Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	judge_n	king_n	law_n	5,155	5	5.2571	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35118	The case of swearing, at all, discussed with several objections answered, the primitive practices therein asserted out of several ancient authors : together with several presidents out of the book of martyrs : the inconveniences that follows the present practice of swearing, which might easily be prevented by a law to punish false witnesse-bearing, and lying as well as other evils : also, a word to all people that are zealous for the commands of Christ, recorded in the Scripture / by a friend of truth and righteousness, John Crook.	Crook, John, 1617-1699.	1660 (1660)	Wing C7197; ESTC R5532	23,258	32

Justice and instead of being made void as being against Justice they are incouraged and hath been Again it is the Law of England 9. Hen. 3.29 That Right and justice should neither be sold deferred nor denie● to any man c. But let those that have to do at Courts speak and bear witness whether both denying and delaying both of Law and Right be not that which they meet withall and for selling and buying of it let the great and excessive Fees which some Lawyers take for pleading speak who are in repute and as the people say if you can but retain such a man you need not fear your Cause c. Again it is the Law of England that none should be put into Office upon suit or for favour or affection but upon desert 12 Rich. 2.2 5. Edw. 6.16 The first part of Cooks Institutes page 2.34 A Law sayes Cook worthy to be written in letters of Gold But how contrary to these Statutes the present practises are let the righteous judge Further both by the Common-law and Statute law the Judges were not to hear the Plantiffs Cause if he first put not in security to answer his Adversaries damages if he complained of him wrongfully Mirror page 64. 37 Edw. 3. 18. 38 Edw. 3. 9. And he that chargeth a man with any accusation ought to put in Security to make good his accusation and the Law hath previded a punishment for him that makes not his accusation good But how contrary the present practises and proceedings of Courts are at this day let the Causes that comes into them speak Do not they issue out their Writs grounded upon divers plain and notorious lyes As that they have sent to the Sheriff of Middlesex which they have not done and that he hath returned that the Party is not within his Liberty which he hath not done but lies lurking in another County which is most commonly false the man going up and down as at other times and the Sheriff of Middlesex knowing nothing of it Again They say they have taken Pledges to prosecute viz John Doe and Richard Roe which is also a Deceipt and a Lye those being common feigned names put into all Writs and these Writs made up of so many lyes being framed by any Clerk and given forth in the chief Magistrates name is borne witness to be the Chief Justice of England is the ground and foundation of all proceedings at Law whereby the known Law of England in Cases of Debt men ought to be first summoned to appear to answer the Plantiff before they be arrested but how contrary the present proceedings are let all sober men judge Again the Law saves Mirror page 2. 49. It is an abuse of the Common-Law to appear or answer by an Attorney But the present practise is quite contrary for they have and do deny to accept of a mans Appearance in person although the words of their own Writs are so In these words So that we may have his body before us at our Court at Westminster such a day c. And it is further evidenced that the Appearing by an Attorney was first in favour and in ease of the Subject that so they might depute one for their ease as in the book De Atturnati Faciendo but now so is Justice and Judgement turned backward that that which was for the ease of the people is now made use of to maintain a trade of deceipt It is written in Cooks Reports in Richard Go frey's Case that Excessus in re qualibet jure reprobatur communi as excessive distresses excessive aids excessive ame●ciaments are against the Common-Law And how contrary the present practises is let the proceedings against the innocent people called Quakers bear witness in d vers Counties in England who have been fined more then they have been worth some it may be for not swearing and others for not respecting of mens persons but Presidents enough may be seen of their cruel Oppressions in this kinde in a book in Print called The Record of the sufferings for Tythes and in most Prisons in England examples of excessive cruelty may be found exercised upon poor innocent people because they cannot submit to pay these excessive Fines imposed on them contrary to any known Law and the practises of Ages past but such men flye to Custome when no known Law can be found and abuse the word Custome as many Justices do and have done the word Discretion neither of them warranting the practises of proud self-willed men there being Customes that are evill which ought to be abolished as sayes the Law and Cook in his Reports in Gatewards Cause sayes Custome ought to be reasonable Et excerta Causa rationab●li usitata as Littleton sayes and if every Custome should be a Law because Judges calls them so surely it may be said that King and Bishops would have been still standing in England and the word Discretion is as much abused by corrupt men they making it a Cloak to cover their deceitful Actings when they have no Law to warrant their practises But Discretion as Cook sayes is a knowledge or understanding to discern betwixt truth and falshood and between right and wrong between shadowes and substance and between equity and colourable glosses and pretences and not to do according to our wills and private affections For sayes he Talis discretio discessionem confundit and hath been adjudged in the ●a●e of Commission of Suers Discretion is to be bounded with Reason Law and Justice and so the word Custome is abus●● 〈◊〉 urged by corrupt men in opposition to the express Command of Christ Who sayes Swear not at all By these Exam●les the honest-hearted may see how contrary the p●e●en● practises of the Law is to the foundation of the Law and to that which is good being used lawfully is beco●e a dead thing execution being the Life of the Law and hereby the ●●ghteous that it is not made for is most hurt by it and the Flatterer and Evil-doer incouraged therefore their reasoning is not good who say all men ought to swear because of long time they have used to do so and continue still to do so therefore the question is not what men do practise but what men ought to practise according to a true Rule and Line For we read not that I remember among all Israels Laws that any of their Officers were made by an Oath as Judges Rulers Kings or Priests or Prophets or required to swear before they took the work or Office upon them But we read Deuter. 19.15 At the mouth of two or at the mouth of three Witnesses shall the matter be established Mark the matter was to be established without swearing For if they should have been first sworn it would have been so written it being a Command to Israel and in the case of Life and Death At the mouth of two or three Witnesses shall he that is worthy of Death be put to Death but at the mouth

of one Witness he shall not be put to Death In this case of Life and Death no Oath was used that we read of Deuter. 17.6 And if any false Witn ss did arise he and the party he witnessed against was to stand befo e the Lord and before the Priest and Judges which should be in those dayes and the Judges were to make diligent inquisition And if the Witness be a false Witness and have testified falsly against his Brother then shall ye ●o unto him as he had thought to have done unto his Brother so shall you put away the evil from among you Deut. 1916 17 18. But no swearing is mentioned and if any matter did arise too hard for them in judgement between blood and blood between plea and plea and stroak and stroak being matters of controversie within their gate they were not to swear men to finde it out neither were they to act presumptiously their own passion and wills and then cover it with saying they were Judges of the Law and they judged it so and many things being left to discretion and therefore sayes wilful men in the stoutness of thei hearts If we do what we cannot answer take your course against us And thus presumptiously do they act their own wills upon the innocent but Israel was not to do so but in cases too hard for them in judgement they were to arise and go up to the place which the Lo d God should choose and they were to come to the Priest and Levite and unto the Judges which should be in those dayes and enquire and they were to shew the Sentence of Judgement and they were to do according to the Sentence which they of the place which the Lord should choose should shew therein And thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall inform thee c. And the man that will do presumptiously and will not hearken to the Priests that stands up there to minister before the Lord thy God or unto the Judges even that man shall die and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel Deut. 17.8 9 10 11 12. This was Gods Law to Israel that the Presumptious that would not wait upon the Lord to receive a Law where there was none should be put to death Was it an offence of old to act presumptiously And is it not now a crime worthy to be taken notice of by the chief in power in these dayes Or are there none that have done presumptiously in casting innocent people into prison when they have done no offence nor broken no known Law except it is become an offence to wait upon the Lord and to pray unto him for which cause and none other the innocent have been cast into prison by the presumptious and self-willed men who when they had no Law have acted in their wills contrary to ●●w let su●h remember that by Gods Law they that would not wait upon the Lord for a Law but would act presumptiously without a Law were to be put to death Objection That by not swearing at all we are to understand by any creature and not by God the Creator for they were commanded to swear by God Thou shalt swear by the Lord as in Deut. 10. c. Answer That according to Christs own words Swear not at all without any exception as before hath been proved and is expounded in the large Bible in Quarto in the Margent on Matthew 5.37 in these words VVhatsoever you vouch vouch it barely and whatsoever you deny deny it barely without any more words for whatsoever is more then these comes of the Devil And also in the sa●e book it is said on James 5.12 That what you have to say or affirm speak or affirm it simply and without any Oath and that that you will deny deny simply and flatly And again this Objection is more fully answered in Matthew 23.21 22. VVhosoever swears by the Temple swears by it and by him that dwells therein and whosoever swears by heaven swea s by the Throne of God and him that sits thereon So that he that swears by the creature shall not be exempted by the Creator from prophaning his name for now it is said Swear not at all Again it is objected by the former Objectors who sayes all proceedings at Law depends upon swearing that if we should take every mans word when they are called to give their testimony in all cases it might be of dangerous consequence both to mens lives liberties and estates c. To which it is answered That if the same Law or a stricter were made against lying and bearing false witness in all cases as against mens swearing false swearing or for-swearing themselves and that Law t●ul and constantly executed without respect of persons it would then be of no more danger to believe a mans yea or nay to the questions that are asked him by the Magistrate whatever they be then if they had kissed the book or used any other posture with the hand or spoken never so many words his affirming or denying to the case in question being his testimony I say the truth of these mens testimonies may as easily plainly and fully be discerned and punished according to the Law in that case provided if it be false as if the had used never so many words or postures as aforesaid a d therefore mens lives liberties and estates may every way be as well secured by a Law provided to punish lying and bea ing false witness as by any Law that is made or can be made to punish swearing or false-swearing so called Again as to the present state of things because there is no Law in being as some say to punish lying therefore we must swear c. What Law is there to force men to swear or to punish those that swear falsly or against their knowledge to their Answers to Bills in Chancery and Chequor And is it not common and ordinary for men so to do If there be a Law why is it not put in execution or doth Custome make swearing falsly and against a mans knowledge no offence and a mans speaking truly without swearing an offence punishable with imprisonment Who hath given this authority to Custome Let Equity answer But of this more may be spoken afterward in its place Objection That an Oath is a solemn thing and that when people are called before a Magistrate to swear there is an awe upon them and therefore those that are wicked and Lyars c. are afraid to forswear themselves when called before a Magistrate This Objection is for what answered in the preceding Objection But further it is answered That the fear upon People when they come to swear is either the fear of God which is good or some other fear which is evill as the fear of man only and his punishment this last fear is not to be feared by those that fear the Lord Fear ye not their fear but fear him that can destroy