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<DATE>2008-07-06</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="royal declaration">
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<HEAD><FIGURE>
<P>C R</P>
<P>HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE</P>
<FIGDESC>royal blazon or coat of arms</FIGDESC>
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<HEAD>HIS MAJESTIES DECLARATION To all His Loving SUBJECTS, <DATE><HI>March</HI> 15. 1672.</DATE></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Publi&s;hed by the Advice of His Privy Council.</HEAD>
<P>_OUr Care and Endeavours for the Pre&s;ervation of the Rights and Intere&s;ts of the Church, have been &s;ufficiently manife&s;ted to the World, by the whole cour&s;e of Our Government, &s;ince Our happy Re&s;tauration, and by the many and frequent wayes of Coercion that We have u&s;ed for reducing all Erring or Di&s;&s;enting Per&s;ons, and for compo&s;ing the unhappy Differences in matters of Religion, which We found among Our Subjects upon Our Return: But it being evident, by the &s;ad experience of twelve years, that there is very little fruit of all tho&s;e forceable Cour&s;es, We think Our Self oblieged to make u&s;e of that Supream Power in Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Matters, which is not only inherent in Us, but hath been Declared and Re|cognized to be &s;o by &s;everal Statutes and Acts of Parliament; And therefore, We do now accordingly i&s;&s;ue this Our Declaration, as well for the quieting the Minds of Our good Sub|jects in the&s;e Points, for inviting Strangers in this Conjuncture, to come and live under Us, and for the better Encou|ragement of all to a chearfull following of their Trade and Callings, from whence we hope by the Ble&s;&s;ing of GOD, to have many good and happy Advantages to Our Government; As al&s;o, for preventing for the future, the danger that might otherwi&s;e ari&s;e from Private Meetings, and Seditious Conventicles.</P>
<P>And in the fir&s;t place, We Declare Our expre&s;s Re&s;olution, Meaning and Intention to be, That the <HI>Church of Eng|land</HI> be pre&s;erved, and remain entire in its Doctrine, Di&s;cipline and Government, as now it &s;tands E&s;tabli&s;hed by Law; And that this be taken to be, as it is, the Ba&s;is, Rule, and Standard of the General and Publick Wor&s;hip of GOD, and that the Orthodox conformable Clergy do receive and enjoy the Revenues belonging thereunto: And that no per|&s;on, though of a different Opinion and Per&s;wa&s;ion, &s;hall be exempt from paying his Tythes, or other Dues what&s;oever. And further We Declare, That no per&s;on &s;hall be capable of holding any Benefice, Living, or Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Dignity or Preferment of any kind, in this Our Kingdom of <HI>England,</HI> who is not exactly conformable.</P>
<P>We do in the next place Declare Our Will and Plea&s;ure to be, That the Execution of all and all manner of Penal Laws in Matters Eccle&s;ia&s;tical, again&s;t what&s;oever &s;ort of Non-conformi&s;ts or Recu&s;ants, be immediately Su&s;pended, and they are hereby Su&s;pended. And all Judges, Judges of A&s;&s;ize and Goal-delivery, Sheriffs, Ju&s;tices of the Peace, Mayors, Bayliffs, and other Officers what&s;oever, whether Eccle&s;ia&s;tical or Civil, are to take notice of it, and pay due Obedience thereunto.</P>
<P>And that there may be no pretence for any of Our Subjects to continue their illegal Meetings and Conventicles, We do Declare, That We &s;hall from time to time allow a &s;ufficient number of Places, as they &s;hall be de&s;ired, in all parts of this Our Kingdom, for the u&s;e of &s;uch as do not Conform to the <HI>Church of England,</HI> to meet and a&s;&s;emble in, in order to their Publick Wor&s;hip and Devotion; which Places &s;hall be open and free to all per&s;ons.</P>
<P>But to prevent &s;uch di&s;orders and inconveniencies as may happen by this Our Indulgence, if not duly regulated, and that they may be the better protected by the Civil Magi&s;trate, Our expre&s;s Will and Plea&s;ure is, That none of Our Subjects do pre&s;ume to meet in any Place, untill &s;uch Place be allowed, and the Teacher of that Congregation be approved by Us.</P>
<P>And le&s;t any &s;hould apprehend, that this re&s;triction &s;hould make Our &s;aid Allowance and Approbation difficult to be obtained, We do further Declare, that this Our Indulgence, as to the Allowance of the publick Places of Wor&s;hip, and Approbation of the Teachers, &s;hall extend to all &s;orts of Non-conformi&s;ts and Recu&s;ants, except the Recu&s;ants of the Roman Catholick Religion, to whom We &s;hall in no wi&s;e allow publick Places of Wor&s;hip, but only indulge them their &s;hare in the common Exemption from the execution of the Penal Laws, and the exerci&s;e of their Wor&s;hip in their private Hou&s;es only.</P>
<P>And if after this Our Clemency and Indulgence, any of Our Subjects &s;hall pre&s;ume to abu&s;e this Liberty, and &s;hall Preach &s;editiou&s;ly, or to the derogation of the Doctrine, Di&s;cipline or Government of the E&s;tabli&s;hed Church, or &s;hall meet in Places not allowed by Us, We do hereby give them warning, and Declare, We will proceed again&s;t them with all imaginable &s;everity: And We will let them &s;ee, We can be as &s;evere to puni&s;h &s;uch Offenders, when &s;o ju&s;tly provoked, as We are indulgent to truly Tender Con&s;ciences.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><HI>Given at Our Court at</HI> Whitehall, <DATE><HI>this fourteenth day of</HI> March, <HI>in the four and twentieth year of Our Reign.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="colophon">
<P><HI>EDINBURGH,</HI> Re-printed by <HI>Evan Tyler,</HI> Printer to the King's mo&s;t Excellent Maje&s;ty, 1672.</P>
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