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Show 302 ATROCIOUS JUDGES. (A. D. 1084. of the IIouse, equally the object of his detestation. lie was in hope of deciding the case him elf, but he left it as a legacy to hi. , ucccs..::or, Chief J u tice IIerbert, wlw, under his auspice.::, at once overruled the plea, and fined the defendant ten thousand pounds. Not only was Jeffreys a privy councillor, but he had become a member of the cabinet, where, from his superior boldnc 'S and energy, as well as his more agreeable 1nanners, he had gained a complete victory over Lord ICeeper North, whom l1e denounced as a '' trimmer," and the great seal seen1cd almo ... t within l1is grasp.~'" To secure it, he still strove to do every thing he could devise to please the court, as if hitherto nothing base had been done by l1im. When, to his great joy, final judgment was entered up again t the city of London on the quo warranto, l1e undertook to get all the con iderable towns in England to surrenJer th eir charter on the threat of similar proceedings; and with this view, in the autumn of 1684, he made a "campaign in the north," which wa almost as fatal to corporations as that '' in the \Vest," the following year, proved to the lives of men. T'o i:ihow to the pul>lic the special credit he enjoyed at courL, the London Gazette, just before he set out, in r eference to the gift be:5towed upon him for the judgment against Sir Thon1a::; Arm. trong, announced "that his majesty, as a mark of hio royal f~l vor, had taken a ring from his own finger and placed it on that of Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys." In consequence, although when on the circuit he forgot the caution against hard drinking, with which the gift had been accompanied, he carried every thing before him, "charters fell like the \valls of Jericho,'' and he returned laden with his hyperborean spoils. * For the disputcn between them, sec ante, p. 228-240. A. D.l684.] GEORGE JEFFTI.KYS. 303 I have already r lated the clutch at the great cal which he then made, and bii' t mporary disappointment:* lie was contented to "bide his time.'' r_rhere were only two other occasions when he had it in l1i power t.o pervert the law, for the purpose of pleasing the court, during the pre ent r~ign. The first was on the trial of IIampd 'n, the graml on of the great Hampden, for a trifling n1i:suemeanor. Although this young gentleman was only heir apparent to a moderate cst~te, and not in po ... ses. ion of any property, he was cntenced to pay a fine of forty thousanu pound ~ - J cffrcys saying .that the clause in J\Iagna Charta, " Liber lwrno non cunerc'wtur pro magno delicto nisi salvo contenenwnto suo," does n9t apply to fines imposed by the king's judges. The other wa the m. qm.s 1.t 1. 0n 1.1 1 t 11 0 acti.o n o f-. scan. 11"J~.r~: zg • bi·oubc rht by the Duk. e of York again t '_fitu .~ Oate , in which the jury, under Ius dn. ·ectw. n, awarded one 11 un_u, re( l tl wusl,t nu.1 I)Ound, darnaror es. Ever s1. nce the d1. francln. ~ement o f' tl 1e c:1 ty of London, the ex-recorder had ruled. it wi th a rod of iron. IIc set up a. nom.m al lord mayor and nomu. w.1 a 1c1 c,1 .m Cll '. but ' as they .w ere ent.i rely dependent upon hu.1 1, he treat ec1 tl1 e m with contiuual insolence. On the sudden death of Charles II., Jeffreys no doubt thought the period was arn.v ed. w 11 en 11 e InL1.c t be rewarded for the peculiar zeal with win. ch l 1e l ta d a bca. ndoned hims• elf to the service of the successor; but he was at fir ~ t di~appointed, and he had ·till to " wade through Dlaughter " to the seat he so much coveted. .1\1.1. ~ot dismayed, he re olved toeo ct on two l)rinci pies : 1st, (1, If possible, to outdo hitn elf 1.1 1 pleas1· ng 1u ·s master, who~e arb itrary and cruel disposition b ccan1e more UJ)parent from ·:IE Antr, p. 230. |