The Loyal DECLARATION OF HIS EXCELLENCY, The Right Honourable, JAMES, marquis Of ORMOND, Earl of Ormond, and Ossary, etc. Lord Lieu. General, and General Governor of the KINGDOM of IRELAND. August the 11. 1649.  
Declaring grounds of his present Engagement, and his Resolution to maintain it, against all Powers that shall oppose him.  
LONDON. Printed in the Year, M. DC.XL.IX.   

A DECLARATION Of his Excellency, the Right Honourable, JAMES, marquis of Ormond, Earl of Ormond, and Ossary, etc.  
IT hath always been the observed practice of wicked Men, (as skilful Physicians gild over their most bitter Pills, and deliver their unpleasantest Potions in a delightful Cup) to lay a fair outside, upon their foulest actions, and make a plausible entrance into their most execrable designs; writing the sense of their black resolutions in golden Characters, wrapping their most nefarious Plots in mantles of Innocency; and traducing others, transfer their own guile, to make it become their guiltiness: whilst good men knowing innocence, to have so fair a face, that she needs no painting; and a good Cause, when plainly told, to be sufficiently pleaded; in confidence of their own integrity and honesty, commit their Cause (in a plain dress, without any other ornament than truth) to the view of the world; presuming their Resolutions to be grounded on so good reason, that they cannot want the equity of a candid and charitable construction; which, their malicious Adversaries with cunning sophistry endeavour to asperse by wounding their reputations with scandalous slanders, and charging their honours with heinous accusations; casting false fires before the eyes of the Vulgar, benighted with ignorance, depraving the senses with unjust suspicions of ancient and approved Government, and charm them to a cheerful embracing of their garish novelties: whereby at length themselves become Lords of their Persons and judgements, and enslave both to the pleasures of their tyrannical wills, making themselves perfect Observers of the first part of that good advice, Be wise as Serpents, and leaving the innocency of Doves to the only practice and portion of their injured Adversaries.  
Such was the condition of His late sacred Majesty of ever blessed memory, who in the beginning of these unhappy differences, being sufficiently satisfied of the candour of His own heart, and justice of His Cause, freely Declared His resolutions for the satisfaction of all His People; neglecting nothing that might beget and preserve a good understanding between Him and His Subjects; in giving many Princely testimonies of His grace and favour, in passing several Acts, to the abridging of His Royal Prerogative for the enlargement of their Liberties: Notwithstanding which, these bloody Catiline's, His Enemies, as if they had put on a resolution not to be satisfied with any thing but His Majesty's destruction; did by secret and subtle practices, bespatter His Majesty's reputation, possessing the People with feigned Fears and Jealousies, whispering to their abused senses, strange imaginations, that His Majesty did exdeavour to alter the Religion established, and introduce Popery; to subvert the fundamental Laws of the Land, and to alienate the People's Liberties into the French bondage; whereby their Estates should become liable to His Will and pleasure: by which, they begot a misunderstanding between the KING and His People; which having fully effected, for the further advancing of their own ambitious ends, they plunged the People into a most barbarous and bloody Rebellion against the KING'S Sacred Person, His Crown and Dignities, and for the better colour of their mischievous intentions, they make a show of Reformation, and under pretence to abolish Superstition, they have banished all decency out of the Church; using the reverence of Religion, as a mantle to cover their impiety, blasphemy, Treason, Sacrilege and Rebellion, and that they might show themselves Graduates in Machiavel's Politics, and with better skill delude His Majesty's well-meaning Subjects, besides their Oath of Allegiance, Protestation, and several Declarations, they cause a Solemn League and Covenant to be generally taken within their Quarters, whereby with hands lifted up to the most high God, they bind themselves to maintain the true Protestant Religion, to preserve His Majesty's Royal Person, Queen, and Posterity, in the fullness of their glory and splendour, with the continuance of His Majesty's just and Royal Prerogatives, that they would always maintain the Privileges of Parliament, and the Liberty of the Subject; by which fair and specious pretences they won the People, (who usually fathom the mysteries of State by their own shallow capacities) to a ready compliance with them; who thought neither Life nor Estate too precious to be hazarded in their service: by whose assistance, having got the grand Treasury of the Kingdom into their custody, wanting neither Men nor Money, they prosecute their Design with all rage and violence, to the plunder and ruin of all that did oppose them, not sparing the lives of any who seemed to stand as screens between them and their purposes: but at length, having subdued the Loyal Party, and got His Majesty's Royal Person into their possession, after a long and tedious Imprisonment, wherein all the common comforts of this life were withheld from Him, (save the peace of a good Conscience, which they could not sequester:) In the time of a Treaty, the Faith of the Kingdom being passed for His security, when He had granted the perfection of their desires, and given them all possible satisfaction, when the hopes of peace, and the general conceit of His Majesty's safe return had swollen the People's hearts to an hyperbole of happiness, even then to show, that nothing would satisfy them but Blood and Dominion, they abruptly break off the Treaty, and by Force of Arms, hurry Him from one Prison to another, till at length they bring Him before the Judgement Seat, where having loaden Him with scorn and contempt, and upbraided with the infamous brands of Tyrant, Traitor, and Murderer; they dismissed Him with the Sentence of Death: And that they might justify the Gun-powder-Traytors, who having some tincture of Grace, contrived their Treason to be secretly acted in a Cellar, as blushing, that the light should be a witness of their prodigious deeds: These, as an addition of His sorrow, in a triumphant manner, with Drums beating, and Colours flying, on the 30. Jan. 1649. (a black & dismal day!) they bring his sacred Majesty to the Scaffold, where without respect of Place or Person, either of the Representor, or Represented, at mid day, in the face of the Sun, & general view of His People, they execute their grim, and bloody Sentence by the common Executioner, who to the terror of the Beholders, with his Instrument of death, separated His Royal Head from His Body; whom malice itself could not justly stain with any notorious personal fault, being a King of high & ancient descent, full of all Imperial virtues, Religion, Justice, clemency, patience, learning, wisdom, memory, affability, magnanimity, and all other high and glorious endowments that are requisite for the perfect accomplishment of an absolute KING. And albeit, that Princes hold their Crowns immediately of, and from God, by right of lawful Succession and Inheritance, inherent by Royal Blood; yet by force of Arms they keep His present Majesty from His undoubted Right, and absolve the People from their due Allegiance and fealty to their lawful Sovereign, Declaring, and solemnly proclaiming throughout the Kingdom, That they will absolutely abolish Monarchy, and perpetuate the Government to themselves and their posterity in a confused Anarchy.  
And now I cannot but declare, that from my soul I do abhor, and utterly detest, that execrable and prodigious murder which was executed upon the Person of my late dread Sovereign; which was a Treason of that horror, and monstrous nature, (as was excellently expressed by a learned Lawyer in case of the Gunpowder Treason) that before now, the tongue of Man never delivered, the ear of Man never heard, the heart of Man never conceited, nor the malice of hellish or earthly Devil ever practised: For, if it be abominable to murder the least, if to touch Gods Anointed be to oppose themselves against God, if by blood to subvert Princes, States, & Kingdoms be hateful to God and Man, as all true Christians must acknowledge; then how much more than monstrous must all Men judge the horror of this Treason, to murder and subvert such a KING; to race out such a Progeny, to overthrow such a Government, so complete and absolute, that God approves, the world admires, all true English hearts honour and reverence, and only the Pope and his Adherents, themselves and their Abettors envy and malign.  
Nor can I leave hear, having to do with offences so exorbitant and transcendent, and aggregated of so many bloody and fearful crimes, as they cannot be aggravated by any inference, argument, or circumstance whatsoever, being of the first impression, and therefore without any Name, which might be adequate sufficient to express it, given by any Legist, that ever made, or writ of any Laws: For, the highest Treason, that all they could imagine, they called it only, Crimen laesae Majestatis, the violating of the Majesty of the Prince: but this Treason doth want an apt name, as tending not only to the hurt, but to the death of the KING, and not to the death of the KING only, but of His whole Kingdoms, that is, to the destruction and dissolution of the whole frame and fabric of the ancient, famous, and ever-flourishing Monarchy; even the deletion of our whole Name and Nation.  
For repairing and restoring the honour whereof, for bringing these high and capital Delinquents to due and impartial justice, for the restoring the true Protestant Religion to its ancient splendour, the establishing His Majesty's Thrones in power and peace; for the maintenance of the ancient Privileges of Parliament, the Law of the Land, and Liberty of the People, and (I take God to witness) for no other end, by virtue of His Majesty's Commission I have taken up Arms, and do solemnly protest in the presence of Almighty God, that I will never lay them down, while God shall enable me to hold them up; till I have fully finished my intended work, and reduced all in rebellion to His Majesty's obedience.  
Nor shall any prosperous success in my Adversaries, or adverse, in myself, discourage me, in prosecution of my resolved enterprise; not being any thing amated at my late unhappy fortune before Dublin; (where I was betrayed by my new modelled Soldiers; which Defeat, was not yet so great as my Enemies pretend, nor their loss so small, as themselves would persuade) but shall speedily return to that Siege, from whence I resolve not to departed, till it shall please God to deliver that City up into my hands; not doubting but by God's assistance in a small time, to turn their triumphant Festival of Thanksgiving, into a day of Humiliation.  
And for as much as mercy, is the surest foundation whereon a King can establish his Throne, I declare, that I shall always become an importunate Intercessor, to His Majesty, to receive all such to mercy, as shall humbly submit themselves, and acknowledge their offences, and that all convenient Liberty may be granted to the ease of Tender Consciences; and that all such may be received to pardon, who have been deluded, and drawn away by the subtle insinuations of the crafty Adversary, and have been only Spectators or Abettors of that horrible Murder; and that indemnity may be granted to all save those that have been principal and grand Actors in that monstrous and prodigious Treason, who can expect no pardon.  
And whereas by credible information I am given to understand, that OLIVER CROMWELL, with a numerous Army, lies now at Milford, intending to make a speedy entrance into this Kingdom, to join with those, now in rebellion against His Majesty; to the dissipation of this Army under my command, and promotion of the Rebel's interest here: Wherefore I declare, that I am so fare from being any whit daunted at the noise of their numbers, that my encouragement is swollen to a full measure, not only with the sense of my ability to encounter them; but my assured confidence, that (by God's assistance) we shall utterly destroy them and their rebellious Host.  
And I do further declare, that I am fully resolved, and do hereby command all Officers and Commanders, both in Field and Garrison, not to capitulate with any of them, upon any terms save in the language of the Sword: but upon all occasions to fight it out, to the last Man. Nor do I make any doubt, but that I shall be able to give a speedy account of this City & Kingdom, which I hope shortly to reduce to His Majesty's obedience: And I am confident, that the God in whom we trust, will be the Tower of our defence, and as we own his Cause, so he will own us for his own; and as from nothing he gave us a beginning, and from a small beginning, hath made us a powerful Army, and given almost all the strong Garrisons in the Kingdom into our possession, causing our Enemies to become our Friends, so he will now deliver up these our proud and implacable enemies into our hands, making them and the world to know, that he is our God, and we his People. And now with this comfort I shall conclude, that maugre the malice, power, and fury of those insolent Regicides our Enemies, this present design, in which I am engaged, shall altogether tend to the glory of God, the honour of our Religion, the Safety of his most Excellent Majesty, and the Royal Family, the security of His Kingdoms, the extirpation of Errors, and suppression of Rebellion; and I doubt not but my progress herein shall be continually attended with the blessing of God, and the prayers of the Church.  
From our Rendezvous near Dublin, August the 11th. 1649.  
FINIS.