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<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
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<DATE>2013-12-13</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B131010.apex.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B12633">
<STC T="S">7837</STC>
<STC T="G">1851.b.3[2]</STC>
<STC T="G">Harl.7614[204]</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99892140</BIBNO>
<VID>188938</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="royal proclamation">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A proclamation &s;et furth by the kinges maie&s;ty, with the adui&s;e of his mo&s;t honorable priuey coun&s;ail&punc; declaring his graces determinacion, concerning the amendement of his highnes coyne, and al&s;o to admoni&s;h &s;uch of his &s;ubiectes, as be engro&s;&s;ers of Fermes, victualles and other thinges. &amp;c. and the inhauncers of al prices of the&s;ame, and for the amendement of their gredy and in&s;atiable doinges, &amp;c. the .xj. day of May in the .v. yere of his mo&s;te pro&s;perous reigne.</HEAD>
<P>_THe kinges mo&s;t excellent Maie&s;tie, hauing of late &s;ea&s;on vnder&s;tanding and knowledge, by diuer&s;e and &s;undry con&s;ultacions of the Lordes, and others of his priuie coun&s;aill, how nece&s;&s;ary and beneficiall, it &s;hould be for the wealth of his hole Realme, to haue his Coyne reduced to finenes&punc; whiche hath bene made bace from the beginning of the latter Warres in the time of his maie&s;ties father, of mo&s;t famous memory, and &s;o remai|ned by continuance of the like: hath had a greate, godly, and earne&s;t de|&s;ire, daily increa&s;ing in his maie&s;ties mo&s;t noble and godly harte, to be|ginne and attempt &s;ome towardenes, to &s;o greate a benefite, and &s;o to procede and achieue, with a&s;muche his owne maie&s;ties lo&s;&s;e therin as po&s;&s;ible were fitte for hym to &s;u&s;teine. Wherefore, of a mo&s;te godly minde towardes his people, and a mo&s;t feruent de&s;ire, to begin to do this notable greate benefite, for the whiche all good &s;ubiectes, hath of late, as it were with groninges longed, his Maie&s;ty, with the adui&s;e of his coun&s;aill, who, with greate rea&s;ons, were per&s;waded to adui&s;e his maie&s;tie therto, cau&s;ed his determi|nation, to be publi&s;hed by a proclamation bearing date&punc; the la&s;t day of Aprill la&s;t, that from the la&s;t daie of Augu&s;t nexte following, the &s;hilling coyned and &s;et furth by his maie&s;ty, &s;houlde be curraunt for. ix. d. &s;terf. and no more, and the grote for. iii. d. as further appereth by the &s;ame proclamation, without the whi|che meanes, his maie&s;ty coulde neuer po&s;&s;ible attempt or come nere to &s;et furthe and make the Coyne of fine &s;iluer according to his good de&s;ire, and as in dede ordinarely, his maie&s;ty from the beginning of the con&s;ultacion hath ment, and doth certainely meane. Yet neuerthele&s;&s;e, &s;uche is the malice and naughty na|ture of a certain kinde of people, that liue onely for them&s;elfes, &amp; as it &s;emeth by their doinges, neither re&s;|pect God, King, the &s;uertye of his maie&s;ties Croune, nor any other Chri&s;tian creature, but goyng about to eate and deuoure, a&s;well the&s;tate of Nobilitie&punc; as the lower &s;orte, beyng Seruing men, Artificers, Han|dicraftes, poore Hu&s;bondemen, laborers and &s;uch like, and further maliciou&s;ly ouerwharting and hinde|ring all good purpo&s;es of the kinges maie&s;tie, and his coun&s;aill, trauailing to do to the common wealthe good, and e&s;pecially, when they perceaue any thing purpo&s;ed, to amend the vnrea&s;onable prices of victu|all, and &s;uche nece&s;&s;ary thinges for mens &s;u&s;tenance, that as it is come to his Maie&s;ties knowledge, and his coun&s;aill, by the information of diuer&s;e credible per&s;ons from &s;undry partes of this his Realme, &s;ince the afore&s;aide proclamation was publi&s;hed, whiche was the very ordinarye and nece&s;&s;ary beginning of a manife&s;t amendement of the coine, the prices of victualles, Wares &amp; &s;uch like thinges, be purpo&s;ely in|haunced beyond all expectacion, and the gratious meaning of the kinges Maie&s;tie, and his coun&s;aill vt|terly peruerted, and &s;ini&s;terly abu&s;ed, the&s;ame mo&s;t manife&s;tly comming of the deueli&s;he&punc; malice, and &s;li|ght of the fore&s;aide kinde of naughty people, iniurious to the whole common wealth: which thinges con|&s;idered, his Maie&s;ty hauing the Swearde not in vaine committed to him of God, and with the &s;ame as a mini&s;ter of the almighty, the very indignacion and plages from heauen to fall where his Swearde &s;hall &s;trike, cannot, ne may not, without thoffence of God, &s;e and &s;uffer &s;uche lewde per&s;ones as wilfully be the cau&s;ers hereof remaine vnpuni&s;hed to their owne dampnations, and the di&s;truccion of others. Wherfore his Maie&s;te, meaning not in ire&punc; or pa&s;&s;ion, to execute his indignation, but iu&s;tly and with good grounde, hathe fir&s;te by the adui&s;e of his coun&s;aill, thought mete to admoni&s;he all kinde of people in their degrees, and to let theym clerely vnder&s;tand his plea&s;ure and determinacion in this behalfe, &s;o as who&s;oeuer &s;hal offend, the&s;ame &s;hall not faile of &s;harpe and due pui&s;hment for their offences.</P>
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<P> And therefore fir&s;t of all, to all &s;uche, as either wilfully or ignorantly, hath mi&s;taken his Maie&s;tes good meaning vpon the former proclamatio~, for the abacing of money, his Maie&s;tie declareth his good and gracious meaning, and determinate purpo&s;e, by the adui&s;e of his coun&s;aill, to be therby to amend his coine, &amp; to reduce it to finenes of &s;iluer, although the&s;ame &s;halbe mo&s;t of al, without al compari&s;on to his maie&s;tes lo&s;&s;e and detrime~t, and yet to the benefite of his &s;ubiectes &amp; the honor of the realme. And next to &s;uche Fermours&punc; Gra&s;iers, and Shepe Ma&s;ters, which by vnrea&s;onable and fraudulent ingro&s;&s;ing of Fermes, Graine, Victuall, a&s;well Butter and Che&s;e, as other gro&s;&s;er thinges, as Woolle and &s;uche like, Wood, Cole, and other thinges pertaining to the dayly &s;u&s;tenance of man, and enhaun&s;ing the prices of the&s;ame, and by manife&s;t decaiyng of tounes and tillage, exce&s;&s;iue increa&s;ing of &s;hepe, contrary to diuers good lawes and &s;tatutes of this realme prouided for the&s;e caces, not vnknowen to the offendors therin Whiche kinde of per&s;ones in dede his maie&s;ty and his coun&s;aill iudgeth to be the principall occa&s;ions of the&s;e almo&s;t vncau&s;able dearthes. His maie&s;tie pronounceth &amp; threatneth, that if they furthewth &s;eace not their gredy, vnlaufull, and vnnaturall practizes, colored with craftes and &s;ubtelties to auoyde and deceaue the meaning of the lawes and all hone&s;ty, they &s;hal &s;uffre with his extreme indignation the Iu|&s;tice of his lawes to the vttermo&s;t, to the terror of al &s;uche as being thus often gentely admoni&s;hed haue neuer amended.</P>
<P>Thus muche doth his maie&s;te in this behalf, partely of clemency of nature, admoni&s;h, that would haue no cau&s;e to exerci&s;e extremitie: partely (if the naughtines of his &s;ubiecte, &s;hal geue him cau&s;e) yet by this admonitio~ the puni&s;hme~t &s;halbe more iu&s;t and nece&s;&s;ary. And although his maie&s;ty con&s;idereth howe conuenie~t it is for his office, hauing indifferent charge and care ouer all maner his &s;ubiectes, not onely to reprehend the faultes of Offendors, but al&s;o to puni&s;he them &s;euerely, yet becau&s;e of late yeres, the lower &s;orte of people, lacking in dede in that parte, all maner of rea&s;on, and beyng like to tho&s;e &s;icke madmen that either will haue no Phi&s;icke, or els will be their owne Phi&s;itions, haue pre&s;umpteou&s;ly taken vpon them thoffice of his maie&s;ty, both in reprehending of their &s;uperiors, and attempting redres of thinges after their own phanta&s;ies, with force, and contrary to the due obedience of good Subiectes towardes god and man. Therfore al&s;o his maie&s;tie, likewi&s;e pronounceth and declareth vnto them, and euery of them, that if they &s;hal excede their duties either in reprehending or attempting any maner of re|medie or redre&s;&s;e, otherwi&s;e then &s;hall &s;tand with the lawes and order of the realme: His Maie&s;ty wil not faile but mini&s;ter vnto them &s;harp terror of his &s;wearde and Lawes, whiche, as they be well prouided of late for &s;uche offendors, &s;o &s;hal they not lacke diligent and due execution.</P>
<CLOSER>God &s;aue the King</CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 LANG="lat" TYPE="colophon">
<P><HI>RICHARDVS GRAFTON</HI> typographus Regius excudebat&punc; Men&s;e Maij. A. M. D. LI.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 LANG="lat" TYPE="license">
<P>Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum &s;olum.</P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
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