Selected quad for the lemma: act_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	death_n	king_n	treason_n	2,352	5	9.2422	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55942	The proceedings at the Sessions House in the Old-Baily, London on Thursday the 24th day of November, 1681 before His Majesties commissioners of Oyer and Terminer upon the bill of indictment for high-treason against Anthony Earl of Shaftsbury : published by His Majesties special command.	Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of, 1621-1683.; England and Wales. Court of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery (London and Middlesex).	1681 (1681)	Wing P3564; ESTC R21380	51,935	51

THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE Sessions House IN THE Old-Baily London ON Thursday the 24th day of November 1681. BEFORE His Majesties Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer UPON THE Bill of Indictment FOR HIGH-TREASON AGAINST ANTHONY EARL of SHAFTSBVRY Published by His Majesties Special Command LONDON Printed for Samuel Mearne and John Baker 1681. THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE Sessions-House IN THE OLD-BAYLY LONDON On Thursday the 24th of November 1681. The GRAND-JURY Sir Samuel Barnardiston John Morden Thomas Papillon John Dubois Charles Hearle Edward Rudge Humphrey Edwin John Morrice Edmund Harrison Joseph Wright John Cox Thomas Parker Leonard Robinson Thomas Shepherd John Flavell Michael Godfrey Joseph Richardson William Empson Andrew Kendrick John Lane John Hall The OATH YOU shall diligently Inquire and true Presentment make of all such Matters Articles and Things as shall be given you in Charge as of all other Matters and Things as shall come to your own knowledge touching this present service the Kings Council your Fellows and your own you shall keep secret you shall present no Person for hatred or malice neither shall you leave any one unpresented for fear favour or affection for lucre or gain or any hopes thereof but in all things you shall present the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to the best of your knowledge So help you God L. C. J. Pemberton GEntlemen of the Jury we are all met here in one of the most Solemn Assemblies of this Nation it is upon the Execution of Justice upon such as shall be found Offenders and Guilty of the Breach of the King's Laws This Commission by which we sit and you are Summoned doth in its nature extend to all Offences whatsoever against the Laws of the Land Treasons Misprisions of Treasons Felonies and all other Crimes and Offences against the King and his Government such as are vulgarly called Pleas of the Crown they all fall under our Cognizance and your Enquiry in a general manner But I must tell you there is a particular occasion for this Commission at this time His Majesty having Information of some Evil Trayterous Designs against his Person and Government has thought fit to Direct a due Examination of them and that the persons may be brought to Condign punishment who shall be found Guilty thereof You must not therefore expect any general and formal Charge from me Truly I came hither this Morning with an apprehension that you had had your directions given you before by the Recorder for it is our usual way not to come until the Juries are Sworn in this place and their Directions given them but since I find it otherwise I take it to be my Duty to say something to you but shall not go about now to make any such formal Charge as in Commissions of this nature is wont to be done nor to give an account of all Offences that fall under your Enquiry of a Grand Inquest Impannelled by vertue of such a Commission at large Nor must you expect I should acquaint you with all the Crimes that you may enquire of as such an Inquest I shall content my self so far as on the sudden I can recollect my thoughts to acquaint you with the Nature of those Bills with the Enquiry whereof you shall at present upon this occasion be troubled and your Duty concerning that Enquiry I hinted to you at first that they are matters of High-Treason which is a Crime of the greatest and highest nature of any Crime that can be committed against Man other Crimes as Felonies Riots Trespasses and Things of that nature they may occasion disorders and troubles in a State or a Kingdom But I must tell you Treason strikes at the root and life of all it tends to destroy the very Government both King and Subjects and the Lives Interest and Liberties of all and therefore has always been look'd upon as a Crime of the most notorious nature that can be whatsoever and accordingly Punishments have been appointed for it of the highest and severest extremity There was at Common Law great variety of Opinions concerning Treason and there were many Disputes about it what should be Treason and what not and therefore it was thought fit by the Wisdom of our Ancestors to have a Law to Declare Treason and by the Statute of the 25th of Edward the 3d there was a plain Declaration made of what was Treason and what not By that Law for any one to Compass Imagine or Intend the Death of the King for I will give you no more of that Statute nor concerning the sense thereof than may be for your purpose now I say by that Law to Compass Imagine or Intend the Death of the King and to declare it by overt-Overt-Act or to Levy War against the King were declared amongst other things in that Statute mentioned to be high-High-Treason And this hath obtained for Law among us ever since and by that standing Law nothing is to be accounted Treason but what is therein particularly declared so but upon many emergent occasions there hath been several other Laws as the case hath required now and then for to declare and bring other particular Crimes within the compass of Treasons So there was a Law made in Queen Elizabeths Reign for Enacting several Crimes to be Treasons during her Life which was made upon the occasion of the Inveterate Malice of the Roman Catholicks against her and her Government and so there hath been in other Kings Reigns upon other occasions Amongst the rest it was thought fit by the Parliament assembled here in the Thirteenth year of this present King to make a particular Law for the Enacting and Declaring several Crimes to be Treasons during this Kings Life they had great grounds and too much occasion for it and so they express it in the Preamble of that Law The wounds which the then late Treasons had made that had so far obtained in this Kingdom were then still bleeding ripe and scarcely closed many Trayterous Positions and many Seditious Principles were spread and had obtained and gained footing among the People of this Kingdom and the Parliament had reason to believe that where they had been so maliciously bent against the King and his Family and had taken off his Father and maintained so long and dangerous a War against him almost to the utter Destruction and Extirpation of him and all his good Subjects and of his and all our Interests Properties and Liberties and had almost destroy'd a flourishing Kingdom Here they had reason I say to be careful to prevent the like mischiefs for the future therefore Gentlemen they did think fit to make a new Law for this purpose And whereas the Law before was That it should be Treason to Compass Imagine or Intend the Death of the King so as it were declared by overt-Overt-Act now they thought it would be dangerous to stay till an overt-Overt-Act should declare the intention for when they had seen such malicious and evil Designs

against the King and Supreme Authority and that they had prevailed so far as to Murder one King and Banish another and had gone a great way in the destruction of the Government of this Kingdom absolutely to root it quite out They had reason then as much as they could to prevent the Designs before they should grow full ripe and vent themselves in Overt-Acts therefore it was Enacted by that Statute made in the 13th year of this Kings Reign That if any one should Compass Imagine or Intend the Death of the King or his Destruction or any bodily harm that might tend to his Death or Destruction or any Maiming or Wounding his Person any Restraint of his Liberty or any Imprisonment of him or if any should design or intend to Levy any War against him either within the Kingdom or without or should design intend endeavour or procure any Foreign Prince to Invade these his Dominions or any other of the Kings Dominions and should signifie or declare this by any Writing or by any Preaching or Printing or by any advised malicious speaking or words this shall be High-Treason Now this hath altered the former Law greatly especially in two Cases First as to Levying of War the Intention was not Treason before unless it had taken effect and War had been actually Levied And then as to the Designing and Compassing the Kings Death that was not Treason unless it was declared by an overt-Overt-Act And as to the Imprisoning or Restraining of the Liberty of the King they of themselves alone were not high-High-Treason but now by this Law these are made Treason by this Law during his Majesties Life And the very designing of them whether they take effect or not take effect though it be prevented before any Overt Act by the timely Prudence of the King and his Officers though it should be timely prevented that there is no hurt done yet the very design if it be but utter'd and spoken and any ways signified by any discourse this Gentlemen is made Treason by this Act and this hath wrought very great alteration in the case of Treason now formerly it was said and said truly enough that Words alone would not make Treason but since this Act Gentlemen Words if they import any malicious design against the Kings Life and Government any Trayterous intention in the party such words are Treason now within this Act And this Act was made with great Prudence and with great Care to take off that undue Liberty that men had taken to themselves in those times of Licentiousness people had taken to themselves an undecent and undue liberty to vent all their Seditious and Malicious minds one to another without any restraint at all Therefore now Gentlemen you must consider that Words if they signifie or purport any Trayterous intention or design in the party either against the King or his Government either to restrain his Liberty or Imprison him or to do him any bodily hurt or any Crime of that nature this is Treason within this Act of Parliament Look ye Gentlemen now as to the Indictments that shall be brought before you you are to consider these things 1. Whether the Matter contained in them and which you shall have in Evidence be Matter of Treason within the former or this Act of Parliament And here if you doubt of it then you must advise with us that are Commissionated by his Majesty to Hear and Determine these Crimes and in Matters of Law we shall direct you And you are to enquire if there be two Witnesses that shall testifie the Matters in Evidence to you for without two Witnesses no man is to be Impeached within these Laws but if there be two Witnesses that shall testifie to you Matters to make good the Indictments then you have ground to find the Indictments But I must tell you as to this case of two Witnesses it is not necessary that they should be Two Witnesses to the same words or to words spoken at one time or in the same place that is not necessary If one be a Witness to words that Import any Trayterous design and intention spoken at one time and in one place and another testifie other Seditious and Trayterous Words spoken at another time and in another place these two are two good Witnesses within this Statute and so it hath been solemnly resolved by all the Judges of England upon a solemn occasion Look ye Gentlemen I must tell you That that which is referr'd to you is to consider whether upon what Evidence you shall have given unto you there be any reason or ground for the King to call these persons to an account if there be probable ground it is as much as you are to enquire into You are not to Judge the persons but for the Honour of the King and the Decency of the Matter it is not thought fit by the Law that persons should be Accused and Indicted where there is no colour nor ground for it where there is no kind of suspition of a Crime nor reason to believe that the thing can be proved it is not for the King's Honour to call Men to an Account in such cases Therefore you are to enquire whether that that you hear be any cause or reason for the King to put the Party to answer it You do not Condemn nor is there such a strict Enquiry to be made by you as by others that are sworn to try a Fact or Issue A probable cause or some ground that the King hath to call these persons to answer for it is enough Gentlemen for you to find a Bill 't is as much as is by Law required Gentlemen you must consider this That as it is a Crime for to condemn Innocent persons so it is a Crime as great to acquit the Guilty and that God that requires one of them requires both so that you must be as strict in the one as you would be in the other And let me tell you If any of you shall be Refractory and will not find any Bill where there is a probable ground for an Accusation you do therein undertake to intercept Justice and you thereby make your selves Criminals and Guilty and the fault will lye at your Door You must consider Gentlemen you are under a double Obligation here to do Right you are under the Obligation of English-men as we are all Members of one great Body of which the King is Head and you are engag'd as English-men to consider That Crimes of this Nature ought not to go unpunish'd Then you have an Oath of God upon you you are here sworn to do according to what the Evidence is Now therefore if you have two Witnesses of Words that may import a Treasonable Design or Intention in any of those Parties against whom you shall have Indictments offer'd to you you are bound both by the Law of Nature as you are Members of this Body and by the Law of God as you have taken