A REMONSTRANCE AND DECLARATION OF several Counties, Cities, and boroughs, Against the Unfaithfulness, and late unwarrantable Proceedings of some of their Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses IN PARLIAMENT.  
WITH Their Dissents thereunto, and Revocation and Resumption of their POWER therein.  
Imprinted at London, 1648.   

A Remonstrance and declaration Of several Counties, Cities, and boroughs, against the unfaithfulness, and late unwarrantable Proceedings of some of their Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses in PARLIAMENT.  
WE the Gentlemen and freeholders of the respective Counties of Berks, Huntingdon, Kent, Leicester, Monmouth, Northampton, Nottingham, Rutland, Salop, Sussex, Wilts, and Worcester: and the respective Citizens and Freemen of the Cities of Chester, Gloucester, London, Norwich, Winchester, Bristol, Salisbury, and York; and the free Burgesses of the several boroughs of Ailesbury, Wendover, New-Windsor, Wallingford, Truro, Tregonis, Fowey, St. Iermins, Cockermouth, Cambridge, Barnstaple, Dartmouth, Okeshampton, Dorchester, Lyme-Regis, Bridport, Wareham, Shaftesbury, Quinborough, Leicester, Wigan, Liverpool, Great-Yarmouth, Newcastle, Woodstock, Southwark, Rigate, Tamworth, Bishops-castle, Yarmouth, Ipswitch, Taunton, Bridgwater, Midhurst, Bramber, East-Greenstead, Arundel, Appleby, Calais, Chippenham, Malmsbury, Bedwin, Malburg, Warwick, Kingston upon Hull, Knarisburge, Rippon, Richmond, Burroughbridge, Auldling, Pomfret, Rye and Cardiff; do hereby respectively for our said several Counties, Cities and boroughs, declare, notify and protest to all the Nobility, Gentry, Commons and Freemen of England, and Dominion of Wales, and all others whom it doth or may concern, That neither we ourselves, nor any other by our privity or assents did ever directly or indirectly, implicitly or explicitly delegate, give, or intend to give unto Henry Martin, Valentine Walton, Augustine Skinner, Henry Smith, Henry Herbert, Esquires; Sir Gilbert Pickering, knight, John Hutchinson, Thomas Wait, Esquires; Sir James Harrington, knight, Humphrey Edwards, Anthony Stapley, Edmond Ludlow, Humphrey Saloway, or John Jones, serving in Parliament as knig●ts of our respective Counties; or to William Edwards, Thomas Pury, John Lenthall, Isaac Pennington, John Ven, Thomas Atkins, John Lisle, Nicholas Lane, Richard Aldworth, Luke Hodges, Michael Oldsworth, John Dure, Esquires; Sir William Alanson, knight; elected and returned Citizens to sit and vote in the Parliament for our respective Cities. Or to Thomas Scot, Thomas Harrison, Cornelius Holland, Edmond Bunch, Francis Rowse, John Carew, Nicholas Gold, Gregory Clement, Benjamin Valentine, Francis Allen, Oliver Cromwell, Philip Skippon, Lawrence Whitaker, Dennis Bond, Edmond Prideaux, Roger Hill, John Fry, John Trenchard, Esquires: Sir Henry Mildmay, knight, Sir Michael Livesey baronet, Augustine Garland, Thomas Lord Grey, Peter Temple, Alexander Rigby, John Moor, Miles Corbet, John Blackstone, William Lenthall Speaker, George Thompson, George Snelling, Esquires; William Lord Viscount Mounson, Sir Peter Wentworth knight of the Bath, John Corbet Esq Philip Lord Lisle, John Gourdon, George Serle, Robert Blake, Esquires, Sir Thomas Wroth knight, Gregory Norton baronet, William Cowley, James Temple, John Downes, Henry Ireton, Richard Salway, Rowland Wilson, Esquires; Sir Edward Bainton, Sir John Danvers, knights, Edmond Harvie, Philip Smith, William Purefoy, Godfrey Bosvile, Peregrine Pelham, Esquires; William Constable baronet, Sir John Bourchier knight, Thomas Chaloner, Francis Thorpe, Esquires; Thomas Mal●vorer Baronet, Brian Stapleton, James Chaloner, William White, William Hay, Thomas Westraw, Algernoon Sidney Esquires, Burgesses for our respective Boroughs, or to any one of them, any Authority, Power, Commission, Instruction or Deputation whatsoever, to consent, vote, or agree for us, or any of us, or in our Names, Rights and Behalfs, as our Representatives, Knights, Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament, to any Vote, Ordinance, Order, Bill, Act, Articles, or other Instrument whatsoever in the Commons House, or elsewhere, for or concerning the Deposing or Executing the King, the disinheriting of the Prince or Duke of York: The breaking off and laying aside the Personal Treaty with the King, for the happy settlement of that blessed Peace we have so long desired, expected and prayed for: Or rejecting the King's large Grants for our future security, freedom and tranquillity, the like whereunto we have no hopes to expect hereafter, if now rejected by you on our behalfs, who shall be fully satisfied therewith, when ratified by his royal assent to bills, and an Oath inviolably to observe them: Or the altering or subverting the ancient Hereditary Monarchical Government of this Kingdom: Or the Constitution of the Parliaments of England, consisting of King, Lords and Commons: The tolerating of all kinds of Religions, Heresies and Errors: The taking away of our Ministers tithes and usual Maintenance; or the disorderly intruding into their sacred Functions without any lawful calling or Ordination thereunto. Much less did we or any of us actually or intentionally authorise or empower them, or any of them, to subvert the very foundations of this and all other Parliaments, and betray our ancient Liberties, Rights and Charters, contrary to their trust and duty, by condescending or agreeing to give away our unquestionable rights of Electing our Knights, Citizens and Burgesses according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm, and Customs, Usages and Charters of our respective Counties, Cities and boroughs, or to set up any new Representative for us or the Kingdom, which neither we nor our Ancestors ever heard of nor desired: Or to undermine the Honour, Freedom, Rights and privileges of Parliament, by sitting and voting in the House, whiles under the visible, detestable force and sword of a rebellious and mutinous Army, who have imprisoned, excluded, and forced away most of their fellow-Members, who ought to join with them both in their Debates and Votes: Or to usurp such an arbitrary and exorbitant power to themselves alone, being few in number, and not one fifth part of the House, to repeal, nul, and make void what Votes, Orders, Ordinances and Proceedings they please, made in a free and complete House, when there were five times more Members present: Or to suspend or cast out their fellow-Members, who are their Peers and Equals, and sit there by the same and as good authority as themselves, or to continue or impose any further Taxes on us, to maintain an imperious, lawless Army to devour and tyrannize over King, Parliament, Lords, Commons, City, Country, and the whole Kingdom, as our only sovereign Lords and Masters, without improving their utmost authority to suppress and reclaim them from their present insolences, and destructive treasonable practices; or else to declare them public Enemies, and Rebels, and proceed against the Ringleaders of them, and bring them unto speedy justice and exemplary punishment. And therefore we do here by these presents absolutely disclaim and renounce whatever they or any of them have fraudulently and indirectly acted, voted, ordered, ordained, or consented to, or shall hereafter vote, order, ordain or consent to in the House of Commons, or elsewhere, in, or concerning all, or any of the premises, contrary to their trusts and duties, and against our consent, authority, wills and instructions, to the prejudice or destruction of our Religion, Laws, Liberties, King, Kingdom, the Rights, privileges and Freedom of Parliaments, or their fellow-Members, and hindrance of the speedy Peace and settlement of this Realm, or obstructing the relief of despairing Ireland, or support of any new usurped, Arbitrary or tyrannical Power in any Party or Faction whatsoever, to the enthralling of the Kingdom to their vassalage and lawless wills; and declare the same to be void, null, and no ways binding unto us, or any of us; who do hereby demand public justice against them from their fellow-Members in a free and full Parliament, for all the misdemeanours and offences in and against the House, its privileges and Members, or any the premises: and likewise revoke and resume all that trust, power and authority we formerly delegated and committed to them and every of them, so far as they have abused and perverted it in any of the aforesaid particulars, contrary to our minds and commissions, who by the Armies late Remonstrance, may and aught to call them to account for all their unjust Votes, Orders, Proceedings, and abuses of their trust, and to resume their power into our own hands, from whom they received it, only as our Deputies, when we discern them palpably to abuse both it and us, from whom they are to receive their wages. All which we held it our bounden duties in these times of imminent danger and ruin to us and our Posterity, King, Parliament and Kingdom, to remonstrate to the world, and these our Knights, Citizens and Burgesses, our Representatives in the House, that they might take timely notice thereof.  
Dated from our respective Counties, Cities and Boroughs, the 23 of Decemb. 1648.  
FINIS.