House of Lords Journal Volume 3: 16 January 1621

Decimo Octavo Jacobi Regis, 1620.

Die Martis, decimo sexto die Januarii, Anno Regni Regis Jacobi, Angliæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Decimo octavo, et Scotiæ Quinquagesimo quarto.

Parliament prorogued.

MEMORANDUM, Whereas the King's most Excellent Majesty, as well by his Proclamation as by his Writs of Summons, bearing Date at Westm. the Thirteenth Day of November last past, appointed his Parliament to open and begin this present Day, being the Sixteenth of January, in this Eighteenth Year of His Majesty's Reign, as by the said Writs more plainly appeareth; His Highness, upon great and weighty Considerations of Estate, in respect of this late great Ambassage, and otherwise, by Advice of his Privy Council, did since publish his Proclamation, for the Proroguing of this his said Parliament, until the Three and Twentieth of this present. And nevertheless it was thought fit, that, howsoever the said Proclamation might give Warning to His Majesty's Subjects, for the forbearing of their Attendance at this present Sixteenth Day, yet therewithall his said Parliament should be prorogued in a legal Manner, by His Majesty's Writ Patent, signed with His Royal Hand, and sealed with the Great Seal of England. Therefore, this present Day, the Lord Chancellor of England, in Presence of the Lord Archbishop of Canterburie, and divers other the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and of divers Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, called into the Upper House for that Purpose, did declare, That His Majesty, for the Respects aforesaid, had prorogued his said Parliament until the Three and Twentieth of this present January; and that his Lordship had received His Majesty's Writ for that Purpose, which was now to be read unto them. And the said Lord Chancellor declared further, That His Majesty, in Respect of the State of His Health at this present, had resolved to prorogue over his said Parliament, from the said Three and Twentieth of January, until the Thirtieth of the same; which Prorogation though it was to be done with like Form and Ceremony as this present Prorogation is, yet it was fit to notify the same, at this Time, that the Lords, Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of Parliament, might, in the mean Time, dispose of their Occasions accordingly: After which Declaration by the Lord Chancellor so made, His Majesty's Writ for the said Prorogation, from this present Sixteenth Day unto the Three and Twentieth aforesaid, was read by the Clerk of the Upper House, publickly and openly; the Tenor whereof followeth, in hæc Verba:

Writ for the Prorogation.

"Jacobus, Dei Gratia, Angliæ, Scotiæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Rex, Fidei Defensor, &c. Prædilectis et Fidelibus Nostris Prælatis, Magnatibus, et Proceribus Regni Nostri Angliæ, ac Dilectis et Fidelibus Nostris Militibus, Civibus, et Burgensibus dicti Regni Nostri, ad Parliamentum Nostrum, apud Civitatem Nostram Westm. decimo sexto die instantis mensis Januarii inchoandum et tenendum, convocatis et electis, et vestrum cuilibet, Salutem.

"Cum Nos, pro quibusdam arduis et urgentibus Negotiis, Nos, Statum et Defensionem dicti Regni Nostri Angliæ ac Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ concernentibus, dictum Parliamentum Nostrum ad diem et locum prædictum teneri ordinaverimus, ac vobis, per separalia Brevia Nostra, apud Civitatem et diem prædictam interesse mandaverimus, ad tractandum, consentiendum, et concludendum super hiis, que in dicto Parliamento Nostro tunc et ibidem proponerentur et tractarentur. Quibusdam tamen certis de Causis et Considerationibus Nos ad præsens specialiter moventibus, dictum Parliamentum Nostrum usque ad vicesimum tertium diem hujus instantis mensis Januarii duximus prorogandum; ita quod nec vos, nec aliquis vestrum, ad dictum decimum sextum diem Januarii, apud Civitatem prædictam, comparere teneamini, seu arctemini. Volumus enim vos, et quemlibet vestrum, inde erga Nos penitus exonerari; mandantes, et, tenore præsentium, firmiter injungendo præcipientes vobis, et cuilibet vestrum, ac omnibus aliis quibus in hac parte intererit, quod ad dictum vicesimum tertium diem Januarii, apud prædictam Civitatem Westm. personaliter compareatis et intersitis, et quilibet vestrum compareat et intersit, ad tractandum, faciendum, agendum, et concludendum super hiis, quæ in dicto Parliamento Nostro, de communi Consilio dicti Regni Nostri (favente Deo), contigerint ordinari. Teste Meipso, apud Westm. decimo quarto die Januarii, Anno Regni Nostri Angliæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Decimo octavo, et Scotiæ Quinquagesimo quarto.