The first Letter was found near the Court-House, in said County, directed to the Public of the County of Monmouth, en­closed with the following Verse,

PERMIT me to declare to you my deep Concern for you and myself, in regard to the present deplora­ble and afflictive Times, &c. which brings to my Mind the past heavy Burthens we have struggled through; it is but a few Years ago, when we were burthened, [Page 6]with a l [...]ng, tedious and expensive War, which drain­ed our Country in a great Measure, of both Men and Money: but as it was in Defence of our Rights and Liberties, we cheerfully struggled through the same

Secondly, we were burthened with a most Destruc­tive, alarming, and unconstitutional Act of Parliament, (to wit the Stamp Act) and that from our Mother Country, the Thoughts of which alarmed every con­siderate Breast, from the highest to the lowest Bank of People: every one calling out for Liberty and Pro­perty: The Consequence of which, was, that by a steady, firm and undaunted Resolution, in Opposition to so unconstitutional an Act; we as Freemen held our Right to Freedom, and boldly withstood the Threats, and at [...]th were heard by our Mother, our Grievance red [...]ssed, and we restored to our former Liberties.

Thirdly, We having by our good Resolutions turn­ed our the w [...]ding and devouring Serpent, and then setting ourselves down easy, and not keeping out a resolute Watch, have l [...]t in Serpents seven Times more devouring than the first (to wit L—yrs) who in their daily Practice are as Private Leaches, sucking out our very Hearts B [...]; our public Houses are p [...]p [...]r [...]d with [...] Advertisements, and we dai­ly h [...]a [...] [...] Lands and Goods sold for [...] one Fourth Part of the Va­lue, [...] is ruined, and his Family turn­ed ou [...] of [...] his whole Estate not amounting to m [...]re th [...] [...]wyer's and Sheriff's Fees, while the Cre [...] [...] hi [...] Money, and in the next Place the [...] to G [...]al, the [...]e to starve and suf­fer, [...] in the like Condition at hom [...]; the Consideration of which makes me cry out to you my Countrymen, Rouse, Rouse! and shake off your dr [...]w [...]y and stupid Delays; open your Eyes, and you will see the ruinous State of your Country, [Page 7]and say with David of old, that the Hand that deli­ver'd us out of the Paw of the Lyon and the Bear, shall he not deliver us out of the Hands of the uncir­cumcised L—yrs? We all of us complain of the Hardness of the Times, but not one of us offers to for­ward any Means to shake off the Burthen, David would never have slain the uncircumcised Philistine, had he not used Means for that Purpose; neither shall we ever overcome the ungrateful L—yrs, if we do not be­stir ourselves: Consider the daily Practice of those Gentlemen of the Law, as they Stile themselves; what extravagant Bills of Cost are made, and Escapes brought against Sheriffs, when they already have got the Man's whole Estate? We are free People, & shall we be brought to Slavery, and that by a Set of People brought up among us, who are living upon the Ruins of the Poor, and will hardly look at a common Man, when they meet him, unless they can persuade him to have an Action brought against one or another of his Neigh­bours? We were deemed a People of good Courage and undaunted Resolution, when we withstood the Stamp-Act; and shall we now give away our all to this unconscionable Set of L — yrs? No, but let us with the same manly Spirit withstand them; and first in a friendly Manner desire them to desist their unwar­rantable Practices, and if that will not take Effect, then where are all our couragious young Men? Remember the saying of Soloman of old, that Oppression maketh a wise Man mad; stand together and forbid them Prac­tising in our Court, and rid the County of such Barba­rity, and turn them out of the County. Young Men consider you are now entering the Stage of Life; the Burthen has been laid upon your Fathers, and Friends, and if you do not shake it off in Time, it will be seven Times as weighty upon your Shoulders, and so multiply from Generation to Generation; it is easier to grub up a Sapling, than to grub up an old [Page 8]Tree: My Advice to you is, to collect a Body toge­ther, and to forbid them entering the County House, except such as are concerned in Kings Business; let them with the Court proceed on such Business, and no farther; let us bear true Allegiance to our Rightful Sovereign, GEORGE the Third, whom God prosper; but not bear Allegiance to a Set of uncharitable and ungrateful L—yrs; let their Money be deemed a Curse, their Company a Disgrace, their Practice un­warrantable, the very Sight of them an Aggravation; let such who encourage them, be deemed a public Nusance, and Enemies to their Country. Those L—yrs, will tell you they do not act of themselves, but that their Clients order them, which may be the Case in Part; but consider their Practice after Judgment,—they will grant Execution against a Man's Goods and Chat­tels, Lands and Tenements, ordering the Sheriff to sell them at all Events, let it sell for what it will; the She­riff is thereby obliged to sell, to save himself; but be­fore the Sheriff can have Time to make the Money of the Man's Estate, which is due, the L—yrs will grant what they call a Casa, for the Residue; and by the Time that is returnable, they will have an Escape against the Sheriff, for not confining the Debtor to Goal, and so make a treble Bill of Cost, before the First has had Time to be settled; when the Whole comes to a Conclusion, perhaps they have not raised Money to pay one Third Part of the Cost; well then, the artful L—yr, will say to his Client, I have done all in my Power to serve you, I have been dili­gent in my Business for you, and am sorry Matters have turned out so bad, but you see I could do no bet­ter; you will be so kind as to pay the Remainder of the Cost; and then the Creditor may think himself well off it he has not above Fifteen or Twenty Pounds Cost to pay.

[Page 9] Now, I would give a Word of Advice to Creditors: You see by the above Practices of the Gentlemen of the Law, how artful they are a taking your Money from you; yea, more so than the noted Robin Hood, the great Robber; for he would do it to your Face, and let you know what he was about to do; but those Gentle­men will take it from you smiling, and telling of you a fair and plausible Story: Note, the above Case, per­haps, had the Creditors taken the Debtor's Estate, and made the best of it, he would have got his Whole Money, and the Debtor left at Freedom; but now you find the Creditor has lost his Demands, and obliged to pay a considerable Cost, and the poor Debtor in Con­finement.

So I conclude with this my Advice to you, open your Eyes, and every one see for himself and his Friend, is the Prayer, of a Friend to the Public in General.

The Second Letter was also found near the same Place, and directed as the For­mer. Enclosed with the following Verse.

MY dear Friends and Countrymen, please to con­sider the critical and most lamentable State our County of Monmouth is in, from the licen [...]ious Liberties, that the voracious L—yrs take in their Practices of the Law; and which is worse, they get their Abominations sanctified elsewhere; to the utter undoing of whole Families, (to wit) One Person was sued for Seven Pounds, on a Note; the Person paid the Sheriff, £ 16, the Sheriff told the Person that the aforesaid Sum was not sufficient for Debt and Cost, but must have Goods in Execution, which he took to treble the Value of the Debt, besides the sixteen Pounds; before the Money could be had, an Escape was brought against the Sheriff, so that the Debt and Cost, with Forty Shillings Interest, came to Twenty Five Pounds.

Another, Person was sued upon a Bond in Judg­ment, the Defendent confessed Judgment, to prevent fur­ther Cost; yet the Costs in Six Months, amounted to above Fifteen Pounds: Another Person was sued for Eight Pounds, upon a Book Debt, Judgment and Ex­ecution [Page 11]were obtained against said Person, and he died intestate; his Administrators had Twenty eight or Thirty Pounds Cost to pay to a preying Vulture, when Forty Shillings would have been full enough: Thus have we a Widow left with four or five small Children, in a lonely Cottage, almost without Bread to support Na­ture, or Clothing to keep them from the Extremity of the Cold! What a pretty Article would it have been to them in a Christian Land, that the Law should have secured the Sum, thus obtained by the above said Extortion, for the Relief of those little innocent Ones? when alas! they have now nothing left but Penury and Want.) To number or sum up the Whole of such Transactions and Extortions, that are perpetrated under Pretence of Law, is needless, since a Letter found at Freehold, in the County of Monmouth, June 21st, 1769, will fully de­monstrate the L—yrs Abominations, which, if not timely prevented, will be the Case of Hundreds of Fa­milies in this County; these crying and abominable Practices, as is set forth in the aforesaid Letter, are at this Time thoroughly known by the major Part of the County. For Heaven's Sake! Can it be thought, that the wise and merciful Creator, made a few Men to go­vern as Gods, and the rest of Mankind to be governed as Beasts? The Almighty has form'd us, to get our Bread by the Sweat of our Brow, and he that doth it not, is a useless Member, and ought to be turned out of Society, which are the L—yrs.

And now my dear Countrymen, what Heart that is human, or is not as hard as an Adamant, would not melt to hear the Distresses and Cries in our Land? and not be moved to put down such idle Drones from prac­tising, until there is a thorough Regulation in the Law? and that the Law may be made so legible, that we may do without these Drones, or may prevent them for ever from their unconscionable Practices any more! And now my brave Countrymen arise, and let us [Page 12]join in mutual Defence of each other, and against eve­ry Practitioner of the Law, and prevent them from vexing and ruining so many Hundreds, if not Thou­sands; for it seems to be the strange Policy in us, to leave the Whole Property of New-Jersey, to be disposed of by the ungodly Consciences of the petty Foggers, the L—yrs, that can't one in ten of them, plead as well as Balaam's Ass, except they are illuminated, which is im­possible.

For Prevention whereof, we the Public of said Coun­ty in general, do sincerely, absolutely, and bonefide, engage to defend ourselves and each other, in Pursuit of a thorough Regulation, against every Practitioner of the Law or his Deputy, or Substitute, that doth or shall practise in this County; and prevent their perpe­trating any Suit as aforesaid, or hereafter, in said Coun­ty, by turning him or them out of said Country, King's Business only excepted; we do hereby promise that we will not disturb such Suits, upon the Account of the Peace of Society, and good Order of Government; but do acknowledge a true and faithful Allegiance to his Majesty, GEORGE the Third, and do sincerely engage to defend him with our Lives and Fortunes; and by these Presents do hope and pray, that every true Lover of his Country, will appear early the first Day of July Term next, at Monmouth Court House, there to prevent any more of our Countrymen, and their Families from Ruin, until our Complaints be heard and our Grievances be redressed.

July 6th, 1769.

Fourthly, I shall here introduce a Third LETTER, found as aforesaid, which will add Something more to opening a View, to the Public, of the Oppressions so much complained of.

I think it is highly necessary to ac­quaint the Public, what was the moving Cause of the Opposition made by the Inhabi­tants of said County, against the Gentlemen called L—yrs; at our Court held in said County, on Tuesday the 25th July, the Inhabitants of said County, having long laboured under great Oppression, arising from some of the aforesaid Men, of which, I shall mention one Instance, tho' many more of the like Kind might be proved; one of the said Gentlemen finding that a Shop-keeper, of said County, was indebted to a Mer­chant in New-York, the said Gentleman (tho' not wor­thy of that Character) informed the Merchant, that if he did not immediately push for his Money, he would be very likely to lose it; upon which, the Creditor put the Debtor's Bond in the Lawyer's Charge; the Law­yer yer sent to the Debtor that he had such a Bond, and that if he did not put Bonds and Accounts in his Hands sufficient to discharge the Debt, that he must immedi­ately sue him; upon which the Debtor put between 40 and 50 Bills of Accounts, in said Lawyer's Hands, by an Agreement, that they should not be sued upon, until after the next Court; but the ungrateful Lawyer, violated the Agreement, and before the Court, granted Writs for all the above cited Bills and Accounts, and also for the Shop-keeper himself; this with many such like Practices might be prov'd.

[Page 17] The Second Oppression arising from the said Gentle­men, is the many unwarrantable Bills of Costs made by many of them, which was fully prov'd, at the Court aforesaid; the Inhabitants under the aforesaid Oppressi­ons, were determined to shew the Court, their Disappro­bation of such Proceedings; upon which the Court, with the Public, agreed upon amicable Terms, and all Animosities to be laid aside; but by a misunderstand­ing of some Persons, when the Court was called, said Persons pretended still to oppose the said Lawyers, which caused some considerable Confusion for a few Mi­nutes, but when fully understood by both Sides was also dropped for the Present; I mention the above Pro­ceedings of the aforesaid Gentlemen, and also the Pro­ceedings of the Court, to shew the Creditors of the People in said County, that it was not with a Design to defraud them, but that it was much the contrary. Af­ter the above Commotions, a few Bills of Costs were laid before the Court, off of which, there were above one Hundred Pounds docked; if my Information be right, there is so much saved for Creditors, and I doubt not, but in the Term of a few Years, it will prove, that there will be many Thousands of Pounds saved for the Use of Creditors as aforesaid.

Fifthly, I shall farther introduce [...] LETTER, found as aforesaid [...] will shew where the Lawyers' Ab [...]mi [...] ­tions get Sanctity, as set forth [...] the Second LETTER, before [...], &c.
Directed to the PUBLIC of the County of Mon­mouth.

GENTLEMEN, I being a Spectator at your Court, of July Term last, and there seeing the great Tumults, that were made in opposition to the Gentlemen, called Lawyers, put me to a Consideration, were the Abo­minations there so much complained of, against said Law­yers, might arise from, upon which I put myself in the Way of Discourse, with a worthy Gentleman, who I knew was well versed in the Business of Courts, and what they were erected for, who I shall introduce under the borrowed Name of Moderator.

WHERE did our Courts of Quarter Session, first take Rise from?

Our gracious Sovereign, Charles the Se­cond. having the Good of his Subjects much at Heart, he with his Council, first granted Commissions for Courts to be held throughout his Dominions, for the Safeguard of his People; so that every County and Shire, should have Judges, and Courts, among them­selves, to hear and redress the Grievances of his Peo­ple, to which every Subject had free Recourse, and there to be heard.

Were there any Lawyers to appear in said Courts, to open the Laws to said Judges?

No, their Judges were not deemed worthy of that Honourable Commission, until they were fully versed in the Law, and likewise Men that were so well grounded in their Principles, as not to be swayed or controuled by any Solicitor whatsoever.

What was the Consequences, if they should be swayed by the Influence of a Solicitor, so as to deviate from the true Intention of said Courts?

In Honour to so worthy a Commission, they were publickly made an Example of, and their Com­missions taken from them, and they never deemed worthy of bearing a Commission again, under his Ma­jesty.

Do we not hold our Courts under the same Com­mission the People of England did, and yet do?

Yes. our Sovereign's Laws for holding Courts, extend as far as he has any Subjects to hold Courts, and that under the same Discipline as they are and were held in England.

Are the Lawyers Members of that Honoura­ble Court?

No, they are not Members of the Court.

What then is their Business in the Courts, and where do they get their Licence from, for acting in said Courts?

The Lawyers first obtained a Licence from our Governor, to appear in the Courts, to act for the People, there to open the Complainers Cause to the Court, so that the Court may have a full Apprehension of the Complaint to them made, so that they do Justice to the Subjects.

Then the Lawyers are Subjects to the Court, and are liable to be brought to Justice, if they act against the true Tenor of the Law?

Surely they are liable to be [...] brought to the Barr, for acting the least [...] [...]y to the Law.

How comes it then the Lawyers [...] [...] ­plained of in your County, are not brought to [...]

It is my Opinion that the Judges [...] be blamed for the great Oppression complaine [...] [...]g the People, than the Lawyers; for the Law [...] [...] as all other Mechanics, they endeavour to get [...] Bu­siness they can, and when they have got the Business, to make all the Profits by it possible, to support them in their luxurious Way of living.

Have not the Judges Power to dock the Law­yer's and Sheriff's Fees, if they take more than the Law allows them.

Yes, and they are bound by Oath, to do so according to Law.

I understand that there were some Bills of Costs that had been taxed by one of the Judges of your Court, brought before said Court, and there docked of near one Third; then where was that Judge's Oath?

Indeed I cannot tell you, unless he had it shut up in his Snuff-Box, or drowned it in a Glass of Wine.

Ought not such Judges to be brought to Jus­tice?

Yes, they ought, but where will you bring them to Justice, for all of them have swallowed so much of the unrighteous Mammon, that it is hard to find a competent Judge among them, and it is necessary for the County, that they be brought before a higher Court.

But how shall we common People bring the Judges before a higher Court?

Now you come to the Point, which Question I cannot resolve, unless you have a large Purse of Gold, and then fee a Lawyer; then perhaps you may have [Page 21]them called to an Account in the Supreme Court, or a Court of Chancery.

I understand that your Grand-Jury, found Bills of Indictment against some of the Lawyers, ought not they then to be brought openly before the Court, and to be tried by their Country?

Surely they ought, but I fear that there is so much accessary Guilt among those that have the Power to bring them there, that they will rather punish a Do­zen common Men, who would spend their Lives in a good Cause for their Country, then that there should one of those Extortioners, be openly brought to Justice.

What you say in your last answer, I think seems to be a hard saying.

Not one whit too hard! was it not fully prov­ed at our last Court, when the County under the hea­vy burthen of Oppression, sought out the best Means to relieve themselves that they conceived they could do, the Judges would not enter the Court, without they had a Train of Lawyers after them, and that the Judges were the first Men that entered into the unhappy Com­bat, in Defence of the Lawyers; and shall we expect, Justice from such Judges, against Lawyers, that they will fight for? no reasonable Man can expect it.

What you say seems to carry great Weight with it, and how shall you then bring the Court to Justice?

I know of no other Means, unless it be to withstand them in all their Wiles, until they will ap­pear hearty in the Cause of their Country, to bring every Offender to public Justice, from the highest to the lowest Rank of People.

Do you not think the late Commotions will make the Judges, think something more of their Duty towards their Country.

I fear that they, like Pharoah of Old, will again harden their Hearts, until they feel the Effects of it themselves.

I think according to what you say, that the Judges in every County, are placed as Fathers of that Fa­mily.

They surely are; as a Father's Duty is to dis­cipline his Children, and govern them according to the Rules laid down in holy Writ, without respect of Per­sons, so it is the Duty of all Judges and Justices to dis­cipline and govern the People, and Judge between Man and Man, without Respect of Persons, according to the Laws of our Land.