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Show 374 AT lt 0 0 I 0 U ... ,J U D G E ., . l A. n. 10c,s. the "Declaration of Indulgence" in all churches and chapels on two ,"'ucces ive Sunday~, he contri,·ed an opportunity of declaring from the bench his opinion that it was legal and obligatory. IIearing that the London clergy were aln1ost unanin1ou ·ly re ·olved to disobey it, he sent a peremptory command to the prie t who officiated in the chapel of Serjeants' Inn to read the declaration with a loud voice; and on the fmnous Sunday, the 20th of 1\fay, 1688, he attended in per. on, to give weight to the solemnity. IIowever, he 'vas greatly di appointed and enraged to find the service coucluded without any thing being uttered beyond what the rubric prescribes. lie then indecently, in the hearing of the congregation, abused the priest as disloyal, seditious, and irreligious, for contemning the authority of tlte head of the church. The clerk ingeniously came forth to the re.,cue of his superior, and took all the blame upon him elf by saying that "he l1ad forgot to bring a copy," and the chief justice, knowing that he had no remedy, was forced to content himsef with this excuse.-~~ The seven bishops being committed to the Tower, and pro::,ecuted for a con piracy to uefame the king and to overturn his authority, because they had pre ented a petition to him praying that they might not be forced to Yiolate their consciences and to break the law, \V right, the loweE-!t wretch that. had ever appeared on the bench in England, wa::; to pre. ida * The two clergymen who were most applauded. on this occasion were the bold one, who, refusing to obey the royal mandate, took for his text "Be it known unto thee, 0 king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor wor· ship the golden image which thou hast set up;'' and the humorous one, who, having said, "J\Iy brethren, I am obliged to read this declaration, but you are not obligecl to listen to it," waited till they were all (Tone clerk and all, before the reading of the drclaration b<'~rn. C' ' A. D. 16g8.] HOBERT \YP..TUTIT . 375 at the mo t important , tate trial recorded in our annal.~. The reliance placed upon his abject subserviency no doubt operated strongly in betraying the government into this in 'ane project of treating as comn1on tnalefaclors the venerable father~ of the Protestant church, now r egarde<l by the wbole nation with affectionate reverence. T,he consideration wa' entirely overlooked by the courtiers, that, fi·on1 the notoriou: ba enes of his character, his excessive zeal might be rcYolting to tbe jury, and migbt produce an acquittal. It i"' suppo:-;cd that a discreet friend of the government had g iven him a caution to bridle his impetuosity against the accused, as the , ure t way of succeeding against tlw111; for, during the whole proceeding, he was less arrogant than could have been ex prct ~d, and it is much 1nore probable that his forbearance arose fron1 obedience to those wlwtn he wished to please, than from any reYerence for the sac·rccl clw ractrr of 1 he <lcf<'n<1<ll1t::; or any lurking respect for Lhe interests of justice. 1"'h ey were twi· ce p 1a ceu,, a t tl1 e bo..) l' lJer'o1 1·e him -first when they were brought up by the li eutenant of the Tower to Le arrm.g ned, and a f' ter\vard ' w 11 en a J· u1 .y ,,,."\ .. etnlv-tn nelled for <l ' their trial. On the former occasion the qu tions were f ll . t ,J r whether they were law u y 111 cu ... Ou), <"l' n''"l were then hound to plead. The chief justice checked the oppo~ing counsel with an an. · of 1. mparLi.a .1 .t ty, sny1· ng, '~ LooJ-"" ) ' OLl ' or renth. . men, do not fall upon one another, bnt 1< .eep t o tl 1e m(a tter in h•a n•d ." And before decidinrr for ihe crown, he said., "I confe..: It IS a case ' of great weightb, and the pcr. ... ons eon cc~ rned ('' trc o f' o-rca t b honor and value. I would be as willing ns any bod.y to t~s- 'f J t loi~,I~ the bisho11 h y my re pects and r egar s o my ".., ) ."', it I cou1, d see any thing in thet· r obj· ect·w ns wor th considerinob- . For here I.S the question whether t 11 e f:a ct c 1H t rror cd in the warrant |