A LETTER without Any Superscription, Intercepted in the way to LONDON.  
Published, that the poor people of England may see the intentions of those whom they have followed  
Printed in the year, 1643.   

A Letter without any superscription, intercepted in the way to LONDON.  
SIR,  
WE could not till now sand you an Answer of your Letter with any account of our service; for besides the danger of conveyance to you,( it being easier to pass through the Cavaliers, whom a merry Tale or two of the Roundheads, presently reconciles to us, then through our Army; your Souldiers being so unruly, that they call our good Lord mayor nothing but faithful isaac; and as familiarly rob those who have his pass, as you would have them do the Papists.) The truth is, our meetings are not so easy or so safe as they have been, by reason many places of the three Counties, even where they seemed to come readily into the Association, grow every day malignant, insomuch, that ou● m●●ting, which you know should have been the Thursday before the Fast, that so, upon perusal of your Instructions, we might have agreed in what manner to have worked upon our Auditories that day; we came not together till monday, and then wanted the information of our friends of gloucester, and the assistance of our brother by Warwick neither of which came to us so that our Counsels and Resolutions want much of that vigour and perfection you might have expected, which we hope shall be supplied when the Lord shall bring us next together. In the mean time we give you such advertisements, and offer such Propositions to your consideration, as in so short a time( for we partend the next morning) could be digested,  
We are much afflicted at the Distractions above; you must take the more care to suppress the Munity, and to compose all private differences, lest if the people, upon whose weakness we have wrought to advance the wonderful things we have designed, should now be as mad against us, as they were for us; and having been taught by us to throw stones at the Bishops and their Adherents, should now learn of themselves to tear us in pieces; and if fears and jealousies, with which we have corrupted mens loyalty to the King, shall now divide us amongst ourselves, and make us fear and hate one another: though such accidents may fall out by the subtlety of our enemies, yet the wicked will make the people think it a judgement of God Almighty, the believing of which will do us more mischief, then the thing itself.  
Our neighbour who went so long with us, and you know is of so great power with the country, by his notable opposing of shipmoney, and all the high courses of that time, doth us now mighty hurt, by telling the people what the Law is, and that all you do is against Law. He said openly before much company the other day, Th●t when your declaring fit was upon you, you cared neither for God nor man. We desire you to consider, whether it be not fit speedily to sand for him, and to keep him in safe custody, with the other bad instruments you have taken from many places; or because there may be many more such mischievous persons in other Counties, and since you have declared away the twentieth part of their estates from them, most men begin villainously to inquire how the Law stands; whether it be not now time to declare, That being entrusted by the whole kingdom, rather to improve their Condition, and provide new Liberties and privileges for them, then dully to take care that they be onely as happy as their fore-fathers; you intend to avoid all the old laws, and to make better in their places, and that hereafter you will be no more swayed by what is lawful, but what is fit. Besides, that you have pretty well prepared people to look for it, by those excellent Arguments you prescribed for the taking away of the Kings negative voice; you will by this find away by degrees to fall in your expressions of duty to His majesty, which seem rather to make against you then for you, when they appear not to come from your heart; and when you have once intimated and communicated your purpose of making a real alteration in the government, no body can imagine the King is to continue as good a man as he is now, and so any disrespect towards him will be the more popular and allowed.  
This Consideration we rather present to you as a hint for your grave wisedoms to debate and enlarge, then as any formed opinion of our own, which we presume not to deliver; and with the same submission offer these following Quae●e's to your better Resolution.  
1. Whether in regard very many persons are scandalised at the continuance of this Parliament, whereby they are out of hope to be admitted to the service of their country; and many of our own dearest friends would be glad to have a more immeditate hand in the wonderful things which are done, and to have the liberty for the bettering their understanding, to make some experiments upon the Commonwealth too, it be not fit to declare, that though you never intend that this Parliament shall be dissolved, yet by an Ordinance of both Houses you will adjourn every year for the space of forty days; during which time, every County and burrow shall make a new election, by a Warrant under the Speakers hand, whereby good men may take their turns in the service, and you be quit of those who will not for fear or love be of your mindes; or if there cannot safely be so long a Vacation, lest the Law might then come in credit again and oppress us; or if there be any doubt, that if the country were once rid of many of the principal Members, it would never choose them again; Whether for the present it were not fit by Ordinance to enable some good confiding towns, as Hull, gloucester, and any other place in which you have Garrisons, to sand four or six Burgesses: Since you have settled the standing Committee, and by that means brought all business into a few hands, you need not care how many you admit to the House, which is the onely objection against the later.  
2. Seeing the people are persuaded to follow us by no Argument more then by making them believe, that what we do is in opposition to Popery; whether it be not fit to declare all such who come not in and submit by such a day to be Papists.  
3. Whether it be not time to publish some Ordinance against the book of Common-Prayer, that the spirit may have freedom and estimation; and whether it be not fit to ordain, that any man of gifts may preach and teach in any places; for though the same be permitted, it will not be of that efficacy till it receive some countenance from public Authority.  
4. Whether it be not yet time to declare your intentions of leveling degrees, that the common people may take the more heart to second you; and if so, whether it be fit to pass some Vote on the behalf of those few Noblemen and Persons of quality, whom you have found true to you, or to secure their persons, and transfer the trusts you have committed to them to men of our own condition; for as you could never have gotten the Kings navy, if there had not been first care taken to have removed so many Gentlemen from command, and to prefer Skippers and watermen to their places; so you will never settle a through Reformation on Land, till you have removed all Noblemen and Gentlemen from pretending to priority in respect of their quality.  
5. Whether it be not fit to publish some Declaration or Vote of both Houses against moral honesty, as well to discredit those people, who upon their reputation of living well, oppose the common cause with more credit and advantage with the people; as for the countenance of such, who notwithstanding their vicious and debauched lives, are great promoters or assistants of the good work in hand; which in many places is thought the worse of, for the known villainy and dishonesty of the Factors.  
6. Since the Reformation of the Church Government, is not like to be finished in a long time, especially if the Ceremony of the Kings consent to what you enact shall be thought worth the staying for; so that Superstition is like to grow and continue amongst us, whether it may not be fit by an Ordinance of Parliament to make all such children incapable to inherit, who from this time shall be christened with the sign of the cross; which may strike such a terror into their Parents, who by seeing the strange things you have done within this last year, will believe you may be as good as your words hereafter too, that they will rather not Christen them at all, then incur the censure of the two Houses.  
7. Since you have now published your dislike, and hatred of all neuter, and such who would willingly look on, and grow wise at your charge, without being as deep in as yourselves; and that you resolve to proceed against all such as enemies to the public Peace, according to your discretion; whether it be not time to define your terms of Art, and to declare, That by evil councillors, you intend all those who presume to speak or think ill of any Member of either House; or of any person employed by them: By Malignant, all such who believe, that more obedience is to be given to the Acts of former Parliaments, then to the Orders and Votes of this, and so show their wit in stead of their duty, to the infecting and troubling many well disposed mindes in the public service. And by Cavalier, all those who impiously desire to preserve the degrees and distinction of men, and think that any learning or education can enable them to judge of Reason, Sense, and Iustice, as well as the representative body of the kingdom. Lastly, that by Popishly affencted, you intend all those of the clergy and laity who do not abhor the present Government of the Church, and think that any set form of Prayer can equally be to the edification of the People, as the dictates of the Spirit; that so the weak people of the Country, who cannot so well conceive your meaning, as they that are wiser may know whom they are to be against, and so without gathering into great bodies, may do your work in Villages by destroying your Enemies as they meet with them, as well as if they came in thousands to his excellency.  
8. Because the imprisoning of men is an impropular thing, not as 'tis ualawfull, but as it takes away Liberty, which people of all sorts desire; and because the Country and the Cavaliers are like to fill all your City Prisons, notwithstanding the large addition of receipt you have made for such purposes: whether for the substantial Citizens and Inhabitants of London, you were not better put people of honesty and trust into their houses to overlook them, by Order of both Houses, as in the case of a Malignant Shop-keeper, by Ordinance of Parliament to make a Brother of the same Trade his fore-man, allowing him such wages as you think fit, whereby you shall know all the secrets of the house, and such honest men for whom you are bound to provide many opportuities to do themselves good too.  
9 Whether consideration should not be taken, that all great marriages of great Heites, and rich widows, be disposed by Ordinance of both Houses, for the encouragement of wellaffected Persons, and that those worldly and temporal blessings may always be sure to follow the household of Faith.  
10 Since most of our friends are put out of the Commissions of Peace in all Counties, and others put in, who endeavour to discountenance your proceedings, and the Country people will yet pay some regard and respect to those places; whether it be not fit to make a standing Committee in every County, who under pretence of the service of the House, and upholding the privileges of Parliament, may take notice of all matters, and sand for all Persons according to their discretion, and so the Kings Authority, and the Kings friends shall quickly be suppressed, and dis-regarded.  
11 Whether it be not fit to publish some Declaration of both Houses of the nature of Treason, that well disposed people be not disturbed with the vulgar interpretation of the Law in that point, in which care must be taken not to leave the Prince in a better condition then his father, but as you have providently distinguished in the Kings case between his Person, and his Office, thereby enabling men without danger of the Law to conspire the death of the King in the behalf of his office; So that some other way may be found to interpret the like attempts upon the Prince who hath no office, in such a manner, that the Subject may not be more restrained from exercising his Conscience upon him, then upon the King, which else will be a great disheartening to the present inclinations.  
Lastly, since many men are troubled at the oaths of Allegiance and supremacy, which they took long since, when they had no hope that the truth would have been manifested thus clearly to them, and of which Our Enemies seem to have such Advantage upon their conscience; whether it be not fit first by the Resolution of some godly Ministers to absolve them of those very oaths, as been unprofitably done in the business of Brainceford by these two Lamps of our Religion, the Reverend Downing, and Marshall, and for the future by an Ordinance of both Houses to enjoin all men to take the same oaths again ( mutatis mutandis) to his Excellency for the time being; for whilst you make any mention of the Kings person in any oath or protestation, the foolish people will be apt to believe you intend some regard to him, and so are easily discouraged in the duty of their several callings.  
These considerations were the effect of our hasty consultations, which we desire you with our humble respects to present to the Worthies, whether they( or some of them) are fit yet to be put in execution, we must leave to you, who are upon the place, and can onely judge what is seasonable to be done; onely we must say this, that it is necessary to lay out some new bait for the people; and we conceive it will be better to persuade them that Peace is not good for them( which may be improved by many pretty arguments) then to endeavour to make them believe that you endeavour to procure it. and that the King refuses to grant it. Above all, be sure you never give over calling for Delinquents, nor admit any way of trial to them, but your own Votes; for if you shall once allow them any Rule to be tried by, every body will take upon them to censure your judgements, and think themselves as wise as you, which is the greatest breach of privilege that can be imagined.  
FINIS.