Such was the origin of the famous _Book of Sports_. His Majesty, on
returning to the capital, issued a proclamation,[33] stating--
"That in his progress through Lancashire he found it necessary to rebuke
some Puritans and precise people, and took order that the said unlawful
carriage should not be used by any of them hereafter, in the prohibiting
and unlawfully punishing his good people, for using their lawful
recreations and honest exercises upon Sundays, after divine service."
"His Majesty further saw that his loyal subjects in all other parts of
the kingdom did suffer in the same kind, though not, perhaps, in the
same degree as in Lancashire; and he did therefore, in his princely
wisdom, publish a declaration to all his loving subjects concerning
lawful sports to be used on Sundays and festivals."--Published by his
royal command in the year 1618, under the title of the _Book of Sports_.
The royal visit to Lancashire proved ultimately of more importance to
the civil and ecclesiastical establishments of the kingdom than could
have been anticipated either by the king or his subjects. This infamous
_Book of Sports_ formed the first link in that mysterious chain of
events, ending in the downfall of the Stuarts, and their exile and
expulsion from the throne.
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