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his trial: necessary to his conviction is the
testimony of an individual, who has just
mounted the box. Before the oath is tendered
— "First (may it please your Lordship,)
let me ask this man a question," says the
Counsel for the Murderer. There upon comes the
dialogue. Counsel, "Sir! Do you believe in a
God?" Proposed Witness — "No, Sir, Judge" —
Away with him his evidence is inadmissible.
Out walk they, arm in arm,
Murderer and Atheist together, laughing.
Murderer, to commit some other murders,
pregnant with other fees.
Robbers in gangs go about
(suppose) and to suppress testimony,
murdering all whom they rob, and all
who are supposed by them to have seen
or to be about to see them rob. On being
taken, one of them (suppose,) turns Kings
evidence. Question by Prisoner or Prisoner's
Counsel — Do you believe in a God? Answer
in the negative: off goes the witness, and
of with him goes the prisoner. Will it be
said, that the condition, not having been
performed, that is today the procurement of
the Defendant's condition, the pardon will
not be granted and the accomplice will be
hanged? Not he indeed. No sooner does any
one of these murderers enter the Jury box than
by Judge and Co., if not an Atheist already, he
is thus converted to Atheism. The consequence
22.
of the wrong.
Fraudulently or otherwise
mendaciously false recitals in conveyances
in engagements meant to be obligatory,
(including Contracts) falshood in the
recitals of instruments, in which registration
of obligatory dealings of either of
those two Classes is performed. Newspaper
or other paper under false denominations,
printed and circulated for the purpose of influencing
the prices of public securities — all
these articles of falshood, would thus receive
a mode and degree of repression at present
unexampled and until now unconceived.
Thus intimate is the connection
between legalized swearing and
fraud: in a word, as has been seen between
this compulsorily and irresistably legalized
vice, and irmine and immorality in every
imaginable shape: with Lawyers profit
from every imaginable source.
Swear not at all! Cease to
take the name of the Lord in vain — by these
commandments, repeated every day at table,
with or without the grace before meat in
every house, — more would be done towards
the extinction of crime and immorality,
than would ever by done by preaching, though
every house were to have a pulpit in it.
How long will men continue
to seek to cause God to apply a punishment
27.
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Identifier: | JB/081/189/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 81.
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081 |
petition for justice |
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189 |
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002 |
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copy/fair copy sheet |
4 |
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recto |
c21 / c22 / c27 / c28 |
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25976 |
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