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Show 232 ATRO IOUS J UDGES. lA. D. l C!;!. Tiu t if they arc not in prison, their case is lit tlc Letter ; for they lie under sentence of com1nitm n t, and are obnoxious to be taken up by every pee vi ~ h sbedff or magistrate, and nrc n1at1e to redeem their liberty with gross ices, which i · a cruel oppression to them and their familie ." Lord J(apel'. '' Sir, I beg your 1uaj esty will con 'ider what little rca.' on there is to grant such a general pardon at th i~ time. For they are not all Roman Catholic that lie uiHler sentence of r ecu. ancy, but . ectaries of a1lldnd.' and denon1inations ; perhaps as many, or more, who are all professed enemic to your 1najcsty and your government in church and sLate. They are a turbulent people, and always stirring up sedition. What will they not do when your n1aj esly gives them a discharge at once r I it not better that your en~1nies should live under some di advantage , and be obnoxious to your majc ·ty'a pleusurc, so that, if they arc turbul ·nt or troublesome, you may inflict the penalties of the law upon then1 ? If i.llcre be any I~oman Catholics whom you '\\·i h to favor, grant to them a varticular and express panlon, but do not Ly a uniYcrsal nteasure set your enc1nie · as well as your frienlt; at ease. The ill uses that woulu ue 1nacle of such a tep i.o the prejudice of your m~~ csty's inter e··t-; all <l nfla irs arc obvious nml endle ·s." * The I· inrr wa · 1nuch :-, truck with these o!J crva- o tion.·, urge<l wi th a boldne~ .., :o unusual in the lord keeper. T'he other lords wondered, and the 1notion was <h·opped. The lord k eeper, not without rca ~ ou, boaste<l of thi. ns the most brilliant pa ·age of his li fe. \ \Then he came home at night, he broke out in exclamation · - " ' Vhat can lJc their meaning? Arc they all tark 1n ad ? " And before he went to bed, as a me1norial of his exploit, be wrote in his ~:• Life, i.i. 1.50, 153, 3:H. A. D. 1685.) FRANCIS NORTH. 233 almanack, opposite to the clay of the n1onth, "l\Iotion cui solus obstiti." By such an extraordinary exhibition of courage, to which he was driven by the instinct of self-pre ·crvation, he c ·caped the peril which J effreys hau planned for him, and he r ctaincJ the great seal till the k ing's death. In the morning of l\1onday, the 2d of F ebruary, 1 () 3, he was sent for to \Vhitehall, Ly a 111es enger announcing that his majesty had had an apoplectic seizure. According to the ancient custom and suppos d law when the O\'ereign is dangerously di. tempered, the P rivy Council was inuHediately assembled; and tl10 lord keeper examined the king's physician .* "Their d i~cou rse ran upon indd initct:i- what they ob ·ervcd, their method intcnJ cd, and succc ... : hoped. lie said to them, th at tlwse 11utttcrs rzcere little sati,9rtctory to tlte councz'l, unless they would derlwre, z'n the main, ~chat tlte,lJ judged of the king's case ; whether his majesf!J was liX:e to rN'Ol:er or not? But they would never be brought to that ; alllu.lf in !topes." With short inl rvals the council con tinued to . it day and night. After a time, the phy. icinns came into the council chamber, s1niling, and ny ing they had good news, for tho * Lord Coke lays down, that upon snch an occasion there ought to be a warrant by advice of the P riYy Council , a in 32 H . 8, to certain physicians nnd surgeons named, an thori.r.ina- them to adminis ter to the royal patient " t' .... P~ :ones, syrUilOS, confection s, laxitivas rncdicina::;, clys tcria, suppositoria, capitis purgea, capilis r asuram, fomcn tationcs, cmbr ocat.i.on cs, cmpJastm,, &c.;. still, that no medicine Rhonld be given to the king but by the ndvico of lus council; that no physic ~hould be administered except that which is set down in writing , and tha t it is no t to be pn'p<u ed by a11y apothecary, but by the surgeons named in the warrant. - -1 I nst. 2.'51. T hese were the P.rccautions of times when no eminent p erson died suddenly without snspi- ClOil of POi· son. E:. ven Charles I I. was at fir t said to have been cut o f[' to make way fo · p · 1 1 t · t • 1 a opu,; 1 successor, althou gh, when the trut 1. came ou , 1 appeared that he had himself been reconciled to the R oman Catholie chnrch. 20 '* |
