House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 2 May 1648

Die Martis, 2 die Maii.

PRAYERS, by Dr. Stanton.

Domini præsentes fuerunt:

Comes Manchester, Speaker.

Report from the Committee at Derby House, concerning the following Warrant.

The Earl of Kent made a Report from Derby House, concerning a Warrant which was sent to Mortlacke Town, in Surry; which was read, as followeth:

"Die Lunæ, 1 Maii, 1648.

"At a Committee of Lords and Commons, at Derby House.

"Ordered, That the Warrant sent by John Garth, High Constable, to the Town of Mort-lake, to desire the People of that Town to meet at Leatherhead, to join in preferring a Petition to the Parliament, which was brought hither this Day by Mr. Alleyne, be reported to both Houses, that some Course may be forthwith taken to preserve the Peace of that County.

"Gualter Frost, Secretary."

Warrant for a Meeting in Surrey, to prepare a Petition for a Personal Treaty with the King;- to disband the Armies, &c.

"To the Town of Mortlake.

"Worthy Gentlemen,

"These are to give you Notice, the Sense of this Com. is, to prefer a Petition unto the Houses of Parliament, wherein they desire you to join with them.

"The Heads of their Desires and Requests are these; (videlicet,)

"Imprimis, That there may be a Personal Treaty between His Majesty and His Parliament.

"2ly, That the Armies may be disbanded.

"3ly, That the Arrears of the Armies may be satisfied and paid.

"And this is the Request of the Gentlemen of the Great Inquest at the Assizes, and likewise of the Gentlemen of the Grand Jury at Quarter Sessions, and divers other Knights and Gentlemen of this said Com.

"The Place appointed for the Meeting is Letherhead, on the 2d Day of May 1648 next.

"John Garth, High Constable."

Ordered, That this Report, with the Warrant, be communicated to the House of Commons; and desire their Concurrence, that an Order of both Houses may be sent to the Deputy Lieutenants and the Justices of the Peace of the County of Surrey, to take Care to prevent Tumults, and preserve the Peace.

A Lord to be sent to Scotland, in the room of the E. of Nottingham.

It was moved, "That the Earl of Nottingham, now a Commissioner of the Parliament of England in Scotland, may have Liberty to return into England, for his Health's sake."

It is Ordered, That the Earl of Kent do let his Lordship know, "That this House intends shortly to give him Leave to return; in the mean Time, they will consider of a Lord to send in his Place."

E. of Stamford, Thanks for that Service.

The Earl of Stamford, One of the Commissioners of the Parliament of England sent into Scotland, being this Day in the House, returned from Scotland; it was moved, "That his Lordship might have Thanks returned him, from the House, for his Care and good Service in that Employment."

And accordingly the Speaker, in the Name of the House, gave his Lordship Thanks.

Confession of Faith.

Next, the House took into Consideration the Alterations brought from the House of Commons in the Confession of Faith, containing the Doctrinal Part of it; which the House of Commons desires, if their Lordships agree thereunto, may be printed and published: As concerning the Discipline Part of it, the House of Commons will hereafter give their Lordships a further Account of it, it being under Commitment in that House.

The Question being (fn. 1) put, "Whether to agree in the Alterations in the Title brought from the House of Commons, without any Addition?" It was Resolved in the Affirmative.

Message from the H. C. with Ordinances;-and with Commissioners Names for Assessments.

A Message was brought from the House of Commons, by Zouch Tate Esquire, &c.; who brought up divers Particulars, wherein they desire their Lordships Concurrence:

1. An Ordinance for Punishment of Blasphemy and Heresy. (Here enter it.)

Read Thrice, and Agreed to; and ordered to be printed and published.

2. The Ordinance for placing Ministers in Baith, with some Alterations. (Here enter it.)

Read, and Agreed to with these Alterations.

3. The Names of Persons to be added to the Committee and Commissioners named in the Ordinance for the Assessments for England and Ireland, in the County of Dorsett. (Here enter them.)

Agreed to.

4. The Names of several Persons to be added to the Commissioners for the Assessments in the County of Kent. (Here enter it.)

Agreed to.

The Answer returned was:

Answer.

That this House agrees to all the Particulars now brought up.

Answer from the H. C.

Answer returned from the House of Commons by Sir Edward Leech, &c.

That they agree to the Order for the suppressing of Tumults in Surrey: (Here enter it.) And to the rest, they will return Answer by Messengers of their own.

Lords to attend Tomorrow.

Ordered, That the Business of this Day is put off till To-morrow; and all the Lords about the Town are to have Notice to attend accordingly.

Perchard's Appeal from Guernsey.

A Report was made, by Mr. Justice Bacon, concerning Jo. Perchard.

Ordered, That the Baily and Jurats of Garnesey do shew Cause why the Parties should not be heard upon their Appeal, according to the Prayer of their Petition.

Confession of Faith.

Ordered, That there be a Conference with the House of Commons concerning the Confession of Faith.

Commissioners for Assessments in Dorsetshire;

"Resolved, by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled,

"That the Persons following be added to the Committees and Commissioners named in the Ordinances for the Assessments for England and Ireland, in the County of Dorsett; Richard Bradropp, John Harding, Edward Checker, Edward Hodges, Robert Coker, John Salter, John Eares of Purbecke Senior, James Dewe, and James Baker of Shaston."

and for Kent.

"Resolved, by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled,

"That the several Persons hereunder named be added to the several Commissioners for the Assessments in the County of Kent; videlicet, Edward Gilborne, Mr. George Duke, Mr. George Hall, Mr. Edward Stace, Mr. Samuell Short, Mr. William Boys of Haukherst, Mr. John Osborne, Mr. Michaell Belke, Mr. Richard Tilden, Captain John Syliard, Mr. John Polbill of Otford, and Mr. William Draper of Crayford."

"An Ordinance for providing and settling a competent Maintenance for Two godly Preaching Ministers, in the City of Bath.

Ordinance for a Maintenance for Two Ministers in Bath.

"Whereas the Committee of Parliament for plundered Ministers, upon the Petition of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens, of the City of Bath, in the County of Somersett, did order, the 26th Day of February, 1645, according to an Order of both Houses of Parliament, That the Sum of Two Hundred Pounds Sterling, by the Year, should be settled and paid Quarterly, out of the Lands and Revenues of the Dean and Chapter of Wells, and other Deans and Chapters Lands and Revenues in that County, unto Two orthodox Ministers of God's Word, to officiate in the great Church of Peter and Paule, and other Churches of the said City (which stand sequestered from James Masters, late Incumbent there, for his Delinquency); and whereas Mr. Robert Longe, a learned, orthodox, and godly Divine, chosen and petitioned for by the Incorporation of the said City, and approved of by the Assembly of Divines, hath officiated the said Cure sithence the 25th Day of December, 1647: The Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, taking into Consideration that the said City hath been for a long Time destitute of a faithful Pastor, and is too great a Charge for One Minister, in respect of the many Inhabitants and Strangers having Recourse thither from all Parts of the Kingdom, do hereby constitute and appoint the said Robert Longe, and Mathew Randall Master of Arts, being also a godly, orthodox, and approved Divine, to be Pastors and Incumbents of the said Churches, who are hereby authorized and enabled to undertake the Charge and Cure of Souls there, and to take and receive to their own Use, equally, as well the Tenements, Tithes, Glebe Lands, and other Profits, appertaining to the said Churches, and every of them, estimated at Three Score Pounds per Annum (be the same more or less), as also the said additional Maintenance of Two Hundred Pounds per Annum; (videlicet,) a Hundred Pounds per Annum to each of them, payable Quarterly; to the said Mr. Long, from the 25th Day of December, 1647; and to the said Mr. Randall, from such Time as he shall officiate in the said Churches by virtue hereof: And the Committee of Sequestrations in the said County of Som'sett, and the Receivers or Collectors of the Rents and Revenues of the said Deans and Chapters respectively, are hereby authorized and required to assign and pay the said Yearly Sum of Two Hundred Pounds, and so much thereof as is already due, or shall be hereafter due, as well unto the said Mr. Long and Mr. Randall, in Manner aforesaid, as to any such Two Pastors as shall be hereafter presented by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of Bath, and approved of by the Parliament, or by such others as shall be appointed by the Parliament for that Purpose, to exercise their Ministry in the said City, out of the several Rents and Profits of the Prebends of Combe, Compton Dando, Binshops Compton, Winelescombe, Tatton, Cultingcote, St. Decomins, Whitechurch, and Salford, in the said County, or any other Revenues of the said Deans and Chapters in the said County not already charged, nor necessary to be charged, for Increase of a competent Maintenance to other Preaching Ministers, in the respective Parishes where the said Revenues grow due: And the Acquittance of the Mayor of the said City of Bath for the Time being, for the Use of the said Ministers, shall be a sufficient Discharge for the Sequestrators, Collectors, and Farmers respectively, upon their Accompts."

Ordinance for punishing Blasphemies and Heresies.

"For the preventing of the Growth and Spreading of Heresy and Blasphemy: Be it Ordained, by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, That all such Persons as shall, from and after the Date of this present Ordinance, willingly, by Preaching, Teaching, Printing, or Writing, maintain and publish that there is no God, or that God is not present in all Places, doth not know and foreknow all Things, or that He is not Almighty, that He is not perfectly Holy, or that He is not Eternal, or that the Father is not God, the Son is not God, or that the Holy Ghost is not God, or that They Three are not One Eternal God; or that shall in like Manner maintain and publish, that Christ is not God equal with the Father, or shall deny the Manhood of Christ, or that the Godhead and Manhood of Christ are several Natures, or that the Humanity of Christ is pure and unspotted of all Sin; or that shall maintain and publish, as aforesaid, that Christ did not die, nor rise from the Dead, nor is ascended into Heaven bodily, or that shall deny His Death is meritorious in the Behalf of Believers; or that shall maintain and publish, as aforesaid, that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God; or that the Holy Scripture; videlicet, of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomie, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuell, 2 Samuell, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psames, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiall, Daniell, Hoseah, Joel, Amos, Obediah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zecharia, Malachi; of the New Testament, The Gospells according to Mathew, Marke, Luke, John; The Acts of the Apostles, Paule's Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians the First, Corinthians the Second, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians the First, Thessalonians the Second, To Tymothy the First, To Tymothy the Second, To Titus, To Philemon, The Epistle to the Hebrewes, The Epistle of James, The First and Second Epistles of Peter, The First, Second, and Third Epistles of John, The Epistle of Jude, The Revelation of John; is not the Word of God; or that the Bodies of Men shall not rise again after they are dead; or that there is no Day of Judgement after Death: All such maintaining and publishing of such Error or Errors, with Obstinacy therein, shall, by virtue hereof, be adjudged Felony.

"And all such Persons, upon Complaint and Proof made of the same, in any of the Cases aforesaid, before any Two of the next Justices of the Peace for that Place or County, by the Oaths of Two Witnesses (which said Justices of Peace, in such Cases, shall hereby have Power to administer), or Confession of the Party, the said Party so accused shall be, by the said Justices of the Peace, committed to Prison, without Bail or Mainprize, until the next Gaol Delivery to be holden for that Place or County; and the Witnesses likewise shall be bound over, by the said Justices, unto the said Gaol Delivery, to give in their Evidence; and, at the said Gaol Delivery, the Party shall be indicted for felonious publishing and maintaining such Error; and in case the Indictment be found, and the Party upon his Trial shall not abjure his said Error, and Defence and Maintenance of the same, he shall suffer the Pains of Death, as in Case of Felony, without Benefit of Clergy; but in case he shall recant, or renounce and abjure his said Error or Errors, and the Maintenance and Publishing of the same, he shall nevertheless remain in Prison, until he shall find Two Sureties, being Subsidy-men, that shall be bound with him before Two or more Justices of the Peace, or Gaol Delivery, that he shall not thenceforth publish or maintain as aforesaid the said Error or Errors any more; and the said Justices shall have Power hereby to take Bail in such Cases.

"And be it further Ordained, That in case any Person formerly indicted for publishing and maintaining of such erroneous Opinion or Opinions as aforesaid, and renouncing and abjuring the same, shall nevertheless again publish and maintain his said former Error or Errors as aforesaid, and the same proved as aforesaid, the said Party so offending shall be committed to Prison as formerly, and at the next Gaol Delivery shall be indicted as aforesaid; and in case the Indictment be then found upon the Trial, and it shall appear that formerly the Party was convicted of the same Error, and publishing and maintaining thereof, and renounced and abjured the same, the Offender shall suffer Death, as in Case of Felony, without Benefit of Clergy.

"Be it further Ordained, by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every Person or Persons, that shall publish or maintain, as aforesaid, any of the several Errors hereafter ensuing; (videlicet,) That all Men shall be saved; or that Man by Nature hath Free-will to turn to God; or that God may be worshiped in or by Pictures or Images; or that the Soul of any Man after Death goeth neither to Heaven or Hell, but to Purgatory; or that the Soul of Man dieth or sleepeth when the Body is dead; or that Revelations or the Workings of the Spirit are a Rule of Faith or Christian Life, though diverse from or contrary to the Written Word of God; or that Man is bound to believe no more than by his Reason he can comprehend; or that the Moral Law of God contained in the Ten Commandments is no Rule of Christian Life; or that a Believer need not repent, or pray for Pardon of Sins, or that the Two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are not Ordinances commanded by the Word of God; or that the Baptizing of Infants is unlawful, or such Baptism is void, and that such Persons ought to be baptized again, and, in Pursuance thereof, shall baptize any Person formerly baptized; or that the Observation of the Lord's day, as is enjoined by the Ordinances and Laws of this Realm, is not according, or is contrary, to the Word of God; or that it is not lawful to join in Public Prayer or Family Prayer, or to teach Children to pray; or that the Churches of England are no true Churches, nor their Ministers and Ordinances true Ministers and Ordinances; or that the Church Government by Presbytery is Antichristian or unlawful; or that Magistracy, or the Power of the Civil Magistrate by Law established in England, is unlawful; or that all Use of Arms, though for the Public Defence (and be the Cause never so just), is unlawful: And in case the Party accused of such publishing and maintaining of any of the said Errors shall be thereof convicted, to have published and maintained the same as aforesaid, by the Testimony of Two or more Witnesses upon Oath, or Consession of the said Party, before Two of the next Justices of the Peace for the said Place or County, whereof One to be of the Quorum (who are hereby required and authorized to send for Witnesses, and examine upon Oath in such Cases, in the Presence of the Party), the Party so convicted shall be ordered by the said Justices to renounce his said Errors in the public Congregation of the same Parish from whence the Complaint doth come, or where the Offence was committed; and in case he refuseth or neglecteth to perform the same, at or upon the Day, Time, and Place, appointed by the said Justices, then he shall be committed to Prison by the said Justices, until he shall find Two sufficient Sureties, before Two Justices of Peace for the said Place or County (whereof One shall be of the Quorum), that he shall not publish or maintain the said Error or Errors any more.

"Provided always, and be it Ordained, by the Authority aforesaid, That no Attainder by virtue hereof shall extend either to the Forfeiture of the Estate Real or Personal of such Person attainted, or Corruption of such Person's Blood."