useless and dangerous to the people of England to be continued, have thought fit to ordain and enact, and be it ordained and enacted by this present Parliament, and by the authority of the same, that from henceforth the House of Lords in Parliament shall be and is hereby wholly abolished and taken away; and that the Lords shall not from henceforth meet or sit in the said House called the Lords' House, or in any other house or place whatsoever, as a House of Lords; nor shall sit, vote, advise, adjudge, or determine of any matter or thing whatsoever, as a House of Lords in Parliament: nevertheless it is hereby declared, that neither such Lords as have demeaned themselves with honour, courage, and fidelity to the Commonwealth, nor their posterities who shall continue so, shall be excluded from the public councils of the nation, but shall be admitted thereunto, and have their free vote in Parliament, if they shall be thereunto elected, as other persons of interest elected and qualified thereunto ought to have.

And be it further ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no Peer of this land, not being elected, qualified and sitting in Parliament as aforesaid, shall claim, have, or make use of any privilege of Parliament, either in relation to his person, quality, or estate, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

80. AN ACT DECLARING ENGLAND TO BE A
COMMONWEALTH.

[May 19, 1649. Scobell, ii. 30.]

Be it declared and enacted by this present Parliament, and by the authority of the same, that the people of England, and of all the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, are and shall be, and are hereby constituted, made, established, and confirmed, to be a Commonwealth and Free State, and shall from henceforth be governed as a Commonwealth and Free State by the supreme authority of this nation, the representatives of the people in Parliament, and by such as they shall appoint and constitute as officers and ministers under them for the good of the people, and that without any King or House of Lords.

81. ENGAGEMENT TO BE TAKEN BY ALL MEN OF THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN.

[January 2, 1650. Civil War Tracts, E. 1060, No. 77.]

I do declare and promise, that I will be true and faithful to the Commonwealth of England, as it is now established, without a King or House of Lords.

82. AN ACT DECLARING WHAT OFFENCES SHALL BE
ADJUDGED TREASON.

[July 17, 1650. Scobell, ii. 65.]

Whereas the Parliament hath abolished the kingly office in England and Ireland, and in the dominions and territories thereunto belonging; and having resolved and declared, that the people shall for the future be governed by its own representatives or national meetings in Council, chosen and entrusted by them for that purpose, hath settled the Government in the way of a Commonwealth and Free State, without King or House of Lords: be it enacted by this present Parliament, and by the authority of the same, that if any person shall maliciously or advisedly publish, by writing, printing, or openly declaring, that the said Government is tyrannical, usurped, or unlawful; or that the Commons in Parliament assembled are not the supreme authority of this nation; or shall plot, contrive, or endeavour to stir up, or raise force against the present Government, or for the subversion or alteration of the same, and shall declare the same by any open deed, that then every such offence shall be taken, deemed, and adjudged by authority of this Parliament to be high treason.

And whereas the Keepers of the liberty of England, and the Council of State, constituted, and to be from time to time constituted by authority of Parliament, are to be under the said representatives in Parliament, entrusted for the maintenance of the said Government, with several powers and authorities limited, given, and appointed unto them by the Parliament. Be it likewise enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person shall maliciously and advisedly plot or endeavour the subversion of the said Keepers of the liberty of England, or the Council of State, and the same

shall declare by any open deed, or shall move any person or persons for the doing thereof, or stir up the people to rise against them, or either of them, their or either of their authorities, that then every such offence and offences shall be taken, deemed, and declared to be high treason.

And whereas the Parliament, for their just and lawful defence, hath raised and levied the army and forces now under the command of Thomas Lord Fairfax, and are at present necessitated, by reason of the manifold distractions within this Commonwealth, and invasions threatened from abroad, to continue the same, which under God must be the instrumental means of preserving the well-affected people of this nation in peace and safety; be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person, not being an officer, soldier, or member of the army, shall plot, contrive, or endeavour to stir up any mutiny in the said army, or withdraw any soldiers or officers from their obedience to their superior officers, or from the present Government as aforesaid; or shall procure, invite, aid, or assist any foreigners or strangers to invade England or Ireland; or shall adhere to any forces raised by the enemies of the Parliament or Commonwealth, or Keepers of the liberty of England; or if any person shall counterfeit the Great Seal of England, for the time being, used and appointed by authority of Parliament, that then every such offence and offences shall be taken, deemed, and declared by authority of this Parliament to be high treason, and every such persons shall suffer pains of death; and also forfeit unto the Keepers of the liberty of England, to and for the use of the Commonwealth, all and singular his and their lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods and chattels, as in case of high treason hath been used by the laws and statutes of this land to be forfeit and lost.

Provided always, that no persons shall be indicted and arraigned for any of the offences mentioned in this Act, unless such offenders shall be indicted and prosecuted for the same within one year after the offence committed.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person shall counterfeit the money of this Commonwealth, or shall bring any false money into this land, counterfeit or other, like to the money of this Commonwealth, knowing the money to be false, to merchandize or make payment, in deceit of the people of this nation; or if any person shall hereafter falsely forge and counterfeit any

such kind of coin of gold or silver, as is not the proper coin of this Commonwealth, and is or shall be current within this nation, by consent of the Parliament, or such as shall be by them authorised thereunto; or shall bring from the parts beyond the seas into this Commonwealth, or into any the dominions of the same, any such false and counterfeit coin of money, being current within the same, as is abovesaid, knowing the same money to be false and counterfeit, to the intent to utter or make payment with the same within this Commonwealth, by merchandize or otherwise; or if any person shall impair, diminish, falsify, clip, wash, round or file, scale or lighten, for wicked lucre or gain's sake, any the proper monies or coins of this Commonwealth, or the dominions thereof, or of the monies or coins of any other realm, allowed and suffered to be current within this Commonwealth, or the dominions thereof, that then all and every such offences above-mentioned, shall be and are hereby deemed and adjudged high treason, and the offenders therein, their councillors, procurers, aiders and abettors, being convicted according to the laws of this nation of any of the said offences, shall be deemed and adjudged traitors against this Commonwealth, and shall suffer and have such pains of death and forfeitures, as in case of high treason is used and ordained.

Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that this Act touching the monies and coins aforesaid, or anything therein contained, nor any attainder of any person for the same, shall in any wise extend or be judged to make any corruption of blood, to any the heir or heirs of any such offender, or to make the wife of any such offender to lose or forfeit her dower, of or in any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or her title, action, or interest in the

same.

83. AN ACT REPEALING SEVERAL CLAUSES IN STATUTES IMPOSING PENALTIES FOR NOT COMING TO CHURCH.

[September 27, 1650. Scobell, ii. 131.]

The Parliament of England taking into consideration several Acts, made in the times of former Kings and Queens of this nation, against recusants not coming to church, enjoining the use of Common Prayer, the keeping and observing of holy days, and some other particulars touching

matters of religion; and finding, that by the said Act divers religious and peaceable people, well-affected to the prosperity of the Commonwealth, have not only been molested and imprisoned, but also brought into danger of abjuring their country, or in case of return, to suffer death as felons, to the great disquiet and utter ruin of such good and godly people, and to the detriment of the Commonwealth, do enact, and be it enacted by this present Parliament, and by authority of the same, that all and every the branches, clauses, articles, and provisoes expressed and contained in the ensuing Acts of Parliament; viz. in the Act of the first of Eliz. intituled, 'An Act for uniformity of prayer, and administration of Sacraments;' and in an Act of the thirtyfifth of Eliz. intituled, 'An Act for punishing of persons obstinately refusing to come to church, and persuading others to impugn the Queen's authority in ecclesiastical causes;' and all and every the branches, clauses, articles, and provisoes contained in an Act of Parliament of the twenty-third of Eliz. intituled, 'An Act for retaining the Queen's subjects in their due obedience;' hereafter expressed, viz. 'Be it also further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every person above the age of sixteen years, which shall not repair to some Church, Chapel, or usual place of Common Prayer, but forbear the same, contrary to the tenor of a statute made in the first year of her Majesty's reign, for uniformity of Common Prayer, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall forfeit to the Queen's Majesty for every month, after the end of this session of Parliament, which he or she shall so forbear, £20 of lawful English money, and that over and besides the said forfeitures, every person so forbearing by the space of twelve months as aforesaid, shall for his or her obstinacy, after certificate thereof in writing made into the Court, commonly called the King's Bench, by the Ordinary of the diocese, a Justice of assize and gaol delivery, or a Justice of Peace of the county where such offender shall dwell, or be bound with two sufficient sureties, in the sum of £200 at the least, to the good behaviour, and so to continue bound until such time as the persons so bound do conform themselves and come to the church, according to the true meaning of the said statute made in the said first year of the Queen's Majesty's reign and be it further enacted, that if any person or persons, body politic or corporate, after the feast of Pentecost next coming, shall keep or maintain any