really so But if by Craft or Dissimulation all this be done to colour what he did before then the very Ite maledicti he pronounces against others may chance to light upon his own Pate but far is the Author from wishing such a severe Sentence upon the Noble Justice whatever he seeks and clandestinely wishes against others And now after the Justice hath read this Lecture of Christianity he comes in pag. 9. to tell the Court and the Jury of the Rarity and Excellency of the Thing called Grand-Juries and tells them It is the Honour of the Government to have them Well then since it is so and that it cannot be denied it is a great deal of pity that the Justice and others of his Coat have not taken more care to preserve their Reputation but have suffered not only the Gazette but other scandalous Libels to walk about the Streets and defame them as late Times have most notoriously shown But this I conceive came into his Head by the by a meer Accident in the Justice's Speech for by what goes before and what follows it appears plain he did not intend them any Honour but only had some other meaning as may be easily discerned if we compare the Whole of his Discourse and what he and the rest of the Justices did sometimes since at Hicks's Hall endeavouring to curtail the Grand-Juries and to strike out and put in whom they pleased when there was a Job to do at the time when the Lord Shaftsbury Lord Howard Mr. Whitaker and others were in the Tower O then what a Speech was made to the Under-Sheriff to alter his Pannel and what Conscience and Religion was press'd to have it done by this very Justice And if the Sheriff had yielded that Point then the Subornation had taken effect and the Work done upon the innocent Prisoners in the Tower contra omnes Gentes But because Sir W. is pleased to top upon the World with his Loyalty and to shew it pretends to extol in this Page the Happiness of the Nation that the Kings of England have by their Prerogative always had the nominating of Sheriffs by which the Grand Juries are returned I shall crave leave a little to speak to that Point not that I deny it to be in the King in some measure as the Statutes have settled it but the Justice mistakes the Case as will appear if the thing be well and throughly considered and what this Justice aims at ought also to be fully searched into but that I may not seem to misconstrue the Justice I shall set down his Words in this Page viz. Grand Juries have always been esteemed the Honour of the Government and the great Security of the Lives and Liberties of the Subjects they are to be probi legales Homines and so is a Golden Chain as well for Ornament as Security if they should prove otherwise this Chain of Gold would be turned into Fetters of Iron and Brass and we should be greater Slaves here in England than they are in Algier Our Ancestors have taken great Care that Grand Juries should be such as they ought to be and as you may see the Statutes made in that Case provide but for all that it is happy for the People that the King hath the Nomination of Sheriffs by whom the Juries are to be returned it is a Prerogative of great Consequence and not to be entrusted into the hands of any Subject or Subjects whatsoever Now as to his Commendation of the Constitution of the Government relating to Juries as being a sacred thing there is no doubt of that and we hope it will never be in his Power or in the Power of any Judg Justice or Magistrate in England to alter that Fundamental Constitu ion which our wise Ancestors have laid that make us both a free and safe People for by that means to ambitious or foolish Prince tho led away by Court-Flatterers and pernicious Counsels can hurt the Subject so powerfully as otherwise they might do every Man's Life and Estate here by this means are safe and cannot be touched or taken from him but by he Approbation and Consent of his Peers and they must be of the Vicinage and probi legales Homines as the Justice observes but because the Justice is pleased to expresse himself or rather to flatter the Kings of England that by their Prerogative they have the sole right of chusing of Sheriffs And that it is the Happiness of the Nation that the Subject do it not I must crave leave to put the justice in mind of the ancient Practice in that very Case of choice of Sheriffs and also show that in all probability the whole Body of the County have been as fit to see and chuse who is fit to serve the County in the Office of Sheriffs as Kings who do but see often times with other Mens Eyes and hear with other Mens Ears and often times led by the Nose of some Persons about them as either work their own Ends or the Ends and Interest of their Friends and not the Countries Good For who knows not but that the old saying is true in Princes Courts Kissing goes by Favour But to answer the Justice I do say and aver from ancient Records the People of the several Shires in England had the sole right of chusing their Sheriffs without the King 's Appointment Consent or Nomination and that was the Law of the Land and if it be not now so yet it is but some late Statutes that have abridged the Counties of their Choice And to shew that I do not mistake the Point I have inserted a new Copy of the Record which is by me and that is a Statute made in the Confirmation of Ancient Right too in the Roll of Parliament made at Westminster in the 28 E. 1. cap. 8. The Title of the Statute is this viz. The Inhabitants of every County shall make Choice of their Sheriffs being not of Fee the words are these Rot. 2.28 E. 1. An. 1300 Cook on Lit. 2d part 559. viz. The King hath granted unto his People that they shall have the Election of their Sheriffs in every Shire where the Sheriffalty is not of Fee if they list To this Statute agree our Law-Books See Cook 's Institutes and this Statute in the same Roll 13th Chapter is again confirmed and explained the Statute begins thus viz. And for as much as the King hath granted the Election of Sheriffs to the Commons of the Shire the King will that they shall chuse such Sheriffs that shall not charge them and that they shall not put any Officers in Authority for Rewards or Bribes and such as shall not lodg so oft in one place nor with poor Persons or Men of Religi n. Indeed after this in Edward the second 's time Power was given at the Complaint of the Commons in Parliament That the Chancellor Treasurer Barons of the Ex hequer should appoint the
where he sat Chairman then that the Commission of Oyer and Terminer might be read having something to move which was not proper to be moved before it was read it being for the making of a request for the Prisoners then in the Tower upon the Statute of 31 of this King And the Chairman as well as the Justices being aware of it made an excuse to put it off till the Afternoon which was only a trick or in effect a modest denial but when that time came and the same request made then another excuse was made by the Justices that though they had such a Commission yet they heard there was a new one Sealed and so they thought it not safe to execute it but that being inquired into was false so by this trick the Commission was never read and the Law was defeated and the Justices so to elude the Law used this triek so those Persons who were then prisoners in the Tower was forced to loose the benefit of the Act that Sessions which was made on purpose that Justices and Judges should not dare but to deliver upon bayl or try them as the Law directed Well but saith the Justice and his Associates that are resolved to adhere to him page 11 This is but one Instance and in that the Justices as to the law might be mistaken it being a surprize upon them for you hear the Justice himself in page 2. declares he knows not if it be against the Law or not it is a sign Justice is come to a fine pass then in England for certainly if he undertook that place of a Justice he ought neither to pretend he knows not the Law nor that he was surprized for at that rate the whole County may be ruined Well but to show Sir W's Wisdom Justice and Conscience further and his impartiality in a Sessions that was held before him and the rest of his Adherers about August last past after the Grand-Jury was sworn divers bills of Indictment were presented to the Grand-Jury for to be found against certain persons of most wicked fame for Subornation Perjury and such other Villanies as scarce ever was heard went unpunished for they were Bills against a pack of Conspirators that had a design to have murthered divers Noble and Worthy persons in this Kingdom by Perjury and Witnesses to prove those Bills was produced to the Court to be sworn in order to give their Testimony to the Grand Jury against those Villains but this just upright Sir W. and his Associates stopped it in open Court in the face of the Sun and denyed the Witnesses to be sworn till they had leave from the Attorney General which certainly was the greatest stab that ever was given to the Common Law of England and a perfect turning and altering the course of Justice making the Law subservient to protect the Guilty and condemn the Innocent This thing is of so high a Nature that no King in England ever did or dare attempt the same or like it publickly what ever secret tricks may be underhand shewed for this was not only to break the Grand Juries Oath who are sworn to present all without favour or affection And the Justices Oath who are sworn not to deny or delay Justice to any man but forcing the King if possible but at least as much as in them lies to violate and break his Coronation Oath that sacred Tye and the fundamental Laws of the Land And that I may not be said to speak without book I shall here incert a Copy of the Judges Oath and give a short touch of the fundamental Laws of the Land established in this Kingdom concerning the true Execution of Justice and which the Kings of England are bound to observe by vertue of their Oath and the trust the people repose in them and this digression I hope will not be amiss before we come further to take notice of the Speech The 27 Cap. of Magna Charta Magna Charta Anno c. H. 3. Chap. 27 which Magna Charta is no other then thē Confirmation of the ancient Rights Customs and Common Law of the Land It is ordained viz. Do Freeman shall be Taken or Imprisoned or be Diseased of his fréehold Liberties or free Customes or be out Lamed or Excited or any otherwise destroyed nor we will not pass upon him or condemn him but by Lawful Judgment of his Peers or by the Law of the Land We will sell to no man 9. H. 3. C. 29. we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right Pray mark this last clause and see how it suits the Justices refusing and stopping Justice and with what impudence he dares do that which no King of England did or can do without violation of his Oath and Laws of the Land and yet now tells you of Loyalty and Justice and you will find in the Statute made in Edward the 3. time that by no Commandment whatsoever the course of Justice could be stopped The Title of the Act is this Vid. Rot. Anno. E. 3. Chap 1. No Commandment under the Kings Seal shall disturb or delay Justice Which Sattute I shall Incert Verbatim as it is upon the Roll viz. Item it is Accorded and Established that it shall not be Commanded by the Great Seal or the Little Seal to disturb or delay Common Right and though such Commandment do cōme the Iustices shall not therefore leave to do right in any point There was another Record of 14 Ed. 3. See Crook fol 417. Eliz. Chap. 14. Intitled there shall be but four writs of Search for the King nothing shall hinder the Execution of Justice In the last part of the Statute are these words viz. Nor that the Iustices of whatsoever place it be sha l let to do the Common Law by Commandment which shall come to them under the Great Seal or Privy Seal The 11 R. 2. Vid. 11. R. 2. Cap. 10. Chap. 10. The same is again Asserted that the Law shall not be stopped or Disturbed and begins thus viz. Item It is Ordained and Established that neither Letters of the Signet nor of the Kings Privy Seal shall be from hence forth sent in damage or prejudice of the Realm nor in disturbance of the Law By this it appears most plain that by no Command of the King or his Ministers the Law can be stopped It is true the King in some Cases may pardon by his Prerogative but to stop the Course of Law though you have the Command of the King or his Ministers is point blanck against the Law and tends to the overthrow of the Government and that very Law which the Kings of England by their places are the Executioners off for this land in all ages never knew any Government but by their own Laws and to which Laws the Kings who are Crowned in England doth swear and ought and must maintain otherwise let him be what he will and who he will he
transgresses that Law that made him so and his Ministers Judges and Justices of all sorts that either assists him in it or Act by such Commands shall account to the people by the Law of the Land and reckon one day for it to their cost for though it be a maxim in Law the King can do no wrong which is meant as to his pollitick capacity yet the Ministers and Officers that act under the pretence of his command if it be an unlawful Act they do though they are commanded by the King to do it it shall be no excuse for them for if the Kings Commands or his Patents be not according to the Law they are Null and Void and the Person that Acts by such Commands though he hath such pretended Authority shall be punished for the same with Life and Member as the crime deserves And the efore our wise Ancestors foreseeing the mischief that corrupt Ministers and Judges about the King might bring upon the Nation always took care that within some convenient time a General Councel of the whole Nation should meet for to judg of matters hear complaints redress Grievances punish Evil Councellors wicked Judges Officers and Offenders who had wronged the King and People by such their foul practices and pernitious Councels well foreseeing that in a pollitick Body as well as in a Corporal Body Deseases and Scurbitick humours will ever be growing and therefore must stand in need of good Physick and wise and honest Physitians to heal them lest the Disease grows incurable And therefore in all ages we find that our Ancestors took care that the people should meet together at certain times sometimes twice in a year and oftner if need required As in King Alfred's time and the reason by the Records is given to keep the people of God from sin and to do Holy Judgments as you may see by our Law Books Vid. Flornes Merrour of Justice Sect. 3. p. 10. Cook and Litâ—leton fol. 110. See Hornes Mirrour of Justice and my Lord Cooks second part of the Institutes of the Law of England The words of the Law are these viz. That a Parliament shall be called at London twice every year or oftner if need be to keep the people of God from Sin that they might live in peace and true Religion certain Vsages and Holy Iudgments Now of later years in Edward the thirds time a Law was made that a Parliament should be holden once a year and more often if need be See the Statute of the 4 E. 3. Cap. 4. which ordains viz. Item 4 E. 3. C. 14. It is Recorded that a Parliament shall be holden every year once and more often if need be There is another Act made in the 36 E. 3. in these words viz. Item 36 E. 3. C. 10. For maintenance of the said Articles and Statutes and Redress of divers Mischiefs and Grievances which daily happen A Parliament shall be holden every year as another time was ordained by a Statute Now by these Statutes we may plainly see what is the Right of the Subject and the Law of the Land Why it is frequent Parliaments to protect and preserve the Nation without which it is impossible for either the King or People to be safe from violence oppressions and incroachment of proud and insolent men which always was and over will be designing to root up the Government and the peoples Rights and get them into their own Clutches under the disguise of their serving the King in his own way And if this be so that both these last recited Laws be yet in force which I am sure neither the wise Justice or any Judg of England that is a man of Law can say they are not And since we have been now without a Parliament above one whole year sure Sir W. in his Speech ought to have given some touch to the Jury to present as a Grievance and a Breach of the Law the want of a Parliament and it would have better befitted him to have discoursed about the Effluviums of the Mouth and Haggs And since we are governed by Laws and our Kings are sworn to maintain them as we shall show you anon and that we are sure our Kings receive the Crowns they wear from the Law of the Land And that no King of England came into the world booted and Spurred ready prepared to ride the people to death nor drop from Heaven in a Cloud nor yet riseth in a night like a Mushroom but that he is the Ordinance of man as St. Paul calls him for their good And that the Kings of England can deny then Subjects nothing in Parliament that is for the publick welfare as appears in the latter clause of the Statutes of provisoes made in the 25 year of Edward the 3 25 E. 3. C. 1. and since the Justice is pleased to say page 1. that it is high time to speak plain English methinks he could not have spoken better English then this that the want of a Parliament is the greatest mischief this Nation now groanes under especially if his own words are true that we are a miserable devided people what means can better be found out to unite and help us then the Parliament where every mans complaint may be heard and where the King is most powerful to Redress which is no where so great as in the High Court of Parliament but to justifie what I have before propounded or rather asserted that Justice cannot be stopped either by the King his Ministers or his Judges on any other pretence whatever I shall here add to what hath been said a short branch of the Statute of Provisoes and the Coronation Oath which plainly shews that our Kings are so by Law and not otherwise of Divine institution then any other man in such Station as God calls them to for every man in his several calling may be said to be by Gods permission and allowance in some way or other as much as Kings in their way of Government which appears plainly by the Text the Justice hath named to wit by me Kings Reign but with his good leave the Law choose them or else they come by force and are Tyrants and that will appear not only by our Records of our English Government both in the altering and translating of the Crown from one to another in all ages by Act of Parliament but in holy Record too though we are not under the same Dispensation the Jews were under yet the Scripture tells us they choose and made their King See the 2d of Kings Cap. 17. ver 21. The words are And they made Jeroboam Son of Nebat King and though the prophet did anoint David to be King yet all the people met together to make David King and to in divers other places but I think Jure Divino is so far out of the case that it would show in the Author as much Ignorance to spend time to make Arguments about so vain
and foppish an assertion as it will be if the Justice should the next Sessions spend his time in his Discourse of catching of Connies in a Warren he is well acquainted with In the Statute of Provisoes the Parliament there asserts these words viz. The Commons have prayed our Lord the King that since the Crown of England and the Law of the said Realm is such that upon the mischief and damages which happen to this Realm he ought and is bound by his Oath with the accord of his People in his Parliament thereof to make Remedy and Law in removing the mischiefs and damages which thereof ensue that it may please him thereupon to ordain remedy The King in the same Statute Answers the Prayer of the Commons and saith by his Oath he is bound to it which Statute may be read at leasure to this plainly agrees the Kings Oath at his Coronation viz. Râ—t Parliament 1 H. 4. Num. 17. Forma Juramenti solit consueti prestart per Reges Angliae in horam Coronatione Servabis Ecclesiae Dei cleroque populo pacem ex integro concordium in Deo secundum Vices tuas Respondebit Servabo Facias fieri in omnibus Judiciis tuis equam Rectam Justitiam Discretioonem in misericordia veritate secundum Vices tuas Respondebit faciam Concedis Justas Leges Consuetudines esse tenendas promittis per te eas esse protegendas ad honorem cas Corroborandas quas vulgus elegerit secundum Vices tuas Respondebit Censedo Promitto Aujiciantque puldutis interrogationibus que justa fuerint pronunciat iisque orbus confirmet Rex se omnia servatur sacramento super altare Prestito coraâ—â— Cunctis By which Oath we may perceive the Kings of England are bound to keep all Laws and to grant fulfil and defend all rightful Laws which the people of the Realm shall choose and to strengthen and maintain them the Chancellor and Ministers about him are sworn to give him true and faithful advice the Judges are sworn to advice the King in point of Law and to Administer the Law indifferently between the King and his Subjects which Oath begins thus viz. An oath of the Iustices being made in the year of Edw. the 3d. in the year 1344. Ye shall swear that well and lawfully ye shall serve our Lord the King and the people in the office of Iustice and that lawfully ye shall Coucel the King in his business and that ye shall not Councel or Assent to any thing which may turn him in damage or dishersion by any manner way or culler and that ye shall not know the damage or dishersion of him whereof ye shall not cause him to be warrented by your self or by other and that ye shall do equal law and right to all his Subjects rich and poor without haveing regard to any Person and that you take not by your self or by others privately or apertly gifts nor rewards of Gold nor Silver nor of any other thing which may turn to your profit unless it be meat or drink and that of small value of any man that shall have any plea or process hanging before you as long as the same process shall so be hanging nor after for the same Cause and that ye take no fee as long as ye shall be Iustice nor Roabes of any man great or small but of the King himself and that ye give no Advice or Councel to no man great or small in no case where the King is party and in case that any of what Estate or Condition they be come before you in your Sessions with force and armes or otherwise against the peace or against the form of the Statute thereof made to disturb execution of the Common Law or to mennace the people that they may not pursue the Law that ye shall cause their Bodies to be Arrested and put in prison and in case they be such that ye cannot arrest then that ye certifie the King of their Names and of their misprision hastily so that ye may thereof ordain a conveneable Remedy And that ye by your self nor by others privity or apertly maintain any Plea or Quarrel hanging in the Kings Court or elsewhere in the County And that ye deny no man common Right by the Kings Letters nor no other mans nor for none other Cause And in case any Letters come to you contrary to the Law that ye do nothing by such Letters but certifie the King thereof and proceed to execute the Law Notwithstanding the same Letters and that ye shall do and procure the profit of the King and of his Crown with all things where you may reasonably do the same And in case ye be from hence forth found in default in any of the points aforesaid ye shall be at the Kings will Body Lands and Goods thereof to be done as shall please him As God you help and all Saints Now having given you the Oaths as the Law hath setled it I shall add one Statute more to shew how careful and diligent our Ancestors were to preserve this Nation from Arbitrary Power not only in the King but also in Judges and Officers that we might not be enslaved and opprest by the Judges under a colour and pretence of Law And that is the Statute of 20 E. 3. The Title is viz. The Justices of both Benches 20 E. 3. cap 10 Assices c. shall do right to all men take no fee but of the King nor give Councel where the King is party First we have commanded all our Iustices that they shall from henceforth do equal Law and Execution of Right to all our Subjects rich and poor without having regard to any person and without omitting to do right for any Letters or Commandment which come to them from us or from any other or by any other Cause And if that any Letters Writs or Commandments come to the Iustices or to others deputed to do Law and Right according to the usage of the Realm in disturbance of the Law or of Execution of the same or of Right of the Parties The Iustices and others aforesaid shall proceed and hold their Courts and Process where they please and matters be depending before them As if no such Letters Writs or Commandments were come to them And they shall certifie us and our Councel of such Commandment is which be contrary to Law as aforesaid and to the Iuterâ— that our Iustices shall do even right to all people in manner aforesaid without more favour shewn to one then to the other We have ordained and caused out Iustices to be sworn That they shall not from henceforth as long as they shall be in Office of Iustice take Fee nor Roab of any man but of our self and that they shall take no gift or reward by themselves nor by others privily or apertly of any man that hath to do before them by any way except meat and Drink and that of small value
if so our Ancestors were Fools to make the Coronation Oath and the good Statutes with divers others before recited But Sir W. all this you do to be Great and by this it may be you may be so fond as to believe you make the King great too tho it be the quite contrary way nay such Men as you that take away all Law do totally lessen both the Prince the Nation and the Government for if the King have no better Title than his Sword or the Jure Divino-ship you speak off then Lord have Mercy on him For you Sir W. by the same Rule tho but an Attorneys Son if you can but make your self popular enough and get a long Sword cased with a Pretence of a Divine Right you may be King as well as any only I think if you should do so and not make your Sword long enough you may chance to find that the Jure Regnum would spoil your Jure Divino But to please you in something and not to thwart all your dark Sayings so hard to be understood we will for once as you insinuate allow that Government is Jure Divino and the Ordinance of God but the Modes and Forms were ever yet left to Man which in all Countries whatsoever have been chalked out by the People themselves for their Weal and Government And if our ancient Records may be credited no Nation under Heaven ever established better Rules for Government than this Kingdom hath done for here neither the Prince can by Law hurt the People nor the People the Prince and the Law is the Standard between them and the Protector of both which sure Sir W. you ought to have known or at least to have shown us what Text of Scripture it is that establisheth our Kings in England and gives them Authority above the Law but when you have said all the Kingship of England is but an Office and a Trust reposed in them by the Law of the Land under your good Favour And they are made Kings by Humane Laws but to whom the Kings of England are accountable I am not to question nor do I think it fit for you And for your saying the King ought not to be importuned by the People to do any thing which he knows is contrary to his Duty and Trust I say so too but how this will amend the Matter or plead for your designing to join some Person with him as was told you before I know not but by the Rule of Contrary if the People ought not to importune the King nor he to grant what is not just as is clear they ought not then sure both the People ought to importune the King and he to grant them all that is Just and Right and what by the Law and his Sacred Oath he is bound to do And then Sir W. I will take leave to tell you and make your best on 't that the People ought in this imminent time of danger both from your Friends the Papists at home and the dangers from abroad to importune the King for a Parliament as their Right by Law according to the Statutes of Edw. the 3d. And if you are so conscientious a Man and mean for the Law and right Government of England as you pretend I do not doubt in the least but you will help forward such a Petition and since the Justice tells us that a Prince must be just against the importuning of his Subjects I hope Sir W. you that say so will not be so unjust as not to begin so good a work since you have ever had the knack of Addressing And now we are in the sixth Page come to Sir W's Hear-say that is The King I have heard was pressed to exclude the D. of Y. Pray saith the Justice examine the Justice of that can it be just saith he to punish in presonti for a Fault to be committed in futuro Divine Sir William he must still have a fling at the Parliament it is as good Leachery to him to scratch there as to be a standing Stallion in another place well but this is a grand Fault of the Parliament no doubt What punish a Man before he had committed any Fault as he tells the Grand Jury surely they would not find a Bill against any Man for a Fault that might be committed Now observe the cunning of this Abuse that he would sham upon the unthinking People of a Wrong the Parliament was about pray who was or who would have been wronged if such a Bill had passed altho for my own part I ever thought there were other Bills more needful Is it not strange the whole Nation in a Body in three several Parliaments could be so foolish and wicked as not to see the Sin and Evil of this thing as well as the Justice and the Justice then said nothing nor was so kind to give his Advice But the Justice will mistake the Case he looks upon the Duke as in Possession and not as a Subject and he looks upon the single Subject this one Man to be of more value than all the Subjects Good and Welfare of England and to put a blind upon the World topes upon us the D's divine Right to be King here over us and as natural for him to be our King as to do the Office of Nature Now I always thought the Kingship of England as is before hinted is by the Law of the Land and no otherwise and that every King in this Kingdom is or ought to be the Supream Magistrate for the Peoples Good But if a Prince be born a Fool an Ideot or become a mad Man how can that Man be thought to reign for the Peoples Good Now if such a thing should happen may not the King and People then in being altogether as in all Ages they have done chuse another more fit to govern in that Office is there any Injustice in this is there any more than common Prudence and would they be just to themselves if they should do otherwise Where is the Wrong to the mad Man He is bereaved of his Senses must therefore the People be so too And in all Ages hath not the Crown of England been settled by the King and Parliament and have not Forreigners done the same witness the Portugals they did not only put by a Subeject not fit to reign by his Folly but put by and do still to this day their King when in actual Possession because of his Infirmities otherwise they had sinned against the very Law of Nature for that teaches us self Preservation But so much hath been said already by abler Heads as to this most ridiculous nonsensical Notion that I thought no Man pretending to common Sense would have dared to have been so bold as to have mentioned such a thing or to arraign the Judgment of the whole Nation And now after the Justice hath thus spent the time in ranting and beating the Air about this unjust Design of the Parliament
And that they shall give no Councel to great men or small And in Case where we be party or which do or may touch us many point upon pain to be at our Will Body Lands and Goods to do thereof as shall please us in case they do contrary Here is another Record of Parliament in the 11 H. 4. worth taking notice of which is not in English viz. Vid. Rot. Par. 11. H 4. Nov. 28. Item que nul Chancellor Treasurer Garden del Privy Seal Councel a le Roy Serjeant a Councel del Roy ne null nuter Officer Iudg Minister le Roy per nants fees on gages de Roy pour lour Ditz Offices ou Services preigne en nul manner en temps a venner ascun manner de done ou brocage de nulluy pur lour ditz Offices Services afair sur peine de responder ou Roy de la treble que essint preignone de satisfiee pungs al volunt le Roy soit discharges de son Office Service Councel per toutz jours que thescan que voier a pursuer en la dit matter lascule cibien per le Roy come pur luy mesme cit la treice part del somm de que la party est duement convict c. Having given a little touch of the Old Law and what our Rights are I shall now return to our Speechmaker In page 1. he tells us we are divided in two Churches the Church of England and the Antichurch which are the Dissenters and that of all sorts and to be playing with the Scriptures he calls the Dissenters Devils nay Legions of Devils Why truly a man might have expected as fair quarter from a Turk or the Indians nay from the Papists themselves for they do but account the Protestants of all sorts Devils and why Sir W. should so far oblige them who himself hates a Papist is very strange But by this the Dissenters may see the Justices of Middlesex Christianity towards them whatever the King and Parliaments opinion of them was a little before Well but in the next place he tells us the reason why he esteems them so and that is one of them obey the King and his Laws and the other do not which are the Dissenters these Devils and well may he term them so for he tells us that they torment the Government in the next place he tells them they dishonour the King and defame his Government by those Pamphlets which go about the Town in which certainly the Justice read his Name or else he would not have condemned a whole Body of Men or a Legion of Dissenters for they are many for writing of Pamphlets when it is not I dare say in his power to prove that any one Pamphlet he means was ever writ or published by a Dissenter from the Church of England Established by Law Now if the Justice will here undertake to condemn me without proof and such a number of Men Why then I must take leave to say It is somewhat like their late Warrants sent out to summon in Constables to turn Informers and when the Constables did not approve of that Imployment was for their Disobedience bound to the Good behaviour and fined Twenty pounds which afterwards was lost when a Certiorari came But yet some further Answer ought to be given as to the Dissenters tormenting the Government he cannot I am confident shew in what any of them do torment the Government unless it be in not going to Church Pray ye Mr. Justice and if it shall please you how can that be such a torment to the Government now more than it hath been all other times hath the Government any loss in the Revenue by it or any wounds given Or is it the tender Conscience of the 26 Bishops that is so tormented for the souls of these poor miserable Dissenters if there be nothing else in the wind no Rebellion nor Theft nor Murder why then where is the great torment to the Government Do any of the Dissenters break the Laws more than the Churchmen Do not the Churchmen break more If so many for instance and if it shall like your Worship First it is true the Dissenters are stubborn Rascals some of them at least they will pray for themselves and in their own way and worship God according to the written Word as near as they can go and will not come to Church Now it is granted in doing of this they break the Act of Uniformity to ballance that you Mr. Justice knows that many of the Church of England Loyal men as good as ever pissed will be drunk sometimes and pretty often in a week now set one against the other if you please Then the Dissenters break another Law they go to Meetings contrary to another Act well but you know Sir sometimes they pay dear for it as people say at Bristol c. But if that do not serve turn there are many of the Church of England good Loyal men will swear and damn most confoundedly sometimes which is expressed against the Act and the Law of Christianity too now Sir here is a Rowland for your Oliver and methinks the Justices of Middlesex might have been so consciencious as to have discoursed something of the breach of these Laws as well as altogether upon the poor Dissenters There is another Law the Dissenting Ministers break which is the Act for living within five miles of a Corporation to answer that the Conformists notwithstanding the Act of Non-residence at their Parish Church yet many of them Loyal Churchmen scarce ever come at it except for their Tythes Now Sir I would have you give me leave to tell you one plain and homely story and so end the first Page There was a Wench in Ireland had been with a Priest at Confession and being there freely uncased her self of all her sins to the Priest which proved very great sins and something astonishing to the good man the first was she confessed she had been a great Thief the Priest replyed that was very bad and a great sin but saith she I gave so much money to the poor afterwards well quoth the Priest put that to that the next was she had been a great Whore whereat the Priest started being amazed thereat but said she oh Sir but I did such a Pennance such a time and fasted so long well then said the Priest put that to that another sin whereof she confessed her self guilty was the wronging of her Parents which was a bad sin too but said she my Father and Mother were Hereticks well then said the Priest put that to that The next day the Priest coming again to see his child and asking her how she did she replyed smilingly well I thank you Father she still smiling at him occasioned by a wart the Priest had upon his Nose and he being urgent to know the cause of her smiling she at last after craving his pardon with
never so formidable And for what you are pleased to say they are a Herd of Swine that when one being chased all the rest go and condole pray where is the evil of that if it were so but I have been otherwise informed that they are not so kind and natural one to the other However since you have so compared them to swine and since it is their nature as you say to condole one with another when they are all chased I wish that part of your Speech were true that these Dissenters will make your words good and stand by one another in Righteous and good things to oppose the wicked malice of their enemies who daily watch not only for their goods and estate but for their blood too could they have but an opportunity once put into their hands which as is said you and the rest Sir W. of your fellow Justices were indeavouring after when a Petition was by you preferred that the Sheriffs of Middlesex might not be chose by the City could you Sir W. and the rest of your crew but have got that either by hook or by crook you would no doubt have stopped all their mouths having before settled your Evidence ready for the purpose But Sir W. do but have patience and keep the Irish cattle together a little longer and you do not know how fortunate you may be after Midsummer day next and then have at the Beasts at Ephesus these unreasonable Dissenters that will not believe their Mother the Church nor pin their faith upon the Crape-Gonorum Thus our Barronet lays about him in this Page against these hoggs beasts and unreasonable men now is it not a pitty this Gentleman had not acted in Doctor Sprat's place the other day and Sprat in his if it had been so I am confident the Knight would have done more in the work of conversion by his Speech to the Artillery men than the Doctor did for the word of the Apostle and the very names of unreasonable men and wild Beasts would certainly have sounded very sweet to that Auditory for the Doctor took all to be unreasonable men that refused to dine with them that day and yet dared to eat their dinner together the next day in another place than where the D. was And if the Doctor had but spoke half so much as a Divine to the Grand-Jury about Hoggs and Religion the Jury could not for shame but have believed him because he hath authority to speak Scripture But what authority the Justice had to speak so to the Grand-Jury when he was not in Orders is not yet known and it is well if the Church do not take him to task for medling with that which did not concern him and which indeed is another man's trade and it was the Justice-trade to have preached the necessity of buying swords to suppress the Dissenters and keep their mouths stopped well but before we leave this Page we shall find out Sir W's Religion I dare lay a groat on 't for he tells us in plain English now what I did but suppose before that he was once on the other side for saith he there are not more unreasonable men than some we have in England I have heretofore had an indifferent good opinion of the Dissenters I thought they had been as they pretended a peaceable sober sort of People and that they had desired nothing but liberty of Conscience and Indulgence So then once by his own shewing he was of another mind then now he is Well what changed him in his discourse in this place it must be because of the unreasonable men that are in England but he forgets to tell us who they are and wherein it appears so but if you believe himself the unreasonableness of some men is the main reason that makes him now not of the opinion he was before and that serves him well enough for an excuse But how was he mistaken about their being a sober quiet sort of People what hath altered his mind have they been unruly or unquiet more then himself have they done any evil to the Publick now more then they did before when he had his good opinion of them nothing of that can appear But to be plain in the 4th Page he tells you what hath altered him why it is his tenaciousness that the Dissenters aim at Dominion and therefore he cannot have any longer a good Opinion of them but still this is but to excuse himself by loading of others with such untruths as there is nothing the least colour for it nor was ever proved against them unless he means by Dominion that the Dissenters will have the Dominion over their own Estates and Families and not suffer others to have it from them without better Warrant from the Law then any this Ignoramus Justice can shew to the contrary for the Dissenters do think they may with as much Law and Justice defend their Liberties and Properties as the Justice may find Law to compel them to conformity in point of Church Discipline But now the Justice must have one flout or fling at tender consciences in this Page or else the fat will be in the fire and no wonder at all why he cannot let that alone the reason may be because he having lost his if ever he had one is something like the Devil that hates man because he is in a better State then himself otherwise sure he would not mock and jeer at tender conscienes and liberty of conscience as if their were no such thing left but all was a piece of Pagentry like my Lord Mayor's show as he saith to draw the Eyes of Spectators upon them The Justice may know it is dangerous to meddle with Edge tools But to proceed the Knight tells us He met with a Pamphlet the other day wherein he read a Ticket to a Feast at the two Halls The Pamphlet he means I suppose may be the Gazette which forbids under the pretence of Authority the seditious Design of dining together at Goldsmiths Hall c. in regard his R. H. was not to be there or because they intended to be merry without a Licence from the Court Truly it was a horrible Design of those Whigs to offer to eat together and give God thanks for Mercies and not first consult the Stars or the Court at Milky-Hall And that which more affrighted the Loyal Party was there were no less than thirty odd Affidavits produced or intended in due time which made it appear that all the Pye-crust was Walls Batteries and strong Fortresses within which were hid all sorts of Warlike Provision Blunderbusses only excepted And most certain it is this was the most desperate Association that has been these many Years fit to be abhorr'd in the next Return when those now upon the Wheel shall be spun out for as the Justice tells us It is like the old Way of Associating or blowing a Trumpet before a War But the Ticket-Feast at Merchant-Taylors Hall was
a Speech But why must the Dissenters Trading together and taking one anothers Parts be a Design against the Government more than of those that call themselves the Church-Party Is it not as lawful for one as well as the other Sort to trade with whom they will and to eat and drink with whom they please If so then it is most plain the boasting Church-Men do feast together often and associate themselves in Clubs Cabals Taverns and Coffee-Houses and divers other Places both Sundays and Working-Days to manage the Cause which the Justice aims at and the Church-men in reality as they would be accounted such as they are have in reality stuck by their Champion Cradock so far that no less than two Knights and four or five Esquires and Gentlemen to save their Brother Cradock have joined together in a solemn Oath before the Judg that the Earl of Shaftsbury doth live in Thanet-House and is a great Trader in the City I am confident the Justice cannot shew us any such voluntary Oath of Men of their Quality that ever did so far take one anothers Parts among the Dissenters as to swear in Clubs So after the Justice had shewed the Dissenters Dealings of laying their Heads together in disturbing the Peace in the next place pag. 5. he tells us in praise of the Church Pary and in opposition to the Dissenters that they the Chuch Party are good honest Men in these Words viz. The Church Party the Children of Light they trust in a good Cause put out their own Eyes and will neither see their Danger or Interest most of them endeavour to build upon their own Ground and raise to themselves Pyramids of Honour and Riches and have not minded them of the same Party who are forced to shift for themselves as well as they can Now I would have the ingenuous Church-Men consider what a great deal of Honour this Gentleman hath done them he has to vindicate them called them blind Fools nay such Fools that no brute Beasts can be worse what is it I pray you to them to put out their own Eyes and not see for themselves and when that is done he tells us it is the only way to get Riches If this be the way of the Children of Light to put out their own Eyes and trust to others I pray God with all my Heart that I may be in Darkness still and that this Child of Light tho a Church-Man may get Honour and in his own way for my part I will neither envy his nor his Church-Men's Happiness as to their Wisdom nor as to their Honour and Riches but this I may say that had the Church of England-men received such a Vilifying from a Dissenter as this certainly they would have called loudly for Satisfaction either from the Court Christian or our Temporal Courts What call them such Fools and treat them as such as will pull out their own Eyes and not see can the Church-Men forgive this I dare not say they cannot because some of them are Men of great Charity but were it not for that doubtless such an Affront as this would be enough to raise the whole posse Clergy about the Knights Eyes for in effect he calls them blind Papists for none but those poor deluded Souls that ever live in the Light of the Sun would rather trust other Folks Eyes than their own Well but what must not a Justice make a slip but there must be all this notice taken yes sure he may be allowed many when he means well for in this whole Speech if you observe it and if you believe himself He doth say and do all for the Established Church and the Publick Good Now then if so he ought to have Mercy shewn him In the next place you will find he deserves it too because the Dissenters in this page are made by the same Man Coblers and nothing but their last is their Coat and so fearful is he of them If as he saith the Cards should be shufled again that these Coblers will have all the Shoes and himself go Bare-foot that he advises here in this Page That it is not prudent to trust them tho they are contented with their own Vertue a most strange Paradox what if they will be contented with their own Vertue shan't they be let alone it is mighty hard especially when in the next place he himself commends Vertue as a choice Plant or Tree that bears excellent Fruit and saith he The Gardiners must nourish and cherish this Plant and Tree or else in time this Tree will bear sower Fruit that is I suppose he means the Magistrate and you Grand Inquest-men you must Present these Dissenters that we may get some of their Money lop off their loose Twigs and Wild-Sprigs that makes them too rich and too proud and then thier Fruit will be Savoury such as I like for tho I like not the Men yet their Money I like and so do all their Enemies but to quiet the Church whom before he abused he now makes them full amends again for saith he in this Page viz. I hope for the Honour of the King and Safety of the Government no Man for the future shall be employed until he be first sifted and winnowed and if any Grain of Faction be found in him he shall be laid aside But then Sir W. What will you do and your Addressers Do you not remember Sir W. the very day you made this learned Speech when you and the rest of the Tribe were withdrawn out of the Court you propounded or at least abetted one of the greatest pieces of Faction that ever was done in England this 20 Years except F. H. which was it was urged among you Justices to Address His Majesty that he would be pleased to keep the Duke by him at home to join with him in the Government or at least to assist him therein Pray Sir W. had you gone on in this Address had it not been the heighth of Faction and Sedition if not High-Treason in designing to alter the Government What are you in such haste that you cannot stay the time must Popery and Protestantism be joined together in our days Pray Sir will you before your next Speech consider it well and tho you abhor the Parliaments because they would have no Popish Successor yet methinks you should not dig a Grave for our King and Government while he is alive and what other construction sober thinking Men as you call them can make of such Designs time may shew but for your placing so much upon that Text By me Kings Reign and Princes decree Justice I know not what you mean unless you would by that Scripture insinuate that because there is such a place of Scripture therefore the People should have no Law of the Land to be their Standard but the Will of the Prince to be absolute Lord Paramount above all Laws and no Bounds to be set by the Law of the Land