| OCR Text |
Show 254. ATROCIOUS .J UDUE . • [ ,\. D. lGSO. been seized at Lord Shafte bury's house in Aldersgate street, and gave a treasonable tinge to all that pas ... ed. The (qnora? nus of hi .. indictn1ent must have been n heavy disappointment to him; but the effort which he 1nnde gaxc high sati sfaction to the king, who knighteu hitn on the occa, ion, and from that time looked forward to hin1 as a worthy chief ju "lice. Upon the di:S:olution of the Oxford I)arlian1ent ancl the rout of the 'Vhig party, it being rc ol vecl to hang Fitzharri ·, Saunders argued with unc01nmon zeal against tlte pri ... oner's plea, that there wa. an impeachment t1epen<ling for the same offence, and concluued hi l(:'gal argument in a manner which seem to u ... very inconsi .. tcnt with the caln1ne ... s of a dry legal argument-" Let hin1 plead guilty or not guilty; I rather hope that he i , not guilty than he i:, guilty; but if he be guil ty, it is the 1no t horrid, ven01nous trea on ever spread abroad in any age, and for that reason your lord --hip will not give eoun ~ tenance to any delay." I find hitn several tim .s retained a:5 c·olllrel again~t the crown; but upon the e ocea~ion · the govenunent wishcl1 for an acquittal. lie defendell the per:-'OI1ti who were pro.secukd for attempting to throw <liscre(lit on the Popi 'h Plot, he v;,ls as ·icrned a, one of the coun · ,1 for Lord Viscount Sta{l'oru, D awl he supported the application ma<le Ly the Earl of Dnnby to be di charged out of cuslody. On thi~ la.-t oc<..:a~ion he got into a violent altercation with Lord Cl1icf J u~tice Pemberton. The report says that "l\1r. f3aunu~r.s hn.d haruly brgLw to speak when the Lord Chief Justice Pen1bcrton did reprinuuul the saiu 1\Ir. Saunders for having offered to impo::3e upon the court. To all which 1\Ir. Saunuers r eplied, that he humbly begged his lord hip's pardon, but he did belie,·e that the rest of his brethren understood the matter a.-- he did." The Ead A. D. 11380.] ED~IUXD 8.\.uNDEitS. 255 of Danby supported this statement, and Saunders had a cmnplcte triumph over the chief justice. Pemberton was . oon removed from the office of chief justice of the ICing's Benc:h, and Saunder., sat in hi.' p1ace. In spite of the vietury which the king had gained over the 'Vhicr" at the dissolution of his la ·t Parliament, he founJ one 0 ob tacle remJ.in to the perpetuation of hi.' de --potie swny in the franehi.'es of the city of London. The citizens (among whom were then includ d all the great rnerchant" and son1e of the nobility and gentry) were till empowered to elect their own magistrates ; they w 're entitled to holJ public meetings; and they could rely upon the pure administration of justice by impartial juries, should they be pro ·ccuteJ by the government. The attorney and solicitor general, being consulted, acknowledged tha.t it passed their ~kill to find a remedy; but a case being laid b fore Sanndcr._·, he atlviscd that . omctlling :3hould be discovered w hieh rnjght be set up a.' a forfeiture of the city charter., and that a quo 'Warnmlo hould be brought against the citizen .. , calling upon them to 'how by what authority they pre umed to act [V a corporation. Sothing bearing the color even of irregularity could be ugge ted again. t them, except that, on the r 'building and enlarging of the markets after the great fire, a by-law hall l>een made, requiring those who exposed cattle and gooc1s to contribute to the expense of the improycmcnts by the payment of a small toll; and that the lord 1nayor, alclcrmcn, and commonalty of tlw city had, in the year 1 G70, prescntetl a petition to the king lamenting the prorogation of Parlimnent in the following terms: "Your petitioner.. arc gren lly ... urpri~ed at the late . . . f prorogation, whereby the pro ccution of the pul>l1c JU ttce 0 the kingdom, and the making of necessary provisions for t1Je |
