C R HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE royal blazon surmounted by a crown BY THE KING. ΒΆ His Majesties Proclamation on the behalf of Sir Ralph Hopton and his proceedings in the Counties of cornwall and Devon, by virtue of His Majesties Commission. WHEREAS We have been lately informed of an Order pretended to be made in the House of Commons, wherein the loyal and dutiful carriage of Sir Ralph Hopton to us, and in obedience to Our just commands, in Our Counties of cornwall and Devon, is much inveighed against, and styled to be Hostile and Rebellious, and upon the complaint of one William Strode( a Person whom We have accused, and is notoriously known to be guilty of High Treason, and endeavouring to take away Our Life from us) the Estate of the said Sir Ralph Hopton is by that Order, without the least colour of Iustice or pretence of legal power, sequestered into the hands of the said Strode; We have thought ourself obliged in Honour and Iustice to ourself, the said Sir Ralph Hopton, and such other loyal and dutiful Persons who join with him in Our Service to declare, that the House of Commons, hath not the least power to sequester or dispose of the Estates of any of Our Subjects, or can usurp the same, without destroying the interest and Property they were born to; And to publish to all Our good Subjects, that the said Sir Ralph Hopton with other Persons of Honour and Quality being long since employed in a Peaceable manner, and according to the known laws of the Land, to preserve the Peace of Our County of Somerset, then endangered by the Faction and Sedition of some turbulent Persons there, where the said Sir Ralph Hopton and his Ancestors had long lived with great Reputation; and to oppose that illegal and grievous imposition of the Militia upon Our good Subjects of that County, that the Lord marquis Hartford, and all the considerable Gentry of that Our County being there together in their own Country, where there Estates lay, and where they had always lived, were by force and violence of a Rebellious Army assaulted and driven from their own Houses, insomuch as We were compelled to sand Our Commission to the said Lord marquis under Our Great seal of England, to be Our general, and to raise Forces to resist and subdue that desperate Rebellion, which nevertheless got so great a head, by the Malice and Industry of ill Instruments, infuseing into the mindes of Our weak Subjects, wicked and groundless lies of Our intention to take away their Estates from them by Our Commission of Array, that the said Lord marquis, and all such of Our good and dutiful Subjects, who had expressed a sense of their duty and Affection to us, being most of the eminent Gentry, and persons of greatest quality and fortune, were compelled to leave that Country, since which time, the said Lord marquis having brought the Forces raised by him to us, We have sent Our Commission under Our Great seal of England, to the said Sir Ralph Hopton, that he with the Assistance of those Persons of Honour and Quality, who have since joined with him, and whose particular services We shall always remember, and hope to reward, might raise such Forces as might subdue the Rebellion in those parts, and defend Our good Subjects there from the Force and Violence of their fellow Subjects. And We do therefore declare to all Our loving Subjects, That what Forces soever the said Sir Ralph Hopton hath raised, or what Acts soever he hath done in pursuance of Our said Commands, and by virtue of Our said Commission, the same have been done by Our royal Authority, and that he is so far from being guilty of Disloyalty or Rebellion against us, that he and such of Our good Subjects as have assisted him have resisted and opposed only Rebells, who without any Colour of Law or Right have, and do use their utmost power to destroy us, to suppress the true reformed Protestant Religion on the behalf of Anabaptists, Brownists, and other Sectaries, to take away the Liberty and Property of Our good Subjects, and to alter the whole frame of Government so long settled, and so happily enjoyed in this kingdom. And We do straitly forbid and inhibit all manner of Persons to presume to yield any obedience to the said Order, or any way to meddle with the Estate of the said Sir Ralph Hopton to his prejudice, or to interrupt his Tenants or Officers in their quiet and peaceable enjoying the same: which if any shall presume to do, We shall look upon them as Persons disaffected to us, and countenancers and fomenters of those dissensions which so nearly threaten the ruin of this Kingdom. And We farther Will and Command all Our good Subjects of Our Counties of cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, that they be aiding and assisting to the said Sir Ralph Hopton, and use their utmost power for the subduing the Rebells now in arms against Us in those parts, under the Command of the earl of Stamford, and for the apprehending the said earl, and such other persons whom We have particularly excepted out of Our Proclamation of Pardon for the said several Counties, that We may proceed against them as Traitors by the known Rules and laws of the Land. And We do hereby declare, That as We shall always remember the singular courage of Our County of cornwall, and such of Our good Subjects of Devon and Somerset, who have assisted them in their notable zeal and Affection to us, the Protestant Religion, and the Liberty of the Subject, so whosoever shall assist the said Sir Ralph Hopton with Horse, arms, Plate, or money, shall do a most acceptable service unto us,& We shall carefully pay all such sums of money as shall be so lent to him, And whosoever shall have the hard fortune to loose his Life in that Service, We shall grant the Wardship of his heir to his own use without Rent or Fine, when on the contrary, the Heires of such who shall fall in the Rebellion against Us, must expect no favour from Vs. Lastly Our pleasure is, That this Our Proclamation be red in all the Churches and chapels within Our said Counties of Somerset, Devon, and cornwall, that all Our Subjects may take notice of Our Will and Pleasure herein. Given at Our Court at OXFORD this Thirteenth day of March, in the eighteen year of Our reign. God Save the KING. Printed at Oxford by LEONARD LICHFIELD, Printer to the University. 1642.