as well for Malice as otherwise whereof the King is often grieved and divers of the Realm put in damage against the Form of the same Charter Wherefore it is ordained That all they which make suggestion shall be sent with the same suggestions before the Chancellor Treasurer and his Grand Council and that they there find Surety to pursue their suggestions and incur the same pain that the other should have had if he were attainted in case that his suggestions be found evil And that then process of the Law be made against them without being taken and imprisoned against the Form of the said Charter and other Statutes In the 38. Edw. III. Chap. 9. is contained the Informers punishment in these Words It is assented That if he that maketh the complaint cannot prove his Intent against the Defendant by the Process limited in the same Article he shall be commanded to Prison there to abide till he hath made gree to the Party of his damages and of the slander that he hath suffered by such occasion and after shall make fine and ransome to the King And the Point contained in the same Article that the Plantiff shall incur the same pain which the other should have if he were attainted shall be out in case that his suggestion be found untrue And still there is another Law made 42. Edw. III. Chap. 3. In these Words At the Request of the Commons by their Petitions put forth in this Parliament to eschew the Michiefs and Damage done to divers of his Commons by false Accusers which oftentimes have made their Accusations more for revenge and singular benefit than for the profit of the King or his people which accused Persons some have been taken and sometime caused to come before the Kings Council by Writ and otherwise upon grievous pain against the Law It is assented and accorded for the good Governance of the Commons That no Man be put to answer without presentment before Justices or Matter of Record or by due process and Writ original according to the old Law of the Land And if any thing from henceforth be done to the contrary it shall be void in the Law and holden for errour These are Laws that are as much in force as any Statutes whatever and ought to be as duly observed But I beseech you consider to what a degree they have been violated by the Privy Counsel How have they sent for Gentlemen from all parts of the Nation upon meer Flamms and Stories No Man could be quiet but upon any groundless pretence away went a Messenger to bring up that Man not considering the great charge and trouble they put the Gentleman upon by it I will mention only that of Sir Giles Gerrard he was sent for up by a Messenger to answer to I know not what a business about a Black Box and who charged him with it But when it came to be examined it proved nothing but Town-talk and what a pudder did they make In our Countrey when a Man makes a great stir about a matter and it ends in nothing that is significant we say Billy has found a Pin So I pray what did this hurly burly of the Black Box end in but nothing that was worth a straw And to this mighty purpose Sir Giles was fetcht from his House in the Country And several other Gentlemen have been thus used against Law and Reason It 's strange the Privy Council should not remember the Bill of Habeas Corpus which passed in the last Parliament that might have brought to their remembrance these Laws that I have mentioned and might further convince them how precious a thing we esteem our Liberty It puts me in mind of the Petition of Right and what I have heard and read after it was passed how soon it was violated and broken The Privy Council has been very unjust to these Gentlemen whom they have molested by their Messengers in that they have not made their Accusers to find Sureties to make good their Accusations as the Law requires 37. Edw. III. 18. for then idle Stories would not be so currant by reason of the Punishment inflicted on those false Accusers by 37. Edw. III. 18. and 38. Edw. III. 9. which Lawes are grounded upon the Word of God Deuteronomie 19. chap. 18. and 19. ver But now such Fellows as are mentioned in the 37. Edw. III. 18. and in 42. Edw. III. 3. who make their Accusation for Malice or for Revenge or singular benefit more than for the Profit of the King or his People these I say shall be allowed to accuse honest Men though they cannot prove a word of what they say and for these devices are we to be forc't from our Habitations to appear before the King and his Council Methinks it's hard play and yet what remedy have we left but to sit down and be quiet But without doubt the Land intended a Redress in these Cases for 25. Edw. III. 4. says that whatever is done contrary to that Law shall be redress't and holden for none but it does not tell us how satisfaction is to be had But since it is left uncertain I hope for the future we shall so order it that every Man may have relief against this great Oppression and that I humbly move for if we let this alone we leave an Arbitrary uncontroulable Power in the Privy Council which will never stop till it has made the Law subject to them But I have heard it objected that if this Power of sending for People be not allowed to the Privy Council then you put them in a worser condition than any Justice of Peace because by his Warrant he can send for any body in the County where he lives I must in the first place deny this altogether for the consequence is not true In the next place I say that the Law is the best Judge of this whether the Privy Council ought to have such an unlimited Power and what the Law has determined over and over again ought not to be disputed by us besides it is a thing of dangerous consequence to put Discretion into the Ballance with so many written Lawes which conserve so dear a thing as our Liberty But the Power of the Privy Council is not hereby made less than that of a Justice of Peace for a Justice of Peace it is to be supposed will not send out his Warrant but upon a just and reasonable ground What Justice of Peace ever sent out a Warrant of the good Behaviour against any person but he either first heard the party accused which is the juster way or else the matter was proved upon Oath Or when was any Warrant of the Peace issued out but it was grounded upon the Oath of him that demanded the Surety of Peace And whatever Warrants or Precepts are granted by a Justice of Peace they ought to be for just causes or else he violates his Trust So the Privy Council may upon a just Accusation
of Gods express Command as also that no Society of men can subsist without it And that particular form of Government is necessary which best suits the temper and inclination of the People and thereby becomes to be Gods Ordinance But no particular model of Government is such in it self save so far as it effects the true end of Government For nothing can be God's Ordinance but what he has expresly declared to be such And if he had thought any sort of Government to have been better or more necessary than another he would not have left the World so much in the dark in a matter of so high importance but he would either have expresly declared it in his Written Word or discovered it to us by the instinct of Nature But we cannot find any such thing in Holy Writ neither does Nature prompt it because there are so many several sorts of Government in the World no two of them agreeing in every point but differing in something that is very material And even the Jews Gods peculiar People who received their Statutes and Judgments immediately from him yet therein he did not prescribe or limit them to any particular form but what he did command were only rules in general for the executing of Judgment and Justice amongst themselves for we find that the form of their Government was changed no less than five times If not more often 1. Under Patriarchs 2 Under Moses 3. Under Judges 4. Under the High Priest 5. Under Kings So that nothing can be more clear than that God has not appointed the World any form of Government but left every Nation and People to chuse such a Model as best liked them And I have often thought that God Almighty did on purpose permit the Jewish constitution to be changed so often to let the World understand that every form of Government was alike indifferent to him and that if any People found theirs to be out of order the blame rested at their doors if it was not reformed The true original of Government being thus discovered it gives us plainly to understand whence Kings receive their Power and what is the natural and lawful measure of their power For if God Almighty did permit every people to model their own Government from whence can the Kings Prerogative flow save out of that constitution Unless it be supposed which is ridiculous to imagine that Kings are sent down immediately from Heaven with their Commission in their hands or else that they begat all their Subjects If then their power does flow from the Constitution the natural extent of it does seem to be limited within the rules of doing equal right to rich and poor to relieve the oppressed and to punish the guilty unless it can be supposed that cruelty and oppression is more eligible than Justice and Peace And therefore it is more than to be supposed that when any People conferred so great a trust upon their King it was with this condition either expressed or implied that as much as in him lay he should lay out that power to the good and advantage of the People For though several Kings have taken upon them to govern by their Will and this practice has prevailed for many Successions and Ages yet this cannot give them a good title to their arbitrary Rule because the body of the People have an earlier claim and a younger title must give place to the elder and a title or power gained either by force or fraud can never be good and by one of these two arbitrary Power can only be gained For the measure of Power which by the institution of the Government was assigned to the King cannot in reason be supposed to be any other than such as men of sound understandings and without constraint should judge to be most behoveful to the common good Now if Kings may of right exercise a power beyond this then is the condition of every Subject much worse than the Brutes for Brutes though chaced from their usual abode yet can they in any other place find food and lodging as well as where they used to frequent and whenever they are killed or pursued it is because they are hurtful or that the seising of them is useful to men But when Subjects by reason of the cruelty and oppression of an arbitrary King are necessitated to fly for their Lives they are under a certainty of perishing for want of food and lodging if not relieved by the charity of others and their destruction is resolved on not that they have offended against the Laws of nature or reason but because the intentions and thoughts of their King are evil A King that lays out himself for the good of his people is to be obeyed for Conscience sake for he is God's Ordinance and such a King can never be too highly esteemed nor the loss of him sufficiently lamented But when a King forsakes the guidance of the Law and rules only by his Will to call such an one God's Ordinance is very absurd unless we can suppose God to be the Authour of confusion and oppression All that have written of Government agree in this that Kings were created or set up that Justice may be had which does plainly intimate these things First That every King is such by reason of the constitution of the Government 2. That he is admitted to that trust upon condition 3. That when he does not administer Justice much more when he oppresses the People he exceeds the limits of his lawful power and both this Doctrine and Exposition is not denyed by any save some ignorant Ambitious Clergy who in hopes of preferment have turned Bawds to Arbitrary Power And the Coronation Oath or Solemn Ingagement which every King takes before he is crowned confirms the foregoing Observations and what can oblige the taking of that Oath but the constitution of the Government For since Mankind is so greedy of Power and prone to incroach upon anothers right can it be supposed that Kings would clog themselves with the Coronation Oath if they could avoid it much less that they would on their own accord so shackle themselves What has been said will serve to explain what is the true meaning of a natural Prince or Lord a notion which for want of consideration has gulled a great many good People and yet amounts to no more than this That he is one of our Brethren or born amongst us It is a meer conceit to imagine that any thing is such by the institution of Nature For if Nature had formed any Government every other Government in the World would have been of the same Form and Model to all intents and purposes For Nature is immutable and the same in all places and what it does in one place it does the same thing in another So that all that Nature does in the framing of any Government is only to concur with the people in making choice of that which best suits their
send for any person but without that they cannot and therefore I do not see wherein a Justice of Peace has a greater power than the Privy Council or if he had yet it would not be so great a Mischief for he can only send for any person that is in the County but the Privy Council are not limited to this or that County but their power extends all over England But besides it is unjust to be punisht without a cause and restraint or being debarr'd of Liberty is a punishment and whoever he be that would have the Privy Council to exercise this Power when he has known what it is to be brought up by a Messenger upon an Idle Story let him then tell me how he likes it and answer me if he can A SPEECH AGAINST THE Bishops Voting In Case of BLOOD OF all the things that were started to hinder the success of the last Parliament and is like to be so great a stumbling-block in the next That of the Bishops Voting in Case of Blood was and will be the chief Now they that deny that the Bishops have right to Vote in Case of Blood do labour under two great difficulties first because this is a new thing at least it is very long since the like Case has come into debate And next because they are put to prove a negative which is a great disadvantage But Truth will appear from under all the false glosses and umbrages that men may draw over it And I doubt not to make it evident that the Bishops have no right to Vote in Case of Blood at least I hope I shall not be guilty of obstinacy if I do not alter my opinion till what I have to say be answered It is strange the Bishops are so jealous of their Cause as not to adventure it on their great Diana the Canon Law by which they are expresly forbidden to meddle in case of Blood Perhaps they would do by the Canon Law as it is said by the Idolaters in the Old Testament that part of the timber they made a god and fell down and worshipped it the rest of it they either burnt in the fire or cast it to the dunghil For they tell you that the Canon Law was abolisht by the Reformation and that none but Papists yeild obedience to it and therefore now they are not tyed up by the Canon Law but may sit and Vote in case of Blood if they please I should be very glad if they were as averse to Popery in every thing else and particularly that they would leave Ceremonies indifferent and not contend so highly for them whereby they make the breach wider and heighten the differences among Protestants in the doing of which they do the Pope's work most effectually I wish they would consent to have a new Book of Canons for those that are now extant are the old Popish Canons I like Bishops very well but I wish that Bishops were reduced to their primitive Institution for I fear whilst there is in England a Lord Bishop the Church will not stand very steddily But I will leave this though I need say no more and proceed to other things that are very clear as I conceive My Lord Cook in the Second Part of his Institutes the first Chapter treating of Magna Charta when he reckons up the Priviledges of the Church he tells us that Clergy-men shall not be elected or have to do in secular Office and therefore he tells us that they are discharged of such and such burdens that Lay persons were subject to and good reason it should be so that they might with greater ease and security attend the business of their Function that is to govern and instruct the Church But whether they had these Immunities granted them that they might study the Pleas of the Crown and Law Cases or else that they might apply themselves to the work of the Ministry let any Man judge for saith he Nemo militans Deo implicet se negotiis secularibus And if to sit and judge in case of Blood be not a secular Matter I have no more to say and I hope my Lord Cook 's Authority will be allowed And because as I conceive that my Lord Cook 's Authority may pass Muster in this point I will offer some things out of him that will make it evident that the Bishops are only Lords of Parliament and not Peers and if so it is against the Law of England for them to sit and judge upon any Peer for his Life for the Law says that every Man shall be tried by his Peers In the Second Part of his Institutes the first Chapter he tells us that every Arch-Bishop that holds of the King per Baroniam and called by Writ to Parliament is a Lord of Parliament But in the 14th Chapter when he reckons up who are Pares in the Lords House he says not a word of the Bishops but repeats all the other Degrees of Lords as Dukes c. And without doubt he would not have made so great an omission if the Bishops ought to have been taken into the number Besides this if the Bishops be Pares how comes it to pass that an Act of Parliament shall be good to which their consent is not had passed by the King Lords Temporal and Commons But it was never allowed for an Act of Parliament where the Lords Temporal had not given their Vote And for proof hereof see my Lord Cook in his Chap. De Asportatis Religiosorum where he gives you several Instances of Acts of Parliament that passed and the Bishops absent But then in the Third Part of his Institutes he there puts the matter out of all controversie and shews that Bishops are to be tried by Commoners for says he in the second Chap. treating of Petty Treason None shall be tried by his Peers but only such as sit there ratione Nobilitatis as Dukes c. and reckons the several Degrees and not such as are Lords of Parliament ratione Baroniarum quas tenent in Jure Ecclesiae as Arch-Bishops and Bishops and formerly Abbots and Priors but they saith he shall be tryed by the Country that is by the Free-holders for that they are not of the Degree of Nobility So that with submission this is as clear as any thing in the World If the point be so clear that the Bishops may Vote in case of Blood it would do well that some Presidents were produced by which it might appear that they have ever done it at least that they have made use of it in such times when the Nation was in quiet and matters were carried fairly for Instances from Times of Confusion or Rebellion help rather to pull down than support a Cause But my Lord Cook in his Chap. that I mentioned even now De Asportatis Religiosorum gives you several Presidents where the Bishops when Capital Matters were to be debated in the Lords House withdrew themselves particularly 2 of
their Favourites do for the most part pick up mean Men people of no Fortunes or Estates upon whom it is that they place their favour to so high a degree And therefore it 's for their Interest to advise the King to govern by an Army for if he prevails then they are sure to have what heart can wish or if he fail yet they are but where they were they had no thing and they can loose nothing There is no Man but very plainly sees that there are People about His Majesty who advise him to shake off the Fetters of the Lawes and to govern Arbitrarily and I wish that their Advice have not prevailed for the most part yet I think His Majesties own Inclinations do not bend that way for he seems to love quiet and ease which no Prince can have that Rules by an Army Therefore before we can expect that His Majesty will come in to us these People of Arbitrary Principles must be removed from his Throne for whilest there are the same Advisers we must expect the same Advice whilest there are the same Councellors we must expect the same Results And this alone will not do it it 's but the first step to our happyness the Principles or Maxims of State must be removed it 's not taking away this or the other Man and putting in another to act by the same Rules that will cure our Disease but it 's the change of Principles that must do it You may remember in the last Parliament the change that was made in the Privy Council and Ministers and upon the first news of it I met with a Gentleman that had a great Service for White-Hall says he I hope now you are pleas'd what can you expect more from His Majesty I replyed I like it well yet not so very well for said I all is well that ends well for all is not Gold that glisters I am not sure that these Men that are put out have not left their Principles behind them when those are gone I shall like it very well The Man was angry and flung away saying you are hard to please and says I you are easie and so we parted And I pray you how much Wooll have we had after all this cry what benefit have we reaped by that change Do not we see that unless they would act by the Maximes of their Predecessors they must do nothing and therefore several did desire leave to go off Some of these worthy Lords and Gentlemen that did so are now in my eye and I shall ever honour them for it I cannot forget the promises made to the Parliament at the same time and how well they have been kept Therefore I think it 's very plain that till these Principles are removed from White-hall that all our labour and pains will end in nothing The way then as I conceive to do this is to lay before His Majesty the state of the case let us shew him how unable these Men are to serve him and how destructive to his Interest it is to follow their Advices and that he can be Safe and Great only by closing with his Parliament Would His Majesty be Safe alas what can his Creatures do just nothing they have no Power nor have they Will further than it serves for their own advantage But His Majesty is safe in his Parliament for it is the Interest of every Man in England to preserve and defend His Majesties governing by his Parliament Does he want Money to make him easie I pray what can he expect from the Catterpillers his Favourites their care is not how to serve him but to make their own Fortunes But from his Parliament he need not want very plentiful supplies to preserve the Honour of himself and the Kingdom Would he maintain his Dominions and Rights what can his Creatures do but when he closes with his Parliament he can neither want the Heads Hearts and Purses of his People to serve him so that whatever His Majesty would have it is only to be had by his Parliament For his Favourites cannot in the least contribute to make him Safe or Honourable or whatever else a King may want or desire All the Use a King can have from His Favourites is to have Stories and Lies to set him at variance with his People I hope when the Case is laid before His Majesty that he will close with us but if his Judgment is so prepossessed that it will not convince him of his Interest then we must conclude that it is with him as it was with Rehoboam who forsook the Council of the Old Men and inclined to that of the Young Men who councelled him to tell the People that his little Finger should be thicker than his Fathers Loynes And I pray what was the effect of that huffing Speech Why Ten Tribes were taken from him and it was not his Young Men that could recover them for him again neither was it without a Parliament that his Majesty was brought into England I hope his Majesty has not forgot it Let them advise what they will but I am confident they will think on 't a good while before they will adventure to put those Arbitrary Councils into Execution it will prove a hot matter to handle For though I hope no Man here will lift up his hand against His Majesty yet we may oppose any Man that does seek to invade our Properties And for my own part I will Pistol any Subject be he the greatest in England that shall in deavour to deprive me of my just Right Let us do what we can to effect an Union between the King and his People and leave that Success to God Almighty and his will be done A SPEECH On the Occasion of some JUSTICES Being put out of COMMISSION I Was in hopes that some Gentlemen would have prevented me in what I have to say for I fear the House is under a great mistake as to those Gentlemen of the House who are put out of the Commission of the Peace For it is to speak to that chiefly I stand up I acknowledge that it is an unanswerable thing that other Gentlemen were put out but no doubt it was upon very weighty and warrantable grounds that the Gentlemen of the House were put out For without doubt His Majesty or who he be that advised him to it did think it reasonable and were sensible that we who attend the service of our Country in this place do spend our Time and Money and neglect our own Affairs and therefore when we come home its fit that we have a time of rest and that we be eased both in our Bodies and Purses and be at leasure to settle our own concerns and not that we should be tossed from one chargeable and troublesome Imployment to another So that we have great cause to be thankful for the care that is taken of us Besides there is a further regard had to us for this is a
dangerous time to put the Laws in Execution against the Papists because there are Examples where Magistrates some have been murdered others attempted to be assassinated for putting the Laws in Execution against the Papists and because we appear'd to be zealous in it therefore this care is taken off us I suppose that might be the chief reason why I was put out because I have help't to convict above Five Thousand Papists in Lancashire And furthermore it was necessary to know how we stand in the thoughts of our Country-men whether they have a good opinion of us now we are turn'd out of Office because it look't like a design'd disgrace For my part it has gain'd me ground and I believe every Gentleman else finds his Countreymen not to esteem the worse of him I rather think better therefore seeing our Countreys believe us to be honest Men there 's no great question but we shall be in great esteem at Whitehall now they have had this Tryal of us For White-hall is very apt to incline to the opinion of the Country And that Cart is not well upon the Wheels when it is otherwise Therefore for my part I am very thankful that I am put out I 'le assure you I find my Purse the fuller for it and I find my Countrey to pay me altogether as much respect if not more than formerly There is but one thing that I grudged to part with and that was the Office of Custos Rotulorum which had been in my Family for several Generations and for that I hop'd a particular reason might have been assign'd why they took it from me but from that day to this I cannot learn what was the cause It 's gone and farewel it And that 's all the loss I had by being put out of the Commission of the Peace I have done with our selves and now give me leave to speak a little concerning other Gentlemen who are put out and no reason given for it When any Gentleman is made a Justice of Peace it is out of respect to him and for the good of the Country because he is supposed to be honest and able and without dispute no Man ought to be put out but either that he is unfaithful unwilling to do his part or else he does not understand it And it 's a great injustice to any Gentleman to put him out without hearing him for to judge a Man unheard is not allowed by the Law And what is it but to judge a Mans Reputation a thing most dear to every honest Man For in any Age but this it would be a great reflection upon a Gentleman to be turn'd out of the Commission of the Peace But God be thank't the Nation sees very plainly who and what sort of Persons rule the Rost By all the inquiry I can make I do not find that any Man is put out but such as were very active against the Papists such as are against Arbitrary Power and such as approved of the Bill against the Duke I wish they would give the reason why one Gentleman was put out in my County for besides my self there are but two put out the one was newly put in and had not acted the other is an Ancient Justice of Peace and a Man that cannot be reprehended in relation to the discharge of his trust without reflection or diminution to any Man I think he knows the work of a Justice of Peace as well as any Man in England I except no Man And for his Integrity he may set all Men at defiance to accuse him of the least partiality in the discharge of his trust And I do know that no Man made it more his business than he did that he might ease and serve the Country For as his Ability was not Inferiour to that of any other Man so did he most duly put the Laws in execution especially those against the Papists And therefore Sir on the behalf of my Country I must complain and demand to know the reason why he was put out we are greatly hurt we are deprived of a great assistance and relief and we cannot be quiet till we are satisfied in that particular And my Lord Chancellor or the Privy Council whichsoever of them it is that put him out will they not tell us why Are they asham'd to own the cause What will it not bear water I hate this as I do Arbitrary Power and Popery Brave World that we must be debarrâ—d of the benefit of our Laws for if they are not executed they signifie nothing It is that which gives Life to our Laws And they that do execute them are put out of Office this is a fair step to Arbitrary Power to deprive us of the benefit of the Law It is the same thing not to have Laws as to have Laws and not executed I say no more least I may seem to speak in my own case for I do not desire to have any thing done as to my own particular but as to the Gentleman whose Character I have given you and his Name I will acquaint you with it is Sir Thomas Manwaring you must give me leave to be importunate and press it again and again that he may be again put into the Commission of the Peace A SPEECH For Banishing the PAPISTS I Would be as backward to commit oppression as I will be to do any thing that God has forbidden me For in all our Actions betwixt Man and Man both Publick and Private if we observe that Golden Rule to do as we would be done by we cannot err And if my Conscience should tell me that I transgress'd that Law when I give my Vote to banish the Papists I'll assure you I would not violate either that Rule or my Conscience I would now be silent and give my Vote the other way But that Rule does not so strictly tye us up as that we must forget our selves our Posterity our Laws or our Religion it does not oblige any Man to hurt himself to save another neither does it require that a whole Kingdom shall be lost to save particular Men For Charity begins at home but when the Papists are considered in their Principles and Practices then let any Man deny if he can that the Papists themselves are not the cause of whatever happens to them I will mention but one or two of their Principles because I doubt not but every Gentleman here is very well informed of them The first that I will speak to is this That Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks And this Liberty extends to every thing both as to Religion and Worldly Affairs It 's the same thing to them whether they speak Truth or no when they have to do with a Heretick as they esteem every Man that is not of their Faith so that you cannot tell when to believe them nay though they swear it for to Equivocate is a great part of their Religion The next is this That it is
consideration and prepared a Bill for taking away the Dispensing-power which by the help of some other things that were in the same Bill obtained the Royal Assent and so it passed into a Law The Declaration then takes notice that for the better introducing of the Dispensing-power That the Judges were prevailed with to declare that such a power is a right belonging to the Crown and in order to it the Judges opinions were discovered before-hand and such as would not comply were turned out thereby to intimate to the rest that they might act at all times as they should be directed This indeed was a very high aggravation of it this was not to use the Law lawfully but to establish Oppression Violence and all manner of Iniquity by a Law For whoever shall endeavour to influence the Judges in their opinions by what means soever he seeks to intimidate them whether it be by turning them out of their places withholding their Sallaries or putting others over their Heads does plainly discover that he aims at nothing less than to Govern by his Will For the apprehension of losing a good imploy is not above the ordinary rate of men and the stopping of a Judges Sallary must have the same effect because it 's all one whether a man is turned out of his place or the profits of it are withholden from him and that Judge is exposed to a powerful temptation who sees he cannot rise in course unless he will comply The Parliament being sensible how much the Justice of the Nation lay exposed so long as the Judges held their Places or Sallaries at Pleasure had the last Sessions but one prepared a Bill to remedy this inconvenience which was offered to the Royal Assent but was refused for what reasons is not proper for me to give because I shall always advise the contrary so that that part of King James's Male-administration remains as it was to be practised by any other King who shall be so wicked as to have it in his thoughts how he may inslave the Nation The Declaration observes that King James put men into imployment and continued them therein altho they had not qualified themselves according to Law This as it unhinged one of the great securities of the Government so it was a plain indication of King James's intentions to govern without Law for when men are put into imployment in spight of the Law it shews they were preferred not so much for their fitness to execute that Office as to serve some other purpose against Law and those that so complyed justly incurred the censure of every man that wisht well to his Country for they shewed that they were through-stich-men that would stick at nothing thereby rendering themselves so infamous as to make all mankind conclude that they would never be imployed in any other Reign by reason of the scandal as well as the danger that any Prince runs who shall take them into his Service The Declaration then takes notice of the Ecclesiastical Commission which indeed carried an ill design in the face of it it having been always found that such extraordinary methods are not so much to punish faults already committed as to wish there were such and to pretend men to be guilty who have not transgressed For if nothing more had been designed but to punish those who really were offenders what need was there of that High Commission seeing the Law had before sufficiently provided so that the parlous intention of setting up that Commission was very obvious and it was yet plainer because it was expresly against Law for 16 Car. c. 11. that took away the then High-Commission Court has provided and declared that any other such like Court is illegal and all proceedings thereupon to be void and of no force And here I cannot but observe to you how far they were the occasion of setting up this Court who were like to suffer most by it For it cannot be forgot what pains the Clergy took to magnifie Prerogative and to preach up the Doctrine of Passive-Obedience and Non-resistance upon which King James supposing them to be worthy of their Functions and consequently what they preacht in their Pulpits they would practice when they were out of them thought he might make the more bold with them But with what Christian patience they bore it I believe you remember for King James received more reproachful language and revilings from them than from all other people and therefore I hope they have learnt this lesson and will be careful for the future to instruct all others under their care not to extend Prerogative beyond the bounds which the Law has set it lest they are the first that feel the weight of an unlimited power For this Ecclesiastical-Commission was a monstrous thing and therefore it is to be hoped that all those who were of it and that now are in eminent stations under this Government have made it appear that they are become new men or otherwise if it was a fault in King James to set up that Commission it will be hard to find an excuse for their being of it The Declaration proceeds in taking notice that several Churches and Chapels were built for the exercise of the Romish Religion and that several Colleges of Jesuits were set up and that a Jesuit was made one of King James's Privy Council This had it stood singly of it self must appear dreadful to all true English-men and yet it was but a necessary consequence of what went before it and gave every man a clearer prospect of the precarious condition in which his Religion and Liberty stood The next thing that followed was to examine Lord Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants Justices of the Peace and all others in publick imployments in order to have the Penal-Laws and Test repealed and to turn out such as would not concur This was made use of as no doubt it would have been a very effectual means towards the packing of a Parliament it being a lesson which he had learnt from his Brother C. II. who used to take Parliament-men to task in private where he used such arguments as thereby he so often drew from the Parliament those unnecessary supplies This examination of the People in private was called Closetting at first lookt upon as a very inconsiderable thing yet we saw that the said Cloud tho at first no bigger than a mans hand quickly overspread the whole Heavens and gave our affairs a very gloomy Complexion and if we will learn has taught us this useful lesson That when men shall not be left to the freedom of their judgments in relation to the publick but indeavours are used to warp and bend them another way that there is some ill design in hatching especially when such applicaons are made to members of Parliament concerning such matters as are under their Consideration For this is to kill the Government at the Root and the design is equally apparent and mischievous by what means
Meetings The next thing you are to inquire of is the sin of Drunkenness Those that are common Drunkards and frequenters of Traverns and Ale-houses I wish they were not so many as offend herein and that the abuses were fewer that people receive from those that are Drunk This also is a sin of Custom and not of Nature for Nature requires so little that a man cannot disorder himself by taking what is needful to satisfie it So that every Drunkard offers violence to the bent of Nature to bring himself into that condition and what is the advantage of it but to make himself nauseous to others over night that he may loath himself next morning when he is disgorging the last nights entertainment Nothing brings a man so near to a beast as it does for it deprives him of the use of his reason and exposes him to more extravagancies than any other sin What difference is there betwixt a drunken Man and a Swine only that the Brute has the better of him for a Swine follows that appetite which Nature has indued him with and when he is dead his carcass is worth the meat it has eaten But a drunkard forces himself beyond his appetite and when he is dead is good for nothing I have heard of many that boast how they can make others drunk and how much they can drink A notable thing indeed to value themselves upon considering that a Woe is denounced against those that set the Bottle to their neighbours Nose and he that drinks most cannot vaunt of so much as an Hogshead can do Do these men think that they were made to only devour the fat of the Land that they may vomit it up but their answer is that their Time Money and Body are their own and therefore they may do with them what they will so long as they hurt no body else 'T is true indeed they are their own yet only to some intents and purposes For as they may not injure others by the use of them so neither can they justifie the harming of themselves for both Body Time and Money are to be imployed for the advantage of others as well as of themselves because every man's Life and Estate is more the publick's than his own In order to the suppressing of this swinish practice you ought to present all such Ale-houses as of your own knowledge or by information suffer people to tipple and drink in their houses at unseasonable hours or that harbour men suspected and of evil fame or that suffer any other disorder Likewise if there are any Ale-houses in by-ways or other improper places which through inadvertency or mis-informatian are Licenced you ought to present them that they may be suppressed for as they do not answer the legal end of an Ale-house so they are the receptacles and harbours of Thieves and Rogues and consequently the occasion of all the Thefts and Robberies that are committed in the Country There are a sort of people who will go Ten or Twelve Miles to a three Penny Doal that will refuse six pence if offered them to go four or five Miles altho they have scarcely rags to cover their nakedness if you know of any such you ought to present them that they may be sent to a place where they 'll be forc'd to work There are also a sort of People that spend high and live very plentifully yet have no visible means of supporting that expence if you know of any such you ought to present them that an account may be taken of them and their way of living which is very necessary at this time when Clipping and Horse-stealing are two such great Trades The last thing I will recommend to your Care is to present all such Officers as have neglected their duties in seeking and Apprehending Vagrants and wandering Persons I believe Gentlemen you are very sensible that the numbers of these â—dle people are great and that the mischiefs they bring upon us are many for they do so swarm in these parts that it 's a wonder if some other of them are not apprehended every day in most Townsports and yet by what the Officers do one would think there was scarce any of them for in all the time that I have been a Justice of the Peace I don't remember that so much as one Vagrant has been seized by the Constables unless when they have been found pilfering so backward are they to do their duty herein that one would think the Vagrants were in fee with the Constables or else they could not pass along as they do without disturbance considering that the Law has given good incouragement for the apprehending of Vagrants not only by holding out a reward to such as shall apprehend them but also by inflicting a penalty for suffering them to pass along 'T is strange that the Petty Constables if not out of regard to their Oaths yet for the sake of their Reputations are not more diligent herein for he cannot boast of much honesty who is remiss in his duty and it is most apparent that there is a wilfull neglect herein I have now finisht what I thought fit to discourse on at this time and shall therefore conclude with this short word That till Vice and Profaneness be supprest till there is more a face of Religion if not a sincere profession of the Gospel till the glory of God is more regarded till men be convinced that they cannot be true Sons of the Church unless they be good Christians till the Government shall prefer men as well out of regard to their honesty and upright conversations as for any other reasons we must still expect to meet with difficulties and disappointments in our Affairs if not to be over-run by an Invasion or to be ruined by our selves A Speech against Asserters of Arbitrary Power and the Non-swearers I Believe you are all well affected to the Government and therefore to incourage you to do your part upon this occasion I only need to tell you that this is a time that calls upon the diligence and care of every man that wishes well to the publick peace And I am perswaded that this admonition is not very necessary to be given to you who I believe are already very sensible that we are an unsetled and divided people and in this you will concur with me that they are very much to blame who are the occasion of it Far be it from me to charge any one foolishly and I wish it could not be affirmed with so much truth but it is most certain that that Party who in the two late Reigns were so industrious to serve that interest that designed to set up Popery and Slavery are the very men that at this time are the troublers of our Israel And that you may the better understand them and their designs give me leave a little to look back and observe to you the principles upon which they seemed to Act. In the Reign of the
or have said that within such a time there will be a change or any other thing that tends to disturb the Government you ought to present it If any Parson or Vicar not having taken the Oaths has officiated at his Benefice since the 2d of Feb. last you ought to present them for it is as much an offence in them to officiate when they have not qualified themselves as if they had never been presented and their contempt is very great Gentlemen Tho I have not mentioned any other parts of your business yet I know you will not neglect them that which I have spoke to does so immediately concern us that I thought it necessary to inlarge upon it And since God has so wonderfully delivered us we could never answer it if we do not our parts for if we perish through our own neglect our blood lyes at our own doors and we deserve the burial of an Ass if we dye like Fools but I trust we shall not nor do I suspect you will be remiss in your parts and therefore I will trouble you no further but dismiss you to your business and I pray God direct you in it A Persuasive to UNION UPON King JAMES's Design to Invade England in the Year 1692. PEace in a Nation is like Health to a Natural Body whose Value is not sufficiently known but by the want of it God Almighty is wonderfully gracious to this Land not only in continuing to us the Blessing of Peace but teaching us the Worth of it by letting us see the Nations round about us at War and groaning under all the miserable Effects of it whilest it is kept at a distance from us and we are only at some Expence which is unavoidable all Circumstances considered unless we will submit to that Monster the French King and indeed God has done so many and great things for us that nothing is wanting to compleat our Happiness but our selves Of all the Mercies this Nation has lately receiv'd I think our Deliverance from King James was none of the least if it be a Mercy to be deliver'd from Popery and Slavery That we were in great danger of it I think 't was very evident from what we had suffer'd and King James had apparently further design'd to do had he been let alone a little longer for his Government was become so exorbitant that Men of all Persuasions many of the Papists not excepted did think his Yoak intollerable and that it was highly just to be relieved against his Oppression For when the Prince of Orange Landed there was scarcely any Man that appear'd for King James nay a great many of his Army deserted him which coldness and neglect could not probably proceed from any thing so much as from the ill opinion they had of his Cause Now if any that were then so indifferent and passive have now conceived a better opinion of him it may well be suspected that a particular pique or some sinister byass guided their Motion at that time and if so it 's no matter what side they are on for those who are govern'd in such Cases by any thing but a publick principle are easily turn'd about by every breath of Air. Nor can I imagine what can give any Man a better opinion of King James than he had of him before he went into France the only place as he says he could retire to with safety considering how improbable it is that any instructions which that Tyrant may give him will make him less inclined to Popery and Arbitrary Power I suppose it is no news to you that King James did lately intend to Land with a French Force I am persuaded that most people believe it they that don't may as well doubt whether there was a Gun-powder Plot for it is as plain as a thing of that nature can be which has not actually taken effect and it is as certain that he and those his good friends had been here several weeks since had they not been kept back by those Easterly Winds which continued so long Yet that did not break their measures it only delay'd the matter for at last they were ready to put all things on Board but were happily prevented by the wonderful Success of our Fleet for which the Name of the great God be prais'd The defeating of their design is a Mercy never to be forgotten for no design that we know of that was ever form'd against this Nation could be more bloody and destructive than this would have been For King James in his Declaration does expressly say That his intent is to spend the remainder of his Reign as he has always design'd since his coming to the Crown These words speak a great deal of Comfort to England for they cannot mean less than what he has already done When he took the Customs against Law Carried on Sham-plots by his countenance and bribery to destroy honest and worthy Men When he bereaved the Corporations of their Liberties and Franchises When he turn'd out Judges for acting according to their Consciences and filling the Benches with the Raff of the Gown When he avowedly set up Popery and erected publick Chapels in all parts of the Kingdom When he placed notorious Papists in the Seat of Justice and brought a Jesuit into his Councels which was more than any Popish Prince but himself ever did When he set up a High Commission When he set up in Time of Peace a numerous Army to the Terror of his Subjects and allowed so little for their Quarters as it amounted to little less than Free-quarter When he assumed a Dispensing Power and declared he would be obey'd without reserve These and a great many other Irregularities were the product of his Reign and it is not very probable that he is brought to a better temper by any thing that he has seen or learnt by his Conversation with the French King and it is as little probable that King would have treated him as he has done had he discover'd in King James any disposition to govern more mildly and reasonably for the future How much he is influenced to the contrary is very evident by designing to bring in the French upon us the people of all others this Nation ought most to dread â—n some Histories they are called the Old Enemy of England and very truly may be called the irreconcilable Enemy of England For who ever looks into Story will find that France has occasiond more trouble to England than all the World besides nay there has scarcely been any ill design against the Nation but France has had a hand in it as if their very Climate did necessitate them to be at Enmity with us If any of our Kings has design'd to enslave us they have entred into a Confederacy with France as the People of all others most likely to serve their purpose and it has always gone ill with England when our Kings have made an intimate friendship with the French
King as we may remember by woful experience Let us consider besides that no People in the World are so noted for Treachery and Cruelty as the French of which they have given such pregnant instances in their new Conquests and the Protestants of their own Nation as were never done by the most barbarous and uncivilized People for after terms agreed on and a submission thereupon and without any new provocation or other occasion given on the part of the conquered the French have fallen upon them taken from them that little that was left and in cold blood murder'd them sparing neither Age or Sex And shall not we then think our selves in a comfortable Condition when we have such Task-masters as these set over us But it seems that these are they by which King James hopes to be restored by them he will do his work and they are the Instruments he will imploy to make the settlement he designs here in England for in his Declaration he plainly tells us That if those he brings over with him are not sufficient he has more of the same sort ready at hand Now though a reconciliation with King James were practicable could there be any Moral assurance that he would sacredly keep his Word and that he had more just and righteous Intentions than heretofore Yet to come in such company and bring such a train along with him makes it impossible to all those who have not abandon'd all Sense of Religion and Morality and are not resolved to run into all the excesses of Cruelty and Oppression and I should think the very thought of it should be abhorred by every Man that values himself upon the title of a honest Man or English Man But that nothing might be wanting to give success to this fatal Enterprize several persons in England I believe some in every County were not only privy but consenting to it and had prepar'd Horse and Arms to assist the French at their Landing yet of what Profession or Communion they are I forbear to name and leave that to be explain'd when the Government calls them to account and therefore only say in general That they who could so take the French by the hand may well be supposed to have renounced the Protestant Religion and abandon'd all bowels to their Country and Posterity and are resolved to keep pace with the French in the murders and havock they shall commit for they would render themselves suspected by being never so little remiss or backward and thereby turn part of the Invader's fury upon themselves for being once ingag'd there is no looking back but at the price of being involv'd in the Common destruction After all this what these Men will call themselves I know not for they cannot pretend to the Name of Protestants and English-men What they deserve that I leave to the Law which is to Judge them What we are always to expect at their hands when they have opportunity I think without breach of Charity I may adventure to say is all the mischief and ruine that our greatest Enemies would bring upon us What we are to do is to bless God for bringing the design to light before it took effect and to do our best endeavour to detect those who are concern'd in this unnatural design that Justice may pass upon them For are not they more to blame than any others that were to have had a hand in this matter Was it not more unnatural and unreasonable for them to joyn with the French than for the French to have such a design against us Would not their joyning in it have been the chief inducement to bring in the French upon us For such an attempt is altogether impracticable without holding an effectual Correspondence here or else to surprize us when we are together by the Ears in a Civil War So that in effect it is they that had brought all the desolation that would have fallen upon their Native Country if that design had taken effect He that can be consenting and assistant to the rooting up of the Protestant Religion and ruine of his Country what thing can be so bad as that upon the score of Honour or Conscience he would refuse May not a Man without being thought severe say What profligate wretches are these what accommodation can be made with such persons and what security from them can be hop'd for longer than they want opportunity to hurt us Is it not then the duty of every Man that has any concern for his Religion or Property to do what in him lies to discover and bring these projectors of our ruine to Justice Perhaps you may not receive any clear information such as will legally convince any person of being ingag'd in the design I have mention'd But you may receive such information as will convince any reasonable Man that they are concern'd in this or some other foul practice against the publick Peace Those who have refus'd the Oaths to this King and Queen cannot be suppos'd to be altogether unconcern'd for King James But if any such have lately provided themselves with either Horses or Arms is that which ought not to be pass'd over unregarded it must be for some purpose that they had so furnisht themselves for people do not usually put themselves to that expence but when they have a prospect of making use of them Their refusing the Oaths is evidence sufficient that they did not design those Horses or Arms for the service of this Government then it will naturally follow that it was against the Government for there is no Medium in such preparations betwixt being for or against the Government he that is not for us may reasonably be supposed to be against us If any persons who have not taken the Oaths and had Arms yet upon a rumor for search for Arms have either convey'd them away or before that had dispers'd them into hands that are not well affected to this Government or else not duly qualafied to keep such Arms is that in my opinion that carries great suspicion along with it for what but a sense of their own guilt could persuade them to convey away or hide their Arms or wherefore should they put them into the hands of other people but with a design to imploy those persons in the using of them and then can any Man suppose that it was intended for the Service of this Government There is a report of a sort of people who for five or six Months last past have talk'd of King James his being here and settled in a short time and of what powerful assiance France would give him to that purpose If you Gentlemen shall be inform'd of any such it is your duty to take notice of it for it 's plain by what has been lately discover'd that they did not speak without book they would not make such discourses for want of something to say but to incourage people to ingage in it and to promote the design
tho' the Cause of War had been expresly against his Life yet as one Swallow does not make a Summer so neither does one Precedent prove the Point but besides in that case of Charles the First to infer from thence that the Kings Death is principally intended by levying of War is altogether as weak an Argument as to say because a thing falls out by accident therefore that very thing was the principal Design and Aim of the whole Action For in that War those who first took up Arms did it to oppose the Kings Arbitrary Practices and tho' he was afterwards put to Death yet it was altogether against their intent or desire and most of the Army was against it and would have prevented it but that they were at that time so broken into Factions and Parties that they durst not trust one another for after the Tragedy was acted those who first took up Arms immediately upon it laid them down and were afterwards the chief Instruments in the Kings Restoration But if the Kings Death is the principal thing designed by levying of War To what purpose is the War levyed cannot the King more casily be taken off by poyson or a Private Assacination to the effecting of which opportunities cannot be wanting and so with more certainty they obtain their End and run less hazard in the executing of it than they would by a War except they are not content to Murder him unless they cut the Throats of all those that would defend him Indeed to do it by an open War rather than Poyson or a private Assacination is the more generous way for they give him warning and timely Notice to look to himself like a generous Enemy that scorns to kill his Adversary basely 'T is indeed to go round about for the nearest way Therefore a War when levyed must be for some other intent then to take away the Kings life since when Englishmen enjoy their Rights no Prince is so great and happy in the Heads Hearts Hands and Purses of his Subjects than an English King is But yet allowing that upon every War levyed the Death of the King would certainly ensue if the Rebels prevail yet this Question does not naturally arise Viz. Where is that Statute which does in express Terms say that a Conspiracy to levy War is Treason For if it be not so expresly and literally within some Statute then it is a Constructive Treason and consequently no such Treason as upon which the Judges may proceed if the Statute 25th Edward 3d. was made to any purpose for that Statute restrains all Constructive Treasons or none but if the Judges may in any one Case make a Constructive Treason they may do it in all and so we are left in the same uncertainty about Treason as we were before the Statute 25th Edw. 3 was made If the Judges might Judge upon Constructive Treason yet it seems to be a far fetcht Construction to make a Conspiracy to levy War an Overt Act of compassing the Kings death for this is not to be provably attainted by Overt Deed. First Because that Conspiring the Death of the King and levying of War are two distinct Species of Treason and therefore it would be very unnatural and too much forc't to joyn these two together and as it were to unite them that are so different and diverse not only in the manner and Matter of Proof but also in themselves For then Secondly a Conspiracy to commit any other Treason may also be called an Overt Act of imagining the Kings death which was never yet pretended Thirdly A Conspiring of any one Treason may be an Overt Act of any other Treason Fourthly Any other Criminal Act may as well be called an Overt Act of Conspiring the Kings Death Fifthly This is to make it a Treason of it self for there is very little difference betwixt calling a thing Treason in it self and to make it an Overt Act of some Treason within the Statute Sixthly A Conspiracy to levy War was not Treason at Common Law Seventhly The Statutes of the 23d of Elizabeth and the first and 3d Jac. 4th which make it High Treason to Reconcile any to the Church or See of Rome or to be so reconciled were enacted to no purpose if a Conspiracy to levy War is an Overt Act of compassing the Kings Death for what can tend more plainly and directly to levy War than to perswade the People to renounce their Allegiance to the King and to promise Faith and Obedience to some other Power so that these and all other Statutes concerning Treason which have been made since the Statute 25th Edw. 3d. are as so many Confirmations of it and prove that the Judges can call nothing Treason but what is literally such within that or some other Statute Eighthly My Lord Cook says That a Conspiracy to Levy War is not Treason unless the War be levyed in facto and questionless his Opinion is very good Law because in many Cases it is not Treason to levy War and a Fortiory a Conspiracy cannot for look into the Statute First of Queen Mary 12th where it says If any Persons to the Number of twelve on above being assembled together shall intend go about practice or put in ure with Force and Arms unlawfully and of their own Authority to change any Laws made for Religion by Authority of Parliament standing in force or any other Laws or Statutes of this Realm or any of them the same number of twelve or above being commanded or required by the Sheriff of the Shire or by any Justice of Peace of the same Shire or by any Mayor Sheriff Justices of the Peace or Bayliffs of any City Borough or Town Corporate where any such Assemblies shall be unlawfully had or made by Proclamation in the Queens Name to retire and repair to their Houses Habitations or places from whence they came and they or any of them notwithstanding such Proclamation shall continue together by the space of one whole Hour after such Commandment or Request made by Proclamation or after that shall willingly in forcible and Riotous manner attempt to do or put in ure any of the things above specified that then as well every such abode together as every such Act or Offence shall be adjudged Felony And if any person or persons unlawfully and without Authority by ringing of any Bell or Bells sounding of any Trumpet Drum Horn or other instrument or by Firing of any Beacon or by malicious Speaking of any Words or making any Outcry or by setting up or casting of any Bill or Writing or by any other Deed or Act shall raise or cause to be raised any persons to the number of twelve or above to the intent that the same persons shall do or put in ure any of the Acts above mentioned and that the persons so raised and assembled after Commandment given in form aforesaid shall make their Abode together in form as is aforesaid or in forcible
but you will do your best to reform this great Evil. The next thing I would recommend to you is as far as in you lyes to suppress that horrible sin of Customary Swearing Whereby the tremendous Name of God is every day Blasphemed It 's too true that scarcely any man when provokt or in passion but it s too apt to take the Name of God into his mouth and if any of us fall into that misfortune we ought solemnly to beg Forgivenness for it but that whereby God's Honour suffers most is the Customary Swearing when men don't think that they express themselves handsomely without an horrible Oath or more in every Sentence Thus the petty Constables ought to prevent at every Months Meeting and if you know any have neglected to do their Duty herein I hope you won't fail to let us know their Names that we may punish them as they deserve It is a very shameful thing to see how very much the High-ways are generally out of repair the fault of which does mostly lye at the door of the Overseers who because they are not easily punisht are very remiss and take no further care than to Shufflle the Matter off for their time being not much concern'd for what comes after and by this means brings at last a great Burthen upon the Township which would have been prevented by a small thing if taken in time and so the Township suffers for their Neglect This Gentlemen is worthy your care to present the Defaults in High Ways There are very good Laws against Vagabonds but the Execution of them are shamefully neglected and its strange it should be so considering that the Law incourages the apprehending of such idle people For whoever brings one of those Wanderers before a Justice of the Peace the Township through which he last past unpunisht is to pay him two Shillings tho' this reward carry no weight with it yet the great Mischief that those sort of people bring upon the publick should make every body Vigilant It is an incredible Sum that they cost the Nation in a Year and how many Townships and Parishes are opprest and almost ruined by the Charge those people bring opon them It is wonderful that people should rather choose to forswear themselves than do their Duty But so it is in this Case If these Wanderers were duely punisht it would reform many of them and discourage them from following so bad an Example whereas the great remissness of Constables and other Officers in this point is a great Temptation to many who otherwise would think of some more lawful Imployment a neglect and slowness to punish increases the number of Offenders A SPEECH Of the Earl of WARRINGTON Of Tyranny Liberty Religion and against Vice Gentlemen IT is a very common saying That Interest will not lye and yet if you consider it you will find that there is scarcely any thing more difficult than to perswade People to their Interest a thing mightily to be wisht because if it were universally understood and practiced it is the thing of all others that would make this World a happy place for then there would be no need of Laws and Magistrates to preserve Peace and good Order by reason that every man would be restrained by that Law within himself which is the Foundation of all other Laws I mean that Principle of Reason and Justice with which he is Born But when man fell from his primitive Innocency he lost that guide which should happily have conducted him through this World and instead of following the dictates of his Reason he suffered himself to be led away by his passions and without any regard to Justice made his Self-Interest the Standard of his Dealings with others which is the direct way to ruine that which he aimed at for if a man acts without regard of Justice to others he has little reason to expect that Justice should be done him for why should he imagine that others should take care to do him right who has no other Consideration but for himself So that in point of Interest as well as Justice every man ought to have a Mutual regard to the good of each other and because it is so intirely neglected therefore were Laws made to withold men from committing those Acts of Injustice and Violence which their own Consciences tells them ought not to be done From this depraved Inclination do proceed all those Disturbances and Disorders that infest any Government and have often been fatal to the whole Constitution There having at all times and in all places been sound those who have been disposed to Sacrifice their Liberties and Civil Rights to serve the desires and lusts of Arbitrary Princes It is surely a great Sickness of the mind when a man gives up his Birth-right in exchange for something that depends upon another mans Breath and he must be beside his Wits who lightly esteems his Liberty which is the thing that chiefly distinguishes him from a Beast for when a man is a Slave he must submit his Will and Reason to the Humor of him who Governs him and then what difference is there betwixt him and a Brute only that his Condition is the worst of the two If no body but themselves were to feel the Effects of the Servile Compliance the matter were not much if they perished by their own Folly for why should they expect to thrive better than Esau did who sold his Birthright to save his Life and therefore instead of a Blessing received a Curse For can they who reject God's Mercy hope to intail a Blessing upon their Posterity these are the Sower Grapes that set the Childrens Teeth on Edge for tho' the Father may be so fortunate as to go to his Grave in his Princes Favour a happiness to which few have attained who have purchased it by being false to their Country yet it is a Dargerous Experiment for his Posterity to whom there is seldom left any thing more than to inherit the Wind. Now If the Mischief of this Time-serving had ended with this sort of Men and their Posterity the Complaints against it might have been buried with them and their Families for his Infamy ought to be had in Remembrance so long as the Sun and Moon indure who is the Instrument of his Countrys ruine for by this Treachery has whole Kingdoms been brought to desolation which before were in a flourishing Condition Justice was duely executed full Employment for all hands a quick Trade and every man sate with Security and Pleasure under his own Vine This is so deplorable a Change as no Tongue is able to express then let every man consider it in his own Thoughts and he will discover how valuable a thing his Liberty is even preserable to any thing else this World affords For Liberty is the Foundation of Virtue and Industry what does any thing else signify without it For when that is gone as our Lives and Fortunes depend upon another
yet if the King think good to question it the party must yield it up without insisting upon his Right for the Reason given by the learned Judge for the same Reason every Peer if denied his Writ must not demand it nay he must surrender his Patent and renounce his Title as far as in him lies if the King require it And for the same reason when any man is called to an account for his life he must make no defence but submit himself to the King's Mercy for all we have is from the King and nothing must be disputed when it is his pleasure to question it This is indeed to make the King as absolute as any thing on Earth can be yet is withal to make him the most unjust Prince that ever sate on the English Throne This sort of Justice is learnt from Children whose Gifts continue good no longer than the Donor remains in that kind mood Surely nothing can more reflect Dishonour upon the King for it makes him as unjust and uncertain as any thing can be both which should not be in the Temper much less in the Actings of a Prince Another Reason was given I think by the Chief Justice or else by Mr. Justice Holloway because it was absolutely necessary for the securing of the Peace it was urg'd so far as if the Peace could not be secured without it Surely all this must be but gratis dictura for my Lord Devonshire by finding Sureties had done all that the Law does require for securing the Peace unless they had clapt him up a close Prisoner which they could not justifie if he tender'd Sureties and therefore either my Lord Devonshire is different from all Mankind and a different method must be made use of to secure the Peace or else this Argument of theirs savours not so much of Reason as of something else that ought to be no Ingredient when they give Judgment in any Case and it surpasses common sence to understand how the over-ruling my Lord's Plea could tend to the securing of the Peace either the Security which he had given must awe him to keep the Peace or the other could not for he had broke the Peace again and repeated it several times before he came to his Trial yet that could not effect the Merits of the Cause neither could it be given in evidence at the Trial so as to alter the state of the Fact neither could the Judges by reason of it enhaunce his Punishment if he were found guilty but they must look upon it as a distinct Offence and so might require the greater Security for the Peace and for a longer time Indeed it is an effectual way to prevent a man from breaking the Peace to lay such a Fine upon him as is impossible to be paid immediately and to commit him till payment It is too probable that the Judges being concious how liable they have made themselves to be called in question for this Sawciness and trampling upon the Law would debase and bring under the Credit and Authority of this Court because no other can take cognizance of their proceedings so as to correct their Errors and Mistakes it is only here that they can be called to an account for what they do amiss no Court can punish them but this so that if they can once top your Lordships there is nothing that they need stand in awe of nothing to restrain them but they may act ad libitum not per legem for let this Court be deprest and they may say Of whom then need we be afraid By what they have done already they have sufficiently shewn to what Extravagances they will proceed when they think themselves to be out of the reach of this Court If once the King's Bench can set it self as high as the Judges have attempted by this proceeding against my Lord Devonshire then must the whole Nation your Lordships not excepted stoop to all the Extravagances and monstrous Judgments that every corrupt and ignorant fellow shall give who shall chance to get up to the Bench and not only this present Age shall feel and undergo the Mischief but it will be entail'd upon all succeeding Generations Well then did the Judges attempt that which would bring your Lordships so low and raise their Court so high to set it above all reach or controul especially if they did promise to themselves Impunity if not Reward which they might have expected had it been in the Reign of an arbitrary Prince who would be a great gainer by the fall of this Court because then the Skreen betwixt the King and People is taken away This is the first time that an inferiour Court did take upon it to invalid the Priviledges of a superiour Superiour Courts do sometimes set aside the Orders and Proceedings of Inferiour Courts and yet in that case they proceed with that caution that it is never done but when there is manifest Error and the Law not duly pursued and observed but in no case was it known that they ever meddled with their priviledges If what the Judges have done is good I cannot tell what Power and Jurisdiction they may not pretend to for no bounds nor limits can be set to the King's Bench it may assume as great a power in Civil Affairs as the High Commission does in Ecclesiastical in their Actings not to be tyed up to any Rules or Method but to vary and alter them as well as the Law when occasion or humor serves the proceedings shall be as summary or as delatory as they think fit and your Lordships shall no more than other people be exempted from the exercise of that power Therefore if your Lordships will not prevent the Mischief from spreading it self over the whole Nation yet I hope you will take notice of the Injury you have suffer'd in the Case of my Lord Devonshire and to do your selves Right The Law has for the most part left Fines to the Discretion of the Judges yet it is to be such a Discretion as is defin'd by my Lord Coke fol. 56. Discretio est discernere per legem quid sit Justans not to proceed according to their own Will and private Affection for Talis discretio discretionem confundit as Wing at says fol. 201. So that the Question is not Whether the Judges could fine my Lord Devonshire but Whether they have kept themselves within the bounds and limits which the Law has set them It is so very evident as not to be made a Question whether in those things which are left to the Discretion of the Judges that the Law has set them bounds and limits which as God says to the Waves of the Sea Hitherto shalt thou go and no farther for either they are so restrained or else the Law does suppose them to be exempted from those Frailties and Passions which do attend the rest of Mankind But as they cannot be suppos'd to be void of Passions and Infirmities no less than other
but told the Parliament to their Face that he had so done and was resolv'd to proceed and he was as good as his word for he made Popish Officers Justices of the Peace and Judges upon which Loyalty began to decline for they fell away from him every day more than other But he stopp'd not here for that he might disoblige the Tories and Clergy as well as he had the rest of the Nation the Papists excepted he set up the High Commission and then the Declaration of Indulgence and for refusing to comply with it he clapp'd up seven of the Bishops in the Tower I am far from detracting from the Praise that is due to that Action of the Bishops yet give me leave to say the Merit of it is not so great as many have cry'd it up to be for they refused to read the Declaration more out of Self-Interest than out of regard to the Publick otherwise why did they not refuse to read the Declaration of Charles II. upon his dissolving the Oxford Parliament which struck more directly at the Heart of the Government than King James did yet not one Bishop refused it and accounted every one disaffected to the Government that did dislike it And that which further prevails with me to be of this Opinion is because some of these Bishops at this time refuse to take the Oaths It would be endless to run through all the Particulars of King James's Exorbitant Reign but in short he had turn'd the Government on its Head and was resolv'd to set up Popery instead of God's true Worship and his Absolute Will and Pleasure in the room of the Law and had fully accomplish'd his purpose if God had not sent us a Deliverer by whose assistance we thrust him from the Throne For having broke his Coronation-Oath and the Condition upon which he receiv'd the Crown he thereby lost all the Right of swaying this Scepter And by a just and real Authority with which the People of England are invested upon such occasions has the Nation by a full and free Consent placed King William on the Throne who I trust will be the Repairer of our Breaches How then ought we to rejoyce what cause have we to be thankful for such a stupendious Change when we had nothing but a fearful looking-for of utter Ruine we now enjoy the Protestant Religion instead of Idolatry and a just and equal Government instead of Slavery and all this brought about without the expence of Blood So that I stand amaz'd when I hear of any that are for recalling the late King James if there be any such I hope I shall not be accounted severe if I wish they were with him for I think it would be best and safest for them and every body else Can any Man be so senceless as to desire to set that man over them again who had once destroy'd their Religion and Liberties and had justly forfeited his Crown by Male Administration for when the King denies his Protection the People are discharged of their Obedience to him because the Obligation of Protection and Subjection is reciprocal Nay I may presume to say that the People have a greater Right to be well govern'd than any King can have to his Crown for their Right of being well govern'd was first in Nature and secondly it is necessary to the being of Mankind but so is it not that this or the other man be on the Throne nor even the form of the Government it self for that sort of Government is most necessary that is best for the Common Good We now fit safely under our Vines and Fig-trees and every man may Worship God without being hawled to a Goal the Bone is taken away that the Papists used to throw amongst Protestants to set them together by the Ears And truly it was always my Opinion that it would never go well with England till every man might worship God in his own way And this being thus happily accomplish'd I do beg your permission to offer my Advice which is this That all Protestants would now unite against the Common Enemy and forbear all Distinctions and Revilings though we may differ in some things yet let us neither reproach him that goes to his Parish Church nor be scandaliz'd at him that goes to a Barn let no man be offended at a Liturgy or set Form of Prayer nor think extempore Prayer is unacceptable to God every Tub must stand on its own bottom therefore let every man be more careful to mind and mend his own Failings than to observe the Faults of others let every man live up to the Doctrine he professes and sincerely act according to his Principles and prefer the publick before any private Interest and then it will go well with them here and hereafter Thus have I given you my scatter'd Thoughts which I have endeavour'd to put together as well as I could with the short leisure I have had As to the particular Business of this day it would be needless to offer you any Directions your Oath has sufficiently instructed you and I suppose most if not all of you understand your Duty as well as I can inform you therefore I will only say that whatever is an Offence against the Law is presentable by you Your Country has reposed a great and honourable Trust in you and I don't doubt your good and faithful discharge of it only this I desire to recommend to you That you will not find any Indictment or Presentment upon Suspicious or slight Evidence for it is unjust unreasonable and may be of fatal consequence to our selves or our Posterity A Man's Reputation is a precious thing and no man ought to be troubled unnecessarily And I do rather give you this Caution because it was the Practice of the Late Times and I hope we shall rather reform their Practices than follow them and come nearer to the Golden Rule of doing as we would be done by But in saying this I don't design to lead you out of the way of Justice that any who have offended the Law should escape Punishment Let the Guilty receive the Reward of their Doings and the Innocent suffer no Wrong and then shall we be a happy People So I will trouble you no further but to pray God to direct you in your Business SOME ARGUMENTS To prove That There is no Presbyterian but a Popish PLOT AND Against the Villany of Informing in 1681. I Will trouble you but with a few words before I proceed to the Particulars of your Charge and I hope no body of the Protestant Perswasion will be offended at what I have to say I have heard it positively affirm'd That 80 81. is become 40 41. That the same Game is now playing that was then If by this is meant That our old and restless Enemies the Papists are now at work that it is they who at this time are labouring our Destruction and that they are the Danger that threatens
ordained That all they which make Suggestions shall be sent with the same Suggestions before the Chancellor Treasurer and his Grand Councel and that they there find Surety to prove their Suggestions and incur the same Pain that the other should have had if he were attainted in case that his Suggestions be found evil And that then process of the Law be made against them without being taken and imprisoned against the form of the said great Charter and other Statutes 38 Ed. III. 9. As to the Article made at the last Parliament of those that make grievous Complaints to the King himself it is assented That if he that maketh the Complaint cannot prove his Intent against the Defendant by process limited in the same Article he shall be commanded to Prison there to abide till he hath made good to the Party of his Damages and of the Slander that he hath suffer'd by such occasion and after shall make Fine and Ransome to the King And the point contained in the same Article That the Plaintiff shall incur the same pain which the other should have if he were attainted shall be out in case that his Suggestion be found untrue 42 Ed. III. 3. At the Request of the Commons by their Petitions put forth in this Parliament to eschew the Mischiefs and Damage done to divers of his Commons by false Accusers which oftentimes have made their Accusations more for Revenge and singular Benefit than for the Profit of the King or his People which accused Persons some have been taken and sometimes caused to come before the King's Council by Writ and otherwise upon grievous Pain against the Law It is assented and accorded for the good governance of the Commons that no man be put to answer without Presentments before Justices or Matter of Record or by due Process and Writ original according to the old Law of the Land And if any thing from henceforth be done to the contrary it shall be void in the Law and holden for Error To the same purpose are the Statutes of 17 Rich. II. 6. 15 Hen. VI. 4. which you may peruse at your leisure and because I will not trouble you too long I will say no more of them but leave every man to make his own Observations upon the whole matter and so I 'll proceed to the Particulars of your Charge But Gentlemen if we invite our Friends to Dinner and the Gates and Doors are left open for all persons that please to come in and partake of what the Cellar and Kitchin will afford and no Violence or Rudeness is offer'd to any person this is not a Riot within the meaning of the Law and if any such thing shall be offer'd to your consideration I hope you will not take it to be your Duty to present it Gentlemen one thing more I will mention and then I will dismiss you There is a new Opinion which obtains very much which is this That a Grand Jury is oblig'd to find every Indictment without considering the Credibility of Persons that swear to it and the probability of what they swear I must confess I do not understand the reasonableness of this Doctrine for by this Rule a man has more play for any thing else than his Life First As to his Estate he has Relief three several ways first at Common Law secondly in Chancery and thirdly in Parliament As to his Reputation though he may be injured by a false Verdict yet by an Arrest of Judgment he may have another Hearing or else in process of time he may come to redeem his Credit some other way but when an Indictment is preferred against a Man for his Life and the Grand Jury are oblig'd to Find the Bill if it be Sworn to then that man has but one play for his Life and if the Petty Jury give a false Verdict there 's an end of him for there is no redemption from the Grave But besides if you are obliged of course to Find every Bill if it be sworn to and may not consider and deliberate upon the Evidence before you not only a great many will be put to causeless Trouble and unnecessary Charge but it will be an undervaluing of your Service and a lessening of the Trust that your Country reposes in you It is a new Doctrine and therefore it is not convenient to be too forward to put it into practise till time shall prove that it is agreeeble to the Fundamentals of the Government And now Gentlemen I will detain you no longer but do pray GOD to direct you in your Business Monarchy the Best Government AND THE ENGLISH Beyond all others WITH SOME RULES For the Choice of Members to Serve in Parliament Gentlemen of the Grand Jury IT is very probable that this is not the first time that all or many of you have been upon the Grand Jury and therefore I have great reason to believe that all or most of you are acquainted with what your Country expects from you this day and for that cause I shall contract my Discourse into as narrow a compass as the present occasion will permit but before I tell you the Particulars of your Charge I think it may not be impertinent considering the present juncture to give you a short account of the Government of England as it stands at this day Gentlemen Peace and Justice is the End of every Government under the Sun and this is then only to be hoped for when the King or Governour duly executes and administers the Laws and Justice and the People are disposed to obey and be governed by them therefore it does naturally follow that in every Government there is a Supreme Power to which all are to submit whilst that Power contains it self within the Laws for without this there can be no Order or Peace if every man will be his own Master and Judge in his own Case and not own a Superiour our condition would quickly be worser than that of the Brute Beasts for amongst them there seems to be a kind of Government Now that sort of Government appears to be most proper and agreeable to Mankind where the power and administration of the Laws and Justice is vested or setled in one single person And this is fully cleared by the course of Experience ever since the World began although some People are not so happy as to enjoy this Blessing But Gentlemen that Government which is under a single person I mean a King is more or less happy for the People according as it depends more upon the King's Will and so consequently less upon the Laws or else more upon the Laws and less upon the Pleasure of the King And this is the difference betwixt us and our neighbouring Nations our Government depends upon the Laws but theirs chiefly or for the most part upon the Will and Pleasure of their Kings and though no Government under the Sun be perfect in every point yet I think I may safely
he that invades the Peoples Rights does no less to the King no man can perswade the King to do a thing more contrary to him and his Interest than to invade the Peoples Rights for if one be hurt the other is hurt also and he that will not do the King Right cannot expect to have Right done to himself No man can come to his Right but by doing the King Right give each its due but have a care how you give either side so much as an inch And therefore I would that People would forbear to preach up such destructive Doctrine both to King and People and not put the King and Parliament to the Trouble to make a Law whereby it shall be Treason in Words as well as Actions to endeavour the least alteration in the Government Petty-Treason For a Wife to kill her Husband or a Servant his or her Master or Mistris 25 Eliz. 3.2 Praemunire It is properly a Writ or Process of Summons awarded against such as brought in Bulls or Citations from the Court of Rome to obtain Ecclesiastical Benefices by way of Provision before they fell void To contribute Money or send Relief to any Jesuite or seminary Priest beyond Sea or any College 27 Eliz. 2. The first time to extol or maintain the Authority and Power of the Bishop of Rome Or The first time to refuse the Oath of Supremacy is a Praemunire 5 Eliz. 1. If any bring over any Agnus Dei Crosses Pictures or Beads hollowed as they call it at Rome to disperse among the People or if any person receive such 13 Eliz. 2. The Penalty in these and the like cases is That the Person offending shall forfeit all his Lands Tenements Goods and Chattels Imprisonment and be put out of the King's Protection 16 Rich. 2.5 Gentlemen you may observe that many of the things I have mentioned are only done by the Papists whose Religion has been the Author of all our Troubles and Mischiefs it was the Papists who took off the late King's Head though they made use of other People to act their part yet they were the Contrivers of all it was they who fired London and Southwark and it 's they who at this time would have brought us into the greatest Confusion that ever had been heard of by a Design which nothing but Hell could be the Contriver of but God in his Mercy brought it to light just when it should have been put in execution It is with Horror when I consider the Cruelty and Bloodshed that must necessarily have ensued had this Plot gone on it was no feigned thing the matter is as clear as any thing can be nothing but the execution of it could make it more clear and yet I hear that there are those who will take upon them to say there is no Plot and argue it how far they are guilty themselves I know not but I must tell them that they render themselves very suspicious to argue against that which every body believes and is satisfied of for my part I must judge them either to be in the Plot or very much enclined to Popery Wisely therefore has the Law provided for us against that from which there is so much danger If Popery be the True Religion God Almighty is not God Almighty for certainly that Religion is very defective whose Foundation must be layed in Blood and Cruelty and certainly God Almighty can propagate his Truth without having recourse to such unnatural means I am sure there is not to be found in Scripture the least evidence or instance to warrant the killing of Men for their Religion Men are to be convinced by Reason and Scripture and not by Force and Fire The Papists think it a hard thing to be required to take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy which Oaths don't deny them the private use of their Religion only require from them a Security to be true to the Government but don't consider that their Church requires that all must dye who will not change their Religion or if any of them have an Estate held wrongfully from them or is robbed or abused they expect to have the benefit of the Law and Justice of the Government they expect that the Government shall defend them and they will not be bound to maintain it how reasonable this is let any man judge But Gentlemen there 's no reason the Government should defend them that would destroy it though the Penalties are great yet you ought to avoid Tenderness because so much depends upon it as does and besides where any of them comes under a Praemunire the Persons themselves don 't suffer so much as the Common Stock for they have Stocks and Banks for those uses and to buy Poor People to their Religion Popery is not a Religion but an Interest which endeavours our destruction and therefore we ought to shew it no Favour And this will suit very well with Moderation for in all the Laws against the Papists the Penalties are very modest and moderate in comparison to what we have found at their hands and therefore to put the Laws strongly in execution against them cannot be called Severity Misprision of Treason To know any to be guilty of High Treason and not to disclose it If a Bull or Instrument of Absolution or Reconciliation be offered to use or put in use if they do not make it known within six weeks to some of the Privy Council 13 Eliz. 2. In them that shall be aiding maintaining or concealing of such persons as shall withdraw any from their Obedience or Religion and not make it known to some Justice of Peace within twenty days 23 Eliz. 1. The next thing that I am to give you in charge is Felony which is of two sorts against the Person and against the Possession of another Felonies against the Person of another If any commit Homicide that is kill or slay another which if out of precedent Malice either expressed or implied is Murther If upon a sudden Falling-out Manslaughter If in doing a lawful action is called Chance-medley If in his own defence it 's stiled Homicide se defendendo Poysoning Stabbing and Bewitching to Death are Homicides If any commit a Rape have the carnal knowledge of a Woman against her will or with her will if she be under Ten years old If any take away or consent or assist to take away any Maid Widow or Wife against her will she being then interested in Lands or Goods If any marry a second Husband or Wife the first being alive If any commit Buggery or Sodomy If any do willingly and maliciously cut out the Tongue or put out the Eye of another And by a Statute made the 22d and 23d year of K. Ch. it is Felony that by lying in wait purposely or upon Malice forethought to maim or disfigure another If any receive relieve or maintain any Jesuite or Seminary Priest knowing him to be such 27 Eliz. 2. If any incorrigible Rogue judged
dangerous and banished return again If any dangerous Rogue branded in the Shoulder return again to a roguish life Felonies against the Possession of another If any break a Dwelling house in the Night with intent to do any Felonious Act there If any rob another by the Highway or take any thing privately from his Person If any take the Goods of another in his absence with intent to steal them If any Servant go away with his Master's Goods delivered to him with intent to steal them being the value of 40 l. or upwards If any rob a Church If any maliciously burn the House or Stack of Corn or Barn of Corn of another If any do the second time forge any Deed Evidence or Writing and publish it to be a good Deed. If any acknowledge a Fine or Judgment or Deed to be enrolled in the Name of another and not being the true person If any Persons above twelve in number raise any Tumults or Vnlawful Assemblies If above forty Persons shall assemble together to do any unlawful act and shall continue together three hours after proclamation for their departure If any depart out of this Nation to serve a foreign Prince without Leave and before Bond entered and Oath taken according to the Statute If any perswade another to commit any Felony or receive and assist any Felon after the Felony committed these are Accessaries to the Felony If any rescue a Felon from Prison If any Felon break Prison and escape or be suffered to escape and be reseued In both sorts of Felonies some have the Benefit of Clergy others not and because it 's their Duty only to present them therefore I have not troubled you with their distinctions but have given you them in part Misprision of Felony If any one know another to have committed Felony and don 't reveal it The next thing I am to acquaint you with is Trespasses and Offences against the Peace which are Finable If any menace assault beat or wound another If any make unlawful entry upon another Man's Lands or unlawfully take away other Mens Goods If any make unlawful Assemblies Routs and Riots You are to present all Seditious Conventicles according to 16 Charles 2. where there shall be five persons over and above them of the Family who shall meet together under colour or pretence of any Exercise of Religion in any other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy of the Church of England Now Gentlemen although this Law does seem to comprehend all Dissenters yet certainly not all alike for it would be unreasonable that they who only differ in some things from the Church of England should be as rigorously intended by this Law as those whose Worship and Principles are quite contrary to it and I think the very Title of the Statute is an Argument for me which is thus Seditious Conventicles suppressed If it had been only Conventicles suppressed then I should have been of another opinion And therefore Gentlemen my opinion is that this Law is rather intended against the Papists Quakers and others of that sort than against them who come nearer in their manner of Worship to the Church of England And without question at this time it is not prudent to be very strict against them who differ from the Church of England only in some Ceremonies in regard the Common Enemy to our Religion and Liberty is now very active I mean Popery and therefore it is very great Policy to unite our selves that we may be the more able to resist Popery I am sure that this is not a time to harase or pull one-another in pieces for some small Points in Religion I am sure it is that which the Pope and Church of Rome will esteem as a very great and meritorious piece of Service He that shall say or sing Mass forfeits 200 Marks and Imprisonment a year and after that till the Money be paid To hear Mass forfeits 100 Marks and Imprisonment a year He forfeits 20 l. per month who does not come to Church and if he forbear a year to be bound in 200 l. to the good a bearing till he conform 23 Eliz. 1. A Conformed Recusant not taking the Sacrament the first year forfeits 20 l. the second 40 l. and for every year after 60 l. Every Recusant that shall not come to Church forfeits 20 l. for every month Who shall be absent from Church for every Sunday forfeits 1 l. and for want of Distress to be committed to Prison To relieve or maintain a Recusant not going to Church forfeits for every month 10 l. To retain in ones Service a Recusant who shall not repair to some Church forfeits 10 l. per month 3 Jac. 4. Now Gentlemen you must understand that by by the word Recusant is meant Popish Recusant and no other whatsoever They who shall send their Children beyond Seas without License according to Law forfeits 100 l. 3 Jac. 5. If any chide brawl or draw a Weapon to strike or do strike in Church or Church-yard If any keep a Fair or Market in a Church or Church-yard If any voluntarily disturb the Preacher in his Sermon The next Matters that I am to acquaint you with are Offences against Justice in general If any be a common Stirrer and Procurer of Law-suits or a common Brabler or Quarreller among his Neighbours this is Barratry If any maintain the Law-suit of another to have part of the thing in demand this is Maintenance or Champerty If any get Goods of another into his Hands by false Tokens and Messages this Deceit is punishable If any counterfeit a Deed or Writing and publish it as true this is Forgery If any corrupt a Jury-man by Bribery or Menace to divert him from giving a just Verdict this is Imbracery If any wilfully and corruptly swear falsely in Evidence to a Jury it is Perjury and to procure another so to do is Subordination of Perjury And here I think I may mention Bailiffs and other Officers taking or demanding unlawful and unreasonable Fees None ought to practise as an Attorney but such only as have been bred up Attorneys at Law and not every little Catchpole that has read over a Book or two for these are they that do all the Mischief because Ignorance and Knavery for the most part go together and I doubt there are some who practise in this Court who are not duly qualified for it The next things you are to enquire into are The Neglects of Constables If he do not hastily pursue Hue-and Cry after Murtherers and Robbers If he do not truly execute and return all Warrants sent to him from Justices of the Peace If he do not apprehend Beggars Rogues and Vagabonds that are wandring or begging within his Office If he do not punish by Stocking such as refuse to labour in Hay and Harvest time If he do not present at the Sessions or to the next Justices the Disorders in Alehouses Defects in High-ways Recusants absence from Church