Fighting for God, King and the Cause!

The Siege of York

Before the war

It is often repeated that the civil war - usually known as the English Civil War but it was fought not only in England but across the kingdom in Wales, Scotland and Ireland too - set brother against brother, father against son, splitting families as it did the country.

These divides were further complicated by changes of allegiencies, either because of beliefs, under threat, after military action, or for expidency. York started the wars supporting the king, but became Parliamentarian after the fall of the city at the end of the siege.

One man who spoke out for the city before, during and after the war was Sir Thomas Widdrington, the Recorder of York, brother-in-law to Sir Thomas Fairfax, and local historian. He was also responsible for, with some others, copying many documents from the city archives, then housed in St Mary's Tower. The originals were lost but Widdrington's copies, by then in Fairfax's library, survived for future generations to read.

As part of his role as Recorder, it fell upon Widdrington to welcome to the king to York, as he did on several occasions. His style was somewhat prosy, a good example of it being this speech to His Majesty, delivered upon bended knee at Micklegate Bar on March 18, 1639:

Most gracious and dread Sovereign:- Be graciously pleased to pardon this Stay, that we are the least and meanest Motes in the Firmament of your Majesty’s Government, should thus dare to cause you, our bright and glorious Sun to stand.

Give us Leave, who are the Members of this ancient and decayed city, to make known to your Majesty, even our Sun itself, where the Sun now stands in the City of York, which now, like an ill-drawn picture, needs a Name; a Place so unlike itself, that I may venture to say that being young, as is the City of York so unlike the City of York; heretofore an Imperial City, the Place of the Life and Death of the Emperor Constantius Chlorus, in whose Grave, a burning Lamp was found many centuries of years after: the Place honoured with the Birth of Constantine the Great, and with the most noble Library of Egbert.

I might go further, but this was only to shew, or rather to speak of ancient Tombs. This City was afterwards twice burned, so that the very Ashes of these Antiquities are not to be found; and if later Scar had not defaced our former glory, what was it truly in Effect of what we now enjoy? The Births, Lives, and Deaths of Emperors are not so much for the honour of York, as that King Charles was once Duke of York: your very Royal Aspect surmounts our former Glory and scatters our latest Clouds.

It is more honour to us that King Charles has given a new Life, Nativity, and Being, by a most benign and liberal Charter, than that Constantine the Great had his first Being here.
And as for the lamp found in the grave of Chlorus, your Majesty maintains a Lamp of Justice in this city, which burns more clearly than that of Chlorus, and shines into five several counties, at which each subject may light a Torch, by the brightness whereof he may see his own Right, and find and taste some of the sweet and wholesome Manna, here at his own door, which drops from the Influence of your Majesty’s most just and gracious Government.

So that if the Library of Egbert was now extant amongst us, that very Idea of Eloquence, which the most skilful Orator could extract out of it, would not be able to express what we owe to your Majesty, there being not any acknowledgments answerable to our obligations.

For besides all this, the Beams and Lightings of those eminent Virtues, sublime Gifts, and Illuminations, wherewith you are endowed, do cast so forcible Reflections upon Eyes of all Men, that you fill not only this city, this kingdom, but the whole universe with Splendour.
You have established your Throne on the two Columns of Diamond – Piety and Justice; the one gives you to God, the other gives Men to you, and all your Subjects are most happy in both.

For ourselves, most gracious King, your Majesty’s humblest and meanest subjects, Obedience, the best of sacrifices, is the only sacrifice we have to offer your most sacred Majesty.

Yet vouchsafe to believe, most mighty King, that even our works, such as they are, shall not resemble those sacrifices, whereout the Heart is plucked, and where, of all the Head, nothing is left but the tongue; our sacrifices are those of our Hearts, not of our Tongues.
The memory of King Charles shall ever be sacred unto us as long as there remains an Altar, or that Oblation is offered on Earth.

The most devout and fervent prayers of your Majesty’s daily Votaries, the poor citizens of York, are, and ever shall be, that the sceptre of King Charles may, like Aaron’s rod, bud and blossom, and be an eternal Testimony against all Rebels; and our most cheerful and unanimous Acclamations are, that King Charles may long live and triumphantly reign; and that this kingdom may never want a King Charles over it.

Like many others, whilst Widdrington welcomed the king at this time (albeit whilst chidding him about the state of disrepair York had fallen in to), he was soon to side with the Parliamentarians.

The start of the wars

By the beginning of 1642, there had been two Bishops' Wars in the north, the queen had taken many of the crown jewels to Holland to sell to raise money to buy arms and equipment for the king's army, Charles had tried to arrest five members of the House of Commons, and he had been refused access to the city of Kingston-upon-Hull, where the main arsenal of the north was kept. By now, civil war seemed inevitable.

On Friday, June 3 Charles returned to York, reading this, "His Majesties Declaration to the Ministers, Freeholders, Farmers, and substantiall Copy-holders of the County of York: Assembled by His Majesties speciall Summons at Heworth-Moor, neer the City of York":

We would have you to be assured that we never intended the least neglect unto you in any Summons of this Country, Our love, as well as Our protection, extending to all Our Subjects, But as you are a great Body, time and conveniency must be observed in your Assembling.

That you may know the generall Reasons of Our being here, you must understand, That when We found it neither safe, nor honourable, to expose Our Person to the tumultuous and licentious proceedings of many (which to this day are unpunished) who did disorderly approach neer Our Court at Whitehall, We trusted this part of Our Dominions chiefly to reside in; whereas most of the Gentry already have, so We assure Our selves the rest of you will give Us cleer testimony of your service and obedience, which we will never use otherwise then for the defence of the true Orthodox Religion professed and setled in Queen Elizabeths time, and confirmed by the Authority of the Statutes of this Realm, the defence of the Laws and Fundamental Constitutions of this Kingdom (as the justest Measure and Rule for Our Prerogative, and your Liberties and Rights;) and lastly, for the preservation of the Peace of this Kingdom.

As for Our own Zeal to the Protestent profession, We refer all the world to Our daily exercise of, and Our Declarations concerning it, and execution of the Laws against Papists; so likewise We cannot but declare Our Self most heartily sorry to finde such Separatists and Schismaticks, who presume against the Law, to foment new Doctrines and disciplines to the disturbance of Church and State.

For the Law, it being the common inheritance of Our people, we shall never inforce any Prerogative of Ours beyond it, but submit Our Self to it, and give you, and all Our Subjects the fullest latitude of it, both for the liberty of your Persons, and the propriety of your estates. And for the invoilable confidence and assurance hereof, as We take God (the Searcher of all hearts) to witnesse Our reall intention herein, so We shall no longer desire you to stand for the defence of Our Person, Honour, and just Prerogatives, then we shall maintain the Laws of the Land, the liberty of your persons and the propriety of your Goods.

And for the cleer understanding of Our Resolutions to maintain Peace, we may have the confidence and happiness to refer (against all malignity whatsoever) to Our former Sixteeen yeers Reign: (too long to dissemble Our Nature) if in all this time We never caused the effusion of one drop of bloud, it must needs be thought, that in Our riper judgement in Government, We should never open such Issues as might drown Us and Our Posterity in them: But we are sure to have no enemies, but in the defence of the true Protestant Profession, the Right of the established Laws, and for the preservation of peace, and certainly all these must be all yours, as well as Our enemies.

And to the end that this present Posture wherein we meet, should not affright you with the distempers of the times, the Example of the two Houses having made Us prepare for a Guard to Us and Our Childrens Persons, We wish you to look into the composition and Constitution of it, and you will finde it so far from the face or fear of War, that it serves to secure you, as well as Us, from it: For Our Choice is of the prime Gentry, and of one Regiment of Our Trained Bands, which cannot be thought to oppresse the Countrey - (being their own) nor war with themselves. And we furthur assure you, We never intended to use Forraigners or disaffected in Religion: And that you may fully assure your selves of Our sole dependancy upon the love and service of Our own People, to live and die with them, We have armed these Our Subjects; which had been most irrationall, if we had ever intended to have used Strangers: And furthur, you may perceive that We receive none, but such as stand cleer in Loyalty and Religion, for which reason We have caused the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to be given them. Likewise, to prevent any distempers at home, We have, and shall put the Trained-Bands of all this Our Kingdom under the Command of Persons of honour, confidence, and affection to their Country, straitly charging, upon their Allegiance, no Officer to accept any command in them, nor Souldiers to obey any, save such as are authorized by Us. And for the prevention of any innovated power over you, you shall have Us here to govern you, and the Souldiory to protect you in peace, and to relieve you against all oppressions; for that, as we have told you before, must arise from some great violation (which we hope God will prevent) and not from this preparation of our Subjects. Therefore let none of you be affrighted with vain fears; if such a War should follow, it follows the authors home to their own doors: And such (by the confidence of Our Person with you) We assure Our Self you are not.

Here We had left you to your fidelity and duty, had not some malicious insolence in Our former meetings sent forth most presumptuous Summons, deceiving Our people, and presuming upon Our Royal Authority; and these present themselves as great Defenders of Religion, peace, and liberty; Whereas they become infectious and contagious to the people, seducing them into vain fancies and delusions, as may appear by their Warrants which we could trace to som: pulpits, as We are credibly informed: And you see it were just in Us, to punish these as Authors of sedition, but that it would be too great a favour, for it would honour them with the Title of Martyrdom, for Gods cause, as they vainly pretend: But you may now see from whence this Spirit comes, that would make Us to be in the Act of destruction of Religion, Our person a disturber of the peace, and ready to introduce slavery. These here are all forraign Forces We have, or ever shall intend to have, to act these great designes, notwithstanding the vain fears hitherto imagined. So that you see it is high time that these fancies were dispersed and driven away, that We might be repaired in Honour and Interest, and you enjoy the blessing of peace and happinesse; the advancement whereof shall be Our study and comfort: and therefore We shall (when you shall think it a convenient time) ease you in the number of the Trained-Bands: And for your Billet-money, it had long since paid, but that no part of the Subsidies (which We passed for that purpose) came to Our hands, and We shall not be wanting in any thing that lyeth in Us, for the full satisfaction thereof: And shall make Our Grace and Bounty to you answerable to your best fidelity and loyalty, as occassion shall be offered to Us.

(Imprinted first at York, and now re-Printed at London for Edward Husbands in 1642)

During the meeting on Heworth Moor, the king's horse barged in to a young gentleman who was trying to hand a petition to the king: at this he again tried to hand over the petition, until he suceeded in placing it on the pommel of the saddle. The petition made Charles aware that his Yorkshire gentry strongly disapproved of his raising of the troops, one of those that felt this way was the man that handed the petiton over, one Sir Thomas Fairfax.

The Siege of York April 22 to July 1 and July 4 to July 16 1644, and the Battle of Marston Moor

On the outside of York during the siege were the Northern and Eastern Associations of the Parliamentarian Armies, who were joined by the Covenanter Army from Scotland. Inside with the citizens of York was a Royalist army under the command of the Marquess of Newcastle.

Part I: April 22 to July 1

The siege was relieved by the arrival of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the king's nephew, resuming again after the Royalist defeat at the Battle of Marston Moor on July 2, finally ending with the city's surrender on July 16.

York at the time was sometimes referred to as the Second City in England, and was a regional centre for trade, as well as being the seat of the Archbishop of York. It has already endured one brief siege in 1642 as war broke out, which the then Earl of Newcastle (later Marquess) relieved with an army formed in the northern counties.

In 1643, although Newcastle fought in the area against Parliamentarian forces at the Battle of Adwalton Moor, and the Royalists beseiged Hull unsuccessfully as they received supplies by sea, but the York was not as heavily affected. Later in the year, Parliament signed the Solemn League and Covenant with Scotland. On January 19, 1643 (at this time, the New Year did not start until March 25), a Scottish Army under the command of the Earl of Leven invaded Northumberland.  Most of Newcastlearmy went to stop him, leaving John Belasyse as Governor of York with 1,500 horse and 1,800 foot. At this time, Sir Thomas Fairfax, previously defeated at Adwalton, returned back across the Pennines in an attempt to rejoin Lord Fairfax's army in Hull. Belasyse left York for Selby to intercept them, but on April 11, Sir Thomas Fairfax and Sir John Meldrum's infantry stormed the town Selby, capturing Belasyse and most of his army.

The Marquess of Newcastle realised this left York threatened, and so returned to the city, arriving on April 19, with the Scots army following him to link up with the Fairfaxes. The combined armies appeared before the walls on April 22, and thus the siege began.

The Battle of Marston Moor

This was to be the bloodiest battle of the civil war, with over 4,000 dying on the battlefield. More to follow...

Marston Moor order of battle:

Scottish Army of the Solemn League and Covenant, comprising of 2,000 Horse, 500 Dragoons, 11,000 Foote and 30-40 guns. Most of the senior officers were experienced soldiers, with most of the soldiery being made up of quite young and inexperienced men. The cavalry mounts were smaller and lighter than the English ones, and so they were placed to the rear of the Parliamentarian horse:

  • General: Earl of Leven;
  • Lieutenant General of the Horse: Sir David Leslie;
  • Right Wing: Earl of Leven's Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Balgonie (eight troops)); Earl of Dalhousie's Regiment (seven troops); Earl of Eglinton's Regiment (seven troops);
  • Left Wing: Lieutenant-General Leslie's Regiment (eight troops); Earl of Balcarres's Regiment (eight troops); Lord Kirkcudbright's Regiment (eight troops);
  • Dragoons: Colonel Hugh Fraser's Regiment (six companies);
  • Lieutenant General of the Foot: William Baillie
  • Sergeant-Major General of the Foot: Sir James Lumsden

The Scottish foot regiments, each consisting of ten companies (unless otherwise stated), were brigaded in pairs:

  • Earl of Crawford-Lindsay's Fifeshire Regiment;
  • Viscount Maitland's Midlothian Regiment;
  • Lieutenant-General Hamilton's Clydesdale Regiment;
  • Colonel James Rae's Edinburgh Regiment;
  • Earl of Loudon's Loudon-Glasgow Regiment;
  • Earl of Buccleugh's Tweeddale Regiment;
  • Earl of Cassillis' Kyle and Carrick Regiment;
  • William Douglas of Kilhead's Nithsdale and Annandale Regiment;
  • Earl of Dunfermline's Fifeshire Regiment;
  • Lord Coupar's Strathearn Regiment;
  • Lord Livingstone's Stirlingshire Regiment;
  • Master of Yester's Linlithgow and Tweeddale Regiment;
  • Viscount Dudhope's Angus Regiment;
  • Sir Arthur Erskine of Scotscraig's Minister's Regiment (five companies);
  • Lord Sinclair's Levied Regiment (seven companies);
  • General of the Ordnance: Sir Alexander Hamilton (he had access to, but probably wouldn't have had all present: eight brass demi-cannons, one brass culverin, three brass quarter-cannons, nine iron demi-culverins, 48 brass demi-culverins).

Parliamentarian Army of the Eastern Association, comprising of 3,000 Horse, and 4,000 Foot. Raised in the eastern counties of England, they were believed to be the best trained and administered Association of the Parliamentarian Army, putting aside their religious differences between the Presbyterians and the Independents at this time:

  • Captain General: Earl of Manchester;
  • Lieutenant General of the Horse: Oliver Cromwell;
  • Earl of Manchester's Regiment: Lieutenant Colonel Algernon Sidney (eleven troops);
  • Lieutenant-General Cromwell's Regiment: Lieutenant Colonel Edward Whalley (fourteen troops);
  • Vermuyden's Regiment (five troops);
  • Charles Fleetwood's Regiment (six troops);
  • Dragoons: the commander and strength on the day of battle not know, Manchester's dragoons having been defeated at Poppleton on the previous day;
  • Sergeant-Major General of the Foot: Lawrence Crawford
  • Earl of Manchester's Regiment: Lieutenant Colonel Clifton (eighteen companies)
  • Major-General Crawford's Regiment: Lieutenant Colonel William Hamilton (eight companies);
  • Sir Miles Hobart's Regiment (nine companies);
  • Francis Russell's Regiment (ten companies); Edward Montagu's Regiment (ten companies); John Pickering's Regiment (ten companies). Russell's, Montagu's and Pickering's regiments were brigaded together, as some of these had taken heavy casualties at a failed storming of York on June 16).

Parliamentarian Army of the Northern Association, comprising of 2000 Horse and 2000 Foot. This list is likely incomplete, the regiments weakened and full of new recruits:

  • General: Lord Fairfax;
  • Lieutenant General: Sir Thomas Fairfax;
  • Sergeant-Major General of the Horse: John Lambert;
  • Lord Fairfax's Regiment;
  • Sir Thomas Fairfax's Regiment;
  • Charles Fairfax's Regiment;
  • Sir Hugh Bethell's Regiment;
  • John Lambert's Regiment;
  • Lionel Copley's Regiment;
  • Francis Boynton's Regiment;
  • Sir Thomas Norcliff's Regiment;
  • George Dodding's Regiment;
  • Sergeant-Major General of Foot (unknown);
  • Lord Fairfax's Regiment;
  • John Bright's Regiment;
  • Sir william Constable's Regiment;
  • Francis Lascelles's Regiment;
  • Robert Overton's Regiment;
  • Ralph Ashton's Regiment;
  • George Doddington's Regiment;
  • Alexander Rigby's Regiment.

Main Royalist Army, consisting of 2,500 Horse, 7,750 Foot and 14 guns. The nucleus of this army was Rupert's own regiments of horse and foot, together with a smaller army commanded by Lord Byron, from Cheshire and North Wales. The English regiments recently returned from Ireland were said to be full of Puritan sympathisers, the Lancastrian regiments newly raised raw recruits, the whole being supplemented with other small contingents:

  • General: Prince Rupert of the Rhine;
  • Lieutenant General: Lord Byron;
  • Sergeant-Major General of Horse: Sir John Urry (changed sides shortly after);
  • Prince Rupert's Lifeguard (140);
  • Prince Rupert's Regiment (500);
  • Lord Byron's Regiment; Colonel Marcus Trevor's Regiment; Sir John Urry's Regiment; Sir William Vaughan's Regiment (returned from Ireland): together their horse totalled 1,100;
  • Lord Molyneaux's Regiment (recently raised in Lancashire); Sir Thomas Tyldesley's Regiment (recently raised in Lancashire); Thomas Leveson's Regiment: together their horse totalled 800;
  • Sergeant-Major General of Foot: Henry Tillier (captured);
  • Sir John Girlington's Regiment;
  • Prince Rupert's Regiment;
  • Lord Byron's Regiment;
  • Henry Warren's Regiment (returned from Ireland, previously defeated at Nantwich);
  • Sir Michael Erneley's Regiment (returned from Ireland, previously defeated at Nantwich); Richard Gibson's Regiment (returned from Ireland, previously defeated at Nantwich): brigaded together;
  • Henry Tillier's Regiment (returned from Ireland);
  • Robert Broughton's Regiment (returned from Ireland);
  • Sir Thomas Tyldesley's Regiment (recently raised in Lancashire);
  • Edward Chisenall's Regiment (recently raised in Lancashire);
  • Henry Cheator's Regiment;
  • 14 assorted field guns.

Northern Horse, comprising of 3500 Horse, 250 foot. They had a reputation for hard fighting but poor discipline:

  • General of Horse: George, Lord Goring;
  • Lieutenant General: Sir Charles Lucas (captured);
  • Commisary General: George Porter (captured);
  • A number of weak regiments of horse and commanders, which included: Sir Charles Lucas's Brigade (700); Sir Richard Dacre's Brigade (800, Dacre was mortally wounded during the battle); Sir William Blakiston's Brigade (600); Sir Edward Widdrington's Brigade (400); Colonel Samuel Tuke's Regiment (200); Colonel Francis Carnaby's Regiment (200); Commisary-General George Porter's Troop (50).

Derbyshire contingent. These were picked up by Goring as he marched to join Rupert in Lancashire:

  • John Frescheville's Regiment of Horse (240);
  • Rowland Eyre's Regiment of Horse (160);
  • Detachments from Frescheville's, Eyre's and John Millward's Regiments of Foot (220).

Garrison of York, comprising of an unknown number of horse and 3,000 Foot. Newcastle's infantry comprised of a large number of weak regiments. On the battlefield they were formed into seven "divisions". Newcastle's army was mostly raised in Northumberland and Durham and had already endured a siege of ten weeks, with some hard fighting:

  • General: Marquess of Newcastle;
  • Lieutenant General: Lord Eythin;
  • Sir Thomas Metham's "Troop of Gentleman Volunteers";
  • Sergeant-Major General Sir Francis Mackworth.

Left to hold York:

  • Sir Thomas Glemham's Regiment;
  • Sir John Belasyse's Regiment;
  • Sir Henry Slingsby's Regiment.

One of the non-human casualties of the Battle of Marston Moor was Prince Rupert's poodle, Boy, whose death was lampooned by the Parliamentarians in “A Dogge’s Elegy or Rupert’s Teares for his late defeat at Marston Moor” (with rough drawing of Boy on his back with legs in air):

Sad Cavaliers, Rupert invites you all
That do survive to his Dog’s funeral.
Close mourners are the witch, the Pope and the Devil,
That much lament your late befallen evil

Other battles around York

During the English Civil War, Sherburn was the scene of a minor yet important battle on the October 15, 1645. The commander of Royalist Troops north of the Trent, Lord Digby, stopped at Sherburn to refresh his troops whilst marching to York. They were attacked by a Parliamentary force and a skirmish ensued. The result was an unnecessary and embarrassing rout of the Royalist troops that split the force in two. One hundred and fifty Royalist horse were killed, including Richard Hutton, the High Sheriff of York, and a baggage train containing official documents was seized by Parliamentary troops.

Widdrington after the war

Sir Thomas Widdrington has been seen by some residents of York as a neglected historian, but his lack of popularity may be attributed to the fact that he dwelt on past glories more than on the city's immediate needs. In reply to Sir Thomas's suggestion that they should accept the dedication of the history of the city which he had written, the City Councillors of 1660 said: "Give us leave to tell you that a good purse is more useful to us than a long story." The purse might enable them to "make our river more navigable, re-edify the decayed parts of the city, raise a stock to set up some manufacture and to relieve the poor, into which number we may all of us fall, if some timely course be not taken by which, through God's blessing, this tottering and wasted city may be upheld. York is left alone, situate in a country plentiful for provisions, if the people had money to buy them. Trade is decayed, the river becomes unnavigable by reason of shelves. Leeds is nearer the manufactures, and Hull more commodious for the vending of them, so York is, in each respect, furthest from the profit." So enraged was Sir Thomas at this realistic attitude, that not only did he refuse to publish his work, Analecta Eboracensia: Some Remaynes of the Ancient City of York, but by his will imposed a prohibition on his heirs that it should never be published. The work was finally published in 1897 when the Reverend Caesar Caine edited the book, which had been withheld from the public for nearly 240 years through the beliefs of a City Council struggling with what we to-day would call a depression.

The City Councillors full response was “A sad complyant by the City of York to the Author:”

Sir – You have told us by the former discourse what the city was, and what our predecessors have been. We know not what this may have of honour in it: sure we are, it hath but little of comfort. The shoes of our predecessors are too big for our feet, and the ornaments which they had will not serve now to cover our nakedness, nor will their wealth feed us, who are not able to tell you what we are, unless it be this, that we are poor and miserable.

Our predecessors, if they could see us, would either disclaim us, or be ashamed of us. You have told us that this city was some time the metropolis of the Britons; the Royal Court of the Roman Emperors, and a seat of justice anciently, and also in later times; how is it now become unlike itself? The inhabitants have many of them forsaken it, and those who have not, she cannot maintain, whilst some cities are become so big with buildings, and numerous with inhabitants, as they can be hardly fed or governed.

York is left alone, situate in a country plentiful for provisions, and stored, if the people had money to buy them. Trade is decayed, the river become unnavigable by reason of shelves. Leeds is nearer the manufacturers, and Hull more commodious for the vending of them; so York is, in each respect, furthest from the profit.

The body of York is so dismembered, that no person cares for the being the head of it; the suburbs, which were the legs of the city, are cut off; the late Court of Justice, which, indeed, was built upon the sand only, is sunk, and with it many considerable persons are swallowed up; you cannot now see any confluence of suitors and people; he that looks upon the city may see her paps dry, and her eyes bedewed with tears, refusing to be comforted, because all these are gone.

Now, sir, for the Britons you mention; we can neither derive pedigree nor wealth from them; nor can we hear of any of their descendants, unless in Wales and Cornwall, or upon some mountain or hill in Cumberland; and when we have found them, we fear that they will not own us for their kindred or relations; we have lost our genealogy, and forgot the British dialect; they tell us that our blood is not British, but Roman, Saxon, and Norman, which, or some of which, did expel these ancient Britons, and we might expect the same reception from the Romans, Norman or Saxon, if we should appeal to any of them; and we find by experience that it is not a long series, or beadroll of ancestors, and predecessors, but wealth and estate which set a value upon men and places.

As for our wealth, it is reduced to a narrow scantling; if we look upon the fabric and materials of the city, we have lost the suburbs which were our skirts, our whole body is in weakness and distemper, our merchandize and trade, our nerves and sinews, are weakened and become very mean and inconsiderable: for the earls, dukes, archbishops, deans, prebends, and abbots of York, they are no homogeneal parts of our body, but only our garnishments, embroideries, and ornaments, and sometimes pricks and goads; our present misery is, that we can hardly keep together our homgeneal and essential members, some of them using us, as Absalom’s mule did him, either leaving of us, or refusing to act as magistrates amongst us, when our very Government seems to hang by a weak, or upon some slender twig.

Now for all the monuments of our former state and glory we find no warmth or comfort from them; but it seems to add to our unhappiness that our predecessors were so happy. Give us leave for conclusion to tell you that a good purse is more useful to us than a long story, which might enable us:- (1) To make our river more navigable; (2) To re-edify the decayed parts of the city; (3) To raise a stock to set up some manufacture in this city; (4) To relieve our poor, into which number we may all of us fall if some timely course be not taken by which, through God’s blessing, this tottering and wasted city may be upheld.”