JAMES By the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting.  
WHEREAS We have been informed, aswell by a lamentable Petition on the behalf of fifteen hundred of our loving Subjects, English men, remaining in miserable servitude and subjection in Argier, Tunis, Sally, Tituane, exhibited to the Lords Spiritual & Temporal, in Our last Parliament-assembly, thereby pitifully craving some good mean to be taken for their relief and redemption, As also by an order taken and set down, the seven and twentieth day of May, 1624., by the said Lords then in Parliament assembled; thereby ordering, that Letters Patents should be made for their relief, to the effect in these presents following: The humble and lamentable complaint of above fifteen hundred poor Captives souls, now under the miserable oppression of the Turks in Argier, Tunis, Sally, and Tituane, Who lamentably show, That being surprised in one hundred and fifty of his Majesty's subjects Ships by Turkish Pirates, and now remaining in the said Ports, and held in miserable slavery, and sold from party to party, and kept in chains of Iron, their food, bread and water, to their extreme grief, some these three years, some more, some less; not only to the great damage of themselves, but of their poor wives and children, who are all ready to starve and perish for want of means for their sustentation: And they further most lamentably complain, that most of the youthfuller sort are of late forced and compelled by intolerable and insufferable punishments and torments, to deny their Saviour, and turn to their Mahometan Religion, and to deny their own King and Country, which (God knows) is to their great grief, and utter discomfort for ever, unless their relief and freedom may be purchased and obtained by the favourable and pious consideration and assistance of this Honourable Assembly, without which they are like to be all utterly ruined both in body and soul, and their poor wives and children likely (through extremity and want) miserably to perish. NOW the lamentable complaint and cry of so many poor souls, and the grievous torments they now sustain for their conscience sake, being well weighed and considered of, by this great and grave Assembly, They humbly upon their bare knees, for Christ jesus sake, most humbly desire, that (out of the bowels of compassion) your Honours will be pleased to take some speedy course and means for the freeing of them out of the merciless hands of those cruel Infidels; all relief and comfort heretofore sent them by their poor wives & friends being detained and kept from them; by reason whereof they are enforced to grind corn in bestial manner like horses, for to get some food to preserve their wretched lives, with infinite miseries, not here mentioned for brevity's sake, and the great and extreme necessities of their poor wives and children: And they with all their wives and children, being many hundreds in number, shall daily pray for the happy success of your Honours in all your enterprises.  
UPON the reading of which Petition, it is, this seven and twentieth day of May, 1624. ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in this present Parliament assembled, That Letters Patents be granted for a Collection throughout the whole Kingdom of England, and Dominion of Wales, for redemption of those miserable Captives; the said Letters Patents to be granted upon commendations from the Lords of the Parliament, upon Petition preferred to their Lordships: The said Letters Patents, with printed Briefs to be sent to the Lords Bishops in their several Dioceses, within each Province, and their Lordships to send the Briefs to all the Ministers of every Parish within their Diocese: Which Ministers by especial exhortation, are to stir up the charity of their Parishioners, for a liberal contribution towards this so charitable a work: The money in every Parish to be collected by the Churchwardens and Overseers of the poor; who presently after the Collection, shall declare publicly in the Church what is collected, and the same sum to be put on the backside of the Brief, with their and the Ministers hands to it: and then the Church wardens and Overseers of the poor, or one of them, to deliver the same Collection to some such Minister in every Deanery, as shallbe nominated by the Lord Bishop for the receipt of the same: And those Ministers to deliver the same within ten days after the receipt thereof, to the Lord Bishop of the Diocese; and every Bishop to deliver ever the Collection made in his Diocese to his Metropolitan: And the Metropolitan of York, to transmit what is collected within his Province, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, unto whom by order of the House, all the money to be collected for this use, is to be delivered; who, with the advice of six Lords of Parliament, and the Lords of His Majesty's Privy Council, is to dispose of the said money so collected, for relief and redemption of the Captives, as is specified in the Petition and not otherwise. Especial commendations to all Majors, etc. and this to continue for one whole year. And by way of example, the Lords of Parliament are now ready to lead the way by ●●●●ing in their several ranks, (and so do order) forty shillings of every member above the degree of a Baron: And those of the degree of Barons (Lords spiritual and Temporal) twenty shillings apiece, to be presently paid into the hands of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, to be disposed of, as the rest of the moneys to be collected for the use above mentioned. And it is further ordered, That absent Lords may not be exempted from this Contribution, but that the Lords that have their Proxies deposit the same for them. And it is also ordered, that all be done without any charge or reward to any person for the same, Ex. H. Elsing Cler. Parliamentorum. AND whereas also the said Lords having perfectly understood, and duly considered the woeful and pitiful estate of those poor men, and in commiseration of them, have freely of themselves paid down presently every of them above the estate of a Baron, forty shillings a piece, and every other of the estate of a Baron, being Spiritual or Temporal Lords, twenty shillings, to be paid into the hands of the most reverend Father in God, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, towards this so charitable an action, as by the said Order more at large appeareth: KNOW ye therefore, that We also above all other, most grieved at the pitiful and woeful estate of the said poor men Our subjects, and much commiserating the same, and much rejoicing in the forwardness of Our said Lords, towards the performance of so christian and charitable an action, whose good example We earnestly desire, that all other Our loving subjects of quality would follow in this behalf, according to their degrees, of Our princely grace, do ratify and much approve their said Order so set down, and in confirmation, and for the execution thereof do grant, that according to the said Order, Collection may be made of the charitable devotion and liberality of all Our loving subjects, throughout Our Realm of England, and Dominion of Wales, in all places whatsoever, towards the relief and redemption of Our said poor subjects the Captives aforesaid, to be executed in manner and form following: That is to say, We will, grant, appoint, and require, that Walter Dobson, Gentleman Apparitor to the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Grace, or his Deputy or Deputies named and appointed by him, in writing under his hand and seal, shall and may procure to be printed so many Briefs of these Our Letters Patents, as may suffice for the accomplishing and performance of this good work, and shall carry and show these Our Letters Patents under Our great Seal, to the said Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and shall also leave with his Grace so many of those printed Briefs, as there be Churches of Chapels, wherein public divine Service is usually said, within the circuit or precinct of the several Provinces of Canterbury and York. AND We require every of the said Lord Archbishops to receive the said Briefs, and with all speed to distribute unto each Bishop within his Province, and to send so many unto the Archbishops of York, as may serve to be dispersed within the Dioceses of his Province, the said Briefs to be sent by the said Bishops, to the Minister or Curate of every Parish-church and Chapel within their several Dioceses. AND We also will and require every Minister or Curate of any Church or Chapel, to whom such printed Briefs shall be delivered, that without any long delay, upon some Sunday or Holiday, when the Parishioners be fully assembled to hear divine Service, they publicly declare in their several Church or Chapel unto the Congregation there assembled, the tenor of these Briefs, with an especial exhortation to them, to yield their liberal and extraordinary contribution to so charitable a work. AND We also will and require you the Church wardens and Overseers of the poor, to make diligent Collection of the charitable devotion of the people in the said Church or Chapel so assembled, and that after your Collection so made, you do publicly declare in the Church, the whole sum of money so by you collected, and then procure the same sum to be set down upon the backside of the Brief, under your own hands, and the hand of the Minister of the said Church or Chapel: And then you the said Church wardens, or Overseers, or one of you, after the receipt of the same money collected, shall deliver the sum collected, with the said Brief, unto such Minister of the Deanery, where the said Collection shall be made, as the Lord Bishop of the said Diocese, shall assign or appoint to receive the same: And the Bishop of every Diocese, is hereby authorized to name and appoint a Minister in every Deanery, to receive the said Collections accordingly. AND We also require you the said Minister, which shall be so apppointed to receive the said money from the said Overseers, that you receive the same, with the foresaid Brief, and that within ten days after the receipt thereof, you pay and deliver the same, with the Brief, whereby the same hath been collected, unto the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, where such Collection is made. AND We also require you the Bishops of every Diocese respectively, that you receive of the said Minister, the said money, with the Brief whereby the same hath been collected, and deliver over all the said Collections made within your Diocese, with the foresaid Briefs, to the Metropolitan of the Province, wherein the Collection shall be made. AND We likewise require you the said Archbishop of York, that you without delay, do transmit to the said Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, all the sums of money collected within your Province, with the Briefs, whereby the same hath been collected, with him to remain, until the same be disposed of in such fort, as by the foresaid Order of the seven and twentieth of May, 1624. the same is to be disposed of; Any Statute, Law, Ordinance, or Provision, heretofore made to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.  
IN WITNESS whereof, We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patents, for the space of one whole year next after the date hereof to endure.  
WITNESS Ourself at Westminster the nine and twentieth day of june, in the two and twentieth year of Our Reign of England, France, and Ireland, and of Scotland he seven and fiftieth. STEWARD. 
 God save the King.