TO THE HONOURABLE THE KNIGHTS, CITIZENS AND BURGESSES IN THE COMMONS house OF PARLIAMENT NOW ASSEMBLED.  
The humble Petition of 15000. poor labouring men, known by the name of Porters, and the low●st Members of the city of LONDON.  
Humbly showeth,  
THat your poor Petitioners, though they be the lowest and meanest Members of this City, yettney do with all humble and hearty acknowledgement confess, that the uncessant and unexpressable care and pains you have aken for the good of both Church and State, in the midst of so many Plots, Conspiracies and perils, deserveth to be recorded to your eternal Fame, and of your poor Petitioners most humbly and gratefully accepted of; although those happy effects, you have by your unwearied endeavours laboured for, and your Petitioners long expected, be not yet produced; the case of which is, that adverse malignant-blood sucking-rebellious Popish party in the general: For particular parties, many of them hath been often mentioned in this Honourable House heretofore: therefore we will omit to make any further mention of them; only your Petitioners doth humbly crave leave to name some of those many particular evils, which we have too much cause to fear, and are in a great measure sensible of: as First, that great height of power the Adverse party is grown unto, in that they are so impudent and Insolent, as to counsel to, and devise a way to a●cuse the Innocent; and when that would not hit, than they counselled that power Prerogative should trample upon all the privileges of Parliament, and the Liberty of the Subject, which if God's providence and your prudence had not timely prevented this design, the whole kingdom ere this time, had been involved in blood. Secondly, the daily growth of the Forces, insolences and outrages of those savage, and more than barbarous rebels in Ireland, exercised upon our poor Brethren by Nation and Religion, whose miserable and distressed estate we truly sympathize, and do much condole; and if the good hand of the almighty, by your prudence and puissance, do not speedily bridle the adversary, they will totally extirpate and extinguish the name of the English, with the Protestant Religion in that Nation. And your Petitioners do humbly conceive, that the hand of the adverse party is too much seen amongst us here, by contriving and procuring obstructions and delays in their relief and supplies. Thirdly, the universal deadness of Trading, it hath been a languishing long, and struck in divers branches of it, but now the very body of it is struck liveless and dead: and the reasons hereof (as your Petitioners doth humbly conceive) are divers, not only the things before named, but the many fears, jealousies and distractions we lie under: for being the adverse party seeth ●hat their secret plots, Conspiracies, and hellish devices, hath hitherto become abortive, it is to be feared they will break out into open hostility, as they have done in Ireland; and moreover, laying of ourselves open to foreign Invasion, by delaying of the fortification of the Cinque Ports, which is (as your Petitioners do humbly conceive) too great an advantage and encouragement to the Papists amongst us to make Insurrection, and doth too much animate a foreign pewer to Invade us. These and many more, which is above and beyond our line and soheare of conceiving, are the causes of this universal deadness of Trading: now this deadness of Trade is the solecanse your poor Petitioners doth want employment in such a measure, that their lives are made very uncomfortable: for besides the single number mentioned before, which is the least that do live in that way; there is a treble number which hath their subsistence of the labour of your poor Petitioners, that is, their Wives and Children: and being your Petitioners can have no better employment, they are exposed to many hardships for that little, your Petitioners was possessed of before these times, since these times of Trading grew so dead, they have been constrained to sell part, and pawned other part, for to buy food for their Families, and now they have scarce so much left as will satisfy their Landlords for Rent, and so your Petitioners are very nigh turning into the Streets.  
Therefore, the most humble request of your poor Petitioners is, that this extreme necessity of theirs may be taken into serious consideration, and that this Honourable House would fall upon the speediest course that your wisdoms seeth best, for abating and quelling of the pride, outrage, and insolency of the adverse party here at home; and that relief and supply may be sent to our Brethren in Ireland, if it may be before it be too late. And your Petitioners do further humbly pray, that this Land May be secured, by fortifying the Cinque Ports, and putting the people into a posture of Defence, that all, or as many of our fears as can, may be removed; that the way and life of Trading may again be set up and opened; that so your Petitioners wants may in some measure be supplied. They further humbly pray that Justice may be done upon Offenders, according as the atrocity of their crimes have deserved: for if these things be any longer suspended, they will force your Petitioners to extremities, not fit to be named, and to make good that saying, That necessity hath no Law: It is true, that we have nothing to lose but our lives, and those we will willingly expose to the utmost peril, in the defence of the King's majesty's royal person, Crown and Dignities, and this Honourable House of Parliament, with the privileges thereof, with all therest, contained in our Protestation, to which your Petitioners will adhere to the loss of their lives: And they do most humbly desire a favounble construction and acceptance of these few immature and undigested expressions, and so much as is unsavoury in them to impute it to a defect in their understanding, and not to any perniciousness in the will. And your Petitioners do with all humbleness and submission desire a speedy Answer;  
And they will never cease to pray, 〈◊〉   

A true relation of the manner how it was delivered.  
THe Petitioners coming to the House, were called, and six of them having access one of them was to speak, and that was the man that delivered the Petition; and thus he delivered himself: May we humbly crave leave of this Honourable House to deliver a Petition; the answer was, to bring it in, and then the Petitioners were ordered to withdraw: and after some time spent, the Petitioners were called in again, and Mr. Speaker was desired in the name of the House to give the Petitioners many thanks for the love, care, and obedience they manifested: and their expressions were kindly accepted of: and the Petitioners were wished to continue in their obedience, and for their request, part of it was provided for, and the other part the House did take special care of, and we should have full satisfaction. To which the Speaker for the Petitioners replied, that they gave the Honourable House many humble and great thanks for their gracious acceptance, and with all did humbly desirethe Honourable House would take notice, that the pressing necessities are such we lie under, as cannot admit of delays.   

London Printed by R. Oulton and G. Dexter, for John Bull, 1641.