The charge against Lord Russell was that he was guilty of high treason in conspiring to depose and kill the King, and to stir up rebellion against him. To this he pleaded Not Guilty. He objected that he ought not to be arraigned and tried on the same day, to which it was replied that he had had more than a fortnight's notice of his trial and the facts alleged against him by having questions put to him when he was in custody in the Tower. On the first juror being called, Lord Russell objected that he was not a 40s. freeholder in the City. He was allowed to have counsel assigned to him to argue as to whether this was a good ground of objection; the counsel he chose were Pollexfen[6], Holt[7], and Ward. The question was whether the statute 2 Hen. V. c. 3, which enacted that in the case of capital offences the jurors must have lands of the yearly value of 40s., applied to trials for treason or to trials in the City. It was decided by all the judges that it did not,[8] the objection was overruled, and a jury was sworn without any challenges being made. _North_ then shortly opened the case. He alleged that in the previous October and November a council consisting of Russell, the Duke of Monmouth, Lord Grey,[9] Sir Thomas Armstrong, and one Ferguson, were plotting a rising in conjunction with the Earl of Shaftesbury. The Earl was anxious that the opportunity of the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's birthday on the 19th of November should be used for the purpose. The conspirators objected to this on the ground that Trenchard, who was to have headed a rising in the West, was not ready. On this Shaftesbury and Ferguson left the country, and the so-called council was re-organised by Armstrong and Grey being left out, and Lord Howard,[10] Lord Essex,[11] Colonel Algernon Sidney,[12] and Mr. Hampden,[13] being taken in. Frequent consultations were held at Russell's house, and Aaron Smith was despatched to Scotland to arrange a rising on the part of the malcontents there. _Rumsey_[14] was called, and being sworn deposed that at the end of October or the beginning of November Shaftesbury had sent for him to his lodgings in Wapping, where he was hiding, and told him to go to the house of one Sheppard, where he could find Monmouth, Russell, Grey, Armstrong, and Ferguson, and to ask what resolution they had come to as to the rising at Taunton. He took this message accordingly, and received an answer that Trenchard had promised 1000 foot and 300 horse, but had failed them. Most of this answer was delivered by Ferguson, but others, including Russell, were in the room at the time. ATTORNEY-GENERAL--Was there nothing of my lord Shaftesbury to be contented? RUMSEY--Yes, that my lord Shaftesbury must be contented; and upon that he took his resolution to be gone. LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--Did you hear any such resolution from him? RUMSEY--Yes, my lord.