A Charge Given AT THE General Quarter Sessions OF THE PEACE For the County of SURREY HOLDEN At Dorking on Tuesday the 5 th day of April 1692. and in the Fourth Year of their Majesties Reign By the Honourable Hugh Hare Esq One of their Majesties Justices of the Peace for that County LONDON Printed for John Newton at the three Pidgeons over against the Inner-Temple-Gate in Fleet-street 1692. TO THE Right Honourable George Earl of Berkeley c. Custos Rotulorum of the Country of Surrey My Lord WHen I Petitioned your Lordship to appoint the Easter Sessions at Dorking I little expected the Honour the Gentlemen on the Bench were pleased to do me in chusing me for their Chair-man but when I was forc'd to submit to their Commands in accepting an Office for which I was so ill qualified I was extremely surprized at the unusual Compliment the Grand Jury first and then the Court made me in desiring me to Publish the Charge I gave them All the importunities I could use proved insufficient to excuse me from appearing thus in Publick and I was forc'd out of deference to their Judgments and obedience to their Orders though with the greatest Reluctance to execute on my self a Sentence so Severe For though there is nothing in these Papers that an honest Man need be ashamed of yet the World will be apt to judge of them not according to the sincerity of the Author but the exactness of the performance And there ought to be Wit and Eloquence Sense and Judgement as well as a good intention in those that appear in Print I am sensible My Lord how deficient I am in the first mentioned Qualifications and therefore I thought it necessary to beg your Lordship's Protection for this Discourse And indeed whether I consider your Lordship as a zealous Patron of Religion and Vertae or as a true Friend to the Interests of your Country and by consequence entirely devoted to their Majesties Service or whether I consider the High Office your Lordship so deservedly enjoys in this County and the Obligations I owe your Lordship for honouring me with your Friendship in all these respects my Lord there can be no Person so fit as your Lordship to defend the following Sheets from the Censures of Atheistical Libertines and Seditious Male-contents If we were to judge of the Strength of these two Parties by their Clamour and their positiveness in what they assert then Religion Vertue and Loyalty might justly be apprehensive of them as dangerous and formidable Enemies But those Arguments had need be irrefragable that can perswade a Man of Sense either that Wickedness and Goodness are of the same intrinseck Value and equally eligible or that a Despotick Monarchy is preferable to the excellent Model of our English Government And though they were Masters of as much Wit and Art as the Epicurean Poet or the Malmsbury Philosopher whose Dictates they for the most part Copy after yet Principles that are in themselves false and besides that undermine the Publick Security and destroy the private Happiness of Mankind must never hope to be generally entertained unless they have better recommendations than superficial Sophistry and smooth Language But my Lord 't is the proper Business of a Dedication to be on the Defensive and therefore I shall not engage my self any farther in this Quarrel I have only this to say in behalf of my self that whoever thinks I have prostituted my Pen either to Revenge Covetousness or Ambition is very much mistaken for as I never received any personal Affront or Injury from the last Government so neither do I expect or hope for any profitable Employments or great Places under the present But am as free on the one hand from Malice as I am on the other from Flattery By this the World may see I have no private Aims but have sincerely and freely declared the Genuine and Vnbyast dictates of my Reason And these I presume to shelter under your Lordship's Patronage and since I have been as it were forc'd to Print these Papers it is no small comfort to me that I have thereby an Opportunity publickly to own your Lordship's kindness in appointing at my request the last Sessions at Dorking and in giving me reason to hope that that place shall now and then by your Lordships grant share an advantage from which it hath for some time been excluded and which I assure my self they will for the future deserve better by prevailing with the Justices to fill the Chair with a person fitter for that Employment then My Lord Your Lordship 's most Obliged Obedient and Humble Servant HUGH HARE Betchworth Apr. 12. 1692. Sur ' ss Ad. General ' quarterial ' Session Pacis Domini Regis Dominae Reginae Com' Sur ' tent ' in pro Comitatu praedicto apud Dorking in eodem Cmitatu die Martis in Septimand proxima post Clausum Pasch ' scilicet quinto die Aprilis Anno Regni Dom. Will ' Dom. Mar. Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Regis Reginae sidei Desensorum c. quarto coram Justiciariis ibid assignatis c. ON Reading the Address of the Grand Inquest for the body of this County at the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace now held for this County at Dorking whereby it is desired that the Honourable Hugh Hare Esq would please to permit his Religious Learned and Loyal Charge now given to the said Grand Inquest to be Printed The Justices now present in Court do Concurr and Agree with the said Grand Inquest in their Address and do desire that the said Mr. Hare would please to permit his said Charge to be Printed Per Cur. Exr. per Will. Smith Cler. pacis Com. Sur. Praed Sur'ss VVEE whose Names are subscribed being the Grand Jury for the said Country do Present our Humble Thanks to the Honourable Hugh Hare Esq Chairman at the general Quarter Sessions held at Dorking in the said County the 5th of April 1692. for his Religious Learned and Loyal Charge and do hombly desire that for the Advantage of this County for whose Benefit it was intended he would permit the same to be Printed Tho. Baker Tho. Vincent Valentine Hayward John Isted John Goldhawke Thomas Francis Will. Luck John Hill Miles Dudley John Woodman John Stilwell John Rowod Tho. Harther John Knight Tho. Spong Walter Lonhurst Tho. Cannell John Page Michael Greene Will. Wood Will. Wood Jo. Gardiner Joseph Bignold Charles King Richard Hubbard A Charge Given AT THE General Quarter Sessions OF THE PEACE For the County of SURREY HOLDEN At Dorking on Tuesday the 5 th day of April 1692. Gentlemen of the Jury AS the Necessity of Government flows from the Corruption of Humane Nature so the Strength the Glory and the Honour of it consist in the regular Administration of Justice and as without the one Societies cannot be upheld so without the other all Communities would be but little better than well
Sabbath for though the Law of Moses prohibited all manner of work to be done on that day under the penalty of Death to the Children of Israel which was Executed on the Man who gather'd Sticks on the Sabbath Day for the supply of his Necessities yet our Blessed Saviour who was the Lord of the Sabbath wholly abolished the Ceremonial part of this Law that being peculiarly appropriated to the Jewish Nation and continued the Moral part of it in its full Force Allowing both by his Example and by verbal Permission any work of Necessity or Charity to be done on that day Thus Scripture and Reason teach us and this likewise do the Laws of England permit though at the same time they are very strict against all those Profanations of the Lord's Day which proceed either from Mens Covetousness or their Licentiousness Thus all Carriers Waggoners Carters Wain-men and Drovers are prohibited to Travel with any Horse Waggons Carts or Cattell on the Lord's Day under the Penalty of forfeiting Twenty Shillings to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence shall be Committed All Butchers that Kill or Sell or cause to be Killed or Sold any Meat on the Lord's Day or are Privy or Consenting to such Slaughter or Sale forfeit in like manner Six Shillings and Eight Pence for every Offence The Offence must be proved before any one Justice of the Peace by the Oaths of two Witnesses or by the Confession of the Party unless the Fact were done in the View of a Justice of the Peace and then the Law requires no farther Proof The Offenders must be Prosecuted within six Months after the Offence is committed and the forfeitures are recoverable either by Distress and Sale of the Offender's Goods or by Bill Plaint or Information Prosecuted at the Quarter Sessions for the County And where any Parish shall rather chuse this last Method for recovering their Money you must be ready Gentlemen on your Parts as we shall be on Ours to give all possible incouragement to these Prosecutions unless they shall plainly appear to be Malicious Nor Gentlemen are these the only Profanations of the Lord's Day that our Laws take Cognizance of but by a Statute of a later Date All Persons that shall on the Lord's Day or any part thereof Sell or expose any thing to Sale shall forfeit the Goods so sold or exposed to Sale to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence is Committed Thus also whosoever being of the Age of Fourteen Years or upwards shall on the Lord's Day or any part thereof exercise any worldy Labour Business or Work of his ordinary Calling shall in like manner forfeit for every Offence the summ of Five Shillings Thus all Drovers Horse-Coursers Waggoners Butchers Higlers or any of their Servants who shall Travel or come into their Inn on the Lord's Day or any part thereof shall in like manner forfeit for every Offence the summ of Twenty Shillings The Offences against this Act must be prosecuted within ten days after and the View of a Justice of the Peace the Oath of one Witness or the Confession of the Party Offending made before any one Justice of the Peace is a sufficient Proof And in Cafe as it may sometimes happen the Offender hath no Goods to be Distrained and Sold and is not able to pay these Forfeitures he is then to be set publickly in the Stocks by the space of two Hours And besides these Penalties this Statue exempts the Hundreds from answering the losses which may happen by Robbery to those who Travel on the Lord's day since such Journeys are not supposed to be undertaken out of necessity but choice Thus far our Laws restrain and punish those Profanations of the Lord's Day which a covetous desire of gain is apt to induce Men to Nor is the penal Prohibition of those Disorders which proceed from an Irreligious Licentiousness less severe For to the end that these Profanations of the Lord's Day and the ill Consequences attending them may be prevented our Laws strictly prohibit all Meetings and Assemblies of People out of their own Parishes and all concourse of them within their own Parishes for all unlawfull Sports and Pastimes under the Penalty of three Shillings and four Pence for every Offence to be forfeited to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence is committed the Penalty is leviable by Distress and Sale of the Offenders Goods and in default of sufficient Distress the Offender is to be set publickly in the Stocks by the space of three Hours The Prosecution must be within a Month after the Offence and the Oath of one Witness or the Confession of the Party before any Justice of the Peace or the View of any one Justice of the Peace is a sufficient proof to convict the Offender This was a good Law but yet too liable to many Evasions and Abuses therefore a farther provision hath since been made by a later Act That all Persons shall on every Lord's Day exercise the Duties of Piety and true Religion under the penalty of Five Shillings in like manner forfeited to the Poor of the Parish for every Offence which is to be Prosecuted within ten Days after and proveable as aforesaid by one Witness upon Oath and if the Offender be not able to satisfie the Penalty then he must be set Publickiy in the Stocks by the space of two Hours And nothing can exempt any Man from falling under the Censures of this Act but works of Necessity and Charity which as I observed before both Reason and Scripture allow of For Sports and Pastimes Revellings and Disorders are certainly inconsistent with the duty of the Day as Buying and Selling or exercising any Trade or Calling The fourth Immorality which our Laws endeavour to suppress is Drunkenness A Vice on which one of our Statutes fixes this infamous Character That it is Odious and Loathsom that it is the Root and Foundation of Blood-shed Stabbing Murther Swearing Fornication Adultery and such like enormous Sins to the dishonour of God and of our Nation the overthrow of many good Arts and Manual Trades the disabling of divers Workmen and the general Impoverishment of many good Subjects abusively wasting the good Creatures of God This charge though it may seem severe yet is it as our Experience informs us a very true and lively Description of the sad Consequences and Fatal Effects of this brutish Immorality Therefore for the repressing this Vice our Laws have provided a Punishment not only for the Drunkards but also for the Inn-keepers and Victuallers that Harbour Entertain and Encourage them For as the Preamble to one of the Statutes relating to this matter informs us The Ancient True and Principal use of Inns Ale-Houses and Victualling-Houses is for the Receit Relief and Lodging of Travellers and for supply of the wants of those who are not able to Buy in their Provisions of Meat and Drink by greater Quantities but
was never meant for Entertainment and Harbouring of Lewd and Idle People to spend and consume their Money and their Time in a Lewd and Drunken manner Therefore for the restraining these Abuses and for the better repressing the vice of Drunkenness every Taverner Inn-keeper Ale-house keeper or Victualler who shall suffer any Person to continue Tipling in his House and shall be thereof Convicted before any Justice of the Peace by the Oath of one Witness or by his own Confession or by the view of any Justice of the Peace shall for every Offence forfeit Ten Shillings to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence is committed the Penalty to be levied by Distress and Sale of the Offender's Goods and if there be not a sufficient Distress to be found then the Offender is to be committed to the Common Gaol till the Forfeitures be truly paid And if the Constables or Church-wardens to whom the Warrant is directed shall neglect their Duty in levying these Penalties by Distress and Sale as aforesaid or in default of such Distress shall not within twenty days next ensuing certifie it to some Justice of the Peace they shall severally forfeit for every Offence the Summ of Fourty Shillings recoverable in like manner as is before mentioned Besides this Penalty of Ten Shillings the Ale-house-keeper who shall be lawfully Convicted of the aforesaid Offence is disabled to keep an Ale-house for three Years after such Conviction and if he does he falls under the Penalties of keeping an Unlicensed Ale-house And as this restraint is laid on Inn-keepers and Victuallers so likewise there is a Punishment appointed for tbose that shall be guilty of the Sin of Drunkenness who being thereof convicted as is above mentioned by the Oath of one Witness shall for every such Offence pay 5 s. to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence is committed and if there is no Distress to be found and they are not able to Pay then they must be set Publickly in the Stocks by the space of 6 Hours And if the Constable or other inferior Officer shall be found to be remiss in Executing this Law then he is to forfeit 10 s. in the like manner and to the like uses There is also the Penalty of 3 s. and 4 d. for every Offence or in case there be no Distress to be had 4 Hours sitting in the Stocks is imposed on every one who shall be found or can be proved in the manner of proof abovementioned to continue Tipling in any Publick-House And so highly does our Law detest this Immorality that whosoever shall be a second time Convicted of Drunkenness is to be bound to their Majesties with two sufficient Sureties in a Recognizance of 10 pounds Penalty for his good Behaviour Those who are guilty of Drunkenness or Tipling are not punishable unless they are Prosecuted within six Months after the Offence is committed but as to Inn-keepers Ale-house-keepers and Victuallers who incurr the Penalties of these Laws there is no time limitted for their Prosecution Gentlemen the Offences against these Statutes concerning Drunkenness and disorders in Ale-houses are to be diligently enquired into and duly presented at every Quarter Sessions as likewise are all defaults of Under-Officers in conniving at them and neglecting to bring them to condign Punishment I doubt not but you will do your parts in it and you may assure your selves we shall deal with them as severely as the Law will allow us You are likewise to enquire and present all Persons who presume to keep Ale-houses without a License from the Justices of the Peace that they may undergo the Pains and Penalties appointed by Law Gentlemen in the next place all notorious Adulterers and Fornicators Bawds and Whores and all Masters and Mistresses of those infamous Houses that Harbour and Incourage them fall under the Cognizance and Censure of the Law And since I cannot say there is already so sufficient a provition made for the punishing and preventing the increase of so scandalous a Debauchery which is a deliberate and presumptuous Violation of the 7th Commandment as all good Men wish to see yet besides the Censures of the Spiritual Courts which are very seldom exerted on these Occasions unless they have the Prospect of a tedious and expensive Suit we can inflict some Punishments upon them For Bawdery is an offence Temporal as well as Spiritual and is against the Peace of the Land therefore Gentlemen you are to take care to enquire and present all such Persons who being duly convicted before us shall suffer the utmost Severities the Law will allow of And I think I shall not strain the Sense of the Statute if I comprehend all the above-mentioned Offenders under the Notion of Idle and Disorderly Persons to whom any two or more Justices of the Peace but most properly the Majority of them in their Quarter Sessions may assign a severe punishment and hard Labour in the House of Correction for so long time as shall be thought Necessary for their Chastisement and Reformation and for deterring others from following such pernicious Examples And as for those keepers of Publick Houses who contrary to their Licences maintain harbour and abett these Disorders whereby the Youth of the Nation are corrupted and rendred unfit to serve their Country upon your presentment of them we will take care not only to Punish them as severely as we may by Fine and Imprisonment but also to suppress them and to have the forfeitures of their Recognizances estreated into the Exchequer as shall likewise be done to those who suffer in their Houses irregularities of any other Nature as Drunkenness the Profanation of the Lord's Day and the like of which I have before spoken And Gentlemen to sum up all that I have to say upon this Head you are to consider That Adultery and Fornication are sins so abominable in the Eyes of God that as a punishment for it 23000 of the Israelites who were seduced into these Impurities by the Daughters of Moab fell in one day of a Plague inflicted on them by an immediate Vengeance from Heaven Therefore Gentlemen for the averting God's Wrath from us we are all concerned in our several Stations to punish and repress these Vices as Phinehas did without respect of Persons such only I mean as are liable to our Censure Besides these Crimes which are so frequently and so impudently perpetrated there are some others also which may not improperly be ranked among the offences against Moral Justice But Gentlemen the proof of some of them is so difficult and they are so seldom practised that I shall but just put you in mind of them and that you are to enquire and present all Persons that have invocated entertained or employed any wicked Spirit or have used any Witchcraft Charm or Sorcery this is a sin of a very deep die being dirctly against the first Commandment and is punished with Death both
modelled Combinations to oppress cheat and ruin the weaker and submitting part of Mankind Not but that the advantages of a Political Union are so Considerable that it may be doubted whether Tyranny it self though as execrable as that formerly practised by the Roman Nero and in these our Days revived with many Additions by the French Louis be not rather to be chosen than a wild and confused Anarchy This State exposes Men to the Frauds and Violence of all their Neighbours and the extravagant Caprices of the Mobile and the other subjects whole Nations to the mad Frolicks and brutal Passions of a slattered and abused Tyrant Both extremes are very Dreadfull and as much to be deprecated as a raging Pestilence or any other common Calamity While the mean between them from which they both so far deviate is a Copy well drawn from that Great and not to be parallelled Original of God's Government of the World whose onely end is to promote the happiness of his Creatures as the Peace Safety and Publick good of the People ought to be no less the Aim of all Rulers than it is the Reason why Government was at first Instituted How happy therefore and how much to be valued are the Constitutions and Laws of England whereby we are delivered from both Extremes We neither lie under the Terror of an Arbitrary Power nor are we cast loose to the Wildness of ungoverned Multitudes we neither groan under the Tyranny of a French Army nor the Madness of the Lawless Rabble Our Laws are Writ neither on Sand nor with Blood for they are neither easie to be Defaced nor cruel in their Execution but are known and establisht Rule whereby we are taught how to administer Justice and whereby as Mens Rights are limited so their Passions are restrained and the Publick Peace is settled on a secure Foundation Prerogative and Property which are so much abused as pretences for Oppression on the one Hand and Sedition on the other are by our Laws so well disposed and regulated that being twisted together in a mutual Defence they afford our Island a safer Protection than the Ocean that surrounds it and having crusht all the Domestick Enemies that secretly Project our Ruine strike a Terrour on those Foreigners that would Invade our Repose The Subject I am upon is so Copious and so Pleasant that should I follow my own Inclinations I should wast that time in Speaking which may be much better spent in Acting for the good of our Country Therefore I shall make my Charge as short as conveniently I may being fully sensible that you all know as well as I the Business for which we are here met together And I am sure they serve the Government best who though they may want Eloquence to give it its due Praises yet have courage enough to defend and preserve it when disturbed by any Enemies In which number are to be reckoned not only that Ambitious Bloody and Perfidious Prince that Ishmael of our Age whose Hand is against every Man and every Man's Hand against Him with whom we are at this time necessarily engaged in a just and honourable War for the common Safety Liberty and Repose of Europe but also those more dangerous Enemies our Domestick Ones I mean all Prophane Lewd Debauched Traiterous Seditious Lawless and disorderly Persons who Blaspheme God and Dishonour themselves who conspire the ruin of the Government under whose Protection they live and censure all its Proceedings who Rob Murther and Oppress the Innocent and in a word disturb the Publick Peace Of all which sorts of People I may truly say that as they are a Scandal and Reproach to Humane Nature so do they naturally weaken the Foundations of any Constitution and must in time if not duly repress'd and punish'd occasion its overthrow Therefore the Laws of England have several ways wisely provided Remedies for so great an Evil and Preservatives against so dangerous a Distemper Among which I may reckon the chiefest to be the Court of Quarter Sessions which is four times in a Year held in every County A Court so Honourable that it receives its Authority by a special Commission from their Majesties in which the highest Subjects of England think it an additional Dignity and Privilege to Act for the Publick Good and in relation whereunto the King himself is by our Laws stiled the Principal Conservator of the Peace A Title glorious without Pomp and clearly expressive of the weighty Burthen annexed to Royalty And as our Office is Honourable so is it likewise very Ancient for besides the Reasons we have to believe that this or something very like it was Contemporary with the Original of our Own and most other Governments besides this I say our Chronicles inform us that William the First commonly called the Conquerour about the fourth Year of his Reign which is above Six Hundred Years ago ordained Justices of the Peace Though the first particular Statute we meet with concerning it is of a younger date viz. the first Year of Edward the Third's Reign How generally useful and serviceable to the Country this our Authority hath been found to be needs no other Proof than the considerable enlargements it hath since that time received Whereas the High Commission Court the Star Chamber the Court of Wards and Liveries and several other Courts being found to deviate from their Original Institution and instead of giving Ease Relief and Security to become Burthensome and Oppressive to the Subjects have been suppress'd by Authority of Parliament But the Wisdom of the Nation instead of vacating our Power hath in several Particulars extended the Limits of it for they could not but be sensible of the vast advantages that every Man receives by so frequent and so regular so cheap and so easie an Administration of Justice whereby all violences are checkt and the Infringers and Disturbers of the Publick Peace are hindred from triumphing in their unpunish'd Villainies That Peace is in its self the greatest Temporal Blessing that either Nations or private Men can enjoy is not only evident from the unavoidable Miseries and Calamities that attend the contrary State and cloud the Glories of the most successfull Conquerours but also from the high Encomium the Holy Spirit gives of it throughout the Blessed Scriptures It was all along promised to the Jews who then were God's peculiar People as the greatest reward that he could bestow on those who were obedient to his Laws And whenever they notoriously swerved from this Divine Rule how severely did they feel the Prophet Isaiah's Denunciation executed upon them There is no Peace saith my God to the Wicked which is literally verified as to all Mankind whether we consider them united into several Political Societies or under the Character of private Persons in both stations Peace and Security Quiet and Comfort are at as vast a distance from them as they are from Innocence and Integrity One of the Characters under
which our Blessed Saviour's Birth was foretold and his extraordinary Qualifications described is this he shall be called The Prince of Peace When this Prophecy was fulfilled by our Saviour's Mysterious Incarnation the whole World was at Peace the Gates of the Temple of Janus which had so long stood open were then shut and when the joyfull Tidings of our Lord's Birth were Proclaimed by Angels to the Shepherds Men of an innocent Life and a meek and sedate Temper this Seraphick Hymn concluded the Gracious Message on which they came Glory to God in the Highest on earth Peace good will towards Men. How noble a Title does our Saviour in his first Sermon on the Mount bestow on the Peace Makers whom he not only declares Blessed but also promiseth that they shall be called the Children of God That God of Love and Peace who by the Gospel of Peace which his Eternal Son promulgated to the World hath made all Mankind capable of everlasting Salvation It would be vain presumptioh in me to enlarge any farther on the Blessings of this happy State whose praises have been so fully celebrated by the Voice of God and the Tongues of Angels and after all that can be said of the Strength the Beauty the Pleasure and all the other desirable Consequences of Peace Tranquility and Freedom for Peace is not to be wisht for when it wants those main ingredients in its composition the advantages and the delights of it are rather to be felt than express'd But as necessary as it is For the well being of Mankind and the cementing of Societies we must look upon it not only as the Reward but as the Natural Product of Justice which being a vertue whereby we are always ready to yield to every one their due how can that be called a state of Peace wherein God to whom as he is our Creator we owe the greatest Honour and Reverence is daily blasphemed and affronted by the Prophane and Licentious and wherein Mens reciprocal Duties to each other are so little regarded that Treasons and Murthers Robberies and Oppressions Frauds and Rapines and the worst sort of Rapine Extortion are daily committed with impunity This is no more a state of true Peace and well grounded security than a Lethargy is a state of bodily Health or a Conscience seered and stupified with the daily perpetration of the greatest Villainies is a state of Grace and Salvation But I hope it is not our misfortune to be in these Circumstances at a time when we are particularly order'd by their Majesties who are themselves admirable Examples of Piety and Vertue to see all our good Laws against Vice and Debauchery and all manner of disorderly and irregular Actions duly and impartially put in Execution Therefore that we may if it be possible see those days the Psalmist speaks of When Righteousness and Peace shall kiss each other I shall recommend to you Gentlemen of the Jury and to all others concerned in it to search and enquire after to present inform against and prosecute according to Law all Offenders against the Rules of Justice which as it relates to different Objects I shall distinguish under these two general Heads of Moral and Civil Justice Under the former is comprehended all Prophaneness Vice and Immorality and under the latter all Treasons Murthers Felonies and Breaches of the Publick Peace and all other Crimes which you are Sworn to inquire into and present according to the best of your Skill and Knowledge and I doubt not but you will acquit your selves of this your Duty with all Honesty Diligence and Impartiality remembring the Solemn Obligation you have laid upon your Souls and the strict account that you must at the last day give of your Actions before the great Tribunal Gentlemen The Offenders against Moral Justice are those who are guilty of profane Cursing and Swearing of Perjury and Subornation of the Profanation of the Lord's Day of Drunkenness Adultery Fornication and all other dissolute and disorderly Practices which do still abound in this Kingdom notwithstanding the many good Laws in force against these Crimes which Laws if they were duly and impartially Executed Vice and Debauchery would be much less Impudent Scandalous and Contagious than now they are and consequently the Guilt of National Impiety would not so loudly call for Vengeance Gentlemen we neither want good Laws nor due incouragement from our Superiors nor yet good Magistrates of the Higher Rank but the Constables Headboroughs and other under Officers have so little Religion or Honesty in them that their negligence in Informing and Prosecuting renders our pains as it were ineffectual for the promoting a general Reformation of Manners Therefore I must give it you particularly in Charge to make a strict enquiry into the Defaults and Neglects of all Petty Constables Headboroughs and Tythingmen in the Execution of their Office but more especially you are to enquire whether they have duly Executed the Order of the Quarter Sessions holden for this County at Kingston in October last Printed Copies whereof have been affixt to the Doors of Parish Churches and in other Publick Places that as the Officers of some particular Hundreds have been minded of this their Duty by a Monthly Petty Sessions kept for the same purpose by the Neighbouring Justices so the whole County should by this more Publick Act of the Quarter Sessions know that it is the unanimous Resolution of us all to do our Parts towards the punishing and repressing these Vices so justly hatefull to God and to all good Men. And Gentlemen let me once more tell you it is your Business to enquire into and make due presentment of the neglect or connivance of all Officers of Justice concerned in the Execution of these Laws for since we find by experience that they have so little regard either to the Glory of God the good of their Countrey or the performance of their own Oaths it is highly conducive both to their own good and to the better demeanour of their Successors that they fhould be made Publick Examples of and suffer Fine and Imprisonment as the Bench shall think fit Gentlemen I am sorry the prevailing Wickedness of the Age has made this digression of mine so necessary I shall now proceed to discourse farther to you on the several parts of Moral Justice and after I have represented to you the Nature of those Vices which are contrary to it and the Penalties our Laws annex to such Vices I shall just hint to you some weighty and indispensible Obligations which you as well as other Officers of Justice lie under diligently zealously and impartially to joyn in the promoting so good a Work And first Gentlemen the daily increase of profane Cursing and Swearing is a thing seriously and sadly to be considered Men are now grown so hardned and riveted in this Blasphemous Custom that one may justly wonder at the Mercifull forbearance of Almighty God in not punishing those
impious Wretches by an immediate stroke of his Almighty Vengeance in not consigning them in the very instant of their Wickedness to that Devil whose Protection they so often invoke in not sinking them quick into that irrecoverable State of Damnation they so zealously imprecate upon themselves for the confirmation of some trifling matter not worthy a wise Man's notice and perhaps sometimes of a downright falshood This is an Immorality so unworthy of any one who professeth himself a Christian that even an honest Heathen would have blusht to be surprized in it for though their Religion was false and their Gods were fictitious yet they were rather guilty of an immoderate Superstition than of any thing that so much as bordered upon Prophaneness which of the two Errors in Worshipping the Deity is far the more inexcusable And as this Sin is very dishonourable to God so is it in this particular extremely dangerous to Humane Societies in that it makes Men careless and inconsiderate of what they assert or promise though they confirm it with the most Solemn Oaths For as a wise Heathen excellently observes from a common custom of Swearing Men easily slide into Perjury therefore says he if thou wouldst not be Perjured do not use to Swear And how can it be consistent with Reason that a Man who hourly provokes God by rash and vain Swearing should boggle at a false Oath whenever his Lust his Covetousness his Revenge or his Ambition prompt him to it and importunately demand to be gratified though at so vast a Price Besides this at how low a rate do they value their immortal Souls who expose them to the Wrath of God and Eternal Damnation by a Sin from which they cannot reap the least Profit or Pleasure For whereas the Covetous the Revengefull the Voluptuous the Ambitious nay the Apostate himself may at the day of Judgment plead though even their Plea will be rejected as frivolous and insufficient the strength of Temptation and the irresistible Violence of Fear Anger or Desire the common Swearer will have no pretence or excuse to alledge in his behalf but that which will heinously aggravate his Guilt the inveteracy of an ill Habit and the prevalency of Atheistical Examples Since therefore every single Act of this Sin much more a daily repeated Custom of it is a direct contempt of the third Commandment Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain and of the dreadfull Penalty annexed to it as likewise of that Expression of our Saviour By thy Words thou shalt at the last day be Justified and by thy Words thou shalt be Condemned We may reasonably Conclude without exceeding the Limits of Charity that none who are habitually guilty of this Prophaneness can seriously believe and lay to heart the Principles of the Christian or even of Natural Religion which so strictly and positively forbids it But there is no need at present to enlarge any farther on this Argument for I hope Gentlemen I have said enough to disswade you from conniving at the negligence of the under Officers in punishing so enormous a Crime for which the Land too justly mourns and to which our Laws have affixed the following Penalty namely Twelve Pence for every profane Oath and Curse The Forfeitures fall to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence is Committed and the Offender is to be Prosecuted within twenty days after if the Oaths or Curses are uttered in the hearing of any Justice of the Peace there needs no farther Proof but otherwise the Offence must be proved before any one Justice of the Peace by the Oaths of two Witnesses or the Confession of the Party Offending In either of which Cases if the Penalty cannot be satisfied by a Distress and Sale of the Offenders Goods then every such Offender if above the Age of Twelve Years must be set in the Publick Stocks for the space of three whole Hours and all under that Age must be Whipped by the Constable or the Parent or the Master in his Presence This Statute is ordered to be Read twice a Year in all Parish Churches by the respective Ministers on Sunday after Evening Service Therefore Gentlemen you are to enquire whether this Act hath been so Read and to present all Ministers that have neglected it For such neglect though there is no Penalty annexed to it is yet a High Contempt of their Majesties Laws and Punishable in this Court 2. Next to Profane Swearing and Cursing we must consider the Sin of Perjury and Subornation which as I before observed does in a great Measure deduce its Original from and owe its increase to the impious Custom Men have taken up of interlarding their careless Talk and even the common Civilities of Conversation with rash and vain Oaths But Gentlemen as the Sin of this is much greater so are the Consequences of it much more Pernicious to private Persons Families and Societies than those of the other It is an Offence both against Moral and Civil Justice being a willful and deliberate Breach not only of the third Commandment Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain but also of the Ninth Thou shalt not bear false Witness against thy Neighbour and the certain Consequences of it are the Oppression and ruine of innocent Persons who too often lose their Lives their Estates and their good Names and have Infamy and Beggary entailed on their Posterity by the false Attestations of perjured Rascals By these Naboth fell a Sacrifice to the Covetousness of Ahab and the Pride and Cruelty of Jezabel and our Blessed Saviour himself who had done nothing amiss was numbred with the Transgressors the innocence and the usefulness of his Life being too weak a Defence to preserve him from the Malice of his Enemies and from being Condemned by a partial Judge upon the incoherent evidence of his perjured Accusers Nor can we I hope so soon forget that among the many Blessings of the late Reign we daily saw this Villainy boldly and triumphantly perpetrated No Man who wisht well either to the Church or the Laws of England was safe from the informations of Mercenary Wretches Fictitious Conspiracies were every day Hatched and Judges and Juries were so corrupted that the one gave their Opinions and the other their Verdicts according to the Directions they received from Court no Man was safe in his Innocence nor secure in his Property and Tryals and Proceedings which should have been exactly Consonant to Law and Reason to Justice and Mercy were become only a more Solemn and Ceremonious method of compleating our Ruine It hath been thought an Offence against the very Law of Nations to poison a Fountain of which even an Enemy was to drink How great a Crime then must it be and how near a kin to Sacrilege to corrupt the Laws which are the very Fountains and Springs of Political Life And to make those the instruments of
by the Law of God and by a Statute made in the first Year of King James the First but it is so hard a matter to have full proof brought of it that no Jury can be too cautious and tender in a prosecution of this Nature However where the Evidence is clear and undeniable you must proceed according to your Oaths You are also to enquire and present all Persons that have depraved the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Blessed Lord and Saviour either by Word of Mouth or otherwise who being convicted shall suffer Imprisonment and make Fine and Ransom at the King's Will and Pleasure if they be prosecuted within three Months after the Offence is committed You are also to enquire if any Person hath Depraved Despised or Derogated from the Book of Common Prayer by any Enterludes Plays Songs Rhimes or other open Words or hath compelled any Minister to use any other form of Worship for in this Case the Oftender that is guilty of so great an Irreverence to God and disrespect to the Government both in Church and State shall for the first Offence forfeit to their Majesties 100 Marks for the second Offence 400 Marks and for the third Offence all his Goods and Chattels and shall suffer Imprisonment during Life You are also to enquire if any Restor or Vicar who keeps a Curate hath neglected once in a Month to read the Common-Prayer in his Parish Church for all Incumbents guilty of this Neglect shall upon complaint made on Oath by two credible Witnesses before two Justices of the Peace of the said County forfeit to the Poor of that Parish 5 pounds a Month and if the Penalty be not paid in ten days after fuch Conviction then his Goods are to be Distrained and Sold for that purpose by a Warrant from the said Justices Lastly you are to enquire if any Person have maliciously Struck or drawn any Weapon in any Church or Church-yard to the intent to strike another the Offender who is Convicted hereof shall have one of his Ears cut off and if he have no Ear then he shall be Markt in the Cheek with the Letter F in token of a Fray-maker and the Law reputes it to be so ungodly and irreligious an Action that all persons guilty of it are declared to be Ipso Facto Excommunicated which is the highest Censure and Penalty the Christian Church can inflict I have now Gentlemen gone through the first part of my Charge I have not knowingly omitted any point that is Material and as for smaller Defects I doubt not but your Experience in the Proceedings of this Court will fully supply them If the time would allow me I should in the next place urge you to exert your utmost Vigour and Diligence in punishing and putting a stop to those Violations of Moral Justice which are so notoriously prevalent among us and which unless they are speddily reformed by a due severity seem to threaten us with extraordinary punishments from Heaven by representing to you at large the weighty and indispensible Obligations that lie upon you to do your parts towards the promoting so good a Work But I hope it will be sufficient to hint to you these three Considerations viz. 1. That you are Men and Christians 2. That you are Englishmen and I hope all of you well wishers to the present Government 3. That you have bound your selves by a Solemn Oath impartially to enquire and present those who are guilty of these scandalous Debaucheries and those Petty Constables Headboroughs and other Under-Officers who by their Neglect and Connivance without any regard to their Duty or their Oaths have encouraged these Vices or have made defaults in any other things that relate to their respective Offices Gentlemen if I had time I should enlarge on every one of these three particulars But I assure my self your own Conscience will press these thoughts home to you and I doubt not but we shall find by your presentments that you have a well grounded Zeal for the Glory and Honour of God a true Love to your Country and a sincere and affectionate Loyalty to their present Majesties King William and Queen Mary upon whom next under God our safety wholly depends and a tender and conscientious regard to the sacred Obligation of an Oath which being a Solemn Appeal to the Almighty and All knowing Judge and Avenger of all Falshood and Unrighteousness will if not faithfully performed entail God's curse on your selves and your Families according to that of the Prophet Zachary A Curse shall enter into the House of him that sweareth falsly by the Name of God Gentlemen I shall now proceed to the second part of my Charge which comprehends all offences against Civil Justice This is a subject so Copious that having detained you so long in the former part of my Charge the time will not permit me fully to declare to you every particular Offence within the compass of our Commission and of your Cognizance Therefore Gentlemen you are to expect only a short Summary of the most material Points of your Duty in drawing up of which if I am less exact than is usual I hope you will impute it to my want of skill in these Affairs and to my Disability which makes it self every way too apparent worthily to execute this important Office with which my Brethren who are all of them much fitter for it have been pleased to Honour me Civil Justice is a Vertue of a very large extent for thereby we are obliged even by Natural Religion to deal with all Men as we would be willing were we in their Circumstances and they in Ours they should deal with us And if this is a debt we owe to all Men then certainly our own Countrymen who enjoy the same common benefits of Security and Protection may much more expect it from us And to this end that the Rich and the Poor may be equally safe in what is their own the Laws have not only declared what that is but have also appointed Punishments for those that shall transgress these Limits and invade any other Man's Property Now Gentlemen those Persons who may legally claim this Justice at our Hands or in case it be refused them may appeal to the Law for satisfaction for the injury are either our Superiors or our Fellow Subjects To the former namely our Parents whether Political or Natural we are obliged by the fifth Commandment to pay Obedience Tribute Reverence and Honour to the latter namely our Fellow Subjects we are obliged by the eighth Commandment to render whatsoever is by Law due unto them and when by Force or Fraud we take or detain from them any of their Legal Rights we are guilty of Theft But to proceed Of Governours and Magistrates there are two sorts Supreme and Subordinate By the Supreme Magistrate you know none can be meant besides our Sovereign Lord and Lady the King and Queen