brought to trial charged with a
"High Misdemeanor." He had written three private letters to be
sent--it was alleged--by post to his friend, also a private man. The
letters do not appear designed for any further publication or use;
they related to matters of news, the events of the day and comments
thereon, and spoke in praise of Algernon Sidney and Lord Russell who
were so wickedly beheaded about the time the letters were written. It
would require a microscopic eye to detect any evil lurking there.
Jeffreys presided at the trial, and told the jury:--

"The letters are _factious, seditious, and malicious
letters, and as base as the worst of mankind could ever have
invented_." "And if he be guilty of it--the greater the man
is the greater the crime, and the more understanding he has,
the more malicious he seems to be; for your little ordinary
sort of people, that are of common mean understanding, they
may be wheedled and drawn in, and surprised into such
things; but men of a public figure and of some value in the
world that have been taken to be men of the greatest
interest and reputation in a party, it cannot be thought a
hidden surprise upon them; no, it is a work of time and
thought, it is a thing fixed in his very nature, and it
_shows so much venom as would make one think the whole mass
of his blood were corrupt_." "Here is the matter he is now
accused of, and here is in it malice against the king,
malice against the government, malice against both Church
and State, malice against any man that bears any share in
the government, indeed malice against all mankind that are
not of the same persuasion with these bloody miscreants."
"Here is ... the sainting of two horrid conspirators! Here
is the Lord Russell sainted, that blessed martyr; Lord
Russell, that good man, that excellent Protestant, he is
lamented! And here is Mr. Sidney sainted, what an
extraordinary man he was! Yes, surely he was a very good
man--and it is a shame to think that such bloody miscreants
should be sainted and lamented who had any hand in that
horrid murder [the execution of Charles I.] and treason ...
who could confidently bless God for their being engaged in
that good cause (as they call it) which was the rebellion
which brought that blessed martyr to his death. It is high
time for all man