Charles to Oxford, and attempted to hold his court
there. He was removed from his office by the Parliament, and practised
as a conveyancer during the Commonwealth. He was at once restored to his
office at the Restoration. After this trial, he was, in the dearth of
good lawyers who were also Royalists, made Lord Chief-Justice. He
presided at the trial of Sir Harry Vane the younger, who was convicted
of treason in compassing the death of Charles II., his real offence
being the part he took against Strafford; and was instrumental in
inducing the King to sign his death-warrant in breach of the Act of
Indemnity. In other trials of political opponents he acquired the
reputation of a partisan judge.

[28] Sir Robert Hide (1595-1665) was cousin to Lord Clarendon. He was
called to the bar in 1617, and became Recorder of Salisbury in 1638. He
sat as a Royalist in the Long Parliament, and joined the King at Oxford.
He was committed to the Tower in 1645 and 1646, and deprived of his
recordership. He was made a Justice of the Common Pleas in 1660, and
Lord Chief-Justice on Foster's death, through his cousin's influence. He
was celebrated for his trials of seditious printers, and died in court
as he was about to begin the trial of one of them.

[29] Sir Thomas Mallet (1582-1665) came of a legal family, and was
called to the bar in 1606. He sat in Charles I.'s first two parliaments,
and was made a Justice of the King's Bench in 1641. He came into
opposition to Parliament by opposing their measures in relation to the
Book of Common Prayer and the Militia, and was twice imprisoned by them
and fined. He was replaced on the Bench at the Restoration, at the age
of seventy-eight, but retired in 1663.

[30] Sir Geoffrey Palmer (1598-1670) was called to the bar in 1623, sat
in the Long Parliament, was one of the managers of Strafford's
impeachment, but rallied to the King's side on the passing of the Act
perpetuating Parliament in 1641. He voted against Hampden's motion for
printing the remonstrance in November 1641, and was committed to the
Tower. He withdrew from the House after the passing of the Militia
Ordinance, and sat in the Parliament at Oxford. He was one of the King's
representatives at the Uxbridge negotiations, 1644-45, and was committed
to the Tower in 1655. He became Attorney-General at the Restoration, and
so remained till his death.

[31] See vol. ii. p. 5.

[32] Sir John Kelyng was the son of a barrister, and was called