Means to prevent it Memory is a Natural Faculty of Great Use in all Humane Transactions but Especially in Government and that in the Lowest degrees of it For it is the duty of a Magistrate to Execute Laws not to make them and he is to have an Eye to the matter of Fact at the same time too now he that hath such a defect in that Faculty that he can neither remember the Law which is to Direct him nor the matter of Fact to which it is to be applied is certainly very unfit to be a judge and so in Proportion in all the intermediate degrees of it The Office of a Justice of the Peace is very diffused and comprehends in it a vast Number and Variety of things and it will consequently require a good Memory to tell presently whether any particular case be within his Jurisdiction or No. Mr. Lambard complained in his time and that is near a hundred years ago that there were Stacks of Statutes imposed upon them to take care of and the Number is now perhaps double to what it was then So that in this respect also it is Necessary that he who Undertakes this Office should be a Man of a good strong Memory If any man doubts the truth of this he will find upon trial that no humane Memory how great soever it be can perfectly comprehend all the particulars Exactly and that it will be Necessary to have frequent recourse to the Books Especially in Statute Cases without which many and great Errors must of Necessity be committed so that the Prudence of a Magistrate doth consist in a great degree in not Trusting too much to his Memory But then that shews a Necessity of having that useful Faculty to a good degree SECTION III. THere are three other Accidental qualifications which are of great use and would be considered A Competent Estate a good Reputation and a tolerable good Education and Learning The Justice of the Peace enters upon an imployment that will occasion him much loss of Time some Expence and many Enemies and after all will afford him little or nothing towards the bearing these inconveniences but a little unprofitable Honour attended with much envy and had therefore need before-hand be provided of a competent Estate at least to support him in that imployment or else he will suddainly repent what he indiscreetly undertook and it may be intail the Mischief upon his Family who will remember his honour with small complacency when they reflect upon his debts occasioned by it Nor will he and his Family be the only Sufferers the Country will and must bear a part in it too Men of small Estates are very often of Mean spirits and dare not do their Duties where they Expect opposition and have great and rich men to deal with and so betray Justice not for want of Skill or Honesty but of Courage to undertake and go thro with it Besides their Poverty will Expose them to great Temptations of Bribery and tho the profit that can come by it is very inconsiderable yet the mischief that will attend it is not so for the perverting Justice in the smallest instance is a great Dishonour and Damage to a Country and the meaner the cause the greater the infamy the Meaner the People are that are injured the greater the Clamour But of all men those that are much indebted are the least fit for that both the Creditor and his Friends must too often be gratified by the wretched man at the Expence of his Oath his Integrity his Honour and his Justice and all occasions must be sought for this too that the World may see how great a power the Rich Clown hath upon his Worship For these causes there was an Act of Parliament made some Ages since which is as followeth WHereas by Statutes made in the time of the Kings noble Progenitors it was Ordained That in every County of England Justices should be assigned of the most Worthy of the same Counties to keep the Peace and to do other things as in the same Statutes fully is Contained Which Statutes notwithstanding now of late in many Counties of England the greatest Number have beén Deputed and Assigned which before this were not wont to be whereof some be of small that is ill Behaviour by whom the People will not be governed nor ruled and some for their Necessity do great Extortion and Oppression upon the People whereof great inconveniences be likely to rise daily if the King thereof do not provide remedy The King willing against such inconveniences to provide remedy hath Ordained and Established by Authority aforesaid That no Justice of Peace within the Realm of England in any County shall be assigned or deputed if he have not Lands or Tenements to the Value of 20 l. by the year and if any be Ordained hereafter c. which have not Lands or Tenements to the Value aforesaid that he thereof shall give Knowledg to the Chancellor of England for the time being which shall put another sufficient in his place and if he give not the same knowledg as before within a Moneth after that he have notice of such Commission or if he sit or make any Warrant or Precept by force of such Commission he shall incur the penalty of 20 l. and nevertheless be put out of the Commission as before c. But this Act Extends not to Corporations and also Provided That if there be not sufficient persons having Lands and Tenements to the Value aforesaid Learned in the Law and of Good Governance within any such County That the Lord Chancellor of England for the time being shall have power to put other discreét Persons Learned in the Law in such Commissions tho they have not Lands or Tenements to the value aforesaid by his discretion The 18 H. 6. cap. 11. I have transcribed this Statute almost at large because it makes so lively a description of the inconveniences and takes so exact a care to prevent them and it is to be observed That xx l. by the Year at the making of this Statute was a Knights fee and that they would trust to Nothing but an Apparent Visible Estate for it must be in Lands or Tenements and yet was there not then the Hundredth part of that business committed to Justices then there is now and their Expences that were consequently much less and tho in case of Necessity some Lawyers of a less Estate were Admitted yet this was out of pure Necessity in those ignorant Times and then they were to be men of Good Governance that is of a Good Reputation for their Lives and Integrity and such men in those time might by their Professions be able to spend with men of good Estates But two inconveniences have arisen in our Times that were not in being then The first is That Men of great Estate do too commonly leave the Country and spend their times and Estates in London and other great Cities in perfect
requires because this Affair is so different in one place from what it is in another that it can hardly be brought under one general Rule and it seems but reason to intrust such and so many Gentlemen with a Power which is granted to almost every petty Corporation So likewise the Statute concerning Lands given to Charitable uses 39. Eliz. 6. might be made much more useful by Communicating that Power to any 4 Justices of the Peace without a Commission out of the Chancery and allowing an Appeal to the Sessions 1 with a Tryal by Jury And indeed all Lands given to Charitable uses would be better imployed if accounts were given to the Justices of the Peace which is already given in relation to those that are given to the repair of †13 14. c. 2. c. 6. § 14. High-ways and the Relief of * 22 23. c. 2. c. 20. ⧠11. Goals and Prisoners and there is the same reason for the rest There is one thing of which no care was ever taken that I know of and that is for Guardians for such Children as are neither so poor as to be a Charge presently to the Parish and yet have not such Estates as to be able to bear an Application to the Chancery for that Purpose many of which become at length a Charge to the Parish when what was left them is consumed Which might be prevented by giving the Quarter Sessions power to appoint them Guardians and take security of them for a good Account altering and changing them as occasion serves and compelling them to account and make payment without Suits of Law which such poor Orphans Estates will not bear There are too many other things to be brought into a Preface to so small a Discourse as this and therefore I will omit them but there is one I cannot pass over I could never yet learn any power that was given to the Justices of the Peace to Summon or Compel Witnesses to appear in the Sessions except it were against Felons Now it is most certain no Case can be ended without them and that very often they will not appear without Compulsion and so many a good Cause must and doth miscarry And this a thing as worthy of a short Act of Parliament as any other I know of if it were but to make the Remedy more Authentick There are many Passages in the present Lord-Keeper's Speech which I have quoted above that would have been of great use to me if I had been so happy as to have seen it before I had finished this Piece but there is one which I had much rather misplace here then omit it altogether Pag. the 6th A private man is praised for shewing Humility and Deference to others in his Conversation and passing by Indignities But a Judg and so proportionably a Magistrate must take greatness upon him he must consider he represents the Kings Person in his Seat of Justice he must therefore be very careful to preserve the Dignity that belongs to it He must have passions but not of a private man that may disturb his Judgment but he must assume Passion to set off his Severity when the greatness of the Crime requires it but it must be so as it may appear that his Judgment governs his Passion and directs it against the offence and not against the Person A Judg must be covetous but not as a private man for his own profit but he must be very solicitous for the Kings profit knowing that the Kings Revenue is like Animal Spirits without which the Government would not be able to perform its ordinary Motions All which excellent Rules the last not excepted do belong as well to Justices of the Peace as to the Judges seeing so much of the Kings Revenue is committed to their care and it is the worst sort of Treason that can be starve our King And now if my Reader thinks fit to go on and read the Book too let me conjure him to do it without Partiality or Prejudice and with a resolution to reform whatever he shall remark to be amiss in his own Person or Practice and when he hath so done I will ask him no favour let him think and speak what he pleases of me I care not how low I lie in his Esteem how impertinent or tedious unlearned or ignorant nay how confident or impudent I may seem to be so I may do him good and if nothing else will do even anger him into an Amendment And if he will consider seriously of it he must grant I can have no other end because I write neither for Money nor Preferment nor Glory nor any other worldly interest but merely for the publick good And if any man is pleased with this Tractate I only beg of him the favour of one hearty Prayer for me and mine and the good success of this Discourse that it may advance the Glory of God the Execution of Justice and Judgment and the Prosperity and Welfare of the best Church the best King and the best Civil Government in the whole World Living at a great distance these Errata's have been made which the Reader is desired to amend with his Pen and to Pardon the greater faults of the Author Errata Page 18. Line 7. dele then l. 9. for that r. then p. 31. l. 22. for easy r. rasy p. 32. for profit r. Prophet p. 48. l. 7. r. Ruined p. 61. Parag. 2. fine dele they find p. 102. l. 10. for have r. had p. 106. l. 10. for would r. will p. 110. l. 17. for has r. as P. 112. l. 18. for mean r. can p. 142. l. 7. for expect r. except p. 167. l. 19. for take r. give To the Making of a Good Justice of the Peace these Things are required 1. Natural Abilities A Competent Apprehension Judgment Memory 2. Civil Abilities A Competent Estate A Good Reputation A reasonable good Education and Learning 3. Religious Dispositions consisting in A due Veneration of God Love for his Service in himself and others A true Esteem of his Ministers An earnest Desire of the Salvation of all Under his Care and Charge 4. Moral Qualifications Prudence in all his Actions Patience Meekness Sobriety Chastity Industry Courage and Honesty in the Execution of his Duty And Humility 5. Politick Qualifications A competent Understanding of the Nature of our Government and Love to it Of the Nature of the English People Of the several Factions that we have amongst us and how 〈◊〉 govern them 6. Publick Qualifications A Great Love of Justice Impartiality in Executing it Aversion for those things that may hinder it Bribery Prejudice and Prepossession Favour and Hatred Covetousness Irregular Heats and Hopes Laziness 7. Knowledge in our Laws and Customs By Reading Observation and Practice Conversation and Discourse with knowing and Experienced Men. 8. Prudent Execution of our Laws by Observing a due Method according to Law 1. In calling the Parties 2. In hearing the
self to reduce the Scales of Justice once sway'd down to an eqnal Ballance Wherefore it is the safest Course for a Judge that Nothing touching the proofs and merit of the cause be intimated before-hand untill both Parties be heard together Thus far this great Man who was once Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England And a Justice of the Peace is in much more danger of being prepossessed than a Judge because the Complaint is made at first immediately to him and he may afterwards be more easily approached yea and deceived too than a Judge as being not so well versed in affairs or prepared for the Execution of his Office by his Education and therefore should be the more Wary and Jealous of himself Sometimes the prejudice is of an Ancienter date than the Complaint depending and is sometimes the fault and at others the misfortune of the Party if he have given just cause for it by his former misdemeanors and ill Life then he can blame no body but himself and yet the Justice ought not to condemn him in his very thoughts till he is clearly proved Guilty for the Worst of Men may be Wronged and every man is supposed at first innocent and afterwards penitent till the contrary be shown not by surmises but by proof But alass we live in so False and Slanderous an Age that the Fame of very Good men is often blasted behind their backs and it is become a common practice for men to blacken their Reputation whose Persons or Estates they design to Ruine and for the most part more mischief is done the Party by these Under-hand Accusations which he can never answer then by all the direct proof And therefore the Justice of the Peace ought to suspect all informations that are from the purpose as Slanders and designed for no other purpose than to prepossess him with an ill opinion of the party What I have said will in some degree discover the Mischief of Prejudice but there is this further in it Reason is the Light and Eye of the Soul Now if the Eye be simple the Whole shall be full of Light but if it be darkened with prepossession how great is that Darkness Matth. 6. 23. and I may add how incurable how inexcusable too It is certain we shall all stand before the Tribunal of Jesus Christ and whatever Judgment we here pass upon Things and Persons shall be there reviewed and therefore it befits us to be very exactly careful that we do not draw upon us a just Condemnation from that most Righteous and All-seeing Judge by condemning our fellow-Servants thro Prejudice and Prepossession Wrongfully Nor let us ever think that we shall escape the censure of men for they will certainly at one time or other discover the Cheat and esteem us according as they find cause tho perhaps they will not dare freely to tell us their minds and if they never should yet our Consciences will Accuse us for it and God in his Providence will take care to punish us for it and that it may be in the same way we have offended So that he that can be secure in the midst of so many dangers and open his Ears and expose himself to every secret Whisper against a Man is a Person disposed for ruine and doth neither deserve the Advice or Pity of any Man Bribery and Prepossession do for the most part spring from others Favour and Hatred Favour and Hatred take their Rise from our selves and are as great hinderances to Equal and Impartial Justice as the other two there is no man so mean but he may by Accident or upon Design oblige his Betters and beget in them a good opinion of him and most men are naturally apt to do it before hand and all the little Arts of Flattery Obsequiousness and Courtship are on such occasions made use of and many a man hath been drawn in by them who would have abhorred a Bribe Nor can any man on the other side live so innocently as at all times to avoid the displeasure of his Neighbours and a Justice of Peace is as capable of resentment as other Men and in some degree more because Pride and great Expectations of Submission and Regard do naturally follow Power in all its degrees and Circumstances and the least opposition or defeatexasperates such more then ten times as much would another so that the Natural Consequence is that a man in Authority and Power will have many pretending Friends and if he be not the more careful as many real or suspected Foes and if his Love and his Hatred have any room left for their Activity in the Execution of his Office they will betray him to many Inconveniences and Acts of Injustice which he would otherwise have avoided Whereas Justice should in this respect be blind and not see the Parties but the Fact on one side and the Law on the other and then with discretion and impartiality without Favour or Affection Hatred or ill Will give to every Man according to his Works But in the State man is this is so difficult that if Reason and Religion be not called in to our Assistance it will not be done the man hath injured me and therefore another is false Logick but yet so powerful that it is almost impossible to see the Fallacy especially whilest a Man is under the Dominion of Anger and Hatred which are powerful Passions and the Argument is as weak the other way the man is an honest man and therefore would not do amiss or complain without good Cause Why he is a man still and subject to all the Infirmities of Flesh and Blood and therefore I ought not to surrender my self blind-fold to his Conduct but diligently search out the truth And indeed if men would entertain low and humble thoughts of themselves they would seldom be mistaken but if I think my Smile my Nod my kind Word or Look a mighty Obligation and make a Muster of my Friends by the List of my Flatterers and Admirers I shall soon have a large Roll but they will in Adversity appear to be what they are like false Musters in Peace appear in their Ranks and Files a full Body but in time of necessity and need be like the gleaning after the Vintage thin and of no use and every Act of Injustice I do will diminish the number of my Friends even of those for whose sakes I did it and increase the number and fury of my Enemies But on the other side Exact and Impartial Justice is venerable and lovely in the sight of God and Men and even those that suffer by it will when the smart is over love and revere the man that Administred it to them so the upright Impartial Magistrate shall in the end have fewer Enemies and more hearty Friends then the other If there were nothing but this to be said for it there were reason enough to banish all our Affections and Passions when we sit
our Dissenters Gain by all their Perjuries between 40 and 60 what are they the better for all those they have procured or abetted since is not the hand of God against them in all they undertake defeating all their Projects and Designs and making them every day more Odious than others For my part I do not fear that perjurious Projects will ever prevail or do any body any good but the Crime being spread so vastly I fear a National Judgment a Calamity that shall be as general as the Sin and then no man will be free from suffering the sad Effects of it thô those that have procured it will smart most by it and this is enough to oblige every good Man that loves his Countrey especially all Magistrates to stand in the gap and to prevent the further Growth of it as much as is possible by discountenancing it and punishing it too as occasion serve Some are of Opinion this Sin might be stopped by a severe Law against it but I am of another mind and I heartily believe more innocent than guilty Men would suffer by it if we had such a Law because these wicked Wretches make Parties to uphold one another and will lay things so well together that it is almost impossible to discover the Cheat and then as for Oaths to prove them that they never want whereas good Men are not so vigilant suspecting as little ill as they mean and so would be more exposed to the force of such a Law But as for Publick Officers especially Constables and such like I wish together with their Oaths they might be compelled to enter a Recognizance of the same Condition with their Oaths which if it were but of small value as X or XX lib. it would work much upon them and in a great measure put a stop to this Impiety for some that do not reverence an Oath wou'd yet fear to forfeit their Recognizance and in time Religion would return and take away the necessity of such double Obligations As for Private Concerns there is excellent provision made by a late Statute 29 Car. 2. Cap. 3. and the extending it to a few more particulars might be very useful and till this can be done Men must commit as little as is possible to Verbal Testimonies by taking all things they can in Writing 2. Another of the best and most effectual means that is left to stop this inundation of Perjury is for Magistrates to express a great detestation of it not only by their words as Occasion serve but by their Actions too by shewing themselves to be exceeding Careful not to do any thing that is contrary to their Oaths and sometimes giving that for a reason of it for that makes a greater impression upon the Minds of Men than any words without it because it is at once a Verbal and a Practical Declaration and their Authority will make it the more taken Notice of and regarded The Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance are so frequently Administred that I need not take any further notice of them here but that which more immediately concerns the Justices of the Peace is as followeth YE shall Swear that as Justice of the Peace in the County of C. in all Articles in the King's Commission to you directed you shall do Egal Right to the Poor and to the Rich after your Cunning Wit and Power and after the Laws and Customs of the Realm and Statutes thereof made and ye shall not be of Councel of any quarrel hanging before you and that ye shall hold your Sessions after the form of the Statutes thereof made And the Issues Fines and Amerciments that shall happen to be made and all Forfeitures which shall fall before you ye shall cause to be entered without any Concealment or imbefilling and truely send them to the King's Exchequer ye shall not let for Guift or other Cause but well and truly you shall do your Office of Justice of the Peace in that behalf And that you take nothing for your Office of Justice of the Peace to be done but of the King and Fees accustomed and Costs limited by the Statute And ye shall not direct nor cause to be directed any Warrant by you to be made to the Parties but ye shall direct to the Bailiffs of the said County or other the King's Officers or Ministers or other indifferent Persons to do Execution thereof So help you God You shall do Egal right the very way of Writing which word Egal instead of Equal shews this Oath is of great Antiquity and that it hath been very carefully Transcribed when there have been so much scruple made of changing a G. into a Q. according to the Latin and our present Authography and it would be a burning shame to us if we that are Sworn should be less careful of the Articles in it than the Clerks have been of the Letters And that ye shall hold your Sessions how they can Answer it to God or Man I know not who reside in any County or act as Justices of the Peace in it and yet never appear at any Sessions by the space of many years together without any lawful excuse or hindrance or those who come and take the King's Wages and before half the Business is done betake themselves to the Tavern leaving two or three to finish and conclude the Business so that if any Controversie arise it must be left to another time or ended as it can rather than as it ought it is true neither of these Disorders can be Punished by the Court but then it is because the Law supposeth that Men of that Quality will not need it but will religiously observe their Oath so that the fault is so much the greater because it cannot be Punished but by God only I shall not make any more Reflections on this Oath because this whole Discourse is but a kind of Commentary upon it and whatever I have omitted is taken notice of by Lambard and other Writers But the Care of a Magistrate ends not in himself but is to extend to Others and therefore he ought to take great heed that he minister none but Lawful and Necessary Oaths Secondly That if he find Men ignorant he give them good Advice and sharp Reproofs in case of the least failure By Lawful Oaths I mean such as the Laws and Customs of England will allow him to give and therefore before he take an Oath he ought to consider whether he have Power to do it for thô he hath a great yet he hath not an unlimited Power as is manifest by that Parenthesis which is so frequent in our Statutes which Oath the said Justices are by this Act Authorized to Administer which is repeated almost as often as a new Power is given them and for the most part in these very words And yet I doubt not but when good Reason requires where ever they may Hear and Determine they may do it upon Oath thô the Statute doth not
a City besieged without and divided within we must sooner or later fall a Prey to our Enemies without Remedy or Pity But if these great men were capable of Reason there would be no need of this and as they are not it is in vain to offer it and therefore I must Address my next request to the Judges and Ministers of State that they would sometimes enquire in to this and without regard to the Fortunes or Titles of men support and incourage the more useful if occasion so require against the more Potent I hope there will not be many occasions for this but there may for what followeth and therefore I will propose it in the words of the present Lord-Keeper in his Speech to Mr. Serjeant Sanders at the the time he was sworn Lord Chief Justice of the Kings-Bench on Tuesday the 23d of January 1682. Pag. 8 9. The Age is degenerate and full of Faults Faults of Irreligion Morality Debauchery Quarrelling Falseness and Faction so full of Faults that it requires more then a man to censure them You will therefore consider that inferi our Magistrates and inferiour Jurisdictions are to take a great part of this labour off your hands in that regard you will upon all Occasions encourage and direct them to make them useful to you and not overthrow their Proceedings upon every slight Exception to drive People to begin their Process here at greater charge And when Justices of the Peace act candidly tho not with so much skill in the Law you will shew tenderness to them as Gentlemen that serve the King and the Publick for nothing and have not those Assistances of Council and Officers that are here It were it may be but reasonable that this tenderness should not only be shewed to their Proceedings but also to their Persons and Estates especially those of the meaner sort that so men may be the more easily indused to undertake the Publick Service as for instance in an easie excusing their Attendance at the Assizes when they have no particular business that doth require their presence there For seeing other Gentlemen of the like fortune who are not Justices of the Peace do seldom happen to be summoned above once in two years it seems a little hard to force these to come twice in one year merely to fill the Bench with unprofitable Spectators at so great a Charge to them tho I know also that much may be learned by such an Attendance and there is no fear but as many as can will take the opportunity of it but this being but my private opinion is submitted intirely to the Judgment of my Superiours and had not been mentioned but because the reason my Lord Chancellour gives seems to extend to it The Lord Chancellor Clarendon complains in the Letter I have so often mentioned That many persons who are in the Commission of the Peace neglect to be sworn And tells us His Majesty had given Order to his Attorney-General to proceed against them This hath been often since complained of by the Judges of Assice in their Circuits also but till the root of this mischief be cut it will never be otherwise as these things now stand no man that is in the Commission of the Peace can have this Dedimus Potestatem without he pay about four Pounds for it and it being an employment which can bring him nothing but expence and trouble it is no great wonder that men are not very willing to part with their Money for it and so many having stood a year or two and the Officers at last despairing to get any thing of them are either left out gratis or for a small matter So they that serve the King for nothing pay for it and the rest scape better cheap and on these Terms it is no wonder if there be frequent occasions for Complaints But this is not all worthy and good men who are fit to serve the King do thus avoid the service they that are no way qualified for it being more willing to part with their Money get into the imployment which they manage accordingly To prevent all which inconveniencies it were much more for his Majesties Service that the Dedimus Potestatem were freely sent down and the Officers rewarded for it out of the Exchequer But if this be not approved it were better the Money were paid by the Treasurer of the Division to which such new made Justices belongs and indeed seeing the Country will reap the greatest advantage by it it is most reasonable they should pay the Charge of the Enterance which may be done by a short Act of Parliament It would not be reasonable only to make the Enterance into this Honourable and Troublesome Imployment more easie but the execution too And to that purpose I will presume to offer a few more Considerations to my Superiours In many Cases there are so many and various Acts of Parliament that a man knows not which to proceed upon and they are sometimes contrary one to another Now if these were reduced into one and all the rest repealed it would much facilitate the execution of the Commission of the Peace For instance there are a great many several Acts of Parliament concerning the repair of the High-ways and they all are difficult to be executed in relation to the chief thing the Provision of Carriages that depending upon the determination of a Plough-Tilth which no body knows what it is and yet if it were never so well known that would not mend the matter much because considerable quantities of Land would never be brought into this so necessary Work what quantity soever were assigned to it and many rich men would do little or nothing and leave the burthen upon the poorer sort of men There have been two or three Temporary Acts of Parliament made since his Majesties Restauration 14 cap. 6. 22 cap. 12. to enable the Surveyers to repair the Ways by a Rate or Land-Tax but they are all expired Now if this course were settled forever for the Carriages and only the Cottagers tied to do so many days work all the other Acts of Parliament might be spared But it would not be amiss then to give the Justices of the Peace power to determine what should be paid by the Load for Sand Gravel and other materials taken out of private mens grounds or the wasts of other Mannors where there is a want within the respective Parishes without obliging them to fill up the places which is sometimes impossible for want of matter and always very chargeable The Statutes which concern the settlement and Provision for the Poor need a review too and some alteration and when this is done I recommend it to the consideration of wise men whether it would not be adviseable to give Power to the Grand-Juries and Justices of the Peace Assembled in their Assizes to make By-Laws with the Consent of the Judges and to repeal alter or change them as occasion
Inferiors Domestick or Foraign Enemies and altho some few of the happiest attain to such Fortunes as may in some degree Compensate the Hazard yet the far greatest part seldom gain any thing by it but disquiet envy poverty and an uncertain fame and after all lie Exposed to more dangers than those they govern This then must be another Effect of the Divine Providence that as God raises them up and endows them with qualifications fit for Government so he inspires them with inclinations to go thro with it and Keeps them in that disposition till others are fit to succeed them in all things directing and supporting them so far as he thinks fit sometimes to make a People Happy and sometimes Miserable as his Justice or his Mercy is deserved by them My Design is to discourse of onely one sort of Governours and that one of the Lowest the Justices of the Peace and to describe as well as I can what they should be for that having had the honour to serve my Country many years in that Station I have had opportunity to Observe some things in my self and others that are Capable of Amendment and all my reflections will produce some good Effect or other upon my Self at least and Whilest I describe what they should be I shall have often occasions to Consider the more Seriously what I have been from whence by the Assistance of God's holy Spirit which I humbly and devoutly ask I may encrease my repentance for what is Amiss my gratitude for what is not and others may perhaps be Excited to joyn with me and so some reformation may follow which never any Times needed more than Ours SECTION II. OF those Qualifications which I have mentioned some are Natural others are Acquired but both are the gift of God Tho the first are more immediately so and because they are the Foundations of the other do naturally sort themselves in the first Rank and so fall first Under our Consideration and because I design to be as short as I can I shall mention only three Apprehension Judgment and Memory Tho God hath given more Apprehension to the slowest of Mankind than to the subtillest of the Brutes yet they that are to Govern others had need have a more then ordinary Quickness and Vivacity It being the design of almost all that Approach them to delude and deceive them and rather to extort than obtain a savorable Sentence by Just proof and truth and they have generally that jealous opinion of their Governours as to Expect to go by the loss if they have nothing to trust to but their innocence and plain down-right truth And from hence proceed those Crafty insinuations of the ill tempers or actions of those they Complain of in other instances which are no part of the Complaint but only artificial flourishes to beget an ill opinion of their Adversaries that they may assure the Victory before-hand Others again are so little Masters of Language and do so seldom appear before their Superiors that a man of ordinary Capacity can scarce tell what it is they would have and yet it may be the Complaint is just and reasonable and the infirmity of these is as much to be pitied as the craft and subtilty of the Other is to be discountenanced and reproved And when both the Parties appear and the business is ripened for a Conclusion the same difficulties attend it the Crafty Knave is for avoiding the Punishment of his Crimes and the innocent simple Country man is as apt to betray his Cause by his well-Meaning simplicity if the quickness and integrity of the Justice do not prevent it In greater Cases and higher Courts things are first ripened by their Officers and then debated by Council before they speak their judgments and so how unequal soever the abilities of the Parties are the Case appears with equal art on either side and yet after all this the Briskness and Apprehension of those Judges is of great use to discern Truth from Falsehood and Appearances from Realities But in this case there is nothing of that nature to be Expected neither can the persons nor will the Cases bear it and therefore a Justice of the Peace stands absolutely in need of a Competent quickness of Apprehension without which he will be liable to make great mistakes form which great dishonour and damage will ensue But here it will not be amiss to give some men a Caution whose defects lie on the other side and for want of Patience to hear a Matter Out Catch at it too soon and think they understand before they hear whose fault is greater and more incurable then the other and causes more injustice and oppression for these quick men run away with a shadow and will rarely be perswaded they are under a mistake and are for the most part a little insolent and impatient of Contradiction how softly soever it be Cloathed and these men are perhaps more unfit for Government then the former The Apprehension is the door by which all things are Admitted but the Judgment is the house that receives and entertains them And whatever the difficulty of Apprehending the Case is tho it may be a hindrance of dispatch it is rarely of Justice too if the Judgment do at last attain to the discovery of the truth But there is more required in a Magistrate than a bare understanding of the thing which is but in Order to a determination of it and therefore is not so considerable in its self as in its Consequences and Effects There are three defects which seem to attend the Judgment Darkness or Obscurity Confusion or Disorder and Weakness which proceeds from both Some men are of so Cloudy Judgments that they do with great difficulty if ever hit upon the truth of things Especially if it be Studiously disguised and Misrepresented as for the most part is in reason to be Expected here and tho these are not to be despised for this Natural defect but rather to be pittied and Assisted yet it renders them unfit for Government The Reason of Others is so confused that they do with as great difficulty attain a Clear and distinct Notion of any thing and as their judgment so their discourse is dark and Uncertain and they can as little be understood by others as they understand them themselves and this must needs render all business that is transacted by them uncertain and full of Hazard The last and Worst Defect is Imbecility and Weakness which if it be great is incurable the Cloudy Understanding may at last the Confused sometimes Understand and hit the Mark but neither Time nor Chance can cure that natural Imbecility which proceeds from them both and therefore they of all men are not fit for Government and should never seek it or imbrace it if it be offered to them and it is great pity they should be suffered to Expose themselves and their Places to Scorn and Contempt by them that have Power and
more to govern them and they that have not had the happiness to meet or imbrace this should do well not to Expose their unpolished Humours and Manners to the Contempt of others who yet may be very useful men in other Places SECTION IV. I Have hitherto considered the Justice of Peace no further than as a Man and a Gentleman But Blessed be God for it England is a Christian Country and one of the best Parts of the Catholique Church too and therefore not only the Natural and Civil Capacities and Qualifications of Men are to be considered when Magistrates are to be chosen but their Religions too and most Especially By this I do not mean in this place whether they are Protestants or Papists Phanaticks or men who love the Church tho I shall Consider of this in due time but whether they be good Christians For many men account it an honour to them and a piece of good breeding to Express no more reverence for God and Religion than they do for a forsaken Mistress to whom they pretend to have made Love only out of Ignorance in their Youth for want of understanding better things I do not intend neither in this place to make an Exact Description of the several parts of Devotion and Religion but I only consider those parts of it which fit a man for Government which I humbly Conceive are these 1. A Due Veneration of God 2. A Love for his Service in himself and others 3. A Good Esteem for his Ministers 4. An Earnest desire of the Salvation of all under his Care and Charge As God is the Fountain of all Power and the Author of all Government So he is the Supream Governour and Preserver of it and by his Providence disposes the hearts of Men as he thinks fit and in his Justice and Mercy makes Retribution to them according to their Deserts but especially his Eyes are ever upon Princes and Magistrates to Reward them if they do well to Punish them if they do amiss and abuse the Power which he hath given them for the good of Men and his own Glory And those men that have this Sense of him deeply imprinted in their hearts will ever have a great Veneration for him and as occasion serve express it by due consideration that not only their Actions which are visible to men but the most secret Motives of them that lie out of the reach of their Eyes are open to God Almighty Those who Thus Reverence God shall be sure to have his Providence watching always over them to protect them in all dangers and direct them in all difficulties And he will by it strike that aw and fear of them into the hearts of the People that shall keep them in better Obedience than all the force in the World will do without it and this will render their Government Easy and their Actions Prosperous But on the Other side how can any man have the impudence to expect either Protection or Assistance from God when he knows at the same time that he hath not any respect in his heart for him Nor in truth do this sort of men do it but trust wholly to their own Wit and Power which always in the End deceives them and leaves them to the Scorn and Contempt of the World God in his Justice making this frequently the Punishment of their Impiety against him All men that have any Sense know it so necessary that the People should have some Religion and a great Opinion that their Governours are Pious and that without it there will be no possibility of Governing them that they who have expressed no inward Veneration for it have owned a belief that it was a Crafty Invention Juggled up betwixt the Priests and the Princes of the World to Keep the Multitude in aw which tho it is false yet it shews at the same time that these men are of opinion that it would be difficult if not impossible to keep the People in a due Subjection without it And Machiavel would not have his Lewd Prince without the opinion of Piety however wicked he really was Now if this base Hypocrisie be of so great use in Government which is destitute of the blessing of God and liable to be looked thro Every moment of what Use must solid sober Piety be which will shine forth in all that a man doth or speaketh and procure at once the Love and Favour of God and Man 2. This Reverence of God is to be expressed by a great and constant Care to Serve and Worship him both Publickly in the Church and Family and Privately in the Closet for God is so great a Being that Nothing we can do but this is of any use to him he stands in no need of us nor of our Service any further then as it tends to our own good here and hereafter and therefore it is ridiculous to pretend to believe there is a God and live Wickedly without any regard to his Service nay prate Foolishly and Atheistically in all Companies as some do But the Justice of Peace of all men is to be most religiously Careful to perform his Duty because the Eyes of all are upon him and they will be sure to follow his Example if ill and the Inconvenience will not end there neither they will within a While revenge all their Piques against him which will be many with Stories of his Impiety and Negligence and from thence argue That he is a man of no Religion the Consequence of which is That he is not Master of any honour or honesty and so this dishonour will at last fall upon himself and end in contempt Nor doth his Care like that of Private men end in his Family tho it were well if some extended it but so far but he must take care that all under his Jurisdiction do it For so much is England degenerated from its Ancient Devotion by reason of the Divisions amongst us that without this not onely the Conventicle but the Ale-house will be better furnished than the Church if Care be not taken by them that are in Authority to Prevent it by a Severe Search and Punishment of these Miscreants Nay to that height of Impiety are we grown that if We trust to the Oaths of them that are to inform us even Perjury shall be imploy'd to delude us and the Law a strange Religion this is in the mean time to make use of the Worst of Crimes to protect them who pretend to be the Children of God from Temporal Punishment and with them and for their sakes all that will run into Debauchery But so it is and nothing but the Care of the Magistrate can prevent it and if he be not diligent to do his duty herein he must answer it to God and Man It is not many Years since a War raised by these Religious men on that pretence destroyed our King and brought our Gentry into the basest Slavery that ever fell upon them
but that it hath been more frequent here in England of late than perhaps in all the World besides Especially as to our Penal Laws for every Township with us being bound to maintain its own poor Inhabitants which way soever they become such many men interest themselves in the Cases of these People and for fear they should become a Charge to the Parish connive at many of their Misdemeanors and intercede with the Magistrates in others for their non-punishment till for Want of timely Correction for small faults and thro hopes of impunity they become insufferably Wicked and are cut off by the hand of Justice or grow Insolent and are a plague all the days of their Lives to the Places in which they live It is great pity the power of inflicting Corporal punishment instead of Pecuniary should not be Extended further than it is for that is the way to meet these small ill natured Animals As for Instance Many of them turn Atheists and never come at Church onely because they are not able to pay Twelve pence for their absence And I might instance in some other particulars but till this can be done it is certainly much better to run the Hazard of maintaining these men when they are reformed than thus to suffer them to become worse and worse by impunity till in the End they become not only Extreamly wicked and troublesome but poor also and so the thing that was feared falleth upon them which might in likelihood have been prevented by a timely Severity By Honesty Honesty I understand that Comprehensive Virtue which in Scripture is call'd an Honest and Good Heart and includes in it Sincerity in a man's Words and Actions Veracity a strong propension to do good to all and fair dealing without fraud or hypocrisie which make a man's Conversation Safe and Profitable Easie and Delightful and was once the General Temper of the English Nation till Foraign Vices and the Last Rebellion altered it Sincere Vpright dealing is an Excellent quality in a private man Sincerity but so necessary in a Magistrate that without it he will be in danger to infect men and make them worse than they would have been by Conversing with them for they will be sure to transcribe the Copy and Out-do it too they will observe how he Circumvented and Deluded them and they will try how the same Arts may be made use of another time for their Advantage against him or any other Neighbour as occasion serves till they turn errant Knaves unfit for humane Society and good for Nothing But this Sort of Dealing is not onely mischievous and hateful but for the most part unsuccessful too for men will soon see thro the thin pretence and discover the insincerity that lurks behind it and then all their Care will be to Countermine it and prevent the Cheat. And where they cannot discover any fraud designed they will yet suspect it and such a man's Words will have no Credit with them and as for his Actions they will Eternally and restlesly turn them and toss them to and fro in their Minds to find the Secret design of them entertaining a Thousand Surmises and Jealousies of them and in the mean time what ever outward respect they pay him out of fear or flattery they will inwardly hate him and always study to defeat and Baffle him and this must needs make his Life uneasie and unsafe and his Actions unprosperous But on the Other Side when a man is Esteemed an upright sincere man every body will love and trust him and they will interpret his Actions Favourably and Candidly and what ever he doth or saith to them will be regarded and revered and the more they try the more willingly will they trust him and rely upon his honesty as their best Security and when they observe the Blessing of God and the Love and Favour of Men and good Success to Attend such men which very rarely sail they will endeavour to be like them in the One that they may be so in the other too Veracity is a debt Veracity that all men who live in Society ow each to others our Souls being not able to Communicate each with others by reason of the interposition of our bodies God hath given us speech as a Means to Communicate our inward Sentiments each to other for Our Mutual Good and Comfort But the Lyar perverts all these great Benefits of Society and turns them into Poyson he thinks no man can see the Contradiction that is between his Thoughts and Words and from thence presumes he shall cheat his Neighbour and give him Chass instead of Corn but he will certainly be deceived in the End for all men have a Natural Logick that will in time by Comparing one thing with another discover the Sophistry and if they frequently trap a man they will never after trust or believe him Matters of Fact and things that are past can never be made out but by testimony either by Writing or Word of Mouth and According to the Credibility of the Person that relates it is the belief Stronger or Weaker that is bui't upon that Testimony So that here is another great use of Speech for when a man is present at the Doing or Speaking of any thing if he minds it it leaves a Picture Impression or Representation of the Words and Things in his Memory as in a Register but then these Characters are visible to none but himself and the use of Speech is to represent them truly to others according as the man finds them now the Lyar in this instance plays the false transcriber fains things that he finds not there and changes and varies what he doth Extends it in some places diminisheth it in others is certain when he should be doubtful and doubtful when he should be certain and here and there interlaces Circumstances Words and Actions of his own and then fathers them upon others and all the while relyes upon this single security That no body but himself can Search his Memoires and find out and prove the Cheat nay perhaps so often tells the Lie that the the false Story defaces the true and at length impregnates his fancy with a false Conception and he arrives at that height of Folly as to deceive himself and believe his own lie to be a real truth And indeed for the most part the man deceiveth none so much as himself for by one means or other the Cheat is at one time or other discovered and very often by himself and his Complices he that tells a Story truly is but like him that reads a Paragraph carefully which will be the same how often soever it be done but if he adds words of his own and his Memory fails he will necessarily vary and observing men soon spy the disagreement and discover the Cheat as plainly as if they stood behind him and saw every letter as well as he and if he have Confederates it will be
sure of a fair Tryal before the Law take them away Our Poor are Carefully and kindly provided for in all urgent occasions We have Magistrates dispersed all over the Nation for our Security and for the rest our highest Courts are open four times in the Year where all men may have equal Right the Poor as well as the Rich and besides there come two of the Judges twice in every Year into every County that if any man hath cause for it he may complain and have Right done him We have four Sessions in every Year wherein the Justices of the Peace or a great part meet to determine what a few could not and by Appeals redress their Errors and there is not a Country Village but the King hath an Officer in it to Secure our Peace and Apprehend Malefactors Now a man would think such a Government as this should be beloved by all that knew and had Lived in it and so it would without question if it were not too strict for ill men who have designs upon their Neighbours Liberties and Fortunes tho they pretend the quite contrary And such Men are not fit to be trusted with any share of the Government in order to promote their wicked purposes The Next thing necessary in a Justice of the Peace is a Competent Knowledg of the Nature and Temper of the English People especially those under his Charge By the word People I mean only those the Justice of Peace is to govern for all that are above that degree are out of my Bounds and need not be Considered by me England being an Island and lying Exposed to perpetual Changes of Winds and Weather more than the Continent doth their Humours and Spirits are in perpetual Motion and this affects their Minds too and makes them very uncertain and very much given to Change if those that have the Conduct of them do not frequently inculcate the danger of it and severely punish those that give occasion to the beginnings of Commotions that so this fear may Counterballance this Natural inclination to Change 2. The English Blood is very easily Irritated and hard to be allayed whilest it is in its fury Especially if it be inflamed with Drink and Excess or exasperated with ill usage and Injustice And that is the true Reason why we need so many persons to Keep the Peaâ—e amongst them and so many Laws to Secure it and prevent Excess in Drinking and Idleness which is the Occasion of Quarrels and the Nurse of Poverty And the great Care of the Magistrate should be to Cure this First by preventing all Menaces or Threatnings by requiring Sureties of the Peace of them that use them Secondly All Grievous Slanders such as tend to the Ruine of mens Reputation and Livelihood by Securities of the Good Behaviour Thirdly All Excess by a Severe Execution of the Laws against Tipling and putting down those Alehouses that suffer Disorder and Excess Fourthly To be sure not to give them any occasion to complain of Injustice and Oppression by an Exact Care to Keep to the Rule of the Law which will Justifie him and keep them quiet for I have not observed but that they submit patiently to that Severity which the Law imposoth on them if they be once satisfied the Law is so 3. What William the Conqueror observed of the Normans is as true of the English If they be Governed Well and Severely they are Valiant and in great difficulties Excel all other men endeavouring to master their Enemies But if this be neglected they tear and destroy each others for they Love Rebellions and Seditions and are ready for all sorts of Mischief Let them therefore be restrain'd with severity and be forced by the Rein of Discipline to keep the Path of Justice for if this Wild Ass be suffer'd to go Unyoaked they and their Princes will be Overwhelmed with Poverty and Confusion This saith that Prince I have learned by much Experience 4. But then they must be Governed Well that is with Prudence and Justice as well as with Severity for it may be there is no Nation under Heaven so impatient of Injury and Wrong as the English and whatsoever is not precisely according to Law they will Esteem such and when occasion serve revenge it But neither can they bear too much Lenity and Mercy they grow insolent when they are Flattered and Courted and never regard those that seem to fear them The Advice therefore of the Conqueror is good and as fit for our Days as if it had been given but Yesterday 5. The English are not more Couragious in Visible and Apparent Dangers which they never fear than Timerous and Suspitious of every thing they hear the most incredible silly Story in the World frights them into Disorder and Confusion and without Examining the truth or possibility of the Report they rush into Action and follow them that pretend to Lead them out of those difficulties And of this we had abundant Experience in the late Times and have lately had enough again to remind us of it and herein the Care of the Magistrate should be to punish severely the Spreaders of Libels and false Reports and the Fomenters of False delusory fears and jealousies 6. The English are very Religious Naturally and in the Times of Popery almost ruined themselves by their Liberality to the Church and Monasteries but the folly of that being discovered at the Reformation they have since run to the other Extream and almost ruined the Church by tearing what they could from it and they are now as mad of running after every new Sort of Teacher that pretends to shew them an undiscovered Way to Heaven as they were of the Monks and Fryars before and this hath a mischievous Effect upon the State too and will Eternally endanger our ruine till it be redressed by a Constant and Severe Execution of our Laws against Conventicles of which I shall speak more when I come to Consider our Factions 7. In Antient Times the People were so addicted to the Nobility and fond of their Gentry that two or three discontented Noblemen made nothing to bring an Army into the Field and fight their Soveraign but the Wars betwixt the Houses of York and Lancaster having almost totally Ruined and Extinguished the Antient Power of the Nobility Henry the 7th by Politick Laws Henry the 8th by his Violence and Queen Elizabeth by her Severity against the Great Men and Condescentions to the Populacy have so turn'd the Tide the other Way that the People do now as much Slight and Undervalue them And to this the Factions in Religion have contributed very much for one of the first Principles these Lanthorn men teach their followers is to despise their Betters and suspect and speak Evil of their Superiors which Added to the Natural Envy all men have for them who live in a more splendid condition bids fair for the Extirpation of all our Gentry and Nobility if they do not regain the
There is another sort of Partiality that springs from things some Men have a kindness for some Vices or Factions and they love that in another which they cherish in themselves and so if any Complaint be made they wrest and bend the Laws to comply with their humours and interests and sometimes they stretch and sometimes they shrevil and shrink them up to nothing and this is direct Partiality the same Offence should have the same Punishment whoever commits it and every Offence that very punishment which the Laws have appointed and no other and if any difference is to be made let it spring from some Consideration in the Persons or Things and not from us punish a poor man according to his Offence and his Poverty and not according to your affections towards him but if you discover any such thing within you be sure to curb it at least to suspect it and punish your Friends according to Law and your Enemies something less if you must do it and so in relation to other things a man should be most severe against his own Vice to shew the World he is not desirous it should follow his example tho when all is done the best way of Correction is for a man to begin at himself and having formed his own Life according to Law and Reason then to try what he can do upon others I will in the next place consider those things that do most usually hinder and obstruct the Execution of Justice against which a Magistrate ought to arm himself with an habitual and invincible hatred and as often as occasion serve declare it to the World that men knowing his resolution beforehand may not dare to tempt him The first of which I reckon Bribery which is so frequent an Impediment of Justice that both the Laws of God and Man have taken frequent notice of it and severely threatned it and it accordingly is attended with great Infamy for the most part if it meets no other punishment and the greater in a Justice of the Peace because the Persons and things that come before him are of that small Consideration that he cannot in reason expect a Bribe in his whole Life that would tempt a man of any Generosity to do an ill thing What is half a dozen Chickens or a Couple of Capons to a Man of Worship and yet for such pityful prices have some men sold their reputations and laid themselves open to the scandal and derision of the World It was a sharp reflection that was made upon them in Parliament in the 44th year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth when one said a Justice of Peace was a living Creature that for half a dozen of Chickens will dispence with a whole dozen of Penal-Statutes I believe as there was not then so there is not now many such pityful Animals Crept unto the Bench and advanced to that Honourable Imployment but then the less the number is the more easily the Commission might be purged of these Vermin who are a shame to the rest and a great vexation to all their inferiour Neighbours and a dishonour to the Government The ways by which Bribery is attempted are so various that it is impossible to enumerate them all sometimes the Wife the Children the Clerk are purchased under-hand to recommend the Case to the Justice and obtain a promise of him when he least thinks of it and so if the man be easie he is bribed and knows it not and in this Case the best way is for a Man by his Actions to demonstrate to the World that none of these have any power over him or can influence him this or that way and when men find themselves deceived they will give over those tricks and be ashamed they were ever guilty of using them Another Method is to offer their service as Labourers at small or no wages upon urgent occasions and then these days work are chalked up upon the Dorman or behind the Door and wo to the next man that gives the least offence to the Leather Breeches his Worship is obliged to give him a Cast of his Office too in his turn and he is hard hearted and ungrateful if he will not gratifie the Clown with a little Injustice and Perjury in exchange for his Labour Sometimes the Justice hath something to buy or sell and then the bargain is driven with respect to his place and what is lost is to be made up with Advantage out of the depending quarrel If the Justice of the Peace be a Practising Lawyer then he shall have a Fee for his Advice which he is bound to defend too into the Bargain be it right or wrong at the next Sessions or else he loseth his Client forever Sometimes general Promises are thrown out such as these It shall be never the worse or I will not be unthankful and the like which are like empty Caskes thrown out to entertain the Leviathan with In short to go about to enumerate them all is impossible And to prescribe any other Remedy against them then a ridgid and inflexible Honesty is to no purpose for this Winding Snake will creep up and steal upon a Man by such unforeseen ways that it will not be in his power to prevent its approaches tho he may easily and safely with St. Paul shake off the Viper into the fire if it fix upon his hand and then the Exposing those that attempt it to the World by telling the Story publickly will deter others from the like ill Courses and a better remedy can no man invent Prejudice and Prepossession have the same ill Effects with Bribery Prejudice and Prepossession And indeed Bribery aims at Nothing else but to forestall the Judgment and if that follow from any other cause the effect is the same it is all one to the Defendant if the Justice Sell or freely Surrender his Judgment to the Complainant if he find him disposed to Condemn him before he hath heard him credulous of what ever is objected but intractable and imperswasible on the other side So that Bribery and prejudice have this in common that they both blind the Eyes of the Wise and pervert the Words of the Righteous Deut. 16. 19. and of the two Bribery is the more Excusable perhaps because there is some temptation in it but the other sells his Reason for Nothing It is well observed by the Lord Bacon in his Advancement of Learning concerning Prejudice and Prepossession Book VIII Ch. 2. Parab 17. The first information in any Cause if it a little fix it self in the Mind of the Judge takes deep root and Wholly seasons and prepossesses it so as it can hardly be taken out unless some manifest falshood be found in the Matter of the Information or some cunning dealing in exhibiting and laying open the same For a bare and simple defence tho it be Just and more Weighty can hardly compensate the prejudice of the first information nor is of force in its
and negligence I can never admire enough the Learning of Mr. William Lambard how nice and curious he is in his inquiries into the Origine of those Powers that are given to the Justice of the Peace and the reasons of them his Brevity and the Perspicuity of his Style which makes him very useful tho there have been great Additions of late made to that Office by new Statutes The diligence of Mr. Dalton is not less to be valued nor the Exact Method in which he hath digested so great a variety of things which are again made more valuable by the Additions made in the Late Impressions How Curious and Subtle is Sir Edward Cook in his readings upon the great Charter and other Statutes which are of great use to a Justice of Peace because they will give him hints and general Rules for the interpreting and understanding those Statutes he took no notice of and those too that have been made since his death What a Vast Variety of Reading and Learning hath he shewn in the Pleas of the Crown and yet he hath so couched and contracted it that the Volume is but small tho the worth is in estimable The Exactness of Mr. Poulton in his Book De pace Regis Regni is much to be admired where beginning at the root of all publick disorders the corrupt unquiet hearts of men he shews how they proceed from one degree to another till Menaces and Threatnings grow up at last into Rebellions and Treasons all along proving what he saith by Quotations of the best Law-Books The Conciseness of the Lord Hales in his Pleas of the Crown Sir Mat. Hales is not less to be admired then his Integrity and Prudence in so contracting them And Mr. Chamberlain's Complete Justice and Mr. Keebles Assistance c. want nothing but an industrious and grateful Age to make both the Books and Authors more highly valued and indeed they cannot be too much esteemed And as for the Statutes Mr. Keeble hath done the Nation a mighty piece of Service in his Exact Re-printing of them in an excellent Table of his own but there is in my poor judgment one thing still wanting and that is an Index or Table of the Statutes under those Heads or Titles which the Justices of the Peace have occasion to use them by which are different from the Lawyers common places so that there should be another Table on purpose for the Justices of the Peace which might be drawn in a Sheet of Paper the only Person that attempted this to my knowledg is one Mr. Wa. Young in a small piece stiled a Vade Mecum Printed at London in 1660. In the beginning of which is a Table containing about five Leaves which is of vast use for the speedy finding of any Statute that a Justice of Peace hath occasion to use but yet it is imperfect not only as to the New but Ancient Statutes There is another thing which I have wished for and that is an exact Collection of all those Cases which immediately concern the Justice of Peace in which their power or wayes of Proceedings are called in question out of the Year-Books and Reports recited in the same order of time as they are there at length without any abbreviations and only translating into English such as are in French which would be of great use Now if a man should attempt to read all these Books which I have mentioned which relate to the Office of the Justice of Peace the Statutes expected which are only to be consulted upon occasion it were no very grievous Task and yet he might learn his Duty thence without any other or very little help from Books But in the mean time it were to be wished that some men could be perswaded to read but one of the short ones first and then one of the larger pieces I mean Dalton or Keebles Assistance and then the short piece again to fix things in their Memory and if I were worthy to advise them it should be Mr. Chamberlain's for I take that to be the very best that ever was written As reading begins knowledg Observation and Practice so Observation and Practice fixes it he that reads without reflecting upon it at the time and noting diligently what may be useful to him afterwards loseth both his Labour and his time many men complain of a bad Memory when the fault is their own they read carelesly and take no pains to imprint any thing upon their Minds either then or afterwards and then it were a wonder if they should remember what they never considered nor understood but read on and on and think upon something else Others pretend they would read more if they had a good Memory this is a pretence only for Lasiness laying their own fault upon God and Nature for Memory is a Natural Faculty common to men with many other Creatures but on the other side if they would read more and note as they go they would certainly retain a part of it tho perhaps not so much as others do But then there is a third sort of men who pretend to have ill Memories who in truth never read at all these belye their Natural Faculties 't is true they remember little or nothing how should they the Memory is but like a Store-house in which if nothing is laid up nothing shall ever be found if what is good for nothing such as is laid in will come out and not be in the least amended there Observation doth something but Practice is the great sixer of Notions in the minds of men he that his a Natural Fool will yet by often going away learn it at last how much more men of Competent Natural Parts and such only are fit to Govern others and the truth is they that have the strongest Memories will yet in time lose their Notices of Things if they do not excite them by Meditations and Practice and that sort of knowledg I am speaking of which is not Natural but Artificial Reason and depends not for the most part upon the innate Principles but upon positive Institutions and agreed Methods is most easily lost so that I have ever observed the most industrious men are the most skillful and many men who read little but have been very much employed in business have by that learned more then others have done by Books only tho they had better parts so that a Man shall rarely find a Man excellently Versed in any Practical Knowledg that hath not fixed it as well by exercise of it as by Observation and Reading Observation and Practice fixes Conversation but it is Conversation and Discourse with Knowing and Experienced Men that extends Knowledg much reading dulls a Man but discourse at once revives what a man knows and encreaseth it by the Addition of anothers Observations too and dispells that Melancholy which attends retirement and solitude It confirms a man more in his Opinion when he finds another man
Way to enter into a Paper Book to be kept for that purpose first the Name of the Complainant and of the Party against whom the Complaint is brought and then the Complaint in as few words as is possible and then read them to the Complainant that if any Mistake hath been made in the Names or thing it may be rectified and then recite all this again in the Preface of the Warrant for I am utterly against all General Precepts except it be in some few Cases which seldom happen it being unreasonable to call a man to Answer to the knows not what when if the Case had been Expressed perhaps he could have produced Witnesses to have cleared his innocence and so have prevented further Charge and Trouble and Mr. Lambard gives another good reason for it viz. Because the King's Writs do always express the Cause of Complaint When the Warrant is once granted it is not fit to hold any further Discourse with the Complainant or afterwards till both Parties appear face to face to prevent Prejudice and Prepossession yet you shall have many such Complainants that will endeavour to get a Promise from the Justice of Peace beforehand that he will Determine the Case for their Advantage which is directly contrary to all Justice and Honesty Others are as earnest to have the Warrant retornable before the Justice that granted it and no others which should never be easily granted first because it includes in it a Tacit reproach of the rest as not Men of Ability or Honesty Secondly Because it defeats the intention of the Law which hath made them numerous that every man might have an impartial and and indifferent Judge and yet if there be good reason for it it may be done But then the Justice hath bound himself to be as kind to the other Party as he can possibly be because he hath deprived him of the favour he might have found from another Justice of the Peace When the Defendant appears read the Complaint to him and ask him what he saith to it and if he confess it then there will need no Proof if he deny it endeavour to find out the Truth as far as is possible without Oaths to avoid Perjury by cross Examining of all Parties and if the Truth can so be found out the pains is well spent but if it cannot Oaths must be given When the Matter of Fact is once stated then have recourse to the Statutes or Books as the Case requires and read them to the Parties that the Law may pass the Sentence for this instructs and satisfies all Parties and shews that you have done them no wrong and it is of great use too to the Justice of Peace and makes the Statutes and Books very familiar to him and gives him a good Assurance that he hath not done amiss Then Enter in the same Book the Appearance of the Parties the Evidence given and the Determination thereupon made as short as is possible and dismiss them Some may imagine that this Keeping of a Book is very troublesome but if they would try it they would find the contrary when the Art of making short Entries is once learned and yet if it were the Use would out-weigh the Labour For First It inables a Man to answer for his Actions many years after which were impossible without it Secondly It prevents forgetting his Business before it be ended which many do for want of it who bind Over men to the Sessions and forget the Business before they come and then can give no reason for it Thirdly It inables a Man sometimes to discover his own Errors by an after-reflexion on his own Actions and the Reasons of them Fourthly He may at any time shew what Sentence was pass'd in any Case by which I have seen new Quarrels that were arising prevented And if just upon a Sessions they be all read over he shall have a Prospect of all he hath done that Quarter which will be of great use I know many of these things are not of absolute Necessity but upon Trial I perswade my self they will appear so useful that no man will repent the Experiment especially no new Beginner who is concern'd to be more careful because he is more subject to Mistake The Statutes are so numerous and withal so variously Penned that it will be impossible to remember them exactly and so it will be necessary to Consult them frequently upon all Occasions and in order to the speedy finding them the Table I mentioned in the last Section will be of great use and the Justice who takes these Methods will find the Benefit of them so great in a small time that he will never leave them but the other and shorter ways are so uncertain and subject to Error that no man can avoid committing fatal Mistakes who follows them In this Part of our Business Two things are to be avoided Unnecessary Delays and Precipitated Hast There is very little difference betwixt denying and delaying Justice only the latter is less injurious for then the Party may go to another Justice or desist without much Expence of time which is of great value to Poor Men whereas the making them dance Attendance from time to time to no purpose may do them more Wrong than that of which the complain And an Over-hasty Determination of a thing before it be well understood is no less injurious and therefore carefully to be avoided I will Conclude this Section with a few Excellent Rules of the Lord Bacon's 1. Seek to make thy course Regular that Men may know beforehand what to Expect but be not Positive and Peremptory 2. Express thy self well when thou goest from thy Rule 3. Imbrace and invite Helps and Advices touching the Execution of thy Place and do not drive away such as bring thee Information as Medlers but accept of them in good part 4. Give easie access 2. Keep times appointed 3. Go through with that which is in hand 4. And interlace not Business but of Necessity I will only add this that what I have Written in this Section is intended only for the private Hearing in the Hall and no where else in the main and that it is offered to Consideration and not prescribed as of Necessity SECTION IX AS the Justice of Peace enters his Office with the taking Three several Oaths Of Oaths which are included in the Dedimus Potestatem viz. The Oath of Supremacy and of Allegiance and that belonging to his Office So he hath very frequent Occasions to Administer Oaths to others in the Execution of it and therefore it befits him to study well the Nature and Obligation of an Oath that he may Preserve himself and others as much as in him lyes from the Sin of Perjury It might therefore not seem impertinent to Discourse something of both of them in this place but that more Learned men than I have prevented me in it and it is impossible for Me to say any thing
so Express it for they are to take the best care they can that they be not deceived in what they do by false Information to which end an Oath may be sometimes absolutely necessary But Magistrates are not only to avoid Giving Oaths in all Cases where they have no Authority but also in as many of the rest as they can I have read that the Turkish Country-Magistrates which are like our Justices of the Peace Determine almost all Cases without Oaths and yet if they are not corrupted by neither Party will by Queries observing the looks of Men when they Answer Laying things together and comparing one thing with another and by making all the several Parties tell the Story one after another or so much of it as they know by these I say and such like Methods they will so pick out the Truth that no Oath could do it half so well Now I know this Way is troublesome and will take time but it will discover the Truth sometimes when Oaths would not and save the Perjury too and so is worth the while And I have observed also that Men who are in Passion one against another do little regard the Religion of an Oath and yet their very Passion will discover the Truth without one if a Magistrate will have but a little Patience and give them time and liberty of Speech but on the contrary Men do generally revere an Oath when they are quiet and undisturbed and a Magistrate may best give an Oath when they are in that temper and rely upon the truth of what they say Secondly Oaths would not be given in things that are not of some Moment It is good to hear what a Person can say before he is Sworn and if it be nothing to the purpose then not to Swear him at all but if it be then to Swear him and bid him tell the Story the second time and observe if he vary by which means the Truth may be often found out Thirdly It is good to bring things into as narrow a compass as is possible by observing wherein the Parties agree and wherein they differ before any Oath be given and this will determine many Cases without an Oath the Parties agreeing at last about the Matter of Fact and if it will not that only in which they differ is to be proved upon Oath which will be liable to less hazard of Perjury than the whole If the Justice of Peace observes the Party who is to take an Oath be ignorant or young it is good to shew him the Nature of it in short plain words and to tell him the Danger and great Sin of Perjury and how severe God is against it and for that purpose to Alledge the Third Commandment or some other such like short place of Scripture which will have great effect upon untainted minds If he finds at any time after an Oath given that any thing is spoken that is not truth by the Party Sworn it is good to give the Party a grave sharp reproof at least It is an usual thing not to grant a Warrant of the Peace but upon Oath that the Party who requires it doth not do it upon Malice but purely out of fear Yet if it be well observed there will be found many Instances of Perjury in that case And therefore I think it were much better to grant a Warrant to shew cause why the Surety of the Peace should not be granted and so Examine the pretended fear when both the Parties are face to face than to pursue the old Method of Swearing the Complainant and then making the Warrant absolute Especially if there be not a grievous hurt or some other apparent cause for it I have often found by this way of proceeding that I have prevented Perjury and delivered an Innocent and sometimes an Injured Person from Vexation for it is no unusual thing for ill Men to Swear the Peace against others by way of Prevention when they have given them too much cause to do it to themselves and at other times by way of revenge when they have for good cause been forced to find Sureties Now in such instances as these it is good to prevent men from being actually forsworn even when they are too much disposed to it And when all this care is taken there will be many Perjuries committed how much more when there is none of it But the Justice of the Peace when he hath done what he could to prevent it may comfort himself and believe that God will not lay another mans Sin which he could not hinder to his Charge but if he Swear men rashly and without due precaution he as well as they must without doubt bear a part of the blame in the sight of God The Conclusion AND now I have with the greatest brevity I could run thorough all those Particulars I thought fit to Discourse on in relation to my Subject and thô it might have been better done by an abler Person yet never did any man enter upon any thing with more sincere and candid intentions for the Publick good And all that remains is to perswade those that are or shall be Justices of the Peace to reflect seriously upon what I have Written and then if they do not approve of my thoughts they may yet give them occasion of others and in all likelihood much better and it may also possibly excite some other Person to do it better and so oblige the World and me in the first place But in the mean time I humbly beseech all Magistrates that they would seriously consider Three things First That they are the Ministers of God and that is so honorable a Title that Constantine the Great took much Pride in it but then it will become them that Wear it to act as such for God is a severe Judge of Unprofitable Servants and much more of slothful and wicked ones for whom he hath provided a Punishment equal to the greatness of their offence and the dishonour they do him And on the other hand none shall enjoy more happiness in Heaven than they who have not only been good themselves but have laboured to make others such by governing them with Prudence and Discretion here on Earth Secondly They are the Representatives of their King and it is the greatest Disloyalty and Infidelity imaginable to pretend to Serve him and then Dishonour him to his People and deceive him in the Trust reposed on them Thirdly The People whom they are to govern will certainly rise up in Judgment against them if they mislead or misuse them for thô perhaps they cannot help themselves for the present whatever injuries they suffer yet their Redeemer is mighty and with him is no respect of Persons And when all this is seriously thought of I do not fear that they will treat their Monitor unkindly who had no other design in this than to make them happy here and hereafter by exposing those Vices that prevail more in general upon Men for want of Precaution than out of any Affection they have to them A Prayer O Thou who art the Soveraign Judg of the World seeing it hath pleased thee to call me into the Number of the inferior Judges in it Grant that I may administer Justice truely and indifferently to the punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the maintenance of thy true Religion and Virtue And to that end enlighten my Vnderstanding that I may choose what is Just and Right in thy sight without respect of Persons and pursue the same with Courage and Industry Quiet all Divisions amongst us that we may not hinder each other nor dishonour thee by our Contentions Set a Watch O Lord before my Mouth and a Door with a Guard about my Lips Give me a meek patient humble spirit that I do nothing through Strife or Vain-glory but that I may patiently hear and submit to the reasons of others And finally in all things direct thy Servant into those things which may tend most to thy Glory the good of thy Church the Service of our Soveraign and the Peace and Happiness of my Country that when I shall appear before thy Tribunal to receive an an Eternal Sentence I may not perish forever but that thou mayest Remember me for Good and spare me in that day Grant this O Blessed Judg and Saviour for thy own sake Amen FINIS