who hath thus far drawn out your majesty's bowels and mercy, will further incline your majesty's heart to gratify us in these our humble desires also.

That we be not further burthensome, we humbly beg leave to thank your majesty for the liberty and respect vouchsafed to our reverend brethren in this weighty affair of accomodation. The God of heaven bless your majesty, and all the royal family.

Your Majesty's most loyal Subjects,

This address was presented to his majesty at Whitehall, November 16th, by some of these ministers, to whom he was pleased to return a very gracious answer.

XIII.

A Proclamation prohibiting all unlawful and seditious meetings and conventicles under pretence of religious worship.' -Wilkins' Concilia, vol. iv, pp. 564-5; Cardwell's Documentary Annals, Oxford, 1844, vol. ii, pp. 302—4.

Charles R.

ALTHOUGH nothing can be more unwelcome to us, than the necessity of restraining some part of that liberty, which was

'The insurrection of the Fifth-monarchy men under Venner, took place on Sunday, 6th January, 1660-1, and was finally suppressed on the following Wednesday. It furnished a pretext for this Proclamation. All classes of dissenters were eager to purge themselves of the suspicion of being accomplices

indulged to tender consciences by our late gracious Declaration; yet since divers persons (known by the name of Anabaptists, Quakers, and Fifth-monarchy men, or some such like appellation, as a mark of distinction and separation) under pretence of serving God, do daily meet in great numbers in secret places, and at unusual times, by reason whereof they begin to boast of their multitudes, and to increase in their confidences, as having frequent opportunities to settle a perfect correspondency and confederacy between themselves, of which some evil effects have already ensued, even to the disturbance of the public peace by insurrection and murder, for which the offenders must answer to the law, and far worse may be still expected, unless some speedy course be taken to prevent their further growth.

To the intent therefore that none of those persons, who have presumed to make so ill an use of our indulgence, may be strengthened in such their proceedings by any general words or expressions in our late Declaration; we have thought fit by these presents to publish and declare our royal will and pleasure, that no meeting whatsoever of the persons aforesaid, under pretence of worshipping God, shall at any time hereafter be permitted or allowed, unless it be in some parochial church or chapel in this realm, or in private houses by the

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of the rebels. The Anabaptists presented an address to the king, in which they said, we cannot imagine a reason why [the] bloody tenets, and tragical "actions [of the Fifth-monarchy men] should reflect upon those of our persua"sion, the persons not being of our belief or practice about baptism; but to "the best of our information, they were all, except one, assertors of infant "baptism, and never had communion with us in our assemblies." The Independents, and Quakers, also, disowned all connexion with the rebels. But as the oath of allegiance and supremacy was generally tendered to the Baptists and Quakers when discovered in their several religious assemblies, and as they could not conscientiously acknowledge the supremacy of the king in ecclesiastical matters, great numbers of them were thrown into prison in all parts of the kingdom, and kept in close confinement until the coronation of the king, 23rd April following.-Collier's Ecclesiastical History, London, 1714, vol. ii, p. 876; Rapin's History of England, London, 1743, vol. ii, p. 623-5; Crosby's History of the Baptists, London, 1739, vol. ii, pp. 38 and 93: Hanbury's Memorials of the Independents, vol. iii, pp. 592—5.

persons there inhabiting. And that all meetings and assemblies whatsoever in order to any spiritual exercise, or serving of God by the persons aforesaid, unless in the places aforesaid, shall be esteemed, and are hereby declared to be unlawful assemblies, and shall be prosecuted accordingly, and the persons therein assembled shall be proceeded against as persons riotously and unlawfully assembled.

And for the better execution of this our proclamation, and the prevention of all illegal and seditious meetings and conventicles, we do hereby straightly charge and command all mayors, sheriffs, justices of the peace, constables, headboroughs, commanders, and other our chief officers, and ministers, whom it may concern, that they cause diligent search to be made from time to time in all and every the places, where any such meetings or conventicles, as aforesaid, shall or may be suspected. And that they cause all and every the persons therein assembled to be apprehended and brought before one or more justices of the peace, and to be bound over to appear at the next sessions within the respective precincts, and in the mean time to find sureties for their good behaviour, or in default thereof to be committed to the next gaol.

And further we do will and command our justices of the peace, that they cause the oath of allegiance to be tendered to every person so brought before them, and, upon his or their refusal, to proceed according as, by the statute made in the seventh year of the reign of our royal grandfather, of ever blessed memory, they are directed and commanded. Given at our court at Whitehall the tenth day of January, in the twelfth year of our reign, MDCLX. [MDCLXI.]

XIV.

The King's Warrant for the Conference at the Savoy.-Wilkins' Concilia, vol. iv, pp. 570-2; Reliquiæ Baxterianæ, 303-5; Cardwell's History of Conferences, Oxford, 1849, pp. 298-302.

CHARLES the Second, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. To our trusty and well-beloved the most reverend father in God Accepted archbishop of York, the right reverend fathers in God Gilbert bishop of London, John bishop of Durham, John bishop of Rochester, Henry bishop of Chichester, Humphrey bishop of Sarum, George bishop of Worcester, Robert bishop of Lincoln, Benjamin bishop of Peterborough, Bryan bishop of Chester, Richard bishop of Carlisle, John bishop of Exeter, Edward' bishop of Norwich; and to our trusty and well-beloved the reverend Anthony Tuckney Dr. in divinity, John Conant Dr. in divinity, William Spurstow Dr. in divinity, John Wallis Dr. in divinity, Thomas Manton Dr. in divinity, Edmund Calamy batchelor in divinity, Richard Baxter clerk, Arthur Jackson clerk, Thomas Case, Samuel Clark, Matthew Newcomen clerks and to our trusty and well-beloved Dr. Earles dean of Westminister, Peter Heylin Dr. in divinity, John Hacket Dr. in divinity, John Barwick Dr. in divinity, Peter Gunning Dr. in divinity, John Pearson Dr. in divinity, Thomas Pierce Dr. in divinity, Anthony Sparrow Dr. in divinity, Herbert Thorndike batchelor in divinity, Thomas Horton Dr. in divinity, Thomas Jacomb Dr. in divinity, William Bates, John Rawlinson clerks, William Cooper clerk, Dr. John Lightfoot, Dr. John Collinges, Dr. Benjamin Woodbridge, and William Drakeclerk, greeting. Whereas by our Declaration of the five and twentieth of October last concerning ecclesiastical affairs, we did

Dr. Edward Reynolds was consecrated Bishop of Norwich on 6th January, 1660-1, and by virtue of his bishopric became also Abbot of St. Bennet in the Holme.

amongst other things, express our esteem of the liturgy of the Church of England, contained in the Book of Common Prayer; and yet, since we find some exceptions made against several things therein, we did by our said Declaration declare we would appoint an equal number of learned divines of both persuasions, to review the same, and to make such alterations therein as should be thought most necessary, and some additional forms in the Scripture phrase, as near as might be, suited unto the nature of the several parts of worship; we therefore, in accomplishment of our said will and intent, and of our continued and constant care and study for the peace and unity of the churches within our dominions, and for the removal of all exceptions and differences, and the occasions of such differences and exceptions from amongst our good subjects, for or concerning the said Book of Common Prayer, or any thing therein contained, do by these our letters patents require, authorize, constitute and appoint you the said accepted archbishop of York, Gilbert bishop of Loudon, John bishop of Durham, John bishop of Rochester, Henry bishop of Chichester, Humphrey bishop of Sarum, George bishop of Worcester, Robert bishop of Lincoln, Benjamin bishop of Peterborough, Bryan bishop of Chester, Richard bishop of Carlisle, John bishop of Exeter, Edward bishop of Norwich; Anthony Tuckney, John Conant, William Spurstow, John Wallis, Thomas Manton, Edmund Calamy, Richard Baxter, Arthur Jackson, Thomas Case, Samuel Clark, and Matthew Newcomen, to advise upon and review the said Book of Common Prayer, comparing the same with the most ancient liturgies which have been used in the church, in the primitive and purest times and, to that end, to assemble and meet together from time to time, and at such times, within the space of four calendar months now next ensuing, in the master's lodging in the Savoy in the Strand, in the county of Middlesex, or in such other place, or places, as to you shall be thought fit and convenient, to take into your serious and grave considerations, the several directions and rules, forms of prayer, and things in the said Book of Common Prayer contained, and to