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an outlawry was pronounced against him, it was an error in fact, for which the outlawry was to be reversed; and it is an error in all outlawries but for high treason to this day. By the 6 Edw. 6, that error is taken away in high treason, but there is a proviso in that statute, that if the person outlawed shall within a year after the outlawry pronounced, yield himself to the chief justice of the King's Bench, and offer to traverse his indictment, and on his trial shall be acquitted, he shall be discharged of his outlawry. Upon the construction of this statute no judgment was ever given; and the reason is, no man outlawed was ever denied a trial till this time, if he was taken within a competent time. The reason of making that statute was this; men would commit treason, and presently fly beyond sea, and stay there till the witnesses who should prove the treason were dead; then return, and reverse the outlawry for the error of their being beyond sea; and the witnesses being dead they were safe; and therefore this statute takes away that error in part, though not in the whole, and doth in effect say, that the person outlawed shall not have advantage of that error, unless he comes and takes his trial within a competent time, which that statute limits to a year after the outlawry pronounced" (i). Sir Thomas Armstrong was seized upon at Leyden within the year, and brought over to this country on the 14th of June, 1684; he was brought before the King's Bench, and the judges, Jeffreys, Withens, Holloway and Walcott. The year since his outlawry had not then expired. The Attorney General, Sawyer, prayed an award of execution against him on the outlawry. "Arraign him on the outlawry," said Jeffreys. He was arraigned and asked, "What he had to say for himself? Why execution should not be awarded on his attainder ?"

Sir T. Armstrong." My Lord, I was beyond sea at the time of the outlawry. I beg I may be tried."

and enlightened is the English law, and such the value of its forms, as a shield against oppression, of which this case is a striking instance.

(i) State Trials, vol. 10, p. 124.

Jeffreys."That is not material to us" (i).

Sir T. Armstrong.-"I desire to be put upon my trial." (A request, compliance with which would have been matter of course in any Court of justice not governed by the perfection of reason, on this side Mount Atlas).

Jeffreys." WE cannot allow ANY SUCH THING. CAPTAIN RICHARDSON, WHAT ARE YOUR DAYS OF EXECUTION ?" Jailor.-" Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, my Lord." Armstrong's Daughter.—" Here is a statute, my Lord." Jeffreys.--" What is the matter with that gentlewoman?" Armstrong thus quoted the statute of Edw. 6. Jeffreys.-"Let it be read."

Daughter." Here is a copy of it" (shewing a paper).

Jeffreys." Why, how now! We do not use to have women plead (k) in the Court of King's Bench. Pray be quiet, Mistress.”

Armstrong." My Lord, I would not allege this before, because I have been a close prisoner, and nobody permitted to come to me (1). I desire counsel may be assigned me." Jeffreys." Read the statute he desires."

It was then read.

Att. Gen.-"I suppose Sir Thomas will now shew he yielded himself to your Lordship."

Jeffreys.-"This is the first time I have seen Sir Thomas." Armstrong." My Lord, I have been a prisoner, and the year is not yet out. I now render myself

within the benefit of the statute."

Jeffreys.--"We think otherwise."

Armstrong then begged for counsel.

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Jeffreys." For what reason? We are of opinion it is not matter of doubt."

Armstrong," Methinks the statute is very plain.”

Jeffreys." So it is, very plain, you can have no advantage (i) Therefore any Englishman abroad might be destroyed at the pleasure of the Court.

(k) Nor men,-judging from what took place there.

(1) He was loaded with irons, and very ill used. One of his daughters was struck by the keeper of Newgate. Parl. Hist. vol. 5, p. 245.

of it. Captain Richardson, you shall have a rule for execution on Friday next."

Armstrong."I know my own innocence" (m).

Jeffreys." You may go away with what opinion you please of your own innocency," &c.

Daughter." My Lord, I hope you will not murder my father, this is murdering a man."

Jeffreys. "Who is this woman? Marshal, take her into custody."

Daughter.-"God Almighty's judgments light upon you!" Jeffreys." God Almighty's judgments will light on those guilty [he should have said accused] of high treason."

Daughter.-"Amen, I pray God!"

Jeffreys." So say I. But clamours never weigh with me at all. I thank God I am clamour proof, and will never fear to do my duty."

Then she was carried away.

Armstrong." My Lord, I am within the statute. I was outlawed while I was beyond sea, and I come now here within the twelvemonth. That is all I know, or have to say in this matter."

L. C. J.-"We think quite the contrary, Sir Thomas."

Armstrong." When I was before the council, my Lord, they ordered that I should have counsel allotted me, but I could have no benefit by that order; for when I was taken I was robbed of all the money I had, and have not had one penny restored to me, nor any money since; I know not whether the law allows persons in my condition to be robbed and stripped."

L. C. J.-"I know nothing at all of that matter, Sir Thomas."

(m) And unless he had been innocent the Crown would hardly have incurred the scandal of putting him to death unheard. Armstrong urged that Holloway, under the same circumstances, had been allowed a trial. "Yes," said Jeffreys, "they had enough against Holloway." "Then," replied Sir Thomas, "they have not enough against me; my blood be upon you." "Let it," answered Jeffreys. Parl. Hist. vol. 5, p. 245.

Armstrong." My Lord, I know lawyers will not plead without money, and being robbed I could not have wherewithal to fee them."

L. C. J.-" Sir Thomas Armstrong, you take the liberty of saying what you please; you talk of being robbed, nobody has robbed you that I know of."

Armstrong." Nobody says you do know of it; but so it is." L. C. J.-" Nay, be as angry as you will, Sir Thomas, we are not concerned at your anger. We will undoubtedly do our duty."

Armstrong." I ought to have the benefit of the law, and I demand no more."

L. C. J.-"That you shall have by the grace of God. See that execution be done on Friday next, according to law. You shall have the full benefit of the law."

A rule for execution was then given, as in such cases sentence was not pronounced. Such was the use not of Magna Charta only, (which, except when employed to end a period, or to inveigle some wretched men to destruction, was utterly unmeaning), but of the plain words of a positive statute, when interpreted by English judges. If Jeffreys and Sawyer had each drawn a pistol from his pocket, and shot Sir Thomas Armstrong where he stood, they would have committed a far less cruel, but not a more barefaced or informal murder, than the English people, always so practical, and boasting of Magna Charta and trial by jury, then stood quietly by to witness. All the exquisite tortures, which the English law, or, rather, the English judges (1), then provided for those convicted of high treason, were carefully and elaborately inflicted on Armstrong; and to complete the sketch of manners, Charles, the "merry monarch," to reward Jeffreys for this foul murder, took, the next day, a ring from his own finger, and with the refined urbanity and good humour, for which he was so famous,

(1) Hobbes' Dialogue between a Lawyer and Philosopher.

D D

placed it on the finger of a ruffian whom no ordinary felon could have looked at without shuddering (m).

The conduct of the judges at the trial of Cornish, is thus accounted for by Sir John Hawles: "No explanation can be given of these proceedings, but that some of the judges had newly come out of the West, where they had been so flushed and hardened, that nothing appeared to them rigorous and cruel; and the others seemed to vie with them in their practice."

It may be thought that the trials which have been read, carry judicial infamy to its utmost limits; there are, however, two other trials which will shew wickedness still more atrocious, and cruelty still more transcendant; these were the trials of Lady Alicia Lisle and Mrs. Gaunt, for treason committed by harbouring and assisting rebels: to his eternal shame, and to the lasting dishonour of his profession, Pollexfen, the great Whig lawyer, took an active part in the murder of Lady Lisle: he was the counsel, and Jeffreys the judge. She was convicted against evidence, and in defiance of the law, which must have been perfectly well known to any lawyer present, as it was not proved that Hicks, whom she received, was a traitor, much less that she knew him to have committed treason. To comment on the conduct of Jeffreys would be useless; but shall Pollexfen escape the execration of posterity? Can any cant about professional duty, or being counsel for the Crown, in any way extenuate the wickedness of a man who contributes to put an innocent woman to an excruciating death, or rather who does not by every means in his power endeavour at all hazards to save her from destruction? Are

(m) A similar attempt was made in the case of the King v. Johnson, 2 Strange, 824, in which the Attorney General actually quoted Sir Thomas Armstrong's case. "But the Court seemed very unwilling to hear anything of that case." A Latin plea was put in, and after a struggle the prisoner was allowed a trial, and acquitted. That any man, not of infamous character, should stand up calmly in the open Court of justice of a free country, and ask those who are to administer justice in mercy to put a fellow citizen to death without a trial, does appear surprising, even after the perusal of Meeson and Wellsby, and Crown Cases Reserved.

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