> as lemmas

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Tim. i. 19 Hauynge feith and good conscience [L. bonam conscientiam].

1428 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 10 I pray you..yat yhe will deme yis matier after gude conscience.

1443 in E. M. Carus-Wilson Overseas Trade Bristol in Later Middle Ages (1937) 78 (MED) Þat þe seid Richard May..be restored to his losses, costes, and damages..as right reson and goode conscience requiren.

a1500 (a1457) in C. Monro Lett. Margaret of Anjou (1863) 151 Oon Henry Chevele..ayenst al right lawe and good conscience, holdeth a certein place and lande in the towne of Asshedon.

a1601 W. Lambarde Archion (1635) 20 Not onely according to meere Right, and Law, but also after Equity and good Conscience.

1614 W. Browne Shepheards Pipe i. sig. C5 If against good conscience and right, Any good han ye take more or lesse, Beforne this houre, of any manner wight, Yeeld it anon.

1662 Tryal Sir H. Vane 18 Relying then, upon the Judgment and Reason of the whole Realm, declared by their Representative Body in Parliament, then sitting, and adhering thereto, and pursuing thereof,..is most agreeable to right Reason and good Conscience.

1707 Act 6 Anne c. 53 in Statutes of Realm (1821) VIII. 788 Reason or good Conscience in Bar or Discharge of any Fines Issues Amerciaments forfeited Recognizances or any other Forfeitures Debts or Duties due or payable to the Crown.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 451 When all are heard, the court pronounces the decree, adjusting every point in debate according to equity and good conscience.

1808 E. B. Sugden Pract. Treat. Powers vii. 326 The substantial ground upon which equity maintains almost an exclusive jurisdiction in cases of fraud is, that it is enabled to mould and cut down the fraudulent instrument according to good conscience.

1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law ii. 3 There are settled and inviolable rules of equity, which require to be moderated by the rules of good conscience.

1893 Pacific Reporter 32 1071 We know of no reason why the members of a community as a whole or separately should not be bound by the same rules of good conscience as those not occupying such a relation.

1918 Rep. Supreme Court S. Carolina 108 532 The human heart demands that justice be administered in accordance with equity, good conscience, sound reason, and divine morality.

1941 E. H. Warren in Spartan Educ. (1942) vi. 92 I now see clearly that, whether C or D wins, the result is not against good conscience,—is not an inequitable result.

2002 L. Smith in D. Johnston & R. Zimmermann Unjustified Enrichment xi. xxi. 611 When the first chancellors enforced the first uses against legal title-holders, the suggestion that they were contradicting the common law would have appalled them. They were merely requiring those people to behave according to good conscience ( and telling them what good conscience required).

?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 228 (MED) Cristene men schullen haue so good conscience..þat enemys of oure feiþ þat bakbiten or myspeken of vs ben confounded.

a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxxxviii. §13. 321 Thabor..and hermon..in þi name ihesu sall glade thorgh goed consyence.

1524 Will of William Burwell (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/21) f. 143 Persones of right or of good conscience.

1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 9 I wil do as men of best consciences do.

1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 6 This seemeth to argue a bad cause, or a bad conscience, or both.

1625 C. Burges New Discouery Personal Tithes 24 A good conscience..will sooner suspect his owne heart of couetousnesse, then his Pastors.

1631 T. Powell Tom of All Trades 161 There is no coward to an ill conscience.

1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions i. ii. 24 A good conscience therefore will tell you that if..you have made a prey of him..you are bound to make restitution.

a1665 W. Guthrie Heads of Serm. preached at Finnick (1680) ii. i. 44 Hells terror shall seize upon him,..the worm of an ill conscience rugging at his heart, and intrals of him.

1703 L. Smith Evid. Things not Seen (ed. 2) 14 For to say that these guilty Fears and Accusations of a bad Conscience, or comfortable Excusings and Acquitments of a good one,..owe their rise to custom of Belief and the prepossessions of Education,..is a precarious Assertion.

1744 J. Harris Three Treat. iii. ii. 200 What is that Comfort of a Good Conscience?

1750 T. Palmer Serious Addr. Unbaptized Christians 72 Their hearts are..Rantized or Sprinkled from an evil conscience by the blood of Christ.

1770 Oxf. Mag. Sept. 92/2 It was thus that Brutus's evil mind created his evil genius: the workings of an ill conscience was the spectre in his mind.

a1820 J. Lathrop Sermons (1821) New Ser. xviii. 179 To enquire into the causes and springs of an erroneous and evil conscience.

a1847 N. W. Fiske in D. D. Humphrey Memoir (1850) 190 Is he sure, that he did it with a good conscience? Perhaps it was with a very bad conscience, with an utterly dark and perverted conscience.

1886 R. L. Stevenson Strange Case Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (2003) 88 Ah, it's an ill conscience that's such an enemy to rest!

1922 G. S. Fullerton Handbk. Ethical Theory viii. xxxii. 312 It is as much a duty to have a good conscience as it is to obey the conscience one has.

1963 M. L. King Strength to Love xvi. 131 You cannot in good conscience sell your birthright of freedom for a mess of segregated pottage.

2003 G. Walker Crime, Gender & Social Order in Early Mod. Eng. iv. 127 Whether born of compassion, ill-conscience or duty, the impact of such actions was uncertain, as Cholmondley was aware.