By the King. A proclamation touching the counterfeit Great Seale, ordered by the two pretended houses of Parliament to be put in use.

[illustration] royal blazon surmounted by a crown

C R

HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE

BY THE KING.

¶ A Proclamation touching the Counterfeit Great Seale, Ordered by the two pretended Houses of Parliament to be put in use.

WHEREAS by the Lawes and Statutes of this Kingdome, the Counterfeiting of Our Great Seale of England is High-Treason; and is so particularly and expressely declared by the Statute made in the five and twentieth yeare of the Raigne of Our Royall Predecessor, King Edward the Third, which Statute and Declaration was then obtained and assented to upon the Petition, and at the instance of the Lords and Commons in that Parliament, for the safety and security of them∣selves and their Posterity, in regard of the different opinions before that time touching Treason, and what should be said to be Treason, and what not: and hath since by other severall Acts of Parliament been ratified and approved to be kept and observed as the Rule and direction for deciding and determining of Treason. And whereas of late a new Great Seale, without Warrant or Authority from Us, and against Our Will or Consent, hath been traiterously made, and Counterfeited to the similitude and likenesse of Our Great Seale of England, and by the two pretended Houses of Parliament (or by Persons styling themselves by the name of the Lords and Com∣mons in Parliament, yet maintaining and upholding Treasons, Warre, and Rebellion against Us, and intolerable oppressions upon Our Subjects, to the ruine and destruction of this Kingdome and Nation) the same is Ordered to be put in use, and that Order published in a printed Paper, intituled, A Declaration and Ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, touching the Great Seale; wherein it is likewise declared by them, That all Letters Patents, Grants, Leases, Pardons, and other Acts and things therein mentioned, which have passed under Our Great Seale, since the time that the same was brought unto Us, shall be invalid, voyd, and of no effect; and that all and every act or thing, which after the publication of that Ordinance, shall passe by, or under Our Great Seale, or under any Great Seale (other then what is therein appointed) should be utterly voyd, frustrate, and of no effect, usurping therein to themselves, and, as much as in them lyes, depriving Us of the meanes of dispensation of Our Justice, Power, Grace, and Mercy, and of what else is in Us to give or conferre, which are Our principall, knowne, and undoubted Rights inherent and belonging only to Our Crowne and Kingly Office. We have therefore thought fit to publish this Our Proclamation, thereby to let all Our Subjects know the deep sense We have of this high indig∣nity offered to Us, and the danger which they shall incurre by acting, passing, clayming, or obeying any thing which shall passe by, or under that new and Counterfeit Seale, or by colour of the pretended and usurped authority thereof. And We doe strictly Charge and Command all pretended Committees, and Keepers of the said Counterfeit New great Seale, That they, or any of them, or any other Person or Persons whatsoever, shall not presume to Seale any Letters Patents, Pardons, Commissions, Faculties, Writs, or any other Instruments or things whatsoever, with the said

New Counterfeit Great Seale. And We doe hereby farther straitly Charge and Command all Arch-Bishops, Bishops, Arch-deacons, Deanes, and their Chancellors, Commissaries, and Officialls, and all Judges, Justices, Justices of Peace, and Commissioners of what kind soever, and all Sheriffes, Bailiffes, Officers and Ministers, and all Our Subjects in generall, of what degree, quality, place, office, or Function soever they be, that they presume not in any sort, either directly, or indirectly, mediately, or immediately, to exercise any Jurisdiction, Power, or Authority, Judiciall or Ministeriall, Ecclesiasticall or Temporall, or to act, passe, claime, doe, or execute, any act, matter, or thing whatsoever, by, or under that new and Counterfeit Great Seale, or by colour or pretence of any interest, power, or authority derived from thence, or in any wise to give obedience or allowance thereunto, or to any Writs, Commissions, Letters-Patents, Grants, Pre∣sentations, Leases, Pardons, Faculties, or any other Act or thing whatsoever, which shall passe by, or under the same. And We doe likewise Charge and Command all Cursitors, Clearks, Officers, and Ministers, and all Our Subjects what∣soever, that they in no sort presume to write, make, frame, fit, prepare, or present any Writs, Commissions, Letters-Patents, Grants, Presentations, Leases, Pardons, Faculties, or any other Instrument, act, writing, or thing whatsoever, to passe under the said Counterfeit Seale, or any way to put the same in use. And We Require a ready and exact obe∣dience from all Our Subjects to this Our just Command, in a matter so highly concerning Our Soveraignty, letting them know, that whatsoever shall be done to the contrary, will be invalid, and voyd in it selfe, and for doing the contrary, they must expect to undergoe the highest and severest penalties, forfeitures, and punishments, which by the Lawes and Statutes of the Kingdome may be imposed or inflicted upon them.

Given at Our Court at OXFORD, the 24 day of November, in the Nineteenth yeare of Our Raigne. 1643.

GOD SAVE THE KING.