Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert PeelAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert Peel
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
parody after another, and dwelt especially on the parodies of the
Litany which the Cavaliers wrote to ridicule the Puritan Roundheads.
When he had done, the Lord Chief Justice addressed the jury in a strain
of strong direction to find a verdict for the Crown. He said "he would
deliver the jury his solemn opinion, as he was required by the Act of
Parliament to do; and under the authority of that Act, and still more
in obedience to his conscience and his God, he pronounced this to be
a most impious and profane libel. Believing and hoping that they, the
jury, were Christians, he had no doubt but they would be of the same
opinion." This time the solemn and severe energy of the Lord Chief
Justice seemed to have made an impression on part of the jury, for they
took an hour and a half to determine their verdict, but they again
returned one of Not Guilty.
Here, had the Government been wise, they would have stopped; but they
were not contented without experiencing a third defeat. The next
morning, the 20th of December, they returned to the charge with an
indictment against Mr. Hone for publishing a parody on the Athanasian
Creed, called "The Sinecurist's Creed." The old Chief Justice was
again on the bench, apparently as resolved as ever, and this time the
defendant, on entering the court, appeared pale and exhausted, as he
well might, for he had put forth exertions and powers of mind which
had astonished the whole country and excited the deepest interest.
The Attorney-General humanely offered to postpone the trial, but the
defendant preferred to go on. He only begged for a few minutes' delay
to enable him to put down a few notes on the Attorney-General's address
after that was delivered; but the Chief Justice would not allow him
this trifling favour, but said, if the defendant would make a formal
request for the purpose, he would put off the trial for a day. This
would have injured the cause of the defendant, by making it appear that
he was in some degree worsted, and, fatigued as he was, he replied,
promptly, "No! I make no such request." William Hone, on this third
trial, once more seemed to forget his past fatigues, and rose with a
strength that completely cowed the old and fiery judge. He did not
desist till he had converted his dictatorial manner into a suppliant
one. After quoting many eminent Churchmen as dissentients from the
Athanasian Creed, and amongst them Warburton and Tillotson, he added,
"Even his lordship's father, the Bishop of Carlisle, he believed, took
a similar view of this creed." This was coming too near; and the judge
said, "Whatever that opinion was, he has gone, many years ago, where
he has had to account for his belief and his opinions. For common
delicacy, forbear." "O, my lord," replied the satisfied defendant, "I
shall certainly forbear." The judge had profited by the lesson to-day:
he gave a much more temperate charge to the jury, and they required
only twenty minutes to return the third and final victory of Not
Guilty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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