met, had elected Serjeant Bradshaw for President, and had made all the preliminary arrangements for the trial. On the 20th of January, the day when the trial actually began in Westminster Hall, they did not appear when their names were called; but the King having refused to plead, or to recognise the authority of his Judges, the Court rose at an early hour, and the House of Commons sitting as usual, they took their seats in that assembly. In reality, they were acting a trimming, cowardly, and base part, and, without incurring the danger of being accessory to the King's death, wished to preserve the favour of the ruling party. Whitelock says,—" Some looked very shy upon us, but others bid us welcome, and seemed to be glad to see us there."*

As Hilary term ought regularly to have begun on the 23d of January, and Westminster Hall was entirely occupied with the High Court of Justice, the Lords Commissioners were required to issue an order under the Great Seal for postponing the term, according to a power which had belonged to the prerogative of the Crown; but the Earl of Kent and Lord Grey de Werke positively objected to this, saying that under the "ordinance of the Lords and Commons for regulating the Great Seal," which still remained in full force, no act could be done without the concurrence of one noble Commissioner; and the twelve Judges being consulted, declared that without an order under the Great Seal they must go to Westminster Hall, and begin the business of their several Courts at the accustomed time. Whitelock went to the House of Commons and explained this difficulty,-when an ordinance was immediately passed commanding him and Lord Commissioner Widdrington, without the concurrence of either of the other Commissioners, to use the Great Seal for all purposes,-and the required order was issued, although Kent and Grey were present when it was sealed, and protested against it. The King's trial proceeded without interruption, and on the 27th of January the awful sentence was pronounced, that CHARLES STUART should be beheaded as "a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public and implacable enemy to the Commonwealth of England."

Lords Commissioners Whitelock and Widdrington were absent from the meeting of the House of Commons held on the 30th of January after the bloody scene had been acted in front of the banqueting house at Whitehall, and they seem to have thought that they were functi officio, as there had been no ordinance for the use of the new Great Seal which the House of Commons had ordered. Indeed, Widdrington, who was by much the more scrupulous of the two, had been horror-struck by the King's execution, and for some time adhered to a resolution he expressed not to acknowledge a regicide government.

Lord Grey de Werke retired into the country in despair; but the Earl of Kent, who had firmer nerves, made a dying effort for

* Memorials,

his office and his order. On the 1st of February, to which day the House of Lords had adjourned, he and four other Peers met, and having called the Earl of Denbigh to the woolsack as speaker, they proceeded to business without taking any notice of the proceedings of the Commons, by which their authority had been disowned. They were willing to have passed a prospective ordinance," that if hereafter a King of England should try to subvert the fundamental laws of the kingdom, and make war against the Parliament, he should be guilty of high treason, and liable to be brought to trial before a High Court of Justice." On the motion of the Earl of Kent, a message was sent down to the Commons "that the Lords had thought fit to name a committee of nine of their House, in this conjuncture of time, to join with a proportionable number of the Commons to meet the next morning in the Lord Keeper's lodgings, if it might stand with their conveniency, and so from time and place to adjourn as they shall see fitting, to consider of the settlement of the government of England and Ireland." But when the messengers came down to the Commons, the doors of the House were barred against them; and the following day, having renewed their application to be admitted, they met with a similar reception.

A member of the House of Commons who thought that the authority of the Lords might still be useful in carryiug [FEB. 6.] on the government, moved "that this House shall take the advice of the House of Peers in the exercise of the legislative power;" but, after a long debate, it was carried in the negative by forty-four against twenty-nine; and then it was resolved, without a division, "that the House of Peers in parliament is useless and dangerous, and ought to be abolished, and that an act be brought in for that purpose." As a malicious pleasantry, an amendment was moved and carried, "that Lord Commissioner Whitelock do forthwith prepare and bring in the same."

Whitelock, now dragged from his retirement,-in deep distress came to the House and begged to be excused,-urging that he was not present when the vote passed, and that he had in no way connived in it; but, being told that it was his duty to obey the orders of the supreme power of the state, and finding [FEB. 7.] that all recalcitrants were excluded from office, and even from sitting in the House*, he yielded, and next morning laid on the table this famous Ordinance,-which, in a few minutes, was read a first and second time, committed, read a third time, passed, and pronounced to be law.

Much more was done on this memorable day. A resolution was moved, that "it hath been found by experience, and this House doth declare, that the office of a King in this nation is unnecessary, burthensome, and dangerous to the liberty, safety, and interest.

* An order had been made that no member who had voted for treating with the King should be admitted.

of the people, and ought to be abolished." Lord Commissioner Whitelock having recently acquitted himself so well, was ordered to withdraw and prepare an Ordinance to carry this resolution into effect. He no longer pretended any coyness; and the Ordinance, as he speedily produced it, was immediately hurried throughlike that for abolishing the Lords.*

An order was then made "that Sir Thomas Widdrington and Mr. Whitelock, the Commissioners of the Great Seal, be required to surrender the Great Seal now in use, bearing the name and insignia of the late King; and that an ordinance be brought in to authorise the use of the new Great Seal made by order of the House, and to appoint them the Keepers thereof."

Accordingly, at the sitting of the House next morning, the old Great Seal was produced; and, after it had been broken by a smith, the Speaker being in the chair, the fragments, and the purse with the royal arms embroidered upon it, were given,to the Commissioners "for their fees."

The ordinance respecting the new Great Seal was then read a first time;—when Widdrington, courteously but resolutely, refused to accept the appointment offered to him. His excuse was accepted, and, in consideration of his services, an order was made that he should have a quarter's wages more than was due to him, and that he should thereafter be privileged to practise within the bar.

Whitelock then made a long, canting, hypocritical speech, in which he took care to disclaim all doubt as to the supreme authority of the House. "Unavoidable necessity," said he, "hath put you on these courses, which otherwise, perhaps, you would not have taken. I am sure, Mr. Speaker, that my acting and sitting here is according to the known laws of England. My protection at this time cometh only from you, and my obedience is due only to you. There is no other visible authority in being in this land but yourselves." But, although he allowed that the highest place of ordinary judicature, to which their favour and good opinion had been pleased to name him, was an object of honourable ambition, and that he should be desirous to do right and justice,—to relieve the oppressed, and to serve God and his country,--he dwelt much on his own insufficiency for so great and weighty a charge. In pointing out its arduous duties, he made observations which, coming from a man regularly bred to the bar, an accomplished lawyer and an experienced Judge, show that "Equity" down to this time had not acquired any systematic form, and was not yet based upon principle. The Judges of the common law have certain rules to guide them; a Keeper of the Seal has nothing but his own conscience to direct him, and that is oftentimes deceitful. The proceedings in Chancery are secundum arbitrium boni viri, and this arbitrium differs as much in different men as doth their complex

* Scobell's Acts, A. D. 1649, c. 16, 17. 27.

ion or the length of their foot." He therefore implored them to make another and better choice. "But he confessed that, if he declined absolutely, it would be a kind of disavowing of their authority as unwarrantable and illegal,-which was far from him,— and he submitted himself to their pleasure and judgment. This was taken, as it was intended, for acquiescence."*

The next person named was John Lisle, who now went by the title of "Major Lisle." He was the son of a respectable gentleman in the Isle of Wight, and was bred to the bar, but was noted for his idleness and profligacy, and never had any practice or knowledge of the law. Being returned a member of the Long Parliament, he was distinguished by his violence against the King. When the war broke out he left his profession and took to arms but not showing military genius like Ireton and Jones, he never rose above the rank of Major. He is generally represented as having been one of the King's Judges, but he was only assessor, or legal adviser to the High Court of Justice. He was bold, bustling, confident, and unscrupulous. After a short and no eager excuse by him on the score of his incompetence, and his "ready owning the authority of the House to act without King or Lords,' his appointment as Commissioner of the Great Seal was carried by acclamation.

A drowsy Serjeant of the name of Keble, known only for some bad Law Reports, was added to the number, and joyfully accepted his appointment.

The ordinance was forthwith passed, constituting these three persons Keepers of the Great Seal quamdiu se bene gesserint. The former salary of 1000l. a-year was voted to them. A sharp discussion arose whether they should be called "Lords" Commissioners, the word "Lord" having become distasteful to some; but the opinion of the great majority was, that to drop it would be derogatory to the authority of the parliament.§

* Mem, 378. In his Journal he says, "The most considerable particulars which influenced me in this determination were, that I was already very deeply engaged with this party; that the business to be undertaken by me was the execution of law and justice, without which men could not live one by another, a thing of absolute necessity to be done."

For this he was excepted from the general pardon at the restoration; and though he made his escape, he was assassinated by the royalists at Lausanne. Whit.

I copy the ordinance as a specimen of the manner of legislating which then prevailed: "Be it enacted by the present parliament and the authority of the same, that the Great Seal of England shall be committed to the keeping of Bulstrode Whitelock, Serjeant-at-law, Richard Keble, Serjeant-at-law, and John Lisle, Esq., who are hereby appointed Lords Commissioners for that purpose, quam diu se bene gesserint, which said persons are hereby constituted and appointed to be Lords Commissioners for the custody of the Great Seal of England during the time aforesaid, and they or any two of them shall have and are hereby authorised to have the custody, keeping, ordering, and disposing thereof, as also all such and the like powers and authorities as any Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal of England for the time being, have lawfully had and used, or ought to have had or used."

The preservation of titles is one of the many circumstances which distinguish this revolution and that of France in 1789; but the English Commons had been

An order was generously made at the same time, that the arrears due to the Earl of Kent and Lord Grey de Werke, for their salary as Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal, should be immediately paid to them.

The following day the three new Lords Commissioners were sworn in before the House of Commons by the Speaker in these words :-" Whereas, by an act of this pre[FEB. 8.] sent parliament, and by authority thereof, you are made Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal of England, you shall swear that well and truly, according to your skill and knowledge, you will perform your duty in the execution of the said office, according to law, equity, and justice." There was no longer any cath of allegiance or supremacy, and the triennial act was considered obsolete. So the Lords Commissioners being ordered to provide a purse for the new Great Seal, with suitable emblems and ornaments, they were dismissed and proceeded to the Court of Chancery,-where Lord Commissioner Whitelock made a short oration, and intimated that "on the morrow, they should begin to despatch the business of the suitors, as it was the determination of the parliament, in whom God had placed the supreme power, that right should be done to all, and that justice, like the copious river of Egypt, should overflow and bless the country."

"

The day following was the day to which the term had been postponed, and there was great confusion in Westinin[FEB. 9.] ster Hall. Six only of the Judges would agree to serve under the parliament, and they considered their authority gone by the King's death. Early in the morning an ordinance was run through the House of Commons to abrogate the oaths of allegiance and supremacy;-the Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal passed new patents to the Judges;-Lord Commissioner Whitelock made a long speech, explaining and justifying all that had been done;-and then the Judges took their seats in their respective Courts, and the business proceeded as if nothing remarkable had happened.

Cromwell was so well pleased, that he and Ireton, his son-inlaw, went home with the Lord Commissioner to supper, where," says Whitelock, "they were very cheerful, and seemed extremely well pleased. We discoursed together till twelve at night, and little aggrieved by aristocracy, and had little objection to it,-whereas the injuries and insu'ts heaped upon the roturiers by the French noblesse created an utter abhorrence and abomination of that order,--which still contiuue and account for the devoted attachment of the French nation to the law of equal partibility, considered by them the only safeguard against the return of such evils.

* Whitelock, conscious of his equivocal conduct at this time, says, "I resolved to hazard or lay down all, how beneficial soever or advantageous to me, rather than to do any thing contrary to my judgment and conscience. I paid a visit to the Lord Chief Justice Rolles, a wise and learned man; he seemed much to scruple the casting off of the Lords, and was troubled at it, Yet he greatly encouraged me to attend the House of Commons, notwithstanding the present force upon them, which could not dispense with their attendance and performance of their duty who had no force upon them."-Whit. 367, 368.