A PETITION Presented unto His MAJESTY At His Court at BRISTOL on the 7 day of August. 1643.  
By Sir Baynham Throkmorton Baronet, High Sheriff of the County of Gloucester, on the behalf of the Clothiers of the same County.  
With His Majesty's Answer thereunto.  
OXFORD, Printed in the Year 1643.   

To the KING'S Most Excellent Majesty.  
The Humble Petition of the Clothiers of Your Majesty's County of Gloucester.  
Showing unto your most Excellent Majesty, that they being commanded by Prince RUPERT His Highness to keep their poor people at work for the space of one month, are most ready and willing to obey the same, to the utmost of their power: But so it is, may it please your Majesty, that some of us have lost our whole estates, and many of us have the residue that is left now in the hands of merchants within the City of London, without which we cannot keep our work-folkes in work as is Commanded, and as we desire, our credit being lost with our goods; and our cloth being made, we have no way of safety to keep it, no means to vent it; whereby we are in a most distressed Condition: All which, in all humility we present to Your Majesty's most gracious Consideration; with this protestation, that whilst we live, we will continue Your Majesty's loyal, faithful, and obedient Subjects, and will be ever ready to express the same with our lives and fortunes.  
We therefore most humbly beseech Your MAjESTY, that You would be graciously pleased to take us into Your favour, and our distressed estate into Your Princely Consideration, and to protect our persons, goods that we have left, and cloth which we shall make, and to give us Your Majesty's gracious Warrant to fetch our money from London, and to afford us some way whereby we may have sale for our cloth hereafter, whereby we shall be enabled to assist Your Majesty, maintain our families, and many thousands of poor people which depend upon us; And we, as in duty; and by our allegiance we are bound, shall always hearty pray for Your Majesty's long and happy Reign over us.   

His Majesty's Answer.  
HIs Majesty having taken this Petition into Consideration, and having a deep sense of the importance of the trade of those parts, and how many of His poor Subjects are concerned therein, hath commanded me to signify that His Majesty hath given express orders to all his Officers and Soldiers (which orders he intends to fortify by a Proclamation to the same effect) That they offer no manner of violence to the persons or estates of any of the Petitioners. That he will require a strict account from any that shall presume to disobey those His Commands. That He hath commanded His Secretaries of State to give Licence to such of His Subjects to repair to London to fetch their money from thence as shall be made appear unto them to be so well affected to His service as that they may be trusted to repair thither. That He hath given order to the Commissioners of His Treasury to consider the best way and means they may to enable the Petitioners to sell off their cloth, and to treat with the Merchants of the City of Bristol and of such other Ports as are, or shall be in due obedience to His MAjETSY, to take off such proportion of Cloth from the Petitioners at reasonable rates, as the Petitioners shall be able to make.  
FALKLAND.  
This is a true Copy of the Petition, and His Majesty's Answer, attested by me John Driver Undersheriff, Com: Gloucester.  
FINIS.