THE PETITION Of the County of ESSEX to the Honourable House of Commons, subscribed with above twenty thousand hands, and attended to LONDON with above two thousand HORSEMEN.  
Presented to the House the 18 Jan. 1641. by Sir Richard Everard, Sir John Barrington, Sir William Martin, Mr. William Massum, Esq rs. ●●d 16 other of the chief Knights and Gentlemen in the Shire.  
ALSO The humble Petition of the County of SOMMESET.  
LONDON, Printed for F. Coules & T. banks.   

TO THE honourable, THE KNIGHTS & burgesses of the House of Commons in the High Court of PARLIAMENT.  
The humble Petition of the Knights, Gentlemen, Ministers, and other Inhabitants in the county of Essex,  
SHEWETH  
unto this Honourable House, that we are truly sensible of your great care and extraordinary endeavours to settle our Religion & Peace, and daily give thanks to God Almighty for it; and wee do further in all humility present to your Honourable Consideration, that wee do ap●r●he●d a great stop of Reforma●ion in matter of Reli 〈…〉 a●● ourselves together with you and the w●ol● 〈…〉 to be in great danger of the Papists, and 〈◇〉 〈…〉fected persons, who are every where ver● 〈◇〉 are ready to act the parts of those savage blood-suckers in Ireland, if they be not speedily prevented, by means whereof our Trading, specially of clothing and Farming grow a great place to so great a damp, as many thousands are like to come to sudden want; nor can we expect any redress thereof, unless the Bishops and Popish Lords be removed out of the House of peers.  
Therefore we humbly pray, that you would earnestly mediate with his Majesty and House of Peers, that our Brethren in Ireland may speedily be relieved, and the Papists throughout this kingdom may be disarmed, and that such defects of arms, as in your discretion shall appear to be meet, may be speedily supplied, and this County and kingdom put into such war-like posture, as may be best for its defence and safety, and that such Captaines and Officers, w●ll affencted to Religion, may be appointed, as to your great wisdom shall seem fit, And that the Bish●ps and Popish Lords, who, as we conceive, have hindered the success of your godly endeavours, may be put out of the House of Peers, not doubting, but then our Petition formerly presented to this House will receive the more full and speedy answer,  
And your Petitioners, resolving in all just and honourable ways, according to the late PROTESTATION, to assist you with our lives and estates, against the enemies of God, the King and State, humbly pray to Almighty God for your good success.   

TO THE HONOURABLE Assembly of COMMONS in this present PARLIAMENT.  
The humble Petition of divers Knights, Gentlemen, Clergy, and other Inhabitants of the County of somerset.  
SHEWETH,  
THAT having with great joy of mind often heard of the pious inclination of this Honourable assembly unto the Reformation of Church Government, and having of late( not without some regret seen a Petition in the name of the Knights, Gentlemen and others of this County, tending most to the Confirmation of episcopal power: We have thought it our duty likewise to rouse up our affection unto Gods cause, and in all humility to lay these expressions thereof at the feet of this great council, as being( under God) the chief Arbitrator between our joy and sorrow.  
For the present Church Government, of what right it is, we may not dispute, presuming it to be subject to the power of this Honourable Assembly; Neither doth it much import how ancient it is, or how near the Apostles daies, seeing we know that in the daies of the Apostles themselves, the mystery of iniquity began to work, and that by the efficacious operation of the same, the man of sin hath advanced himself from the Episcopal chair to the top of Antichristian Tyranny. But that this Government is the wisest and most pious that any people hath been blessed withall since the Apostles dayes( what ever others may believe) we presume is no part of the Creed of this great council; whose godly zeal in purging the corruptions, & punishing the enemy of the true Church, being already in part made manifest, doth rather give us a just cause to hope that God hath yet some further blessing of Reformation for us, to be wrought by the same hands, In prosecution whereof, if it shall enter into your hearts at this time to give a deadly wound unto that power, against which you have received so many Complaints, we are sure you shall not walk in an unknown path, but such as hath been trodden before you by almost all the Churches of God which have exchanged the superstition and bondage of Rome, for the glorious light and liberty of the gospel. Neither may it be conceived as the least degree of indignity offered to the blessed memory of those ancient or latter Bishops who have so well deserved of the Church of God both in life and death, if that Government which they have adorned by their singular piety and virtues being through the corruption and wickedness of those which have succeeded them made intolerable, shall by your just authority be abolished. Or if the number and merit of learned and godly Bishops, famous in their generations be presumed to be a reasonable inducement for the continuation of that Government, we leave it to consideration of this wise council, whether the great and far surpassing multitude of ambitious, ungodly, and in famous Prelates, in most Countries and Ages bypassed, be not a more effectual motive for the extirpation of the same. Hereunto if we add the present experience even in these our daies of their many insolences and outrages against the truth and power of godliness, suppressing and corrupting Gods Ordinances ▪ Unhallowing his day, persecuting his Ministers; Their late mischievous attempt to impose on us and our posteritity and insupportable yoke of servitude, and that which deserveth the highest pitch of zeal and all the bowels of this Honourable Senate, the notorious multitude of profane and scandalous Ministers, the most active and malicious enemies unto Reformation, and the authority from which it is desired. We trust that all this together, with much more well known to this Honourable Assembly, will be sufficient to justify the fears we have conceived of so dangerous a power.  
Wherefore, being persuaded in our mindes, that it will be a work acceptable unto God, of great advantage and comfort to the Churches of Christ, and no less conducing to the safety, peace and strength of all His Majesties kingdoms; wee most humbly implore the authority and zeal of this Honourable Assembly to proceed unto the full accomplishment of the same; And having laid the Axe to the roote of this three, to do unto it as unto a Plant, which the Heavenly Father h●th no● planted, that neither the spreading boughs of the same may over-shadow the Vineyard of the LORD, nor the bitter fruit thereof make sad the hearts of the people of GOD any more for ever.  
These are the desires of your most humble Petitioners, and wee are persuaded, would have been the expressions of multitudes more of true-hearted Christians and Subjects, had there not been some indirect practices used in soliciting the former Petition; whereby many were won to subscribe thereunto, who have sithence declared themselves in the point of episcopacy, to have been at the doing thereof otherwise affencted. How beit unto us it is sufficiet, that relying wholly on the good Providence of GOD, the piety and wisdom of this Honourable Assembly, and the sincerity of our own intentions, wee cannot want the comforts of a good hope, while wee have the liberty to power out our souls unto almighty GOD to continue and increase his favours and gracious aspect towards this Honourable and Religious Assembly.  
FINIS.