THat your Petitioners have laine a long time under great pressures and grievances both in li­berties and consciences, as hath beene largely at sundry times shewed and declared by seve­rall Petitions exhibited to this Honourable Assembly, both by the Citizens and Apprentises of the Citie of London, and divers Counties and parts of this Kingdome, from which wee hoped long ere this, by Your Pious care, to have beene delivered; but now we (who are of the meanest ranke and quality, being touched with penury) and are very sensible of the ap­proaching stormes of ruine which hang over our heads, and threaten to overwhelme us by reason of these sad distractions, occasioned chiefly and originally (as your Petitioners humbly conceive, by the prevalency of the Bishops and Popish Lords, and others of that malignant faction, who make abortive all good motions, which tend for the peace and tranquillity of this Kingdome of England; and have hitherto hindered the sen­ding reliefe to our brethren in Ireland, although they lie weltering in bloud, which hath given such head to the Adversarie, that we justly feare the like calamitie inevitably to befall us here, when they have vented their rage and malice there. All which occasions so great a decay and stop of trade, that your Petioners are utter­ly impoverished, and our miseries are growne unsupportable, we having already spent all that little meanes which we had formerly by Gods blessing and our great labour obtained; and many of us had not, nor can tell where to get bread to sustaine our selves and families; and others of us are almost arrived at the same port of calamitie, so that unlesse some speedy remedy be taken for the removall of all such obstructions, which hinders the happy progresse of your great endeavours, your Petitioners shall not rest in quietnesse, but shall be infor­ced to lay hold on the next remedy which is at hand, to remove the disturbers of our peace, want, and neces­sitie, breaking the bounds of modesty: And rather then your Petitioners will suffer themselves and their fa­milies to perish through hunger and miserie, (though hitherto patiently groaned under) they cannot leave any meanes unassayed for their reliefe.

The cry therefore of the poore and needy, your poore Petitioners, is that such persons who are the obstacles of our peace, and hinderers of the happy proceedings of this Parliament, and the enjoyment of the long lookt for puritie of Religion, safety of our lives, and returnes of our welfares, may be forth with publiquely declared, to the end they may be made manifest, the removall of whom we humbly conceive will be a remedy to cure our miseries, and put a period to these destractions, and that Noble-Worthies of the House of Peers, who con­cur with you in your happy Votes, may be earnestly desired to joyne with this Honourable House, and to sit and Vote as one intire body, which wee hope will remove from us our distracted feares, and prevent that which oppression will make the wisest and peaceablest men to put in execution.