CHAP. I. Against the Law of GOD .

Arguments : That the Power of Perpetual Imprisonment of Debtors , by their Creditors , is against the Reason , Justice , and Mercy of the Laws of God , and of Jesus Christ our Saviour .

BY Debtors , I understand , Debtors Insolvent , or unable to make satisfaction for their Debts ; although they are heartily willing to do it in the Whole , or so far as their Ability extends , or any Imployment ( on which they might fall , if at Liberty ) might enable them ; the necessary livelihood of themselves and Families , first allowed .

The Laws of God suppose , Ar●… That all Crimes ( not worthy of Death ) should be Punished with Punishments limited and determined , as to their Degrees , and Spaces of Time ; so as neither to be extream nor perpetual . But Insolvent Debtors are neither by the Law of God , nor by the Law of Nations , or of this particular Nation , thought worthy of Death ; and therefore ought not to be kept as Living-Dead Men , in perpetual Imprisoment ; as ( being left to the Incompassionateness of their Creditors ) upon their Insolvency they generally are : For such Punishment is unlimited in Time , and excessive for Degree ; and is too like to the Punishment of Hell it self , both upon the Body , and Soul also .

The Laws of God , and of Christ , lay all possible Obligation upon us , Ar●… To have Mercy on the Poor : But there is no Poverty greater than what arises from Imprisonment of Debtors , unable to Live , that engages Men to make Bricks , for the Charges of Imprisonment , as well as Livelihood ; and takes away all means of Industry in Mens several Callings : And this being perpetual , ( or which , as it most often proves , is all one , except the Creditor please to have Mercy ) is most contrary to the goodness of Divine Laws , in the point of Mercy to the Poor .

The Law of God , and of Christ , Arg●… direct Living Men to all Duties towards God , towards Men , and towards Themselves : But perpetual Imprisonment keeps them alive , and yet deprives them of all means of serving the ends of Life , by disabling them to the Offices of Religion , of Service to their Prince and Country , to their Families , and to themselves ; taking away all vigour of Spirit , Vertuousness , Ingenuousness of Nature , freedom of Body , and , very often , outward Means of Serving God ; and more often , of Presence of Mind , through Want , Grief , and Despair : All which , as a state worse than Death , is most contrary to the Laws of God , and of Jesus Christ ; which allows Death , but nothing worse than Death , ( not a Living-Death ) to be Executed on our Brethren : but a perpetual Imprisonment , indeed , allows Men to Live , and not to serve the ends of Life ; which is , a Dying-Life , or Living-Death , and so worse than Death .

The Mercy that God enjoyns in the Old Testament , shews evidently , That it is most contrary to the Justice , Mercy , and Humanity of his Laws , thus perpetually to Imprison Debtors , that acknowledge , and Worship the same God , and so are Brethren : He therefore took all care , that his People should not perpetuate the Sufferings of their Brethren , so much as in their Estates , or any of the conveniences of Life ; much less , as to their Liberty , by the perpetual Imprisonment of their Persons ; as these Scriptures bear witness : Exod . 22.26 . If thou at all take thy Neighbours Rayment to Pledge , thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the Sun goeth down ; For that is his Covering only ; it is his Rayment for his Skin , wherein shall he Sleep , &c. Ezek . 18.7 . He that hath not Oppressed any , but hath restored to the Debtor his Pledge , hath spoyled none by Violence , hath given his Bread to the Hungry , and hath covered the Naked with a Garment . Levit . 25.35 . If thy Brother be waxen Poor , and fallen in decay with thee , thou shalt Relieve him : Yea , though he be a Stranger , or a Sojourner , that he may live with thee . Ver . 39 , 40.42 , 43. If thy Brother be Impoverished , and be Sold unto thee , thou shalt not compel him to serve as a Bond-Servant , but as an Hired-Servant , and as a Sojourner shall he be with thee , and shall Serve thee unto the Year of Jubilee . They are my Servants , saith the Lord , they shall not be Sold as Bond-men : Thou shalt not Rule over him with Rigour , but shalt Fear thy God . Jer . 34.14 . And when thy Brother , which hath been Sold unto thee , hath Served thee Six years , thou shalt let him go free , &c. Deut . 15.1 , 2 , 3. At the end of every Seven Years thou shalt make a Release ; and this is the manner of the Release . Every Creditor that lendeth ought unto his Neighbour , shall Release it ; he shall not exact it of his Neighbour , or of his Brother , because it is called the Lords Release : of a Foreigner thou mayest exact it again ; but that which is thine with thy Brother , thy hand shall Release : So ver . 12.13 .

And the Religion of Jesus Christ is yet a Thousand-fold more abundant , and express , in all its Commands and Precepts , for the highest Acts of Mercy and Compassion to all , especially to Christians ; as these Scriptures of the New-Testament Teach us :

Matth . 18.26.27 . to the end . The Servant therefore fell down and Worshiped him , saying , Lord have Patience with me , and I will pay thee all : Then the Lord of that Servant was moved with Compassion , and loosed him , and forgave him the Debt , &c. Mat . 6.12 . Forgive us our Debts , as we forgive our Debtors . Ver . 14. For if ye Forgive Men their Trespasses , your Heavenly Father also will Forgive you . Ver . 15. But if ye Forgive not Men their Trespasses , neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses . Luk . 11.4 . And forgive us our Sins , for we also Forgive every one that is Indebted to us . Mat . 22.39 . Thou shalt Love thy Neighbour as thy self . Mat . 18.22 , 23. How oft shall my Brother Sin against me , and I forgive him ? until Seven times ? Jesus saith unto him , I say not unto thee , until Seven times , but until Seventy times Seven . Mat . 5.44 . Love your Enemies , Bless them that Curse you ; Do good to them that Hate you ; and Pray for them which despitefully use you . Rom. 12.20 . If thine Enemy Hunger , feed him ; if he Thirst , give him Drink .

The Law allowing to the Creditor , Ar●… the Power of perpetual Imprisonment of his Debtor , makes the Creditor think that Lawful and Justifiable , that ( it is much to be feared ) lays him under the Judgment of God , without Mercy , because he shewed no Mercy ; and makes him believe he is Innocent , in Sacrificing to his Revenge the Life of his Insolvent Debtor ; and that without any Compensation for his Debt , but only the sweetness of that Revenge , which is hateful to God , and most severely denounc'd upon by the great Lover of Mankind ( whose Nature , in Mercy to it , he took ) even Christ our Lord . Whereas , if our Laws took this Revenge out of the Creditors power , it would prevent so great a Sin and Guilt upon him ; and yet , would do no Injury to his Estate , in delivering his Insolvent Debtor out of his hand .

It is often a Temptation to the Rich and the Mighty , Arg●… unjustly to take the advantage of Imprisoning the Poor , under some pretence of Debt ; and so not only the Body , but the Justice of the Prisoners Cause is Fettered and Imprisoned also ; than which , nothing is more abominable , according to the Laws of God and Christ .

From all which it arises , Perpetual Imprisonment is a Punishment upon the Insolvent , unjustifiable by the Laws of God , and of Christ .

But against this , it may be Objected :

Object . 1. Some places of Scripture suppose such a Punishment as perpetual Imprisonment ; as , When the Unmerciful Servant in the Gospel , to whom his Lord had Forgiven all , threw his Fellow Servant into Prison : And , M●… ult . 〈…〉 Lu●… ult . 〈…〉 When Christ advises us to agree with our Adversary , while we are in the way , lest we are cast into Prison ; and adds ; I tell thee , Thou shalt not come out thence , until thou hast paid the last Mite .

Answ . This no more proves the Lawfulness of perpetual Imprisonment , than the Parable of the Talents does the Lawfulness of Usury , so severely forbidden among the Jews : But in that Parable , Mat . 18. Christ provides against all such unmercifulness in Creditors ; except they are first able to pay all their Debts to God , or are willing to be kept in his Prison till they can , they must exercise the same Mercy to their Debtors they so much want , and must beg one day of God .

In this other , Christ only borrows from the custom of Heathen Nations ( which might possibly have crept in among the Jews , as some other things did , by Living under the Laws of Heathen Princes ) an Illustration of the Divine Severity , from Merciless Creditors : But that Severity falls only upon those who will not accept the Offers of Free Forgiveness , upon the terms of Repentance ; which God , as our Grand Exemplar of Mercy , most Liberally offers . And indeed , It is only the Prerogative of Gods Supream Justice , to Imprison to Perpetuity the Refractory to all his terms of Mercy .

Human Justice cannot Punish so high : Where the Crime is not worthy of Death , there God requires all Exercises of Mercy , and that Indispensibly .

There is one Case only possibly allowable , and that is , of such Irreconcilable Enmity to Government , or publick Weal , that a Person hath deserved not to be trusted with his Liberty , as justly suspected to use it only to common Mischief : But because this can no way be Imputed to common Debtors , I will not further consider it .

Object . 2. It may be said , The Laws of God do not intend the overthrow of Human Commerce ; but the Denial of this Power of Perpetual Imprisonment on the Insolvent Debtor , would overthrow such Commerce : For without this Awe and Terror over Men , there would be no Care in the Debtor to Pay , nor willingness in Men of Ability , to Lend or Trust ; and either way , Civil-Commerce would be Destroyed .

Answ . Nay , but from hence it is certain , This Power of Perpetual Imprisonment is not necessary to Civil Commerce , seeing the Law of God doth Allow and Encourage that ; and yet doth in all his Laws , Dis-allow and Discountenance this Unmerciful Power of Perpetual Imprisonment .

Now , seeing it is certain , He understands Better than Man himself does , what is necessary to Civil Commerce , and yet Dis-allows such a Power ; It certainly follows , There are other Measures and Methods of securing Civil Commerce , without such a Power of Imprisonment : It behooves therefore all Religious Legislators and Governours , professing the Religion of God , and Jesus Christ , ( as Blessed be God ours do ) to Retrench that Power , and to search out those other Means of preserving Civil Commerce , more pleasing to God ; which are doubtless not so hard to be found , but that , That Wisdom , by which Kings Reign , and Princes Decree Justice , will easily lead them to it .

And it ought duly to be apprehended , lest by Laws and Powers so offensive to God , provoking his Wrath and Judgments , Civil Commerce be much more Endangered , and the Souls of Creditors ( as well as Debtors ) endangered by a too great Care for their Worldly Estates ; without considering , how little that Man is profited , who Gains by this Unmerciful Power , most often none of the World , and yet loses his own Soul by it ; for which , even the whole World is too poor an Exchange .

Object . 3. But many Debtors are able , and yet not willing to pay their Debts ; and nothing but this Power of Perpetual Imprisonment will Extort the Discovery of secret and fraudulent Conveyances , or other secret ways of securing what they have , out of the Reach of Law and their Creditors ; and to Imprison such unconscionable Debtors , is neither against the Justice nor Mercy of Divine Laws , but most Consonant thereunto .

Answ . This Case of the Ability of Debtors to pay their just Debts , and Unwillingness to do it , may be very Righteously Punished with Imprisonment , if the matter of Fact can be proved , as in all other Cases ; and upon due Proof , the Justice and Wisdom of Legislators and Judges , is able to determine in this , as in all other such Cases ; for it is the Insolvent Debtor , ( that if , through Inability , truly so ) or he who will do to the utmost he can , for whom this Plea is designed .

But the perpetual Imprisonment of such Insolvents to Explorate , whether they are able or not , is more Cruel than the Torture or Wrack to find out Crimes , otherwise hidden and unproved ; for this Imprisonment continues them upon the Torture , till Death it self , even when they have endured the Torture , and suffered the Wrack in the midst of many Extremities , years together .

And yet the Law of God , and of this Nation , countenances no other way of Proceedings , but by Proof and Testimony ; nor is any other accountable , according to the Reason , Justice , and Mercy of Divine Laws , which is the thing which ought to be shewn , and I hope , is shewn .

Object . 4. It may be yet urg'd : Allowing this Perpetual Imprisonment , to be disapproved by the Laws of God , and of Christ ; yet there was a Power the Creditor had to seize not only the Persons of Debtors , and to use or sell them as Slaves , but also their Wives and Children , that Payment might be made ; as appears 2 Kings 6.1 . Matth . 18.25 . But this is a severity so great , that Imprisonment is indeed great Mercy , compared with it .

Answ . 1. We may take notice from that piece of Sacred Story , such an Indebted Insolvency may be the Case of a Man fearing God ; for the Woman spoken of , viz. the Wife of a Son of the Prophets , appeals to the Prophet Elisha , that her Husband so dying , feared the Lord ; which is a great Argument for Mercy and Compassion to such , and not to deal with them as Persons of no Religion .

Answ . 2. The Law of God before Expressed , allowed only in such Cases , to use them as hired Servants , and not to Sell or Inslave them ; and they were to be so us'd but till the Seventh year , the Year of the Lords Release ; so that , the use of hired Servants upon fair Allowances to their Service , and that Service not Slavish , but Ingenuous , according to their Education , and abilities of Mind and Body , and for such a limited time , is much greater Mercy than perpetual Imprisonment : What ever then exceeded this , was perfect Degeneracy from the Religion of the God of Israel , and highly provoking to Him ; as appears Jer . 34. And yet the Mercy , the Gospel requires , is much greater than what the Jewish Constitution required ; and the Indignation of Christ , much greater against Unmercifulness , as appears in this very Instance , Mat . 18.

CHAP. II .

Against the Law of Man , and the most Antient and Fundamental Common-Laws of this Kingdom .

IT is evidently and undeniably plain , That by the Antient Common Law of the Land , the Bodies of the People of England could not be Arrested , Imprisoned , or Outlawed for Debt or Dammages , ( or any thing thereunto relating ) at the Suit of any Subject ; as clearly appears , not only by our Antient Laws , but by the Two great Sages of the Law , R. fo . 12. 3. 305 Ch . 〈…〉 . the Lord Chief Justice Coke , and the Lord Dyer ; as also by Magna Charta , that great Expositor of our Antient Laws ; and was in Affirmation of the said Antient Common-Laws , and with great and wary Circumspection , provided against the said Imprisonment : and not only not so much as thought on , before the Conquest ; but was abhorred , in the least , to be Practised from that time , and the time of the Birth of that Explanatory Law , M. ( which was in the Ninth Year of the Reign of Henry the Third ) until many Ages after ; there being variety of great , weighty and pregnant Reasons for the preservation of that greatest Liberty and Priviledg of the Subject , ( the freedom of their persons from Imprisonment . ) And as well those Antient Laws before the Conquest , as the Laws until the making the great Charter , and Sixty Years after , were in that particular ( with all studious and sedulous Care ) inviolably observed , as an eminent and signal Badge of the Immunity and Heroick Freedom of the English Nation , who were then deservedly called ( Libera Gens ) and lived so , and in so great and happy splendor , to the Envious Admiration of the rest of the Christian World , and to the Eternal Honour of their and our Ancestors , without being subject to any such Imprisonment , not only at the time of William the Conquerors Reign , ( which was above Twenty Years ) but 194 years after his Death ; until the Statute of Westminster the Second , made in the 13th year of the Reign of King Edward the First , West 〈…〉 13. E●… invented a Capias , and a new Process of Outlawry ; which from that time was full so many years . And altho' the Statute of 52. Hen . 3. was the first that ever made any English-mans Person subject to such Arrest ; yet that was only against Bayliffs of particular Lords , and no great stress can be laid thereon ; But that breach and inrode being once made into , and upon the Common Law , that gave Incouragement to the unhappy Production of another Statute made in the 25. year of the Reign of King Edward 3. cap . 17. by which it was Enacted , That such Process should be made in Debt , and detinue of Chattels , and by Process of Exigent , as was then used in Writs of Account ; which were two such keen Laws , that they not only invaded , but cut in sunder the choicest Liberty of the Subject , by submitting the Persons of the then Free-born People of England , to the cruelty of Imprisonment for Debt and Damages : But the same wise King Edward 3. of whom the Lord Chief Justice Coke , in his Second Institutes , fol. 29. gives this Character , That King Henry 2. Edward 1. and Edward 3. were all Princes of great Fortitude , Wisdom , and Justice , Co. 2.29 . that Governed by their Laws ; but that in the Reign of King Edward 3. the Laws did principally Flourish : Who saith , He was a Noble , Wise , and Warlike Prince . This prudent Prince , looking deliberately into the Wounds those Statutes had given to the Honour and Happiness of the Kingdom , and to that Antient and most Venerable part of the Common-Law , which preserved his Subjects Persons from Imprisonment , and the very many Kings Reigns and Ages , which that Glorious and Famous Liberty had prosperously continued , without the least interruption ; And , as it is presumed , repenting himself of the making of the said bitter Statute of the 25. Year of his own Reign ; and he and his Parliament finding the mischievous inconveniencies and dishonour , that it had put upon the People ; and resolving to file off those Shackles from off the Subjects feet , and to re-invest them into the Liberty and Freedom of their Persons from Imprisonment , according to the Common-Law of the Land , by that gracious healing Statute made in the 42. Year of his Reign , did , in the Opinion of many , ( and by the general Constructions of Law , and the Intendment thereof ) Repeal those two raizormetled , and rigorous cutting Laws , of Imprisoning Mens Persons for Debt , as aforesaid ; wherein it is declared , That the great Charter should be holden and kept in all points ; and if any Statute be made to the contrary , that it should be holden for none ; which last mentioned Statute was according to common Construction , and intended fully to restore the brightness and lustre of the Antient Common-Law ; and to support and maintain the vigor of that Standard of Law and Justice ( the great Charter , ) which not only asserts his Majesties just Rights , and Prerogative Royal , but defends and preserves the Freedom and just Liberties of the People ; which , as the same Author , in his Preface to his Second Institutes , saith , Hath been confirmed by 32 Acts of Parliament : And not only so ,

But the setting up and creation of the great number of Offices and Officers , and the herds of Persons which those most severe Laws , ( Westminster the 2. and 25. Edw . 3. ) had most advantageously preferred , almost in every City , Town , and Village of the Kingdom ; had so fixed , fastened , and rivited ; and many of them Men of very great and eminent Quality and Interest , in places of great and tempting Gain ; which had made so great an Impression upon the Minds of that prevalent and powerful part of the Kingdom , who had thereby plentifully Inricht themselves , that notwithstanding the said Statute of 42. Edw . 3. so intentionally composed , for manumitting of the people of England , as well from the Thraldom of a Prison , as otherwise to preserve their Liberty , they went on to Imprison the Bodies of the Subjects ; which hath ever since been practised , not only by vertue of those two Laws of Westminster 2. and 25. Edw . 3. but that of Acton Burnel , and the Statute De Mercatoribus , touching Arrests upon Statute Merchant and Staple , and by other Laws built upon them ; which , contrary to the Antient Common Law , doth plainly continue the Invasilation of Imprisonment against , and upon all the Free-born Subjects of England ( except the Lords ; ) and they in some Cases conceived not to be Exempt . For if a Nobleman be Outlawed ( it 's holden ) he may be Arrested and Imprisoned ; and until the Outlawry is Reversed , is not only incapable to sit in the House of Peers , but all his Personal Estate is forfeited , and his Lands in the same condition with any other Subject : So that it 's indisputably clear , how great an Intrenchment the Imprisonment of Mens Persons is upon the Honour of the Antient Common-Law ; of which , as the Lord Chief Justice Coke saith , The Great Charter is but Declaratory ; and as a late Author , of good Authority , saith , Did not Grant any thing De Novo , but that thereby our Antient Laws and Liberties were only Repeated and Confirmed : And indeed , all those our Ancestors maintained , not only with Indefatigable prudential care and industry , but the vast expence of Blood and Treasure : Witness the more than 20. years intestine Bloody Civil-War , in the Reign of King John ; and in the end , the Confirmation of those Laws and Liberties , by the same King , in the face of the Nobility , and other the great Men of the Kingdom , and of an infinite multitude of other the free people of England ; as saith Britton : Brit . 〈…〉 219. So that there wants nothing to make it fully demonstrable by our Ancestors Magnanimity , and resolved Courage , in maintaining the Antient Common-Law , but that they and their Posterity were not only established in their Just Rights , but were preserved from such Imprisonment for Debt and Dammages , or any thing relating thereunto , 214. years after the Norman Conquest ; which now is inflicted upon many Thousands of his Majesties good Loyal and Faithful Subjects , to the utter Ruin of them , their Families , and Relations ; whilst those who have lined their Iron Consciences with nothing but their Profit , and their Chests throughout , with the Wealth of the Kingdom , which they have gotten by the late unhappy Differences and Troubles , smile to see those who have Sacrificed their Bloods , nay , themselves and theirs , in and to his Majesties faithful Services , pent up by many of them in disconsolate and loathsome Prisons , and thereby made useless Nothings to the World and Themselves : Whereas , if we cast our Eyes back into the Reigns of the Saxon Kings , we shall find , that those Martial , Wise , and Wary Princes , King Ina , King Ethelston , and after them all the Saxon Kings , according to the Antient British Laws , were so very tender of the Imprisonment of Mens Persons , that they did not punish their very Bondmen with it . And King Alfred displaced and Imprisoned one of his Judges , for daring so to do ; and when the Government devolved , and came to the Normans , William the Conqueror , William Rufus , and Henry the First , took such exact care to preserve this Liberty un-infringed , that in their Reigns , not any Person was Imprisoned , ( altho for Mortal Crime it self ) unless he were first Attainted upon the Verdict of 12. Men : And Additional to all this , many Ages after the Conquest , by the Antient Common-Law , the Writ De Odio & Atia , was given to a Man that was Imprisoned ; altho for a heinous Crime , ( the Death of a Man ) yet the Law in that Golden Age , in favour , and out of an high Esteem it had of the Liberty of a Man , and that his Body should not be detained in Prison until the Justices in Eyre should come , he might Sue out this Writ directed to the Sheriff ; and altho' the Offence for which he was committed , was not Baylable by Law , Bract 121. yet the Antient Common-Law did so highly hate and abominate the long Imprisonment of Men , that it gave him this Writ for his Relief ; which appears by Bracton in his Third Book , and by Fleta in his First Book ; 〈…〉 21. 〈…〉 14 〈…〉 c . 3. 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 c . 5. and with whom also , Glanvil in his 14 Book : And the Mirrour of Justice , a Book of great Antiquity and Estimation in the Law , as well as the Books before cited , Chap. 5. Sect . 1. complains of the Imprisonment of Mens Persons , as an abuse , altho' it hath been for breaking of a Goal . Now , for that it is clear as the Light , how highly valuable and dearly precious the Liberties of Mens Persons were by the Common-Law of the Land ; it is in most humble and submissive manner proposed , That as well for the general good of all his Majesties Subjects , as for Prisoners , the Antient Common-Law may be restored , and that great Liberty of the Freedom of all the Subjects of England and Wales , for Debt and Dammages , may , by the Grace and Favour of His Majesty , and of both his Honourable Houses of Parliament , be again retrieved , and brought back with Honour to the People of this Kingdom ; and that the Antient Forms and Ways for recovery of Debts , may be ( as for several hundreds of Years it was ) by Original Writ , Distress Infinite , Fieri Facias , and Levari Facias ; and as , by the Antient Common-Law , it continued with great and happy Peace and Tranquility , for such great length of time , as aforesaid : And certainly , great Reason it is , that it should be so , all Debts and Damages being properly to be had out of the Estate of the Debtor , and not his Person . 〈…〉 . R . 〈…〉 12. It 's said by the Lord Chief Justice Coke , in his 3. Report . fol. 11 , 12. That the Common-Law hath and had its Foundation laid and Built upon the true grounds of Reason : And that being granted , as of necessity it must , then it will consequently follow , That it were an Act of as much Honour , as Justice , to restore to the People of England , the Possession of the Inheritance and Birth-rights , which they all have , in and to her Antient Common Laws of England , and of which they have so long and unhappily been Disseized ; who indeed have too long already Groaned under the very miserable Alteration hereof , by such the Imprisonment of Men , as aforesaid : And indeed , the very large , vast , and sufficiently-known great Prudence , truly-wise Apprehensions , and Princely Compassion of his late Majesty , King Charles the First , that Blessed Martyr , towards his Subjects , were such , that it is eminently known , that had not the late unhappy Civil Wars prevented it , the bent of his full Resolutions were , to have intimated his Recommends to the Parliament , for the discharge of all Prisoners for Debt or Damages ; and the absolute taking off of all Arrests and Outlawries , upon some reasonable Compensation to be made for the Emoluments , that thereby came to his Crown ; which was then hoped , would have gone under no great difficulty to have been done ; and is now with as great facility and ease , as is conceived by the Wisdom of the Parliament , to receive a full and perfect Consummation : And as his said late Royal Majesty , King Charles the First , was pleased to say , in the Court of the highest Injustice the Christian World ever knew , That he thought he understood the Laws of England , as well as any Gentleman of his Kingdom , whose Profession it was not ; So by this Intentional Act of His , ( had it succeeded ) he had made it fully and clearly evident to all his People , that by restoring the Antient and known Law of the Land herein to its Pristine and Original just Strength and Vertue ; he would thereby as well have compelled their Ignorance , to understand with how great and profound Knowledge in the very Antient Laws of the Kingdom , as the more Modern , he was largely and plentifully furnished , as by his Uninthrawling , new and fresh Enfranchizing his Subjects therein , and by calling them , and his and their Antient Laws , out of the Dark Caves and Dens of Prisons , where for so great length of Time they had lain Sepulchred together .

And truly , It is a Solicism , that may be justly thought on , that the Law , which is so kind and merciful to Mens Horses , as to take Provisional care to Inlarge them ; that yet Mens Persons should be retained in Durance , under a Perishing condition ; nay , and without as much as any definitive Time , by Law set for their Releasment ; and for Years , that may tell steps to the last end of their Lives ; there to melt and burn out their Time , by a kind of every days Death . And it can in no sort be doubted , but that Wise and Prudent Men will seriously and deliberately perpend and consider , that this is the case of almost every English Subject ; for let him be crammed with never so much Wealth , yet he knows not , nor is it possible for him to know , or foresee , how soon he may be in a Prison himself ; or if not in Prison himself , yet his Widow , Child or Children , near and dear Relations , Kindred , or Intimate Friends . And notwithstanding all this , so miserable is the condition of a Prisoner for Debt , that if he wants Money or Credit to satisfie the extravagant and unjust demands of Keepers and Goalers ; or if he appears in any manner to oppose them therein , or make any Complaints against them , ( as there is , and hath been too much cause ) he is presently clapt into the Common-Side , or Wards , and there lives a Life more deplorable and miserable than a Highway-man or Robber ; for they are , in some short time , brought to their Tryal ; and generally , by the King's Mercy , Transported beyond Seas ; whereas a Prisoner for Debt , though never so Honest or Just , must spend his Days and Estate , without any Limitation of Time , to gratifie the Humor and Malice of a Merciless Creditor .