Selected quad for the lemma: justice_n
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A40100
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A vindication of an undertaking of certain gentlemen in order to the suppressing of debauchery, and profaneness.
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Fowler, Edward, 1632-1714.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing F1727; ESTC R216813
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10,104
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17
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most scandalous Instances by due Course of Law viz. First To endeavour the procuring of a Letter from the Queen the King being then absent to the Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex requiring them to put the Laws in Execution against Drunkenness Vncleanness Swearing Cursing Profanation of the Lords Day c. Secondly To endeavour the obtaining a good Order of Sessions to be made thereon And Her Majesty having like Her self most chearfully granted the humble Request of the Lord Bishop of Worcester for such a Letter and having accordingly sent a very pious and pressing one to those Justices and the Justices having thereupon publish't an exceeding good Order These Gentlemen encouraged with this good Success Thirdly Made it their Request to many of their Acquaintance whom they knew to be Sober and Religious Persons to give Information to some Justice of the Peace of all Offences of the forementioned Nature which they should observe to be committed as by the Order of Sessions they are encouraged to do And that all possible Ease might be given to the Informers the Justices and their Clerks 1. They Printed Blank-Warrants against the several Offences 2. They procured divers Persons to the Number of Eighteen or Twenty inhabiting in convenient places of the City and Suburbs to fill up such Warrants as the Case should happen to be for the Informers who should carry the same to the Justice by which means he would have nothing more to do but to Examine them upon Oath and Sign and Seal the said Warrants And 3. To ease the Justices Servant of the trouble of carrying every Warrant to the proper Officer the Informer was to take his Warrant back with him to the Person who filled it up from whom there was care taken to have it received executed as will appear presently That the Penalties might be duly applyed to the use of the Poor and not imbezel'd by the Constables or Church-wardens they took this Method 1. They directed every Person who filled up the Warrants to keep an Account or Register of the several Offenders Names the Offence of each the Time when and Place where each Offence was committed And when the Informer had brought him back the Warrant to insert also the Name of the Magistrate before whom each Conviction was made 2. They appointed a special Messenger and paid him well for his pains to Collect all the said Warrants and Registers weekly and after they were sorted to carry them out again to the proper Officers of the several Parishes where they were to be executed and to insert the Names of the several Constables to whom each of the said Warrants should be delivered in the said Registers 3. They prepared an Abstract of these Registers to be presented to the Justices at their petty-Petty-Sessions for the enabling them to call every Constable to an Account how he had executed the several Warrants he was Charged with in that Register and to what Church-warden he had payd the Penalties by him levyed 4. A short Account was to be taken out of all those Abstracts by which to Charge the several Church-wardens at the making up of their Accounts with all the Money by them received on those Warrants in order to their sending it to the several Vestries once a Year And lastly To awaken all good Christians throughout the Kingdom Whether Magistrates or private Persons to a vigorous endeavour for a Reformation of Manners They set the good Example of the Justices of Middlesex and the following as good a one of the Lord Mayor of London and Court of Aldermen before the rest of the Nation For which purpose they caused the Orders of the said Sessions and Court to be Printed in a smaller Character and of these they sent several Thousands throughout the Kingdom viz. To most Parliament-Men Mayors Bayliffs Justices of the Peace Ministers Coffee-houses c. and the Printing and Postage too were wholly at their own Charge And Thanks be to God they quickly saw-extraordinary good Effects hereof in the excellent Orders of the like nature made by the Cities of York c. And by the Counties of Surrey Hertford Buckingham Bedford Sussex Gloucester the North-Riding of Yorkshire and divers others of which many have been printed And there was perceived in a little time very good Success of their Endeavours at home by the manifest ceasing in a great measure of the Profanation of the Lords Day and the Awe that appeared upon many Common Swearers and Drunkards who either felt or had Notice of the Execution of the Laws against such Offenders But for as much as another sort of Informers who had been so busie a few Years since htah made that Name odious to inconsiderate People and that the restraining of Licenciousness is ever extreamly grievous to the Licencious 't was necessary that the Justice should be desired by the Informer to conceal his Name from the Offender There having been too many Instances of late not unknown to the Justices of those who instead of amending by the gentle Punishment of one Sin have added more to it by reeking their Revenge on such as Informed against them with great Barbarity I say the concealing the Informers Name for this Reason ought to be judged necessary especially when he is ready to appear and prove the Fact to the Face of the Offender in case he persists in the denial of it And Care was taken that in this case the Informer should adventure to appear although the Law doth not oblige to it as will be seen anon This is an exactly true but imperfect Narrative of the undertaking of these Gentlemen and is it possible it should need a Vindication Who would not now wonder that such a Word as this should be seen in our Title-Page For can there be a Nobler Design laid than that which is directly and solely for the Advancement of the Publick Good And is not that Good which comprehends both the Spiritual and Temporal Interest of the Publick the incomparably greatest Publick Good And is not he a Brnte who needs to be told that the Reformation of Mankind and Running down of Vice is such a Good as contains in it both these Interests But this was the onely Design of this Undertaking And it hath been shewed that it was not limited to the Reformation of one City or one County but it extended to the whole Kingdom And a due Countenance from those who are principally obliged to encourage it must needs cause it to have in time an happy Influence upon both the other Kingdoms And Then how much farther in the World it may by Gods blessing reach HE only knows Moreover these Gentlemen were so far from designing to serve Themselves by this Vndertaking that as they were not capable of getting one Penny for their pains so they expended in the carrying of it on considerable Sums out of their own Purses Nor can they with any Justice or Charity be censured as designing the
Applause of the Sober and Virtuous part of the Nation as highly as they deserve it for we are wholly beholden to their Enemies for our knowledge of so much as One of the Undertakers or of the Undertaking it self And those who received the Printed Orders all over the Kingdom were perfectly Ignorant from whose hands they came And as to the foresaid Method they agreed on for the Managing of this Design it as little needs a Vindication as the Design it self and is so far from being lyable to be taxed with Imprudence that I for my part must needs profess I greatly admire the Wisdom of the Contrivance I Challenge those who dare to Reproach it to shew Any Project better fitted for the Attainment of its End than this throughout is 'T is scarce Civil to desire them to Mend it Themselves since there is no Employment they can be more Averse to In short 't is a lamentable Instance of the Debauchery of the Age That it is not a piece of great Impertinence to publish a Vindication of Such an Vndertaking But so it is That the Clamours of Delinquents which where they are readily received shall never be wanting served for an Occasion to Certain Gentlemen whose Own Conversations will not suffer them to be reconciled to the thoughts of a General Reformation to Calumniate it with the Persons concerned in it and to do their utmost to Overthrow it All the Tales of punish'd Ale-House-keepers and other Criminals were by Them immediately received as Gospel when told by such dis-interessed and unbyast people and hereupon they fall to Work And no Wonder for if the Prince of Darkness had not Now bestirr'd himself to Baffle a Design so directly levelled against his Kingdom this would doubtless have been the very First time of his being unconcern'd upon such an Occasion And First these Persons satisfied themselves a while with playing at Small Game and among other most Notorious Untruths they gave it out with great assurance That there was a wonderfully gainful Office lately set up in Lincolns Inn where Hundreds of Pounds were already gotten by the Erecters of it And what great pity is it provided the Tempting Wages could have reconciled them to such Loathsom Work that Themselves had no interest in the Stock going there By my consent they should have had Shares Gratis upon that condition nay could they have been hired thereby not to Hinder Business the Founders of the Office should have done all the Drudgery and They should have all the Gains but that the Poor ran away with every Farthing And by the way the Informers too who were engaged in this Undertaking refused to receive a penny of the Penalties in those Cases wherein the Law alloweth them the Third part They desired no other Reward for so good a Work than what they are sure to have in the Other World and would have only their Labour for their Pains in This. And when it appeared to every body by the Form of the Warrants that the Constables were to pay the Money they had Levyed upon Offenders to the Church-Wardens for the use of the Poor the foresaid persons found that a Lye could do them very little Service which was every whit as easily detected as told And now from Talking they proceed to Action and 't is well known how the First Blow was given to this Undertaking though several Worthy Justices of the Peace to their Honour be it spoken heartily interposed for the prevention of it In order to it they in the first place fell very heavily on Mr. Hartley a virtuous person who had given as a Justice all possible encouragement to this Best of Works He was loaded with diverse Accusations of Injustice in his Proceedings and those on which the greatest Weight was laid were the Two following whâ—â—◠〈…〉 Reader may judge of the rest And perhaps they were both True as to matter of Fact whatever they were as to their Faultiness One was That in one of his Warrants the Name of the Landlord of an Ale House was inserted instead of the Tenant's who kept the House The other That in another Warrant a Woman was called by the Name of her dead Husband after she was again Married Now as to the Former it is said That the Landlord also liv'd in the House so that 't was unknown to many which of them was Master of it However the House was ascertained in the Warrant and the Offence against the Law there committed positively Sworn to And as to the Latter 'T is ordinary among the meaner sort to call Women at least for some time after their second Marriages by the Names of their former Husbands And those who had not heard of the Husbands death might without any great Offence presume him to be still Living Nor was it necessary that all who knew of his Death should know that his Widow was a Wife again These are the only Objections which we find particularly assign'd against Mr. Hartley's proceedings and therefore Unpardonable Faults no doubt But the best of it is they were the Informer's not the Justice's But can any one of those who have made such ado with these two Trifles make any body believe that His Justiceship if he be in Commission was never so imposed on He hath had very little Custom or very great Luck if it never was But old Aesop hath helpt us to a true Proverb It is an easie thing to find a Staff to beat a Dog But suppose these Two were Culpable Mistakes for want of due Caution as those who have made such mighty matters of them can't think them so in the Justice and scarcely in the Informers I wish they would seriously consider what means that Question of our Blessed Saviour Why beholdest thou the Mote which is in thy Brothers Eye and perceivest not the Bean that is in thine Own Eye O how happy would it be for especially some of Them were They chargeable with no worse Mistakes or lay they under the scandal of nothing worse than Mistakes Such Little things as These and which are as soon rectified as perceived would be easily over-look't for the sake of the Greatness and Nobleness of the Undertaking by all such as heartily desire a Reformation nay by those who are but able to bear the thoughts of it Nay one would think too by those who though they would fain have none have so much Modesty remaining as to be ashamed Openly to Oppose it Which sure none can have the impious Bravery to do but such as would make a true Story of the Fiction of the Giants by designedly fighting against GOD Himself if they believe there is one And as it is eminently HIS Cause in which these Pious Gentlemen engaged themselves so no Christian can doubt nor scarce a hearty Theist whether God hath a Special Hand in all Undertakings of this nature nor whether those who are employed in them are HIS Instruments Called Spirited and Assisted by Him I