and it must be taken before one that hath authority, not before a person
acting in a private capacity, or pretending to have authority where he
hath none; nor by one that goes beyond the authority which was granted.
For such false oaths cannot amount to perjury in law, because they are of
no validity, being coram non judice (3 Institute, 165; 4 Institute, 278,
279; 2 Roll. Alr. 257; Wood’s Institute, 2nd ed., pp. 411, 412).
_Car._ The commons hast thou rack’d; the clergy’s bags
Are lank and lean with thy extortions.
_Som._ Thy sumptuous buildings, and thy wife’s attire,
Have cost a mass of public treasury.
_Buck._ Thy cruelty in execution
Upon offenders, hath exceeded law,
And left thee to the mercy of the law.