Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	call_v	good_a	law_n	1,457	5	4.4596	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76102	A brief narration of the examination of Geo. Bateman, vpon five articles in a charge laid against him by Henry Eddan and others. With the sentence of the bench in ordering him to be committed to the jayl the last general sessions of peace, holden in the city of Durham, the 5th of April, 1654. Divers honest people being present, who can witness with the truth of what is here declared. The which sentence let the world judge, whether just or unjust.	Baiteman, George.	1654 (1654)	Wing B1096; Thomason E735_7; ESTC R206967	17,690	22

plainly proved and herein I prove him to be a murderer in stating lies in my Charge the which he thought to be contained within the Act against blasphemy that thereby he might take away my life And further when nothing could prevail of what he had falsly charged upon me yet gave consent to put me in prison without any Law but onely the Law of Will let him not turn his eyes from his own dealings for he is caught in his own snares and without repentance let him make ready to receive his reward the which is due to him for his work and let him own his portion amongst those set down in Rev. 21.8 amongst which liers and murderers are stated Now I proceed to speak a word in generall to all the Justices who were the cause of my committing to prison Sirs you who have been the cause of inclosing my body within the stony walls of the prison-house of the City of Durham to you I speak and do truly own Magistracy as an excellent ordinance of God and the persons in that place ought to resemble God in the true executing of Justice in punishing the evil and in shewing mercy to the good and for the delivering the oppressed from the hands of the cruel and bloody man is it so with you then will your deeds make the same manifest but for my part I must tell you whether you will see or no that I have found to the contrary and have cause to cry for true Justice and right Iudgement but long may cry to you before I shall attain it I much doubt seeing your own will is the Law you have Judged me by it is not unknown to you I hope how oft I desired in open Sessions to be tryed by the known Laws of the Land in any thing you could object against me or in what mine accusers could truly charge upon me the which you would so oft have turned into blasphemy and yet could shew no law against me for any such offence nor for any other breach of Law either of God or of the Nation yet your wicked wills were so bent against me that instead of setting me at liberty you sought all occasions to increase my bonds and when you could find no just occasion in me rather then the bent of your own wills should be frustrate you would institute new Laws to Judge me by as may appear by these things you have charged upon me in open Sessions for which things you have committed me to bonds the which will truly be made apparent the like hath not been done in any Christian Kingdom where there hath been known Laws to Judge men by are you offended at me for saying if you had no more knowledge in the Law then in Divinity that you were not fit for your places How can you turn your eyes from the truth here of seeing you have laid your selves open to the view of understanding men in not understanding the very letter of Scripture much more will your ignorance appear in Divinity which is chiefly included in the mysteries in Scripture How can you say that you have read the Scriptures and yet be so ignorant in understanding this plain thing which I affirm by Scripture viz. That if you will maintain Christ to have a corporeal body of flesh blood and bone in heaven that I will maintain horses to be in heaven also Ignorant men for so I cannot chuse but call you where would you be or what is it that you would be at or what would you make of this if you vvere to be the onely Judges of this thing Surely blasphemy on my part but great honour to Christ on your part I pray you if you vvould be honoured your selves or if you think you honour God in vvhat you maintain let me have part vvith you for vvhat I affirm is as true as vvhat you affirm if Scripture may be Iudge neither doth vvhat I affirm in the least make void vvhat you affirm though your ignorance cannot apprehend it and if vvhat I affirm be blasphemy yours is no less therefore you must take part of the punishment vvith me or else both parties are vvronged I need not much trouble my self vvith proving you to be ignorant in Divinity for this very thing it self vvhich you have charged upon me will make manifest what your knowledge is when the thing comes to be laid open before men of wisdom And think you not that I have broken a great part of the Law of the Land in that other thing you have charged upon me viz. That when I could not obtain so much Right of you who were Justices of a longer standing as to be Judged by the known Laws of the Nation sure you think when I demanded the same of those who were of a latter being and yet could not obtain it that I had committed a great transgression against the Law or else you would never have been so mad as to Imprison me for it and keep me in bonds until the Iudge of the Assizes should hang me for it and I am sure if the Iudge have not more wisdom and descretion in judging of my cause then you had when you committed me for the cause I am sure enough to lose my life for it but I hope to see the thing better cleared Sirs Consider where you are and what you have done to me for if he that executeth justice without mercy shall be judged himself without mercy how much more judgement will you have for Judging me without either mercy or true Justice Let not your pride and malice blinde your eyes nor let not flatterers deceive you in making you do things contrary to Law for the most high will finde you out one day who will judge rightly both of you and me for he knoweth all the secret turnings and windings in your hearts though you may hide them from men and do not think it a great honor to you when you see some of your poor fellow-creatures stand trembling before you and not knowing how to speak for fear of offending you or for being catched in their words Neither think it any contempt or dishonour to you when men stand boldly before you and when they be able to speak to you things that are right and no offence to the Laws of God or man and have a care as you call such things misbehaviour and evil carriage and commit them to prison for such things as you have done me the which I hope to bear or what ever beside injustice can inflict upon me for so long as I know my cause to be good I will maintain it against you all and if you take away my life for so doing I cannot fear the face of any of you and never shall I desire any favour at any of your hands but what the Law it self will afford me and wherein I am found guilty do not spare me for I assure you where I finde you as you ought not to be when I have to deal with you I shall hardly keep silence except you sew up my lips and cut off my hands I at present say no more to you but hereafter its possible you will hear more of me if occasion serve By me Geo. Bateman Prisoner for the truth as it is in Jesus Durham-Goal the 7th of Apr. 1654. FINIS

forgive them but I have digressed a little But now to come to speak a little more of Henry Eddan and Richard Raw. I find them now in Authority being made Justices in the County of Durham I wish they may do good in their places and this I will say for them that if they be but as well fitted in parts and as vvell acquainted and read in the Lavvs of the Land as they are fitted vvith the persecuting Principles all the other Justices may give them the right hand of fellowship Now Reader by this time thou mayest understand that those who were mine accusers are now become my Judges also mayest thou not think that here would be a goodly piece of Justice acted But to let that pass a while I will truly inform thee with the particulars charged upon me in their information there being five Articles in all and three of them wrong stated and one of them a very false Article not so much as ever either spoken or written by me and another of them was right stated and that I owned but what they were and as they were stated I give thee the true Copy thereof as followeth The first Article That I called the Ministers of the Gospel unsent Priests For proof hereof they quoted the first page of my book which they called by the name of a seditious book The second Article Which they quoted out of the second page of the same book Was that I most wickedly said that who so lendeth a hand to pull them down shall be accounted happy and shall receive a reward of God for their work And the third Article they quoted out of the 37. page of the same book where they say I positively speak against the observance of the Lords day and saith it is not by Divine institution but the precepts of Priests And the fourth Article was That I was heard in publick to speak against the Ascention of the glorified body of the Lord Jesus And the fift Article was That deridingly I asked the question whether he was seen to ride on horse back or go on foot to heaven These were the things laid against me most falsly as thou shalt see in my answering all the particulars in open Sessions the day and year beforesaid there being upon the Bench at that time to be my Judges Sir George Vane Justice Mr. Leddal Justice Mr. VVhitingam Justice Mr. Hallyman Justice Mr. Dailles Maior of the City of Durham Justice Mr. Raw the one of mine accusers Justice Mr. Eddan the other of mine accusers Justice seven in all But before I proceed take notice of this viz. I was attending the Court in the forenoon that day but was not to be called untill the afternoon but when the Justices rose to dinner they gave me a charge to attend the Court at two of the clock the which I was willing to observe Now in the forenoon Justice VVren and Justice Dolnell and Justice Clavering sat upon the Bench with the other seven but in the afternoon they withdrew themselves from the other and would not appear to be Judges against me the reason as I conceive was because they understood my cause better then the other and might see that what was charged upon me in case all had been true was out of the compass of any known Law in England and so their wisdom might cause them to withdraw But now to proceed I will give thee a true Relation of things as they were carried on in the afternoon between the seven Justices and me At two of the clock I attended the Court and my Information was presented to the Bench by the Clerk of the Peace the which they read amongst themselves and what debate they had about it they know best for it was secret and they paused upon it about half an hour and if I may guess at their thoughts by their outward appearances I believe they were at a stand what to do with it insomuch that some judged they would have passed it by if they could have shut themselves of it without being notice taken of for I do believe they knew well enough the Law of the Nation could not take hold on me for any thing therein contained and to Judge me by the Law of their own wills was a thing to be taken notice of thus they paused till at last Justice Eddan mine accuser and my Judge stepped nearer the other Justices and whispered something in their ears what it was themselves best know but this I say Truth seeketh no corners neither feareth who hear or see it but after that whispering the Bench gave order to the Clerk of the Peace to call me and let me hear my information read and so it was and I commanded to stand up and give answer to my charge the which I did immediatly without any fear or dread my spirit being carried up above its wonted condition and having no guilt at all upon my conscience being I knew who was my guide both to write that book and likewise enabled me with courage to answer in the defence thereof by which my very countenance which was smiling did plainly manifest my spirit was above the reach of the malice of men the which thou shalt see presently what my Judges censured thereupon and what Judgement they passed upon me for it My charge being read I desired to know who were mine accusers so the Bench ordered the Clerk of the Peace to read the names of mine accusers where Justice Eddan was found chief who had informed the Grand Jury with these things and they poor men not able to judge of these things took all for good and so presented the same to the Justices but I do not question the Grand Jury for the breach of their oath in this thing because ignorance blindeth men and malice maketh them oft-times do things which they may be forry for afterwards and for my part I wish God may pass by them for any thing done to me for I do freely forgive them Then Justice Vane spake to me and asked me if I would own what was in my charge To which I answered What is truly stated therein I own but what is falf I will not own it he asked me what I owned in it I answered if they were pleased to examine me upon every particular they should know and withall I propounded these things to them and said Gentlemen I desire to know of you whether you have called me before you this day for matter of disputation or to be Judged by the known Laws of the Land or by the Law of your own wills if it be to dispute any thing rightly stated in my charge or in my book I am willing to answer you or if I have offended against any known Law I am willing to submit to the penalty of such Laws as I have transgressed onely let not your own wills be Law Then answered Justice Vane and said we have not called thee to dispute nor to