GLOUCESTER, STATUTE1 OF. An English statute, passed 6 Edw. I., A. D., 1278; so called, because it was passed at Gloucester. There were other statutes2 made at Gloucester, which do not bear this name. See stat. 2 Rich. II.
GO WITHOUT DAY. These words have a technical sense. When a party is dismissed the court, he is said to go without day; that is, there is no day appointed for him to appear again.
GOD. From the Saxon god, good. The source of all good; the supreme3 being. 1. Every man is presumed to believe in God, and he who opposes a witness on the ground of his unbelief is bound to prove it. 3 Bouv. Inst. u. 3180.
2. Blasphemy4 against the Almighty5, by denying his being or providence6, was an offence punishable at common law by fine and imprisonment7, or other infamous8 corporal punishment. 4 Bl. Corn. 60; 1 East, P. C. 3; 1 Russ. on Crimes, 217. This offence his been enlarged in Pennsylvania, and perhaps most of the states, by statutory provision. Vide Christianity; Blasphemy; 11 Serg. Rawle, 394.
3. By article 1, of amendments9 to the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. In the United States, therefore, every one is allowed to worship God according to the dictates10 of his own conscience.
GOD AND MY COUNTRY. When a prisoner is arraigned11, he is asked, How will you be tried? he answers, By God and my country. This practice arose when the prisoner had the right to choose the mode of trial, namely, by ordeal12 or by jury, and then he elected by God or by his country, that is, by jury. It is probable that originally it was By God or my country for the question asked supposes an option in the prisoner, and the answer is meant to assert his innocence13 by declining neither sort of trial. 1 Chit. Cr. Law, 416; Barr. on the Stat. 73, note.
GOD B0TE, eccl. law. An ecclesiastical or church fine imposed upon an. offender14 for crimes and offences committed against God.
GOING WITNESS. One who is going out of the jurisdiction15 of the court, although only into a state or country under the general sovereignty; as, for example, if he is going from one to another of the United States; or, in Great Britain, from England to Scotland. 2 Dick. 454.
GOLD. A metal used in making money, or coin. It is pure when the metal is unmixed with any other. Standard gold, is gold mixed with some other metal, called alloy16. Vide Money.
GOOD BEHAVIOUR. Conduct authorized17 by law. Surety of good behaviour may be demanded from any person who is justly suspected, upon sufficient grounds, of intending to commit a crime or misdemeanor. Surety. for good behaviour is somewhat similar to surety of the peace, but the recognizance is more easily forfeited18, and it ought to be demanded with greater caution. 1 Binn. 98, n.; 2 Yeates, 437; 14 Vin. Ab. 21; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t. As to what is a breach19 of good behaviour, see 2 Mart. N. S. 683; Hawk20. b. 1, c. 61, s. 6 Chit. Pr. 676. Vide Surdy of the peace.
