Selected quad for the lemma: justice_n
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A60025
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A Short abstract of the reasons against passing the bill of forfeitures by way of inquiry.
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1689
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Wing S3529A; ESTC R37548
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5,616
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raise more Money and prevent Future Taxes upon the People Or only for the Vindication of Publick Justice If the latter then the Exemplary Punishment of a few active Men may answer that Design in this as well as in all other Offences If the Former then the New Proposal for raising more Money towards the speedy Reduction of Ireland by a general Tax upon all Offenders seems more equal more safe and more effectual for that purpose Such a general Law may be so penned as to answer all the several Interests of this present Government For there are three Things which seem to be our Interest at this Juncture of Time. 1. To make as many Friends as we can 2. To disable all our Enemies 3. To raise more Money as a Fund to carry on the War against France by such a way as may prevent Future Taxes upon the People The way to make as many Friends as we can is to Indempnifie all those Protestants who behaved themselves moderately in their respective Stations continued to do this Duty upon the change of the Times for the Service of the present Government and either have already or are willing to take the New Oaths or a civil Test and do all other such Acts as shall be required for the Service of the Government And those who have been active and leading Men and shall persist in their Wickedness thô 't is hoped there will be but Few yet we may conclude that under all the long black Catalogue of Offences there cannot remain less than 4000 which at 1000 l. a Man one Offence with another will amount to Four Millions or at 500 l. will amount to Two Millions to be levied upon Notorious Offenders utter Enemies to the present Government the Discovery whereof is our Happiness and their Punishment our Security so that by such a Bill with a Proviso of that Nature we shall be sure to make many Friends to disable our Enemies and to raise a very considerable Fund and prevent future Taxes upon the People and therefore we join Issue with the Irish Proposers and wish them good Success in their Paper For in that Proposal there is room for mercy but here there is room for none that is equal and just this alone would seem unequal and partial since it is therein prov'd that those other Offences are punishable by Law and this is not that may answer all the Ends of Government this can answer none Query 9. Whether it be not reasonable and most consonant to the method of Proceedings in Parliament that such a Number 〈◊〉 Men should have fair warning by some Vote or Statute That the Judgment of Judges shall not be Law before they are condemn'd and ruin'd with their whole Families Those who are guilty of buying and selling of Offices have had fair warning by a Vote and the other Offenders must be sensible of committing a Crime against the great Law and Custom of Parliament which is Lex Terrae as well as the Common Law and it 's conceived they cannot so much as pretend Conscience in the Case But it 's plain that the Dissenters had all along refused the Oaths and many refused to act in any Commission till they were frightned with the Crown-Office on one side and persuaded by their Council on the other side That the Judgment of the Judges was Law till Reversed Thô it might be observed also that the Members of the Church of England and the Reverend Bishops and Clergy did all acknowledge not long ago That they were sorry for the late Persecutions meerly upon the account of Religion and that the same might justly provoke our weak Brethren against us and therefore let one Failing be set against the other and all true Protestants be at length united against the Common Enemy Query 10. Whether there be not many true Members of the Church of England who would be involved in such a general Act of Attainder Some having by a bare Neglect or by Sickness or other extraordinary Occasions lapsed the time in both the late Kings Reigns Others who took the Oaths hapned to go away in the Crowd without signing the Declaration or Test Some tendred their Certificates and were refused by Popish Justices Others have perform'd all Ceremonies and the Records of the Sessions are either imbezled or lost by neglect of Officers Some again by Mistake have taken the Oaths in the Kings-Bench instead of Chancery and signed the short Test instead of the long Test Others for want of Quarter-Sessions have also incurr'd the Penalties These and many other Cases may not be in every persons present thoughts and the Dissenter is willing that others should be saved whatever becomes of himself Query 11. Whether any of the late Justices did act like honest Men in their Stations Either they did or they did not If they did not let them be severel punished according to Law If they did Where is the prejudice to the Government O but they depended upon the King 's Dispensing Power What then Were they not forc'd to it in their own Defence They did indeed depend upon the Judgment of the Judges to be Law and for that Reason were under no Necessity of complying with the late King in taking off the Test as some will have it No it was not these Men but the multitude of Addresses which deceived the Late King and brought all those late Miseries upon us Query 12. Whether the late Protestant Justices be Friends or Enemies to the present Government If Enemies let them feel the Rigor of the Law If Friends then it is not our Interest to reject or destroy them No more than it would be for London-Derry that is besieged to destory a Fountain of water at one time which by moderate use would have supplied the Garison with fresh water the whole Siege Query 13. How shall we do to know who are our Friends and who are our Enemies You may guess by their Religion by their Interest and by their Deportment under this Revolution and you may also add to all this a civil Test Query 14. What Method then shall be taken to raise more Money Such a Method as is consistent with our Interest as will not raise more Dust than it will lay Such a Method as will preserve our Friends and destroy none but Enemies as will raise no Pity or Commiseration and consequently no Aversion to the Government Such a Method as is proper after so great a Revolution and may unite all true Protestants at Home against the Common Enemy abroad Such a Method as may prevent France from being Universal Monarch and make England the great Umpire of all Europe But the particular Method is humbly submitted to the Honourable Members of the House of Commons Query 15. Shall we then impose a certain Fine upon all such as refuse the Oaths and in case of a Criminal that the Fine shall be doubled The Dissenter is so charitable as to believe that there are many pious and religious Prelates and other Members of the Church of England who intend to live quietly under the present Government thô their Consciences may be tender in this Point and hope the Members of the Church of England will have as favourable Construction of their Proceedings in the Late King's Reign But 't is presum'd that those who say they intend to live quietly under the present Government will not refuse to swear it and to take such a Test as this viz. ☞ I A. B. do Swear and Solemnly Profess in the Presence of Almighty God That I will not take up Arms nor by any other Ways or Means Directly or Indirectly Counsel or Assist any Person or Persons whatsoever against their present Majesties KING WILLIAM and QVEEN MARY So help me God. And if any such there be in this Kingdom it may be our Interest to discover them and very just to raise a Tax upon them For he who renounces Subjection ren 〈…〉 Protection and consequently hath not Right by Law to his Life or Estate By such 〈…〉 d you will oblige your Friends and disable your Enemies And either such a Law will 〈…〉 onsiderable Sum or it will not If it will â—ot then you will have Men instead of Money you will the better guess at your strength and what Measures to take hereafter the Nation can lose nothing by such a Law And His Majesty having been Graciously pleased to intimate his pleasure That He shall not have Occasion for more Money till next Sessions by that time a better and more effectual Method may be discover'd But if it should so happen that by this means a considerable Sum may be raised as it is not impossible you will not lose or reject one Friend by it but you only take from your Enemies that Money which you may be sure will otherwise be made use of against the Government as soon as a fair Opportunity offers itself And you will thereby gain the great Advantage to make this happy Revolution more easie and acceptable to the Nation By a Just Prevention of Future Taxes on the People
A short Abstract OF THE REASONS Against passing the BILL of FORFEITURES By way of Inquiry Query 1. WHether it be not reasonable that these Offenders should have the same Benefit from the Act of Indempnity as all other greater Offenders Either it is or it is not If it be then the Intent of this Paper is answer'd which submits the active Men and those who were Managers and had profitable Places to refund their Pensions to the publick Treasury If it be not as all things are most humbly submitted to the great Judgment of the Honourable House of Commons then indeed they must be contented quietly to submit to the Penalties due by Law. But Query 2. Whether any Penalties be due by Law or not Since the same Law the Ancient Common and Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom which say That an Act or Statute made by King Lords and Commons is a Law to this Nation Doth also say That the Judges of England are the sole Interpreters of that Law And that their Interpretation and Judgment though ever so Erroneous in it self and contrary to the Letter of the Statute ought not only to be observed but reverenced by all inferior Subjects And the same Law of England which says That an Officer omitting the Oaths shall forfeit 500 l. Doth also say That the King may pardon that Penalty before Information Fil'd which is done accordingly Therefore Query 3. Whether it be consistent with the Goodness and Clemency of that Honourable House to take from them the Benefit of the Law And to condemn such a Number of Men their Wives and Families by a Bill of Attainder For the Bill doth not Enact That all Forfeitures due by Law shall be appropriated to the publick Vse but that all Officers who were not duly qualify'd shall forfeit 500 l. right or wrong without a Tryal Either the Forfeitures are due by Law or they are not If they are not then this Bill amounts to an Act of Attainder If they are due by Law then there is no prejudice to appropriate such Forfeitures only as can be recover'd by Law which is all that is desir'd Query 4. Since it is most evident that this is a Bill of Attainder that doth condemn a Number of Men which are not punishable by any Law besides itself Whether it will not introduce a President of very dangerous Consequence that may one day or other be severely used against us or our Posterity Though ill Men may be concerned now yet the Case is the same and good Men may be concern'd hereafter What are the Laws for but to guide and protect us And if a Law be defective and ill things done under Umbrage thereof our wise Ancestors have corrected the Law and not the Offender and that not for the sake of the Offender but of themselves and their Posterity that all Men may have fair warning It is a Fundamental Rule where there is no Law there is no Offence And therefore if this particular Act doth pass 't is hoped that care shall be taken in this Case as it was in the Case of my Lord Strafford that the same shall not be made use of for a President against us or our Posterity hereafter But to return Query 5. Why is it not reasonable that some of those Officers should reap the Benefit of the Act of Indempnity as well as other Offenders Either these Offences are held to be greater than any other or they are not If they are not then no Reason can be assigned unless that which is already answer'd And we cannot suppose that any person will maintain That these Offenders are greater than Dispensing Judges the Ecclesiastical Commissioners the Quo Warranto Lords the Surrenderers of Charters and the Subscribers of Addresses and Papers for taking off the Test c. But Query 6. Whether the Judges at the Assizes did not openly declare That all Dissenters in any Commission who did refuse to act should be returned into the Crown-Office For that the King had by His Dispensing Power left them utterly without Excuse Your Consciences was formerly your Excuse say they but now you are free from such Pretences And those who refuse to accept of the King's Favour and to rely upon his Prerogative and Protection shall be used as utter Enemies to the Government 'T is not for you to question the judgment of the Judges They have given Judgment and they will maintain it What shall poor ignorant Laymen do in this Case They are forced against their Wills to accept of Offices of Trouble and Charge on one side and their Families must be ruin'd for it on the other so they are twice punish'd for the same Offence When a Prince positively commands the Service of His Subjects and hath the Judges of His side the Subject must obey and in this Case the Dissenter must either have have hazarded their Souls or their Estates 'T is their Misfortune to think that Unlawful which others do not But it is no Fault to refuse to do a thing contrary to their Judgments And 't is humbly hoped whatever becomes of the active busier Men yet those who bore only Offices of Trouble and Charge as many Justices of Peace who behaved themselves well in their Stations shall not be blamed for following the advice of their Council who did assure them That what Opinion soever they themselves or a Future Parliament might have of the Judgment of the Judges yet it would certainly protect them until it was Reversed And therefore an acceptance of the Commission was the onely way left in that critical Juncture to secure themselves Query 7. Whether the several Commands Declarations and Proclamations by Vertue or in pursuance of the Powers and Authorities hereafter mentioned that is to say of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal Decemb. 11. of the Four Parliaments of King Charles II. 31 Decemb. 1688. of the Convention 22d of January of the King and Queen 14th of February and of the late Act for Amoving Papists That all Protestant Justices of which Few were duly qualified should proceed in the Execution of their Offices disarming Papists securing all suspected or disaffected Persons and preserving the Peace of the Countrey Be not a tacite Confirmation of their former Proceedings For the Bishops the old Members of Parliament and His Majesty very well knew That the Dissenters could not receive the Sacrament and take the Oaths according to the Form of the Statute And yet they expected they should act and if they had not no doubt they would have been esteemed by all as Enemies to the Kingdom and so they would have been in the Reign of the late King therefore there seems with Submission some reason to shew them Favor in one Case as well as in the other there is no doubt but this acting tended to the preservation of this Government and that may atone in some measure for their acting in the last Query 8. Whether this Bill be design'd as an Expedient to