CHARGE AGAINST MR. OLIVER ST. JOHN. 145 



prince that should be a violator and infringer of the 

 liberties, laws, and customs of the kingdom ; a mark 

 for an Henry the Fourth ; a match for a Richard the 

 Second. 



The second is a slander and falsification, and 

 wresting of the law of the land gross and palpable : 

 it is truly said by a civilian, t( Tortura legum pes- 

 &quot; sima,&quot; the torture of laws is worse than the torture 

 of men. 



The third is a slander and false charge of the par 

 liament, that they had denied to give to the king ; a 

 point of notorious untruth. 



And the last is a slander and taunting of an infi 

 nite number of the king s loving subjects, that have 

 given towards this benevolence and free contribu 

 tion ; charging them as accessary and co-adjutors 

 to the king s perjury. Nay, you leave us not there, 

 but you take upon you a pontifical habit, and couple 

 your slander with a curse ; but thanks be to God we 

 have learned sufficiently out of the Scripture, that 

 &quot; as the bird flies away, so the causeless curse shall 

 &quot; not come.&quot; 



For the first of these, which concerns the king, 

 I have taken to myself the opening and aggravation 

 thereof; the other three I have distributed to my 

 fellows. 



My lords, I cannot but enter into this part with 

 some wonder and astonishment, how it should come 

 into the heart of a subject of England to vapour 

 forth such a wicked and venomous slander against 

 the king, whose goodness and grace is comparable, if 



VOL. vi. J &amp;gt; 



