A. D. 1662. Annodeciiiio tertio & quarto Caroli II. C. 29--31. 261 CAP. XXIX. An Aft for the Reverfing of the Earl of Strafford his Attainder, ' TTT'HEREAS Thomas late Earl of Strafford was impeached of High Treafon, upon Pretence of en- The Reafons ' W deavouring to fubvert the fundamental Laws, and called to a publick and folemn Arraignment a" OjoanAi of ' and T'rial before the Peers in Parliament, where he made a particular Defence to every Article objeded AttaUidfr. * ' againft him ; (2) infomuch that the turbulent Party then feeing no Hopes to effetSt their unjuft Defigns ' by any ordinary Way and Method of Proceedings, did at lalt refolve to attempt the Deftrudion and ' Attainder of the faid Earl by an Ad of Parliament, to be therefore purpofely made, to condemn him ' upon accumulative Treafon, none of the pretended Crimes being Treafon a-part, and fo could not be ' in the Whole, if they had been proved, as they were not; (3) and alfo judged him guilty of conftruc- ' tive Treafon ^that is) of levying War againft the King, though it was only the commanding an Order of ' the Council-Board in Ireland^ to be executed by a Serjeant at Arms and three or four Soldiers, which ' was the conftant Pradice of the Deputies there for a long Time ; (4) to which End they having firfl i' prefented a Bill for this Intent to the Houfe of Commons, and finding there more Oppofuion than they I' expected, they caufed a Multitude of tumultuous Perfons to come down to Wejiminfter^ armed with ' Swords and Staves, and to fill both the Palace-Yards, and all the Approaches to both Houfes of Par- ' liament, with Fury and Clamour, and to require Juftice, fpeedy Juftice, againft the Earl of Strafford; j' (;) and having by thefe and other undue Pradtices obtained that Bill to pafs in the Houfe of Com- !* mons, they caufed the Names of thofe refolute Gentlemen, who in a Cafe of innocent Blood had freely ' difcharged their Confcienccs, being nine and fifty, to be pofted up in feveral Places about the Cities of ' London and JVeJiminJIer, and fliled thein Straffordians, and Enemies to their Country, hoping thereby ' to deliver them up to the Fury of the People, whom they had endeavoured to incenfe againft them ; ' (6) and then procured the faid Bill to be fentup to the Houfe of Peers, where it having fometime refted ' under great Deliberation, at laft in a Time when a great Part of the Peers were abfent by reafon of the ' Tumults, and many of thofe who were prefent protefted againft it, the faid Bill pafled in the Houle of ' Peers : (7) And at length his late Majefty King Charles the Firft of Glorious Memory granted a Com- ' million for giving his Royal AlTent thereunto ; which neverthelefs was done by his faid Majefty with ' exceeding great Sorrow then, and ever remembred by him with unexpreffible Grief of Heart, and out ' of his Majefty's great Piety he did publickly exprefs it when his own Sacred Life was taken away by ' the moft deteftable Traitors that ever were :' II. For all which Caufes, Be it declared and enafted by the King's moft Excellent Majefty, by and With the Advice and Confent of the Lords Spiritual and TemjDoral, and Commons, in this prefent Par- liament affembled. That the Ad intituled. An A£i for the Attainder ly^ Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treafon, and all and every Claufe, Article and Thing therein contained, being obtained as aforefaid, is how hereby repealed, revoked and reverfed. III. And to the End that Right be done to the Memory of the deceafed Earl of Strafford aforefaid, be itArther enacted. That all Records and Proceedings of Parliament relating to the faid Attainder, be wholly cancelled, and taken off the File, or otherwife defaced and obliterated, to the Intent the fame ihay not be vifible in After-ages, or brought into Example to the Prejudice of any Perfon whatfoever. ' ■ ■' IV. Provided, Ti-at this Adl Ihall not extend to the future Queftioning of any Perfon or Perfons how-
- ever concerned in this Bufinefs, or who had any Hand in the Tumults, or diforderly procuring the A<5t
! aforefaid ; any Thing herein contained to the contrary thereof notwithftanding. CAP. XXX. An Ad for the Importing Madder pure and unmixed. REP. 15 Car. 2. c, i6.
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CAP. XXXI. An AiSi: to prevent the Inconvenience arifing by melting the Silver Coin of this Realm. H E R E A S by an Ad made in the ninth Year of King Edward the Third, it is enaded, That 9 Ed. j. Stat, x, no Sterling Half-peny or Farthing fliall be moulten to make Veflel, or any other Thing, by'^-S- ' Goldfmiths, or any other, upon Pain of Forfeiture of the Monies fo moulten ; whereas by one other ' Statute made in the Seventeenth Year of ]^m,Ruhard the Second, it was further enafted. That no .^ r_ j. c. i, ' Groats or Half-groats (hall be moulten by any Man to make Veffel or otlaer Thing thereof, upon the ' fame Pain; (2) and wliereas divers Perfons do elude the faid Statutes, as well Goldfmiths as others, ' by melting Silver Coins of this Realm above the Value of Groats, to the great Diminifhing of the Silver ' Coin of this Realm, and the Hindrance of the Commerce of the fame ;' (3) Be it therefore enaded i by the King's moft Excellent Majefty, by and with the Advice and Confent of the Lords Spiritual and i Temporal, and the Commons, in this prefent Parliament affembled, and by Authority of the fame, That None (hall melt I no Perfon or Perfons whatfoever ftiall after the twentieth Day oi December, one thoufand fix hundred fixty- ^'"™t silver j two, wilfully melt, or caufe to be melted, any of the current Silver Money of this Realm; (4) upon ^,°"p^'^^l Pain not only of Forfeiture of the fame, but alfo of the double Value of any fuch Coin lo melted; the . one Half to his Majefty, his- Heirs and Supceffors, tlie other Half to the Informers, who fliall fue for the fame, upon Adion of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, in any of his Majefty's Cauvts ^X IVefiminfier ; , in which no ElToin, Wager of Law or Protedion, fliall be allowed: (5) And moreover. That the faid j Perfon or Perfons offending contrary to the Tenor of this Ad (if he or they be a Freeman or ITreemen, ■ or privileged Perfon' or Perfons, of any City or Corporations within this Kingdom of England) Ihall upon legal Convidion for the fame be forthwith disfranchifed and made uncapable of exerciiing the Trade ot a Goldlmith, or any other Myftery, by Virtue, of the Privileges of the City or Corporation of which he : or they are Members : (6) And if the faid Perfon or Perfons offending, and cbnvid as aforefaid, fliall nnt be
