THE Consideration of the great Preparations that are made for Ireland; And understanding that we are by Lot assigned for that Service, hath put us upon serious Meditations for to find out such good Grounds and Principles as might carry us on in that Service, which causeth us in the First place to Consider of the Ground of our Engagement in England, which was against all Ty­ranny and Enslaving of the People of the Nation, whereof we are a Part: and to preserve them from Destruction and Destructive Lawes; as also the Restoring them to their just Rights and Freedo [...]s: in the prosecution of which Engagement, many of our dear Fellow Souldiers have lost their Lives; and many amongst us have received many Wounds, and all of us have adventured our Lives, and undergone much hardship; and it hath pleased the Lord to bless us with▪ Victory, and qu [...]stionless to this end, that we might per­forme the same: And upon this Account, the Parliament and Officers of the Army have promised often unto the People and Souldiery, That after the Victory, the People should have Freedom, Peace, and Happiness Setled in the Nation, and that the Souldiery should have Satisfaction; which hath been often published both in Declarati­ons and Remonstrances in the name of the General and General Councel of the Army, and we Private Souldiers willingly assented thereunto; and to that end we have endeavoured to uphold your power, and to [...]eat down all that did oppose you herein▪ And thus for our parts we have kept close to our Engagement that you might perform the same; but as yet we do n [...]e them performed neither to the People nor to us as Souldiers; and yet you would have us to Engage to give you [...]ower over an other Land before we have fulfilled our Engagement at Home in our own Native Country. We have waited with long Patience, expecting that when you had Power in your own hands, you would have been faithf [...]l to the Nation and to us; but we find, the longer we wait, the more unreasonable your Desires are towards us: We Appeal to any Rational men▪ whether th [...]s be just and equal, to carry us into another Land before you have made good your Engagement at Home; and that upon such sleight terms, as if a man should owe a Servant Twenty pounds, and then tell him he will give him Five pounds of the same, upon Condition, that he will do another Service for him (which is greater) in another place, and surnish himself for that Service with the money which he receives. For who is at the greatest Charge in the setting forth of the Service? Is nor the Two months pay we are to have as our Advance, a part of that which is due unto us for the Service we have already done? and the Horses we are to serve upon, are they not those which we have bought or must buy with our own money? Have we left our Trades and Callings, spent the prime of our Youth, exposed our Selves to so many Dangers, and many of us spent our Estates to buy us Horse and Arms, and now to be thus dealt withall! and not only so, but to be made a Reproach to the People, and to be accounted the falsest of men by reason of your not fulfilling your Promises made to the People and us in your Remonstrances and Declarations, and now to engage us to go out of the Land before we see them fulfilled.

We thought also you would have bin so reasonable, as to consider our condition by your own; For we know you cannot be ignorant of the dearth of Provision, both for Man and Horse: Can any of you Quarter himself and horse one night in an Inne, under four or five shillings? Your own Consciences will tell you that you cannot: How then can we find our selves Horse, and Arms, and Provision both for Man and Horse, at two shillings a day, but that we must of necessity oppress the People where we come? And this is the way to make us a Reproach, and to cause the People generally to hate us: We therefore entreat you to consider of these things, and to be more rea­sonable in your Actings towards us, which will be for your Honour and our Happiness.

Further, We desire that what hath bin here declared, might not be understood, as if it were our Desires to hinder or retard the Service of Ireland; For when we shall see the Freedom and Liberty established in the Na­tion, for which we did engage, and which hath bin so often Promised in your several Remonstrances and Decla­rations; As also such satisfaction for our selves as shall be reasonable, we shall to the utmost of our Abilities engage our selves in the Service of that Land, as we have done in this.

In the mean time, we are resolved (according to our Engagement) not to go out of the Land, nor suffer our selves to be divided or disbanded, upon any pretense whatsoever.

In these Lines lyeth the substance of our Desires and Resolutions, which we humbly Present to your serious Considerations.

Subscribed by the whole Regiment, and Published by the Appointment of their Agitators.

Salisbury this First of May 1649.