oyal mercy would be extended for his
preservation; but infamous arts were used to whet the savage appetite
of the populace for blood. The cry of vengeance was loud throughout the
land: sullen clouds of suspicion and malevolence interposing, were said
to obstruct the genial beams of the best virtue that adorns the throne;
and the sovereign was given to understand, that the execution of admiral
Byng was a victim absolutely necessary to appease the fury of the
people. His majesty, in consequence of the representation made by the
lords of the admiralty, referred the sentence to the consideration of
the twelve judges, who were unanimously of opinion that the sentence
was legal. This report being transmitted from the privy-council to the
admiralty, their lordships issued a warrant for executing the sentence
of death on the twenty-eighth day of February. One gentleman at the
board, however, refused to subscribe the warrant, assigning for his
refusal the reasons which we have inserted by way of note, for the
satisfaction of the reader. [401] _[See note 3 H, at the end of this
Vol.]_

Though mercy was denied to the criminal, the crown seemed determined
to do nothing that should be thought inconsistent with law. A member of
parliament, who had sat upon the court-martial at Portsmouth, rose up
in his place, and made application to the house of commons in behalf of
himself and several other members of that tribunal, praying the aid
of the legislature to be released from the oath of secrecy imposed on
courts-martial, that they might disclose the grounds on which sentence
of death had passed on admiral Byng, and, perhaps, discover such
circumstances as might show the sentence to be improper. Although
this application produced no resolution in the house, the king, on
the twenty-sixth day of February, sent a message to the commons by Mr.
Secretary Pitt, importing, that, though he had determined to let the
law take its course with relation to admiral Byng, and resisted all
solicitations to the contrary, yet, as a member of the house had
expressed some scruples about the sentence, his majesty had thought fit
to respite the execution of it, that there might be an opportunity
of knowing, by the separate examination of the members of the
court-martial, upon oath, what grounds there were for such scruples, and
that his majesty was resolved still to let the sentence be carried
into execution, unless it should appear from the said examination,