The Charge Delivered by The Right Honourable Sir James Eyre, Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas, and One of the Commissioners Named in a Special Commission of Oyer and Terminer, issued under the Great Seal of Great Britain, to Enquire of Certain High Treasons, and Misprisions of Treason, Within the County of Middlesex, to the Grand Jury, at the Session House on Clerkenwell Green, on Thursday the 2d Day of October 1794. Published at the Request of The Grand Jury; and sold by Thomas Payne, King's Mews Gate, Castle Street, Saint Martins. 1794

GENTLEMEN of the Grand Inquest, YOU are assembled under the Authority of the King's Commission, which has been issued for the hearing and determining of the Offences of High Treason and Misprisions of High Treason, against the Person and Authority of the King.That which hath given Occasion for this Commission is that which is declared by a late Statute, namely, “That a traiterous and detestable Conspiracy has been formed for subverting the existing Laws and Constitution, and for introducing the System of Anarchy and Confusion which has so lately prevailed in France;” A CRIME OF THAT DEEP MALIGNITY which loudly calls upon the Justice of the Nation to interpose, “for the better Preservation of His Majesty's Sacred Person, and for securing the Peace, and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom.”

The Charge of James Mountagu Esq; to the Grand Jury, and other Jurys of the County of Wilts: At the General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, held at the Devizes, April 26. 1720. Printed at the Request of the Grand Jury

To love the Publick, to study Universal Good, and to promote the Interest of the whole World, as far as lies within our power; is surely the Height of Goodness, and makes that Temper which we call Divine. Ld Shaftesbury's Characteristicks, vol. I. p. 37.LONDON: Printed for R. Mountagu at the Bible in Shear-Lane near Temple-Bar, and sold by Mr. Graves in St-James's Street, Mr. Bettesworth in Paternoster Row, Mr. Meadows and Mr. Brotherton in Cornhill, and Mr. Stagg in Westminster-Hall. 1720. (Price One Shilling.)Chairman of the Quarter-Sessions held at the Devizes the 26th Day of April A.D. 1720.We the Grand Jury, sworn to serve on the behalf of our Sovereign Lord the King for the Body of this County, for the present Sessions; do take the liberty to return our hearty Thanks, for your Excellent Charge: wherein you have so fully instructed [4] us, in our Duty to God, our King and Country.

IV Letters of Bolingbroke to the Earl of Orrery 1712-13

Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, was one of the Secretaries of State in Queen Anne's Tory administration of 1710–14 which sought to bring an end to the increasingly burdensome War of the Spanish Succession. Employing somewhat dubious means, he and his ministerial colleagues eventually made peace with France by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713; a treaty which paid more attention to the interests of Great Britain than to those of her allies, the Dutch and Austrians. In seeking peace at almost any price Bolingbroke and his colleagues faced a particular problem with the former Spanish territory of the Southern Netherlands (or Flanders). The Dutch were particularly interested in this territory because they hoped to secure possession of strong fortresses there which would provide them with a secure barrier against a sudden attack by the French. The Austrians, for their part, hoped to gain this territory as part of the Emperor's inheritance of former Spanish possessions. Britain herself was concerned to serve her allies in this territory at least. She also had commercial interests in Flanders and had long sought an effective barrier to French efforts to expand into the Low Countries. These concerns were reflected in Bolingbroke's correspondence with Charles, Earl of Orrery, one of his Tory friends, who was appointed in 1711 as the Queen's envoy-extraordinary to the States General in The Hague and to the Council of Flanders in Brussels. Orrery served in this capacity for most of 1711. In late 1712 he returned to these duties and served there for a further year

A Charge Given to the Grand-Jury of the County of Gloucester, at the Midsummer-Sessions, 1723

The great Infirmities of my Body forced me for some Years last past to decline all Publick Business: and tho' I am now very little better, nor indeed will my Age give me leave to expect much Amendment; yet the Desires, or rather the Commands of the Gentlemen and Freeholders, to whom I am so much in-[4] debted, are of more force than, and superiour to, my own Inclinations, and just Excuses. I am therefore once more come amongst you, and I cannot but think it probable, that in this Juncture of Affairs, you will expect and require from me some account of our present Circumstances. Give me leave therefore to look a little back: And from that Reflection I must observe to you, that out of Gratitude as well as Duty, we ought to be the most sober and religious People in the World; for there is no Nation under Heaven, that can shew so many signal, wonderful, and miraculous Preservations from the visible and immediate Hand of Providence.

I Letters of the Cliffords, lords Clifford and earls of Cumberland,c. 1500–c. 1565

Private letters are amongst the most valuable, but also least well preserved sources for the historian. Dealing with events of the moment rather than of legal consequence, there was little reason to safeguard documents whose very ephemerality was shown by the medium on which they were written (paper) and their language (English). The survival of some notable collections of fifteenth-century letters, Paston, Plumpton, Cely, Stonor, and from the 1530s, the Lisle letters, should not disguise the fact that sixteenth-century letters between individuals (as opposed to letters between central government and its local lieutenants, and vice versa) are found relatively infrequently

A Charge to the Grand Jury of the County of Glocester, Delivered at Epiphany Sessions, January 10, 1797

It gives me pleasure to acquaint you, that, on inspecting the Calendar of the Prisoners who are to take their trials at the present Sessions, I see nothing in the nature of their crimes, that requires any particular observation. The same remark may be applied to their numbers, which, [2] considering the extent and population of the county, are comparatively small. From the wise regulations and admirable system of police adopted in your places of confinement, there is reason to hope, that these unhappy persons will return home, improved in their morals; that they will, by their future behaviour, make amends for their past misconduct; that they will gradually recover the stand of virtue, and become useful members of society. These pleasing hopes are in some measure justified by experience. Few examples are to be met with in your Gaol Register of second commitments: and it is with the utmost satisfaction I announce to you, that one instance has occured of a Prisoner who, though completely abandoned on his first admission, was yet so thoroughlky reformed by your Prison discipline, as to be hired on the expiration of his confinement into a respectable family, where his behaviour during the ensuing twelvemonth was so truly meritorious, as to entitle him to that reward, which the Penitenciary Act, with no less wisdom than [B2-3] humanity, holds forth as an encouragement to returning virtue.

The Charge of Sir John Gonson Knt. to the Grand Jury of the Royalty of the Tower of London, and Liberties and Precincts thereof. At the General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace for the said Royalty, &c. held the sixteenth Day of July 1728. at the Court-House on Great-Tower-Hill

Printed at the Desire of the Justices of the Peaces for the said Royalty, and of the Grand Jury.LONDON: Printed by Charles Ackers, in Great-Swan-Alley, St. John's -Street. MDCCXXVIII.Turr & Libertat. Turr. London. } ss. Ad Generalem Quarterialem Sessionem Pacis Domini Regis tent' apud le Court-house super Towerhill magna infra Libertat' Turr' dicti Domini Regis London. Praedict' in & pro Libertat' Praedict' & Praecinct' ejusdem, Die Martis (scilicet Decimo Sexto Die Julii, Anno Regni Domini Georgii Secundi, nunc Regis Magnae Britanniae, &c. Secundo.Whereas Sir John Gonson Knight, Chairman at this General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, held for the Tower of London Liberties, and Precincts thereof, having this Day given to the Grand Jury, sworn at this present Sessions of the Peace, held for the said Liberty, a Loyal, Learned and Ingenious Charge, and tending much to the Promoting of Virtue and Religion; it is unanimously Agreed and Ordered by this Court, That the Thanks of this Court be, and the same are hereby given, to the said Sir John Gonson for such his Charge. And further, the Court desires, that he would be pleased to cause the same to be Printed.

The Third Charge of Sir John Gonson Knt. to the Grand Jury of the City and Liberty of Westminster, &c. At the General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, held the ninth Day of October 1728, in Westminster-Hall

Printed at the Desire of the Justices of the Peaces for the said City and Liberty, and of the Grand Jury.LONDON: Printed by Charles Ackers, in Great-Swan-Alley, St. John's-Street. MDCCXXVIII.Civitas, Burgas, & Villa Westm. in Com. Midd. } ss. Ad Generalera Quarterialem Sessionem Pacis Domini Regis tent' apud Westm. Pro Libertat' Decani & Capituli Ecclesiae Collegiat.beati Petri Westm. Civit', Burgi, &c Villœ Westm. in Comitat. Midd. &. Sancti Martini le Grand, London' die Mercurii sicilicet nono die Octob. Anno Regni Domini Georgii Secundi, Dei Gratiâ nunc Regis Magnae Britannia, &c secundo, coram Justiciariis, & ibidem.

Sir Richard Cocks His Charge to the Grand-Jury of the County of Gloucester, At the General Quartersessions Held for that County, April the 30th 1717. London, Printed by Samuel Palmer, and Sold by J. Roberts at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-lane. MDCCXVII (Price 3d.)

I am commanded by the King's Proclamation, to enforce and recommend to you the indispensable Obligations you lye under, of becoming a sober and religious People. It is the Interest of Princes, to make their Subjects virtuous; for by the means the End of all Laws may be answer'd, with- [A 2–4] out having recourse to severities. The Design of all human Laws is, To secure Property, to oblige Men out of fear of Penalties, to live honestly and justly, and to honour and obey their Superiors. But these can restrain no further, than the Fear and Danger of being discovered can make Impressions upon us; whereas if Men were really virtuous and good, there would be no occasion for Penalties to awe them; for no Privacy or Security whatsoever can tempt a good Man to do the least Injustice to any one, much less Acts of Violence and Oppression. As for what concerns a future State, that being properly the business of the Clergy, I will not invade their Province. But since so many of them are graciously pleased to honour this Court, and are ready upon all occasions to assist us; I will beg leave for once to take a Text out of the Bible, to be the Foundation of my following Discourse. When thou takest any matter in hand, consider the End thereof, and thou shalt never do amiss. Though upon Second Thoughts I find I had no Occasion to ask this Favour, since we have the Remark of an old Lawyer much to the same Purpose: That a wise Man begins all his Actions from the End. To illustrate this by Example. Did but Men consider the unhealthfulness, Poverty, and other ill Consequences that necessarily attend Drunkenness, they wou'd [5] not so often put their Hands with full Glasses to their Mouths. The Stat. of King James the First against this detestable Sin of Drunkenness, is very properly for your Perusal.

The Charge of William Cowper Esq; To the Grand-Jury of the City and Liberty of Westminster, &c. At the General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, held October the 7th, 1719. in Westminster-Hall. London: Printed for Charles King at the Judge's-Head in Westminster-Hall. 1719

You that are Sworn to serve upon the Grand Inquest, for the Body of this City and Liberty!The Laws of England are, undoubtedly, as the great Oracle of them, my Lord Coke, remarks, in the best, [6] most exquisite, and peculiar manner that could have been, framed and adapted for the Government of this Realm; and the frequent Occasions they give us, of Meeting, as now we do, are none of the least Proofs of the Excellency of them; the Reason thereof being for the quick and ready Distribution of Justice, which is the Soul of it, and without which it loses its very Nature.