Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	find_v	king_n	law_n	2,835	5	4.8368	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48014	A letter from a lawyer in the countrey to a member of Parliament, or, Indemnity the effect of vacancy	Lawyer in the countrey.	1689 (1689)	Wing L1408; ESTC R9346	4,495	4

reason of the Politick Capacity and since all Offences are committed contra Coronam Dignitatem suam against the King by reason of his Politick Capacity and not by reason of his Natural that is against him quatenus Rex and not quatenus Homo where the Regal Power continues without interruption and therein the Executive Power of the Law there Offences against that Power do continue also and may be punished But in this present Case where there is a total Vacancy of the Throne by the late King's Abdication of the Government both the Natural and Politick Capacity and therein the entire Subject of the executive or punishing Power of the Law is in Judgment and Construction of Law totally merged and extinct by lesser and Devolution of the Government upon the People and where there is a total failure both of the Politick Capacity and of the Executive or punishing Power there must by consequence be an Indemnity to all Offenders Where there is a total Vacancy of the Throne or Regal Power there must be a Vacancy of Offences against that Power And the late King James could not Abdicate the Government but he must also Abdicate that which was inseparably annexed to it viz. the Executive Power of the Law unless you will support as great a Miracle as Transubstantiation by preserving an Accident or abstracted Power without its Subject Object II. There are some Offences which are not only against the King but being against the Fundamental Constitution of the Government are Offences against the People also and those Offences may remain notwithstanding an Abdication of the Regal and Punishing Power Resp What these Offences against the People are we do not find determined in our Books of the Law but this I have often read That the King may pardon all Offences whatsoever And where the King may Abdicate the Government from his Heirs tho he could not dispose of it from them à fortiori he may Abdicate the punishment of all Offences where he had a right to pardon them But secondly Let the Offences be of what nature they will if they must be punished at this day the Indictment must run in this manner for instance in the Case of Treason Quod A. B. nuper de L. gen ' ut falsus proditor ' contra Illustrissimum Christianissimum Principem Jacobum secundum nuper Angl ' c. Regem ad tunc supremum naturalem Dominum suum timorem Dei non habens nec debitam legianciam suam ponderans sed instigatione Diabolica seductus cordialem dilectionem veram debitam obedientiam quam verus fidelis subditus dict' nuper Regis erga ipsum Regem gereret de jure gessisse tenebatur penitus substrahere delere extinguere intendens tali die anno loco false malitiose proditorie conspiravit imaginatus fuit circumivit compassivit dictum nuper Regem interficere ad mortem finalem destructionem adducere and so forth And then concludes Contra legiantiae suae debitum ac contra pacem dicti nuper Regis Coronam Dignitatem suam The like form mutatis mutandis is to be observed in all lesser Offences Now if no such Offence can be punished but by Indictment in this form for committing such a Fact against the Peace of the late King James his Crown and Dignity since his Crown and Dignity is totally vacated and extinct how can any Offences remain Object III. That by a late Act of Parliament for reviving of Actions and Processes and for supplying other Defects relating to Proceedings at Law it 's provided That in Indictments Informations or Actions wherein Conclusions used to be contra pacem Domini Regis to conclude contra pacem Regni and the Indictments shall be good tho the words Domini Regis Coronam Dignitatem suas be omitted Resp That this Statute extends only to Offences committed between the 11th of December Anno 1688. and before the 13th day of February following and not to any Offences committed before the late King's departure nor after the proclaiming of Their present Majesties So that this Statute can be no real Objection but on the contrary may rather seem to enforce the precedent Argument Nay here seems an Authority of this present Parliament in this Point for they agree and have thereby determined That after the Abdication of the Government all Indictments contra pacem Domini Regis Coronam Dignitatem suas are void But at this day no Offences committed before the late King's departure can be punished but by such an Indictment or Information therefore they cannot be punished at all Object IV. That this Opinion is of the first Impression and only promoted by some Guilty Lawyer one of the Ringleaders of all our late Miseries and that it would be inconvenient that those Evil Councellors who by their Advice had almost sacrific'd the Nation to Popery and Slavery should reap the benefit of such an Indemnity Resp It 's not desired that they should but such as the Parliament in their great Wisdom shall think fit are by all People freely submitted to a Bill of Attainder The Representatives of the Nation may if they please supply the defect of a Jury and after hearing the Parties in their own Defence inflict what Punishment seems just and equitable in their great Judgments upon particular persons This is a Lawyer you well know intends nothing but the publick Good and humbly conceives this Opinion is as ancient as the other upon which it 's grounded but having for some years withdrawn himself from Practice humbly begs a favourable Construction of such an hasty Letter As to all those worthy Members of your acquaintance that neglect their own Concerns for the publick Service of the Nation you may assure them That nothing is so much wanting amongst us in the Countrey as an express Act of Indemnity which the People do humbly hope that Their Majesties in their great Goodness and Clemency will not permit to be any longer delayed especially since your own Proceedings give them such a Title to it When that is past you will find England will be united the Throne established and no hopes left for France Et praestat CAUTELA quam MEDELA Licensed and Entred according to Order London Printed for Richard Janeway in Queens-head-Alley in Pater-noster-Row MDCLXXXIX