Taken from the the Darwin papers in the Nottinghamshire Archivies, (refer to Note 84)

May it please yor Excellencie,

Though wee are but ye meanest of persons in ye carryinge on of ye worke the Lord has been gratiously pleased to appeare for in ye dayes of our generation, yet ye Lord hath not despised ye day of small thinges, but made us instruments in his handes to beare ye burden uppon our shoulders in dayes of greate difficultie with cheerefulnes; Soe yet we might have sayd, is not ye Lord our God with us, and hath he not subdued our enemies for us, and given us peace on every side, but alass our misimprovement of these mercyes and our not settinge our heartes and soules to seeke ye Lord in ye day of mercyes may cause ye Lord to be angrie with us and because wee did not serve ye Lord in ye fullness of mercyes the Lord may justly cause us to serve our enemies, but havinge in some measure a sence upon our heartes of our former misscarriages, shall humbly implore ye Lord to pardon our evills and for his owne sake to with hold from us those punishments he seemes to threaten us with all, And as we doe congratulate yor Excellancie in ye honour and trust reposed in you, soe we shall humbly crave leave to present yor Excellancie with what wee are sensible was our former miscarriages, and what is at present our feares and troubles, first; For our miscarriages wee are sensible yet our too greate affection to our generall did drawe us to stand by him as a single person and deprived the good people of ye nation of their priveledge in dissolvinge of ye famous Long Parliament under whome ye Lord had soe signally appeared to owne them and us, and by ye meanes brought ye nation into such troubles as wee are sensible ye whole nation groans under to this day.

Firstly Wee had no sooner adhered to them and acknowledged them our Legislative authorise, but was implicitly led and persuaded by our officers to return to our former evills even with the dog to his vomit and by this unadvised act brought our selves allmost to a morsell of bread and ye whole nation into soe deploreable a condition, this after ages if ye Lord prevent not have cause to lament our miscarriages, because we have beene soe unfaithful! to God and his people in our generation as to loose soe glorious a cause, shal have cost us soe deare and wee have all alonge pretended for, and give our interest into ye hands of those men yet endeavour to lay their foundation upon our ruines and ye ruine of ye good people of ye nation yet is us deare to us nay dearer then our owne lives;

The sence of these thinges beinge much upon our heartes and allsoe upon ye heartes of our deare Brethren in every Regiment of ye Armye, Soe yet we might present you with 1,000s of hands, yet we judge it most meete in a regiment all way to appeare every one to present our greiveances wee haveinge no other meanes of addressment but to yor Excellencye, and allthough ye septer be not houlden to us yet our misseries engage us to present yor Excellence with our present troubles and if we perish we perish;

First, notwithstandeinge ye Lord was pleased gratiously to appeare in this last defection and to compose our differences without blood and reestablish ye authoritie of ye nation, presently there is an obstruction put to there proceedeinges as then established, and many of ye most famous assertors of our Liberties under such a force yet they cannot in conscionce set in parliment to prosecute ye trust reposed in them, except they would build again yet which both they and wee have destroyed and make themselves and us transgressors,

Secondly, Notwithstandeinge there is an order to apprehend and secure any yet shall assert ye interest of charles stewart, yet Sir George Booth and those of his partie are at Libertie yet occationed soe greate a disturbance in ye nation, and against whome some of us did beare our testimonye in ye high places of the field, and our greate arreares whoso estates of right by ye authontie of ye nation should have satisfied us is now freed and ye burden must be layed upon our friends as well as they except we loose it;

Thirdly, Can wee choose but be troubled to see soe many gallant comanders layed aside such as we are assured are imbarqued with us in ye same bottome and must stand and fall with us, against yet interest yet seemes at this day to pleade for domination nay such officers as have approved themselves for both valour and conduct even such as we are afrayd eare long wee shall have cause to lament ye absence off, and soe many of them layed aside yet wee doe not remember above 3 ould collones of ye ould establishment lest in ye Armye and against those such secret undermineinges yet it is too obvious to us ye designe is to out them ye Armye erre long.

41y, Our trouble is yet many of our Officers now immediatelye over us take more care to observe ye movings of ye wheels and how to turne with it to preserve there owne places then to enforme us of ye state of affaires yet soe we might act with an enformed judgement.

51y. Our greate trouble is allsoe to heare soe many of our true lovers and friends in ye nation complaineinge sayinge now who will showe us any-good and ye prelatick and caveleir partie breakeinge forth with such acclamacons rejoyceinges ringeinge of bells makeinge of bonefires as if they were encourraged by ye authoritie, and continueallye and publiquely shooteinge there arrowes even bitter worded against those yet have beene ye greatest and most able assertors of our liberties.

61y, It is our greate trouble yet ye good people of ye nation and soen such who freely hazarded there estates to purchase ye crowne and delinquents lands which is no less 10000 families upon recorse in ye nation and at least 60000 persons in ye severall counties in ye nation yet have hazarded there lives with us, should now too justly brand us mercinarines it is because we have not had aright informacon of ye state of affaires and therefore too readye to hearken to ye instigacons of every disturbed spirit, but are now resolved in ye strength of ye Lord to return to our Bethel even where ye Lord was pleased to appeare to us and as wee could have glories as unworthy instruments in ye hands of ye Lord to be ye assertors of ye liberties of good men. now doe (now) profess before ye Lord Angells and men we had rather dye then loose our gloryinge.

Now doe therfore humbly peticon yor Excellencye to take these our grieveances into consideracon and yet as an expedient for ye begettinge of unitie in ye Armye and a right understandinge of ye state of affaires in these late transactions which at present we are darke in, now may by yor Excellencyes permission have libertie to choose one or two persons of every troope and companye of ye Armye in England to convene together in such aplace or places as yor Excellence shall thinke convement who may be our adjutators to represent our greiveances with whom wee may keepe a correspondencye and receive from them a true account of ye state of affaires, yet soe our judgements beinge rightly enformed all these jealousies both in respect of affaires and your Excellencye may be removed, wee haveinge assurance of yor Excellencye wee take care yet our greate arreare of pay may be speedily satisfied yet now may be in a capacitye to discharge our quarters and not give ye cuntrye occasion to murmer against us as opprossours of them, which thinge will give us assurance yet yor Excellencye will stand by us and not suffer us to be trampled upon by our enemies but assist us and encourrage us in assertinge ye interest of ye good people of ye nation, yor Excellencie will be soe indeared to us yet in ye strength of ye mightye Jehovah we shall resolve to stand by yor Excellencie with our lives and fortunes in ye mainetaineinge of ye spirituall and civil liberties of ye people which will be yor Excellencies onely honour and ye unexpressable joy of.Yor Excellencyes obedient souldiers and our cuntryes faithfull servants.

A coppy of ye proposals taken from Quarse?
Sheppards Brothers at Nottm.

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