Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	king_n	law_n	matter_n	2,824	5	5.6347	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38972	The examination and tryall of Margaret Fell and George Fox (at the severall assizes held at Lancaster the 14th and 16th days of the first moneth, 1663, and the 29th of the 6th moneth, 1664) for their obedience to Christs command who saith, swear not at all also something in answer to Bishop Lancelot Andrews sermon concerning swearing.	Fox, Margaret Askew Fell, 1614-1702.; Fox, George, 1624-1691.	1664 (1664)	Wing E3710; ESTC R20823	23,490	38

against me except I be a trangressour the law is made for the lawless and trangressours and except I be a transgressour ye have no law against me neither ought you to have indicted me for being that the Church-Wardens did inform my question is what matter of fact they did inform of for I was sent for from my own house from amongst my Children and Family when I was about my outward occasions when I was in no meeting neither was it a meeting day therefore I desire to know what this first foundation or matter of Fact was for there is no law against the innocent and righteous and if I be a transgressour let me know wherein Judge You say well the Law is made for transgressours but Mistress do you go to Church M. F. I do go to Church Judge what Church M. F. To the Church of Christ. Judge But do you go to Church amongst other people ye know what I mean M. F. What dost thou call a Church the house or the people the house ye all know is Wood and Stone but if thou call the people a Church to that I shall answer as for the Church of England that now is I was gathered unto the Lords truth unto which I now stand a witness before this Church was a Church I was separated from the general worship of the Nation when there was another set up then that which is now and was persecuted by that power that then was and suffered much hardship and would you have us now to deny our faith and our principles which we have suffered for so many years and would you now have us to turn from that which we have born witness of so many years and turn to your Church contrary to our Conscience Judge We spend time about those things come to the matter in hand what say ye to the Oath and to the indictment M. F. I say this to the Oath as I have said in this place before now Christ Jesus hath commanded me not to swear at all and that is the only cause and no other the righteous judge of heaven and earth knoweth before whose throne and justice ye must all appear one day and his eyes sees us all and beholds us all at this present and he hears and sees all our words and actions and therefore every one ought to be serious for the place of judgment is weighty and this I do testisie unto you here where the Lords eye beholds us all that for the matter or substance of the Oath and the end for which it was intended I do own one part and denies the other that is to say I do own truth and faithfulness and obedrence to the King and all his just and lawful demands and commands I do also deny all plotting contrivings against the King and all Popish Supremacy and Conspiracy and I can no more transgress against King Charles in these things then I can disobey Christ Jesus his commands and by the same power and vertue of the same word which hath commanded me not to swear at all the same doth bind me in my Conscience that I can neither plot nor contrive against the King nor do him nor no man upon the earth any wrong and I do not deny this Oath only because it is the Oath of Allegiance but I deny it because it is an Oath because Christ Jesus hath said I shall not swear at all neither by heaven nor by earth nor any other Oath and if I might gain the whole world for swearing an Oath I could not and what ever I have to lose this day for not swearing of an Oath I am willing to offer it up Judge What say you to the indictment M. F. What should I say I am clear and innocent of the wronging any man upon the earth as my little Child that stands by me here and if any here have any thing to lay to my Charge let them come down and testifie it here before ye all and if I be clear and innocent you have no law against me Then Colonel Kirby and the Sheriff whispered to the Judge and I looked up and spoke to Colonel Kirby and said let us have no whispering I will not have so many Judges one of one side and another of another here is one Judge that is to be judge and the judge said no no I will not hear them and then I calsed to Colonel Kirby and said if thou have any thing to lay to my charge or to speak against me come come down here and testifie against me and I said the judge represents the Kings person and his power and I own that Judge Jury take notice she doth not take the Oath M. F. This matter is weighty to me whatsoever it is to you upon many accounts and I would have the Jury to take notice of it and to consider seriously what they are going to do for I stand here before you upon the account of the loss of my Liberty and my Estate Secondly I stand here in obeying Christs commands and so keeping my Conscience clear which if I obey this law and King Charles commands I defile my Conscience and transgresseth against Christ Jesus who is the king of my Conscience and the cause and controversie in this matter that you all are here to judge of this day is betwixt Christ Jesus and King Charles and I am his servant and witness this day and this is his cause and whatsoever I suffer it is for him and so let him plead my cause when he pleafeth And the Judge said to the Jury are ye all agreed have ye found it and they said for the King M. F. Then spoke to the Judge and said I have counsel to plead to my indictment and he said he would clear them afterward in arrest of judgment so the Court broke up that time and after Dinner when they came again they intended to have called us at the first and they had called G. F. out and was calling of me and I stepped up to the Bar and desired the Judge that he would give us time till the next morning to bring in our Reast of Judgment and the Judge said at the first we should and I was stepping down to go my way and the Judge called me back again and said Mistress Fell you wrote to me concerning your Prisons that they are bad and rains in and are not fit for people to lie in and I answered the Sheriff doth know and hath been told of it several times and now it is raining if you will send to see at this present you may see whether they be fit for people to lie in or no and Colonel Kirby stood up and spoke to the Judge to excuse the Sheriff and the badness of the room and I spoke to him and said if you were to lie in it your selves you would think it hard but your minds is only in cruelty to commit others as William Kirby here hath done who

F. the 11th of January whether the Sessions was not upon the 12th and the Clerks and people lookt their Almanacks and saw it was the 12th and the Judge askt whether the 11th was not the first of the Sessions and they answered there was but one day and it was the 12th and the Judge said then it was a great mistake and then all the Justices was struck and some of them could have found in their hearts to have gone off and said they had done it on purpose and said what Clerk did it and a great stir was amongst them and then I spoke to the Jury how that they could not bring me in guilty according to that indictment and the Judge said I must not speak to the Jury but he would speak to them and said they might bring me in guilty I denying the Oath then I said what should you do with a form then and do not go according to it then you may throw the form away and then I told the Jury that it lay upon their Consciences as they would answer the Lord God before his Judgment-seat before whom all must be brought and so the Judge spoke to me and said he would hear me afterwards any reasons that I could alledge wherefore he should not give Judgment against me and so he spoke to the Jury and I bid him do me Justice and do Justice and so the Jury brought in for the King guilty And I told them then the Justices had forsworn themselves and the Jury both and so they had small cause to laugh as they did a little before and to say I was mad and before I had brought forth my reasons I stood a little while and the Judge said he cannot dispute but then the people said he is too cunning for them all after I had brought forth my reasons how contrary to their own indictment they had done and sworn and brought me in guilty Oh the envy and rage and malice that was among them against me and lightness but the Lord confounded it all that abundance of it was slain and so I told them I was no Lawyer and the Judge said he would hear me what I could alledge before he did give Judgment and so I cryed all people might see how they had forsworn themselves and gone contrary to their own indictment and so their envy and malice was wonderfully stopt and so persently M. Fell was called who had a great deal of good service amongst them and so the Court broke up near the second hour many more words was spoken concerning the truth And so in the afternoon we were brought up to have sentence passed upon us and so M. Fell desired that Judgment and sentence might be deferred till the next morning and we desired nothing but law and justice at his hands for thieves had mercy and I desired the Judge to send some to see my prison being so bad they would put no creature they had in it it was so windy and rainy and I told him that Colonel Kirby who was then on the Bench said I should be lockt up and no flesh alive should come at me and most of the Gentry of the Country being gathered together expecting to hear the sentence but they were crost that time so I was had away to my prison and some Justices with Colonel Kirby went up to see it and when they came up in it they durst scarcely go in it it was so bad rainy and windy and the badness of the floor and others that came up said it was a Jakes house I being removed out of the prison which I was in formerly and so Col. Kirby said I should be removed from that place ere long that I should be sent unto some fecurer place for he spake to the Judge in the Court saying he knew that the Justices would joyn with him but the Judge said after I have past sentence I will leave him to the Jaylor and how I was not a fit man to be converst with none should converse with me and all the noise amongst the people was that I should be Transported and so the next day towards the 11th hour we was called forth again to hear the sentence and judgement but M. Fell was called first before me to the Bar and there was some Counsellours pleaded and found many errours in her indectment and so she was taken by after the Judge had acknowledged them and then the Judge askt what they could say to mine and I was willing to let no man plead for me but to speak to it my self and though M. Fell had some that pleaded for her yet she spoke as much her self as she would and though they had the most envy against me yet the most gross errours was found in mine and before I came to the Bar I was moved to pray that the Lord would confound their wickedness and envy and set his truth over all and exalt his seed the thundering voice answered I have glorified thee and will glorifie thee again and I was so filled full of glory that my head and ears was filled full of it and that when the Trumpets sounded the judges came up again they all appeared as dead men under me and so when I was to answer to the errours of the indictment seeing that all the Oath as he said himself was to be in I told him there was many words of the Oath left out which was pretended to be derived and his Heirs and Successours and I bid them look the Oath and look the indictment and they might see it aud they did and found it according to my words and I askt them whether the last Assizes holden at Lancaster was in the 15th year of the King which was the 10th day of March and they said nay it was the 16th year then said I look your indictment and see whether or no it is not the 15th year and then they were all of a fret both Judge and Justices for it was the 15th in the indictment then the Judge bid them look whether M. Fells was so or no and it was not so I told them I had something else to speak concerning the indictment but they said nay I had spoken enough so the indictment was thrown out so I told them that they had small cause to laugh as they had done a little before for they might see how the Justices and the Jury was sorsworn men and so I bid him do me justice and he said I should have law and the Judge said I was clear from all the former and he started up in a rage and said but he would proffer the Oath to me again I told him they had example enough for swearers and false swearers both Justices and Jury yesterday before their faces for I saw before mine eyes both Justices and Jury had forsworn themselves who heard the indictment and so he askt me whether I would take the Oath I bid him do me justice for my false