登陆注册
5246300000105

第105章 CHAPTER II(42)

The government, emboldened by this first victory, now aimed a blow at an enemy of a very different class. It was resolved that Shaftesbury should be brought to trial for his life. Evidence was collected which, it was thought, would support a charge of treason. But the facts which it was necessary to prove were alleged to have been committed in London. The Sheriffs of London, chosen by the citizens, were zealous Whigs. They named a Whig grand jury, which threw out the bill. This defeat, far from discouraging those who advised the King, suggested to them a new and daring scheme. Since the charter of the capital was in their way, that charter must be annulled. It was pretended, therefore, that the City had by some irregularities forfeited its municipal privileges; and proceedings were instituted against the corporation in the Court of King's Bench. At the same time those laws which had, soon after the Restoration, been enacted against Nonconformists, and which had remained dormant during the ascendency of the Whigs, were enforced all over the kingdom with extreme rigour.

Yet the spirit of the Whigs was not subdued. Though in evil plight, they were still a numerous and powerful party; and. as they mustered strong in the large towns, and especially in the capital, they made a noise and a show more than proportioned to their real force. Animated by the recollection of past triumphs, and by the sense of present oppression, they overrated both their strength and their wrongs. It was not in their power to make out that clear and overwhelming case which can alone justify so violent a remedy as resistance to an established government.

Whatever they might suspect, they could not prove that their sovereign had entered into a treaty with France against the religion and liberties of England. What was apparent was not sufficient to warrant an appeal to the sword. If the Lords had thrown out the Exclusion Bill, they had thrown it out in the exercise of a right coeval with the constitution. If the King had dissolved the Oxford Parliament, he had done so by virtue of a prerogative which had never been questioned. If he had, since the dissolution, done some harsh things, still those things were in strict conformity with the letter of the law, and with the recent practice of the malecontents themselves. If he had prosecuted his opponents, he had prosecuted them according to the proper forms, and before the proper tribunals. The evidence now produced for the crown was at least as worthy of credit as the evidence on which the noblest blood of England had lately been shed by the opposition. The treatment which an accused Whig had now to expect from judges, advocates, sheriffs, juries and spectators, was no worse than the treatment which had lately been thought by the Whigs good enough for an accused Papist. If the privileges of the City of London were attacked, they were attacked, not by military violence or by any disputable exercise of prerogative, but according to the regular practice of Westminster Hall. No tax was imposed by royal authority. No law was suspended. The Habeas Corpus Act was respected. Even the Test Act was enforced. The opposition, therefore, could not bring home to the King that species of misgovernment which alone could justify insurrection.

And, even had his misgovernment been more flagrant than it was, insurrection would still have been criminal, because it was almost certain to be unsuccessful. The situation of the Whigs in 1682 differed widely from that of the Roundheads forty years before. Those who took up arms against Charles the First acted under the authority of a Parliament which had been legally assembled, and which could not, without its own consent, be legally dissolved. The opponents of Charles the Second were private men. Almost all the military and naval resources of the kingdom had been at the disposal of those who resisted Charles the First. All the military and naval resources of the kingdom were at the disposal of Charles the Second. The House of Commons had been supported by at least half the nation against Charles the First. But those who were disposed to levy war against Charles the Second were certainly a minority. It could hardly be doubted, therefore, that, if they attempted a rising, they would fail. Still less could it be doubted that their failure would aggravate every evil of which they complained. The true policy of the Whigs was to submit with patience to adversity which was the natural consequence and the just punishment of their errors, to wait patiently for that turn of public feeling which must inevitably come, to observe the law, and to avail themselves of the protection, imperfect indeed, but by no means nugatory, which the law afforded to innocence. Unhappily they took a very different course. Unscrupulous and hot-headed chiefs of the party formed and discussed schemes of resistance, and were heard, if not with approbation, yet with the show of acquiescence, by much better men than themselves. It was proposed that there should be simultaneous insurrections in London, in Cheshire, at Bristol, and at Newcastle. Communications were opened with the discontented Presbyterians of Scotland, who were suffering under a tyranny such as England, in the worst times, had never known.

同类推荐
  • 敦煌变文选

    敦煌变文选

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 南诏野史

    南诏野史

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 上阳子金丹大要图

    上阳子金丹大要图

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 杨柳枝词

    杨柳枝词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 洞真太上八素真经三五行化妙诀

    洞真太上八素真经三五行化妙诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 天下无双:王妃太嚣张

    天下无双:王妃太嚣张

    当暗夜组织领袖,金榜第一杀手之魂,附于一废物花痴之体,现有的格局,将发生怎样的逆转?欺负我是吧?十倍欺负回去!和我来明的?直接打得你满地找牙!生活不能自理。跟我玩儿阴的?阴得你衣服裤子都穿不稳。驭万兽,练灵丹,制神器,傲世苍穹,凤凌异世,这一切对于她来说,太过于简单。【宠文一对一,前有嚣张女主拦路,后遇霸道男主炸桥,还有天才宝宝打劫,女强VS男更强,升级无极限,宠爱无极限】精彩抢先看:【一】凌无双,名满京城的凌家废物,痴心恋于皇七子,众人百般奚落嘲笑,甚至暗地下手,被阴得遍体鳞伤。一日,仆人跌跌撞撞,闯入书房,“老爷,大大大事不好了,无双小姐她,她在鸣溪居打伤了,打伤了——”“什么?!”仆人话未落句,老家主胡子一抖,拍案而起,“你说无双又被打了?这次是谁,欺负我凌家无人吗!”气死他了,他还以为这小兔崽子改邪归正了,这才老实几天,又溜了出去,指不定又被人欺负成啥样子。“不,不是啊,老爷”仆人匆忙之下,言辞吞吐。“不是什么,还不快说”凌擎天横眉一竖,越加担忧,“难道是伤得很严重?”青衣仆人身形一震,连忙回道:“不是啊,是无双小姐她把李将军的儿子给打,打,打残了!”“啊?”老家主惊得胡子一竖,愣在原地。无双不被欺负,他就求神拜佛了,现在是什么情况?*【二】四周人群熙攘,却是鸦雀无声。男子目光凝视眼前女子半响,男子伸手整理衣袍,抿唇开口,淡淡的道:“天落玉珠为聘,地铺十里红妆,我娶你”伸手拭去唇角血迹,他面目神情,复杂之极。女子冷哼,神色傲然,“天为鉴,地为证,今日,我休你”众人哗然,男子身体一僵,不敢置信地抬头,错愕不已。*【三】某男言语宠溺道:“无双所要何物?”护卫言:“极北冰原血莲”某男面色如常:“取”护卫接着言:“陨落星辰之泉”某男慵懒挥笔:“取”护卫接着言:“无尽星海之石”某男神情淡淡:“取”护卫硬着头皮:“中州万里美男”“取——”话未落句,某男脸色骤黑,一把逮过身边的女人,箍在怀中,咬牙切齿道:“取,我娶!力荐处雨完结宠文《嗜宠夜王狂妃》
  • 校草制霸录

    校草制霸录

    少年的制霸班级、布武校园之路!读者群:211099249
  • The Case of the Registered Letter

    The Case of the Registered Letter

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 诸葛亮十讲

    诸葛亮十讲

    在诸葛亮的一生中,最为出彩的,就是“三顾茅庐”时的“隆中对”。在后世的评价中,“隆中对”被认为是诸葛亮的天才之作,但也有不少人认为这是一个失败的战略。那么,这个计划究竟是对是错,其实施情况又如何呢?诸葛亮是三国时代最著名的智者之一,他在世的时候,蜀汉政权视他为顶梁柱,所有的军政大权都由他掌控。可是,如果他不在了,又将如何维持政权的稳定呢?诸葛亮也不是没有考虑过这个问题,只不过,他在接班人的选择问题上,陷入了一个误区,那就是——人才匮乏,次中选“优”。
  • 大道人皇

    大道人皇

    混沌初开,天地人三道并存,然天道率先出世,遂压抑地,人二道。天道独大,以万物为刍狗,而此时人道显化为印附于一少年体内.王凌携人道印担负人皇之任,让人族屹立诸天万界!
  • 赠你一场盛世繁华

    赠你一场盛世繁华

    我的未婚夫赵彦有了外遇,我跟踪外遇对象的哥哥贺子华。我高傲的甩了赵彦,又用肚子逼贺子华娶我。豪门婚姻里,充斥着刀光剑影的算计,贺子华的前女友屡次置我于不义,我的前男友又到处给我使绊子。贺子华说:“沈珂,你太让我失望了,我一直忍你,就是看在你肚子的份上,没想到你根本不能生育!”他还说:“你走吧,别再让我见到你。”我拿着离婚协议,净身出户。三年后,我支教归来,为了生计入职了一家广告公司。岂料他竟然是幕后BOSS!他逼问我那个和他一个模子刻出来的孩子,到底是谁的?我高傲的笑笑:“石头里蹦出来的!”他把我推到:“你倒是再蹦个我看看!”有种爱情,由恨起,因爱终,有种婚姻,路坎坷,终圆满。
  • 失落的帝国(人猿泰山系列)

    失落的帝国(人猿泰山系列)

    人猿泰山系列是一部让中小学生开阔眼界、丰富想象力的书,是一部教给孩子动物是朋友、大自然是家园的温情冒险小说,是一部中小学图书馆和孩子的书架上不得不放的书,是父母与孩子共同阅读的睡前故事。小说情节奇谲精彩,主人公强悍而无畏,为孩子们打开了一扇充满着浪漫英雄主义的丛林世界大门。译者的话:上世纪四十年代,我们在读初中时,《人猿泰山》作为世界名著,曾经风靡一时。每逢课间十分钟,同学们几乎满教室争说泰山。当时,这部奇趣曼妙的小说,已经在我们心里扎根了。1988年,我俩六十岁退休后,曾到各地旅游,顺便到各省大图书馆、大学图书馆查询此书,不但译本遍寻不得,连原文本也没有了。
  • 拐个王爷去私奔

    拐个王爷去私奔

    都是那个臭何青,居然和老姐联手摆了她一道,害她堂堂云府四小姐居然要趁夜逃家。呃……她才不会说是自己私心想跑出来玩的可是……好像不是冤家不聚头,为什么跑到哪里都会看到他那张酷酷的脸呢?只是……王爷?他——荷叶山庄少庄主,暗夜部的领导人,还是王爷??天,还有什么是她不知道的?原来一切的江湖风云后竟有着不为人知的阴谋。当所有尘埃落定……封王?封妃?可是人家不想做王妃呢,那么——拐个王爷玩玩私奔貌似不错哦~~~---------------------------------------------------------------------------------此文是霓裳羽衣舞系列的其中一部。欲知云家大小姐云霓如何降服“仁心圣手”琴子寒,请看《云霓》欲知云家失散女儿云舞的故事,请看《美人相公》------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2008新年力作,圣诞巨献!绝对大坑,欢迎大家陪我一起跳。-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------幽琬尽量保证最少一日一更,请大家支持!鞠躬,谢过~~~~~===============================推荐几本好书。好友春日晨光的《千年祸害——问情》夜恋凝的《四大世家》笑阳的《给宝宝找个爹》闲听冷雨的《悍妇当道》霜非晚的《红颜独以魅天下》(强悍的文文,偶写不出来)寒香雪的《梦菱传》(香雪郡主的哦,哇咔咔!)都是很努力的作者,很好的作品,文笔也很好,绝对值得一看。请大家移步支持。强烈推荐挚友风间灵月的《月笼寒天水》她的文文几乎都是完结的,而且都是公众文,很棒的哦!大家想看免费好书的可以去看,绝对物超所值!
  • 坠落霓星河

    坠落霓星河

    夏氏发生巨变,一家被人烧死在家中,嫌疑人直指夏氏总裁的弟弟。死里求生存活下来的人费劲心思想要报仇,他们能得手吗?命运作祟,生存者会善罢甘休吗?复仇向甜宠文,坚持1v1,甜腻的文风。本喵写不惯虐文啊!
  • 大学生必读的100本书

    大学生必读的100本书

    本书是对世界的历史,人类文明成果的一次回顾和检阅。世界历史的车轮滚滚向前,人类文明将会开出更加灿烂多彩的思想之花,结出更加丰富的文化科学硕果。如果您阅读此书,实际上是对文化的一种选择,是一次对人类文明的礼拜,更是一次撷取知识信息的大好良机。