Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	king_n	law_n	write_v	5,072	5	6.3071	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60058	A short, but just account of the tryal of Benjamin Harris upon an information brought against him for printing and vending a late seditious book called An appeal from the country to the city, for the preservation of His Majesties person, liberty, property, and the Protestant religion.	Harris, Benjamin, d. 1716?	1679 (1679)	Wing S3565; ESTC R18707	5,760	8

sell some of these Books Mr. Williams We do my Lord that he did sell one Mr. Ollibear My Lord this Book was publickly sold in other Booksellers Shops before we had it and so we thought in a way of Trade we might do the like but as soon as ever we heard there was any thing ill in the Book we supprest the selling of it Mr. Serjeant Strode They say my Lord the Printer had Six-pence given him by Mr. Harris Friend does not he come and give you some money at other times have you never had any of him before Printer's Man No Sir I never Printed any thing for him before Mr. Serjeant Strode Was not this Printed before you saw it Printer Not to my knowledge Mr. Serjeant Strode Pray ask the first Witness Was not this in Print before you saw it in his Shop Mrs. Grover Yes my Lord. Mr. Williams My Lord he is a man of other Principles than to do such things Lord Chief Iust. There is scarce any but Smith that is so Factious a Seller of Books as Harris All your Domestick-Intelligences are so for which you know you have forfeited your Recognizance almost in every Book A Neighbour was called by Mr. Williams to give an Account of Mr. Harris Neighb My Lord I have known him about a Twelve-Month and I have alwayes looked upon him to be a fair Conditioned Quiet Peaceable Man He is and has been so Reputed among his Neighbours And I have never seen any thing from him but what was very Quiet and Peaceable Mr. Recorder A Book-Seller that causes a Factious Book to be Printed or Re-printed if it was Printed before is a Factious Fellow Lord Chief Iust. You say right Mr. Goodall another Neighbour of Mr. Harris's said upon his being asked If he were acquainted with him and If he were wont to Oppose or to Scandalize the KING or Government That he never heard such a like thing of him Mr. Recorder I presume that none of these do stand by him in any such thing But he being advertised of it and being asked Why he would offer to Expose to Sale such a Book at this He answered and said That he had a Thousand Persons that would Stand by him Call Robert Stevens Lord Chief Iust. What can you say Rob. Stephens My Lord I have seen this Book several times in his Shop and others too And I have asked him VVhy he would so publickly Vend them I did not indeed Buy one of them my self but I caused a Man to Buy one for me and he said He had several Thousands to Stand by him and he is accounted an Anabaptist He said so before the Masters and Wardens of the Company who questioned him why he sold such Scandalous Things and he said He had several Thousands to Stand by him Then spake the Lord Chief Justice to this Purpose BEcause my Brother shall be satisfyed with the Opinion of all the Judges of England what this Offence is which they would insinuate as if the meer Selling of such a Book was no Offence 'T is not long since that all the Judges met by the King's Command as they did sometime before too and they both Times declared unanimously That all Persons that do Write or Print or Sell any Pamphlet that is either Scandalous to Publick or Private Persons such Books may be seized and the Person punished by Law That all Books which are Scandalous to the Government may be seized and all Persons of Exposing them may be Punished And further That all Writers of News though not Scandalous Seditious nor Reflective upon the Government or the State yet if they are Writers as there are few others of False-News they are Indictable and Punishable upon that Account So that your Hopes of any thing of that kind will be vain for all the Judges have declared this Offence at the Common-Law to be Punishable in the Seller though in the way of his Trade The Books may be seized and the Person punished As for this Book in particular You can hardly read a more base and pernitious Book to put us all into a Flame It gives you such Incitements and such base Incouragements with such Reflections upon all sorts of Persons for I have Read it upon this Account that I think there can scarce be a worse made He would set up another Man that has no Title to the Crown For sayes he the Greatest Danger accruing to your Persons as well as to the whole Kingdom upon the KING 's untimely Death will proceed from a Confusion and want of some Eminent and Interested Person whom you may trust to Lead you up against a French and Popish Army For which purpose no Person is fitter than his Grace the Duke of Monmouth as well for Quality Courage and Conduct as for that his Life and Forture depends upon the same Bottom with Yours He will stand by You and therefore You ought to stand by him And remember the Old Rule is He who hath the worst Title ever makes the best KING as being Constrained by a Gracious Government to supply what he wants in Title That instead of GOD and my Right his Motto may be GOD and my People He sayes Such a one would make a better KING for as you see the Worse the Title the Better the KING A KING with a Bad Title makes a Better KING than he that hath a Good One for he shall be obliged to Comply with and will humour the People for want of a Title A Thing which is of the basest Nature that can be And yet this Man must give Money to hasten the Printing of such a Book and he had several Quires of them in his Shop Except the Writer of it there cannot be a worse Man in the World who for Trival Profit will neglect the Peace and Quiet of his Country and set us all together by the Ears for a Groat And Mr. Harris if you expect any thing in this World of this kind of Favour you must find out the Author for he must be a Rebellious and a Villainous Traytor For though he seems to inveigh against Popery it is only to be a Rebel And certainly he has rejected all the Laws of God and all Obedience that Man requires and prophaned all Holy Writ He is some Body whose Fortune does not suit with his Condition and who because he is not at ease and quiet himself will let no Body else be so neither You have nothing more to do but to give your Verdict Speaking to the Jury who presently with-drew If there be any thing in Law let me know it because you go out Then one of the Jury asked my Lord if they might not have the Book with them which was there in the Court and it was answered in the Negative Before the Jury went out Mr. Harris would fain have spoke to them for himself but it was not permitted him Then after a little while tarrying they returned to the Bar. And being as is usual asked if they were agreed on their Verdict and who should speak for them they answered yes and appointed their Foreman who said He was guilty of selling the Book At which there was a very great and Clamorous Shout Lord Chief Justice said that was not their business they were only to determine whither barely Guilty or not Guilty The Recorder would have had them given their Verdict by the Poll but they all unanimously Cryed out they were all Agreed and then the Foreman gave the Verdict again Guilty Mr. Recorder then prayed that he being for the King Mr. Harris might stand Committed who was thereupon presently delivered to a Tippstaff to be carryed to the Kings Bench. Mr. Harris earnestly beseeched his Lordship that he might be sent to any other Prison and named Newgate three or four times but it was not granted him Thereupon he said I hope God will give me Patience to go through it Then my Lord Chief Justice spake to the Jury to this Effect I am sorry you gave Countenance to this Cause so much as to stir from the Bar when the Evidence was so full and when I told you plainly not only my Opinion but likewise that of all the Judges of England that selling this Book was an Offence at the Common Law for which they ought to be punished and yet with your Scruples you give the Party with their Hollows and Shoutings to take Advantage though you did mean upon the matter the same thing then you do now Yet you see upon every little occasion when a thing shall seem to thwart the Government how ready they are to send up their loud Hollowings It was not so prudently done as might have been done We had need look about us for if at such a time and for such a base Book such Clamorous Noises shall be made what shall become of us Our Lives and Fortunes are at stake Would I knew some of those Shouters I would make them know I would punish them I am Incensed in the behalf of the Government and of all our Lives and Fortunes that such shall go unpunished FINIS

A SHORT BUT JUST ACCOUNT OF THE TRYAL OF Benjamin Harris UPON AN INFORMATION Brought against him For Printing and Vending a late Seditious Book called An Appeal from the Country To the CITY For the Preservation of His Majesties Person Liberty Property AND THE Protestant Religion Printed in the Year 1679. On Thursdry the fifth of this Instant February at the Guildhall in the City of London There was an Information exhibited by the King's Council before my Lord Chief Justice Scroggs against Benjamin Harris Bookseller to this purpose viz That He the said Benjamin Harris did maliciously and designedly to scandalize the King and Government cause to be printed and sold a late seditious Book called An Appeal frem the Country to the City for the preservation of His Majesties Person Liberty Property and the Protestant Religion and after it was read Mr. Recorder made a speech to the Jury and the whole Court to this effect Gentlemen I Hope This being a matter to be tryed in the City of London Persons coming here in great Multitudes come to blush rather than to give incouragement to it and if we can give Your Lordship and this Iury satisfaction that this Person is guilty of the offence according as it is laid in the Information I hope that both you and all others that shall hear it for I perceive there is a great expectation this day from this cause I hope I say You will all abominate any man that shall offer at any such like thing Indeed we live in an age where all sort of Faction and Rebellion is countenanced Magistrates reviled and scandalized by some persons who think they have Authority so to do It is just like such another kind of Religion which some have now of late taken up that rather than they will be thought to turn Phanaticks they will turn plain Atheists and others who scorn to be either downright Rebels This Book is as base a piece as ever was contrived in Hell either by Papists or the blackest Rebel that ever was It seems to carry with it a fine Character and has a figure of all plausible obedience to the Crown to wit an Appeal c. For the preservation of His Majestie 's Person Liberty Property and the Protestant Religion But if any of you have seen it I hope you will be so far from giving any countenance to it as that you will with me think 't is so far from tending well to the Government that it is only designed to rake up all Sedition and Rebellion and the very worst of all Rebellion I must confess I would rather have believed that it was only the sake of lucre made him do what he did for that would have somewhat extenuated his Crime if he had not read it first but then to go and have it Printed and exposed to sale c. this it a great aggravation If the same sort of Insinuation had been used towards any private Tradesman as hath been offered to the KING and Magistrates I believe there is no man but would say That e're this time he might have hid his head But Dissemblances of Pretences for the sake of the Protestant Religion now adays in his Shop will pass well enough and Persons can tell you there how far you may go from hence to Rome with safety and after they have blackened their mouths with Tobacco and Smoke and do not rail against the Church and the Government they are looked upon strait as no Protestants But still as to this Person the farther to urge it by way of aggravation upon him he could vauntingly make his Boasts when it was put home to him Why he would venture to do such things c That he had above a Thousand Persons who would stand by him in whatsoever he did Lord Chief Iustice. There was hardly ever any Book more pernicious to set us together by the Ears than this nor any thing a greater Incendiary One can hardly write a worse Says he We in the Country have done our parts in Choosing for the generality good Members to serve in Parliament but if as our Two last Parliaments were they must be Dissolved or Prorogued whenever they come to redress the Grievances of the Subject we may be pitied but not blamed If the Plot takes effect as in all probability it will our Parliaments are not then to be Condemned for that their not being suffered to Sit occasioned it So that here is a sly way of casting it upon the KING Himself And if it be not down-right Treason I am sure it is just upon the heels of it 'T is a most abominable Piece Then were called the Witnesses to prove that the Books were Sold in his Shop and after they were all Sworn first of all Mrs. Grover a Printer's Wife stood up who confessed she had half a dozen of them but not of him for he was either gone out or not in the way but she had them of his Man Then stood up one Mary Darby and she said She had four of them After her Mr. Benjamin Tooke at the Ship in St. Paul's Churchyard Bookseller was Examined who said he saw several Quires of them in the Shop And being asked by Mr. Harris How he knew they were all those Books He answered That he turned over a great many of them and found them all the same Mr. Recorder My Lord he was so mighty zealous of this Book of so great importance no doubt to his Party that for fear he should be disappointed in time he gave somewhat to hasten it Mr. Recorder Call the Printer's Man and swear him Who stood up and was sworn Mr. Recorder What did Mr. Harris give you ha Printer's Man He laid me down Six-pence Lord Chief Iustice. And what that was for hastening the Book was it not Printer's Man I cannot tell Sir not I but he gave me Six-pence Mr. Recorder And what did you do it in the Day-time was you not at it in the Night Printer's Man Yes I was upon it in the Night Mr. Recorder Ay it was a deed of darkness and so fit for Night-work Mr. Serjeant Strode My Lord If it can be made out to your Lordship and this Jury that he designed maliciously to scandalize the KING and the Government by it we must acquiesce but that my Lord he absolutely denies but seeing it running up and down the Town he gets some of them and suffers them to lie up and down in his Shop and this only as a common thing to get money so that we suppose it may not lie within the Information because it does not intentionally scandalize the KING and the Government Mr. Williams He in his Trade sold this Book and that we admit but my Lord it is a material part of the Information that it was done with a malicious design c. and we do not take it so but for the other matter we submit to it Lord Chief Iustice. Then you do admit that he did