Fifth and Sixth Stanzas
What sayest my soul? Here all thy deeds are tried. 25
Is Christ thy advocate to plead thy cause?
Art thou his client? Such shall never slide.
He never lost his case; he pleads such laws
As carry do the same, nor doth refuse
The vilest sinners case that doth him choose. 30
This is honor, not dismay: nay
No habeas corpus gainst his clients came
For all their fines his purse doth make down pay.
He non-suits Satan’s suit or casts the same.
He’ll plead thy case and not accept a fee. 35
He’ll plead sub forma pauperis for thee.
Having laid the justice of the court, the poet now turns to himself. And in the manner of Psalm 42 (“why are you downcast O my soul”), he addresses his soul: by this he means himself, his mind, his desires, his life.
Soul what do you say?
This end cannot be escaped: Here all thy deeds are tried. You are coming to this court, what will you do about this day? Are you frightened? As will be raised in the final stanza, the count against the poet is serious: he is guilty and will receive a death sentence is someone does not intervene.
The argument is direct (for Taylor).
Is Christ thy advocate to plead thy cause?
This question is not quite “rhetorical”. It is not just, well since he is your advocate. It is rather think: He is truly your advocate? As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:5, examine yourself if you are in the faith.
This manner of self-counsel is a form of righting one’s thoughts which is used in the Scripture. (See for example: https://memoirandremains.com/2015/08/04/six-questions-to-ask-in-the-midst-of-trial-and-depression/ )
The answer sought is “Yes.” Yes, Christ is my advocate:
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1 John 2:1 (AV)
What then flows from that? If he is my advocate, I am his client
Art thou his client?
Yes. Then what follows? He never ignores his work as advocate:
Such shall never slide.
And in that there is great comfort:
He never lost his case;
How so? He makes the right argument
he pleads such laws
As carry do the same,
But what about me? Perhaps he will not take my case
nor doth refuse
The vilest sinners case that doth him choose.
There is no one who has been rejected in coming for mercy. The only sin which will not be forgiven is the sin for which one does not repent. (There is the difficult issue of “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”. But what can be said is there is no instance in Scripture of someone making an honest repentance and their sin not being forgiven. The relationship between those points is beyond Taylor’s poem.)
That leads to a further question: but what of his honor?
This is honor, not dismay:
This then leads to a difficult line. A writ of Habeas Corpus requires an imprisoning authority justify to a judge the imprisonment. It is a relief for a wrongfully imprisoned person:
nay
No habeas corpus gainst his clients came
Perhaps Taylor means no such writ is needed, because his are never imprisoned:
For all their fines his purse doth make down pay.
Since there fine has been paid, they were not imprisoned, therefore, they don’t need a writ of habeas corpus.
Satan means the “Accuser”. In Revelation 12:10, he is called the accuser of the brothers. In Job 1-2, “The Satan” (a title, not a name) refers to the one who accuses Job. Satan brings an accusation, but the defense is so strong the judge throws the claim out, there is a “non-suit.”
He non-suits Satan’s suit or casts the same.
And yet another implied objection: But I cannot afford this attorney. I have nothing with which to pay:
He’ll plead thy case and not accept a fee. 35
He’ll plead sub forma pauperis for thee.
Sub forma pauperis is permission for a pauper to proceed with his action without the need of paying the costs of court.
And so, every objection is raised and rejected:
memoirandremains 