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Show 128 ATROCIOUS JUDGES. [A. D. 1G31. not be utterly ruined, but might be pcrn1itted to practise at the bn.r. To this the king, by a<lvice of the Privy Council, ron~ented, on con<lition that he shoul<l l>e put at the bottom of the list of serj eants, and shoulu not plead against the crown in the Star Cha1nber. Accordingly, he took his place at the bar of the Court of Con1mon Plea , a · junior, where he had pre::;ided us chief, and speedily got into considerable bu"' iness. IIe very soon ao·nin in inuated himself into the favor of the government, 0 and ussi ·teJ Sir (John Bunks, the altorney general, in state prosecutions. lie first auures eel the jury for the crown in the famon · case of Tlwmas IlmTison, indicted for in ulting ~I r. ,Justice Ilu tton in open court; lea' ing the attorney gcn- (•ral to smn up the evidence. :Not having been on the bench when the judges gave the extrajudicial opinion in favor of . hip n1oney, nor when IIam}_)clen's trial cmne on, he escaped impeachn1ent at the meeting of the Long Parlian1ent ; and on tl1e rernoYal of those who were impen.ched, he was 1nauc a puit;ne judge of 1 he Court of ICing's Bench. \Yhen ho ·tilities were about to eomuwnec, he happened to he judge of a~:ize at York, where the king lay. lie always proLe~teu thaL he was innocent of ftny plot to 1nake him:clf chief J'nstice of the 1\:inrr's Tieneh · )'Ct knowino· tltat, from 0 ' ' 0 bodily infirmjty and lukewarmness in the royal cnu::;e, Bramp> ton would not c01ne to York when ~umn1oneu by tltc king, there is trong rea ... on to ~nspect that he ~ uggest d the propriety of ihl · sumrnons on the prelencc that the chief justice of EnglanJ might, as chief coroner, declare ftn atLainJer of rebels slain in battle, which would subject iheir lnnclj and goods to forfeitnrc. 13ran1pston was onlercd to come to York, A. D. 1Li-1:3.J HOBERT JIL\.'fll. 129 and not making his app arance, he was re1nove<l fron1 his office; and Sir ltobcrL IIeallt was creaLcd chief justice oC England, that he n1ight attaint the slaughter c1 rebels. Sir ~John Dntnlpston, the autoLiogrnpller, son of the jttdge whon1 IIeath superseded, says, "\Vhen Sir Robert IIeath ha<l that place, that opinion vani hed, and nothin.cr of that nature was ' c\·er put in practice." But in the autmnn of the year 1 G~ :3, the royali:t: haxing gained an asccndency in the west or }.Jngland, a scheme \\'as formed to outlaw, for high tr ason, the lcaLlers on the Parliament sicle- a ' well those who were direcLing 1niliLary operations in the field, as the 110n-combatants who \\. rc conc1uctincr 0 the government at \Vc tminstcr. A commi ·sion pa --.eel the great seal, at Oxford, directed to Lord Chief Jus Lice IIeath and three other J. nd ()'e~ who had taken the kin n·', side to hold 0 0 ' a court of oyer ancl terrniner aL Sali~bury. Accorclingly, they took their . eat::; on the Lcnch, antl swore in a granll jury, whmn Ileath addressed, explaining tllc law of high trea:on, showing that flagrant OY rt act· bad been eo1n1nittec1 by conspiring the king': death and levying war ngain:t him, and proving by authoritie. that all who aidell antl a -:;i ·t '<.1 l>y furnishing ·nppli e~, or giviug order::; or ach·ice to the rebcb, \n.:re as guilty as those who fought against hi::; 1naj esty wiLh <.lcadly weapon" in their hantl --. B iUs of in<lietmcnt were then pref'erreu against the Earls of NorLhumberlnnll, I>cn11Jrokc~, anLl Sali ·bury, and divers lHClubers of the I louse of Com mou.·. 'I"he grand jm·y, ltowever,- probably without haviug rea<.l Grotiu, anu the writer~ on pul>lic law, who sny t.hat when there is a civil war in a couHtry the oppo --i te parties 1nu L treat each othce as if they were belligerents b .. longing to two jndependent nation~, l>ut act11ated by a sPnsc of' the injustice |
