blazon of the Commonwealth  
AN ACT For quiet Enjoying of Sequestered Parsonages AND VICARIDGES By the present Incumbent.  
At the Parliament begun at Westminster the 17th day of September, An. Dom. 1656.  
BE it Enacted by His Highness the Lord Protector and this present Parliament, That every person who hath been, or shall before the First day of July, One thousand six hundred fifty seven, be settled by the Parliament, or any authority derived from them, or by His Highness the Lord Protector, or the Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal, in any Parsonage or Vicarage, Presentative or Donative, or Hospital within this Commonwealth, heretofore sequestered by Parliament, or any Authority derived from them, and shall on the First day of July aforesaid, be in the possession thereof, the Sequestered or Ejected Minister being then living, such and no other person shall be, and is hereby adjudged and deemed the lawful Incumbent to all intents and purposes, and shall and may have, retain and possess, sue for, and recover all Tithes, and other Profits and Advantages whatsoever thereunto belonging, as if he had been legally instituted and inducted, Any Law or Statute to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.  
And it is further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That upon the Death, Resignation or Removal of the Minister, formerly settled as aforesaid, and now adjudged the Incumbent, It shall be lawful for the Patron (being neither Delinquent nor Papist) to present to such Living, as if the Incumbent formerly sequestered had been dead.  
Provided always, and be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That where the Sequestered or Ejected Minister is not seized of to his own use, or others in trust for him or his wife, of the Real Estate of Thirty pounds per Annum, or possessed of a Personal Estate to the value of Five hundred pounds, the Commissioners that are or shall be appointed for the Ejection of Scandalous, Ignorant and Insufficient Ministers and Schoolmasters, or any Five of them, shall within their Limits make unto the Sequestered Minister during his life, Allowance out of the Profits of the said Parsonage or Vicarage, not exceeding a fifth part of the Profits thereof; And the said Commissioners or any five of them, are hereby impowered and required to sequester for the use of (and cause to be paid over to) the said Sequestered Minister the said Allowance, with such Arrears thereof, as the said Commissioners shall think fit, in case the Incumbent shall refuse to pay the same.  
Provided, That not Ejected or Sequestered Minister shall have or receive any Benefit or Advantage by virtue of this Act, that resides and remains in the parish or place out of which he is ejected or sequestered, during such residence, Any thing before in this Act, or any other matter or thing to the contrary hereof notwithstanding.  
Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall extend to the charging any person hereby made and constituted Incumbent in Law, with the Payment of First-fruits, until the death of the said person ejected or sequestered from any such Parsonage or Vicarage as aforesaid, at which time he shall be liable to pay the same.  
Provided also, and it is hereby declared, That where any part of the Tithes or other Profits have been taken away by any of the Authorities aforesaid, from any Parsonage of Vicarage, Presentative or Donative, and settled upon any Chapel or other place, for the increase of Maintenance of such place, nothing contained in this Act shall extend to the taking away such Augmentations from such places, but they are hereby confirmed and settled as aforesaid, during the life of the person hereby adjudged the Incumbent.  
Provided always, That this Act or any thing therein contained, shall not extend to give or confirm unto Anthony Lapthorn the present Minister of Sedgfield in the County of Durham, any Right or Title to the Profits of the said Rectory of Sedgfield, save only to so much thereof as shall amount unto the sum of Two hundred pounds per Annum, allowed unto him out of the Profits of the said Rectory by the Committee of the late Parliament for Plundered Ministers, Any thing in this Act contained to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.  
Provided always, and be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for any Patron or person, having Right of Presentation, and not being a Papist or Delinquent, to present unto any Church or Chappel where the Incumbent hath been a Delinquent and sequestered, and in which any Minister hath been placed by Authority of Parliament, that is since deceased, and such Church or Chappel not supplied or presented unto before the Seventeenth day of June, One thousand six hundred fifty seven, Any thing in this Act, or any other matter or thing to the contrary hereof notwithstanding.   

LONDON: Printed by Henry Hills and John Field, Printers to His Highness the Lord PROTECTOR. 1657.