C R HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE royal blazon surmounted by a crown BY THE KING. ΒΆ A Proclamation touching the Counterfeit Great seal, Ordered by the two pretended Houses of Parliament to be put in use. WHEREAS by the laws and Statutes of this kingdom, the Counterfeiting of Our Great seal of England is High-Treason; and is so particularly and expressly declared by the Statute made in the five and twentieth year of the reign of Our royal 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 themselves 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 several 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 seal, without Warrant or Authority from Us, and against Our Will or Consent, hath been traitorously made, and Counterfeited to the similitude and likeness of Our Great seal of England, and by the two pretended Houses of Parliament( or by Persons styling themselves by the name of the Lords and Commons in Parliament, yet maintaining and upholding Treasons, war, and Rebellion against Us, and intolerable oppressions upon Our Subjects, to the ruin and destruction of this kingdom and Nation) the same is Ordered to be put in use, and that Order published in a printed Paper, entitled, A Declaration and Ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, touching the Great seal; 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 seal, since the time that the same was brought unto Us, shall be invalid, void, and of no effect; and that all and every act or thing, which after the publication of that Ordinance, shall pass by, or under Our Great seal, or under any Great seal( other then what is therein appointed) should be utterly void, frustrate, and of no effect, usurping therein to themselves, and, as much as in them lies, depriving Us of the means of dispensation of Our Justice, Power, Grace, and Mercy, and of what else is in Us to give or confer, which are Our principal, known, and undoubted Rights inherent and belonging only to Our crown 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 indignity offered to Us, and the danger which they shall incur by acting, passing, claiming, or obeying any thing which shall pass by, or under that new and Counterfeit seal, or by colour of the pretended and usurped authority thereof. And We do strictly Charge and Command all pretended Committees, and Keepers of the said Counterfeit New great seal, That they, or any of them, or any other Person or Persons whatsoever, shall not presume to seal any Letters Patents, Pardons, Commissions, Faculties, Writs, or any other Instruments or things whatsoever, with the said New Counterfeit Great seal. And We do hereby farther straitly Charge and Command all Arch-Bishops, Bishops, Arch-deacons, deans, and their Chancellors, Commissaries, and officials, and all Judges, Justices, Justices of Peace, and Commissioners of what kind soever, and all Sheriffes, bailiffs, Officers and Ministers, and all Our Subjects in general, 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, judicial or ministerial, ecclesiastical or temporal, or to act, pass, claim, do, or execute, any act, matter, or thing whatsoever, by, or under that new and Counterfeit Great seal, 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, Presentations, Leases, Pardons, Faculties, or any other Act or thing whatsoever, which shall pass by, or under the same. And We do likewise Charge and Command all Cursitors, clerks, Officers, and Ministers, and all Our Subjects whatsoever, that they in no sort presume to writ, 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 pass under the said Counterfeit seal, or any way to put the same in use. And We Require a ready and exact obedience from all Our Subjects to this Our just Command, in a matter so highly concerning Our sovereignty, letting them know, that whatsoever shall be done to the contrary, will be invalid, and void in itself, and for doing the contrary, they must expect to undergo the highest and severest penalties, forfeitures, and punishments, which by the laws and Statutes of the kingdom may be imposed or inflicted upon them. Given at Our Court at OXFORD, the 24 day of November, in the Nineteenth year of Our reign. 1643. GOD SAVE THE KING. Printed at Oxford, by LEONARD LICHFIELD, Printer to the University. 1643.