Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	court_n	defendant_n	plaintiff_n	3,417	5	10.5128	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49528	A defence of the rights and priviledges of the University of Oxford containing, 1. An answer to the petition of the city of Oxford. 1649. : 2. The case of the University of Oxford, presented to the Honourable House of Commons, Jan. 24. 1689/90.	University of Oxford.; Harrington, James, 1664-1693. Case of the University of Oxford.; Langbaine, Gerard, 1609-1658. Answer to the petition of the city of Oxford.	1690 (1690)	Wing L366; ESTC R9958	36,771	63

City and to authorize Forraigners to exercise any trade there as Fully as a Freeman of the City and that albeit such Forraigner never served as an Apprentice 15. In case the City punisheth any irregular Freeman for misdemeanor or make any By-law for regulating of such misdemeanor they presently become servant to some Master of Arts or else to be an under Gardner to some Colledge or Hall and thereby exercise their Trades in contempt of the City and their By-laws and refuse to pay any payments with the City except such as shall be warrantable under the Seal of the University April 30. 1649. A Particular of the Grievances of the City of Oxon against the University of Oxon together with the reasons thereof exhibited unto the Honourable Committee for the regulating the said University according to the directions of an Order of the said Committee of the 26. of this instant April 1649. 1. Grievance THat Scholars and Priviledged persons draw Townsmen in suit to the Vice-chancellors Court for any matters whatsoever except Mayhem Felony and Freehold as well in cases where they are Plaintiffs as where they are Defendants in which particulars the Citizens conceive they have just cause of complaint for diverse reasons First for that by the ancient Charter of Hen. 1. Hen. 2. Edw. 3. and divers other subsequent Charters confirmed by act of Parliament and allowed by Justices in Eyre and in the Courts at Westminster they ought not to be impleaded out of their own Court but to have their tryal in their own Court according to the Customes and usages of London for that they are by their Charters to enjoy the same liberties and customs and the Perquisites and Profits of their Court are parcel of their Fee-farme which would be left or at leastwise lessened in case that their suits and tryals should be in the Chancellors Court as well where a priviledged person is Plaintiffe as Defendant there being at this present near about a third part of the Housholders within the City priviledged by the University as is conceived Secondly for that the proceedings in the University Court are by citation Viis modis Libell Excommunication and the like and the sentences of the Chancellor or his Vice-chancellor or Commissary not confined or tyed to any certain Law either Civil Canon or Common Law But either according to any of these or according to the Customes and Statutes of the University heretofore used or hereafter to be ordeined or according to his and their best discretion notwithstanding any Statute whatsoever either made or to be made against whose sentence be the same just or unjust there is no remedy either by removing the cause to any of the Courts of Westminster either of Law or equity or otherwise than before themselves Thirdly for that diverse Citizens have commenced several suits in that Court both for just debts due unto them by bond as also for insufferable injuries committed against them by priviledged men after long and tedious suits of 3 or 4 years standing and much expence have been destitute of any redress there at all Fourthly for that as the Citizens conceive that Court and the order and manner of their proceedings consisteth not with the present Constitution of the Commonwealth or the Liberty of the People this particular not only concerning the Citizens of Oxon but all others who shall have any commerce or dealing with a Scholar or a Priviledged Person 2. Griev The University claimeth a power to imprison and to impose a mulct of 40 s. upon any Citizen being out of his house after nine a clock at night without such reasonable cause as the Proctors or Vice-chancellor shall allow of the Proctor having the benefit of the mulct and this hath been exercised not only upon private Citizens but upon the publique Magistrates and Officers of the City as Bailiffes Constables and the like being in the execution of their offices to preserve the peace to pursue Hue and Cries to keep watch and ward Convey offenders to prison by vertue of the Justice of peace warrants to prevent escapes from the Goal whereof the Bailiffes have the charge and the like which the Citizens conceive to be a great Grievance contrary to the great Charter and other Laws to their Native and just liberties the rather for that the five Aldermen and eight Assistants of the City besides what the Law of the Land require are by their Ancient Charters and by their Oathes bound to search for and apprehend Malefactors within the City as well by night as by day Nevertheless the said Citizens can desire no less but that if the Maior or any Officer of the City find any priviledged person disorderly and irregular they may have power and liberty to secure them until they may be sent to the Vice-chancellor or Proctor and they to deal in like manner with the Citizens But that the University should impose such a mulct and inflict imprisonment for Non-payment upon a Citizen that is abroad after such a time about his lawful occasions and to make the Proctor judge in his own cause whether it was a lawful occasion or not he being to have the 40 s. And for a civil man to goe to the Vice-chancellor for leave to be out of his house after nine of the clock or not to stirr abroad before 4 of the clock in the morning is conceived by us to be a greater tyranny than is fit for any freeman to beare 3. Griev That the University have heretofore restrained all Bakers and Brewers within the precincts of the City and Suburbs thereof to bake or brew within the City except they first take Licence from the University for which they challenge 17 s. 8 d and also enforceth them to take an Oath to observe such assize as the Vice-chancellor from time to time shall appoint the which the Citizens conceive to be a Grievance and a burthen both in respect of the mony extorted from them there being no such summ of mony due by the Laws of this Land for such licence as also for that they conceive it most proper and peculiar for the City to set up and order Trades within the City where they served as Apprentice and for other reasons hereafter mentioned in the Grievance concerning Trades being contrary to the Liberty of the People and a priviledge no waies suitable or proper as the Citizens conceive for Scholars to pretend unto 4. Griev The Vice-chancellor heretofore hath by power pulled down some Citizens houses of habitation for which there as yet hath no satisfaction been made either to the Tenant or Tenants in possession or to the Citizens who had the inheritance thereof As namely in particular the house of one Tredwell then worth 10 l. per annum and the house of one Master Chambers worth 6 l. per annum for which it is conceived the University ought to make satisfaction both to the Tenants and the City 5. Gr. The Citizens conceive it to

2. That the number of poor People both now and heretofore abounding in the City is very much occasioned by the Petitioners illegal erecting of multitudes of Cottages upon the Town wall and Ditch which they rent out to such poor people and thereby much enhance their own Revenues to the prejudice and impoverishing of the University by whose Free and charitable contributions those poor are exceedingly relieved and maintained 3. That if all the Charitable donations given to maintain the Poor of Oxford by several Members of the Vniversity were rightly imployed by the Petitioners to that end for which they were given they could not want a convenient stock wherewithall to set them on work as we conceive 4. That the improvement desired by the inclosure of Portmead would not be only to the prejudice of the right of several Colleges and their Tenants in respect of their said right of Common therein but to the general impoverishment of the poor inhabitants of the City who claim and use a like right of Common in the said ground which hath been and is a great support to them and therefore when the like design of enclosure hath heretofore been attempted by the richer Citizens it has been mainly opposed and hindred by the poor inhabitants of Oxon and so we conceive they do oppose it at present And it is to be considered that the piece of ground which they desire to enclose containes by estimation eight hundred Acres of rich Meadow 5. If the City have the inheritance of Port-meadow and that it shall be thought fit to give way to such an inclosure as is desired for the ends by them proposed the University will not oppose so as their interest in the disposing and the right of the Colleges and their respective Tenants be preserved or a valuable consideration given them in recompence of their said Common in the said Meadow To the first Article of the Cities pretended Grievances 1. WE answer and say That the University hath time out of mind and are warranted so to do by divers Charters confirmed by Act of Parliament exercised Power and Iurisdiction in all causes mentioned in this Article whereof or wherein a Priviledged person is one party 2. We do claim Allowance of our Priviledge for such Persons justly priviledged as the Chancellor shall under the Common seal certifie to any Court to be so priviledged and we have had it without the formalitie or charge of long Pleading paying only a fee for the allowance of the Certificat 3. We have ever proceeded according to the course of the Civil Lawes and after witnesses have been openly produced in Court and sworne their examinations are taken in writing by the Judge and Register and then published that all parties may have Copies of them according to the course of the Civil Law the High Court of Chancery and the Admiralty 4. We do not Proceed in an Ecclesiastical way but in causes Ecclesiastical 5. Sometimes heretofore we have used the censure of Excommunication against our own Members at the instance and for the benefit of the Citizens but not so these fifteen or sixteen years and that course being now in effect abolished by Act of Parliament it cannot be matter of present or future Grievance to the Petitioners 6. We do use Summons or Citations at first before we grant out an Arrest against persons of quality and such as are likely to abide and continue within the jurisdiction But against Strangers that have no abiding there and against such as are like to fly we do grant Arrests without any previous Citation 7. That our Sentences are as the Petitioners untruly suggest meerly arbitrary and grounded upon no Law but at the will of the Iudge we deny for in his Sentences the Judge followes the Justice and Equity of the Civil Law and Common Law and the Statutes of the Land against which he cannot nor does not judge 8. If the Judge be thought to have judged erroniously or unjustly Writs of Error are not brought to our Court because the manner of proceedings there are not as at the Common Law but the party grieved may either appeal or complaine of a nullity and have redress And if it be appealed in the University there are there appointed yearly four or five Doctors and some Masters from the Congregation and Convocation to hear the complaint and from their judgments there lies an Appeal to the Supream Power in Chancery where the Judges of the Land and other learned Lawyers both Common and Civil have usually been nominated Judges Delegates as in the Admiralty and Prerogative Court To the Third The University does claim the Night-walke and by Custome confirmed by Act of Parliament hath exercised the same time beyond the memory of man and that if any man be found by the Proctors abroad in the night without a reasonable cause by the same Custome he is liable to pay forty shillings for his Noctivagation and this extends as well to Townsmen as Scholars or Strangers But for barely being abroad about a mans own private or any other publique occasions such as are specified in this Article we absolutely deny 2. We further affirme that if any man be taken in the Night he may put in Bayl and shew a reasonable cause of such his being abroad the next day or as soon as he can and upon his so doing he is to be dismissed without any payment 3. If any Proctor have at any time transgressed the just bounds of their power the University does not avow them in it the party grieved may take his course against him To the Fourth The University time out of minde hath used the sole power of admitting or Licensing Common Brewers To the Fifth The University never did challenge or exercise any such power as is mentioned in this Article To the Sixth The University doth not take upon them to Discommon any man at pleasure but only upon very great cause and wrong to the University after monition and due proceedings and that by common consent in Convocation To the Seventh The University by several Charters confirmed by Act of Parliament does require an Oath of the Maior and sixty two Citizens to maintain their lawful Priviledges and so it is expressed in the Oath To the Eighth The University doth challenge by Agreement and Indenture under the common Seal of the Town-Corporation the Offering of sixty three pence yearly by the Maior and sixty two Burgesses But without any relation to the High-Altar or Mass or the Souls of so many persons slain To the Ninth The University by Custome confirmed by Act of Parliament does claime a power to make By-Lawes for the good government of the University and the Peace of the Place in such things as belong solely to the jurisdiction of the University whereby the Townsmen as well as others are obliged in order to the peace and good government of the University But in things that belong to the government of the City we meddle

upon Bond and though his debt and Bond were well proved or ready to be proved by sufficient witnesses and no defect in his Councel or Atturney nor any disability in the Defendants yet could he not get his mony in that Court after a long and tedious suit neer two years and much expence Yet is not the Court to be blamed but the dilatorie cunning of the Defendants and we cannot think it reasonable to charge the faylings of men or other intervening casualties upon the Law or the Court either theirs or ours the due proceedings of which later are in themselves as compendious as of any other ordinary Court whatsoever To the Fourth and last Reason We answer 1. That such Courts as ours have been found by long experience to consist very well with the most flourishing Commonwealths that ever were or are in the world and with the liberty of those people who had or have no other order or manner of proceedings in their Courts then such as is objected to ours 2. That as we humbly conceive the wisdom of this State in former ages thought it fit that our Ancestors should use the practise of the Civil Laws in our Court the better to train up young Students in the knowledge of them that they might thereby be made more serviceable to the Commonwealth in affairs at home and abroad 3. That our University Court is of such antiquity that the Common Law-Books and some very ancient take frequent notice of it the proceedings thereof being always allowed by the Common-Law And the Lord Chief Justice Cook in his Book Of the Iurisdiction of Courts in England lately published by authority of the Honourable House of Commons makes honourable mention of the Courts in both the Universities 4. That if the Citizens be Plaintiffes as most commonly they are besides the expedition which they may find there they may have the benefit of the Defendants Oath to ease them in their proof They may have good sureties put into Court not only to bring in the Defendants but also to pay the Iudgment and Costs of Suit they may arrest not only the Body of any Priviledged person but also his goods debts and things in Action 5. That though this particular if it were a grievance does not only concern the Citizens of Oxon but all others who shall have any commerce or dealing with Scholars or Priviledged persons yet have no others complained of our Court and the Petitioners of all others have least cause 6. That we do not challenge or exercise any other jurisdiction over the Petitioners or others in the University Court than the Citizens of Oxon themselves and all or most other Cities and Boroughs in England do claim and daily practice without contradiction over all other free-born people of the Land to wit to Arrest and compel them to answer in their respective Courts if they can be there legally attached to Answer 7. That we do not claim or exercise any greater or other Priviledge in this particular than as we conceive is granted to and used by other Universities in Europe as well as ours to wit to sue and be sued before their own Judge a Priviledge indulged to them and us in favor of Learning that Scholars may not be called abroad to answer Suits to the great neglect of their studies and expence of their time and mony 8. That in mixt Suits where one party is of the Priviledge of the University and the other of the City since it cannot be otherwise but such Causes must be heard and determined either in our Court or the Town Court or both must be subject to a forreign jurisdiction which would be equally repugnant to the Priviledges of both Bodies no way advantagious unto them and extreamly inconvenient for us we cannot but conceive it more consonant to justice and withal more convenient that the Priviledge of the Vniversity should herein take place of theirs 1. Because this Priviledge has been anciently granted to us and we have been many hundred years in possession of it and it is also confirmed unto us by Act of Parliament 2. Because the Judges in the University Court having no interest in the particular Suits brought before them cannot be thought other then indifferent Whereas if Scholars should be Sued in the Town Court where the Maior and Bayliffs Judges and Jury are all Tradesmen it is very much to be feared it would go hard with the poor Scholars 3. Because as we humbly conceive the University is still as it has alwaies been reputed the more noble Corporation more Serviceable in the publick and in which the whole Nation has a greater interest than in the City or Citizens who for the most part are beholding to the University for much of their livelyhood and subsistence as themselves in the fifth Article do imply whereas we have no dependence upon them but only wares for our mony at dear rates 4. Lastly Because as we likewise conceive if the Petitioners should prove so unfortunately successful in their desires to obtain the liberty of Suing Scholars in their Town-Court it would prove in the end very prejudical to themselves for besides that it would minister occasions of discontent and continual quarrels betwixt the Bodies it would deter Scholars from having any dealing or commerce with their new Judges the Citizens II. To the Reasons of their second Grievance made up with divers specious instances to cast aspersions upon the Universities Right and Priviledge of the Night-walk We answer 1. That the Right and Custome is so ancient so strengthned by confirmation of Parliament and the benefit thereof so great to all inhabitants by the careful practice and exercise of it and the continuance of it so absolutely necessary for the good government of the University especially for securing younger Scholars against the many temptations to lewdness and loosness which they ordinarily are exposed to by means of such Townsmen as make their own advantage out of the others luxury and deboystness that no man of any civil conversation Stranger Sojourner Citizen or other hath ever expressed the least reluctancy against it As for such disorderly walkers who are of a contrary disposition it is used only to reduce them to civility and the Proctors exercise the like power over them which the Constables and Magistrates in other places are allowed by the Laws of the Land to preserve the quiet of the place and to punish the misdemeanors of such as are disorderly 2. We do not know that any Proctors ever exercised such power over the Publick Magistrates of the City in the due execution of their offices as is charged in this Article Or if any did the parties grieved might have their remedy against them the University does not claim any such power 3. We answer and deny that the City have any such ancient Charters concerning five Aldermen and eight assistants of the City as is pretended in this Article 4. We likewise deny that in the