COMMONWEALTH ORDINANCE FOR ADJOURNING EASTER TERM, LONDON, 1654 : ISSUED UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL'S PROTECTORATE1654 An original broadside ordinance titled "An Ordinance for Adjourning part of Easter Term, 1654," issued during the English Commonwealth under Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, printed in London by William du-Gard and Henry Hills, Printers to His Highness the Lord Protector. The ordinance addresses "abuses and corruptions" that had crept into the administration of justice and formally adjourns part of the Easter law term at the courts of Westminster, from the return called Quindena Paschae until the first return of Trinity Term, directing sheriffs of London, Middlesex, and other English and Welsh counties to proclaim and publish the ordinance in their chief market towns. Dated Thursday, 6 April 1654, and signed in print by Henry Scobell, Clerk of the Council, the sheet is headed with the Commonwealth's armorial device bearing the cross of St. George and Irish harp, and features a decorative woodcut initial "W." The sheet shows expected age toning, fold lines, and some loss and staining to the left edge. Framed. Not examined out of frame. 14 x 9.5 inches; frame: 21 x 16 inches $400-600
