Decimo Octavo Jacobi Regis, 1620.
Die Martis, decimo sexto die Januarii, Anno Regni
Regis Jacobi, Angliæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Decimo
octavo, et Scotiæ Quinquagesimo quarto.
Parliament prorogued.
MEMORANDUM, Whereas the King's most Excellent Majesty, as well by his Proclamation as by his
Writs of Summons, bearing Date at Westm. the Thirteenth Day of November last past, appointed his Parliament to open and begin this present Day, being the
Sixteenth of January, in this Eighteenth Year of His
Majesty's Reign, as by the said Writs more plainly appeareth; His Highness, upon great and weighty Considerations of Estate, in respect of this late great Ambassage, and otherwise, by Advice of his Privy Council,
did since publish his Proclamation, for the Proroguing
of this his said Parliament, until the Three and Twentieth of this present. And nevertheless it was thought
fit, that, howsoever the said Proclamation might give
Warning to His Majesty's Subjects, for the forbearing
of their Attendance at this present Sixteenth Day, yet
therewithall his said Parliament should be prorogued in
a legal Manner, by His Majesty's Writ Patent, signed
with His Royal Hand, and sealed with the Great Seal
of England. Therefore, this present Day, the Lord
Chancellor of England, in Presence of the Lord Archbishop of Canterburie, and divers other the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and of divers Knights, Citizens,
and Burgesses, called into the Upper House for that Purpose, did declare, That His Majesty, for the Respects
aforesaid, had prorogued his said Parliament until the
Three and Twentieth of this present January; and that
his Lordship had received His Majesty's Writ for that
Purpose, which was now to be read unto them. And
the said Lord Chancellor declared further, That His
Majesty, in Respect of the State of His Health at this present, had resolved to prorogue over his said Parliament,
from the said Three and Twentieth of January, until the
Thirtieth of the same; which Prorogation though it was
to be done with like Form and Ceremony as this present
Prorogation is, yet it was fit to notify the same, at this
Time, that the Lords, Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses
of Parliament, might, in the mean Time, dispose of their
Occasions accordingly: After which Declaration by the
Lord Chancellor so made, His Majesty's Writ for the
said Prorogation, from this present Sixteenth Day unto
the Three and Twentieth aforesaid, was read by the
Clerk of the Upper House, publickly and openly; the
Tenor whereof followeth, in hæc Verba:
Writ for the Prorogation.
"Jacobus, Dei Gratia, Angliæ, Scotiæ, Franciæ, et
Hiberniæ Rex, Fidei Defensor, &c. Prædilectis et Fidelibus Nostris Prælatis, Magnatibus, et Proceribus
Regni Nostri Angliæ, ac Dilectis et Fidelibus Nostris
Militibus, Civibus, et Burgensibus dicti Regni Nostri,
ad Parliamentum Nostrum, apud Civitatem Nostram
Westm. decimo sexto die instantis mensis Januarii inchoandum et tenendum, convocatis et electis, et vestrum cuilibet, Salutem.
"Cum Nos, pro quibusdam arduis et urgentibus Negotiis, Nos, Statum et Defensionem dicti Regni Nostri
Angliæ ac Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ concernentibus, dictum
Parliamentum Nostrum ad diem et locum prædictum
teneri ordinaverimus, ac vobis, per separalia Brevia
Nostra, apud Civitatem et diem prædictam interesse
mandaverimus, ad tractandum, consentiendum, et
concludendum super hiis, que in dicto Parliamento
Nostro tunc et ibidem proponerentur et tractarentur.
Quibusdam tamen certis de Causis et Considerationibus Nos ad præsens specialiter moventibus, dictum
Parliamentum Nostrum usque ad vicesimum tertium
diem hujus instantis mensis Januarii duximus prorogandum; ita quod nec vos, nec aliquis vestrum, ad
dictum decimum sextum diem Januarii, apud Civitatem prædictam, comparere teneamini, seu arctemini.
Volumus enim vos, et quemlibet vestrum, inde erga
Nos penitus exonerari; mandantes, et, tenore præsentium, firmiter injungendo præcipientes vobis, et
cuilibet vestrum, ac omnibus aliis quibus in hac parte
intererit, quod ad dictum vicesimum tertium diem
Januarii, apud prædictam Civitatem Westm. personaliter compareatis et intersitis, et quilibet vestrum compareat et intersit, ad tractandum, faciendum, agendum,
et concludendum super hiis, quæ in dicto Parliamento
Nostro, de communi Consilio dicti Regni Nostri (favente Deo), contigerint ordinari. Teste Meipso, apud
Westm. decimo quarto die Januarii, Anno Regni Nostri
Angliæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Decimo octavo, et Scotiæ
Quinquagesimo quarto.