Selected quad for the lemma: law_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
law_n	incline_v	lord_n	mercy_n	16,282	5	10.2869	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61074	The prisoners complaint to the King's Most Excellent Majestie, or,The cries of the Kings Bench with advice to the disconsolate gentlemen-prisoners in the several prisons of England especially the Kings bench / by S.S., a fellow of Kings Colledge in Southwark.	Speed, Samuel, 1631-1682.	1673 (1673)	Wing S4903; ESTC R37585	1,938	10

THE PRISONERS COMPLAINT TO THE KING's most Excellent Majestie OR The CRIES of the Kings Bench. WITH ADVICE To the disconsolate Gentlemen-Prisoners in the several Prisons of England especially the Kings Bench. BY S. S. a Fellow of Kings Colledge in Southwark LONDON Printed for Samuel Speed 1673. The PRISONERS COMPLAINT To the Kings most Excellent Majestie OR The Cries of the KINGS BENCH SAcred Physitian We your Aid implore Grant this our-Suit VVe never askt before 'T is You alone Great SIR can give us ease Beyond or Galen or Hippocrates Then since we Cripples are in our estate And each one Captive to his rigid Fate Occasion'd by the VVars the Plague and Fire All which were instrumental to conspire Our ruines Be You Sir th'Angelick man To prove at last our Good Samaritan Nero we read was subject to destroy But You 're the Soveraign of our Hopes Joy Your gracious Act for us and our relief We see and read though to peruse our grief Your Laws are good and just yet so oresway'd By some they 're broke by others disobey'd Each Clerk's a Justice and each Justice too Pretends to mend those Laws Sir made by You. Thus we lie subject to a Brace of ills The Conscience of our Creditors the Wills Of sordid Officers a horrid Tribe That love not Pris'ners but the Pris'ners Bribe Thus Sacred Sir whenas our wounds wax wide You finde us Balsams but they 're ill apply'd When the late Act was past we did assure Ou●selves there was no doubt of certain Cure But upstart Mountebanks did so divide Your Laws that they have made our wounds more wide Then may Your Self and Council Sir contrive No more of us may starve but some may live 'T is You our welfare must designe to work Or ev'ry Creditor will prove a Turk Who though you teach them to observe our groans Will weekly pay a Tribute to our Bones Be then our Pilot and correct our fears For we swim to You Sir in Seas of Tears May our Lord Chancellor incline his heart VVith mercy to commiserate our smart Though any man can die whenere he please His Habeas Corpus can afford us ease And liberty a more expedient way Yet neither Law nor Conscience disobey May the High Court of Parliament once more Review that Act they lately pass'd before And may each Judge consider so to do They may be honour'd and be pray'd for too Your Laws are Cordials to a Commonweal That like Achilles lance both hurt and heal Our Griefs are great and their immortal hate Will breed at length but Moths in their estate You are the Gilead that must yeeld us Balm Or we shall sink ere we behold a Calm VVhat You have done for Pris'ners that are weak Sufficient is to make a Dumb man speak But in your Progress if you make a stay We must with patience suffer weep and pray VVe hope at last that Heav'n will have an ear Or to our groans or each ones silent tear Thither with zeal we send our pious Suit Sighs may be vocal though the tongue be mute ADVICE To the disconsolate Gentlemen-Prisoners In the Prison-Royal commonly called The Kings Bench. A Prison is a Cage of certain Cares Whose Birds sing tunes of Discords and despairs So fares it in this fickle world Man's like a Foot-ball toss'd and hurl'd Even the poor and honest Prisoners lie Like silver Swans to sing their last and die But what 's a Prison when the Soul is free A Jayl is but the worlds Epitome There ye contemplate how to lie I' th' Grave before ye come to die VVhilst others heaping up their stores of Pelf Have no more Land when dead then you your self Consider there are thousands are so low That they 'd be glad to be as ye are now Your want of liberty 's a Rod To scourge you nearer to your God Thus Providence to Pris'ners is most kinde Their eyes to open leaving others blinde What 's your Confinement but a certain Rule That leads to Happiness afflictions School To know no Sorrow is no more Then to be equal with a Boar. A Prison is an honourable Jayl Where a clear Conscience is the Pris'ners Bayl. Let Reason be your vertue and your Guide Impatience will but make your wounds more wide If any be afflicted pray It is to Sorrows an allay Is any merry let this be his Psalm Strike harder Fate for every Bruise is Balm Since by Misfortunes it is so decreed That ye should all things but a Prison need Laugh at those Sorrows come to day To morrow they may pass away To be dejected is but to deprive Your selves of finding out a means to thrive If you 're despised pitie those poor Elves That laugh at you before they know themselves Your turn is past you know your doom And theirs to morrow is to come 'T is Martial-law which Pris'ners love no more Then Turks love Christians on the Turkie-shore Happie 's that Pris'ner that can live above The reach of Fate or the Intrigues of Love There 's no light object to pervert The Candour of an upright heart Those Iron-bars that do your bodies hold Are far less burthen some then Chains of Gold Where Care will help there have a careful heart Where Care will not ne'r act a foolish part For all the help that Care can do Is but to make One Sorrow Two Then take no Care but onely to be Jolly To be more wretched then ye need is folly FINIS