By a resolution of the House
of Commons in November, Hamilton had been adjudged to pay a fine of
one hundred thousand pounds, and the other four to remain in perpetual
imprisonment; but after the triumph of the Independents, this vote had been
rescinded,[a] and a high court of justice was now established to try the
same persons on a charge of high treason. It was in vain that Hamilton
pleaded[b] the order of the Scottish parliament under which he had acted;
that Capel demanded to be brought before his peers, or a jury of his
countrymen, according to those fundamental laws which the parliament had
promised to maintain; that all invoked the national faith in favour of that
quarter which they had obtained at the time of their surrender. Bradshaw,
the president, delivered the opinions of the court. To Hamilton, he
replied,
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1649. Feb. 1.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1649. Feb. 10.]
that, as an English earl, he was amenable to the justice of the country; to
Capel, that the court had been established by the parliament, the supreme
authority to which all must submit; to each, that quarter given on the
field of battle insured protection from the sword of the conqueror, but not
from the vengeance of the law. All five were condemned[a] to lose their
heads; but the rigour of the judgment was softened[b] by a reference to
the mercy of parliament.
Pages:
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370