A 17th Century Petition from North-West Devon

To the honorable the commons in Parliament assembled att Westminster The humble petition of thousand inhabitants in the County of Devon. Humbly showeth that your petitioners seriously and heartily condole the calimityes of the kingdom in generall but by a sad and woeful experience doe specially feel and know that noe apportionable part thereof hath suffered more in ffire and plague, in free quarter plunder payments and loss of stock and trade by sea and land than this Countie and that with added to our misfortune and miseries therein and render our condition grevious and insupportable is, that notwithstanding all this our weekley assessment for the releefe of the British Army in Ireland is about three times more than all the Dominion of Wales or more than eight countys of this Kingdom two of them together being more than twice greater than this, and by another ordinance of Parliament for the raising of monies to be imployed towards the maintainance of forces within this Kingdom under the command of Sr Thomas Fairfax for the speedy transporting of and paying the forces and carrying on the war in Ireland we are thereby assessed also very neere three times more monthly than the whole dominion of Wales or more than ten counties of this Kingdom for redress whereof and having no appeal upon earth but to your Honours from whose Justice and mercie wee are confident to receive it we humblye pray that if the necessities of this miserable Kingdom shall occasion anymore supplyes of money you will be pleased to impose no more on this exhausted County being equally freeborne Englishmen then the equall and pporcionable part thereof and we further humbly pray and beg for religions sake and for the cry of the Martyred blood of so many thousand Prostestants butchered and murthered by the [severell] blooddy and Rebellious Irish onely because Protestants and Englishmen to send thither speedy and effectuall Reliefe to our forces whom God hath beene pleased soo graciously to send there And who have fought his Battles in that Kingdom in so much nakedness and distress.

You are desired in respecte of the common interest of this County to take copies of this petition and cause them to be read in your severall parish Churches and to expect every man to set their handto ease that burden he is ready to sinke under and to set theor hand to this same and so speedily to send it from one to the other and you are to return it to me with your ........ subscribed two or three days before the next assises.
Milton Damerall this 22nd of Ffebruary 1647. your friend Hum: Dene