January 1644
[22 January, 1643/4.]
Ordinance for appointing and swearing Sheriffs.
Forasmuch as it is of great important Necessity, for the Public
Safety of the Realm, and Execution of Justice, which hath been
so long obstructed and hindered by this unnatural War raised
against the Parliament, that the Office of High Sheriffs of
Counties should be forthwith supplied and settled upon Persons
on whose Worth and Fidelity the Parliament and Commonwealth may confide: Be it Ordained, by the Lords and Commons
assembled in Parliament, That the several High Sheriffs that
now are, or hereafter shall be, nominated and appointed by the
said Lords and Commons, for this Year next ensuing, shall be,
and are hereby, authorized to execute the said Office, and to
have, use, and enjoy all such Power, Authority, and Jurisdiction,
and other Incidents whatsoever belonging to the said Office, in
as full and ample Manner as any other High Sheriffs of Counties
formerly have, or of Right ought to have, used, exercised, or
enjoyed, and as if they had been appointed and nominated at
the Time and Place, and in the usual Manner, heretofore accustomed: And be it further Ordained, That, in the Oath which is
to be taken by the said High Sheriffs as belonging to their said
Office, these Words, videlicet; ["unless ye be otherwise licensed by
the King"], shall be altered, and instead thereof the Words shall
be, and the Oath so taken, videlicet, [unless ye be otherwise
licensed by the Lords and Commons in Parliament"]; and that
it shall and may be lawful to and for all or any the said High
Sheriffs to go out of their respective Counties, b Licence of the
said Lords and Commons, or when and as oft as Need shall
require, for the Defence of their said Counties, or Public Safety of
the Realm: And it is likewise Ordained, That, in the Writs of
Assistance to be granted to the said High Sheriffs, these Words
["Archiepiscopis & Episcopis"] shall be from henceforth left
out: And lastly be it Ordained, by the said Lords and Commons,
That, for the better Furtherance of the said Service, and the Encouragement of those which shall undergo this great Trust and
Employment that all extraordinary Charges which shall be necessarily incident to the said Office of High Sheriff, in a moderate
and reasonable Manner to be expended, shall be defrayed out of
the Fines, Amerciaments, and other Profits of the County, which
they are accountable for in the Exchequer, the same to be allowed
there upon their Accompts, or by such other Ways or Means as
shall be thought fit and Ordered by both Houses of Parliament:
All which Premises are so Ordained by the said Lords and
Commons, upon mature Deliberation, and upon great and urgent
Necessity, in these Times of imminent Danger (any Law, Statute,
or Usage, to the contrary thereof, in any Wise notwithstanding).