THE PETITION Of both Houses of Parliament. Presented to His majesty at York, the 23. of May 1642. Concerning the disbanding of His Guard. With the three Votes of both Houses of the 20. And His Majesties Answer thereunto.  
YORK: Printed by ROBERT BARKER, Printer to the Kings most Excellent majesty: And by the assigns of JOHN BILL.  
1642.   

TO THE KINGS MOST EXCELLENT majesty. The humble Petition of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament.  
YOur Majesties loyal Subjects, the Lords and Commons in this Parliament, do humbly represent unto your majesty, That notwithstanding Your frequent Professions to Your Parliament, and the Kingdom, and the late expression in Your Answer of the thirteenth of May, to the Petition of the County of York, That Your desire and intention is onely the preserving of the true Protestant Profession, the Laws of the Land, the liberty of Your people, and the peace of the Kingdom; nevertheless, with great grief, we perceive by Your Speech of the twelfth of May, and the Paper printed in Your Majesties Name, in the form of a Proclamation, bearing date the fourteenth of May, and other Evidences, That under colour of raising a Guard to secure Your Person, of which Guard( considering the fidelity& care of your Parliament) there can be no use: Your majesty doth command Troops, both of Horse and Foot to assemble at York, the very beginnings whereof were apprehended by the Inhabitants of that County to be an affrightment, and disturbance of your Majesties liege people, as appears by their Petition presented to your majesty: The continuing and increase of which Forces is to your Parliament, and must needs be a just cause of great jealousy and danger to your whole Kingdom.  
Therefore we do humbly beseech your majesty, to disband all such Forces, as by Your Command are assembled; And relying for your security( as your Predecessors have done) upon the Laws, and the affections of your People, you will be pleased to desist from any further designs of this nature; contenting yourself with your usual and ordinary Guards: Otherwise we shall hold ourselves bound in duty towards God, and the trust reposed in us by the People, and the fundamental Laws and Constitutions of this Kingdom, To employ our care, and utmost Power to secure the Parliament, and to preserve the peace and quiet of the Kingdom.   

❧ Die Veneris 20. Maii, 1642.  
Resolved upon the Question. THat it appears, that the King( seduced by wicked counsel) intends to make war against the Parliament, who( in all their consultations and actions) have proposed no other end unto themselves but the care of His Kingdoms, and the performance of all duty and loyalty to His Person.  
Resolved, &c. That whensoever the King maketh war upon the Parliament, it is a breach of the trust reposed in him by His People, contrary to His Oath, and tending to the dissolution of this Government.  
Resolved, &c. That whosoever shall serve or assist Him in such wars, are Traitors, by the fundamental Laws of this Kingdom; and have been so adjudged by two Acts of Parliament, and ought to suffer as Traitors. 
11. R. 2. 1. H. 4.   
Jo. Brown clear. Parl.   

 blazon or coat of arms of the British royal family 
dieu ET MON DROIT  
HONI SOIT QVI MAY Y PENSE  HIS MAJESTIES ANSWER To the aforesaid Petition, concerning the disbanding of His Guard. Presented to His majesty at YORK, the 23. of May 1642.  
WE cannot but extremely wonder, that the causeless jealousies concerning us, raised and fomented by a malignant party in this Kingdom, which desires nothing more then to snatch themselves particular advantages out of a general combustion( which means of advantage shall never be ministered to them by Our fault or seeking) should not onely be able to seduce a weak party in this Our Kingdom, but seem to find so much countenance even from both Houses, as that Our raising of a Guard( without further design, then for the safety of Our Person; an Action so legal in manner, so peaceable, upon causes so evident and necessary) should not onely be looked upon, and petitioned against by them, as a causeless iealousy, but declared to be the raising of a war against them, contrary to Our former Professions of Our Care of Religion and Law. And We no less wonder, that this Action of Ours should be said( in a very large expression) to be apprehended by the Inhabitants of this country, as an affrightment and disturbance to Our People; having been as well received here, as it is every where to be justified; and( We speak now of the general, not of a few seduced particulars) assisted and sped by this country, with that loyal Affection and Alacrity, as is a most excellent example set to the rest of the Kingdom, of care of Our safety upon all occasions, and shall never be forgotten by us, nor We hope, by Our Posterity; but shall be ever payed to them in that which is the proper expression of a Princes Gratitude, A perpetual vigilant care to govern them justly, and to preserve the onely Rule by which they can be governed, The Law of the Land. And We are confident, That if you were yourselves Eye-witnesses, you would see so the contrary, as to give little present thanks, and hereafter little credit to your Informers: And if you have no better intelligence of the Inclinations and Affections of the rest of the Kingdom, certainly the minds of Our People( which to some ends and purposes you represent) are but ill represented unto you.  
Have you so many moneths together not contented yourselves to rely for security( as your predecessors have done) upon the Affection of the People, but by your own single Authority raised to yourselves a Guard,( and that sometimes of no ordinary numbers, and in no ordinary way) And could not all those Pikes and Protestations, that Army on one side, and that navy on the other, persuade us to command you to disband your forces, and to content yourselves with your ordinary( that is, with no) Guard, or work us in an opinion, that you appeared to leavy War against us, or had any further design? And is it possible that the same Persons should be so apt to suspect and condemn us, who have been so unapt in the same matter,( upon much more ground) to tax or suspect them? This is Our case, notwithstanding the care and fidelity of Our Parliament, Our Fort is kept by armed men, against us, Our proper Goods, first detained from us, and then, contrary to Our Command, by strong hand, offered to be carried away( in which at once all Our Property, as a private Person, all Our Authority as a King, are wrested from us:) And yet for us to secure ourselves in a legal way( that Sir John Hotham may not by the same Forces, or by more raised, by pretence of the same Authority( for they say he raiseth daily some, and know it no new thing for him to pretend Orders that he cannot show) continue the War that he hath levied against us, and as well imprison Our Person, as detain Our Goods; and as well shut us up in York, as shut us out of Hull) is said to be esteemed a cause of great jealousy to the Parliament, a raising War against them; and of danger to the whole Kingdom. While these Injustices and Indignities offered to us are countenanced by them who ought to be most forward in Our vindication and their punishment, in observation of their Oaths, and of the trust reposed in them by the People, and to avoid the dissolution of the present Government: Vpon which Case the whole world is to judge, Whether We had not reason, not wholly to rely upon the care and fidelity of Our Parliament( being so strangely blinded by malignant spirits, as not to perceive Our injuries) but to take some care of Our own Person, and in Order to that, to make use of that Authority which the Laws declare to be in us: And whether this Petition, with such a threatening Conclusion, accompanied with more threatening Votes, gives us not cause rather to increase then diminish Our Guard; especially since We saw, before the Petition, a printed Paper, dated the 17. of May, under written Hen. Elsing clear. D. come. commanding( in the name of both Lords and Commons) the Sheriffs of all Our Counties, to raise the Power of all those Our Counties, to suppress such of Our Subjects, as by any of Our Commands shall be drawn together, and put( as that Paper calls it) in a posture of War, charging Our Officers and Subjects to assist them in the performance thereof, at their perils: For though We cannot suspect, that this Paper( or any bare Votes, not grounded upon Law or Reason, or quotation of repealed Statutes) should have any ill influence upon Our good People, who know their duties too well, not to know, That to take up Arms against those, who upon a legal Command( that is, Ours) come together to a most legal end( that is, Our Security and Preservation) were to levy war against us; and who appear in this County( and We are confident they are so throughout the Kingdom) no less satisfied with the Legality, Conveniency, and Necessity of these Our Guards, and no less sensible of the indignities and dangers( which makes it necessary) then We are ourselves: Yet if that Paper bee really the Act of both Houses, We cannot look upon it, but as the highest of Scorns and indignities; first, to issue commands of Force against us, and after those have appeared useless, to offer, by Petition, to persuade us to that which that Force should have effected.  
We conclude this Answer to your Petition, with Our counsel to you, That you join with us in exacting satisfaction for that unparalleled, and yet unpunished Action of Sir John Hothams; And that you command Our Fort and Goods to be returned to Our own hands; That you lay down all pretences( under pretence of necessity, or declaring what is law) to make Laws without us, and( by consequence) but a cipher of us; That you declare effectually against Tumults, and call in such Pamphlets,( punishing the Authors and Publishers of them) as seditiously endeavour to dis-able us from protecting Our People, by weakening( by false Aspersions, and new false Doctrines) Our Authority with them, and their confidence in Vs. The particulars of which Tumults and Pamphlets We would long since have taken care, that Our learned council should have been enabled to give in evidence, if, upon Our former offer, We had received any return of encouragement from you in it. And if you do this, you then( and hardly till then) will persuade the world, That you have discharged your duty to God, the trust reposed in you by the People, and the fundamental Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom, and employed your care and utmost power to secure the Parliament;( for We are still a part of the Parliament, and shalbe till this wel-founded Monarchy be turned to a democracy) and to preserve the peace and quiet of the Kingdom. Which, together with the defence of the Protestant profession, the Laws of the Land, and Our own just Prerogative( as a part of, and a defence to those Laws) have been the main end, which, in Our Consultations and Actions, We proposed to ourself.  
FINIS.