Jacobite construction of law and judicial leaning had its turn at the Marshalsea on the 12th. Two Douglases, with Maclean, Scrimshire, and Skeen, retracted the plea of ‘not guilty,’ which they had made when they were arraigned, and now pleaded ‘guilty,’ throwing themselves on the king’s mercy. It was beginning to be understood that such acknowledgment would save the lives of the less prominent Jacobites, though it might not win their liberty. Two others, Ferguson and Innes, stood stoutly to the plea which they had made on the day of their arraigning. They asserted, and their assertion was sustained by very good evidence, that their presence with the rebels was involuntary; their action, the result of force applied against them. The jury acquitted both gentlemen. Then arose a shout and a joyous disorder in court. Numerous Jacobite gentlemen eagerly pressed forward, some to shake hands with, others to embrace, the so-called unwilling friends of James III. The bench was naturally indignant with audience and jury. Two of the noisiest offenders were seized and brought up to suffer for their offences. One, a Lambeth tallow-chandler (waiting, it was said, on a summons to be a juryman), was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and a fine of 100_l._ The second offender, a looking-glass maker’s son, on London Bridge, was condemned to the same term of imprisonment and half the amount of fine. [Sidenote: _TOWNELEY AND TILDESLEY._] On May 15th, two important trials attracted universal interest. The accused persons were gentlemen of great estate in Lancashire, namely, ‘Towneley of Towneley,’ and ‘Tildesley of the Lodge.’ The evidence was very damaging against both. On the king’s side it was proved that Towneley headed the troops called by his name, in a red waistcoat and with a blunderbuss. His butler, coachman, and postillions rode in that troop. He joined at Preston, of his own free will, and might have left it whenever he chose up to the time of its being invested. The badness of the cause of both prisoners was shown by an attempt made to bribe the king’s witnesses to get out of the way. There was also a Tildesley troop, and although Mr. Tildesley was never seen at the head of it, he was seen with his sword drawn, and it was certain that he dined in Preston with rebel officers, and drank rebel toasts. [Sidenote: _THEIR TRIALS._]