Down-right dealing, or The despised Protestant speaking plain English to the Kings most excellent Majesty the honourable houses of Parliament. The city of London. The Army. And all other peace-desiring commons of this divided and self-destroying kingdome. / Written by J.H. an impartiall observer of the present transactions of the court, city, and camp.

Down-right dealing, or The despised Protestant speaking plain English to the Kings most excellent Majesty the honourable houses of Parliament. The city of London. The Army. And all other peace-desiring commons of this divided and self-destroying kingdome. / Written by J.H. an impartiall observer of the present transactions of the court, city, and camp.

Table of contents

Title page

To the Reader.

§

TO The Kings moſt Excellent Majeſty.

To the Parliament.

To the City.

To the Army.

To my fellow Commons which deſire Peace.

Poſtſcript.

§

[Page]

Down-right Dealing, OR The deſpiſed Proteſtant Speaking plain Engliſh

To the Kings moſt Excellent Majeſty

The honourable houſes of Parliament.

The City of London.

The Army.

AND All other Peace-deſiring Commons of this divided and ſelf-deſtroying Kingdome.

Written by J. H. an impartiall obſerver of the preſent tranſactions of the Court, City, and Camp.

A Kingdome, City, or Houſe, divided againſt it ſelf cannot ſtand.

Printed in the Year of Diſcoveries. 1647.

To the Reader.

[Page]

[Page]

Reader,

WHat ere thou chanceſt to be, I neither fear, nor care: the frown of the mighty; the fleer of the froward, nor the cenſure of the ſevere, ſhall neither diſtaſte, nor deter me from publiſhing theſe few following pages: Onely to prevent prejudicacy, know, that theſe are not the fruits of diſcontent, nor bleſsinge [...] of Fact [...] neither are they intended to kindle that fire, which already (though ſeemingly ſmother'd) blazes too fast, but rather to quench it: It may be one will tax me of [Page] Arrogancy, another of ſimplicity, a third of ſingularity, 'tis no matter for that, what J have writ, I have writ, truth it is J am ſure, and more J beleeve then ſome will be willing to hear, let him that is the moſt guilty be the leaſt offended, leaſt they make the Proverb true, and prove his own diſcoverer. All J deſire is that who ever ſhall vouchſafe to peruſe theſe following pages, would do it ſeriouſly and judge impartially, and then let them praiſe or diſpraiſe, frown or ſmile, I care not:

§

TO The Kings moſt Excellent Majeſty.

[Page]

Most gracious Soveraign,

LEt it not be thought a crime unpardonable, if one of the pooreſt of your ſubjects (preſuming on your clemency) doth offer unto your Majeſty what he hath obſerved to be deſtructive to the peace of this poor Kingdome, and dangerous (if not ſpeedily prevented) to undermine not onely the honour and ſafety of your Majeſty and Royall poſterity, but alſo the ſupporters thereof; (to wit) the Law of the Kingdome, and peace of the people; in the ruin whereof your Majeſty and poſterity muſt certainly bear the greateſt ſhare, and ſuſtain the greateſt loſſe; the law of the Kingdome, and the peoples peace, being altogether eſſentiall with the honour and kingly domination, of your Majeſty, and without which, both King and people muſt neceſſarily run into confuſion, the truth hereof your Majeſtie hath had experimentall knowledge of for theſe late years, and at this day cannot want examples to demonſtrate the truth of this particular.

Now foraſmuch as what is paſt recall, is alſo paſt cure, ſince what might have been commanded cannot now be entreated, ſince power cannot, policy muſt, ſince rage cannot prevaile, let reaſon reconcile, make neceſſity a ve [...]e, and rather conquer by courteſie, then compell by Soveraignty.

[Page]And now moſt gracious and great Prince, ſuffer this humble but ſerious capitulation▪ Can it conſiſt with Wiſdome▪ if it be according to God) to eſteem any thing to great or good to be parted withall▪ for the [...]ence, for the making up ſo large a breath? for the ſtopping the torrent of ſuch a doluge of crimſon confuſions, as have already and do dayly again threaten to break in upon your kingdomes? A good ſheep-heard will give his life for his ſheep, a gracious King for his people▪ And will not your Majeſty part with a ſuperfluous ſprig, a meer pun [...]o, or thread bare excreſſence of honour or power for the ſaving of your poor people? What man would not loſe one member to ſave all the reſt? Are you ſo far in love with the ſhaddow that to preſerve it, you will hazzard the loſſe, nay ruin of the ſubſtance? Are you ſo far in love with ſome few (perhaps flatterers) if [...]ot traytors) that to be mercifull to them, you will be unmercifull and unjuſt too, to all the kingdome; certainly moſt gracious Soveraign, there may be wiſdome in ſo doing, but it cannot proceed from God, neither can it conduce to the good of your ſelf, poſterity of people; ſurely, if your people were made for you, you were likewiſe made for them, one for the good of the other, and not one to deſtroy another; you were made a Soveraign that they might be Subjects, not ſlaves, that you might protect them, not devour them; that you might do juſtice and execute judgement, to the poor and to the rich impartially, not ſuffer the rich and mighty to eate up the poor and devour the Widdow: The Magiſtrate (that is of God) is not a terrour to good Works, but to the evill, not a perſecuter of the people of God but a protector and preſerver of them, and what Magiſtrate▪ ſoever ſhall pretend to have received a power from God, if he imploy it not in all things according to Gods end, he will certainly come to naught, he ſhall periſh, and thoſe whom he hath caſt down and endeavoured to deſtroy, ſhall riſe up againſt him, and he ſhall not be able to ſtand in that day, but ſhall [...]lee [...] before them▪

To conclude, if your Majeſty (according to your ſo often reiterated expreſſions in your Declarations) do really intend [Page] to take all oppertunities to ſave this poor kingdome in a right ſenſe, now is the time to manifeſt your ſelf herein and by ſome ſelf denying teſtimony effectually act for the re-eſtabliſhing the poor Commons of England in their ancient birth rights, and ſecuring them therein, providing for a due execution of juſtice, and countenancing of godlineſs in your dominions, which being ſpeedily, cordially, and effectually done, your Majeſty need not doubt but to finde, your preſent loſſe to produce a future gaine, by the increaſe both of your power and love of your people, which will cauſe ſuch a mutuall confidence betwixt you and your ſubjects, as will both comfort your heart and ſtrengthen your hands againſt the ſecret complotments of foes at home, or publike attempts of enemies abroad, and cauſe all your now diſcontented, and diſtruſhing people to be united, and with one heart and aſſent to cry▪

Long live our gracious Soveraign, &c.

To the Parliament.

Grave Senators,

AFter ſeven yeare ſufferings, and tedious expectation to be delivered from our then declared preſſures and grievances, give us leave, (for looſers ſhould have leave to ſpeak) to tell you, we cannot but with bitterneſs of Spirit declare, That we wonder by what ſtrange and unheard of preſidents, this Parliament hath acted; there having been never before any viſible rule for ſuch actions, in or by any Parliament. But leaving things that are paſt cure, let us come to expoſtulate with you about future ſecurity.

Can it, think you, conſiſt with the peace and wel-fare of the Kingdome, eſpecially conſidering the ſtate and temper of the people, and the preſent exigences of the State. That you who ſhould be acting joyntly for the ſecuring of the Kings authority, [Page] and Subjects liberty, ſhould be divided into Factions and acting for your own particular intereſts? Is this to diſcharge that truſt which you have in the preſence of God ſworn to perform? Surely ſo long as you thus continue to beate and bandy one againſt another, to pull down one faction to ſet up a ſecond; a ſecond to ſet up a third; to hang one theef that you may make another; ſo long as you are thus ſelviſh and partial in ſparing men, (I was about, nay I will ſay, knaves) becauſe they will ſide with you in carrying on your own deſigns, ſo long we cannot hope for any good either by you or from you, ſo long we are confident (what ere you may pretend) you intend no good to the King or kingdome, neither can any thing you do, compoſe or perfect that great work which you were called to and undertook, (to wiy) to eaſe us of our burthens, and eſtabliſh juſtice with righteouſneſs; ſince 'tis a meer contradiction; and contrary to ſenſe or reaſon for us to think that ever we can be eaſed of oppreſſion by oppreſſion, or obtain juſtice by injuſtice: 'tis true your great oppreſſions of late years may make us forget our former petty ſufferings, but never ſettle us in a true courſe of freedome, nor ſecure us for the future from injuſtice.

Therefore to conclude unleſs you do immediately lay aſide all by-reſpects and your own intereſts, and unanimouſly joyn and act for the ſecuring of the kingdome, and give a ſpeedy teſtimony thereof, by your walking in the parts of juſtice and righteouſneſs; unleſs you do immediately adminiſter juſtice and execute judgement impartially and endeavour to ſettle a firm and laſting peace, whereby the King may be with due honour inveſted, and the Kingdome in its juſt liberty ſecured; truely the Kingdome ſhall not onely have been by you already expoſed to many hazzards, (beſides the large expence of blood and treaſure) but ſhall for the future be neceſſitated, to curſe the time that ever they entruſted you; and be forced in juſtice to proſecute you as perſons which had power, but not wills to reſtore them to their ancient liberties, and that which might have been an honour to you and your poſterities in the generatons [Page] to come, will be recorded as a brand of obloquie, That ſuch a Parliament ſate ſeven yeares, to enrich themſelves, enſlave, the whole Nation.

To the City.

Grave Citizens,

IN whom wiſdome was once chiefly reſident, though now (it is to be feared) a great ſtranger; how comes it to paſſe that ſuch a Spirit of giddineſs poſſeſſes you? What, have you found out new wayes to make your ſelves famous? (I fear miſerable.) you that were the glory of the Nations, the envy of your Foes, and the admiration of ſtrangers, are now become the amazement of your friends, the ſcorn of your enemies, and a by-word to all Nations▪ caſt but an eye upon your follies, and ſee into what a condition your Diviſion, nay, your Prlde hath brought you: you that exalted your ſelves almoſt above the heavens, are now fallen, if poſſible, lower than the earth; your towring pride is now buried in the duſt of Diviſion; you have been long time in travaile with joy, and now are delivered of ſorrow: I wiſh you could yet ſee in this your day the things that belong unto your Peace; What, hath the love of money, eaten up your love towards one another? hath your earneſt purſuite of Religion, forſt Religion to a ſquat; truely you have hunted fairly, you have ſtrove ſo much for Religion in the Church that it is to be feared you have loſt it in your hearts; theſe are the fruits of Diviſion, your Presbytery, and Independency, your outward formes and formall circumſtances; what, have you ſtrove ſo long for the ſhaddow that you have loſt the ſubſtance; have you forgot That it is neither Circumciſiou nor [Page] uncircumciſion that availeth ought, but a new creature; have you forgot that love is the fulfilling of the Law, and a goſpell duty: ſurely, this Diviſion is of the Devill and not of God, for God is love, and his people are carried out with a ſpirit of Love, and not of hatred and contention, envie and emulation.

Therefore dear Friends and fellow Citizens, I beſeech you lay your condition ro heart, examine the ground of your Diviſion, and you will finde it to be the pride of your hearts, your ſelf-conceitedneſs, &c. and cloath your ſelves in ſelf-abhorrency, let him that would be the greateſt be the leaſt among you, let him that would or thinks himſelf wiſe, be a fool for Chriſts ſake, learn to bear with one another, labour to ſee that you are members of one body, united unto one head, and love one another, and adminiſter unto the neceſſities one of another, ſo ſhall your love encreaſe and your Diviſions dye, but if you ſhall continue to widen the gap, confuſion will enter, and what will ye do in that day?

To the Army.

Gentlemen,

ACtions are alwayes honourable that are compaſſed by juſt wayes, and aim at good ends, for wee ought not to do evill to produce good, neither ſhould there be publike pretences made uſe of to advantage or ſecure private intereſts, I hope the contrary now, but yet I fear the event; when the fabrick is larger then the foundation, there is great danger in the building; ſo when the undertaking is greater then the power of the undertakers, [Page] truely 'tis to be feared there will be more hurt then good, more detriment then advantage acrue to the perſons concerned therein.

Gentlemen, your undertakings and engagements thereupon I have ſeriouſly obſerved, and impartially ſcanned, I find the end good, but the manner and proſecution hitherto, hath not been ſo good as I could wiſh; and the temper, nay, neceſſity of the Kingdome doth require: you engaged, if I miſtake not, not to give over, nor look back untill you had to the utmoſt of your powers made proviſion (not onely for your ſelves, and own intereſts as Souldiers) but as Commoners; and with your ſelves, all the free Commons of England, that they and you together might be for the future protected and ſecured from all violence and oppreſſion whatſoever, and in whomſoever and that there might be a due adminiſtration of juſtice and judgement, with righteouſneſs: Now give me leave to demand the cauſe of your retreat from the purſuance of this ſo honourable action? How comes it to paſſe, I hear ſo many private whiſpers among you; That you have nothing to do to meddle with any thing that concerns the Kingdome, but meerly what concerns your ſelves, and your own particular actings: was it juſt or lawfull for you to enter into an ingagement, to perform that, which you now ſeem to diſ-own, as unlawfull: Surely, either there wanted a ſerious conſideration at firſt, or elſe intereſts hath abated your Reſolutions at laſt; which if either, how diſhonourable it will be to your ſelves, how deſtructive to the Kingdome, be your own Judges.

If the welfare of the people be the ſupream Law, as you have ſometimes granted, yea affirmed; Then whatſoever is contrary or ſtandeth in oppoſition to that, is deſtructive to that main end, and therefore not onely to be avoided at preſent, but prevented for the future. But oppreſſion and injuſtice particular intereſts, &c. are direct in oppoſition to the welfare of the people and altogether destructive, therefore to be prevented and removed. [Page] And certainly what cannot be repelled by policy, maybe by power, for if there be not a ſufficient means left for the attaining the end, it is altogether vain and to no purpoſe.

But to every end there is a ſufficient means, therefore if the welfare of the people cannot be ſecured by one means, it may by another, if not by policy, then by power according to the Parliaments ow [...] language to the King, The Kingdome muſt not be without a means to preſerve it ſelfe. And truely if the kingdome hath a means to preſerve it ſelf againſt the King, being then acting againſt the welfare of the Kingdome; It hath a power likewiſe to ſecure it ſelf againſt the Parliament, and Army too, if they ſhall act, in the ſame way, and ſhall not proſecute the main end (to wit) the peoples welfare.

How comes it to paſſe I beſeech you that there is ſuch ſidings among you? one great man favours another, and ſtomacks his oppoſer; and let him be never ſo bad, ſo he will ſide inſecuring ſome great perſons particular intereſts in power among you, he ſhall not only ſcape Scot-free, but be countenanced and protected among you: Little theeves are hangd and great ones let go. Is this to be ſingle hearted? will you that have taxed the King and Parliament of partiality, be partiall too? what a blemiſh will this be to all your former actions? That you ſhould now fawn upon thoſe for favour, who would have rejoyced to have ſeen both you and the kingdome weltring in flouds of blood and confuſion; and who, it is to be feared by your too great indulgence and credulity, are plotting your deſtruction.

I beſeech you gentlemen conſider, you ſtand upon a ſandy place, which will, if not carefully looked to, devoure you, Lay aſide all intereſts and be what you have pretended to be, let not your own honour or promotions be onely aimed at, but have ſole reſpect unto the peace of the Kingdome. I have with ſorrow obſerved. That there are, I may ſay too many among you, too great in power, who are ſwaid by paſſion not reaſon, who ſpeak much againſt injuſtice in [Page] others, but never knew what it was to be juſt them ſelves; men neither of diſcretion nor religion, what ere they may pretend, who do vehemently act for to gain applauſe and the favour of great men, and not for any love to the peace of the Kingdome: now it is very unlikely that ever ſuch a man can do (or at leaſt intends) a generall good, unleſs it may advantage his own intereſt. I beſeech you obſerve and beware of ſuch perſons, you may eaſily finde them; for ſuch perſons in your Councells will do you more hurt then all your other enemies, be not deluded by pretences though never ſo ſpecious; thoſe perſons that plead ſo much for delay, and argue ſo critically, intend no good to you, but carry on a dangerous deſign againſt you and the whole kingdome. And you may aſſure your ſelves the Adverſary, with whom you now run a conteſt, could never have gained ſo much time, nor brought you to ſuch an exigency, had they not been encouraged, nay, aſſiſted by ſome that have too much power and influence in your Councell.

Gentlemen, the eyes of the Kingdome are upon you; and unleſs you anſwer their expectations and perform your promiſes and engagements, and that ſpeedily; truly, you will ſtand at as great a diſtance in their affections as others have done before you; loſe not this opportunity, ſeek the peace of the Kingdome now, and ſeek your ſelves afterward, leſt while you contend ſo earneſtly for a ſhaddow, you loſe the ſubſtance, be for pure juſtice without reſpect of perſons, and let the kingdome ſee, That you will not favour or disfavour any perſon for ſiding with or againſt you, or for being of this or the other judgement. But that all perſons of each party ſhall receive from you equall reſpect, according to their merit. But if you ſhall appear partiall to ſome, and ſevere to others; if you ſhall do the works your ſelves, which you condemn in others: if you ſhall pretend to free us from one form of ſlavery to involve us in another, aſſure your ſelves, Diviſion and Confuſion will follow, and a worm will [Page] riſe from your own bowels which will certainly devour you and conſume your former glory.

Read and practice, prevent. Farewel.

To my fellow Commons which deſire Peace.

MOderation in a multitude is (Rara avis in terra) eſpecially in England, of late years▪ where rage, not reaſon, hath had the Rule and Soveraignty; when the reynes of the bridle are thrown in the neck the unruly beaſt runneth where he liſteth; And truly ſuch hath been the practice of you my Fellow-Commons for this ſeven years almoſt; although you have received many a curb, and oft bit of the bridle for it, yet ſtill like a head-ſtrong horſe you are ſtubborn and untamed, fearing neither Switch nor Spur; and it is to be feared you will ſtill perſiſt until you are quite tyred; To prevent which give me leave to expoſtulate with you a little; It hath been often ſaid, that miſery is a ſchoolmaſter to wiſdom, and that wit is the beſt when it is dearly payd for, and truly I beleeve you have payd enough for it, Hath not the plundering of your eſtates, the burning of your houſes, the murdering of your children, the inſlaving of your perſons, taught you to hate War and love Peace? How comes it to paſs then that there are ſo many murmurings amongſt you, one part for the King, another for the Parliament, another for the Army, another for neither; what are you frantick? [Page] hath reaſon given place to rage, wiſdom to folly, meekneſs to madneſs? Have you been ſo patient under ſeven years ſufferings by War, and cannot you contain your ſelves one year in peace; what, like children, all at an inſtant or none at all? Juſt like a fool that becauſe he could not be rich in one day, would be a beggar all his life. Certainly a ſpirit of fury (I may ſay folly) hath bewirched you, and put you upon the purchaſe of perpetual deſolation to your ſelves and poſterities; and you with eagerneſs purſue it, in deſpite of thoſe that would prevent it.

In a word; know therefore, unleſs you do with patience wait for the eſtabliſhing of that peace which you deſire, and give limits to your unlimited contentions, unleſs you lay aſide your prejudicacy and cenſuring until you ſee the event, unleſs you ſeriouſly apply your ſelvs to make up the breach between your ſelves and your Soveraign, the Parliament, Army, and City, and one another, and every one in his place and relation ſet his hand to the reducing of things to their proper center, unleſs both Magiſtrates and people do I ſay with one accord, ſeek peace and eſtabliſh judgment and righteouſneſs, in vain are and will be all theſe mutterings and commotions, and do what they and you can, confuſion and deſolation wil break in upon them and you, and then when it is too late you may repent, but not prevent your deſtruction.

This is the ſence of him that ſees great cauſe to fear this wil be the end of all this diviſion if providence do not interpoſe very ſuddenly.

Poſtſcript.

[Page]

I Beſeech you labour to love one another, and to be faithful each to other. Let Soveraigns ſeek the good of their Subjects, and Subjects the Honour and Peace of their Soveraigns. Let Parliaments be faithful, and people peaceable: Let Souldiers be valiant for Juſtice, but not factious for preferment; Let King, Parliament, City, Army, and People unite and joyn in the bonds of love, and leave judging, ſuſpecting and reviling one another. Then ſhal you ſee and enjoy a happy peace and the fruits thereof; Then ſhal the Lamb lie down with the Lion; Then ſhal not the voyce of the oppreſſed be heard in our ſtreets, but joy, peace, plenty, and the moſt wiſhed delights that are, or can be imaginable, or deſired, be freely communicated unto you by the hand of Jehovah, who is the God of Peace, and hath annexed a bleſſing to the lovers thereof. Farewel.

Thine, if thou ſtudiest the Peace of England. J. H.

FINIS.

Information about this book

Title statement

Down-right dealing, or The despised Protestant speaking plain English to the Kings most excellent Majesty the honourable houses of Parliament. The city of London. The Army. And all other peace-desiring commons of this divided and self-destroying kingdome. / Written by J.H. an impartiall observer of the present transactions of the court, city, and camp.

Howell, James, 1594?-1666.

Edition statement

1647

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Text Creation Partnership,

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2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A74776

ID [STC]

Thomason E408_17

ID [STC]

ESTC R202555

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

99862793

ID [PROQUEST]

99862793

ID [VID]

114969

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A74776)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 114969)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 64:E408[17])

Source

— Down-right dealing, or The despised Protestant speaking plain English to the Kings most excellent Majesty the honourable houses of Parliament. The city of London. The Army. And all other peace-desiring commons of this divided and self-destroying kingdome. / Written by J.H. an impartiall observer of the present transactions of the court, city, and camp., Howell, James, 1594?-1666..

Extent

16 p.

s.n.],. [London :: Printed in the year of discoveries. 1647.. (J.H. = James Howell.) (Place of publication from Wing.) (Annotation on Thomason copy: "7ber [i.e. September] 24".) (Reproduction of the original in the British Library.)

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EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.