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Show 226 ATTIO CIOUS .JUDGES. r .. n.1 . 0. r eign, and till the expected invasion of the Prince of Oran6e n car the conclusion of the n ext - when too late, an offer was n1ade to restore its charters with all its ancient privileges. I1nn1ediately after the r evolution, they were irrevocably confirmed by act of Parliament. The lord keeper's conduct in tlti .~ affair gave such high sati. faction at court, that, a a reward for i t, he wa r ai ed to the peerage by the title of B~u·on G uilford. II is brother , ays that he did not seek the elen1.tion fr01n yanity, but that l1e might be protected again t the attacks which might hereafter be made upon him in the Ilon e of Con1n1ons. l i e obtained it on the rccommen<lation of ihe Duke of York, who overlooked his di.~like of Popery in r e pect of his steady hatred to public liberty. To show his gratitude, the new p eer directed similar proceedings to be c01nmenccd against n1any other corporat:ons, which enclecl in the forfeiture or surrender of the charters of mo"'t of the towns in England in w hieh ihc liberal party had enjoyed an a cendancy. Gilbert Burnet,* about this time appointed preacher at the r olls, thought he had secured a protector in the lord keeper; but as soon a. this whig di,·ine had incurred the displea ure of the court, his lord ~hip wrote to the ma.,ter of the r olls that the king con. idered the ehapel of the rolls a. one of his own chapels, and that Dr. Burnet 1nust be di mis. eel as one di saf~ fected to the government. Tn consequence, he was obligctl to go beyond ea , and to remain in exile, till he r eturnecl with ICing vVilliam. Soon after followed the disgraceful trials for high treason, which arose out of the discovery of the rye-house plot. The ,;c. Tii:-:hop Burnet, the hi.storinn. A. D. 16S3.j PllA~CIS NORTH. 227 lord keeper did not pre. ide at th e. e; uut having llirected them - superintending the general acln1i ni~tration of ju. tice, and especially boun<l to sec that the con viet ions had been obtained on legal eyiuenee - he 1~ deeply rc~pon ·ible for the blood that was shed. lie 1nust have known that i f~ in point of law, the witne ses made out a ca ·e to he .-uLmitte<l to the jury against Lord Ru . ell that virtu ou~ nobleman was really prosecute<l for his upport of the exelu ·ion bill; an<l he Jnu:.;t have seen that again t Algernon Sydney no case had been made out to be sub1nitted to the jury, as there wa. only one witness that swore to any thing which could be con;:;trucd into an overt act of irea on, and the attempt to upply the defect by a MS. containing a speculative e.,say on govern1nent, which was found in his Rtudy, and had been written many years before, was futile and flagitiou ". ·yet did he ~i gn the death-warrants of both the;-;e 1nen, whose Jwmcs hn.,·e been honored, while his ha. been execrated in all . ueceeding times. It is edifying and consolatory to t.h ink that he was outdone by his own arts, and that the rest of his career was attended by almo"t con , tant 1norti lic<ttion, hum ilin tion, and \\Tetthedness. Daunders enjoyed the oniee of chief justice of the king' bench only for a few n1onths, being ·arried o{f by an apoplexy ..,oon after the deci ·ion of the great London quo warranto cause. An int r igue was hume<lintl'ly . et on foot to procure the appoint1nent for J effr eyf-;, who h:Hl n1ore than ever recommended himself to the court by hi~ %Cal on the trial of Lord Ru sell, in which he had ecli pscd the attorn Y and solicitor general; and he was anxiously wanted to preside at the trial of Sydney, again t who1n the case wa: known to be 80 slender, but who vvas particularly obnoxious on account of his late quarrel with the Duke of York, arHl his sworn enmity |
