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Show 368 ATROCIOUS JUDGES. [A. D. HJ85. plea ure. I am bouud to put the seal as I am commanded, whateYer the per on n1ay be. It is for your majesty to d tormine, and me, your servant, to obey. But I 1nust do my duty by inforn1ing your maje ·ty oC the truth respecting thi::; 1nan, whorn I per onally know to be a dune )' and no lawyer; wJ 10 is not worth a groat, having spent his e tate by debauch d li ving; who is without honesty, having Lcen guilty of wilfullwrjury to gain the borrowing of a sum of money. Aud now, sir, I have done my duty to your 1naje ty, and am ready to obey your n1ajesty's command'"' in ca 'e it Le your plea ure that this man be a judge." The king thanked the lord keeper, without aying more, but next day there came a warrant under the sign manual for creating the king's "trusty and wellbeloved Robert Wright" a baron of hi ., Exchequer, and orders were given for making out the patent in due form; and tho detected ' windl r, knighted, and clothed in ermine took his place among the twelve judges of England. ' . ~eo~lc were exceedingly . hocked when they saw the eat of Justtce .-o Ui graceU; but thi · might be what Jeffrey intended; and one of his first act , when he himself obtained the great seal was to 11ro t h' , , . . . ' mo e 1s protege from betno- a baron of the Exchequer to be a judge of the Court of King's Bench. 1Vrio·ht continued to ·1 tl · · a uo many nngs winch caused great ·candal and therefore , ~ .1 • 1 · ' ' ' Y uS uear er t 1an ever to hlS patron, ·who would have eli ·carded I · ·r 1 I d , . . llm I 1e 1a shown any symptoms of reformatiOn. lie accompanied General Jeffreys as aide de caJn'r1 in the famou ~ '' c ... 1ni1a· (J' • tl " · :r ~ (.~ 15n In 1e w st; In other words, he was joineU in commi, ion with him as a ju<lo-e in the ' bl 00 ] . " 0 ( Y assize, and, sitting on the bench with him at the trial of Lady Lisle a d tb th .,., h' n e o e1 :s w ICh followed, concurred A. D. 168i.J . UOBEUT 1VRIGIIT. 0GO in all his atrocities. lie came in for very little of the bribery; Jefl'rey , who claimed the lion's share, tos ing him by way of encourag ment one solitary pardon, for which a small sum only was expected. But on the death of Sir Ilenry Bed<lingf1eld he was made chief justice of the Common Plea ; und very soon afterward ,, the unexpected quarrel breaking out between ir Edward Herbert and the govcrnrncnt about martial law an<l the punishment of deserters;* the object being to fin<l some one who * The pb.n was formed of ruling by a standing arrny. But without a Parliament, how was this army to l>c kept inn. proper state of di~cipline? In time of war, or during a rebellion, troops in the field were subject to martial law, and they might be puni!:ihed, by sentence of a court martial, for mutiny or desertion. But the country was now inn state of peace and profound tranquillity; and the common law, which alone prevailed, knew no distinction bet ween ci tizcn and soldier; RO that, if n lifcguardsman deserted, he could only be sued for breach of contract, :mel if he struck his officer, he was only liable to an indic:tmcn t or an action of l>a ttery. \Vhile the king's military force consisted of a few regimen l. · of household. troops, with high pay, deser tion was not to be apprehendrd, and mili tary offences were sufficiently puni ~hecl by dismission from the Ber vice. Uut J ames found it impossible to govern the numerous army which he had coli 'clcd at IIounslow without the as:::; istancc or martial law ; au<l he contended. that, without any act of P arliament, he was at all limes entitled, by virtue of h~:-; prerogative, to put martial law in force against military men, although lt could only be put in force against civilians when war or r el>cllion was raginO' in the kingdom. The que lion first arose at thc> Old. Dailey, before Sir John H olt, then recorder of London, ancl he clccid.ed against the crown, as might haYc been expected; for, while avoidiucr k een par tisanship in politics, he had hccn always WhiggiBhly inclined. .Tames thought be was qui te secure by appealjug to the ultra Tory, Lord. Chief Justice Herbert. To the utter amazc~ ncnt of the king ancl the courtiers, this honorable, <1lthough shallow, maglstrate declared that, without an a ct of Parliament, all laws were equally applicable to all his majesty's subjects, wheth er wearing red co~t or gray. B c·m g taunted with inconsistency in respect of h"I s J·l l d gmcn t m fa. vor of the dispensing power, he took this distinction, "that a statute altcnng_ the com~on law might be suspended by the king,. who is really the 1a.wrrr"~1~ notw1thstancling the form that he enac1·s 'w1th the assrnt of the lotd |
