Petition 2 Page 1

Here followeth their Protestation.

For God and the King.

WE Noblemen, Barons, Ministers, Burrows, appointed to attend His
Majesties Answer to our humble Petition and Complaint, and to
prefer new grievances, and to do what else may lawfully conduce to our
humble desires; That whereupon the twenty third of September last, we
presented a Supplication to your Lordships, and another upon the
eighteenth of October last, and also a new Bill relative to the former upon
the nineteenth of December last, and did therein humbly remonstrate
our just exceptions against the Service-Book, and Book of Canons; and
also against the Archbishops and Bishops of this Kingdom, as the con-
trivers, maintainers and urgers thereof, and against their sitting as our
Judges until the cause be decided; earnestly supplicating withal to be
be freed and delivered from these and all other innovations of that
kind, introduced against the laudable Laws of this Kingdom; as that
of the High Commission, and other evils particularly mentioned, and
generally contained in our foresaid supplications and complaints, and that
this our party delinquent against our Religion and Laws may be taken
order with, and these pressing grievances may be taken order with, and
redressed according to the Laws of this Kingdom, as by our said suppli-
cations and complaints more largely doth appear: with the which on
the nineteenth of December last, we gave in a Declinator against the
Archbishops and Bishops as our parties, who by consequence could not
be our Judges; whereupon your Lordships declared by your Act at
Dalkeith the said nineteeth of December, that you would present our
Petitions to His Majesties Royal Consideration, and that without pre-
judice of the Declinator given in by us the said supplicants; where-
upon we should be heard at place and time convenient, and in the
mean time should receive no prejudice, as the said Act in it self beareth.
And whereas your Lordships supplicants with a great deal of pati-
ence and hope also, grounded on sundry promises, were expecting an
Answer to these our humble desires, and having learned that upon
some directions of His Majesties anent our supplications and complaint
unto your Lordships of the Secret Council, your Lordships admits to
the consulting and judging anent our supplications, and His Majesties
Anwer therunto, the Archbishops and Bishops our direct parties, con-
trary to our Declinator first propounded at Dalkeith, and now renewed
at Sterling; and contrary to your *Lorships Act aforesaid at Dalkeith,
and contrary to our Religion and Laws, and humble supplications.
Therefore lest our silence be prejudicial to this so important a Cause, as
concerns Gods Glory and Worship, our Religion, Salvation, the Laws
and Liberties of this Kingdome, or derogatory to the former supplica-
tions and complaints, or unanswerable to the trust of our Commission;
out of our bound duty to our God, our King and Native-Country, we
are forced to take instruments in Notaries hands of your Lordships re-
fusal to admit our Declinator, or remove these our Parties, and to Pro-
test in the manner following. First, That we may have our immediate re-
course to our sacred Soveraign, to present our grievances, and in a legal
'way

*It is not so:
for the Coun-
cil never pro
mised that
the Bishops
should be re-
moved from
the Table, but
onely that
they would
make Us ac-
quainted with
their Petition.