Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	king_n	part_n	year_n	6,839	5	4.8670	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91535	To His Grace William, Duke of Hamilton Their Majesties High Commissioner and the Honourable Estates of Parliament, humblt sheweth the answers for Hendry Navilpayne, to the inditement raised at the instance of Their Majesties advocate, before the high court of Parliament.	Payne, Henry Neville, fl. 1672-1710.; England and Wales. Parliament.	1693 (1693)	Wing P893A; ESTC R181560	9,184	7

a mans life may be inferred can be fixed upon any person except by a positive probation as clear as the Sun shininng in his Meridian And neither the Law nor Custome of any Nation did ever allow Capital Crimes to be proven by conjectures or presumptions And GOD Almighty himself by the mouth of Moses requires two or three witnesses in all such casses So that for my Lord Advocat to pretend to have a presumptive or conjectural probation sustained to him against the Pannal who is a poor stranger for taking away of his Life is against the Law and practise of this and all other Nations 2do Albeit Comparatio Literarum and or her papers have been sustained to Adminiculat a write and to make up the defects of the solemnities thereof yet no instance can be given where ever such a probation was sustained Relevant to fix a Capital guilt upon any person to take away his Life 3tio As all probation especially in casses capitally Criminal ought to be clear as the Sun and positive and pregnat and incapable of any doubiety or uncertainty So it is referred to my Lord Commissioner his Grace and the Honourable E. states of Parliament whither a probation by comparison of Letters and hand-writes can be so pregnant clear and certain that it is absolutely incapable of being redargued by other documents or whither or not the same be in all casses subject to doubtfulness and uncertainty seeing the most that can be inferred from such a probation is That the hand Write are like to other and as alike is not the same So it is certain that many hand writes are like to others And it is notterly known and offered to be proven That some persons have attained to that perfection of Writing that they are able to counterfeit whole sheets of paper as Writen by any other person to that exactness and perfection that the person himself whose hand Write is fienzied and counterfeited can scarcely be able to deny the same to be his own hand Write And seing a decision in Parliament in this case will be a Rule precedent have the force of a Law in all criminal cases for the Future It is Referred to the consideration of the High Honourable Court of Parliament what the dangerous consequence of such a preparative might in process of time amount to and whither the lives and fortunes of any Subject Be not at the discretion of any silly Rogue who hath the skill and villany to counterfeit his hand Write 4to This is also an undenyable principle both in Law and Religion that it is better to let a Thousand guilty persons go free then that the blood of an Innocent person should be shed Because albeit a guilty person should escape the hand of Justice for a time Almighty GOD might thereafter suffer him to fall in an other snare By which he might thereafter be brought to condingue punishment for all And which is not only clear from the instances of Joab and Shimei But many instances thereof might be given in this and our Neighbour Nations And the book entituled GODS Reveange against Murder hath many examples thereof Whereas on the other hand the shedding of the blood of an innocent person is like water spilt upon the ground which cannot be gathered up or recovered but lyes as a burden upon the Land calling for Vengeance from Heaven And this is a common principle received and constantly repeated in the mouths of all Mankind That the case of a Defender when pursued for his life is alwayes most favourable And when there is any thing doubtful either as to the Relevancie or probation which may admit of a twofold sense or interpretation The Exposition and Interpretation Thereof is alwayes to be made in favours of the pannal and Defenders And by the Opinion of all Lawyers Jura sunt cogenda That is the Laws themselves are to be stretched and even forced so far as is possible in favours of the pannal for absolving him from the crimes lybelled and preservation of his blood 5to Neither can my Lord Advocate be allowed to make use of any letters for probation against the pannall seeing no such letters nor doubles thereof were given out to the pannal with his inditement as they ought to have been And as to the Commentar and Exposition of that pretended letter whereupon the Inditement is foun●ed which my Lord Advocate hath made The Pannal not being at all concerned in the Letter he cannot be concerned 〈◊〉 what Exposition or Commentar My Lord Advocat thinks fit or fancies with himself to put upon the same And albeit 〈◊〉 doth admire the quickness of my Lord Advocates Fancie in that commentar Yet he humbly con●ves that his Fancie and Opinion can never be sustained to infer any crime or guilt against the pan●● Because 1mo The whole strain of that Exposition being an alleadged Design in the Writer As 〈◊〉 Law can be alleadged for allowing a Design which is only the thought of a Mans breast to be pro●●● by Witnesses or by other Mens conjectures So there is no instance thereof can be adduced in this ●●ny other Nation The enquiring into and judging the thoughts of the heart being the prerogative of GOD Al●●●ty which He hath reserved to Himself excluding all Mortals from any share thereof 2do As the design and meaning of the Writer of that pretended letter is neither in Law probable by Witnesses nor can the design thereof be inferred from presumptions or conjectures So it is referred to the Wisdom of the Parliament Whether or not the stretches made by my Lord Advocate in that exposition be either presumable or consistent with themselves Because 1mo The lybel tending to inferr the pannal his keeping a Treasonable correspondence with Enemies abroad My Lord Advocate neither condescends upon the persons names or designation with whom the said correspondence is alleadged to have been kept and without condescendance upon the same the Relevancie cannot be sustained 2do Can any Rational Man presume or imagine That the late King would take up his measures in matters of the greatest importance from a person of so little signification and interest and of so little conduct as the pannal is known to be Especially considering the circumstances the pannal was in at the time and for several years preceeding being alwayes a prisoner and for the most part of that time a closs prisoner 3tio How can the late King his late Declaration for England be pretended to be the product and consequence of this pretended missive letter whereupon the Inditement is founded as my Lord Advocate expresly lybels Seeing it is clear That the said pretended letter did never come to the late Kings hands For if it had once come to his hands how is it possible that it could now be produced before the Parliament as a pretended instruction of his inditement And this per se is sufficient to demonstrate to the World That my Lord Advocates