WHereas by reporte of sundry of the Bishops of this Realme, & others hauing cure of soules, the Queenes Maiestie is informed, that in sundry places of her said Realme, in their seuerall Diocesses, there are certaine persons which doe secretly in corners, make pryuy assemblies of diuers simple vnlearned people, & after they haue craftily & hypocritically allured them to esteeme them to be more holy & perfect men then o­ther are, they doe then teach them damnable heresies, directly contrary to diuers of the principall Articles of our Beliefe and Christian faith, & in some parts so absurde and fanatical, as by fayning to them selues a monstruous new kind of speach neuer found in the Scriptures, nor in ancient father of writer of Christs Church, by which they doe moue ignorant & simple people at the first rather to marueile at them, then to vnderstande them: but yet to colour their sect withall, they name them selues to be of the familie of loue, and then as many as shall be allowed by them to be of that familie, to be elect & saued, and all others of what Church so euer thy be, to be reiected and damned: And for that vpon conuenting of some of them before the Bishops and ordinaries, it is founde that the ground of their sect is maintained by certaine lewd, heretical, & seditious bookes first made in the Dutch tongue, and lately translated into English, and printed beyonde the seas, and secretly brought ouer into the realme, the authour whereof they name E. N. without yeelding to him vpon their examination, any other name. In whose name they haue certaine Bookes set foorth, called Euangelium Regni, or a ioyfull Message of the Kingdome. Documentall sentences. The Prophecie of the spi­ [...] [...]ue. A publishing of the peace vpon the earth, and such like. And considering also it is found, that these Sectaries holde opinion, that they may before any Magistrate Ecclesiastical or temporal, or any other person not being professed to be of their sect (which they terme the familie of loue) by othe or otherwise deny any thing for their aduantage, so as though many of them are well knowen to be teachers & spreaders abroade of these dangerous and damnable s;ects, yet by their owne confession they can not be condemned, whereby they are more dangerous in any Christian Realme: Therefore her Maiestie being very sory to see so great an euill by the malice of the Deuil first begun and practised in other countreys, to be now brought into this her Realme, and that by her Bishops and ordinaries, shee vnderstandeth it very requisite, not only to haue these dangerous Heretikes & Sectaries to be seuerely punished, but that also all other meanes be vsed by her Maiesties Royall authorytie, which is giuen her of God to defend Christes church, to roote them out from further infecting of her Realme, shee hath thought meete and conuenient, and so by this her proclama­tion. shee willeth and commandeth that all her officers & Ministers temporall, shal in al their seueral vocations, assist the Archbyshops and Bishops of her Realme, and all other persons Ecclesiasticall, hauing cure of soule, to search out all persons duely suspected to be either teachers or professors of the foresaid damnable seets, and by al good meanes to proceede seuerely against them being found culpable, by order of the lawes either Ecclesiasticall or temporall, & that also search be made in all places suspected for the bookes and writings maintayning the said heresies and sects, and them to destroy and burne. And wheresoeuer such bookes shalbe found after the publication hereof, in custodie of any person, other then such as the ordinaries shall permitte, to the intent to peruse the same for confutation thereof, the same persōs to be attached and committed to close prison, there to remaine, or otherwise by law to be condemned, vntil the same shalbe purged and cleared of the same Heresies, or shal recant the same, and be thought meete by the ordinarie of the place to be deliuered. And that whosoeuer in this Realme shall either print, or bring, or cause to be brought into this Realme, any of the said bookes, the same persons to be attached and committed to prison, and to receiue such bodily pu­nishment and other mulet, as fautors of damnable Heresies. And to the execution hereof, her Maiestie chargeth all her Officers and Ministers both Ecclesiasticall and Temporal, to haue special regard, as they will answere not only afore God, whose glorie and trueth is by these damnable sects greatly sought to be defaced, but also will auoyde her Ma­iesties indignation, which in such cases as these are, they ought not to escape, if they shal be found negligent & carelesse, in the Execution of their authorities.

Giuen at our Manour of Richmond the third of October, in the two and twen­tieth yeere of our Reigne.

God saue the Queene.