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IT being the laudable Custom of our Ancestors, when they elected and authorized their Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, to deliver them Breviates of all those publick Grievances they thought necessary to be redressed, and such Propositions as they ap∣prehended most effectual for the welfare and prosperity of themselves and the English Nation, to be vigorously prosecuted by them in Parliament; We the Freeholders, Citizens and Burgesses of the respective Counties, Cities, and Boroughs of the late associated VVestern Counties (whose names are hereunto subscribed) reviving this good Custom, as the probablest means (through Gods blessing thereon) to remove our manifold long continued oppressing Grievances, restore our subverted fundamental Laws, Liberties, Properties, with the Rights, Privileges, and Freedom of Parliaments, and their Members, and establish a long expected Re∣formation, Peace, Settlement in our sadly distracted, near-ruinated Church and State; in this day wherein we hope the Lord will bind up the breaches of his people, and heal the stroke of their wounds; have thereupon unanimously drawn up these ensuing twelve general Heads of Grievances, and such usefull necessary Proposals, which we earnestly recommend to the deliberate consideration, and industrious pro∣secution of all and every our elected Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses in the approaching General Assembly at Westminster, as they will answer the contrary to God, the whole English Nation, and us who have intrusted them. In the diligent pursuit whereof, and dis∣charge of the publick trust now reposed in them, we do hereby faithfully promise (according to our former Protestation, and Solema League and Covenant) in our several places and callings, to be constantly ayding, and cordially assisting to them with our Estates and Lives, by all just and lawfull means.
1. That all and every of these our elected Trustees shall improve their utmost power and skill sincerely, constantly, and effectu∣ally to vindicate, and restablish the antient undoubted just Rights, Privileges, Immunities of lawfull English Parliaments, and all their proper Members; to secure them and every of them from all future force, violence, unjust seclusions, ejections, suspensions, oaths, engagements, and against all forein Intruders into them, by all legal waies; without which no future Parliaments can be ei∣ther legal, medicinal or beneficial to the Nation, but destructive and oppressive Nusances.
2. To maintain, propagate, and restore the true publick worship of God, the sincere preaching of the Gospel, the due ad∣ministration of Baptism, and free and frequent celebration of the Lords Supper in all places where they are wilfully neglected; to execute all good suspended Laws against Jesuits, Papists, seminary Priests, blasphemous Hereticks, Sectaries, Atheists; and to redress the manifold exorbitances, and illegal arbitrary proceedings of Committees for sequestring, ejecting out of, and trying, approving, admitting Ministers to Benefices and Church-livings.
3. To restore, restablish, and defend against all future Violations the Great Charters of our Liberties, with all other good fundamental Laws, securing the Lives, Liberties, Freeholds, Properties of the Freemen of England, against all illegal excutions, imprisonments, banishments, confinements, restraints, violent breaking up, and ransacking of their Houses, Studies, Cabinets, by day and night, forfeitures, sequestrations, disseisins, outlawries, taxes, imposts, and all arbitrary or tyranical proceedings whatso∣ever; and to punish all late transcendent Violatious of them in every kind, in some of those who have more wilfully, audaciously, and treacherously subverted them than any in former times, against their Oaths, Trusts, Covenants, Protestations, and late pub∣lick censures of others as Traytors, and publick Enemies, for lesser offences.
4. To ease and unburden our impoverished, oppressed Nations from their many years unsupportable, incessant Burdens, Taxes, Contributions, Excises, and Imposts of all kinds, and the insufferable oppressions, abuses of Excise-men, Customers, Collectors, Souldiers, and other Officers in the levying thereof, deserving exemplary punishments for future terror unto others.
5. To examine, redress, and punish all Extortions, extorted fees and corruptions in all publick Courts of Justice, Officers, and Offices relating to them; especially in the Crown-Office, Exchequer, Admiralty, and Office for Probate of Wills, and granting Administrations, (extorting ten times more than the Statute of 21. H. 8. c. 5. allows) Together with the late intollerable extorsions, abuses of all Keepers of Prisons, Goalers, Marshals, Messengers and Pursevants.
6. To suppress all future arbitrary, illegal, criminal, and capital Proceedings in New High-Courts of Justice, endangering all mens lives; and to examine all irregular proceedings therein to the destruction of any Innocents.
7. To examine, redress, correct the manifold Exorbitances and Usurpations of the late Counsels of State, exceeding those of the old Counsel-Table, against the express provision and tenor of the late Statute, made in the Parliament of 17 Caroli, for regu∣lating the Privy Counsel; which we desire may be henceforth duly executed.
8. To discharge and disband all unnecessary Garrisons, and superfluous Mercinary forces by Land or Sea; to re-settle the antient Trained-bands and Militia of the Nation for its necessary future defence, and easing the People from all needless taxes and burdens: and to resume all the antient Lands, Rents, and Revenues of the Crown, given or granted away to private Persons for unvaluable considerations, without lawfull Authority, which formerly did and still ought to discharge all ordinary publick expenses of the Nation and Government.
9. To remove all Obstructions of the free trade and traffique of this Nation, by unchristian and unjust wars with any Neigh∣bour-Nations formerly in league or amity with England: impressing of Merchants ships or Mariners, over-high Customs and Im∣positions upon Merchandize imported and exported, imploying Foreiners ships and Seamen by English Merchants, unjust seisures of Merchants Goods, Letters of Mart, or any other means: and by punishing the late, and preventing the future intollerable waste and destruction of Ship-timber in England and Ireland, and transportation of it into forein parts, to the apparent dammage and decay both of the Shipping and Navy of the Nation.
10. To call all Treasurers, Collectors, Receivers, and other Officers whatsoever imployed in the sale, collecting, levying, se∣questring, or leasing of any Lands, Rents, Customs, Taxes, Excises, Sequestrations, Monies, Woods, Goods, Chattels, Prizes, or other things for 12 years last past to the use of the Publiek, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, to a speedy and just Account for all the several sums of mony, treasure, rents, goods, and profits, received or disbursed by them, or any of them; and to examine, punish all frauds, corruptions, and abuses therein, to the prejudice of the Publick.
11. To examine and reform all misdemeanours, and corruptions in the elections of Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this Land; and to put the antient Statute of 15 E. 3. ch. 4. and the self-denying Ordinance of 3 Aprilis 1645. in due execution, disabling all Military and Civil Officers to sit or Vote as Members in Parliament, unless they shall first resign their Offices; that so they may not over-awe their Fellow-Members, nor be the Peoples Tax-Masters, Pensioners, their own Pay-Masters, and Disposers of the Taxes they impose, at one and the self-same time.
12. That according to the course and practise of our antient Parliaments, they will take special care to see all these and other publick Grievances effectually redressed, the Privileges of Parliament, the Grand Charters, and all good old fundamental Laws of the Land, preserving the Lives, Liberties, Freeholds, Properties of the People effectually restablished, and by all good means secured against future Infringements, before they admit of any further Debates, or grant the least publick Ayd or Tax whatsoever, to our further prejudice.
In Testimony of our full, free, and unanimous consent to all and every the premises, we have hereunto set, not only our hands, but our hearts together with them.