stand your own interests." The other counsel for the defense made Finch sit down, and begged the chief justice to proceed. He was about to do so, when a messenger came to the solicitor general with news that Lord Sunderland could prove the publication, and would come down to the court immediately. Wright maliciously told the counsel for the defense that they had only themselves to thank for the turn which things had taken. The countenances of the great multitude fell. Finch was, during some hours, the most unpopular man in the country. Why could he not sit still as his betters, Sawyer, Pemberton, and Pollexfen, had done? His love of meddling, his ambition to make a fine speech, had ruined every thing. Meanwhile the lord president was brought in a sedan chair through the hall. Not a hat moved as he passed, and many voices cried out "Popish dog." He came into court pale and trembling, with eyes fixed on the ground, and gave his evidence in a faltering voice. He swore that the bishops had informed him of their intention to present a petition to the king, and that they had been admitted into the royal closet for that purpose. This circumstance, coupled with the circumstance that, after they left the closet, there was in the king's hands a petition signed by them, was such proof as might reasonably satisfy a jury of the fact of the publication.

Publication in Middlesex was then proved. But was the paper thus published a false, malicious, and seditious libel? Hitherto the matter in dispute had been whether a fact which every body well knew to be true could be proved according to technical rules of evidence; but now the contest became one of deeper interest. It was neces

sary to inquire into the limits of prerogative and liberty, into the right of the king to dispense with statutes, into the right of the subject to petition for the redress of grievances. During three hours the counsel for the petitioners argued with great force in defense of the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and proved from the journals of the House of Commons that the bishops had af

firmed no more than the truth when they represented to the king that the dispensing power which he claimed had been repeatedly declared illegal by Parliament. Somers rose last. He spoke little more than five minutes, but every word was full of weighty matter; and when he sat down, his reputation as an orator and a constitutional lawyer was established. He went through the expressions

which were used in the information to describe the offense imputed to the bishops, and showed that every word, whether adjective or substantive, was altogether inappro priate. The offense imputed was a false, a malicious, a seditious libel. False the paper was not; for every fact which it set forth had been proved from the journals of Parliament to be true. Malicious the paper was not; for the defendants had not sought an occasion of strife, but had been placed by the government in such a situation that they must either oppose themselves to the royal will, or violate the most sacred obligations of conscience and honor. Seditious the paper was not; for it had not been scattered by the writers among the rabble, but delivered privately into the hands of the king alone; and a libel it was not, but a decent petition, such as, by the laws of England, nay, by the laws of imperial Rome, by the laws of all civilized states, a subject who thinks himself aggrieved may with propriety present to the sovereign.

ence.

The attorney replied shortly and feebly. The solicitor spoke at great length and with great acrimony, and was often interrupted by the clamors and hisses of the audiHe went so far as to lay it down that no subject or body of subjects, except the houses of Parliament, had a right to petition the king. The galleries were furious; and the chief justice himself stood aghast at the effrontery of this venal turn-coat.

At length Wright proceeded to sum up the evidence. His language showed that the awe in which he stood of the government was tempered by the awe with which the audience, so numerous, so splendid, and so strongly excited, had impressed him. He said that he would give no

opinion on the question of the dispensing power; that it was not necessary for him to do so; that he could not agree with much of the solicitor's speech; that it was the right of the subject to petition, but that the particular petition before the court was improperly worded, and was, in the contemplation of law, a libel. Allibone was of the same mind, but, in giving his opinion, showed such gross ignorance of law and history as brought on him the contempt of all who heard him. Holloway evaded the question of the dispensing power, but said that the petition seemed to him to be such as subjects who think themselves aggrieved are entitled to present, and therefore no libel. Powell took a bolder course. He declared that, in his judgment, the Declaration of Indulgence was a nullity, and that the dispensing power, as lately exercised, was utterly inconsistent with all law. If these encroachments of prerogative were allowed, there was no need of Parliaments. The whole legislative authority would be in the king. "That issue, gentlemen," he said, "I leave to God and to consciences."*

your

It was dark before the jury retired to consider of their verdict. The night was a night of intense anxiety. Some letters are extant which were dispatched during that period of suspense, and which have therefore an interest of a peculiar kind. "It is very late," wrote the papal nuncio," and the decision is not yet known. The judges and the culprits have gone to their own homes. main together. To-morrow we shall learn this great struggle."

The jury rethe event of

The solicitor for the bishops sat up all night with a body of servants on the stairs leading to the room where the jury was consulting. It was absolutely necessary to watch the officers who watched the doors, for those officers were supposed to be in the interest of the crown, and might, if not carefully observed, have furnished a courtly juryman with food, which would have enabled him to

See the proceedings in the Collection of State Trials. I have taken some touches from Johnstone, and some from Citters.

starve out the other eleven. Strict guard was therefore kept. Not even a candle to light a pipe was permitted to enter. Some basins of water for washing were suffered to pass at about four in the morning. The jurymen, raging with thirst, soon lapped up the whole. Great numbers of people walked the neighboring streets till dawn. Every hour a messenger came from Whitehall to know what was passing. Voices, high in altercation, were repeatedly heard within the room, but nothing certain was known.*

At first nine were for acquitting and three for convicting. Two of the minority soon gave way; but Arnold was obstinate. Thomas Austin, a country gentleman of great estate, who had paid close attention to the evidence and speeches, and had taken full notes, wished to argue the question. Arnold declined. He was not used, he doggedly said, to reasoning and debating. His conscience was not satisfied; and he should not acquit the bishops. "If you come to that," said Austin, "look at me. I am the largest and strongest of the twelve; and before I find such a petition as this a libel, here will I stay till I am no bigger than a tobacco pipe." It was six in the morning before Arnold yielded. It was soon known that the jury were agreed, but what the verdict would be was still a secret.†

At ten the court again met. The crowd was greater than ever. The jury appeared in their box, and there

was a breathless stillness.

Sir Samuel Astry spoke. "Do you find the defendants, or any of them, guilty of the misdemeanor whereof they are impeached, or not guilty?" Sir Roger Langley answered, "Not guilty." As the words passed his lips, Halifax sprang up and waved his hat. At that signal, benches and galleries raised a shout. In a moment ten thousand persons, who crowded the great hall, replied with

Johnstone, July 2, 1688; Letter from Mr. Ince to the Archbishop, dated

at six o'clock in the morning; Tanner MS.; Revolution Politics.

+ Johnstone, July 2, 1688.

a still louder shout, which made the old oaken roof crack; and in another moment the innumerable throng without set up a third huzza, which was heard at Temple Bar.. The boats which covered the Thames gave an answering cheer. A peal of gunpowder was heard on the water, and another, and another; and so, in a few moments, the glad tidings went flying past the Savoy and the Friars to London Bridge, and to the forest of masts below. As the news spread, streets and squares, market-places and coffee-houses, broke forth into acclamations. Yet were the acclamations less strange than the weeping; for the feelings of men had been wound up to such a point, that at length the stern English nature, so little used to outward signs of emotion, gave way, and thousands sobbed aloud for very joy. Meanwhile, from the outskirts of the multitude, horsemen were spurring off to bear along all the great roads intelligence of the victory of our Church and nation. Yet not even that astounding explosion could awe the bitter and intrepid spirit of the solicitor. Striving to make himself heard above the din, he called on the judges to commit those who had violated, by clamor, the

dignity of a court of justice. One of the rejoicing popu

lace was seized; but the tribunal felt that it would be absurd to punish a single individual for an offense common to hundreds of thousands, and dismissed him with a gentle reprimand.*

It was vain to think of passing at that moment to any other business. Indeed, the roar of the multitude was such that, for half an hour, scarcely a word could be heard in court. Williams got to his coach amid a tempest of hisses and curses. Cartwright, whose curiosity was ungovernable, had been guilty of the folly and indecency of coming to Westminster in order to hear the decision. He was recognized by his sacerdotal garb and by his corpulent figure, and was hooted through the hall. "Take

* State Trials; Oldmixon, 739; Clarendon's Diary, June 25, 1688; Johnstone, July 2; Citters, July; Adda, July; Luttrell's Diary; Barillon, July.