Part 2 — A PROCLAMATION AGAINST THE CITY (1643).
Reading edition
On the outbreak of civil war it soon became clear that many of the trading centres of the country, including London, would take up arms against the King. The commercial interests of the country had been so persistently assailed, royal interference in matters of trade had been so marked, that this situation was not at all surprising. It is hardly necessary to point out that the King, in the preamble to this proclamation, shows either insincerity or ignorance. The citizens of London and of the other towns had no particularly strong object in their resistance beyond obtaining reasonable security for their interests, and the attempt to isolate London from intercourse with the rest of the country was as ill-advised as it was futile.
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