April 1643
[18 April, 1643.]
The Lords and Commons in Parliament, taking into their
serious Consideration a Proclamation dated at Oxford the First
of this Instant April, for the holding and continuing of the
Court of Chancery, and all Proceedings therein, the Receipt of
His Majesty's Exchequer, and of the First Fruits and Tenths,
the Court of the Dutchy of Lancaster, Court of Wards and
Liveries, and Court of Requests, at the City of Oxford, for the
whole Term of Easter then next ensuing, upon and from the
19th Day of this Instant April, until and upon the 15th Day of
May next following; and for adjourning the Courts of King's
Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, from Quindena Paschœ
until the Return of Quinque Septimanas Paschœ next, do find
that it will much tend to the Prejudice of the Commonwealth,
to have the said Courts and Receipts held and continued at
Oxford, where great Part of an Army raised against the Parliament and the Authority thereof now resides: And the said
Lords and Commons, apprehending and foreseeing the great
Inconveniencies and Mischiefs that necessarily must happen to
many of His Majesty's most faithful and best Subjects, in Case
those Courts and Receipts be held at Oxford, where such of
them as have Occasion to attend cannot with any Safety
of their Persons or Estates repair to, His Majesty having
in Effect declared all Persons that have contributed any
Thing in Aid or Defence of the Parliament, and the
Privilege thereof, to be guilty of High Treason, and, in Pursuance
thereof, by the Force and Power of the Army there remaining,
seized upon many of their Persons, where they are detained
Prisoners, and some proceeded against as Traitors, having nothing
laid to their Charge but their assisting the Parliament, and
opposing that Army raised to destroy it and the Kingdom; and
finding that divers, both Judges and others, whose Attendance
upon the said Courts and Receipts will be necessary, are Members
or Assistants to One or both Houses of Parliament, whose
Presence at this Time cannot be spared; and that, if the Records
necessary to be used in the said Courts should be removed from
the usual Places to Oxon, in a Time when Two Armies are
residing near thereabouts, it would endanger the Miscarriage of
them, which might ruin many of His Majesty's Subjects, whose
Estates depend thereupon; and that so far a Distance between
the said Courts of Law and Equity, which have necessary
Dependance one upon another, would prove exceeding prejudicial to many; and finding greater Cause to take Care for
preventing the said Mischiefs and Inconveniencies than was in
Hillary Term last, in that the said Army is still continuing,
although the said Lords and Commons have used the best
Means they possibly could, by Proposition and Treaty to and
with His Majesty, for the Disbanding thereof; and as yet all
their Endeavours are fruitless.
The said Lords and Commons do therefore Declare and Order,
That no Judge, Minister, or other Person belonging to any of
the said Courts or Receipts, shall repair to the said City of Oxon,
or do or execute any thing belonging to the said Offices and
Employments but in the Places usual for the doing and executing thereof; and the said Lords and Commons do enjoin the
said several Judges, Officers, and Ministers, to attend the
Execution of the said Offices. at the usual Times and Places for
the Execution thereof, and not elsewhere; and that no Member
of, or Assistant to, either of the Two Houses of Parliament, that
have any Place, Office, or Employment, about any of the said
Courts or Receipts, shall presume to depart from their Attendance upon the Parliament, without the special Leave of that
House whereof they are Members or Assistants, and that those
departed do return forthwith; and do further Order, That no
Person shall remove, or cause to be removed, any Records or
Writings, of any the said Courts or Receipts, to or towards the
City of Oxon: And the Lords and Commons do Declare, That, if
any Persons shall disobey this Order, they will proceed against
them as wilful Contemners of the Authority of Parliament, and
Disturbers of the Peace of the Kingdom: And it is further
Declared and Ordered, by the said Lords and Commons, That
no Judgement, Decree, Order, or Proceedings whatsover, that
shall be given, made, or had, by or in any of the said Courts or
Receipts, out of the usual Places where the said Courts and
Receipts have been accustomed to be held and kept, shall bind
any Person that may be concerned therein without his own
voluntary Consent; and that all Judges, Officers, and other
Persons, shall be protected and kept and indemnified from any
Damage or Inconvenience that may or can happen to them, for
yielding Obedience to this Ordinance, or by the Not-prosecution
of any just Suit or Action in the said Courts at Oxford, or any
of them.