WHereas We by Our Proclamation of the Fourteenth of May last, upon Information of much decay in the Trade of Cloth, and other woollen Manufactures of this Kingdom, and that great quantities of woollen Clothes did then lie dead on the hands of many poor Clothiers, Did of Our Princely Clemency and tender Compassi­on of the necessities of Our poor Subjects, by the Advice of Our Privy Council, and with the free consent of the Company of Merchants-Adventurers of England, give free Liberty and License to all Our loving Subjects, from the Twentieth day of the said Moneth of May, until the Five and twentieth of December follow­ing, to Transport and carry out of this Kingdom, all woollen Manufactures whatsoever, to any Port or place beyond the Seas, lying within the Limits and Bounds of the said Merchants-Adventurers Patent, Except the Mart-Towns of Dordrecht and Hamburgh. And where­as thereby We also Declared, That by that Our License We would not be thought to have a light esteem of the Services of that Company, either to Our self, or the Crown of England in former times, nor of their usefulness towards the Advance and Increase of the Trade of this Kingdom: And [Page] therefore We did also Declare the said Liberty to be intended no more but as a temporary Dispensation, and not at all to lessen the Authority of their Charters, as to the Government of that Society, either at home or abroad. And now there having an Essay and Tryal been made, whether the laying open of that Trade would so increase the Vent of the woollen Manufactures of this Our Kingdom, as to re­lieve both the Growers of Wooll, and Clothiers within the same: And We being now certified by the Petition of the Clothiers themselves, as also of the general complaint of all Our Clothing Counties in this Our Kingdom, that this Liberty hath not produced the promised and desired effects:

We therefore of Our Princely Care and Providence for the conservation and restauration of the Trade of Cloth, and all other woollen Manufactures now made, or hereafter to be made within this Our King­dom, wherein the same is so highly concerned, have thought it fit, with Advice of Our Privy Council, timely to provide and apply some effectual remedy to the many dangerous disorders and incroachment within this Fellowship, and upon this Trade: And to that end, by Advice aforesaid, We do hereby de­clare Our said Proclamation of the Fourteenth of May last, and the Licenses and Liberties thereby grant­ed for a temporary Essay and Tryal, to be expired, determined, and void: And therefore We do hereby strictly Will and Command, That no person or persons, Subject or Subjects of Our Realm of England, shall from henceforth Ship, Transport, Carry or Convey, or cause to be Shipped, Transported, Carried, or Conveyed, either from Our City or Port of London, or from any other City, Town, Port, Haven or Creek of Our Kingdom of England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick upon Tweed, any wool­len Cloth, either white Clothes, coloured Clothes, drest and died out of the whites, Clothes called Spanish Clothes, mixt, or of one colour, or any Baies, Kersies, Perpetuanoes, or any Stockins or other woollen Commodities whatsoever, now made, or hereafter to be made within Our Realm aforesaid, un­to any the Cities, Towns, Ports, or other places within the Countries of Germany, or the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands, Saving only such person or persons as are or shall be free of, admitted and continued as Member of the said Fellowship of Merchant-Adventurers of England, and none others: And that no Freemen of the said Fellowship shall Ship, Transport, Carry or Convey, or cause to be Shipped, Transported, Carried or Conveyed, any Clothes or woollen Manufactures made within Our Realm, Dominion, and Town of Berwick aforesaid, without special License of the said Fellowship, into any the parts of Germany, or the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands, or unto the Town of Calais, or the Marches thereof, save only to the publick Marts, Staples and Residences declared by the said Fellow­ship within the parts aforesaid beyond the Seas, for the time being, or to one of them. And to the end that this Trade may be the better improved in an orderly and well governed way, Our Will and Pleasure is, That the said Fellowship of Merchants-Adventurers of England shall from henceforth from time to time admit and receive into the Freedom of their said Fellowship, all and every such Our Subjects as shall at any time hereafter desire and demand the same, paying Thirteen pounds six shillings eight pence as a Fine to the said Fellowship, for their Entry, Incom and Admittance thereunto, (That is to say) such as are of London, to be meer Merchants, and exercised in that profession, and no Shop-keepers, ex­cept giving over their Shops. And such as are of the Out-ports, if bred in Merchandise, though Shop­keepers; Provided that every such person, both of London and of the Out-ports aforesaid, do demand their said Freedom, and be actually admitted into the same within one year next ensuing the date hereof. And that their Sons and Servants shall at their several Admissions and making Free, be admitted for the [Page] sum of Six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence, according to the Statute of the Twelfth of Henry the Seventh. And Our further Will and Pleasure is, That no person or persons not qualified as aforesaid, shall presume to Trade in any the above-mentioned Commodities into any the Forreign parts before named, upon pain of Our high displeasure; for that We, in case We shall perceive that any person or persons shall neglect to take hold of this Our Grace hereby offered them to be admitted into the said Fellowship, and shall yet continue to Trade disorderly into the parts of Germany, or the Seventeen Provinces of the Nether­lands, and out of the Mart and Staple Towns of the said Fellowship of Merchants-Adventurers therein for the time being, We shall not only have cause for t [...]e future, utterly to deny and exclude them of this Grace, but will require a strict account of such persons for their contempt or neglect of this Our Royal Command herein, and will take such course as shall [...]e fitting for their punishment, and for the future restraint of such disorders. And to the end that the Ch [...]rters and Government of the said Fellowship may be the better put in execution, and to the intent that al [...] Offenders against the same may be discovered and brought to Iustice, and such punishment inflicted upon [...]hem for such their Offences, as by their said Char­ters, Orders and Constitutions ought to be inflicted in such as wilfully and contemptuously transgress against Our Charters, and this Our Proclamation in pursuance of the same; We do by and with the Advice of Our Privy Council, hereby Will and Command, as well the Iudges of Our High Court of Admiralty, as the Marshal and under-Officers of the same, as also Our Commissioners or Farmers of Our Customs for the time being, and the Searchers of Our Customs in all Our Ports of England, and the several Officers of what kind so ever, belonging to, and attending the Service of Our Customs outwards: As also all Our Admirals, Vice-admirall, Commanders, Captains and Officers whatso­ever, of any of Our Royal Ships, or any of Our C [...]stles, Blockhouses, and Forts respectively, and all other Our Officers and Ministers in their severa [...] places, to be aiding and assisting unto the said Fellowship and Company of Merchants-Adventurers of England, and all such as they shall imploy in all matters and things tending to the supportation of the Government of the said Fellowship and Company, and regulation of their Trade, and for the p [...]eservation of the Priviledges, Iurisdictions, and Franchises by Our Royal Predecessors to them gran [...]ed, and by Our self to them confirmed by Our Letters Patents.

Given at Our Court at Whitehall, April the 8 ^th, in the Fifteeth year of Our Reign, 1663.

GOD SAVE THE KING.