The Packet of Letters: OR, An exact Collection of all the Letters, Messages, and Summons, with their Answers, which have any relation to our present engagements: Also the most remarkable Passages and Letters, sent from beyond Seas to this kingdom. Printed and published, for the better understanding of all Occurrences, Passages, and Accounts, both at home and abroad. Containing Letters this week, from Venice. Newcastle. Coloneil Morgan. Marq. of Worcester. Ireland. France. London. The King to the Prince. Flanders. york. Oxford. Ragland. june 26. Published according to Order. From Venice. SIR, SInce my last, it hath pleased Almighty God, so to prosper the engagements of our Christian Army, that besides the hopes of regaining the Garrison of Canea, we have taken from the Turks the iceland of Metellin, and 20. of their Gallies at that famous gulf of Lepanto. And now we are confident that that God whom we serve, as he can, so he will deliver us out of the devouring talents of this Antichristian. We hear the Pole will not let him sleep on the one side, and the Persian pricks him up on the other. And for our parts, we are not idle: Our Generalissim●, together with our famous Morosins, are gone towards the Dardanels of Constantinople, and we make no doubt, but before their return, that service shall be crwoned with victory; it is thought by this time they have met with the Turkish Navy newly come from Canal; and desire nothing more then to fight with them; the Lord of Hosts prottct them, guide them, and direct them in their undertakings, and grant that the swords that are now drawn against good friends in Europe, may onely have their points directed to the heart of this Antichristian Turk, and help their brethren. Your Servant, T. W. From Newcastle. SIR, THere have been divers conferences between His Majesty and most of the nobility of Scotland concerning a well-grounded peace; in which they moved His majesty to take the Covenant, cnofirme the Directory, sand for the Prince, and consider of Ireland: to all which His Majesty replied, that for some scruples best known to himself, he could not consent to the ▪ Covenant, nor confirm the Directory. Mr. Hinderson striven by all means to stave him off from building his Arguments upon the rotten maxims of a monarchy, but could not prevail for the present. The whole Committee hearing this, upon their bended knees, and with tears in their eyes, besought His Majesty that he would be pleased to put an end to these miserable distractions, and condescend: His Majesty observing their posture, hearing their speeches, and beholding their tears, was exceedingly moved to the same passion, but not to the same compassion they expected; yet he told them, he had sent such faire Propositions to the Parliament of England, that it was beyond his imagination to correct them, and that he verily believed, they should make ● happy conclusion. He also then cleared himself concerning the business in Ireland, and protested to discharge all a●ts of hostility where his power could extend. We hear he hath a great mind to see Mons ▪ Moutril return before he condescend to any thing: The marquis of Argile( it is reported) will shortly be at London, and then I hope wee shall hear of some good conclusion. In the mean time I rest, Sir, Your true Friend, L. C. From colonel Morgan. A Summ●ns. SIR, I Am commanded by his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, to summon you to surrender unto me for the use of the Parliament, the Castle of Ragland, with all the arms, Artillery, Ammunition, and all manner of military provision therein, which I conceive you have no reason to hold, being out of all hopes of relief, and that all or most of the Kings Garrisons are surrendered into the hands of such as the Parliament hath appointed, to keep them for their service; and Ragland Castle being one of your last, if you refuse ▪ to surrender ●● upon this Summons, the County will witness against you to be the disturbers of the peace of this kingdom, and deprive yourself and all with you from those honourable conditions which you may now receive from Your Servant, Tho. Morgan. For the governor of Ragland, these. The marquis of Worcesters Answer. SIR, I Have received your Letter, by which you manifest that you have received command from Sir Thomas Fairfax to summon this place, to be delivered up unto you with all, &c. In the first place, I know not the reason, having not to the best of my knowledge given just cause of offence to the Parliament, nor by any Law of the Land forfeited my inheritance, which is none of the Kings to give or dis●●se of; but the Forces I have here are the Kings, which he may dispose of at his pleasure; and therefore if you please to afford me the civill courtesy, that I may have reasonable time to sand to His Majesty, to have leave to give you contentment, I shall be ready to give you any reasonable satisfaction; for loathe would I be to live the hour that it may justly be said, that I have falsified my trust reposed in me: if otherwise, I am of belief, that God is of more strength then all human force, and therefore must rely upon him for aid and assistance: what honourable terms you mean I am ignorant of, and when I shall receive His Majesties answer, you shall not find him obstinate that desires to be esteemed Your Friend and Servant, H. Worcester. There have been divers other passages between this marquis and Col. Morgan, of late, concerning the surrender of this Castle, but partly for brevity, and partly because they are elsewhere printed, I omit them. From Irel●nd. Sir, I Make no question, but before this time, you are made privy to that great mis-fortune which hath befallen our Army since my last, in the Province of Ulster, and therefore I shall for the present forbear, onely thus much, we lost not so many in number as the report is; though more of eminent persons then they speak of; our onely hopes are now, of a happy reconciliation betwixt His majesty and his Parliament, and the Scots in England, that so we might be able to cry quittance with these merciless Rebels; O that they would at last forget their honourable terms, and private interest, and remember our bloody wounds, which still do cry for vengeance! Sir Charles coat, in the Province of Conaught still stands upon his legs, and we hope may march on successful, if England, and Scotland, afford but timely recruits, but if otherwise it fall out, then take my word for it, wee shall find it as hot a piece of service to regain that kingdom, as any we have undertook since these miserable times: The truth is, we hear( and not without great joy) of an addition of 5000. Foot, and 1500. Horse to these, firs● intended for this service, and of moneys accordingly, which if we find it to be true, wee make no doubt of as good if not better condition, then wee had before this fatal overthrow. Yours to command, G. L. From France. Sir, MY service presented, these are to let you know, that the Court at Amiens is now exceeding full, both of French and Strangers, amongst whom our two English gallants Dig●y and Jermyn are not a little looked upon by her majesty of England, they being as it is reported, her chief Volentiers to the State of France, for a solemn ambassage to be sent to the Parliament of England in her behalf; what Letters Mou●s●eur Montrill hath brought unto her, we cannot yet learn, we onely wonder at his speedy return, but must say nothing. The ambassador will be amongst you shortly, and then you will know further. The Queen hath sent for the Prince, and exceedingly desires his company, either at Amiens or at S. Germans with her, but wee hope he will bee so wife as to follow the steps of his Father if he co●e to London, rather then the instructions of his Mother ▪ For French news we hear, that the Army of Prince Thomas of Savoy grows very potent, as also that the French Army in general hath no need of any thing, i● is said, they make the Spaniards shake their heads and sometimes their heels, when they can meet together, their aim is onely at the kingdom of Naples ▪ protesting no disturbance to his Holinesse, and first of all the● intend to begin with the city of Gends, &c. Thus I take my leave and rest, Sir, Your servant, I. R. From London. SIR, ALL the news I have to tell you at present is, that the Presbyt●riall Government ●● speedily to be established in the Churches in and about London; the Militia is ordered to be in the Parliaments hands for 20 years; and( as we hear) the King is coming to us, but as yet there is no certainty upon what cond●t●o●s. The marquis of Argile communicated the intentions of the Scots, in this particular, to the Houses of Parliament, o● Thursday, being yesterday, together with many other things, which as yet we are ignorant of; we make no doubt but their a me●●re good and honest, though some will sc●rcely believe so; there is ● book entitled Scotch Papers, red it for your better satisfaction. L. Col. Lilburne is close prisoner in Newgate for some unbeseeming words and actions in contempt of the House of peers. Master Hudson hath been examined concerning the King, and the manner of his going to the Scots. Now there are divers reports in the town concerning divers merry passages which befell His Majesty in that journey; therefore give me leave to relate some of them as I heard them. MAster Ashburn●am the Gentleman, and M. H●dson, being at dinner, and their servant Charles attending on them, at a place called Barnet, about ten miles from London, the Landlord of the house looked very z●alously at the serving man, and thought with himself he should know him, which being perceived by the King, he takes ●n op●rtunitie to go forth, where the Oastler espying him, came to him, and( being a merry f●llow) gives him ● good cl●p over the shoulder, and desired him to drink ● cup, the King condescended, and there they drunk a health to his Majesty in the first place, then to the queen, and the Prince, &c. but my Gentleman fearing the worst, as also hearing of the bad news ●● London, packed up, and away they went. In another place, Ashburnham being something pleasant, but His M●j●stie something sad ▪ they called for a cup of ●eare, which being brought in by a pretty handsome maid, M. Ashburnham told her he would help her to a rich h●sband, and desired her to tell him what she thought of his man, do, you think( quoth the maid) that I will have such a dumb dog as this, that can say never a word for himself? Nay, faith I warrant you, and away she goes. This is all for the present, from Your ever loving Friend, W. H. From the King, to the Prince. CHARLES, THis is rather to tell you where I am, and that I am well, then at this time to direct you in any thing, having writ fully to your Mother what I would have you to do, whom I command you to obey in every thing, Religion onely excepted, concerning which, I am confident she will not trouble you, and see that you go no whither, without her, ●r any particular direction, let ●●e ●●are of●en from you, So God bless you. Postscript. If jack Ashburnham come where you are, command him to wait on you, as he was wont, u●till I sh●ll sand for him, if your mother and you be together, if she will, he must wait on her. From york. SIR, WE are all exceeding glad to hear that his Maj●sti● will bee amongst us sho●tly, yet withall we a●● as so●●ie on the other side, to hear that the Scottish A●●y comes along with him, for I am confident if ever they come amongst us again in Yorkshire, we sh●ll ce●tainely and all ●nd ●ne, wee know them( God w●t) too w●ll to b 〈…〉 the contr●ry ▪ yet, we hope the best, and persuade our se●v●s that Hi● Majesties Pers●●●●y something restrain their insol 〈…〉 I must also confess the best of them will be persuaded with reason, but the rest are devilish, yet wee hope the goodness of the one being Commanders, will prevail against the wickednes●e of the other, being but common-so●ldiers. Also general Po 〈…〉 is so gallant a man, that wee rest confident he will see all well; we are now( thanks be to God) in a pretty good condition, especially in the East Riding towards Hull, and this is the greatest news and the best that for the present I can tell you, if the King comes, I will sand you word, and of all proceedings, till which time I res● ▪ Yours to command, T. L. From Flanders. SIR, ALthough the French be too hard for us in Italy, yet we are even with them ●e●e in Flanders: For since our strengthening of S. Omer and completing the new dike, wee have had a sight with them, and in fine after a hot dispute on both sides, wee had the glory of an absolute victory: there were slain and taken prisoners between 7 and 8 thousand French, and on our side not above one thousand in all; the particulars I will sand you more at large hereafter; we have since raised the siege at Cortnick, and have hopes of rega●●ing the Castle at Lann●y. I am Yours, T. M. From Oxford. SIr, these are to confirm both you and all others, who desire satisfaction in this particular, that the Garrisons of Oxford, and Farringdon, are now delivered up into the hands of his Excellency Sir Tho. Fairfax, for the use of the Parliament, they enjoying as honourable Articles, as possibly they could desire: many hundreds of them came out on monday, and as many of ours went in, but now they are all packing up as fast as can be; This piece of service we hope hath put an end to our English war, and will prove the cause of a better condition to encounter Ireland then otherwise could possibly have been expected. Yours to command, H. S. From before E●gland. SIR, Since these divers Letters and Summons which have past between the marquis and Col. Morgan, concerning the surrendering of this castle, there hath fallen out a scurvy piece of service for our men, the enemy making ready 80. Curasiers and as many Firelocks, together with 200. foot, sallied forth of the castle on friday last, and fell dangerously upon Col. Kerls Quarters, yet notwithstanding God assisting us, beat them in again. Capt. Temple, and Capt. cross, have deserved well in this encounter, we lost some men and had many wounded, 14. of the enemies slain upon the place, &c. we hope another Summons will let them see their error in holding out so long to their greater ruin, I pray God they take example by Oxford and Farringdon, and prevent it in time: Thus I rest Yours ever, T. D. We hear since the writing of these Letters, that His Majesty hath condescended to all things formerly desired, and that an absolute peace is expected by both Kingdoms. Likewise that Prince Rupert and P. Maurice lay at Maidenhead on Wednesday night, and came on Thursday to Oatlands; but Sir Tho. Glemham and some other Lords are still in Oxford. Printed for Thomas Bates at the Maidenhead on Snow-hill.