11391 z. And if a Highway-Man fhew a Coniriffion to take my Purfe, he will not ftay till I know whether the King content to his Commiflion. L. You flretch the fenceof the Subfcription and Oath further than the Parliament-intended it. Do you tkink,that ifhalfa Dozenor more Irifhmen had come into the Parliament Houfe, andjhewed a Commit- fron Real or Counterfeit to ki lthem all, Lords andCommons, that they wculd not have defended their Lives with their Swords ? And do you think then that ever they meant to bind all the Subjects againft that which they would do themfelves. M. And do you think that we fhould all Swear to that which they never meant to bind us to? Is there any limitation in the words ? Or can any words be deviled more to exclude excep- tions than [not on any pretence whatfoever.1 But felf is near men, and is not fo concerned in other mens cafes as their own. For my part, I believe that they meant plainly anduniverfally as they fpeak, tho' they might forget their own cafe: My proof is from the exprefs wordsof the Militia ACI, where they determine that neither thewhole Parliament or part , [lath any Power of ofen- five or defenfDe Arms againft the Kings Commiflioners : Much lefs have any Tingle Perfons. L. Doyou think that ever they intended to defiroy all mens Property, and defence of Life or Goods, and to repeal all the Laws that- bind Sheriff's by the Polie Comitatus to fiapprefs Riots, and to execute the decrees of the Courts of f uftice for Poffeons or Difpoffeons, thó any fhouldthewCommiffions to the contrary, and to overthrow the yudges Oaths. M. I can no way judge what they meant, but by what they did. I find they have abfolutely denied all right of defenfive Arms in the subje4 or Parliament, and that's all that I fpeakof : From whence I muff needs fuppofe, that their fence was, that all men have Propriety inEffaces, Wives, Children and Lives, and that the King ought to Govern them by Law, and wrong no Man, and that Judges ought to do 'right by Sentence, tho the King forbid them. And that Sheriffs and Juftices muff ordinarily execute the Law : But ifthe King by force refirain them, or give Commifiion toany Subjet by force to violate any Law or Sentence, or to take away any Mens Lives or Efiates, it is not lawful by defensive Arms, for any Sheriff,Juftices, or any others to relft. This is plainly the fence of the Militia A61, and ofour Oaths. T z L. z
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