Franchise or Free-hold unless he be duly brought in to answer and fore-judged of the same by the Course of the Law. And 28 Edw. 3. c. 3. it is Ordain'd That no Man of what Estate or Condition soever he be shall be put out of his Lands and Tenements nor taken nor imprisoned nor dis-inherited without being brought in to Answer by due Process of Law. 42. Edw. 3.6.3 't is Decreed That no Man be put to Answer without Presentment before Justices or Matter of Record or by due Process and Writ Original according to the Old Law of the Land And if any thing be done to the contrary it shall be void in Law and holden for error Likewise in the Petition of Right 3 Car. 1. c. 1. 't is Complain'd of by the Commons as a great Grievance of the Subject That against the Tenor of the said Statutes and other the good Laws and Statutes of this Realm to that end Provided divers of His Majesties Subjects have been Imprisoned Without any Cause shewed and when for their Deliverance they were brought before Justices by His Majesties * Which by the by were not then Denied though the Laws were not half so full and express as the late Statute Writs of Habeas Corpus there to undergo and receive as the Court should Order and their Keepers Commanded to Certify the Cause of their Detainer no Cause was Certified but that they were Detained by His Majesties Special Command And 37 Edw. 3. c. 18. 't is Enacted That though it be Ordained in the Great Charter that no Man â—e Taken nor Imprisoned nor put out of his Free hold without Process of the Law nevertheless divers People make false Suggestions to the King himself as well for Malice as otherwise where the King is often Grieved and divers of the Realm put in Damage against the Term of the same Charter Wherefore it is Ordained That all they who make such Suggestions shall be sent with the same Suggestions before the Chancellor Treasurer and his Grand Council and that they find there Surety to pursue their Suggestions and incur the same Pain that the others should have had if Attainted in case that his Suggestion be found Evil. Or as it is alter'd in the following Parliament 38 Ed. 3. c. 9. It is Assented that if he that maketh the Complaint cannot prove his intent against the Defendant he shall be Commanded to Prison there to abide till he hath made gree to the Party of his Damages and of the Slander that he hath Suffer'd by such Occasion and after shall make Fine and Ransom to the King. In the Statute 16 Car. 1. c. 10. 't is Declared That the Reasons for putting down the Star-Chamber-Court was not only founded on their Proceeding contrary to former Statutes but that it was also an intollerable Burden to the Subject that the Remedies for all Causes might be had in the ordinary Courts of Justice and that it was the means for introducing Arbitrary Government I say then if the same things are Exercis'd and the Causes remain any where else they are equally to be Discountenanc'd and Explode'd by King and Parliament and all Free-born Subjects And if the King's Officers or Ministers from the Highest to the Lowest do any Illegal Act though by the King 's express Command they themselves become Criminal it cannot be suppos'd that any Officer of any Court whatever or Power inferior to His Majesties can have a greater Latitude but that whoever Executes any unlawful Command to the Prejudice of his Fellow Subject must be Answerable to the Party agriev'd and lyable to make him Satisfaction notwithstanding any Illegal Warrant whatsoever He that Considers the great Charge of One Pound Six Shillings and Eight Pence per Diem Fees to the Serjeant and his Messenger besides Diet and Lodging at Pleasure will believe no Man ought to Suffer under that Punishment but upon good Grounds and in conformity to former Laws without the Accusers giving Security for Prosecution and answering Damages if the Party prove himself Injur'd 'T is known Maxim in our Laws that Carcer it ad custodiendes non ad puniendes homines before Tryal or Conviction which was so far from being Mr. Sheridan's Case that he was Committed During Pleasure to a Chargeable Confinement without Cause Alledg'd or any Information upon Oath which is very Remarkable if we consider Noris's Case which was Voted by the same House that restrain'd Mr. Sheridan in this manner Illegal and Arbitrary because there was neither information upon Oath nor Crime Specifi'd and sure no Man can conclude the Commons may do that against a Subject which the King cannot without some Statute giving the one that Power which is Deny'd by all to the other But as the King can do no Wrong though his Officers may so I am content to admit if they Challenge the same Priviledge that the House of Commons may be always in the Right provided they allow that in the Execution of their Injunctions some of their Members and Ministers may â—â—t though the whole Body may be exempt yet thâ—se do run the hazard of being call'd to an Account I am certain 't was in order to Vindicate the Right of the Subject as well as to retrieve his own Liberty and free himself from Charge Mr. Sheridan attempted the Habeas Corpus a Motion that no doubt offended some though not the disinteressed part of the Nation nothing tending more to the advantage of the People and the opposition of Arbitrary Power at least equally to be contended against in the Commons as in the King by every free born Subject who if necessity makes him a Slave and he have the Liberty to chuse ought and must preser one Master to many And tho it was three several days debated in the House and that some were of opinion the Act was not design'd in favour of any by them Committed the contrary was so plain from the Words that it was never brought to a Vote And I am inform'd that one of the most Eminent and Deservedly Leading men of the House a Manager of my Lord Staffords Tryal Mr. P. advis'd their proceeding according to Law in a Case where the Right of the Subject was so Nicely concern'd and which was indeed or might be every English-man's in which present and future Ages were equally interessed and in which a Vote not having at all the force of a Law nor the exposition of a Statute might not only Reflect but make them Odious to all the World An advice which all the People in the Kingdom ought to acknowledge with Gratitude nothing being more certainly the true Interest of the Nation than to keep all things within their proper Bounds and Channels the King to continue to Both Houses of Parliament what the Lords have by Fundamental Constitutions alwaies enjoy'd and the Commons by their constantly renew'd Petitions have receiv'd from the Kings Favour their accustomed Right and Priviledges and neither Lords nor Commons
the Letter subscrib'd by Fitz James I do sincerely protest I have no Acquaintance with any of the Name nor ever saw the Hand before nor the intended Messenger C. who not finding me left it with the Maid-Servant But in this there is nothing Criminal As to the Computations they are a Transcript from a Paper of Sir Peter Petts containing the number of Conformists Non-conformists and Papists throughout England taken by the Bishops order in or about the time of the General Indalgence and by him produc'd presently after the Plot upon the talk that there were fifty thousand Papists able to bear Arms within Temple-Bar and about Westminster a number near double to what at the taking this survey they were found Men Women and Children in the whole Kingdom For the Copy of my Cousin Wilsons writing I confess it the only thing I endeavour'd to evade having ingenuously and without reserve answer'd all other questions That individual Paper I never saw before the preceding night when meeting it in the Drawer of my Bed-Chamber always open whether I am at home or abroad I laid it uppermost with purpose of inquiring how he came by it and whether he knew the Author but not seeing him till next day in presence of the Members sent to search my Lodgings I cou'd not ask him and was surpriz'd to have so Indiscreet and Reflective a Paper found in his hand and among mine 'T is true that about three weeks before I found another of the same Contents in an old crabbed hand to me unknown which after I had read and concluded it might possibly be left by some of my Acquaintance in their Visits and being unable to guess at the person not knowing how long it had layn there being dated above a Month before I immediately threw it into the Fire Yet in this Paper which has made so great a noise there is neither Felony nor Treason and being the Act of another and never by me publish'd having neither Sub nor Super Scription nor Writ to nor from me nor Copy'd by my order cannot I presume be a Libel nor I hope imputed to me to whom it came perfectly by Accident If it were lawfull to speak ones guesses from the Contents it shou'd seem to have come from a Learned Gentleman one of your own Members then in the Country skill'd in the Spanish Tongue to which both my Cousin and I are perfect strangers nor was either of us out of London then or for some time before If I cou'd as well hit upon the Person as his Quality I wou'd give a more satisfactory account of this matter and I hope this Honourable Assembly will the sooner credit me when they reflect that upon seeing another Paper of my Kinsmans writing I wou'd not by a Lie deny this to be his hand As for my writing to Mr. Gadbury I refer my self to the Letter in Sir William Waller's hands I have told you the accidental occasion I desir'd from him whose Acquaintance I knew large even among the Members of that Parliament the most material of publick News I neither ask'd for Schemes or Figures I have ever laugh'd at the idle and ridiculous Art of Judicial Astrology invented at least practis'd to impose upon and pick the Pockets of the Ignorant and the Credulous And now as to the Cause of my Commitment The story Dr. D. told me as News of Peter Norris his knowing as much of the Plot as any man in England his going or being gone into France to fetch a Priest to be a Witness I can only say as near as I remember I gave the same account to Mr. Secretary not as an Informer but as News for not being look'd upon as such I was not desir'd to Swear nor cou'd I to a hear-say In this I call Heaven to witness I had no Sinister design but an Honest intention of having the full Truth brought to Light Nor do I know nor have I any reason to believe that Mr. Secretary's after proceedings were from any other principle Upon my telling him the Name of Norris and his saying he had never before heard it and commanding me to send the Doctor to him or the others Description As soon as I met with the Doctor which was several days after this Discourse and he as not knowing Mr. Secretary resusing to go I desir'd from him the Description which sometime after he brought me I gave or sent to Mr. Secretary for I cannot tell whether But of this I am certain that all I knew of the Affair was from the Doctor only and that I never communicated it to any but Mr. Secretary and that by what I writ under the Description appears to be near a Month after Norris his departure and consequently cou'd not be design'd to stop his Journey or prevent the Priests coming over or obstruct the fuller discovery of the Plot which no man living desires more than my self believing it the Interest of every honest Subject and Protestant out of which number I cannot be excluded to have all in 't from the highest to the lowest punish'd according to merit and that tranquility it has so long disturb'd re-settl'd in the Kingdom And now I hope none of the Members of this Honourable House can imagine I cou'd be guilty of so Horrid a Crime as having any knowledge of the Priests being poison'd as is suspected or given out he might be I am so ignorant of this or any part of the Conspiracy that I do not so much despise as decline because not needing it the generous offer of Mr. Speaker or other Members Intercession for my Pardon Lacknowledge as I ought the Favour with all fitting respect but I thank God I am so Innocent that I dare as now I do challenge the whole World to make out one partisular where in Word or Action in the whole course of my life I have done or spoken falsly or unjustly and yet no man ever suffer'd more Calumnies without any cause or the least shadow of Truth beyond the witty malice of those whose Eyes are blinded and Consciences sear'd by Envy and Intetest who from pretended Friends are become my real Adversaries contrary to Reason and Justice But surther none can believe I cou'd keep any dangerous Correspondence when it s well known that for these three years and a half all my Letters were no otherwise Directed than for me at the Reyal Coffee-house Besides it appear'd at the Committee by Norris his own Papers that this Priest Dowdall whose Name I never heard before died september laft was twelve month eight months before I heard there was such a man in the World as Norris and at a time when I was in another Country And since you have thought fit to acquit Dr. D. who was my Author and Principal and who own'd himself a Roman Catholick I hope you will not think it equal that I a known sincere Protestant and but an Accessary should stand Committed and Committed after such
to Entrench upon or offer violation to any of their Soveraigns Prerogatives which as the great Coke sayes are as much the Peoples Safety as the Kings Honour And indeed it were highly preposterous that the King who is the Fountain Spring and Head of Law and Justice should be concluded by this act and the Commons should not who are the Lowest part in the Legislative Power and who have no manner of pretence to Judicature nor by Original Right even their own Members as is consonant to Reason being all equal and as such having no more Power over one another than Hartford-shire has over Essex or Oxford over Cambridge agreeable to that known Maxim in our own and the Laws of all Nations Paribus in pares non datur potestas It plainly appears that the Punishments of breach of Priviledge against any of the Commons was order'd upon their applications by the King or Lords and never any by themselves inflicted before the latter end of King Henry the Eighth's Reign when the case of Ferrers because extraordinary was referr'd to 'um by the Lords as you will see in Cromptâ—n's Jurisdiction of Courts And at this day 't is certain the Commons can force none into the custody of their Serjeant but in the case of Refractory Persons are under a necessity of begging the Kings assistance as is plain not only from Mr. Stowel's refulal to go along with their Messenger but likewise from their printed Votes of the 8th of this instant January concerning Sir John Lloyd c. However since concession or continued usage have given them Power over their own Members or over others guilty of Breach of Priviledge let them in Gods name enjoy it still but let them not Vote any thing they please a Breach of Priviledge since they are known and no other than what they ask at the beginning of every Parliament from the King's Grace and are recorded as first beg'd in Henry the Eighth's days by Sir Thomus Moor then Speaker To act otherwise is to set up an Arbitrary Power never to be endur'd by any English Man unless the most despicable of Cowards and Betrayers of his Country-Liberties For as the Commons are the Representatives of the Nation so they are chosen to defend not invade their own when out of that station as well as the Peoples Priviledges While this Process was on foot Mr. Sheridan had many Addresses and Advices to Petition a second time which he not only refus'd before at the Serjeants instance but after also at that of others and that you may be fully satisfi'd of this Truth read the following Letter on this occasion to one of the Members Sir R. C. SIR HAving been inform'd first by the Serjeant of Your House and after by my old Acquaintance Mr. Fermin of your Favour towards me I cannot without Ingratitude but return you my hearty and humble Acknowledgment for so great an Obligation But having formerly petition'd with great deference and respect to the Honourable House of Commons otherwise against my own judgment and reason and that not being read having no new matter to offer I will not give you the trouble of a second I am apt to think when any Cause is examin'd it will be found amongst the hardest Dr. D. a confest Papist and Author of the Story being discharged without Fees or Petition in two days and I a known Protestant kept Prisoner twenty five tho both committed for one and the same Cause or rather no Cause none being mention'd in the Warrant and for eight of those days kept closer than a Felon or a Traytor Had my first been dislik'd for matter of form I might have preferr'd another which now I think wou'd not be proper Besides my own sufferings my Cosen likewise taken into Custody for Copying a Paper containing no Criminal tho Reflective matter as a Breach of Priviledge because 〈◊〉 Member mention'd and yet four days after a Committee appointed to examine whether or no it was his Writing I hope Sir when these things and the Reflections unjustly thrown upon me are fully consider'd I shall have my liberty for which I will own my self oblig'd to you and on all occasions study to approve any self what I really am SIR Your most humble and very much oblig'd Servant T. S. I have industriously avoided in this Narrative the overtures I have heard were made Mr. S. because not to be mention'd without Reflection on one side or too much Honour on his T is enough that he resisted all manner of Temptations that cou'd betray or discover a Propension to dishonesty or cowardize and that as he had spoken and given it under his hand so he wou'd make his Actions justifie his words that he wou'd by all possible means promote the good and service of his King and Country without making Shipwrack of a good Conscience and that Reputation which though clouded for the present he neither cou'd nor wou'd forfeit I will add no more than to English what a wise French man in such an occasion has Recorded Si vous jegez surles apparences vous seriz souvent trompet Ce qui paeroist n'est presque jamais la verite If you wiâ— not be deceiv'd judge not according to Appearance but judge Righteous judgment He that has liv'd any time in the World ought in passing his Censure upon others to consider whether he himself has never been traduc'd or heard groundless stories if he have not he has had extraordinary good fortune if he have he ought to be very slow in giving credit to Reports which are sometimes rais'd upon very little and ofter without any grounds This has been notoriously Mr. S's Case no man was ever more loudly clamour'd against nor more without cause as appears in that after al scrutinies he is found Innocent insomuch that one may well say Here has been not onely a Great Cry and a Little but no Wool abundance oâ— Smoak without any Fire Though his envious Adversaries will have it that his Cunning only protected him I do not doubt but you will believe the contrary knowing from many years intimate Acquaintance no man is more free and open has less of craft or sebtilty and considering his ten pennone has more cause to study to preserve from danger the simplicity oâ— the Dove by the Wisdome of the Serpent A Caution if ever useful aâ— this time more particulary necessarly Through his Sides 't is well known a very great Person was shot at who perhaps will be found Invulnerable Dog Bark at the Moon in vain Some Spots there may be in that Great and Glorious Body but â—oâ— such as can render it useless or in significant to any man of Sence or Reason Conclude then of all men by your own experience and not upon the Relation of either Friends or Enemles the first are not more Partial then the last malicious I should play the Fool extreamly if I give you Advice who of all the World has the least need of any and therefore not having design'd this to you without begging your Pardon I will take the Liberty without further Apology abruptly to Subscribe my self what I truly am My Lord 〈◊〉 Your Grace's with all imaginable Respect and Sincerity L. C. London January the 20â—â— 1680 / 1. FINIS