OCR Text |
Show C2 ATP..OCIOlJ::J .JL'D nE::3. fA. D.l461. posed, thn.t Ilenry l V. hau been called to the throne Ly the estates of the kingd01n anu the almo ~ t unauimous voice of the people, and that now, in the thiru generation, the title of the IIouse of Lancaster could not be q ucstioneJ, he wa ~ Ly 110 rneans the man to suit the new dyna ty. lie was renioYe<l to make way for Sir John ~Iarkham, who had been for nineteen years a pui ne judge of the sa1nc court, and who, though he had not ventureJ to publi h any thing on the subj ect, yet in private conver ation and in "n1oots " at the Temple, such as that in which the white and red roses were chosen as the emblems of the oppo ite opinion , did not hesitate to argue for indefea ible hereditary right, wbieh no length of pos es ion could supersede, and to contcn<l that the true heir of the crown of England was l~icltanl, Duke of York, descended from the second son of Ed \\'ar<l Ill. IIi-. sentimen ttl were well known to the Yorkist leader", and they avail d tbemselYes of the legal rea~o ni ng and the historical illu~trations with which he furni::;heJ thcn1; but he never sallied forth into the field, even when, after the death of P iebanl, the gallant youth his eldest son Jisplayed. the high qualitic.' whieh 'O wonuerfully excited the energy of hi: parLi an . IIowevcr, \rhen IIenry VI. was confined. as a pri 'Oner in the Tower, and Fortescue and all the Lancastrian leaders had fle<.1, 1\Iark· lmm was very naturally aud laudably elcC'te<l i()r the important office of ell ief j u tice of the I\:i1.1g' , Dcnch. Although he \ras ~uch a strono- L 't' · 1 1, · • c o eg1 Imist, 1e was known not only to uc an excellent lawver but a f 1 · ] t (. J ' man o 1onorable and Jn<.1cpen<. ·n p.r incir)le;'":,' . The appom· t ment, therefore, gave l1igh ,atis{·a e-bon and was cons1· ·1ei'e(1 d f / · ' u a goo omen o· the new 're.gune. lie held the office abo . ., ·t T • c ve seven years, w 1 th unabated creu1 · Not only wa~ lus hand free from bribe., Lut so ·was his mind A. D. 1-tC\1. j T ll0 illA::3 B1LLI~<;. (. () }!) fron1 eyery improper bins. lL was allowed thaL ,~~,·h n sitting on the benc:h, no one could have discovered whcth<'r he wa ~ Yorki.'t or Lanca trian; the adh '1' nt of the r ·igning dyna ty complaiuing (I dare ~lY Y ry unju tly) that, to obtain a character for impartiality, he showed a leaning on the Lancastrian . ide.:'* At last, though he cheri. -lied his no Lions of h reditary right with unabating constancy, he forf •ited hi oHice l>ccause he ·woulJ not pro tiLute it to the purpo ~e of the king and the Ininistcrs in wreaking their Ycnrrpance on the head of a political opronent. Sir Thmna Cooke, who inclinetl to the Lanca.-4- trians, though he had conducted himself with great caution, was accused of treason and committed to the Tower. 'l'o try him a special co1nn1i sion was is ued, over whieh LorJ Chief Ju tice 1\larkh:un prc'idcd, n.nJ the go vernn1cnt was eager {()r a conviction. But nll that could be pro,·ecl again ·t the pri .~ oner wa.~ , that he entered iuto a tr aty to lend, on good ecurity, a snn1 of 1000 1nark ... for the use of :Thiargaret, the qn en of the dethroned lienry VI. The security was not , ati ·factory, and the rnoncy was not a<.1 ,·anced. The clticf ju ·tice ruled that this (1i<l not amount to t rea:-;on, but was at mo -t mispri:ion of treason. Of t 11 is last ofl' •nee the prison er being found s llilty, llC wa suhjected to flne and llllp r jsOIHUCnt; but he ~avetl lti · }jf(~ and hi. lan<1:3. 1\.:ing EL1ward IV. wa. in a fury, atHl FtW<'aring that 1\Iarkhmn, not with ·tan cling hi ' high pr ·t ' 11 ~ ion · to loyalty, was hirnse1L' li ttle b ttcr than a t raitor, onl~..·rcd that * Fuller, in praising Fortescue nnd 1\larkham, says, "These I may r~1 1l two chief justices of the chief j nstices, for their signal integrity; fort hough the one of them f.tyored the house of Lancaster, and the other of York, in the titles to the crown, both of them favored the hon ~c of Justice in matters betwixt p:-trty and party." |