The nineteen Propositions cleared, and the practise thereof desired, for the certain speedy deliverance of City and Country from fear of Sword and Famine.  By Thomas Nutt. 
TO the honourable Court of Parliament, and all others that desire neither shedding of blood, nor yet a sinful procurement of peace, the Author committeth his weak endeavours, beseeching God, so fare as shall be for his glory, to give you patience, willingly, deliberately, and considerately, to read a part of his weak conceptions, wherein he hopeth you shall see cleared the 19 propositions, as also see a cheap way of accomplishing the hopes of all the Kingdom, except those that are wilfully bend against King and Kingdom, Parliament and City, as also how you shall in all likelihood have a willing army to strengthen your Cities and places yet unplundered, consisting of twenty hundred thousand persons at least in such a manner disposed and dispersed, as they shall not be a burden to any the places where they come, nor whereout they go, but a joy and refreshing to the places, and the places to them: whereby also your godly officers, in case of want of help, shall not need to send fare for them, wheresoever they be in want of them; but shall probably in all places not need fear a speedy supply of their want of men and food, if the Lord give you hearts to practise the same. Do you not hear daily of the losing of Cities, and towns of wealth, and of great consequence, the which I fear do more affect men then the hurt of the poor people therein, whose condition I beseech you to consider, and if ye cannot relieve them as ye would, yet prevent the like for others, as if you were, as I know not how soon you may be, in their case: it may be had not you desired them they would at first have taken the other side, not knowing which was best; but judging the Parliament wise and godly, they have followed your counsel, and stood against rebellious enemies; the which by an overruling providence of God, and his determinate counsel and will, it hath tended to the destruction of many, and to the dis-harbouring of many more, whose afflictions and miseries, together with other great occasions, do so affect you, that you labouring to help, yet cannot spare time to hearken to that which might effect your godly desires: for these eight or nine months your poor suppliant hath laboured to get a hearing, yet never could, God's time being not yet come; but if he incline you at last to hearken, I hope God will show you by a poore-despised creature what will tend to your deliverance: and whereas you are labouring to raise an Army for Sir William Waller, which doth I conceive but slowly increase, although your money decrease apace. Consider the ways of God's people are not bloody without his command; therefore consider how you might have a thousand thousand people for the defence of the poor counteries, besides the inhabitants themselves, which would be as many more, who all for love or fear would be your friends to defend your cause, if you will hearken to God's way, whereby you shall let your enemies know, that except they seek their own destruction, you desire not their blood, but if they will come and lay down their arms, they shall be entertained, and enjoy their liberties and estates peaceably.  
1. Then consider with what willingness it would make the most go out, with courage and hope of prevailing in your cause, where almost all did go, and on condition they should place neighbours of every parish by themselves in the villages, and officers of their own choosing in their own parishes should go and govern them, and there they should one work for another, and take money for it, and several poor men of trades should make ware, and have rich men at hand to buy it; and might without fear of plundering send goods to London, and receive goods from London, so their strength and store would increase apace, for most men would be glad by night or day to bring their goods into your compass for safety, who also still would be guides to your living wall, I mean your multitude of people, to encompass further and further every day; and every place would be glad throughont the Kingdom to secure their food and their goods, in their several parishes by order of authority: if you should give commission to all the officers that go out to entreat, admonish, and enforce them that refuse in parishes and villages to secure their food and chief goods in their parish-Churches, and great walled houses for their own use from fear of plundering; and if any obstinately refuse, then to plunder them: which food being thus secured, none should have food for their money, except they would defend your cause in all places, the which would make them all generally willing to do it, knowing that all their neighbours must do the like, or else starve. And again, having by this means such a satisfactory excause if they be taken, that they must have starved: and you might put muskets and arms in the custody of two or three honest officers in every such defenced place and thirty or forty more, if but women, they would easily with muskets defend it: and cause all food to be brought thither, and none sold but from thence to all in that parish by the owners thereof or their deputies, who being friends might keep there, And if any should speak or do any thing against the proceed of the House herein, or hinder or desert the cause, upon the testimony of two honest witnesses, he should have no food by the space of one week following, but at double the price, and so the people out of all towns aforesaid, and cities, and populous places would enforce all to such a conformity, that none, neither one nor other almost would desert the cause, knowing that in all probability they must needs prevail, when all villages shall be so filled with strength of men and women, who having all their chief goods and food in the Church secure, they will encompass the enemy rather than they shall get it, both men, women, boys and maids would unaminously set upon them and destroy them, being so strengthened with as many more as they had before in their town; and then they that are in the Church might always have a Sentinel on the top of every steeple, which might give warning round about to their neighbouring towns; by setting up a pole on the steeple top with a black cloth in the day, and a great torch or link on fire on a pole in the night, reaching much higher than the steeple top. The neighbouring towns having their own goods so also secured, in their Church, and many of our helpers also to go with them, and then all having such kind of weapons as I can show, the which every one almost may make for themselves for 6. pence or 8. pence cost, a blow whereof would kill a horse, and yet a little youth or wench might use the same against any man with sword and poleaxe: so that were the enemy's number greater or smaller, it were impossible almost that any should escape, but by deliveering up horses and arms, and then you need neither kill them nor take them, but let them go back to help to eat up your enemy's food, and tell them, if they will fetch such as are the great maintainers of their cause, and deliver them up, you then will entertain themselves, and let them have food if they will work among you, and live like honest men: for we desire no man's blood: for you may be sure that they must needs come short of food; for they have made and do make great waist, and they do and must keep many that are gone to them out of our countries and all other countries' in the Kingdom, besides many that the Queen hath procured, which will all help to eat faster than they know how to get, if God would move you to take this course: so also you shall finde many Irish in your compass, which you might send to the enemies, and send them word you could send them more if they had meat for them, but our food must be for our friends.  
If this course were taken, ye should not, I conceive, hear within a while, one black mouth open against your proceed: but seeing your side the strongest, and all hopes of the others prevailing quashed, all would take part, speak and do for the Parliament in their proceed, although more for fear then love: whereas now the food in Parishes not being secured in such places, ye hear by lamentable experience how they plunder and spoil, the reason is, the poor inhabitants now having their chief goods and food in their own houses, dare not stir out at the enemies approach to resist, fearing if they go out, the enemies will come in and plunder them: and if there come but ten or twenty, they will plunder a whole town, fearing there are many more behind, and so men are hiding their chief goods for fear: whereas this course being taken, that fear were gone, not only from that town, but all about it, so that with warning as aforesaid, they would irresistibly destroy them, if they did not lay down arms, and deliver up their horses, and then plundering them, let them go with their lives. In this before set down are the 5. first Propositions in some measure cleared.  
6 If the course above-written be not taken, there will I fear be fire set on barns of corn when it is got in, but by this course you may prevent it. The 7. is formerly answered.  
For the eighth, if God would move authority to command, that inasmuch as Barley and Rye is good breadcorn, that they might make but half the barley into malt, and make no beer to retail at any dearer rate than two quarts a penny, under a strict penalty, and authority by Officers in every Parish to punish the same, as by a Justice of Peace. The 9 and 10. are formerly answered.  
I conceive there should hardly need any, or but very few Captains or Colonels, or the horses and their riders these ways, and half the money in the other way would serve the turn, for every one might be at work of their trades that had any, and others watching, fortifying and making brest-works about Churchyards, and stopping roads, highways and bridges, so that we would hardly go to our enemies, and they would have but little joy in coming among us, for if they did go back, it must be with hungry bellies.  
The 12. is formerly in part answered, for women would be helpful to their husbands and family, and might be Sentinels on Steeples, as also learn to defend with muskets from the Churches, where the enemies could not hurt them with muskets through the walls: and by the way, if you did cause some with a far greater bore, and half as long again as muskets, so to shoot from Churches and other places of safeguard. You might also by the leaning of a black cloth on a pole, or a torch, as aforesaid, East, West, North or South, discover which way the enemy goes, or by certain sounds of great horns of brass, which would be heard far, and he might give one Sound if they went East, two if West, three if North, four if South, or the like. By the same also they might let their neighbouring towns know how far off they were by other distinctions of sounds.  
13 When three quarters of the people were gone, than food and firing would last four times so long.  
14 If this course were taken, many would believe you would prevail, and so would stay, that think they should die if the other prevail. The 15. is answered in the 12. the 16. and 17. also are answered.  
The 18. is, not to let any body pass toward the enemy or from him, but take the messenger, and let one of ours carry forth the approved letters.  
These things propounded being considered, almost all would go, and not divide families, but wives, children, and servants with their masters, all would go, and that willingly, with courage, and hope to prevail, and all folks not in one place in a huge body to do nothing, but every one should have continual employment, no horses almost kept at charge in City or Country, but those that should be employed in other labour, how joyfully would all embrace, and so the city and those places should have continual trading, and be a refreshing and a wall of defence each to other.  
Consider again, when men's goods are secured out of their dwellings, so that they have nothing to lose in their houses, they may the better, and will let helpers have rooms to subsist in, and use them kindly, seeing they know they cannot steal when all their goods are secured. And whosoever shall refuse to have his goods so secured, or any neighbour that should conceal him, or not help to plunder him, should be plundered: and whosoever hath a house well walled for security against muskets, and will not suffer it to be employed for your service, let him be plundered. And whatsoever town should refuse to help other towns, at the approach of the enemy, should be plundered, and have no food for money.  
Then get hoope-makers in every village, and teach all boys and girls of any green sticks to make cross hoops such as hang at Taverns, that they may have them to fill all high ways with them, whereinto if a horse get a foot, he can hardly shift casting his rider, and when all is done, they are good fuel. Any boy or girl would learn almost in an hour to make them so as to serve that purpose, so that they should not march night nor day till they first did light and gather them up, in which time our helpers need not stand still, and which are soon cast out of the way for your own good occasions. And who so should offer violence to any of your Officers, should have Martial Law, and who so should speak against them should be punished: and if any of the Officers do any wrong, they should be severely punished. So they would make trenches and brest-works about the places of store, and make every place so strong, as you should shortly neither need to fear home bred nor foreign enemies.  
That no food might be bought or sold but at such places where every man might have money for his commodities, Than you need not press men, or if you did, you need not fear they would take to the other side, for fear of starving, most will be willing to go with the multitude.  
Many things for want of room I am constrained to omit, many more I believe God would mind me of daily, if I could have recourse to any daily to declare the same.  
The Author hath a twentieth Proposition, conducing to the performance of the nineteen with much readiness, which he reserveth for Authority in private.  
One main thing is left out, namely how corn may be threshed as fast as reaped, which he can declare to Authority, which will secure it from fear of fire.