlemen, than the factions of Exeter are likely to admit of on their part, is not in my opinion material to stand in debate of, only I conceive myself bound in Conscience for truth's sake, to assure all honest well meaning Christians upon the hopes that I have of salvation, and upon the faith and honour of a Gentleman and a soldier, that I never saw an Army freer from vice, nor more religiously inclined, than I perceive the whole genius of this Army to be, nor did I ever see more heartily clear and earnest expressions of affection to a religious and a just Peace than the Commanders of this Army are full off: more than which, (with so ingenious offers of the means to conclude that) cannot possibly be expected from human flesh, and though it hath been accounted Treason in the opinion of the factious Tumult of the city of Exeter, whose interest hath ever showed itself against any Peace but an absolute Conquest, and an utter extirpation of those that unconvict, they do but once think ungodly, that I should represent my knowledge of the state of this matter to those deputy-lieutenants that I conceived in all respects fittest to judge of that, and to recommend it to the whole County, yet my duty to God and to my Country, will not give me leave to obscure so fair a means of the happiness of this Kingdom for any scandal whatsoever, or to prove myself in the face of Heaven so cowardly a Christian, as to comply with damnable hypocrisy against so clear a truth: who knows not that nothing will be so certain and necessary a destruction to the Country as to continue it the seat of war, and what moderate man is there, that cannot see that nothing in the World could have extorted from this Army in the glorious Condition, that it now is, such a gallant offer of a Religious, honourable, and a firm Peace, but their own nobleness and sincerity of heart towards truth, and the real welfare of the commonwealth. Let us not involve ourselves with the obstinacy of a few opinionated men, whiles 'tis apparenr as the case stands, how that their Cause is accompanied with nothing of Religion, but it's abused name, what Religion is there now in Cornwall but the same that we profess, or what bondage is there to those that do not wilfully thrust themselves into it? Let us but defer the cutting of one another's throats, till novelties in Law and in Religion begin to show themselves. We are then as capable to die for the defence of truth, as now for the suspicion, the power of the sword being still entrusted in our hands. Many a well meaning Christian takes a by path to Heaven, and knows not that he wanders, but, Oh, the irrecoverable unhappiness of those that refuse to be led into the way, I know it concerns the interest of those that have set themselves against Peace, with such as they are pleased to call the wicked, how undeservedly soever, to raise scandals upon me, and I am well informed that the report of my betraying the Army at Stratton, was invented after the view of my Letters to my Father, with Sir John Bamfield, and Sir Nicholas Martin to accommodate the differences of these Counties, for which the citizens of Exeter have beyond all example Committed the herald that was employed, upon the false pretence of eating Scroales of paper, and have cast a jealousy upon some of those Gentlemen that hitherto have been thought by all the World far more worthy than such Creatures as themselves are, to steer the affairs of the Commonwealth in these parts, but as I never avoided danger to serve my country when I lead them in the field, so I will now press through all difficulties in spite of opposition to mediate, and by all honest means to prosecute its Peace, and such as shall appear to unite in my opinion, I am ready to lead or to follow, or to Comrade with, to reduce this obstinate handful in the city of Exeter, that are the only means to deny their Country its Capacity of so great a blessing; and herein I am resolved to boast the loyalty which I owe His Majesty as well as my dear affection to you that have thus far entrusted me with your lives, and for my behaviour at Stratton I refuse no man's testimony, of those that durst put themselves so far into danger as to be eye witnesses, but for my Lord of Stamford, and such others as ran away, whose Treason really it was, I know that concerns their interest to second this accusation upon me, having no other way to extenuate their intolerable Cowardice, but because they are People that I am never likely to meet with in the field, I leave them to the Scourge of their own Conscience, and to pass the time in making Aldermen, and women believe them valiant, whiles all the world besides knows the contrary. And now I challenge Malice itself to accuse me in all this, of the least Circumstance of untruth or fallacy, so I beseech God to dispose you to accept of such a Peace, as for aught I know will shortly be denied you upon your knees, And that the groans of this bleeding Country may not rise up in judgement against the barbarism of those, that by imprisoning the messenger of Peace, have endeavoured to destroy the balsam that should cure the wounds, which for aught I see themselves have made.  
FINIS.