A TRUE NARRATIVE CONCERNING THE Army's preservation of the King's Majesty's Person.  
BY WHICH IT DOTH APPEAR that the Army doth intent the Good, Life, Propriety, and Liberty of all the Commons of England, and not the destruction of them.  
Printed by order from the Army, for the taking off those aspersions which hath been cast upon them for that action.  
LONDON, Printed for John Benson, and are to be sold at his shop in Chancery Lain, near the Rolls, 1647.   

A true impartial Narration, concerning the Army's preservation of the King; by which it doth appear, that the Army doth intent the Good, Life, Property, and Liberty, of all the Commons of England.  
FEllow Commoners, considering with ourselves how variously those men will report, that endeavour to carry on their designs, though it be to the ruin and the destruction of others, who are their Fellow-Commoners, and have as just a right and propriety to the liberties and freedoms of the Nation as themselves & considering also how misinformation may seduce you, and draw you away from the knowing of things in their true unmixed nature; and consequently from acting and walking accordingly; so that not only ourselves may be drawn by such misrepresentations of things into unexpressible extraordinary sadnesses, miseries and calamities, but also you, into perpetual irrecoverable servitude and bondage, even in a moment of time, before you, or we are ware of: And also considering that certain of the House of Commons have sold the record of Magna Charta, (which doth demonstrate the Subject's rights, liberties and proprieties) for 100000, l. so that it might never be used again, as we can (we hope) evidently prove; so that by it you may see their design. Therefore, we (who have fought for you in the sight of the Sun, and for your liberties and proprieties, as well as our own; and have been faithful to you in the apprehensions of all rational men, and those that will not lie against their own souls, or walk contrary to the Testimony of their own Consciences) cannot choose but with reciprocal tenderness present unto you truly, briefly, and clearly, without partiality the nature of the business concerning the King's Majesty, and us at Holdenby, june the 4. 1647.  
On Wednesday, Coronet joice, went to the bowling green where his Majesty was at bowls within a mile of Holdenby; the cause of the Coronets being there, was to prevent the Kings being conveyed away in a secret manner, which was justly suspected, to be done by some that were with his Majesty. Coronet joice, an appointed agent by the Army, observing a sudden alteration in persuading the King to go to my Lord Spencer's to bowls, when the King had resolved before to go two miles further; and at the Kings taking horse, Colonel Graves, and a Scottish Lord whispered, and were more than ordinary earnest in their privacy, which did occasion jealousy at that opportunity: After the King had been at bowls one hour, Graves questioned a Soldier, and asked him from whence he came; The Soldiers answer was, from Oxford, and that he had been lately with the Army: Then Graves asked, if the Army was not contented with the Ordinanee of indemnity, and the votes of Parliament? the Soldier answered, No, and that it would in no way secure them, and gave Graves a reason, because many of their fellow Soldiers, and those that acted for the Parliament, were molested notwithstanding it: & what a sad thing will it be to consider, that the Soldery shall taste of the Parliament judge's cruelty notwithstanding their good services, and the preserving of the heads of some men in the Parliam. And therefore judge how much below the light of nature these men live, & how much they exercise themselves in tyranny, when they will not do good unto those that do good unto them. Then Graves asked him more news, and said, he need not be afraid; But he said, he was not afraid of him, or any man in the Kingdom, for he had done nothing that he knew of to make him afraid; & he further said, he would deal ingeniously with him, and tell him the truth in any thing he should ask him. Then Graves asked, if he did not hear of a party of horse, he answered, he did more than heart of a party, for he saw them the day before within thirty miles of Holdendy: this made Graves tremble as if he had been guilty of something he had done or intended to do, otherwise why should he afterwards, and the Scottish Lord his Confederate have run away, when no man intended to do them the least hurt in the world. But the Scotch Lord went to London, & hath notoriously wronged the King, and the party also that did secure his Majesty's person for the peace and safety of the kingdom, as was declared at large before a thousand witnesses; so that by it you may see the design of a cunning Scot, & what such will do to get money end honour, even against King and people.  
Further for the security of the King's person, the party marched towards Holdenby, and when they came to the House the Commissioners sent one Cap. Middleton to know of us what we came for, & what we would have, & who commanded? answer was made him, All did command, and yet were under command. Then Captain Middleton replied, if you have any thing to do here, the Commissioners would know what it is, and desired that they would send into the Commissioners; one or more, to certify what was the intent of coming thither.  
Whereupon Cor. joice, by unanimous consent of the party, went in to the Commissioners and told them the truth of their coming thither, which was to secure his Maj. person, and to protect them, there being a secret design as they were informed, to to convey or steal away the King, & to raise another Army to suppress this under his Excellency S. Tho. Fairfax: Likewise, he said, he knew no other way to keep this Kingdom from blood, or another war, but by the present security of the King's person, & that he may be no more misled; and if he were, that the Kingdom were utterly undone for ever: If this be all said the Commissioners, it is well done.  
But after it, Coronet joice spoke more to the Commissioners, and told them, he did humbly conceive, that there were some who did delay justice, and seek only to disband the Army, who were raised for the defence of the just rights, proprieties, and liberties of the Subject, and the bringing of all unjust men to condign punishment; such who did endeavour to subvert the fundamental laws of the Kingdom; and he said, he did believe that there were some who did endeavour to pull down King and people, and to set up themselves, and who they were the Commissioners and the world may judge and see by their actions.  
Whereupon he took his leave of the Commissioners for a while lest the King should be disturbed in his Bedchamber. Then Major Gen. Brown went to the King, & did assure his Majesty of the truth of the business, and desired his Majesty not to be troubled, for no hurt would come unto him, for they were all civil Gentlemen, and that his Majesty should find it so. After this was done, the Coronet went to the Commissioners again, and desired them to give him Orders, he being willing to obey them, because they were appointed by the Parliament to be there to that end: Then Mayor General Browne said, Come again by and by and we will give you Orders, in the mean time set your Guard, and place your Sentinels, which directions of his we followed, & told him and the rest of the Commissioners it they would give us orders I would obey them, provided they were just, and for the security of the King's person. All this being done it grew towards noon: After that Coronet joice desired the soldiers to mount to horse, and told them they should all go to quarters, at which word of command all was done, & the said Coronet was to give in a relation to the Commissioners of his coming, and the grounds in writing, & did; but because of the multiplicity of business, could not give it in that form as otherwise he might if he had h●d time.  
All this being done, all was quiet in the said present security of his Majesty, until tidings came that Graves was gone quite away, and thereupon it was supposed he was (and thought himself also) guilty, or else he would have stayed; but none could tell what was become of him: and some of his damning blades did say and swear, they would fetch a party, which party could not be from the Army, but must be from some other place; and therefore to prevent disturbance and blood, and for the peace sake of the Kingdom, all declared unanimously, that they thought it most convenient to secure the King in another place, from such persons as should cunningly or desparately take him away contrary to order, which was endeavoured very earnestly (as we are informed) by some that are enemies to the peace of the kingdom, and the prosperity of the Army. But another cause of jealousy was, not knowing the resolutions of those who quartered soldiers, and pretended for Ireland.  
And further to give all satisfaction to the whole kingdom, and to the real effecting of a business of such concernment, the soldiers sent Coronet joice to the Commissioners at ten of the clock at night, who desired the Commissi. to let the King know he would speak with him; some of the Commissioners being unwilling, held the Coronet in discourse about half an hour, until the King was asleep in his bed; yet notwithstanding the said Coronet could not be contented till he had spoken with the King, it being the only way and means to prevent trouble for the future, and blood that might come upon the face of the Kingdom; and therefore the said Cor. judged it in his own conscience requisite to speak with him at that opportunity, and therefore he offered the Commissioners to go with them with as much gentleness and tenderness as he could, to tell his Majesty something for his and the Kingdoms good; which was to take him from thence, there being a secret design to steal and convey away his Majesty's person, to side with some who pretend justice and deceive the Kingdom, and obstruct the relief of poor distressed Ireland, intending to break the Army in pieces now under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax our General, and to raise another Army to carry on their design; and that all rational men may see it by the actions of some men, (as Stapleton, Glinn, Green, Earl, and others) who said, It's now come to that, that they must sink us, or we must sink them. Much more was spoken by the said Coron. But this in brief: he was willing to let all pass without giving a relation, until be heard that the Scottish Lord had falsely told the Parliament of our proceed with the King, who saw or heard it not: for he was not within a mile of the Court when all these forementioned passages were; for the Scottish Lord as we are informed, reported, that the King was taken away against his will: For although the King told Coronet joice before the Commissioners, he was unwilling to go with us; yet he said, That such reasons might be produced that might prevail with him, and then he did protest nothing should stay him but he would go, whether the Commissioners would yea, or no. And reasons were given accordingly, which did prevail with his Majesty to promise to go the next morning, and he gave a confirmation of his willingness, by saying to the Coronet, He should be the more willing to go if the Coronet would promise him some things which he should propound; The Coronet said, He would, if they were just and warrantable in his understanding, and desired his Majesty that he might hear the things. Then his Majesty spoke before the Commissioners & said, Master Joyce, We have this to propound unto you. May it please your Majesty we are willing to hear, said Coronet Joyce; but are sorry we have disturbed you out of your sleep: but the King said, No matter, no matter, if you mean us no hurt: and then spoke, viz. If you will promise Us that We shall have no hurt; saying, You may take away Our life if you will, having the sword in your hands. This answer the Coronet made, That the Parliament had declared to preserve his Majesty's person, and that they being the Parliaments Army, should not but endeavour the same; only they did desire to secure him from being taken away, lest he should be set at the head of another Army, and so this Kingdom involved into danger. And all this was said in answer to his Majesty's first Proposition, The second was, That he would not, be forced to any thing against his conscience by us. He answered, that he would be unwilling to force any man against his conscience, much less his Majesty; and also said, That he hoped he was sensible of those that did endeavour to force men against their consciences, 
Observe, none will oppose this Army, but guilty consciences, and they will fly in our fac●●, or raise an Army against us.  and yet delayed to do justice or settle the kingdom, for which they were sent; and did endeavour to disband or break this Army in pieces, who sought nothing but justice, as will appear hereafter to all the world; Pray God it may, said the King.  
Thirdly, He demanded, whether yea or no he should have his servants with him, and whether he should be provided for like a man in his place, and that he had been courteously used by those Commissioners that were with him, as ever he was by any. The Coronet answered, That he should endeavour as fare as in him lay, to show him all just and due respect; And that he might be no otherwise attended on then before, the Coronet desired the Commissioners of Parliament to go with the King and discharge that trust imposed on them; & the soldiery of the Army would assist them so long as they were just and honest; Then said the King, We will willingly go along with you, if the soldiers will confirm what you have promised me; the King believing we had said nothing, but what we would stand to; All this being spoken at ten or eleven at night; And when the King had done propounding these questions to the Coronet, he gave his word to be ready by six the next morning, to hear if the soldiers would confirm what he had promised; and if they would, he would willingly go with us; for it was so bad an air that he could never be so well as he had been, and if he were once gone he would be unwilling to come back again to that place any more; many other reasons he had which he gave not. According to his promise he came in the morning at six of the clock; where he found all the soldiers ready mounted to march with him; but before he would march, he desired to speak the same things to the soldiers which he spoke over night to the Coronet, to see if they would confirm what he said and had promised; which they did with one consent; and before the soldiers, the King was pleased to ask the Coronet, What Commission he had to secure his Person? then said the Coronet, If the Parliament had ever made an order, that the army should not have secured the King's Person, we should not have dared to do what we had done; But we being informed his Majesty was to be conveyed away, which if not prevented might have caused another war, and involved the whole kingdom in blood again; this was the only cause of our securing the King's Person; This answer did not satisfy the King, but he asked, What Commission he had for doing that he did? he told his Majesty, the soldiery of the Army, or else he should not have dared to have done what he had▪ and conceived it to be the only way to bring peace to England, and Justice with Mercy, which is the thing which all honest men do desire, and none will hinder but some guilty Consciences, who by their will seek to destroy both King and people, to set up themselves. Yet the King was not satisfied with this, but asked Whether we had nothing in writing from Sir Thomas Fairfax our General, to do what we did: the Coronet desired the King he would not ask him such Questions, for he did conceive he had sufficiently answered him before, then said the King, I pray M. Joyce deal ingenuously with me, and tell me what Commission you have. The Coronets answer was; Here, is my Commission. Where, said the King? He answered, Here; his Majesty again asked, Where? He answered, Behind me, and desired his Majesty that that might satisfy him; whereupon the King smiled; and said, It is as fair a Commission, and as well written as he had seen a Commission written in his life. A company of handsome proper Gentle men as he had seen a great while. But what if we should yet refuse to go with you, I hope you would not force me? I am your King, and you ought not to lay violent hands on your King: for We do acknowledge none to be above Us here, but God: Then said M. Joyce, Our desires are not to force your Majesty; but have humbly increated your Majesty to go with us; and not only yourself, but the Commissioners: and to this end, that the Commissioners might discharge that trust imposed on them as honest members of Parliament. Thou spoke one of the Commissioners of Parliament and shown us a paper, what was therein we saw not; they all spoke to us in order, the last that spoke, as we remember, was Major General Brown; who said the Commissioners had an order of Parliament to look to the King at Holdenby; and if he had strength we should have had his life before we should have brought the King away; Indeed said the Coronet, you speak like a faithful and gallant man, but he knew well enough he had not strength, and therefore he spoke so boldly. Major G. Brown said further, But since it is so, We must do what you will have us, being not able to resist you. Then spoke Coronet Joyce further, We came not to have the blood of any man, but for peace; and did hope should manifest it to all the world, for he sought peace with all men as much as in him lieth; and further he said, They were servants to the Parliament and Kingdom, and had served them faithfully ever since the beginning of this war; or else more heads had been cut off before this time; and if the soldiers had been ordered, not to secure his Majesty, they would not have dared to have done it, because they were servants to the State as well as the Commissioners; they did what they did to keep the Kingdom from blood and a second war, which if not prevented, might unhappily have come upon us suddenly; as you may see is the endeavour of some men, who pretend to be the Kings, and Kingdoms best friends. After this, the King was going away, but turned and said, Now Gentlemen, for the place you intent to have me to?  
M. Joyce answered, If it please your Majesty to Oxford.  
The King replied, That is no good air.  
M. Joyce said, Then to Cambridg.  
The King did not like that, but said he liked New market. It was an air that did very well agree with him.  
And it was granted by M. Joyce he should go thither.  
Then the King asked M. Joyce, How far he intended to ride that night▪  
And M. Joyce answered and said, As far as your Majesty can conveniently ride.  
The King smiling said, We can ride as far as you, or any man there; but he concluded to talk of that, and his accommodation privately; and so he courteously took his leave of the company, and was going, and one whispered him, and he turned back, and heard the Commissioners speak to the company thus in order: First, my Lord Montague spoke, and said: Gentlemen, we are entrusted by both Houses (showing in his hand a paper, the authority they had) and desire to know whether all the party do agree to what M. Joyce had said.  
And they cried, All, All.  
And he having spoke low, Sir John Cook seconded him with a loud voice, and added, That as the Parliament, had entrusted them, had he but Forces to withstand the party, he would have done it with his life; and M. Crew said the same.  
And Major G. Brown spoke last to the same purpose, but added something more than the rest; saying, It was not the first time that he had been in the head of a party, and that they knew not the Law; and he durst affirm, that scarce two in the company, although they cried, All, All, knew what the Gentleman had delivered to the King. And therefore he said with a loud voice, All that are willing the King shall stay with us; the Commissioners of Parliament, let them speak. And all the party cried None, None, than said he, we have done. Only the soldiers said, We understand well enough what we do. Now let all the world judge what is done, and who is in fault, and who they are that seek war, and no peace nor justice.  
FINIS.   

One word more Fellow-commoners.  
DEar Friends and Fellow-Commoners, We the Soldiery under his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, do desire to speak one word to you All; that so you may see and know our very hearts so far as we know them ourselves; And that our earnest desires are for Peace, in this our Native Land and Kingdom, and being more sensible than many thousands are; how destructive another War will be, if not our utter ruin and undoing, The words we shall speak to you are to prevent War, and to find out those that have of late sent that Scottish Lord, who went from Holmby to London, and from thence into France, and another Scotch Lord into Scotland; all this to bring another Army to England: and we shall be able to make it appear to you hereafter, who are the chief Actors therein. Dear Friends, and Fellow-Commoners, let us not be like those who have set their hands to the Plough and look back; but let it appear to all the World we are against another War, and for Peace, Mercy, and Justice, without delay. Now look about you and be not deluded any longer, lest the Scot sell the King for more money, and others oppress the Kingdom, and put the Kingdom's Treasure into their own pockets; or send it out of our Kingdom, as if they were preparing to go after, for fear they should be found out. This we speak that so you may have a care of this Glorious Kingdom; your Shipping being now in those men's hands who have done you most wrong; and if not looked after by you, may suddenly let in a foreign Enemy to overrun you all, and ravish your Wives, and roast your Children alive, as those bloody minded men in Ireland have done; and this will be our case if you awake not suddenly. We have done, a word to the wise is sufficient: and rest  
Yours and the Kingdom's faithful servants till death, for England's Liberty, against Tyranny, etc.