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Show 280 ATROCIOUS JUDGES. [A. D. 1070. wiLhdrew before the day of nomination, and he i ~ 1 aid. in the city recorJ ~ to hnse been '·freely and unanin1ously elected." Tile new r ecorder had ltarJly Leen sworn in, when feeling that the liberals could do nothing Dlore for him, he utterly cast them oft; becoming for the rest of his liCe the open, avoweu, unblushing slave of the court, and the biltcr, persecuting, und unappea·able enerny of the principles he had before supported, and of the men he hau profe ·sed to love. lie entirely for~ook Thanet IIou e, in Aldersgate Street, and all the 1neetings of the Whigs in the city; and in tead of secret interviews with 'Vill Chifftnch in the " Spy Ofii.ce," he went openly to court, and with his usual addrc , he contrived, by constant assidnities and flatteries, to gain the good graces both of N eJl Gv\'yn and of the Duche~. of Port.~ mouth, who, since the fall of Lady Castlemaine, held divided empire at 'Vhitehall, balancing the R01nan Catholic and. Protestant parties. To each of the e ladie::;, it would appear from the libels of the day, hi. rise was attributed. IIowever, not long after he had opeuly ratted, an accident happened that had like to have spoiled aU hi projects; and that was the breaking out of the Popi3h plot. Although there is no rea onable ground for , aying that it "-a~ contrived by Shafrc .. bury, he made such , kilful and unscrupulous use of it, that sndtlenly, from appearing tbe leader of n ·n1all, dedining, and cle .. pairing party, he had the city and 1he nntion at his beck, and \vith a majority in both houses of Parlian1ent, there seemed every probability that he would soon force himself upon tl1e king, and have at his di "'posal all the patronage of the government. Jeffreys was for so111e time n1uch disconcerted, und thought that once in his life he bad made a false A. D. 1G70.] GEORGE JEFFREYS. 281 move. He was utterly at a loss how to conduct himself, and his craft never was put to so severe a trial. Being called into council, he recommended that the government should profe s to credit the plot, and should outvie tho other side in zeal for the Protestant r eligion, but should contrive to make Shaftesbury answerable for the r eality of the conspiracy; so that, if hereafter it should blow up, or the people should get tired of it, all that was done to punish the suppo ed authors of it n1ight be laid to his account. He immediately Legan diligently to work the Popish plot according to his own scheme. Coleman, \Vhitbrea<l, Ireland, and all whom Oate and B edloe accu. cd b ing eom1nitted to prison, it was r e:olved to pro.'ccutc th 111 for high trea~on in having compas~ed the death of the king, a ... well a tho overthrow of the Protestant religion; and their trial~ were conducted by the governrnrnt as state trials, partly at the uar of the Court of ICing's Bench, and partly at the OlJ Bailey. In the forn1er Jeffreys acted a· a counsel, in the latter as u judge. It is asserted, and not improbably, that he had a real horror of Popery, which, though he coulJ control it in the presence of the Duke of York, anJ when his interest required, at other times burst out with sincerity as well as fierceness. Scroggs presided at the Old Bailey, but Jett'reys whetted his fury by telling hin1 that the king was a thorough believer in the plot, and by echoing his ex pres ·ion ; as, when the chief justice said to the jury, "You have done like honest men," he exclaimed in a ·tage whisper, " They haYe done like honest men." As 1nouthpiece of the lord mayor, the head of the commi~sion, after conviction he had the pleasing duty of 24 -~ |
