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<DATE>2007-12-04</DATE>
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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="proclamation">
<PB REF="1"><!-- PDF PAGE 19 -->
<HEAD><FIGURE>
</FIGURE>By the King, A PROCLAMATION.
To Re&s;train the Spreading of <HI>FALSE NEWS.</HI></HEAD>
<BYLINE>JAMES R.</BYLINE>
<P>_ALthough &s;ince Our Acce&s;&s;ion to the Crown, We have Graciou&s;ly extended Our Royal Mercy and Cle|mency to Our Subjects by &s;everal General Pardons, one whereof was lately Publi&s;hed; Yet We are &s;en&s;ible that divers evil di&s;po&s;ed Per&s;ons, being not Reformed or wrought upon by &s;uch Our Grace and Favour, do, notwith&s;tanding, make it their Bu&s;ine&s;s by Writing, Printing, or Speaking, to Defame Our Government with Fal&s;e and Seditious News and Reports, thereby intending to amu&s;e Our loving Subjects, and, as far as they are able, to create in them an univer&s;al Iealou&s;ie and Di&s;content, e&s;pecially in this time of Publick Danger, threatned by the intended Inva&s;ion upon this Our Kingdom, and con&s;equently to alienate the Hearts of &s;uch of Our loving Subjects from Vs, who otherwi&s;e would readily yield unto Vs that Aid and A&s;&s;i&s;tance, which by their Natural Alle|giance they are bound to do: And whereas by the Ancient Laws and Statutes of this Realm, great and heavy Penalties are inflicted upon all &s;uch as &s;hall be found to be Spreaders of fal&s;e News, or Promoters of any malicious Slanders and Calumnies, in their ordinary and common Di&s;cour&s;es, or otherwi&s;e, and more e&s;pecially upon &s;uch who &s;hall utter or publi&s;h any Words or Things to incite and &s;tir up the People to Ha|tred or Di&s;like of Our Per&s;on, or the E&s;tabli&s;hed Government&punc; Notwith&s;tanding which, there have been of late more bold and licentious Di&s;cour&s;es than formerly, and Men have a&s;&s;umed to them&s;elves a Liberty, not only in Coffee hou&s;es, but in other Places and Meetings&punc; both publick and private, to Cen&s;ure and Defaine the Proceedings of State, by &s;peaking evil of Things they under&s;tand not: We therefore con&s;idering that Offences of this nature proceed from the re&s;tle&s;s Malice of evil Per&s;ons, or from the carele&s;s Demeanour of others, who pre&s;ume too much upon Our accu&s;tomed Elemency and Goodne&s;s, have there|fore thought fit by this Our Royal Proclamation, by and with the Advice of Our Privy Council, &s;treightly to Forewarn and Command all Our Subjects&punc; of what E&s;tate or Condition they be, that they pre&s;ume not henceforth, either by Writing, Print|ing or Speaking, to utter or publi&s;h any fal&s;e News or Reports what&s;oever, or to intermeddle with the Affairs of State or Govern|ment, or with the Per&s;ons of any of Our Coun&s;ellors or Mini&s;ters in their common and ordinary Di&s;cour&s;es, as they will An|&s;wer the contrary at their utmo&s;t Perils.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e all Bold and Irreverent Speeches touching matters of this high Nature, and all Malicious and Fal&s;e Reports tending to Sedition, or the Amu&s;ement of Our People, are puni&s;hable not only in the Speakers, but in the Hearers al&s;o, un|le&s;s they do &s;peedily reveal the &s;ame unto &s;ome of Our Privy Council, or &s;ome other of Our Iudges or Iu&s;tices of the Peace; Therefore that all Per&s;ons may be left without Excu&s;e, who &s;hall not hereafter contain them&s;elves within that mode&s;t and du|tiful regard which becomes them, We do further Declare, That We will proceed with all Severity and Rigour again&s;t all &s;uch Per&s;ons who &s;hall be guilty of any &s;uch malicious and unlawful Practices by Writing, Printing, or other Publication of &s;uch fal&s;e News and Reports, or who &s;hall receive or hear the &s;ame, without revealing or giving Information thereof as afore|&s;aid, in due time; We being re&s;olved to &s;uppre&s;s the &s;aid Enormities by a mo&s;t &s;trict and exemplary Puni&s;hment of all &s;uch Offen|ders as &s;hall hereafter be di&s;covered&punc; And We do hereby &s;treightly Charge and Command all and &s;ingular Our Iudges, Iu|&s;tices of the Peace, Sheriffs, May<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">s, Bayliffs, and all other Our Officers and Mini&s;ters what&s;oever, to take effectual Care for the &s;peedy Apprehen&s;ion, Pro&s;ecution, and &s;evere Puni&s;hment of all &s;uch Per&s;ons who &s;hall at any time hereafter be found Offen|ders herein.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Given at Our Court at <HI>Whitehall</HI> <DATE>the 26th day of <HI>October,</HI> 1688.</DATE> In the Fourth Year of Our Reign.</DATELINE></CLOSER>
<CLOSER>God &s;ave the King.</CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>Charles Bill, Henry Hills,</HI> and <HI>Thomas Newcomb,</HI> Printers to the Kings <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="3+ words"> Majesty&punc; 1688.</P>
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