A BRIEF DISCOURSE Made by Capt. ROBERT NORWOOD on Wednesday last, the 28 of January, 1651. in the Upper-Bench-Court at WESTMINSTER:  
With some Arguments by him then given, in defence of himself, and prosecution of his Writ of Error by him brought upon an Indictment found and adjudged against him upon the Act against Blasphemy, at the Sessions in the Old Bailie, London, in August last.  
Some small Addition, by way of Illustration, is made, to what was then delivered; but nothing as to the substance of the matter.  
He is to appear again in the same Court on Wednesday next in the morning, being the 3 of February; where also one M. Tany, who was joined in the same Indictment and Judgement, having not yet made his Defence, is to appear, and make his Defence also.  
The Arguments may deserve some consideration: the strength and weight of them I submit to the judgement of All, and the whole matter to the inspection of the sage and judicious.  
Imprinted at London, February. 1. 1652.   

A DISCOURSE made by Captain ROBERT NORWOOD.  
My Lord,  
I Shall presume by your Honour's favour, in the pursuance of my own right, to speak a few words to those three particulars assigned by my Counsel for Error in the Indictment framed against me. I know the business hath already been tedious and troublesome enough to your Lordship and the Court; but it hath been much more so to me, and extreme chargeable also: nay, my Lord, it hath hazarded my utter ruin. I shall be very brief: and if in any thing I shall transgress the rules of Reason and Moderation, I shall readily receive a check from your Lordship.  
TThe first error signed by my Council, is, that two should be put in one Indictment, their charge being several.  
That it is error, I shall make manifest, thus:  
First, the one is made uncapable of his defence according to Law, by traverse, Writ of error, or otherwise, without the consent of the other; for 'tis his Indictment as well as mine: and thereby have I a manifest injury done me, which the Law allows not; and hereby is one Law made to thwart, contradict, and fight against another; and my right in the Law is wholly taken away, and destroyed, by this joint Indictment; I being hereby cut off from making my legal defence, without the approbation and consent of the other; for he is every way jointly interested with myself, by this joint Indictment. The Law saith, You may traverse, or bring your Writ of error, without the consent, concurrence, or hindrance of any; but this joint Indictment saith, No; you shall not, except the other party will consent and agree also: and if he will never consent, I must never have the benefit of that remedy for making my defence which the Law allows me.  
Secondly, Again, suppose I have his consent and approbation; yet if the other be either unwilling or unable as to the charge, I must be at the clarge of the whole; when as perhaps 2 l. might bear the charge of what is laid down against me, 25 will not bear the charge of taking out, transfering the Records, and the like. And hereby is a most great and manifest injury and wrong done and committed: for he who hath 5 l. may not have 10 l. or 25: and here by becomes it most unjust and illegal, to put another man's burden upon my back; contrary to the very end of the Law, which in all things is to save, not to destroy; yet hereby am I destroyed, though through no fault or failing of my own.  
Thirdly, One may be found guilty, the other not: yet he that is guiltless, must be forced to bear the charge of him that is guilty. Many other inconveniencies necessarily arise from hence, which your Lordship is better acquainted withal then myself.  
Fourthly, The fourth is that which Judge Nicols the last Term rightly and truly observed; and that was this: That the Judgement given upon that Indictment must be falls: for the Indictment being joint, the Judgement must be joint also: and the Judgement given according to the Act, is, that we must remain Prisoners after the expiration of the time limited in the Act, until we have given security for our good behaviour for 12 months after: And, as Judge Nicols then observed, in case the one party could not or would not find Sureties at the time, yet must the other remain Prisoner until he can or will: if he never will or can, that other must ever remain Prisoner, at least, until his death. Thus of necessity must there be and is a falls and erroneous Judgement passed, centrary to the Act, upon this joint Indictment; and there by the true intent of the Law, and so the Law itself, destroyed.  
Something your Lordship observed the last day, which I neither very well heard, nor understood: But, as I take it, it was of two being jointly indicted for Perjury. My Lord, if it were Perjury of one and the same kind; in one and the selfsame matter, and no subsequent act to be performed by them afterwards, wherein there is necessarily required the concurrence of the other, and without which the other cannot perform what by the Judgement in Law he is bound to do; then perhaps in some sense it might be good: But, my Lord, my case is otherwise; for I must still remain Prisoner by that Judgement, when I have performed what by the Judgement in Law, I for my part am enjoined; and that until he have done so also: and by this means, a false or wrongful Imprisonment must of necessity be sustained by me: and I shall not need to tell your Lordship how tender the Law is of imprisoning any; it allows imprisonment only in extraordinary cases, for extraordinary ends: The special care and provision made as to Liberty, is even to be admired; and how great a penalty the Law inflicts for false imprisonment, no less than 5 l. an hour. Besides, my Lord, Reason is a surer and better ground then bare Precedent: for Reason carries light with it; bare Precedent is dark, therefore deceitful. And verily my Lord, it were much for your Honour, nay for your own and your posterities safety and happiness, that the Law were made to speak, and give forth its entire unity, and simple integtity; and not made thus to clash against itself. My Lord, the next thing signed by my Counsel for error, is, that the Indictment throughout is supplied with these words [meaning so and so:] as thus: He spoke such words, meaning so and so, as it's laid down in the Indilement. You know, my Lord, all Inditements ought to be positive & certain; how else can a certain, positive, and true Judgement be given? For, my Lord, upon an uncertain thing, you cannot possibly, in any case, fix a certain and positive Determination and Judgement: and, in truth, when any other fixes or puts a meaning upon my words, they then cease to be mine, and become indeed and properly his, who gave or fixed that meaning unto them: they are in truth his invention or imagination, and none of my words. And we know how familiar it is to mistake men, not only in their words, but their writings also; and then am I condemned for another man's words, or upon the bare fancy or imagination of another; which the Law by no means allows; and I hope this Court will be so far from justifying the truth and legality hereof, that it will manifest, by some more than ordinary way, the horrible vileness and illegality of such a proceeding against any: For if this once be allowed, a floodgate is set open to all malice and envy, to vent itself upon any whom it hath a mind to destroy: none may preach, none dispute, no nor so much as converse one with another. And if this be not destructive to humane society, I know not what is.  
The third and last is, that there is not one thing in the whole Indilement charged against me, comes within the compass of the Act by which I was tried, Judged, and condemned.  
That which Judge Asks on Saturday seemed to be unsatisfied in, whether it came within the compass of the Act or no, was this; where it's said that I should say the soul is of the essence of God; which charge is also supplied with these words, meaning the soul of men and women. Now, my Lord, there are other Creatures which have souls, besides men and women; there are celestial as well as terrestrial Creatures: and God himself in Scripture is said to have a soul: it's said that he repent that he made man, and it grieved him at the heart, or soul (for so the original word Kevah signifies.) But suppose I should mean it of the souls of men and women; it remains to be proved that it is a mere Creature: I dare not say it: for, first, we all say the soul is immortal; and if immortal, than no mere Creature: for every mere creature is subjected unto death. And the spirit was breathed into man after he was made; it's said, God made man, and then breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul. The best interpreters read it thus: And it became his life, or his soul. And there is in man not only a Vegetative soul or spirit, but a Sensitive also; and not only a Vegetative and Sensitive, but a Rational Soul or spirit also, yea, and a divine Soul; else could he not see or know divine things: for nothing can possibly see or know beyond its own sphere, beyond its own nature or property. And it's said, Exceeding great and precious promises are given to us, that thereby we may be partakers of the divine nature. And let any man prove that which is there said to be breathed into man, which I call the soul, to be a mere creature, and I am content not only to suffer 12 Months more imprisonment, but forseit my estate also; provided, if he do not, he may suffer but 6 months' imprisonment, in the same place and manner Tany hath done.  
But again, my Lord, suppose it were a mere creature; yet is it not said in the Indictment that I said it was very God, or that it is Infinite, or Almighty; or in honour, excellency, majesty, and power, equal with the true God: which I must have avowedly said, to have made me guilty of the breach of that Act. No man ought to draw inferences, make consequences, or conclusions, from penal Acts, especially an Act of this nature, so strictly bounded as this is: It must be a mere creature that must be avowedly said to be very God; it must not be of things disputable; neither may any man stretch out or tenter the Law, to make an offender; but the Law must plainly and evidently see, know, and find him so: All Inditements ought clearly and fairly to answer the letter of the Act; even as a pair of Indentures answer each other. And the words in the Act immediately following, (where its said, that whoseover shall say that the true God, or the Eternal Majesty, dwells in the Creature, and nowhere else) strongly imply, nay fully grant and conclude, that the true God, or the Eternal Majesty, doth dwell in the creature. Then how he dwells in that creature, but as the very alone life and soul of it, I would feign understand from any. So that I am hereby so far from being found a breaker of the Act, that (if duly considered and examined) the Act itself is a proof for, and justification of my say.  
The Act runs thus: That he who shall avowedly speak, or by writing proceed to affirm, that, as aforesaid, any mere creature is very God; and not not he who shall say the Soul is of the essence of God, shall suffer so and so, as is therein expressed.  
I shall give the judgement and opinion only of one Gentleman in the point, though I could produce thousands; and that is of M. Francis Rous a present Member of this present Parliament: I shall given you his own express words, as you shall find them in his book entitled, The Mystical Marriage: he faith the Soul came or was breathed into man from God, is of a divine and heavenly essence, or of the essence of God.  
In the very beginning of it, these are his words: I was, saith he, (speaking of the Soul) first breathed from heaven; I came from God; I am divine and heavenly in my orginal, in my essence, in my character, therefore my happiness must be divine and heavenly: for to a divine and heavenly essence, can agree no other but a divine and heavenly happiness. In the 25 page of his book, he calls the Soul the noble and divine essence which was breathed into man even from Gods own mouth. In the 24 page, he hath it thus: It is then a right, kindly, and blessed marriage, when the derived spirit (speaking of the Soul) marries with the original and root of spirits. In the 45 page, speaking of Christ, he speaks thus: When he gave light and glory, heauty and joy to the creature, he left the root thereof in himself: so he did leave more in himself, than he gave out of himself: for an internal, infinite fountain, hath infinitely more in it then all the streams that even issued from it.  
And in the next place, my Lord, he that shall speak or write, as aforesaid, that there is neither Heaven nor Hell, neither Salvation nor Damnation, is condemned by that Act; and not he who shall only say there is noble nor domnation, as in the Indictment it's said I should say: for that a man may truly and really say, yea and affirm too, and that according to the Scriptures; for there is not to him who is in Christ: there is no contlemnation to such, than no hell: so likewise there is no salvation, and so no heaven; to any one of Christ; for, as the Scripture testifies, he who believes not, is condemned already; so that the disjunctive denial of either, is neither contrary to the Act, nor the Scriptures themselves; wherefore it is, that they are well and truly laid down in the Act conjunctively: and for any one to make that a disjunctive; which the Parliament, from true and due grounds in Scripture, hath made so plain and visible a conjunctive, is to obtrude another Law upon the people, than the people in Parliament have ordained and enacted to and for themselves; and to give forth any other Law then the People in Parliament ordain, enact, or appoint, or the same Law in any other terms, is a far higher degree of Treason then to coin another metal than is by them ordained and appointed, or the same metal with any other stamp. As it then ceases to be the State's Coin, when another stamp is put upon it, and becomes his or theirs who gave or fixed another stamp upon it; even so the Law ceases to be the peoples in Parliament, and becomes his or theirs who gives it forth in other terms than they have done: neither may or ought the people to receive it in any other terms, or with any other stamp, than the Parliament hath given. Hence it is, that no Parliament ever yet allowed any to interpret their Acts; themselves only are and can be interpreters of their own Acts. Therefore, whosoever shall put his own or anyother man's sense or interpretation upon any penal Stature as in this case, and pass Judgement & Sentence upon the same, doth thereby make himself guilty of treason; for he tries, judges, passes sentence, and condemns, not by, in, and from the right, power, and law of the people in Parliament, but in, from, and by his own right and power; and therein and thereby is the Legislator to, and so King of the People and Parliament.  
My Lord, these things were assigned by my Counsel the last Term; for Errors; and I take my Counsel to be a man of such honour and honesty, as that he will not assign that for Error, which he will not by Law make appear to be so: I have hitherto found no other from him; and I suppose he hath proved to your Lordship and the Court, that the Indictment is wholly and altogether erroneous, and the Judgement thereupon given, false.  
My Lord, Imprisonment proves oftentimes worse than death itself; it ruins not only the particular persons imprisoned, but most commonly whole families also; and this my almost six months' imprisonment might have ruined a man of a far greater estate than myself. The Common wealth is a loser, and oftentimes is extremely prejudiced by men's imprisonment, they being thereby not only made uncapable of doing it service, either in their several occupations, employments, and callings, or other services it hath occasion to use them in; but also themselves and families are thereby made burden some to it; and the Commonwealth ever takes account of its members: therefore it is, as I said before, that the Laws have so admirably provided in the case, insomuch that it imprisons none, but such as are destructive to themselves and the Commonwealth; and it giveth liberty, upon Bail, even to Felons and Traitors; and the Law doth nothing but what it hath a reason for; therefore, as I said before, Reason is a better and surer ground then bare Precedent.  
My Lord, you know you may neither deny nor defer Justice to any: I have lain a long time since I brought my Writ of Error, and that the errors signed by Counsel were given into Court. I pray, my Lord, that nothing already done by any in this business, nor what may follow after, may have the least influence upon your Lordship and the Court; but that you will do Justice for Justice sake: He that hath not transgressed the Law, aught to have protection from and by the Law: your Lordship and the Court is more concerned herein then myself. Wherefore, my Lord, I humbly beg your Lordships and the Courts judgement and determination in the case, according to equity, Law, and good conscience; having already suffered so long an imprisonment upon a mere scandalous Paper: I cannot yet call it otherwise: for whatever Charge by way of Indictment is framed against a man, if it be not upon all accounts just, true and legal, in all the particulars of it, it cannot in truth be called other: and I suppose both the untruth and illegality, the erronousness of the Indictment, and falseness of the Judgement, is abundantly evidenced to your Lordship and the Court.  
FINIS.