Citizens Barons Burgesse and Burgesses as if Writs for Summoning of a Parliament under the great Seal of England had issued and been awarded And in case no such Precept should come unto the said Cities Cinque-Ports and Boroughs respectively by the time herein limited Or in case any Precept shall come and no election be made thereupon before the said last day of February That then the several Citizens Burgesses other persons that ought to elect and send Citizens Barons and Burgesses to the Parliament shall on the first Tuesday in March then next ensuing the said last day of February make choice of such Citizen and Citizens Barons Burgesse and Burgesses as if a Writ of Summons under the great Seal of England had issued and been awarded and Precepts thereupon issued to such Cities Cinque-ports and Boroughs Which Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses so chosen shall appear and serve in Parliament at the time and place aforesaid and shall each of them be liable unto such pains and Censures for his and their not appearing and serving then and there in Parliament as if he or they had been elected and chosen by vertue of a Writ under the Great Seal of England and shall be likewise subject unto such further pains and Censures as by the rest of the Knights Citizens and Burgesses assembled in the Commons house of Parliament he or they shall be adjudged unto And the Sheriffs and other Officers and Persons to whom it appertaineth shall make returns and accept and receive the Returns of such elections in like manner as if Writs of Summons had issued and been executed as hath been used and accustomed And in default of the Sheriffs and other Officers respectively in not accepting or making return of such elections it shall and may be lawfull to and for the several Freeholders and other persons that have elected to make returns of the Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses by them elected which shall be as good and effectual to all intents and purposes as if the Sheriff or other Officers had received a Writ of Summons for a Parliament and had made such returns And that such Elections Precepts and Returns shall be had and made at such times by such persons and in such manner as before in this Act is expressed and declared according to the true intent and meaning of this Law Any Writ Proclamation Edict Act Restraint Inhibition Order or Warrant to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And in case any person or persons shall be so hardy to advise frame contrive serve or put in execution any such Writs Proclamation Edict Act Restraint Inhibition Order or Warrant thereupon then he or they so offending shall incur and sustain the pains penalties and forfeitures limited ordained and provided in and by the Statute of Provision and Premunire made in the sixteenth yeer of King Richard the second and shall from thenceforth be disabled during his life to sue or implead any person in any Action real or personal or to make any Gift Grant Conveyance or other disposition of any his Lands Tenements Hereditaments Goods or Chattels which he hath to his own use either by Act executed in his life time or by his last Will or otherwise or to take any Gift Conveyance or Legacie to his own use or to take any benefit of any Gift Conveyance or Legacie to his own use And if any Sheriff Constable of the Castle of Dover or Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports shall not perform his duty enjoyned by this Act then he shall lose and forfeit the sum of one thousand pounds and every County City Cinque-Port and Borough that shall not make election of their Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses respectively shall incur the penalties following that is to say every County the sum of one thousand pounds and every City which is no County two hundred pounds and every Cinque-Port and Borough the sum of one hundred pounds All and every of which several Forfeitures and all other Forfeitures in this Act mentioned shall and may be recovered in any of the Kings Courts of Record at Westminster by and in the name of the Lord Major of the City of London for the time being without naming the Christian name or sirname of the said Lord Major for the time being by Action of Debt Bill Plaint or Information wherein no Essoin Protection Wager of Law Aid Prayer Privilege Injunction or Order of Restraint shall be in any wise prayed granted or allowed nor any more than one Imparlance And if any person after notice given that the Action depending is grounded or prosecuted upon or by vertue of this Statute shall cause or procure any such Action to be stayed or delayed before Iudgment by colour or means of any Order Warrant Power or Authority save only in the Court wherein such Action as aforesaid shall be brought or depending or after Iudgement had upon such Action shall cause or procure the Execution of or upon any such Iudgement to be stayed or delayed by colour or means of any Order Warrant Power or Authority save only by Writ of Errour or Attaint that then the said persons so offending shall incurre and sustain all and every the pains penalties and forfeitures limited ordained and provided in and by the said Statute of Provision and Premunire made in the sixteenth yeer of King Richard the Second And if any Lord Major of London shall at any time hereafter commence or preferr any such Sute Action or Information and shall happen to die or be removed out of his Office before Recovery and Execution had that yet no such Action Suit or Information sued commenced or preferred shall by such displacing or death be abated discontinued or ended but that it shall and may be lawfull to and for the Lord Major of the City of London next succeeding in that Office and Place to prosecute pursue and follow all and every such Action Bill Plaint or Information for the Causes aforesaid so hanging and depending in such manner and form and to all intents and purposes as that Lord Major might have done which first commenced or preferred the same The fifth part of all and every the Forfeitures in this Act mentioned shall go and be to and for the use and behoof of the City of London and the other four parts and residue to be employed and disposed to and for such only uses intents and purposes as by the Knights Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament assembled shall be declared directed and appointed Provided That in case the Freeholders of any County and Inhabitants or other persons having or claiming power to make election of any Knights Citizens Barons or Burgesses shall proceed to making of election of their Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses which Election shall afterwards fal out to be afterwards adjudged or declared void in Law by the House of Commons by reason of equality of voices or misdemeanour of any person whatsoever then the said County City Cinque-Port
ANNO XVI Caroli Regis ¶ An Act for the preventing of Inconveniences hapning by the long intermission of Parliaments WHereas by the Lawes and Statutes of this Realm the Parliament ought to be holden at least once every year for the redresse of Grievances but the appointment of the time and place for the holding thereof hath alwayes belonged as it ought to His Majestie and His Royal Progenitors And whereas it is by experience found that the not holding of Parliaments accordingly hath produced sundry and great mischiefs and inconveniences to the Kings Majestie the Church and Common-wealth for the prevention of the like mischiefs and inconveniences in time to come Be it enacted by the Kings most excellent Majestie with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled that the said Laws and Statutes be from henceforth duly kept and observed and your Majesties loyal obedient Subjects in this present Parliament now assembled do humbly pray that it be enacted And be it enacted accordingly by the authority of this present Parliament That in case there be not a Parliament summoned by Writ under the great Seal of England and assembled and held before the tenth day of September which shall be in the third yeer next after the last day of the last meeting and sitting in this present Parliament the beginning of the first yeer to be accompted from the said last day of the last meeting and sitting in Parliament and so from time to time and in all times hereafter if there shall not be a Parliament assembled and held before the tenth day of September which shall be in the third yeer next after the last day of the last meeting and sitting in Parliament before that time assembled and held the beginning of the first yeer to be accounted from the said last day of the last meeting and sitting in Parliament That then in every such case as aforesaid the Parliament shall assemble and be held in the usual place at Westminster in such manner and by such means onely as is hereafter in this present Act declared and enacted and not otherwise on the second Monday which shall be in the moneth of November then next ensuing And in case this present Parliament now assembled and held or any other Parliament which shall at any time hereafter be assembled and held by Writ under the great Seal of England or in case any Parliament shall be assembled and held by authority of this present Act and such Parliaments or any of them shall be Prorogued or Adjourned or continued by Prorogation or Adjournment until the tenth day of September which shall be in the third yeer next after the last day of the last meeting and sitting in Parliament to be accompted as aforesaid that then in every such case every such Parliament so Prorogued or Adjourned or so continued by Prorogation or Adjournment as aforesaid shall from the said tenth day of September be thenceforth cleerly and absolutely dissolved and the Lord Chancellor of England the Lord Keeper of the great Seal of England and every Commissioner and Commissioners for the keeping of the great Seal of England for the time being shall within six dayes after the said tenth day of September in every such third yeer as aforesaid in due form of Law and without any further Warrant or Direction from his Majestie His Heirs or Successours Seal issue forth and send abroad several and respective Writs to the several and respective Peers of this Realm commanding every such Peer that he personally be at the Parliament to be heid at Westminster on the second Monday which shall be in November next following the said tenth day of September then and there to treat concerning the high and urgent Affairs concerning His Majestie the State and derence of the Kingdom and Church of England and shall also Seal issue forth and send abroad several and respective Writs to the several and respective Sheriffs of the several and respective Counties Cities and Boroughs of England and Wales and to the Constable of the Castle of Dover Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports or his Lieutenant for the time being and to the Major and Bailiffs of Barwick upon Tweed and to all and every other Officers and Persons to whom Writs have used to be directed for the electing of the Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses of and for the said Counties Cities Cinque-Ports and Boroughs of England and Wales respectively in the accustomed form to appear and serve in Parliament to be held at Westminster on the said second Monday which shall be in November aforesaid which said Peers after the said Writs received and which said Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses chosen by vertue of the said Writs shall then and there appear and serve in Parliament accordingly And the said Lord Chancellour Lord Keeper Commissioner and Commissioners aforesaid shall respectively take a solemn Oath upon the holy Evangelist for the due issuing of Writs according to the tenour of this Act viz. in haec verba YOu shall swear that you shall truly and faithfully issue forth and send abroad all VVrits of Summons to Parliament for both Houses at such time and in such manner as is expressed and enjoyned by an Act of Parliament Entituled An Act for the preventing of inconveniencies happening by the long intermission of PARLIAMENTS Which Oath is forthwith to be taken by the present Lord Keeper and to be administred by the Clerk of the Crown to every Lord Chancellour Lord Keeper Commissioner and Commissioners aforesaid and that none of the said Officers respectively shall henceforth execute any the said Offices before they have taken the said Oath And if the said Lord Chancellour Lord Keeper or any the said Commissioners shall fail or forbear so to issue out the said Writs according to the true meaning of this Act then he or they respectively shall beside the incurring of the grievous sin of perjury be disabled and become by vertue of this Act incapable ipso facto to bear his and their said Offices respectively and be further lyable to such punishments as shall be inflicted on him or them by the next or any other ensuing Parliament And in case the said Lord Chancellour Lord Keeper Commissioner or Commissioners aforesaid shall not issue forth the said Writs as aforesaid or in case that the Parliament do not assemble and be held at the time and place before appointed Then the Parliament shall assemble and be held in the usual place at Westminster in such manner and by such means onely as is hereafter in this present Act declared and enacted and not otherwise on the third Monday which shall be in the moneth of Ianuary then next ensuing And the Peers of this Realm shall by vertue of this Act be enabled and are enjoyned to meet in the old Palace of Westminster in the usual place there on the third Monday in the said moneth of November and they or
any twelve or more of them then and there assembled shall on or before the last Monday of November next following the tenth day of September aforesaid by vertue of this Act without other Warrant issue out Writs in the usual form in the name of the Kings Majestie His Heirs or Successours attested under the hands and Seals of twelve or more of the said Peers to the several and respective Sheriffs of the several and respective Counties Cities and Boroughs of England and Wales and to the Constable of the Castle of Dover Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports or his Lieutenant for the time being and to the Major and Bailiffs of Barwick upon Tweed and to all and every other the said Officers and persons to whom Writs have been used to be directed for the electing of the Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses of and for the said Counties Cities Cinque-Ports and Boroughs to be and appear at the Parliament at Westminster aforesaid to be held on the third Monday in Ianuary then next following All every which Writs the Clerks of the Pettibag and other Clerks to whom the writing of the Writs for Summons to the Parliament doth and shall belong or whom the said Lords or twelve or more of them shall appoint shall at the command of the said Lords so assembled or of any twelve or more of them make and prepare ready for the Signature of the said Lords or any twelve or more of them under pain of the losse of their Places and Offices and of such other punishment as in the next or any other ensuing Parliament shall be inflicted on him or them And it is enacted That the said Writs so issued shall be of the same power and force to all intents and purposes as the Writs or Summons to Parliament under the great Seal of England have ever been or ought to be And all the Messengers of the Chamber or others who shall be appointed by the said Lords or any twelve or more of them are hereby required faithfully and speedily to deliver the said Writs to every person and persons Sheriff Officers and others to whom the same shall be directed which if the said Messengers or any of them shall fail to perform they shall forfeit their respective Places and incurre such other pains and punishments as by that or any other ensuing Parliament shall be imposed on them And it is also further enacted That all and every the Peers of this Realm shall make their appearance and shall assemble on the said third Monday in Ianuary in such manner and to such effect and with such power as if they had received every of them Writs of Summons to Parliament under the great Seal of England in the usual and accustomed manner And in case the said Lords or twelve or more of them shall fail to issue forth such Writs or that the said Writs doe not come to the said several Counties Cities Cinque-Ports and Boroughs so that an election bee not thereupon made And in case there bee not a Parliament assembled and held before the three and twentieth day of the said moneth of Ianuary and so from time to time and in all times hereafter if there shall not be a Parliament assembled and held before the said three and twentieth day of Ianuary then in every such case as aforesaid the Parliament shall assemble and be held in the usual place at Westminster in such manner and by such means onely as is hereafter in this present Act declared and enacted and not otherwise on the second Tuesday which shall be in the moneth of March next after the said three and twentieth day of Ianuary At which Parliament the Peers of this Realm shall make their appearance and shall assemble at the time and place aforesaid and shall each of them be liable unto such pains and Censures for his and their not appearing and serving then and there in Parliament as if he or they had been summoned by Writ under the great Seal of England and had not appeared and served and to such further pains and Censures as by the rest of the Peers in Parliament assembled they shall be adjudged unto And for the better assembling of the Knights Citizens Barons and Burgesses to the said Parliament as aforesaid It is further Enacted That the several and respective Sheriffs of their several and respective Counties Cities and Boroughs of England and Wales and the Chancellour Masters and Scholar of both and every of the Vniversities and the Major and Bailiffs of the Borough of Barwick upon Tweed shall at the several Courts and places to be held and appointed for their respective Counties Vniversities Cities and Boroughs next after the said three and twentieth day of Ianuary cause such Knight and Knights Citizen and Citizens Burgesse and Burgesses of their said Counties Vniversities Cities and Boroughs respectively to be chosen by such persons and in such manner as if several and respective Writs of summons to Parliament under the great Seal of England had issued and been awarded And in case any of the several Sheriffs or the Chancellour Masters and Scholars of either of the Vniversities or the Major and Bailiffs of Barwick respectively do not before ten of the Clock in the forenoon of the same day wherein the several and respective Courts and places shall be held or appointed for their several and respective Counties Vniversities Cities and Boroughs as aforesaid begin and proceed on according to the meaning of this Law in causing Elections to be made of such Knight and Knights Citizen and Citizens Burgesse and Burgesses of their said Counties Vniversities Cities and Boroughs as aforesaid then the Freeholders of each County and the Masters and Scholars of every of the Vniversities and the Citizens and others having voices in such Election respectively in each Vniversity City and Borough that shall be assembled at the said Courts or places to be held or appointed as aforesaid shall forthwith without further Warrant or direction proceed to the Election of such Knight or Knights Citizen or Citizens Burgesse or Burgesses aforesaid in such manner as is unsal in case of Writs of Summons issued and awarded And it is further enacted That the several and respective Sheriffs of their several and respective Counties and the Constables of the Castle of Dover and Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports or his Lieutenant for the time being respectively shall after the said three and twentieth day of Ianuary and before the eighth day of February then immediately next ensuing award and send forth their Precepts to the several and respective Cities and Boroughs within their several Counties and likewise unto the said Cinque-Ports respectively Commanding them respectively to make choice of such Citizen and Citizens Barons Burges and Burgesses to serve in the said Parliament at the time and place aforesaid Which said Cities Cinque-Ports and Boroughs respectively shall before the last day of the said moneth of February make election of such Citizen and