Church-Papists In short they contriv'd so many shams and silly stories as made the very truth questionable and when they saw the English Plot was not like to embroil the Nation they invited a number of profligate wretches out of Ireland gave them Cloaths and Money in abundance and took so much pains to set up these unmanageable Tools that in fine they dash'd both Plots to pieces one against the other Are we not then beholding to our true-blew-Protestants after all these fine exploits for their abhorrence against Popery and the Plot and to Mr Hunt for his zealous vindication of their Proceedings He was formerly suspected to be a man of no Religion but now like a generous Soul he owns his Party in their greatest distress and openly declares against the Church of England as Betrayers of God's Cause and the Peoples Liberties Some of little understanding among you saith he that thus behave your selves are excusable as misguided by some of your Ministers who are in good earnest begging Preferments Dignities and Benefices for themselves by offering and betraying our Church to a voluntary Martyrdom p. 12. I need not comment upon this scurrilous Reflection 't is enough to say 't is the product of Mr. Hunt's own Brains who according to his Fee tho' against his conscience spoke for his Clyents for Lawyers he tells us and who more fit to know have Opinions to sell at any time tho' they have not the least colour of Reason to support them p. 19. If this Confounder both of Law and Gospel be thus for fouling his own Nest we need not wonder at his frequent snarlings at the Loyal and Christian Resolutions of our Reverend Clergy or expect better usage from a man that openly sides with the Enemies of our Church I come now to his second point which is so wild and so extravagant a paradox as deserves rather to be laugh'd at by men of sense than to be answer'd or confuted since besides several that have done it within these two years past there are not many Corporations in England whose Charters have not been surrendred by their Common-Council without so much as consulting their Common-halls and yet were never question'd for it as Betrayers of their Trust or of the Liberties of the People But he drives home the Nail in his 3d. assertion where he says that the Sherivalties of London and Middlesex or the right of choosing their Sheriffs the main point now in dispute and what most concerns the King after our late experience to have in His own disposal cannot be parted with without an Act of Parliament tho' with the consent of every individual Citizen But sure the Gentleman is not in earnest for I hope he will allow us that tho' alone they cannot yet with the consent and approbation of the Common-hall or of every Citizen the Common-Council may surrender the Charter who then the Charter being thus surrendred has the power of choosing the Sheriffs when the Corporation the City and the County is dissolv'd neither Mayor nor Alderman Citizen nor Free man to found The Inhabitants in general cannot choose them for they have no right now to do it neither do they receive any new power by the surrender of the Charter and yet the Free-men cannot when there is no such thing in being no more in London than in Westminster or any other Dissolv'd Corporation But to be short in a Case so plain since the Gentleman requires an Act of Parliament for displacing the Citizens Right of choosing their Sheriffs here is One ready to his hand for taking away upon their neglect or misgovernment all their Franchises and Liberties and consequently this power of electing their own Officers and Magistrates an Act found by the prudence of our Ancestors so necessary for to maintain the publick Peace and keep that over-grown City within the bounds of duty that Henry IV. tho' he sought occasions to ingratiate himself with the People of London the better to secure his Usurpation yet cou'd not be wrought upon by their intreaties to have any material part of it alter'd much less annull'd or repeal'd The Act take as followeth 280 Edwardi 3 i. cap. 10 o. BEcause that the Errors Defaults and Misprisions which be notoriously used in the City of London for default of good Governance of the Mayor of the Sheriffs and the Aldermen cannot be enquired nor found by people of the same City it is ordained and established That the said Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen which have the Governance of the same City shall cause to be redressed and correated the Defaults Errors and Misprisions above-named and the same duly punish from time to time upon a certain pain that is to say at the first Default a Thousand Marks to the King and at the second Default two Thousand Marks and at the third default that the Franchise and Liberty of the City be taken into the King's hand And be it begun to enquire upon them at St. Michael next coming so that if they do not cause to be made due redress as afore is said it shall be enquired of their Defaults by Enquests of people of Foreign Counties that is to say of Kent Essex Sussex Hertford Buckingham and Berk as well at the King's Suit as others that will complain And if the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen be by such Enquests thereto assigned Indiaed they shall be caused to come by due Process before the King's Justices which shall be to the same assigned out of the said City before whom they shall have their Answer as well to the King as to the Party And if they put them in Enquests such Enquests shall be taken by Foreign People as afore is said And if they be Attainsed the said pain shall incurr and be levied of the said Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen for default of their Governance And nevertheless the Plaintiffs shall recover the treble Damages against the said Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen And because that the Sheriffs of London be Parties to this business the Constable of the Tower or his Lieutenant shall serve in the place of the Sheriffs to receive the Writs as well Originals of the Chancery as Judicials under the Seal of the Justices to do thereof execution in the said City And Process shall be made by Attachment and Distress and by Exigent if need be so that at the King's Suit the Exigent shall be awarded after the first Capias returned and at the third Capias returned at the Suit of the Party And if the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen have Lands or Tenements out of the City Process shall be made against them by Attachments and Distresses in the same Counties where the Lands or Tenements be And that every of the said Mayors Sheriffs and Aldermen which do appear before the said Justices shall answer particularly for himself as well at the peril of other which be absent as of himself And this Ordinance shall be holden firm and stable notwithstanding any manner Franchise Priviledges or Customs And this Ordinance shall extend to all Cities and
Boroughs of the Realm where such Defaults or Misprisions be used and not duly corrected nor redressed saving that the Enquests shall be taken by Foreign people of the same County where such Cities or Boroughs be And that the pain of those of the said Boroughs and Tolws which shall be thereof Attainted shall be judged by the Discretion of the Justices which shall be thereto assigned This Act was a great Curb to the people of London and kept them for many years after very obsequious and dutiful to their Sovereign but in process of time finding it was not duly put in execution they began to forget it at last and wou'd now and then break out into some extravagance which afterwards cost them very dear Finding therefore themselves very uneasie under this restraint tho' neither in Edward III. nor his Successor's Reign they durst motion to have that Statute repeal d yet when the Vsurper Henry IV. came to the Crown they labour'd hard to get themselves rid of it but cou'd gain no more than the following Clause which many in London who always think ill of the King and His Ministers will think of no great advantage to the Defence of the Charter OUR Lord the king considering the good and lawful Behaviour of the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen and of all the Commonalty of the same City of London towards him and therefore willing to ease and mitigate the Penalty aforesaid by the assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the Commons aforesaid hath Ordained and Established That the Penalty aforesaid as well of the Thousand Marks and of the two Thousand Marks and of the seizure of the Franchise comprized in the said Statute shall not be limited in a certainty but that the Penalties in this case be by the advice and discretion of the Justices thereto assigned as other Cities and Boroughs be within the Realm And that the Remnant of the same Statute and the Process thereof stand in their force 1 H. 4. cap. 15. Now I appeal to Mr. Hunt's own Judgment provided he has so much moral honesty to speak nothing of his skill in the Laws as will qualifie him for an Irish Chief-Baron Whether or no these two Statutes be not as plain against the Charter supposing the Mayor Sheriffs and Aldermen to have been negligent in their duty and a fortiori if they and the Common-Council be found guilty of the Crimes laid to their charge as Magna Charta or the Petition of Right is for the Liberty and Property of the Subject For that 't is neither Treason nor Felony nor yet the Subversion of the Government but Crimes of a far inferiour nature that are meant by the Errors and Misdemeanors mentioned in the said Acts is apparent by another Statute made some three years after by the same King Edward III. where it is Enacted That the Mayor and Aldermen of London shall rule and redress the defaults of Fishers Butchers and Poulters and put the same in execution upon the pain late ordained touching the City of London 31 Ed. 3. cap. 10. Now if the whole City for a bare neglect of duty in their Officers as for omitting to punish the Misdemeanors of silly Trades-men were by these Acts of Edward III. so grievously punishable as for the first Offence to forfeit a Thousand 〈…〉 no less in the 〈◊〉 value than 2000 l of our now 〈…〉 so much in the 〈◊〉 use and price of things 〈…〉 for the second offence and for the third to forfeit their Franchise and Liberties to the King what shall be thought of others if they are found not only to have laid an Illegal Arbitrary Tax upon their fellow-Subjects and in a tumultuous manner invaded their Properties but wink'd at if not encourag'd the publishing of Treasonable Papers and Pamphlets and instead of suppressing others presented their Prince with a most Scurrilous one of their own by way of Petition to tax His Majesty with misgovernment and endeavour to bring Him into hatred and contempt with his People As for the aforesaid Clause of 1 H. 4. tho' intended for as really it was a great favour to the City that they shou'd not for every trisling fault be oblig'd to pay such a vast Fine as a Thousand Marks twenty times greater than that sum now yet if their Crimes had been found of a transcendent nature striking at the very Root and Life of the Government we may be sure the Justices by vertue of this very Clause wou'd have immediately seiz'd their Charter without bringing them to any further Tryal So that this Clause tho' in small inferiour misdemeanors it be a great advantage to the City yet in Crimes of State where the Crown and the Monarchy are concern'd 't is no less an advantage to the King Thus Sir you have seen how well Mr. Hunt has defended the Charter against all the Power both of Law and Reason and you will find him altogether as happy in the rest of his undertakings I omit his impertinence on the Play call'd The Duke of Guise his unmannerly application of the Characters and his framing of Parallels where little or no similitude can be found Yet en passent I cannot but pity the condition our Lawyers INNOCENT and GENTLE PRINCE is reduc'd to by the slie insinuations and bewitching flatteries of this and such other Sycophants of the Faction who puff'd him up and possess'd him with such chymerical hopes of a Crown as made him forget his Obedidence to his Princes will and the positive command of his Natural Father Natural I say because in our Laws the Maxim is Qui ex damnato coitu nascuntur inter liberos non computantur i.e. Bastards are not counted amongst Sons Coke 1 Instit. f. 3. or as Littleton says A Bastard is quasi nullius filius because he cannot be Heir to any apud Coke 2 Instit. § 188. Now if by Law this Prince can be Heir to none what a madness it was to advise him to aspire to Three Hereditary Kingdoms or think to carry them tamely by Popular Applause when nothing but the Sword can establish a crack'd Title But the best people of England says this non-sensical Scribler have no other way left to shew their Loyalty to the King and love to their Religion and Government in the long intervals of Parliament than by Prosecuting His Son for the sake of the King and his own Merit with all the demonstrations of the highest esteem p. 28. They are certainly very hard put to it if this not to PROSECUTE his silly Latinism be the only shift they can make to express their Loyalty when Children can tell they might if they had any better shew it by prostrating themselves at His Majesty's feet and declaring their readiness to venture their Lives and Fortunes in defence of His Sacred Person and the Rights of His Crown against all the attempts of the
Lawyer Outlaw'd Or a BRIEF ANSWER To Mr. HUNTS Defence of the CHARTER With some Useful REMARKS ON THE Commons Proceedings IN THE LAST PARLIAMENT At WESTMINSTER In a Letter to a Friend Printed by N. T. for the Author MDCLXXXIII SIR YOur importunities have at last prevail'd and since abler Pens have hitherto declin'd to espouse the quarrel I will for once force my own inclination to silence and reservedness and briefly give you my thoughts on that unlucky Pamphlet call'd A Defence of the Charter and Municipal Rights of London The Author I find is a Gentleman of the long Robe a person so well known of late for his unweary'd diligence and extraordinary faculty in scribling that I need not give you any other Character of him but that some three years ago he writ a Book in vindication of the Bishops Right of Judicature in Parliament and for this piece of service expected no less than to be made Lord-Chief-Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland But missing of that Preferment he grows peevish and angry with the Court and Clergy and to be even with both and perhaps to appease his angry Brethren of the Separation for his former Mercenary undertaking he adds a Baboons Tail to his Picture a Postscript to his Book the most virulent and malicious that has yet escap'd the hands of Justice Ever since he has continu'd firm to the Cause laid aside his useless Law and zealously imploy'd his better Talent against the Church and State in favour of the Faction and this about the Charter is the last effort of that wise Head-piece which he has stuff'd with such a miscellany of wild Paradoxes interwoven with some impertinent Truths that 't is far more difficult to digest them into method than to answer and confute them First to lay a solid foundation for his great design he tells us That Monarchs as well as Republicks have often erected Municipal Cities and by their Charters bestow'd upon them several Franchises and Priviledges as to choose their own Magistrates and governby their own Laws while subservient to the publick Laws of the Sovereign Authority pag. 1. This is certainly very true but how far it makes for the Charter of London against the Quo Warranto is a Mystery not to be comprehended by every vulgar capacity for 't is no less plain in History that not only Tyrants and Vsurpers as he mentions but just and lawful Sovereigns have divers times suppress'd such Municipal Cities for good and necessary causes as for being disloyal to their Prince or factious and seditious against the Government and then the main Question will be How far the City of London has of late been guilty of such Crimes as by Law deserve the like Punishment This in short is the plain state of the Question for 't is most unreasonable to think that any King or Republick ever gave their Municipal Cities any such Liberties or Immunities as were not forfeitable upon their abusing the Power they receiv'd when otherwise neither Prince nor People cou'd be secure from the insolence of such uncontroulable Citizens without a standing Army to keep them in awe But our Gentleman it seems is unwilling to touch upon this critical point of speculation and as the Defence of the Charter is the least part of his Pamphlet so now he runs quite from the purpose to tell the King like a dutiful Subject He may if He please take His Quietus-est and let His people govern themselves For it is impossible saith he that mankind should miscarry in their own hands pag. 2. Now since they have often miscarry'd in the hands of Princes is it not more expedient for the publick good if this Maxim will hold that the Prince shou'd mind his own private business and not trouble himself with the Government which the People can do better without Him This is Mr. Hunt's new Model of Government who out of pure love and kindness to the Monarchy chalks out a ready way for his Sovereign to ease Himself of all the thorns and prickles of His Crown and become a glorious King like His Father And therefore seems very angry that the Court i. e. the King should be troubl'd with the Power of appointing Officers in any City or Corporation in the Kingdom tho' it be found of absolute necessity for the keeping His Crown upon His Head and protecting His best Subjects from a Band of Associators and Ignoramus-Juries Oh! But by this new form of Corporations it will be in the power of a Popish Successor to put the Government of all Corporated Towns in England into the hands of Papists p 5. And without it I say it will be no less in the power of the Faction to put the same Government into the hands of Fanaticks What a Bugbear is this Popish Successor whose very Name turns the brains of a Whig into a Magnifying-glass that will transform Ants into Gyants and Mole-hills into Mountains We have as good Laws as the wit of man can devise to secure us from the encroachments of Popery and to disable Papists from bearing any Office Civil or Military either in or out of Corporations and yet this Popish Successor who possibly may never succeed this great Goliah can break through all those Laws and will certainly do it to curry favour with a handful of Papists and make himself a Slave to the Pope This is not all For this mode saith he of incorporating Cities and Towns doth ipso facto change the Government for that One of the Three States an essential part of the Government which is made up of the Representatives of the People and ought to be chosen by the People will by this means have five sixth parts of such Representatives upon the matter of the Courts nomination and not of the Peoples choice and at the next turn we shall have a Parliament of Papists and Red-coats pag. 6. O profound Politician has not our Government been Regal and Monarchical from the beginning how then can the House of Commons in comparison but a late Institution necessary not for the Being but for the Well-being of the Monarchy be an Essential part of it Or how can any Rulâ—r be term'd a Monarch that has 500 Demagogues Joynt-Governours with Him These and such other Republican Maxims have been in a great measure the main foundation of all the miseries and confusions we suffer'd under the late Tyranny of the Rump-Parliament and after our sad experience of those Tragical times surely we have reason to think that none but such as wou'd bring us back to the same calamities and sing the second part to the same Tune would now endeavour to assert or maintain them yet they are so very familiar to our Irish Chief-Baron that there is hardly a page in most of his Pamphlets but has a strong tincture of them In his great and weighty Considerations considered he says The Parliament derive Their Authority from the same Original the King derives His The