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<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2012-02-09</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Amanda Flynn</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="A95831">
<STC T="W">V135</STC>
<STC T="T">E1379_4</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99868251</BIBNO>
<VID>169891</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A PLEA FOR THE Common-Laws OF England: OR, An An&s;wer to a BOOK <HI>ENTIT&V;LED,</HI> A good work for a good Magi&s;trate: Or, a &s;hort Cut to great quiet. (Publi&s;hed by M^r. <HI>Hugh Peters:</HI>) So far as concerns his Propo&s;als touching the &s;aid Laws. By <HI>R. Vaughan</HI> of <HI>Grays-Inne.</HI></P>
<Q><L>&mdash;Tractent fabrilia fabri.</L>
<L>Ignorantia Juris litigio&s;a, non Scientia. <HI>Cicero.</HI></L></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>Francis Tyton,</HI> and are to &s;old at his Shop, at the three Daggers in Fleet&s;treet, near the Inner Temple-gate. 1651.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the Parliament of England">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Parliament OF ENGLAND, The SUPREAM Power of this Common-Wealth.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Right Honourable,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>Mr. <HI>P.</HI> hath dedicated his Book to you; &s;o doth the Author hereof his, wi|&s;hing no better earthly Tribunal to be judged by. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> writes again&s;t the Law out of a <HI>Pre|judice,</HI> and I out of <HI>affection</HI> to it; we may be both bya&s;&s;ed: you are the Judges of it. I wi&s;h no greater earthly
<PB REF="3">Happine&s;s to this Nation then the continuance of the <HI>antient Common Laws</HI> of it, (&s;ome exuberancies of it being lopt off, and &s;ome other parts of it, which by a non-u&s;e are buryed in oblivion being taken away) and the frequent &s;upply of good and up|right Mini&s;ters of it; for our Law in it &s;elf is one of the mo&s;t excellent <HI>humane</HI> Laws that any Nation in the World hath; The Common-Laws of this Land were never originally the <HI>Dictates</HI> of any <HI>Conquerours Sword,</HI> or the <HI>Placita</HI> or <HI>good will</HI> and <HI>plea&s;ure</HI> of any <HI>King</HI> of this Nation, or to &s;peak <HI>impartially</HI> and <HI>freely,</HI> the re|&s;ults of <HI>any Parliament</HI> that ever &s;at in this Land, but it was a <HI>Lex non &s;cripta,</HI> and a <HI>Jus</HI> (as the <HI>Civilian</HI> &s;aith of his Law) <HI>quod u&s;us approbavit; nam diuturni mores con&s;en&s;u utentium comprobati, legem imitantur:</HI> it is now a <HI>Lex &s;cripta,</HI> and we &s;ay, That it con&s;i&s;ts of laudable and righteous Cu&s;toms, iterated and multiplyed
<PB REF="3">in their common u&s;e among the peo|ple of this Land time out of minde; and &s;o to us carryed down through the &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Ages of many hun|dred years ago, upon the two wheels of <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> and <HI>Conveniency;</HI> &s;o that what of it was approved at fir&s;t, and hath &s;ince wanted the&s;e two helps to bring it down to us, hath by a <HI>tacit con&s;ent</HI> of the people <HI>(i.e.)</HI> by the <HI>neg|lect</HI> and <HI>non-u&s;e</HI> of it, lo&s;t the <HI>force</HI> of a Law: And the other part of it, which by long <HI>u&s;e, experience,</HI> and <HI>tryal,</HI> was found <HI>beneficial,</HI> and for <HI>common good,</HI> was de&s;ervedly <HI>baptized</HI> with the name of <HI>Common-Law,</HI> it being almo&s;t a comprehen&s;ive <HI>Rule and mea&s;ure of all mens actions in this Land,</HI> how divers &s;oever Actions and Accidents be, and how full &s;oever of motion and mutations, which (I humbly &s;ubmit to your wi&s;doms) whether Mr. <HI>Ps.</HI> new Law can reach. Be&s;ides, the Common-Law hath been &s;o far <HI>honoured</HI> by &s;e|veral
<PB REF="4">Parliments in this Land, as to have &s;everal Statutes made in affir|mance of it; &s;o that it like is gold (I will not &s;ay &s;even, but &s;even times &s;even) tried, I &s;hall trouble you no longer. But take leave and re|main</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Your faithful Servant</HI> R. Vaughan.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE>Grays <DATE>Inne 20. of <HI>June.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD><HI>To M.</HI> Hugh Peters.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>HAD not your <HI>Pen awaked</HI> the evil &s;pirit of the Pa&s;quillers of this Age, and al&s;o given <HI>Sail</HI> to the wi&s;hes of &s;uch that would have the <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> and <HI>Innocency</HI> of our Law to have no &s;afe retreat for <HI>it &s;elf</HI> &amp; its <HI>hone&s;t</HI> profe&s;&s;ors from their deba&s;e|ments: I &s;hould not have <HI>ventured</HI> up|on &s;o <HI>early a Remedy</HI> again&s;t your Books getting e&s;teem in the <HI>world:</HI> for I am told, that it is <HI>better</HI> and <HI>&s;afer</HI> to meet a <HI>danger</HI> when it fir&s;t <HI>moves</HI> to|wards us, then to encounter it in its <HI>nearer approaches;</HI> every &s;tep and pro|gre&s;s it makes, rendring it more <HI>invin|cible,</HI> and them more <HI>un&s;afe</HI> that with|&s;tand it; e&s;pecially if the danger be &s;e|conded with the hurrying &s;windge of &s;uch men as <HI>will do a thing,</HI> becau&s;e they <HI>will do</HI> it, and have not other rea|&s;on for what they do: I am &s;orry you
<PB REF="5">&s;hould open &s;o wide a Ca&s;ement for evil men to &s;ee the <HI>face</HI> and <HI>complexion</HI> of your &s;pirit, as to our Law, which (you may a&s;&s;ure your &s;elf) is not &s;o clear and &s;erene from the <HI>&s;pots</HI> of mi&s;takes and ir|regularities, as I could wi&s;h his were who hath done &s;o much &s;ervice to the Parliament as you have done: If I make a <HI>&s;everer</HI> con&s;truction of your <HI>meaning</HI> then you intended, you may rather thank your <HI>own words,</HI> which made &s;o <HI>fal&s;e a report</HI> of your &s;en&s;e and meaning to my under&s;tanding, then blame me, who could not find out a better <HI>Index</HI> of the <HI>&s;pirit</HI> and <HI>rea&s;on</HI> of what you propo&s;ed. Had I been to deal with an adver&s;ary to the Common Cau&s;e we both have adhered to, I a&s;&s;ure you I &s;hould have treated and handled him in a <HI>rougher accent,</HI> if I had had the like advantage as I have again&s;t you: I hope therefore you will be &s;atisfied, that this an&s;wer is not out of <HI>di&s;re&s;pect</HI> to you, but out of <HI>ne|ce&s;&s;ity</HI> to ju&s;tifie that which is <HI>good</HI> and <HI>innocent,</HI> again&s;t which you writ,
<PB REF="5">becau&s;e you have <HI>heard</HI> ill of it, and not becau&s;e you know <HI>experimentally</HI> in it tho&s;e mi&s;chiefs which you propo&s;e to be reformed. I am</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Sir, Yours affectio|nately. R. Vaughan.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><HI>Grayes Inn,</HI> <DATE><HI>20.</HI> June, <HI>1651.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="introduction">
<PB REF="6">
<HEAD>An Introduction.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_I</HI> Should never have trou|bled the <HI>Pre&s;s</HI> with thi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter"> an&s;wer to Mr. <HI>P.</HI> his Book did I not know the aptne&s;s of <HI>wel-di&s;po&s;ed</HI> and <HI>cre|dulous</HI> people to adore the <HI>dictates</HI> of men of his <HI>Profe&s;&s;ion</HI> and <HI>conver&s;ation,</HI> and to take them up upon tru&s;t out of the respect they have of their <HI>per&s;ons</HI> (and of his more especially, who&s;e indevors have been <HI>con&s;tant,</HI> and who&s;e bent hath always been <HI>&s;et</HI> for the <HI>publick</HI> good of this Commonwealth.) For I &s;ee not any thing in his Book as to the <HI>Law</HI> (&amp; I will not <HI>meddle</HI> beyond the <HI>bounds</HI> of that profe&s;&s;ion, where|of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> am a <HI>mean</HI> Profe&s;&s;or, and &s;hall be glad of any occa&s;ion to a&s;&s;ert its <HI>ju&s;tice</HI> and <HI>innocency</HI>) that can tempt a <HI>&s;erious</HI> man to put Pen to
<PB REF="6">Paper to give it <HI>an&s;wer;</HI> it being <HI>rudis in|dige&s;taque moles,</HI> a throng or croud of <HI>un|mar&s;halled expre&s;&s;ions,</HI> full of contradictions, repetitions and incoherencies, like the <HI>Tohu vabohu</HI> in the beginning of the <HI>Creation;</HI> now I &s;ay, becau&s;e the <HI>well-meaning</HI> or <HI>plain hone&s;t man,</HI> to whom his Book may come, may not <HI>exclaim</HI> again&s;t the pre&s;ent Laws (which they know not, and which yet are their birth|right, and one of the greate&s;t earthly Privi|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">dges they have,) becau&s;e Mr. <HI>P.</HI> is plea&s;ed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>undervalue</HI> them, upon a very <HI>&s;lender</HI> or <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">o knowledge of its <HI>foundations;</HI> I have thus ventured to be publike. I may &s;afely affirm the Common-Law is not &s;o bad as he thinks it: it is no &s;uch <HI>jus vagum &amp; incertum,</HI> no &s;uch <HI>leaden Rule</HI> as gives neither <HI>&s;ecurity</HI> to mens <HI>per&s;ons,</HI> or <HI>certainty</HI> to their <HI>proprieties,</HI> but it doth con&s;i&s;t <HI>ex Regulis de Jure fabricatis;</HI> it is the <HI>product of length of time, and varie|ty of occurrences</HI> &s;uted and &s;quared, (or (at the wor&s;t) not incon&s;i&s;tent) with the Rules of <HI>Scripture</HI> and <HI>Right Rea&s;on;</HI> and what|&s;oever part of the Law doth not derive its <HI>Parentage</HI> hence, is contrary to, or incon&s;i&s;tent herewith, is by all Lawyers adjudged to be <HI>ca&s;hiered</HI> out of their approbation or counte|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">ance, as its refu&s;e and excre&s;cences, and
<PB REF="7">e&s;teemed an ob&s;olete and u&s;ele&s;s thing: now that Mr. <HI>P.</HI> &s;hould be its adver&s;ary, and call it the monuments of Tyranny, and con|demn it to the Faggot, without ju&s;t cau&s;e, is hard: I have therefore endeavoured in a can|did way to <HI>undeceive</HI> tho&s;e, who may gain credulity with him, &s;o far as concerns the Law in his Book, and (if it may be) to <HI>reconcile</HI> him to his wronged (though inno|cent) <HI>friend,</HI> and I lay the&s;e rude and &s;ud<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> conceptions at the <HI>feet</HI> of the &s;ame <HI>trib<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">|nal</HI> as he hath done, the Parliament of <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P>That in his Book he holds that, which with &s;ome men is a maxime, <HI>Legentem oportet credere,</HI> I will not make &s;o &s;evere a con|&s;truction of his words as to affirm (be|cau&s;e I know him too well, to be &s;o unchari|table towards him) yet I mu&s;t &s;ay that he &s;eems nothing le&s;s (as to the greate&s;t part of what he writes touching the Law) then to impo&s;e upon mens intellects, that which carries very little <HI>hint</HI> of Scripture, and <HI>co|lour</HI> of rea&s;on along with it; we live now in a <HI>free</HI> Commonwealth, where we hope there will be allowed no <HI>&s;uch dictators:</HI> As our L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters"> hath not any <HI>Principum placita</HI> for any of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 word"> foundations (which the Civil Law (that is
<PB REF="7">much admired by Mr. <HI>P.</HI>) hath) &s;o it will not admit of <HI>Clericorum placita,</HI> which his Book &s;eems to impo&s;e upon us. There is no Law this day in the world, that doth &s;ecure a mans <HI>Rem &amp; per&s;onam</HI> with more impregnable <HI>fences</HI> again&s;t wrong and incroachment, then the <HI>Common Law</HI> of <HI>England</HI> doth; and I will dare to &s;ay, gives &s;peedier relief notwith|&s;tanding all the quick dispatches and deci&s;ion <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">ens rights, that are pretended to be made by the Civil Laws, if tho&s;e may be credited, that have had the experience of both; our Law may be truly &s;aid to be the <HI>re&s;ult</HI> of &s;ounde&s;t rea&s;on, and it is &s;o; for it was <HI>&s;ifted</HI> through the <HI>Sive</HI> of many <HI>&s;ucce&s;&s;ive Ages;</HI> and yet I dare not but &s;ay that it may have &s;ome <HI>chaff</HI> &s;til re|maining in it, (nay I know it hath) yet the <HI>pre|&s;ent Authority</HI> are by little and little <HI>ventila|ting</HI> that chaff away; it cannot be done all <HI>at once,</HI> and it is not to be done without <HI>much con&s;ideration,</HI> lea&s;t by plucking the <HI>Tares</HI> from amongst it, the <HI>Wheat</HI> be pluckt up al&s;o; and this Age doth afford many hone&s;t, able and wi&s;e Iudges and Profe&s;&s;ors of it, that will mo&s;t <HI>willingly</HI> and <HI>impartially</HI> help to &s;ever be|tween its <HI>Corruption</HI> and <HI>Con&s;titutions;</HI> and Mr. <HI>P.</HI> who hath <HI>&s;aid</HI> much in his <HI>ha&s;te</HI> again&s;t it (were he better acquainted with its
<PB REF="8"><HI>principles</HI>) I believe would <HI>un&s;ay</HI> what he hath &s;aid upon a more <HI>deliberate review</HI> of what he hath written and publi&s;hed. He hath propo&s;ed in his Po&s;t&s;cript of his Book, <HI>&s;ect. 6. That no Book &s;hould be publi&s;hed, or come to publike view, which &s;hould not pa&s;s the approbation of &s;ome judicious men in every faculty.</HI> Had he ob&s;erved this rule him&s;elf, I dare &s;ay, his Book had hardly, (if ever) &s;een the Pre&s;s when he mu&s;t have con&s;ulted &s;ome of mo&s;t Profe&s;&s;ions about it, &amp; had their con&s;ents. I do not marvel that he hath &s;o much tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ed the Rules of Rea&s;on in this point, when I con&s;ider he &s;o unadvi&s;edly <HI>meddles</HI> beyond the <HI>line</HI> and <HI>limits</HI> of his own <HI>calling,</HI> and &s;peaks again&s;t tho&s;e things which he never had &s;o narrow in&s;pection into, as he <HI>ought to have,</HI> that will write of their <HI>defects</HI> or <HI>corrupti|ons.</HI> It is <HI>u&s;ual</HI> with God, in the <HI>cour&s;e</HI> of his <HI>providence</HI> to permit men to <HI>lap&s;e into &s;trange and ridiculous ab&s;urdities,</HI> when they <HI>ru&s;h</HI> upon the <HI>reformation</HI> of tho&s;e Profe&s;|&s;ions which they have but a weak knowledge of, and of which they have <HI>hardly</HI> taken the <HI>rude&s;t</HI> view or pro&s;pect. The <HI>Harmony</HI> of the World lies in the <HI>diver&s;ity</HI> of Profe&s;&s;ions, bounded with their <HI>particular limits:</HI> and in the <HI>gra|dual</HI> &s;ubordination of the one unto the other;
<PB REF="8">And herein is the <HI>infinite wi&s;dom</HI> of God &s;een mo&s;t excellently that he hath appointed <HI>every</HI> man his <HI>place,</HI> and made him <HI>Steward</HI> of &s;ome part of the Creation, and a <HI>di&s;tinct mini&s;ter</HI> of his Providence, the <HI>beauty</HI> whereof doth much <HI>&s;hine</HI> in mens <HI>keeping</HI> within the <HI>Circle</HI> of tho&s;e Callings and pro|fe&s;&s;ions to which God (by a <HI>wi&s;e &s;teerage</HI> of their <HI>di&s;po&s;itions,</HI> and by <HI>diver&s;ifying</HI> the <HI>tendencies</HI> of their affections hath <HI>&s;haped</HI> and <HI>timber'd</HI> their Spirits. I would not be thought to &s;peak this as a <HI>barr</HI> to any man from a <HI>rational and generous Inquirie</HI> into <HI>other</HI> Profe&s;&s;ions then his <HI>own</HI> (provided he be not more <HI>abroad</HI> then at <HI>home,</HI> where he <HI>&s;hould be,</HI>) but to advi&s;e men from a ra&s;h cen&s;ure of what they know not, and from taking up again&s;t any Profe&s;&s;ion tho&s;e <HI>faint</HI> Arguments of men, (viz.) <HI>clamours</HI> and <HI>calumnies,</HI> the common <HI>&s;anctuary</HI> and <HI>refuge</HI> of &s;uch who are either <HI>malitious,</HI> or (as to the things they &s;peak or write again&s;t) <HI>blind</HI> in the <HI>colours</HI> of good and evil. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> in the Title Page of his Book, tels the Reader, that <HI>facile e&s;t inventis addere;</HI> I mu&s;t confe&s;s, when I was going to read it, I expected &s;ome thing in the Reformation of the Law, that was a <HI>res inventa;</HI> but was &s;o <HI>foyled</HI> in my ex|pectation,
<PB REF="9">that I found nothing new offered, that is worthy a meaner con&s;ideration then that of them to whom he dedicates his Book; for either he hath propo&s;ed that which was <HI>many years before propo&s;ed,</HI> and is now under Con&s;ideration in <HI>Parliament</HI> to reform; or what is <HI>already</HI> provided by <HI>old Laws</HI> long &s;ince enacted, and want nothing but the <HI>power of the Parliament</HI> to enliven them, and to give them a <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> from under the <HI>na&s;ty rubbi&s;h</HI> of neglect (where it hath been long interred) into a more <HI>vigorous</HI> actuation and liveline&s;s; for what el&s;e Mr. <HI>P.</HI> hath in his Book, it is either (as I humbly conceive) <HI>perplext</HI> and <HI>ob&s;cure, impertinent, impo&s;|ble,</HI> or but <HI>un&s;ea&s;onably</HI> propo&s;ed: but herein I will not be mine own Judge, becau&s;e the dint of Mr. <HI>Ps.</HI> Book is again&s;t my own Profe&s;&s;ion; and now we will &s;ee what his Propo&s;als to the Parliament hold forth, and &s;ubmit it to the con&s;ideration of the be&s;t and wi&s;e&s;t men. And what&s;oever &s;hall be the cen&s;ure and judgment of good and wi&s;e men touching the&s;e &s;udden lines of mine, I &s;hall quietly and without contradiction &s;it under the Maje&s;ty and Authority of their Sentence.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="argument">
<PB N="1" REF="9">
<HEAD>Having thus far made my introduction to Mr. <HI>P.</HI> his Propo&s;als for a new method of Laws for this Commonwealth; I come now to an&s;wer his parti|cular Propo&s;itions.</HEAD>
<P>_THat Mr. <HI>P.</HI> hath publi&s;hed all and more then he knows touching the Law, I verily believe; but whe|ther he be willing to learn what he knows not, I can|not tell; had he known the good of it as well as exclaimed again&s;t what he conceives (or is told) is bad in it, I &s;hould not have doubted of more candid|ne&s;s then he expre&s;&s;es in his Book; but let us &s;ee what Propo&s;al fir&s;t appears.</P>
<P>Mr. <HI>P.</HI> fir&s;t Propo&s;es, <HI>pag.</HI> 28. of his Book, <HI>That Regi&s;ters be &s;etled in every Pari&s;h, kept
<PB N="2" REF="10">every year by two men cho&s;en to that work; and all Lands, Hou&s;es and Alienations entred therein and Copies transferred to the County Town.</HI> I &s;uppo&s;e Mr. <HI>P.</HI> means, That a Regi&s;try be &s;etled, &amp;c. El&s;e there can be no &s;ence made of the fir&s;t part of his Propo&s;al; I know who writes it. And therefore I &s;ay once for all, I &s;hall not cavil at tho&s;e things in his Book which are ingramatical, and &s;o near neighbors to non&s;ence; if by any means I may gue&s;s at his de&s;ign and end. This Propo&s;al might have been &s;pared, it being already under the con&s;ideration of the Parliament, and modelled in a far better and le&s;s chargeable way, then this is; For what a number of Regi&s;ters will the Nation be troubled with, if every Pari&s;h mu&s;t have one, (when perhaps there will not be one Deed throughout the year, (at lea&s;twi&s;e in &s;ome years) to be Recorded in &s;ome Pari&s;hes.) there mu&s;t at lea&s;t be 10000 Re|gi&s;ters, be&s;ides the County Regi&s;ter in the Commonwealth, for there are &s;o many Pa|ri&s;hes or thereabouts in the Nation; and it will be hard to finde in every Pari&s;h &s;o ma|ny able and hone&s;t men as can and will be faithful in the careful tran&s;cribing and tran&s;|ferring tho&s;e <HI>Records.</HI> To the &s;econd Pro|po&s;al,
<PB N="3" REF="10">touching the Seal with the States Arms, I &s;hall &s;ay nothing.</P>
<P>The third Propo&s;al, is, That <HI>in every Coun|ty, every hundred yearly chu&s;e three men to be Peace makers, to hear and determine all common Controver&s;ies between man and man, from whom they may not Appeal.</HI> That Peace|makers or <HI>Dayes-men</HI> &s;hould be is certainly a good thing, agreeable to the <HI>minde</HI> and <HI>will</HI> of the great <HI>Law-giver</HI> of the World, and <HI>Awards</HI> and <HI>Arbitrements</HI> are part of that Common Law which Mr. <HI>P.</HI> is &s;o much again&s;t; but in a different way then he would have it; for we &s;ay, that an Arbi|trator or Peace-maker (as he terms him) in our Law, <HI>Is a Judge indifferently cho&s;en by both parties to end that thing which is in con|trover&s;ies between them, and which they &s;ub|mit or refer to his determination</HI> ad Arbitriu~. An Arbitrator hath an <HI>Arbitrary Power,</HI> while he keeps clo&s;e to the <HI>thing &s;ubmitted,</HI> and <HI>&s;o far</HI> there is no appeal from him, his <HI>&s;entence</HI> being <HI>ab&s;olutely</HI> conclu&s;ive, and not <HI>controulable</HI> by any <HI>Judge.</HI> But here the Peace-makers are to be <HI>cho&s;en</HI> by the <HI>Hun|dred</HI> in <HI>every</HI> County, and they &s;hall <HI>hear</HI> and <HI>determine every Common</HI> controver&s;ie, whe|ther the parties &s;ubmit their Ca&s;es to them
<PB N="4" REF="11">or no; and that without any <HI>appeal</HI> from <HI>them,</HI> which in effect, is but thus much; <HI>Three men (be they wi&s;e or unwi&s;e, hone&s;t or di&s;hone&s;t, fools or knaves, or both) &s;hall be cho&s;en by the plain and generally ignorant Countrey men of every Hundred, out of them|&s;elves, to hear all common Controver&s;ies be|tween man and man, and to judge and deter|mine them Arbitrarily: And let them judge for fear or favor, right or wrong, their Decree or Sentence &s;hall be like the</HI> Medes <HI>and</HI> Per|&s;ians, <HI>it &s;hall be the</HI> ne-plus ultra <HI>to every man in every Hundred.</HI> Whether this will not be of the mo&s;t dangerous con&s;equence to the Commonwealth that can be, let him that hath but half an eye be the judge.</P>
<P>In the 38. <HI>pag.</HI> of his Book, Mr. <HI>P. would have two or more Peace makers appointed in every Town, or Place or Ward to hear the dif|ferences and Civil Controver&s;ies between man and man, before any go to Law, and if po&s;&s;ible let them end it; and he would have that done only by per&s;wading:</HI> Surely, Mr. <HI>P.</HI> did not warily peru&s;e his Book after he &s;et down his conceptions: This and the prece|dent propo&s;ition are direct contradictions.</P>
<P>In the 28. <HI>pag.</HI> he would have no appeal from the Peace makers, but their Sentence
<PB N="5" REF="11">to de definitive; and <HI>pag.</HI> 38. he would have them onely to hear it before any go to Law, and labor to determine by per&s;wa|&s;ion if they can; I have a far better opinion of his la&s;t Propo&s;al then his fir&s;t.</P>
<P>Mr. <HI>P.</HI> further &s;aith, <HI>The happine&s;s in Go|vernment will never lie in Laws but men:</HI> But he mu&s;t not deny but good Laws and good men together may make it more happy. And further he &s;aith, That <HI>all good men carry good Laws in their bo&s;oms:</HI> And do they out carry bad al&s;o? have they not a Law of Sin and Death, as well as a Law of the Spirit of life? a Law in their members as wel a Law in their mnide? We know good men err day|ly, and the be&s;t of men &s;ometimes; there is no infallibility in their judgements, and no impo&s;&s;ibility but a good man may be wrongfully bya&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>In the 36. <HI>pag.</HI> of your Book, the &s;ixth head, you verifie what is &s;aid next before, <HI>That there are godly men not very wi&s;e nor ju&s;t:</HI> We could wi&s;h they all were both godly, ju&s;t, and wi&s;e, that &s;hould have the Judicatory Seat of deci&s;ion and determination of mens in|tere&s;t and proprieties, according to the good Laws made and ordained by Parliaments, and not by Peace-makers.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="12">
<P>In Page 31. Section four, <HI>He tells us; All Entayls may be cut off for ever, and men have liberty to be&s;tow what they have, to whom they plea&s;e, the Elde&s;t &s;on ha|ving a double portion.</HI> Ob&s;erve the mi&s;|chief and ambiguitie of this propo&s;iti|on. The mi&s;chief of it, becau&s;e it de|&s;igns the un&s;ettlement of mo&s;t e&s;tates in this Nation, though conveyed upon never &s;o valuable a con&s;ideration, and &s;etled forty, fifty, nay a hundred years ago, yea, though (if it &s;hould be cut off) the <HI>prodigal Father,</HI> or other <HI>Ance&s;tor</HI> have never &s;o many holes in the bottom of his <HI>pur&s;e,</HI> and be wor&s;e then the <HI>Infidel that takes not care for his own Family;</HI> is this good councel, M.<HI>P.</HI> That poor and helple&s;s children &s;hould without any re&s;pect had to them, be deprived of a livelyhood intended and provided for them, when none was wronged, no creditor in being; and when the name of an e&s;tate, and not the reality of it, &s;hall make the <HI>&s;imple Creditor</HI> to tru&s;t be|yond <HI>di&s;cretion?</HI> for my part I think <HI>Ca|veat Creditor,</HI> as well as <HI>Emptor,</HI> if he tru&s;t.</P>
<P>Secondly, The ambiguity of it. Fir&s;t, Cut of Entayls for ever, then be&s;tow as
<PB N="7" REF="12">you plea&s;e, (That is,) Entayl your e&s;tate again; what &s;ignifies this? you mu&s;t explain your &s;elf to the world, to who&s;e cen&s;ure you have &s;ubmitted your book. I and &s;ome others may conjecture what you mean. And you &s;ay, the Elde&s;t &s;on &s;hall have his double por|tion, as it is rea&s;onable he &s;hould; but he will be deprived, if you will have E&s;tates tayl to be cut off, and the Creditor let loo&s;e a gain&s;t him as well as others without re&s;pect; or el&s;e your propo&s;ition will be partial, which a Law for publique advantage &s;hould not be.</P>
<P>In the 32. page and the head, M. <HI>P.</HI> &s;ayes; <HI>For a Body of Laws he knows none, but what &s;hould be the re&s;ult of &s;ound rea&s;on; nor any &s;uch rea&s;on, but what the God of wi&s;|dom hath appointed; therefore the moral Law (called them ten words) is be&s;t, and the Judi|cials of</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>and</HI> Solomons <HI>rules and expe|ments added thereto.</HI> All hone&s;t and ju&s;t law|yers will concurr with you; but Mr. <HI>P.</HI> you know there is not in all the&s;e, an expre&s;s rule to judge every particular occurring, and contingent ca&s;e that happens by; why then may there not be <HI>Regulae ex illis juribus &s;umptae,</HI> to decide contingent ca&s;es, (that fall not within the letter, though they fall
<PB N="8" REF="13">within the meaning and generall provi&s;ion of tho&s;e rules) as experience and occa&s;ion &s;hall require; I hope you will not deny but that this ought to be; then what is in our Law contrary to the&s;e Laws? Let that fall to the du&s;t, and I hope there will be none that will offer to &s;upport them from falling: and Mr. <HI>P.</HI> mu&s;t know that there is a Chri&s;ti|an Law of Policy, that doth many times limit the law of nature and right rea&s;on, as I need make no other explanation to him then this that there is a law of God, that <HI>thou &s;halt not kill;</HI> And there is a Law of the &s;ame God, that thou &s;halt judicially take away mans life, where his offence is commen&s;urate to life. Here is natural rea&s;on, and the Law of God, that I &s;hould not kill; and here is politick rea&s;on, and a Law of God, that I &s;hould not withhold my hand from blood in a judicial way. M. <HI>P.</HI> doth further wi&s;h the Lawyers to urge the&s;e for Law; <HI>And not tho&s;e old ob&s;olete Pre&s;idents, which will hardly prove or make a Seamans &s;ute, to fit our occa&s;ion:</HI> We urge nothing for Law that is again&s;t the&s;e, or incoherent with them; if we do, we de&s;ire <HI>M.P.</HI> to tell us where, and prove it, and we &s;hall follow his Coun|cel el&s;e his <HI>Ip&s;e dixit</HI> will not drive us out of
<PB N="9" REF="13">our Rea&s;on, or good opinion of the Com|mon Laws of this Land. What he means by <HI>our Pre&s;idents</HI> (which for the mo&s;t part will be ju&s;tified to be the re&s;ult of &s;ound rea&s;on, if he will venture a calm and Chri|&s;tian like argument about it) <HI>not proving a Seamans &s;ute to fit our occa&s;ion.</HI> I know not it is intended for a Proverb; but a very poor and perplext one, and nothing to the purpo&s;e to prove any thing again&s;t our law; if it be (I am &s;ure) it will hardly &s;ute with my under&s;tanding, upon this occa&s;ion either to comprehend or An&s;wer it.</P>
<P>He &s;aith next in Page 33. <HI>If any lawyer be continued, let him be allowed;</HI> and &s;o page 43. Pro. 15. <HI>and let him plead for Ju&s;tice &s;ake;</HI> but why not con|tinued? is the profe&s;&s;ion unlawful? &s;ure I am, you cannot prove it; or is it from the corruption of &s;ome of the profe&s;&s;ors of it, that you argue again&s;t it? then let them be found out that are corrupt: and when they are found and Adjudged &s;o, let them be &s;u&s;|pended from practice, and otherwi&s;e pu|ni&s;hed according to demerit; <HI>nigro car|bone notentur.</HI> But that there &s;hould be no Lawyers, becau&s;e Fees are bottomle&s;s, is no Argument; and if you would have <HI>fewer</HI>
<PB N="10" REF="14">Lawyers, be <HI>in&s;tant</HI> with God that the peo|ples <HI>manners</HI> may be <HI>amended</HI> and that the Go&s;pel may have a more influence upon them, <HI>and that men would do as they would be done unto;</HI> and then (if you and we &s;uc|ceed in our Addre&s;&s;es to God in this re|&s;pect,) there will be very little need of Law or Lawyers; but while <HI>Cre&s;cit in orbe dolus,</HI> there will be need of Law, and hone&s;t, and wi&s;e Lawyers. And we may ble&s;s God that provided us &s;uch remedies. As for their Fees, let them be regulated, as &s;hall be thought fit by the State. You are angry with them, and therefore no competent Judge over them.</P>
<P>Page 33. Sect. 6. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Wills and Te&s;taments may be Acknowledged by the next two Ju&s;tices of the peace; be|fore whom they may be proved without any charge, and then entered into the former Regi&s;ter.</HI></P>
<P>But what then? when they are acknow|ledged, Do you &s;uppo&s;e all Wills to be good then? and mu&s;t the Ju&s;tices be Judges and Interpreters of the Wills and Te&s;taments of &s;uch as devi&s;e e&s;tates? are they all through|out the Nation &s;o quick&s;ighted, as to di&s;cern the <HI>Intentions</HI> of Te&s;tators in their Wills?
<PB N="11" REF="14">and Judges fit to decide whether men make Wills with <HI>di&s;po&s;ing memories and under|&s;tandings,</HI> or no? can they with ea&s;e recon|cile the &s;eeming contradictions that often happen in diyng mens Wills, by rea&s;on of tho&s;e ignorant per&s;ons that many times they are nece&s;&s;itated to imploy to write down their Wills? are they &s;o able Judges, where &s;everal Wills ari&s;e in competition one with the other to decide the controver&s;ie aright, which &s;hould take place? and do they know how to determine, whether, and when a Nuncupative, or a Verbal Will &s;hall avoid a written Will or no? If &s;o, then let the de&s;ign of your propo&s;al pro&s;per; if not, you may <HI>blu&s;h</HI> to propo&s;e a thing that will prove an apparent mi&s;chief to the <HI>Land.</HI></P>
<P>Pag. 33. Propo&s;ition 7. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> advi&s;es, <HI>That all the old Records in the Tower may be burnt as the Monuments of Tyrannie.</HI> But he proves them no &s;uch thing; there may be there many u&s;ele&s;s and antiquated Records; but &s;hall all be burnt for their &s;akes; are there not many Records there which may give much light to this and the &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Ages, to &s;ee the &s;pirit and temper of many former Ages pa&s;t. My Lord <HI>Bacon,</HI> who
<PB N="12" REF="15">I am &s;ure hath the e&s;teem of a wi&s;e man where his Books were known, gives a con|trary advice, <HI>That the ancient Volumes of the Laws &s;hould not be quite extingui&s;hed, but at lea&s;t remain in Liberaries, that in ca&s;es of weighty con&s;equence, we might con&s;ult the mutations of Laws pa&s;t, &amp; &s;prinkle modern mat|ters with Antiquity:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bacon</HI> Ad|vanc. of Learning. pag. 452. <HI>Aph.</HI> 63.</NOTE> what rea&s;on Mr. <HI>P.</HI> hath not to be of the &s;ame mind, I know not. I &s;hould have been very glad he would have offered &s;ome thing to make the world believe he knew it him&s;elf.</P>
<P>Pag. 34. Propo&s;ition 8. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> propo&s;es, <HI>That no Lawyer might plead at any Com|mittee:</HI> but why Mr. <HI>P?</HI> nothing but a <HI>&s;ic volo.</HI> I will &s;uppo&s;e it mu&s;t be one or all of the&s;e three Rea&s;ons he would give; when he will not &s;et down his own rea&s;ons. 1. That every Committee is <HI>&s;o</HI> wi&s;e, that it is impo&s;&s;ible for them to receive any &s;atisfa|ction or information in any ca&s;e that &s;hall come before them, or in any circum&s;tance of any ca&s;e, more then they of them&s;elves can find out. Or 2ly. That every Committee is &s;o weak as to be hurried to and fro, and un&s;etled in their judgements by the fal|lacies of Lawyers (and not otherwi&s;e, for
<PB N="13" REF="15">by offering Truth, their judgements are &s;et|led and fixt;) Or 3^^l^^y. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> mu&s;t intend, That every man is able to manage his own Cau&s;e to the be&s;t advantage of Truth and him&s;elf; which I will not affirm, though he do &s;o in Pag. 42. Pro. 13. But Mr. <HI>P.</HI> you will find Lawyers to be nece&s;&s;ary at many Committees to plead, &amp; to help them to o|vercome many difficult ca&s;es that may lie be|fore them; and you may a&s;&s;ure your &s;elf (if you plea&s;e) it is very &s;afe, many times, that for the honor of the Parliament it &s;hould be &s;o, if the roving and tedious Oratory of &s;ome Lawyers could be bounded within the <HI>due</HI> confines of the <HI>Truth</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>particular Ca&s;es</HI> they <HI>handle,</HI> as they are truly circum|&s;tantiated.</P>
<P>The 9. Propo&s;ition in the &s;ame page, and the 18. in page 46. and the 2. in p. 35. are again&s;t arre&s;ts, and impri&s;onments, and for <HI>Summons</HI> to be left at mens hou&s;es; this is already an&s;wered by the Philizers, who have offered very &s;trong and plau&s;ible rea|&s;ons for the proce&s;s of Arre&s;t, and again&s;t <HI>Summons;</HI> which they have publi&s;hed in Print, and &s;ubmitted to the Parliament; under who&s;e con&s;ideration it now &s;tands. And I mu&s;t tell Mr. <HI>P.</HI> That &s;ome of them, that have publi&s;hed the&s;e rea&s;ons, are neither
<PB N="14" REF="16">of mean parts, Piety, or fidelity to the Pre|&s;ent Government. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> would not have <HI>any</HI> put in Pri&s;on, or <HI>puni&s;ht with a loath|&s;ome Pri&s;on,</HI> as his words are, <HI>before hearing whether he be guilty or no. i. e.</HI> before <HI>he &s;ay,</HI> Guilty or not Guilty: but, Sir, how many men when they are &s;ummoned in order to be heard, will come? e&s;pecially as you &s;et your words, <HI>Any put in Pri&s;on;</HI> and when they appear and are heard, how many, or rather <HI>how few</HI> will confe&s;s any thing again&s;t Them&s;elves, and to their own prejudice? as indeed they may not be urged to do: But in page 51. Propo&s;ition 2. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> Seems to allow of Pri&s;ons for criminal cau&s;es, though before he would not have any put in Pri&s;on.</P>
<P>The 9^t^h Prop. in the 34. Page, is, <HI>That none &s;hall di&s;train for Taxes or other Debt; but the Debtors outward door to be carryed to the Town hou&s;e; and as many other new doors as &s;hall be &s;et up the &s;hame and danger hereof will urge payment.</HI> Why not a di&s;tre&s;s for Taxes? is not the doors taking away a kinde of di&s;tre&s;s? But &s;hould that be admitted, which you propo&s;e touching Taxes (becau&s;e it is a novelty, and may tickle the fancy of people that affect <HI>changing,</HI> and are never
<PB N="15" REF="16">well, while they are fixed, but always &s;o when they can to&s;s and tumble them&s;elves in the element of Mutation) yet how can your remedy be adequate to the ca&s;e of other Debts, can 10000 l. or 20000 l. debt, be &s;peedily got in by plucking off from a Debtors hou&s;e the outward door? I am not able to under&s;tand it, and I doubt the Reader neither.</P>
<P>Page 35. Prop. 3. <HI>Lying long in Pri&s;on before Sentence, and delay of Ju&s;tice, is cruel|ty:</HI> It is &s;o, and I could wi&s;h from my &s;oul it were not &s;o, and that herein you would be more earne&s;t, and that Committees were not as much in fault as the execution of the Law in this point; and that Pri&s;ons were kept by hone&s;ter and more con&s;cionable men; &s;uch being indeed generally the very &s;cum and refu&s;e of mankind; and for delay of Ju&s;tice to men, our Law &s;aith, <HI>Nulli negabi|mus, nulli deferemus ju&s;ticiam;</HI> and for the execution of our Law, and expedition of Ju&s;tice and Right to every man, there was never greater care than our now Judges of the Law do and have undergone.</P>
<P>Page 36. Prop. 5, 6, 7, 8. <HI>Are in &s;ub&s;tance thus much, that you would have one or more Committees of good, Wi&s;e and ju&s;t men,
<PB N="16" REF="17">to receive the reque&s;t and advice of every particular Town and County for the obtaining of true Ju&s;tice, and hindring of Suits; and that no man or Court of men be always above Ju&s;tice.</HI> Sir, may not there rather be a view taken of the pre&s;ent Law, and what is good in it countenanced, and its exube|rances and gray-headed errors expunged, with the advice of them that have throughly &s;tudyed it, and a di&s;ge&s;t made thereof; and what it wants, &s;upplyed by &s;uch new Laws as it needs, it having already almo&s;t a &s;alve for every &s;oar, which is one of the mo&s;t excellent fruits of the Age of our Law, that by running its cour&s;e through &s;o many Ages pa&s;t, and meeting with &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ive contigencies, it hath brought down Rules to us framed from experience of the former Ages: &s;o that there is &s;carce a Ca&s;e that wants a Rule of ju&s;tice and rea&s;on to guide it by. I may pre&s;ume the Parliament, and mo&s;t of the be&s;t of men in this Common|wealth, &s;ee le&s;s need of your Committee, then what is here propo&s;ed for the refor|mation of the Law.</P>
<P>And Mr. <HI>P.</HI> &s;aith, <HI>no man or Court of men are to be always above Ju&s;tice.</HI> AIWAIES! No, not as much as ONCE above it; and yet
<PB N="17" REF="17">if you would have no Appeal from your Peacemakers. or your 5. or 7. men, in Page 39. pro. 11. They mu&s;t in all likelihood be <HI>above</HI> ju&s;tice, and be gratified with the <HI>priviledge</HI> of Impunity. 37. page, pro. 8. M. <HI>P.</HI> urges, <HI>That Priviledges &s;hould be taken away, that bring damage or hurt to the Com|mon wealth.</HI> This is very good; provided it be apparent that the State is prejudiced thereby; otherwi&s;e the priviledges of the City of London, and other great Cities and places may be impeached in that which is an apparent good to them; but until M. <HI>P.</HI> doth come out of his &s;ubterfuge of Gene|rals, into the plain field of particulars; as we are di&s;abled, &s;o we are not willing to give him any further an&s;wer in this point.</P>
<P>Page 39 pro. 10. M. <HI>P.</HI> propo&s;es that to the end <HI>That Ju&s;tice may be near to all men, that there be in every City, Town, or Hundred five or &s;even able men appointed to determine all controver&s;ies for Debts, and Strifes, and any three of them pre&s;ent to have power to give &s;entence:</HI> And afterwards he propo&s;es, <HI>That in weighty ca&s;es, they may con&s;ult with learned Advocates, and Divines.</HI> That Ju&s;tice may run in <HI>clear &s;treams</HI> by every
<PB N="18" REF="18">mans door, it is already provided by our Law: The learned Judges, (being bred up with much expence of mony and time, and wading through a Toyl&s;om &s;tudy; and therefore knowing better to decide aright all controver&s;ies for Debt, &amp;c. then any private Countrey Gentlemen, whom he would have to be a Committee) do ride Circuit throughout <HI>all the parts</HI> of the land to hear and determine (not arbitrarily, but by ju&s;t rules known to the people, whereof they have had long experience,) all cau&s;es of <HI>what nature &s;oever</HI> they be, whether <HI>Criminal</HI> or <HI>Civil.</HI> Then I pray tell us what need is there of <HI>&s;uch a Committee,</HI> as you &s;peak of, and of &s;uch a number of Committee men as your propo&s;al would have? &s;even in every City; &s;even in every Town; and &s;even in every Hundred: Many Counties in the Nation have thirty or forty Towns; be&s;ides Cities, and Hundreds; what a number of Committee men mu&s;t there be then in &s;ome Counties? at lea&s;t 200. and who mu&s;t pay them Salary? mu&s;t not the State? or will they &s;erve for nought? No &s;ure. Sir, I mu&s;t tell you, that you have not well con&s;idered what you propo&s;ed; do you think that your propo&s;al can tempt men
<PB N="19" REF="18">out of their rea&s;ons, and conveniences to embrace &s;uch a dangerous <HI>trifle of novelty?</HI> No Sir. <HI>Fru&s;tra fit per plur a quod fieri pote&s;t per pauciora.</HI></P>
<P>And for their con&s;ultation in <HI>weighty matters</HI> with learned <HI>Advocates</HI> and <HI>Di|vines,</HI> the Judges in all weighty ca&s;es do con&s;ult <HI>again and again</HI> with learned Advo|cates and Councellors; but with <HI>Divines</HI> they do not, except in ca&s;es of con&s;cience; And I could wi&s;h <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> would forbear propo&s;ing for them&s;elves, and to labour to enlarge their priviledge, to meddle beyond their <HI>own</HI> calling, which is work enough of it &s;elf for them to do; this would be more profitable to their <HI>Flocks,</HI> and more honorable to <HI>them&s;elvs.</HI></P>
<P>Page ibid. pro. 11. <HI>He would have no Appeal from the &s;entence of the&s;e five, or &s;even men, but in weighty matters; and that appeal is to be from them&s;elves to them&s;elves; &s;even of them &s;hall have power to rever&s;e or confirm the Judgement of &s;even, or a le&s;s number; or if yet an Appeal mu&s;t be, it &s;hall not reach out of the County, for many weighty rea&s;ons:</HI> Thus much I under&s;tand of this propo&s;ition; The greate&s;t part of the re&s;t of it is a <HI>riddle</HI> to me; but why no Appeal? and if an Appeal to
<PB N="20" REF="19">the &s;even men, or if from the &s;even men, not from the Counnty? the rea&s;on given is: <HI>For many weighty rea&s;ons;</HI> what a Chimera is this? I am &s;orry the world &s;hould be troubled (I &s;ay no more of it) with &s;uch impertinencies.</P>
<P>Page 43. pro. 14. <HI>Let all mens te&s;timo|nies be taken on oath, by notorial writings; yet &s;o as witne&s;&s;es may be examined by word of mouth, each apart;</HI> The te&s;timonies of wit|ne&s;&s;es on oath are put in <HI>writing</HI> in &s;ome Courts, and examined <HI>apart;</HI> and &s;ome other Courts by experience find it not fit &s;o to do, but to examine them <HI>coram populo:</HI> where Judges, Jury, and Councel <HI>pro</HI> and <HI>con</HI> watch the <HI>halting</HI> of fal&s;e witne&s;&s;es, if they &s;hould &s;wear fal&s;ly; and before &s;o many ob&s;ervers of their Te&s;timonies fal&s;e wit|ne&s;&s;es very rarely e&s;cape undi&s;covered.</P>
<P>Page 47. and 48. pro. 9. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> would have <HI>partiality prevented;</HI> then let him not &s;peak again&s;t the pre&s;ent Law, and its judges; for we know none more impartial, neither do we believe any can be, that &s;hall come in their &s;tead.</P>
<P>Page 48. <HI>He would have great puni&s;h|ments inflicted on them that take gifts, or pervert Judgement:</HI> Charge any of the pre&s;ent Mini&s;ters of the Law therewith,
<PB N="21" REF="19">and prove it, and you &s;hall find the Law it &s;elf hath provided them pu|ni&s;hments &s;evere enough,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mag. Ch.</HI> is that <HI>nulli ven|den us ju&s;tic. &amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and more commen&s;urate to tho&s;e offences then we &s;uppo&s;e you can offer.</P>
<P>Page 48. pro. 20. M. <HI>P.</HI> would propo&s;e <HI>That &s;ore puni&s;hment be inflicted upon fal&s;e witne&s;&s;es.</HI> The Law of England hath provid|ed puni&s;hment &s;ore enough for this al&s;o.</P>
<P>Page 49. pro. 21. <HI>Some able men mu&s;t be apppointed, to be ambulatory or Itinerant from Court to Court to ob&s;erve the inju&s;tice of the&s;e &s;everal Courts that</HI> Mr. <HI>P. would have &s;et up. And to inform the State of tho&s;e, that they may be puni&s;hed</HI> Mr. <HI>P.</HI> Would have &s;et up in e|very City, Town, and Hundred, five or &s;even able men, which in each of tho&s;e will (as I told the Reader) amount (in &s;ome Coun|ties) to 200. men and upwards: And there mu&s;t be <HI>one</HI> in every City, Town, and Hun|dred to ob&s;erve the Irregularities of the&s;e particular Committees (for I cannot &s;ee how it can be otherwi&s;e) which in the &s;everal Committees of a County (by Mr <HI>P.</HI> his rule) will amount to 30. or 40. men; for fewer cannot well ob&s;erve the inju&s;tice of the&s;e &s;everal Committees that will con&s;tantly &s;it. Will not this make a <HI>leane State?</HI> that it &s;hould maintain <HI>all</HI> the&s;e officers in <HI>every</HI>
<PB N="22" REF="20">County of the Common-wealth? there being 73. Counties in the Nation, and by Mr. <HI>P.</HI> propo&s;al there being near 230. or 240. officers in mo&s;t of the &s;aid Counties, ex|cept tho&s;e which are Counties of Cities; I think the Nation will not have much cau&s;e to rejoyce in &s;uch a <HI>Multiplicity</HI> of officers.</P>
<P>Page 51. Mr. <HI>P.</HI> would have <HI>no malefectors again&s;t the light of nature and Civil &s;ociety e&s;cape unpuni&s;hed, &amp;c.</HI> No more will the Laws already e&s;tabli&s;hed in the land, nor its pro|fe&s;&s;ors; they will all approve of this pro|po&s;al.</P>
<P>Page 53. pro. 4. Mr. <HI>P. would have no man or Court of men to pardon any offenders; what? not any ANY</HI> offenders, let the Circum&s;tances or his ca&s;e be what it will, nor <HI>no Court of men to pardon?</HI> not the <HI>Par|liament?</HI> this is the very <HI>&s;pirit</HI> and <HI>Quinte&s;|&s;ence</HI> of Cruelty (though I think Mr. <HI>P. means</HI> it not) not warranted either by the <HI>Law of God</HI> or <HI>man,</HI> and though the next line under this propo&s;al be <HI>Quotations</HI> of <HI>Scripture;</HI> yet to warrant this propo&s;ition in the <HI>latter</HI> of it by the&s;e Scriptures, is <HI>Humano Capiti cervicem jungere equinam;</HI> and indeed mo&s;t of the <HI>Places</HI> of Scripture that are cited to ju&s;tifie Mr. <HI>P.</HI> propo&s;itions, are <HI>extreamly mi&s;applied.</HI> And many times contrary to the
<PB N="23" REF="20">very <HI>Tenor</HI> of what he propo&s;es, as if they were annexed at adventure.</P>
<P>Page 53. pro. 5. <HI>Let no difference be made be|tween Jew or Gentile, Bond or Free, &s;tranger or Native in Criminal or Civil things, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>There is no difference between <HI>them</HI> made by our Law in point of <HI>right between man and man;</HI> onely our Law favours a <HI>Native</HI> more then a <HI>Stranger</HI> in &s;ome <HI>re&s;pects;</HI> as if a Stranger or A|lien from <HI>beyond Sea</HI> come over into this Nation, to live here and bring <HI>his children</HI> with him, and then purcha&s;e <HI>Lands</HI> here, tho&s;e children that were born beyond Sea (<HI>Ireland</HI> and &s;ome &s;mall other <HI>Ilands</HI> where the Laws of this Common|wealth are currant excepted) &s;hall not in|herit the&s;e Lands; but if he hath children born here in <HI>England,</HI> they &s;hall Inherit, becau&s;e our Laws favor Natives more then Strangers, in this re&s;pect; and if &s;uch an Alien die without any i&s;&s;ue born in this Nation, his Lands &s;o purcha&s;ed, come to the Common-wealth; but in mo&s;t other ca&s;es, they have equal Ju&s;tice with other: I conceive this is not contradictory to any Law of God: e|&s;pecially the Alien knowing the danger of pur|cha&s;ing Lands before hand; the other ca&s;es in which he hath not a like priviledge with a Na|tive (though they are but few) yet are too te|dious, and indeed needle&s;s to in&s;ert here.</P>
<P>Page 54. pro. 6. <HI>He propo&s;es that the children
<PB N="24" REF="21">and heirs of malefactors may not be puni&s;hed for their Fathers offences in the lo&s;s of their e&s;tates that might de&s;cend or otherwi&s;e become unto them;</HI> I acknowledge it is hard, and I could wi&s;h with Mr. <HI>P.</HI> That the Fathers having eaten <HI>&s;our grapes,</HI> the childrens <HI>Teeth</HI> may not be &s;et <HI>on edge.</HI></P>
<P>Page 56. Mr. <HI>P. propo&s;es that theevs for ordinary &s;tealths,</HI> (I mean not Robbers upon high wayes, or Burglers) <HI>may not be &s;o commonly ha~ged as they are.</HI> This I could wi&s;h al&s;o, (though in this there is not now &s;uch &s;trictne&s;s ob&s;erved as the Law pre&s;cribes,) but that they be made <HI>Gally-&s;laves,</HI> or that &s;ome other &s;uch cour&s;e be taken with them, as not to take away their <HI>lives,</HI> and con|&s;equently <HI>all hopes</HI> of making of them better. And I &s;hall <HI>fully</HI> concur with Mr. <HI>P.</HI> herein; I have ended as to Mr. <HI>P.</HI> his propo&s;als touching the Law, wi&s;hing him to <HI>con&s;ult</HI> a <HI>little</HI> more be|fore he writes &s;o <HI>ra&s;hly</HI> again; That which con|cerns <HI>other</HI> profe&s;&s;ions and callings, they be&s;t can tell how to an&s;wer, that are Profe&s;&s;ors. I will not be, as Mr. <HI>P.</HI> is, <HI>Sutor ultra crepidam.</HI> And I have done what is here done, more ha&s;tily then the <HI>merit</HI> and honor of the Common Law de&s;erves; yet I hope its profe&s;&s;ors will excu&s;e my <HI>faults</HI> (for I conceive no other is a <HI>proper</HI> Judge of them) they being <HI>errors of love</HI> to that which is <HI>good and ju&s;t.</HI></P>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><HI>Major haereditas venit unjcui&abque; no&s;tcum. a jure &amp; legibus, quam a parentibus.</HI></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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</EEBO>
</ETS>
