OCR Text |
Show 112 ATH.OCIOu JUDGES. [A. D. 1638 intellect, or aniroatcu by an cxtraonlinary eagcrne~s for ecclesiastical pr01notion. IIaving heard that 1\lr. J ustiee Ilutton, while on the circuit, had expre sed an opinion unfavorable to ship money, he followecl him to London, and, while this reverend sage of the law was seated \vith his brethren on the bench of the Court of Coro1non Pleas, and \V estmin ter I-Iult wa crowded with lawyers, suitors, and idlers, 1narche<l up to him, and making proclamation, " Oyez ! Oyez ! Oyez ! " sairl with a loud voice, "1\Ir. Justice l:lutton, you have denied the king's supren1acy, and I hereby charge you ·with being guilty of high treason." The attorney general, howeYer much he might secretly honor such an ebullition of loyalty, was obliged to treat it as an outrage, and an ex officio infonnation "·as filed against the delinquent for the insult he had offered to the administration of justice. At the trial the reverend defendant confefsed the speaking of the \Yorcls, ancl gloried in what he had done, saying,- "I confess that judge-- are to be honored and revered as sacred persons so long as they do their clnty; but having taken the oath of snpren1acy many times I arn bound to maintain it, ancl when it is a ... ailed, as by the clenying of ship . . " money, it is tiu1e for every loyal ~ n hjcct to . lnkc 10 • Brampston, G. J.- The denying of ship n1onc>y may be, and I think is, very wrong; but is it against the king's suprema· cy?" Harrison.-" As a loyal subject, I <lid labor the defence of his majesty, and how can I be guilty of a crime? I ~ay again that 1\fr. Justice I-Iutton has comn1itted treason, for upon his charge the people of the country do now deny hi~1 money. IIis offence being openly con1rnitteJ, I conccircd 1 t not amiss to make an open accu ation. The king will not 1 ower give his judges lease to speak treason, nor have t 1ey P A. D. 1634 .] JOH~ BRA~PSTO~. 113 to mnke or pronounee laws against his prerogative. 'Ve are not to qne. tion the king's actions; they are only between God and his own conscience. ' Su.fficit Tf[J1·, quod Deus est.' This thesis I will stancl to- that what~ocver the king in his eonseience thinkelh he may require, we ought to yield."* The defendant having Lecn allo¥Yed to go on in this strain for a long tin1e, laying down doctrines new in courts of ju tice, although in those days often h eard from the pulpit, the chief justice at last interposed, and . aid,- " 1\Ir. lla.rrison, if you lw.Yc any thing to sny in your own defence, proccet..l; but this raving mu ·t not be surfcred. Do you not think that the king 1nay govern hi people by law? 'J Harrison.-" Yes, and hy :-;omething else too. If I have offended his majesty in thi~, I do submit to his 1nnje ty, and er~n·e hi~ pardon." J3ra mpston, e. J.-" l ... our 'If' will be Yery ill taken by his 1n~1je~ty; nor can this be considered n su bmi sion." The llcf'eJH1ant, being found guilty, wa. ordered to pay a fine to the king of £{5000, an<1 to Lc impri:-:oncd- without prejudice to the remedy of 1\Ir. tlu tic:e IIulton by action. Ruch an action was aecor·1incr1y brou~ht and so J)Ol)ular was 0 ~~ ' 1\Ir. Justice Ilutton, that he rrroYered £10 000 damages; whereas it was said that, if the chief justice had been the plaintiff in an action for dektmation, he need not have expecte< l more than a Norfolk groat. Lord Chief Just icc Brampston's scrvicc3 were likewise required in the f:;tnr Chamber. II e 1 here zealously assi ted Archbishop Laud in persecuting \Villiams, Bishop of Lincoln, * This is the very doctrine la tcly revived, in a little different shape, by some of our American divines- that whatsoever the legislatiYc power in its conscience thinks it may require, we ouf;ht t-o yield.- Ed. 10 -:~ |