to her neighbours in generall and in particular to the six associated Counties, namely Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, Hartford and Bedford. A propaganda pamphlet written by John Williams and printed in London in 1643 when the King’s military success was a serious worry to the forces ranged against him, particularly in London. The idea was designed I suspect to collect aid both in money and men for the army from the Home Counties
The text is pretty inflammatory from the start, the author states: ‘although the Cavaliers says and swears (dam them and sinck them), they fight for Religion we have no cause to believe them and this we may well be sure of one thing they meane us no good when every day they are preparing all manner of bloody ingines to destroy us’. He goes further still: ‘for if the Cavaliers once get the upper hand of your Cities, Townes and Houses, you may well bid farewell religion, farewell Lawes, farewell the Liberties of us poor Protestants for ever’.
The woodcut on the front shows three citizens of the capital on the left in their professional clothes, smart hats with upturned brims, cloaks, doublet and breeches, being offered a bag of money and military service by the three countrymen on the right. You can see they are more parochial, their hat brims turn down, the crowns are more rounded and they are dressed in long coats rather than cloaks and doublets.
The 1640s Picturebook 
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