OCR Text |
Show The Au T H o R's L I F E. VoL. I. Points, and in all Cafes that {hall come ~efore them in Jud1.mtnt: For no fooner did William Penn, or his Fellow·Pnfoner, urge upon th~m the Great Charter, and other Good Laws, but the Recorder cried, Take !Jim away ; take him away, and pMt bin~ into t~e Ba!e·Doclt., ~r Hole; from ~h1ch Refufal tht Recorder can never deliver h1mfelf, unlefs It be by avowmg, The Laws "!'' not M Guide and therefore does not f>Jfer them to be pleaded before hzm in Judgment.' ' Founbly, They gave the Jurl_ tbeir Cftnrgt in t!Je Prifon~rt .dbfmu, endeaa vo11ring highly to inanfe the jury nga~~tfltbem. Fifthlt, The Verdifr being given (wbic~ is in Law ll>fctum lllleritlltfJI) (Tbe Vote< of Truth herfeif) being not fuuable to tb<lf Hull,'our) They dzd five Times rejeO it toiJh 111any abujive, imperiom, ani!. menaczng Expreffions to the ]ury, (fuch a~ no Prefident can afford us) as if they were not th~only conftirured Judges by the Fundamental Laws of the Land, bur mur Ctpberr, only to jignify f omctbing bebi11d their Figurer. . Sixtbly, Though rhe PrifoneJS were cleared by then Jury, yet were they detained for the Npn-Payment of their Fiues, laid upon them for not put· ling o£F their Hats ; in which the Law i1 notorioufly broken. (lit) In that no .Man fha/1 he A1nerced, bur according to tbe Offence, and tbey have Fined each Forry Markr. (2d) They were not Amerced by arry Jury, hilt tJt tbeWi/{o[tJn inunfed Bench. Beiides, there is no Law againit the Hat, :md where there is no Law, there can be no Tranfgreffion, and confequentlf no Legal Amercement, or Fine, 9 Hen. 3· chap. 14. But how the Prifoners were rrepan'd into it, is moil ridiculous on the Side of the Contrivers, that finding their Hats off, would have them put on again by their Officers, to fool the Prifonen with a Trial of pQtting them off again, which Childifh Conceit not being grati ... lied, they Fined them Forty Matks a Piece. Sevembly, Infiead of accepting their VerdiU as Good in Law, and for the True Decifion of the Matter, according to the Grttll Cb(Jt'ltr, (that conftimres them proper Judges, and which bears them out, with many other. good Laws, in what they agreed to as a Verdi8:) the Court did moft Illegally and Tyrannically Fine and lmprifon them, as in the Trial was ex· preft. And that notwithfianding the late Juft Refentmcnt of the Houfe of ·commons, in Judge Ketiing"s Cafe, where they Refolved Thai the Prefidenu tJnd Pro8ice of Fming DRd Imprifoning of }urier, for tbtir Yerdith, ~ue 11/ega/. And here we muft needs obferve. Two Things. Firfl, That the Fundamental Laws of England c.1noot be more flighted, ~nd contradi~ed in any Thing (ne,xt Englijhmm~s being quite deftroyed) than 1n not fuffenng them to have that equal Med1um, or JUft Way of Trial, that the fame Law has provided, Which is by a Jury. ~ccond!y, That t~e late Proce~ding of the Court, at the O!d-Bnily, is an ev1dent ~monfirauon, that Junes are now but Meer Formality, and thac the Pattlal Cbatge of the Bench, muft be the Verdifr of the Jury: For if tTJer. a Rape were ottempud on the Confcience of any Jury, it UJtU there. And t.ndeed, th~ Ignorance of.Ju~ors, of their Authority by Law, is the only Rea roo of. theu unh~ppy cnngmg to the Court, and being feared in co :m Jintz·Confctence Verdz(l, by their Lawlefs Threats. BU[ we haye lived to :1~ Age, fo deboift f~om all Humanity and Reafon~ as well.a~. Fauh and Religlon, That fome fltck not to turn Butchers tb their own Pnvt!edger, and Confpirators ogainft their own Liberties.· For however MMgna ChortJ1 had once the Reputarion of a Sacred Unalterable Law and fe~ were har~ned e~o.ugh to incur and bear the lonB: Curfe that attends the Vtolators of lt, yet 1t ts frequendy objefrednow, that the Benefits there defigned are but Temporary, and therefore liable to Alteration, as other Statutt: S are. What Ga11te fucb Perfons play at may be lively read in t!Je .Attempu of Dionyfius, Phalaci~ f5c. which tD0~1ld bavt Will and Power be the f:eop/1 £ Law. · But that the Priviledges due to Englijhmen, by the Great Charter of Engl~ nd, hlve their Foumlation in Reafon and Law; ·and that ;hofe new Caffandrian VoL. I. The AuT u ·o R's LIFE. Z9 fanrlrian Ways, to i'ntroducd WiU and Power, deferve to be detefied by all 6 · Perfons profdllng Senfe and Honefty, ::md the leafi Allegiance to our &glijh 1 70' Government, we (hall make appear from a Sober Confideration oCtbe Na .. ~ ture of thofe Pri\•iledges contained in that Charter. · ( 1) The Ground of ~lteration of any !-aw in Government (where there is no ln vafion) fhould anfe fr?m the .Univerfai J?ifcommodity of its Continuanu, but then! can be no Dtfpr?fit tn the Conttnurrltce of Liberty 1md Pro· ptrty, t btrefore tber~ can he 110 JMft Ground of Alteration. _(2) N~ one_ Eng/,fhman is botn a Slave to another, neither has the one a R1ght to tnhetlt the.Sweat and Benefit of the others Labour (without Con· fem) t!'>ert/~rc TIH Llbtrty and Proptn'y of an Englifhman, cannot Rtafonahly be ottbl W1/14nd Beck oj ~not her, let hir !/..ualityttnd RoHk be ~tever fo Grettt. (3) Tbert can be 110/bmg more Unreof0'114,ble tbol'l t bot w!Jich is Part itt/; bur to take away the LIBERTY and PROPERTY of any (which are Natural Rtg~ts) w.ithoi.lt breaking the Law of Xat'ltrt (and not of Will 3nd Power) IS mantftltly Partial ttnd therefore Uttrttifonttblc (+) If !t be Jull and Reafonallle for JlleH to do at tl!ey w;11ld be done by, then no Sort of Men .fhould invade the Liberties and Properties of other Men, bctaufe rhey would not be ferved fo themfelves. . (s) ·where Liberty and Property are dellroyed, there !hull alwajs"be a State ?f Force and .Wat, Which however pleafing it may be unto the Jnv,. du~, H will feern Intolerable by the lnvadeJ, who Will no longer remain fubjca-, (in '211 Humane Probability) than While they want as much Power to free the.mfelves, as their Advarfaries h::id to enfbve them: The Trouhlu; H,u;.ards, 1/J Confi~. ucJtUr1 O."d JUegllliiJ of {11dJ Atle11fpts, tU rhty have been dtdmed hy the 1110 fr".dmt m ttU Attr,Jo IMvt they proved mofl untafie ttJ the mofl SatJ11gt of a 1\attom, mho firjl or ldfl bave by n mi$bty Torrent freed thenifeltfer, to the due Punifoment nn,d gredt I~jalliJ. oj their Oppreffdrs: Such betng the Advantage, fuch the D1fadvantage which neceffarily do at· tend the Fixation, and Removal of Liberty ond Property. . We (hall p~oceed to make i.t appear, that Mngna Chart~ (as recited by us) 1mpons nothtng lefs than their Prefervation. N~ Fre.eman jbaO be Taken, or lmprifontd, or be D~ffei[ed of his Freebo!J£, or Lthertur, or Free Cujloms, or bt Outlawed, or f_xileJ, or any other WayJ' Dejlro_,ed;, nor uill we up011 him Pafr, nor Condemn him, bm hy the LawfUl Juclt,menr of bis Pterr, &c. A Fretlfltfn fonD be .Amerced for a fmaO Fault. bill 11/ter the Manner Df tbt Far~lt; ttnd for a Great Fault, after the G!llatnefs rbrrv:of; and none of the faid Jfmermzmtt jhall be •.!Jt.!Jed, hYt hy the Oath of Good .-d Ldwful .Mm of t!Je Vicint1gt. Firfl, It a £fens Englifomen to be Free; That', Liberty. StcMrlly, That they have Freeholds-~ Tbot's Property. Thirdly, That Amerccl'nenr, or Penalties, fhould be proportioned to the F:lUlts com mitred, Which U Equity. Fourthly, That they fha11 lofe neither, but when the'y are adjudged to :ha~ forfeited them irt the Judgment of their Honeft Nei'ghboUis, according. to the Law of rhe Land, Which i1 Lawful J!ldgnunr. It is eafie to dif"<:ern to what Pafs the Enemies.of the Greflt Cborter would bring the People of England. Firjf, They are now Freemen ; Br~r they mould btrue t7Jtm Slaver. Secondly, They have now Right unto thei-r Wi'vu, Children, and Ejlaru,. as rbeir undoubted Property'; B11t jttdJ t otJNU' Rob 111t J Spo,il tbtnl of ttU. Thirdly, Now no M'3n is· tb be Amerced, or Puni-fhed, lhlt fuitable ro the Fa·ult; Wbd{ltbq OJou!d ma~e it fsitttb!e to tluir Reveflgtfttl .Mi»tfs, and· Unlimited Wills. Fourth/)!, Whereas the Power of J udgmel'it lies iA the Breafis and Confciences ofT\o\lelve Honel\ Neighbours; T~t'Y- nwuld have it at rh1 DifcretitJif' of M&.rcenary Judger. To which we cannot choofe but add, That fuch Difcourfes manifeftly fttike at this prefent Contlitution of Go,·ernmenr; for it being founded upon the Grettt Cb11rtd (which is the Ancient Com· mon Law' of the Laod) as upon its heft Foundation, none can defign the · concealing |