A DECLARATION OF THE LORDS and COMMOMS Assembled in PARLIAMENT.  
For the raising of all power, and Force, as well Trained Bands as others, in several Counties of this Kingdom.  
To lead against all Traitors and their Adherents, and them to Arrest and Imprison and to fight with, Kill, and Slay all such as shall oppose any of His Majesty's loving Subjects, that shall be employed in this Service, by either or both Houses of PARLIAMENT.  
Together With His Majesty's DECLARATION In Answer to the same.   Tudor rose  Scottish thistle  French fleur-de-lis  depiction of Irish harp 
YORK: Printed by ROBERT BARKER, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majesty: And by the Assigns of JOHN BILL, 1642.   


C R  HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE  royal blazon or coat of arms   

 series of Tudor roses, Scottish thistles, French fleur-de-lis, and Irish harps  
A Declaration of the LORDS and COMMONS Assembled in PARLIAMENT: For the raising of all power, and force, as well Trained Bands as others, in several Counties of this Kingdom.  
To lead against all Traitors and their Adherents, and them to Arrest, and Imprison, and to fight with, Kill and Slay all such as shall oppose any of His Majesty's Loving Subjects that shall be employed in this service by either or both Houses of PARLIAMENT.  
WHereas certain Information is given from several parts of the Kingdom, That divers Troops of Horse are employed in sundry Counties of the Kingdom, and that others have Commission to raise both Horse and Foot, to compel His Majesty's Subjects to submit to the Illegal Commission of Array, out of a Traitorous intent to subvert the Liberty of the Subject, and the Law of the Kingdom; and for the better strengthening themselves in this wicked attempt, do join with the Popish and Jesuitical Faction, to put the Kingdom into a combustion and Civil War, by levying forces against the Parliament; and by these Forces to alter the Religion, and the ancient Government, and lawful Liberty of the Kingdom; and to introduce Popery and Idolatry, together with an Arbitrary Form of Government: And in pursuance thereof, have Traitorously and Rebelliously, leavyed War against the King, and by force, robbed, spoiled, and slain divers of His Majesty's good Subjects, travelling about their lawful and necessary occasions, in the King's Protection according to Law; and namely, That for the'nd and purpose aforesaid, The Earl of Northampton, the Lord Dunsmore, Lord Willoughby of Eresby, Son to the Earl of Linsey, Henry Hastings Esquire: and divers other unknown Persons in the Counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, Leicester, Warwick, Oxford, and other places, the marquis of Hertford, the Lord Paulet, Lord Seymer, Sir John Stawell, Sir Ralph Hopton, John Digby Esq. and other their Accomplices, have gotten together great Forces in the County of Somerset. The Lords and Commons in Parliament, duly considering the great dangers which may ensue upon such their wicked and Traitorous designs, and if by this means the Power of the Sword should come into the Hands of Papists and their Adherents, nothing can be expected but the miserable ruin and desolation of the Kingdom, and the bloody massacre of the Protestants: They do Declare and Ordain, That it is, and shall be lawful, for all His Majesty's loving Subjects, by force of Arms to resist the said several Parties, and their Accomplices, and all other that shall raise or conduct any other Forces for th'ends aforesaid, and that the Earl of Essex Lord General, with all his Forces raised by the authority of Parliament: as likewise the Lord Say, Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Earl of Peterborough, Lieutenant of Northamtonshire, Lord Wharton, Lieutenant of Bu●kinghamshire, Earl of Stamford Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Earl of Pembroke Lieutenant of Wiltshire and Hampshire, Earl of Bedford Lieutenant of Sommersetshire and Devon, Lord Brook Lieutenant of Warwickshire, the Lord Cramborne Lieutenant of Dorsershire, the Lord Willoughby of Parham Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, and all those who are, or shall be appointed by Ordinance of both Houses, to perform the Place of Deputy Lieutenants, and their Deputy Lieutenants respectively, Densill Hollis Esquire, Lieutenant of the City and County of Bristol, and the Majors and Sheriffs of the City, and Deputy Lieutenants there, and all other Lieutenants of Counties, Sheriffs, Majors, Deputy lieutenants, shall raise all their Power and Forces of their several Counties, as well Trained Bands as others, and shall have power to conduct, and lead the said Forces of the said Counties against the said Traitors and their Adherents, and with them to fight, kill and slay, all such as by Force shall oppose them and the Persons of the said Traitors, and their Adherents, and Accomplices, to Arrest and Imprison, and them to bring up to the Parliament, to answer this their Traitorous and Rebellious Attempts according to Law, and the same or any ot●er Forces, to transport and conduct from one County to another, in aid and assistance one of another, and of all others that shall join with the Lords and Commons in Parliament, for the defence of the Religion of Almighty God, and of the Liberties and Pe●ce of though Kingdom, and in pursuit of those wicked and Rebellious Traitors, their Conspirators, Aiders and Abettors, and Adherents, requiring all Lieutenant's of Counties, Sheriffs, Majors, Justices of Pe●ce, and other His Majesty's Officers and loving Subjects, to be aiding and assisting to one another in the Execution hereof, and for their so doing, all the parties above mentioned, and all others that shall join with them shall be justified, defended, and secured, by though Power and Authority of Parliament.  
FINIS.   

Ordered that this be forthwith Printed:  
H. Elsing, Cler. Parl. D. Com.   

His Majesty's Declaration, in Answer to a Declaration of the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament, for the raising of all Power and Force, aswell Trained Bands, as others, in several Counties of the Kingdom, to lead against all Traitors and their Adherents, etc.  
AS much experience as we have had of the inveterate rancour and high Insolence of the malignant party against us, we never yet saw any expression come from them, so evidently declaring it, as the Declaration entitled, A Declaration of the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament, for the raising of all Power and Force, aswell Trained Bands, as others in several Counties of this Kingdom, to lead against all Traitors, and their Adherents, etc. In which, That Faction hath as it were distilled, and contracted all their falsehood, Insolence, and Malice; There being in it not one period which is not either slanderous or treasonable; and nothing can more grieve us, then that by their infinite Arts & Subtlety (employed by their perpetual and indefatigable industry) and by that rabble of Brownists and other schismatics declaredly ready to appear at their call, they should have been able so to draw away some, and drive away others of our good Subjcts from our Parliament, as to prevail with the Major Part remaining of both Houses (how much soever that Major part be the smaller, in comparison of the whole) to suffer that name (whose reverence by all means we desire to preserve) to be so soiled, as to be prefixed to a Paper of this unsufferable nature; That tends not only to the destruction of our Person, but to the dissolution of this Government, and of all Society; If at least this Declaration (which we rather see cause to hope it hath not) have so much as been seen in the Houses, and be not the single Work of the same Omnipotent Committee, to which is devolved the whole power of the Parliament; and which, as We understand, is trusted (without acquainting the Houses) to break up any Man's House, and take away the Arms and Money intended to defend and feed him (if they shall see cause to suspect that he meant to assist His Sovereign with them) and may well be as fully and implicitly trusted to Declare, as to Act whatsoever they please. And though We doubt not, but to their utmost, they will continue that Injury to Us, and that violation of the Subjects Liberty, and of public Right, to vex and Imprison those, who shall publish any of our Answers, to their Declarations, (and indeed whilst they affirm against all Truth, and command against all Law, it concerns them to take care that nothing be heard, but what they shall say) yet Our comfort is, That Our Intentions, and the Duty of Our Subjects are so well, and so generally known to Our People, that We cannot Fear (from whomsoever it come, and though no Answer came out with it) that, either what is there said, should be believed, or what is there commanded, should be obeyed. Who knows not, That Our Commissions for Horse and Foot were not granted out, till not only Our Prerogative, but Our Propriety, Our Goods, Arms, Towns, Militia; and negative Voice were taken from Us; and all the Kingdom commanded to be in Arms, and Invited to bring in Horse, Plate, and Money, to frame an Army against Our Command and Proclamation, and till Horse were raised, and Mustered accordingly? And then, with no Intention (nor hath any Action in any of Our Ministers, given the least suspicion of such an Intention) by them to compel Our Subjects, to submit to Our Commissions of Array, or make use of them against the Parliament, but to regain Hull, held out in Rebellion against Us; And to suppress all such, as without Our Authority, and against Our Commands, should raise Forces in this Our Kingdom, and leavy War against Us, under pretence of any Order, or Ordinance of one or both Houses; and such Traitorous Assemblies and Marches have been the only lawful and necessary occasions of Our good Subjects, which have been so much as interrupted by any Troops of Ours; And what is affirmed of the spoiling and killing them, as they were so Travelling under our Protection, and according to Law, is a most malicious Affirmation, aswell without Truth, as without Instance, invented at once to make Our Troops terrible, and Us odious to Our People. What care have We taken, That (by this means) the power of the Sword should not come into the Hands of Papists, who have by Our Proclamation strictly charged, That no Papist should presume to list himself, either as Officer or Soldier in this Our Army, having directed how he should be discovered, if he did presume; and suffer, if he were discovered? What care have we taken to avoid combustion and Civil War, offering to lay down Our Arms, when they shall have laid down theirs (in whom it was Treason to take them up) and restored Us those things which could not without Treason, as well as Injustice be forced away; and kept from Us, Our Arms, Ships, Town, etc. And when We might meet both Our Houses in a safe and secure place, to debate freely of all the differences in a Parliamentary way; And by whose influences these Propositions were rejected, and whether the Proposer or Rejecters were most careful to avoid this ruin and desolation of the Kingdom, We leave all the World to Judge; and whether they, who divert the Men and Money collected for the relief of distressed Ireland, to raise sources against their Prince (who asks them nothing but what is Legal, nor will deny them any that is) do not join with the Popish and Jesuitical faction in the bloody Massacre of many thousand Protestants in that miserable Kingdom. We propose likewise to every Man's Judgement; whether the Declaring those to be Traitors, who execute Our Commission of Array (issued in so many King's Reign, agreed upon by Parliament, and there yielded to by the King, to be settled as now it is, as a matter of great grace. And since that time, which was in 5. Hen. 4. in no Parliament complained of) whilst Our good subjects are vexed and Imprisoned, not only for resisting, but for humbly Petitioning so as may seem but to insinuate something against their most illegal commands concerning the Militia (to which power of commanding, no Title can be made by any Statute, or any Precedent, nor can We ever find by search, nor obtain to be told what these fundamental Laws are, by which it is pretended; so deep those foundations are laid, beyond all means of discovery.) And the Declaring, That those who raise Men by virtue of Our Command and Commission (the only Legal way) Traitorously and Rebelliously leavy War against the King; and ordaining it to be lawful for all Our Subjects by force of Arms to resist them, and their accomplices; and the raising forces by authority of Parliament (that is, by the remaining part of both Houses) never in the most outrageous times before attempted, and commanding several Persons whom they call Lieutenants, to lead, and giving them power to transport from one County to another, the Forces of several of Our Counties against them, and to kill and slay all such, as by force shall oppose them, Ourself not excepted; commanding all Our Officers and Subjects to be assisting to them, and undertaking to secure them for so doing, by the Power and Authority of Parliament (which is first to allow, and next to command, and then to pardon Treason) be not to have already subverted, as much as in them lies, the Liberty of the Subject, the Law of the Land, and altered the Ancient Government of the Kingdom, leaving Our Subjects without all Rule to walk by, when the most clear Laws cannot direct and secure them; and they see all those ancient bounds passed over, which were ever as much known to be the Duty of both Houses to observe, as it was evident that there were, and that it was necessary that there should be two Houses of Parliament, and at once behold the Law (which is to Defend and Protect the Subject) and Us (who are to Protect and Defend the Law) need Defence and Protection. We doubt not therefore, but all Our good Subjects will come in to Our Assistance, and that this wicked charge of intending to introduce Popery, Idolatry, and Arbitrary government laid by implication upon us, (because we defend ourselves, and would recover our own) will be so fare from being a motive against us, that this intolerable indignity and damnable scandal (so daily and visibly confuted by all Our Professions and Actions) will increase Our good Subjects zeal towards Us, and their indignation against the Contrivers; And they will esteem themselves obliged by the Religion of Almighty God, to oppose this War so impiously, so treasonably and so groundlessly made upon Us their King and his Anointed: We therefore require all Our Commissioners of Array, Sheriffs, and all Our other Officers and Ministers to raise all the power and forces of their several Counties to assist the marquis of Hertford, the Earl of Northampton, the Lord Willoughby of Eresby, the Lord Pawlet, the Lord Seymour, the Lord Dunsmore, Henry Hastings Esq; Sir John, Stowell, Sir Ralph Hopton, John Digby Esq; and all other in the legal and necessary executing of our Commissions of Array, and in the raising and conducting of such Horse and Foot as shall be raised by Our Commission, and by force of Arms to oppose the Earl of Essex, the Lord Say, and all other that shall raise or conduct any forces raised by pretence of Authority of both Houses, and the Persons of all such Traitors, and their Adherents, and Accomplices, to arrest and imprison; To the end they may be brought to a fair and legal trial, by their Peers, and according to the Law: And this we require from them, as they tender the Defence of Our Person, the true Religion, the Law of the Land, the Liberty and property of the Subject, and the true and just Privileges of Parliament. And for so doing they shall be defended and secured by Us, and by the Law; with whom, and with which, we doubt not, but Our Subjects will sooner choose to live and die, then with the Earl of Essex and his Adherents.  
FINIS